MTGA Standard BO3 October 2020 Expanded List

Almost two weeks ago now I pulled together a BO1 & BO3 shortlist pre Omnath on this website. I am doing a follow-up for October in my second part of the series with an expanded BO1 & BO3. Also, I normally do BO1 first, and decided to switch it up with my more in depth BO3 first…Stay tuned. First, Congrats Community as we now got a healthy and diverse meta post Omnath ban! Second, due to this amazing diversity there are soooooo many decks now that I am having trouble myself keeping on top of which is great! Personally, I can’t recall a meta like this since I have started doing this in-depth analysis, deck coverage, or in recent memory as a competitive player.

These tier lists are for you to help with anyone tackling the competitive MTGA Landscape, those who like a visual or just to discuss! Along with providing a BO1 tier list take I wanted to provide a BO3 one as well. Especially since we all know that the metas are different. As mentioned last time this post is an expanded version, and covers a timeline trend view as well. It is by no means inclusive of all the decks, cue points above.

TLDR: META WIDE OPEN and/or SHIFTING- Players not consolidating around one deck (CFB showdown top 2 decks 20% of decks). Expected ban results materialize. Yorion blinking everything back into action! Healthy decks strategy shifting from Midrange to Late Game….Aggro back on the menu?!?!

What it is, current meta observations, and deck overviews! Additionally I love sharing the observations and recent changes we have faced in an ever evolving fast paced format.

Items of Interest & Considerations:

WIDE OPEN & SHIFTING – Well Community I think we got what we have been asking for, for a while now! An extremely diverse and healthy meta that consistently changes and evolves with the rise and falls of decks, counter deck strats, and trend capitalization of what’s hot and what’s not.
Ban Hammer – Fall of Omnath and duping of clover. This one is obvious but as this is always a trends piece it has historical relevance and still matters. The bans destroyed the deck consolidation which has allowed once again for a health meta.
Still Strong – Decks coming out of post ban with strength are still strong, the real challenge has been the influx of all sorts of challenger decks. I would even say some very far out ones you may even call competitive jank that someone normally doesn’t play which is awesome. The decks still remaining strong are things like Dimir Rogues, and Gruul Adventures. Along with some of the mono colored aggro decks still holding their own.
Adventure Heavy – One thing I have found pretty interesting has been the continuance of Adventure themed decks that continue to be strong. We see this with Golgari, Selesnya, and Gruul. Gruul was well positioned coming out of the Top 8 with Emma and Autumn. Personally, I think it’s mainly the additional draw mechanics and access to everyone’s favorite innkeeper.
Yorion Flying High Once Again – I believe this one deserves special attention. Yorion was heavily played, and very powerful in the original days of our companions, and into Zendikar Rising. The prominence of the blink/etb effects are now seeing a decent amount of play again under a new light post omnath in Zendikar Rising Standard. Recently, Azorius Yorion Blink holding down the top fort in MTGA ranked while things like Selesnya Yorion taking down the CFB #1 Pro Showdown spot!

In Diversity we Trust – One noticeable thing was some pre ban meta decks have also got stronger relative to their peers. One in particular to call out and continue to watch is Esper Doom. I’ve seen some versions in the Mardu color schema that may begin to command some additional looks. Part of the strengthening is more so in part due to their ability to face down and defeat a wider range of decks and ultimately command more control of the match against a host of interesting mixes.
Put up the Results! – To be frank here I am calling this out because I feel like more and more right now we have a thirst to see competitive tournament results to get the new flavor or top deck that is going to shift the meta. A big influence on this list will for sure be this weekend’s results from Zendikar’s Rising League Weekend. I am hopeful yet another new deck will emerge on the backs of Rakdos Midrange, and then most recently Selesnya Yorion or Azorius Yorion.
Too Many Choices – Many of us might be feeling the craft pinch, I know I have as mentioned several times. Personally, it can be very difficult to figure out your path right now because there is a very wide open meta. Where I have found success is sticking to a few guns vs flipping around too many decks. Any Tier deck can bring you up the rank to Mythic, usually I find it’s times at bat, and not enough times played to warrant the expected results of the deck which only improve the more experience and time you put into them. Don’t let paralysis analysis bog you down!
Rest assured it’s not you it’s me (META) – No jokes aside though I have heard from several mythic players time and again what the heck is going on! I can’t hit mythic is it just me? It is most certainly a result of the current healthy meta. This is the way standard is designed to be. It shouldn’t be for example run omnath or a counter omnath deck and go. It should be of the 50+ options which one am I going to stick with above and put in the work to earn mythic. Those still grinding or hit mythic this season (I will also say post omnath) you all should pat yourselves on the back – as I think this is one of the hardest standard metagames to navigate which is a good thing. Additionally, there are some pretty significant shifts at the different tiers this time even more some from what I have seen in the past. Keep up the good fight and let’s enjoy this while we have it because as we know everything is a fleeting moment.
Post Uro world & now Post Omnath “to be continued” – Personally I have a strong feeling that the health of standard is going to see us go through waves of cycles. We are moving off the Midrange that was once dead in the water, to a more late game format. I have an inkling that an explosive aggro deck could be on the horizon. With that said I think we will fall into one of three categories for Zendikar Rising Standard, and the meta will slowly drift back and forth like waves in players deck favorites of the day. As it should be in the end BALANCED.

I have produced this list from a culmination of a few things. I have reached this point by pulling together research data from multiple sources like untapped, MTGAzone, Aetherhub, twitter, personal gameplay, tournament matches, this reddit as well as others, personal stats, and consistently hitting Mythic over the last year and participation in the last Mythic Qualifier.

Again, Happy to discuss or talk about decks not included! Tier list below plus deck lists (shells – tweak to your heart’s content) if you are looking for some options most all top 1500 at some point many at the #1 Rank, and multiple top end tournament results!

All Full Deck lists below!

MTGA BO3 October 2020 Tier List

Tier 1 (3)

Tier 2 (10)

Tier 3 (6)

Deck lists in Detail

*Note you can copy and paste the specific lists right into MTG, and you are off to the races!