We stand on the eve of one of the most exciting things to happen in the entire history of Magic: the Gathering.

Tomorrow is the Mythic Invitational, a 64 player tournament with a million dollar prize purse that will be awarding a quarter of a million dollars to one skilled and lucky winner. It is being held a one of the largest gaming conventions in the world, PAX East, and looks to finally bring Magic into the world of esports.

The structure of the tournament is a unique one called "duo Standard," which is essentially a match played with two different best-of-one decks with no sideboarding. As almost all important Magic in the history of the game has been played best of three, this is a huge departure from the norm.

With the hand smoothing algorithm making curving out easy and being proactive the safest choice, the Mono Colored Aggro decks are a major part of the format, with Mono-Red Aggro the most popular deck on the ladder by a pretty wide margin. On the other half of the coin is Esper Control, a deck that plays zero creatures and seeks to feed on creature decks while blanking all of its opponent's removal spells. With no sideboarding available each player is stuck with their dead removal spells and there are no Duresses and Negates to bring in.

Beyond that are many of the format's usual suspects, as well as decks looking to metagame directly against the high amounts of Mono-Red and Esper.

For today's video we're going to do something a little bit different, taking a tour of ten decks in the format and playing a game with each while we go over each deck's strengths and weaknesses. In doing so we'll get a pretty good look at what the format looks like as a whole.

Time Stamps:

Deck 1 - 00:02:45

Deck 2 - 00:0938

Deck 3 - 00:21:16

Deck 4 - 00:28:41

Deck 5 - 00:40:55

Deck 6 - 00:47:20

Deck 7 - 00:53:50

Deck 8 - 01:04:49

Deck 9 - 01:10:00

Deck 10 - 01:16:30

Mono-Red | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (20)
• 4 Fanatical Firebrand
• 4 Ghitu Lavarunner
• 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
• 4 Runaway Steam-Kin
• 4 Viashino Pyromancer

• Instants (12)
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Shock
• 4 Wizard's Lightning

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Skewer the Critics
• 4 Light Up the Stage

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Experimental Frenzy

• Lands (19)
• 19 Mountain

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Mono-White | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Hunted Witness
• 4 Benalish Marshal
• 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
• 4 Skymarcher Aspirant
• 4 Snubhorn Sentry
• 4 Tithe Taker
• 4 Venerated Loxodon

• Instants (3)
• 3 Unbreakable Formation

• Enchantments (11)
• 3 Conclave Tribunal
• 4 History of Benalia
• 4 Legion's Landing

• Lands (20)
• 20 Plains

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Mono-Blue | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (19)
• 3 Mist-Cloaked Herald
• 4 Merfolk Trickster
• 4 Pteramander
• 4 Siren Stormtamer
• 4 Tempest Djinn

• Instants (15)
• 1 Blink of an Eye
• 1 Essence Capture
• 2 Dive Down
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 4 Opt
• 4 Wizard's Retort

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Chart a Course

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Curious Obsession

• Lands (19)
• 19 Island

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Esper Control | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
• 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

• Instants (19)
• 1 Cast Down
• 1 Warrant // Warden
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 2 Negate
• 3 Chemister's Insight
• 3 Mortify
• 3 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Absorb

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Kaya's Wrath
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (26)
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Isolated Chapel
• 4 Watery Grave

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Golgari Midrange | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (24)
• 2 Midnight Reaper
• 2 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 2 Seekers' Squire
• 3 Carnage Tyrant
• 3 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Jadelight Ranger
• 4 Merfolk Branchwalker
• 4 Wildgrowth Walker

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Vivien Reid

• Instants (6)
• 3 Cast Down
• 3 Vraska's Contempt

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Find // Finality

• Lands (24)
• 5 Swamp
• 9 Forest
• 2 Memorial to Folly
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Woodland Cemetery

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Temur Reclamation | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (2)
• 2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun

• Instants (26)
• 1 Syncopate
• 2 Fiery Cannonade
• 2 Shock
• 2 Sinister Sabotage
• 3 Shivan Fire
• 4 Chemister's Insight
• 4 Expansion // Explosion
• 4 Growth Spiral
• 4 Opt

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 Search for Azcanta
• 4 Wilderness Reclamation

• Lands (26)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 4 Rootbound Crag
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Sulfur Falls

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Selesyna Tokens | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (15)
• 2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 3 Emmara, Soul of the Accord
• 3 Trostani Discordant
• 3 Venerated Loxodon
• 4 Tithe Taker

• Instants (6)
• 2 Unbreakable Formation
• 4 March of the Multitudes

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Saproling Migration

• Enchantments (10)
• 3 Conclave Tribunal
• 3 Legion's Landing
• 4 History of Benalia

• Lands (25)
• 4 Forest
• 9 Plains
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Flower/Flourish

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Esper Acuity | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Instants (21)
• 2 Mission Briefing
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 2 Nightmare's Thirst
• 3 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Mortify
• 4 Opt
• 4 Revitalize

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Cry of the Carnarium
• 3 Mastermind's Acquisition
• 4 Kaya's Wrath

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Dovin's Acuity

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Immortal Sun

• Lands (25)
• 1 Swamp
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Isolated Chapel
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 2 Clear the Mind
• 1 Demystify
• 1 Ethereal Absolution
• 1 Healing Grace
• 1 Ixalan's Binding
• 1 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 1 Mass Manipulation
• 1 Negate
• 1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 1 The Immortal Sun
• 1 The Mirari Conjecture
• 1 Unmoored Ego

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Selesnya Angels | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (28)
• 2 Knight of Autumn
• 3 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 3 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 4 Jadelight Ranger
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Merfolk Branchwalker
• 4 Resplendent Angel
• 4 Wildgrowth Walker

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Vivien Reid

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Adventurous Impulse

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Ixalan's Binding

• Lands (23)
• 7 Plains
• 8 Forest
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden

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Orzhov Aggro | Best of One Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Venerated Loxodon
• 4 Basilica Bell-Haunt
• 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
• 4 Knight of Malice
• 4 Tithe Taker

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
• 2 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper

• Instants (9)
• 3 Cast Down
• 3 Fungal Infection
• 3 Mortify

• Enchantments (7)
• 3 Legion's Landing
• 4 History of Benalia

• Lands (22)
• 5 Swamp
• 7 Plains
• 2 Forsaken Sanctuary
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Isolated Chapel

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