No changes.
The current meta appears to be healthier and more diverse after the previous two point updates. This conclusion was drawn from observing changes to the winner’s meta, reading survey responses polled from the community, and through first hand accounts of councilors playing in events. The council believes the format is currently in a good place, and the majority opinion is that no changes are necessary as we move into the summer season. The plan remains to re-evaluate the state of the format every 3 months.
The previous two point updates sought to reign in combo and blue control, which were previously overrepresented in the winner’s meta in top cut and trophy rates. Recall Jeskai control and Bant Time Vault were particularly successful since the May 13, 2025 point update, with fast combo decks also doing well. The Mystical Tutor increase in January paired with the pointing of Tamiyo and The One Ring aimed to broadly reduce the power level of blue control and combo, with the acknowledgment that these changes may not be enough to meaningfully shift the meta. Since March, the outlier decks have dropped to healthier levels of representation such that no further action was deemed necessary at this time.
The exploration of Time Walk and Recall outside of its pairing with Mystical in Jeskai has added diversity to how blue players can find success. This has led to a renewed interest in Grixis, Sultai, and various 4C shells testing a variety of spreads and taking down events. We’re also glad to see that Tamiyo continues to see play at 1 and is a competitive option alongside other blue 1 pointers. Survey results indicate the community largely agrees that the Tamiyo and Time Walk changes were successful in accomplishing their stated goals.
The One Ring was chosen to be pointed as the card that most broadly hit the top performing combo decks, namely Time Vault, Citadel Storm, Lotus Breach, and Flash Hulk. There were concerns among the council that this change would have a disproportional effect on artifact combo while only lightly affecting spell-based fast combo, resulting in little change to the pressure fast combo exerts on the meta and requiring further action. Fortunately, the meta has appeared to adjust as intended. We have seen a modest reduction to the top cut and trophy rates of the top performing combo decks without these decks becoming unviable. Time Vault has weathered losing two points, shifting from the most dominant archetype of the past year to a viable option among the top tier.
Several cards were discussed as potential candidates for future changes, but frankly opinions were divided and no consensus was reached. Changes discussed include but are not limited to:
- Strip Mine to 0
- Wrenn and Six to 0
- Tainted Pact to 0
- Merchant Scroll to 0
- Thassa’s Oracle to 4
- Nadu to 2
- Enlightened Tutor to 1
- Spellseeker to 1
- Ragavan to 1
- Abhorrent Oculus to 1
It is important to reiterate that the council is against changes at this time and none of the cards listed gained enough momentum to be called to vote.