Okay, so I’ve been diving deep into the MTG Explorer meta lately, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I wanted to share my experience, from the very beginning to where I’m at now, so maybe it can help some of you out there.
I started by just, you know, playing. I grabbed a few decks that I liked, some popular ones, some not-so-popular ones, and just started jamming games. No real plan, just trying to get a feel for what was out there.
After a while, though, I realized I needed to be a bit more methodical. It felt like I got the result by luck. I started to take notice of what was working and what was totally getting destroyed. I kept running into this Rakdos Midrange deck, and it was giving me serious headaches. So, that was the first thing I wanted to figure out: how to beat Rakdos. I mean, seriously, that deck was everywhere!
My Studying Process Begins:
- I started to Search online for “top Explorer decks.” Lots of lists, lots of different opinions. I found a couple of websites.
- Then I focused on deck techs. I wanted to see how people were playing these decks, what their sideboarding strategies were, and so on. Videos, articles, anything I could find.
- I made myself a list of all the decks that people are considered to be good.
After gathering some info, I started to put a real plan in action. I’d pick a deck I was interested in, really study it, and then play a bunch of games. And I mean, a bunch of games. I kept track of my wins and losses, what I was playing against, and any notes on how the matches went. Stuff like, “This hand was garbage, should have mulliganed,” or “This sideboard plan totally worked against that deck.”
It was like the second month of doing this, I started to see some patterns. Certain decks were just really, really good. Rakdos, like I mentioned. Izzet Phoenix was another one that kept popping up and wrecking me. Greasefang, Okiba Boss seemed super strong too. And then there were the rogue decks, the ones that weren’t as popular but could still steal wins if you weren’t careful. The list is:
- Rakdos Midrange
- Izzet Phoenix
- Greasefang, Okiba Boss
- …And some rogue decks
I’m still in the thick of it, to be honest. I’m trying out different decks, tweaking my sideboards, and constantly adjusting to what I’m seeing. It’s a grind, but it’s also super rewarding when you finally start to crack the code and see those win percentages go up. It feels good to have finally beat down some of the Rakdos.
The Explorer meta is constantly evolving, so it’s not like you can just “solve” it and be done. But that’s part of what makes it so fun, right? There’s always something new to learn, a new deck to try, a new strategy to *, the key is that you have to keep grinding.
