Raise the Standard: an MTG Podcast

Don your raincoats and pop open your umbrellas as we prepare to brave the weather with none other than Richard Owen as we journey through the history of Storm as a 7PT archetype in Highlander. There are few players who are as familiar with Storm's changes as Richard, and we're incredibly lucky to have him back for his third episode (Richard Count: 3). Storm has changed in significant strokes, brou...

He's back! There are few people who have played as much storm as Richard, and few people still who have beaten storm as much as he has. While the storm archetype remains the Big Bad of the Highlander metagame as we wait to see what impact the most recent points update has on the format, Richard is here to reassure us that storm is beatable! Today, Storm expert Richard Owen is taking us through the...

The day before the Highlander Committee pointed Storm, it rained for three days straight in Melbourne, Australia, where we set the scene for the latest Highlander Points Update. And who better to talk about the latest changes to Storm than the weatherman himself: Richard Owen! Richard has developed Storm as a 7PT archetype over the last four years and has earned himself some impressive pointings i...

Today's episode is brought to you by Kira, who really, really wanted to talk about the merits of Underground Sea as your 8th point. Within this discussion, we debate the broader pointing philosophy, the function of good mana, and having to re-think deckbuilding decisions after a points update. Reminder: we are not committee members! The Highlander Points Committee works incredibly hard to manage t...

There's a lot of churn happening in Standard post-ban, and that leaves room for a lot of innovation in the format. New sets and recent bans mean that players are going rogue--looking for new combos, synergies, and play patterns that may prove to be incredibly powerful. Today, we're taking a look at a handful of rogue decks that are or have performed well in the current metagame. What do these deck...

And lo, the Committee said unto the Highlander players: Strip Mine is now 2 Points. And there came a great commotion from the masses of Land players and Weenie players, who were distraught at this news and there came upon a great relief from anyone who has had their land Strip'd. Strip Mine to 2! Bones to 1! And who in the world suggested Daze to 1?! Today, we're talking about the most recent High...

Well...! Here we are again. The week after we said, "There's no way that Wizards will ban Cub and Talent if they haven't banned them yet," Wizards said, "Bet." So, at long last, the new villains of the Standard format have been ushered into an early retirement. What does this mean for Standard now? Why wait until this ban cycle (August 10, 2026) to ban these cards? How will this impact the format...

He's back, and he's Boros than ever...! We're kidding, of course, there is no way that Titan enthusiast Riley Jones would play Boros at the Modern Spotlight series...or is there? We're thrilled to have Riley Jones back for another episode, this time about team prep ahead of Spotlight Series Brisbane, the first Spotlight event in Australia since the retirement of the GP series. We're chatting about...

As of time of recording (24/7/26), we still don't know what the Universes Beyond sets for 2027 are...so let's have a bit of a laugh and wildly speculate about what those sets could be! We're parsing this episode as part of the 'Time in the Round' series, as it's more of a bonus episode, but is content that we still found quite funny! What is your wish for a Universes Beyond set? Game of Thrones ?...

On the heels of an incredible run at the Sydney Standard Spectacular $100K, we're joined today by Riley Jones! Far from being bad at Magic, Riley placed second at the $100K on a build of Prowess that incidentally has a great track record of beating the stock Prowess deck in Standard. Today, we're chatting with Riley about how the deck was built, the conception around playing the best deck while si...

Obviously, we're a bit late to the party here--but we're going to talk about the 'No Changes' ban announcement anyway! This announcement was published June 29th of this year and honestly, we were a bit surprised. With the way the Standard metagame has been moving (or some would say, not moving) we had anticipated at least a couple of changes to the format. So why didn't we see anything banned? Let...

We've been gone for a while...so what's been happening while we were away?! From no bans in Standard to ProTour Marvel Super Heroes and everything in between, there's been a lot that we've missed. So join us today as we dive straight back in and chat about what's happening in Magic and what's coming up! We sincerely appreciate your patience and support as we've had to take additional time away fro...

Class is now in session! Our guest lecturer today is none other than Highlander committee member and Highlander World Champion: Aunt Voltie ⚡ Voltie is a seasoned deckbuilder and a competitive Magic player of remarkably high caliber. She is a content creator, tournament organiser, and community member who is well-known for her knowledge and prowess within the game of Magic. Today, we're chatting...

After her dominating performance at Highlander Worlds, we've brought beloved Highlander committee member and friend of the show, Aunt Voltie, back to answer for her crimes: playing 7PT Boros. In her previous episode, Voltie talked about the benefits of two-colour pair decks (Dimir and Boros most notably) playing 8PT lists rather than 7PT lists. However, rather than take her own advice, she registe...

MTG Arena's Alchemy format is truly in a league of its own. From "conjure" mechanics and "draft from spellbook" the online-only mechanics are often difficult if not impossible to replicate in paper. But there is another, more interesting use of the Alchemy format: de-powering paper cards. Cards like The One Ring, Orcish Bowmasters, Heartfire Hero, and Cori-Steel Cutter are amongst the modern paper...

> This episode was filmed prior to Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven < The most important test of a Magic player's career happened this weekend! But prior to the Pro Tour, we sat down to discuss the PT in broad strokes: what we expected to see, what we hoped to see, and what we thought might be coming next for the Standard metagame. This weekend has been a showing that the Standard metagame is...

Folks, let's be honest with each other. The "Year of Izzet" has persisted a lot longer than any of us really expected. A majority of the current Standard banlist as of April 2026 is comprised of red and/or blue cards, yet Izzet has remained a dominant colour pair throughout these ban cycles. So...why is that? Between access to perfect mana, a suite of interactive spells and card refinement options...

We've seen the increased power level amongst Standard sets steadily growing over the last few months, but there's something that feels decidedly pushed about Strixhaven. From creatures with iconic Magic spells stapled on them to recursive spell effects that will dominate a game, Strixhaven is powerful in a way that feels different to other current Standard-legal sets. So let's talk about the power...

Gather your scrolls, ink your quills, and make sure you have your lecture schedule handy--we're heading back to Strixhaven! As is tradition, we have gathered a handful of some of the cards we think are going to be standouts in the Standard format. From lands to sorceries, we've got a little bit of everything today! Rest assured, we did our research and took some notes, like all good students do! W...

We would be remiss not to bring back our most-mentioned player, Ben Tudman, for another conversation on the Standard format, its quirks, how it's changed, and what comes next for players and the metagame alike. So join us for another episode with Ben Tudman, recorded shortly after his appearance at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed. Listeners beware--there is a moment during this recording where the camera...

Back on the pod today is none other than Sam Loy! In Sam's last episode, we touched on the ten-year pause he put on competitive Magic and today we're going to dive into that break, how competitive Magic has changed in that time, and how players grow and adapt in ever-changing metagames. A huge thank you to Sam for coming back for another episode and for sharing his wisdom with us! This was such a...

We just can't get enough of our amazing competitive players--and today, we've got return friend of the show Michael Billinghurst back for another episode! If you are playing in the competitive Melbourne scene--especially if you're playing Highlander--then you know Billinghurst's name. From the committee to judging, Billinghurst is a pinnacle of the Vic crowd, and we're thrilled to have him for ano...

We're on the ProTour grind! Joining us today is the eponymous leader of Team Sam Loy--it's Sam Loy! Today we're chatting about Sam's pro tour experience, being on the feature match table, and predicting the Standard metagame when the field is wide open. A huge thank you to Sam for joining us for today's episode. And we're so incredibly excited to announce that Raise the Standard is now sponsored b...

Ben Tudman...Ben Tudman...Ben Tudman...! He's back! Friend of the show, the player whose name we invoke more than anyone else, and ProTour regular, Ben Tudman joins us again on the podcast to discuss his experience at ProTour Lorwyn Eclipsed! Ben had an incredible showing at PT Lorwyn Eclipsed and is re-queued for the next two PTs--so today we're discussing what the event was like, the deck he pla...

Today we've got a very special episode brought to you from the Raise archives: one of our very first screentests! Journey with us through the time vortex back to August 2025, when we first sat down in the studio to test our transition to video. Laugh with us as we read through Ashiok's MTG wiki page, discuss its involvement (or lackthereof) in War of the Spark, and shudder to think of the number o...