Raise the Standard: an MTG Podcast

Oracle Text: Good news, everyone! Vivi Ornitier is banned in Standard! The snail's pace of a numb format took us all the way until November 10th when the inevitable announcement came: Vivi Orinitier is banned in Standard, along with Proft's Eidetic Memory and Screaming Nemesis. So...is Standard finally fixed? Let's chat today about the most recent ban announcement, what it means for the format, ou...

Oracle Text: We're recapping Regional Championship 10 that happened a few weeks back in October! Kira was a part of the Super Series commentary team and spent the whole weekend neck-deep in Modern and the competitive scene--so let's chat about the metagame, the plays, and all the things that make Modern great right now! If you're interested in starting your competitive journey, the ANZ Super Serie...

Oracle Text : Water...earth...fire...air...Magic! From 2005 on Nickelodeon to 2025 as a part of Wizards' own Magic: the Gathering, the Avatar: the Last Airbender (Universes Beyond) set is lining up to be just as much of a hit as its original TV series. The nostalgia factor coupled with thoughtful card designs have fans itching for pre release, which is scheduled for this Friday, November 14th. As...

Oracle Text : For our next deck tech spotlight, we're going absolutely big-brained. We loved so many of the decks from our series about the underdogs of the Standard format, the decks that are just below the surface and waiting to break through--and Kira loved Simic Omniscience so much that she immediately built the deck and started playing it. So today, we're walking you through Simic Omniscience...

Oracle Text: Our third guest on the show is a woman who needs little introduction--but we will give her one anyway! She is a member of the Australian 7-Point Highlander Points Committee, a veteran Magic player of incredible skill, a Top 4 player at Pat's most recent CanBrawl tournament, and a pioneer of the 8-Point Archetype: today's special guest slot is taken by none other than Aunt Voltie! In t...

Oracle Text: Standard is in...a bit of a state right now. But lurking underneath the surface of a metagame dominated by Cauldrons and Mono Red lie some interesting Standard decks that have yet to crack the ice. Today, we look at the "Marit Lage" decks (copyright Kira 2025), the decks that are hiding just below but may soon break through into the meta. Some decks that we discuss--like Simic Aggro--...

Oracle Text : We were at PAX Australia this weekend, and as we recover from our first-ever live show and a weekend of Magic, we bring to you this incredible archival piece from our Raise the Standard catalogue. In this episode, we were discussing (at the time) what cards we believed could be banned in Standard, which decks were in strong positions, and how things might possibly change if there wer...

Oracle Text: Wait a second...this isn't even Standard! Welcome to our very first episode of Mildly Modern , an MTG podcast within an MTG podcast! We as Magic players are not so linear as to only play one format, and while Standard is the format that is nearest and dearest to our hearts, we realised how much we love and are invested in 60-card constructed competitive formats and decided that it is...

Oracle Text: The audio lives on! Welcome to another episode of Time in the Round, where we let our clips and chats live on in a beautiful farm up north. Today, we went on a bit of a tangent about Magic: the Gathering Arena: how it can make you a better player, how it can make you a complacent player, and how sometimes it even lets you "cheat". | Music from HitsLab via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Pixabay⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thumbn...

Oracle Text: 🎶 Spider-Man, Spider-Man, he's a--Legendary Creature Spider Human Hero--and he does whatever a spider can 🎶 Today we bring you our Spider-Man Standard predictions, taking a dive into which cards we think are going to see play in the meta, what role they might play, and which decks we may see them played in. The second Universes Beyond set of 2025 has some unique challenges, but also...

Oracle Text: So, you want to learn how to play Magic? We've got the best thing for you! No, it's not a pre-con Commander deck... From the Arena tutorial, to Starter Kits, to playing Standard, constructed formats are a new player's best friend! (In our humble opinion.) Starting with Standard is easier and more comprehensible for players who have not played a game of Magic--with a reduced card pool,...

Oracle Text: For this installment of Time in the Round, we laugh at Vryn's most sopping wet meow-meow, discover exactly how tall Tezzeret is, and discuss the merits of Blood Moon in other formats. Time in the Round is a sub-series where we have a laugh and share outtakes from the main episodes. While we endeavour to stay on track and on topic...we may occasionally get distracted. It's been known t...

Oracle Text : Hold our hands. It's going to be okay. I promise it's going to be okay. This is the inevitable Vivi episode where we commiserate about Standard's worst Black Mage. We don't need to talk about if Vivi is bad/bad for the format. We know it is, and we can see from the results that Izzet Cauldron is putting up that the deck is a real force in the format. But the way that Vivi is homogeni...

Oracle Text: Today, we bring to you a the start of a new series within the Raise the Standard playbill: Deck Spotlight! Pulling from the Standard metagame, we will break down popular and played decks and go over their playstyles, deck construction, strengths and weaknesses, sideboard, and more! And we must, of course, start with the villain of the Standard format: Vivi Cauldron . Izzet Cauldron (l...

Oracle Text: Congratulations! You've qualified for a Regional Championship event--an RC, similar to the PTQ's of old--and now it's the night before the event. How can you best prepare? What should you be doing? We've previously touched on your first competitive event, back in ⁠Episode 17⁠ , and we're continuing to follow the thread of increasing competition, going from your RCQ (your qualifying ev...

Oracle Text: It's a whole new Standard format! Or...is it? What's happening in Standard now that we've completed our first rotation since the 3-year extension? Which decks have risen in popularity? Which decks have we lost to rotation? Let's discuss! | This episode of Raise the Standard is sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. You can collect your Play Season Rewards by participating in eligible even...

Oracle Text: We went to space!...And it was awesome! While we did spend some time playing draft, we're here to talk about--to nobody's surprise--Standard! This was the first chance that we had to play in a post-rotation Standard universe, and WOW! The playing field for Standard is wide-open following rotation and a sweeping set of bans in Standard. Today, we're talking about which decks we played,...

Oracle Text: We've completed our Standard planetary rotation! Ahem--Standard has rotated, and we leave behind several more sets for the eternal formats to make room for the latest, shiniest Magic: the Gathering set: Edge of Eternities. With rotation, we've lost some key cards that were crucial to the Standard format as we knew it; so what cards are we going to replace them with? Today, we're looki...

Oracle Text: Countdown has been initiated, and the launch sequence is activated. Edge of Eternities is rocketing to your LGS today for pre release! Today, we're chatting about new EOE cards that we think are going to find their way through the galaxy and make their way into the Standard Meta. [This is not a financial advice podcast!] What cards do you have your eyes on? Which cards are going to be...

Oracle Text: Every three years, the Standard format goes through a spin cycle in the wash--it's rotation season! We're cleaning out our older Standard sets to usher in a new era of Standard play. Fare thee well to: Dominaria United, The Brothers' War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, and March of the Machine: Aftermath. You will be...missed? Join us today as we talk about rotation,...

Oracle Text: We're picking right up where we left off on Monday and diving straight back in with Jennifer-Rose Holloway, winner of Regional Chapmionship 9 Melbourne! Join Meia and Jennifer-Rose as they continue to discuss prepping for the RC, the good matchups and the bad, and what it takes to go from playing your first RC to winning your first RC in just two days! (Results may vary.) A huge thank...

Oracle Text: This episode was recorded shortly after Jennifer-Rose Holloway took down the win at Regional Championship 9 - Melbourne! Shocking the then-current meta (pre-Final Fantasy) of Omniscience Combo, Izzet Prowess, and Orzhov Pixie, Jennifer-Rose won on Dimir Midrange. Today, we bring you this conversation hosted by Meia as she and Jennifer-Rose discuss prepping for the RC, choosing to play...

Oracle Text : Cori-Steel Cutter? ❌ Monstrous Rage? ❌ Heartfire Hero? ❌ Up the Beanstalk? ❌ Hopeless Nightmare? ❌ This Town Ain't Big Enough? ❌ Abuelo's Awakening? ❌ It might feel like the right question to ask is: what didn't get banned?? Today, we're talking about last week's inevitable Standard bans. We're breaking down the ethos behind the bans, the benefit of "early rotation", and celeb...

Oracle Text: On the heels of the Finalest of Fantasies, we bring you another episode of Time in the Round , where our audio gets a second chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of having a good laugh. These episodes are a supercut of outtakes from our main series; bits and gags that weren't quite up to snuff but are too good to let go of! Sit back, relax, and laugh along with us! | This episode...

Oracle Text : A huge thank you to Wizards of the Coast for giving us special early access through the MTG Arena Client for the preview of FINAL FANTASY x Magic: the Gathering! This episode would not be possible without their support, and we are so grateful to have been invited back to participate in another Early Access event. Today we're talking about the cards we loved most from Final Fantasy an...