#WOTS is crazier than an ex, Gerry T out, & #MPL Spark Split Week 2 coming up!

Hello & welcome to The Gathering! A news channel dedicated to Magic and Gathering news from around the MTG world to keep you informed. I'm your host, The Wizard of the Post, reminding you to Tap In.

Today we cover some Top 5's in standard. So, let's Untap and get started! All images courtesy of Scryfall! Answer our question of the day in the comments below; what is your favorite meta breaker from War of the Spark?

Top 5 WOTS cards going right now, that I've been able to ascertain are; in no particular order:

Nissa, Who Shakes the World

Good to see Nissa back, with a level head and a straight FIRE card; Mana ramp, bodies, & a finisher.

Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Liliana is a perennial beast & fan favorite. And this card delivers everywhere; Card draw, bodies, removal & board wipe.

Nicol Bolas, Dragon God

This beast lays waste unless you have instant speed answers; card draw, removal and an alternate win-con. Not to mention being Oath of Teferi. He can also copy +2 abilities, getting you to his alternate WinCon is just 3 turns rather than 5.

Teferi, Time Raveler

Locking out instants, giving your spells flash, and bouncing nonland permanents is a beautiful package; on turn 3 it is amazing

Enter the God Eternals

This card turns tides better than most moons; for 5 mana you get a 4/4 creature, kill a 4/4 or less, gain 4 life and mill 4 cards, at instant speed. In dimir colors makes it even stronger.

Next for upkeep we have 5 sleepers that aren't getting as much love as we feel they deserve.

Sleepers

Kefnet fits into the up & coming Izzet and Jeskai builds better than they realize. Once that becomes evident and those builds start to utilize Harvey Birdman it will be a rude awakening to some decks in the format.

Saheeli supplies so many decks with a win condition. She creates her own blockers and allows you to power through on non-legendary creatures by duplicating them. The flexibility is truly amazing.

As if Orzhov needed more creature removal, especially of this magnitude. I was torn between this and Tyrant's Scorn. But, this hits so many threats that it just wins. Ixalan's Binding, most planeswalkers, The Immortal Sun, Rekindling Phoenix, the list goes on.

Rakdos has a nice compliment to Bedevil now & it actually pushes the 'sacrifice' line of play that you can build into. I think Rakdos will make a come back in the near future and I see this being part of its package.

Not much of a sleeper in this one, but it isn't seeing its way into many decks at the moment. Golgari can definitely benefit from this, and following up the turn after a Ghalta pretty much ends the game for mono green.

And we close out with Draw; the Top 5 played or nearly top 5 played cards according to MTG Arena.

Overall

• Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• Opt
• Vraska's Contempt
• Lightning Strike
• Llanowar Elves

• Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• Opt
• Vraska's Contempt
• Lightning Strike
• Llanowar Elves

Venerable Teferi sees such huge play in Arena; mainly because it is easier to play an internet jerk than it is at your local shop. These decks continue to be devoid of win cons other than the opponent drawing out & that is a valid line of play. But, ultimately it is bad for the game overall. I wait out these games instead of scooping to keep them from being able to get quick games in & prevent them from bothering anyone else.

Opt, Vraska's Contempt and Lightning Strike aren't very surprising. Considering the prevalence of mono blue, mono red and the sheer number of decks that split or splash black these 3 should come as no surprise.

Sadness can now issue forth, as all of these will rotate in October. Leaving only Ravnica and Core 2020 in Standard. And I truly feel sorry for anyone trying to jump into Magic Stanard come October as well. #WarOfTheSpark set the format up for some serious power level and deep play over the next year. It is definitely an interesting time.

Main Phase

For the Main Phase today, I think the biggest news of the week is Gerry Thompson pulling out of the MPL. He announced in a Tweet on Monday, May 13th that he was withdrawing.

He cites contract issues, poor management, poor coverage, & lack of communication. Gerry is a pillar of the Magic community and this could be a blow to the credibility of the MPL as a whole. As other respected faces sounded off in Twitter regarding Gerry's decision. Wedge,

To fill that hole, along with the hole left by the now excommunicated Yuuya Watanabe who was banned for 30 months & removed from the Magic Hall of Fame. The Magic eSports rep Elaine Chase announced that Janne "Savjz" Mikkonen and Jessica Estephan were being added to replace Yuuya and Gerry. While these two have relatively new and decent pedigrees they carry no where near the weight & credibility of Yuuya and Gerry. We do however wish them the best in the monstrous shoes they've been thrust into trying to fill. I feel this is far from fair from these two great competitors as well.

In this same article, Magic eSports rep Elaine Chase also announced that there would be 16 'discretionary' slots in each MPL season & that they would use to increase diversity and inclusion rather than being based on prior performance and direct qualification.

Next in Combat, we have MPL Spark Split Week 2 on the plate. Announced on May 14th it kicks off on Satruday May 18th at noon Pacific on Twitch.

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Piotr Głogowski, and William "Huey" Jensen sprinted out of the gates during Week 1 with two victories apiece, setting the pace for the Sapphire and Ruby divisions during their double-match weeks.

https://www.mtgesports.com/news/mpl-spark-split-week-2-overview

This week features double-match play in the Pearl and Emerald divisions, so after Saturday most players will have three of their seven matches in the books for the Spark Split. Matches don't quite have must-win status yet, but no one wants to put themselves in an 0-3 hole. Márcio Carvalho and Jean-Emmanuel Depraz face each other as the 0-2 players in the Sapphire Division; whoever drops to 0-3 will have a massive hill to climb to win the division.

https://www.mtgesports.com/news/mpl-spark-split-week-2-overview

There are also rumors that #ModernHorizons spoilers will be starting today and over the weekend with the MPL. So that may be something to keep your eyes out for.

Now we come to End Phase. Thank you for Tapping In! Leave us a comment below to answer our question of the day. Join us on Discord. Subscribe & ring the Kormus Bell on our YouTube channel to enter our subscriber contest that ends on May 24th. I've been your host, The Wizard of the Post, and that was Magic.