MTG Standard Artisan returns to Arena in Midweek Magic event

Mythic Rare and Rare Magic: The Gathering rarity cards within Standard will take a back seat for the Midweek Magic event featuring the Artisan format. 

Standard Artisan returns to MTG Arena from July 20 to 21. The unique format uses a 60-card minimum deck made up of Magic cards that have a rarity of Common and Uncommon. For players tired of the meta, Standard Artisan provides a number of MTG archetypes to thrive without bombs getting in the way. 

The Midweek Magic event is free-to-play, offering players a chance to earn two cosmetic MTG Arena items when results from the event are shared with a local game store. Players can enter the event any number of times and all matches are played in a best-of-one format. 

Several MTG Standard cards are banned for the Artisan event: Cauldron Familiar, Lucky Clover, and Zenith Flare. Event rewards also include up to two Rare individual card rewards. 

Any monocolored Aggro build will work in the Standard Artisan format, with Mono-Black likely being the best option. Golgari Sacrifice is an old favorite and even Dimir Rogues is an option for players who don’t get enough rogue gameplay in the regular Standard format. Boros Cycling might be the best overall build while Gruul Aggro is a blast to play and is competitively viable. 

The Midweek Magic event featuring Standard Artisan is available to play within MTG Arena from July 20 to 21. There’s no entry fee to play.