MTG Standard metagame finds balance in MPL Ruby Division round-robin matches

Challengers rise to take on Kethis Combo.
MTG Mythic Championship III top four players
Screengrab via [Twitch.tv/magic](https://www.twitch.tv/magic)

With a day-one bye on the line for Mythic Championship V, the MTG metagame finds balance once again during the MPL Ruby Division round-robin matches.

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Last week, in the Sapphire Division tournaments, the Standard meta was all about the Kethis Combo. Prior to that, the Emerald and Pearl Divisions relied heavily on Orzhov Vampires and Bant Scapeshift. With the Ruby Division wrapping up the final week of MPL Weekly, each of the eight pros gravitated towards decks they were comfortable with.

  • Lucas Esper Berthoud: Bant Scapeshift
  • Jean-Emmanuel Deprez: Izzet Phoenix
  • Reid Duke: Kethis Combo
  • William Jensen: Kethis Combo
  • Andrea Mengucci: Esper Control
  • Rei Sato: Grixis Control
  • Mike Sigrist: Esper Control
  • Ben Stark: Mono-Red Aggro

Ben Stark took a risk that other MPL players have been avoiding leading up to Mythic Championship V by playing Mono-Red Aggro. But that risk paid off for him, especially against Esper Control and Izzet Phoenix. 

Mengucci took his first lost to Jensen (Kethis Combo) but ran hot with his Esper Control until facing off with Stark (Mono-Red Aggro). To determine if he’ll make the top four, Mengucci faces off against Sigirist today in an Esper Control showdown.  

No word on Twitter yet from Duke and his Kethis Combo deck (likewise with Jensen). From an early look at the MPL Ruby Division round-robin matches, it doesn’t seem like one archetype is dominating too much over the others.

The top-four MPL players in the Ruby Division will battle it out via an upper and lower bracket tournament this Saturday at 2pm CT via Magic Twitch. In addition, the inductees into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame will also be announced.  


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Danny Forster
Lead Magic: The Gathering/Teamfight Tactics scribe and staff writer for Dot Esports. Danny is a gamer beach bum residing in Spacecoast Florida and has been a journalist for seven years, of which five have been at Dot Esports. Prior media outllets Danny wrote for were Screen Rant and TheGamer. You can typically catch Danny playing TCGs and a variety of strategic games. He also hangs out on Twitter @Dannyspacecoast.