There are only two weeks left in the MTG War of the Spark split and week four of MPL Weekly has a huge matchup featuring two undefeated players in the Emerald Division.
MPL Weekly is a new series produced by Magic: The Gathering in which the 32 Magic Pro League (MPL) players compete in weekly splits around the year for a day one bye in the upcoming MTG Mythic Championship. With Mythic Championship III in Las Vegas just around the corner (June 21 to 23), players are bringing their best constructed War of the Spark decks into the final weeks in hopes of earning that bye.
In the Emerald Division, two players stand above the pack and are ready to battle it out in week four of MPL Weekly. Seth Manfield (4-0) and Brad Nelson (4-0) are each looking to wrap up the week at 6-0 since the Emerald Division has double matches this week. Manfield is playing the league favorite Mono-Red Aggro, while Nelson is taking charge with Esper Midrange.
Related: Who to watch in week three of MPL Weekly: WotS metagame and decklists
MPL newcomers Jessica Estephan and Janne “Savjz” Mikkonen are also joining the party in MPL Weekly and hoping to earn a few wins in their first week. Competing in the Ruby Division, each player has a chance to take the lead and give Lucas Esper Berthoud and Ken Yukuhiro a run for their money.
Estephan is breaking trends by playing a Dimir Control deck against Carlos Romão’s and Lucas Esper Berthoud’s Gruul Midrange, Reid Duke’s Sultai Midrange, Ken Yukuhiro’s Mono-Red Aggro, and Savjz’s Simic Nexus.
After facing off against Estephan, Savjz will take on Duke, Romão, and William “Huey” Jensen, who’s playing a Mono-Red Aggro deck in week four of Magic: The Gathering MPL Weekly.
Other matches to keep an eye on are in the Sapphire Division. Rei Sato (3-1) is taking on Piotr Głogowski (3-1), while Jean-Emmanuel Depraz (1-3) attempts to stay alive while facing off against Autumn Burchett (2-2).
Glowgowski is playing an Esper Midrange deck while Sato is going with Gruul Midrange. Burchett is sticking with Mono-Red Aggro and Depraz is using Izzet Phoenix.
In addition, Brian Braun-Duin (4-1) and Eric Froehlich (4-1) will face off in the Pearl Division. BBD is playing Esper Midrange, while Froehlich has Gruul Midrange.
MPL Weekly week four metagame
Unlike the first three weeks of MPL Weekly, week four will feature 11 players using the Mono-Red Aggro archetype. Meanwhile, Esper Midrange and Gruul Midrange stayed about the same with four players each.
| Archetypes | Number of players |
| Mono-Red Aggro | 11 |
| Esper Midrange | 4 |
| Gruul Midrange | 4 |
| Four-Colored Dreadhorde | 2 |
| Jeskai Walkers | 2 |
| Simic Nexus | 2 |
| Dimir Control | 1 |
| Izzet Wizards | 1 |
| Rakdos Aggro | 1 |
| Izzet Phoenix | 1 |
| Sultai Dreadhorde | 1 |
| Simic Mass Manipulation | 1 |
| Sultai Midrange | 1 |
Four-Color Dreadhorde (which made its first appearance last week), Jeskai Walkers, and Simic Nexus round out the lower end with only two players per archetype.
With 13 different archetypes in week four of MPL Weekly, two haven’t been seen yet. Andrew Cuneo is playing Izzet Wizards, a deck that features Dreadhorde Arcanist, Augur of Bolas, Adeliz, the Cinder Wind, Naru Meha Master Wizard, and Goblin Electromancer.
The other new archetype deck belongs to Lee Shi Tian with Simic Mass Manipulation. Featuring four Nissa, Who Shakes the World and Hydroid Krasis, Simic Mass Manipulation is quick and powerful. And the game-changer, of course, is Mass Manipulation.
MPL Weekly will be streamed on the Magic: The Gathering Twitch channel every Saturday at 2pm CT.
Published: May 30, 2019 10:30 am