Raise the Standard: an MTG Podcast

After her dominating performance at Highlander Worlds, we've brought beloved Highlander committee member and friend of the show, Aunt Voltie, back to answer for her crimes: playing 7PT Boros.

In her previous episode, Voltie talked about the benefits of two-colour pair decks (Dimir and Boros most notably) playing 8PT lists rather than 7PT lists. However, rather than take her own advice, she registered 7-Point Boros for Highlander Worlds. A decision that clearly panned out, as she took down the entire tournament and won a Time Walk! A huge congratulations to Voltie on her performance at...

MTG Arena's Alchemy format is truly in a league of its own. From "conjure" mechanics and "draft from spellbook" the online-only mechanics are often difficult if not impossible to replicate in paper. But there is another, more interesting use of the Alchemy format: de-powering paper cards.

Cards like The One Ring, Orcish Bowmasters, Heartfire Hero, and Cori-Steel Cutter are amongst the modern paper cards that have been 'nerfed' in Alchemy. This is often a concession to the true power of the paper card and are ones that have been banned in one format or another...

> This episode was filmed prior to Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven

Folks, let's be honest with each other. The "Year of Izzet" has persisted a lot longer than any of us really expected. A majority of the current Standard banlist as of April 2026 is comprised of red and/or blue cards, yet Izzet has remained a dominant colour pair throughout these ban cycles. So...why is that?

Between access to perfect mana, a suite of interactive spells and card refinement options, and good creatures to boot, Izzet as a colour pair and format-defining archetype maintains an iron grip on the Standard metagame. Though it has fallen...

We've seen the increased power level amongst Standard sets steadily growing over the last few months, but there's something that feels decidedly pushed about Strixhaven.

From creatures with iconic Magic spells stapled on them to recursive spell effects that will dominate a game, Strixhaven is powerful in a way that feels different to other current Standard-legal sets. So let's talk about the power of Secrets of Strixhaven, the potential effect it will have on the metagame, and how Standard has shifted towards a level that eclipses original Modern by miles.

| Music...

Gather your scrolls, ink your quills, and make sure you have your lecture schedule handy--we're heading back to Strixhaven!

As is tradition, we have gathered a handful of some of the cards we think are going to be standouts in the Standard format. From lands to sorceries, we've got a little bit of everything today! Rest assured, we did our research and took some notes, like all good students do!

Which cards are you most excited for? What new archetypes might develop from this new set? Let's chat!

We would be remiss not to bring back our most-mentioned player, Ben Tudman, for another conversation on the Standard format, its quirks, how it's changed, and what comes next for players and the metagame alike.

So join us for another episode with Ben Tudman, recorded shortly after his appearance at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed. Listeners beware--there is a moment during this recording where the camera stopped recording...but the microphones didn't! Enjoy a brief intermission wherein we wait for the camera to cool down and ramble for a bit before realising we're still live.

Back on the pod today is none other than Sam Loy! In Sam's last episode, we touched on the ten-year pause he put on competitive Magic and today we're going to dive into that break, how competitive Magic has changed in that time, and how players grow and adapt in ever-changing metagames.

A huge thank you to Sam for coming back for another episode and for sharing his wisdom with us! This was such a fun back-and-forth and we're so excited to see Sam off on this new leg of his competitive journey.

<...

We just can't get enough of our amazing competitive players--and today, we've got return friend of the show Michael Billinghurst back for another episode!

If you are playing in the competitive Melbourne scene--especially if you're playing Highlander--then you know Billinghurst's name. From the committee to judging, Billinghurst is a pinnacle of the Vic crowd, and we're thrilled to have him for another episode. Today we're talking about the progression of skill in competitive Magic, how to avoid burnout, and why grinders are more prone to feeling like they're not improving even when they're at the...

We're on the ProTour grind! Joining us today is the eponymous leader of Team Sam Loy--it's Sam Loy!

Today we're chatting about Sam's pro tour experience, being on the feature match table, and predicting the Standard metagame when the field is wide open. A huge thank you to Sam for joining us for today's episode.

And we're so incredibly excited to announce that Raise the Standard is now sponsored by MTGBazaar! Pat and the Bazaar crew are a pillar of the Magic community and of the competitive Magic scene here in...

Ben Tudman...Ben Tudman...Ben Tudman...! He's back! Friend of the show, the player whose name we invoke more than anyone else, and ProTour regular, Ben Tudman joins us again on the podcast to discuss his experience at ProTour Lorwyn Eclipsed!

Ben had an incredible showing at PT Lorwyn Eclipsed and is re-queued for the next two PTs--so today we're discussing what the event was like, the deck he played, and what the future of his pro play looks like. A huge thank you to Ben for coming back to join us in the studio...

Today we've got a very special episode brought to you from the Raise archives: one of our very first screentests! Journey with us through the time vortex back to August 2025, when we first sat down in the studio to test our transition to video.

Laugh with us as we read through Ashiok's MTG wiki page, discuss its involvement (or lackthereof) in War of the Spark, and shudder to think of the number of teeth it has.

| Music from HitsLab via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at Hen House Rehearsal S...

Our very own Meia trucked off to Canberra for CanCon 2026 and played in the annual Highlander tournament, an event that boasted over 200 competing players. Through eight rounds of competitive play, butting heads with Grixis, Moons, and even a Zirda combo deck, she placed in the Top 8!

Today, our special guest is Meia herself, as she talks about the tournament, her deck, and what it took to Thoracle combo all over the competition. A huge congratulations to Meia for an incredible result! We're looking forward to seeing her combo off at the next one!

<...

Oracle Text:

Oh. My. Pro Tour. Seven different decks in the Top 8, brand new archetypes that dominated the competition, and Badgermole Cub getting beaten into the dirt? Yes, please!

This was a heck of a ProTour to kick off 2026. On the heels of an incredibly strong set--Lorwyn Eclipsed--the chance for Standard to change on a massive scale was just on the horizon. The Pros got their hands on the cards and went to work, crafting Elemental decks and refining the Control and Reanimator archetypes. Today, we're looking back at ProTour Lorwyn...

Oracle Text:

We sat down and took it easy today--before heading off to CanCon for a weekend of Highlander excitement, we were in the studio chatting about the format, countervailing opinions within the community, and whether or not Brainstorm is worth one point.

This episode was recorded before Canberra Convention 2026, where Meia placed in the Top 8 of a 200+ player tournament! We've recorded an episode about Meia's tournament experience, the deck she played, and how she's grown as a successful Highlander player which will be coming out in the next couple of...

Oracle Text:

Hey guys...We don't want to jinx anything...but Standard is looking pretty good right now! From the recent Spotlight Series metagame to new cards coming into the format via Lorwyn: Eclipsed, Standard seems to be going in a really good direction.

We're taking it easy and chatting about the metagame distribution, good cards, better archetypes, and what might be coming at the next Pro Tour.

| Music from HitsLab via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at Hen House Rehearsal Studios...

Oracle Text:

We've returned to Lorwyn! After nearly 20 years, we have returned to the plane of light and shadow, of brumbly boggarts and merry merfolk, and we couldn't be more excited! Today, we're going through our usual rigamarole of discussing which cards we think will see constructed play across Standard, Modern, and Highlander (with an emphasis on Standard-playable cards especially).

Are you a night-loving creature of Shadowmoor? Or are you a bright-eyed native of Lorwyn? Come along with us as we pick through our favourite hopefully-playable cards!

...

Oracle Text:

We've returned to Lorwyn! After nearly 20 years, we have returned to the plane of light and shadow, of brumbly boggarts and merry merfolk, and we couldn't be more excited! Today, we're going through our usual rigamarole of discussing which cards we think will see constructed play across Standard, Modern, and Highlander (with an emphasis on Standard-playable cards especially).

Are you a night-loving creature of Shadowmoor? Or are you a bright-eyed native of Lorwyn? Come along with us as we pick through our favourite hopefully-playable cards!

...

Oracle Text:

From "Magic on Hard Mode" to 9 Pro Tour appearances, today's guest is a player of incredible talent and skill, and is a repository of immense Magic knowledge. Today, we're sitting down with Luke Mulcahy to discuss deckbuilding, getting roasted by LSV on Twitter, and how working within a player community to develop an archetype makes your deck stronger in the long-term.

Affectionately nicknamed "Mulch", Luke is a skilled Nadu player in Highlander and has himself created Magic content over the years, and one of his most iconic works is "...

Oracle Text: Welcome back, Standard enjoyers! For our first episode of Season 2 and our first episode of 2026, join us as we sit down and discuss Badgermole Cub: is it banworthy?

From pushed design philosophy to power creep in the format, Badgermole Cub has all of the hallmarks of a card that could end up on the Standard banlist: mana acceleration, card advantage, stats that break parody, and nothing but upsides.

But are each of those qualities individually enough to warrant banning the badger? Or is it each aspect together on one...

Oracle Text:

Welcome back, Standard enjoyers! For our first episode of Season 2 and our first episode of 2026, join us as we sit down and discuss Badgermole Cub: is it banworthy?

From pushed design philosophy to power creep in the format, Badgermole Cub has all of the hallmarks of a card that could end up on the Standard banlist: mana acceleration, card advantage, stats that break parody, and nothing but upsides.

But are each of those qualities individually enough to warrant banning the badger? Or is it each...

Oracle Text:

What a year it's been! From Aetherdrift to Avatar, we've seen Standard through its highs and lows of 2025, and we ourselves have grown from focusing solely on Standard to becoming a competitive-constructed podcast, expanding to include segments like Mildly Modern and Hardly Highlander.

All of this is thanks to you, our listeners and our community, and we cannot thank you enough for the support that you've given us this year. When we started this show in February, we had no idea where it would take us. To be here...

Oracle Text:

The World Championship tournament was an amazing show of force with a roster of new Standard decks; a byproduct of both the latest set, Avatar: the Last Airbender, as well as the most recent bannings that took place earlier in November.

And let's just say...we've learned some lessons. So today, we're talking about MTG Worlds: the decks that appeared and dominated the metagame, the cards that are powering the format, and what the next year of Standard is going to look like.

| Music from...

Oracle Text:

Back-to-back committee members! Today we brought back Aunt Voltie--committee member, content creator, and competitive player--to chat about her work in the 8-Point space of Australian Highlander.

The 8-Point rule, sometimes referred to as the "Accessibility Rule", rewards players that don't play Reserve List cards with an extra point in their otherwise 7-Point restricted decks. Voltie has built dozens of 8-Point decks, has played them at locals and large tournaments alike, and is a pioneer within the 8-Point/budget space to create an accessible entry point for new Highlander players.<...

Oracle Text:

Continuing in our (new?) tradition of hosting committee members on the show, we are joined today by none other than renowned Esper enthusiast, Michael Billinghurst! With decades of competitive Magic play under his belt and several years' residence as a member of the 7-Point Highlander committee, who better to take a guest slot on the pod than a well-loved judge and community member to discuss what the committee is and how it functions.

Australian Highlander is one of the few formats (similar to many of the Highlander variants) that...

Oracle Text:

As a show that is focused on competitive play in Magic--and especially focused on competitive play here in Australia--it should come as no surprise that we've started playing more 7-Point Australian Highlander. While the Wizards-sanctioned competitive seasons alternate from Standard to Modern, one format remains steady between them: Highlander.

Being a Vintage format, Highlander carries a massive scope of power and complexity. From Black Lotus to Time Walk, Mawloc to Deadpool, Quantum Riddler and Cori-Steel Cutter, Highlander takes the best of the best cards in Magic's history and puts...

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, our thoughts, and what the next iteration of Standard decks might look like going forward.

| Music from HitsLab...

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 Series is a great starting point! Participating in RCQs (a series of qualifying events for the magnanimous Regional Championship) is a great way to build your skill...

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 always, we have lined up their picks for which cards they think will see constructed play!

While we largely have...

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: what the deck does, how it does it, and what it looks like in the current metagame. We're all crossing our fingers and toes for...

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 the wake of an incredible Top 4 placement at CanBrawl, Kira sat down with Voltie to discuss the event, her content challenge deck, and...

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--have already seen metagame success! Others have yet to come into their prime. So what could Standard look like post-Vivi? What decks...

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 were any bans to happen.

NOTE: This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded in March 2025, prior to the release of Tarkir...

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 time to raise our own Standards and broaden our Magic horizons.

So it is our...

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. Thumbnail text from ⁠TextStudio⁠.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at Hen House Rehearsal Studios. Rai...

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 presents some really cool cards that have a chance to see representation in the meta. Are they all land cards? Yes, but th...

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, overall faster pace of play, and increased focus on gameplay, Standard (and other constructed products) is the best way for new players...

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 to happen! So grab a cuppa, tuck in, and have a laugh on us!

| This episode...

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 homogenizing Standard as a competitive format is something to turn a critical eye...

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 (largely referred to as Vivi Cauldron for the eponymous Vivi Ornitier) is a dominant and oppressive force in the current Standard metagame...