The decklists are in and the data has been analyzed—get ready for the first Pro Tour of 2025 to hit the ground running! The Pro Tour Aetherdrift kicks off tomorrow, spanning from February 21–23 at MagicCon: Chicago. Here, 349 of the globe’s top Magic: The Gathering competitors will vie for a whopping $500,000 in prizes, invitations to the World Championship, and the illustrious Pro Tour trophy. With over 3,500 cards eligible in Standard, the players are faced with one of the most intricate and dynamic metagames in the format’s history.

The competition features a lineup of elite players, including top performers from Regional Championships, online qualifiers, and previous Pro Tours. Notable participants include Javier Dominguez, the current Magic World Champion and 2024 Player of the Year, who hopes to add another trophy to his accolades. The action commences with the Aetherdrift Booster Draft on Friday and Saturday morning, followed by five rounds of Standard play each day. The final showdown will occur on Sunday, as the Top 8 competitors battle it out in a Standard duel for the title of Pro Tour champion.

To catch all the excitement, be sure to tune into the live stream on twitch.tv/magic or the Play MTG YouTube channel. Coverage begins at 11 a.m. CT on Friday and Saturday, and at 10 p.m. CT on Sunday. Check out the viewer’s guide for comprehensive details—you won’t want to miss a single moment of the thrilling action!

The Standard format in Magic allows for a rotating 60-card deck that currently includes expansion sets from Dominaria United onward. Recent months have seen the rise of dominant strategies such as Gruul Mice, Dimir Midrange, and Esper Pixie, but the arrival of Aetherdrift is set to shake things up, altering the Pro Tour’s metagame dynamics.

The upcoming tournament showcases a wide array of deck archetypes—from aggro and midrange to control and combo—highlighting numerous innovative strategies. All Standard decklists will be made available on the Pro Tour Aetherdrift event page at the onset of Round 4 on Friday, February 21, around 2 p.m. Central Time. In the meantime, let’s explore the most popular decks participating in the tournament.

Gruul Mice (66 players): Renowned for its aggressive and swift playstyle, Gruul Mice—often referred to as Gruul Aggro—strives to overwhelm opponents with rapid onslaughts and powerful triggers. Key cards like Heartfire Hero and Emberheart Challenger are consistently powered up by cards such as Manifold Mouse and Monstrous Rage. The green splash is minimal, typically consisting of just a few copies of Pawpatch Recruit, Questing Druid, and Innkeeper’s Talent along with essential sideboard choices.

Esper Pixie (58 players): Also known as Esper Bounce, this archetype thrives on enchantments that create enters-the-battlefield effects—such as Stormchaser’s Talent, Hopeless Nightmare, and Nowhere to Run—combined with self-bounce enabling cards like Nurturing Pixie, Fear of Isolation, and This Town Ain’t Big Enough. The repeated triggers of Nowhere to Run serve as a powerful defense against aggro decks, while looping Hopeless Nightmare can grind control strategies into the ground.

Domain Overlords (53 players): This four-color build, occasionally referred to as Zur Overlords or Domain Control, relies heavily on Zur, Eternal Schemer to animate its Overlords into formidable lifelink threats with impactful attack triggers. The key card Overlord of the Hauntwoods triggers Up the Beanstalk to ensure full domain for Leyline Binding. Its recent popularity spike can be attributed to the addition of Ride’s End, which synergizes flawlessly with Up the Beanstalk as a versatile removal spell.

Jeskai Oculus (21 players): Jeskai Oculus aims to cheat Abhorrent Oculus into play by engaging in graveyard reanimation through cards like Helping Hand or Recommission to sidestep its hefty cost. Once it hits the field, the Oculus takes command, flooding the board with manifested tokens. As an evolution of its white-blue counterpart, Jeskai Oculus incorporates red for discard enablers such as Fear of Missing Out, removal spells like Torch the Tower, and new sideboard cards such as Chandra, Spark Hunter. However, the metagame appears to be prepared to counteract these reanimated threats, with cards like Rest in Peace, Destroy Evil, Lithomantic Barrage, Pawpatch Formation, and Ghost Vacuum among the top choices for sideboarding this weekend.

Altogether, these four deck archetypes represent 56.6% of the player field. Gruul Mice and Esper Pixie were already frontrunners prior to the Aetherdrift release, a topic previously covered in a Standard format primer, so their dominance is to be expected. Conversely, the surging interest in Domain Overlords and Jeskai Oculus is a newer trend. In contrast, black midrange strategies—namely Dimir Bounce, Golgari Midrange, and Dimir Midrange—seem to have diminished in representation compared to expectations.

The remaining 43.4% of the metagame showcases a vast array of diversity. A multitude of archetypes, most capturing between 1% and 3% of the field, highlights the incredible variety of viable options in Standard now. With Aetherdrift injecting a breath of fresh creativity into the format, innovative builds are bound to capture attention. Get ready for the Standard rounds as excitement reaches a fever pitch!

The existing Standard card pool has set a high benchmark for any recent additions, with Monstrous Rage, Emberheart Challenger, Heartfire Hero, and This Town Ain’t Big Enough emerging as the most popular non-land cards in the main decks at the Pro Tour Aetherdrift. Many Gruul Mice and Mono-Red Aggro decks have chosen not to incorporate any new cards from the latest set. Nevertheless, Aetherdrift has still made an impact by bolstering existing archetypes and presenting powerful build-around strategies for new ones. The table below outlines all of the newly introduced cards within the 349 submitted decklists.

Ride’s End
Spell Pierce

In terms of statistical impact, the most significant contributions have come from Ride’s End and Spell Pierce, underlining the importance of effective interactions in Standard. Ride’s End has proven crucial for the resurgence of both Domain Overlords and Azorius Control, providing an efficient response to threats for merely two mana. Furthermore, since its mana value is technically five, it also triggers Up the Beanstalk for added value. Meanwhile, Spell Pierce remains one of the most mana-efficient permission spells in the game, reaffirming its importance in the current meta.

Wastewood Verge
Bleachbone Verge

The newly introduced enemy-color Verges have greatly bolstered two-color decks’ mana bases, with Wastewood Verge being essentially indispensable for green-black strategies. This card effectively acts as an upgraded Forest. Personally, I find it particularly beneficial in the novel Golgari Obliterator deck, where the enhanced mana base allows for the inclusion of both Phyrexian Obliterator and Bushwhack, leading to potential game-winning combos.

Grim Bauble
Momentum Breaker

Esper Pixie archetypes have opted for Momentum Breaker in the main deck and Grim Bauble in the sideboard. These removal options provide excellent synergy with Nurturing Pixie, allowing for additional bounce value. Moreover, Momentum Breaker also triggers Optimistic Scavenger to maintain board control. Beyond the Esper Pixie and Dimir Bounce strategies, these new cards have also given rise to a completely new archetype: Esper Paragon, capitalizing on Serra Paragon to recast permanent-based removal tools.

Brightglass Gearhulk
Oildeep Gearhulk

The Gearhulks introduced in Aetherdrift represent powerful threats that can often evade conventional countermeasures such as Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and This Town Ain’t Big Enough. While Oildeep Gearhulk has found a spot in Dimir Midrange and Riptide Gearhulk offers an alternative sideboarding strategy for Azorius Omniscience, the standout is undoubtedly Brightglass Gearhulk. In Selesnya Cage, it can fetch Dusk Rose Reliquary and Pawpatch Recruit, offering a valuable mix of removal, card advantage, and creature presence through Collector’s Cage. Additionally, the innovative Bant Gearhulk and Bant Cage decks leverage it alongside Mockingbird, generating a nearly infinite supply of 4/4 flying creatures.

Stock Up
Molt Tender

Several support spells from Aetherdrift serve as incremental upgrades for decks. For instance, Stock Up is arguably the most effective variant of Divination, proving to be a valuable asset for decks like Azorius Control and Azorius Omniscience. Meanwhile, Molt Tender is a key enhancement for Golgari Roots, helping to establish a Plant army alongside Insidious Roots. In Golgari Graveyard setups, it aids self-mill tactics that hasten Huskburster Swarm or Hollow Marauder. With these additions, previously fringe decks now gain competitive viability.

Monument to Endurance
Afterburner Expert

Lastly, Aetherdrift has introduced transformative build-around cards that pave the way for entirely new archetypes. Monument to Endurance has been integrated into various Jeskai and Mardu decks that can reanimate Phyrexian Dragon Engine, creating a devastating cycle of card draw, Treasure generation, and life drain. Similarly, Afterburner Expert has ignited the development of exhaust decks, utilizing Dredger’s Insight on turn two to set the stage for explosive turn-three plays featuring Draconautics Engineer, allowing for the Expert to swing in with haste.

Even though the format is currently dominated by established giants, Aetherdrift has propelled a wave of innovation. Standard has experienced a refreshing surge of energy, and it’s thrilling to see numerous new cards making their mark. The upcoming Pro Tour Aetherdrift will put these strategies to the test—who will seize the moment and etch their name into the annals of competitive Magic? Catch all the action when coverage of Pro Tour Aetherdrift kicks off on Friday, February 21!