Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. This past weekend featured Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man, a high-stakes, two-day open tournament in Liverpool where 580 competitors gathered to test their Standard mettle. On the line were eight Pro Tour invitations, a $50,000 prize pool, special promo cards, and an incredible trophy.

Congratulations to Alexey Paulot!

Congratulations to Alexey Paulot, champion of Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man! 🕸️🇫🇷

After showcasing the power of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron with a 9th-place finish at Worlds 2023, he’s now claimed the Infinity Gauntlet trophy with his signature artifact! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ATuwyMdkjV

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) November 2, 2025

7 Island 4 Opt 3 Stormchaser's Talent 3 Agatha's Soul Cauldron 1 Abrade 4 Torch the Tower 4 Vivi Ornitier 3 Winternight Stories 3 Into the Flood Maw 3 Mountain 3 Multiversal Passage 2 Duelist of the Mind 4 Fear of Missing Out 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Proft's Eidetic Memory 4 Quantum Riddler 1 Fresh Start 2 Get Out 1 Duelist of the Mind 2 Spell Pierce 1 Obliterating Bolt 2 Unable to Scream 2 Annul 1 Abrade 1 Pyroclasm 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Ral, Crackling Wit

At Magic World Championship XXIX in 2023, held just weeks after the release of Agatha's Soul Cauldron in Wilds of Eldraine, Alexey Paulot was one of the few competitors brave enough to register a Cauldron combo deck. Back then, his deck aimed to generate infinite mana with Sleep-Cursed Faerie and Kami of Whispered Hopes. Paulot piloted that deck to a 9th-place finish, and his fondness for the artifact never faded.

Agatha's Soul Cauldron
Vivi Ornitier

This past weekend, Izzet Cauldron reigned supreme in Standard, and Paulot demonstrated the deck's explosive potential once Agatha's Soul Cauldron exiles a copy of Vivi Ornitier. Yet his winning Izzet Cauldron list was far from stock. Drawing inspiration from Zachary Kiihne's 9th-place build from Baltimore, Paulot was one of only three Izzet Cauldron players in Liverpool who chose to include Opt.

"Credit to Zachary Kiihne," Paulot said when asked about the one-mana draw spell. "I tested his list and liked it a lot. The problem with the stock list is that Vivi Ornitier is kind of bad. In this list, it becomes a real threat that will solo games thanks to cheap spells to boost your copy of Vivi Ornitier."

That change also mattered greatly after sideboarding. "In the stock version, you side out some copies of Vivi Ornitier and Cauldron," Paulot explained. "I just keep all my copies of Vivi Ornitier and Cauldron, and Vivi Ornitier is just really good in my deck. So that's the point."

Opt
Stormchaser's Talent
Duelist of the Mind

To make room for four copies of Opt, the list trimmed a copy each of Winternight Stories, an interaction spell, a land, and Agatha's Soul Cauldron. Paulot didn't miss them. "Winternight is great, but without flashback, it's worse than Quantum Riddler in most spots. Flooding with copies of Cauldron could lose you the game."

Paulot's creature base also broke from convention. While most Izzet Cauldron decks used Marauding Mako and Steamcore Scholar, Paulot's list cut them entirely. "While discussing with French participants, we identified Mako and Scholar as the weakest cards of the deck," he noted. Instead, among the 170 Izzet Cauldron decks this weekend, only 31 included Stormchaser's Talent and only65 included Duelist of the Mind.

In describing these choices, he highlighted how Stormchaser's Talent triggers Vivi Ornitier and enhances Torch the Tower—"Bolt is way better than Shock," he said—and how Duelist of the Mind dodges popular interaction like Torch the Tower and Annul. "Duelist is just a decent card, and really good post-sideboarding where there is plenty of interaction and stock lists can't kill him," Paulot said. "I was sideboarding out Fear of Missing Out and a bit of other stuff that can be countered with Annul to go the Vivi Ornitier-control route with Get Out."

It all came together beautifully. Alongside the rest of the Top 8, he secured a coveted invitation to Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed in 2026. As champion, Paulot also claimed $10,000 and the Infinity Gauntlet winner's trophy—a fitting prize for a true hero of Standard, and the culmination of a vision that began the moment Agatha's Soul Cauldron was printed in 2023.

The Standard Metagame and Win Rates

Standard, the rotating 60-card format currently encompassing expansion sets from Wilds of Eldraine forward, remains one of Magic's premier competitive formats. The table below presents the raw metagame numbers from Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man in Liverpool, along with the match win rates for each deck archetype (excluding mirror matches, byes, and draws).

In this table, each archetype name hyperlinks to a top-performing decklist that closely reflects its aggregate build. The "Other" category collects decks with one percent metagame share or less, including Mono-Red Leyline, Jeskai Artifacts, Temur Onslaught, Orzhov Control, Golgari Midrange, Mono-White Tokens, Selesnya Kona, Esper Pixie, Dimir Mill, Selesnya Landfall, Gruul Landfall, Sultai Control, Boros Leyline, Dimir Riddler, Boros Mice, Temur Surprise, Esper Mill, Four-Color Songcrafter, Esper Midrange, Dimir Control, Mono-Green Landfall, Azorius Cats, and more.

Overall, the metagame closely mirrored last weekend's field in Baltimore. There, Izzet Cauldron accounted for 31.9% of the field, with a 61.3% win rate. In Liverpool, an extremely similar 29.2% of players chose the deck, posting a nearly identical 60.6% win rate. These figures tell a clear story of power and consistency. Just as in Baltimore, Izzet Cauldron dominated the tournament. It increased its metagame share after the cut to Day Two and again after the cut to Top 8, where six Izzet Cauldron decks stood alongside Mono-Red Aggro and Sultai Reanimator.

Comparing the metagame from Baltimore to Liverpool, the only notable difference was the rise of Simic Ouroboroid. After a strong showing in Baltimore, where it achieved a 56.4% win rate, the strategy of flooding the board with cheap creatures and powering them up with Ouroboroid gained traction. Simic Ouroboroid's metagame share climbed from 2.6% to 4.5%. Yet the deck faltered this weekend, managing only a 44.9% win rate and struggling against Izzet Cauldron. A likely factor was the loss of surprise value, as opponents had since grown familiar with its explosive synergies.

While virtually no deck could claim a favorable matchup against Izzet Cauldron with any meaningful sample size, four decks from the top tables in Liverpool managed to stand out. Let's take a closer look.

Sultai Reanimator Delivered Impressive Results

1 Swamp 2 Steamcore Scholar 2 Valgavoth, Terror Eater 2 Willowrush Verge 3 Cache Grab 2 Forest 1 Smuggler's Surprise 1 Marang River Regent 1 Underground Mortuary 1 Harvester of Misery 1 Town Greeter 4 Awaken the Honored Dead 4 Bringer of the Last Gift 4 Breeding Pool 2 Ardyn, the Usurper 3 Bitter Triumph 1 Cavern of Souls 4 Superior Spider-Man 3 Blooming Marsh 1 Undercity Sewers 2 Wastewood Verge 4 Oblivious Bookworm 4 Watery Grave 2 Terror of the Peaks 2 Gloomlake Verge 3 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Reclamation Sage 3 Intimidation Tactics 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 1 Terror Tide 1 The Swarmweaver 3 Duress 1 Cavern of Souls 2 Quantum Riddler 2 Heritage Reclamation

Since the release of Superior Spider-Man in Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel's Spider-Man, Sultai Reanimator—also known as Sultai Graveyard or Sultai Bringer—has been steadily climbing in both popularity and performance. When cast, Superior Spider-Man can enter as a copy of Bringer of the Last Gift, unleashing a devastating Living End effect. Alexander Gimenez Ortega took the deck to a Top 8 finish and earned his Pro Tour invitation.

Over the past weekend in Liverpool, Sultai Reanimator posted an impressive 56.3% non-mirror win rate. It struggled against Izzet Cauldron but excelled in every other matchup, making it one of the most-promising decks in Standard right now. Especially for players who love combo strategies, it's a great choice.

The card choices in Gimenez Ortega's build diverged from the norm. Among the 23 Sultai Reanimator players, only he and Isaac Queralt Garriga—who finished 10-5—included Oblivious Bookworm or Cache Grab. These cards add consistency by filling the graveyard while digging for that crucial copy of Superior Spider-Man. As a relatively new strategy still refining its card choices, this build looks like a strong contender, capable of turn-four kills with striking regularity. "I love the archetype," Gimenez Ortega said. "It's fun, powerful, and my own deck."

Selesnya Landfall Achieved the Highest Win Rate

4 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower 4 Hushwood Verge 2 Wastewood Verge 2 Mightform Harmonizer 1 Ordeal of Nylea 4 Escape Tunnel 4 Sheltered by Ghosts 1 Plains 7 Forest 4 Sazh's Chocobo 4 Snakeskin Veil 4 Tifa Lockhart 4 Traveling Chocobo 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Mossborn Hydra 4 Fabled Passage 3 Terramorphic Expanse 4 Hollowmurk Siege 1 Swamp 2 Restoration Magic 2 Ordeal of Nylea 4 Seam Rip 2 Unflinching Courage

Out of all archetypes with at least two pilots at Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man in Liverpool, the one with the best win rate was, perhaps surprisingly, Selesnya Landfall. The Swedish duo of Mattias Jorstedt and Mattias Kettil combined for a 20-9-1 record, winning over two thirds of their non-draw matches.

"It's a combo deck, in a sense," Jorstedt said, and Kettil agreed. "With Traveling Chocobo and Mightform Harmonizer, you can kill out of nowhere." They had started testing with an even more combo-oriented build featuring Mightform Harmonizer and Full Bore, but it didn't perform well enough against Mono-Red Aggro. By switching to white for Sheltered by Ghosts, they shored up their weakness against Mono-Red Aggro, and it worked out quite well for them.

Thanks to an abundance of fetch lands, splashing a second or even third color was trivial. "I'm most proud of our sideboard tech," Jorstedt said. "Hollowmurk Siege, in this deck with so many +1/+1 counters, can easily out-grind control decks. Every creature becomes a cantrip."

They believed their matchup against Izzet Cauldron was close to even but felt they would get a few percentage points from an element of surprise. Many opponents didn't know exactly what they were playing against, and some even had to double-check whether Ordeal of Nylea was Standard-legal. (It is, and it shines in this deck.)

Overall, it was a good weekend for Landfall strategies. Beyond Jorstedt's and Kettil's stellar results, four other players ran Landfall strategies across various color combinations, and every one of them finished with a positive record:

• Mattias Jorstedt, Selesnya Landfall (10-4-1)
• Mattias Kettil, Selesnya Landfall (10-5)
• Oscar Wass, Gruul Landfall (9-6)
• Russell Seeley, Gruul Landfall (5-4)
• Sam Bainbridge, Mono-Green Landfall (5-4)
• Bjørn Polat-Snoen, Simic Landfall (3-2)

That's a promising sign for a strategy that might just take flight.

Izzet Proft Proved the Pair Can Win Without Vivi Ornitier and Cauldron

7 Island 2 Steamcore Scholar 1 Abrade 2 Stormchaser's Talent 4 Torch the Tower 4 Winternight Stories 4 Into the Flood Maw 1 Ghost Vacuum 1 Wild Ride 4 Mountain 3 Multiversal Passage 4 Duelist of the Mind 4 Marauding Mako 4 Fear of Missing Out 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Proft's Eidetic Memory 3 Quantum Riddler 1 Unable to Scream 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Spell Pierce 2 Obliterating Bolt 2 Annul 2 Spider-Sense 1 Abrade 1 Pyroclasm 1 Ral, Crackling Wit 1 Quantum Riddler 1 Fire Magic

While Vivi Ornitier and Agatha's Soul Cauldron have defined the Standard metagame for months, they aren't essential to success in the color pair. Izzet Proft shares much of the same foundation as Izzet Cauldron, and the archetype posted a 54.2% win rate in Liverpool.

Patrik Szmatana, for instance, finished 11-4 without any copies of Agatha's Soul Cauldron or Vivi Ornitier. His looting-focused build combined efficient interaction with powerful creatures and Proft's Eidetic Memory to steadily stack up +1/+1 counters turn after turn.

Temur Surprise Set Up Wild Turns

3 Marang River Regent 2 Mistrise Village 1 Willowrush Verge 4 Smuggler's Surprise 4 Forest 4 Summon: Fenrir 2 Abrade 3 Starting Town 4 Ill-Timed Explosion 4 Stomping Ground 2 Overlord of the Boilerbilges 3 Breeding Pool 1 Mountain 1 Consult the Star Charts 1 Island 2 Cavern of Souls 2 Thornspire Verge 1 Bloomvine Regent 3 Overlord of the Hauntwoods 2 Into the Flood Maw 2 Vaultborn Tyrant 4 Esper Origins 2 Calamity, Galloping Inferno 2 Commercial District 1 Ureni, the Song Unending 3 Fresh Start 3 Ghost Vacuum 1 Scavenging Ooze 3 Spider-Sense 2 Heritage Reclamation 3 Fire Magic

Jose Fonseca went 10-5 with one of the sweetest decks of the weekend: a Temur Surprise deck full of dazzling cards. For example, you can cast Smuggler's Surprise and choose the mode that puts two creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield. Drop Vaultborn Tyrant and Calamity, Galloping Inferno, draw off Vaultborn Tyrant, then saddle the legendary Horse and attack to create two copies of Vaultborn Tyrant. Each Vaultborn Tyrant sees the other enter. After an overwhelming storm of triggers, this sequence draws eight extra cards, gains 24 life, and yields a turn that is equally spectacular and memorable.

Smuggler's Surprise was also included this past weekend as a supporting piece in Temur Onslaught, Selesnya Kona, or Sultai Reanimator, but Fonseca's deck was truly built around it. His solid record proves that even the wildest decks can score decent records in competitive events and catch opponents off guard.

What's Next for Standard?

Data from recent Standard events suggest that the well-tuned, final form of Izzet Cauldron has virtually no bad matchups. If that's true and every competitor in a tournament were to maximize their win rate, the entire event would collapse into an equilibrium field of mirror matches, with no way to gain an edge by switching to a different deck. In the words of Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man Top 8 player Jacopo di Napoli: "I think it is objectively wrong to play anything else in this meta. Vivi Cauldron is the best Standard deck I've ever played (and I played Simic Oko and Temur Reclamation)!"

Initially, after the release of Edge of Eternities, there were various Standard decks that posted favorable matchup results against Izzet Cauldron which would have led to fresh metagame dynamics and evolution. However, as the weeks passed, Izzet Cauldron adapted. Its capacity to attack from different angles, combined with its unmatched card selection, flex-slot adaptability, and inherent raw power allowed it to overcome any hurdles. For example, the return of Torch the Tower to the main deck granted enough cheap removal spells to answer Razorkin Needlehead, flipping the Mono-Red Aggro matchup back in Izzet Cauldron's favor. With six of the Top 8 slots in Liverpool taken by Izzet Cauldron this past weekend, the deck has proven its dominance beyond any doubt.

The next banned and restricted announcement is scheduled for Monday, November 10. While I have no role in such decisions, the September 9 article by Senior Game Designer Carmen Klomparens provided insights into Wizards of the Coast's Standard ban philosophy and cadence, and it set expectations: "We believe that we will likely take action in November. Vivi Ornitier is warping the Standard format and likely needs to go."