Esper Midrange Standard has flooded the 2022, Magic: The Gathering world Championship with the highest number of players. According to MTG, the Esper Midrange team has 22 out of 32 players and controls 68.8% of the field in the mirror matches.
Esper Midrange in Standard MTG World Championship
Following MTG Worlds, Wizards of the Coast made the Meathook Massacre illegal so that one archetype could avoid the occludes in the Standard meta. However, that decision appears to have backfired, since according to Frank Karsten and WotC, Esper Midrange is the deck of choice for 68.8% of the Worlds field.
The team’s two players each account for 3.3% of the field.
- Jund’s Reanimator: One player out of every three and 6% off the field
- Jund Reanimator: One player out of three, accounting for 6% of the field.
- Azorius Control: 3% of the field with one player.
- Bant Tokens: 3% of the field and one player are used.
- Grixis Midrange: 2 games, 31.11% of the ball; 1 player, 1% of the field.
- Izzet Tempo has 3% of the field and one player.
- Marsdu Midrange: 3% of the field with one player.
- Red Moan Tempo: 3% of the field and a single player.
During the MTG Worlds, eight other archetypes were also locked in, even if not every player chose to play it safe. One of the top five players and a swarm of players from the three Yen Khani were the final two participants in the standard event.
One of the three Jund Reanimators is an ace against Esper Midrange teams. Following the ban of Meathook Massacre, Mono-Blue Tempo entered the standard metagame and is a deck to watch.
Traditional structures that can threaten Esper Midrange decks include Mardu Midrange, Izzet Tempo, Bant Tokens, and Azorius Control. MTG has not yet released Decklists to the public. However, they will be available on October 28 at 11 a.m. on the MTG World Championship‘s official page.
