What will we find at the stand this month?

Reminder before the analysis

Before diving into the graphs, here are a few key things to keep in mind:

• Timeframe: we're comparing the September 29 banlist (effective for two months) with data collected up to October 22, meaning a bit less than one month of actual play for this first meta-review.

• Data scope: only tournaments with more than 40 players worldwide are included.

• Goal: this is the first edition of this meta-review format — an experimental journey to start building long-term meta trends.

• Disclaimer : this is a personal initiative that does not commit the committee and its possible decisions. Other voluntary projects can also be submitted on our new website. Please do not hesitate to ask us for more information.

Let's start with the courtroom's first exhibit: the deck popularity chart.

Remember: popularity ≠ performance (yet). But it's the starting point — the opening statement of the case.

What do we see?

• Squee's commanding presence — double the representation of the 3rd most-played deck.
• Aragorn and Deadpool stay solid challengers, but Squee seems comfortable against them.
• Combo decks, Squee's natural predators, are largely absent, paving his rise.
• Zurgo surprisingly grows in presence – no clear explanation yet.
• Azusa is lost definitely, Magus replaced ban of Blood Moon and it's more complicated for her. Squee is also playing Oppo Agent to hide its last weaknesses. And if that wasn't enough, we're seeing more Winter Moon and even Winter Orb setups.
• Mono-white rivalry: after months of Cloud's dominance, Phelia is now taking over. Have the players prepared for the Asmo unban cookbook?
• Thrasios Partner drops slightly, but when we add Thrasios and Peter Parker together, we get the same number of Thrasios as in the previous ban list. Will it end in a war to have the best nadu deck?
• Kefka seems to have taken over the top control, ahead of Atraxa? Tivit has regained popularity and is very popular specifically in the Philippines, it seems the fact to have 2 extra mana is efficient.

🔸In short: Squee's on top, combo's missing a bit, and the courtroom's heating up.

Now, exhibit B — the meta breakdown by archetype.

We're still not talking performance yet — just representation. And what do we see?

A few points to understand the slight drop in combo:

• Tifa continues her upward trend, gaining popularity.

But:

• Terra 5c cooling off after a brief hype wave.
• Vivi keeps declining.
• Rograkh is less played, is it showing signs of post-ban fatigue?

Verdict: Combos don't seem popular right now, but we've seen that it's mainly a fad, and as soon as the hype dies down, the trend picks up again.

Concerning aggro, despite the arrival of Asmo and renewed interest in Zurgo, there is a growing disinterest in Yoshi and Cloud that is becoming apparent. To focus about yoshi, those players find for now this is not enough fast to beat combo decks, not enough consistently resilient against control and not enough strong in individual card quality against midrange.

Midrange therefore absorbed both through the notable contributors:

• Deadpool, still climbing steadily.
• Phelia, rising again.
• Satya, making a strong comeback.
• Cosmic Spider-Man, a flashy new 5-color arrival.

🔸Verdict: The courtroom is overcrowded with Midrange lawyers — everyone's arguing, no one's conceding.

Now let's move on to geography and tournament dynamics.

Note that I divide France into five zones to balance the statistics.

• Only 7 regions active this month (out of ~20 possible).
• Strong return of Île-de-France, South West, Philippines and Northwest France → all show clear growth in tournament organization and presence.
• South West, with those 2 banlists seems the most regular.
• Southeast region, once a key driver, shows a notable slowdown.
• Among non-French regions: Philippines and 🇨🇿 Czech Republic remain active. Slovakia, Italy, China, and Brazil had no recorded events this month.

🔸Verdict: The court's quieter this month — but some regions are clearly taking the mic again.

Alright, your honor, for this next exhibit, we're taking the case region by region.

Because just like in real courts, every district has its own style of defense:

Czech Republic – "The Court of Combo" → Highest combo concentration worldwide. → Balanced presence of Control and Midrange. → Also the best Tempo region, rooted in the German-speaking tempo culture (think Izzet Tempo). → Aggro? Not their case. They prefer brains over brawls.

Philippines – "The Kingdom of Aggro" → Top region for Aggro, minimal Combo. → Strong Tempo tendency. → The land of brawls, where every match is a fight, with protection or not.

Île-de-France – "The Fortress of Control" → Confirms the classic historic in France: North = Control / South = Aggro split.

Southeast France – "The Land of Midrange" → Strong Midrange dominance, with Combo as its main rival. → Control struggles to find space between those two extremes?

🔸So, in short: Czechia thinks, the Philippines fight, Île-de-France says no and the Southeast negotiates (Midrange-style).

Who's guilty of dominating the meta? The efficiency trial begins.

Squee confirms his domination: → Top conversion rate (22%) — strong, consistent, and expected. → Clearly the deck to beat going into Relic.

Deadpool and Aragorn remain solid contenders — performing as promised, though not exceptional.

The underperformers:

• Yoshi Aggro, Kefka, Azusa, Phelia, Cloud — popular, but struggling to close events.
• Thrasios Combo disappoints — expected to shine and target of ban wishes from french community, but showing cracks.
• Aminatou surprises positively.
• Tivit also posts strong results and suggesting maybe a Control rebound in the meta?
• Yoshi Tempo outperforms Yoshi Aggro, signaling a player adaptation within archetypes.

🔸Summary Verdict: → The courtroom crowns Squee as the current performance king, Deadpool and Aragorn hold their ground, while the rest are still pleading their case.

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That's all from me. I hope what I presented was interesting, that the verdict is clear to you, and that you'll make the right calls when it's time to find the deck guilty of victory in your next tournament!

I'm hoping to make this a monthly segment, and we'll be back every Wednesday, three days before the last Monday of the month. I hope these analyses meet your expectations; feel free to come talk to me (or PM to me) to suggest other numbers that could be interesting.

Many thanks to those who read along, and I'll leave you with MTGO data from the trials.

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When the courtroom goes digital, every click becomes evidence.

Exclusive data from MTGO Trials — huge thanks to Jiliac and his team for making this possible.

• These are small online events (under 20 players) → results are heavily influenced by recurring skilled players.
• Data covers August → today, meaning old banlists still affect trends.
• ~500 matches for the most represented deck — decent sample, but still limited for full matchup matrices.
• Some confidence intervals are too wide (e.g., "Lier" ranges 15–100%) → interpret with caution.
• Cloud appears strong here, but that's likely a trial bias (few regulars still playing it).

Verdict: treat MTGO data as supporting evidence, not the final ruling.

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Remember: in this court, everyone's innocent… until proven broken.

Better Call Sauk Meta Review #1 Duel Commander

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