Singleton is back on MTG Arena this week as part of Week 3 of the War of the Spark Chronicles event series. You’ll be able to win stained glass card styles for The Wanderer, Samut, Tyrant Smasher, and Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord by getting three, nine, and 15 wins, respectively.

New to the format? Don’t worry—I’m here to guide you through the basics so you can get all three of those sweet card styles.

Singleton on MTG Arena

Singleton is a Constructed format where you can only play one copy of any card in your 60-card deck—except for basic lands. On MTG Arena, the Singleton format is limited to the cards that are on MTG Arena, which means the cards that are legal in Standard, so from Ixalan through War of the Spark.

There are two key exceptions—Rat Colony and Persistent Petitioners. Both of these cards have rules text that says, “A deck can have any number of cards named .” This allows a Rat Colony or Persistent Petitioners deck to break the fundamental rule that defines the format: the limit of one copy of a card per deck.

Brew, Brew, Brew!

Just like Standard Pauper, Singleton is only available on MTG Arena during special events. One of the perks of a format that is rarely available means that most people won’t have perfectly tuned lists and are more likely to try and have fun. So don’t worry about your deck being perfect! Just build something that looks interesting and get out there and have fun.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when brewing for Singleton, though. First, most decks are relatively slow—except for Rat Colony decks and the occasional Mono-Red, Mono-White, or Boros player. There aren’t enough good, aggressive, low-cost creatures in Standard right now to overcome the one copy limit. Second, the format can feel bomb-centric and thus kind of swingy. Because you’re limited to one copy of each card, that means drawing your bombs will have a larger effect than in a normal Constructed match, similar to Limited. Third, card advantage matters even more than in Standard, as drawing a few extra cards means you’re that much more likely to find your bombs.

Let’s explore a few Singleton options. The decks we’ve highlighted here are far from a comprehensive picture of the metagame—what metagame, really?—but try to craft your game plan with these archetypes in mind.

Superfriends

Superfriends is a tried and true archetype in all singleton formats. And with the release of War of the Spark, MTG Arena’s Singleton format just got 36 new Planeswalkers options.

There are two main ways to build Superfriends: go all-in on Planeswalkers or go all-in on Niv-Mizzet Reborn. Both are five-color monstrosities that can easily lose to themselves but are immensely satisfying when the work. The Planeswalker-centric version is basically just all of your favorite powerful Planeswalkers jammed together, while the Niv-Mizzet Reborn version is only made up of two-color cards to abuse Niv’s enter the battlefield trigger. It takes the powerful multi-color Planeswalkers, leaving out the mono-color ‘walkers, and combines then with the best two-color cards in Standard.

Key Cards:

MTG Arena Singleton Superfriends

Creatures (11)
Chamber Sentry
Hydroid Krasis
Deputy of Detention
Knight of Autumn
Awakened Amalgam
Hostage Taker
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Regisaur Alpha
Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Niv-Mizzet, Parun
Ravager Wurm

Planeswalkers (6)
Teferi, Time Raveler
Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
Vraska, Golgari Queen
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Ugin, the Ineffable

Spells (13)
Angrath’s Rampage
Assassin’s Trophy
Despark
Justice Strike
Bedevil
Deafening Clarion
Ionize
Mortify
Solar Blaze
Enter the God-Eternals
Discovery // Dispersal
Warrant // Warden
Find // Finality

Artifacts (3)
Mox Amber
Chromatic Lantern
Firemind Vessel

Enchantments (1)
Oath of Kaya
Lands (26)
Blood Crypt
Breeding Pool
Clifftop Retreat
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Forest
Gateway Plaza
Glacial Fortress
Godless Shrine
Guildmages’ Forum
Hallowed Fountain
Hinterland Harbor
Interplanar Beacon
Isolated Chapel
Overgrown Tomb
Rootbound Crag
Rupture Spire
Sacred Foundry
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Sulfur Falls
Sunpetal Grove
Temple Garden
Unknown Shores
Watery Grave
Woodland Cemetery

Rat Colony

If you’re looking to save your Wildcards then the Rat Colony deck is for you. You only need to craft four copies of Rat Colony to be able to include as many as you want in your deck, and then add a few Swamps to taste.

For a little more spice, you can add in some Black removal to help your Rats get through pesky blockers. You could even add Blue for Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive, which make your Rats unblockable, as well as some card draw.

Or just save your Wildcards and jam 40 Rat Colonys and 20 Swamps together, which will be consistent and aggressive, but won’t lead to very many interesting games.

Key Cards:

MTG Arena Singleton Mono-Black Rat Colony

Creatures (40)
40 Rat Colony
Lands (20)
20 Swamp

MTG Arena Singleton UB Rat Colony

Spells (13)
Dive Down
Skulduggery
Cast Down
Chart a Course
Costly Plunder
Negate
Severed Strands
Walk the Plank
Murder
Recover
Secrets of the Golden City
Chemister’s Insight
Price of Fame

Enchantments (2)
Aether Tunnel
Waterknot
Lands (24)
Drowned Catacomb
Island
16 Swamp
Watery Grave

Mono-Green

When everyone is playing inconsistent decks, one of the best ways to win is to play the biggest creatures.

Thanks to the printing of Llanowar Elves, along with an assortment of the usual Green ramp creatures and spells, Mono-Green can go bigger faster than any other deck in Singleton. It really doesn’t matter what five or six mana creature you’re casting on Turn 3 or 4 when you’re opponent is still playing 2/2s and 3/3s.

Key Cards:

MTG Arena Singleton Mono-Green Ramp

Creatures (25)
Llanowar Elves
Pelt Collector
Drover of the Mighty
Druid of the Cowl
Incubation Druid
Kraul Harpooner
Merfolk Branchwalker
Paradise Druid
Thorn Lieutenant
Elvish Rejuvenator
Jadelight Ranger
Steel Leaf Champion
Thrashing Brontodon
Wayward Swordtooth
Beast Whisperer
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
Nullhide Ferox
Ripjaw Raptor
Biogenic Ooze
Gigantosaurus
God-Eternal Rhonas
Aggressive Mammoth
Carnage Tyrant
End-Raze Forerunners
Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Planeswalkers (3)
Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
Nissa, Who Shakes the World
Vivien Reid

Spells (4)
Adventurous Impulse
Bond of Flourishing
Finale of Devastation
Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi

Artifacts (1)
Vivien’s Arkbow

Enchantments (3)
Colossal Majesty
Guardian Project
Path of Discovery
Lands (24)
Arch of Orazca
Blast Zone
Field of Ruin
21 Forest

Grixis Control

Grixis Control excels in Singleton because it combines counters, discard, removal, card draw, and amazing threats—all into one deck. It’s no accident that Nicol Bolas is the centerpiece of one of Singleton’s most powerful archetypes.

Key Cards:

Creatures (14)
Goblin Electromancer
Rix Maadi Reveler
Plaguecrafter
Thief of Sanity
Hostage Taker
Murmuring Mystic
God-Eternal Kefnet
Ravenous Chupacabra
Massacre Girl
Doom Whisperer
Mesmerizing Benthid
Demonlord Belzenlok
Niv-Mizzet, Parun
Nezahal, Primal Tide

Planeswalkers (5)
Narset, Parter of Veils
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Ugin, the Ineffable

Spells (17)
Cast Down
Disdainful Stroke
Essence Scatter
Lava Coil
Negate
Thought Erasure
Beacon Bolt
Bedevil
Ionize
Murder
Notion Rain
Sinister Sabotage
Chemister’s Insight
Vraska’s Contempt
Precognitive Perception
Expansion // Explosion
Bedeck // Bedazzle
Lands (24)
Blood Crypt
Cinder Barrens
Dimir Guildgate
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Gateway Plaza
Highland Lake
Island
Izzet Guildgate
Mountain
Rakdos Guildgate
Rupture Spire
Steam Vents
Submerged Boneyard
Sulfur Falls
Swamp
Watery Grave

Boros Aggro

Aside from Rat Colony, you have three options if you want to play an aggressive deck: Mono-Red, Mono-White, or Boros. Your choice is really between a mono-color deck and a two-color deck, though—do you want to have consistent mana at the expense of more powerful cards, or extremely powerful cards with a less reliable manabase?

Boros Aggro seems to be the best positioned of the options for MTG Arena’s Singleton format because it allows you to play powerful mid-game threats that go over midrange and control decks’ defenses as well as burn spells that give the deck enough reach to end a game before your opponent can stabilize.

Key Cards:

MTG Arena Singleton Boros Aggro

Creatures (24)
Dauntless Bodyguard
Adanto Vanguard
Boros Challenger
Bounty Agent
Dire Fleet Daredevil
Goblin Cratermaker
Knight of Grace
Sky Terror
Sunhome Stalwart
Swiftblade Vindicator
Tithe Taker
Benalish Marshal
Kinjalli’s Sunwing
Legion Warboss
Mentor of the Meek
Tajic, Legion’s Edge
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
Leonin Warleader
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
Rekindling Phoenix
God-Eternal Oketra
Lyra Dawnbringer
Siege-Gang Commander
Venerated Loxodon

Planeswalkers (1)
Gideon Blackblade

Spells (8)
Shock
Lava Coil
Lightning Strike
Deafening Clarion
Light Up the Stage
Heroic Reinforcements
Integrity // Intervention
Response // Resurgence

Enchantments (3)
History of Benalia
Conclave Tribunal
Ixalan’s Binding
Lands (24)
Boros Guildgate
Clifftop Retreat
Evolving Wilds
Field of Ruin
Memorial to Glory
Mobilized District
Mountain
Plains
Sacred Foundry
Stone Quarry

Looking for More Ideas?

There are plenty of other Singleton options for MTG Arena! Check out Mono-White, Mono-Red, Gruul, Merfolk, Sultai Midrange, or even Esper Control.

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