Meme or Dream? The Circle of Loyalty (Standard)

A few months ago, Wizards started publishing decklists from Magic Arena. To qualify for publication, a deck needs to win at least six matches in a row at platinum rank or better. This sounds simple on its face, but some incredibly janky lists end up being posted every time lists are published. This has led to speculation that a bug in the system allows decks that didn't actually win six matches in a row to be published or, for the most tin-foil-hatted crowd, the idea that Wizards just publishes whatever it wants, to make the metagame look more diverse than it really is. 

This week's deck is probably the most normal we've ever played on Meme or Dream? It's Mardu Knights, with a full sideboard, all of the best Knights in the format, and even four Embercleaves. So, why are we playing such a "normal"-looking deck? There's just one reason: the deck is playing The Circle of Loyalty. If you're not familiar with The Circle of Loyalty, don't feel bad—no one plays it. At this point, it's mostly a literal meme since I picked it as one of the 10 best Standard cards from Throne of Eldraine over things like The Great Henge and Embercleave. Oops! Well, today is The Circle of Loyalty's chance to redeem itself for 18 months of doing nothing in Standard and maybe make me feel a bit less foolish for being so high on it when Throne of Eldraine came out. Is The Circle of Loyalty still a meme, or has it somehow became a dream? Let's find out!