This Week in Magic: Friday, December 26th

Posted on December 26, 2025

Happy holidays gamers! As you might expect, it's a bit of a slower week without much going on, so this week I'll be doing an extra long Decklist of the Week segment! First, though, let's talk about the two things which have come up in the past week.

Lorwyn Eclipsed Preview Schedule Announced

The Where to Find Lorwyn Eclipsed Previews article went live last Friday after I'd already submitted the news for the week. You can check it out here to find out where you'll be able to see all the set's cards revealed. There's just one thing, though: it's a very small list for a very small period of time. This has drawn a lot of criticism from the creator community, to the point that Blake Rasmussen of WotC had to release a statement.

I'm seeing a lot of takes on why Lorwyn Eclipsed preview season is short. It's pretty simple: It's because of the holidays. A normal 2-week preview season would have started Dec. 29 or 30, when our offices are (rightfully) closed. Enjoy your holidays and we'll see you Jan. 5 #wotcstaff
— blakepr.bsky.social (@blakepr.bsky.social) December 19, 2025 at 12:14 PM

It's unfortunate that one of the most hyped sets of the year will be revealed quickly and with little fanfare. However, there is still plenty to be enjoyed and it'll be fun to see what is revealed in the coming weeks! Be sure to check in on January 5th to catch the debut of Lorwyn Eclipsed!

Michael Plummer wins Arena Championship 10

Congratulations to the winner of Arena Championship 10, Michael Plummer! He caps off an incredible year of Magic with a hard-fought victory over Ondrej Strasky in the finals to win the title! #AC10

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— Play Magic (@playmagic.com) December 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM

Hot off his victory at Pro Tour Edge of Eternities, Michael Plummer has won the Arena Championship 10 event! Better known by his MTGO handle killersuv, Michael took down the event by defeating pro Magic legend Ondrej Strasky in the finals. The format was an unusual one, with the gameplay focusing heavily on the Arena exclusive Timeless format. This allows unaltered versions of powerful cards up to including decks running four copies of Strip Mine, but also Arena-exclusive Alchemy/Historic cards.

Mono-Red Prison | Timeless | Michael DeBenedetto-Plummer, 1st Place Arena Championship 10

Instants (1)
1 Pyrokinesis

Sorceries (8)
4 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
4 Sundering Eruption // Volcanic Fissure

Enchantments (4)
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

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Michael's deck just happened to play no digital exclusive cards, relying on a deck that looks very similar to the Red Prison decks in Legacy. He fought through several rounds of the insane looking Orzhov Necro deck that utilized four copies of both Necropotence and Necrodominance to overwhelm the opponent. It was a wild weekend of Magic and showed just how powerful a format like Timeless can be for those who want to try it out.

Congratulations Michael another astounding victory this year!

Decklist of the Week Special: Premodern

Premodern has been the talk of the town lately thanks to it coming to Magic Online last week. We've had several league results, challenges, and a pretty large focus on this sweet gameplay from various content creators. As a result, it's been causing prices both digitally and in paper to jump as players are eager to try it out.

Here are three decks that performed well this week if you're looking to check it out - especially during MTGO's All-Access period!

Welder Tinker | Premodern | Blue_Man7, 1st Place MTGO Premodern Challenge

Instants (2)
2 Fire // Ice

Sorceries (4)
4 Tinker

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One of the winners of last week's Challenges came in the form of this wild looking Tinker list. You might know Tinker best for enabling broken things in Vintage Cube and or simply Vintage itself. The threats in these formats are incredible and can be cheated out fast for little mana. Believe it or not, in Premodern you can play four copies in a single deck! The threats are much more tame but in an older-style format like this, Tinkering out a Masticore, Phyrexian Devourer + Altar of Dementia, or even an early Mishra's Helix can be more than enough to deal with your opponents!

Azorius Control | Premodern | nahuel10, 1st Place MTGO Premodern Challenge

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It shouldn't be surprising to see a classic control deck in this format. After all, the sets that make up the Premodern era famously featured some of the most iconic draw-go control decks of all time! This deck relies on countering opponents' spells, removing their creatures, and even taking out lands with the aid of Parallax Tide. From there, you can close out the game with either creature lands like Faerie Conclave and Mishra's Factory or use a big Decree of Justice - cycled or otherwise.

Elves | Premodern | MisterAsiago, 2nd Place MTGO Premodern Challenge

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Last but not least, I figured I'd end on a non-Blue deck that did well in one of the Challenges! Stiflenaught may have won this one, but Elves managed to take second place. This classic archetype makes gobs of mana with the help of Priest of Titania and Gaea's Cradle in addition to Llanowar Elves and Fyndhorn Elves. From there, you can repeatedly bounce copies of Multani's Acolyte to emulate Elvish Visionary and draw tons of cards. Slam a copy of Kamahl, Fist of Krosa or Masticore and decimate your opponents! Best of all - they're all tutorable off of Survival of the Fittest!

This is but a small number of the Premodern decks out there right now! You can find them listed as "Contraption" on the MTGO Decklist page if you'd like to view more. Alternatively, they're often more cleanly visible on MTGGoldfish's Premodern page, though some decklists aren't appropriately named. Still, though, it's a fun and fresh - if old school - format for players everywhere to fall in love with! It's classic Magic at its best.

Paige Smith

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