Effective as of the announcement (08/06/2025) (Please confirm with your tournament organisers that they are using the updated points)
Final Fantasy Points Update:
No changes.
Let’s talk about this.
Format Review
Since the Tarkir: Dragonstorm update, 7 Point Highlander has seen a few big events with strong attendance. The Mana Clash weekend included a singles event with 160 players alongside a teams event with 117 players in 39 teams. We also had the 7PH side event at RC9 with 49 players.
Across these events, we saw the impact of the Tarkir: Dragonstorm update with widespread adjustments to deck lists and the metagame. These shifts have been largely positive and players have collectively diversified their threat bases and picked up new archetypes.
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, Nethergoyf and Planar Nexus, which all received their first point, have continued to see play and seen moderate success.
Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student was an incredibly potent inclusion in the majority of blue decks prior to its pointing. As a snowballing threat for turn one that also presents a game ending ultimate when transformed, Tamiyo’s floor is meaningfully high with little to no cost. Since its pointing, Tamiyo continues to see substantial play, with 42 copies at The Mana Clash, and performed quite well with a 1.26 Conversion Factor. For now, it appears she will settle in to the one point list, but may present more of a threat in future.
Nethergoyf fell off, to put it simply. As a threat, Nethergoyf still fills a semi-unique role as a one mana beater that scales into the game and provides recursive value. However, spending a point on such a “boring” card appears to be a decision the community has opted out of. Notably, the winning deck from The Mana Clash did feature the smallest Lhurgoyf as part of its threat suite. We expect players to adjust moving forward and push their decks to maximise Nethergoyf’s potential, but will continue observing its play and win rates.
Planar Nexus saw a reasonable amount of play given the narrow range of archetypes it sees play in. It performed about as expected, and will likely keep its point while players continue to register Urza’s Tower and Cloudpost.
The other four cards from the TDM update were Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Oko, Thief of Crowns, Dig Through Time and Natural Order. They all received a depointing with the first three moving from two points to one, and Natural Order going to zero points.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer was an initially controversial depointing after the TDM update. However, it only had 48 copies in The Mana Clash singles event, and performed slightly worse than expected at a 0.97 CF. The nature of a creature that relies on sticking around and also having to connect to be more than a Jackal Pup is self-correcting. Players who are willing to beat Ragavan are able to do so in a variety of ways using any number of tools the format has to offer.
Oko, Thief of Crowns has seen little to no play at two points over the four years since the Kaldheim Points Update. Things have changed since then, both in the range of viable answers and the overall speed of the format. Since dropping to one point, Oko saw an uptick in playrate but only a 1.01 CF at TMC. We will continue to monitor his performance and the common play patterns surrounding him in the coming months and updates, but for now it appears things will be fine.
Dig Through Time is very commonly associated with Treasure Cruise, the other eight mana Delve spell from Khans of Tarkir. While their nature and casting costs are similar, their functionalities differ greatly. Treasure Cruise is a tempo-oriented card advantage spell, and operates more similarly to Gush as a two point spell. Dig Through Time, conversely, offers card selection and serves as a potent glue card for control decks. We’ve seen a slight uptick in control strategies since its depointing, and it performed quite well with a 1.66 CF at TMC. We are excited to see this trend continue, and hope control mages can enjoy a little breathing room in the format moving forward.
Natural Order was depointed from one to zero, which is the most substantial change possible for a pointed card. While concerning to some, especially with the introduction of Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Nadu, Winged Wisdom to the format, we have yet to observe a substantial shift in decks to accommodate this effect. There were 18 copies of the card at TMC, and it performed only slightly better than Tamiyo at a 1.29 CF. The deckbuilding and gameplay requirements to support this effect remain prohibitive, and we are hopeful these downsides will ensure an appropriate balance for now.
In the time since the TDM update, the general sentiment from the community is that 7PH is in a good place. Currently, we are observing a calm period as the format stabilises and approaches its natural equilibrium. Event attendance at the local level has steadily increased, the player base continues to grow, and more and more 7PH based content has surfaced.
While the Committee understands and appreciates the need for change and will always strive to improve the format when we make adjustments, we can also acknowledge when things are going well.
As such, the Final Fantasy points update will not include any changes, but will include some notes for the community to discuss.
Watchlist
Mental Misstep remains (+1 to 1)
Force of Will remains (+1 to 2)
Mental Misstep remains (+1 to 1)
Mental Misstep is an incredibly powerful and uniquely ubiquitous card in the 7PH landscape. It sees a lot of play, it has an impact on every game it touches, and provides stack interaction to everyone, including non-blue decks. It is also controversial, both in design and play experience.
There are a few concerns with pointing Mental Misstep and rough parameters we wish to operate in. We expect the Mental Misstep point to change the format and likely in a positive direction. However, the nature of the shift has the potential for wider spread impact than intended, and the risk of “opening the floodgates” is at the forefront of this decision.
This change, if and/or when it occurs, must be monitored very heavily. We would ideally like to find a period of stability that leads into a busy event season so the data can be parsed and understood. Any resulting changes that are needed should be identifiable as connected to Mental Misstep.
As always, we would love to hear any and all Mental Misstep community feedback and we remain vigilant in hoping this change can be made to improve the format.
Force of Will remains (+1 to 2)
While an additional point to Force of Will will likely not be as impactful as the first point on Mental Misstep, we are very aware that it could dramatically alter the metagame. A “safety valve” for 7PH as clean as Force of Will will likely never be printed, and so we must ensure it remains viable as a factor in preserving format health.
However, Force of Will’s ability to protect game ending threats and generate tempo is unique and very potent. As Magic speeds up, the strength of a free and guaranteed counterspell will only increase. We will continue monitoring the card’s usage and wish to have its visibility maintained for community discussion.
Lastly, we the Committee are in discussions to rebrand or restructure the 7PH Watchlist. Currently, its name and presentation are unclear, especially for newer players entering the format. While we do not currently have a plan to change these, we also understand the sentiment that it may need adjustment for optics’ sake.
Our next announcement will be 27/07/2025 to coincide with the Edge of Eternities Prelease. In the meantime, happy brewing and good luck!
