r/spikes

65K archived posts · Aug 2012 – Sep 2026

Competitive Magic

r/spikes

The serious, play-to-win side of the Magic: The Gathering community.

Created Aug 21, 2012

101KMembers (last snapshot)

65KArchived posts

The serious, play-to-win side of the Magic: The Gathering community.

r/spikes is about improving your skills in competitive environments. Being a spike isn't about winning, but the desire to win and improve. This subreddit's goal is to provide players with a place that has a serious atmosphere devoid of jokes, memes and low-effort content in order to help more spikes better themselves at magic.

##Who is Spike?

"Spike is the competitive player. Spike plays to win. Spike enjoys winning. To accomplish this, Spike will play whatever the best deck is. Spike does not care about deck price, spike will copy decks off the Internet. Spike will borrow other players’ decks."

Do you love Magic, but dislike the competitive, play-to-win atmosphere? Check out r/magicTCG!

#Subreddit Rules

Constructive criticism(s) only.
Comments should be constructive. Explain your reasoning respectfully. Derogatory/abusive comments will get one warning and a temporary ban from the Mods. Further actions of this nature will result in a permanent ban.

Do NOT clickbait your title!

No win rates, Mythic Rank, or 'I made Mythic with this!' in post titles. Let content speak for itself.

Show Your Work - General Discussions and Questions:

Discussions and Questions about specific decks require a decklist in the OP. Discussions are better when readers know these three things:

What you're asking for
Why you've reached the point(s) you're at so far
How you've come to the conclusion(s) presented

Posts that include all three points are welcomed and encouraged.

Posts that do not meet this bar are better suited for a weekly thread or the /r/spikes Discord, and will be removed from the subreddit.

Show Your Work - New Decks, Brews, and Theorycrafting:
We know that spikes like testing the waters of the metagame, particularly around the time of new set releases. With that in mind, we ask for three key points when posting about new decks:

Why does this deck exist in its current form? Explain your choices clearly.
What does it do well / not so well in the current/established metagame? Why should someone play this deck as a competitive option over a different one? - "Just because" or "I like it" is not a valid answer
(If Bo3) How do you currently sideboard with this deck against the established metagame?

If you can discuss these three questions, your post is welcomed and encouraged. Otherwise, please use the weekly Deck Check thread or the /r/spikes Discord, as posts without these points addressed are subject to removal.

[Description Tags] are required in all posts.
Posts without descriptive tags in square brackets will be removed automatically. No exceptions! See this post for details and accepted descriptive tags.

Non-deck magic discussion must be had with competition in mind. (i.e. psychological factors, tips for tournament preparation, etc). Topics such as finance, alters, cosplay, etc should be directed to r/MagicTCG.

Budget-based competitive discussion should only be posted in our weekly "Ask Spikes" or "Deck Check" threads (posted on Mondays).

Posts discussing Hypothetical Formats will be removed. Treat formats as they do exist, not how you want them to exist.
We take competitive Magic as it is. Posts discussing potential bans/un-bans, decks with cards from only half-spoiled sets, anything 'post-rotation' or non-WOTC sponsored formats are prohibited. We do not allow ban chatter to overshadow everything else, so complaining about how X or Y needs to be banned outside of a Banned & Restricted announcement will be removed.

Use the link flair options.
This way people can filter the flairs and find your post. Mods can add it, but it only makes our jobs harder.

Tournament reports must come from Competitive REL or higher events.
Reports from events like PTQs, Premier Events, and Leagues (with a consistent record in Leagues) on MTGO are allowed. If you believe that a Regular REL event that you attended would be considered competitive, qualify that in your post. Decklists are also required.

Link only posts / Blog / YT spam will be removed. Articles must have a description.
Post your deck along with some information in the body of a self post instead. Articles / YT links must include a brief writeup (Paragraph or two) of what the article is about. If it is a deck tech / focus, please post your decklist in a copiable form in the body of your self-post or as a comment.

No Advertising.
Posts with a goal of advertising tournaments, coaching, products, discord channels, non-content services, or anything non-MTG related are not-allowed.

Posts that do not comply with any of the rules listed above will be removed without warning.

Continued violations of any of these rules will result in a temporary, or, in serious cases, permanent ban from the community.

##New to Competitive Magic? Start Here: