Throne of Eldraine creates a Magical model of the fairy tales many read and watched as children. We are invited to travel to the world of make-believe as we play with the new cards. And yet, Standard has seemingly frozen into endless Field of the Dead mirrors. We can imagine something better.
Wizards of the Coast has moved up the next Banned & Restricted List announcement to Monday, following Mythic Championship V this weekend. Field of the Dead and Oko, Thief of Crowns have both garnered attention as potential Standard bans. Let’s pretend both get the axe in a few days. What Standard decks will be good if that happens?
Jeskai Fires, by Nicole Callahan
The Jeskai planeswalker deck was one of the better decks in Standard not too long ago. Fires of Invention helped smooth out the deck’s clunky draws. The deck had a good aggro matchup thanks to Interplanar Beacon and a bunch of board wipes. That will continue to be true.
The army of planeswalkers will usually defeat opposing midrange decks too. Potential control decks could pose problems, but Fires of Invention offers a form of infinite mana that can overwhelm decks leaning on counterspells. Jeskai Fires is poised to adapt to the new metagame after the oppressive cards go away.
UW Control, by Harrison Rollins
| Creatures (13) 4 Charming Prince 4 Elite Guardmage 4 Deputy of Detention 1 Scholar of the Ages Planeswalkers (4) 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Spells (19) 2 Dovin’s Veto 4 Absorb 2 Prison Realm 3 Dawn of Hope 4 Glass Casket 4 Justiciar’s Portal | Lands (24) 6 Island 6 Plains 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Tranquil Cove 4 Fabled Passage |
Azorius Control was left for dead after Teferi, Hero of Dominaria rotated out of Standard. Harrison has definitely warped the deck to be able to handle the Standard menaces by flickering Deputy of Detention or Scholar of the Ages to rebuy their effects.
I don’t think this specific list is where you would want to be post “bannings,” but UW control will find some legs. The lack of Field of Ruin effects in the format it makes it really hard to deal with a land lik Field of the Dead. Azorius Control can answer a multitude of threats, but when an opponent can play a land a turn to produce two to eight power it cannot keep up.
Overall I am a huge fan of what this list can shift to beat the new metagame. You could possibly play Esper and sacrifice some mana issues to add more powerful spells.
Gruul Aggro, by McCary Sean
| Creatures (27) 4 Pelt Collector 4 Zhur-Taa Goblin 4 Growth-Chamber Guardian 4 Gruul Spellbreaker 4 Bonecrusher Giant 3 Skarrgan Hellkite 4 Questing Beast Planeswalkers (1) 1 Domri, Anarch of Bolas Spells (9) 3 Collision // Colossus 3 Once Upon a Time 3 Embercleave | Lands (23) 4 Stomping Ground 2 Castle Embereth 3 Fabled Passage 9 Forest 5 Mountain Sideboard (15) 2 Shifting Ceratops 3 Flame Sweep 3 Veil of Summer 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan 3 Domri’s Ambush 3 Lava Coil |
The last archetype I expect to do well are green aggro decks. Outside of Questing Beast, the giant mass of zombies do a good job protecting the opponent’s life total from these decks. Gruul Aggro will be happy to see those zombies disappear.
Red can be swapped for black, but I either way you want to be mainly green-based. Oko does a good job invalidating a bunch of aggro decks, but green s well situated for aggressive decks. Expect Veil of Summer to see even more play than it already has.
In this fairy tale world, what would you play?
Zack is a SCG grinder with one ultimate goal: getting to the Players Championship. Based out of NYC, you can find him in other cities every weekend trying to hit that goal. When he isn’t traveling he streams. Follow his journey on Twitter!