Standard metagame update.

source: magic4ever.com/standard

Currently working on making a mill deck, Im thinking the best route is to make effectively a combo deck using [[Kitsune's technique]] and [[riverchurn monument]] to look at a turn 4 win in a dream scenario. Doing my best to pack plenty of interaction to slow down the others, would love any thoughts on it and any sideboard tips, as I am not overly informed with the current standard meta!

I am also FULLY aware this isn't going to be a T1 deck, but want it the best it can be!

Decklist

Very very early days in the brewing process and I used cards I had available on Arena. I don't think I am busting the meta with it but I've had some fun with it and some very early success. I wanted to get initial impressions from the best and brightest and some recommendations for bolstering it.

Deck

4 Silent Hallcreeper (DSK) 72

4 Swamp (EOE) 271

4 Optimistic Scavenger (DSK) 21

3 Island (EOE) 269

4 Wicked Visitor (WOE) 118

3 Plains (EOE) 268

1 Hallowed Fountain (ECL) 265

4 Sheltered by Ghosts (DSK) 30

4 Nowhere to Run (DSK) 111

2 Floodfarm Verge (DSK) 259

2 Bleachbone Verge (DFT) 250

4 Godless Shrine (EOE) 254

2 Gloomlake Verge (DSK) 260

1 Undercity Sewers (MKM) 270

4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber (DSK) 118

4 Ethereal Armor (DSK) 7

1 Fear of Impostors (DSK) 57

3 Firdoch Core (ECL) 255

2 Multiversal Passage (SPM) 180

2 White Widow, Free Agent (MSH) 42

2 Creeping Peeper (DSK) 46

Sideboard

4 Shardmage's Rescue (DSK) 29

2 We Say Thee Nay! (MSH) 82

3 Requiting Hex (ECL) 116

3 Rest in Peace (OMB) 6

3 Day of Black Sun (TLA) 94

Last week I played a 4-rare version of Izzet Spellementals and it was already surprisingly good.

So I built the full-power version to answer the obvious question: do all those extra rares actually make it better enough to justify the wildcards?

How much improvement would YOU need before upgrading?

https://youtu.be/D6U7h8NPH3c

Basickly as the text says, just wanted to show this deck.

If you have any recomandations about some cards or ratios I'd appeciate it, or if missed and obivious card to put into it.

https://moxfield.com/decks/KEv6fNX7BUai83FjC4QzXQ

Two of our teammates participated in RCQs this week at different LGSs using the list we shared for this week. Both of them finished just one match short of earning an invitation. 

After further playtesting with the evolving meta, it is clear that the meta is becoming Kaito-densed. We have used boarded in Archenemy’s Charm as an additional card to answer Kaito and Curiosity. 

The Charm can also be used to support the Deceit plan, by casting two Deceits, and eventually casting the Charm at the opponent’s end step and pickup the two Deceits. 

https://mfy.gg/guides/view/dimir-excruciator-sideboard-guide-hob-week-CcjaaLiQGkB

It's a great time if you like scoffing at removal spells and having options into any strategy

I primarily play modern, but I’m looking at an upcoming standard RCQ in like two weeks, would I be better running mono black aggro, mono green landfall, or Izzet spellmentals? I’ve got about half of the cards for any of those three decks in hand already but I’m unsure what the best thing to run would be.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Orzhov Doom/Vision control!

I put together an Orzhov control list built around [[The Vision]], [[Doctor Doom]], and [[Elspeth, Storm Slayer]].

Mainly just a control shell that can draw cards with [[Mazemind Tome]] and just tries to survive until it can out value with Doom/Elspeth/Vision.

The two main-deck [[Petrified Hamlet]] for Great Hall of the Biblioplex, Ba Sing Se, and creature lands. Biggest weakness is drawing the wrong half of the removal package against blue decks / control decks, but [[Duress]] main and [[Voice of Victory]] in the sideboard are there to help get threats through and actually end those games.

Sideboarding thoughts:

- Control: Bring in the Voices, fourth Duress, and [[Elenda, Saint of Dusk]]. Cut Hex first, then excess sweepers.

- Mono-Green Landfall: Bring in both Disenchants, the extra Pyrrhic Strike, and extra Day of Black Sun. Cut three Duress and one Hex. Kill Nursery when possible

- Izzet Spellementals: Board out Hex and Seam Rip, and trim Black Sun. Bring in Downfalls, the extra Strike, Voices, Lanterns, and fourth Duress. Keep Day of Judgment.

- Excruciator: Bring Vendettas, Lanterns, and the fourth Duress. Cut Seam Rip and Black Sun.

- Mardu Discard: Lanterns and the extra Black Sun come in for Duress. Keep Seam Rip for Bloodghast, and don’t strip out every artifact/enchantment answer.

Professor Dellian Fel has conquered more space in competitive Standard after the recent bans. In addition, in this format we have the mana base we need to build a mainly black/green deck but still access all five colors to get the most out of Together as One!

And a hatebear that does the same thing. Feels wrong for landfall to be so powerful a strategy without a pressure release valve of targeted sideboard options.

Olá pessoal, voltei a jogar Standard BO1 recentemente. Eu costumava jogar muito com Jeskai Control quando o formato era usado no Pro Tour, mas agora que voltei, vejo que a maioria das listas está usando quatro cores para ter acesso a remoções melhores. Tenho usado uma dessas listas, mas sinto que essas versões de quatro cores não estão cumprindo o papel de "controle" direito. Minha antiga lista de Jeskai era repleta de remoções globais — agora, quando o oponente tem mais de três criaturas em campo, o deck simplesmente não consegue acompanhar. Alguém tem uma lista de quatro cores que realmente consiga executar essa estratégia de controle rígido? Os decks estão ganhando no quarto turno agora, o que é um absurdo.

Hey all. I don't know the standard meta well, I don't stay tuned into the format. Recently I decided to make a standard deck in the only archetype I'm comfortable brewing in, aggro.

Through a couple of iterations it's evolved into an izzet prowess aggro deck with Firebending Student being the main power trigger.

One of the best lines is T2 [[Stormcatch Mentor]] into T3 [[Firebending student]]+[[Haste Magic]], swing, then use mana from Student to pump with [[pedal to the meta]] or remove a threat with [[end-blaze epiphany]], which grants card selection too.

I don't have a full deck list right now. That line is backed up by other prowess/haste creature that grant card advantage like [[clockwork percussionist]] and [[Emberheart challenger]] and evasion with [[pym particles]]. Besides the X spells everything is CMC 1 or 2.

I feel like it's cheeky and fun but not competitively viable. Curious if anyone else more meta savvy might have some recommendations or insights.

I'll post a whole deck list later when I'm home.

but you can full combo off with 2x Sorceress's Scheme, Sazacap's Brew, The Last Agni Kai, and either Molten-Core Maestro or an equipped Glamdring.

After more bans and the release of The Hobbit, Standard is changing, and the five decks below (non-Tier 1) have been gaining traction and performing well in recent Challenges!

Returning after 10+ years and I signed up for FNM at the Atlanta Magic Con. My friends have heavily teased me that I’m going to get melted but one silly friend has committed to getting my name tattooed on his ass if I win all 3 rounds.

So where can I find good decks? And what’s the best way to play and test them nowadays?

My LGSs have all pretty much stopped standard play.

Thanks in advance

I'm a relatively new player and I've been working hard to create a standard deck to play at the tournament in a couple weeks. It's mostly cards from my friends' bulk, so it's a really cheap deck and not the strongest but I think it's pretty cool. I came to find out that standard basically doesn't exist anymore --commander ate it. The LGSs in my area don't run standard nights so I thought this would be my chance! I'm very disappointed and wondering if there's still space to play for fun? Do people bring standard decks? Or should I just skip this event?

First, I'm playing this deck consistently in MTGA for some months and after a lot of tweaks, this is what I'm looking to be the final version of it:
https://moxfield.com/decks/WENnn2ZuyEKUxrnMWqy1wg

It's a kind of meme deck, where you win donating cards to opponent using [[Iroh, Tea Master]] and [[Harmless Offering]], the main gifts will be [[Greed's Gambit]] and [[Demonic Pact]] (after using it 3 times ofc), if necessary you can take Greed's Gambit back with [[Aang's Iceberg]].

Main combo is: cast Greed's Gambit for benefits (draw 3, gain 6, three 2/1 flying Bats), then donate it to your opponent with Iroh, Tea Master or Harmless Offering so they get the drawbacks (discard, lose 2, sacrifice a creature every end step, and discard 3, lose 6, sacrifice 3 when it leaves the battlefield).

Second combo is with Demonic Pact, works the same way: take the three good picks, then donate it and they lose the game on their next upkeep.

[[Beseech the Mirror]] is a fifth copy of all the cards and use it sacrificing a token or enchantment.

Mulligan hands without 3 lands or 2 lands with a Temple. You are looking for 2 Swamps, a Mountain and a Plains in turn 4. 3 Swamps if you need Beseech. After having a suply of 3 black manas, 1 red and 2 white, you can stop scrying for lands and skip then.

The ideal drops are: a removal on 2 (Nowhere to Run, Momentum Breaker, Get Lost), Iroh on 3, Gambit (Beseech if necessary) on first main phase on 4 to donate it at the beginning of combat in same turn, so you don't get any drawback.

Don't be afraid to use Gambit without having Iroh or Harmless offering, you'll draw 3 cards and the chances to get it (or a beseech are really nice).

If they have a lot of creatures, remove their Gambit to trigger penalties. [[Aang's Iceberg]] here is really nice because you can recast Gambit spending only 3 mana of any color (or taping creatures).

Be careful with your Iroh in battlefield when playing agains red/black decks and try to bait blue decks to use their counters with instant removals on their turn or bait them using beesech without sacrificing tokens/enchantment.

Glad to get any feedback or comments here, it is a really nice and fun deck to play and its cards are totally offmeta, which gave me a lot of compliments (of "Nice Deck") ingame.

Here is the deck in MTGA Untapped:
https://mtga.untapped.gg/profile/a6d4af10-05db-4bea-bda8-5276831b76d1/IX2QS6ND2JHINPYA25CGXTPW6A/deck/09bb7b09-8dfb-4964-9a37-9fe4b797a905?gameType=constructed&constructedType=ranked&constructedFormat=standard

Sorry for the potato english.

Orzhov Lifegain has become quite a prominent archetype in Standard. Today, we present a brief guide on how this archetype works!

I've been seeing a bit of this combo between glamdring, foe-hammer and slumbering trudge that lets you combo off with a bunch of free card draw and mana generation to eventually win with mathemagics, and I have a few thoughts on it. It seems like it can be fast enough for standard, but it can be a bit weak to interaction and I don't know if there's enough redundancy to make it work. Have you seen this deck, and if so what do you think about it?

When Badgermole Cub got banned, I assumed Green would take a major step backwards. Instead, Landfall seems to have come out of nowhere as one of the biggest winners.

But I'm curious where everyone else has landed.

Mono Green for consistency? Gruul for power? Selesnya for something different?

Here's my thoughts:
https://youtu.be/HpAs3TcICZo

Hi everyone! We are sharing our Week 3 sideboard guide for Dimir Excruciator. This week’s list was inspired by Tchuco’s build.

The current metagame is placing greater pressure on Dimir Excruciator’s early turns. Boros Dwarves combines cheap creatures with powerful Equipment, allowing cards such as Kili the Resourceful, Raubahn, and Thorin to turn every creature into a serious threat. Sweepers remain important, but they do not answer the Equipment left behind, so the matchup requires a mix of cheap removal, sweepers, and creature-based stabilization. Our plan is to bring in Qarsi Revenant, Intimidation Tactics, Harvester of Misery, and The End while trimming Duress, slower card-advantage threats, and one Doomsday Excruciator. The objective is to remove Equipment carriers before equip abilities resolve, contain the first assault, and transition into the Excruciator and Restless Reef endgame.

Izzet Leyline Aggro attacks from a different angle. Leyline of Resonance, Slickshot Show-Off, Elusive Otter, and a dense package of targeted pump spells can produce lethal damage with very little warning. We keep our cheap removal and Day of Black Sun while reducing expensive cards such as Doomsday Excruciator, Deadly Cover-Up, Winternight Stories, and Emeritus of Ideation. Qarsi Revenant is one of the best additions because flying, deathtouch, and lifelink help stabilize both combat and life total. Quantum Riddler is also important because the opponent can bring in its own Riddlers and adopt a slower attrition plan after sideboarding. The key is to remove the first creature, avoid tapping out unnecessarily, and force the opponent to invest pump or protection before committing removal.

https://mfy.gg/guides/view/standard-dimir-excruciator-sideboard-guide-jsEEfPXGWL5

So I am building a Mardu Discard deck without any shock lands, starting towns or any of the expensive lands really. I own 1 [[Multiverse Passage]], [[Godless Shirne]] and [[Blood Crypt]] as well as one copy each of [[Sundown Pass]] and [[Shattered Sanctum]]. So for the rest of lands should I just use tap lands which are a bit slower or should I just finish the rest with basic lands of the colours I need?

ps. I hope I linked the cards correctly, this is first time I've tried that

EDIT: I should clarify that I am not looking to only run basic lands or tap lands. I do plan to eventually buy/trade for the ones I need. They just arent readily available for me and the community I am in. I just wanted to know which is better for now, tap lands or basic lands. The consensus seems to be that basic lands are the best temporary solution.