We are a couple of weeks into Foundations, and it feels like the meta is starting to respond. There were some good staple creatures added to the format, and we even got back some nostalgic burn spells. Midrange is still pretty good, but the decks are forced more and more into a sideboard plan that is almost entirely geared toward dealing with aggro. If you hadn't noticed how prevalent aggro has become recently, it now accounts for 74% of the decks that are listed in major tournaments in Standard. The most recent MTGO Challenge actually featured an entire top 8 consisting of assorted aggro decks. One could make the argument that some of the decks were more tempo than aggro, but the decks have aggressive creatures nonetheless, and they also all tend to have a low curve. We could also conclude that the addition of Llanowar Elves makes the Golgari decks that much faster, and then in some instances they could have been considered an aggro deck. Mono red is also taking up more and more of the competitive metashare, and is positioning itself as a deck to be reckoned with ever since its strong showing at the World Championships. We will look over some of the archetypes in Standard right now that are consistently performing well in challenges and other tournaments.
Red Deck Wins
This has remained a relevant deck for over a year now, and has endured many changes. It seems that the deck can always find a worthy replacement once a card either rotates or becomes subpar. There are a few new burn spells in Foundations, so it has become evident that burn could be here to stay for the next few years. It's going to be strong most likely for as long as Bloomburrow is in Standard. I think this is good for the game, and lines up with what Wizards wants. You want people to get into your game and garner new players with Foundations, so why not make sure mono red is good? It is one of the preconstructed decks on Arena, and it is one of the easier archetypes for a new player to learn. It lines up with everything that they want, and also allows for newer players to have a positive experience with a good deck that can win games early on in their journey. It is also pretty helpful that a lot of the cards are on the cheaper end. Just make sure you save up for your sideboard - Screaming Nemesis is steadily climbing and could get to fifty bucks soon!
Dimir Aggro
This is one of the lists that I view more as a tempo deck, but it becomes very aggressive when it is time to go for the kill. It draws a ton of cards, and gets ridiculous value out of the plethora of two mana creatures that the deck plays. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is also still proving his worth. This card was a hit at Worlds, and continues to be a menace, and arguably the best ninjutsu creature that Standard has seen in years. When he is not terrorizing the combat phase, he is also a pretty effective planeswalker. The versatility that the Dimir deck has allows it to have a fair shot against a diverse group of decks. It has a bunch of flash creatures that make it a little better against control and allow it to be insulated against board wipes, it has counter magic to deal with threats and protect their permanents, it also has plenty of removal and card draw. It is often difficult for a player to navigate exactly how they want to attack the Dimir deck, because they have so many different ways of winning. It can be easy to fall into a trap. It appears that being able to peek into their hand a couple of times is really helpful, because we can give ourselves more of a fair shot if we know how their gameplan is shaping. And yes, I do call us knowing their hand a fair shot, because this deck is so good that playing against it almost feels unfair.
Why is Aggro so Good Right Now?
Aggro is staying consistently good for a few reasons. It is definitely an archetype that I could see Wizards wanting to support for the newer players that are expected. Aggro decks have a very linear gameplan that allows newer players to easily pick up, while also giving them fun experiences with the game. It is also healthy within a meta to have aggro decks be "good" as someone has to deal with all of those pesky control players! Another reason for it being good from what I've seen is that we are still pretty far from having a solved meta. This means that people are still trying out new stuff, and that often involves playing decks that may not be fully optimized, or simply are too slow while the player tries to figure out the best way to pull off their combo with the new deck, or simply finding where the power level itself is. These aggro decks have had the same goal the entire time - kill you fast. It helps their situation when people are trying new stuff because their gameplan stays the same, and they just have to get the kill before the combo, or before things get out of hand for them. One final reason that we are seeing so much aggro is cost. Aggro decks are inherently less expensive on Arena, in paper, and on MTGO. In paper, the rares generally aren't too crazy expensive, and on Arena, you can get a lot of value from good uncommons. In MTGO, it somewhat follows what paper does. The prices tend to stay pretty low for aggro decks with a few cards here and there getting expensive. It also helps that one of the aggro decks is a mono color deck, because that saves tons of money on lands as well. There are a ton of reasons to play aggro right now in Standard, and it will be interesting to see how the meta adapts to dealing with it. Someone will have to do something, because people won't allow aggro to continue filling out every top 8.
