MTG Standard Deck Winners: Post-Ban Meta Shakeup Guide

The Decks that Benefitted the Most from Monday's Bans

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Explore the new Standard meta in Magic: The Gathering post-ban. Discover top decks Dimir Midrange & Mono Black Demons. Adapt and conquer in Best of 3!

We are fresh off of an absolute KNEECAPPING of the Standard Meta. The top two aggro decks, domain, graveyard combo, and bounce all took a huge hit. We are currently operating as if these decks are now unplayable, so by default, there will be questions. Can we keep playing the other decks that were decent in the meta? Will they get better? And even, can I finally brew in Standard the way that I want to? The answer for now might be yes to all of that. In a format that feels as if it is wide open, we have a chance to take a wild-west approach to the current Standard format until we have rotation and the next set. While there will be plenty of brews to come, I would like to examine the decks that will now move up into the upper echelon of the meta. There are three different archetypes that I believe will benefit from the bans. Let's start it off with one that might seem pretty obvious

This probably doesn't come as a surprise. Many people have had success with this deck, and have used it as somewhat of an anti-meta list to deal with all different types of threats. Although the meta is a little bit more wide open, I still think this list is equipped to take down anything that is thrown at it.

Dimir Midrange

Dimir continues to do what Dimir does. It draws a ton of cards, has creatures that are hard to block/deal with, and it can even be a control deck on command. The versatility of the deck combining the best blue and black cards has proven difficult to deal with previously, and that should continue into the new meta. The new lists are starting to include cards like Cecily, Dark Knight, and that works out pretty well. The counter magic in the sideboard makes it difficult in any matchup.

You figured I had to include this one, right? Man, I hope it starts to take off again. It is always a fun meta when Mono Black is good. Seeing as this time around we were marked safe from the ban hammer, I am excited to see what we can do with the plethora of good black cards currently in Standard.

Mono Black Demons/Midrange

There are a few different versions of this archetype. Some simply just play Unholy Annex with other good midrange cards and no other demons. It allows the Room from Duskmourn to speak for itself as one of the best black cards printed in Standard in the last calendar year. Other lists include other demons and go for the synergy route. It always helps that they fly and are great blockers. I expect to see the demons lists rising in the competitions and expect a bit more innovation to come to the lists now that we don't have to worry about constantly dying on turn four. On an interesting note, people were starting to play the combo of Unstoppable Slasher with Bloodletter of Aclazotz again, in an effort to race the aggro decks. I imagine that we will still see a format chalked full of removal, so I am not sure if that will be the viable route to take the deck. The fun part about all of this though, is that we can take some time to literally try everything. The format is wide open, and the lists that we are seeing and the variety of decks already being played would suggest that Wizards hit the nail on the head here.

This is one of the pesky decks that many people hoped to not have to go against when it came time for a tournament. The deck has a very high ceiling and a lot of versatility. We do have a lot of answers to deal with the deck in Standard, and I don't hate the matchup against it now when playing black-based decks. We have some more room now to include enough hand hate and exile spells to deal with the combos that this deck can pull off. The reason that it will still be good is because of the amount of good matchups that it has against most other decks. Its biggest crutch will be the fact that any deck in the world can play Ghost Vacuum in their sideboard.

Jeskai Oculus

Oculus proves itself to be the last graveyard deck standing after Abuelo's Awakening was banned. Omniscience just had such a high ceiling that it caused a lot of people to choose that over Oculus. Now that this deck is out of the question, some may find it easy to pivot back to the Oculus list. I personally enjoy playing against the Jeskai list a little bit more, because it has interactions that are much more fun rather than a simple, resolve this spell - win the game type of play pattern that we saw with Omniscience combo. Oculus takes more of a go-wide approach that is great and can also be mitigated with the many boardwipes that we have in the format. There are some cards , however, that allow it to really take off quickly. Cards like Prophet's Eidetic Memory and Fear of Missing Out really propel it forward, and almost give it an aggro gameplan when needed.

Where do we go From Here?

Standard is anything but solved at this point, and the interesting part is that it likely won't be fully solved for a while. The next time we have a pro tour, we will have rotation. There will be a new set at that time too, and even more uncertainty will ensue. We are in a position where we can play whatever we please, and if the deck is any good, it will probably hold up in the current meta. We are fortunate to get this opportunity, and I hope these decks help you make the most of it—whether you choose the list to play for yourself, or you use this information as a means to build a deck that can out-gun the best decks out there. Either way that you choose, I believe that we are all in for a good time. Cheers!

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I am a Magic The Gathering competitive player, and streamer. I specialize in homebrew decks. My favorite formats are: Standard, Pioneer (Explorer on Arena), and EDH. I first started playing MTG in 2001, and have played on and off since then.

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Explore the impact of Vivi Cauldron's dominance in SCG Magic Spotlight and discover potential shifts in the MTG Standard metagame with possible bans.

Recapping SCG Magic Spotlight and Why we MUST Have More Bans in Standard

Remember the last time there was a ban in Standard? We needed it so badly that the format was almost unplayable and two different decks were way too powerful compared to everything else. We aren't in as dire a situation currently, but this time it is arguably more annoying and unfun. Magic Spotlight just wrapped up in Orlando and we saw a top 8 field that had 75% Vivi Cauldron representation. The metagame itself was about 55%. This is even worse than it was with Cutter. It is evident that Vivi is the best deck, and it has gotten to the point where other decks are abandoning their gameplan to include cards in the main deck to try and stop the Vivi combo. This is a dead giveaway that we have a glaring issue. Since I believe that some type of ban will happen, I think it is useful to consider what Standard looks like after that, and what decks might emerge. We will take a look at the other deck that did well in the event, and what list starts to stand out after the imminent ban on either Vivi or Cauldron. There was a silver lining today. Amidst all of the complaints about the current format, mono red set all that aside and took care of business. Needless to say, the deck looks very different than it did the last time we saw it in a major event, but the archetype itself is proving to have evergreen efficacy. You have to figure that this deck is still good after additional bans, but it definitely would look different. It would be allowed to have more of a gameplan, and the gameplay of the deck would likely be more linear. It was relieving to see that Vivi didn't outright win the event, but even without the deck getting first, it still feels like it won in a lot of ways. There isn't a ton to actually recap for the event. It was a ton of Vivi, and Mono Red did its best to fight against it. There were a couple of Mono Black decks that made two, some Dimir, and some Azorius Midrange. When it came down to it, however, the top 16 was virtually all of the top 2 decks.

Want to Qualify for the Next Regional Championship? Play this Deck!

The Standard RCQ season is in full swing, and although it's still early, it is always nice to get that first qualification out of the way. I was fortunate enough to do that a week ago at a local RCQ and it was with this demon list that I finalized a little bit before heading over to the event. Things worked out really well for me, as I only dropped one match all day, and the person who handed me my only loss, I ended up beating in the finals. The matchups were pretty diverse. We are cautiously optimistic about calling Standard a "healthy" format right now. The Vivi Cauldron and Dimir Kaito decks might say otherwise, but it is pretty healthy otherwise. I was fortunate enough to not go up against Vivi at all this day, but I did have to go against Kaito twice. Thankfully I was able to beat it both times. As for the deck itself, it definitely has to take on a new look after rotation. There are a couple of new choices that we use for removal, and we even get to use a new card from Edge of Eternities. This modal spell actually helps a ton with synergy in the deck outside of simple removal. We will check on that momentarily. What is most interesting to me about this deck, and intriguing is the fact that it is successful so far in the new meta, is that we are reverting back to the combo that we played previously. We have reintroduced the Slasher/Bloodletter combo and it seems to be working well. When I think of where the list is at now, I think of it as a sort of "back to basics" list. There aren't a ton of demons, but just enough to make it consistent. Each slot is pretty carefully chosen and we have definitely lowered the AMC compared to other lists, and I think that helps out with a meta that is still fast - even after rotation. Alright, enough of me yapping and gloating. Let's take a look at the deck! You will see that there are a lot of familiar faces here. A couple of new friends, but we have kept the shell that has been around for the last eight to ten months. My favorite part about the deck is that while it does have the combo option, it can simply grind with or without the combo pieces in play. Equally, the combo pieces themselves are just good cards on their own. Bloodletter of Aclazotz is good in almost any deck that makes someone lose life and Unstoppable Slasher forces bad resource trades in a format that demands decks to run removal. The opponent often has to burn two spells to get rid of it, and we usually come out on top in that exchange. The important part here is that we get a lot of value out of all of our creatures. I'll show you some of the new cards from the last couple of sets that we have, and then go over new removal choices so we can get a feel for how to pilot this going forward.

Mono Black has New Tools: Time for DISCARD

It really feels like we are still taking in everything from Final Fantasy. About a month ago we had MC Vegas and the collector boosters were all the craze, along with the pro tour. In less than five weeks, we have seen a bunch of cards banned, had rotation, and had a new set release. It is an eventful MTG Summer to say the least. Right now, it is that time that we all love where a new meta will be formed. I know that I usually release deck lists before the new set comes out, but this time I wanted to wait for the set to be released and test it a bit after rotation before I advised whether or not some of this stuff was worth burning wildcards on. The first list that I have for you is the discard list. We got some new tools in Edge of Eternities and in this post-ban/rotation meta we are going to have a better opportunity to get back to basics and try out some of the good old-fashioned mono black fun. My favorite thing about this deck is that we can turn our main engine into a creature when we are ready. There are so many good discard spells in the format right now. We are approaching a point where control decks are going to be relevant again because aggro decks are still good. It is part of my due diligence to find out a good control/discard deck for you. This is my first attempt. We are going to use our efficient threats to trade with problematic creatures, and remove them where needed. We will use our discard spells to help ensure that the opponent runs out of gas. Once they get to that point, we will punish them for having no cards in hand. This will eventually lead to them getting too far behind to simply beat us with a top deck. We even have some options for gaining life that will help us stay in the game. Let's take a look at some of the new cards that are making a splash early. Fun New Toys

We Had to do it! Boros Equipment is BACK!

I'll never forget what it was like to come back to magic a few years ago after taking a seven-year break to stumble across a meta that was so diverse, it had a deck that was centered around equipment, and the deck was actually really good. It was the golden age of Standard. Kaldheim was the most powerful set in the format by far, and the rares and mythics from that plane set the tone for what the meta would be in our beloved format. Sadly, it ended up rotating, and it did not get to stick around long enough to see the three-year rotation cycle like we have now. The good news is, we are going to try and bring it back! We will look to use cards that go all the way back in Standard so far to the point where the deck might only be playable for a couple of months. That's okay, we will have our fun while we can. I want to throw my hat in the ring for a powerful Boros Equipment list in our new Standard that comes out with Final Fantasy. I think there are too many powerful equipment both in this set, and that have come out within the last year to overlook giving this a shot. It may look a little different, and be a bit janky, but we have enough powerful cards to make this deck awesome. What I love most about it is that we will be able to tutor for equipment cards, and that is where we can kind of use a toolbox of equipment and have a few different one-ofs to diversify our threats. This also allows us to use our sideboard for additional equipment cards if needed. We should expect the deck to change as we see what the meta turns into after Final Fantasy is released. I believe that people are expecting change, and even if we don't get it in the first two months, we will also have rotation. That will guarantee change if nothing else does. We will take a look at the deck and then go over some of the new cards that are showcased within it, and we can see a pretty cool combo that will form. I included a lot of new cards in this deck, so forgive me if I don't get to all of them - but I promise that they all fit well for their own reasons. You can see that we definitely want to set things up early with this deck. The meta is very fast and we want to have our engines going on turns two and three and start trying to amass value from there. We will even try to get maximum value out of cards like Leyline Axe to try and get it going before we even lay our first land. Some of our creatures create their own equipment, and some creatures allow us to tutor for equipment. Some allow us to equip for free, and some even reanimate equipment from our graveyard, or allow us to attach them from our hand. We have many different ways to get value in this deck, so let's take a look at the key players. Key New Cards

Sephiroth is Everything we Wanted Him to be. Let's Build a Deck Around Him!

We are about to embark upon the most unique set in Standard we have ever had, while also going into a new era where Universes Beyond cards are all Standard legal, and they are released multiple times a year. Many are up in arms about the game possibly being ruined, or losing its integrity. I personally am waiting to see how things play out, and doing my best to enjoy the new cards as much as I can. Final Fantasy is an interesting set for me. I haven't ever played a Final Fantasy game and I am completely in the dark on any of the lore or story in general. I've felt a bit left out in regards to the hype for the set, and I have been taking a different approach to the cards in the set as they are spoiled. I have strictly been looking at things from a card evaluation standpoint. One could say it's essentially the same as how I've always done it, but in this case it feels like I am an outlier. Although I don't know much about Final Fantasy, I was able to find a card with a mechanic that is near and dear to my heart. Gain and drain will always be my favorite mechanic/ability in MTG, and anyone who has been reading these articles long enough already knew that. Today we are going to look at everyone's favorite villain: Sephiroth. Trust me, I didn't know that before, my friend who is a Final Fantasy enjoyer told me all about it. We will use some other gain and drain effects, and some aristocrat creatures to hopefully drain out our opponent and flood the board with creatures that can go wide. We'll take a look at the deck and then I'll go over the new cards that I included, and why I think they'll be useful in Standard. Let's check it out! I tried to include a good amount of new cards for the deck. A lot of it was pretty easy to build around and the deck somewhat ended up building itself. It was refreshing to have support for this ability. Without further ado, let's check out these new cards and why they are good. Relevant New Cards

The Meta is Changing, so it's Time for a Standard Check-In

Remember when Domain was the best deck in the format? Pepperidge Farm remembers. We are currently experiencing some pretty hefty shifts in the meta regarding the most popular decks, and it seems that many players who enjoy big mana decks are making the shift towards an aggro-based list. A few of us have gotten our wish - myself included - Tarkir has brought us the shift in the meta that many felt we desperately needed. There are some cards in Tarkir that stand out and are helping to shape the meta. We have new archetypes rising, and there are some other archetypes that were on the edge of being relevant, and just needed a couple of cards. Some of those archetypes are now lit up, and the meta is becoming more diverse. I think it's a little too early to flat out call it healthy, but I think that it is starting to feel better, and to feel as if we can play fun decks without playing against the same thing every time. Today we will look at some of the biggest shifts in the metagame, and check out some of the cards that are causing these shifts. The Latest Challenger We'll start out with the biggest difference-maker in the meta: Izzet Prowess. This is a deck that people have tried to play before, and there were random times where it was good, but it has finally been given a tool that allows for constant generation of creatures, and rewards proper sequencing of spells.

Recapping SCG Magic Spotlight and Why we MUST Have More Bans in Standard