Welcome Magic lovers!
With the upcoming release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction happening next week, Magic: the Gathering deck brewers the world over are frantically cobbling together and tweaking list after list in the never-ending quest of discovering the next big thing in the various competitive constructed formats such as Standard, Pioneer (Explorer on Magic Arena), Modern and beyond.
Last week, we laid out a few basic deck ideas for Standard, which hopefully gave some of our readers a few new ideas to try out. Today, however, we’ll be focusing on what I believe are the most powerful individual cards in each color from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. These may be cards that slot nicely into existing archetypes, or perhaps they spawn a few brand-new decks based on their power alone. Without further adieu, let’s jump and take a look at my top three cards in each color that are most likely to see some competitive constructed tournament play!
White
Requisition Raid is not only a powerful modal spell, but its also incredibly efficient for its cost. Most competitive decks are perfectly fine paying two mana for a Disenchant effect and this has the added bonus of not only being able to hit two targets for one additional mana, not unlike a card such as Wear/Tear, but it also acts as a way to permanently add a bunch of power and toughness to the board by pumping one’s team of creatures. It’s not hard to imagine a deck like Boros Convoke in Standard or Pioneer using a Requisition Raid to blow up a Temporary Lockdown that was exiling two or three creatures, and then pumping them all in one fell swoop. Yes, this card’s modes resolve in descending order, much like Farewell, meaning the creatures that were freed when Temporary Lockdown was destroyed will enter the battlefield during Requisition Raid’s resolution, and will pick up those +1/+1 counters. The flexibility and efficient rate of this card can’t be denied, and it will certainly see a lot of play out of the sideboard of many competitive decks.
Final Showdown is yet another sweeper in a sea of Wrath of God clones, and while its six-mana casting cost isn’t turning any heads, it does have a significant upside over its predecessors: it’s instant-speed. An instant-speed, unconditional sweeper doesn’t get printed very often, and for good reason. For example, it’s very difficult to not overextend against a control deck that is capable of both destroying one’s team of creatures at instant speed while also casting card draw on one’s end step, like Memory Deluge. A Standard deck like Doman Ramp in Standard not only wants to play sweepers, but making an Atraxa, Grand Unifier indestructible in response to a Go for the Throat is also quite nice. While the first mode can also be useful in niche situations, like saving yourself from a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse trigger, its not quite as powerful as it may seem, as it won’t stop creatures with enter-the-battlefield abilities, the way a card like Dress Down does. That said, like some of the other cards with the Spree mechanic, its both powerful and flexible and will certainly see play in Standard at the very least.
The final white card to round out our top three cards for constructed is Aven Interrupter. It’s a creature that is immediately reminiscent of a card like Spell Queller, as both have flash, flying and similar stats, though that’s where the similarity ends. While having a Remand on a stick is quite nice, its certainly not as powerful as a threat that forces your opponent to have a removal spell in order to cast the spell that was initially countered. That said, Aven Interrupter is still potent, as it naturally taxes flashback cards like Memory Deluge and cards coming back from the graveyard like Mosswood Dreadknight and the new Forsaken Miner. This card should definitely see play in at least Standard and probably Pioneer also, but mostly in the sideboard.
Blue
Our first blue card that should make some waves in the competitive constructed scene is Jace, Reawakened. While it’s technically a two-mana planeswalker, it requires being cast on turn four or later, which may seem like a disappointing restriction, but it may not be as punishing as it first appears. While he doesn’t immediately affect the battlefield, this new Jace does allow one to play both it and another two-mana spell on turn four, like removal or a counterspell, while also generating a pseudo mana advantage by plotting a spell, or card advantage by filtering away dead draws. Add to that the fact that Jace’s loyalty only goes up means that the longer it stays in play, the harder it is to remove via combat. The looting ability also fits nicely in graveyard-based decks looking to cheat large threats into play via either reanimation spells or plotting off of Jace’s second ability. Altogether, it makes Jace Reawakened a solid mid-game play that has very high upside. It will almost certainly see some play in Standard and potentially Pioneer.
It's not hard to keep one’s opponent in the rearview mirror with our next blue card from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Three Steps Ahead. In the early game, it’s simply a Cancel, and three-mana counterspells are already seeing Standard play in Azorius Control decks. However, as the game progresses it becomes better and better. At five, countering a spell and drawing a card is akin to Cryptic Command. When one can counter a spell and copy a creature at six mana, it becomes the best Mystic Snake ever printed. While Three Steps Ahead does an incredible job of scaling up and being relevant at almost any point in the game, it also has the backdoor option of simply drawing two cards and discarding one for just three mana in the early game in order to find lands or smooth one’s draw. An amazing, modal counterspell that will certainly see play in Standard and Pioneer.
Our last blue card is none other than Nathan Steuer’s World Championship card, Duelist of the Mind. As an evasive two-drop that grows when cards are drawn, it immediately fits right in one of the top decks in Standard: Esper Raffine. Curving this into a Raffine, Scheming Seer is insane, and will certainly be something we see a lot of going forward. It’s also tempting to play the Duelist in decks that normally run Ledger Shredder, like Izzet Phoenix in Pioneer, where the looting ability helps put Arclight Phoenixes in the graveyard, and the plethora of card draw can grow the Duelist to titanic proportions. A very powerful, efficient card that will definitely see play in Standard, Pioneer and potentially Modern.
Black
Our first black card from Outlaws of Thunder Junction that has competitive constructed potential is Harvester of Misery. Its two-mana removal spell that doesn’t interfere with cascade effects in Modern, which happens to be very powerful, especially when one is trying to kill hate cards like Lavinia, Azorius Renegade. In Standard, it’s flexibility of being both an early-game removal spell which puts itself into the graveyard to get reanimated later, as well as a five-mana mini-sweeper plus finisher makes it a very potent card. Unlike similar cards with an early backdoor out, such as Trumpeting Carnosaur, the Harvester is black, which is a color that’s much better suited to take advantage of creatures which put themselves in the graveyard. Add all these factors up, and its clear that Harvester of Misery will be a potent card in both Standard and Pioneer.
Our next card is the legendary Gisa, the Hellraiser, which does a pretty impressive Grave Titan impression, with her ability to put a ton of power on the battlefield very quickly. It won’t be hard to trigger her ‘commit a crime’ ability in black, and setting up a turn five Gisa with a creature to trigger her, like Graveyard Trespasser or Lazav, Wearer of Faces, or perhaps a spell that’s been plotted earlier, should be elementary. Even if the opponent has a removal spell, the ward 2 ability on Gisa means they’re still not exchanging very favorably with her. If a player can start triggering her on the opponent’s turn as well, Gisa is capable of pumping out some serious power. When one also considers that her static ability to pump Skeletons and Zombies may have deck builders using her as the backbone of an undead tribal deck, its not difficult to see how Gisa, the Hellraiser could potentially see plenty of constructed play.
Our final black card may not seem very spectacular, but Forsaken Miner will be a very solid workhorse in more than one constructed format. It’s the latest, and almost certainly best, in a long line of two-power one-mana creatures. We usually only get a 2/1 for one mana, this time its a 2/2. The cost to return the Miner to the battlefield is also cheap, at only one mana, and simple to trigger, unlike other versions of this kind of card which required a player to attack, have a creature die, or have a specific creature type in play. The most obvious home for a card that keeps coming back from the battlefield is in a deck like Rakdos Sacrifice in Pioneer, where it pairs perfectly with a card like Mayhem Devil, providing fuel for the Devil to eat and also potentially coming back into play after each of the Devil’s triggers. It comes back from the graveyard regardless of how it got there, and it also fantastic at both crewing and discarding to Smuggler’s Copter or cards like Liliana of the Veil. By no means a flashy card, Forsaken Miner will nonetheless see play in low-curve creature decks that have a sacrifice theme, as well as Skeleton or Outlaw tribal decks.
Red
Our first red card is the powerful, two-mana engine piece, Legion Extruder. Acting as both a cheap burn spell and a factory to pump out creatures means this card will almost certainly never be dead. Being able to produce a golem at instant speed is very potent, and with no restriction on what kind of artifact can be sacrificed to it, including tokens, the Extruder can also sacrifice a golem in response to an opponent’s removal spell to immediately get a replacement golem and effectively counter the spell. Legion Extruder also pairs perfectly with a card like Oni-cult Anvil, not only because its another sacrifice outlet, but also because its ‘shock’ ability can be pointed at the opponent’s face, and every point of damage is relevant in a deck that’s trying to deliver death by a thousand cuts. It’s cheap casting cost, lack of limitations and sheer potential to take over the game make Legion Extruder a card that will definitely see play at some point in Standard and perhaps older formats.
The next red card that jumped out as being particularly powerful is Magda, the Hoardmaster. While she is a self-contained engine, ideally one won’t be casting Magda on turn two in order to try and generate enough treasure tokens to trigger her second ability, despite her cheap casting cost. This means she won’t see play in typical, low-curve mono-red decks. Where Magda, the Hoardmaster seems best is as a mid-to-late game card, much like another cheap, red, army-in-a-can card, Dragonmaster Outcast. Like the Outcast, if one can set up then play a Magda after generating a few treasures from other sources, then it becomes very powerful. Magda is obviously at her best in a deck with many ways to commit crimes on the opponent’s turn, which shouldn’t be too difficult to do in red. Also remember that the treasure which Magda makes doesn’t necessarily have to be used to produce a Scorpion Dragon either. Simply ramping by making treasure in order to slam a five or six-mana spell early is also very powerful. Altogether, Magda, the Hoardmaster is a powerful package that may see play in Standard, but probably not older formats.
Our last red card that seems like its powerful enough to see play is Slickshot Show-off, a hasty new flier that has a type of super-prowess. At two mana, its cheap enough that it can slot right into the Mono-red Aggro deck in Standard, as a strict upgrade to Feldon, Ronom Excavator. In older formats, the play pattern will typically be: plot Slickshot on turn two, save it until turn four when one can play both the bird wizard in addition to a bevy of other spells like Underworld Breach plus a couple of Mishra’s Baubles, and that’s going to be the end of the opponent. Slickshot Show-Off will be the backbone of prowess decks in both Modern and potentially Pioneer, as it’s a wizard in addition to its other type. This card will certainly see play in blue/red spell-heavy decks and mono-red aggressive strategies in Standard, Pioneer and Modern.
Green
With a massive 6/5 body for only four mana with no downside, Colossal Rattlewurm is a very large threat early in the game against almost any opponent. Add to this the fact that this wurm also ramps one’s mana if its in the graveyard, and there is at least one desert still in the deck, its not hard to see why this is one of the most exciting green creatures from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Combining Colossal Rattlewurm with any of the myriad discard or self-mill effects in Standard, and its not hard to envision how one can get this into the graveyard early in order to fetch up an Arid Archway to put into play, effectively ramping, drawing a card and giving any future Rattewurms flash. In Pioneer, many more deserts exist, mostly from Amonkhet block, making the wurm a viable card there also. The worst-case-scenario of simply having to cast one’s giant, 6/5 wurm on turn four is just about as powerful a downside as a card can get. Expect to see this card everywhere in Standard and even in Pioneer going forward.
Yet another card that immediately brings back memories of a different three-mana 1/1 that produces a 3/3 golem creature token, Sandstorm Salvager has clearly been upgraded for 2024. While its previous incarnation in white, Blade Splicer, was a powerful board presence card and favored bounce/blink target, it did little else once it was in play. The new Sandstorm Salvager not only produces that same 3/3 golem artifact creature, but can also then pump not only the creature it produced, but all the token creatures one controls. This is obviously a huge upgrade from simple giving all one’s golems first strike, like Blade Splicer did. No longer is the 1/1 body on the card simply a chump blocker on a later turn. By imbuing it with real, lasting value, the set designers have taken Sandstorm Salvager up a notch, allowing it to find a place in not only decks trying to blink or bounce the Salvager for value, but also decks which go wide by producing a ton of token creatures, golem or otherwise. Expect to see this card as a lynchpin piece in any new artifact or token-based decks that may emerge in Standard.
Our last green card is yet another three-mana creature, Freestrider Lookout. As a 3/3 with reach for only three mana, its already above rate for the amount of mana one pays for it, but it’s the Lookout’s very potent ability to find and put any land into play which really pushes it over the top of the other green creatures in the set. Whenever a card says that it can fetch and put any land into play, regardless of type, it immediately grabs my attention. Not only is Freestrider Lookout trivially easy to trigger by simply committing a crime, its ability to both ramp and put all sorts of value lands into play has very high upside. Fetching everything from triomes, creature-lands, Arid Archway, Field of Ruin, Mirrex, and more, should not be underestimated. Combine this with something like Spelunking and you’ve got a very potent shell to build around. It will be interesting seeing the how deck builders out there approach this card, considering all the lands available in just Standard means the sky is the limit. I expect to see Freestrider Lookout in some top Standard and Pioneer decks before too long.
That’s it! Our top picks from each color for competitive Standard play. Did you agree or disagree with some or all of them? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
