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3 Best Dominaria Standard Decks You Should Know
It wasn't as black as it seemed…
No, you don't need to worry, Mono Black is not going to dominate the meta , but that doesn't mean that black won't be present! Individually, it's the most powerful color in the format, but supported by other colors, like in the decks we're bringing today, makes the deck more versatile and more adaptable to the metagame as the weeks go by.
On the other hand, I bring you 2 other VERY POWERFUL alternatives WITHOUT BLACK with many possibilities.
Grixis, Jund, Esper, Bant & Selesnya
We saw last week that among hundreds of players in competitive tournaments, the strongest were these 3 archetypes, in their different variants.
Buuuuut, throughout the week, we've been testing other apparently competitive combinations like: Bant, Azorius, Selesnya. Perhaps these latter ones need more days/weeks of testing before they can be more compact and more competitive against Black+XX decks.
Even so, they are very good options and I strongly recommend you try them!
MTGO Challenge, Leagues & Community Tournaments
Over the past weekend and this week, there have been several Twitch community tournaments and leagues where we've seen more variety than last week, but there are 2 in particular tournaments that we need to focus on because of their high level and number of players: the two MTGO Standard Challenges.
When we look at the Top 8, there is a clear predominance of Jund, Esper, and Grixis. It was to be expected that the 3-color decks would adapt better to the metagame than the mono-colored ones. More colors means more ways to play and more lines of attack against the opponent, of course, not to mention more options in the sideboard. Let's take a closer look!
ESPER MIDRANGE by Mogged
Dennick, Pious Apprentice is here to stay!
https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/esper-midrange-decklist-by-mogged-1452717
Denick's graveyard lock renders decks like Jund Reanimator and Boros Invoke almost useless until they find a way to get rid of him. It also circumvents Graveyard Trespasser and his trigger, making Invoke Justice and Cruelty of Gix unable to return any cards to the battlefield, and Unlicensed Hearse unable to take anything from any graveyard.
That is why this card, which is typically relegated to the sideboard, is a key staple to include in the main deck of W+U decks, due to the relevance of graveyards in the current meta.
Esper Midrange is continuing to evolve and, in my opinion, is positioning itself as the most stable and complete deck in the format by having access to more copies of specific cards to deal with the current metagame.
We have a article about the deck written by Mogged itself if you want to give Esper Mindrage a try in any competitive tournament.
JUND MIDRANGE by Gul_Dukat
How good is Unleash the Inferno! HOW GOOD IS UNLEASH THE INFERNO!"
https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/jund-midrange-decklist-by-gul-dukat-1459736
Unleash The Inferno is the Jund Denick, meaning it's that powerful sideboard card that you want to take 4 copies of into every match!
Reckoner Bankbuster, Fable of the Mirror Breaker, Wedding Announcement, Leyline Binding, Meathook Massacre, Grafted Identity, Unlicensed Hearse… in 99% of the matchups, there is a card that is the perfect target for Unleash the Inferno, and all of them also run easy targets for the 7 damage.
We have moved away from the Reanimator build and have shifted our focus to Jund Midrange; a more well-rounded approach to the metagame. Workshop Warchiefs are making a comeback in 3-4 copies to keep the pressure on and perform well against spot removal.
Riveteer's Charm is a 3-in-1 card that shines in a variety of ways: exiling a graveyard vs. Reanimator/Invoke, removal in the form of Soul Shatter, and card advantage at instant speed. What else could you ask for?
GRIXIS MIDRANGE by Spiralprince
Ertai Resurrected …. You're going to HATE this card with a passion.
https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/grixis-midrange-decklist-by-spiralprince-1459735
It Flash-blocks, it destroys creatures or walkers, counters spells or abilities...yeah, it gives us an extra card when it resolves, but... drawing a card in exchange for killing my 7-cost titan, for only 4 mana, and leaving a body on the table? Ertai, I HATE YOU!
Adding Rona's Vortex and the ability to remove a creature with a cantrip thanks to Fires of Victory and Soul Shatter makes this deck more recursive. This deck can more easily take advantage of these spells by comboing their effects to clear the board by dealing with the different threats in the right order to get the best result. It also has additional recursion by taking advantage of Meathook, Blood Token, and Reckoner.
To summarize, the best version of Grixis to date with enough aggression and control to make you not want to face it.
Final words
Nice decks that can be easily adapted to different playing styles and different approaches to the metagame are always fun to play with. If you are more into control decks, you can adapt them to a slower game, and if you're an aggressive player, you can do the same by putting more pressure on the board from turn 1!
As always, I recommend not just doing a Copy/Paste, give it your personal touch and have fun with this standard!
Before I say goodbye, I'll leave you with a couple of black-less options that seem extremely powerful to me, capable of resolving unfavorable games and that we'll take a closer look at next week.
SELESNYA ENCHANTMENTS
BANT FESTIVAL
I'll see you next week with the next article!
Remember that you can find me live on Twitch, Monday through Friday from 7 UTC+1 at Twitch.tv/rapsolo_.
See you next week friends!
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Always competitive never friendly
My name is Rapsolo. I'm a content creator on Twitch, I organize tournaments and I play Standard most of the time on Mtg Arena and MTGO.
