I can say that Mono Blue can be considered as a budget deck that has been gaining success in the recent MTG Standard tournaments. Another aggro deck that I would consider is Mono White Aggro which also made a top finish in the latest MOCS. The list I will show is sort of its budget version but still the fast start is maintained.

Check out this list below.

Creatures
4 Adanto Vanguard
4 Benalish Marshall
4 Dauntless Bodyguard
2 Hunted Witness
4 Knight of Grace
4 Skymarch Aspirant
3 Snubhorn Sentry
4 Venerated Loxodon

Spells
3 Conclave Tribunal
3 Legions Landing
1 Pride of Conquerors
3 Radiant Destiny

Lands
19 Plains
2 Memorial to Glory

The rare cards in the deck are Benalish Marshall, Venerated Loxodon, Legions Landing and Radiant Destiny and the priciest in this batch is probably the enchantment. Marshall costs around 100 pesos, the same with the Loxodon and Radiant Destiny is about 125 to 150 pesos each. In total, the deck would only cost you below a thousand and that you can play it right away in your next local FNM tournament. Personally I would try this build but if ever there are History of Benalia available then I would instantly be adding those in the deck.

That is wrap for this budget deck tech, until the next blog post.

Time for another round of deck tech in the Standard format and today I am featuring the archetype that is composed of cards from the Magic Coreset 2019 that functions for its “alternative” win condition. The cards are Psychic Corrosion and Patient Rebuilding and this version of the deck utilized the Dimir guild and with the Black access, we have Thought Erasure to discard their threats while we set up the mill plan and Vraska’s Contempt as a solid spot removal.

Here below is the decklist:

Lands
2 Swamp
10 Island
1 Field of Ruin
2 Dimir Guildgate
2 Memorial to Genius
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb

Spells
4 Radical Idea
1 Notion Rain
4 Thought Erasure
2 Cast Down
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Essence Scatter
4 Sinister Sabotage
4 Chemister’s Insight
3 Vraska’s Contempt

2 Drowned Secrets
2 Search for Azcanta/Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
2 Patient Rebuilding
4 Psychic Corrosion

Here is another deck build of the Golgari guild that relies solely on the Undergrowth mechanic and related graveyard shenanigans. Stitcher’s Supplier lets you fill up your graveyard early with creatures to feed the Charnel Troll which is the main early threat of the deck. The rest of the components are mostly basic and that I have only added Necrotic Wound as the sole non-creature spell in the list. See the decklist below.

Lands
6 Forest
4 Swamp
2 Memorial to Folly
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Golgari Guildgate

Creatures
2 Izoni, Thousand-Eyed
1 Midnight Reaper
2 Jadelight Ranger
1 Isareth the Awakener
4 Stitcher’s Supplier
3 Molderhulk
3 Charnel Troll
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Glowspore Shaman
3 Llanowar Elves
2 Golgari Findbroker
3 Plaguecrafter
4 Merfolk Branchwalker

Spells
4 Necrotic Wound

I recently found another interesting Standard deck build despite the usual Ravnica Guild-based archetypes in the format. The deck is Five-Color Control and was created by well-known Pro Ali Aintrazi and he finished in first place in the SCG Standard Classic Charlotte last October 28th. Here below is his creation:

Lands (26)
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Gateway Plaza
2 Hinterland Harbor
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Sunpetal Grove
3 Temple Garden
2 Watery Grave
1 Woodland Cemetery

Spells (34)
4 Gift of Paradise
3 The Mirari Conjecture
2 Chance for Glory
1 Chemister’s Insight
1 Expansion
4 Revitalize
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Vraska’s Contempt
3 Lich’s Mastery
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Cleansing Nova
4 Discovery
1 Divination
2 Mastermind’s Acquisition

Sideboard
3 Carnage Tyrant
2 Knight of Autumn
3 Thief of Sanity
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
1 Banefire
1 Deafening Clarion
2 Duress
1 Nature’s Spiral

Last weekend while checking on the stuff at Nth Dimension, I decided to crack open a Dominaria booster pack with the hopes of opening some of its mythics which were in demand in Standard at the moment. Instead, I got a legendary Rare elf Marwyn, the Nurturer. That being said, it reminded me that the tribal Elf deck is still a viable archetype in the format. After pondering on some reference lists, I have come up with this version below. Enjoy!

Creatures
3 Venerated Loxodon
3 Emmara, Soul of the Accord
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Beast Whisperer
4 Thorn Lieutenant
4 Pelt Collector
4 Steel Leaf Champion
4 Elvish Clancaller
4 Marwyn, the Nurturer

Spells
1 Vivien Reid
2 Conclave Tribunal
3 Vanquisher’s Banner

Lands
12 Forest
2 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden

I made another deck tech just this morning on having the thought of utilizing the M19 uncommon Mirror Image. Playing the Modern Humans in GP Hong Kong has reminded me how powerful is Phantasmal Image. This lesser version in Standard only copies creatures you control but it is on how you would setup the deck so it would be optimized. I decided that Dimir would be the best guild for it as having access to Black opens you to powerful ETB creatures such as Ravenous Chupacabra, Kitesail Freebooter and Hostage Taker as well as efficient spot removals such as The Eldest Reborn and Vraska’s Contempt.

Here below is the deck list I have come up with:

Creatures (23)
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Plaguecrafter
2 Isareth the Awakener
3 Doom Whisperer
4 Mirror Image
1 Plague Mare
2 Hostage Taker
4 Kitesail Freebooter

Spells (13)
3 The Eldest Reborn
2 Cast Down
1 Negate
3 Vraska’s Contempt
4 Thought Erasure

Lands (24)
2 Dimir Guildgate
10 Swamp
2 Island
4 Watery Grave
2 Memorial to Folly
4 Drowned Catacomb

There are situational creature removals that the image can copy. One example is the Ravenous Chupacabra that deals mostly with non-hexproof creatures of the opponent. Plaguecrafter provides an ‘edict effect’ to that problem. As of the Selesnya tokens matchup, I have added a single copy of Plague Mare which we can also have two more in the sideboard. Kitesail Freebooter let us know the what control players have in their hand and we can take the best one depending on the situation. Mirror Image makes it a virtual eight copies and along with Thought Erasure, we can make sure to deal early pressure with slow midrange to control matchups.

Doom Whisperer is the deck’s main game finisher which can also help you dig your answers with Surveil. Hostage Taker can also become relevant especially in the late game when you have enough mana to take your opponent’s threat and cast it at the same turn.

The Eldest Reborn is best highlighted here as it can later on revive your ETB creatures with its Chapter III lore counter trigger. Vraska’s Contempt and Cast Down are the given default removals for the deck.

Your insights and opinion on this deck tech build is very much appreciated. Just hit em up in the comment box below and I will try my best to reply to each one of them.

That is a wrap for Dimir Image Standard deck. Until the next blog post.

While doing research on the Mono Red deck archetype for GRN Standard, I found out in a few of their builds that they are splashing White to utilize the Boros spot removals like Justice Strike, Conclave Tribunal and the legendary Tajic, Legion’s Edge. I have also found an old Boros build that is based on the RIX enchantment Path of Mettle. It got me interested again as I have recently bought two copies of the card from a Fire Sale of a fellow MTG player. I have also read on PV’s article about the card and did more research on reference lists. I did some build comparison of their brews to that of the top deck versions of the recent MTGO Competitive Standard league results and came up with the decklist below.

Creatures
4 Runaway Steam-Kin
4 Fanatical Firebrand
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
2 Tajic, Legion’s Edge
2 Relentless Raptor
4 Rigging Runner

Spells
2 Experimental Frenzy
2 Justice Strike
2 Heroic Reinforcements
3 Shock
3 Path of Mettle
4 Lightning Strike

Lands
2 Stone Quarry
13 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry

Sideboard
1 Experimental Frenzy
2 Deafening Clarion
3 Lava Coil
2 Conclave Tribunal
2 Banefire
1 Justice Strike
3 Rekindling Phoenix
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil

Runaway Steam-Kin is the only creature in the deck that cannot trigger the Path of Mettle but it still be relevant enough to pressure opponents and do you more casting options with its mana. Experimental Frenzy is its best friend and your late game can be very explosive with the two. The two copies of Heroic Reinforcements auto trigger the Path and gets you deal lots of damage given that you’ve curved out your one and two drops.
The sideboard might not be final but the card choices might just be the right one to deal with the current metagame. Let me know what you think of this build by hitting the comments on the box below.

That is a wrap for today. Until the next blog post.

I have been thinking of the deck archetype that will be making good value with the Mythic enchantment Divine Visitation. The usual build would be Selesnya but I am looking at other color options. My chosen colors for this post were Red and White and considering the creatures like Legion Warboss and Siege-Gang Commander.

Here below is a quick decklist made:

Lands
2 Boros Guildgate
6 Plains
6 Mountain
2 Memorial to Glory
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry

Creatures
1 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
2 Benalish Marshal
4 Boros Challenger
4 Hunted Witness
4 Legion Warboss
4 Siege-Gang Commander

Spells
4 Divine Visitation
1 Dawn of Hope
4 Heroic Reinforcements
2 Conclave Tribunal
4 History of Benalia
2 Response // Resurgence

Here is another deck list tech I have built last weekend, given the use of Sarkhan’s Unsealing partnered with high-powered creatures. The core color is just Red and Green and while we wait for the Gruul components in January, we can just stick to how this deck can curve out the enchantment by turn three and be useful as early as turn four for creature triggers such as Demanding Dragon. Here below is the decklist:

Lands
4 Timber Gorge
8 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag

Creatures
3 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Demanding Dragon
4 Jadelight Ranger
4 Carnage Tyrant
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Nullhide Ferox
2 Vine Mare
3 District Guide

Spells
3 Adventurous Impulse
2 Rabid Bite
4 Sarkhan’s Unsealing

The deck has lot of ways to maintain its mana curve, with Llanowar Elves as the main mana ramp and District Guide and Adventurous Impulse as support. We try here to be as consistent as possible. The creatures to trigger the Unsealing are Nullhide Ferox, Carnage Tyrant, Demanding Dragon, Vine Mare. Curving to a Vine Mare into the tyrant is very much the ideal play scenario. The spot removals included here are Rabid Bite, the Siege-Gang Commander ability and of course triggers from Sarkhan’s Unsealing.

That is wrap. Again, comments and suggestions are very much welcome to hit them up on the comment box below.

*header pic from Liljankymtg.com

I have thought about this decklist early this morning after waking up at 5:00am while thinking of a version of a mostly spells deck with direct damage and drain effects like Creeping Chill. A straightforward Surveil deck might not be enough so we go with the Izzet as the base color build. This opens to Lightning Strikes and other direct-to-the-dome spells that can finish off opponents. More importantly, adding Goblin Electromancers and Guttersnipes get you to the job faster. Here below is my first version of the deck.

Grixis Spells
by Mark Ian Alloso

Creatures
3 Goblin Electromancer
3 Guttersnipe

2 Banefire
4 Creeping Chill
4 Lightning Strike
3 Expansion / Explosion
4 Notion Rain
2 Opt
1 Price of Fame
3 Risk Factor
2 Shock
4 Sovereign’s Bite
1 Vraska’s Contempt

Lands
4 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Watery Grave
3 Island
3 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Drowned Catacomb