The wipe of the top tier decks in the Standard metagame has opened up the opportunity for new deck brews in the format. One of the decks that sort of got an overhaul in the list while still retaining the deck strategy is the Rakdos Sacrifice. Relying before on the core-combo of oven and cat, it is now centered around Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger, and a bunch of small creatures.

The reference is on the recent Red Bull Untapped Qualifiers Day 1 list of Top decks, and the one I am sharing today is piloted by my good friend and Pro Player Julio Espina.

Check out this decklist below.

Maindeck
4 Archfiend’s Vessel
4 Gutterbones
4 Mire Triton
4 Priest of Forgotten Gods
4 Dreadhorde Butcher
3 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
2 Fiend Artisan

1 Weaponize the Monsters
4 Claim the Firstborn
3 Call of the Death-Dweller
4 Village Rites

7 Swamp
6 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
4 Fabled Passage
2 Castle Locthwain

Sideboard
3 Duress
3 Angrath’s Rampage
2 Heartless Act
2 Noxious Grasp
2 Embereth Shieldbreaker // Battle Display
1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den
1 Mire’s Grasp
1 Agonizing Remorse

https://mtgmelee.com/Decklist/View/42442

The Dinosaurs tribal deck in Standard has seen a decline after Ixalan rotated out of the format. However, Ikoria provided another new batch of cards to support this archetype and even added a Companion lord in the form of Kaheera, the Orphanguard. This creature lord’s +1/+1 is not only exclusive to Dinosaurs but also for Beast, Cat, Elemental, and Nightmare.

That being said, today’s deck feature goes with the Jund colors of the Dinosaur tribe. The deck was piloted by username Yugen and finished in 7-1 record in the recent tournament called “The Arena Open”.

Check out the Jund Kaheera Dinosaurs decklist below:

Companion
1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard

Main Deck
4 Arboreal Grazer
4 Gemrazer
4 Marauding Raptor
4 Questing Beast
3 Rotting Regisaur
4 Shifting Ceratops

2 Shadowspear
1 Heartless Act
2 Collision // Colossus
4 Domri’s Ambush
4 Embercleave

4 Blood Crypt
4 Stomping Ground
3 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Malady
6 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb

Sideboard
1 Cindervines
3 Duress
3 Flame Sweep
2 Fry
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard
2 Klothys, God of Destiny
1 Soul-Guide Lantern

Checking Twitch streamers of Magic: the Gathering Arena has got me looking on the deck brews that they feature in a certain stream period or on their scheduled posts. The Tier ones are usually there with a few upgrades from Core Set 2021, especially Temur Reclamation that has dominated the last Red Bull Untapped Tournament. One of the deck brew that got my attention was the Mono Black list that was played for competitive ranking. The list was sort of curving well aggressively while finishing up opponents with their creatures enchanted to be a Flying Demon. I have thought that a Devotion strategy is also possible in this route.

With a few notes on the matches, here is what I think the deck will look like.

2 Blacklance Paragon
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Gutterbones
4 Knight of Ebon Legion
3 Rankle, Master of Pranks
3 Rotting Regisaur
4 Spawn of Mayhem
4 Yarok’s Fenlurker

4 Demonic Embrace
1 Eliminate
3 Grasp of Darkness

4 Castle Locthwain
20 Swamp

Another major Magic: the Gathering tournament was concluded last weekend with the Red Bull Untapped International Qualifier II and was dominated by the Temur Reclamation decks. Among the Top decks that finished in the upper sixteen slots of the rankings was the Azorius Flyers.

I initially thought of a Flyers aggro deck which I posted way back when Coreset 2020 was released that can outrace opponents while countering their relevant spells and this list below perfectly achieves it.

Check out the full decklist of Azorius Flyers piloted by Nuncho72.

24 LANDS
4 Hallowed Fountain
8 Island
8 Plains
4 Temple of Enlightenment

31 CREATURES
4 Empyrean Eagle
4 Faerie Miscreant
2 Hanged Executioner
4 Healer’s Hawk
2 Loyal Pegasus
2 Sea-Dasher Octopus
2 Sephara, Sky’s Blade
4 Skycat Sovereign
4 Spectral Sailor
3 Watcher of the Spheres

7 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Lofty Denial
3 Rally of Wings

SIDEBOARD
2 Aether Gust
3 Cerulean Drake
2 Dovin’s Veto
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Sky Tether
3 Teferi, Time Raveler

Reference:
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=26428&d=402312

The reprinting of the sorcery spell Cultivate has again powered the existing Ramp deck strategies in the Standard format. This also opened the three-color deck option as the mana-fixing is more viable than previously.

Sultai Ramp is my first deck choice and upon looking for a few decklist references on their M21 Standard build, I added a few two-ofs & one-ofs in the lineup.

Check out the Sultai Ramp decklist below.

3 Arboreal Grazer
2 Cavalier of Thorns
3 Hydroid Krasis
3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
3 Casualties of War
4 Cultivate
4 Growth Spiral
2 Shark Typhoon
2 Sublime Epiphany

1 Liliana, Waker of the Dead
4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
3 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

4 Breeding Pool
4 Watery Grave
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Zagoth Triome
4 Forest
2 Fabled Passage
3 Island
2 Swamp

I think I already had several posts of this deck archetype in my blog, continuously updating the build after each new Magic: the Gathering set is released. The excitement is always present as each new card components offerinteresting functions and interactions and it is the same with Coreset 2021.

Here below is the Big Red decklist:

Creatures
4 Bonecrusher Giant
3 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
3 Legion Warboss
2 Meteor Golem
4 Terror of the Peaks

Spells
1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
3 Fire Prophecy
2 Sarkhan the Masterless
1 Scorching Dragonfire
3 Soul Sear
3 Storm’s Wrath
3 Thrill of Possibility
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Lands
3 Castle Embereth
2 Dwarven Mine
20 Mountain

Terror of the Peaks is probably the card highlight of this deck in the terms of card value and its trigger ability. Given that he is already a threat with 5/4 & Flying, its ETB ability makes your other creatures more deadly even by just creating a token with Sarkhan or that of the Legion Warboss.

Drakuseth, Maw of Flames is still the top curve & finisher of the deck and the given spot removal whenever it attacks, it can get rid of the remaining creatures that might have survived your Storm’s Wrath.

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is a new addition in the deck and another source of your sweeper and win condition, all in one card. Be careful though not to run him into cheap counterspells.

The other cards on the list are pretty much basic in their given functions, but I would like to highlight the two copies of Meteor Golem as your color basically has no way to deal with Enchantments, aside from Ugin himself. The nonland destroy will get its many uses in various situations and at the least, it is seven-mana spot removal.

That is a wrap for now on this Standard M21 Deck feature on the Big Red midrange build. I do hope to try this soon on my local game store but I guess it will still be a few months of waiting until the crisis stabilizes.

Until then, thanks for reading.

The reprinting of the planeswalker Ugin, the Spirit Dragon has a major impact in the Standard metagame. The card has been one of the relevant compo in Urzatron and other ramp decks in Modern and also I had the experience of playing it during the Khans-Fate Reforged Standard era where it was first printed, piloting a Blue-Black Control deck.

For today’s deck feature, I found this interesting decklist wherein I think Ugin will best fit in a deck archetype. The list is mostly composed of artifacts and colorless spells, and the core colors are Blue and Black for the sideboard choices.

Check out the deck “Pure Steel” below.

Reference:
https://blog.cardkingdom.com/4-standard-brews-for-core-2021/

It seems that today’s Standard deck update is an archetype that has been continuously changing in every new Magic: the Gathering set that comes out. This deck is one of the icons in my history of MTG gameplay and for today, we have this version that reminisces a part of the past because of the reprints.

Check out the Magic Core Set 2021 Mono-White Aggro (Weenie) decklist below.

Maindeck

3 Basri’s Lieutenant
3 Faerie Guidemother
3 Giant Killer
4 Pack Leader
3 Seasoned Hallowblade
4 Selfless Savior
4 Venerable Knight
4 Venerated Loxodon

4 Raise the Alarm

1 Basri Ket
4 Glorious Anthem
1 Unbreakable Formation

2 Castle Ardenvale
19 Plains

The new M21 cards added were Basri Ket & its Lieutenant, Pack Leader, Seasons Hallowblade, the reprinted Glorious Anthem & Raise the Alarm, and the trusty Selfless Saviour. Each has its own role in maintaining the fast, aggressive start of the deck while still having a late turn game plan. The guidemother and Giant Killer are still your go-to-spell in the kind dealing with threats and getting through opponents’ blockers.

The new White planeswalker superstar, Basri Ket, is the multi-purpose card in the deck that can able you to get more creatures in your field while spending resources less. The minus 2 loyalty ability does just like that.

I had other one-of cards to include maindeck but I’d rather have it on the sideboard for now, so as not to hinder the creature curve of the deck. I guess this is a wrap for now. Until the next blog post and thanks for reading.

One of the decks that probably got a highlight in the last Players Tour Online event was the Mono-Green Stompy deck. The old school strategy of just beating down opponents with cheap-costing but high-power Green creatures along with pump spells (Giant Growth) seemed to be popular in the new era.

Ikoria has powered the deck with the inclusion of Gemrazer in its list and now, Core Set 2021 also has a lot of new offerings. Check out my M21 Standard deck update featuring Mono-Green Stompy in this video below.

There are a lot of deck brews found in various Magic: the Gathering websites and a surge lately were observed as the Magic Core Set 2021 enters the list. I am checking on which one to reference to my current topic on the tribal aggro approach in the format. Today’s tribe spotlight is the Goblin squad and I found this list by Crokeyz on MTGA Zone.

Check out the decklist below:

Creatures
4 Goblin Arsonist (M21) 147
4 Goblin Banneret (GRN) 102
4 Tin Street Dodger (RNA) 120
4 Weaselback Redcap (ELD) 148
2 Goblin Cratermaker (GRN) 103
4 Conspicuous Snoop (M21) 139
2 Ember Hauler (M20) 137
4 Legion Warboss (GRN) 109

Spells
4 Light Up the Stage (RNA) 107
4 Icon of Ancestry (M20) 229
4 Goblin Ringleader (M20) 143

Lands
4 Castle Embereth (ELD) 239
16 Mountain (XLN) 272

Notice the two new cards from M21, Conspicuous Snoop, and Goblin Arsonist, which somewhat complete the one-drop and two-drop lineup of the deck. The snoop provides card advantage by smoothing up the top cards of your library and acts as an additional hand.

Mentor ability boost up most of the creatures in the deck and with Legion Warboss’ Goblin token creation ability to make sure there is a continuous swarm of attackers which can, later on, boost up by the said ability.

Icon of Ancestry acts as the only anthem card in the set but its bonus ability to dig you some more Goblins is what makes it relevant. Light up the Stage also provides gas, though I would prefer it to be a spot removal or answer to blockers spell.

That’s a wrap up for this deck tech. Comments your suggestions on the build in the comment box below.

Thanks in advance and until then. Ciao.