The local players are still having a grip on the Standard metagame even with the minor change on the Wizards of the Coast’s banning of Uro. Omnath Ramp is still the expected top tier deck archetype but a few other decks have made adjustments and for today’s Standard deck feature, we have a deck build that has evolved far from its Sacrificial strategy before the rotation.

Check out the Zendikar Rising Standard Rakdos Aggro.

19 LANDS 
1 Castle Locthwain
4 Fabled Passage
4 Mountain
6 Swamp
4 Temple of Malice

22 CREATURES
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
4 Magmatic Channeler
4 Mire Triton
2 Murderous Rider
2 Nighthawk Scavenger
2 Rankle, Master of Pranks

13 INSTANTS and SORC.
1 Agadeem’s Awakening
3 Bloodchief’s Thirst
2 Hagra Mauling
2 Heartless Act
3 Shatterskull Smashing
2 Spikefield Hazard

6 OTHER SPELLS
2 Liliana, Waker of the Dead
4 Tymaret Calls the Dead

SIDEBOARD
3 Agonizing Remorse
2 Cling to Dust
1 Embereth Shieldbreaker
2 Nighthawk Scavenger
1 Ox of Agonas
2 Shredded Sails
3 Skyclave Shade
1 Soul-Guide Lantern

Reference: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=27586&d=419193&f=ST

The new Zendikar Rising cards Magmatic Channeler and Nighthawk Scavenger benefit from cards placed in the graveyards and the deck has various mill effects to boot. Magmatic Channeler basically “channels” your draws, letting you get the needed card or removal for certain situations. Nighthawk Scavenger is the pseudo-Tarmogoyf for Black and an upgraded Vampire Nighthawk.

The deck’s instants and sorceries also acts as mana sources so you can’t basically screw on your resources in the 19-land based. This also makes them efficient late game top deck cards.

Liliana and the saga enchantment are your utility cards which might not be a standalone but can help out in dealing with threats and opponents’ life totals.

The deck placed second in a 75-player tournament so the gameplay is quite viable for the Standard metagame. It can have a slow starting hand but setting up on removals and discard effect can make it survive the early turns versus another aggro deck.

I guess that is a wrap for this Zendikar Rising Standard deck feature today. Until the next blog post.