[MtG] Analyzing the Cards and Decks of Standard [Part I]

It's nearly time for the competitive scene to blow up with Return to Ravnica. It's gonna be a fun format. Trillions of multicolour spells, trillions of fun decks to build but, importantly, a completely new scene to play on Standard. In part II, I'll be overviewing what decks to expect.

Recapping on Scars/Innistrad/M13 & Their Future


Last Format: think it's only fair to talk about these two cards. They warped the format to insane amounts. They took the abundance of insanely cheap Phyrexian mana cards and Ponder to play ridiculously fast aggro games. What did mean for Standard? Well, it ended up being a little stagnant. Better than Cawblade, but it was a pretty one-dimensional deck. There were variants though. From mono-blue Delver, to UW Delver to URG Delver, the deck managed to play most colours and most cards in the format. It was undeniably the fastest deck in Standard.
RtR On: Izzet Delver and RWU Delver are by far the most competitively viable this format. It's definitely not as fast: they have been hurt by the rotation most, losing most of their core cards (Phyrexian mana cards and Ponder). They've gained the modal guild charms and Guttersnipe though. Their draw engine will most likely just be Thought Scour and Think Twice. While consistent and efficient, it's still not as fast as last format. They may find a home in Storm-esque decks, with Goblin Electromancer being a friend they needed.


Last Format: Zombies was a cool deck. Annoying though. They were a powerful aggro deck with some serious presence. You can attribute their success to Blood Artist, and a bunch of seriously cheap, recurring creatures. Oh, and Mortarpod, obviously. They were mostly played as B/r Zombies, with the red splash for Falkenrath Aristocrat and some burn.
RtR On: Well, with only Mortarpod rotating out, it seems Zombies are gonna be a seriously dominant force. But, interestingly, we can blame Golgari for the deck now going BG. Lotleth Troll is probably their best two-drop, with sufficient comparison to what Putrid Leech did for Jund during Standard (as the most efficient 2-drop). And they have tons of other goodies too. Mostly stuff like Dreg Mangler. Jund Zombies is now a possibility too. In a nutshell, BR Zombies has the reach, BG Zombies has the sheer power.


Last Format: They were best buddies. And they found themselves everywhere. Every G/W deck ever. Every Pod deck ever. Even some Delver decks, somehow. They were probably best known in Naya Pod. Blinking the beast was obnoxious. Simply having Restoration Angel was obnoxious. They were a solid and stable 2-card combo that could fix games into your favour.
RtR On: It seems they're both gonna be new recruits of the Selesnya Conclave. Trostani with the blink combo basically wins you the game, and Trostani herself can populate the beast tokens. With new friends like Armada Wurm, Selesnya and Bant are forces to be reckoned with next format.

The Cards of Return to Ravnica


Angel of Serenity: This beast is ridiculous. It's also our replacement for Elesh Norn. It'll trigger an influx of Reanimator/Frite and White Control decks. It's a triple Oblivion Ring (that also bounces back to hand afterwards), a graveyard hoser, and quite importantly a card that recurs three cards from your graveyard to your hand if you want. It also has a stupid thing where you can loop them. Screw Sun Titan.
Martial Law: Looks more competitive than it is. I'm gonna bet one of the most paralyzing moves of the format will be Supreme Verdict with Martial Law on the battlefield. It will win you games. It helps to shut down key cards in a lot of decks. Especially particularly offensive threats like Falkenrath Aristocrat or Geralf's Messenger (or any other threat with Undying really). In any other case, it's a movable Oblivion Ring with extra benefits. The only real disadvantage of it is that it makes little immediate impact.
Precinct Captain: If there's ever been a better reason to run Humans outside of Champion of the Parish, here it is. W/x Humans was already a deck, and giving them a seriously offensive aggro two-drop gives them an extra boost. Obviously, one of the coolest moves is sticking a Rancor on the thing. Gets your damage through, and Rancor is already amazing in GW. Still, it's a choice between itself and Elite Inquisitor (which could easily be a good choice with Zombies becoming an even bigger force). Champion of the Parish still keeps its crown as best Human though. This is just really, really good support.
Rest in Peace: Well. Where to stsart. It's started to create hype ripples in a lot of formats. Legacy likes it. Modern likes it. And, yes, Standard definitely likes it. It's Leyline of the Void + Tormod's Crypt. For only 1W. It's an insane graveyard hoser. Can you think of what's gonna destroy this format? Most scavengers. Most of Zombies. Flashback cards. Snapcaster. It's just ridiculous. Obviously, it's hard to get rid of too anyway (which doesn't really matter since it's already made an impact after it's come on the board). There's Abrupt Decay. But not much else really. And I expect to see it in every single sideboard in a deck running White this format. If there's a reason why BG Zombies don't take off, it's because of this.


Cyclonic Rift: What an amazing card. Nowhere close to Upheavel, but it's very close to a reverse Devastation Tide. Main mode being cheaper than the alternate mode (in fact, Miracle is generally a reverse of Overload). Being a one-sided Devastation Tide is pretty powerful. Despite your opponent being able to cast most of their permanents again. It's very good against a lot of other Blue and Black decks. Really, the only thing that this isn't good against is Haste and ETB effects. Instant speed is awesome, and the 1U mode is probably the best though. Definitely no Vapor Snag, but perhaps it excels in other areas.
Jace, Architect of Thought: It's Jace. Of course it's good. One quick side note is that it's awesome in other formats. Multiplayer makes this an insane card with all three of its abilities being significantly better. In formats with Doubling Season, a playset of them become any 4 cards from your opponent's library for free and any one from yours. Fun, eh? Now, into Standard. Better than Jace Beleren, and is probably gonna be used more than Memory Adept. The mini Fact or Fiction is a ridiculously fun ability to have, and a pretty powerful one at that in control builds. Four loyalty for 4 mana is also surprisingly high. And at worst, it's a small cushion every turn. It also ramps up into Tamiyo well with great synergy. With both out, their biggest threat is gone, and all of their other ones are smaller.
Syncopate: The return of Syncopate, YAY! It saw some play in blue decks a long time ago and I expect to now. Dissipate will be better for the most part, but being to be a 1U counterspell and effectively counter most things on turn 2, it's pretty effective at what it does. In any other case, who can deny that art?


Ultimate Price: Definitely no Doom Blade, but decks that can't run Dreadbore or Abrupt Decay will probably try running it. Dimir decks and Orzhov decks basically. And I'm pretty sure they'll both get good replacements in Gatecrash. Till then, this is their replacement. A lot of the best threats are all multicoloured, so this is only ever really getting rid of a couple of creatures. Geralf's Messenger, perhaps? Delver? Eeh. Dunno. It's still one of the better Black cards though.
Underworld Connections: It's Phyrexian Arena all over again. This one's optional, but also costs B every turn. If you wanted, you could use it with Urban Burgeoning for a cool-a** draw engine. I can definitely see a lot of decks using it. Especially those without better options.


Ash Zealot: It's just silly. It's easily the best generic Red two-drop for a while now. And Red definitely needed it. I want someone to build Mono-Red Humans for fun. First Strike + Haste 2/2 for 2 mana is already alright, but add what is a powerful hosing ability for the meta, and you've got a seriously good creature. Gravecrawler becomes awful and Snapcaster becomes awful, making two really good decks automatically worse. A big contender in the format.
Guttersnipe: It's why Izzet Delver might be a thing. Turning everything into people-Shocks is very cool. And Snapcaster is getting some serious mileage out of this thing most of the time. As usual, it's cantrips that are gonna be abused with it. Even its 3 mana cost won't scare people off. It's just really, really good. Think Twice might be a really effective card with it too.
Mizzium Mortars: MIZZIUM MORTARS. Sorry, had to say the name again. It's very cool. Outside of its amazing art, this is some serious cannon. It's similar to Bonfire, but will find a better home in control decks rather than the aggro decks that need it. And it gives Red a very good board sweep. For two extra mana than what Day of Judgment is, it's basically twice as good. Point-blank fire spell, or complete utter oblivion. All in your hands really.


Druid's Deliverance: Green seems to have got the short end of the stick. This is why I'm only talking about this card. Turbo-Fog is why. The deck didn't have enough good Fogs, and this one is actually pretty decent. If you ever need to populate something too, I dunno (Selesnya Knight token, Cackling Counterpart stuff, maybe something like that), maybe.
Giant Growth: The return of the pump spell! At the moment, Rancor is stealing its limelight, and Infect's gone so you can't expect anything there. It's still as good as it ever was so you could expect some of it. In another note, Worldspine Wurm is missing out because Craterhoof Behemoth is better.


Abrupt Decay: Golgari has trillions of good cards but I feel like these are the most important. Abrupt Decay is one of them. It's just so efficient. It importantly hits stuff like Detention Sphere and stuff like Chromatic Lantern. Being uncounterable is a massive plus for it too. When one of your main targets is Detention Sphere, you can expect various counterspells heading your way. It hits what it needs.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Definitely never more than a two-of in any deck. He kinda does a similar thing to Blood Artist + Falkenrath Aristocrat. He's a very effective burn engine, and stuff like Wolfir Silverheart can put it into overdrive.
Lotleth Troll: In my opinion, it's the reason why BG Zombies is a deck. Instant speed pump + Trample makes it one of the biggest deterrents against attacking. You will get chump-blocked by this thing. It's just stupidly efficient for a two mana creature. Oh, and B: Regenerate. Regeneration is an often overlooked ability. I'd say it's one of the best things on the card. It saves you from the evil Azorious Supreme Verdict. You will always have this trampler. Oh, and it has some serious synergy with Gravecrawler and Scavenge.
Vraska the Unseen: Its - ability is basically a /slightly/ worse but repeatable Maelstrom Pulse. It has a deathtouch deterrent and its ultimate is just silly. Control decks will want it, which is a nice change from all the Golgari aggro stuff. 5 loyalty is pretty high. While I doubt anyone will actually use the ultimate unless you have Rancor, it's fun to have there. Not to mention that it pretty much prevents your opponent from Wrathing you unless you want to lose.
Deathrite Shaman: It's an Elf which is a pretty important fact. It's really gonna be those last two abilities mattering. Wizards has gone heavy on the graveyard hosing this set, haven't they? Firstly, exiling those instants and sorceries: it's pretty much the same situation as Ash Zealot. It's gonna hurt the hell out of Snapcaster. With creatures, I'm actually thinking this is slightly better. The lifegain isn't as good, but you'll want to use this in Green decks more anyway. And hosing Zombies is so important, that I think it's a really important factor of the card. In the narrow case you manage to use the first ability, well, have fun with it! A 1/2 body isn't awful either. Saves you from pings and other mana dorks.


Azorius Charm: Despite all three abilities being rather subpar, the flexibility is what saves it. The spin ability of the last mode is the best of the three though, and provides enough disruption to be used. It's also a prime target for Delver decks and may find its way into a variety of UWR Delver variants. It's a very good charm. It's definitely one of the things you want to be aware of, and another reason why you should be looking for creatures with immediate impact this format.
Detention Sphere: i.e. the love child of Maelstrom Pulse and Oblivion Ring. It successfully hoses tokens, and all sorts of decks that rely on multiples (mana dorks, Zombies and actually a lot of stuff this format). Loads of funky tricks you can do with this thing. If you have the blue mana to spare, it's pretty much a better Oblivion Ring.
Sphinx's Revelation: Blue Sun's Zenith saw some play last format, right? In return for not being able to abuse mill, and not shuffling into the deck, you basically get this extra life gain. In a control deck where this is gonna be used, you will have the mana available to gain a decent amount of life to cushion yourself with (especially if you're playing Bant with up to 8 mana dorks).
Supreme Verdict: Well. Where to start. ITS AMAZING. So much potential. There is now NO escape from the Verdict. Unless you're the LolTroll. In that case though, Martial Law is your friend. It's really just good. The good thing about being uncounterable is that you can just play the card. No waiting for the perfect moment where there will be no counterspell when you've actually missed the best moment. Just do it. Yet, it still manages to be just 4 mana. Azorious players can have great fun, but everyone else better watch out.


Armada Wurm: Armada Wurm is silly. 10 power for 6 mana. It's Broodmate Dragon all over again. I'd say Trample is more relevant than Flying actually. All Selesnya decks that aren't aggro-orientated should be running this, whether as a singleton or as a full playset (I really wouldn't suggest it though). Thragtusk nicely ramps up into it too. You probably won't end up doing it, but, aah, who cares?
Loxodin Smiter: Part of the uncounterable cycle, it's also silly. 4/4 for three mana is already good. But add onto that the fact it can't be countered and that it's free against various black decks gives you the most stupid beater against Black and Blue. Most Selesnya decks will be running this. It's kinda like Vampire Nighthawk, which even finds play in heavy control decks somehow. Definitely a thing to consider if you're playing Black and Blue this format.
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice: Maybe I'm biased, but I think she's amazing. The lifegain is really quite relevant. And you will be gaining tons with Armada Wurm, Thragtusk + Restoration Angel, and obviously populating tons of tokens if you have them. Just using Trostani as an engine for lifegain will be the reason she's even considered for play. And that 5 toughness. She basically avoids every piece of red removal in format (i.e. Mizzium Mortars and Bonfire). Great card that people should be looking out for. Aggro and control decks both will have a bad time against it.
Dryad Militant: Any point discussing this? Just another additional hoser that's also 2/1 for 1. Have fun, guys!
Grove of the Guardian: Now, this is what we want to populate! In any other case, the token will win games for just being so ridiculously massive.


Dreadbore: It's efficient. It will occasionally destroy a planeswalker. And it gives a serious edge in the control matchup where the planeswalkers will be running rampant. Mizzium Mortars will still be better in some decks, but it has its place.
Rakdos's Return: The man himself isn't worth mentioning. He has no definite place in Standard. Rakdos's Return does though. Have you ever played Cyclonic Rift then play Rakdos's Return next? It will be evil, and you should expect it in every single Grixis Control deck you play. It's a Blightning that scales at a ridiculous scale. You should be casting it for 3BR or 4BR each time you play it really (or just 6BR if you've played Cyclonic Rift). Control is by far the most dominant force in numbers this format. The aggro decks have the bigger limelight, but I think control is more solid this format. Rakdos's Return is definitely one of the reasons why.
Rakdos Cackler: Well, we'll leave it at whether Zombies need an efficient 1-drop or not. However, mono-Red could run it if they wanted, as an alternative to Vexing Devil.


Goblin Electromancer: This makes Cyclonic Rift a better Unsummon, and sorts of fun stuff like that. Might be the return of Storm, especially with Epic Experiment in format, as well as Guttersnipe.
Izzet Charm: Still going on my view that this is one of the most playable cards in the set. Spell Pierce + Shock + Faithless Looting is an extremely flexible and potent card. It's also the sole reason Izzet Delver exists. All three modes are very good. Modal spells are always fun to flash back.
Mercurial Chemister: Good in Grixis Control actually. Both of its abilities are very good. Inspiration as one of them, and a seriously good burn ability as the other.
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius: Finisher of choice in Grixis Control. It wins games. Not much to say really.


Chromatic Lantern: Definitely one of the more powerful mana fixers through history. Ramp is also cool. In three colour decks like Grixis Control, I hope you have fun. Because this actually makes Mizzium Mortars playable on Turn 5 with no mana issues. It lets you play Armada Wurm, Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Trostani, Sphinx's Revelation and loads of other stuff too. Stupid.
Pithing Needle: Have fun.

This is indeed very well written, and there would be a lot of positive things to say about it, but since there's nothing to be really gained from that I'll just point out what I disagree with, for the most part:

Saying a Delver variant is "the most competitively viable." Delver's dead, buried, and just out. U/x/x tempo will quite possibly be a thing, but without any manner in which to consistently flip Delver, and only 1/3 of the deck being able to flip him, there's no chance of it making an impact in standard.

Not hyping Zombies enough. Mostly kidding, but seriously, Zombies are by far the best deck.

Syncopate. The spells it wants to counter the most have the uncounterable clause. It's pretty weak in tempo, since it's just a plain worse version of mana leak, and as soon as it "becomes useful" Cancel is better. Negate and Essence Scatter are also better, but less flexible. Cancel will definitely be the counterspell of choice.

Desecration Demon. No seriously, it sucks. Too many decks throw out too many creatures, and too many decks don't care if they sac those creatures. Put it into perspective: Gravecrawler gained Vigilance, Reach and the ability to block. Geralf's Messenger and Blood Artist are happy to die. Bant can throw away its Visionaries and early ramp dorks. Jund gets bigger than it pretty fast, or just kill it (which admittedly doesn't make Desecration Demon bad). White Wheenie still outnumbers the everloving hell out of it. It's only useful against control, really, seems like it could even make Zombie side-boards against that matchup.

Necropolis Regent. I don't see this having use, since MBC would rather throw around Nefarox, but it's certainly a plausible card and I don't entirely disagree. Only problem is MBC is utterly useless, and Jund has better options.

Lotleth Troll. Might just be me, but it's being overhyped way too much. I understand it's not a bad card by any means, but seriously it's a 2/1 with Trample that synergises with a whopping 1 card in Zombies. Regen is obviously relevant, but... it's just a 2/1.

Supreme Verdict. Shouldn't see tons of main-board play. Zombies are just too good, and they don't care enough about you dropping it. Personally I see it as a 1-of maindeck, and it's the best side-board card U/W and Bant have.

Pretty sure that's everything. I might expand later and give my full expectations of the format, but that should do for now. Obviously, I agree with most of what you said, those are just the points I disagree with.

Rakdos's Return (I really sense this is a spelling mistake, unless I'm the mistaken one in spelling out the S from Rakdos when I speak the word) won't be ran in more than 2 copies, like Sphinx's Revelation.

Cyclonic Rift is gorgeous. I could be overrating it, but a control deck that goes for the long game will use this to its maximum potential. With Snapcasters, you play Rift for its Overload cost, and next turn you bounce their biggest threat that was recasted. Nuts.

Most of this is pretty accurate. Chris is right about Delver, it's much less significant than most other decks this format.

Zombies are a bit overhyped, not that I'm saying they're bad in any shape or form. Just, still going to face a lot of competition from the control types that are coming into shape.

Bant and U/W Control love Supreme Verdict a lot more than just siding it at one, even when the better wipes can be found in Terminus and Cyclonic Rift. Speaking of Rift, it's a great card, 2-of in Bant.

Lotleth's really not that great at all, Deathrite's a nice board choice to counteract anything that dares to run flashback...not really much else I can say at the moment, because I'm experimenting with Grixis Control myself.

...Oh! Right. Did some more tests with Desecration Demon, and it's actually a really ineffective card outside of MBC, and even there, it's not much better than the Nighthawks that are run alongside it. It's unfortunate, since it has the prospect of being really good, but anything that produces tokens just stomps on that this format. Aggro tempo doesn't care about Demon flying over because you'd rather have a 6/6 blocker in the end against them.

Taylor wrote:This is indeed very well written, and there would be a lot of positive things to say about it, but since there's nothing to be really gained from that I'll just point out what I disagree with, for the most part:

Saying a Delver variant is "the most competitively viable." Delver's dead, buried, and just out. U/x/x tempo will quite possibly be a thing, but without any manner in which to consistently flip Delver, and only 1/3 of the deck being able to flip him, there's no chance of it making an impact in standard.

Not hyping Zombies enough. Mostly kidding, but seriously, Zombies are by far the best deck.

Syncopate. The spells it wants to counter the most have the uncounterable clause. It's pretty weak in tempo, since it's just a plain worse version of mana leak, and as soon as it "becomes useful" Cancel is better. Negate and Essence Scatter are also better, but less flexible. Cancel will definitely be the counterspell of choice.

Desecration Demon. No seriously, it sucks. Too many decks throw out too many creatures, and too many decks don't care if they sac those creatures. Put it into perspective: Gravecrawler gained Vigilance, Reach and the ability to block. Geralf's Messenger and Blood Artist are happy to die. Bant can throw away its Visionaries and early ramp dorks. Jund gets bigger than it pretty fast, or just kill it (which admittedly doesn't make Desecration Demon bad). White Wheenie still outnumbers the everloving hell out of it. It's only useful against control, really, seems like it could even make Zombie side-boards against that matchup.

Necropolis Regent. I don't see this having use, since MBC would rather throw around Nefarox, but it's certainly a plausible card and I don't entirely disagree. Only problem is MBC is utterly useless, and Jund has better options.

Lotleth Troll. Might just be me, but it's being overhyped way too much. I understand it's not a bad card by any means, but seriously it's a 2/1 with Trample that synergises with a whopping 1 card in Zombies. Regen is obviously relevant, but... it's just a 2/1.

Supreme Verdict. Shouldn't see tons of main-board play. Zombies are just too good, and they don't care enough about you dropping it. Personally I see it as a 1-of maindeck, and it's the best side-board card U/W and Bant have.

Pretty sure that's everything. I might expand later and give my full expectations of the format, but that should do for now. Obviously, I agree with most of what you said, those are just the points I disagree with.

Now I look at Desecration Demon, I agree with the stuff you said. There's just not enough advantage to warrant it. Probably gonna slash it from the list.

Probably gonna get rid of Necropolis Regent too. Just not making enough ripples in the format.

I'm gonna see with Supreme Verdict. I'm sure it has its place (which is what I'm hoping for), but, yeah, not a lot of places that can maindeck it.

Rodrigo wrote:Rakdos's Return (I really sense this is a spelling mistake, unless I'm the mistaken one in spelling out the S from Rakdos when I speak the word) won't be ran in more than 2 copies, like Sphinx's Revelation.

Cyclonic Rift is gorgeous. I could be overrating it, but a control deck that goes for the long game will use this to its maximum potential. With Snapcasters, you play Rift for its Overload cost, and next turn you bounce their biggest threat that was recasted. Nuts.

You could spell it out as Rakdos' or Rakdos's. Both are pronounced with the extra S

You can't actually play Cyclonic Rift's Overload with Snapcaster. Flashback is an alternate cost, and so is Overload, and you can only play one alternate cost at a time. Sad, I know :C

Kyousuke Kousaka wrote:Most of this is pretty accurate. Chris is right about Delver, it's much less significant than most other decks this format.

Zombies are a bit overhyped, not that I'm saying they're bad in any shape or form. Just, still going to face a lot of competition from the control types that are coming into shape.

Bant and U/W Control love Supreme Verdict a lot more than just siding it at one, even when the better wipes can be found in Terminus and Cyclonic Rift. Speaking of Rift, it's a great card, 2-of in Bant.

Lotleth's really not that great at all, Deathrite's a nice board choice to counteract anything that dares to run flashback...not really much else I can say at the moment, because I'm experimenting with Grixis Control myself.

...Oh! Right. Did some more tests with Desecration Demon, and it's actually a really ineffective card outside of MBC, and even there, it's not much better than the Nighthawks that are run alongside it. It's unfortunate, since it has the prospect of being really good, but anything that produces tokens just stomps on that this format. Aggro tempo doesn't care about Demon flying over because you'd rather have a 6/6 blocker in the end against them.

I'm gonna guess most of the early format will be Delver variants while people try it out. They'll die out quickly though as everyone is expecting unless they have some sneaky sideboard tricks.

.Rai wrote:You can't actually play Cyclonic Rift's Overload with Snapcaster. Flashback is an alternate cost, and so is Overload, and you can only play one alternate cost at a time. Sad, I know :C

I know that, though.

I meant, play Cyclonic for the board bounce, then next turn keep using/blinking Snappy to bounce one card at a time until you can win.

Rodrigo wrote:

.Rai wrote:You can't actually play Cyclonic Rift's Overload with Snapcaster. Flashback is an alternate cost, and so is Overload, and you can only play one alternate cost at a time. Sad, I know :C

I know that, though.

I meant, play Cyclonic for the board bounce, then next turn keep using/blinking Snappy to bounce one card at a time until you can win.

Oh, the other way round. Yeah, that's actually a really solid move to do C:

More people playing Delver at the start means more free wins. =D

Also, assuming Don's Supreme Verdict comment was more directed at me, I said that it's best ran at 1 main, then sided at 3.