Standard: Azorius Aggro - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

As the results of Standard events start to come in, we're seeing the first results of Foundations cards in the format. Between Kiora, The Rising Tide in Azorius Oculus and Boltwave with Boros Charm establishing Burn as a competitive archetype, plus Burst Lightning in a dozen other lists, the Core Set that runs until 2029 is showing its potential in the competitive scene.

A pleasant surprise for those who played Magic in the past decade was the return of Ajani, Caller of the Pride to the competitive tables as a way to complement Azorius Aggro, a deck that has occasionally performed well in competitive tournaments and was in the Top 8 of the Standard Showcase Challenge, held on November 23.

This is the most recent version of Azorius Aggro with Foundations. The main addition was Ajani, Caller of the Pride. It may seem irrelevant, but the Planeswalker provides two important interactions in the list: it grows Warden of the Inner Sky faster, giving it evasion one turn earlier, or it works as a “combo-kill” with Regal Bunnicorn, where it is the equivalent of Embercleave in the deck and has a similar function to Manifold Mouse in Prowess lists.

Aside from this addition, the deck received relevant additions such as Sheltered by Ghosts, Unidentified Hovership and Shardmage's Rescue in Duskmourn, which gave more maindeck interaction to the list that also function as proactive plays.

Maindeck

Our main plan.

Warden of the Inner Sky and the duo Novice Inspector and Spyglass Siren are the ideal plays in the first turns due to the synergy they have to make the Warden grow from the second turn onwards, in addition to helping to filter the top.

The artifacts created by our creatures also have other functions, such as increasing the number of permanents on the board for Regal Bunnicorn or being enchanted by Zoetic Glyph.

Regal Bunnicorn and Steel Seraph make up our second plan. Together, they can permanently cancel out damage from archetypes like Gruul Prowess or Boros Burn, and can also win the game in Aggro mirrors.

Steel Seraph also matters as a way to gain life with other creatures and/or artifacts crewed or enchanted with Zoetic Glyph, being the most important third-turn play on the list when we are in the race.

Mockingbird complements the deck on all fronts: it can copy Regal Bunnicorn to increase the pressure on the board, it can become another Warden of the Inner Sky or, if the game goes on, it can start copying Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or other high-cost threats from the opponent.

Subterranean Schooner is an easy artifact to crew and survives against Lightning Strike, Cut Down, and Go for the Throat. It also provides a less punishing trade against Monstrous Rage when blocking.

Unidentified Hovership deals with a lot of the current format's creatures and is an easy target for Zoetic Glyph, and is also easy to crew in this list.

Ajani, Caller of the Pride interacts with several cards on the list: it increases the number of +1/+1 counters on Warden of the Inner Sky, turns Spyglass Siren into a threat, allows a combo-kill with Regal Bunnicorn if there are enough permanents in play, we can use it with crewed vehicles to put +1/+1 counters on them and dodge sweepers, among other options.

Sheltered by Ghosts does a bit of everything: it interacts with the board, reduces the opponent's clock when we play Aggro, protects our threats and keeps the board at resource parity, demanding more efficient responses from the opponent.

Zoetic Glyph turns any of our artifacts into a four-turn threat. If the creature is destroyed, it either returns to its controller's hand or allows another card to be cast for free in its place. More than two copies seems like overkill, since it's a bit slow in some game and/or easy to counter against removal.

Shardmage's Rescue, like the second copy of Ajani, Caller of the Pride, are flexible slots and can be whatever is preferable for a given Metagame. I opted for one copy of it because I like having a card that protects an important creature and/or Regal Bunnicorn and removal on the turn we're attacking for lethal damage.

Fourteen duals seems like the ideal number since we don't want many lands that come into play tapped. Restless Anchorage is still worth a few slots because, in addition to manafixing, it's also another threat on the board that we can put counters on with Ajani while filtering the top with the Maps it creates.

Fountainport benefits from the number of tokens we produce in this deck, in addition to putting a 1/1 creature into play to crew Subterranean Schooner or Unidentified Hovership. It's our main source of card advantage, and some games are defined by how well we utilize its abilities.

Sideboard

Counterspells are necessary for games where we need to delay the opponent's turns while pressuring them. Negate is our default response against a dozen cards in the current Metagame, from sweepers like Temporary Lockdown and Sunfall to bombs like Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber.

No More Lies work against games with a greedier mana base, like Ramp variants, Mono White Tokens, and even Azorius Tempo, which usually doesn't have enough mana in the early turns to hold a cheap counterspell.

Get Lost and Destroy Evil are our spot removals against creatures and/or permanents that we need to deal with to not provide positive value to the opponent. A second copy of Destroy Evil is preferable in the current scenario than Loran of the Third Path.

Elspeth's Smite deals with both Aggro decks like Prowess or a mirror and many creatures from Dimir Midrange and Golgari Midrange, being a nearly universal removal in the Metagame today and a necessity to deal with Unstoppable Slasher or Enduring Curiosity.

Rest in Peace and Ghost Vacuum are basically in the matchups against Azorius Tempo. They could be in some other games, but I feel like their utility is too linear in Azorius Aggro to be worth the slots in games 2 and 3.

Tishana's Tidebinder is our answer against a dozen permanents. Its main target in my games has been Zur, Eternal Schemer, but also responds to triggers from Abhorrent Oculus, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Atraxa, Grand Unifier, as well as preventing a sudden snowball effect against Slickshot Show-Off.

Gruul Prowess

IN

OUT

Dimir Midrange

IN

OUT

Four-Color Zur

IN

OUT

Azorius Oculus

IN

OUT

Temur Otters

IN

OUT