9 Historic Decklists with JumpStart: Historic Horizons

Hey guys! The new set for Historic was launched on August 26th at Magic Arena, JumpStart: Historic Horizons, bringing more than 700 cards to the platform, most of them from Modern Horizons 1 and 2, and 31 new cards exclusive to the digital platform, in addition to bringing new mechanics! With that, we have some new archetypes in the format or archetypes that were previously considered memes and can now prove viable, in addition to decks adapted from Modern itself.

Jeskai Creativity

Let's start with the decks that are a little more popular at the moment: we have Jeskai Creativity that searches for Serra's Emissary with Indomitable Creativity, giving protection to you and your creatures against one card type, blocking the opponent's gameplan, especially when we make Creativity for 2, being able to choose protection against creatures and instant, for example, being a matter of time until we win the game. Another detail is the presence of Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite on the sideboard, substantially improving the strategy against creature decks.

Rakdos Madness

Another very popular archetype thanks to Dragon's Rage Channeler, probably the best card in the set, is Rakdos. We have a Madness version with Blazing Rootwalla and Rakdos Headliner focusing on discard and cycling to activate Darcy and Unholy Heat's Delirium, while buffing Flameblade Adept to close the game quickly.

Rakdos Arcanist

We also have the good old Rakdos Arcanist with the addition of Bone Shards, replacing Spark Harvest as the Modern Horizons card is easier to cast, making it more flexible. The cards with delirium do not enter the deck because this deck relies on Kroxa and Arcanist exiling cards to cast them from the graveyard, making it impossible to maintain the Delirium triggered.

Izzet Phoenix

An archetype already consolidated in the format that gained strength with Jumpstart was Izzet Phoenix. The duo Darcy + Unholy Heat is present here, plus Faithless Salvaging, which helps Arclight Phoenix return more easily from the graveyard on turn 3 due to the rebound ability. The new cards have made the deck's curve lower without Crackling Drake and fewer copies of Stormwing Entity, making it a more beatdown focused deck with more efficient removals.

Paradox Combo

Next is the well-known Paradox combo with a very relevant addition, Tome of the Infinite. The digital-only card is extremely synergistic with Paradox Engine, being untapped every time a spell is cast and can be reactivated to cast a random 1 mana spell (remember that Tome of the Infinite only creates one mana cards such as Lightning Bolt, Dark Ritual and Light of Hope), making the combo easier to perform.

Scales

One archetype that was made possible with Jumpstart is Scales. In fact, the Hardened Scales card does the job of growing your creatures quickly, requiring a wrath in response. However, in a Lurrus and Manland deck, we know that clearing the board isn't always enough, and these cards fuel the deck and keep its aggressiveness.

Mono-Red Discard

Mono Red Discard is one of the most tested decks to date and looks very promising. Basically, we have a deck that can cast Hollow One for 1 or 0 mana easily and enjoy the low cost of its spells so that Managorger Phoenix returns from the graveyard in a few turns. The problem with the deck is to suffer a lot against cards like Soul-Guide Lantern, Relic of Progenitus and Rest In Peace, especially the latter that, when resolved, practically wins the game. Still, the deck has potential, and I see it as one of the main decks in this early format.

Azorius Control

Another deck I would like to introduce in this article is Azorius Control. The version created by the Hall of Fame Gabriel Nassif has been well tested and proved to be good on the MTG Arena ladder due to its mix of sweepers, interactions and recursion. Archmage's Charm is a very significant addition to the deck and even in some Jeskai Control that splash white only for Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Portable Hole, this interaction that came with Jumpstart is very flexible and makes it excellent on control mirrors, being able to counter spells, draw cards when necessary, or steal a gigantic shark token in late game and on midrange matchups where recursion is relevant.

Heliod Company

Last, but not least, we have the Heliod Company, a new combo deck that emerged thanks to the addition of Scurry Oak, and that made 2spots in the top 8 of the Hooglandia event this weekend. We'll have a deck tech for this list this week, stay tuned!

Conclusion

The lists are still subject to change as we are in an entirely new format where almost 800 cards have been added. There is still plenty of room for innovations and upgrades on the lists, and I believe this article presents some interesting paths the format may take. Any questions, comments or feedback, I'm available in the comments.