Standard: 10 Best Cards of 2024 for the format!

The end of 2024 is approaching, and with it, we begin our retrospective on how this year was for Magic: The Gathering. In addition to the changes that occurred in the game, we can also evaluate which were the most important cards that the new releases brought to each competitive format.

Today we will talk about Standard, the rotating format that gained several new features that shook up the Metagame and gave it a new look, with a notable diversity of macro-archetypes while, at the same time, the inclusion of some staples solidified Dimir Midrange as the best deck and put Red Aggro in the spotlight for a long time.

In this article, we choose the ten best cards of 2024 for Standard!

10 - Surveil Lands

Surveil Lands may not have had the same impact in Standard as they did in formats with Fetch Lands, but that doesn't make them any less important: land types are the glue that ramp decks need to make cards like Leyline Binding work.

In addition, top-down filtering has become essential for decks like Azorius Tempo, which repurpose graveyard cards for key pieces.

This wasn't the most important land cycle that 2024 brought to Standard, but its contribution in the medium and long term guarantees a lot of potential for Surveil Lands in the coming years.

9 - Pawpatch Formation

Pawpatch Formation is the card category that is gaining space in formats due to its flexibility. Examples of options like it in history include Abrade and Destroy Evil (which was one of the best cards of 2022), and in some cases, these become so good that they deserve slots in the maindeck.

Even without legal targets, a cantrip that grants three life is a relevant value for a more aggressive Metagame like the current one, and with a dozen troublesome flying creatures, such as Archfiend of the Dross, Slickshot Show-Off, Zur, Eternal Schemer and Abhorrent Oculus, in addition to the addition of enchantments in the Metagame like Unholy Annex, the Overlords cycle and Caretaker’s Talent, it was obvious that Pawpatch Formation would eventually gain space in the maindecks of some archetypes and become a Sideboard staple.

8 - Slickshot Show-Off

Slickshot Show-Off revitalized Red Aggro in almost every competitive Magic format and had a long history in Standard. In a few weeks, it seemed too fast for the format's standards and enabled easy combo-kills with a dozen pumps and Monstrous Rage.

Over time, the Metagame adapted to deal with it, new expansions brought more efficient answers and, little by little, Slickshot Show-Off stopped being the main threat of red decks in favor of variants with greater synergy using Bloomburrow's mice package, now complemented by Screaming Nemesis.

7 - Fountainport

Fountainport was the best utility land for Standard in 2024 and part of the elements that motivated lists like Caretaker's Talent. Its abilities are extremely versatile for multiple archetypes, whether it's just to chump block a turn with Fish tokens, or to gain extra draws with other token creators like Restless Cottage or Preacher of the Schism.

As one of the most important pillars of one of the most famous archetypes in the format today, it's likely that any token support will keep Fountainport and the Caretaker's Talent archetypes on the radar for as long as the card is legal in Standard.

6 - Enduring Curiosity

Enduring Curiosity is possibly the most powerful value engine that Standard has received in 2024, even though it has little impact on other formats. A 4/3 body with Flash that grants Curiosity to all of your creatures wouldn't be enough to transform it into what it is today, but, like the other cards in its cycle, it is extremely resilient to removal.

Today, among the most played cards in Standard, the only ones capable of dealing with Enduring Curiosity permanently, worthy of maindecking and without causing an unfavorable trade are Sunfall, Exorcise, Sheltered by Ghosts or Leyline Binding. Everything else forces a two-for-one, and with an archetype like Dimir Midrange, which can protect creatures while attacking from the air, it's not hard to bury your opponent in value turn after turn.

5 - Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares was the most powerful and efficient Planeswalker card that which came out in 2024. Its mana value is specifically fair to be cast, but its Ninjutsu trigger generates a lot of value with ETB effects and Kaito is also very self-sufficient in his abilities, whether to filter the top, extend the clock or deal with the battlefield.

The fact that he protects himself is also another excellent bonus for Kaito and made him not only a Standard staple but also the pillar of another archetype in Pioneer. In the coming years, it is possible that Kaito will become one of the pillars of Standard, and it will take a certain degree of power creep to remove him from there.

4 - Unholy Annex

Unholy Annex was the card that motivated the Demons archetypes to emerge in both Standard and Pioneer, and turned Archfiend of the Dross into a staple. Its mix of card advantage and 6/6 threat for five mana guarantees a dual-purpose slot in many lists and has also led to the emergence of combos such as Unstoppable Slasher with Bloodletter of Aclazotz or Doomsday Excruciator with Jace, the Perfected Mind.

With Soulstone Sanctuary in the format until 2029 and increasing the consistency with which Unholy Annex generates card advantage, it is likely that it will remain a Standard staple for some time, being the main source of value for black Midranges in the current season.

3 - Emberheart Challenger

Emberheart Challenger was the best creature Standard received this year. In addition to its low-cost and immediate impact on the board, Valiant has proven to be more effective than initially expected, and Challenger has the best of them: the ability to give Aggro more breathing room while benefiting from pumps and/or abilities that target it.

Along with Heartfire Hero and Manifold Mouse, Emberheart Challenger established the famous “mice package”, where these three cards interact well with each other to create a synergistic and highly efficient game plan to pressure the opponent.

2 - Ghost Vacuum

Ghost Vacuum is perhaps one of the best Magic cards for all formats in which it is legal, and it would be no different in Standard: in the absence of Unlicensed Hearse and with linear graveyard hate choices, Ghost Vacuum ensures that every deck has a good answer against strategies that take advantage of graveyards and puts archetypes like Azorius Tempo or Reanimator in check.

It doesn't have the maindeck impact that one expects when thinking about the best cards of a year, but it is versatile, efficient, fits into any list, has a low cost and its late-game ability gives it some relevance in longer matches, making it one of the best answers against graveyards that have ever come out in the game.

1 - Verge Lands

Verge Lands were the main cycle of untapped lands that came out in 2024, and their abilities - which resemble Nimbus Maze, but also in some ways the Check Lands - are easy enough to achieve in any stage or Metagame where there isn't an abundance of non-type dual lands cluttering the mana base.

On the one hand, they are an excellent choice for several archetypes. On the other hand, they do, in theory, limit deckbuilding concessions, but not enough to the point where they become bad. There are reasons to use them in lists of up to four colors, but their interactions are intrinsically connected to how well each archetype can maintain its use of basics or typed lands.

This design is not easy to achieve, and that is why Verge Lands are considered the best cards for Standard in 2024.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!