Metagame: Standard Beyond Izzet Cauldron

Standard currently seems dominated by Izzet strategies, especially the Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Vivi Ornitier combo, which established an aggressive strategy based on +1/+1 counters and Vivi's ability to generate extra mana to create explosive and unfair turns. Behind it are Dimir Midrange lists and some Red Aggro variants, as well as Esper Bounce with Cosmogrand Zenith and Azorius Control.

Together, these archetypes already represent approximately 70% of the Standard metagame today, but the remaining 30% is filled with distinct strategies, with some innovations that attempt to respond to the current format, such as Orzhov Control, while others introduce new combos that can prey on less interactive games and/or prove resilient against fair archetypes, such as the new Temur Battlecrier.

In this article, we look beyond Vivi Ornitier and Agatha's Soul Cauldron to Standard, analyzing the main innovations and emerging strategies from recent weeks following the release of Edge of Eternities!

Mono Red Dragons was born from the possibility of betting on an Aggro variant that plays above the "normal" curve, opting for a more consistent mid-to-late game in exchange for the early-game explosion. This strategy was primarily driven by the release of Nova Hellkite combined with the advantages that using Sunspine Lynx in the maindeck offers.

With twelve dragons, it's relatively easy to have Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant as a second-turn mana boost, and we can complement it with Magda, the Hoardmaster, which turns damage and removal spells into extra Treasures that can be used for mana on the following turn, or sacrificed to create Dragon tokens.

Among the dragons, Taurean Mauler stands out, as it's also a lizard for Hired Claw and grows quickly if not responded to early. It has the downside of being a poor topdeck on empty boards or in longer games, but dodging Shoot the Sheriff and easily getting out of range of damage spells and Nowhere to Run make it difficult to interact with as the game goes on.

If Mono Red Dragons tries to play above the traditional Aggro curve, Orzhov Ketramose is a Midrange that generates value by playing over other Midranges while having several graveyard-hate pieces in the maindeck at a time when the Metagame demands it.

This archetype tries to do a little bit of everything, between cheap disruption and removal, combined with win conditions that lead to longer games with Ugin, Eye of the Storms and the already well-known combination of Unholy Annex and Soulstone Sanctuary.

To tie it all together and take advantage of exile effects, Ketramose, the New Dawn becomes a centerpiece of the list, generating constant card advantage with Ghost Vacuum, transforming Seam Rip and Strategic Betrayal into interactions that draw cards in addition to their effects and as a hard-to-kill win condition.

Golgari Midrange has returned after a few weeks of absence and rebuilding, with the already traditional package of cards like Mosswood Dreadknight and Sentinel of the Nameless City while running Elegy Acolyte as card advantage source and Ouroboroid to speed up the clock.

The addition of instead of in black decks brings some drawbacks, but also other benefits, such as the addition of Keen-Eyed Curator as a graveyard hate in the maindeck, Llanowar Elves as Ramp, and a dozen Sideboard cards for specific matchups. Not to mention that Restless Cottage is the best two-color manland of the current Standard cycle.

Mono Black Slasher also returns after weeks of absence, this time even more focused on the demon package with the combination of Demon Wall and Unholy Annex to quickly generate card advantage while still maintaining the Unstoppable Slasher and Bloodletter of Aclazotz combo to win games.

Between eight targeted discard spells and a clock that includes a two-card hit-kill, there are many situations where simply removing your opponent's interactions is enough to end the game. In a Metagame where a portion of players try to be proactive in setting up before the Izzet Cauldron, this deck category is likely to grow in competitive events.

And speaking of combos, a new interaction was born in last week's Challenges.

Temur Battlecrier reduces the cost of spells by for each creature with power four or greater that you control, allowing for a powerful interaction alongside Outcaster Trailblazer, where we can first copy it with Devastating Summons to draw multiple cards and add one mana for each copy of it.

We use that mana and/or the cost reduction from Temur Battlecrier to play Anticausal Vestige, Roaming Throne and other creatures, culminating in an unbeatable board position that will have Haste and Trample with Cactusfolk Sureshot, or that will win the game without needing to attack with Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest.

Simic Ramp has been growing as a potential new Big Mana deck in Standard and follows the more traditional model of putting more lands into play until you have enough mana to cast Marang River Regent followed by Ugin, Eye of the Storms, and the following turn, Sire of Seven Deaths. From this point on, all it takes is to simply bury your opponent with card advantage.

I have doubts about how viable this strategy would be in a more interactive Metagame, especially if graveyard hate weren't so rampant that it made Naya Yuna unviable, but for practical purposes, Simic Ramp seems like the current reliable choice for Big mana in Standard.

Simic Tempo appeared in the first week after rotation and remains relevant in the Standard metagame. It somewhat forgoes the need for +1/+1 counter enablers in favor of a more Tempo-focused plan with Faebloom Trick, but still runs Ouroboroid as the primary means of maintaining board position superiority by increasing the power of all creatures in combat, especially if Genemorph Imago turns it into a 3/3 before combat.

Repurposing Bay gained two important tools with Edge of Eternities: Cryogen Relic, which generates card advantage when it enters and when it's sacrificed by the archetype's key card while finding exactly what we need in the ideal curve, and the enchantment Weapons Manufacturing, which guarantees another gradual wincondition and fodder for Repurposing Bay to search for cards with mana value one.

This combination, besides making it more consistent, also made this deck more synergistic: the Weapons Manufacturing tokens are the perfect fodder for Legion Extruder, and if we have enough tokens on the board, we can always search for Phantom Train to sacrifice them all and deal an absurd amount of damage to the opponent.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!