Standard: The First Post-Banlist Challenges

After one of the most severe interventions in the format's history, Standard had its first wave of competitive tournaments with seven banned cards that considerably changed the Metagame.

Between the rotation that takes place in less than a month and the farewell of established staples, players try to find new ways to build their decks, or take the archetypes that will leave the format for a last ride, creating a broad Metagame, but with the predominance and more reliable archetypes such as Dimir Midrange, Mono White Control and the new Izzet Cauldron.

Check out below what were the main highlights of the first Standard Challenges since the Banned and Restricted update, and what they might indicate about the post-rotation Metagame.

Of all the archetypes that made Top 8 or Top 32 in last week's Challenges, Dimir Midrange was by far the most present strategy and for good reason: in a volatile Metagame that has undergone major changes, this deck is a solid, reliable choice that has not been affected by the ban update, resulting in over 25% of its presence in the overall Challenges and also in situations where it was making up six or more of the Top 8 slots in some events.

Before any discussion about Dimir Midrange being broken in the new Standard, it is worth remembering that several cards of the archetype rotate with Edge of Eternities, and we are still not sure how the deck will behave without core pieces like Cut Down, or if we will have the tools and the right Metagame for it to continue to dominate in the new season — today, its results are just a mix of it being the most reliable choice combined with a final farewell to some of its main cards in Standard.

Of all the affected archetypes, Izzet Prowess seems to be the one that has adapted best to the post-banlist changes. Despite losing Cori-Steel Cutter which essentially invalidated all the spot removals against it, the archetype still has several lines it can follow to remain relevant, and players have mainly opted for Vivi Ornitier as the new core of the deck.

Without Monstrous Rage, cards like Drake Hatcher lose relevance, and options like Astrologian’s Planisphere tend to grow by granting permanent power increases.

It has also been common for lists to opt for a bigger threat beyond the classic package of Vivi Ornitier and Stormchaser’s Talent, including Marang River Regent as a pseudo-This Town Ain’t Big Enough that also works as a win condition.

Red Aggro isn’t dead, but it hasn’t found the ideal version to resurface until rotation yet.

The most common version has been Gruul with Innkeeper’s Talent, which was already making results before being summarily replaced by Mono Red Mice and then by Izzet Prowess.

Now, Pawpatch Recruit is a maindeck piece in place of Heartfire Hero, and while it doesn't have the same interactions with Manifold Mouse as its predecessor, it does provide more Valiant triggers with Emberheart Challenger or the possibility of turning Manifold itself into a threat.

Mono Red is taking the first steps to adapt and has added Greasewrench Goblin as a complementary one-drop, in addition to Viashino Pyromancer as an extra threat that interacts with Rockface Village and Hired Claw while providing more reach in certain matchups.

Some slots feel a little out of place at the moment, but this is an excellent starting point for Standard post-rotation, since no maindeck cards will be leaving the format in August.

Now that Temporary Lockdown is no longer one of the best cards in the format to play in the maindeck, Orzhov Bounce has adapted with a more proactive version, using Cecil, Dark Knight and Dark Confidant with a lower mana curve, where no maindeck card costs more than two mana.

Hopeless Nightmare has been replaced by Tinybones Joins Up, which has minor interactions with legendars, but whose main function is still to reduce the opponent's resources in the first turns with Nurturing Pixie.

The second archetype to get the most results this weekend was Izzet Cauldron, an Aggro-Combo using Agatha’s Soul Cauldron and Vivi Ornitier to generate absurd amounts of mana used to cast Winternight Stories, which triggers Proft’s Eidetic Memory to place more +1/+1 counters on a creature, creating a solid, consistent archetype that doesn't lose steam easily.

It loses Voldaren Thrillseeker in the rotation, which can be a problem given how great it is to close games, but its core seems solid enough to be a safe bet in the new season — and, perhaps, make everyone need Abrade again to deal with Agatha's Soul Cauldron and X/3 creatures in the same slot.

Even without Up the Beanstalk, the Big Mana found a way to stay in the format, mostly using the combination of Yuna, Hope of Spira with the Overlords cycle, which should become their main shell starting next season.

The Selesnya version stands out for offering another way to cheat on mana costs: Smuggler’s Surprise, which originally appeared in lists with Calamity, Galloping Inferno and Terror of the Peaks. Now, with Yuna being able to reanimate enchantment creatures, its Mill mode improves considerably, while it also protects your creatures and, at best, puts two bombs on the board with a single card.

Another more traditional version made a Top 8 in one of the events using Brightglass Gearhulk and Phoenix Down combined with Craterhoof Behemoth and several mana dorks. The plan is to use them to ramp with Fecund Greenshell to the point where each of them gains +2/+2 and becomes a threat on the board.

it's worth noticing Phoenix Down can return both Gearhulk and Beza, the Bounding Spring to the battlefield, ensuring more resilience in attrition games.

With the reduced speed and the absence of non-interactive games with Omniscience, Mono White Tokens becomes a viable archetype for competitive Standard again, and should find a place next season as well if we have viable replacements for Lay Down Arms, or if one-mana removals are not so necessary in the maindeck that Elspeth’s Smite can do the job.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!