Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. This past weekend, more than 1,700 players competed for cash prizes, promos, and premier event qualifications across the Regional Championships for China, South America, Canada, and the United States. Together, these tournaments awarded 62 coveted invitations to Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes.
Congratulations to the four champions who earned precious seats at Magic World Championship 32!
- South America: Rafael Kenji triumphed with Dimir Excruciator.
- China: Yuchen Liu emerged victorious with Izzet Prowess.
- Canada: Dawson Courson claimed the title with Mardu Discard.
- United States: Zachary Aymie won with Four-Color Control.
In this article, I’ll break down the evolving Standard metagame, offering a comprehensive look at the nineteen archetypes that managed to send at least one pilot to the Pro Tour. With decklists, archetype summaries, and an examination of the format’s win rates and metagame positioning, this overview serves as an up-to-date primer on Standard.
Standard, the rotating 60-card format that currently allows expansion sets from Wilds of Eldraine forward, is one of Magic’s premier competitive formats. After setting archetype names across all four Regional Championships based on each deck’s composition, I compiled the overall metagame share and match win rates for each archetype (excluding mirror matches, byes, and draws). These metrics are presented in the table below, where each archetype name hyperlinks to a top-performing decklist that closely reflects its aggregate build. The table also highlights the strongest match win rates with sufficiently large sample sizes via checkmarks.
As indicated by the arrows in the table, which capture the most notable and sustained trends compared to Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, Magic Spotlight: Secrets, and the Japan/Korea Regional Championship, the metagame continues to evolve. Izzet Prowess still stands as the most-played archetype, boasting a solid win rate, but its metagame share is beginning to decline as players gravitate toward shinier new decks.
The current Standard card pool is vast, enabling fast games while allowing ample room for innovation. These breakthroughs aren’t just fleeting flavors of the week. Selesnya Landfall, the breakout deck from Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, has grown into the second most popular archetype in the field. Four-Color Control, which captured the trophy at the Japan/Korea Regional Championship, surged ahead in metagame share this past weekend, dominating the top tables. Azorius Momo, Mardu Discard, Temur Omniscience, and Izzet Fling—fringe strategies that reached a Top 8 at Magic Spotlight: Secrets—also experienced substantial growth in popularity over the past week. All of these decks repeated their success by delivering a player to the Regional Championship playoffs.
Powerful new options keep emerging, and unlike many short-lived trends, they continue to prove their staying power. It seems that the metagame has not yet reached equilibrium.
With developments from week to week and Top 8 standings filled with different decks, Standard appears to be in a healthy place from the perspective of competitive diversity. No archetype is overwhelmingly dominant, as the win rates among the top decks remain relatively close together and every strategy has exploitable weaknesses. Steam Vents decks remain popular, but their overall dominance is slowly receding. Meanwhile, decks like Azorius Momo and Mardu Discard are establishing themselves with favorable matchups against Izzet Prowess.
The results of recent events show this competitive diversity. Among the seventeen most-played archetypes, every single one managed to send at least one pilot to the Pro Tour. In addition, Sultai Control and Bant Airbending claimed invitations. With nineteen distinct Standard archetypes securing at least one of the Pro Tour invitations awarded this past weekend, it is fair to say that a remarkably wide variety of decks can achieve competitive success. To provide an up-to-date Standard overview, let’s examine all nineteen of them, roughly ordered by the number of pilots who earned a Pro Tour-qualifying finish: the Top 32 in the United States, Top 12 in Canada, Top 10 in South America, and Top 8 in China.
7 Island
4 Eddymurk Crab
4 Opt
4 Stormchaser’s Talent
4 Burst Lightning
2 Stormcarved Coast
4 Boomerang Basics
2 Get Out
2 Roaring Furnace
4 Flow State
1 Impractical Joke
1 Spell Pierce
1 Stock Up
4 Riverpyre Verge
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Slickshot Show-Off
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Annul
1 Get Out
2 Slagstorm
1 Ghost Vacuum
2 Spell Pierce
2 Ral, Crackling Wit
1 Abrade
1 Negate
2 Broadside Barrage
Izzet Prowess, which notched twelve Pro Tour-qualifying finishes this past weekend, relies on Opt, Sleight of Hand, Boomerang Basics, Flow State, and a dense suite of additional spells to grow Stormchaser’s Talent’s Otter tokens and Slickshot Show-Off to frightening proportions. Yuchen Liu, who previously secured back-to-back Top 8 finishes at Pro Tour Aetherdrift and Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™, captured the Regional Championship title in China with the list above. His list stayed very close to the aggregate version of the archetype, featuring Eddymurk Crab.
While nearly every player included Stormchaser’s Talent and Slickshot Show-Off, there was considerably more variation in the deck’s supporting threats. For example, Robert Wagner Krankel, who earned an invitation to Magic World Championship 32 with a runner-up finish at the United States Regional Championship, opted for Elusive Otter and Colorstorm Stallion instead of Eddymurk Crab.
To dig deeper into these variations, I categorized the Izzet Prowess decks based on their main-deck configurations. I separated builds with two or more copies of Eddymurk Crab from versions with one or zero copies, labeled “No Crab” for brevity. Likewise, I distinguished between lists with two or more copies of Elusive Otter versus one or zero copies (“No Otter”), and I applied the same classification to Colorstorm Stallion. Under this framework, Yuchen Liu’s list would be categorized as “Crab, No Otter, No Stallion,” which was by far the most popular build. The win rates for the various configurations were as follows:
- Crab, No Otter, No Stallion (169 players): 51.9% win rate
- No Crab, No Otter, Stallion (42 players): 59.1% win rate
- Crab, Otter, No Stallion (33 players): 48.6% win rate
- Crab, No Otter, Stallion (24 players): 41.6% win rate
- No Crab, Otter, No Stallion (18 players): 49.3% win rate
- No Crab, Otter, Stallion (15 players): 54.5% win rate
- Crab, Otter, Stallion (10 players): 68.1% win rate
Overall, versions featuring Elusive Otter posted a 52.4% win rate against the rest of the field, winning 49% of their matches against other Izzet Prowess decks and an impressive 62% of matches against Selesnya Landfall. Versions with Eddymurk Crab recorded a 51.2% win rate against the field, winning 38% of their matches against other Izzet Prowess decks and 54% against Selesnya Landfall. Finally, builds featuring Colorstorm Stallion achieved a 55.6% win rate against the field overall, including a strong 60% win rate in the mirror while still maintaining a respectable 54% against Selesnya Landfall.
Taken together, these results suggest that the optimal build depends heavily on the expected metagame. If you anticipate a field full of Landfall decks, then Elusive Otter offers the best option as a fast, evasive threat. If you expect endless mirror matches, then Colorstorm Stallion’s resilience to removal makes it particularly attractive. In the current environment, where Izzet Prowess decks are more prevalent than Landfall strategies, the Stallion builds posted the highest overall win rate. But in a format evolving this rapidly, those numbers could easily shift again from one weekend to the next.
2 Mistrise Village
1 Cori Mountain Monastery
1 Negate
1 Erode
1 Three Steps Ahead
2 Shattered Sanctum
3 Inevitable Defeat
1 Pyroclasm
1 Abrade
2 Stormcarved Coast
2 Flashback
3 Thunder Magic
4 Great Hall of the Biblioplex
3 Consult the Star Charts
1 Ill-Timed Explosion
1 Get Lost
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Jeskai Revelation
1 Sundown Pass
1 Sear
1 Multiversal Passage
1 Day of Judgment
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Stock Up
1 Watery Grave
2 Riverpyre Verge
1 Plains
4 Tablet of Discovery
3 Steam Vents
1 Godless Shrine
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Fire Magic
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 High Noon
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Get Lost
1 Pyroclasm
2 Emeritus of Ideation
1 Outrageous Robbery
2 Rest in Peace
2 Flashfreeze
1 Day of Judgment
Four-Color Control seeks to dictate the pace of the game through a carefully balanced mix of countermagic, removal, sweepers, and card-draw spells. At its core, the deck is Jeskai Control with a light black splash for Inevitable Defeat. Thanks to Great Hall of the Biblioplex, the deck’s four colors are easily supported.
Tablet of Discovery serves as the deck’s driving engine, generating card advantage, accelerating mana production, and enabling a devastating turn-five Jeskai Revelation. Once multiple copies of Jeskai Revelation start resolving, whether through Flashback or drawing them naturally, the game tends to tip in the Control player’s favor in short order.
Four-Color Control enjoyed an exceptional weekend, as eleven pilots secured qualifications for the Pro Tour. As that’s 17.7% of the total while the archetype represented only 7.6% of the Day One metagame, its conversion rate was nothing short of extraordinary. While the deck appears vulnerable to Mono-Green Landfall, it crushed Izzet Spellementals and Selesnya Rhythm decisively while holding its ground against the rest of the field.
There is still no clear consensus on the optimal list, as the archetype offers tremendous flexibility in its final slots. For example, Zachary Aymie’s winning build at the United States Regional Championship featured Thunder Magic, Abrade, Get Lost, and Three Steps Ahead. The aggregate list from the best-performing versions instead favored Lightning Helix, No More Lies, Traumatic Critique, and Swallowed by Leviathan. The exact configuration may differ from deck to deck, but one principle remains constant: since Flashback gives any instant or sorcery in your graveyard a second chance, a diverse suite of one-ofs provides extraordinary versatility.
4 Sunderflock
6 Island
4 Eddymurk Crab
4 Opt
3 Get Out
4 Traumatic Critique
3 Burst Lightning
2 Impractical Joke
2 Spell Snare
2 Multiversal Passage
2 Spell Pierce
4 Hearth Elemental
4 Riverpyre Verge
4 Prismari Charm
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Colorstorm Stallion
1 Sear
1 Ill-Timed Explosion
2 Annul
2 Ral, Crackling Wit
2 The Legend of Kuruk
2 Flashfreeze
1 Broadside Barrage
Izzet Spellementals is built around a dense suite of cheap instants and sorceries that draw cards, interact early, and stock the graveyard for Eddymurk Crab and Hearth Elemental. Because both creatures are Elementals, they help reduce the cost of Sunderflock to just two or three mana. This lets Sunderflock reset the opponent’s board and swing the game in your favor. This main-deck access to Sunderflock is what sets the archetype apart from its Izzet Prowess cousin.
The deck proved to be a popular metagame choice, accounting for 10.2% of the starting field, and it converted at a respectable rate, giving six players Pro Tour qualifications. David Duran piloted the archetype to a 4th-place finish at the United States Regional Championship with the list shown above.
3 Doomsday Excruciator
4 Restless Reef
4 Deceit
3 Duress
9 Swamp
2 Winternight Stories
3 Bitter Triumph
4 Superior Spider-Man
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Multiversal Passage
3 Day of Black Sun
2 Undercity Sewers
1 Deadly Cover-Up
4 Requiting Hex
3 Stock Up
4 Watery Grave
1 Strategic Betrayal
4 Gloomlake Verge
1 Emeritus of Ideation
2 Insatiable Avarice
1 Strategic Betrayal
1 Decorum Dissertation
2 Qarsi Revenant
1 Ghost Vacuum
3 Oildeep Gearhulk
1 Duress
2 Quantum Riddler
2 Flashfreeze
2 Sunderflock
Dimir Excruciator is built around the devastating potential of Doomsday Excruciator. After it exiles both libraries down to six cards, a single attack with Restless Reef is usually enough to force a fatal draw from an empty library. Insatiable Avarice or Ancestral Recall targeting the opponent can also finish the job in a similarly decisive fashion. Superior Spider-Man plays a crucial role in the deck, as it retains the cast triggers from Deceit or Doomsday Excruciator.
Rafael Kenji won South America’s Regional Championship with this fairly stock configuration of the deck. At the Pro Tour, a spicy build with Overlord of the Balemurk, Oildeep Gearhulk, and Harvester of Misery excelled, but it hasn’t caught on. At last weekend’s Regional Championship, the more traditional versions with Duress and Stock Up ultimately found the best success. It certainly helps that Stock Up can safely tuck a mill effect on the bottom of your library, ensuring you draw it after resolving Doomsday Excruciator.
1 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
1 Erode
2 Concealed Courtyard
2 Burst Lightning
4 Iron-Shield Elf
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Cecil, Dark Knight
4 Starting Town
4 Practiced Offense
2 Mountain
4 Moonshadow
4 Hardened Academic
4 Marauding Mako
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Cool but Rude
2 Requiting Hex
2 Blazemire Verge
4 Bloodghast
2 Tersa Lightshatter
1 Carnage, Crimson Chaos
4 Blood Crypt
3 Godless Shrine
1 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
2 Sheltered by Ghosts
3 Strategic Betrayal
2 Seam Rip
1 Duel Tactics
1 Leyline of the Void
2 Case of the Crimson Pulse
3 Voice of Victory
Mardu Discard uses Iron-Shield Elf and Hardened Academic to discard cards at will, turning what would normally be a drawback into synergistic payoffs. The discard enablers grow Marauding Mako and Moonshadow, trigger Cool but Rude for additional damage, and put Bloodghast into the graveyard.
The deck’s aggressive synergies even open the door to a turn-three kill. Imagine you start with Marauding Mako on turn one, deploy Hardened Academic on turn two, and discard Bloodghast and Practiced Offense to swing for five damage. On turn three, you can play a land to return Bloodghast and cast Practiced Offense from your graveyard, growing Hardened Academic twice in the process. You then put a +1/+1 counter on each of your creatures, grant double strike to Hardened Academic, and attack for lethal!
Mardu Discard has a favorable matchup against Izzet Prowess, and it has quickly become one of the most talked-about archetypes rising in Standard. At the Pro Tour, only three players registered it, but they posted a strong combined win rate. At Magic Spotlight: Secrets in London, just two pilots brought the deck, yet Stanley Franks went all the way to the finals. This past Regional Championship weekend, belief in the archetype expanded significantly, with 61 players registering it. Four of them secured Pro Tour invitations, and Noah Michaud ultimately claimed the Regional Championship title in Canada. In just a matter of weeks, the deck has evolved from fringe curiosity to legitimate Standard contender.
6 Island
4 Gran-Gran
4 Stormchaser’s Talent
4 Boomerang Basics
2 Agna Qel’a
4 Combustion Technique
1 Mountain
1 Multiversal Passage
4 Firebending Lesson
4 Monument to Endurance
4 Accumulate Wisdom
4 Abandon Attachments
2 It’ll Quench Ya!
4 Riverpyre Verge
4 Artist’s Talent
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Impractical Joke
1 Sear
3 Spell Pierce
2 Annul
1 Pyroclasm
3 Ral, Crackling Wit
1 It’ll Quench Ya!
1 Negate
1 Broadside Barrage
Izzet Lessons is a control deck built around a dense suite of Lesson cards, many of which are efficient removal spells. This structure makes it easy to put three Lessons in the graveyard, unlocking the deck’s true engine. With Gran-Gran on the battlefield, Accumulate Wisdom effectively becomes Ancestral Recall, and Combustion Technique resembles Swords to Plowshares. Most lists combine Artist’s Talent and Monument to Endurance for an almost inexhaustible flow of value.
Stormchaser’s Talent remains a point of contention within the archetype. The vast majority of Izzet Lessons decks have trimmed it entirely, yet the best-performing ones this past weekend made use of it. For example, Luke Deratzou finished ninth at the United States Regional Championship with the list shown above.
1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
1 Promising Vein
4 Earthbender Ascension
2 Keen-Eyed Curator
2 Sapling Nursery
2 Demolition Field
4 Sazh’s Chocobo
4 Icetill Explorer
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Badgermole Cub
4 Fabled Passage
13 Forest
4 Mightform Harmonizer
3 Escape Tunnel
3 Meltstrider’s Resolve
1 Royal Treatment
3 Ba Sing Se
1 Snakeskin Veil
2 Origin of Metalbending
3 Torpor Orb
2 Sapling Nursery
1 Meltstrider’s Resolve
2 Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker
4 Mossborn Hydra
1 Eumidian Terrabotanist
Mono-Green Landfall leverages Escape Tunnel and Fabled Passage to generate multiple landfall triggers in a single turn, with Icetill Explorer effectively doubling the rate of land drops. When everything comes together, Sazh’s Chocobo grows to an enormous size, Earthbender Ascension piles on additional +1/+1 counters, and Mightform Harmonizer threatens lethal attacks out of nowhere.
Jixin Liu finished in 2nd place at China’s Regional Championship with this list. By staying Mono-Green, he gained access to a pristine mana base that also enables Sapling Nursery. That enchantment is particularly valuable against the sweepers in Four-Color Control and Jeskai Control. Some Mono-Green Landfall decks run Esper Origins as an alternative value engine. That card can be just as powerful in long, grindy games against controlling decks, especially when it is incidentally milled by Icetill Explorer.
4 Erode
1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
2 Lumbering Worldwagon
2 Bushwhack
4 Earthbender Ascension
7 Forest
4 Sazh’s Chocobo
2 Temple Garden
2 Icetill Explorer
1 Keen-Eyed Curator
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Badgermole Cub
4 Fabled Passage
2 Dyadrine, Synthesis Amalgam
4 Hushwood Verge
4 Mightform Harmonizer
3 Escape Tunnel
2 Plains
3 Ba Sing Se
1 Mossborn Hydra
2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
3 Sheltered by Ghosts
1 Restoration Magic
1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
2 Mossborn Hydra
3 Rest in Peace
2 Snakeskin Veil
1 Voice of Victory
Selesnya Landfall builds on Mono-Green by adding a white splash for Erode. Erode provides an efficient, instant-speed answer to threats like Slickshot Show-Off, Eddymurk Crab, or Mightform Harmonizer, allowing you to disrupt otherwise inevitable kills at precisely the right moment. At the same time, Erode can be pointed at your own creatures, ideally an earthbent land, to generate additional landfall triggers when the situation calls for it. The white splash also unlocks Dyadrine, Synthesis Amalgam, which forms a potent card-advantage engine alongside Sazh’s Chocobo and can even generate extra landfall triggers by killing Badgermole Cub’s land.
While Selesnya Landfall was the second most popular archetype at last weekend’s Regional Championships, its conversion rate was relatively poor. Only three pilots managed to reach a Pro Tour-qualifying finish—the same number as Mono-Green Landfall, despite the stark difference in popularity. Selesnya Landfall accounted for 13.8% of the metagame, compared to just 2.8% for Mono-Green Landfall.
Although Erode offers a meaningful edge in the Landfall mirror and Rest in Peace helps shore up the matchup against Izzet Lessons, the white splash does not improve the deck’s results against controlling strategies, which have been on the rise at the top tables. Against Jeskai Control or Four-Color Control, the more streamlined mono-green builds with Sapling Nursery and/or Esper Origins tend to be better positioned overall.
4 Momo, Friendly Flier
2 Erode
2 Aang, Swift Savior
2 Haliya, Guided by Light
4 Floodfarm Verge
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Seam Rip
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Practiced Offense
4 Daydream
4 Multiversal Passage
2 Abandoned Air Temple
7 Plains
4 Sage of the Skies
4 Starfield Shepherd
2 Cosmogrand Zenith
2 Nurturing Pixie
1 Gran-Gran
4 Quantum Riddler
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Seam Rip
2 Pyrrhic Strike
2 Hide on the Ceiling
2 No More Lies
2 Rest in Peace
1 Spell Pierce
3 Clarion Conqueror
Azorius Momo boasts one of the strongest openings in the format. By starting with Momo, Friendly Flier on turn one, followed by Springleaf Drum and Sage of the Skies on turn two, the deck can quickly deploy a pair of 2/3 flying lifelinkers to seize the damage race. Momo also reduces the warp cost on Starfield Shepherd, which in turn can fetch Nurturing Pixie to bounce itself and generate additional value. Quantum Riddler, when paired with Daydream, offers another potent avenue of attack. From there, Abandoned Air Temple, Cosmogrand Zenith, or Practiced Offense can amplify the fliers into a formidable air force.
Azorius Momo had another strong weekend, climbing to 4.2% of the metagame while posting a 51.8% win rate against the rest of the field. What stands out most from these results is its favorable matchup against Izzet Prowess. Sage of the Skies is one of the strongest cards against them. Noah Michaud finished in 2nd place at Canada’s Regional Championship with the list shown above, earning an invitation to Magic World Championship 32.
1 Cori Mountain Monastery
2 Mistrise Village
1 Three Steps Ahead
2 Thunder Magic
1 Traumatic Critique
1 Abrade
2 Stormcarved Coast
2 Pyroclasm
2 Flashback
4 Great Hall of the Biblioplex
4 Consult the Star Charts
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Ill-Timed Explosion
4 Jeskai Revelation
2 Sundown Pass
1 Mountain
2 Island
2 Sear
2 Firebending Lesson
1 Into the Flood Maw
4 Stock Up
4 Riverpyre Verge
4 Steam Vents
4 Tablet of Discovery
2 Broadside Barrage
1 Swallowed by Leviathan
2 Petrified Hamlet
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Annul
1 Pyrrhic Strike
1 Slagstorm
1 Ghost Vacuum
2 The Unagi of Kyoshi Island
1 Abrade
2 Flashfreeze
1 Petrified Hamlet
1 Erode
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
Jeskai Control has essentially the same strategy, game plan, and key cards as Four-Control Control but forgoes the black splash for Inevitable Defeat. The result is a smoother, more streamlined mana base focused on red and blue. This can even support Petrified Hamlet as a clean answer to utility lands like Ba Sing Se. Gabriel Alfonso Palomino Saravia finished in 4th place at South America’s Regional Championship with the list shown above.
While most successful control pilots have embraced Tablet of Discovery, a smaller subset opted for Resonating Lute as their mana-accelerating artifact of choice. These Lute builds, however, posted below-average results, while non-Lute Jeskai Control lists won 53.6% of their non-bye, non-draw, non-mirror matches. In practice, especially when opponents are prepared with interaction like Spell Pierce or Inevitable Defeat, the three-mana option appears to be the superior choice.
2 Opt
4 Callous Sell-Sword
4 Elusive Otter
4 Stormchaser’s Talent
4 Starting Town
2 Boomerang Basics
1 Balmor, Battlemage Captain
1 Mountain
2 Secret Identity
4 Wild Ride
4 Turn Inside Out
3 Multiversal Passage
4 Ancestral Anger
2 Drake Hatcher
3 Riverpyre Verge
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Slickshot Show-Off
1 Dreadmaw’s Ire
2 Burst Lightning
1 Island
2 Secret Identity
1 Into the Flood Maw
3 Spell Pierce
1 Poison Dart Frog
1 Pyroclasm
2 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Full Bore
“I’m addicted to Fling,” Alexandre MacIsaac said after reaching the Top 8 at Magic Spotlight: Secrets in London, just one weekend before the Regional Championship. Last year, MacIsaac won Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man in Baltimore with Turn Inside Out and Callous Sell-Sword in a 19-land mono-red deck, establishing his taste for explosive combo finishes. “I think Fling is the most underrated card in Magic,” he said.
In London, he brought that same strategy to an Izzet shell, reminding everyone that a Slickshot Show-Off, when backed by two pump spells and the Fling-like Adventure on Callous Sell-Sword, can easily represent more than 20 damage. The plan is made even more consistent with Ancestral Anger, which was reprinted in Secrets of Strixhaven. One week later, he validated the approach with another Top 8 appearance at his Regional Championship on essentially the same list, changing only a single Opt into a fourth copy of Sleight of Hand. I look forward to seeing him compete in the Modern at MagicCon: Amsterdam. I have to imagine he’ll bring Cosmogoyf and Thud!
In the meantime, several other players took note of MacIsaac’s London performance and picked up the deck. Wesley Hickman, for example, reached the Top 8 in the United States with a nearly identical list. (Though he did not copy the Poison Dart Frog in the sideboard, which MacIsaac includes for “emotional support.”) This inventive take on Izzet attacks the format from a different angle, featuring a potential turn-three combo while using Secret Identity as both a pump spell and a form of protection. Izzet Fling is not just a flash in the pan.
1 Swamp
1 Mistrise Village
3 Three Steps Ahead
1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
1 Decorum Dissertation
4 Great Hall of the Biblioplex
4 Consult the Star Charts
4 Deadly Cover-Up
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Duress
3 Breeding Pool
1 Feed the Cycle
2 Flow State
1 Multiversal Passage
1 Undercity Sewers
1 Bitter Triumph
3 Professor Dellian Fel
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Requiting Hex
3 Shoot the Sheriff
1 Stock Up
4 Watery Grave
1 Witherbloom Charm
1 Strategic Betrayal
3 Deathcap Glade
3 Gloomlake Verge
2 Petrified Hamlet
2 Ancient Cornucopia
1 The Dawning Archaic
1 Flashfreeze
1 Decorum Dissertation
2 Intimidation Tactics
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ghost Vacuum
2 Duress
1 Nowhere to Run
1 Day of Black Sun
1 Emeritus of Ideation
1 Outrageous Robbery
1 Heritage Reclamation
1 Negate
The success of Sultai Control was one of the big surprises of the Regional Championship weekend. Despite accounting for only a modest 0.5% of the metagame, the archetype sent two players to the Pro Tour. Even more strikingly, those results came from two radically different builds.
In China, Weiqin Zhang reached the Top 4 with a more traditional configuration, closely resembling the versions seen at the Pro Tour. That list featured 4 Ancient Cornucopia and 3 Withering Curse as an efficient board-sweeping package. It also includes Rakshasa’s Bargain and Awaken the Honored Dead to stock the graveyard for Superior Spider-Man and Emeritus of Ideation—the deck’s primary win conditions.
Meanwhile, Riley Bennett piloted a very different version to a Top 8 finish in the United States. Bennett’s build is nearly devoid of creatures, instead aiming to win with Great Hall of the Biblioplex or Professor Dellian Fel’s emblem. Packed with card-advantage spells, sweepers, spot removal, and countermagic, it is built to excel at saying “no” at every stage of the game. Deadly Cover-Up is especially punishing here, as it is capable of exiling all copies of Jeskai Revelation from an opponent’s deck or stripping every basic Forest from Mono-Green Landfall.
1 Cori Mountain Monastery
2 Sunderflock
4 Vibrance
3 Burst Lightning
2 Bounce Off
4 Starting Town
1 Restless Vinestalk
2 Ill-Timed Explosion
3 Deceit
4 Wistfulness
2 Breeding Pool
4 Secluded Courtyard
2 Winternight Stories
4 Flamebraider
2 Island
4 Ashling, Rekindled
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Pit of Offerings
4 Steam Vents
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Broadside Barrage
3 Roaming Throne
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dauntless Scrapbot
1 Sear
1 Deceit
1 Emeritus of Ideation
1 Spider-Sense
2 Pyroclasm
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Ygra, Eater of All
2 Broadside Barrage
1 Pit of Offerings
1 Sunderflock
Four-Color Elements leverages Flamebraider and Ashling, Rekindled to ramp into powerful evoke Elementals, while Roaming Throne doubles their triggers for maximum impact and Sunderflock can sweep the opponent’s board. Though it remains an Izzet deck at its core, the off-color costs on cards like Vibrance, Deceit, and Wistfulness are easily met via the two-drop accelerants and flexible five-color lands such as Cavern of Souls.
Technically, no Four-Color Elementals finished in a Pro Tour-qualifying slot at their Regional Championships (e.g., Top 12 in Canada or Top 32 in the United States). However, because Alexandre MacIsaac had already earned an invitation to Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes at Magic Spotlight: Secrets, his slot passed down to the next eligible finisher in the standings of Canada’s Regional Championship: Cameron Sweetnam in 13th place. Similarly, Christopher Kral’s performance at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven already qualified him for the next Pro Tour, so the invitation he earned from his Top 32 finish at the United States Regional Championship—again with Mardu Discard—passed down to Charles Knopp in 33rd place. Both Sweetnam and Knopp got there with Four-Color Elementals.
Across all four Regional Championships, Four-Color Elementals posted a 56.4% win rate against the rest of the field, which was the highest among all archetypes with six or more pilots. Despite staying under the radar with a lack of flashy Top Finishes, it appears to be well-positioned in the current metagame. This is reinforced further by the five players on Five-Color Elementals—which adds Beza, the Bounding Spring but is otherwise similar—who scored a 56.6% win rate. While the strategy may be a little weak against Izzet Prowess, it performs excellently against Selesnya Landfall and Izzet Spellementals. Four-Color Elementals may become one of the format’s more underrated options.
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Starting Town
4 Keen-Eyed Curator
4 Temple Garden
3 Seam Rip
4 Llanowar Elves
6 Forest
4 Badgermole Cub
4 Gene Pollinator
3 Brightglass Gearhulk
4 Nature’s Rhythm
4 Multiversal Passage
4 Hushwood Verge
1 Sage of the Skies
2 Abandoned Air Temple
2 Meltstrider’s Resolve
1 Plains
4 Spider Manifestation
1 Nurturing Pixie
2 Ouroboroid
2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
3 Erode
1 Get Lost
2 Sage of the Skies
2 Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
3 Rest in Peace
1 Insidious Fungus
Selesnya Rhythm relies on the mana acceleration from Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, Spider Manifestation, and Badgermole Cub to flood the battlefield with cheap creatures while ramping toward a game-ending payoff. With the right draw, you can generate ten mana by turn three, allowing Nature’s Rhythm to fetch a game-ending Craterhoof Behemoth. Alternatively, the deck can also play a midrange game, using Brightglass Gearhulk to fetch Meltstrider’s Resolve or Seam Rip for removal, or grab Nurturing Pixie to reuse the Gearhulk.
Decks with Nature’s Rhythm tend to be very strong against Landfall strategies, where they can go over the top with more powerful plays. However, they tend to struggle heavily against Control decks, where sweepers can blunt their early development.
At last weekend’s Regional Championships, Selesnya Rhythm qualified one player for the Pro Tour, and the same holds for each of the remaining archetypes below.
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Forest
3 Mockingbird
4 Starting Town
4 Temple Garden
2 Floodfarm Verge
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Seam Rip
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Badgermole Cub
2 Brightglass Gearhulk
4 Gene Pollinator
4 Breeding Pool
4 Nature’s Rhythm
3 Hushwood Verge
2 Meltstrider’s Resolve
4 Spider Manifestation
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
2 Botanical Sanctum
2 Ouroboroid
4 Quantum Riddler
1 Disdainful Stroke
3 Erode
1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
1 Keen-Eyed Curator
1 Kutzil’s Flanker
3 Sage of the Skies
1 Champion of the Weird
2 Spider-Sense
2 Rest in Peace
Bant Rhythm mirrors its Selesnya counterpart, adding a blue splash for Mockingbird and Quantum Riddler. However, as the mana base stretches into a third color, that added flexibility comes at a cost, most notably sacrificing Keen-Eyed Curator, Abandoned Air Temple, and some copies of Brightglass Gearhulk.
1 Erode
3 Starting Town
4 Keen-Eyed Curator
4 Temple Garden
3 Seam Rip
6 Forest
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Badgermole Cub
3 Gene Pollinator
3 Brightglass Gearhulk
4 Hushwood Verge
4 Sage of the Skies
4 Abandoned Air Temple
2 Meltstrider’s Resolve
4 Pawpatch Recruit
2 Plains
1 Nurturing Pixie
4 Ouroboroid
2 Erode
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
1 Rest in Peace
4 Nature’s Rhythm
2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
1 Insidious Fungus
2 Spider Manifestation
1 Spectacular Spider-Man
Selesnya Ouroboroid has significant overlap with Selesnya Rhythm, but it effectively swaps the roles of main deck and sideboard. By putting Spider Manifestation, Nature’s Rhythm, and Craterhoof Behemoth in the sideboard and moving Pawpatch Recruit, Sage of the Skies, and Ouroboroid to the main deck, the archetype improves the matchup against Izzet Prowess. The trade-off, of course, is that this makes the deck slightly weaker against much of the rest of the field.
4 High Noon
3 Floodpits Drowner
1 Restless Anchorage
4 Aang, Swift Savior
2 Avatar’s Wrath
4 Starting Town
4 Aven Interrupter
2 Get Lost
4 Floodfarm Verge
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Seam Rip
3 Skycoach Conductor
4 Island
4 Voice of Victory
2 Spell Snare
2 Multiversal Passage
1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
1 Airbender Ascension
2 Abandoned Air Temple
4 Plains
1 Ajani, Outland Chaperone
3 Quantum Riddler
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Rest in Peace
1 Glen Elendra Guardian
1 Annul
2 Seam Rip
2 Ghost Vacuum
1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
2 Avatar’s Wrath
1 Quantum Riddler
1 Petrified Hamlet
1 Spell Snare
Azorius Prison is built around High Noon. On its own, the enchantment already places Izzet decks under severe constraints, preventing them from chaining multiple spells in a single turn. When combined with Voice of Victory, the opponent is effectively limited to a one-spell-per-turn cycle, effectively turning Aven Interrupter and Aang, Swift Savior into counterspells on creatures. Meanwhile, Avatar’s Wrath locks the opponent into only casting from their hand while conveniently resetting your own Aven Interrupter and Aang, Swift Savior for further disruption.
1 Forest
1 Pyroclasm
2 Starting Town
2 Bounce Off
2 Stomping Ground
1 Ill-Timed Explosion
1 Dreamroot Cascade
1 Breeding Pool
2 Winternight Stories
2 Multiversal Passage
4 Ashling, Rekindled
4 Kona, Rescue Beastie
4 Uthros, Titanic Godcore
1 Spell Pierce
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Into the Flood Maw
3 Marang River Regent
3 Stock Up
4 Omniscience
1 Spider-Sense
2 Steam Vents
4 Kavaron, Memorial World
3 Spirebluff Canal
4 Formidable Speaker
3 North Wind Avatar
1 Legion Extruder
1 Origin of Metalbending
1 Omni-Changeling
1 North Wind Avatar
1 Marang River Regent
1 Ill-Timed Explosion
1 Lost in the Maze
1 Spider-Sense
1 Abrade
1 Pyroclasm
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Heritage Reclamation
1 Improvisation Capstone
2 Voice of Victory
Temur Omniscience is a combo deck that aims to play Kona, Rescue Beastie; tap it via Kavaron, Memorial World or Uthros, Titanic Godcore; and put Omniscience onto the battlefield for free. From there, the win condition is North Wind Avatar, letting you grab Marang River Regent from your sideboard, bounce North Wind Avatar, replay it, fetch Omni-Changeling, use it to copy Marang River Regent, and loop for infinite North Wind Avatar triggers and endless bounce. Legion Extruder from the sideboard then turns that into infinite damage.
2 Michelangelo’s Technique
1 Forest
4 Aang, Swift Savior
4 Interdimensional Web Watch
1 Aang’s Iceberg
3 Starting Town
4 Temple Garden
2 Floodfarm Verge
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Badgermole Cub
2 Aang, at the Crossroads
2 Skycoach Conductor
4 Breeding Pool
4 Bramble Familiar
1 Island
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Multiversal Passage
3 Hushwood Verge
4 Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius
1 Plains
4 Appa, Steadfast Guardian
2 Bovine Intervention
4 Seam Rip
1 Kutzil’s Flanker
1 Emeritus of Abundance
1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
1 Emeritus of Ideation
2 Avatar’s Wrath
2 Rest in Peace
1 Erode
Bant Airbending uses its namesake mechanic to remove opposing permanents for tempo or to reset its own creatures for fresh value. Appa, Steadfast Guardian and Aang, Swift Savior form the backbone of the strategy. Alongside Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius, they can airbend each other endlessly to create infinite Ally tokens.
The four Regional Championships this past weekend once again highlighted the evolution of the Standard metagame. A total of nineteen different archetypes earned their pilots Pro Tour invitations, the majority of them without Stormchaser’s Talent or Badgermole Cub. The rise of Four-Color Control and Mardu Discard stands out as the most significant metagame shift compared to the previous weekend, underscoring just how quickly Standard continues to churn while new decks keep breaking through. Standard remains far from solved, and the metagame could look meaningfully different again within a matter of weeks.
If you’d like to test your own mettle, there may still be an opportunity to enter the Secrets of Strixhaven Store Championship at your local game store, which can run through May 31. While supplies last, you’ll get an Unearth promo card just for participating, a Psychic Frog promo card for making the Top 8, and an Abhorrent Oculus promo card for winning the whole event!
At an even higher tier of competition, typically requiring a qualification through an RCQ, the remaining Regional Championships in this Standard cycle are as follows:
As new Regional Champions are crowned, it will be fascinating to see how the format continues to change from week to week and which innovations will successfully attack the current metagame!
