Izzet Prowess Is the Best Deck in Standard

It's no secret at this point that Izzet Prowess is likely the best deck in Standard. The printing of Cori-Steel Cutter spawned this outrageously strong deck that feels a lot like a strong Pioneer deck or an old-school Modern deck.

I usually don't play much Standard, but the deck looked fun, and with the RC around the corner, I wanted to get some reps in just in case. Seriously, I feel like I'm playing Phoenix in Standard.

Izzet Prowess plays some of the most powerful cards in Standard like Cori-Steel Cutter and Stock Up, but it's low-to-the-ground aggressive, and the two cards I just named aren't even the cards that put the deck over the top.

The strongest card in the deck, the glue that puts the deck on another level, is Stormchaser's Talent.

We've seen this card in other decks with This Town Ain't Big Enough. People should be running exactly one copy of This Town Ain't Big Enough in Prowess. Not more, not less, exactly one copy.

This Town allows you to set up a loop with Stormchaser's Talent to give you an endgame when things start to fall apart. It's easy to find the one copy in long games because of the cantrips and Stock Up. You can see a large percentage of your deck just chaining Stock Ups and filling in the gaps with Opts and Sleight of Hands.

The deck applies a ton of pressure early. A copy of This Town later in the game lets you control the battlefield while also not running out of gas because of how well it synergizes with Stormchaser's Talent.

Like any aggressive deck, the strength of the deck is in the early turns. Decks that are able to interact with your cheap plays can bury you. Stormchaser's Talent ensures you never run out of gas and have a way to close the game if your opponent thwarts your early aggression.

If the opponent is messing around and advancing their own plan, say a deck like UW Omniscience, you can easily punish the time they take to set up and interact with their combo in a variety of ways. Decks that have a fair amount of dead draws and spend a lot of mana not affecting the battlefield will fall too far behind.

Here's the list I'd register right now for the RC, but I'd likely tune a card or two by the tournament, specifically in the sideboard.

Izzet Prowess has a fast goldfish, but it gets to do something most Standard decks don't, which is cover all its bases with its sideboard thanks to all of the cantrips and Stock Up.

Rather than play multiple copies of the most important cards, you're able to trim numbers and play one- and two-ofs because of how easily you'll have access to them with the card selection. We do this with other decks when they're stretched thin in the sideboard, or in many cases, we make concessions to our sideboard mapping and play a card that's more flexible rather than higher impact. Izzet Prowess gets to have its cake and eat it too. You're able to find one or two of anything frequently.

Into the Flood Maw covers any problematic permanent you need to interact with in game one. You can put whatever you need to attack the metagame in your sideboard, whether it's a few counterspells, graveyard hate, or creature removal.

I feel this deck would be weak against an optimally built black midrange deck with a lot of Sheoldred at the top end. The package of Duress, Cut Down, Go for the Throat, and Sheoldred can pressure you to find an answer to Sheoldred quickly. Stormchaser's Talent offers a way to rebuy the first copy you find, so play an extra Witchstalker Frenzy if that concerns you. Orzhov Pixie has shown it can hang in this matchup, but I think Izzet Prowess is just the better deck.

I like the first copy of Negate in the SB, a card I rarely see. If you're playing close games with slower decks, it's not rare to use it to leverage your position and then use Stormchaser's Talent to rebuy it to close the game out. Get Out was a card suggested to me. I like the idea of it because Temporary Lockdown is the scariest card, but the mana is wonky, so I'm concerned about adding a card that costs two blue mana. Negate can be awkward at times because the deck spends mana well. It can feel clunky, but if you pilot the deck enough, you'll know the spots you have the luxury of leaving mana for Negate. You'll have Negate in your hand other times but not bother leaving the mana open to cast it because your opponent won't be able to do anything threatening. I often used it as a hard counter on my turn to protect a creature and push through a lethal attack. Negate is flexible enough to warrant a sideboard slot, while giving you a hard counter against slower, grindier decks where casting it at the right time ends the game. It's an excellent card to see in a Stock Up pile when you're ahead.

I tried Drake Hatcher, and while the card can be cute in mirrors since it's not easily removed, it's too bad in other matchups and not good enough in mirrors to warrant a slot. You want your creatures to have haste in the mid game, with the only exception being Stormchaser tokens.

I'm least excited about Obliterating Bolt in my sideboard. I could easily see changing it to another Witchstalker Frenzy if we see more Sheoldred's running around because it answers Preacher of Schism. While Witchstalker Frenzy isn't as efficient for that, it's better against that pair of creatures.

RC Hartford is over a week away. While I'm not sure I'll play an LCQ or not, I'm likely to show up. If I end up playing and qualifying in an LCQ, I will play Izzet Prowess. Any other choice would be trying to attack the metagame, and Izzet is likely going to be the most popular deck. Because of that, we may see an uptick in decks like Orzhov Pixie. I'm not worried about it being enough of the metagame to change my opinion. It will likely be a close matchup, and Izzet is so much better against the field. It's head and shoulders the strongest available deck at the moment. Playing another deck would be a mistake, especially if you know the deck well and have time to put in reps.

While I have to figure out childcare, I plan to at least stop in at RC Hartford, so come say hi. See you then!