Today we’re talking about multiple formats. Even though Standard’s next rotation is coming up and soon everything will be turned upside down, I wanted to look at the current best decks in Standard, Modern, and Pioneer!
STANDARD
1) Jeskai Control
2) Mono-Green Aggro
These are the two best decks in Standard, and they have opposing game strategies.
Jeskai Control mainly exploits the synergy between Hinata and Magma Opus so you can play it for two mana. The deck is filled by lots of removal and spells that let you take control in the late game.
Mono-Green Aggro is purely about aggression and has little interaction with the opponent. There are lots of creatures and cards with a high power level like Esika’s Chariot that, together with Goldspan Dragon, was one of the most played cards.
MODERN
1) UR Murktide Regent
2) 4-Colors Control [Yorion]
Two control-based strategies dominate the Modern scene. Since the arrival of Modern Horizons 2, Murktide Regent has been the absolute star of the format, surrounded by cards like Ragavan, Dragon’s Rage Channeler until the latest addition of Ledger Shredder. This combination with various utilities, such as Counterspell and Lightning Bolt, has created a virtually perfect deck that is capable of making fast starts with the aforementioned cards and won’t lose consistency even in the late game.
Next, we have an 80-cards version of “Omnath-Pile” deck, which is something that has been happening a lot since Yorion came along. It’s based on various synergies, such as that between elementals and Ephemerate, Omnath with fetchlands, and Wrenn and Six. In short, the deck can take advantage of many strong cards that tie together well.
PIONEER
1) Rakdos Midrange
2) Izzet Phoenix
Two midrange decks are among the most played decks in the Pioneer. We’ve talked extensively about RB Midrange. Since Mono Green Ramp is now much less played than it was a month ago, Rakdos Midrange is once again the most solid deck you can play.
Izzet Phoenix is a bit of a surprise. After banning a strong card like Expressive Iteration, it seemed that this deck was destined to be much less played. Instead, it plays at 50% of winning against almost all the various tiers of the format, which always makes it a great choice, especially if you have played the deck a lot and had tested the various match-ups. Ledger Shredder was added to the already strong synergy of the cards with Arclight Phoenix. In addition to fitting perfectly in the deck due to its Connive ability, which allows for discarding cards, it provides a great plan B that often wins games despite the graveyard hate the deck have to face in post-sideboard games.
These are the decks I recommend you play if you want to approach these formats. Now we look forward to the arrival of Dominaria United and Standard’s rotation, which will completely change the format and give us many new decks to discover!