Table of Contents
MTG Arena’s Standard Bo1 meta is quite different from the Traditional Bo3 format. With just one game on the line to win a match, most successful decks aim for consistent early game with win conditions that are difficult to stop.
Below are said decks making up much of the BO1 metagame after the release of Aetherdrift. The decklists shown have posted the best win rates since the launch.
| Tier | Deck | Meta Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Mono Black | 11% |
| Mono Red | 8% | |
| Tier 2 | Boros Auras | 5% |
| Esper Pixie | 5% | |
| Orzhov Lifegain | 3% | |
| Goblins | 2% | |
| Tier 3 | Dimir Midrange | 1% |
| White Weenie | 1% | |
| Mono White Tokens | 1% | |
| Azorius Oculus | 1% | |
| Domain Overlords | 1% | |
| Azorius Artifacts | 1% |
Tier 1
Mono Black
Combine a ton of removal with some demons in a ritual chamber and you have the best deck in the format. Mono Black can kill pretty much everything the opponent plays and keep doing so thanks to pdsk-118p-unholy-annex-ritual-chamber. Mopping up with dsk-119-unstoppable-slasher or big flying demons makes this a surprisingly quick deck to queue with.
Mono Red
For the fastest matches, nothing gets it done faster than Mono Red. It’s got cheap, aggressive creatures that can grow and enough burn to get them through. Prowess and pump spells result in big damage, especially for opponents with less than optimal draws. blb-138-heartfire-hero, one-124-cacophony-scamp, and woe-221-callous-sell-sword-burn-together can even fling for the finish.
Tier 2
Boros Auras
Boros tones down on the aggression in favor of making its creatures bigger and more resilient. dsk-21-optimistic-scavenger along with versatile auras make it more difficult for opponents to deal with your threats. dsk-29-shardmages-rescue can save for very cheap while blb-13-feather-of-flight can break ground stalemates.
Esper Pixie
Esper Pixie does as well in BO1 as in BO3. The value engine of otj-20-nurturing-pixie and dsk-58-fear-of-isolation bouncing enchantments can take over the midgame if the opponent isn’t fast enough. Once it stabilizes, dsk-220-kaito-bane-of-nightmares can keep the cards flowing.
Orzhov Lifegain
This lifegain deck wants to plop as many small creatures as it can, with several notable creatures getting you incremental advantage like blb-12-essence-channeler and lci-221-amalia-benavides-aguirre. The big wallop comes when you cast fdn-22-raise-the-past to get numerous triggers off blb-116-starscape-cleric, often enough for a huge life swing if not an outright win.
Goblins
Aetherdrift gave us a lot of interesting new goblins, with dft-134-howlsquad-heavy leading the charge giving your gobbos haste. At max speed, it combos nicely with m13-138-krenko-mob-boss to let you cast everything, too. dft-115-burnout-bashtronaut and dft-121-draconautics-engineer give the deck more payoffs late-game. Plus, dft-249-avishkar-raceway can turn dead draws into better cards.
Tier 3
Dimir Midrange
With a good enough draw, this tempo/control deck can beat anything. It has enough removal to hamper aggro matchups along with card draw to get more. Hitting with dsk-51-enduring-curiosity feels great and woe-69-spell-stuttering a key spell for the win is even better.
White Weenie
Like the Orzhov deck, the pure white weenie build leverages lifegain triggers. fdn-135-ajanis-pridemate and blb-12-essence-channeler can get really big really quickly. eld-20-linden-the-steadfast-queen urges you to go wide into the red zone, putting mom-26-knight-errant-of-eos in charge of recruiting. dsk-18-leyline-of-hope in your opening hand might just cause every aggro deck you face to concede on the spot.
Mono White Tokens
The game plan is simple: survive until you mom-40-sunfall then hit back with an ever-growing horde of tokens. This controlling strategy is great against decks that rely on 1:1 removal. Meanwhile, you’re fine throwing expendable troops in the line of fire until they get big enough with woe-38-virtue-of-loyalty-ardenvale-fealty and blb-6-caretakers-talent.
Azorius Oculus
dsk-42-abhorrent-oculus and dmu-52-haughty-djinn are two big flyers that can end games quickly if unanswered. Even if the opponent kills them, lci-17-helping-hand and bro-22-recommission can bring them back. A few counterspells can seal the win when you have a big enough clock.
Domain Overlords
While it has arguably the best late game strategy in the format, Domain Overlords can be a bit too slow for BO1 matches. Going second, missing a land drop, not drawing a sweeper - these can be punishing when you're still trying to ramp. dft-25-rides-end is a welcome addition from Aetherdrift, and is a necessary speed bump for aggro matchups.
Azorius Artifacts
Finally we have another deck that’s enabled by new cards from Aetherdrift. dft-56-repurposing-bay, the new nph-104-birthing-pod, can tutor for all the artifacts you want. dft-23-perilous-snare and dft-227-voyage-home are obvious additions in Azorius. With all these artifacts, big-36-simulacrum-synthesizer can manufacture hulking constructs in no time.
