Duskmourn is finally here! And with it, many new cards will become a central part of the Standard metagame. This weekend the biggest tournaments will show us the first episode of the new Standard's era; until then, we will analyze last weekend's big tournaments, closing up the Bloomborrow's period as the latest set.
This is important for two reasons: if you compete in a competitive environment, big archetypes such as Gruul Aggro or Orzhov Aggro will still be there after Duskmourn probably with some new cards, and knowing their foundations will help you. Secondly, besides 1 or 2 new archetypes that can be built based on Duskmourn cards, the best way to test your favorite new card is surely an existing successful archetype.
Let's start describing our tiers.
Tiers
- Tier 1: The most dominant decks of the moment. This implies the percentage of victories, presence in the meta, and favorable games.
- Tier 2: These will be solid decks with a relevant presence in the meta. A good pilot will probably be able to play one of these archetypes and have a good result in a competitive event. They usually have at least one difficult match against the rest of the archetypes.
- Tier 3: In this tier, we find decks with little presence, but enough to be considered when preparing for a tournament. In addition to their low popularity, they are decks that present two or more complicated matchups against the meta. This prevents them until the release of additional support or a meta shift from standing out. However, players who dedicate themselves to mastering these archetypes usually have the opportunity to obtain good results.
- Silent Performer: Lastly, at the end of the spectrum we find some decks that have little to almost non-presence in the current state of the meta. However, these archetypes may have won or reached the Top 4 in a relevant tournament. The sample size may be too small to represent their real strength.
This meta-report will analyze the top 16 of the last twelve big tournaments from 20/09 to 22/09 2024.
Meta Overview
Last weekend was the most relaxed one during September. We had three big tournaments, a small number compared to the twelve during our latest meta report.
Even with this small sample, reading between the lines will let us prepare properly for the Duskmourn Standard. Orzhov continues the ascending trend from last weekend, and even with no 1st place finish, four top 4 at least one in each tournament is solid proof that it has adapted well to the Gruul meta and is now the best option, or at least tied in first place with Gruul Aggro.
Convoke is also on the rise, and despite many low-tier or silent performer archetypes being non-present during these three tournaments, Simic Terror appears as the new rogue build to be careful about.
Time to crunch the numbers.
Top 16 Archetypes
- Orzhov Aggro: 9 🔼
- Convoke: 6 🔼
- Golgari Aggro: 6
- Gruul Aggro: 5 🔽
- Domain: 2 🔽
- Rakdos Aggro: 2
- Simic Terror: 2 🆕
- Dimir Aggro: 1 🔽
- Boros Mice: 1 🔼
- Mono White Control: 1
- Red Deck Wins: 1
- Sultai Emergence: 1
- Azorius Mentor: 1 🔼
- RGx Terror: 1 🔼
🔼 - The deck has a higher top 16 appearance % from our last meta report.
🔽 - The deck has fewer top 16 appearance % from our last meta report.
🆕 - First top 16 appearance in the current Standard metagame.
Tier List
| Tier | Archetype |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | - Orzhov Aggro 🔼 - Gruul Aggro - Golgari Aggro - Convoke 🔼 - Domain - Dimir Aggro 🔽 - Rakdos Aggro - Mono White Control |
| Tier 2 | - Sultai Emergence 🔼 - Boros Mice 🔼 - Red Deck Wins - UW Control - Azorius Mentor 🔼 |
| Tier 3 | - Jeskai Control - Orzhov Control - Abzan Control - Azorius Artifacts - Dimir Control - Dimir Rats - Golgari Lands - Izzet Control - Mono Black Rack - RGx Terror - Temur Control - Dimir Midrange - Rakdos Control - Boros Control - Cauldron Roots |
| Silent Performer | - Simic Terror 🆕 - Caves - Mono Black Aggro - Simic Artifacts - 4/5C Legends - 4/5C Control |
🔼 – The deck has improved its position on the chart. This includes movements within the same tier.
🔽 – The deck has lost positions on the table. This includes movements within the same tier.
🆕 – First appearance in the tier list.
Tier 1
Orzhov Aggro 🔼
We have a new king on the hill! This is something that we can't say nobody saw it coming. The past two weekends are proof of that.
_Batutinha_ is someone who has mastered this archetype to its fullest. Last weekend _Batu finished 3rd place in the 20/09 MTGO Challenge 32 using the same list they used to finish 1st place in another MTGO Challenge 32.
We could think that adaptability may be key to Orzhov's success, and some slight changes could be the key to taking Gruul's spot on top. That is not the case. Orzhov can tackle better attrition matches than Gruul and has a better top of the curve. Also, more and more results make some players pivot towards this archetype.
Gruul Aggro
Finally, after two weeks, Gruul lost the pole position. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that Gruul is still one of your best choices for your next competitive event even after Duskmourn's release.
rastaf list doesn't innovate much, and the archetype is still performing amazingly well. This could be because of a wide variety of factors. With the rise of graveyard-centric strategies and the lack of answers in people's sideboards, many rogue decks playing 4-5+ toughness creatures like Tolarian Terror, etc.
I'm curious about what Duskmourn cards could be part of this archetype next weekend. Do you have any bets?
Golgari Aggro
Golgari will be here as a competitive archetype as long Mosswood Dreadknight is Standard legal.
The slight difference between Golgari Aggro and what some others call Golgari Control is thin. This list could be considered as Golgari Control. It only has 14 creatures and also packs 8 removals and 5 Planeswalkers.
Aggressive decks usually mean 16+ creatures. If this is your first time on playingmtg or any of my articles, I'm grouping Golgari Aggro and Golgari Control because both are different plating of the same dish.
Convoke 🔼
Time gives us the reason. Many thought Convoke would be one of the archetypes destined to perish with Standard rotation. Even if it is still a contender playing 4 Yotian Frontliner instead of Voldaren Epicure, the difference was notorious. It wasn't until people realized playing Spyglass Siren and adding a third color wasn't a problem.
Thanks to the Standard's mana base, playing a third color just for splashing one card is not a problem. It took some weeks to make people realize Jeskai Convoke was strong if not stronger than the Convoke latest iteration.
Playing blue also allows us to play Protect the Negotiators, a counterspell fantastic for this kind of strategy. Let's see if Convoke is still here when Duskmourn becomes part of the metagame.
Domain
Another old acquaintance. Something that makes this kind of everlasting archetype prevail is how new cards, even commons can strengthen their main plan.
For Domain, it was Heaped Harvest. This artifact helps us ramp as Domain wants, but it also gives us 3 lives that could be key against certain Aggro matchups.
Duskmuorn has already been released and is around the corner for competitive gameplay. Overlord of the Hauntwoods would be the next Domain staple?
Dimir Aggro 🔽
Don't be fooled by the lower number of Dimir on this last weekend's top spots. I've been a faithful defender of how good this archetype is since its first wins and iterations a few months back. As I stated before, just a few big results were what Dimir needed to rise in popularity.
And it was like that. Dimir was almost at the top for a few weeks, but now, one thing is true, Zoraline, Cosmos Caller pushed Orzhov, and Dimir didn't get a card with a similar power during Bloomborrow. Nashi, Searcher in the Dark may be the reason for a new Dimir Aggro iteration.
Even if that happens or not this archetype is powerful enough to make you get your best competitive result on Standard if you become fully devoted to mastering its tempo-ish style.
Keep an eye on how Steamcore Scholar shapes the archetype into its needs.
Rakdos Aggro
MTGHolic made some adaptations to the Lizard's list. Valley Flamecaller wasn't a card this tribe considered good during Bloomborrow's first weeks. However, a single copy started appearing here and there, and now, a pair of this Lizard Warlock seems to be the right choice for the archetype.
Another thing we have to mention is how a playset of Deep-Cavern Bat appears on successful lists. Dealing 1 damage to your opponent on turn two and playing Flamecache Gecko followed by Deep-Cavern Bat is many times more than enough to put your opponent in a difficult spot to navigate the rest of the game.
Mono White Control
Even if we have a few competitive Control iterations like UW and Jeskai as part of the meta, Mono White demonstrated another week that there's no need to play a second or third color to make our opponents play the game at our rhythm.
I mentioned before how good Carrot Cake and Caretaker's Talent are for control decks. However, something that playing Mono White allows easier than Azorius or Jeskai is playing a playset of Fountain Port supported by a pair of Sunken Citadel
Thanks to this pair of lands, the flexibility and utility provided by Fountain Port tapping two lands most of the time, is something that lets us have an amazing mana sink engine that outvalues many of our opponents' tricks.
Tier 2
Sultai Emergence 🔼
Even if the top 4 of last weekend's biggest tournament play White as one of the main colors of the archetype, there's no Rest in Peace in sight.
I have been saying during my last articles that not many people are playing graveyard hate, which makes Sultai Emerge and other graveyard-centric strategies like UW Mentor a great choice. Even if Layline of the Void would be reprinted in Duskmourn, I doubt that players will respect Squirming Emergence or Monastery Mentor until both decks or even Caves flood the metagame.
Boros Mice 🔼
The Mice situation is curious. They are the core of Gruul Aggro, Red Deck Wins, and Boros Mice. However, there are some iterations like this one, played by wcl during the biggest last weekend MTGO Challenge that don't play the white mice like Flowerfoot Swordmaster, Mabel, Heir to Cragflame or support cards like Valley Questcaller.
Instead, here we have Skrelv, Deflector Mite, a great idea for targeting Valiant mice, and Crumb and Get it, another amazing way for triggering Valiant.
Besides this, wcl also plays Callous Sell-Sword. This creature is now almost in every Red-centric deck even in some Gruul iterations because of how good the adventure part is.
Some people may call this Mardu Aggro; for me, with 12 mice and many dedicated ways of triggering Valiant, this is just another flavor of the same archetype.
Red Deck Wins
RDW just got one top but it was a 1st place finish. You can find this archetype now on many sites labeled as Rakdos Aggro but don't get confused by that. Rakdos Lizards is not the same as Red Deck Wins, or Red Deck Wins with a Black splash.
Many players realize now how strong Callous Sell-Sword is. This creature has been here and there since its release, but now, thanks to how easily we can raise our creature power, its adventure part Burn Together is gaining a lot of value.
Dealing 4 or 5 damage for one Red mana is making a difference.
UW Control
Not much has changed this week for UW Control. The data sample was small, and with just three big tournaments, no UW Control, or Jeskai cut into the top decks.
However, I still think that many tools this iteration of Control has like No More Lies, and Three Steps Ahead are valuable, and will make this deck an archetype to respect when we enter Duskmourn's meta.
Mono White seems like the best choice for controlling the board, but when we need to control spells before they resolve, something that could be the case after Duskmourn's release, UW and Jeskai could have a better chance.
Azorius Mentor 🔼
As mentioned above in the Sultai Emergence section, graveyard-centric strategies can be played successfully until people start respecting it.
Even with Rest in Peace and the new reprint of Layline of the Void I would recommend you to play this kind of deck until the metagame starts playing these enchantments.
Many top contenders have access to White and Blank sideboard cards, but even if that is true, data says that just ONE of the twelve decklists from the top four decks of each last weekend's tournaments play one graveyard hate card, Tranquil Frillback.
You can go crazy about it until people start respecting these strategies. And even if that happens, these decks have other ways to play their strategies.
Tier 3
Jeskai Control
Orzhov Control
Abzan Control
Azorius Artifacts
Dimir Control
Dimir Rats
Golgari Lands
Izzet Control
Mono Black Rack
RGx Terror
Temur Control
Dimir Midrange
Rakdos Control
Boros Control
Cauldron Roots
Silent Performer
Simic Terror 🆕
Caves
Mono Black Aggro
Simic Artifacts
4/5C Legends
4/5C Control
End Step
Even if Duskmourn becomes the center of attention this weekend, learning what happened during the last days of the Bloomborrow metagame will be fundamental to shaping the future of the format when we decide which Duskmourn's card add to our decks, or which new strategy deserves to be tested.
I'm excited to see what happens this weekend. Wait for our first Duskmourn's meta tier list early next week. Many new cards can become staples on existing archetypes, and many others may be the hearth of something new that will surely shake the meta.
Until then, if you have any comments about this or any other topic, let us know in this article comment section, or on my Twitter.
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