After two weeks of tournaments and the third on the run, the uncertainty of the House of Horror is finally getting answers.
Hi, dear readers, and welcome to our second Duskmourn: House of Horror Meta Tier List / Meta Report. It is always a pleasure to see how more and more Magic players are here week after week. I hope you find these articles useful for your Standard competitive tournaments.
Ah! Don't forget that we started a Commander series:
Without further ado, let's dig into Standard 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 or a top 8 in a 100+ players tournament. The sample size may be too small to represent their actual strength.
This meta-report will analyze the top 16 of the last three big tournaments from 4/10 to 6/10 2024.
Meta Overview
Many weeks have to pass until the metagame gives us the reason. Well, not exactly, but UW Oculus is now a thing. I'm saying this because I made some statements asking why more players were not choosing graveyard-focused archetypes like UW Mentor, Sultai Emergence, or similar decks even if they were overperforming.
Since Unlicensed Hearse rotated from Standard UW Mentor was in a great position. However, not many players were devoted to this strategy. Yes, Rest in Peace became legal thanks to Outlaws of Thunder Junction Big Score, but the enchantment was absent in White sideboards and the pilots of this archetype were having great results week after week.
Now, Abhorrent Oculus pushed this strategy to the top. The deck is now playing Monastery Mentor in the sideboard, and even with many Rest in Peace around and Leyline of the Void as a legal option, the results say Graveyard-centric strategies are crushing!
We have to see how much time this would last, until then, Mono White Control once again made clear that there are no better options for slower-paced decks while RDWx has gained some terrain over Gruul and other aggressive decks.
Let's dig deeper into the numbers:
Top 16 Archetypes:
- Mono White Control: 6 🔼
- RDWx: 6 🔼
- UW Oculus: 4 🔼
- Dimir Aggro: 4 🔽
- Gruul Aggro: 4 🔽
- Domain: 3 🔽
- Golgari Aggro: 2 🆕
- Boros Control: 1 🆕
- Orzhov Aggro: 1 🔽
- Rakdos Lizards: 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.
Boros Control, Golgari Aggro, and Rakdos Lizards are not new archetypes for Standard per se, but these are the first apparitions since Duskmourn's release.
Tier List
| Tier | Archetype |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | - Gruul Aggro - RDWx Aggro 🔼 - Mono White Control 🔼 - UW Oculus 🔼 - Dimir Aggro 🔽 - Domain 🔽 |
| Tier 2 | - Golgari Aggro 🆕 - Orzhov Aggro 🔽 - Rakdos Lizards 🆕 - Boros Control 🔼 - Azorius Artifacts 🔽 - Simic Terror 🔽 - Sultai Emergence 🔽 - UW Enchantments 🔽 - Golgari Midrange 🔽 |
| Tier 3 | - Mardu Aggro 🔽 - Boros Mice - 4/5C Legends - Rakdos Sacrifice - Gruul Terror - Naya Domain - Rakdos Aggro |
| Silent Performer |
🔼 – 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 since Duskmourn's release.
Tier 1
Gruul Aggro
Even if Gruul lost some ground last weekend, I can't knock the king out of the hill yet. Since Emberheart Challenger, Heartfire Hero, and Bloomborrow's mice arrive, playing Red-centric aggressive decks is something you have to consider for every competitive tournament.
It is not just deck preference or playstyle approach. It has good results week after week, and not considering playing a deck that is a top contender for the "Best Deck in the Format" title is a mistake.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to play Gruul, but we are in a scenario where you have to be playing Gruul or have answers for it, period.
RDWx Aggro
Similarly to Gruul, Red Deck Win iterations are now on the rise. Reasons may be correlated; Bloomborrow's mice, Leyline of Resonance + Turn Inside Out, etc.
Nevertheless, pokerswizard's variation demonstrates how playing old acquaintances like Squee, Dubious Monarch and Goddric, Cloaked Reveler can still be part of the equation.
Playing Leyline of Resonance is powerful, although, it seems not mandatory for Red-centric decks.
Mono White Control
Mono White is proving week after week that even if No More Lies and Lightning Helix are great cards, they are not mandatory for a Control deck in the current state of the metagame.
Caretaker's Talent is the heart of every Control deck in Standard. Combining it with Enduring Innocence gives this archetype enough gas to fight against the most aggressive decks and win attrition matches against slower ones.
Just imagine how much value playing a single Carrot Cake could bring to the table with those cards in play.
Graciasportanto won two of the three tournaments last weekend with this exact list. He just changed the sideboard between the first and the second tournament. 56 and 53-player respectively.
If things remain the same, we could be in front of a new king of the hill next week.
UW Oculus
Although we already talked a lot about UW Oculus, noticing how this archetype is evolving lets us know we are not in front of its final form.
This week we could see how playing Monastery Mentor in the sideboard is now the main iteration and Kutzil's Flanker is slowly returning as an answer to mirror matches while having another land Azorius land in Floodfarm Verge helps a lot with consistency.
Maybe I was pretentious comparing Abhorrent Oculus with Murktide Regent last week. Nevertheless, the comparison might not be so much if this archetype keeps the rhythm.
Dimir Aggro
Unlike previous archetypes, Dimir Aggro lost some terrain and just got 4 tops during the last weekend. Either way, this number is high enough to be in the fight for the first spots.
Last week we discussed how good Enduring Curiosity is for the archetype. It hits hard, and thanks to its Flash ability, drawing extra cards to keep up the gas is easy. Playing three seems now the right choice.
Small adaptations are key to surviving in this metagame where the top contenders are mostly the same week after week. Playing two copies of Desfigure and one Get Out are signals of what you need to do to compete against Gruul and RDWx.
Domain
Domain stays strong and refuses to be demoted to Tier 2 even if fewer pilots choose this strategy for competitive tournaments.
There are small variations between iterations of this deck. Some are playing Herd Migration and others prefer a more control-ish approach without ramping and more tools for stabilizing the board.
Last weekend Domain's best finish chose the second route. It shows how Elspeth's Smite is fundamental in Standard, and playing singletons as Jace, the Perfected Mind is not out of the equation yet.
It's also a good moment to notice the two copies of Ghost Vacuum in ovmlcabrera's sideboard. Don't be surprised if this becomes a sideboard staple over Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void.
Ah! And if you have access to White, try one or two copies of Boon-Bringer Valkyrie. It might give you a great surprise.
Tier 2
Golgari Aggro
Finally! Golgari Aggro couldn't stay out of the picture for so long. Last week an iteration of this archetype got the results for being in the tierlist for the first time since Bloomborrow. However, we labeled that deck as Golgari Midrange.
We know the line between Golgari Mosswood Dreadknight decks is so thin that just three or four creatures are enough for different names on many tournament results. Having set that clear, the aggressive variation is now back, and in what way? It won a 54 players' tournament on 06/10.
Curiously it hasn't made many adaptations as Dimir during the last two weeks playing cards like Unstoppable Slasher but main-deck Ghost Vacuum and Meathook Massacre II are solid proof of it hasn't stand still without doing nothing.
Orzhov Aggro
From decks that are losing terrain, Orzhov Aggro seems it's walking on the plank more than others.
Backoff's list shows you don't need to reinvent the wheel to make a top 4. However, this also gives us relevant information to discuss about.
Does playing decks without new cards can stay relevant? Does this decklist prove that players pivoted from Orzhov to aggressively even if it is still a top contender?
With next week's results, we may find some answers.
Rakdos Lizards
Another returning archetype. Rakdos Lizards was one of the most exciting decks from Bloomborrow; and let me tell you, it still is.
The lizards' interactions are solid enough to be a contender, at least for a high Tier 2 seed. If we realize that the creature matchups are at least even, and playing against Mono White is not an impossible match thanks to Duress and Urabrask's Forge, maybe this tribe may emerge again as a preferred aggressive choice for competitive play.
This possibly answers the questions I made during Orzhov's commentaries.
Boros Control
Urabrask's Forge is a good reason to play Boros Control in a Mono White Control environment.
You have access to the same tools for fighting against aggressive decks + Torch the Tower and Lightning Helix, and having a playset of Urabrask's Forge can give you the pressure you need to have an advantage in control and attrition games.
If we have more Japanese tournaments next week, we surely see a rise in this archetype positioning. It's a more popular archetype in the land of the rising sun than in the West.
Azorius Artifacts
From crushing the opposition last week to both Azorius Artifacts iterations without any top 16 this week. However, the archetype had a great performance two weeks ago, so strong that it makes me think that is too soon to demote it even more in the present tier list.
Zoetic Glyph and Subterranean Schooner don't stop being good, and new ones like Enduring Innocence and Unidentified Hovership strengthen the archetype even more.
This week we have just MTGO tournaments and this is another high favorite in Japan so, we may need a wider look at the global metagame to realize this archetype is still a contender. I hope next week Japan bring us at least one big tournament.
Simic Terror
The lack of Simic Terror this week caught my attention. Our three big tournaments were MTGO Challenges, and this kind of archetype is preferred as a low-budget option.
In any case, with Caves as a lower budget option, this doesn't mean this stops being the best budget option for Standard if you have access to dual lands.
The rise of Ghost Vacuum may discourage you from playing Simic Terror. Nevertheless, if UW Oculus is contending for the top spot, graveyard hate shouldn't be the reason for not choosing this kind of deck if you prefer.
You can check good performing Caves list in our past articles:
Sultai Emergence
Just a Boros Control, and UW Artifacts, Sultai Emergence is a popular choice in Japan, and the lack of Japanese tournaments last weekend reflects why these three archetypes don't appear higher in this report.
Say Its Name in combination with Altanak, the Thrice-Called close more games than you may think, and the single copy of Valgavoth, Terror Eater puts almost every opponent against the ropes because how hard is to deal with it.
As I said, graveyard hate is not enough reason to say these decks are bad. However, let's see what happens next week. If more players decide Ghost Vacuum, Rest in Peace, and Leyline of the Void stop these strategies, I would look up and ask UW Oculus what does it's doing differently.
UW Enchantments
I thought last week this archetype would be on the rise soon. However, this week it wasn't the case.
Although, I still believe it's in a good position thanks to how strong Ethereal Armor is against other creature decks.
Inquisitive Glimmer blocks well, and lets us put the pedal to the metal, and Gremlin Tamer lets us go wide when needed. I keep my chips on this archetype and expect a rise the next week.
Golgari Midrange
Finally, Golgari is once again on the map. Even if there were no Midrange/Control iterations on final standings last weekend, aggressive versions finally performed well again.
I think both iterations are viable. While Mooswood Dreadknight is still present. However, 17+ creatures iterations prove to have better performances over time.
Tier 3
Mardu Aggro 🔽
Boros Mice
4/5C Legends
Rakdos Sacrifice
Gruul Terror
Naya Domain
Rakdos Aggro
End Step
Even if we didn't have paper tournaments last weekend, three big MTGO Challenge 32 are enough to give us some lessons.
Mono White is your best choice for going Control. Red-centric decks such as Grull Aggro and RDWx don't need to play Leyline of Resonance + Turn Inside Out to succeed, adaptations are key to be on the top, but also, reinventing the wheel isn't necessary to be in contention against the top archetypes.
I hope you find this article useful and informative for preparing yourself for your next session of competitive Magic. Maybe next week we have more paper tournaments and some exciting archetypes will appear again on the map.
Until next time, if you have any comments about this or any other topic, let us know in the comment section of this article, or on my Twitter.
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