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Tarkir: Dragonstorm gave Standard a new deck to beat in Izzet Prowess while enabling some fun and competitive archetypes, too. Several Regional Championships have already come and gone, giving us a full look into what your best picks are if you're not into the Izzet thing. With more RCs coming ahead, preparing your deck of choice starts by taking a look at what you're likely to face.
Here's what the current Standard best of 3 metagame looks like.
Tier List
| Tier | Deck | Meta Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Izzet Prowess | 30.8% 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Jeskai Oculus | 10.1% 🔼 |
| Omniscience | 7.7% 🔼 | |
| Mono Red Aggro | 7.0% 🔼 | |
| Jeskai Control | 5.6% 🆕 | |
| Dimir Midrange | 5.3% 🔼 | |
| Tier 3 | Orzhov Pixie | 4.1% 🆕 |
| Mono Black Demons | 4.0% 🆕 | |
| Domain Overlords | 3.4% 🔽 | |
| Orzhov Midrange | 2.3% 🆕 | |
| Esper Pixie | 2.1% 🔽 | |
| Azorius Control | 1.7% 🔼 |
Meta Overview
The clearly dominant Izzet Prowess sees its numbers continue to rise, now making up a third of the metagame. If you're playing it, it's best to tune your main deck for it, and if you aren't, you need a solid game plan against it.
There are three blue-red based decks at the top of the meta and only one that has green in this list. This shows how skewed the balance of colors currently are in Standard and we can only hope the next set addresses it.
Omniscience being not only viable but competitive is an interesting twist to Standard. It can prey on decks too focused on beating aggro strats and requires suitable answers for slower control decks like Domain Overlords.
Self-bouncing Pixie decks come in three flavors: Esper, Orzhov, and Abzan. The archetype is seeing a sharp decline overall as the format has sped up since the previous set.
Tier 1
Izzet Prowess
Izzet Prowess has been the best deck in Standard for a while now, so much so that conversation has shifted to possible bans to keep the format healthy. tdm-103-cori-steel-cutter's monk training capability is simply too strong with efficient cantrips and burn spells. The deck can hit as fast and hard as Mono Red against control while also having the removal for creature-heavy decks.
It's no surprise that more Izzet players are tweaking the deck for mirror matches. The latest innovation is fdn-35-drake-hatcher over otj-146-slickshot-show-off. It's a more resilient two-drop that can go on offense and defense handily. Still, the gunslinging bird is great against slower decks, threatening a big attack after they sweep or tap out.
This deck went 10-0 in a 93-player event:
Tier 2
Jeskai Oculus
Since it became popular after Pro Tour Aetherdrift, Jeskai Oculus has become a staple of the Standard meta. Its main gameplan aims to get its namesake dsk-42-abhorrent-oculus to the graveyard and bring it back with lci-17-helping-hand. It has plenty of loot enablers and payoffs too, such as dft-138-marauding-mako and mkm-67-profts-eidetic-memory.
Tarkir: Dragonstorm brought a few tools to help the deck stock its graveyard more. tdm-127-tersa-lightshatter does everything the deck wants to do, along with the potential for an extra card. The harmonize spells add late game resilience against slower control decks, in addition to sneaky permission out of the board.
The 2nd-place deck of the Regional Championship at SCG Con Minneapolis went 14-1-2:
Omniscience
The recent impressive performance of Azorius Omniscience has proven it's no longer just a fun combo deck but a serious contender in the current meta. It's capable of getting its signature enchantment into play quickly through discards and lci-1-abuelos-awakening. Against decks too slow or without disruption, it's just free wins.
While previous versions relied on mom-61-invasion-of-arcavios-invocation-of-the-founders, the latest iterations use two digging tools from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Multiple copies of tdm-55-roiling-dragonstorm and tdm-51-marang-river-regent-coil-and-catch can loop together to bounce all permanents and draw your entire library, followed by a lethal attack next turn with counterspells for anything relevant the opponent might play.
Here's the winning decklist of the 233-player China Open RC:
Mono Red Aggro
The Mono Red version of the mice-infested aggro deck is outperforming its Boros and Gruul siblings recently, as its uncomplicated mana and extra burn helps a lot against the other top decks in the format. tdm-127-tersa-lightshatter once again makes a notable splash being a hasty attacker that adds lategame reach.
Maindecking otj-134-magebane-lizard may be the call with all the noncreature-heavy decks around, pressuring the opponent's life total outside of combat. blb-155-sunspine-lynx continues to be a beating in the sideboard against greedier manabases.
This won a 64-player event with an 8-1 record:
Jeskai Control
After winning the Regional Champs at Minneapolis, Jeskai Control proved it's a serious consideration if you prefer a methodical, controlling playstyle. tdm-223-shiko-paragon-of-the-way does everything a control deck would want in a big creature win con, guaranteeing a free cast of the best spell in your graveyard for the situation.
The deck is well-positioned to deal with aggro decks, with rav-213-lightning-helix and blb-2-beza-the-bounding-spring providing extra life cushion while you take out threats. With three colors you can fine tune your sideboard for the most problematic matchups, and even go so far as include m11-188-obstinate-baloth for discard decks.
Dimir Midrange
Gaining almost nothing from the last two sets, Dimir Midrange is largely on the decline from its previous popularity. Still, with efficient targeted removal, sneaky permission spells and strong card draw, this blue-black grindy deck is great at getting ahead and keeping its lead in most matchups.
Once you start getting unblocked attacks through, which is easy with flying and flash creatures, dsk-220-kaito-bane-of-nightmares and dsk-371-enduring-curiosity are excellent in making sure the opponent has a tougher time playing catch-up.
Here's the list that topped the 222-player RC in Melbourne:
