Table of Contents
Introduction
Discover the best Magic: The Gathering Arena Historic decks and archetypes that the players are using to climb the ranked ladder and win tournaments. Our MTG Arena Best of Three (Bo3) Historic Meta Tier List regularly reviews and ranks the top decks in the format, carefully curated by our expert Altheriax. We also follow up our choices based on a variety of factors and sources, with comprehensive analysis from the data available.
Meta Overview and Changes
The new Meta Report going over all of the recent changes to the Tier List!
Historic Best of Three (Bo3) Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck Name |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Izzet Wizards |
| Tier 1 | Abzan Yawgmoth |
| Tier 1 | Rakdos Bombardment Vampires |
| Tier 1 | Mono Green Devotion |
| Tier 2 | Azorius Artifacts |
| Tier 2 | Azorius Control |
| Tier 2 | Dimir Ninjas |
| Tier 2 | Gruul Goblins |
| Tier 2 | Kethis Combo |
| Tier 2 | Rakdos Midrange |
| Tier 2 | Boros Convoke |
| Tier 3 | Azorius Hammer Time |
| Tier 3 | Izzet Creativity |
| Tier 3 | Gates |
| Tier 3 | Mardu Reanimator |
Tier 1 Decks
Izzet Wizards
Izzet Wizards
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
0 mythic
35 rare
16 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (16)
Sorceries (14)
Lands (20)
60 Cards
$325.74
Sideboard
15 Cards
$58.19
This is probably the fastest aggressive deck in the format right now that leverages cheap creatures, pump spells, and burn spells to force through a ton of damage often out of nowhere. This deck really punishes slower decks or decks that don’t have early removal, and it also has a decent ability to grind due to Dreadhorde Arcanist and card advantage spells like Expressive Iteration and Flame of Anor (especially since A-Symmetry Sage and Reckless Charge can boost the power of Dreadhorde Arcanist which allows it to recast more expensive spells like Expressive Iteration and Flame of Anor).
Burn spells also give you good reach which enables you to finish off the opponent from a low life total, even if they manage to take out all of your creatures. Reckless Charge and Slickshot Show-Off gives the deck a huge amount of speed since you can force a lot of damage through even if you started the turn with no creatures in play which makes it very risky for the opponent to ever tap out against you.
I’ve also had great success recently with a slightly different build which improves Wizard’s more difficult matchups but is slightly slower so if you’re expecting more interactive decks then this list is definitely worth considering (I’ve also got a full guide on the Premium site which you can check out here).
Weaknesses: The deck is very weak to decks packing a lot of interaction since the deck grinds to a halt if the opponent is able to answer all of your creatures. This is especially problematic game 1 since it’s very easy for cards like Reckless Charge to get blown out by an instant-speed removal spell. Additionally since you’re reliant on red damage-based removal you can struggle to deal with bigger creatures such as Cavalier of Thorns and Vein Ripper – the addition of Flame of Anor has helped with this a great deal against 5 toughness creatures though.
When is it good to play? Wizards is a great choice against less interactive decks like Devotion, Yawgmoth, and Kethis, but tends to struggle against decks packing more removal like Rakdos Midrange and Azorius Control.
Deck & Sideboard Guide:
Abzan Yawgmoth
Abzan Yawgmoth by Käpälä
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
8 mythic
38 rare
5 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (34)
Instants (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$521.44
Sideboard
15 Cards
$22.89
This is a sacrifice-based combo deck that is largely built around Yawgmoth, Thran Physician which can draw infinite cards when combined with Prosperous Innkeeper, and either 2 Young Wolf or a Young Wolf and a Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, and can deal infinite damage if you replace Prosperous Innkeeper with a drain effect like Blood Artist.
Even though the deck has access to an infinite damage combo, you can very consistently win without it due to the sheer amount of card advantage that Yawgmoth, Thran Physician produces either by building a wide board and then casting Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, or with combinations such as Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons which is able to kill all of your opponent’s creatures will drawing a ton of cards.
It can find its key combo pieces incredibly consistently thanks to cards like Chord of Calling, which also give you access to silver bullet tutor targets from the sideboard such as A-Haywire Mite Scavenging Ooze, and Skyfisher Spider. Additionally you also have Elven Chorus as somewhat of a backup plan (which synergizes very nicely with your cheap creatures allowing you to pull ahead on card advantage against interactive decks), and you already run a lot of ramp for Yawgmoth, Thran Physician so can very consistently cast Elven Chorus on turn 3.
This list from Käpälä is splashing white to lean harder into the go-wide convoke angle running one of the best go-wide enablers in Rope Line Attendant alongside Knight-Errant of Eos and Emmara, Voice of the Conclave as payoffs which gives the deck a secondary angle of attack and helps you find Yawgmoth, Thran Physician more consistently. The convoke enablers also provide you with more bodies to sacrifice to Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and splashing white also gives you access to Chord of Calling targets like Skyclave Apparition and Selfless Spirit.
Weaknesses: Being a creature based high synergy deck means that there’s very little room in the maindeck for interaction so the matchup against very fast linear aggressive decks that demand early interaction such as Izzet Wizards is definitely unfavored game 1, and still tricky post-sideboard since you can’t afford to bring in too much interaction without diluting your synergies.
Additionally the deck is very centered around Yawgmoth, Thran Physician meaning you’re very vulnerable to cards like Pithing Needle or extraction effects like Necromentia, The End and The Stone Brain. You do have alternate threats such as Knight-Errant of Eos, Emmara, Voice of the Conclave and Elven Chorus that are capable of closing games out, but the deck is way less powerful if Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is taken out of the equation.
When is it good to play? Yawgmoth is one of the most generically powerful decks right now so should be good to play in most metas unless very fast aggro decks like Izzet Wizards are the most popular deck.
Deck & Sideboard Guide:
Rakdos Bombardment Vampires
Rakdos Bombardment Vampires
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
17 mythic
25 rare
4 uncommon
14 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Creatures (22)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$566.78
Sideboard
15 Cards
$70.27
This is a sacrifice midrange list that also leverages Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord + Vein Ripper which gives the deck a ‘combo’ angle too. One of the most important cards in this deck is Goblin Bombardment which gives you ways to ping down creatures or planeswalkers as well as being able to go face which gives you great reach in longer games.
The deck runs a lot of fuel to enable Goblin Bombardment via cheap creatures such as Unlucky Witness and Voldaren Epicure, recursive creatures such as Bloodghast, and Seasoned Pyromancer which can put three bodies onto the battlefield. Goblin Bombardment also works incredibly well alongside Vein Ripper since each creature you sacrifice will deal 3 damage to the opponent meaning you can often kill the opponent in one turn if you can assemble them together.
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord cheating Vein Ripper into play as early as turn 3 is also very powerful even without Goblin Bombardment, and you can also potentially hardcast Vein Ripper as early as turn 4 if you Deadly Dispute sacrificing a Shambling Ghast to make two treasure tokens. Additionally you have a number of other vampires which enable you to utilize Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord even without Vein Ripper such as Voldaren Epicure and Bloodghast which are great to sacrifice to the Lightning Helix ability so there’s a lot of good cross synergies in this list.
Weaknesses: Both of your key cards in Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Goblin Bombardment can both be stopped by Pithing Needle but the opponent will often have to guess which one to name.
Non-creature combo decks or decks that go bigger than you such as Mono Green devotion can also be tricky game 1 unless you have a fast start since you don’t have great ways to interact with them and you don’t close games out particularly fast without an early Vein Ripper, but you do have sideboard tools to help in these matchups post-sideboard such as Thoughtseize, Pithing Needle, and Unlicensed Hearse.
When is it good to play? This is generally a good choice across the board as long as non-creature combo decks and Devotion aren’t very popular.
Mono Green Devotion
Mono Green Devotion
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
4 mythic
30 rare
12 uncommon
14 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (18)
Sorceries (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$382.55
Sideboard
15 Cards
$65.22
This is a ramp deck that is largely built around Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and is looking to generate absurd amounts of mana as fast as possible, and then pull cards from the sideboard off Karn, the Great Creator.
This is one of the most generically powerful decks in the format that is capable of very fast starts off the back of Utopia Sprawl and manadorks like Delighted Halfling, and Storm the Festival allows for some crazy combo-esque turns where you can produce huge amounts of mana by untapping Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx with Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner. You also have big creatures that can act as a roadblock against aggro decks like Cavalier of Thorns, Polukranos Reborn, and Hollowhenge Wrangler which are great at stabilizing and also draw you a card off the Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner passive.
There are a lot of different ways you can build the deck but this version is my personal favorite since it can leverage Up the Beanstalk as an early cantrip that can snowball advantage especially alongside Hollowhenge Wrangler.
The white splash is relatively free here since you get access to white mana off Utopia Sprawl, Delighted Halfling, and Temple Garden and it enables you to run Yasharn, Implacable Earth in the sideboard which flips two of your most difficult matchups in Yawgmoth and Samwise on their head whilst also triggering Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner. The white splash also lets you fetch Portable Hole off Karn, the Great Creator which is great at slowing down aggro decks.
Weaknesses: The biggest weakness of Devotion is that it lacks early interaction meaning that you can struggle against both fast aggro decks that demand early removal such as Izzet Wizards, and fast combo decks. There are some combo decks like Kethis and Belcher which Karn, the Great Creator really punishes through its passive ability, but other combo decks like Yawgmoth, Creativity, and Samwise can be problematic since they can often get their combo online before you can find a hate piece from your wishboard to cut them off.
When is it good to play? Devotion is one of the strongest linear decks in the format and should be a good choice assuming fast aggro decks like Wizards or Auras aren’t popular.
Tier 2 Decks
Azorius Artifacts
Azorius Artifacts by Nytoks
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
0 mythic
35 rare
20 uncommon
5 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (22)
Enchantments (2)
Lands (20)
60 Cards
$395.64
Sideboard
15 Cards
$30.87
This is an artifact synergy deck that is capable of closing games out very quickly and can grind well into longer games which is a very potent combination.
You can force through a lot of damage early off the back of cards like Emporium Thopterist, Michiko's Reign of Truth and Retrofitter Foundry if you have it alongside an early thopter to make a 4/4 on turn 1 or 2. Additionally, you have good quality interaction against in the form of creature removal like Portable Hole, Dusk Rose Reliquary, and Fragment Reality to help race against creature decks like Wizards, and counterspells like Metallic Rebuke as well as Reprieve and Dovin's Veto after sideboard to help against control and combo.
Esper Sentinel and Skrelv, Defector Mite also makes life difficult for interactive decks to slow down your proactive gameplan, and Retrofitter Foundry provides you with a great way to grind into longer games in low resource stalemates, especially if you have it in multiples.
Weaknesses: The biggest weakness of Affinity is that it’s incredibly vulnerable to mass artifact removal like Divine Purge and Brotherhood's End, and Flame of Anor from the Izzet Wizards deck can be an issue too.
Additionally decks like Abzan Yawgmoth and Samwise can be difficult since you can struggle to race through the chump blockers those deck can produce, and this deck doesn’t have great ways to stop them outside of Pithing Needle which the combo decks will likely be prepared for post-sideboard.
When is it good to play? Affinity is generally a good choice to play when there’s not much mass artifact removal, and not as much creature-based combo decks that are good at producing early chump blockers.
Azorius Control
Azorius Control
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
6 mythic
41 rare
8 uncommon
5 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (4)
Instants (18)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$341.78
Sideboard
15 Cards
$43.38
This is a control deck comprised of early interaction to slow the opponent down and make the game go long, and then powerful top end snowbally cards like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria that run away with the lategame.
In terms of interaction you’ve got counterspells like No More Lies, Reprieve, and Archmage's Charm that are good across the board especially once you’re ahead but are particularly effective against control and combo, and creature removal such as Path to Exile and Divine Purge that are important in order to stabilize against the faster creature decks.
Calim, Djinn Emperor also helps in these matchups providing you with a way to slow the opponent down which replaces itself and doubles up as a win condition – this is also a very effective card in control mirrors since it’s difficult to stop without graveyard hate since it’s all activated abilities so conventional counterspells can’t stop it.
You’ve also got Memory Deluge and Lórien Revealed to help ensure you pull ahead on card advantage, and The Wandering Emperor that doubles up as interaction and another win condition as well. Then post-sideboard you have access to a variety of different interaction that helps you pivot depending on the matchup such as extra cheap removal and sweepers that help against the creature-based decks like Wizards and Yawgmoth, extra counterspells that help in the mirror, and Surgical Extraction for graveyard synergy decks like Kethis and Phoenix.
Weaknesses: Decks that pair early aggression with disruption such as Humans, Merfolk, and Ninjas are tough matchups for control no matter how you build it, and while you do have tools to fight against these decks, I’d definitely still consider them unfavored especially post-sideboard.
Speaking of which control isn’t exactly an unknown archetype and every archetype in the format has access to good sideboard tools against you whether that’s discard spells like Duress, cheap counterspells like Spell Pierce, taxing effects like Esper Sentinel, planeswalkers like Liliana of the Veil, or uncounterable threats like Thrun, Breaker of Silence so any archetype can make life difficult for you if they come well prepared.
When is it good to play? Control is generally a good choice as long as tempo-style decks like Humans, Merfolk, and Ninjas aren’t very popular.
Dimir Ninjas
Satoru Ninjas
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
0 mythic
34 rare
11 uncommon
15 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (26)
Artifacts (4)
Lands (20)
60 Cards
$267.16
Sideboard
15 Cards
$48.49
This is a tempo deck that is looking to leverage powerful Ninjitsu cards like A-Moon-Circuit Hacker and A-Silver-Fur Master whilst also having access to disruptive cards like Fatal Push and Spell Pierce in order to go underneath the opponent and kill them before they can establish their game plan. This list is a slightly tweaked version of Gdinut‘s list which was used to qualify for the Mythic Championship.
Retrofitter Foundry is also great here since it can produce bodies to help you Ninjitsu, and is also able to produce big 4/4s in the first few turns by sacrificing Ornithopter and Changeling Outcast (which counts as a Thopter because of its changeling ability.)
This is a deck that is capable of some insanely fast starts and can snowball advantage very quickly, while Retrofitter Foundry also provides a way for you to grind if the game does go longer.
The combination of unblockable and flying creatures makes it easy for Ninjas to pull off Ninjitsu abilities whilst also making it easy to force through the final points of damage needed to win. Cheap counterspells and removal with a tempo-based gameplan is solid against a number of top decks right now such as Devotion and Control, and the cheap interaction also lines up well against decks like Izzet Wizards as well.
Weaknesses: Like most tempo decks, this is weak to other very low to the ground creature decks such as Yawgmoth that is capable of casting multiple cheap spells per turn which can outscale your removal and counterspells, and is also vulnerable to decks with a lot of early single-target removal like Rakdos Midrange which can prevent you from setting up early Ninjutsu triggers. Having said that, Retrofitter Foundry is generally more difficult for those interactive decks to deal with (and is very strong at grinding in those matchups), and you’re still capable of beating go-wide aggressive decks if you have a fast start, especially going first.
Additionally getting off to a fast start and having your early interaction line up well is paramount to the success of the deck, so losing the die roll is more problematic for Ninjas than a number of other decks.
When is it good to play? This will be a good choice if there aren’t too many low to the ground creature decks in the format, since it really wants to take advantage of slower decks by repeatedly generating card advantage or applying pressure, and holding up protection for it’s board state.
Gruul Goblins
Gruul Goblins by dtr
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
0 mythic
33 rare
12 uncommon
15 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (31)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$170.61
Sideboard
15 Cards
$35.25
This is a creature-based combo deck that is built to take full advantage of Cabaretti Revels, often being able to set up lethal if it ever gets to untap with it. The main cards that really enable the combo turns with Cabaretti Revels are Skirk Prospector and Rundvelt Hordemaster alongside the cost reducers in Goblin Anarchomancer and Goblin Warchief. As you reduce the cost of your goblins sacrificing them to Skirk Prospector becomes mana positive, and sacrificing your goblins with Rundvelt Hordemaster in play provides you card advantage to continue churning through your deck and swarming the board with Cabaretti Revels continuously putting more creatures into play.
Cards like Goblin Matron can find you any piece your missing or can just be used to search for more copies of Goblin Matron to keep getting additional creatures in play off Cabaretti Revels, and then once you’ve built up a huge board you can close the game out by giving everything haste with Goblin Warchief, or dealing direct damage with Pashalik Mons. Since Cabaretti Revels seeks cheaper creatures it’s also very consistent at finding its key card in Skirk Prospector since it accounts for four out of the six 1 drops in the deck.
Even without Cabaretti Revels the deck is capable of playing a strong aggressive beatdown plan, and you can still often have combo turns without needing Cabaretti Revels with the right sequence of draws.
Weaknesses: Since this is a very high synergy deck there’s no room for interaction in the maindeck outside of Pashalik Mons, and you can’t afford to board in that much without diluting your synergies so matchups against fast linear decks that demand interaction like Izzet Wizards can be difficult.
Even though you do have some good sideboard options such as Squee, Dubious Monarch and Goblin Ringleader, the Dimir Control matchup can also be tricky since you’re quite soft to sweepers in a lot of spots, and cards like Cabaretti Revels and Goblin Influx Array are weak to counterspells.
Additionally even though the deck is very capable of winning without Cabaretti Revels, the power of the deck when you have it is much higher than when you don’t which can lead to fairly disparate quality of your opening hands.
When is it good to play? Gruul Goblins has an advantage over the other creature-based combo decks right now in that it can more easily play through creature removal due to the power of Cabaretti Revels, meaning it should be a good choice as long as linear decks that demand interaction like Izzet Wizards aren’t that popular.
Kethis Combo
Kethis Combo by Omri
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
22 mythic
31 rare
3 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (18)
Artifacts (13)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$933.16
Sideboard
15 Cards
$53.34
Kethis is a graveyard-based combo deck looking to use Kethis, the Hidden Hand to mill your whole deck using some combination of Mox Amber, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Jace, the Perfected Mind and Relic of Legends, then win with Jace, the Perfected Mind by milling the opponent out.
I want to preface this by saying that this is probably one of the most difficult decks to play in the format since there are so many potential combo lines you can take, and it’s difficult to know when to go for it, but for that reason I think it’s also a deck that is definitely underrated and underplayed too. If you’re interested in learning this deck then I highly recommend reading Omri’s very in-depth guide here which explains the general deck and main combo lines even if the list included is slightly outdated.
Weaknesses: Outside of being difficult to pilot, the deck is also weak to graveyard hate. It does have multiples ways to remove or fight through graveyard hate (Boseiju, Who Endures, Urza's Ruinous Blast, etc.), but if there is a high density of graveyard hate in the format, it can often slow the deck down enough that it isn’t able to combo off fast enough. Outside of that, it can also sometimes struggle to race the fastest aggro decks like Izzet Wizards, and is very vulnerable to Karn, the Great Creator against Mono Green Devotion.
When is it good to play? Kethis will largely be a good choice if there’s not a ton of graveyard hate and not a lot of very fast aggro decks like Wizards.
Deck & Sideboard Guide:
Rakdos Midrange
Rakdos Midrange
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
20 mythic
28 rare
8 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Creatures (12)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$662.54
Sideboard
15 Cards
$31.79
The core of this deck is a traditional midrange deck running cheap efficient interaction and generically powerful threats that’s capable of pivoting well post-sideboard, but it’s also running the Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord + Vein Ripper combo to give the deck a bigger burst and a very effective way of closing games out fast and giving the opponent less time to draw out of the situation.
In terms of interaction you have discard spells like Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek which are good across the board but particularly effective against control and combo, and cheap creature removal such as Fatal Push and Shove Aside that are very important against faster creature decks like Izzet Wizards and Yawgmoth.
Then in terms of threats you have 3 drops that snowball the game and provide you with great card selection in the form of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Crucias, Titan of the Waves which also produce treasures enabling you to ramp into Vein Ripper if you draw it without Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord.
Speaking of which Vein Ripper pairs very well with your interaction since it will trigger the passive ability on Vein Ripper which helps you both close games out faster and helps you stabilize, whilst also enabling you to potentially kill your opponent’s remaining creatures in response to the ward trigger which will fizzle the opponent’s removal spell. As a relatively low-synergy deck you can also pivot much more effectively bringing in interaction that’s good in the particular matchup which means you generally have a better game 2 and 3 against the higher synergy decks.
Weaknesses: Since these lists lean pretty heavily on discard spells in a lot of matchups, it’s naturally weak to the opponent top decking well. There are a lot of decks in the format that have cards that are great at recovering from behind like Expressive Iteration, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Storm the Festival, etc., so even though it’s fairly easy to strip the opponent of their early resources, if you don’t apply pressure on board quickly enough, the opponent can often easily draw out of it.
Additionally, midrange decks have traditionally been decks that you can tune to beat anything, but can’t tune to beat everything, and in a format like Historic where every deck is so streamlined and efficient at what it’s doing, that can be really punishing if you queue into a matchup you weren’t expecting or prepared for with your suite of interaction, which can definitely be an issue especially if you’re playing on the ladder. Finally decks that go much bigger than you such as Mono Green Devotion will always be tricky matchups since they have so many good topdecks and their early ramp is often difficult to interact with.
When is it good to play? Rakdos Midrange is great against decks like control and decks that rely on individual creatures such as Wizards or Auras, but tend to struggle against decks that have value engines or go bigger than you such as Bombardment or Devotion.
Boros Convoke
Boros Convoke by kamahl211
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
0 mythic
32 rare
13 uncommon
15 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (30)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (17)
60 Cards
$345.2
Sideboard
15 Cards
$27.88
This is a deck that is trying to swarm the board as fast as possible to enable convoke payoffs such as Venerated Loxodon and Knight-Errant of Eos, as well as other payoffs such as Warden of the Inner Sky which can grow by tapping down your small creatures and artifacts, or Case of the Gateway Express and Requisition Raid which can pump your whole board. The most powerful enablers in the deck are Gleeful Demolition and Kuldotha Rebirth which can enable you to convoke one of your 5 drops on turn 2 fairly consistently.
This can be achieved by casting a 1 drop that makes an artifact on turn 1, then another 1 drop and either Gleeful Demolition and Kuldotha Rebirth on turn 2 which leaves you with 5 untapped creatures in play which you can use to convoke the 5 drops in. This is an incredibly powerful start that any deck will struggle to beat, especially on the draw.
As previously mentioned you have a number of other payoffs for your small creatures if you don’t happen to draw your convoke creatures, and Case of the Gateway Express and Requisition Raid provide you with ways to interact that also help enable your proactive gameplan.
Then post-sideboard you have tools that can help to improve your worst matchups such as Invasion of Gobakhan for control (which can be tricky because sweepers are very effective against you) and Phyrexian Revoker against Yawgmoth (which is probably your worst matchup since they also go wide fast making it hard to have clean attacks, and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician itself is very good at picking apart your board).
Weaknesses: Sweepers are probably your biggest concern since you’re investing a lot of resources to go wide so Control can be a tricky matchup, as well as decks that can run sweepers like Brotherhood's End in the sideboard. As I just mentioned Yawgmoth is a tricky matchup, as are combo decks since you don’t have much interaction and can struggle to race if they have a fast hand.
When is it good to play? This is generally a good choice as long as sweepers and Yawgmoth aren’t that popular.
Deck & Sideboard Guide:
Tier 3 Decks
Azorius Hammer Time
Stoneforge Aegis Hammer
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
6 mythic
36 rare
12 uncommon
6 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Instants (4)
Artifacts (9)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$518.26
Sideboard
15 Cards
$20.75
This is deck that is capable of some incredibly fast starts and is looking to assemble Colossus Hammer, a creature to equip it to, and an equip cost reducer such as Sigarda's Aid, Kemba's Outfitter, or Forge Anew as fast as possible.
Stoneforge Mystic is great here increasing the consistency with which you can find the Colossus Hammer, as well as having extra utility in being able to fetch Cryptic Coat (which doubles up as an unblockable creature you can attack Colossus Hammer to as well as being a generically good threat that can help you grind into longer games if you don’t have an equip cost reducer yet), Shadowspear (which is very important against aggro to help you win the race via lifelink, and can force damage through chump blockers via trample), or Assimilation Aegis which is fetchable removal.
Lurrus of the Dream-Den builds are definitely viable too but I feel like 8 equip cost reducers aren’t enough and the next best Lurrus-compatible option is Kemba, Kha Enduring which is pretty mediocre, and it reduces the utility you can get via Stoneforge Mystic. You also have Spell Pierce which can protect your setup from interaction as well as stop the opponent’s proactive gameplan if they’re reliant on non-creatures, and cheap creatures that are good to equip your Colossus Hammer to such as Ornithopter and Esper Sentinel.
Weaknesses: In a lot of ways this is a combo deck looking to assemble 3 specific pieces which makes it naturally weak to discard spells since if the opponent takes your Colossus Hammer or equip cost reducer you’re often left scrambling to find a replacement.
You’re also weak to artifact removal since the deck is built around Colossus Hammer which is an issue when Flame of Anor sees play as a 4 of in one of the most popular decks, and Brotherhood's End sees a reasonable amount of sideboard play. Divine Purge is also incredibly strong against you from the control decks but you do have cheap counterspells to counteract that.
When is it good to play? Hammer will be at its best when discard spells, control, and artifact removal aren’t seeing much play.
Izzet Creativity
Izzet Creativity
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
5 mythic
30 rare
5 uncommon
20 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (20)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$315.75
Sideboard
15 Cards
$83.57
This is a control combo deck that is looking to get two artifact or creature tokens into play, and then cast Indomitable Creativity for x=2 in order to cheat both Griselbrand and A-Queza, Augur of Agonies into play, which can then win you the game by repeatedly activating Griselbrand to draw 7 cards and drain the opponent for 7 until you deal lethal damage. The deck runs early removal and counterspells in order to stabilize and buy time to set up the combo, and then has multiple token generators to enable Indomitable Creativity like Hard Evidence, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Big Score and Mutavault and Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance in the manabase.
You also have access to multiple ways to put your Creativity targets back in the deck if you happen to draw them such as Seek New Knowledge and Volcanic Spite, and post-sideboard you can pivot into Serra's Emissary against the aggro decks so you can often win with x=1.
Big Score was originally a big part of the deck since it produces two treasures and is good at digging for your fifth land or Indomitable Creativity if you don’t have it, so can often single-handedly set up for the turn 5 win, however with the addition of Orcish Bowmasters it’s generally much riskier so I’ve cut down to 2 to make room for Flame of Anor which can importantly answer Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as well as being able to pick 2 modes when Mutavault is animated.
Weaknesses: Discard spell heavy decks such as Rakdos or Jund Midrange are tough matchups since cards like Thoughtseize can remove your relevant interaction or key combo pieces to clear the way for their top end like The One Ring or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, leaving you at the mercy of the top of your deck early on. Additionally more focused control decks like Dimir will generally have more interactive tools than you so that’s another deck where it’s very difficult to resolve your combo.
When is it good to play? Creativity is generally good against linear decks that aren’t disruptive such as Devotion and Yawgmoth, but tends to struggle more against interactive decks running discard spells and counterspells like Jund Midrange and Dimir Control.
Gates
Gates by Kplers84
by Altheriax
Historic
best of 3
7 mythic
13 rare
18 uncommon
22 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Sorceries (15)
Lands (30)
60 Cards
$133.25
Sideboard
15 Cards
$106.61
This is a 3 or 4 color ramp deck built around gates synergies. Even though the gates entering tapped is a massive drawback especially in a format as fast as Historic, it does give you access to powerful payoffs such as Baldur's Gate which is a land that can produce a ton of mana, Maze's End which is a win condition that’s difficult to interact with, and Gates Ablaze which is a very efficient sweeper for 3 mana.
Even though some builds are running Yorion, Sky Nomad as a companion, you have a number of cards that can search for your big payoff in Baldur's Gate via Circuitous Route and Open the Gates, which then enables you to ramp into your big top end cards like Primeval Titan and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger more consistently. Primeval Titan is the real powerhouse in this deck which is a very scary standalone threat that’s hard to deal with, good at stabilizing since it’s a big creature and it can fetch Plaza of Harmony to gain you some life, and it’s great at fetching Baldur's Gate, Maze's End, and the requisite gates to meet the Maze's End win condition.
Additionally it can fetch Blast Zone which is great as extra interaction particularly against Pithing Needle which is one of the few ways of stopping Maze's End. Even though the deck does usually play from behind due to the high number of tapped lands, you do have good early ramp in the form of Arboreal Grazer, Kami of Bamboo Groves, and Elvish Rejuvenator, as well as sweepers to stabilize such as Gates Ablaze and Farewell.
Weaknesses: The majority of your lands entering tapped does mean the deck is playing from behind from the get-go, especially if you’re on the draw. Even though you do have access to good sweepers particularly post-sideboard this makes you vulnerable to fast aggressive decks like Izzet Wizards, and especially weak to creature decks that leverage discard spells and counterspells like Dimir Ninjas.
Additionally the sweepers do mean you have a reasonable gameplan against creature-based combo decks, but non-creature combo decks such as Creativity or Belcher are problematic, and even the creature-based combo decks like Kethis can be tricky if you don’t find your hate cards which can be hard to do in an 80 card deck.
When is it good to play? Gates is generally good against slower decks like Midrange or Control who struggle to interact with your lands. Additionally you can definitely beat creature strategies because of your sweepers but the very fast aggressive decks like Izzet Wizards that can force through a lot of damage quickly and also have good reach can be hard too if you don’t find a Gates Ablaze on curve of some Plaza of Harmony to gain some life.
Mardu Reanimator
Mardu Reanimator by duckmalo
by Vertyx
Historic
best of 3
11 mythic
31 rare
8 uncommon
10 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (26)
Instants (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (18)
60 Cards
$678.51
Sideboard
15 Cards
$32.81
This is a midrange combo deck that is looking to reanimate big creatures like Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Serra's Emissary as early as turn 3 off cards like Priest of Fell Rites and Unburial Rites. The deck also runs a lot of interaction and midrange staples (that also happen to be discard outlets to enable your reanimator plan) like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Crucias, Titan of the Waves, and Orcish Bowmasters, meaning the deck is very capable of playing a fair gameplan and grinding into longer games too.
Having access to Jegantha, the Wellspring as the companion and treasures off Crucias, Titan of the Waves and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker enables you to potentially hardcast Atraxa, Grand Unifier so you’ can’re able to cast your top end threats even if the opponent has graveyard hate.
Weaknesses: As a reanimator deck you’re naturally weak to graveyard hate, and although you do have answers like Fragment Reality, it still shuts off your fastest starts which can allow other decks to race you before you can play your top end threats. Additionally combo decks like Yawgmoth and Kethis go bigger than you since they can win on the spot whereas your reanimation targets don’t so you need your interaction to line up well in order to win those matchups.
When is it good to play? Mardu Reanimator will typically be a good choice when the format is largely comprised of fair decks and there aren’t as many combo decks present.
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