Hey all. Strickles here, back with Week 5 of our Standard Meta Reports. To give you all the latest info without having to dig through decklists and events, each week I will be going over the top events of the weekend and provide analysis of how the meta is evolving. As all of these tournaments are Best of-3, keep in mind that these meta changes only reflect the Bo3 meta and not Bo1.

With all that said, let’s dive into the top decks of the weekend. This weekend we have four Standard Challenges on MTGO to look at. As the meta has settled down there are less new decks to talk about, so instead of comparing returning decks to new decks, I’m going to break it up into deck categories to evaluate the results. Let’s start with midrange, then go to aggro, and finish with control.

Midrange Decks

Orzhov Midrange (Zoraline Version)

I’ve got a bit of egg on my face, or maybe the Zoraline, Cosmos Caller fans took it personally when last week I talked about how Orzhov midrange had moved away from Zoraline and cheaper creatures in favor of being more controlling.

Well this week there were five Orzhov Midrange decks featuring Zoraline and friends in Top 8s, including one event win, making it tied for with Dimir Midrange for most represented deck this week.

This version of Orzhov Midrange works in two phases, the first is about deploying cheap creatures that generate value, such as Caustic Bronco to start drawing extra cards, or Deep-Cavern Bat to disrupt the opponent, and cheap removal to keep the board under control.

The second phase are late game hay-makers, such as Beza, the Bounding Spring to stabilize against aggro decks, Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal to attack the opponent’s hand and to swing the life race, and Virtue of Loyalty to buff up the board every turn.

Zoraline, Cosmos Caller is great for recurring other creatures that have died over the course of the game, but in this version can also bring back Liliana of the Veil to keep attacking the opponent’s hand or board. Liliana and Zoraline work well together, as you can discard a two or three drop to Liliana’s plus one and then attack with or cast Zoraline to bring it back into play.

I think that is what made this version of Orzhov Midrange successful this weekend: enough removal and stabilizing top end to compete with aggro decks, and enough value and grind to compete with other midrange and control decks.

Dimir Midrange

Dimir Midrange finally had a bit of change, with the version featured above playing two Mockingbird in the main deck.

I’m surprised that it took Dimir Midrange pilots this long to adopt this Bloomburrow card, because it is so good in decks filled with cheap value creatures. It can be an extra Deep-Cavern Bat to continue to pressure the opponent’s hand, or an extra Preacher of the Schism to snowball the card advantage.

Other than that, Dimir Midrange is the same and has emerged as a really solid deck. It has access to the best removal to slow down aggro decks, counterspells to fight slower decks, and a cheap curve to finish out games in a timely manner.

We’ll have to see if and how Duskmourn changes this deck when it releases later this month.

Golgari Midrange

Golgari Midrange put three decks into Top 8s this past weekend, continuing its consistent performance of two or three decks making Top 8s every weekend since I started tracking results.

I think this trend shows that Golgari Midrange is always a fine choice in this meta. It has game against most of the decks in the meta, with removal to slow down aggro decks, and a combo to win the game against slow decks. On the other hand, all of the other decks in the meta have game and a plan against Golgari Midrange.

This is the kind of deck you want in your meta: enough of a known force that everyone has to be prepared for it, but not so overbearing that it crushes everything else. I look forward to see how Golgari Midrange adapts after Duskmourn releases.

Aggro Decks

Gruul Prowess

Gruul Prowess had a bit of a slow week compared to the past couple, with four copies into Top 8s this past weekend. As Gruul Prowess has risen up the ranks, I’m guessing that players are more used to playing against it, and finding the right timing on their removal spells to remove their key threats.

Gruul Prowess hasn’t stopped evolving though, as there was some variance across the four decks this weekend. One had dropped green almost all together except a couple copies of Snakeskin Veil, while the version featured above has chosen to include Callous Sell-Sword, mostly for the adventure, to give them a much faster kill.

Rakdos Lizards

Rakdos Lizards also had a small drop off this weekend, with four decks making Top 8s, but it is still the most consistent aggro deck in the format, putting up good results every week since I started tracking these results.

I am worried about the future of Rakdos Lizards, as the deck is unlikely to get any new cards from Duskmourn, but I have been impressed that it continues to be so consistent even as it has been a known quantity since week 1. I’ve talked in previous weeks about the unique angle this deck can attack from, and I believe that is what has kept it relevant for so long.

Rakdos Lizards is another great deck to have as a consistent player in the format. It is not so overbearing that it is forcing all other aggro decks out, but is enough of a presence that decks have to be prepared for it and have to have a plan to fight it. It keeps midrange and control decks from being too greedy, as they have to play enough interaction to fight against it.

Convoke

Boros Convoke had a decent weekend, with three copies into Top 8s, while Jeskai just put up one deck into Top 8s.

I’ve talked at length in previous articles about the differences between these two versions and when to play which one, so this week I want to focus on the sideboard of the Boros list featured above. With four copies of Elspeth’s Smite and three copies of Lightning Helix, this Boros player was ready to fight against the other aggro decks in the meta, especially Gruul Prowess.

This kind of sideboard plan is a meta call, this player expected to play against a lot of prowess style aggro decks, and maybe they did and that is what carried them to a second place finish in their tournament. It is great to see this kind of evaluation and meta call that can only come late into a season like this, where the top decks are known, and shows what is great about this Standard format, where there is still plenty of room to innovate.

Control Decks

Domain

Domain had a decent weekend, with three decks into Top 8s, keeping it as a consistent player in the format.

While I personally let out a deep sigh everytime I play against Domain on the MTGA ladder, I do think it is a good deck to have in the format at these numbers. It is not overbearing, swatting aside every other slow deck, but is able to exist as a deck that goes big and takes over the late game. 

This puts pressure on other decks, especially midrange and control decks, to have a game plan to go under Domain and it forces aggro decks to be prepared for the six to eight sweepers in Domain to have a plan to rebuild and finish the game.

New Deck!

Golgari Land Combo

We only had one “new” deck in Top 8s this week, and it was a sweet Golgari Land Combo deck putting up one copy into a Top 8.

The main goal of this deck is to ping the opponent to death with Iridescent Vinelasher. While it can slowly ping an opponent down thanks to copies of Fabled Passage and Escape Tunnel to double up on landfall triggers, the main kill involves sacrificing all of your lands to Pitiless Carnage, usually after plotting it and then floating all of your mana, and then getting all of them back with Aftermath Analyst or Lumra, Bellow of the Woods.

While this deck can struggle against some of the aggro decks in the meta, the deck does have some spot removal to slow opponent’s down, and also has Terror Tide in the main and sideboard to sweep out opposing boards after they have done a bit of self-milling.

This deck has been a known quantity since Bloomburrow spoiler season, but has failed to break out or put up any results, so it is exciting to see it show up now so late in the season. Standard is by no means solved, and there is plenty of room to experiment.

All Decklists

There were three other decks that put copies into Top 8s this weekend that I have covered before, Mono-White Token Control, Rakdos (Mono-Red) Aggro, and Orzhov Blink. You can find those decklists, and all the decklists from the weekend below:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/standard-challenge-32-2024-09-06#paper

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/standard-challenge-32-2024-09-07#paper

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/standard-challenge-32-2024-09-07-1#paper

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/standard-challenge-32-2024-09-08#paper

Wrapping Up

Standard has largely settled down, and we are starting to see the normal ebb and flow of the format week to week as the top decks continue to put up consistent results while other decks have break out weekends or decks on the fringes sneak into a Top 8 or two. I’ll be back next weekend, even as we move closer to Duskmourn, to see how Bloomburrow Standard shakes out before the next set release.

Until then, may you have the best of luck in all of your games!