Table of Contents
- General Thoughts
- Standard Best of One (Bo1) Meta Tier List – June 16, 2023
- Standard Best of Three (Bo3) Meta Tier List – June 16, 2023
- #10: Azorius Soldiers
- #9: Rakdos Midrange
- #8: Selesnya Enchantments
- #7: Mono White Aggro
- #6: Dimir Midrange
- #5: Mono White Midrange
- #4: Azorius Control
- #3: Mono Red Aggro
- #2: Five-Color Atraxa
- #1: Esper Legends
- Conclusion
The Standard metagame changes week to week, decks get pushed out, and new strategies flow in. It might be difficult to keep up with trends sometimes. This is why I will be making it much easier for you by making a ranking of the best decks for a given period! Let’s introduce the Meta Tier List update for the week and the Standard Power Rankings after the metagame has stabilised a bit after the bans.
General Thoughts
In this installment, I want to welcome three new decks that hadn’t been in the top 10 yet, namely Mono Red, Azorius Control, and Dimir Midrange. The metagame has shifted in such a way that hyper aggression is actually rewarded and Mono Red sees a lot of play in MTGO Challenges.
Since playing Red is less mandatory thanks to Fable of the Mirror-Breaker being gone, players venture into other color combinations like Dimir or Azorius. Dimir still has the strong black core with Cut Down and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and white gives access to The Wandering Emperor.
All in all, meta seems to have opened up a lot.
Standard Best of One (Bo1) Meta Tier List – June 16, 2023
| Tier | Deck Name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Mono Red Aggro 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Mono White Aggro 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Azorius Soldiers 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Selesnya Enchantments 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Selesnya Toxic 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Esper Legends 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono Blue Tempo | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono Black Aggro | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Five-Color Ramp 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Dimir Midrange 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono White Midrange 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Gruul Aggro |  |
| Tier 3 | Rakdos Midrange | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Rakdos Reanimator | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Boros Heroic | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Selesnya Counters |  |
Standard Best of Three (Bo3) Meta Tier List – June 16, 2023
| Tier | Deck Name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Esper Legends | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Five-Color Ramp | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Mono Red Aggro 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Azorius Control 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Mono White Midrange 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Dimir Midrange 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono White Aggro | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Selesnya Enchantments | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Rakdos Midrange 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Azorius Soldiers 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Rakdos Reanimator | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Mono Black Aggro 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Selesnya Toxic 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Mono Blue Tempo | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Jeskai Dragons 🔽 | Guide |
#10: Azorius Soldiers
Azorius Soldiers
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
0 mythic
32 rare
18 uncommon
10 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (27)
Instants (7)
Lands (23)
60 Cards
$114.9
Sideboard
15 Cards
$28.37
Azorius Soldiers is a deck that seems to come and go, depending on the weekend. It’s a disruptive aggro deck that can play longer games, has access to evasion, and even card draw. There are builds floating around that embrace a more flashy game with countermagic and a higher density of instant speed spells. A turn-two Thalia, Guardian of Thraben on the play can be lights out against some decks. Can you imagine having to pay three mana for Go for the Throat?
On the flipside though, the fact that it does a bit of everything makes it fall short at times. Maybe you’ll draw the more card drawing half with Skystrike Officer when you really need to put the pedal to the metal. Or you happened to draw Thalia against a green stompy strategy. Sometimes you can get such a wrong-half issue which is not what you want in a linear shell.
It drops from previous #4 to #10. There seems to be better options for aggressive strategies and better for flexible blue creature decks – like Dimir.
#9: Rakdos Midrange
Rakdos Midrange
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
13 mythic
25 rare
13 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (18)
Sorceries (2)
Enchantments (2)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$553.98
Sideboard
15 Cards
$39.81
Rakdos used to be the absolute best deck in the format but it got a huge hit after the bans. While it did lose very powerful cards, it still has tools like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Liliana of the Veil, or Bloodtithe Harvester.
Since the deck can still play some of the best cards in the format, alongside super efficient interaction in Go for the Throat and Cut Down, players have opted to play it again and reinvigorated this seemingly dead deck.
#9 goes to Rakdos Midrange.
#8: Selesnya Enchantments
Selesnya Enchantments
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
4 mythic
25 rare
12 uncommon
19 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (14)
Instants (3)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (19)
Lands (20)
60 Cards
$208.68
Sideboard
15 Cards
$45.29
It used to be a tier 2-3 strategy but recently it’s been spreading its wings, even being chosen as the deck for Arena Championship 3 by Seth Manfield.
The deck has aggressive draws with Generous Visitor and Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr but generally wants to play longer games with Hallowed Haunting.
It’s one of the biggest beneficiaries of Invoke Despair ban since now black decks won’t have a versatile answer to the enchantment type.
This strategy even managed to Top 8 one of the mid-June MTGO Challenges so the archetype is clearly here to stay.
#7: Mono White Aggro
Mono White Aggro
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
0 mythic
25 rare
19 uncommon
16 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (32)
60 Cards
$121.44
Sideboard
15 Cards
$75.39
At #7 is Mono White Aggro. It’s a linear proactive strategy that wants to close the game very fast thanks to the plethora of creatures being deployed to the battlefield every single turn.
It can interact if it has to with Ossification and Invasion of Gobakhan. Invasion is great at taking the opposing mass removal like Sunfall or Depopulate and Ossification removes a big blocker like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.
With the meta slowly stabilising but still in motion, I want to be on the aggressive side of things rather than try to react to the unknown.
#6: Dimir Midrange
Dimir Midrange
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
10 mythic
24 rare
11 uncommon
15 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (7)
Creatures (13)
Instants (13)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$476.28
Sideboard
15 Cards
$5.91
Out of nowhere, straight to #6 is Dimir Midrange. With the necessity of playing red gone, players have started to experiment with other colour combinations. Blue offers countermagic and access to flash threats, allowing the strategy to be more adaptable and flexible. The deck still plays Cut Down, Go for the Throat, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse since they are still at the top when it comes to the best cards in the format.
Instead of going full on creatures though, there are a bunch of Planeswalkers trying to attack from different angles. With Invoke Despair no longer in the format, it has opened up opportunities for new card types to shine.
At #6 – Dimir Midrange
#5: Mono White Midrange
Mono White Midrange
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
9 mythic
17 rare
15 uncommon
19 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Sorceries (4)
Artifacts (2)
Lands (23)
60 Cards
$262.32
Sideboard
15 Cards
$40.13
Mono White Midrange now stands as the best mono colored midrange deck in Standard. Its mana is super consistent, painless, and even allows for some utility effects like Roadside Reliquary. It plays early creatures that can chump opposing threats to keep your life total high to bridge the gap between the early and the mid-game.
Being restricted to a single colour though limits the options severely for the deck. It can only interact sorcery speed, doesn’t have efficient answers to enchantments or artifacts, and can easily be outplayed with counterspells that heavily punish a main-phase-based gameplan.
This deck shines when it knows what decks it will play against and can prepare hate pieces, interactions, and threats accordingly. In an open meta, it has to give way to its black counterparts.
Despite the fact that it lost Reckoner Bankbuster, it can still very much fight in the format, especially if you know what to expect. The strong core of The Wandering Emperor, Wedding Announcement, Ossification, and Lay Down Arms make it hard to go wrong with Mono White.
More and more we see versions with Breach the Multiverse as its way to go over the top of everybody which might mean that Mono White will for good turn into Orzhov.
#4: Azorius Control
Azorius Control
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
6 mythic
37 rare
4 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (20)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$345.9
Sideboard
15 Cards
$40.41
It wasn’t on the tier list at all, even at tier 3. After the bans though, players picked up this forgotten archetype and started winning with it immediately. This deck placed high in online events multiple times in the last weeks.
The strategy is simple – counter and destroy everything you see and win the game eventually. While the deck is more oriented at not losing than actually winning, with The Wandering Emperorand Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim the games can be turned around in a blink of an eye.
This deck does not play one of the best cards in the format, Wedding Announcement, but it does go with The Wandering Emperorand mass removal which is probably the second-best thing you could do in those colours. If others choose to swarm the battlefield though, you’ll always want to be on the side of Depopulate.
At #4 – Azorius Control.
#3: Mono Red Aggro
Mono Red Aggro
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
8 mythic
11 rare
20 uncommon
21 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (19)
Sorceries (2)
60 Cards
$92.5
Sideboard
15 Cards
$21.35
Like a phoenix from ashes, Mono Red Aggro is back at it. While previously barely missing out on the top 10, now it stands firmly as the *third* best deck.
The mix of utter aggression and interaction make it a formidable opponent. While it does struggle against efficient removal and incidental life gain, the sideboard provides necessary tools to fight through such scenarios. One of the most popular approaches is to side in multiple Planeswalkers, making people scratch their heads when they’re holding up multiple Go for the Throat or Abrade.
Mono Red might not be so high next week if people start packing more removal and lifegain but for as long as it’s not respected enough, it’s going to dominate, especially in Best of One.
#2: Five-Color Atraxa
Five-Color Atraxa
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
8 mythic
33 rare
8 uncommon
11 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$513.2
Sideboard
15 Cards
$79.45
Five-Color Atraxa is a ramp deck that actually wants to hardcast Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Etali, Primal Conqueror. In midrange battles, few decks will be able to outgrind it.
Despite being called a ramp strategy, it’s very interactive. With Ossification and Leyline Binding, any threat can be stopped in its tracks very early in the game. If the opponent manages to go wide though, you’ve got Sunfall to take care of that.
Keeping its #2, it’s certainly a deck to be on the lookout for. It has put up multiple solid results in the MTGO Challenges and it has only lost Reckoner Bankbuster which it played around 2 copies anyways.
There is an argument that it will fall off because its good matchup, black midrange, will be less popular but that remains to be seen. For now, it is my go-to strategy if I want to grind.
#1: Esper Legends
Esper Legends
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
10 mythic
41 rare
5 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (22)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$651.56
Sideboard
15 Cards
$19.39
Second time in a row, #1
Esper Legends treads the line between aggro and midrange but one thing is certain – it’s a full-on creature strategy. It does not interact much pre-board but can become much more reactive if need be. The main plan is to outclass whatever the opponent is doing by playing the absolute best creatures in the Esper colour combination. The manabase is surprisingly consistent, in large part thanks to Plaza of Heroes which is both a painless Mana Confluence and Tamiyo's Safekeeping all in one card.
Despite its strength, it still got a new toy in Rona, Herald of Invasion. It provides early card filtering which is at its premium in a deck that can draw too many of the same legendary. On top of that, it can flip into a formidable threat later in the game. Currently, decks sometimes even opt to go for full four Rona, Herald of Invasion!
This deck was not affected by bans at all and gets to keep all its cards. It was already at the very top of the metagame but now I think it will be unstoppable. Not only does it play the best cards in the format but it’s also a proactive deck – quality which I value highly when the metagame is going through massive changes.
The current versions are more interactive than they used to be. With Skrelv, Defector Mite to protect your threats, not 2 but 4+ pieces of maindeck removal, and sometimes even countermagic like Spell Pierce or Make Disappear. While the core remains the same, the approach is slightly changing.
Sleeve up your Sheoldred, the Apocalypse while you can and show people how it’s done with Raffine, Scheming Seer.
Conclusion
Overall, the hero of this installment of the Standard Power Rankings – Esper Legends!
Premium >
Enjoy our content? Wish to support our work? Join our Premium community, get access to exclusive content, remove all advertisements, and more!
- No ads: Browse the entire website ad-free, both display and video.
- Exclusive Content: Instant access to all exclusive articles only for Premium members, at your fingertips.
- Support: All your contributions get directly reinvested into the website to increase your viewing experience!
- Discord: Join our Discord server, claim your Premium role and gain access to exclusive channels where you can learn in real time!
- Special offer: For a limited time, use coupon code L95WR9JOWV to get 50% off the Annual plan!
Skura
Articles: 132More Articles
Bo3 Standard Metagame Tier List and Rankings
Bo1 Standard Metagame Tier List and Rankings
New Brews for Outlaws of Thunder Junction Standard and Alchemy
New Outlaws of Thunder Junction Standard Decks for Day 1
Top 5 New Timeless Decks for Outlaws of Thunder Junction Day 1
Top 5 New Historic Decks for Outlaws of Thunder Junction Day 1
Best Outlaws of Thunder Junction Cards for Standard and Alchemy
B/W Control Standard Bo1 Deck Guide
Timeless Meta Report – Best Decks for Timeless Metagame Challenge, New Metagame Changes & Show and Tell Discussion
Standard Meta Report – Best Decks April 2024 Week 1
Timeless Mono Black Necro Vampires Deck and Sideboard Guide
Two Brews for the Explorer Metagame Challenge
Explorer Meta Report – Best Decks Post-Murders at Karlov Manor
Alchemy Golgari Midrange Deck Guide
Best Alchemy Decks – Qualifier Play-In (Best of 1) – March 2024
