Table of Contents
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.
General Thoughts
Most of my thoughts have been described in the post-Worlds analysis and conclusions article here.
Overall though, the metagame is still changing and evolving. Dimir Midrange was on top last time, now it’s nowhere to be seen. Mono Red was super well-represented but it had very poor performance compared to Mono White.
All in all, Standard is super dynamic and diverse, much to my heart’s content.
Standard Best of One (Bo1) Meta Tier List – September 27, 2023
| Tier | Deck Name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Mono White Aggro 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 1 | Azorius Soldiers 🔽 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 1 | Mono Red Aggro | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 1 | Esper Legends 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Five-Color Ramp 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Selesnya Enchantments 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono Black Aggro 🔽 | Guide |
| Tier 2 | Mono Blue Tempo | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 3 | Orzhov Midrange | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 3 | Selesnya Toxic | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Golgari Midrange | Guide 🆕 |
Standard Best of Three (Bo3) Meta Tier List – September 27, 2023
| Tier | Deck Name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Esper Legends 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 1 | Five-Color Ramp 🔽 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 1 | Esper Midrange 🔼 | Guide |
| Tier 1 | Golgari Midrange | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Mono White Aggro 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Azorius Soldiers 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Mono Red Aggro 🔼 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 2 | Selesnya Enchantments | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Orzhov Midrange 🔽 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 3 | Dimir Faeries 🔽 | Guide 🆕 |
| Tier 3 | Esper Control | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Selesnya Toxic | Guide |
| Tier 3 | Mono Blue Tempo | Guide 🆕 |
#5: Azorius Soldiers
Azorius Soldiers by Simon Nielsen
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
0 mythic
33 rare
15 uncommon
12 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (28)
Instants (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$246.94
Sideboard
15 Cards
$81.15
Azorius Soldiers by Simon Nielsen Best of One
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
0 mythic
33 rare
15 uncommon
12 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (28)
Instants (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$247.24
Azorius Soldiers is the best-performing Best of One deck and a really solid and adaptable strategy for Best of Three.
Its strength lies in its interactive style, flash game, and real pressure.
It’s much more difficult to play against a creature deck that can deploy threats essentially any time!
It can also gas back up with Knight-Errant of Eos or Wedding Announcement!
All in all, a good deck with a big emphasis on Best of One.
#4: Mono White Aggro
Mono White Aggro by Ondrej Strasky
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
3 mythic
27 rare
12 uncommon
18 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (30)
60 Cards
$150.42
Sideboard
15 Cards
$140.93
Mono White Aggro by Ondrej Strasky Best of One
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
2 mythic
26 rare
14 uncommon
18 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (26)
Sorceries (2)
60 Cards
$154.64
The #4 place goes to Mono White Aggro/Humans.
The deck was decently present at World Championship and had been picked by the best players in the game like Ondrej Stratsky or Thoralf Severin.
It also had a very high 56% win rate, preying on Mono Red aggro heavily.
It has always been a good choice for Best of One, but now it has also shown its potency in Best of Three, hence placing so high on the list.
#3: Esper Midrange
Esper Midrange by Kazune Kosaka
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
14 mythic
35 rare
6 uncommon
5 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (13)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$728.96
Sideboard
15 Cards
$25.33
Esper Midrange by Kazune Kosaka Best of One
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
14 mythic
33 rare
8 uncommon
5 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (11)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$724.56
Esper Midrange comes out of World Championships dethroning Dimir completely.
On the back of Raffine, Scheming Seer, Wedding Announcement, and The Wandering Emperor it has shown its potency and how a potentially worse manabase isn’t that big of a thorn in the deck’s back when it plays so many powerful cards.
Similarly to Dimir though, it’s adaptable can play a control game if needed.
It placed very high at World Champs and had an unbelievable 60% win rate, granting the deck the top 3 slot.
#2: Five-Color Ramp
Five-Color Ramp by Reid Duke
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
10 mythic
31 rare
9 uncommon
10 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (1)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (9)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$494.66
Sideboard
15 Cards
$12.67
Five-Color Ramp by Reid Duke Best of One
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
11 mythic
31 rare
8 uncommon
10 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (2)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (8)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$510.16
Five-Color Atraxa is a ramp deck that actually wants to hardcast Atraxa, Grand Unifier. In midrange battles, few decks will be able to outgrind it.
Despite being called a ramp strategy, it’s very interactive. With Virtue of Persistence 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.
A ton of highly respected players like Reid Duke brought the deck to World Championships and they did had plenty of success with it. The deck had just below 60% win rate and preyed on…midrange decks, predictably.
It was a ramp deck, changed into Invasion of Alara strategy, and now full circle it’s back to Atraxa-ing opponents fair and square. And with Virtue of Persistence, it has gained a stabilisation removal spell that doubles up as a powerful and very castable late-game card.
Five-Color Ramp firmly at the top.
#2 goes to hardcast Atraxa.
#1: Esper Legends
Esper Legends by Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
8 mythic
47 rare
3 uncommon
2 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (29)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$660.56
Sideboard
15 Cards
$67.99
Esper Legends by Jean-Emmanuel Depraz Best of One
by Skura
Standard
best of 3
8 mythic
43 rare
5 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (25)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$646.16
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.
This deck has not got a lot from Eldraine but Lord Skitter, Sewer King seems to have found its home here.
It had been a mainstay at #1 but fell off a bit due to both Dimir’s and Ramp’s domination. However, it has shown its power once again in the hands of Jean Emmanuel Depraz and took down the World Championship!
If there is one thing that guarantees the number one slot, it’s certainly winning the absolutely most prestigious tournament in the game right now.
Conclusion
Overall, the hero of this installment of the Standard Power Rankings – Esper Legends!
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Skura
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