MTGO Standard Challenge – October 14 & October 15, 2023 – Top 8 Decklists and Breakdown

Hi! My name is Vertyx and I will go over the top finishes of the Magic Online Standard Challenges that took place on the weekend: October 14th and October 15th 2023!

October 14th, Top 8 Decks

Azorius Soldiers strikes again! Both of the finalist chose to play Azorius Soldiers which has gained a lot of popularity in the recent weeks. The deck aims to finish the games quickly with a creature focused aggro strategy that wants to swarm the board with a lot of cheap and synergistic creatures!

3rd place was taken down with Esper Legends which when compared to Azorius Soldiers also tries to finish the game with a synergistic, creature focused aggro strategy, but instead of using soldiers it does that with legendary creatures in the Esper colors.

4th place was taken down with Golgari Midrange which is a deck that wants to grind its way through the games with very strong creatures and interaction. With a lot of the cards in the deck producing value either by drawing you cards or disrupting the opponent, the deck becomes able to grind very well!

5th and 7th place was taken down with Domain Ramp which is a deck that aims to ramp itself into big threats like Atraxa, Grand Unifier! Against some decks the sole gameplan of ramping is enough, but against more aggressive strategies the deck also got access to a bunch of removal to survive

6th place was taken down with Mono-Blue Tempo which is a deck that tries to control the game with cheap interaction, while getting in a ton of damage with evasive threats and accumulating cards with its instant speed spells.

And 8th place was taken down with Esper Midrange which is a deck that combines the best threats, interaction and permanents in the Esper colors to create a deck that is able to grind its way against various archetypes.

Let’s go take a look at the decklists!

1st (by _Falcon_) and 2nd place (by Venom1) were taken down with Azorius Soldiers!

This deck tries to win the game with a creature focused aggro strategy full of synergistic soldiers! As most aggro decks, the creature package starts with cards as cheap as 1 mana like Recruitment Officer or Lunarch Veteran which serve a vital role in the archetype. But they also include more expensive cards like Harbin, Vanguard Aviator which might let you swing out for a lot of damage, Werefox Bodyguard which will remove problematic threats and Knight-Errant of Eos which provides card advantage and a big body. Another great card that makes your battlefield stronger is Wedding Announcement which even that its an enchantment also provides threats in the form of tokens.

The deck has all of the above mentioned power thanks to its threats, but that also means it can get quite weak to mass removal (aka boardwipes) and for that you got Make Disappear which will let you counter them if they ever show up.

3rd place was taken down with Esper Legends by DarthStone!

This deck wants to do the same as Azorius Soldiers and that means finishing the game as quickly as possible with a board full of powerful creatures. The thing that this deck does differently is that it uses legendary creatures in the Esper colors instead (and they are very powerful).

The curve starts out with Skrelv, Defector Mite which is already a powerful threat and then moves up into the 2 mana slot which mostly provides disruptive creatures like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Dennick, Pious Apprentice or Faerie Mastermind where all of them make the game harder for the opponent in some way. 3 and 4 mana is where the threats start to get even stronger with cards like Raffine, Scheming Seer or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse where they both put on a lot of pressure on the opponent.

Creatures are the core of the deck but it also plays a few interaction spells like Go for the throat and Make Disappear so its prepared to face some problematic cards.

4th place was taken down with Golgari Midrange by Karolmo!

This deck wants to win the game by grinding its way through the battlefield with strong threats and interaction. Let’s start of the threat package with Liliana of the Veil and Nissa, Ascended Animist where both of them slot well into the archetype by providing permanents that are very strong at grinding.

Moving onto the creatures, the deck has cards like Mosswood Dreadknight or Glissa Sunslayer where both of the provide card advantage in some way, Graveyard Trespasser, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Lord Skitter, Sewer King as great ways to put on pressure and Blossoming Tortoise which ramps you on top of making your Restless Cottage way better.

Strong threats are not everything for a good midrange deck and for that reason the deck also has interaction like Go for the Throat and Virtue of Persistence so the deck is ready to remove anything problematic.

5th (by Magicofplayer1) and 7th place (by ItsSwiftyTime) were taken down with Domain Ramp!

This deck aims to ramp itself into big threats like Atraxa, Grand Unifier or spells like Herd Migration which should hopefully take over the game. The idea sounds very straightforward on paper but it can get pretty tough sometimes for example against decks that put on a lot of pressure.

For that reason the deck also plays a bunch of removal like Leyline Binding and Virtue of Persistence but also boardwipes like Depopulate and Sunfall so its prepared to remove any creature that hits the battlefield. The other problem this deck and many others can face is running out of cards and for that you got Up the Beanstalk which is able to draw you a lot of cards in this deck.

6th place was taken down with Mono-Blue Tempo by ruin000!

This deck wants to control the game with cheap interaction while getting in damage with evasive threats and acquiring cards with instant speed card advantage. Let’s cover the threats first since its only 2 cards and they include Haughty Djinn which is a really big and evasive threat in this deck while also providing cost reduction for your spells! And the second card is Picklock Prankster which mostly serves as a card selection spell with an incidental threat glued to it.

Let’s move onto the interaction that this deck plays to control the game and it includes cards like Fading Hope as a strong tempo effect and counterspells like Negate, Essence Scatter and Spell Stutter so nothing will resolve on the opponents side of the battlefield.

Running out cards can get quite easy in a deck that is centered around interaction and for that you got a lot of ways to refuel and find more interesting cards. They include card selection like Consider, Sleight of Hand, Impulse and the above mentioned Picklock Prankster but also instant speed card advantage like Flow of Knowledge which draws a lot of cards in a deck full of Islands.

And the last 8th place was taken down with Esper Midrange by pokerswizard!

This deck combines some of the strongest permanents and interaction to create a very potent deck full of intimidating cards. Let’s start of with the threats and they consist of the strongest Esper creatures like Raffine, Scheming Seer and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse which can put a lot of pressure on the opponent.

The other greatly represented card section is interaction and that includes cads like Make Disappear and Go for the Throat, but also The Wandering Emperor which if it survives also makes your creatures stronger. The above mentioned threats are very strong, but there is not a lot of them and for that reason you also got Wedding Announcement and Virtue of Loyalty which should provide you more bodies and also make your entire battlefield stronger so you can close the games out quicker!

And that is it for the first Challenge, let’s go take a look at the one that took place on Sunday, October 15th 2023.

October 15th, Top 8 Decks

1st and 3rd place were taken down with Golgari Midrange which is a deck that wants to use the strongest threats and interaction which will overwhelm the opponent with value that they hopefully cannot handle!

2nd place was taken down with Mono-White Aggro which is a creature focused aggro deck that wants to swarm the board with a lot of power and finish the opponent as quickly as it can with its white threats.

4th, 5th and 7th place were taken down with Esper Midrange which is a deck that same as Golgari Midrange, uses the strongest threats and interaction in its colors so that it can generate a lot of value that the opponent will most likely have problems with.

6th place was taken down with Four-Color Legends which is a deck that aims to finish the games quickly with a creature focused aggro deck, that uses some of the strongest legendary creatures in the format to do so.

And 8th place was taken down with Esper Legends which is also a deck that wants to finish the games quickly with some of the strongest legendries, but it does that with one less color compared to the 4c Legends list.

Let’s go take a look at the decklists!

1st (by GL4You) and 3rd place (by MTGHolic) were taken down with Golgari Midrange!

This deck uses the strongest threats and interaction so that it can drown the opponent in value generated by them! The strongest part of the deck are its permanents and they include some of the strongest creatures in the format but they also have planeswalkers like Liliana of the Veil and Nissa, Ascended Animist which slot well into the archetype.

Let’s move onto the already mentioned threats which include “card advantage” cards like Mosswood Dreadknight or Glissa Sunslayer, but also some more aggressive cards like Graveyard Trespasser or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse which help you in closing out the games faster. Another great threat is Blossoming Tortoise which ramps you on top of making your creature land Restless Cottage way better.

These threats are the main way of winning the game, but sometimes the opponent also presents theirs and you need yours to connect. For that you got removal to clear the way. It includes cards like Cut Down or Go for the Throat but also some more interesting cards like Virtue of Persistence which can become quite scary in the late game.

2nd place was taken down with Mono-White Humans by jpstache!

This deck wants to close the games out quickly with its creature focused aggro strategy! The creature curve tops out at 3 mana with a majority of the threats being 1 and 2 CMC which makes this deck very quick at accomplishing its task. Let’s start of with the cheapest threats and they already include some really strong cards like Hopeful Initiate and Recruitment Officer.

Moving up to the 2 mana slot the deck has some very strong effects from creatures like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben which taxes your opponents and Spellbook Vendor or Coppercoat Vanguard which make your creatures bigger. The 3 mana slot is where the threat curve ends and it tops out with some bombs like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar which gets out of hand very quickly or Anointed Peacekeeper which also taxes the opponent like Thalia.

These threats need a clear battlefield to connect and for that you got Ossification, and if removal isn’t enough you also got Virtue of Loyalty to make them bigger than the opponents side of the battlefield.

4th (by Franticore), 5th (by Mogged) and 7th place (by Folero) were taken down with Esper Midrange!

The same as Golgari Midrange, this deck also combines the strongest cards in its colors to overwhelm the opponent in value that they cannot handle. Let’s start of with the threats which include some of the strongest creatures in Esper colors like Raffine, Scheming Seer, Dennick, Pious Apprentice or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse so you can close the games out quickly when you get the chance. Compared to Golgari this deck has way less threats, but it compensates that in enchantments and interaction.

The enchantments include cards like Wedding Announcement and Virtue of Loyalty where both of them make your creatures bigger and put you closer in accomplishing the win. The second card section that I mentioned was interaction and it includes removal like Go for the Throat or The Wandering Emperor so you can have the opponents side of the battlefield clear, but it also includes counterspells like Make Disappear or Negate so you can counter some problematic spells.

6th place was taken down with 4c Legends by Mizl1zzie!

This four-color deck uses the strongest legendary creatures in the format to accomplish its goal of winning. Thanks to the manabase support with Plaza of Heroes and various dual lands, its able to play a lot of strong but also mana intensive creatures.

Let’s go up the curve starting of with Skrelv, Defector Mite as an important part of the deck which protects your more expensive creatures. Moving onto the 2 mana slot, the threats already include some very strong creatures like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Rona, Herald of Invasion or Melira, the Living Cure where all of the provide very potent abilities for only 2 mana.

Moving up we get to the most mana intensive part of the deck since it includes cards like Raffine, Scheming Seer, Slogurk, the Overslime and Glissa Sunslayer, but as you can see they all provide very strong abilities so the sacrifice is worth it. And to close out the curve, the deck has one of the strongest creatures in the format, which is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

And 8th place was taken down with Esper Legends by fingers1991!

This deck wants to do the same as the above mentioned 4 color list, but instead it tries to accomplish that with one less color by being Esper. Let’s go straight into the threats which also includes Skrelv, Defector Mite as the only but very important one drop. Moving up the curve the deck also has Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Rona, Herald of Invasion, but also Dennick, Pious Apprentice and Faerie Mastermind. And the end of the curve also includes some very strong threats like Raffine, Scheming Seer or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse so you can close the games out quicker!

Interaction is not the strongest part of the deck, but it includes a few copies of Go for the Throat and Make Disappear so you can use them against the cards that you are the most afraid of.

End Step

And that’s it for the article! If you want to read more, I suggest you to check out my Mythic decks of the week article where I cover the most interesting decks that people reached Mythic with every week!

MTG Arena Mythic Decks of October 2023 – Week 1