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Standard 2022 Metagame Tier List and Rankings

Standard 2022 Metagame Tier List and Rankings: The Final Update

Our latest update to the Standard 2022 metagame tier list in MTG Arena.

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. Explore the Standard 2022 metagame as we regularly rank the top decks in a tier list, as well as our comprehensive analysis and review.

Standard 2022 has now been superseded by regular Standard after rotation! Please visit our respective Standard section.

  • Standard 2022 is a transitional format where you are allowed cards only from the last four sets (ZNR, KHM, STX, AFR) before rotation happens on September, 2021 with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. To learn more about this format, consult our dedicated guide.
  • Click on the deck archetype name to find the latest decklists representing it.
  • Each deck will be ranked in numerical order as well as tier order. The higher something is within the tier, the better it is than other decks.
  • Below the tier list you will also find a curated decklist for each archetype as well as a full explanation and reasoning behind these rankings and tiers.

Methodology

When constructing the tier list, we take into account a variety of factors and sources:

  • Field representation, win rate and matchups: How prolific a deck is on the Mythic ladder and how it stacks up against the other popular decks in the metagame.
  • Third-party applications: that track matches and publishes the data directly from ladder play. Currently, we have access to Untapped.gg, MTGA Assistant, MTG Arena Pro and MTG Arena Tool.
  • Tournaments: Important results shaped professional players. MTGmeta.io and MTG Data aggregates these results to analyze their performance.
  • Game Mode: As a general rule, best-of-one (BO1) prefers linear strategies and the metagame is different from Traditional best-of-three (BO3). Read more about the differences here. Generally speaking, the tournaments results are in BO3 only, have a much smaller sample size and its environment is very different from an open MTG Arena ladder experience.
  • Opinion: Our own ladder experience and in consultation with players.
  • Others: If a deck doesn’t appear below, either the play rate of it is too low for it to make a tangible impact or it falls below the tier 3 threshold which we sometimes will highlight as Honorable Mentions below. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad deck either, as this will just be focused on the most popular decks in the current metagame.

Legend

  • Tier 1: The best of the best. The most consistent decks that sport the highest win rates and generally, the highest play rates.
  • Tier 2: Very solid decks that are slightly lacking in some capacity, whether it’s consistency or power compared to the Tier One archetypes. These can still be strong choices for ladder or for tournaments if you are highly skilled with the archetype or play them during the right metas.
  • Tier 3: Either these decks are poorly positioned or have a lot of power/consistency issues. These are decks that see play, but are generally worse choices than your other options.
  • Tier 4: Off-meta decks.

Tier List

  • September 13, 2021: Well, it’s been quite the ride from July 8th, but now we’re less than a week away from Innistrad’s release and one of the most anticipated Standard rotations ever. With that, let’s dive back in to the Tier list one more time to help gauge what decks to expect Day 1 of Innistrad’s release!
  • August 8, 2021: It’s been 3 weeks from the last Tier list and 2022 is alive and well. I had an initial fear that a few decks would dominate the meta, but that ended up being completely unfounded as there’s an insane amount of metagame diversity at every level of play. It’s still hard to get a solid grasp on the full metagame as data is just now coming in, but I believe the most popular decks are starting to become more solidified in their rankings.
  • July 15, 2021: It’s been a full week with AFR and Standard 2022 is still evolving. Many great decks have been discovered and are still strong options, but we have some mobility within the tier list not just from Day 1 decks, but from brand new creations as well! This is a very exciting time to be playing 2022 as there’s a whole slew of viable decks and archetypes.
  • July 9, 2021: It’s Day 2 of AFR and the 2022 queue was way more popular than anticipated! Rather than it being an interesting mode players dabble in, a lot of players are making it their predominate game mode to play. With that, we want to help you get started if you’re looking to dive into the 2022 queues with the decks that are attracting the most attention right now. Unlike the other tier lists, this will be far more subjective as we have very limited data and we mostly have to base it off play experience. Expect this to be updated again in the near future as we get a better grasp on what the metagame is looking like.

TIER ONE DECK ARCHETYPES

1. MONO WHITE AGGRO

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 2 -> 1
  • Win Rate: 59.7% (150,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”4o-7lMD3t”]

With the end of the format, it seems that speed was king. Monowhite had unbelievably brutal starts that propelled it to the highest win rate deck in the format!

2. MONO GREEN AGGRO

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 1 -> 2
  • Win Rate: 59.5% (130,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”lST7Qz8Za”]

Similar to Monowhite, Monogreen was also prone to having pretty brutal starts, and although it’s slower than Monowhite, it’s significantly more resilient wand each card has a higher base power level.

3. ORZHOV CONTROL

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 3-> 3
  • Win Rate: 57.5% (66,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”7CMOeBwAC”]

Orzhov has been crowned the best Control deck of the format, and it’s not surprising to see why. The deck has great board presence early, plenty of planeswalkers, and the almighty Blood on the Snow to stabilize from any position.

4. BANT PARTY

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: Unlisted -> 4
  • Win Rate: 58.3% (31,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”CK0YAwmsL”]

Bant gives up individual power for unbelievable synergy compared to any other deck in the format. If this deck can get through a few turns uninterrupted it’ll feel unbeatable more often than not. The downside is that one wrath can really ruin your day, but that’s what Linvala is for!

TIER TWO DECK ARCHETYPES

5. ORZHOV ANGELS

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 4 -> 5
  • Win Rate: 55.3% (50,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”mhBz8ISv1″]

A midrange deck focused on killing creatures, Angels leverages high toughness creatures to bully out the aggro decks while still remaining reasonable against Control.

6. SIMIC RAMP

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 8 -> 6
  • Win Rate: 56.0% (60,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”we35SNOYQ”]

Looking to go over every other deck in the format, Simic leverages cheap ramp spells with solid late game payoffs to outmuscle the other decks looking to run opponents over or interact.

As a side note, despite Simic posting a solid win rate, I personally really struggled to win with this archetype. However, when I went Temur, I was substantially more successful as the deck really needed interaction to shine. I’m not saying Temur is definitely better, but it at least was for me.

7. GOBLINS

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 9 -> 7
  • Win Rate: 54.3% (44,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”YuMRYHXJb”]

Splitting the different between power and synergy, Goblins can get on the board quickly and snowball with their 8 lords. Interestingly enough, although I believed the Boros version was better as it got access to Rally the Ranks and Showdown of the Skalds, the Monored iteration posted a higher win rate. If you want to see the list for the Boros version, click on the deck guide above!

8. JESKAI DRAGONS

  • Change: Unlisted -> 8
  • Win Rate: 53.9% (16,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”-VMrc30XW”]

A new take on Izzet Dragons, Jeskai gives up some equity in the mana to gain access to two more great late game cards in Lorehold Command and Velomachus Lorehold. Personally I would stick with Izzet, but this is a cool iteration of the archetype.

9. IZZET DRAGONS

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 6 -> 9
  • Win Rate: 53.2% (73,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”imKhFcLrt”]

The original king of 2022. Izzet came strong out of the gate, but struggled for most of the format as the fast decks were very hard to keep up with without a really strong hand. However, Izzet (and all the other Control decks) are likely to fare much better in Bo3 than they are in Bo1.

10. SELESNYA MAGECRAFT

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: Unlisted -> 10
  • Win Rate: 51.6% (16,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”wIFY-OpnR”]

Looking to outspeed any other deck in the format, Magecraft is prone to inconsistency, but can also boast some of the most powerful starts the format has to offer.

TIER THREE DECK ARCHETYPES

11. GRUUL AGGRO

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: Unlisted -> 11
  • Win Rate: 51.7% (19,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”pbPwBxntJ”]

Gruul looked to take the best elements from Green and Red, but unfortunately couldn’t adequately accomplish that. It got to play the two best cards in the format (Goldspan Dragon and Esika’s Chariot), but definitely struggled in mana and card quality otherwise.

12. DIMIR CONTROL

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 7 -> 12
  • Win Rate: 49.1% (67,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”Ai7Jh0Uco”]

Dimir is such an interesting case as it has a sub 50% win rate on ladder, but was one of the best tournament choices when it came to Bo3. The deck struggled to adequately fight the myriad of different decks in the format which led to it’s quick plummet from a top tier deck, but I believe it’ll be a significantly better choice post rotation (but still not necessarily a great choice)

13. ORZHOV CLERICS

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: Unlisted -> 13
  • Win Rate: 50.3% (20,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”dcYBujQEm”]

Although a super sweet tribe, Orzhov was lacking the power and speed to really make it in 2022. It didn’t do anything super well but did toe the line of being somewhat reasonable against everything. Maybe it can power up with Innistrad, but that will mostly be a function of if a strong cleric gets printed.

14. MARDU SACRIFICE

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: 8-> 14
  • Win Rate: 49.3% (21,000 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”0y_NYbLZz”]

A victim of it’s own complexity. I’ve been a huge fan of Mardu Sacrifice as a really well rounded deck, but it is very difficult to pilot which the win rate reflects. I think if the archetype got more explored it would be placed higher on the list, but alas, it’s one of the poorer options.

15. DIMIR ROGUES

  • Deck Guide
  • Change: Unlisted -> 15
  • Win Rate: 43.8% (9,200 matches)

[sd_deck deck=”nijXB3S_Z”]

This ranking breaks my heart as Dimir Rogues was actually one of my most successful decks in 2022! You could have awkward scenarios where you drew the “wrong” half of your deck, but I foudn that it had game against pretty much everything and obviously performed best against clunky decks. Don’t take your eyes off Rogues just yet, there may be some life in it yet.

Thank you for reading! Have a great day!

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DoggertQBones
DoggertQBones

Robert "DoggertQBones" Lee is the content manager of MTGAZone and a high ranked Arena player. He has one GP Top 8 and pioneered popular archetypes like UB 8 Shark, UB Yorion, and GW Company in Historic. Beyond Magic, his passions are writing and coaching! Join our community on
Twitch and Discord.

Articles: 2038