Table of Contents
Hello everyone!
Some time ago, at the end of each weekend, we would do analyses on the previous weekends Standard Challenge results to see what we can learn from them. Considering we just had a banning in Standard, it’s hard to think of a better time to start that back up again!
Considering League data still has a backlog of decks using The Meathook Massacre, these are the first published pieces from Wizards about the state of the new Standard metagame. This will be a great barometer to see what decks gained the most from the banning and what new decks are showing promise! On top of the Challenges, we just got the results from the qualifier weekend as well! While I can’t put those results into as granular of categories (top 8, top 16), they will definitely be factored into the analysis!
Before I get into the analysis, you can check out the top 8 lists from the events below, then we’ll head right in to the article!
Top 8 Decks From The Saturday Challenge
Jund Midrange by MTGHolic – Standard Challenge 1st Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
4 mythic
39 rare
13 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (16)
Instants (12)
Sorceries (2)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$598.82
Sideboard
15 Cards
$16.97
Esper Aggro by crK – Standard Challenge 2nd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Aggro
best of 3
6 mythic
46 rare
4 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (22)
Sorceries (3)
Enchantments (3)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$492.78
Sideboard
15 Cards
$99.77
5 Color Kami War by kokoko098 – Standard Challenge 3rd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
9 mythic
43 rare
1 uncommon
7 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (10)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (12)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$382.32
Sideboard
15 Cards
$30.45
Esper Midrange by Chemist1234 – Standard Challenge 4th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
11 mythic
35 rare
5 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (16)
Artifacts (1)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$598.34
Sideboard
15 Cards
$37.51
Jund Midrange by guinthos201111 – Standard Challenge 5th
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
5 mythic
34 rare
10 uncommon
11 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (14)
Instants (9)
Sorceries (1)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (8)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$299.86
Sideboard
15 Cards
$196.99
Jund Midrange by smilepapa4 – Standard Challenge 6th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
3 mythic
41 rare
12 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (11)
Instants (9)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$602.78
Sideboard
15 Cards
$97.73
Five Color Jodah Humans by SeventhProphet – 7th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
13 mythic
41 rare
6 uncommon
0 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (33)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$447.02
Sideboard
15 Cards
$17.33
Jund Midrange by FerMTG – Standard Challenge 8th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
6 mythic
34 rare
6 uncommon
14 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Artifacts (2)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$295.86
Sideboard
15 Cards
$202.89
Top 8 Decks From The Sunday Challenge
Jund Midrange by guinthos201111 – Standard Challenge 1st
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
3 mythic
40 rare
13 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (15)
Instants (12)
Sorceries (2)
Artifacts (1)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$520.32
Sideboard
15 Cards
$42.67
Five Color Kami War by Yotsugi – 2nd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
11 mythic
40 rare
1 uncommon
8 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (11)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (12)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$529.68
Sideboard
15 Cards
$23.45
Boros Invoke by Mogged – Standard Challenge 3rd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
10 mythic
25 rare
0 uncommon
25 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (15)
Sorceries (4)
Artifacts (1)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$364.4
Sideboard
15 Cards
$108.67
Mono Blue Tempo by Breckeroni – Standard Challenge 4th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Tempo
best of 3
0 mythic
4 rare
15 uncommon
41 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (27)
Lands (21)
60 Cards
$36.66
Sideboard
15 Cards
$5.73
Jund Midrange by Danielpena397 – 5th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
5 mythic
34 rare
10 uncommon
11 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (14)
Instants (9)
Sorceries (1)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (8)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$299.86
Sideboard
15 Cards
$196.99
Esper Control by Christianhartz – 6th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
5 mythic
46 rare
2 uncommon
7 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Instants (15)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$484.6
Sideboard
15 Cards
$180.09
Jund Midrange by FerMTG – Standard Challenge 7th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
6 mythic
34 rare
6 uncommon
14 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Artifacts (2)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$295.86
Sideboard
15 Cards
$170.85
Jund Midrange by Cabezadebolo – Standard Challenge 8th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
8 mythic
33 rare
6 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (18)
Sorceries (2)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$505.18
Sideboard
15 Cards
$20.03
The Top Three Performing Decks
Jund Midrange
Jund Midrange by MTGHolic – Standard Challenge 1st Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
4 mythic
39 rare
13 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (16)
Instants (12)
Sorceries (2)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$598.82
Sideboard
15 Cards
$16.97
- Top 8 Appearances: 9
- Top 16 Appearances: 5
- Top 32 Appearances: 4
The far and away best performer in this Standard Challenge, and the deck I expect to pick up the most steam this week, is Jund Midrange.
For the most part, the Jund decks were utilizing The Cruelty of Gix and Titan of Industry as their late game to go over the other midrange strategies, and while that deck does show up in fifth place, eighth place, and in the top 32, that was not the only variant we saw this weekend. While the “reanimator” variant still did well, it was the lower to the ground midrange variant that was actually more popular.
Between all the decks, the same base of cards is clearly the winner for this weekend. For your early game threats, Bloodtithe Harvester, Tenacious Underdog, Graveyard Trespasser, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker are the base you want to start off on. This isn’t the most surprising as this is the same base to all the Rakdos(x) decks that have been performing well in Standard, but it provides a solid foundation for the deck to build upon. From there, you either branch off into the Titan of Industry direction or the lower to the ground direction, but either way, the new popular card seems to be
All in all, Jund performed well as it’s the midrange deck most designed to beat other midrange decks, whether you have Titan of Industry or not. Since most players chose to run back their midrange decks for this weekend, this deck capitalized as a result.
Esper Midrange
Esper Midrange by Chemist1234 – Standard Challenge 4th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
11 mythic
35 rare
5 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (16)
Artifacts (1)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$598.34
Sideboard
15 Cards
$37.51
- Top 8 Appearances: 2
- Top 16 Appearances: 3
- Top 32 Appearances: 9
Coming in as our second best performing deck of the weekend, we have ol’ reliable with Esper Midrange.
While I was a bit surprised to see the popularity of Jund Midrange, I definitely can’t say the same for Esper. Coming out of the bannings, Esper seemed to be public enemy number one as it wasn’t particularly reliant on The Meathook Massacre and it could be actively detrimental for them as it could cleanly sweep your own Wedding Announcement. This idea was clearly shared amongst much of the community as not only did it perform well in Challenges, it was the most represented deck in the Day 2 of the Qualifier Weekend.
Something else to consider is, unlike Jund Midrange, the list has mostly been solved for Esper. There will always be some fine adjustments for each deck, but the base of good interaction, good early game threats, and the Esper power cards like Raffine, Scheming Seer and Wedding Announcement are what makes Esper so threatening. Interestingly enough though, the second place list for this Challenge took a more aggressive approach with their Esper build, and while I may be splitting hairs with the naming, I wonder if going even lower to the ground may be the next iteration of Esper.
No matter what, what is safe to assume is that Esper is going to be the baseline for the format as a powerful midrange deck that can interact any which way it wants.
Five Color Kami War
Five Color Kami War by Yotsugi – 2nd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
11 mythic
40 rare
1 uncommon
8 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (11)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (12)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$529.68
Sideboard
15 Cards
$23.45
- Top 8 Appearances: 2
- Top 16 Appearances: 0
- Top 32 Appearances: 3
I have to say there’s a pretty big drop off between the top two decks and the third, but none the less, it’s with great pleasure I get to say that the third best performing deck of the weekend was Five Color Kami War!
Like Jund, this was another strategy I didn’t anticipate to perform well, but now knowing the metagame, it makes sense. With The Meathook Massacre banning, Standard seems to be heading towards a more fair direction. Creatures can matter again as not every deck was playing multiple main deck board wipes so we have much more typical midrange battles happening. When there are permanents that people care about, it’s hard to do better than The Kami War to absolutely trounce it!
At the beginning of the Standard format, decks were much too interested in casting Invoke Despair and Titan of Industry to have The Kami War be a real player, but times seem to be changing. Furthermore, this deck can finally start making good use of the cool Domain payoffs from Dominaria United! Herd Migration was an interesting Domain/Ramp card as it allows you to go extremely wide, but it was very embarrassing in the face of The Meathook Massacre which obviously isn’t an issue anymore. It’s going to be tough for a deck like Jund or Esper to beat five 3/3s on turn seven or sooner! Furthermore, you have another excellent removal spell in Leyline Binding to further stymie the opponent’s threat development, and like Jund, you also get access to Unleash the Inferno!
What makes this deck so unbelievably punishing is that you can absolutely trounce decks trying to play a fair game plan. If they aren’t killing you early or have counter magic to insulate their threats or disrupt yours, it’s going to be incredibly tough working through all the insanely powerful interaction this deck has. While this deck can be prone to some clunky draws, if the game is allowed to drag out, this deck can take full advantage of it.
The Next Best Decks
Mono Blue Tempo
Mono Blue Tempo by Shadowz2005 – 13th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Tempo
best of 3
0 mythic
4 rare
15 uncommon
41 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (27)
Lands (21)
60 Cards
$37.8
Sideboard
15 Cards
$5.73
- Top 8 Appearances: 1
- Top 16 Appearances: 2
- Top 32 Appearances: 1
While not particularly represented in this tournament, two pilots barely missed top 8 with Standard’s premier tempo strategy – Mono Blue Tempo!
Once again, I’m quite surprised to see Mono Blue Tempo doing so well in tournament, but looking at the metagame, it’s not too hard to see why. I envisioned with The Meathook Massacre ban that aggressive decks would be much more popular making this not an ideal choice, but looking at the metagame they had, it’s not hard to see why they performed well.
Mono Blue is a simple deck in terms of plan (definitely not in execution though)! Deploy cheap threats, counter everything relevant from the opponent, beat them down. This works really well against midrange strategies as it simply takes them longer to deploy relevant cards so when you counter them at a mana premium, you generate loads of tempo. This works well the slower the deck that they are facing and has easily some of the most polarizing matchups in Standard where you will obliterate any super slow deck like Jund Titan or Kami War and struggle immensely against something like Mono Red.
That said, if the metagame continues being all about midrange strategies, Mono Blue seems like a solid choice moving forward.
Five Color Jodah Humans
Five Color Jodah Humans by SeventhProphet – 7th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
13 mythic
41 rare
6 uncommon
0 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (33)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$447.02
Sideboard
15 Cards
$17.33
- Top 8 Appearances: 1
- Top 16 Appearances: 0
- Top 32 Appearances: 1
Another very welcome surprise to the Standard Challenge with a top finish and another solid finish, we have our second five color deck of the list – Five Color Jodah!
This deck is wacky, but has a simple game plan. You are an aggressive deck, you just happen to have a bit of a shakier mana base and a whole boat load of legends. This would be very detrimental to an aggressive strategy most of the time, however, this is all in effort to get the maximum value out of the extremely powerful Legends payoff – Jodah, the Unifier.
While I would argue that this deck is inherently weaker than a lot of your other options in Standard, Jodah is a messed up card if you get to resolve and untap with it. Acting as a Coat of Arms that also makes all your Legends cascade, the deck is willing to bend over backwards as you will quickly run away with the game if you’re able to keep a Jodah in play.
While I saw this deck occasionally in the metagame at the beginning of the format, it’s able to have a real chance to be impactful now that The Meathook Massacre is gone. No matter how big your aggressive deck goes, it was just really hard beating that card!
The fact that this deck was able to secure a top placement week one may be luck, but I’m very curious to see where this archetype ends up. However, we can’t discount that maybe it was just fated that SeventhProphet got seventh.
Control Decks
Jeskai Control by KarnageKardsENT – Standard Challenge 16th
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Control
best of 3
8 mythic
35 rare
0 uncommon
17 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (6)
Instants (11)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$421.5
Sideboard
15 Cards
$30.19
Izzet Control by O-danielakos – 23rd Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Control
best of 3
2 mythic
22 rare
4 uncommon
32 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (23)
Sorceries (3)
Enchantments (2)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$120.74
Sideboard
15 Cards
$9.11
Esper Control by Christianhartz – 6th Place
by DoggertQBones
Standard
Midrange
best of 3
5 mythic
46 rare
2 uncommon
7 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Instants (15)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$484.6
Sideboard
15 Cards
$180.09
- Top 8 Appearances: 1
- Top 16 Appearances: 1
- Top 32 Appearances: 3
While this is far from one deck, I lumped the archetype together as it seems to be making a small resurgence after The Meathook Massacre‘s exit – Blue Control decks!
Once I saw Liliana of the Veil spoiled, I figured that spelled the end of Control decks. Liliana’s +1 pressures resources so effectively that I figured it would be too hard for Control to exist. Well, on one hand, I think that’s still mostly true as Liliana is incredible against Control. However, on the other hand, Liliana’s popularity of dropped off considerably.
I think many players realized that while Liliana is a powerful card, she isn’t the best thing to be doing in midrange mirrors. It’s rare that you won’t get some value, but the symmetrical +1 is pretty brutal when you’re trying to work your way into the late game and the -2 can be really inconsistent with what it hits. Many decks are still playing it in the sideboard as it’s far from a bad midrange tool, but compared to Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Wedding Announcement, Liliana does struggle to keep up in a midrange metagame. So with Liliana on the downswing, Blue Control can have a chance again!
I put all the Control decks together, as while they’re playing different cards and colors, their game plans are pretty much identical. Control can be a solid foil for midrange strategies in theory as you can go over the top of them, but has struggled to do so in practice as the midrange threats have substantially outpaced Control’s answers in recent years. While I’m still very skeptical that playing Control in a format where Reckoner Bankbuster, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Wedding Announcement, and Make Disappear is everywhere, having four players find reasonable success with it is far from a coincidence. I’ll be curious to see if Control can keep having solid performances, and if so, what Control deck players gravitate towards.
Thank you for reading! If you want to see the full Challenge, you can click the link here for Saturday’s Challenge, here for Sunday’s Challenge, and here for the Qualifier Weekend results!
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!
DoggertQBones
Articles: 2036More Articles
Best Standard Decks: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Meta Report – April 23, 2024
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Review: Best Cards for Timeless, Historic and Explorer
Bo1 Standard Metagame Tier List and Rankings
Bo3 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
