Standard Metagame Analysis – Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Week 1

vs Mono Black Zombies

As I mentioned previously, Orzhov Midrange/Control are still here, and they’re still doing well. Honestly, the line between these decks is starting to blur a little bit, but the defining difference is the midrange version plays more creatures to chip away faster, while the control decks tend to come with more wraths and recursion to prolong the game.

In the case of both the decks, the centrepiece is The Meathook Massacre. It helps keep aggressive decks at bay by taking out small creatures, and then sits around and drains the opponent. Even against control it’s not dead, as it can be cast just to start pressuring the life total of the control decks.

From here the decks tend to play plenty of small value creatures or token generators like Eyetwitch, Shambling Ghast and Wedding Announcement. The decks tend to use these creatures to further themselves in the games using Deadly Dispute to generate mana and cards, while Rite of Oblivion helps deal with troublesome permanents. As well the decks play some of the best cards in white and black, with Vanishing Verse being one of the most efficient removal spells in the format and powerful Planeswalkers like Lolth, Spider Queen.

Jeskai Control

jeskai control

46.8% global win rate

This deck has been completely revitalised by one of the more unique rares in the set: Hinata, Dawn-Crowned. This card is incredibly powerful if it sticks, as it’s taxing ability helps protect itself, and the discount is incredibly strong with the tools that Jeskai has.

Naturally, one of the best spells cast off the back of Hinata, Dawn-Crowned is Magma Opus. With a 3 mana discount, at minimum, you can cast Opus the turn after Hinata resolves, which can let you stifle your opponent’s mana, draw cards, and develop the board. As well, as you target more things, the spell gets even cheaper, so you can effectively “pay 1 life” to bring the cost down further. One other key thing to keep in mind is that the majority of counterspells target, which means Negate and Jwari Disruption only cost a single blue mana, while your opponent’s end up costing 3 mana total.

Esper Midrange

esper midrange

52.4% global win rate

10.36% metagame share

The Esper Midrange deck feels like a cross between the Orzhov Midrange deck and a blue tempo deck. The deck still has the main game-plan of attrition through The Meathook Massacre, sacrifice fodder and sacrifice outlets, but dips into blue for some cards. The two big adds are Kaito Shizuki and Malevolent Hermit.

Malevolent Hermit has proven to be an incredibly powerful card in the right metagame, and the current metagame may be a place for it to shine. With many decks being control or playing heavy hitting non-creature spells, Malevolent Hermit helps slow those decks down. As well, the deck plays a fairly high number of non-creature which it’s backside helps push through countermagic.

Kaito Shizuki is an interesting addition to the deck, but I think it’s a surprisingly good one. The mirrors between Orzhov decks tended to revolve around card advantage and Kaito Shizuki does a lot to help on that front. His +1 is a mini Chart a Course, which in a deck full of tokens you want to die, isn’t difficult to enable. As well, he can make tokens, which while are somewhat expensive to produce, can help push through a stall or maintain an advantage.

Azorius Control

azorius control

49.5% global win rate

71.4% win rate

7 tracked matches

66.7% win rate

6 tracked matches

With Kamigawa Azorius has got some cool new toys for control. Between The Wandering Emperor, March of Otherworldly Light, Farewell, Otawara, Soaring City and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, there are plenty of upgrades and tweaks to be made to the classic control shell.

Since this is true, there are plenty of versions of the builds floating around, but most of the old cards you’d expect to see are there. Hullbreaker Horror is still a beast of a card and a must-include in any control deck, while Doomskar is still a great way to stave off early aggression. Jwari Disruption, Saw it Coming and Memory Deluge are all still played as well, being a solid backbone to the “draw-go” style of control Azorius is known for.

Mono-White Aggro

Mono White Aggro

51.9% global win rate

58.8% win rate

17 tracked matches

vs Mono Black Zombies

40.0% win rate

5 tracked matches

Mono-White Aggro hasn’t changed much from it’s previous iteration. Many of the cheap white creatures in Kamigawa are more value oriented than aggressive, which means that not much changes with the creatures in the deck. The deck still plays plenty of aggressive creatures which also tax and interact with the opponent, like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Elite Spellbinder and Brutal Cathar.

Like Azorius, Mono-White is interested in The Wandering Emperor, as a card that plays well offensively as well as defensively, and helps the deck keep gaining value once it’s exhausted it’s hand. Another small upgrade for the deck is Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, which while small is pretty significant. Having a land which can be used like a spell is big in a deck that doesn’t have much control over it’s draws. As well, with decks often playing Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar it’s one of the few decks where the cost will be reduced.

Izzet Dragons

izzet dragons ️

44.9% global win rate

Izzet Dragons isn’t a particularly new deck, but is one that fell out of favour in previous standard for the more ‘go-over-the-top’ Izzet Turns. Now, it makes its return with a new Mythic Dragon from Kamigawa: Atsushi, the Blazing Sky. This card is another good efficient threat, being a 4/4 flying trample for 4. As well, when it dies, you can either ‘impulse’ two cards off the top of your library or make three treasures.

Naturally, being an Izzet deck, you have the standard suite of Fading Hope, Abrade and Expressive Iteration. As well, being a dragon deck, plays the ever-present Goldspan Dragon along with Dragon's Fire for more efficient removal. The deck also leans further into the dragons and spells theme with Smoldering Egg, which is a threat that control and aggro both have to deal with.

Izzet Control

izzet control

47.1% global win rate

3.46% metagame share

Izzet Control is a close sibling to Izzet Dragons. It too plays the standard suite of Fading Hope, Abrade and Expressive Iteration, which is one of Izzet’s biggest draws. These cards, among others, are likely the best suite of interaction in the format, especially when backed up by wraths and counterspells.

Wraths and counter spells are exactly where this deck diverges from Izzet Dragons. Rather than try and be aggressive and close the game, it sits back using Burn Down the House to clean up large boards and Memory Deluge and Unexpected Windfall to see more cards to try and stay ahead. Then, it uses Goldspan Dragon and Hullbreaker Horror to try and lock out games.

Naya Runes

naya runes

53.3% global win rate