Standard Metagame Update – May 3, 2020: New Season with Jeskai Yorion Lukka

The second week of MagicFest Online is almost at the end – all the Daily Qualifiers have wrapped up, and we now wait for the results from the Weekly Championship today, and then the grand Finals starting next weekend on May 9. The metagame has has changed since our last update, but the overall theme remains the same – Companions are staples in most decks. Let’s have a look at the highlights over the past week. If you want a tl;dr version, check out the latest metagame tier list here.

Jeskai Yorion Lukka

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Sample Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”clmMAwM60″]

This is a new deck archetype that has been popularized by crokeyz and subsequently adopted by many of the top players. It was the most represented deck in the MagicFest Online Weekly Championship, and may even go on to win the tournament today. It accelerates into play Agent of Treachery via Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast with a few token generators such as Birth of Meletis and Shark Typhoon. The Companion also helps with the overall game plan allowing it to trigger Omens, Planeswalker loyalty and the Agent itself. It will be interesting to see if the deck can be a mainstay in the metagame for the next couple of months, but this is not the only deck that Agent of Treachery is featured in – as you will see below.

Bant Yorion Control

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Sample Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”5QRBZogUd”]

Bant Yorion is not a new concept, but the deck has adopted into more of a control deck rather than a ramp deck as Nissa, Who Shakes the World has been cut altogether.

Lurrus Cycling

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Sample Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”8SOgg1oy0″]

The Cycling deck is still maintaining its presence in the metagame after more than two weeks. There is a Jeskai build featuring Improbable Alliance or the straight Boros build with an inclusion of some black mana to be able to cast Memory Leak. There is an increasing amount of Narset, Parter of Veils and Graveyard hate such as Soul-Guide Lantern and Leyline of the Void, but there is no doubt that Flourishing Fox at one mana and 1 mana Cycling cards are way too efficient.

Sultai Ramp

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Sample Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”gk_PF-HBZ”]

As the metagame becomes less favorable to aggro decks and turns slower again with Fires of Invention being featured in more decks, Casualties of War is back on the menu. Of course, Yorion is also a possibility here as we can make use of its ability with Risen Reef and other Elementals for maximum value.

Aggro Decks on the Watch Again

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The large metagame share of Rakdos Sacrifice decks have suppressed aggro decks in Standard. The traditional Mono Red Aggro has basically fallen off in best-of-three, as the matchup is highly unfavorable and Ikoria has not advanced the deck in terms of new cards. As the equilibrium shifts towards the slower decks again, players are exploring the new aggressive strategies available and navigate their way around the Cat Oven combo.

Sample Jeskai Winota Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”-BIGdYxot”]

Another deck that tries to cheat out Agent of Treachery – Winota is not a new deck or a purely aggressive deck per se (somewhere in the middle between combo), but my personal prediction was that it would not be played at all after the first week. The deck is showing substance however, after some consistent results being shown in the MagicFest Online Daily Qualifiers and the ranked ladder.

Sample Mono Black Obosh Aggro Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”pFBTVxn7n”]

Mono Black avoids Aether Gust and Mystical Dispute, which a lot of decks are playing at the moment. RuneclawBarich was one of the first players to reach Mythic this season using the deck. We have a more detailed write up with a sideboard guide right here!

Sample Mardu Lurrus Knights Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”wURzZA8WQ”]

This was one of the top performing decks over the past two weeks according to Untapped.gg at a 63.2% win rate over 250,000 matches. The core of the deck is not too much different from what it was previously (before it fell out of favor), except in Ikoria we now have Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Fight as One to help protect our creatures and get a few extra points of damage through. Who needs Embercleave anyway?

Sample Jeskai Lurrus Heroic Decklist

[sd_deck deck=”dLQ2RPdZh”]

Here’s a “Heroic” deck that is built around spells that protect and buff your low mana cost creatures that grow big over time as you target them with spells. Fight as One and Lurrus is also featured in this deck and unfortunately that means the fan-favorite Feather, the Redeemed will not be making her return quite yet here.