Happy Halloween everybody, and welcome to the latest installment of the Top Mythic Decks of the Week! This week, the conversation in the MTG community has been dominated by card previews for the upcoming set Innistrad: Crimson Vow, releasing on Arena on November 11. Be sure to check out our spoilers gallery and also our Daily Roundups for all of the latest card previews.
In last week’s article, we decided to deviate from our usual format that places an emphasis on Standard, and instead focus on Historic based on the high number of decks that were submitted. This week, we’re going to continue shining the spotlight on Historic, as we continue to receive a much larger volume of decks from high Mythic in that format. Don’t worry though Standard players, we still have a few decks to share with you and interest will undoubtedly shift back to Standard once the new set drops next month!
What’s there to say about Izzet Phoenix that hasn’t already been said? Phoenix decks have been one of the core archetypes in Historic for the majority of the format’s existence.
The first Historic Izzet Phoenix decks we posted here at MTGA Zone are dated just a few months after the format was introduced, and while it has fluctuated in terms of popularity and success over the last few years, it has always remained a consideration in the format.
Just last week, our second highest ranked deck was an Izzet Phoenix list, and this week, well-known South Korea-based Mythic grinder Oh JooHyun has taken the honor of the highest rank of the lot with his version of the deck.
Our next Historic deck of the week comes to us from streamer TheNerdySteve, who shared his twist on the popular Jund Sacrifice archetype. TheNerdySteve decided to completely ditch the red from the deck, and you won’t find any of the midrange-y creatures the Jund deck has become known for like Mayhem Devil, Woe Strider, or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King.
Instead, Steve has kept the mana cost of his creatures extremely low – the only maindeck creature that costs more than 1 mana is a single Valki, God of Lies. This allows the deck to run Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion, and shifts the deck’s focus to the sac-draw cards that aren’t always included in Jund like Village Rites and Deadly Dispute.
TheNerdySteve’s deck also runs the full four copies of The Meathook Massacre to hopefully fend off more aggressive decks while also providing aristocrats-y value throughout the game, especially in combination with the Cauldron Familiar/Witch’s Oven synergy. It’s an interesting take on a very well-known deck in Historic, and the fact that TheNerdySteve was able to take the deck all the way up to #28 Mythic suggests it has real legs.
In the time since Jumpstart: Historic Horizons brought a massive influx of cards into the Historic, a handful of new archetypes have sprung up in the format. Out of these, one of the most notable is Selesnya Enchantress. Thanks to cards like Sythis, Harvest’s hand and Enchantress’s Presence, enchantress-style decks seem to have the tools they need to be competitive in the format.
Although it’s not an archetype that has been making up large shares of the metagame at Historic tournaments, Enchantress has been endorsed by players such as pro Grzegorz Kowalski and well-known tournament grinder Maxim Salmin a.k.a Rint. Both players had previously taken the deck up into high Mythic, and now French streamers Val & PL have taken the deck up to #76.
Val & PL’s deck plays the typical Enchantress game for the most part: cards like Sythis keep the hand gassed up while the deck dumps enchantments on the field, from ramp such as Wolfwillow Haven to removal like Baffling End and Banishing Light. VAL & PL have also chosen to include three copies each of Nine Lives and Solemnity, a two-card combo that prevents all damage from being dealt to its controller indefinitely. Four copies of Sterling Grove help to find the combo in a pinch, while providing protection for the combo and most of the deck’s other pieces on the same card.
Lastly, we have another Selesnya deck, although this time it’s an aggro Humans deck which contrasts sharply with the more controlling Enchantress list above. Various Humans decks have been at the forefront of the Historic format lately, and Selesnya is one of the tribe’s most popular shells thanks to crazy value from cards like Esper Sentinel and of course Collected Company.
Selesnya Humans has been all over the tournament scene for the last few weeks and it’s not hard to see why. The deck has a ton of power in its aggro plan powered by Thalia’s Lieutenant, Luminarch Aspirant, and others. It’s able to stave off control to a decent extent with four Dauntless Bodyguard to protect from removal and four Elite Spellbinder to delay that sweeper or other key card from the opponent’s hand.
Clearly, this archetype is here to stay in Historic at least for now, with player mgbaum89 leveraging the deck to an impressive #79 Mythic in the last week.
That wraps it up for our Historic spotlight this week! The full list of decks can be found below, and further down we’ll take a look at what’s been happening in Standard.
Back during preview season for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, there was a lot of speculation as to whether the Zombies tribe would be supported well enough to make for a serious archetype in Standard or Historic. One of the first cards that was previewed from the set was Champion of the Perished, a card that strongly hinted at the tribe being a main feature of the set.
By the time the whole set had been spoiled, many players felt underwhelmed by the lack of Zombies and their relative power level. While there have been a few players trying to prove the power of the archetype, Zombie tribal decks in Standard have been few and far between. Now, player Divi Vilanui is taking up the Zombie mantle, and managed to earn the rank of #39 Mythic with their build of the deck.
In addition to the Zombie cards that play well with Champion, Vilanui’s deck also packs four copies of Warlock Class, another odd buildaround that’s floated around the ranked ladder but never picked up too much traction. So are Zombies a real tribe in Standard? Regardless of one’s opinions about the ranked ladder on MTGA, it’s hard to take away the accomplishment of such a high rank.
Our final deck of the day is another iteration of a deck that’s been floating around the recently rotated Standard format since Standard 2022: Ramp. Ramp decks, especially Simic, have benefited from the power of two of the best top-end cards in the format, Alrund’s Epiphany and Koma, Cosmos Serpent.
This example, constructed by CT Don and taken up to #224 on the ladder, is a Temur variant that has been optimized for best-of-one. There are only four total red cards in the deck: two Prismari Command and two Burn Down the House, both of which are tools that can be used against the aggro decks of the format in the hopes of staying alive long enough to cast those late game haymakers.
Being a green deck, ramp also gets to run Esika’s Chariot, another of Standard’s most powerful cards.
Thanks for reading! That’s it for our Mythic spotlights of the week. Check out the full list of Mythic Standard decks below:
This column is our weekly roundup of Standard and Historic decks players are using to climb the ranked ladder on MTG Arena! Our goal is to curate and post a variety of deck archetypes and interesting card choices at the end of each week to help you keep up to date with the latest trends in the metagame. If you have any decks you want featured, please tweet us at @mtgazone or give us a shout at our Discord.
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