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This week, it’s our pleasure to announce the return of a past article series – MTG Arena Mythic Decks of the Week! Each Friday, we will be exploring the decks that have been shared with us over the week from players in the Mythic rank, and we will break down the top ranking lists in both Standard and Historic.
The metagame on the MTG Arena ladder is always in flux as players tweak their decks or formulate entirely new decks based on the meta they encounter on a day-to-day basis. While nobody has access to perfect information on the meta, examining the top decks from each week allows us to track the shifting meta on a fine-tuned level.
From a wider perspective, this month saw the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and the Standard Rotation, and the combination of these factors has turned the Standard format completely on its head. In Historic, the format is still adjusting to the addition of cards to the format from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons in late August as well as a handful of impactful cards from Midnight Hunt.
In addition to the ranked ladder decks we’ll be looking at in this article, you can find more competitive decklists in our coverage of the tournaments from last weekend, as well as the currently ongoing Standard Metagame Challenge.
- Hooglandia Standard Open 9/19
- MTGO Standard Challenge #12340204
- MTGO Standard Challenge #12340215
- Standard Metagame Challenge September 2021
Keep in mind that we have also just updated our Standard Tier List for the new best-of-three and best-of-one metas. You can find all of our tier lists, along with more decklists and archetype guides, any time under our metagame section.
MTG Arena Standard Mythic Decks of the Week
Now it’s time to dive into some decklists! The new Standard metagame is shaping up to be quite diverse, with Aggro, Control, and Midrange strategies all showing up at the highest ranks on the ladder. Clicking each link will take you to the full list for each deck. At the bottom of each section, you will find a list of all the Mythic decks we posted this week for the format.
Mono Green Stompy by Roy Varney – #1 Mythic
Mono Green Stompy was already known as one of the top archetypes in the Standard 2022 format where only post-rotation sets were legal, and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt has added some new toys for the deck to play with. This month, Roy Varney was able to reach the coveted rank #1 with his take on the archetype.
Green has the strongest mana accelerants in the format, especially Jaspera Sentinel, the only one-cost mana dork in the format. Roy Varney has four of them in this list alongside two copies of Lotus Cobra, which has seen some Standard play on and off since its printing, but seems like it may finally be finding its stride in the format.
This deck plays all of the familiar green beaters such as Werewolf Pack Leader, Old-Growth Troll, and the value-rich Esika’s Chariot – a key card in the format. Perhaps the most significant addition to this archetype from Midnight Hunt is four Briarbridge Tracker, a card which has had many doubters but continues to prove itself in the new format. A 4/3 for three is already a decent body, and since Tracker creates a Clue token, it essentially replaces itself while also providing a draw engine when combined with the Chariot.
Wrenn and Seven isn’t in the maindeck of Roy Varney’s list, but the new planeswalker is a two-of in the sideboard (and shows up in some other examples of the archetype) as a card that generates a ton of value on its own while also pairing amazingly with Eskia’s Chariot thanks to its abililty to create Treefolk tokens. The synergies between Chariot and the new Midnight Hunt cards, along with the face-beating power you’ve come know from the archetype, result in our #1 deck for the week.
Izzet Control by pironekogift – #3 Mythic
Up next we have an Izzet list by player pironekogift, who managed to take the deck to the #3 slot. Izzet Dragons was a significant player in both pre-rotation Standard and Standard 2022. It hasn’t been as popular in post-rotation Standard thus far, but it has spawned more controlling lists like this one.
Alrund’s Epiphany is already notorious as one of the best top-end spells in the format. pironekogift’s list uses four copies of the extra turn spell as a crucial part of its late game after controlling the board early with cards like Cinderclasm and Battle of Frost and Fire. Meanwhile, the deck takes full advantage of the card draw in the Izzet colors through four copies each of Expressive Iteration and the new Memory Deluge.
The deck plays a Tempo-positive controlling plan thanks to cards like Fading Hope and Divide by Zero to survive long enough to cast its sweepers and Epiphanies. There are a number of interesting and versatile card choices in the deck including three Cathartic Pyre and two Galvanic Iteration, and if you are a fan of this style of play, we highly encourage you to browse the full list.
Bo1 Mono White Aggro by Rush Amu – #19 Mythic
Mono White Aggro has been among the top decks in Standard for quite some time now, and it appears that fact hasn’t changed post-rotation – especially in best-of-one. Rush Amu gives credence to this statement by reaching #19 Mythic with their version of the deck which runs an absurd 28 one mana spells – nearly half the deck – and only 18 lands.
The deck plays the double-cast cards that many fans of the archetype will recognize (namely Codespell Cleric, Monk of the Open Hand, and Clarion Spirit), a choice that makes a lot of sense given the high count of one-drops and density of spells in general. Interestingly, Rush Amu’s deck also includes part of the Magecraft aggro package, a strategy which has typically stood on its own in the past.
However, instead of running Clever Lumimancer, which is a useless 0/1 if you don’t have any instants or sorceries to cast, Rush Amu has chosen to only include Leonin Lightscribe which has a much higher floor of being Grizzly Bears at worst and a squad-pumping finisher at best. Fans of the Magecraft aggro build will recognize Guiding Voice as one of the two trigger-generating spells in the maindeck, with the new Midnight Hunt card Homestead Courage being the other.
A notable exclusion from this deck is the new card Intrepid Adversary, an early threat that scales into a powerful anthem into the mid-late game. It seems that Rush Amu thinks that Lightscribe plus combat tricks is a stronger finisher, and its hard to argue with those results. It also allows the deck to get away with running such a low land count since the combo is much less mana-hungry than the Adversary.
Sultai Ramp by Crokeyz – #22 Mythic
Stephen Croke, aka Crokeyz, is among the most popular and well-known streamers of MTG Arena. Earlier this week, he shared the Sultai Ramp deck with which he has achieved the rank of #22 Mythic.
Anybody who played Standard pre-rotation is probably familiar with the Sultai Ultimatum deck which was a dominating force in the meta for months before rotation removed many of its key cards. While Emergent Ultimatum is now gone from Standard, we still have Binding the Old Gods, no shortage of ramp, and some powerful new top-end cards to play with.
We already touched on Alrund’s Epiphany, and it’s no less important here. Crokeyz’ list also includes the Eskia’s Chariot/Wrenn and Seven synergy as a core fixture of the deck. The new Midnight Hunt spell Storm the Festival has the potential to hit both halves of the combo in addition to Binding and nearly all of the other maindeck cards besides Epiphany and a handful of other non-permanent spells.
Crokeyz’ deck isn’t heavy on the removal and control in the maindeck, instead focusing more on executing its own gameplan and trusting that it will go over the top of whatever the opponent’s deck is doing. Wrenn and Seven’s treefolk tokens get massive, and once they start gettting copied with Chariot, things can get out of control very quickly.
Azorius Blink by Matías Arvigo – #25 Mythic
Lastly, we have perhaps the most innovative list of the bunch: an Azorius Blink deck which Matías Arvigo was able to pilot to rank #25. Thought the blink shenanigans in Standard died with the rotation of
This deck is dripping with ETB synergies and has quite a few new cards from Midnight Hunt, from Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset to the land-fetching Ambitious Farmhand to the potentially archetype defining blink spell Hallowed Respite.
We already know that cards like Skyclave Apparition, Professor of Symbology, and Elite Spellbinder are very good on their own. Thanks to Hallowed Respite and Glorious Protector from Kaldheim, perhaps blinking these cards is a strong enough strategy to justify the archetype in the new Standard format. Personally, I love decks like this and will probably try out this list or something similar just for fun.
MTG Arena Historic Mythic Decks of the Week
In the Historic format, the meta is also still changing and adapting following the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons and Midnight Hunt so soon afterwards. We aren’t seeing a huge impact on Historic from Midnight Hunt just yet – despite the set bringing Delver of Secrets to the format – although Consider is showing up in many blue lists and may very well come to be considered (I’m sorry) a staple in the format where graveyard decks are huge.
Historic Mono White Lurrus by AlthMTG – #82 Mythic
Following the release of Historic Horizons and other recent additions to the format, Mono White Aggro decks have been looking better and better in the format. Notably, AlthMTG’s white weenie deck has quite a few cards in common with the Standard mono white list we looked at above. Guess Luminarch Aspirant is a good card, who knew?
Additionally, Historic brings white decks some extra power through cards like Esper Sentinel and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben – two cards which are significant thorns in the side of control and combo opponents. The inclusion of defensive cards such as Selfless Savior and Dauntless Bodyguard also provide a significant amount of resilience against removal.
Bo1 Historic Izzet Phoenix by Daniel Lancion – #187 Mythic
Our final deck for today is a revision of one of the long-time staples of Historic: Izzet Phoenix. Ever since the Mystical Archive from Strixhaven brought cards like Brainstorm and Faithless Looting into Historic, Izzet Phoenix has been one of the best decks in the format. Brainstorm has since been suspended, but Izzet Phoenix decks never fully disappeared, and Consider may be bringing new life to the Archetype.
Daniel Lancion has adapted the deck for best-of-one play, and also includes the Delirium plan with the powerful Historic Horizons cards Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Unholy Heat. Screenshots from a deck tracker show that he was able to go 19-4 on the ladder with the deck, exemplifying the explosive property of the deck and making a strong case that Izzet Phoenix decks still have legs in Historic.
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.
