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We are now almost at the end of the July 2020 ranked season for MTG Arena, and many players will be eager to place in the top 1200 at the end of the season to be eligible for the next Mythic Qualifiers. Both of the constructed formats, Standard and Historic, is a little bit troubled at the moment because of the powerful ramp spells – Growth Spiral, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Wilderness Reclamation and Explore (Historic only). This doesn’t mean there is no room for innovation however, especially on the MTG Arena ladder, unlike the high stakes tournament environment where you are incentivized to bring the best deck. You can still reach Mythic with a variety of decks, which we will see in this week’s lineup! We will be adding more decks until the end of the season, so check back later as well.
Remember, we also have our metagame section that you can visit anytime for the latest tier lists alongside links to more decklists and guides. Be sure to check out the previous week’s articles if you’ve missed them:
- Top Mythic Standard and Historic Decks – July 2020 Season – Week 3
- Top Mythic Standard and Historic Decks – July 2020 Season – Week 2
- Top Mythic Standard and Historic Decks – July 2020 Season – Week 1
MTG Arena Standard Mythic Decks of the Week
In the Standard front, the big talk of the weekend just past was the Players Tour Finals. In this tournament, Reclamation decks had a whopping 55% share of the metagame, still proving that it is by far the best deck in the format by a big margin. This isn’t too much different from when Oko or Fires of Invention was banned. Red Bull Untapped Online Qualifier UK was a more diverse field, with 25% of the decks being Reclamation but in a much lower stakes environment. Not much has changed otherwise, with a few breakthrough decks built to beat the current metagame.
Mardu Winota by osubuckscolts – 94% Mythic
Mardu Winota is the breakout deck of the week, with Michael Jacob (click for his version) making an incredible top 8 run with the deck at the Players Tour Finals. This is a purely creature-based deck similar to Mono White Aggro that wants to go wide and big with the help of Venerated Loxodon. The upside is of course, the high roll nature of Winota that can end games on the spot. The deck also has some resilience thanks for Selfless Savior and Basri’s Lieutenant as well as disruption in the form of Kitesail Freebooter. A very fun (and also expensive) deck for sure, but not the easiest to play – make sure to get some practice before diving in!
Dimir Mill Control by owlfamiliarmtg – #387 Mythic
This is a cool Dimir Midrange-Control deck that makes use of the “opponent’s graveyard matters” sub theme in Throne of Eldraine. The deck has 11 rogues to trigger the Enforcer’s ability, some counterspells and removal to help us establish the board with our cheap creatures that can bring on the beatdown once the conditions are met. I am a big fan of the deck as it is also mostly rotation-proof, and could definitely be a viable and interesting choice to keep in mind and adapt in the future.
Abzan Yorion Vito Combo by Slor – 91% Mythic
This is another fun Yorion deck with a combo element that can finish off your opponent in one shot. It has the full copies of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Revival // Revenge combo, but also has the value-oriented build that Yorion players are familiar with. There’s a lot of synergies in the deck that it’s hard to even mention them all, but most cards in the deck can be used for value with Yorion and does not have to overly rely on Vito to function in a 80 card deck.
MTG Arena Historic Mythic Decks of the Week
Historic has had a shift in metagame over the past week, and with Arena Open looming in just a few days, all eyes are on the best decks to play for the top prize of $2000 USD. While Goblins are still decent for its combo potential, players are now more prepared in terms of disruption or removal. Muxus being 6 mana is a bit more back breaking should the mana acceleration plan fail, though it can still end the game on the spot once it resolves. On the other hand, it also turns out that Nexus of Fate has been replaced with Expansion // Explosion and Shark Typhoon, with now both Standard and Historic decks sharing the same top deck!
Historic Temur Reclamation by NamEkianer92 – #69 Mythic
The Historic version of Temur Reclamation is now more scary and consistent with Explore, Field of the Dead and Magmaquake. The base ramp spells, Growth Spiral and Uro, still stands. Our recent MTG Arena Zone Historic Open #6 has shown a 15% metagame share with a 70% win rate for the deck. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming Arena Open will unfold, and whether it will result in any further bannings in either format. There’s not much more to say since the deck has been refined and tuned in Standard extensively already, so these numbers could definitely be higher in a more competitive environment.
Historic Mono White Lurrus Auras by Ginky – #19 Mythic
The Auras deck was a consistent performer in Standard before the nerf to the Companion mechanic. Ginky has adapted this into Historic, as it now has access to Kor Spiritdancer from Jumpstart – a great card that is still played in the Modern Bogles deck. Historic also makes multicolor decks more viable due to the presence of better lands, so we can look at splashing other colors. For example, Green was splashed in for cards like Season of Growth in Standard, and in Historic we also have Ancestral Mask that could be worth experimenting. We’re excited to see the deck develop from here!
Historic Mono Red Wizards Burn by Moctzal – 93% Mythic
If you are after something a bit more simple and back to the roots, it looks like Mono Red has shifted away from being primarily a creature-based deck. No more messing around with Torbran and Embercleave that relies on other cards to work, we just want to cast spells straight to the face! As always, Mono Red is a great entry point for Historic as the deck is more affordable compared to many other decks.
Historic Boros Feather by PrediMTG – #153 Mythic
The popular Feather archetype could now be more viable than ever with Nexus of Fate now gone and Temur Reclamation being a bit slower. There’s also no lack of creatures and spells that are resilient to removal spells that it may face. Reckless Rage and Shock are great removal spells against opposing creature decks, especially in Historic where answering that turn 1 Skirk Prospector or Llanowar Elves will be crucial.
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 use the deck submission form, tweet us at @mtgazone or give us a shout at our Discord.
