Hey all. For those who weren’t aware, Standard and Alchemy will rotate with the release of Edge of Eternities, which means that the year of oldest sets will leave the format. Rotation is a very fun time to play Standard and Alchemy, as the formats go through big shakeups, as long standing staples are set down, and new cards have a chance to shine.
Here are the sets that are leaving Standard:
Dominaria United
Brother’s War
Phyrexia: All Will be One
March of the Machine
March of the Machine: Aftermath
And here are the sets that are leaving Alchemy:
Wilds of Eldraine + Alchemy: Wilds of Eldraine
Lost Caverns of Ixalan + Alchemy: Ixalan
Murders at Karlov Manor + Alchemy: Murders at Karlov Manor
Outlaws of Thunder Junction + Alchemy: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
The Big Score
Today, I’ll be breaking down some of the biggest cards leaving these formats that you need to be aware of, and which decks are losing the most from rotation, versus which decks are staying the most intact.
Let’s dive in with Standard.
Standard
Lands
The biggest thing to look at each rotation is which lands are leaving, and how are mana bases going to shape up afterwards.
Standard is losing a lot of lands, and things are about to change.
Painlands
Brought to us in Dominaria United and Brother’s War, the full cycle of 10 painlands are leaving Standard, meaning that every two and three color deck is losing an untapped source of mana fixing.
Allied Fastlands
The allied Fastlands of Blackcleave Cliffs, Copperline Gorge, Darkslick Shores, Razorverge Thicket, and Seachrome Coast are rotating, leaving the five allied color pairs worse for wear. While the enemy fastlands, printed in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, are here for another year, allied color decks are losing two land cycles.
Aggro decks in these colors are in for a tough adjustment, as losing two cycles of untapped lands make it harder to play multicolor two drops, and one drops of both colors. This will be especially tough for Selesnya, Rakdos, and Azorius, because…
Shocklands
Shocklands are back! But we only get five of them and they are a mix of enemy and ally colors.
For allied colors we got Gruul and Dimir lands in Stomping Ground and Watery Grave. So while I was saying above that Selesnya, Rakdos, and Azorius are going to be tough to play, it’s because they lost two cycles of untapped lands and are not gaining a shockland. For now.
Meanwhile, Gruul will probably be the go-to two color aggro deck in Standard for a while just because it has the best mana of the typical aggro color pairs.
Shocklands also work great with the Verge lands, as they have land types that can turn the verges on.
Here is a quick guide to what two color pairs are going to have the best to worst mana:
Shockland plus Fastland: Orzhov, Simic, Boros
Shockland, no Fastland: Dimir, Gruul
Fastland, no Shockland: Izzet, Golgari
No Fastland, no Shockland: Azorius, Rakdos, Selesnya
Black Removal
Black is losing a lot of staple removal spells in Standard. Cut Down, Go for the Throat, and Anoint with Affliction were all popular removal spells, with Cut Down keeping a variety of two and three drops from seeing play because of the potential tempo loss of your 2/3 or even 1/4 dying to a Cut Down.
This is going to affect decks like Dimir Midrange, Golgari Midrange, and Mono-Black.
Outside of the removal package, Dimir Midrange is a big winner in Standard. It didn’t have any cards banned, and none of its big threats are leaving the format in rotation. It will need to fill in those removal spells, but that can be accomplished with cards like Bitter Triumph, Shoot the Sheriff, or even Stab.
Dimir Midrange does lose Faerie Mastermind, but there are some possible replacements such as Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel.
Golgari Midrange is also losing Glissa Sunslayer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and Tear Asunder, so it is going to have to find new top end threats, and removal spells.
Aggro Cards
Aggro isn’t losing much from rotation, unless you are a convoke player that is.
Knight-Errant of Eos and Gleeful Demolition are on their way out, and without Knight-Errant of Eos to pay off playing a bunch of little creatures and token makers, I think the deck will have to morph into anthem effects or Arabella, Abandoned Doll as their payoffs instead.
Monastery Swiftspear, slyly printed in Brother’s War, is also on its way out. Red decks lost two one-drops in the recent bans, and now loses another. So Red aggro players are going to have to do some soul searching to figure out what to cast with their turn one mountain (outside of Hired Claw).
Control Cards
Mono-White Control loses key removal like Lay Down Arms, Temporary Lockdown and Sunfall.
They do gain replacements like Seam Rip, Pinnacle Starcage, and Beyond the Quiet, so the deck may be fine.
Ramp Cards
Zur Overlords is losing its key card in Zur, Eternal Schemer and key removal spell in Leyline Binding. This isn’t the end for this deck really, because a lot of players have already moved over to playing Yuna, Hope of Spira instead.
Roots Decks
Insidious Roots decks are losing a big one in Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler. Anyone who played Alchemy back when roots was popular can tell you: Tyvar rotating pretty much killed the deck, and expect the same to happen in Standard.
Tyvar just does too many things for the deck. From filling the graveyard, to bringing back a threat and triggering roots, to most importantly letting your tokens tap for mana right away to keep the combo chain going.
Without Tyvar, your potential for explosive turns is much lower, and while it is still possible, I expect most players to put Insidious Roots down.
Winners and Losers
Honestly, outside of having to reconfigure some mana bases and picking up some new removal spells, most decks in Standard will emerge unscathed.
Dimir Midrange, Izzet Cauldron, Yuna decks, Mono-Green Landfall, Azorius Control, Gruul Aggro and more are all going to be good places to start on day 1 if you don’t have the budget or wildcards to craft something new.
The biggest losers are Convoke decks, Roots decks, and maybe Golgari Midrange? I just think that Golgari will have to replace some number of threats and removal, so it might be a tough world for a bit.
Let’s move on to talk about Alchemy!
Alchemy
Lands
Alchemy is losing even more lands than Standard, so much that Wizards had to add the “Check” or “Buddy” lands (Sunpetal Grove, Sulfar Falls, etc.) into the format with the release of Edge of Eternities. Here is what we are losing:
Restless Creature Lands
Printed in Wilds of Eldraine and Lost Caverns of Ixalan, each color pair is losing access to these creature lands. While they didn’t see a ton of play here at the end, a variety of decks would sneak one or two into their mana base for the occasions that they did flood out.
Surveil Lands
Printed in Murders at Karlov Manor, each color pair is losing their tapped surveil land. Surveil lands were great because they turned on the Verge lands, and had value in their ability to help you find what you needed.
Enemy Fastlands
Printed in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, we are losing Blooming Marsh, Botanical Sanctum, Concealed Courtyard, Inspiring Vantage, and Spirebluff Canal. This is a blow to enemy color decks, especially those trying to play on curve early in the game.
Other
We are losing a few other lands worth mentioning, namely Captivating Crossroads, Cavern of Souls, and Escape Tunnel.
Captivating Crossroads was a powerful fixer, although its power diminished as soon as we became reliant on Verge lands, as the crossroads itself doesn’t turn the verges on but fetching a basic land with Fabled Passage does.
Cavern of Souls doesn’t see a ton of play, but it will be a blow to Selesnya Rabbits. Similarly, Escape Tunnel only sees play in decks trying to make use of Tifa Lockhart, so they will have to find another way to get two landfall triggers.
Shocklands
Just like Standard, we are gaining five Shocklands, which will work well with the Verge lands and Check lands, but those are our only cycles of dual lands, meaning we will have to lean hard on cards like Starting Town, Fabled Passage, and Desert Cenote to fix our mana.
Removal Spells
We are losing a lot of removal spells at rotation, and the way we kill creatures is about to change dramatically.
We lost Standard staples Cut Down and Go for the Throat a year ago, so most Alchemy players had been used to playing cards like Bitter Triumph or Shoot the Sheriff for their black removal, and both of those are leaving us.
We are also losing Shove Aside and Torch the Tower for red based decks, Get Lost for White decks, and Lightning Helix if you are both.
Long time Alchemy staple Porcine Portent is finally on its way out the door. While an obnoxious evil during the days of Esper Rusko, the past year it was just a solid role player in the format that could answer indestructible creatures and problematic artifacts and enchantments.
Lastly, Case of the Gateway Express, and all of the case cards, is rotating, meaning that aggro decks like Selesnya Rabbits will have to fully turn towards Sheltered by Ghosts for their removal.
Chorus Cards
All of the Chorus cards are on their way out the door. While their play rate had fallen after the nerf to Ribald Shanty, and shift toward Izzet Prowess and Mobilize aggro, most players will still be happy to see them go.
Heist Cards
The Heist nightmare is over! Well, it was over a few months ago when the deck dropped off the face of the earth, but now it will be officially over as they leave the format. Technically you can still play Polterheist to get your heisting fix, but I have doubts about that card rising to prominence.
Orzhov Bounce Cards
While they had to ban this deck out in Standard, Alchemy has a beautiful faster rotation schedule, so this deck is naturally on its way out the door.
Hopeless Nightmare itself is leaving the format, as is Nurturing Pixie. Alchemy as a whole is losing Dedicated Dollmaker (may she rest in hell) which is another big hit to the deck, and also means we are losing silly combos like the dollmaker plus Three Blind Micestrategy.
While there are several elements of this deck that are sticking around, losing two different ways to bounce or re-trigger Naktamun Shines Again and other permanents makes the deck much more clunky.
Other White Cards
Aven Interrupter the old foil to Heist, and still played in several decks, is saying goodbye.
More importantly, Abuelo’s Awakening is rotating, meaning that Omniscience players are going to have to find another way to return their enchantment from the graveyard to play.
And that is probably pretty good timing, since Rest in Peace is leaving us with the departure of The Big Score.
Other Blue Cards
Blue decks lose a cantrip in the form of Sleight of Hand, making them more reliant on Opt, and banned in Standard This Town Ain’t Big Enough also says goodnight, in another blow to any potential bounce decks.
While it didn’t see much play until it had a moment in the past couple of months, Tome of Gadwick is also out, meaning that blue decks really do only have Opt for their cheap cantrips.
Other Black Cards
Black decks are losing access to sideboard all-star Phantasmal Extraction, and Deep-Cavern Bat, meaning that the cards in our opponent’s hand are slightly safer in a post-rotation world.
Deep-Cavern Bat leaving is also a hit to Bat decks, but I think they will still be in decent shape.
Other Red Cards
Plot cards Demonic Ruckus and Slickshot Show-Off are on their way home. The loss of Demonic Ruckus is a small hit to Boros Mice/Aura decks, and Slickshot Show-Off always saw some amount of play in various Izzet or Boros decks.
Other Green Cards
Banned in Standard, Up the Beanstalk is withering away in Alchemy as well, although to a more natural process called rotation. I was a fan of beanstalk decks until the end, and you could frequently find me on the ladder try to curve beanstalk into Overlord of the Hauntwoods.
Landfall decks are also losing Bristly Bill, Spine Sower as a way to grow their Tifa Lockhart into lethal range much faster.
Other Cards
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron leaves the format, so Izzet Vivi players may need to rethink their strategy if they were using that synergy in their deck.
Insidious Roots is also on its way out, although it wasn’t a big player in the format anymore, it is now officially gone for good.
Winners and Losers
There are some clear losers with this Alchemy rotation. As discussed above, Orzhov Bounce/Blink is likely dead, Chorus/Heist is completely rotating, Omniscience decks need to rethink their plan, and removal and mana bases are about to get worse.
Izzet Vivi will live on in some form, but it is losing some key cards, so it will have to rebuild itself up.
The winners of Alchemy rotation are Bloomburrow typal decks. Boros Mice, Selesnya Rabbits, Orzhov Bats, Azorius Birds, hell even Rakdos Lizards or Simic Frogs. They are all losing very little from rotation, and while their mana will be worse, they are an easy place to start if you aren’t looking to craft a new deck.
Mobilize Aggro is another fine place to start, as they aren’t losing anything outside of a couple of lands. And Mono-Green Landfall is largely intact as well.
Wrapping Up
Rotation is the most exciting time of the year for a Standard or Alchemy player. Old decks are put to rest, and new players, either from the new set or old cards that had lived in the shadows of more powerful predecessors, rise up to take their place.
It is the best time of year to do some brewing, and that is exactly what I plan on doing! So you can tune in next Tuesday, when I will be dropping a ton of new decks for both Standard and Alchemy that should be a blast to try out.
Until then, enjoy the last week of pre-rotation Standard or Alchemy, or don’t and just look forward to the release of Edge of Eternities!
