With the release of Guilds of Ravnica, the latest Magic: The Gathering expansion, Standard format will rotate out five sets: Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, Amonkhet, and Hour of Devastation.
Lots of really powerful cards will disappear from the format, and many players will face the hard decision of choosing new cards to rely on when building meta-defining decks for the next season.
If you want to know all the advantages and disadvantages of the new Guilds of Ravnica cards, then follow our guide for the 9 best cards for Standard and some ideas on decks that will benefit the most from these cards.
Pelt Collector
This Elf Warrior will most likely see play in three variants of green Standard decks.
Mono-Green Stompy
Here Pelt Collector will serve as an alternative turn one play for Llanovar Elves with the potential for further growth and aggressive early attacks. On turn two it can be buffed by Thorn Lieutenant and on turn three by Steel Leaf Champion.
White-Green Stompy
The strategy is similar to the mono-green deck, but this time you can add Shalai, Voice of Plenty for protection and further buffing of your creatures. You can also add Vine Mare as an alternative for Shalai.
Black-Green Aggro
Golgari is probably the best choice for Pelt Collector in Standard. Here in addition to all the early big creatures you can play Demon of Catastrophes, to which you can sacrifice other creatures and keep the Collector growing.
Emmara, Soul of the Accord
Since Emmara belongs to Selesnya guild, her usability is a tad limited in comparison to mono-color creatures. But there are two types of decks, where she will shine in full force.
White-Green Tokens
The strength of Emmara in a token-based decks comes from an ability to repeatedly generate tokens. She will work great alongside cards like March of the Multitudes and Divine Visitation, which turns all 1/1 tokens into 4/4 Angels. This is undoubtedly one of the strongest combos you will witness during this Standard season.
Abzan Knights
In this case Emmara will produce tokens for the History of Benalia value. The black color is needed to get both Knight of Grace and Knight of Malice into the deck for synergy. This list should be played in an aggressive way even if it means that you will lose a token or two during the blocking step.
Ionize
Guilds of Ravnica introduced some exciting removal and counter spells, one of which is especially interesting. Ionize not only counters other spells, but it also deals damage in the process. You will be able to see it in three kinds of Standard decks.
Blue-Red Control
Here Ionize can be played alongside Lightning Strike and Sinister Sabotage. This type of deck can also take advantage of a new Ral planeswalker that can easily win the game with his ultimate ability.
Jeskai Control
This archetype can be just as effective, but instead of Ral you can use Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. In addition to Ionize and Lightning Strike you can also play Settle the Wreckage and deal with entire board of enemy creatures.
Grixis Control
Lastly, there is option to play with Nicol Bolas, the Ravager and The Eldest Reborn. Any of these color combinations will work great, you only need to find out which of these three strategies fits your playstyle the best.
Legion Warboss
Legion Warboss is what Standard Goblin decks have been missing in order to turn into a competitive archetype. Now you can expect a few variants appear in this meta.
Mono-Red Goblins
At this stage Goblin tribal decks in Standard can't get too aggressive due to the lack of viable early threats, but when you reach 3-4 mana you can start playing all the best Goblins the format can offer, including Legion Warboss, Goblin Chainwhirler, Goblin Warchief, Volley Veteran, and others.
White-Red Soldiers
Since you can't make an aggro deck out of Goblins alone, you can rely on the plan that includes Heroic Reinforcements and Radiant Destiny that will buff your Soldier creatures, such as Skymarcher Aspirant, Boros Challenger, Swiftblade Vindicator, and Legion Warboss.
Naya Tokens
The tokens deck can be based on the usual March of the Multitudes and Divine Visitation combo with Trostani Discordant that can make your tokens even stronger.
Tajic, Legion's Edge
Tajic is a very powerful creature that can be well utilized in a proper deck. As of now you may find him in the following two decks.
White-Red Aggro
This card just begs to be played in an aggro deck, and since it is made for the Boros guild, it perfectly fits the Path of Mettle gameplan. You can also add Kwende and a few other creatures with First Strike that will gain Double Strike as a result. In combination with Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and Heroic Reinforcements it could become one of the most dangerous decks in the meta.
Jeskai Aggro
The Jeskai variant is very similar to the Boros deck, but here you could add a few blue counterspells just to keep things going and prevent the possible board clears from your opponent's side.
Wee Dragonauts
This blue-red Faerie creature has a very narrow field of application just like Enigma Drake and Crackling Drake. But when used properly, it can be truly devastating in the following two variants of the same deck.
Blue-Red Wizards
The Wizards deck has been a favorite of many players after the release of Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. Now you can combine it with Wee Dragonauts, Fire Urchin, Goblin Electromancer and a few other Wizards of your choice for an ultimate Wizard creature tribal deck.
Blue-Red Burn
If you prefer to just sit there and burn your opponent instead of attacking with creatures, then you can opt to leave just Wee Dragonauts and Adeliz, and add burn spells, such as Wizard's Lightning, Lightning Strike and Thousand-Year Storm.
Nullhide Ferox
Steel Leaf Champion has got a new partner in crime -- Nullhide Ferox. This creature is just as big and as dangerous as it can get. On top of that, it has Hexproof, which makes it even stronger.
Nullhide Ferox can be safely played in Green Stompy decks with a couple of variables.
Black-Green Stompy
Play it alongside Vine Mare and Ghalta, Primal Hunger. You can use Assassin's Trophy to remove unwanted blockers and keep hitting opponents with your giant beasts.
White-Green Stompy
You could also make it work in a more midrangey deck alongside Shalai and Lyra Dawnbringer. But probably the best way to use Nullhide Ferox is in combination with Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, which will make it cost only two mana.
Omnispell Adept
This card opens the doors to one of the most powerful sorceries in Magic -- Apex of Power. The spell costs 10 mana, so playing it on its own would be really hard. But with the help of Omnispell Adept you can do it a lot earlier. Here's two possible decks that can make the combo work.
Blue-Red Omnispell
Play lots of card draw spells, such as Chart a Course and Chemister's Insight in order to get Omnispell Adept and Apex of Power. You can also include Brass's Bounty and Fight with Fire or Banefire combo. Last but not least is Omniscience, which would also be a great addition to this type of deck.
Nexus of Fate
Another great opportunity for Omnispell Adept is to use it for casting Nexus of Fate and keep taking turns until you draw Teferi, Hero of Dominaria as your win condition.
Molderhulk
A new Undergrowth mechanic introduced in guilds of Ravnica can trigger a series of really powerful plays in the late game. Molderhulk is one of the best examples of the mechanic that will be seen in the following decks.
Black-Green Midrange
One of the most important cards of this deck except Molderhulk is Stitcher's Supplier that puts cards in your graveyard. Another one is Glowspore Shaman that also suuplies your graveyard with more creatures. Since both of these cards are very cheap this will allow you to play Molderhulk as early as turn three.
Sultai Midrange
Additionally, you could use a reprinted Narcomoeba card and combine it with Demon of Catastrophes. Another two cards that can be well utilized here are Isareth the Awakener and Reassembling Skeleton for some good value.
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Published: Sep 26, 2018 09:37 am