Ghost of Tsushima remains one of the best open world action games that set a new standard. Another new take on Rakdos has emerged by exploiting around Zombify and Koma, World-Eater, two standout cards from Foundations. The archetype’s stock list was piloted by ScreenwriterNY to a 3rd-place finish at a recent Magic Online Challenge. Starting with the release of Final Fantasy in 2025, Universes Beyond tentpole sets were made Standard legal going forward. The following is a list of cards that have been banned at one point during their stay in the Standard environment. While each variant of Dimir Midrange is undeniably powerful, the deck’s real strength lies in its versatility.
While not as skill-intensive as a combo or control deck, GW Enchantments plays a midrange game that requires players to be somewhat familiar with key cards in the Standard meta to remove. In previous iterations, red aggro decks in Standard focused on creatures, aiming to dominate the battlefield with Knights and Mice. Gruul Prowess relied on about a dozen spells to trigger valiant and prowess abilities, while Mono-Red Aggro leaned on a sizable lineup of creatures to deliver relentless damage. Though these archetypes had access to flexible burn spells, their strategy was never about actual, factual burn. This one mana threat has haste and prowess, attacking immediately on the turn it’s deployed and growing by +1/+1 for each noncreature spell cast. Cards like Play With Fire and Lightning Strike activate this ability cheaply while also dealing damage to blockers or players.
Top 16 Archetypes
The reprinted Zombify provides a powerful way to reanimate massive threats earlier than before in Standard. Previously, Rakdos decks relied on options like The Cruelty of Gix, Coiling Rebirth, or Push // Pull, which could be cast on turn five or six. With Zombify, however, you can discard a powerful legendary creature to Fear of Missing Out, Bitter Reunion, or Bitter Triumph and bring it back to life as early as turn four. Against hyper-aggressive decks, that one turn sooner can be the difference between victory and defeat. Two more inclusions from Foundations are Scavenging Ooze and Vivien Reid, both of which Johnson ran a single copy. Scavenging Ooze provides excellent utility against graveyard-focused decks like Azorius Oculus while shoring up the deck’s matchup against red burn strategies by gaining life.
Cheap spells like Bushwhack and Sleight of Hand help to create huge amounts of mana while Up the Beanstalk covers card draw. Ultimately, Mono-Red decks are very much still capable of being shut down and stopped by removal and larger threats. The goal is always to get under these big creatures before they can be played, however, that’s not always possible. Nonetheless, Mono-Red Aggro is always a commander deck popular strategy that can put up great results.
If you want to build up a collection of Standard-legal cards, you can jump into any of these Standard sets to get a foothold. I’ve mentioned already that Standard is one of MTG Arena’s most popular formats. This is largely because it is the simplest format to quickly bring players up and compete.
Should they not be enough, however, the sideboard can house no end of answers thanks to the Jeskai color identity. By unlocking Lutri as your Companion, you gain an edge by copying impactful instants and sorceries in tight mid-game scenarios. Starting with a “free” eighth card—Lutri itself—is an advantage not to be overlooked.
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Since then, there have been people playing this new form of Golgari, and many more sticking with the old builds. Mono-Red is now the most popular and dominant deck of Standard’s metagame, while Temur Prowess passes from non-existence to being more popular than UW Oculus. After MTG Worlds in Las Vegas and many other big tournaments, the metagame has some big moves and a new king of the hill to discuss. In this table, each archetype name hyperlinks to a well-performing, representative decklist.
There was even an oddity in 2000 and 2001 when 6th and 7th Editions were released mid-block. They were also only released once every two years until Magic 2010 revamped the Core Set identity, giving Standard the regular five-to-eight set sizing it would know for a decade. Originally, three-set blocks would rotate all at once, sometimes with a core set. Then, a change to two-set blocks would mean the two oldest blocks still legal in Standard would rotate out of the format. Then the Three-and-One Model eliminated blocks altogether for the newest definition, and shortly after the core set label was abandoned altogether. After all, while the various supplementary products they release are designed for all sorts of different formats, each year’s four main sets are specifically designed with Standard in mind.
While other colors have their versions of aggro, Mono Red’s take on it involves direct damage spells and aggressive low mana-cost creatures. A mono-red player gets to see a lot of the format as they get a lot more matches in much quicker. Aggro decks are unfairly maligned as “brainless” or “simple,” but masters like Frank Karsten have proven the hidden depths of the archetype. Red Aggro is the kind of deck that every player should try at least once.
Dimir Midrange
Yes, life drain and huge demons are a main threat, Jace, the Perfected Mind and Doomsday Excruciator can make for a devastating mill win. All sorts of problematic cards over the years could have been hit, but only the worst offenders like affinity in the Mirrodin era and Caw-Blade in 2011 were bad enough to receive bans. Given that, Standard bans have been more common in recent years, especially with Throne of Eldraine being as powerful as it was. When Standard rotated as of Bloomburrow, the number of legal sets in the card pool shrunk to about two years of sets. Upcoming in 2027, the rotation shifts to the calendar year, bookmark this page for more details when we’re closer to that rotation. It’s the most popular format to play on MTG Arena, and when it works, it’s constantly evolving.
The deck features a proactive game plan (flyers), plays good removal and a bunch of efficient card draw. As we’ve seen, Foundations has introduced a wealth of exciting new cards to the Standard format, breathing new life into both established and emerging archetypes. Below is a summary table showcasing the 25 most played new-to-Standard cards based on the decklists I analyzed.
I have greatly enjoyed Singleton decks over my competitive Magic career, as they have offered unique challenges as both a deck builder and a player. Even though they might not optimize your chances to win, they provide a refreshing approach to tournaments, ensuring a different experience every game while testing your adaptability. That variance can be immensely enjoyable, and my results at Pro Tours demonstrate that Singleton decks can hold their own in 60-card formats with expansive card pools.