Mono Black 《Waste Not》 (Pioneer)

Outlaws of Thunder Junction comes with some potential good cards for Mono Black, and 《Waste Not》 is a decent competitive deck in Pioneer that will probably get some of these new cards.

《Kaervek, the Punisher》 is probably the most promising of them because the deck is basically already well setup to commit crimes. It’s built on discard spells! This way, you can re-cycle pretty much every interactive spell you’ve casted making Kaervek a threat strong enough to take over the game.

For the same reason, I think 《Gisa, the Hellraiser》 is potentailly promising. While it is on paper worse than 《Sheoldred, the Apocalypse》, it is much better against interaction and can really go well with all the crimes this deck can commit.

In addition to this powerful legends, there’s one more card that I think will likely be playable in the archetype: 《Insatiable Avarice》.

Not only this deck sometimes manafloods in which case drawing 3 cards can mean winning the game, but also the tutor mode can be quite powerful here, allowing us to play a small toolbox of cards like 《Deadly Cover-Up》 and 《Extinction Event》 in addition to cards like 《Sheoldred, the Apocalypse》 to be able to have access to them in the lategame.

I think if 《Insatiable Avarice》 ends being good enough it might change how the whole archetype is built, because a card like this offering a much better topdeck power might lead into the deck being able to play more cheap removal spells and less cards like 《Liliana of the Veil》, which are relatively needed to have enough staying power.

Dimir Control (Pioneer)

Grixis Jace/Valki is a control deck that tries to maximize the interaction between those two cards. Based on how the plot mechanic works, we can play 《Jace Reawakened》 on Turn 4, plot 《Valki, God of Lies》, and on Turn 5 we can play 《Valki, God of Lies》 while having all our mana available. That includes 《Deadly Cover-Up》, which can combo perfectly with these cards to setup a clean board for our 《Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor》 planeswalker.

Since the deck is already counting on the planeswalkers to te able to end the game, most of the slots are dedicated towards interacting with the opponent or assembling the combo itself relatively fast. For that reason the deck includes a card like 《Deduce》 but not stuff like 《Memory Deluge》, which is a little bit slow if you are trying to setup 《Jace Reawakened》 on Turn 4.

《Jace Reawakened》 not only adds to the combo, but also offers a very valuable way to loot dead cards. Looting is particularly important in heavily interactive decks, as our deck will often have dead cards against certain matchups, like removal against control decks or slow cards against creature decks. In that case, I expect Jace to be acceptable against most decks. 《Valki, God of Lies》, similarly, is a decent two mana card if it can take a creature but will work as an OK finisher for 7 mana against control decks. Use them wisely!

Card to Re-Evaluate: 《Valki, God of Lies》＆《Jace Reawakened》

The interaction between 《Valki, God of Lies》 and 《Jace Reawakened》 has been hyped and I think there might be something onto it.

While I think playing 《Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor》 on turn 5 is powerful, I don’t think that will be enough to make it competitive in formats that are somewhat fast. What I think is appealing is the potential 《Jace Reawakened》 has to generate mana every turn. If 《Jace Reawakened》 ends being good enough to see constructed play, 《Valki, God of Lies》 and virtually every other card that can be cheated into play with Jace should be reevalueated carefully, as in that case that will be strong enough to simply create a new archetype.

Rakdos Crime (Standard)

This deck includes many of the “Commit a Crime” gimmicks in the new set. It can aim for a quick game with 《Forsaken Miner》 and 《Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier》, while also fighting the resource game with 《Laughing Jasper Flint》 and 《Rakdos, the Muscle》.

The deck play the new set of rares in the order of the mana curve while doing commit a crime things with 《Tinybones Joins Up》 and 《Vial Smasher, Gleeful Grenadier》. The two-color deck is full of legends, so it can play a lot of value lands such as 《Plaza of Heroes》. We are especially interested in 《Field of Ruin》 and 《Jagged Barrens》 as lands that can do commit a crime.

《Rakdos, the Muscle》 works especially well with 《Forsaken Miner》, sacrificing the 《Forsaken Miner》 allows Rakdos to do commit a crime and immediately return the 《Forsaken Miner》 to the field while taking the top of the opponent’s deck.

《Rakdos Joins Up》 Combo (Standard)

This is an infinite damage combo deck that uses 《Abuelo’s Awakening》《Rakdos Joins Up》《Hulking Metamorph》. If you have 《Rakdos Joins Up》 and 《Hulking Metamorph》 in your graveyard, you can play only one 《Abuelo’s Awakening》 for infinite damage.

The combo route is as follows.

It takes a bit of work because 《Hulking Metamorph》 has to go through 《Abuelo’s Awakening》 so that 《Rakdos Joins Up》 can be copied by 《Hulking Metamorph》, but if the graveyard is good, it can be an instant death combo with just one 《Abuelo’s Awakening》. It’s a dream come true.

If an enchanted version of 《Hulking Metamorph》 (a copy of an enchantment that enters the field as an enchantment creature) is released, it will be a two-card combo with 《Rakdos Joins Up》, so I have high hopes for the future.

《Threefold Thunderhulk》 is a subplan for both 《Abuelo’s Awakening》 and 《Rakdos Joins Up》. Both 《Abuelo’s Awakening》 and 《Rakdos Joins Up》 increase the size of the card, so it is a good match for 《Threefold Thunderhulk》 in a subtle way.

Card to Re-Evaluate

《Micromancer》

This card, which can only search for 1 mana spells, was inevitably difficult to play in Standard, where the card pool is small. The new set contains numerous “Spree” spells, many of which are one mana. Therefore, there are many more options for 《Micromancer》! I especially recommend 《Three Steps Ahead》 as a search target. By copying the 《Micromancer》 while countering it, you can play the next search for 《Three Steps Ahead》 again……

《Armored Scrapgorger》

A card with a powerful ability like 《Gisa, the Hellraiser》 should be triggered on the turn you play it, if possible. Cards that can continuously commit a crime will be valued more. If possible, it is better to use cards with guaranteed card power. 《Armored Scrapgorger》 is less common in Standard now that the card pool has increased, but it may come back into play as a means of triggering commit a crime.

《Aether Vial》

《Satoru, the Infiltrator》 is a noteworthy card in the lower formats. It is a perfect match for this card, which can produce a creature every turn without spending mana. Decks that use 《Satoru, the Infiltrator》 to draw a card every turn with 《Aether Vial》 or 《Soulherder》 are the first decks to try in the new Modern.

Gruul Aggro (Standard)

This deck finally got enough prowess creatures that it might work with the addition of 《Slickshot Show-Off》. We got up to 12 creatures that can go off with 《Monstrous Rage》 or 《Audacity》 to do a one shot kill. The speed of this deck is one of the strenghts and makes your opponents beware of dying from turn 3 to 4 as you can plot 《Slickshot Show-Off》 on turn 2 and actually kill them easily on 4 and sometimes maybe on 3 if you curve perfectly this together with 《Picnic Ruiner》 as another threat that threathens to kill on turn 3. Now we got enough ways to make our plan work more smoothly.

Mono White Weenie (Pauper)

This deck has been around and I think finally it’s time to shine the engine of 《Kor Skyfisher》 with a lot of ETB and the card advantage of 8x 《Novice Inspector》 and 《Militia Bugler》 entwined with the new cards of 《Holy Cow》. The new improved 《Stagecoach Security》 to pump all your creatures will make this deck kill out of nowhere with tokens like 《Battle Screech》 and fetching 4 《Squadron Hawk》.

Card to Re-Evaluate

《Monstrous Rage》

This card has been a player for a longtime in Standard but now I think we reached the point the card is a cornercase of a possible very strong deck with 《Slickshot Show-Off》.《Monstrous Rage》 can give lethal out of nowhere combined with 1 more spell like 《Play with Fire》which reach 10 damage that is half your life total!!! Beware guys you might be cheesed really quick with 《Slickshot Show-Off》.

《Battle Screech》

We might have forgotten about this card but this was a Limited uncommon powerhouse before becoming a common and a super staple for Pauper after being common. This deck has been under the radar but with the new addition of 《Stagecoach Security》 it could be the pump this deck needed to be tier 1 again. We had cards like 《Guardians’ Pledge》before to try to pump all your creatures but that card is kind of narrow and a bad topdeck when you got no board. With 《Stagecoach Security》 you get a beefy creature that you can set up with plot and play for free when you are ready to attack with all those birds making it a perfect fit for this kind of strategy!

Boros Heroic (Standard)

I love this deck in Pioneer, but this time I built the deck in Standard. This deck play the new card, 《Slickshot Show-Off》 which I’m sure you’ve all noticed.

You can expect to win with 《Illuminator Virtuoso》 as in the Heroic Deck, but I will play 《Slickshot Show-Off》 from Plot to play a large number of spells and aim to deal a lot of damage.

If there is no interaction at all, but if you can plot 《Demonic Ruckus》 on turn 1, 《Slickshot Show-Off》 on turn 2, and give them a double strike with 《Monstrous Rage》 and 《Twinferno》 on turn 3 in combination with the card you Plot, you can hit 20 damage on turn 3. In fact, it is likely that it will be able to do a lot of damage by cutting down little by little and then seeing an opening.

Also, the 2-mana 5-damage 《Scorching Shot》 is a red deck’s new countermeasure against 《Sheoldred, the Apocalypse》. If the deck is attacking with multiple creatures like the Mono Red deck, I would suggest using 《Witchstalker Frenzy》, but if the deck does not have multiple creatures like this deck does, this is a good candidate to play.

Izzet Artifacts (Standard)

This two-color deck is packed with cheap cards that can now be built with the Fastlands. It plays several new cards.

《Lost Jitte》 is good with cheap flying creatures, and since it is an artifact, there are several cards that work well with it, such as 《Disruption Protocol》 and 《Case of the Filched Falcon》.

《Legion Extruder》 has specs reminiscent of the 《Bonecrusher Giant》, and after removing small creatures such as 《Deep-Cavern Bat》 and 《Mosswood Dreadknight》, it turns artifact tokens from various one-mana creatures and 《Malcolm, the Eyes》 into 3/3s.

《Shifting Grift》 can be played in this deck to trade our tokens for your opponent’s cards or one mana cards for your opponent’s powerful cards, as long as you pay the mana. You can send cards like 《Greed’s Gambit》 to them, but simply exchanging your cheap cards for their expencive cards is strong enough.

Card to Re-Evaluate

《Plaza of Heroes》

This set contains many multicolor legendary spells, which will be very useful when using them. Recently, they have only been used in a few decks, such as the 4C Legends that won the “26th Standard God Challenger Tournaments. 《Plaza of Heroes》 has been played in other decks, such as Esper Legends, but coupled with the return of Fastland, we may see decks full of legendary cards in color combinations other than Esper.

Mishra Lands in the Same Colors as Fastlands

Golgari, Azorius, and Dimir’s Mishra lands have been playd in many of those decks and others. However, the Mishra lands have been rarely played in decks where those color combinations did not exist. The return of the fastlands will create new variations in two-color aggro to midrange decks. I believe these lands will then be played in more than one copy. Having more variations of lands will have more impact than you can imagine when it comes to Standard.

Mono Black Midrange (Standard)

This is a disruptive midrange deck that can kill you out of nowhere with the combo finish of 《Bloodletter of Aclazotz》 and 《Rush of Dread》, a new card from Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

The discard enchantments (《Tinybones Joins Up》 and 《Hopeless Nightmare》) enable the deck to play 《Beseech the Mirror》 in addition to 《Insatiable Avarice》〕, so you can find the combo very consistently. Plentiful tutor effects also let you play haymaker silver bullets like 《Path of Peril》. From the new set we also get a potential removal spell in 《Shoot the Sheriff》.

Decks like this that have multiple game plans are often very hard to play against. The threat of killing the opponent with normal damage will often leave them vulnerable to the combo, whereas the threat of the combo makes it risky to spend removal spells on the aggro plan. 《Deep-Cavern Bat》 and 《Preacher of the Schism》 often require removal spells anyway even if they aren’t particularly aggressive, making the 《Bloodletter of Aclazotz》‘s more likely to survive. It is also nice that neither combo piece is a dead card by itself, and they can contribute towards killing the opponent even if drawn separately, thus avoiding a common downside of combo decks.

Card to Re-Evaluate：《Flow of Knowledge》

Mono Blue decks based around 《Flow of Knowledge》 have been seen before in Standard but not recently. However, I could see it finding its place again as a powerful top end card for aggressive Mono Blue decks alongside 《Proft’s Eidetic Memory》 and 《Duelist of the Mind》, both of which give you a very immediate power boost on the turn you cast the card draw spell, especially if you have both of them at the same time! These three cards simply play very well together and I’m excited to try out this kind of strategy. Who doesn’t like drawing a ton of cards?

Satoru Affinity (Modern)

This is a variant of the classic Affinity shell – but with the help from new Outlaws of Tunder Junction cards, it tries to stay true to it’s name and focus very hard on making the most of the namesake mechanic. 《Simulacrum Synthesizer》 is the top-end of choice – every Affinity creature will trigger it, flooding the board with constructs. Following 《Simulacrum Synthesizer》 up with a 《Frogmite》 seems easy enough, and soon your 7-mana Affinity creatures will be free.

Once they are, 《Satoru, the Infiltrator》 will make nearly all of your creatures draw a card. You’ll get the trigger even when you Unearth a 《Combat Courier》! Drawing more cards will help produce an overwhelming board turn after turn. I tried to incorporate 《Beck/Call》 for more redundancy on that effect and even crazier turns – unfortunately, the mana requirements on Satoru are challenging enough as is, so I had to scrap that idea. More 《Tanglepool Bridge》 and less 《Darksteel Citadel》 could possibly be a way to fit Beck.

《Urza’s Saga》 can fetch a 《Shadowspear》 – a tried and tested way to make Constructs game winning, but here we are also running a 《Lost Jitte》. While I’m not certain it will end up being worth it, untapping 《Urza’s Saga》 to produce even more constructs per turn sounds promising!

Card to Re-Evaluate：《Helping Hand》

《Helping Hand》 and 《Recommission》 were role-players in a fringe Delver-like deck – you’d return 《Monastery Mentor》 or 《Haughty Djinn》, cast cantrips, and use cheap interaction to protect and trigger your creature.

《Geralf, the Fleshwright》 seems to be another excellent creature to reanimate with your mana untapped. Following Geralf up with a cantrip or two will create a formidable board quickly. Not to mention, enemy-colored fastlands are back in Standard, too – those surely will help stitch together a manabase solid enough to support all the one-mana spells you need. This kind of strategy seems worth revisiting with the new set.