#10 – 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》

It might not be a sleeper, as the card played a relevant role in current Standard, although I want to mention the Knight for a different reason. We all know how great it was in WB Vampires, the deck dominating the format few weeks ago. Now, when we lose Ixalan, being a Vampire is close to useless, and 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》 will be the biggest loser of the rotation. You know what, 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》, as the name suggests, is also a Knight!

It’s very important, because in Throne of Eldraine we will get a huge Knight-Tribal support, and I’m ready to say Knights will become a new Vampires! We have many great cards in this theme, and the preview season isn’t even done yet! Just look at 《Smitten Swordmaster》, 《Inspiring Veteran》, 《The Circle of Loyalty》. I just can’t wait to try this new archetype when set comes out! We even have a great fixing for three color aggro – 《Tournament Grounds》!

#9 – 《Drawn from Dreams》

Do you remember 《Dig Through Time》? Maybe Drawn is not as broken, as its older brother, but that’s also the reason why it’s still legal in Standard and Modern. The new version seems to be well balanced. Effect is still very powerful, but the cost is accurate. Without 《Search for Azcanta》, blue decks will need some good source of card advantage and card selection. 《Narset, Parter of Veils》 is great, but it will not be enough.

#8 – Mill Package (《Ashiok, Dream Render》, 《Jace, Wielder of Mysteries》)

In the new set we will get a nice support for mill decks! There is a whole theme built around cards in opponent’s graveyard. I can see 《Vantress Gargoyle》, 《Folio of Fancies》, and 《Drown in the Loch》 making the new archetype possible!

Jace fits well, as a source of card advantage and mill in just one card. Ashiok is a little different, as it exiles opponent’s graveyard on ability resolution, so it counters the “number of cards in graveyard” synergy, at the same time also mills many cards on its own. It all depends on how we want to build our deck. If the main goal will be to force our opponent to draw a card from empty library, three mana Planeswalker should be great. On the other hand, if we want to focus on letting the Gargoyle kill our opponent, it might be better to leave Ashiok on the bench.

Remember there are still cards like 《Drowned Secrets》 or 《Enter the God-Eternals》, so we will have more than enough tools to build a mill deck. The real question is, how good can it realistically be. There is only one way to figure it out. Wait for the Throne of Eldraine release and try it! I’ll give it a shot for sure!

#7 – 《Expansion/Explosion》

The biggest drawback of powerful late game finishers is being dead in the early game. 《Expansion/Explosion》 does a great job preventing that drawback. If we draw too much of expensive stuff, we can copy something and make value out of it early in the game. It might be opponent’s burn spell, that we use as removal on their creature, maybe 《Chemister’s Insight》 to draw two cards for two mana? There are countless options!

Esper used to be the prime king of control decks, now with access to only four Temples mana base will be bad, and I can see an opportunity here for Jeskai Control (with eight Temples) to rise! 《Explosion》 would fit there well!

There is still the old Temur Reclamation deck, that I tried in Standard 2020, and was happy about how it played out. Obviously, our Izzet split-card is a main win-condition there, next to 《Niv-Mizzet, Parun》.

#6 – UB Control Package (《God-Eternal Kefnet》, 《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》, 《Ritual of Soot》)

UB was my favorite pet deck after War of the Spark released. Most of the cards I used were from that expansion, so the concept survives rotation very well. Throne of Eldraine brings us new toys though! As I said above, explaining the mill idea, we will get some insane stuff to make UB great again!

《Drown in the Loch》 is the most efficient late game counterspell and removal that existed in Standard for a long time. 《Folio of Fancies》 is insane with 《Narset, Parter of Veils》, and versus slower decks it’s a win-condition itself! Even if we play a defensive role, 《Vantress Gargoyle》 is a huge wall with flying, that will give us a lot of time, and protect Narset and other stuff from taking damage.

Last time my choice (UB over Esper) was arguable, because Esper’s mana was good and baby Teferi is broken, but now, when Esper lost great duallands, going back to two colors might be worth it! You can just replace 《Drowned Catacomb》 with 《Dismal Backwater》 and mana will function well.

#5 – 《Omnath, Locus of the Roil》

In the current Standard Elementals didn’t play a relevant role, but after every rotation format slows down a little, and loses some general power level, and this is the time for Elementals to shine. The whole theme is from Core Set 2020, so we don’t lose a single piece, while other decks do.

Next to Omnath, I love the other forgotten card – 《Spark Double》. Making a copy of the legendary Elemental provides insane value when enters the battlefield, and later in the game with lands triggers. With 《Neoform》, the combo is even more consistent, as we can tutor for it, and have a value from sacrificed creatures, like 《Risen Reef》, or 《Cloudkin Seer》, taken already. If you want to give it a try, here is my last list, that I used to grind Standard 2020 ladder with over 75% winrate:

4 Omnath, Locus of the Roil (M20) 216 3 Forest (XLN) 276 1 Island (XLN) 264 4 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246 4 Steam Vents (GRN) 257 4 Stomping Ground (RNA) 259 4 Temple of Mystery (M20) 255 3 Temple of Epiphany (M20) 253 1 Thornwood Falls (M20) 258 4 Leafkin Druid (M20) 178 4 Paradise Druid (WAR) 171 4 Cloudkin Seer (M20) 54 4 Risen Reef (M20) 217 2 Scampering Scorcher (M20) 158 2 Spark Double (WAR) 68 1 Cavalier of Flame (M20) 125 1 Cavalier of Thorns (M20) 167 4 Shock (M19) 156 4 Neoform (WAR) 206 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno (M20) 127

How to Use It?

　1. Copy the whole text.

　2. Open the Deck menu on MTG Arena and click “Import”.

　3. If you succeeded, your deck will be there as an “Imported Deck”.

#4 – 《Dread Presence》

There are two kinds of people. Those who love Mono Black, and those who hate it. I’m in the first group, because 《Gray Merchant of Asphodel》 gave me a pro tour invite long time ago. 《Dread Presence》 itself isn’t enough, to make a big come back, but with the new expansion we get a brand-new ability – Adamant – that cares about the number of a black mana (in our case) spent for a spell. We don’t know the full card list yet, so there is a hope we get more cards like 《Foreboding Fruit》, but even if not, there are some cool options for Mono Black to become real.

《Rankle, Master of Pranks》 is very powerful, and we can easily build a deck around it. 《Murderous Rider》 is another efficient removal, giving us a chance to gain some card advantage, and 《Ayara, First of Locthwain》 works well with other black creatures. In the times, when three color decks might struggle with mana, being mono colored can be a big advantage, especially when we can get a free value out of utility lands like 《Witch’s Cottage》 and 《Castle Locthwain》. If Mono Black becomes a real, 《Dread Presence》 will be for sure a core of it.

#3 – Green Stompy Package (《Pelt Collector》, 《Growth-Chamber Guardian》, 《Vivien, Arkbow Ranger》)

Loss of 《Llanowar Elves》 hurts, but is fair. One mana ramp just doesn’t belong to Standard. After rotation, we will have to focus on curving out on regular way, starting with 《Pelt Collector》. Fortunately the new sets gives us few strong, and big creatures we can use.

《Questing Beast》 is outstanding. Four mana for a 4/4 guy with Haste, Vigilance, and some form of evasion. How could they even come up with that? If that’s not enough, it also kills Planeswalkers, while dealing damage to an opponent, and has Deathtouch to make double-blocking even harder. 《Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig》 might replace 《Steel Leaf Champion》, as a powerful three drop. Together with cards surviving rotation we can get a solid stompy deck.

#2 – RB Package (《Priest of Forgotten Gods》, 《Dreadhorde Butcher》, 《Chandra, Acolyte of Flame》)

RB Aristocrats is my favorite deck in Standard 2020. The whole synergy about sacrificing your own creatures remains untouched. 《Chandra, Acolyte of Flame》 provides a free stuff to sac, 《Dreadhorde Butcher》 played on turn two gets out of control really quickly, and 《Priest of Forgotten Gods》 is a game-breaker if unchecked. I didn’t see many good additions to this archetype in the new set, but I also don’t think we need any. Deck is consistent, powerful and have diversified threats. I can see RB fighting versus Mardu Knights for a number one aggro deck title.

#1 – 《Chandra, Awakened Inferno》

And the number one. Only barely played right now, I think will make a huge impact on the new format.

It’s a perfect finisher for control decks. It can’t be countered or killed before using the ability, which means if we activate the first one once, we don’t have to do anything else other than trying to survive, in order to win the game. Chandra is also a great mass, and point removal in one card, which means we don’t need to spend a card in our deck just for a win-condition. Having a way to close the game on cards that do something else is priceless for control. As I said before, Esper loses the good mana base, so it might be a good time for Jeskai to rise up, and Chandra seems to be the best possible finisher right now.

There are also Elementals, where Chandra does even more. It’s a six mana one-sided mass removal, that can clear the path for our big army. Six starting loyalty, and [+2] on the first ability makes Chandra really hard to kill. Buy it, until you can!