Pro Tour Ixalan is in the books and there is quite a bit to talk about Standard going forward.

Leading up to the event it was clear that Energy variants and Ramunap Red would be among the most played decks. I expected roughly 30% Energy decks and about 10-15% Ramunap Red. Instead, the field ended up consisting of 48.5% Energy decks, and 20% Ramunap Red! That’s right, just about half of the field settled on playing an Energy deck. I feel that just goes to show how powerful the Energy cards really are.

However, when the top 8 was announced, the decks facing off on Sunday gave us plenty of interesting games to look forward to. Contrary to the metagame, the top 8 had a total of 7 different archetypes: 2 4-Color Energy, 1 Temur Energy, 1 Ramunap Red, 1 Sultai Energy, 1 UW Gift, 1 Mardu Vehicles, and 1 Jeskai Approach.

I think it was certainly surprising to see such a diverse top 8 considering that only 30% of the field was non-Energy/non-Red. We tried the majority of these archetypes with the exception of Sultai Energy. Early on we determined that the deck was worse than Temur so we didn’t put much work into it.

Image Copyright: Wizards of the Coast

However, the majority of Team Genesis / Revelation played it to great success (including Seth Manfield who won the PT) so we clearly underestimated it. I personally chose to play Temur Energy along with most of my teammates, while the rest decided to play Ramunap Red. I will go through all the archetypes, share my thoughts on their place in the format, and discuss some of the card choices these players made.

Temur Energy

The deck considered by many to be the best deck in the format, it’s not too hard to understand why. The deck has great mana, the best removal, and some of the most powerful cards in the format.

During testing I found that games can play out quite differently when you’re on the play or the draw.

For example on the draw, a card like 《Longtusk Cub》 isn’t as effective since your opponent has an additional turn to answer it either with a removal or by playing creatures to block it. Where as on the play it’s much easier to start attacking with it into an empty board and the answers to it are more limited. I also found that the matchups vs Ramunap Red and Mardu Vehicles were far closer than I had anticipated.

You dont have many answers to 《Hazoret the Fervent》 outside of a timely 《Confiscation Coup》, and sometimes that may not even be enough.

Regardless this deck has the tools to beat any deck in the format, and Christian Hauck played it all the way to the top 8 of PT Ixalan:

Hauck had many interesting choices in both his main deck and sideboard.

Starting with his main deck, he chose to play six 5 drops which include the full set of 《Glorybringer》, 1 《Confiscation Coup》, and 1 《Skysovereign, Consul Flagship》!

Playing this many 5 drops certainly looks like a lot, but he was also playing 2 《Chandra, Torch of Defiance》 as well as the 4th 《Rootbound Crag》 over the 2nd 《Sheltered Thicket》 to help make sure he got to 5 mana a bit more consitently.

《Confiscation Coup》 is a fine one of to deal with aforementioned 《Hazoret》 as well as 《The Scarab God》.

《Skysovereign, Consul Flagship》 is a card that you don’t see in Temur lists much nowadays. But in a field of Energy midrange decks and with less 《Abrade》s in the metagame, it seems like a good way to grind out opponents in the mirror.

Sideboard

Moving on to the sideboard, the cards that really caught my eye here were 《Lifecrafter's Bestiary》 and 《Blazing Volley》.

《Lifecrafter's Bestiary》 seems like another nice way to grind out opponents in the mirror and against the UB control decks.

《Blazing Volley》 might seem weird, but it can be a 1 mana 《Plague Wind》 vs both Mardu Vehicles and Mono-Black Aggro as they have multiple 1 toughness creatures.

Temur Energy may not have won the PT, but I think it’s still the deck to beat going forward. I expect it to make up at least 25% of the metagame going forward, which is close to the % played at the PT.

4c Energy

Also known as Temur Black, rather than play the full set of 《Glorybringer》 and other 5 drops, the deck splashes black for 《The Scarab God》 and 《Vraska, Relic Seeker》.

Players have long debated whether or not splashing black is worth it. But there’s no doubting how powerful 《The Scarab God》 is, as most games where a player untaps with it they usually end up winning. I could be wrong, but right now I personally prefer the normal Temur build. I feel that having a better mana base and slightly less powerful cards is a better place to be. But if aggro decks went further down in popularity, then taking the risk to have more powerful cards in the mirror could be the way to go. There were two 4c Energy decks in the top 8, but they both looked fairly different:

As you can see, Glogowski opted to play no double red cards and 2 copies of 《Skysovereign, Consul Flagship》 to go along with his 2 《The Scarab God》. I’d say this definitely makes his deck the more consistent of the two versions as he has far less colored requirements.

A couple of other interesting cards he chose to play are 1 copy of 《Supreme Will》 and 1 copy of sｔ《Blossoming Defense》.

《Supreme Will》 isn’t too uncommon as it’s often found in most Energy sideboards. It’s a flexible card that can counter a 《Fumigate》 or a big threat as well as dig for a threat or removal spell.

《Blossoming Defense》 on the other hand is certainly a card we’re not used to seeing in these types of Energy decks. However, it’s a nice way to protect your 《Skysovereign》 and 《The Scarab God》 from removal or 《Confiscation Coup》.

Sideboard

Going over Glogowski’s sideboard, he opted to play additional black cards in the form of 《Cartouche of Ambition》.

Auras in constructed may seem odd, but the card is devastating against all the aggro decks. Especially when placed on a 《Bristling Hydra》, you end up with a huge lifelinker that can gain hexproof which usually seals the deal.

We also see that he opted to play 2 copies of 《River's Rebuke》, while most decks played 0-1. We got to see it in action in the Quarterfinals where it seemed like Pascal Maynard was starting to pull ahead in the 3rd game. Then Glogowski finds his 6th land and casts 《Rebuke》 to bounce Maynard’s entire board and attack him for him for lethal!

The card definitely seems great against the Gift and Tokens decks. I’m not too sure of how good it is in the mirror, but I like it there less as you’re often forced to trade. Now lets check out Mike Sigrist‘s list:

Sigrist on the other hand played 2 copies of 《Glorybringer》 and 3 copies of 《Chandra, Torch of Defiance》!

I’m defenitely a big fan of 《Chandra》 as she’s one of those cards that can take over a game on her own. With removal as well as 《Whirler Virtuoso》 to protect her, it can certainly make things difficult for your opponent as you threaten to end the game with her ultimate.

I think one of the most interesting things to point out in this list are the fact that he’s only playing 2 copies of 《Bristling Hydra》.

Most lists play 3 or 4, but I’ve started to come down on this card as well since the PT. It’s not that great in multiples and does little to help break board stalls. It’s certainly one of the better cards to draw in the Ramunap Red matchup as it helps stop their attacks, but it’s not as powerful as a card like 《Chandra》.

Sideboard

A couple of the cards in the sideboard I’d like to talk about are 《Nissa, Steward of Elements》 and 《Vizier of Many Faces》.

《Nissa》 is definitely best on turn 3, especially when on the play, where she can quickly take over a game if unanswered. I generally like ticking her up to 5 then start activating her 0 ability to put 5 drops directly into play. Also in the late game she can just kill an opponent out of nowhere as you can cast her for 8 and immediately ultimate her to attack your opponent for 10 in the air. I like this card vs Control decks and only on the play in the mirror. She seems ok vs the Token and Gift decks, but if those decks answer her with an effect like 《Cast Out》 or《Angel of Sanctions》, she comes back with 0 loyalty and dies if you remove them from the battlefield.

《Vizier of Many Faces》 is a card that most Temur/4c Energy decks had in their sideboards. The card is excellent in the mirror as it’s essentially a 2 for 1 since you can trade with it and then return it with embalm. There are rarely a shortage of good targets for it so this is certainly a card you’ll want to include in your Energy sideboards as well.

If I had to choose between these two 4c decks, I think I would play this one since cards like 《Glorybringer》 and 《Chandra》 are just more powerful than 《Skysovereign》 and 《Bristling Hydra》. I think we’ll see slightly less 4c decks than Temur going forward, but not by much. I expect this deck to make up 15-20% of the field.

Mardu Vehicles

This was one of my top choices late in testing. With Temur expected to be the most played deck, it was fair to assume there would be less 《Abrade》s in the field.

《Heart of Kiran》, 《Scrapheap Scrounger》 and 《Unlicensed Disintegration》 are still very powerful cards and are without a doubt the main attraction to choosing vehicles over a deck like Ramunap Red.

However, the clear downside to Mardu is its mana. The deck requires to play a high artifact count just to support 《Spire of Industry》. While the deck may be less consistent as a result, it certainly makes up ground on sheer power level.

Curving out 《Toolcraft Exemplar》 into 《Heart of Kiran》 into 《Veteran Motorist》 plus 《Fatal Push》 is certainly about as explosive a draw as this deck can get. Samuel Ihlenfeldt piloted Mardu Vehicles all the way to the top 4 in his first PT ever, lets take a look at his list:

I think the first thing you want to look at here are the numbers of the artifacts he chose to play.

He played only 2 copies of 《Bomat Courier》 and only 2 copies of 《Walking Ballista》. While we have seen lists in the past play less than 4 《Ballista》, less than 4 《Bomat》 isn’t as common. I think the reasoning behind it is that Bomat isn’t as good in this deck as it is in Ramunap Red. In Red, 《Bomat》 will have more opportunities to attack as you have more cheap removal as well as ways to make their creatures can’t block (《Earthshaker Khenra》 and 《Ahn-Crop Crasher》).

In Mardu all you really have are 《Fatal Push》 and 《Unlicensed Disintegration》. Therefore 《Bomat》 isn’t as great here, but it is a turn 1 artifact which is important for 《Spire of Industry》.

Playing 《Walking Ballista》 instead isn’t much worse in terms of mana fixing as you can play it on turn 2. But it also serves as a very good late game draw where as 《Bomat》 simply isn’t. This card is also quite good against decks like Sultai Energy as they have 《Glint-Sleeve Siphoner》, Mono-Black Aggro for 《Siphoner》 and 《Night Market Lookout》, Ramunap Red for 《Bomat》 and 《Earthshaker》, and the mirror match for 《Toolcraft Exemplar》, 《Bomat》, and 《Motorist》.

This is a 《Hazoret the Fervent》 deck, so you have many low curve cards to get it attacking as early as possible. In testing against decks like Temur, some draws resulted in you getting far ahead with an aggressive start, then finishing them off with either 《Hazoret》, or 《Unlicensed Disintegration》.

Sideboard

The sideboard he had also had another interesting choice, 3 copies of 《Dusk // Dawn》 along with a 《Plains》 to help cast them.

This card seems great to bring in vs the Temur decks since it helps deal with 《Bristling Hydra》 which can be a problem for this deck, as well as 《Glorybringer》 and 《Rogue Refiner》. You also have plenty of creatures to return with the 《Dawn》 side which makes this card a great way to grind out the Energy decks.

I think it’s fair to say that Mardu is definitely back as one of the top contenders in Standard and should definitely be respected when preparing for an event. I expect we’ll see more Mardu decks showing up than the 4.4% that showed up at the PT.

Jeskai Approach

While we’re normally used to seeing UW Approach, Guillaume Matignon and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa were the only 2 players in the field to bring Jeskai Approach to the PT.

The deck is a control deck with the goal of surviving up until turn 7 in order to cast 《Approach of the Second Sun》 twice to win the game. Matignon made it all the way to the top 8 with this list:

When I tested UW approach, I found that the deck just lacked good removal and got run over by all the aggressive decks.

The addition of red here allows you to play 《Harnessed Lightning》 as a much needed efficient removal spell. Matignon also plays the full 4 copies of 《Settle the Wreckage》 and 0 《Fumigate》 while most UW lists play a mix of both 《Settle》 and 《Fumigate》.

《Settle》 is the 4 mana 《Wrath of God》 we’ve been waiting for. The fact that it exiles the creatures is huge against cards like 《Hazoret the Fervent》 which is generally a very difficult card to beat for control decks. While the argument for being able to play around it can certainly be made, it’s a very difficult card to play around.

His Jeskai list operates almost entirely at instant speed, so the times you do choose to play around it could really punish you as they can bury you in card advantage with 《Glimmer of Genius》 and 《Pull from Tomorrow》.

Sideboard

There are quite a few cards in his sideboard that we’re not used to seeing that are pretty exciting.

《Fiery Cannonade》 is a cheap sweeper for the aggro decks.

《Baral, Chief of Compliance》 helps cast all your spells a turn earlier vs the Energy decks. Since you’re a control deck, they’re forced to side out most if not all of their removal spells. So 《Baral》 can go unanswered and allow you to curve out with 《Glimmer》, 《Settle》, counters, and finally 《Approach》.

What perhaps is the most exciting card in the sideboard is 1 copy of 《The Locust God》. We haven’t seen much of this card in Standard yet, but this card can quickly snowball in this deck if you can untap and start casting or 《Pull》.

Going forward I think most 《Approach》 decks will start splashing red for sure. The deck has 8 on color fast lands as well as 4 《Aether Hub》 so the splash doesn’t cost you too much. I think it’s a contender, but I’m still a bit concerned with the Ramunap Red matchup.

Ramunap Red

Speaking of Ramunap Red, this is without a doubt the best aggro deck in the format. It’s the most consistent thanks to being mono colored, and gets the most out of its lands as they serve as ways to finish off opponents.

Cheap creatures and removal spells allow you to attack with 《Hazoret the Fervent》 as early as turn 4. At the end of testing I had narrowed my choices down to this and Temur. I found it to be the only deck that could compete with Temur on both consistency and power level.

It also greatly punishes the decks that try harder to beat Temur as trying to go over the top to beat Temur results in getting run over by Ramunap Red, John Rolf is no stranger to this deck, having top 8d with it earlier this year at GP Denver. He chose to run it back here at PT Ixalan, and piloted it all the way to his first PT top 8:

An interesting part of this main deck is something we’ve begun to see online lately. Red decks have been going down on 《Abrade》 and 《Ahn-Crop Crasher》 to add main deck copies of 《Rampaging Ferocidon》.

There are times where you want to hold 《Crasher》 to cast in a later turn (such as when they tap out for 《The Scarab God》 in the Energy matchup), so having the option to have a different 3 drop to cast instead allows you to curve out better.

Another interesting choice is playing the 2nd copy of 《Scavenger Grounds》. At a low cost, it gives you another good card in the Gift matchup which it seems like he certainly anticipated. In the sideboard you’ll find the 3rd and 4th 《Abrade》 for Mardu and Gift. As well as multiple cards for both Temur and the mirror.

One can certainly make a case for Ramunap Red being the best deck in the format. I think for as long Hazoret is in Standard we’ll be seeing plenty of this deck. It’ll probably go down in popularity as I think the 20% played at the PT was a bit too high. But without a doubt you must be prepared to beat it.

UW 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》

The combo deck of the format, this deck uses looting effects (《Chart a Course》/《Champion of Wits》) and mill effect (《Strategic Planning》/《Minister of Inquiries》/《Ipnu Rivulet》/《Search for Azcanta》) to quickly get creatures and 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 into the graveyard.

You can then cast 《Refurbish》 on the Gift to start immediately reanimating creatures (the best being 《Angel of Invention》) and close out the game. This is another deck that benefited from less 《Abrade》s in the field, and can certainly go over the top of the energy decks while still having enough early fans to interact with Ramunap Red.

Pascal Maynard made it all the way to the finals of his second PT top 8 with this deck:

We’re normally used to seeing the Esper version with 《Gate to the Afterlife》, but the issue is that card forces you to play creatures that aren’t great here (such as 《Walking Ballista》 and 《Seekers' Squire》) just to hit the critical mass of creatures to be able to activate it.

This straight UW is more consistent as the loot and mill effects allow you to find the missing pieces of the combo all the while setting up your graveyard at the same time. 《Refurbish》 also makes it so you can combo off a turn earlier than 《Gate to the Afterlife》.

Sideboard

The sideboard is probably the thing I like the most about this deck. Maynard has 4 《Fairgrounds Warden》 as well as 3 《Angel of Sanctions》.

Postboard he can choose to trim down on the combo or even cut it entirely and essentially become a UW midrange deck. This allows him to go over the top with various angels and eternalized 《Champion of Wits》 against Energy decks that bring in hate cards for the combo such as 《Abrade》 or 《Appetite for the Unnatural》.

Overall I really like this deck and I expect it to become more popular going forward. If there’s any deck that can make a case for being able to beat both Temur and Ramunap Red it’s certainly this one. However with the resurgence of both 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 and Mardu, I certainly expect I slight tick up in 《Abrade》s going forward.

Sultai Energy

Last but not least, the PT winning deck. I mentioned earlier how we were off Sultai Energy throughout the majority of testing. The reason for that is that some of the cards such as 《Winding Constrictor》 and 《Walking Ballista》 aren’t great on their own.

However, the cards in this deck have great synergies with each other. Mainly the combo of 《Longtusk Cub》 and 《Winding Constrictor》.

Turn 2 Cubs are difficult to deal with as is, combine it with 《Constrictor》 and things get out of hand very quickly. The deck also has powerful cards such as 《Glint-Sleeve Siphoner》 and 《Hostage Taker》.

《Siphoner》 is another snowball type card that can bury your opponents in card advantage, whereas 《Hostage Taker》 serves as both removal and card advantage. Let’s take a look at the list that Seth Manfield used to win his 1st PT title!:

The main deck isn’t too different from what we’re used to seeing from Sultai. The exception being going down to 3 《Hostage Taker》 and 3 《Walking Ballista》 to make room for cards like 《Rishkar, Peema Renegade》 and 《Vraska's Contempt》.

I love 《Rishkar》 in this deck for multiple reasons. It helps make 《Longtusk Cub》s bigger than your opponent’s blockers, ramps you up to 5 mana on turn 4 to be able to cast 《Hostage Taker》 while leaving up 《Blossoming Defense》, and you gives you extra mana to sink into 《Walking Ballista》.

The 《Contempt》 give you additional ways to answer 《Hazoret》 as well as 《Chandra》. One of the main things I disliked about this deck is that outside of 《Longtusk Cub》, the deck doesn’t have any energy sinks. Sure 《Glint-Sleeve Siphoner》 serves as one as well, but you only get that option on your upkeep so removal is quite good against this deck. That is of course why it has the full set of 《Blossoming Defense》.

《Fatal Push》, 《Abrade》, and 《Harnessed Lightning》 are all very good against you. So 《Blossoming Defense》 is critical to protecting your 《Siphoner》 and 《Taker》.

Sideboard

The sideboard runs a couple of interesting cards in 3 《Deathgorge Scavenger》 and 2 《Die Young》.

《Scavenger》 isn’t the biggest threat, but it does give you value immediately against a deck like Red since gaining 2 life is almost worth a card against them. Vs Control decks it eats up 《Torrential Gearhulk》 targets and becomes a very real threat on its own. It’s also great in the Gift matchup as you can not only remove their important creatures, but you can also remove their 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 as well which makes the combo not as good against you.

《Die Young》 is a card we’re not used to seeing as much and one Lee Shi Tian had advocated for in this deck during our testing. It may not seem great, but as I mentioned before this deck doesn’t have many energy sinks. A card like 《Die Young》 is a nice way to use extra energy and is a cheap way to get rid of problematic cards like 《Hazoret》 or 《Glorybringer》, albeit at sorcery speed.

Overall I still think out of all the Energy decks, Temur is the best. But Sultai definitely attacks from a different angle and has access to different forms of answers for the opponent’s threats. I expect Sultai to remain the 3rd most played Energy deck of the 3, but I do think we’ll see Energy decks pack more 《Skysovereign, Consul Flagship》 as it’s one of the best cards vs Sultai.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while the metagame originally looked like we were doomed to another 2 deck format, we actually got a format that has many viable options. Even decks like Mono-White Vampires, Tokens, and UB Control are reasonable options and will make up a % of the metagame as well. It wouldn’t surprise me to see any one of these decks come out on top in the future and I’m excited to see the format continue to evolve.

I hope you found this article helpful and I wish you good luck in all your future events!

Thanks for reading!

Christian Calcano