If you have been following Standard AT ALL you probably know that the nice people in Renton, WA recently "banned the entire format."

Seven cards got the axe, felt the weight of the ban-hammer, and were kicked off the island just a month prior to the planned rotation of several venerable sets.

Cori-Steel Cutter and Monstrous Rage were pillars holding up the only two decks that made Top 8 at the recent Pro Tour. Heartfire Hero was the Mouse that started off all the best Red draws... Banning it took the oomph out of the format's most polarizing one-two [mana] punch... literally.

For good measure a handful of other cards left, preventing a number of close-to-the-top decks from exploiting the power vacuum at the top. Sorry Pixie decks. Condolences almost-there Omniscience combo. Maybe you shouldn't have won the last Standard Pro Tour, Beans.

So where does this leave us?

The truth is: The post-bans [one month] Standard format is anything but set. Cynically I thought Blue-White Control was the best deck going into the Pro Tour... And it lost nothing. I guess at the same time some of the reasons that Blue-White was good before have gotten a little ragged. If you knew-knew you'd be up against armies of tokens from Stormchaser's Talent or Cori-Steel Cutter, offensive 1- and 2-drops... Well you could reasonably expect that you'd get an outsized return from Temporary Lockdown and Beza, the Bounding Spring.

But today?

The world is wild!

And even where people are trying to do some of the "same" things, they're doing them in different ways... Sometimes with abridged tools, but sometimes innovating something genuinely different.

Let's check out a few of the emerging (or rediscovered) decks.

Izzet Vivi | FIN Standard | Junkmener, 5-0 MTGO Standard League 7/8/2025

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Marang River Regent
• 4 Vivi Ornitier

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ral, Crackling Wit

• Instants (13)
• 1 Get Out
• 1 Magic Damper
• 3 Into the Flood Maw
• 4 Opt
• 4 Torch the Tower

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Wild Ride
• 4 Sleight of Hand
• 4 Stock Up

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Lands (21)
• 7 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Agatha's Soul Cauldron
• 4 Astrologian's Planisphere

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Enduring Curiosity
• 2 Faerie Mastermind
• 2 Fire Magic
• 2 Lithomantic Barrage
• 1 Marang River Regent
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 1 Twinmaw Stormbrood
• 1 Unable to Scream

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This deck seems to be going bigger than the Cori-Steel Cutter decks we used to know and love (or, really, not love at all). JUNKMENER went with the full count of Vivi Ornitier and borrowed the Pro Tour tech of a Wild Ride.

You see, even one Wild Ride (and this is a deck with five proper creature spells, one of which spends most of its time as an instant Sift) can make Vivi big and explosive in terms of his mana production for the turn, get you a Stock Up cast, and maybe a little damage.

The big conceit here is that sure, Cori-Steel Cutter is banned, but Astrologian's Planisphere is there to take up the two mana equipment role. There is one Agatha's Soul Cauldron... But that's maybe better discussed in a different deck.

Izzet Vivi | FIN Standard | DookieTrouserMD, 3rd Place MTGO Standard Challenge 7/8/2025

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Draconautics Engineer
• 3 Tersa Lightshatter
• 3 Voldaren Thrillseeker
• 4 Fear of Missing Out
• 4 Marauding Mako
• 4 Vivi Ornitier

• Instants (4)
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 3 Into the Flood Maw

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Glacial Dragonhunt
• 4 Winternight Stories

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Proft's Eidetic Memory

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Agatha's Soul Cauldron

• Lands (22)
• 3 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Cori Mountain Monastery
• 3 Thundering Falls
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Change the Equation
• 1 Enduring Curiosity
• 4 Fire Magic
• 2 Frostcliff Siege
• 1 Ghost Vacuum
• 2 Lithomantic Barrage
• 1 Negate
• 1 Scorching Dragonfire
• 2 Spell Pierce

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Here is an Izzet deck reminiscent of the one played by PT Champion Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa a couple of weeks past. If I were to lay odds on a deck making it more-or-less untouched by the bans, and one you might invest in building... It would be either Insidious Roots or this one.

You see, this Izzet deck had an outstanding win rate at the Pro Tour, does a bunch of interesting things (including with Vivi)... But lost all of nothing in the massacre that was last Monday.

Instead of Cori-Steel Cutter as its two-mana artifact, this one uses Agatha's Soul Cauldron. Many of the creatures in this deck (most notably Vivi) can get +1/+1 counters in ways other than just exploiting the Soul Cauldron, so the deck can really spread around special abilities.

At the Pro Tour, Omniscience combo was one of the most popular strategies; a deck with Soul Cauldron was essentially pre-sideboarded for the Omniscience matchup. It can't maintain that particular edge in the preset, post-bans, Standard; but it can still use the Soul Cauldron offensively, at least.

The big finale is around Voldaren Thrill-Seeker. If you discard the Thrill-Seeker and exile it with Agatha's Soul Cauldron, that makes basically your whole team look a lot more dangerous. Vivi, for example, starts looking like it's going to do triple damage in one turn.

... Because it is.

Powerful deck, and a great way to keep the Shivan Reef relevant in Standard!

If you want to think of a deck that is kind of the opposite of the Soul Cauldron Izzet deck, it might be Esper Pixie. No one saw Izzet Cauldron coming; whereas Esper Pixie literally wasn't bothering anyone... But caught strays both at This Town Ain't Big Enough and Hopeless Nightmare.

Yet the archetype looks like it might be persevering. To wit:

Esper Pixie | FIN Standard| wcl, 6th Place MTGO Standard Challenge 7/5/2025

• Creatures (15)
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
• 2 Ambrosia Whiteheart
• 4 Fear of Isolation
• 4 Nurturing Pixie
• 4 Sunpearl Kirin

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

• Instants (2)
• 2 Get Out

• Enchantments (12)
• 4 Momentum Breaker
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent
• 4 Nowhere to Run

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Grim Bauble

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 2 Restless Anchorage
• 3 Underground River
• 4 Concealed Courtyard
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Starting Town

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Enduring Curiosity
• 2 Get Lost
• 1 Loran of the Third Path
• 1 Negate
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 4 Temporary Lockdown
• 2 Tishana's Tidebinder

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There were kind of too many good things to bounce before. So you see cards like Grim Bauble taking more center stage at the B. I mean at a time where it can't get extra value against Heartfire Hero any more, but still... Something to bounce.

We're seeing four copies of Momentum Breaker (which crosses over with the discard functionality) and Nowhere to Run [more on this later!]

This Town Ain't Big Enough was arguably the most important self-bounce card before, so losing it obviously leaves a gap. We previously saw Sunpearl Kirin make enough of an impact that Orzhov Pixie emerged (no Blue needed!)

Ambrosia Whiteheart looks to be Part Two on this theme. Flash gives the card some flexibility; and it's more-or-less better than the already-viable Kirin... Second toughness + a little more offensive oomph combined with landfall. You're much more likely to burgle a 1-drop with Ambrosia Whiteheart than you might have been with a 2/1 version.

Selesnya Pixie | FIN Standard | J_tekt, 8th Place MTGO Standard Challenge 7/5/2025

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Haywire Mite
• 1 Nurturing Pixie
• 2 Sanguine Evangelist
• 3 Pawpatch Recruit
• 4 Brightglass Gearhulk
• 4 Enduring Innocence
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Overlord of the Mistmoors
• 4 Sandstorm Salvager

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer

• Instants (2)
• 2 Get Lost

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Dusk Rose Reliquary
• 4 Collector's Cage

• Lands (24)
• 3 Forest
• 4 Plains
• 2 Mirrex
• 3 Restless Prairie
• 4 Brushland
• 4 Hushwood Verge
• 4 Razorverge Thicket

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Aven Interrupter
• 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 2 Devout Decree
• 1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
• 1 Ghost Vacuum
• 2 Invasion of Gobakhan
• 1 Phoenix Down
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Scrapshooter
• 2 Wrenn and Realmbreaker

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This one might be a big deal, depending on how the format moves. So, it might also be hopeless :/

But for now, the toolbox strategy is just plain cool.

Brightglass Gearhulk combines power, rate of return, and flexibility. You can use its search function to kill an opposing creature, exile an enchantment, or even set up another Gearhulk search via Nurturing Pixie.

There is a lot of good here; and some finishing power when you combine all the token making with Elspeth, Storm Slayer.

So, what's the problem?

If it just comes down one-for-one, on straight card quality, J_TEXT's list has got to be near the top in the format. The problem is that a deck that really wants to can just go "over the top" of this one. Huge lifelinkers, sweepers + card advantage, or a one-turn "I win" are all strategies that can leave poor Green-White in the dust.

Mono-Red was the strongest deck at the Pro Tour, which is one of the reasons it got two of its most important - and extremely cheap - tools taken away. But it was good enough that people are going to try to keep its legacy rolling in Standard. Here are a couple of pretty different attempts so far...

Boros Aggro | FIN Standard | BroknLung, 5-0 MTGO Standard Challenge 7/8/2025

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Screaming Nemesis
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (18)
• 2 Shock
• 4 Boros Charm
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Lightning Helix
• 4 Opera Love Song

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Boltwave

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Case of the Crimson Pulse

• Lands (21)
• 7 Mountain
• 2 Sunbillow Verge
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Starting Town

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Case of the Crimson Pulse
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 2 Fire Magic
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 2 Shardmage's Rescue
• 2 Sheltered by Ghosts
• 2 Urabrask's Forge

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I was actually a little surprised at how BROKNLUNG approached the construction of this one. It has a lot of trappings of some of the hasty aggro / burn decks... But then goes White. All good! Some of the better burn cards are actually White!

Only...

If you were going Red-White, don't you think you'd want access to all four copies of Sheltered By Ghosts? I know it's fallen out of favor, but especially if you're "only" playing it in the sideboard, Sheltered By Ghosts seems to me both a flexible answer to a wide variety of permanent types, but a sure fire way to get an advantage in the quasi-mirror.

People like...

Mono-Red | FIN Standard | Shulk, 3rd Place MTGO Standard Challenge 32 7/6/2025

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Sunspine Lynx
• 2 Tersa Lightshatter
• 2 Twinmaw Stormbrood
• 4 Emberheart Challenger
• 4 Greasewrench Goblin
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Screaming Nemesis
• 4 Viashino Pyromancer

• Instants (9)
• 1 Torch the Tower
• 2 Lightning Strike
• 2 Witchstalker Frenzy
• 4 Burst Lightning

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Obliterating Bolt

• Lands (23)
• 16 Mountain
• 3 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 4 Rockface Village

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Ghost Vacuum
• 3 Lithomantic Barrage
• 2 Pyroclasm
• 2 Sunspine Lynx
• 2 Torch the Tower
• 3 Urabrask's Forge

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We solved the problem at the one!

Who needs Heartfire Hero?

I think a lot of the heavy lifting for this deck got done by Sunspine Lynx. All four copies is a statement, after all. Take 100.

Finally...

Dimir | FIN Standard| Mogged, 1st Place MTGO Standard Challenge 7/5/2025

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Deep-Cavern Bat
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
• 2 Cecil, Dark Knight // Cecil, Redeemed Paladin
• 2 Saiba Cryptomancer
• 3 Enduring Curiosity
• 4 Faerie Mastermind
• 4 Floodpits Drowner
• 4 Spyglass Siren

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

• Instants (10)
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict
• 2 Phantom Interference
• 3 Go for the Throat
• 4 Cut Down

• Lands (25)
• 4 Island
• 4 Swamp
• 2 Restless Reef
• 3 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Gloomlake Verge
• 4 Underground River

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Anoint with Affliction
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Duress
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 2 Gix's Command
• 2 Negate
• 4 Preacher of the Schism
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder

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I'm sure you've seen 100 top finishes online for MOGGED.

If there is a "Same As the Old Boss" vibe in the format, it might be this one. I would not be surprised if Dimir took off as the Number One deck in this now currently disempowered format. Dimir might have had trouble keeping its metagame slot once Izzet emerged, but remember it could compete with even the stronger versions of Red that still had Monstrous Rage.

I think that the big opportunity is around Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. This is especially the case because Cecil, Dark Knight // Cecil, Redeemed Paladin is so challenging to block in the early game.

Dimir is less powerful than some of the other contenders, but it can draw 100 cards with Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, and at least some of those have got to be relevant in a matchup. Plus, the ability to get some position... And then back it up with permission spells - echoes many of the greatest and most successful decks of all time... Even if those permission spells are like Phantom Interference.

Look for Dimir to take the title of top dawg as the Deck to Beat for the upcoming format.

Let's assume Black-Blue is ascendant (at least for the next month or so). Two cards that have been popular or even stock in the past but aren't at their most popular should gain value and popularity over at least the next month:

Overlord of the Mistmoors - Sometimes this card isn't played at all! Even in Mono-White! But for now? Overlord of the Mistmoors is just too good at blocking Dimir's little guys.

Nowhere to Run - This may seem like an unusual one. But notably, Dimir itself can play the powerful enchantment. But why is it good?

Dimir decks like MOGGED's play Saiba Cryptomancer; others try Plumecreed Escort. So much hexproof!

And of course there's this guy:

He's got hexproof naturally... But with Nowhere to Run in play? Nowhere to Run doesn't quite kill Kaito, but it can put other creatures and removal within range to finish him off.

Standard has been one of the best formats in the game for several years running. Hopefully the recent bans keep that statement true for at least the next month.

LOVE

MIKE