Ravnica Allegiance is almost here and it's time for the brewers to begin their work on some new decks featuring these cool new cards as well as decks that highlight cards from previous sets that have great synergy with some of these new cards. I've found a few new decks that do both of these things, so let's get started.

Orzhov Tokens

The first deck I have for you has high hopes of getting out lots and lots of Angel tokens in play. Let's take a look at it:

Orzhov Tokens | RNA Standard | GADDoran85, deckstats.net

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 2 Imperious Oligarch
• 2 Pitiless Pontiff
• 2 Seraph of the Scales
• 3 Doomed Dissenter
• 3 Martyr of Dusk
• 4 Hunted Witness
• 4 Teysa Karlov
• 4 Tithe Taker

• Instants (4)
• 2 Cast Down
• 2 Pride of Conquerors

• Enchantments (7)
• 2 Conclave Tribunal
• 2 Divine Visitation
• 3 Open the Graves

• Lands (23)
• 7 Swamp
• 8 Plains
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Isolated Chapel

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If you find yourself unable to reap the benefits of having your creatures die because your opponent isn't attacking and allowing you to sacrifice your creature by chump blocking, or they're not blocking your attacks at all, you'll need to hope to find one of your copies of Pitiless Pontiff. For the low cost of 1 mana, you'll be able to sacrifice any creature you have in play, while also giving deathtouch and indestructible to Pitiless Pontiff.

Another way to increase your token production is with Open the Graves. While it's expensive to play, if you're able to sacrifice a Doomed Dissenter or other similar creature while you have Teysa Karlov in play, you'll be trading in your 1/1 for four 2/2's. That's a significant upgrade. Plus, if you also happen to have Divine Visitation in play, your 1/1 becomes four 4/4 Angels with flying and vigilance instead. Once this deck gets rolling, it can be hard to stop.

Bant Walls

The next deck I have for you this week may look like it's all about the defense, but can dish out damage with the best of them. Let's take a look at it:

Wall Tempo | RNA Standard | Myrouph, deckstats.net

• Creatures (19)
• 2 Amaranthine Wall
• 2 Resolute Watchdog
• 2 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
• 3 Arcades, the Strategist
• 3 Gleaming Barrier
• 3 Suspicious Bookcase
• 4 Wall of Mist

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

• Instants (9)
• 1 Sinister Sabotage
• 2 Absorb
• 2 Dive Down
• 2 Syncopate
• 2 Tower Defense

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Slaughter the Strong

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 High Alert

• Lands (23)
• 1 Forest
• 4 Island
• 4 Plains
• 3 Hinterland Harbor
• 3 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

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Arcades, the Strategist allows your creatures with defender to attack and to deal combat damage using its toughness instead of its power. It's a wonderful strategy to try to take advantage of if you have Arcades, the Strategist in play. But all too often, Arcades will become the target of a removal spell and your plans will be put on hold until you draw another copy of Arcades, the Strategist. Thanks to Resolute Watchdog, you now have a way to make Arcades indestructible and therefore not as vulnerable to removal spells.

Another issue was finding a copy of Arcades, the Strategist when you needed one. With Arcades being legendary, including four copies in your deck was not always optimal. Often you would draw multiple copies which would then rot in your hand while you were hoping to draw any other Wall. High Alert changes things. Not only does High Alert provide the same benefits for your defenders that Arcades, the Strategist offers, but it also does so for 1 mana less. Plus, in the late game it offers you a way to attack and then untap a creature for defense.

A few other cards that I want to talk about are Tower Defense, Slaughter the Strong, and Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive. Tower Defense can act as a great finisher for this deck. It's also an instant that only costs 2 mana, so it can come as quite a surprise for your opponent when you play it. Slaughter the Strong is a terrific removal spell that can neuter an opponent's army while leaving yours virtually untouched. Finally, Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive allows the majority of your creatures to attack without fear of being blocked. You can swing in for some major damage even if you only have a couple of defenders in play.

Simic Ooze

The final deck I have for you features the card that was dubbed "Ooze the Boss" during play-testing according to Mark Rosewater. Let's take a look at the deck:

OOOZZZE | RNA Standard | adventure199, deckstats.net

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Biogenic Ooze
• 4 Hydroid Krasis
• 4 Incubation Druid
• 4 Llanowar Elves

• Instants (16)
• 4 Dive Down
• 4 Repudiate // Replicate
• 4 Spell Pierce
• 4 Stony Strength

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Hadana's Climb

• Lands (24)
• 7 Island
• 9 Forest
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Hinterland Harbor

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All of these +1/+1 counters will allow you to transform Hadana's Climb into Winged Temple of Orazca very quickly. At that point, you're able to double the size of your biggest Ooze and give it flying. That's probably a minimum of a 10/10 flying Ooze that you can use to attack your opponent with. This is easily possible as early as turn five with a bit of mana acceleration. And having a 10/10 flying creature coming at them turn after turn will make it difficult for your opponent to keep their footing.

Wrapping Up

Ravnica Allegiance is providing us with a lot of cards that have a ton of potential. As you can see from the decks above, cards from past sets that were once found to be a little lacking are able to find new homes alongside some of these new cards. Ravnica Allegiance has a lot of depth and I'm looking forward to searching for and sharing some of these great new decks over the next few weeks.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or you can reply to me directly on Twitter (@mikelikesmtg), or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

-Mike Likes