Hello everyone. Lorwyn Eclipsed just released, but our next set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, releases officially on March 6th. Because of this rapid release rate, I won't be able to bring you my usual series of articles where I look at decks focusing around a specific color. But, don't worry. I still plan to bring you a bunch of decks that are all 1- or 2-color decks, but instead of having 25 decks after 5 articles, you'll only have 15. Hopefully the breakneck speed of new releases slows down some and I can get back to my usual format, but for now, this will have to do. Let's get started!

Mono-Black Discard

Since we started my last series of color-focused decks with Blue, we'll begin with Black this time. Since this series is a little different, the focus color for the week will be a mono-colored deck, with the other decks filling out the Magic color wheel. Let's take a look at a Mono-Black deck.

Mono-Black Discard | ECL Standard | ACCILLESS, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (7)
• 3 Hostile Investigator
• 4 Unstoppable Slasher

• Instants (4)
• 4 Requiting Hex

• Sorceries (18)
• 2 Auntie's Sentence
• 4 Deadly Cover-Up
• 4 Duress
• 4 Intimidation Tactics
• 4 Strategic Betrayal

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Bandit's Talent

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Ghost Vacuum

• Lands (25)
• 11 Swamp
• 2 Sunken Citadel
• 4 Demolition Field
• 4 Fountainport
• 4 Realm of Koh

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This deck is focused on making your opponent discard cards from their hand. You'll want to play spells that force them to discard, allowing you to create Clue tokens while you have Hostile Investigator in play. Use those Clue tokens to draw more cards, drawing creature removal spells and other spells that will force your opponent to discard. Both of these types of spells should see your opponent's graveyard filling up with creatures, which is exactly what you want.

Once you are able to, you'll want to cast Ghost Vacuum. Doing so will allow you to begin cherry picking your opponent's creatures for ones that have the best abilities. At some point, you'll be able to sacrifice your Ghost Vacuum to return those exiled creatures as 1/1 flying Spirit creature tokens. These Spirits, alongside the relentless Unstoppable Slasher should be enough to put the game firmly in your grasp.

Izzet Spells

Next, I have an Izzet deck that can clench games quickly. Let's take a look at the deck.

Izzet Spells | ECL Standard | Zefiro_MTG, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Quantum Riddler
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (13)
• 1 Bounce Off
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Shock

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Boltwave
• 4 Plasma Bolt

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Lands (23)
• 5 Mountain
• 2 Starting Town
• 4 Multiversal Passage
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Steam Vents

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Both Slickshot Show-Off and the 1/1 Otter creature token created by Stormchaser's Talent benefit greatly from you casting noncreature spells. With the bonuses these creatures get, plus the direct damage done by spells like Shock, Burst Lightning, and Lightning Strike, you'll be taking huge chunks from your opponent's life total each turn.

By dealing damage to your opponent, you also afford yourself the opportunity to add +1/+1 counters to Hired Claw. Build this Lizard Mercenary up throughout the game and you can often finish off your opponent with the incidental damage it deals whenever you attack with one or more Lizards.

Selesnya Ajani

The final deck I have for you features one of the original planeswalkers from the Lorwyn Five, Ajani. Let's take a look at the deck.

Selesnya Ajani | ECL Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (26)
• 3 Bloom Tender
• 3 Brigid, Clachan's Heart
• 3 Bristlebane Battler
• 3 Champion of the Clachan
• 3 Eclipsed Kithkin
• 3 Enduring Innocence
• 4 Figure of Fable
• 4 Selfless Safewright

• Planeswalker (3)
• 3 Ajani, Outland Chaperone

• Instants (3)
• 3 Get Lost

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Split Up

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Authority of the Consuls
• 2 Anthem of Champions

• Lands (22)
• 2 Forest
• 4 Plains
• 2 Demolition Field
• 2 Lush Portico
• 2 Restless Prairie
• 3 Cavern of Souls
• 3 Hushwood Verge
• 4 Temple Garden

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When you play Ajani, Outland Chaperone, you'll be able to activate his +1 loyalty ability to create a 1/1 Kithkin creature token. This will help protect Ajani if your opponent attacks him. Protecting him is important, because once you're able to activate his -8 loyalty ability, you'll often be able to put a lot of nonland permanents from your deck into play. Getting something for free in Magic is very powerful, often feeling borderline broken.

One of the most important creatures in this deck is Brigid, Clachan's Heart // Brigid, Doun's Mind. When she enters play, you'll create a 1/1 Kithkin creature token. On your next turn, you can transform Brigid into Brigid, Doun's Mind. She then acts as a terrific mana generator, able to tap for an amount of White or Green mana equal to the number of creatures you control. This can be another way to get a lot of your creatures into play right away.

Wrapping Up

Even though the window for Lorwyn Eclipsed Standard is smaller than it is for other releases, there are still a lot of new decks being crafted. This is just a small sampling of the fun decks that are seeing play in Standard.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. 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