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Main » Articles » Tasting the Rainbow in Neon Dynasty Standard

Tasting the Rainbow in Neon Dynasty Standard

Mike Likes
Posted on March 31, 2022
 Reddit

Hello everyone. Mono-colored decks can be a great way for people to enter this hobby of ours, but did you know they can also be successful? It's true. This week, I'll be taking a look at five mono-colored decks from our current Standard environment that have all done well on Magic Arena or Magic Online. Let's get started.

Mono-Red

Since I started with Black last time I looked at mono-colored decks, I'll start with Red this time. Red is typically an aggressive color, and that's very true in this deck. Let's check it out.

Mono-Red | NEO Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

Dragonkin Berserker
Even though I stated that this deck is aggressive, it doesn't attack quickly like some other Red decks do. Instead, you'll want to spend a few turns setting up your battlefield so that the real aggression can begin. By getting creatures such as Dragonkin Berserker and Reckless Stormseeker into play, your attacks are more likely to be unblocked and will deal more damage. Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano helps this plan by dealing a little damage to an opposing planeswalker and providing a +1/+1 counter to a creature spell you cast.

Once Kumano Faces Kakkazan transforms into Etching of Kumano, you'll hopefully have a copy of Blade Historian in play. If you do, you can attack with much more abandon than before, as your attacking creatures will be more likely to whittle down your opponent's defenses or go unblocked. If the game happens to drag on, you can use the boast ability of Dragonkin Berserker to create a 5/5 Dragon creature token. This token can usually knock down the last few points of life your opponent has if a ground attack is impossible.

Mono-Green

Next, I have a Mono-Green deck that can hit like a sack of bricks. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Green | NEO Standard | HUKONI, 5-0 MTGO

Werewolf Pack Leader
For a mere two mana, Werewolf Pack Leader is one of the best Green creatures currently in Standard. As a 3/3 creature, it won't be difficult to trigger its pack tactics ability, allowing you to draw a card. Those extra cards will allow you to find other beefy creatures faster and enable you to play a land each turn. You can also find one of the best removal spells in Standard, Blizzard Brawl. Not only does this sorcery allow you to fight an opponent's creature, likely killing it in the process, but it also provides your creature indestructible for the rest of the turn, allowing you to attack with that creature, free of any consequences.

One great combo in this deck allows you to grow your forces each turn simply by attacking. First, try to have a copy of Esika's Chariot on the battlefield. Then cast Invoke the Ancients to create a pair of 4/5 Spirit creature tokens. You can use one of those tokens to crew Esika's Chariot, allowing you to attack with it and create another copy of one of your Spirit tokens. While this doesn't copy the counter on that Spirit token that it received from Invoke the Ancients when it was cast, you'll still get a big token that can either crew Esika's Chariot next turn, or attack on its own.

Mono-White

Moving on to Mono-White, I have a deck that has an answer for nearly any problem it faces. Let's take a look at it.

Mono-White | NEO Standard | ANDREAETM29, 5-0 MTGO

Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute

Brutal Cathar // Moonrange Brute offers you the means of exiling any creature your opponent has in play for as long as Brutal Cathar remains in play. In the event that your opponent attempts to destroy Brutal Cathar with a targeted removal spell, you can cast Valorous Stance to gain indestructible. If your opponent has an artifact or enchantment that you'd like to remove from the battlefield, you can use the activated ability of Hopeful Initiate to destroy it. Finally, Portable Hole is an all-purpose removal spell for any permanent your opponent controls with a mana value of two or less.

In addition to having a fair amount of removal, this deck also boasts the potential to have a lot of creatures in play. The boast ability on Usher of the Fallen can allow you to create a fair number of 1/1 Human Warrior creature tokens throughout the game. Legion Angel allows you to put a copy of Legion Angel from your sideboard into your hand when the copy you've cast enters the battlefield. Also, the majority of the creatures in this deck have a mana value of three or less, which enables you to play multiple creatures each turn. This works out quite well with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, whose power is equal to the number of creatures you control.

Mono-Blue

My next deck is a Mono-Blue deck that looks to win by attacking in the air. Let's take a look at it.

Mono-Blue | NEO Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

Moon-Circuit Hacker
Since each creature in this deck except Moon-Circuit Hacker has the ability to gain flying, you'll often be able to attack without fearing that your opponent will block. That can allow you to deal a lot of damage quickly. Even without flying, Moon-Circuit Hacker will often become an attacker thanks to its ninjutsu ability. This will allow you to draw a card on the turn it is played, giving you a slight advantage.

In addition to reigning death from above, this deck has copious amounts of counterspells and ways to remove your opponent's creatures from the battlefield or negate their usefulness for a turn. Spells like Essence Capture and Negate are hard counterspells, while Geistlight Snare and Spell Pierce are soft counterspells. Soft counterspells are generally more useful in the early portion of the game, when your opponent has fewer lands in play. Fading Hope can be used to return a low mana value creature to the opponent's hand, while You See a Guard Approach and Dreamshackle Geist can tap your opponent's creatures before they are able to block.

Mono-Black

My final deck this week is a Mono-Black deck. It looks to make your opponent discard a lot of cards, which you can use to your advantage. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Black | NEO Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern

Tergrid's Lantern, the alternative side of Tergrid, God of Fright, offers you a repeatable way to make your opponent discard cards from their hand. By using this ability alongside spells such as Demogorgon's Clutches and Go Blank, you'll be able to limit the options your opponent has during your game. It will also help to power up your Nighthawk Scavenger. This deck also includes targeted removal spells such as Poison the Cup and Soul Shatter that will get creatures or planeswalkers into your opponent's graveyard.

If you're able to get a fair amount of creatures into your opponent's graveyard, Animus of Night's Reach, the transformed side of The Long Reach of Night // Animus of Night's Reach, will be able to attack for a lot of damage. Since Animus of Night's Reach has menace, you'll often be able to keep your opponent with only one creature in play, unable to block Animus of Night's Reach due to it having menace. This can allow you to take huge chunks of your opponent's life total, and quickly win the game.

Wrapping Up

While some people may prefer to play decks that feature more than one color of mana, you definitely shouldn't ignore mono-colored decks. The consistency they provide can allow you to win more quickly than a multicolored deck, as you're never in a situation where you are looking for a specific color of mana. Each of these decks would be great to play in this time while we're waiting for previews of Streets of New Cappena to begin.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Also, 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

TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, mono-blue, decklist, mono-red, mono-black, mono-white, mono-green, arena, mike likes, mtg arena, mono-color, neo standard, 03312022

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