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Selesnya Storm and Other Standard Goodies

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Hello everyone. Welcome back to my weekly column where I take a look at some Standard decks that you can use to play for fun against your friends or at a local tournament. This week I have a few decks that recently won six or more matches in a row during Ranked play by players at Platinum or Mythic ranking on Magic Arena. Let's get started.

Selesnya Storm

We'll begin with a deck that's looking to cast multiple spells in a single turn for major bonuses. Let's take a look at the deck.


Illuminator Virtuoso
Illuminator Virtuoso is a creature I dread seeing. Whenever it becomes the target of a spell you control, it connives. This can allow you to not only churn through your deck, but to gain a handful of +1/+1 counters in the process. Illuminator Virtuoso also just happens to have double strike, making each +1/+1 counter it gets just a little bit better than if it were placed on a creature without double strike. Having a higher power on a double strike creature makes it a more effective blocker, since it will deal its damage to the creature it is blocking first. It will also be a more powerful attacker, as if it is not blocked, it will deal both first strike damage and normal damage.

The other creatures in this deck are no slouches either. Dragonsguard Elite gains a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell. Boost her up at the same time you're boosting up Illuminator Virtuoso with each noncreature spell you cast. Clever Lumimancer also helps boost your team by providing a +2/+2 bonus for each instant or sorcery spell you cast. This bonus is only temporary, though, lasting until the end of the turn. Even so, this should provide you with a quick burst of additional power that can help you win.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there's not a card in the main deck that has a mana value greater than two. That can help this deck run roughshod over its opponent, as you'll be able to chain spell after spell, adding +1/+1 counters and getting multiple +2/+2 bonuses for the turn. Two spells I want to point out that are particularly helpful are Show of Confidence and Charge Through. Show of Confidence gets copied for each other instant and sorcery spell you've cast this turn, so to get the most bang from it, cast it as your final spell for the turn. Charge Through provides trample to the creature it targets, helping you to push through damage even in the face of multiple blockers.

Mono-White Lifegain

Next, I have a Mono-White deck focusing on gaining extra life. Let's take a look at it.


Dawnbringer Cleric
All of the creatures in this deck except Spirited Companion have the means of providing you with extra life throughout the game. Whether it's a one-time effect, like the life that can be gained when Dawnbringer Cleric enters the battlefield, or ongoing from the lifelink that multiple creatures in this deck have, gaining life will happen a lot when you play this deck. That extra life will make it more difficult for your opponent to defeat you, and give you extra time to defeat them.

The extra life you gain is also important if you have Sigarda's Splendor on the battlefield. With this enchantment in play, you'll gain a point of life whenever you cast a White spell. That ability plus the other life gaining that I mentioned earlier will help you draw additional cards throughout the game. By drawing additional cards, you'll be able to find what you need from your deck easier.

This deck has a cool combo that I want to make sure to mention. Getaway Car has haste, so it can attack as soon as it comes into play. It also only has a crew requirement of 1, so nearly any creature can crew it. The drawback to Getaway Car is that whenever it attacks or blocks, you need to return up to one creature that crewed it to your hand. This drawback is easily mitigated is Getaway Car is crewed by either Circuit Mender or Dawnbringer Cleric. Circuit Mender allows you to draw a card when it leaves the battlefield, plus it provides you two points of life when it enters the battlefield. Dawnbringer Cleric allows you to choose one from a trio of possibilities that happen when it comes into play, from gaining life to destroying enchantments or exiling cards from graveyards. All can be beneficial depending on the circumstances of the game.

Temur Mill

The final deck I have for you features one of my favorite means of winning, mill. Let's check it out.


Ruin Crab
One thing to notice right away about this deck is the lack of creatures in it. The only creature in this deck is Ruin Crab, which has 0 power. There are no ways of creating creature tokens in the main deck, nor are there any creature lands. The only way of winning is through milling your opponent's deck. That sheer focus is what I love about this deck.

Mill decks have been a popular deck choice in Standard for a while. Typically they will use Ruin Crab's ability to slowly mill some cards from an opponent's deck while you play a land card each turn. Having multiple Ruin Crabs in play will be helpful, but not absolutely necessary. Once you have enough lands, you'll want to play a combination of Maddening Cacophony or Tasha's Hideous Laughter with Galvanic Iteration or Dual Strike, milling your opponents multiple times to finish them off.

This deck addresses one of the weaknesses mill decks typically have, mitigating early damage. A quick, aggressive deck might be able to overwhelm a mill deck with damage before a mill deck can get rolling. This deck has a plan for that. By playing multiple fetch lands from Streets of New Capenna, such as Cabaretti Courtyard, you can trigger Ruin Crab twice, as well as gain a point of life. Later on, you can cast Splendid Reclamation to return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield, returning all of those fetch lands and providing you with even more life and additional triggers for Ruin Crab to mill with. This is a cool piece of tech that can catch some players by surprise.

Wrapping Up

Whether you primarily play in tournaments or just with your friends, any of these decks can give you that much-needed win we're all looking for. These decks have all been proven to be effective on Magic Arena and each of them features something I find to be interesting. I'm looking forward to trying each of these out myself.

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

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