Hello everyone. We've reached the mid-way point in my series of articles that bring you a bunch of decks that are all focused around a specific color. This week we're looking at decks featuring Blue mana, so let's get started.

Mono-Blue Beatdown

We're starting off with a Mono-Blue deck this time that is quite aggressive, while still containing some elements of control that Blue is famous for. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Blue Beatdown | EOE Standard | gloomcoder, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (22)
• 2 Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel
• 2 Tishana's Tidebinder
• 3 Brineborn Cutthroat
• 3 Spectral Sailor
• 4 Enduring Curiosity
• 4 Floodpits Drowner
• 4 Spyglass Siren

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator

• Instants (14)
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Faebloom Trick
• 4 Into the Flood Maw
• 4 Spell Stutter

• Lands (22)
• 22 Island

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Nearly every creature in this deck has flash, making them perfect to play during your opponent's turn. This allows you to keep your mana open for any counterspells you have, which I'll talk about later. Casting your creatures on your opponent's turn also benefits Brineborn Cutthroat, who gains a +1/+1 counter each time you cast a spell during your opponent's turn. Flashing in your creatures also allows you to attack more easily which can amount to you drawing quite a few cards while you have Enduring Curiosity on the battlefield.

As I mentioned earlier, there are multiple ways you can counter your opponent's spells. Both Spell Pierce and Spell Stutter act as soft counters, countering an opponent's spell if they cannot, or choose not to, pay an additional amount of mana. This deck also includes a playset of Into the Flood Maw which can be used to return a creature or possibly any nonland permanent your opponent controls to their hand. Send back something nasty and then counter it the next time they try to play it.

Azorius Warp Aggro

Up next, I have an Azorius deck that splashes Blue mana for protection while attempting to dominate the battlefield. Let's take a look at the deck.

Azorius Warp Aggro | EOE Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (22)
• 2 All-Fates Stalker
• 2 Starfield Shepherd
• 3 Cosmogrand Zenith
• 3 Dust Animus
• 3 Exalted Sunborn
• 3 Haliya, Guided by Light
• 3 Quantum Riddler
• 3 Voice of Victory

• Instants (13)
• 2 Duty Beyond Death
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 3 Get Lost
• 3 No More Lies
• 3 Parting Gust

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Authority of the Consuls

• Lands (23)
• 7 Island
• 7 Plains
• 2 Restless Anchorage
• 3 Meticulous Archive
• 4 Floodfarm Verge

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Cosmogrand Zenith is a great creature in this deck. Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, if Cosmogrand Zenith is in play, you'll be able to either create a pair of 1/1 Human Soldier creature tokens or put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. This effect pairs nicely with Exalted Sunborn, allowing you to create twice as many tokens. Go wide and start adding +1/+1 counters to turn your weaklings into giants.

While there's just a splash of Blue in this deck, it plays an important role. Both No More Lies and Spell Pierce can be used to counter threats your opponent may play. You'll also use that Blue mana to cast Quantum Riddler. While this Sphinx is on the battlefield, you'll generally be able to draw extra cards each turn, giving you an advantage over your opponent.

Dimir Sphinxes

While the previous Azorius deck only had one Sphinx, this Dimir deck is chock full of them. Let's take a look at the deck.

Dimir Sphinxes | EOE Standard | tpull, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Stoic Sphinx
• 3 Agency Outfitter
• 3 Curator of Destinies
• 4 Marauding Sphinx
• 4 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
• 4 Unscrupulous Agent

• Instants (15)
• 1 Long Goodbye
• 1 Stab
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 3 Consumed by Greed
• 4 Bitter Triumph
• 4 Drag the Canal

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Cryoshatter

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 Magnifying Glass

• Lands (25)
• 6 Swamp
• 8 Island
• 1 Dismal Backwater
• 1 Hidden Necropolis
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Undercity Sewers
• 2 Demolition Field
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 3 Restless Reef

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With the exception of Unscrupulous Agent, every creature in this deck is a Sphinx. That means the majority of your team will be flying creatures, giving you an advantage when attacking. Many of your Sphinxes also have flash, allowing you to play them on your opponent's turn. This lets you keep your mana available, giving the illusion that you might have a counterspell to cast, which can make your opponent play very defensively.

You'll need them to play defensively since your Sphinxes all have a mana value of four or more. For that reason, many of the Black cards in this deck are geared toward destroying your opponent's threats. Bitter Triumph offers you the ability to destroy any creature or planeswalker. Consumed by Greed and Tribute to Hunger force your opponent to sacrifice creatures, making even indestructible creatures vulnerable to your removal.

Izzet Pirates

From one typal deck to the next, let's take a look at an Izzet deck that focuses on Pirates.

Izzet Pirates | EOE Standard | gloomcoder, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Kitesail Larcenist
• 2 Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel
• 2 Staunch Crewmate
• 3 Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider
• 4 Breeches, Eager Pillager
• 4 Corsair Captain
• 4 Fanatical Firebrand
• 4 Spyglass Siren

• Instants (11)
• 3 Negate
• 4 Abrade
• 4 Burst Lightning

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Lifecraft Engine

• Lands (23)
• 2 Mountain
• 4 Island
• 2 Restless Spire
• 3 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Starting Town

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Every creature in this deck is a Pirate, which makes choosing Pirate as the creature type for Cavern of Souls a no brainer. It also allows you to easily choose Pirate for Lifecraft Engine, which will give all of your other creatures a +1/+1 bonus.

In typical Blue & Red fashion, this deck includes a little bit of counter magic and a little bit of burn. Negate can be used to counter any noncreature spell your opponent plays. My favorite time to play it is after your opponent has declared attackers and is hoping to surprise you with a pump spell. For the burn portion, there's Abrade, which can destroy a low toughness creature, and Burst Lightning, which can either be used as creature removal or as direct damage to your opponent's life total.

Simic Eldrazi

The final deck I have for you uses a warp ability to gain a huge advantage on the battlefield. Let's check it out.

Simic Eldrazi | EOE Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Summon: Bahamut
• 3 Bloomvine Regent
• 3 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
• 4 Anticausal Vestige
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Marang River Regent

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Ugin, Eye of the Storms

• Instants (8)
• 1 Aetherize
• 3 Into the Flood Maw
• 4 Dispelling Exhale

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 The Irencrag
• 4 Lumbering Worldwagon

• Lands (24)
• 2 Island
• 7 Forest
• 3 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Botanical Sanctum
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Willowrush Verge

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By warping Anticausal Vestige into play, you can take advantage of its ability that triggers when it leaves the battlefield, and still have your 7/5 Eldrazi creature later as a creature. This ability allows you to draw a card when Anticausal Vestige leaves the battlefield. Then, you'll get to put any permanent card with a mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you have in play onto the battlefield tapped for free.

The number of lands you have in play is also important to Lumbering Worldwagon. Its power will be equal to this amount, plus whenever it enters play or attacks, you can search your library for a basic land to put into play tapped, making it even more powerful. In addition to this ability, the omen portion of Bloomvine Regent, Claim Territory, can also be cast to help ramp your lands.

Wrapping Up

While heavy control decks aren't my style, I do enjoy playing decks that feature Blue mana. These decks offer you a range of playstyles, from aggressive, to combo, to decks that feature a bit of control. Blue, for me, is a nice addition to a deck, and I find it best when paired with a more aggressive color.

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