The first US regional championship weekend is finally upon us! Over a thousand competitors, myself included, will descend upon Minneapolis to battle it out for Pro Tour and Worlds invites. While Tarkir: Dragonstorm has been out for a number of weeks, we're still seeing some interesting developments in Standard (although there are some clear winners still at the top).

There are multiple solid decks to choose from in Standard. With the European RC in Bologna this past weekend, us American players have some good data at our disposal. We can't talk about this data without going over the elephant in the room, Izzet Prowess, taking first and second place at the event.

Izzet Prowess | TDM Standard | Jelco Bodewes, Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship 3 - Bologna/1st

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (15)
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 2 Into the Flood Maw
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Opt

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Sleight of Hand
• 4 Stock Up

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Cori-Steel Cutter

• Lands (21)
• 4 Island
• 4 Mountain
• 1 Thundering Falls
• 4 Riverpyre Verge
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Torch the Tower
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 2 Screaming Nemesis
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 2 Sunspine Lynx
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Lithomantic Barrage
• 1 Pyroclasm
• 1 Witchstalker Frenzy

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Izzet Prowess is arguably the best deck going into this RC weekend, putting seven copies in the top 32 at Bologna. After testing against this deck a ton, it's impressed me with its resiliency. This deck can win basically out of nowhere, using the power of Cori-Steel Cutter to combo kill your opponent. As a Temporary Lockdown player I can't tell you how demoralizing it is to have your Lockdown Into the Flood Maw'd on your end step, and lose on the following turn.

What's interesting to me with Izzet Prowess is how diverse some of the lists are. There are obviously a lot of cards that can't change, Cori-Steel Cutter, Stormchaser's Talent, etc, but I've seen differing numbers on the spells. I personally like all four Monstrous Rage main - you can be flexible with cutting these post board and I like having the explosiveness of four copies in Game 1. I personally don't like the Wrenn's Resolve and Hearth Elemental versions, I like being slim on the one-casting cost spells with Stock Up as my main way to refill.

I'm just reiterating what people already know at this point, but the fact remains that Izzet Prowess is fast, resilient, and can keep pace with the grindiest of Midrange and Control decks. I think the one Temporary Lockdown deck I actually like playing into Izzet is Orzhov Pixie, speaking of...

Orzhov Pixie | TDM Standard | MJ_23, Standard Challenge 4/29/2025t/1st

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 2 Loran of the Third Path
• 4 Nurturing Pixie
• 4 Preacher of the Schism
• 4 Sunpearl Kirin

• Instants (2)
• 1 Get Lost
• 1 Go for the Throat

• Enchantments (18)
• 2 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber
• 4 Hopeless Nightmare
• 4 Momentum Breaker
• 4 Nowhere to Run
• 4 Temporary Lockdown

• Lands (24)
• 4 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Shadowy Backstreet
• 1 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 2 Restless Fortress
• 4 Bleachbone Verge
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Concealed Courtyard

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Bovine Intervention
• 4 Duress
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Kutzil's Flanker
• 2 Rest in Peace
• 1 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber
• 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege

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While at the point of writing this article I'm undecided on a deck to play, Orzhov Pixie is in my top three. Unlike Esper Pixie, which makes you work and spend mana to replay your Hopeless Nightmares and Momentum Breakers, you can simply whisk them away with Temporary Lockdown, and have them enter play again (even at instant-speed!) with a Sunpearl Kirin, Nurturing Pixie, or even your own Get Lost.

This makes your Temporary Lockdowns much better than in decks like Jeskai Control, since if your Lockdown gets bounced by Into the Flood Maw you might get a couple of Momentum Breakers or Nowhere to Runs out of it. I think overall while I like Orzhov Pixie, some of its draws can be kind of clunky. You really need to open on a Hopeless Nightmare or Momentum Breaker to get the most use out of early Nurturing Pixies or Sunpearl Kirins.

While the mana in this deck is great, your card advantage relies pretty heavily on sticking Unholy Annex or Preacher of the Schism. If these get dealt with you might have trouble keeping pace with your opponent. Overall, I like this deck - I think it has weaknesses, but it feels good if you think a solid chunk of your opponents will be on Izzet Prowess.

The last deck I wanted to cover today is none other than Azorius Artifacts. This is a deck that consistently beats me on MTG Arena that I haven't seen anyone play in paper. It's exciting to see this is as a lone one-of in the top 32 of this event.

Azorius Artifacts | TDM Standard | TCNUFC, Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship 3 - Bologna/10th

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Kayla's Reconstruction
• 4 United Battlefront

• Artifacts (30)
• 1 Thousand Moons Smithy // Barracks of the Thousand
• 2 Clay-Fired Bricks // Cosmium Kiln
• 2 Cryptic Coat
• 2 Repurposing Bay
• 3 Braided Net // Braided Quipu
• 4 Candy Trail
• 4 Perilous Snare
• 4 Simulacrum Synthesizer
• 4 Spring-Loaded Sawblades // Bladewheel Chariot
• 4 The Irencrag

• Lands (24)
• 4 Plains
• 3 Island
• 1 Fomori Vault
• 2 Meticulous Archive
• 2 Restless Anchorage
• 4 Adarkar Wastes
• 4 Floodfarm Verge
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Temporary Lockdown
• 3 Get Lost
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 High Noon
• 2 Negate
• 2 Rest in Peace

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Your main goal with this deck is to overwhelm your opponent with Simulacrum Synthesizer while keeping them at bay with cards like Spring-Loaded Sawblades // Bladewheel Chariot and Braided Net // Braided Quipu. Using ramp with The Irencrag you can put together an army that just keeps coming back, even in the face of wraths or Temporary Lockdown. It's kind of cool to see a card like Perilous Snare in this deck act as a hard removal spell that also might just make a 5/5 creature off Synthesizer.

I think I'd be wary of playing this list in a heavy Izzet Prowess metagame, hence the four copies of Temporary Lockdown post-board, but this deck probably has a great matchup against the more midrange decks of the format, including Azorius Omniscience. I bet it also has a solid Jeskai and Azorius Control matchup as well. I think I'm a little wary of my opponent having a fast Cori-Steel Cutter draw with Spell Pierce or Into the Flood Maw backup to want to play this deck at USA Regionals, but I think this is a solid deck that can definitely attack the right metagame from a unique angle.

While I'm debating on what to register for Minneapolis, I'm testing my butt off and discussing with Flores-Sensei over what to bring. While I'm tempted by Orzhov Pixie, my heart wants to go with some flavor of Control. I know I gave a thumbs down to Jeskai Control in my last Standard article...but I may just be coming around on it.

Until next time!

-Roman Fusco