Standard has changed drastically in the last week. While rotation is on the horizon, as well as another new expansion, we were hit with a massive ban announcement:

This ban announcement has had an extremely large effect on Standard and will shape what kinds of decks we see at the start of the next RCQ season. There's a lot to unpack here, so let's break this down into some quick thoughts.

Cori-Steel Cutter, Monstrous Rage, Heartfire Hero

Honestly, these cards all needed to go, and I don't think people are surprised by these bans. Heartfire Hero scales too quickly in Aggro, Monstrous Rage eliminates blocking in creature matchups, and Cori-Steel Cutter is just a messed up Magic card. I think having Aggro as a dominant archetype in a given Standard meta is actually a good thing, and smaller metas help you adapt better. The absence of Aggro leads me to believe the format will have more diversity, but it will be harder to prep for everything. Whether that's good or bad is up to you, but I do think they did ban some pretty unfun cards to play against.

Abuelo's Awakening

While I don't think Omniscience (as a deck) needed to go so soon, the fact is that Omniscience still will be in Standard for a number of years, so I'm not so worried by an Abuelo's Awakening ban. A lot of cards from this archetype were already rotating, and I think it's fine to let a pretty well-represented Combo deck filter out of the format, even if it wasn't as oppressive as Cori-Steel Cutter. This makes me think WotC doesn't want decks in the format that are hard for opponents to interact with, or can win on the spot.

Up the Beanstalk

Another fine ban, but one that caught me by surprise. Up the Beanstalk doesn't rotate with Edge of Eternities, but cards like Leyline Binding do. Banning this card seems to me like the fallout of banning so many Aggro cards, so I'm okay with it, as this sequenced into Overlord of the Hauntwoods is pretty powerful. With Zur, Eternal Schemer rotating later this month, I think this deck will have to rely more heavily on Esper Origins, making me think that the way to go post-ban is a deck centered around Yuna, Hope of Spira.

Hopeless Nightmare/This Town Ain't Big Enough

Again, more fallout of banning so many aggressive cards. Esper Pixie seems like it would've actually gotten much better come rotation, with Watery Grave and Godless Shrine coming into the format. I'm kind of bummed to have This Town Ain't Big Enough banned as well, but even with these two cards gone there's still an Orzhov Pixie shell floating around in Momentum Breaker, Nurturing Pixie, and Sunpearl Kirin.

The Meta Post-Rotation

There are many winners and losers from these bans. While Aggro and Pixie decks suffer, Control and Midrange decks thrive, as well as Yuna, Hope of Spira-focused Overlord decks.

Dimir Midrange is the clear winner out of them all, as it loses practically no cards with this ban announcement, and has a pretty solid matchup against decks that go over it, like Azorius Control and Overlord decks.

Dimir Midrange | FIN Standard | Mogged, Standard Challenge 07/05/2025/1st

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Deep-Cavern Bat
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
• 2 Cecil, Dark Knight // Cecil, Redeemed Paladin
• 2 Saiba Cryptomancer
• 3 Enduring Curiosity
• 4 Faerie Mastermind
• 4 Floodpits Drowner
• 4 Spyglass Siren

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

• Instants (10)
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict
• 2 Phantom Interference
• 3 Go for the Throat
• 4 Cut Down

• Lands (25)
• 4 Island
• 4 Swamp
• 2 Restless Reef
• 3 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Gloomlake Verge
• 4 Underground River

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Anoint with Affliction
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Duress
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 2 Gix's Command
• 2 Negate
• 4 Preacher of the Schism
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder

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Decks that fell to the wayside during Cori-Steel Cutter's reign have now started popping back up. Decks like Azorius and Jeskai Control have seen multiple MTGO challenge top 8's, as well as Mono-White Tokens, utilizing recent cards like Voice of Victory in conjunction with Elspeth, Storm Slayer and Caretaker's Talent.

Mono-White Tokens | FIN Standard | Gazmon48, Standard Challenge 07/03/2025/1st

• Creatures (14)
• 3 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 3 Overlord of the Mistmoors
• 4 Enduring Innocence
• 4 Voice of Victory

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer

• Instants (4)
• 4 Get Lost

• Sorceries (7)
• 1 Sunfall
• 2 Day of Judgment
• 4 Lay Down Arms

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Caretaker's Talent

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Carrot Cake

• Lands (25)
• 15 Lands
• 2 Demolition Field
• 4 Fountainport
• 4 Sunken Citadel

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Authority of the Consuls
• 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
• 1 Overlord of the Mistmoors
• 4 Rest in Peace
• 2 Temporary Lockdown
• 2 The Stone Brain

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Another aspect of the format worth noting, is that while Aggro is heavily subdued, the Mono-Red base shell is just so powerful that it can still be a viable choice even without Heartfire Hero and Monstrous Rage to boost it.

Gruul Aggro | FIN Standard | Grogore, Standard Challenge 07/03/2025/3rd

• Creatures (24)
• 2 Questing Druid
• 2 Twinmaw Stormbrood
• 4 Emberheart Challenger
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Manifold Mouse
• 4 Pawpatch Recruit
• 4 Screaming Nemesis

• Instants (9)
• 1 Self-Destruct
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Overprotect

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Audacity
• 4 Innkeeper's Talent

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 5 Mountain
• 1 Restless Ridgeline
• 1 Soulstone Sanctuary
• 2 Rockface Village
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Karplusan Forest
• 4 Thornspire Verge

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Lithomantic Barrage
• 3 Pawpatch Formation
• 2 Pyroclasm
• 2 Questing Druid
• 1 Sentinel of the Nameless City
• 2 Sunspine Lynx
• 3 Urabrask's Forge

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Lastly, I wanted to highlight my favorite deck of the post-ban meta, Naya Yuna:

Naya Yuna | FIN Standard | Zompatanfo, Standard Challenge 07/01/2025/1st

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Summon: Brynhildr
• 2 Overlord of the Mistmoors
• 3 Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant
• 3 Terra, Magical Adept // Esper Terra
• 4 Fear of Missing Out
• 4 Overlord of the Boilerbilges
• 4 Treasure Keeper
• 4 Yuna, Hope of Spira

• Instants (6)
• 2 Get Lost
• 4 Torch the Tower

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Esper Origins

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Dredger's Insight

• Lands (25)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Sunbillow Verge
• 3 Lush Portico
• 3 Starting Town
• 4 Elegant Parlor
• 4 Hushwood Verge
• 4 Thornspire Verge

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Clarion Conqueror
• 3 Day of Judgment
• 2 Exorcise
• 2 Fire Magic
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 1 Summon: Knights of Round

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I think this deck is where I'd want to also start post-rotation, as it loses practically no cards. While I think you can lose to Dimir Midrange on the draw, as this deck takes some time to set up, I really like the idea of stabilizing against Aggro with Esper Origins into Yuna, Hope of Spira, or having game against an Ultima from Azorius Control by casting a Yuna and immediately getting back an Overlord of the Boilerbilges. I also like that Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire can filter away cards you don't need in a particular matchup, like pitching Torch the Tower against Control or extra lands when you don't need any more.

While it's fun to brew new decks and resurrect old decks that had fallen in the wake of ruin of Cori-Steel Cutter and Monstrous Rage, it's still important to know that Standard is going to change drastically again in only a matter of weeks. Rotation is on the horizon, and happens now in the summer of this year instead of the fall. With the release of Edge of Eternities we lose Dominaria United, The Brothers' War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and March of the Machine/March of the Machine: The Aftermath. While decks like Dimir Midrange, Azorius Control, and Naya Overlords will not lose too many cards, it's important to understand that everything is on the table depending on what new powerful cards we get in the next set.

Dimir may seem like the top deck for now, but when it loses Cut Down and Go for the Throat, will it still be able to Stand up to aggressive strategies? What happens if Control gets new cards that can replace the few it loses, like Temporary Lockdown? It's easy to have an opinion on Standard a week out from a major ban announcement, but I'd keep an open mind and level head as we go into the second half of the year, into Standard rotation as well as three more Standard sets on the horizon.

Until next week,

-Roman Fusco