As we roll into Aetherdrift preview season, on the heels of one of the largest open Standard tournaments this decade, I thought this would be a good time to take a look at the best cards in the Standard format. You know, before everything gets upended by the shiny new awesomeness in Aetherdrift.
Honorable Mention: Llanowar Elves
There was a ton of hand-wringing when this was spoiled for Foundations. A turn 1 mana d0rk, has WOTC lost their mind Well, it turns out, they haven't. Llanowar Elves is strong, and can lead to strong starts, but the format is so fast that turn 1 removal is so necessary that the Elves rarely survives on turn 1. Green is in a pretty rough spot in Standard at the moment, though the Selesnya Cage deck is giving me hope that this can change.
10. Fountainport
This land does so much for so little investment, and I don't see any way it's not a staple for the entirety of its Standard run. It's the best land in the format at the moment, though Soulstone Sanctuary is giving it a good run for its money.
9. Screaming Nemesis
This was a popular pick for being one of the best cards in Duskmourn: House of Horror but then the set was released and it seemed to fade into the back ground. It slowly started picking up steam and is now one of the backbone cards of the Gruul deck that is jockeying to be the best deck in Standard.
8. Nowhere to Run
I both love this card (a removal spell on a permanent that can be bounced, found with Cache Grab, trigger enchantment matters cards) and loathe it equally (ward is no longer a relevant ability). I wanted to put Sheltered by Ghosts in this slot, but I can't justify it given that it often gets obliterated by a timely Nowehere to Run.
7. Collector's Cage
I've loved this card since it was spoiled and have written two articles about how powerful it is in the right deck (and how powerful the Hideaway ability is in general). I'm glad it's finally found a place in Standard and look forward to seeing how the deck can grow as more cards are added to the format.
6. Abhorrent Oculus
A multi-format all-star, and the card everyone hoped Skaab Ruinator would be. Turns out, getting any 6 cards out of your graveyard is a lot easier than hitting 3 creatures. Pairing the natural tendency to shove the deck into some sort of mill deck with Helping Hand really pushes this over the top, making it a must answer threat that can pop out as soon as turn 2.
5. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
I want to apologize to all Kaito enjoyers out there. I was a hater, thinking this version of Kaito was a gimmick, unplayable . The only solace I take is that I wasn't the only one to think this card was nothing special. But, it has proven to be a very powerful planeswalker, probably the best in Standard, and is even seeing play in other formats.
4. Sunfall
Ol' Reliable.
3. Enduring Curiosity
Of all the creatures on this list, this is the one that needs to attack the least and still have an outsize impact on the game's outcome. I really don't understand how this lets you draw multiple cards every turn, but Enduring Innocence was limited to one card per turn. In the words of Scarlet Witch, that doesn't really seem all that fair. Once this hits the board, if you don't deal with it immediately, you will be buried by card advantage.
2. Heartfire Hero
Maybe this should be Manifold Mouse instead, but I still see turn one Heartfire Hero as the most powerful start in Standard. The red decks continue to hold on to the top tier, whether they be the aforementioned Gruul, sacrifice decks (where Heartfire Hero really shines), Leyline of Resonance decks, Boros decks, Jeskai convoke, or straight up Mice decks. Heartfire Hero is a centerpiece in most of them. The strength of their turn 1 play is what separates the playable Bloomburrow kindreds (mice, maybe rabbits) from the hopefuls (squirrels, bats, frogs).
1. Stormchaser's Talent and This Town Ain't Big Enough
Okay, I realize this is a cheat, but you very rarely see one of these played without the other, and it feels like this may be the defining "combo" of Standard at the moment. I never would have thought that I'd be slowly coming around to the idea that a bounce spell was warping a format, but here we are. The tempo advantage provided by these cards has made anything that costs 3+ mana almost unplayable (unless it has a damn good Enters ability). To top it off, once you get to enough mana, this becomes a slow, grindy, inevitable lock. I'm not sure what Aetherdrift can bring us to break these two up, and we may be looking at tempo decks as the defining deck type in Standard for the foreseeable future.
It feels like it's been awhile since we had a spoiler season (after a year of never ending spoilers) and I look forward to Aetherdrift. Standard isn't stale yet, but I am excited to see what new tools we can get to fight the cards.
You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social