As we continue to tear open our boosters of Avatar: The Last Airbender we're starting to see that this set is going to have a major impact on the Standard format. It's still early in the season, but I'm seeing Avatar cards, and decks built entirely around Avatar abilities/themes, at a much higher rate than any other set we've seen this year. Standard feels fresh, and it's got me thinking about where the format is, and where it could be going. So, here are some of my thoughts on the current State of Standard.

Avatar is an Amazing Set!

That said, Avatar as a whole is a homerun Standard set in every way that the Marvel's Spider-Man set was not. The deck feels powerful, flavorful, and, even though it is a Universes Beyond set, the set feels like a classic Magic set. It may be that the IP lends itself to Magic better than Spider-Man, but I'd say that this is the closest to being an on-brand UB set we've seen since Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth. It feels like a breath of fresh air, and I've enjoyed both the Limited Format and the early days of Standard immensely. This set feels like the perfect UB segway into Lorwyn Eclipsed.

Meet The New Boss (Same As The Old Boss)

We've banned Cori-Steel Cutter and Vivi Ornitier, yet somehow, we're seeing an Izzet deck find it's way to the top of the meta. Now, I understand it's still early, and the metagame is still being refined, but it is so disheartening to see yet ANOTHER Izzet deck 5-0'ing League after League. Blue and Red cards are just the most powerful, low-costed, and consistent cards in the format, as cards like Fear of Missing Out ensure you're always presenting a similar game plan. Cards like Boomerang Basics (surprisingly, one of the best cards form Avatar) and Tiger-Seal have allowed the deck to lower the curve and get out the door much faster, and the Multi-Format All-Star Quantum Riddler still sits at the top of the curve to be the game-ender.

Ban Badgermole Cub

After a season and a half of Vivi dominance, we were finally saved by The Ban That Was Needed (4 months ago). Avatar was released to one of the most hopeful Standard formats this year. Yet, here we are a week or two into the season and I'm already seeing screen caps and social media posts calling for a new card to be banned. The card is very powerful, I fully agree, but it feels like we're jumping the gun here, and that there are a myriad of ways to deal with a 2 mana 2/2 before we need to ban it. The deck has an inherent weakness to mass removal, and even timely spot removal can cripple some of the best draws. Especially if they decide to...

Reprint Fatal Push

Standard needs a stronger 1 mana removal spell for black decks. Stab is close, and Tragic Trajectory might have done the job if it was an Instant, but right now, we need something a bit more to answer Badgermole Cub and some of the faster Red deck draws. I've seen people push for Cut Down, but I think it is a bit too generically good against three and 4-drops. Cards like Ouroboroid are good for the format (in that I like seeing the game end because of four+ mana cards), and it would become unplayable if Cut Down were reprinted. Fatal Push presents enough hoops you need to jump through to take down the bigger Mana Value creatures to be a more interesting inclusion in the format, while always a guarantee to nail the one and two MV creatures.

Standard Is Still The Fastest It Has Ever Been

Standard is a turn four format. As much as I hate to say it, if you can't present either a way to win on turn four, or a way to consistently prevent your opponent from winning on turn four, you're not going to have a good time at a Standard event. There are simply too many decks winning too fast in too many ways. The Omniscience deck is baseline turn four, the Simic Aggro deck can cast Ouroboroid on turn three and then kill you on turn four fairly regularly, the Sultai Reanimator deck with Superior Spider-Man deck can lock the game down on turn four with a Bringer of the Last Gift on turn four, and even the slower Red deck draws can kill you on turn four, sometimes even though you are interacting with them. Earlier this year, I suggested a Chalice of the Void reprint as a way to slow the format down, but I don't know if that would be enough now.

Aapa, Steadfast Guardian: The Lurking Menace

If you're looking for an actual terror waiting in the wings to dominate Standard, my vote goes to Appa. This card combos with Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius, and the cost reduction mechanic, to go infinite in a variety of ways. The most obvious is with the powerhouse card Aang, Swift Savior, to create as many Ally tokens as it takes to plant your opponent in the dirt. But it can also combine with Airbender Ascension to also create an infinite number of Enters triggers with Doc on the board, with Bramble Familiar to churn through your deck and find whatever you need, or even Badgermole Cub to go wide or create an infinitely large Earthbent land to attack for the win. Everyone saw the comparison to Restoration Angel when Appa was spoiled, but the fact that it can target any number of any non-land permanents really makes it unique, and potentially the most powerful card in the Avatar.

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social