After the major Standard bans earlier this month, it seemed like time was finally up for Izzet decks in Standard. We saw a successful list here and there, but for the most part, the archetype totally vanished from the upper tiers. With the advent of Avatar, however, Izzet’s fortunes may well be on the up again. With a couple of new cards and a snappy new moniker in “Izzet Seal,” blue/red decks look to be back on the menu in MTG Avatar Standard.
Izzet Seal In MTG Avatar Standard
In the few days that MTG Avatar has been available on digital platforms, Izzet Seal has already established itself as a player in Standard. OafMcNamara took second place with it in yesterday’s MTGO Standard Challenge, and TheSlickshotGang went one better and claimed first place with it in today’s. Other results further down the rankings cement it as a popular, powerful choice in the early metagame.
Essentially, Izzet Seal is a classic Izzet Tempo deck that leverages a couple of new cards from Avatar. The titular Tiger-Seal is one of these cards. As a one-mana 3/3 with Vigilance, this is about as strong a tempo play as you could ask for. This thing can attack into pretty much anything in Dimir Midrange, and most of Simic Aggro, too. Getting to hang back on defense due to Vigilance also makes it fantastic in race situations. The drawback here is significant, to be sure, but Izzet Seal is packed with so much draw that it shouldn’t matter most of the time.
A great example of this is the other new Avatar card in the deck, Boomerang Basics. Many players, ourselves included, identified this new Lesson as a banger back in preview season, and it seems to be living up to the hype. The floor here is a sorcery-speed Into the Flood Maw, which is pretty excellent on its own. On top of this, Boomerang Basics can also be a value play if you use it on your own cards. Bounce a Stormchaser’s Talent, or a Warped-in Quantum Riddler, back to your hand, and you’re generating a lot of advantage.
Bringing Back The Classics
These Avatar newcomers help support the classic suite of past MTG Standard staples that make up the rest of Izzet Seal. This version of the deck very much leans into the draw/discard theme that Izzet Cauldron once used. You land early threats like Marauding Mako and Stormchaser’s Talent, then power them up with cheap looting effects.
Duelist of the Mind is particularly effective here. Committing a Crime is easy in the deck, between Boomerang Basics and Torch the Tower, which means this can easily loot at least once per turn. Throw in Fear of Missing Out and Winternight Stories, and you’ll be doing an awful lot of digging.
It’s this action that really defines the deck. Looting gets you counters on Marauding Mako, and untaps Tiger-Seal to boot. It also buffs Duelist of the Mind’s power for the turn, and sets up your graveyard for FOMO’s Delirium ability. On top of that, looting effects also play perfectly with Quantum Riddler. As long as you have a small hand, you get to go card-positive rather than card-neutral with all of these effects. This is more of a late-game interaction, since Riddler is largely a cantrip early, but it’s one well worth bearing in mind.
Speaking of the late game, Izzet Seal actually has a surprisingly robust plan for that, considering how aggressive it is. On top of Riddler, it also runs Frostcliff Siege and Roaring Furnace//Steaming Sauna as pricey card draw engines. The genius of these late-game powerhouses, however, is that they also have utility early. You can pick Temur on Frostcliff Siege to pursue a more aggressive plan, and you can use Roaring Furnace as cheap removal. This kind of flexibility is what made Izzet Cauldron such a potent deck, and it can still be found in Izzet Seal.
Can’t Keep A Good Deck Down
For some, the early success of Izzet Seal in MTG Avatar Standard will be sigh-inducing. We just got Izzet out of its dominant position in the format, after all, and now it’s back with another strong contender. Fortunately, I think the current metagame is better positioned to handle the deck than it was in the past.
This is largely down to the dominance of Dimir Midrange at present. While Dimir was too slow to handle Izzet Cauldron’s combo elements, it should fare much better against this new, fair version. Dimir has plenty of removal for Izzet Seal’s threats, and the ability to outpace it in terms of card advantage with Enduring Curiosity et al. This won’t be an easy matchup for Dimir, but it should be a balanced one. This should prevent Izzet from riding roughshod over the format.
The other big decks at present are a mixed bag for Izzet Seal. Simic Aggro, while less interactive, may actually be even faster than Izzet in terms of creatures on board. The deck has adopted Avatar’s Badgermole Cub, too, which lends it even more explosive power. This matchup, like Dimir, will likely end up as a coin flip, but one in which Simic is slightly favored. Jeskai Control should be a good matchup for Izzet Seal, but it’s the least dominant of the current big decks. For that reason, it’s unclear how much this will do to secure Izzet a meta niche.
However it works out, I personally think it’s good to see Izzet back in the Standard meta. Removing decks completely does huge damage to player confidence, so it’s much better to see them simply reduced to more reasonable versions like this.
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