Following the Magic World Championship earlier this month, it was natural for players to be concerned about the state of Standard. We had made it through two different rounds of bans to blue and red powerhouses, only for Izzet Lessons to emerge as the most popular archetype in the format.
Fortunately, the Standard metagame has continued to evolve, and we’ve seen a handful of intriguing strategies like Selesnya Landfall and Azorius Fliers put up surprisingly good results. Interestingly, as players have continued to adapt, a bunch of cool enchantments that never quite had a home up to this point have finally earned their time in the spotlight. These cards all excel in grindy games, threatening to break board stalls wide open.
Hollowmurk Siege
Up until the release of MTG Avatar, Hollowmurk Siege barely made a dent in Constructed. The card is both efficient and powerful, but in order to get the most out of the Sultai mode, you need plenty of ways to put counters on your creatures turn after turn.
Well, the arrival of the Earthbend mechanic was a godsend for Hollowmurk Siege, and players are starting to figure out how to incorporate the enchantment into a couple different decks. The first and most obvious home is Landfall, a deck that already made use of Sazh’s Chocobo and Bristly Bill, Spine Sower as two effects that can trigger Hollowmurk Siege turn after turn.
Now, with the addition of Earthbender Ascension and Ba Sing Se, Hollowmurk Siege’s stock has only risen. After all, part of the reason old versions of Mono-Green Landfall fell out of favor was that the deck was vulnerable to removal, and the synergy between Ba Sing Se and Hollowmurk Siege provides a late game engine versus midrange and control. This doesn’t even include the scenarios where you’ll choose Abzan, which can help you push damage and get around a pesky blocker.
Additionally, some Golgari Ouroboroid lists have begun making good use of the card as well. Ouroboroid and Badgermole Cub are strong enough individually, but when they start drawing you extra cards on top of everything else, you’ll pull far ahead in no time.
Felidar Retreat
While many Landfall enthusiasts choose to splash green for Siege, others have found success adding white for Felidar Retreat. In fact, one decklist featuring a full playset of Felidar Retreat in the maindeck managed to get second place in a Standard Challenge just a few days ago.
This one-card win condition serves as both an army in a can and a way to buff your squad. When teaming up with Icetill Explorer and Fabled Passage, all of Retreat’s downsides are mitigated, setting up to dominate the game.
Felidar Retreat also has plenty of merit as a sideboard option, boosting your matchup against decks with lots of creature removal. If your opponent keeps a reactive hand in hopes of keeping Mightform Harmonizer in check, Retreat may bury them by itself.
Air Nomad Legacy
In the new Azorius Fliers archetype, Air Nomad Legacy is a game changer. At face value, having access to a Favorable Winds effect in the Azorius Fliers archetype is a big deal. Many of Standard’s fliers are quite cheap, and with cards like Sage of the Skies in the mix, it’s easy to go wide. Any draws where Momo, Friendly Flier go unanswered will enable you to put a ton of creatures into play quickly, so having a buff effect from there goes a long way in making each individual threat scary.
On top of that, the value the Clue adds to this type of card cannot be overstated. One of the weaknesses of Favorable Winds is that it does nothing on its own if your creatures get dealt with. Air Nomad Legacy, by contrast, at least replaces itself, giving you more resources to spend your mana on in long games. This also reduces the risk of drawing multiples against decks with lots of kill spells.
The Huntsman’s Redemption
Going into the World Championship, the most popular assertive archetype was Simic Aggro, but we’ve since seen a shift towards other aggro decks. Recently, Gruul Aggro has been starting to heat up, taking advantage of Fear of Missing Out and Break Out in red. The Huntsman’s Redemption is a perfect fit for these Gruul Aggro shells, adding tons of consistency to its draws.
The presence of Llanowar Elves makes it more likely you can jam this Saga ahead of schedule. From there, because Chapter II triggers at the beginning of your first main phase, you have the option to float mana with your mana dork before sacrificing it. This means you can grab Ouroboroid and cast it turn three, putting you firmly in the driver’s seat.
Even without Llanowar Elves in the picture, Badgermole Cub’s Earthbended land provides some excellent sacrifice fodder. Once Chapter III goes off, you should be able to push damage no problem. Of course, if you get to target Ourboroid with the buff, your whole squad will get even bigger when you go to combat.
Once you throw in the fact that The Huntsman’s Redemption can tutor for strong, situational options like Nova Hellkite or Magebane Lizard out of the sideboard, it’s easy to see why the card pulls its weight. There’s plenty of room for the Standard metagame to shift even more in the coming weeks, so don’t be surprised if some other MTG sleepers start to pop up.
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