If there’s one Magic: The Gathering keyword that’s been hogging the limelight lately, it’s Prowess. Since Bloomburrow, Mono-Red and Gruul decks built around the keyword have been dominating Standard. Tarkir: Dragonstorm brought Izzet into the fray via Cori-Steel Cutter, too. The recent Standard bans have put most of these decks out of commission, leaving a sizable power vacuum to fill. While it’s not the color combo most associate with Aggro, turns out an Azorius take on Prowess may be the deck to do so in MTG Standard.
The majority of the Prowess shell is, it turns out, rooted in blue. This means a pivot to a different secondary color is totally viable, even if that color offers less explosive potential than red. It’s early days for this take on the deck, but so far results are encouraging. Between this and its powerhouse Control offerings, Azorius could be the new king of Standard before long.
Azorius Prowess In MTG Standard
The Azorius Prowess list we’ll be looking at today comes via DskBayWolf, who piloted it to a top eight finish in Saturday’s MTG Online Standard Challenge. In many ways, this is a deck that plays the Prowess hits, but in others, it’s surprisingly innovative.
The usual blue Prowess core is pretty much intact here. Stormchaser’s Talent remains an absurd one drop, applying early pressure while also triggering your Prowess effects itself. You won’t level it up every game, but when you do, both abilities are highly relevant. Recurring one of your key spells, in particular, is a great move.
Talent is supported by no less than 14 one-mana spells. Prowess decks are all about multi-spelling as soon as possible, and these cards enable that. Opt and Sleight of Hand are fantastic, as they provide card advantage to keep things running smoothly. Spell Pierce, Into the Flood Maw, and Magic Damper are your main interaction pieces. These help you keep the way clear for your Prowess creatures to get in each turn.
These are all classic Prowess inclusions, but DskBayWolf runs plenty of spice, too. Four copies of Sheltered by Ghosts make total sense here, as an efficient removal and buff spell that also triggers Prowess. It’s almost worth splashing white for this card alone, honestly.
Perhaps the most left-field addition here is the two copies of Jace Reawakened. While hyped up a bit on reveal, this unusual planeswalker has failed to perform in any format since. In Azorius Prowess, it’s a surprisingly fitting addition. Not being able to cast it until turn four isn’t a huge drawback, since you’ll want the early turns to set up your Prowess board. Once it hits, both the looting and Plot abilities are highly relevant, too.
Getting In Gear
The other big innovation in DskBayWolf’s list is a shiny new Equipment package. Cloud, Midgar Mercenary and Astrologian’s Planisphere both land full playsets here. We’ve seen this package used in multiple decks already, including a Lurrus PO list way back in Vintage. Unsurprisingly, what’s powerful in Vintage is also pretty good in Standard.
Cloud lets you grab Planisphere right out of the deck, which adds a ton of extra redundancy. Planisphere is essentially your second Prowess creature, after all, so running Cloud takes you from eight of those to 12. This deck really needs to land a Prowess threat on turn one or two, ideally both. The inclusion of this package greatly increases your odds in that regard.
On top of that, Cloud and Planisphere have great synergy with each other. Attach Planisphere to Cloud and both of those triggers will be doubles, giving Cloud two +1/+1 counters whenever you cast a noncreature spell or draw your third card in a turn. This can get out of hand very quickly, building a huge threat far beyond what Prowess decks are typically capable of.
Rounding out this package, DskBayWolf throws in two copies of Assimilation Aegis. Like Jace Reawakened, this is a Thunder Junction mythic that never really got its time in the sun. Here, it’s a brilliant Cloud target for creature-heavy matchups. If you need to clear a problem blocker out of the way, you can just tutor up Aegis and exile it. Turning your Cloud or an Otter token into a copy of your opponent’s creature is very relevant as well.
Cloud adds a ton of versatility to the deck, easily earning its spot despite that double-white mana cost. Throw in the near-mandatory playset of Stock Up, and that’s all she wrote on Azorius Prowess in MTG Standard.
Izzet A Better Option?
For such a new spin on a classic, DskBayWolf’s Azorius Prowess is off to a great start in Standard. A 5-2 finish in a Challenge is nothing to sniff at, and may well lead to more results further down the line. The main obstacle in its path right now is the elephant in the room: the already-successful Izzet variant of the deck.
Izzet Prowess was a little too good prior to the Cori-Steel Cutter ban, but it’s still very serviceable now. It gets to run all the same great blue cards as Azorius, as well as some truly terrifying creatures in Vivi Ornitier and Slickshot Show-Off. Both offer the potential for explosive insta-kill turns, which is something Azorius can’t do nearly as easily.
Red also gives Izzet Prowess much easier access to removal. Torch the Tower remains a classic, and Obliterating Bolt/Roaring Furnace are good backups. Prowess decks often struggle against annoying small chump blockers now that Monstrous Rage is out of the format. Cheap removal like this helps to address that weakness.
These are the big points in Izzet’s favor. Azorius, on the other hand, is better-positioned against decks that go a bit bigger. Izzet may struggle to remove some of Dimir Midrange’s threats, for example, but Azorius is all about exile-based removal. It’s also capable of building a more consistent threat with Planisphere/Cloud, as opposed to the huge temporary threat of Slickshot Show-Off.
Overall, Azorius Prowess is a more stable take on the archetype for MTG Standard. Depending on how the metagame shakes out post-Edge of Eternities, it could well become the preferred option for all the Prowess-lovers out there.
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