Spotlight Series: Secrets just happened this past weekend, highlighting the hidden versatility of the Standard format. Of the eight decks that qualified for the Pro Tour this weekend, only four of them were established Metagame titans. While the return of three older archetypes should help shake up the Standard meta, one deck that top eighted this 604-player event was doing something totally different.
MTG Izzet Opus
As its name suggests, Izzet Opus focuses on maximizing the payoffs of Secrets of Strixhaven’s best Opus creatures. Molten-Core Maestro is the card that makes this deck work, creating tons of mana on later turns to enable Storm-esque swings. This unlocks the potential of Rapturous Moment and Ashling’s Command, turning the massive spells into Ritual effects that can refill your hand. From there, thanks to Colorstorm Stallion‘s duplication effect, you can commonly close out games as early as turn five.
To do this, with Molten-Core Maestro in play, your general goal will be to get to eight mana. The easiest way to do this is by using Rapturous Moment, immediately creating eight mana with a two-powered Maestro. Failing this, you can chain some Opus spells together, like Ashling’s Command, to build up your Maestro’s power.
Once you have eight mana, cast Colorstorm Stallion and follow it up with a spell that triggers Opus. Ashling’s Command is your best choice here, since it easily leads into another five-mana spell. This will copy Stallion, putting a minimum of 11 power on the board. From here, one Kicked Burst Lightning puts 21 points of damage into play, with the opportunity to cast even more spells using Maestro’s leftover mana.
While this may seem like a lot to set up, the deck is equipped to consistently find its core pieces. Sanar, Unfinished Genius is a big help here, ramping you to later turns while giving you a Tutor spell that triggers Opus. Once you’re in your combo phase, fresh copies of Sanar can function as seven-mana Opus spells, guaranteeing the best possible follow-up to maximize on triggers. A playset of both Stock Up and Tablet of Discovery also joins Sanar, increasing the consistency of your combo turns while helping you find your core pieces.
Slowing the Opponent Down
While Izzet Opus can technically win as early as turn four, you often won’t be in a position to Storm off until turns six or seven. Most of Standard’s popular decks can kill you before this, meaning that Izzet Opus needs a plan to slow faster opponents down. Fortunately, a fair few cheap removal spells play surprisingly well with this five-mana game plan.
In addition to its combo mode, Burst Lightning also functions as this deck’s best time-buying piece, killing creatures like Slickshot Show-Off. Prismari Charm plays a similar role, with its multiple modes allowing it to both buy you time and keep your combo turn going.
When needed, Ashling’s Command can also come in clutch here, taking out all of your opponent’s small creatures. This card can swing entire matchups on its own, completely decimating Azorius Momo decks, for example. The card is undeniably better to use as a Ritual spell to trigger Opus, but the versatility that this card offers gives this deck some needed flexibility.
If this isn’t enough, Izzet Opus’s one-ofs and sideboard cards can help get you out of problematic spots. Fire Magic, for example, doubles as a board wipe and can trigger Opus with its Firaga mode. Sear out of the sideboard, on the other hand, can deal with bigger threats like Mightform Harmonizer or Planeswalkers like Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
A Weird Position
Thanks to Spotlight Series: Secrets, Standard is in a reshaping phase right now. Throw in Izzet Opus having only one strong result, and it’s tough to know for sure how this deck will shape up. That said, after playing the deck for ourselves, it’s clear that this archetype has lots of potential.
Izzet Opus is particularly strong against decks with small creatures that don’t have a ton of interaction. Because of this, the big decks coming into Spotlight Series London, like Izzet Prowess and Landfall variants, seem like strong matchups for the archetype. Notably, Izzet Opus went 7-0 against Izzet Prowess during the Spotlight event, suggesting that the deck is particularly good at taking down Standard’s most popular deck.
All of that said, Izzet Opus’s metagame position is far from perfect. Thanks to the deck’s ability to grow creatures quickly, Mardu Discard feels like a really bad matchup. Your removal doesn’t pair well into their threats, and you don’t have enough time to get to your later Storm turns. While we haven’t played against Jeskai Control ourselves, that matchup also seems poor in theory thanks to the boatload of interaction it has.
Despite this, Izzet Opus gives combo fans a fun deck to try at a competitive level. With some tweaks, this archetype could become a staying power in Secrets of Strixhaven Standard. At worst, this should be a great deck to play at your Weekly MTG events.
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