Can you feel that rumbling? That’s Pro Tour Thunder Junction, hurtling rapidly down the road ahead of its start date this Friday. Magic’s 100th set has already proven to be as impactful as one would expect from such a milestone product. New cards from Thunder Junction are seeing play in the likes of Pioneer, and even Modern is getting some love. What remains to be seen, however, is how the cards will impact the Standard metagame.
We won’t need to wait long to find out. Pro Tour Thunder Junction, the next major tournament in the Magic calendar, starts this Friday, the 26th of April. Elite players will be facing off in both Thunder Junction Draft and Standard, with $500,000 in total prizes on the line. For those interested in the limited aspect of the event, we’ve already looked at some surprise hits and overpowered options for that format. For those more curious about Standard, stay tuned. We’re going to go over everything you need to know below.
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The Current Meta
Let’s start by looking at the current Standard metagame, pre-Pro Tour. This was the subject of discussion on this week’s episode of Weekly MTG, where the hosts broke down each of the major players in the current format. Sitting at the top of the totem pole we have Dimir Midrange and Esper Midrange. These two decks play fairly similarly, both relying on disruption, removal, and efficient threats to close out their games. Cards like
Deep-Cavern Bat
Deep-Cavern Bat
Flying, lifelink
When this creature enters, look at target opponent's hand. You may exile a nonland card from it until this creature leaves the battlefield.
and
Preacher of the Schism
Preacher of the Schism
Deathtouch
Whenever this creature attacks the player with the most life or tied for most life, create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink.
Whenever this creature attacks while you have the most life or are tied for most life, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
see consistent play across both. They rely on similar finishers as well, with
Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
Flying, lifelink
Whenever Aclazotz attacks, each opponent discards a card. For each opponent who can't, you draw a card.
Whenever an opponent discards a land card, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
When Aclazotz dies, return it to the battlefield tapped and transformed under its owner's control.
appearing regularly in both decks. Golgari Midrange is also seeing play with similar lists, albeit in much lower numbers.
These two decks are the bedrock of the Standard format. They’re flexible and powerful enough to hold their own against pretty much any other deck, including mirror matches. That said, there is still considerable competition from other archetypes. Hot on their heels is Boros Convoke, a go-wide Aggro deck that can generate card advantage through cheap
Knight-Errant of Eos
Knight-Errant of Eos
Convoke
When this creature enters, look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal up to two creature cards with mana value X or less from among them, where X is the number of creatures that convoked this creature. Put the revealed cards into your hand, then shuffle.
. This deck has a much more linear game plan than the Midrange options, but it can also win games before they’ve even really started. Cards like
Imodane’s Recruiter
Imodane’s Recruiter
When this creature enters, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.
and
Sanguine Evangelist
Sanguine Evangelist
Battle cry (Whenever this creature attacks, each other attacking creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.)
When this creature enters or dies, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
help make these explosive wins happen.
Temur Analyst, sometimes called Temur Control or Temur Worldsoul’s Rage, is another player in the meta. Despite the Control label, this is really more of a Combo deck, built around milling and reanimating a huge number of lands before finishing your opponent off with one huge
Worldsoul’s Rage
Worldsoul’s Rage
Worldsoul's Rage deals X damage to any target. Put up to X land cards from your hand and/or graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
. This deck commands a smaller meta share, alongside Magic stalwart Mono-Red Aggro.
New Toys From Thunder Junction
So that’s how the land lies for now. But how will Thunder Junction shake things up? As Weekly MTG mentioned, both Tinybones, the Pickpocket and Gisa, the Hellraiser were among the most-played cards in the MTG Arena Streamer Event that took place just before the full release of the set. That being said, events like these aren’t fully comparable to real-world Standard.
Following on from this early event, the cards have also shown up in lists for recent Standard Leagues and Preliminaries. Tinybones in particular has shown up regularly, proving their power. The new toys for Midrange decks don’t end there, though, as both
Shoot the Sheriff
Shoot the Sheriff
Destroy target non-outlaw creature. (Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks are outlaws. Everyone else is fair game.)
and
Three Steps Ahead
Three Steps Ahead
Spree (Choose one or more additional costs.)
+ {1}{U} — Counter target spell.
+ {3} — Create a token that's a copy of target artifact or creature you control.
+ {2} — Draw two cards, then discard a card.
could very well see play too.
Boros Convoke gets some new cards as well.
Inspiring Vantage
Inspiring Vantage
This land enters tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands.
{T}: Add {R} or {W}.
, the Boros Fastland, is a boring but important addition and will help the early consistency of the list greatly. More interestingly,
Nurturing Pixie
Nurturing Pixie
Flying
When this creature enters, return up to one target non-Faerie, nonland permanent you control to its owner's hand. If a permanent was returned this way, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
could shake up the deck, being a cheap early flier that can recycle your ETB effects.
Another major new player is definitely Slickshot Show-Off. By this point that won’t be a surprise to anyone, given how well the card’s doing in multiple formats. The natural home for this is in Mono-Red Aggro, and it’s shown up in 5-0 lists for Standard events already. The card may also have legs in Boros Convoke, though, where an extra hasty body can help you alpha strike or convoke out your Knight-Errant of Eos as needed.
As for the Temur decks, things are looking rough. The
Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace
When this enchantment enters, exile all graveyards.
If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
reprint from The Big Score gives Esper Midrange a sideboard option that can completely demolish the deck’s game plan. For this reason, the deck may end up sideboarding linear threats like
Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
Reach
When Bonny Pall enters, create Beau, a legendary blue Ox creature token with "Beau's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control."
Whenever you attack, draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.
, and maybe even
Terror of the Peaks
Terror of the Peaks
Flying
Spells your opponents cast that target this creature cost an additional 3 life to cast.
Whenever another creature you control enters, this creature deals damage equal to that creature's power to any target.
with a Dragon package to adapt post-sideboarding.
New Decks Ahoy?
We’ll almost certainly see some combination of the above decks during Pro Tour Thunder Junction. But what about bold new decks? There are whisperings of these in the air already. The new cycle of ‘Joins Up’ enchantments from Thunder Junction has led to a number of decks focused on legendary creatures. In particular, 5-Color Legends and Esper Legends have been tried out in Standard events since launch.
Despite their similar names, these decks actually play very differently from one another. Esper Legends could probably also be called Esper Crimes. The deck revolves around Crime payoffs like
Vadmir, New Blood
Vadmir, New Blood
Whenever you commit a crime, put a +1/+1 counter on Vadmir. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
As long as Vadmir has four or more +1/+1 counters on it, it has menace and lifelink.
and Gisa, the Hellraiser, with a shell of powerful legendary creatures and
Tinybones Joins Up
Tinybones Joins Up
When Tinybones Joins Up enters, any number of target players each discard a card.
Whenever a legendary creature you control enters, any number of target players each mill a card and lose 1 life.
for easy Crime triggers. It feels similar to existing Esper Midrange lists, but with enough unique flair to stand out alone.
5-Color Legends, on the other hand, is something totally new. It looks like a pile of miscellaneous legends and fixing at first glance. Under the hood, however, beats the wicked heart of a Combo deck. The deck can win on the spot by assembling two
Honest Rutstein
Honest Rutstein
When Honest Rutstein enters, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
Creature spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
, a
Rona, Herald of Invasion
Rona, Herald of Invasion
Whenever you cast a legendary spell, untap Rona.
{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
{5}{B/P}: Transform Rona. Activate only as a sorcery. ({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.)
, a
Relic of Legends
Relic of Legends
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
Tap an untapped legendary creature you control: Add one mana of any color.
, and a Tinybones Joins Up. Alternatively, it can loop Slogurk, the Overlime with
Annie Joins Up
Annie Joins Up
When Annie Joins Up enters, it deals 5 damage to target creature or planeswalker an opponent controls.
If a triggered ability of a legendary creature you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.
and Channel lands to win that way. There’s also a version running around with
Rakdos Joins Up
Rakdos Joins Up
When Rakdos Joins Up enters, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with two additional +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever a legendary creature you control dies, Rakdos Joins Up deals damage equal to that creature's power to target opponent.
,
Abuelo’s Awakening
Abuelo’s Awakening
Return target artifact or non-Aura enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield with X additional +1/+1 counters on it. It's a 1/1 Spirit creature with flying in addition to its other types.
, and Hulking Metamorph, which can similarly win out of nowhere.
This new archetype hasn’t seen enough testing for us to say for sure whether it’ll be a contender at Pro Tour Thunder Junction. It’s an exciting new deck though, and one that has the potential to turn the format on its head if it succeeds.
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