When Amonkhet first hit Standard, Oketra's Monument was one of the breakout cards. This card let you lower the cost of efficient White creatures so that you could flood the board with warrior tokens and random dorks. Bygone Bishop was a key to the strategy, since it combined with Aviary Mechanic to ensure that you almost never ran out of fuel. Some of the cards may have rotated, but with Mono-Red on the rise, this White-based midrange deck may be exactly what we need in Standard:
White-Blue Monument - Core Set 2019 Standard | 5647382910, 5-0 Standard League
- Creatures (29)
- 1 Angel of Invention
- 1 Trophy Mage
- 3 Suncleanser
- 4 Aviary Mechanic
- 4 Cloudblazer
- 4 Knight of Grace
- 4 Mentor of the Meek
- 4 Militia Bugler
- 4 Skymarcher Aspirant
- Enchantments (3)
- 1 Thopter Arrest
- 2 Ixalan's Binding
- Artifacts (4)
- 4 Oketra's Monument
- Lands (24)
- 2 Island
- 9 Plains
- 1 Scavenger Grounds
- 4 Glacial Fortress
- 4 Irrigated Farmland
- 4 Shefet Dunes
- Sideboard (15)
- 3 Dusk // Dawn
- 2 Karn, Scion of Urza
- 2 Lyra Dawnbringer
- 3 Negate
- 2 Seal Away
- 3 Shield Mare
This deck occupies an interesting space in this format because there are a ton of ways to build it. If you're all-in on Oketra's Monument being the best thing that you can be doing, then Trophy Mage is an option to ensure that you have consistent access to it. You can go deep on cards like Sunscourge Champion to shore up the Red matchup or pack your deck full of Suncleanser to deal with energy decks and Winding Constrictor decks.
The core of this deck is the same as it's always been. Oketra's Monument plus cheap utility creatures. There are two new, exciting cards for this deck from Core Set 2019: Mentor of the Meek and Militia Bugler. Mentor of the Meek is a new, more efficient Bygone Bishop. Sure, you have less power in the air, but drawing your cards is far less expensive, so it's much easier to combo off with Aviary Mechanic. Similarly, Militia Bugler is an incredible play in the midgame that helps you stay on board through removal spells and sweepers. It also helps find sideboard copies of Remorseful Cleric and helps you chain together Militia Buglers and Mentor of the Meeks to punish control decks.
If you want to play a grindy aggro deck with a powerful late game, this could be the best choice for the current format.