Hello everyone. When a new set is released, I like to show you some mono-colored decks that you can use while you're picking up new cards to brew with. Mono-colored decks are a great starting point, because you can play them without worrying about drawing the wrong color of mana and having cards you can't cast stuck in your hand. This week, I have five new mono-colored decks featuring cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction that you can use against your friends or at your local game store. Let's get started.

Mono-White Humans

We'll start with a Mono-White deck featuring the Human creature type. It only features one card from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and that card is a reprint. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-White Humans | OTJ Standard | zanyx, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (34)
• 1 Extraction Specialist
• 2 Anointed Peacekeeper
• 2 Brutal Cathar
• 2 Grand Abolisher
• 2 Intrepid Adversary
• 2 Lunarch Veteran
• 2 Siege Veteran
• 2 Tenth District Hero
• 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 4 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 4 Coppercoat Vanguard
• 4 Hopeful Initiate
• 4 Recruitment Officer

• Instants (3)
• 3 Get Lost

• Lands (23)
• 16 Plains
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 4 Cavern of Souls

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Archangel Elspeth
• 1 Extraction Specialist
• 2 Aven Interrupter
• 2 Loran of the Third Path
• 1 Get Lost
• 2 Surge of Salvation
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 3 Wedding Announcement

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As I mentioned before the decklist, this deck only features one card from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, at least in the main deck. That card is Grand Abolisher. Originally printed way back in Core Set 2012, Grand Abolisher is very useful for limiting your opponent's actions while it is your turn. That means that removal spells will need to be cast on your opponent's turn, which means that they can save their mana to bluff any counterspells.

There is one new card in the sideboard of this deck which you might want to play if your opponent is playing any cards with flashback. Aven Interrupter can be flashed into play to exile a spell while it is on the stack. That spell will become plotted, so you'll only be delaying the resolution of that spell, but Interrupter also has a static ability that increases the amount of mana to cast a spell from their graveyard or from exile by two additional mana. That works great against plotted cards and cards with flashback.

Mono-Blue Proft Duelist

Next, I have a Mono-Blue deck for you that greatly benefits from drawing extra cards. Let's take a look at it.

Proft Duelist | OTJ Standard | jebaholic, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Duelist of the Mind
• 4 Ledger Shredder
• 4 Steamcore Scholar

• Spells (28)
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 2 March of Swirling Mist
• 2 Shore Up
• 3 Flow of Knowledge
• 4 Consider
• 4 Fading Hope
• 4 Thirst for Discovery
• 4 Chart a Course
• 4 Proft's Eidetic Memory

• Lands (20)
• 19 Island
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City

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Duelist of the Mind is a new creature whose power is equal to the number of cards you've drawn this turn. Since you're guaranteed to draw one card at the beginning of your turn, it will have a minimum of 1 power. By casting draw spells, you can increase its power quite a bit. Since Duelist of the Mind has flying, you can attack with evasion, allowing you to deal damage to your opponent often.

You can further boost the stats of Duelist of the Mind by playing Proft's Eidetic Memory. This legendary enchantment lets you draw a card when it enters the battlefield. It also provides you with an unlimited hand size. Then, at the beginning of combat on your turn, you'll be able to place a number of +1/+1 counters on a creature you control equal to the number of cards you've drawn this turn minus one. Those counters will help take down your opponent faster.

Mono-Black Discard

The next deck I have for you features a strong discard theme, resulting in benefits for you. Let's check it out.

Mono-Black Discard | OTJ Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
• 2 Hostile Investigator

• Spells (30)
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict
• 3 Go for the Throat
• 3 March of Wretched Sorrow
• 1 Binding Negotiation
• 1 Rankle's Prank
• 2 Beseech the Mirror
• 2 Rush of Dread
• 3 Insatiable Avarice
• 4 Deadly Cover-Up
• 4 Hopeless Nightmare
• 1 The Celestus
• 1 The Irencrag

• Lands (25)
• 22 Swamp
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Mirrex

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Discarding cards from your opponent's hand is the name of the game for this deck. By using spells such as Rush of Dread and Hopeless Nightmare to force your opponent to discard cards from their hand, you'll not only limit the options they have available to use at any given time, but you'll also reap some benefits for yourself.

To gain these benefits, you'll want to try to have a copy of Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal in play. Doing this will allow you the means of creating 1/1 Bat creature tokens whenever your opponent discards a land card. You'll also be able to draw additional cards once you run your opponent out of cards in hand and they would need to discard a card. Oh yeah, Aclazotz is also a 4/4 flying creature with lifelink, so that should benefit you nicely as well.

Mono-Red Aggro

Our next deck is a Mono-Red aggressive deck. Let's see what goodies Outlaws of Thunder Junction provides for this archetype.

Mono-Red Aggro | OTJ Standard | Redd_Cat_MTG, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (15)
• 3 Goddric, Cloaked Reveler
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Phoenix Chick
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Spells (24)
• 2 Chandra, Dressed to Kill
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Play with Fire
• 2 Scorching Shot
• 4 Demonic Ruckus
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan

• Lands (21)
• 20 Mountain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

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Slickshot Show-Off is a terrific addition to a Mono-Red aggro deck. For just two mana, you get a 1/2 flying creature with haste that has the ability to get more powerful whenever you cast a noncreature spell. This is already the plan in decks featuring Monastery Swiftspear, so these two creatures play nicely with each other. Plus, you can plot Slickshot Show-Off, allowing you to cast it whenever you feel it will be most advantageous for you.

Another great new card that can be plotted is Demonic Ruckus. This enchantment gives a creature a +1/+1 bonus in addition to both menace and trample. You also get to draw a card when Demonic Ruckus is put into your graveyard from play, reducing the two-for-one that can be problematic with playing enchantments.

Mono-Green Aggro

My final deck this week is a relatively budget friendly Mono-Green Aggro. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Greed Aggro | OTJ Standard | HelloGoodGame, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (35)
• 2 Railway Brawler
• 3 Aloe Alchemist
• 3 Axebane Ferox
• 3 Goldvein Hydra
• 4 Beastbond Outcaster
• 4 Bloated Contaminator
• 4 Cenote Scout
• 4 Drover Grizzly
• 4 Evolving Adaptive
• 4 Sharp-Eyed Rookie

• Spells (3)
• 3 Hard-Hitting Question

• Lands (22)
• 21 Forest
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures

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Goldvein Hydra is the most expensive nonland card in this deck, but it's worth every penny. It can be cast at nearly any point during the game, providing you with a scalable threat. It also has vigilance, trample, and haste. Trample means it can often deal damage to your opponent even if blocked. Having vigilance is nice, because it can still be used for defense if you decide to attack with it. Finally, when it dies, it becomes Treasure tokens equal to its power, enabling you to cast some explosive cards on your future turns.

This deck also includes a pair of Railway Brawler. This Rhino Warrior comes into play as a massive threat, having 5 power and 5 toughness, plus reach and trample. If that wasn't enough, Railway Brawler has an ability that allows you to place +1/+1 counters on other creatures that enter your battlefield while Railway Brawler is in play. The number of counters is equal to that creature's power, effectively doubling the size of these creatures.

Wrapping Up

Since Outlaws of Thunder Junction has just been released, you might not have all of the cards you need to make any deck you want. It's during times like this that I find these Mono-Colored decks to be so rewarding. They usually don't require as many new cards to build, making them ideal decks to play over the next two or three weeks.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes