Warning!

The decks you are about to see are mostly untested first drafts! They were played during the very first day that Kamigawa Neon Dynasty was legal on MTG Arena and are my first stabs at the new Standard format. Most are brews jam packed with Kamigawa Neon Dynasty cards, while there are also a few updates to previously established archetypes, but it's important to note that these are the first steps and not finished products! Use them as stepping stones for your own deck brewing process, but play them card for card at your own risk!

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is a breath of fresh air.

The third visit to Innistrad ending being a somewhat uneventful one, which felt more like a rehash than anything else. This makes Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, with its bold art and stylistic choices feel like even more of a breath of fresh air than it already is. Magic has been around for almost 30 years at this point, which makes these sorts of bold statements all the more important. And to top it all off, the cards are really fun too!

Today we are going to go over all ten decks I played as part of my Ten New Brews on YouTube and stream, briefly going over each list and my thoughts on how it was, giving it a letter grade, and talking about what kind of potential it has going forward. I played five games with each deck in best of one so the deck's record will also be included.

This was perhaps my most successful Ten New Brews ever, as all the decks were very fun to play and we won a lot of games. So, let's go!

Hallowed Enchantress | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (21)
• 2 Gloomshrieker
• 3 Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr // Katilda's Rising Dawn
• 4 Generous Visitor
• 4 Jukai Naturalist
• 4 Kami of Transience
• 4 Spirited Companion

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Commune with Spirits

• Enchantments (13)
• 1 Ranger Class
• 2 Hallowed Haunting
• 3 Binding the Old Gods
• 3 Touch the Spirit Realm
• 4 Michiko's Reign of Truth // Portrait of Michiko

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Arctic Treeline
• 1 Deathcap Glade
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Woodland Chasm
• 4 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
• 4 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
• 4 Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway
• 4 Overgrown Farmland

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Deck's Record: 3-2

Deck's Grade: A-

Deck Potential: High

Our first deck and we've already got a banger right out of the gate.

When I called Kami of Transience my "Best In Show" in my Complete Set Review earlier this week, y'all laughed at me. Well, who's laughing now? Kami was bonkers in this five game set, providing a huge early threat that scaled quickly, trampled over blockers, and came back for more if things went wrong.

Of course, it wasn't the only card that performed.

I was worried when I built the deck that it didn't have a "true" enchantress effect and many run out of steam, but was pleasantly surprised by the power of the aggressive enchantment cards. Jukai Naturalist was phenomenal, not only as an amazing accelerator but as a lifelinking body to pick up bonuses from Generous Vistor and Michiko's Reign of Truth // Portrait of Michiko, both incredibly awesome cards.

Amusingly enough, while most of the deck is almost Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Block Constructed, some of the biggest payoffs were actually from other sets. Katilda, Dawnheart Martyr // Katilda's Rising Dawn was incredible and one of the best cards in the deck, providing basically everything you could want out of threat. Hallowed Haunting was good, although we never really got it going too hard, but the addition of the Black splash was phenomenal. Binding the Old Gods gave the deck great removal and synergy, while Gloomshrieker also overperformed.

We ended up with a few losses in the end to some good aggressive draws from White decks, but there's something very serious here in this shell that needs to be explored.

Rabbit Deck Wins | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Reinforced Ronin
• 4 Bloodthirsty Adversary
• 4 Falkenrath Pit Fighter
• 4 Rabbit Battery
• 4 Voltaic Visionary

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Chandra, Dressed to Kill

• Instants (4)
• 4 Play with Fire

• Sorceries (10)
• 2 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
• 4 Igneous Inspiration
• 4 Roil Eruption

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano

• Lands (20)
• 14 Mountain
• 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4 Den of the Bugbear

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Spirit Summoning
• 1 Expanded Anatomy
• 1 Introduction to Prophecy
• 1 Environmental Sciences
• 1 Mascot Exhibition
• 1 Start from Scratch
• 1 Introduction to Annihilation

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Deck's Record: 3-2

Deck's Grade: B-

Deck Potential: Medium

One great thing about Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is that it has a lot of cool and interesting 1-drops. And you know what deck loves 1-drops!

Rabbit Battery is the truth. It's just such a great synergy card that also does a fine job on rate, getting in early for damage but scaling up very well as the game goes on. Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano was also a pleasant surprise, providing a lot of value for only one mana. Even Reinforced Ronin, kind of an oddball card, played well with the burn-style nature of the deck.

And make no mistake, this is a burn deck! This is a very classic style Red deck, with a ton of one and two-mana creatures just looking to get some early hits in so your burn can finish them off. Every burn spell in the deck can be a removal spell, but also has the ability to go face as well and close out the game. Chandra, Dressed to Kill fills this mode, while also providing mana as well as cards.

Speaking of mana, one of the deck's greatest assets is how much value it gets from its lands. Den of the Bugbear is perhaps the best creature land to come out of the excellent cycle from Adventures In The Forgotten Realms, while Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance is an excellent new addition. Team this up with Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass and you've got 8 lands that do a whole lot more than tap for mana and are a big part of ensuring the deck doesn't flood.

We felt a little underpowered at times, but the critical mass may be there for a good Red deck to thrive in this format.

Kami Of War | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Old Rutstein
• 2 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
• 2 Tatsunari, Toad Rider
• 2 Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor
• 3 Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge
• 3 Kalain, Reclusive Painter
• 4 Jaspera Sentinel
• 4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Tamiyo, Compleated Sage

• Instants (11)
• 1 Soul Shatter
• 2 Vanishing Verse
• 4 Binding the Old Gods
• 4 The Kami War // O-Kagachi Made Manifest

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Celestus

• Lands (25)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Arctic Treeline
• 1 Deathcap Glade
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Highland Forest
• 1 Rimewood Falls
• 1 Rockfall Vale
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 The World Tree
• 1 Woodland Chasm
• 4 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 4 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
• 4 Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway

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Deck's Record: 1-4

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Higher Than Record Would Indicate

Sometimes things just don't roll right.

The Kami War // O-Kagachi Made Manifest is an exceptionally powerful card, which of course is what you would expect from a six mana, five color card. It offers you a three for one that starts by effecting the board and ends with a huge dragon. The issue of course is just being able to cast it.

I think the deck did a pretty good job of that, bringing together an eclectic mix of Jund legends and mana creatures to give the deck an astronomically high amount of mana sources that produce any color. Esika, God of the Tree // The Prismatic Bridge doubles as enabler and payoff, while also working excellently with Magda, Brazen Outlaw and the other legends. Binding the Old Gods does double duty in the deck as well, as both a removal spell and mana fixer.

We had some awkward draws, which leads me to think the issue here was in the execution, not the idea. The mana is definitely there to cast The Kami War, and the card is very good when cast. There's something here.

Junji's Despair | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (15)
• 2 Briarbridge Tracker
• 2 Gloomshrieker
• 3 Junji, the Midnight Sky
• 4 Eyetwitch
• 4 Shambling Ghast

• Instants (7)
• 1 Infernal Grasp
• 2 March of Wretched Sorrow
• 4 Deadly Dispute

• Sorceries (5)
• 2 Blood on the Snow
• 3 Invoke Despair

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 The Meathook Massacre
• 4 Binding the Old Gods

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 The Celestus

• Lands (25)
• 1 Snow-Covered Forest
• 10 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 4 Deathcap Glade
• 4 Woodland Chasm

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Environmental Sciences
• 1 Introduction to Prophecy
• 1 Mascot Exhibition
• 1 Necrotic Fumes
• 1 Containment Breach
• 1 Inkling Summoning
• 1 Pest Summoning

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Deck's Record: 5-0

Deck's Grade: B-

Deck Potential: Medium To Low

This deck was perhaps the biggest surprise of the bunch.

The idea was to try and build a classic style Mono-Black Control deck, topping off on two new bombs in Junji, the Midnight Sky and Invoke Despair. The issue was that the tools just weren't really there, which forced the deck down the Shambling Ghast/Deadly Dispute path. Junji, the Midnight Sky and Invoke Despair were both reasonably good, but it's hard to justify not just going all in on Lolth, the Spider Queen and The Meathook Massacre when you're already playing the small creatures and sacrifice effects.

The deck went undefeated, but our opponents didn't put up the best fights. There's no doubt there are powerful cards in the deck, but the total package just didn't feel right.

The Mod Squad | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (24)
• 2 Ao, the Dawn Sky
• 2 Hopeful Initiate
• 4 Iron Apprentice
• 4 Kodama of the West Tree
• 4 Luminarch Aspirant
• 4 Monk of the Open Hand
• 4 Swarm Shambler

• Instants (4)
• 2 Inscription of Abundance
• 2 Snakeskin Veil

• Sorceries (7)
• 2 Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave
• 2 Homestead Courage
• 3 Guiding Voice

• Enchantments (4)
• 2 Felidar Retreat
• 2 Ranger Class

• Lands (21)
• 4 Forest
• 4 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Cave of the Frost Dragon
• 2 Lair of the Hydra
• 4 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
• 4 Overgrown Farmland

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Environmental Sciences
• 1 Expanded Anatomy
• 1 Introduction to Prophecy
• 1 Mascot Exhibition
• 1 Reduce to Memory
• 1 Basic Conjuration
• 1 Containment Breach

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Deck's Record: 5-0

Deck's Grade: B+

Deck Potential: Medium To High

Another surprise!

I knew I had to build a deck around Kodama of the West Tree and Felidar Retreat, as both cards are just made for each other. But while I tried doing a more traditional ramp-style shell, Kodama only seemed good exactly in concert with Felidar Retreat, otherwise it was just too small. As such, I wanted to go deeper.

Fourteen 1-drops later and we were off to the races!

The deck is a good mix of outright aggression alongside the ability to scale and play a longer game. However, the lower the mana curve gets, the less helpful the extra lands from Kodama can feel. As such I worked extra hard to make sure we had good mana sinks like Ranger Class, creature lands, and Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave. This worked out well, but even with the lower curve of the deck only playing two Felidar Retreat was a mistake.

Ao, The Dawn Sky wasn't too exciting and the deck may need to up the card quality a little, but Kodama of the West Tree was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Kodama's Hot Spring | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Eater of Virtue
• 3 Halana and Alena, Partners
• 3 Kodama of the West Tree
• 3 Upriser Renegade
• 4 Jaspera Sentinel
• 4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• 4 Swarm Shambler
• 4 Thundering Raiju

• Instants (3)
• 3 Snakeskin Veil

• Sorceries (6)
• 3 Shatterskull Smashing
• 3 Thundering Rebuke

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Invigorating Hot Spring

• Lands (21)
• 2 Mountain
• 6 Forest
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 2 Lair of the Hydra
• 4 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
• 4 Rockfall Vale

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Deck's Record: 3-2

Deck's Grade: C-

Deck Potential: Low to Medium

From one Kodama deck to another!

This deck followed a somewhat similar path, but looked to take advantage of the newest Fires of Yavimaya variant - Invigorating Hot Spring. The results were mixed. While the card was pretty good when played on curve against slowed decks, it was extremely bad against other aggressive decks, as are most three-mana enchantments that don't effect the board. Thundering Raiju had the same issue, as on offense it was a force but once behind it was quite literally Hill Giant.

The deck certainly had some good cards in it, but lacked the explosive potential of the previous version. Kodama wasn't nearly as good and the draws were much more awkward. It also struggled to deal with things in a timely fashion, especially on the draw or on the backfoot.

I'm not convinced that Invigorating Hot Spring or Thundering Raiju have what it takes in serious constructed; they're just too bad when your behind.

Smelt & Sac | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
• 2 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 2 Immersturm Predator
• 2 Sokenzan Smelter
• 3 Rabbit Battery
• 4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• 4 Mukotai Soulripper
• 4 Shambling Ghast
• 4 Voldaren Epicure

• Instants (8)
• 4 Deadly Dispute
• 4 Voltage Surge

• Artifacts (6)
• 3 Experimental Synthesizer
• 3 Oni-Cult Anvil

• Lands (20)
• 3 Mountain
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 4 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 4 Haunted Ridge

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Deck's Record: 5-0

Deck's Grade: A+

Deck Potential: Extremely High

If you're looking for the no doubt winner of this batch of decks, you're looking at it.

One of the best recipes for success early in a format is to identify the powerful cards that slot easily into an already powerful shell, and Rabbit Battery and Mukotai Soulripper are perhaps two of the best cards in the set. Both are flexible, aggressive, and hit hard, while also helping turn on artifact synergies, and it just so happens there's already a phenomenal sacrificial artifact shell already in the format!

Deadly Dispute has been tearing it up since it entered Standard, churning value out of small creatures that have a lot of utility. Factor in both the treasure mechanic as well as the blood mechanic and you've got a lot of artifacts flying everywhere and hitting graveyards. It's a natural fit.

Add in new cogs like Oni-Cult Anvil and the odd but surprising Experimental Synthesizer and you start putting together this absolute machine of an engine that feels like you're playing a Modern deck. All of the cards cost one or two, you can kill things, you can grind, and you can kill fast... what more could you want?

Fast & Furrious | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Cosima, God of the Voyage // The Omenkeel
• 4 Giant Ox
• 4 Greasefang, Okiba Boss
• 4 Hotshot Mechanic

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Kaito Shizuki
• 3 Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh

• Instants (4)
• 2 Faithful Mending
• 2 Infernal Grasp

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Emeria's Call

• Artifacts (14)
• 1 The Blackstaff of Waterdeep
• 2 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 3 Portable Hole
• 4 Colossal Plow
• 4 Surgehacker Mech

• Lands (22)
• 1 Island
• 2 Mech Hangar
• 3 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
• 4 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway
• 4 Deserted Beach
• 4 Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway
• 4 Shipwreck Marsh

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Deck's Record: 3-2

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Medium

Greasefang, Okiba Boss is a pretty wild Magic card.

A 4/3 for three mana is already way there on rate, but the ability to not only sneak reanimate a vehicle every turn right into the red zone from the graveyard, and then also actually get the card back into your hand to play again is an extremely potent ability. Put this alongside something like Surgehacker Mech to keep killing your opponent's stuff and you've got a nice little engine.

To help facilitate this, we turn to a pair of planeswalkers that are very reasonable individually, but also excellent at drawing cards while putting cards in the graveyard. With one of these walkers in play and Greasefang active, you could discard, reanimate, return, and discard away again a Surgehacker every single turn. However, the planeswalkers are already good in and of themselves as well.

Tack this on to the Giant Ox plus Colossal Plow engine and you're starting to go places. With The Blackstaff of Waterdeep, Tezzeret, and Mech Hanger to help crew the plow, as well as card draw to spend the mana on, it's an odd collection of cards but it has a plan.

Overall, the deck was cute but unexciting. Greasefang was good, but is probably suited for bigger things in older formats. Fun though!

Rune-Paws | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Jukai Naturalist
• 4 Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
• 4 Runeforge Champion
• 4 Stormchaser Drake

• Instants (3)
• 3 Snakeskin Veil

• Enchantments (16)
• 1 Cradle of Safety
• 1 Nurturing Presence
• 1 Rune of Speed
• 1 Spectral Steel
• 2 Borrowed Time
• 2 Circle of Confinement
• 2 Rune of Sustenance
• 3 Rune of Flight
• 3 Rune of Might

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Runed Crown

• Lands (23)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 4 Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
• 4 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
• 4 Deserted Beach
• 4 Dreamroot Cascade
• 4 Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway

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Deck's Record: 4-1

Deck's Grade: C+

Deck Potential: Low to Medium

Runes were on of the small mechanical themes to come out of Kaldheim that never really made it to the big time.

Runeforge Champion is a good card, while the runes themselves are fine and do a good job at replacing themselves, but the raw power just wasn't there to pay off putting a bunch of creature auras in your deck.

However, with all the enchantment support from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and the last few sets, we've got a chance to make some moves here.

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice is a new legend of Kamigawa, who allows you to double up on the auras that you cast. This is obviously a nice way to keep drawing cards off your runes, but unfortunately the toolbox of available auras that work with Light-Paws is somewhat small. Stormchaser Drake fills the other "card advantage creature" role, while also providing an evasive body, and once again Jukai Naturalist shows up to impress with its lifelink body and impressive ability.

With a Runeforge Champion and a Jukai Naturalist in play, all of your runes are free!

The issue with the deck was that there's no real big payoff. You end up with a bunch of small enchantments and keywords on one creature, but that creature is just a 3/3 or 4/4. Without something big like Ethereal Armor to go over the top it felt like the deck was working too hard.

Something like Showdown of the Skalds or some other way to go big is needed.

Reconfigured Armor | NEO Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (24)
• 1 Akiri, Fearless Voyager
• 2 Eater of Virtue
• 3 Ingenious Smith
• 3 Lion Sash
• 3 Lizard Blades
• 4 Fireblade Charger
• 4 Rabbit Battery
• 4 Simian Sling

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Showdown of the Skalds

• Artifacts (7)
• 3 Portable Hole
• 4 Plate Armor

• Lands (22)
• 2 Plains
• 4 Mountain
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 2 Treasure Vault
• 4 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
• 4 Sundown Pass

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Deck's Record: 3-2

Deck's Grade: B-

Deck Potential: Medium

Equipment decks have been the joke of Magic for years now.

Every set the Boros mechanic is equipment and every time it sucks. You just can't afford to put enough equipment into your deck to get paid off for your equipment synergy cards, because you don't have enough creatures and end up with three equipment in play and nothing to put them on.

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty solves that problem!

The reconfigure equipment creatures are already quite good, but even better is that they count as equipment even when they are in creature form. This means we get to hit our critical mass of both creatures as well as equipment by killing two birds with one stone. So where does that get us?

Plate Armor?

Yes, Plate Armor.

If you can get the equip cost down to 0, Plate Armor is an exceptionally good Magic card. +3/+3 is no joke, nor is Ward, and being able to move it around on both offense and defense is exceptional. And that's to say nothing of how well it plays with Fireblade Charger. Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients also starts to look once better once you actually have a critical mass of playable equipment.

This deck was definitely cool and made for some exciting games, but also needs more. Getting a big Fireblade Charger into play was a common thing that happened, and one game we used our own Nahiri to kill it so we could kill our opponent. Kazuul's Fury // Kazuul's Cliffs feels like a much better way to accomplish that task.

There's some cool stuff happening here, but clearly it needs refining.

Best Ten New Brews Yet!

The exciting part about all of this is not only that the slate of ten decks was very fun, but much of this winning was done while floating around Mythic #30 on MTG Arena, which is a very high ranking. Building sweet brews is one thing, but doing it will maintaining a top 50 ladder position is awesome.

I'm very excited about Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty in both Constructed and Limited. There's a ton of cool stuff happening and a lot of synergies cross pollenating, which is the perfect place to be. There's also nothing that stands out as clear, head and shoulders above the rest, which is also good.

I've very excited for the next few weeks of getting to dig deeper into the set!