It might not surprise you to learn that I think Azorius Control - Blue-White - is going to be the best place to start when Bloomburrow enters Standard in the coming days.

There are two reasons for this:

First of all, the best cards in Bloomburrow - the showcase Rares and Mythic Rares at least - seem to be largely mid-range creatures. Ygra, Eater of All (a resilient 6/6 for five mana) is the postmodern Spiritmonger; and Mabel, Heir to Cragflame (a kind of hasty 4/4 for five mana) is the hero of the story. Strategies built around these kinds of chase Legends create exactly the kind of environment where Azorius can thrive. Ygra seems like an awesome - and impossible to kill - threat... That Sunfall and its cousins couldn't give two spits about. Ditto for every 3/3 for three, whatever many words are littering their text boxes.

The second reason is that Bloomburrow being added to Standard is only half the equation. There is this other matter of several sets leaving Standard at the same time. Most of the best cards departing are actually all Control cards...

... But many of the next-best are legitimate challengers to (generally aggressive cards).

Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano is the single best card not in Azorius colors to ship out of Standard, but it's not alone.

White Weenie strategies lose Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute.

Illuminator Virtuoso and Bloodtithe Harvester have fallen substantially in popularity, but historically pushed the same kind of initiative offense.

... And then there's the whole Enchantments deck. The WHOLE THING, from its +1/+1 counters to its Sapphire Medallion-like discounting, is following Thundering Raiju off stage left.

This particular 3/3 for three doesn't fit the aggro-offensive bill, but rather represents a kind of inevitability that has historically challenged the Azorius long game.

So anyway... Many of 's more troublesome enemies are leaving Standard at the same time that the new strategies from the new set help define a metagame that looks highly conducive to Azorius success.

So, What's the Mission?

As I see it, has two-and-a-half challenges.

The first two are around replacing its best four mana spells: The Wandering Emperor and Memory Deluge. Make no mistake, those are not small hurdles to leap. The next is around dealing with artifacts.

March of Otherworldly Light was 's best answer to Urabrask's Forge; followed by Farewell (also departing). If finds answers to these two-and-a-half questions, I believe it is the best positioned deck immediately past rotation.

The question is: Can Bloomburrow provide any of what needs?

Somebody Get Me a Bat

The Wandering Emperor leaves a hole not just in terms of being a finisher, but in life gain. A ton of 's best life gain sideboard cards - including Knockout Blow and Dennick, Pious Apprentice // Dennick, Pious Apparition - are rotating at the same time.

In another universe, Sonar Strike would be a good sideboard card; but the problem is that there isn't really a good Bat that can play. Esper? Orzhov? No shortage of GREAT Bats... But the best I could come up with in so far is Moonrise Cleric.

Who is Not Good Enough?

Two cards that jump out as looking immediately playable but probably aren't going to be are Starfall Invocation and Dazzling Denial.

Both these cards could be okay in other contexts but are just worse than existing options right now. Starfall Invocation only destroys; whereas Sunfall - for the same cost - exiles everything. And you don't need to gift the opponent anything to walk away from a Sunfall with a powerful creature. I have a hard time imagining a creature good enough that I would want to both play it in and compromise my deck construction with Starfall Invocation.

If I were going to go that route, I'd bring back Ezrim, Agency Chief and The Eternal Wanderer, the one-two punch of my RCQ-era build. Ezrim is a good main deck card because of its resilience; and The Eternal Wanderer will be happy to team up with Beza, the Bounding Spring (more on Beza in a bit).

Dazzling Denial might be okay in a deck with the right creatures (and Restless Anchorage is actually the right kind of creature sometimes). But that can be an awkward pairing. In Control at least, Phantom Interference does largely the same thing with a much higher ceiling.

An Oldie, But a Goodie

The first fix is actually not from Bloomburrow.

Remember this article?

I'm super confident that Intrude on the Mind is going to serve a lot of purposes in the next few weeks. It's a little more expensive than Memory Deluge... But SO much more powerful. Intrude on the Mind always draws at least three cards, even if one of them is "just" a 3/3 flyer.

Putting cards into the graveyard is also going to be a bonus, especially with one of the new Bloomburrow cards I envision to be a contributor.

Season of the Burrow reminds me of Elspeth Conquers Death, which was a powerhouse in pre-pandemic Standard. If you remember back that far, Elspeth Conquers Death had Teferi and Narset to play with, so had excellent three-mana permanents to both kill and to bring back from the grave.

I'm guessing Kutzil's Flanker will start off as a four-of in some versions of Control. I'm not sure if the Jace-heavy builds are going to be where it's at long term, but 4 Flanker / 4 Jace was a strategy that excelled against a soon-to-be defunct combo deck... But more importantly the mirror. Flanker's ability to gain life combined with its 1 toughness makes this creature an excellent candidate for Season of the Burrow re-buys.

It's important to note that this card doesn't say "non-land" permanent. That means that if you can get lands into your graveyard - whether by using a Fabled Passage or Demolition Field, casting Intrude on the Mind, or exploiting one of many Surveil abilities - mana Ramp is on the menu, in the case that you don't get the right 3 mana permanents lined up.

Speaking of three-mana permanents...

Banishing Light seems like it will be right up 's alley. Not only is it a great solution to both creatures and artifacts (solving one of our stated missions), but its casting cost makes the longtime favorite enchantment highly synergistic with both Intrude on the Mind and Season of the Burrow.

The only thing wrong with Banishing Light is that - unlike March of Otherworldly Light - is no solution to opposing creature lands. Not to worry! We have Demolition Field (also synergistic with Season of the Burrow) for that job.

Beza, the Bounding Spring is, in a word, awesome. This card is kind of like the White Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. The only question is if it is good enough to play main deck or if it will "only" be a four-of in the sideboard. In either case this is a card that you will want to own if you're a u-w mage, as it solves a lot of the same problems - for the same casting cost - as The Wandering Emperor.

It is extremely easy to get at least two triggers on Beza against many decks; and if you're "fortunate" enough to be going second in the mirror, you'll pick up a Treasure token as well. Don't sleep on the secret combo with Adarkar Wastes! The card is awesome in-part because it's so disposable. Make no mistake, a 4/5 for four mana is a solid deal even in 2024 - especially with all these abilities tacked on - but if the opponent doesn't have a lot to shoot at, Beza is probably going to die.

Which is great!

Because otherwise the other Legendary copies are going to be clogging up your hand.

Strong Maybes

Portent of Calamity is cool because X can equal 1. This card is too variable as an expensive card, and the fact that it's a sorcery makes it a poorer Memory Deluge replacement than Intrude on the Mind.

Still, it can be better than the fourth Deduce; plus has an insane ceiling in a long game. I don't think I'd play more than one copy, at least to start. The two-mana version is great but until you're going Braingeyser in topdeck mode, the output on this card is too variable. Strong MAYBE only.

I love this card on so many levels.

It's going to be increasingly good the better your opponent's creatures... Which is perfect for mid-range Bloomburrow Standard. I don't recommend the gifting (as that undoes half the point of playing a Control Magic variant); but can often afford to be patient, especially when double-frustrating an opponent's development.

That said, you can only play so many 4+ CMC cards, so I'm guessing Kitnap is not played in multiples main deck. After all, you have to save room for...

Weirdly, a card that is a little worse than Three Steps Ahead and a little worse than Memory Deluge looks to me like it will see play. Spellgyre is a great card if the format is slow enough. Think of it as extra Memory Deluges that sometimes answer a threat directly. I'm predicting it to be a two-of-type; only because Intrude on the Mind is so much more powerful and we don't want our curve to be COMPLETELY insane. The Surveil would be synergistic with Season of the Burrow, beyond the fact that it just makes for a better card drawing spell on average.

Not a Spell

Get this: For just two mana, you can sacrifice the token you get from Deduce to draw a card.

Fountainport!

Blue-White is going to have so many tokens lying around from Season of the Burrow and Beza you should have no problems fueling your Fountainport. I'm not sure what I would do with all the Treasures, but it's nice to be able to tap four mana - without devoting a spell slot - to draw a card. It's just that that card is always a Lotus Petal.

So, what do you think?

Will rule the early Standard metagame? Did I miss anything important?

LOVE

MIKE