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Hello, everyone! As we march on towards the release of Ravnica Allegiance, it finally looks like the innovation boom that had been the case in Standard is finally starting to slow down. But fear not! I still have a few decks for you this week that either play cards that aren't commonly seen in Standard or in some way speak to my inner Timmy. Let's go ahead and get started.
Grixis Dragons
The first deck I have for you this week can get out of hand really fast. If you're a fan of Dragons, you might want to give this deck a try. Let's take a look at Grixis Dragons:
Grixis Dragons - Guilds Standard | MALAVI, (5-0) MTGO
- Creatures (12)
- 2 Demanding Dragon
- 2 Verix Bladewing
- 4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
- 4 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
- Planeswalkers (4)
- 4 Sarkhan, Fireblood
- Instants (5)
- 1 Cast Down
- 4 Fungal Infection
- Sorceries (10)
- 3 Ritual of Soot
- 3 Thought Erasure
- 4 Lava Coil
- Artifacts (4)
- 4 Dragon's Hoard
- Lands (25)
- 2 Mountain
- 1 Cinder Barrens
- 2 Unclaimed Territory
- 4 Dragonskull Summit
- 4 Drowned Catacomb
- 4 Steam Vents
- 4 Sulfur Falls
- 4 Watery Grave
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Disdainful Stroke
- 2 Fiery Cannonade
- 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
- 3 Spell Pierce
- 3 The Eldest Reborn
- 3 Thief of Sanity
- 2 Vraska's Contempt
This deck is also running a full playset of Sarkhan, Fireblood. While all of Sarkhan's abilities are useful, his second +1 loyalty ability is able to help you boost your mana production when you're planning on using that mana to cast a Dragon. It also can provide any color of mana, making it that much easier to cast your multicolored Dragon spells.
The final way to create the mana needed for your Dragons is with the use of Unclaimed Territory. Since all of the creatures in the main deck are Dragons, you'll always want to choose Dragon as the creature type that your Unclaimed Territory will provide any color of mana for.
One card I really like in this deck is Ritual of Soot. Since all of your Dragons have a converted mana cost of four or more, you'll never have to worry about destroying anything on your side of the battlefield. Well, that's true unless you've paid the kicker cost for Verix Bladewing. You might also have a Saproling token or two as well if you've played Fungal Infection. And if you manage to ultimate Sarkhan, Fireblood and use his -7 loyalty ability, you could have a few more Dragon tokens flying around as well. But, as I way saying, the majority of the time, casting Ritual of Soot will end up hurting your opponent more than it hurts you (otherwise it's probably better not to cast it).
Jund Midrange
The next deck I'd like to take a look at is a Jund Midrange deck, sort of. It's primarily a 
deck with just a hint of Green. So whether you call it Jund or Rakdos, I think it looks pretty fun to play. Let's take a look at it:
Jund Midrange - Guilds Standard | TEMPO, (5-0) MTGO
- Creatures (22)
- 1 Plaguecrafter
- 2 Legion Warboss
- 3 Dusk Legion Zealot
- 3 Goblin Instigator
- 3 Midnight Reaper
- 3 Ravenous Chupacabra
- 3 Rekindling Phoenix
- 4 Siege-Gang Commander
- Instants (3)
- 3 Vraska's Contempt
- Sorceries (5)
- 2 Find // Finality
- 3 Lava Coil
- Artifacts (5)
- 2 The Immortal Sun
- 3 Treasure Map
- Lands (25)
- 7 Mountain
- 9 Swamp
- 1 Cinder Barrens
- 4 Dragonskull Summit
- 4 Overgrown Tomb
This deck also makes good use of The Immortal Sun. If things have gone according to plan, when you play The Immortal Sun you should have a mass of Goblin tokens built up from Goblin Instigator, Legion Warboss, and Siege-Gang Commander. You can use those tokens to make a massive alpha strike on your opponent, or hold them back for defense. Don't forget that The Immortal Sun also allows you to draw an additional card each turn and makes your spells cheaper to cast. Plus, it also shuts off any planeswalker abilities, making those cards useless while The Immortal Sun is in play.
Boros Extinction
The final deck I have for you this week comes from a user by the name of GADDoran85 on deckstats.net. It's reminiscent of a deck that was popular many years ago that paired Boros Reckoner with Blasphemous Act. Let's take a look at Boros Extinction:
Boros Extinction - Guilds Standard | GADDoran85, deckstats.net
- Creatures (20)
- 2 Rummaging Goblin
- 3 Gleaming Barrier
- 3 Hunted Witness
- 4 Skirk Prospector
- 4 Truefire Captain
- 4 Wily Goblin
- Instants (2)
- 2 Fiery Cannonade
- Sorceries (8)
- 4 Pirate's Pillage
- 4 Star of Extinction
- Artifacts (6)
- 2 Gilded Lotus
- 4 Treasure Map
- Lands (24)
- 8 Mountain
- 8 Plains
- 4 Clifftop Retreat
- 4 Sacred Foundry
One key thing to keep in mind when playing this deck is that if your opponent is playing White, there's a chance they'll be playing Shalai, Voice of Plenty. Shalai gives your opponent hexproof while she's on the battlefield, so be sure to board in some removal for her if you see her in Game 1.
Also, if your opponent gains a bunch of life over the course of the game, you could end up a little short with Truefire Captain's damage. In those instances, getting multiple Truefire Captains in play can help you get ahead.
This deck looks like a lot of fun to play, and when it works you'll end up creating a game you won't forget soon. However, I like this deck better after sideboarding as you can get to a state in Game 1 where it's simply not possible to win.
Wrapping Up
With Ravnica Allegiance releasing soon, it's no wonder that innovation in Standard is beginning to slow down. But that just means that people are starting to come up with new brews for the new cards. I'm sure this will continue to increase as more and more cards are previewed.
What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or you can reply to me directly on Twitter@mikelikesmtg), or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. 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
