Last weekend was the first Mythic Championship. I'd like to begin this week by congratulating Autumn Burchett on winning this event with a Mono-Blue Tempo deck. I've written about this style of deck before and it's a blast to play. It's one of the decks I'm currently using on Magic Arena in my quest to become Mythic. If you get a chance to play it, I highly recommend it because it has a lot of depth despite being a mono-colored deck.

Speaking of decks I recommend, I have a few other decks to show you this week that have performed well on Magic Online (MTGO) recently. If you're looking for a new deck to play at your local Friday Night Magic (FNM), keep reading and you might find something that you like that shows a bit of innovation. Let's get started with our first deck.

Bant Midrange

Lately most of the Bant decks have been Nexus of Fate decks. This deck takes Bant in a different direction. Let's take a look at it:

Bant Midrange | Allegiance Standard | ARIANNE (5-0), MTGO

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Shanna, Sisay's Legacy
• 3 Emmara, Soul of the Accord
• 3 Trostani Discordant
• 3 Venerated Loxodon
• 4 Deputy of Detention
• 4 Hero of Precinct One
• 4 Tithe Taker

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Huatli, Radiant Champion
• 3 Dovin, Grand Arbiter

• Instants (4)
• 4 March of the Multitudes

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Incubation // Incongruity
• 4 Flower // Flourish

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Conclave Tribunal

• Lands (21)
• 1 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 3 Sunpetal Grove
• 3 Temple Garden
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Baffling End
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Huatli, Radiant Champion
• 2 Knight of Autumn
• 2 Kraul Harpooner
• 2 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 3 Negate

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Deputy of Detention works great alongside the Incongruity side of Incubation // Incongruity. As I mentioned before, you could exile any creature your opponent controls via Incongruity, which will create a 3/3 Frog Lizard creature token for them. Then, you can cast Deputy of Detention, name Frog Lizard, and the token will be exiled. Since tokens that are exiled will never come back, you have effectively exiled the opponent's troublesome creature forever.

Grixis Control

The next deck I have for you is a reminder that Nicol Bolas is the reason we're back on Ravnica. Let's take a look at the deck:

Grixis Control | Allegiance Standard | ENTER (5-0), MTGO

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Thief of Sanity
• 4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Angrath, the Flame-Chained

• Instants (11)
• 2 Chemister's Insight
• 2 Ionize
• 3 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Cast Down

• Sorceries (8)
• 2 Cry of the Carnarium
• 2 Duress
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Enchantments (5)
• 2 Search for Azcanta
• 3 The Eldest Reborn

• Lands (26)
• 2 Island
• 2 Swamp
• 3 Dragonskull Summit
• 3 Sulfur Falls
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Cry of the Carnarium
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Duress
• 3 Hostage Taker
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 3 Negate
• 2 Unmoored Ego

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Besides Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, the other creature in this deck is Thief of Sanity. I'll be honest with you, I absolutely hate playing against decks that use Thief of Sanity. There's no worse feeling than having the game be decided based on your opponent casting one of your cards and beating you with it. Since control decks aren't my usual style, I've never actually played with this card in any of my decks, but I think I'll need to try it sometime and maybe that will give me more love for this creature.

Abzan Angels

The final deck I have for you this week takes a mainly Orzhov deck and gives it just a splash of Green to make a formidable Abzan Angels deck. Let's take a look at it:

Abzan Angels | Allegiance Standard | JAZZYOJ (5-0), MTGO

• Creatures (19)
• 2 Resplendent Angel
• 2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 3 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 4 Seraph of the Scales
• 4 Tithe Taker
• 4 Tocatli Honor Guard

• Instants (8)
• 2 Assassin's Trophy
• 2 Cast Down
• 4 Mortify

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Find // Finality

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 History of Benalia

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Immortal Sun

• Lands (25)
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Plains
• 1 Arch of Orazca
• 1 Woodland Cemetery
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Isolated Chapel
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (13)
• 3 Carnage Tyrant
• 4 Duress
• 2 Fungal Infection
• 1 Kaya's Wrath
• 1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
• 2 Ritual of Soot

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Seraph of the Scales is the latest Angel to see competitive play. Having played against this card numerous times on Magic Arena, I can acknowledge just how good this card can be. Having a 4/3 flier that can gain vigilance can be maddening to play against if you have limited ways to deal with it. I was playing a Mono-Green deck and encountered Seraph of the Scales and was basically halted in my tracks. In the time it took for me to finally be able to cast a large enough threat that my opponent would need to use Seraph of the Scales for defense, I had taken too much damage from the air and it was easy enough for the opponent to finish me off.

Tithe Taker is another new card in this deck. With Tithe Taker making it more expensive to counter your spells or to cast removal spells on your turn, he acts as a bit of insurance for you. If you're able to get multiple Tithe Taker's on the battlefield at the same time, it can become next to impossible for your opponent to affect your plans on your turn.

The splash of Green in this deck is only for a couple of main deck cards (although there are more in the sideboard). First is Assassin's Trophy. This is best used on a permanent that you might otherwise have trouble in removing. The other card that benefits from having Green mana in the deck is Shalai, Voice of Plenty. By activating her ability, every creature you have on the battlefield gets just a little bit larger. Doing this on multiple turns will almost guarantee that each combat will go your way and can ensure a swift victory from the air.

Wrapping Up

Now that the Mythic Championship has completed, we'll have to see if the innovations in Standard begin to slow down. I'm hopeful that new decks will continue to be created and updates will be made to existing decks thanks to Magic Arena. I'll keep watching things so I can bring you the most innovative decks right here every week.

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!