Hello everyone. Now that Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths has been released in digital form, people are beginning to see just how absurd some of these new cards actually are. For me, the Companion keyword ability offers a lot of possibilities when building decks. This week we'll take a look at a few decks from recent tournaments that have done well and also happen to feature cards with Companion. Let's get started.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den

The first deck we'll take a look at took First Place at the Standard Challenge on 04/19/2020 and it features Lurrus of the Dream-Den as its Companion. Let's take a look at the deck.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den | IKO Standard | BROKENPOTS_CB, 1st Place, Standard Challenge #12138062 on 04/19/2020

• Companion (1)
• 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Rix Maadi Reveler
• 4 Cauldron Familiar
• 4 Dreadhorde Butcher
• 4 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
• 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods
• 4 Serrated Scorpion
• 4 Whisper Squad

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Call of the Death-Dweller
• 4 Claim the Firstborn

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Mire's Grasp

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Witch's Oven

• Lands (23)
• 6 Mountain
• 7 Swamp
• 2 Castle Locthwain
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Fabled Passage

• Sideboard (14)
• 3 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 4 Robber of the Rich
• 1 Pharika's Libation
• 3 Act of Treason
• 3 Mire's Grasp

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Dreadhorde Butcher is another great creature to cast with Lurrus's ability. Cast the Zombie Warrior and attack right away with it thanks to it having haste. You'll either be able to go through unblocked, allowing Dreadhorde Butcher to grow bigger in size for future attacks, or you'll get blocked and be able to ping your opponent for one point of damage. This can be a great way to keep the pressure on your opponent when you have them low in life and only need to deal a few more points of damage to win.

You can also use Lurrus's ability to continuously return Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger to the battlefield. Doing this can allow you to keep your opponent's hand-size low, restricting their options, and potentially keep them low on lands. Since Companion restrictions only apply to the starting deck-build and not to the sideboard, I would love to see a copy or two (or even more) of Mayhem Devil included in the sideboard so that the potential to deal extra damage would be possible.

Keruga, the Macrosage

The next deck I have for you also took First Place in a tournament this past weekend. It features Keruga, the Macrosage as its Companion. Let's take a look at it.

Keruga, the Macrosage | IKO Standard | THOMMIMP, 1st Place, Standard Challenge #12138050 on 04/18/2020

• Companion (1)
• 1 Keruga, the Macrosage

• Creatures (15)
• 3 Kenrith, the Returned King
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Cavalier of Flame
• 4 Sphinx of Foresight

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 2 Narset of the Ancient Way
• 4 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Deafening Clarion

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 4 Fires of Invention

• Lands (29)
• 1 Plains
• 2 Island
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Castle Vantress
• 3 Fabled Passage
• 3 Sacred Foundry
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Raugrin Triome
• 4 Savai Triome
• 4 Steam Vents

• Sideboard (14)
• 2 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 4 Legion Warboss
• 4 Mystical Dispute
• 2 Storm's Wrath
• 2 Elspeth Conquers Death

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The game plan for this deck is to play lands turn after turn until you're able to cast Fires of Invention. Once that happens, you have the potential to cast two spells per turn, giving you the ability to 'double' your mana each turn. You'll still want to play lands each turn, so that you'll be able to cast your heavy hitters like Kenrith, the Returned King and Cavalier of Flame. Remember that your lands remain untapped when cast spells with Fires of Invention, so you'll be able to activate abilities with that mana.

This deck doesn't use many new cards from Ikoria, so it's a great deck to try out during the first few weeks while the set is new. Besides Keruga, the Macrosage, the only other new card in the deck is Narset of the Ancient Way. Narset offers a couple of ways to help you finish games easier. The first is through her -2 loyalty, which allows you to draw a card and then discard a card (if you want to). You'll then deal damage equal to that discarded card's CMC to a target creature or planeswalker. This will allow your creatures to attack unopposed more often. You can also use Narset's -6 loyalty ability to create an emblem that will deal two damage to any target whenever you cast a noncreature spell. Use that damage to pluck away the last remaining points of your opponent's life total.

Yorion, Sky Nomad

The final deck I have for you features Yorion, Sky Nomad, whose requirement is having a deck with at least 80 cards. Let's take a look at the deck.

Yorion, Sky Nomad | IKO Standard | ZAPGAZE, 13th Place, Standard Challenge #12138062 on 04/19/2020

• Companion (1)
• 1 Yorion, Sky Nomad

• Creatures (11)
• 3 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• 4 Arboreal Grazer
• 4 Fae of Wishes

• Planeswalkers (12)
• 2 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
• 3 Narset of the Ancient Way
• 3 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 4 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (5)
• 1 Thirst for Meaning
• 4 Growth Spiral

• Enchantments (17)
• 2 Shark Typhoon
• 3 Omen of the Forge
• 4 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 4 Fires of Invention
• 4 Omen of the Sea

• Lands (35)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Temple of Plenty
• 2 Temple of Mystery
• 3 Steam Vents
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Ketria Triome
• 4 Raugrin Triome
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (14)
• 1 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
• 3 Aether Gust
• 4 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Deafening Clarion
• 1 Inspired Ultimatum
• 1 Ruinous Ultimatum
• 1 Shatter the Sky
• 1 Outlaws' Merriment

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When Yorion enters the battlefield, you'll be able to exile any number of nonland permanents you have in play until the beginning of the next end step. This can be a terrific way to reset the loyalties of the numerous planeswalkers in this deck. Just be sure you activate those planeswalkers prior to casting Yorion to maximize your value. You can flicker both Omen of the Forge and Omen of the Sea for added value as well.

One cool new card that is included in this deck is Shark Typhoon. With Shark Typhoon in play, you'll create a Shark creature token that has flying whenever you cast a noncreature spell. You can also utilize that extra mana you have by cycling Shark Typhoon, which has the ability to create a large flying Shark creature token.

Wrapping Up

Mark Rosewater is famous for his saying "Restrictions breed creativity". With Companions, you have a built-in restriction when you create your deck, which will hopefully allow some very creative builds to be created.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. Also, 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