Hello everyone. Another week has gone by, and more innovation has taken place in Standard. This week I have three decks to look at with you that recently won six matches or more in a row on Magic Arena. Let's get started.

Grixis Control

The first deck I have for you is definitely not a deck you're likely to find me playing, but it looks pretty cool. Let's take a look at it.

Grixis Control | SNC Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

• Creatures (11)
• 3 Xanathar, Guild Kingpin
• 4 Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern
• 4 Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
• 2 Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost

• Instants (11)
• 2 Hero's Downfall
• 3 Memory Deluge
• 3 Saw It Coming
• 3 Soul Shatter

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Crush the Weak
• 3 Skull Raid
• 4 Invoke Despair

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 The Meathook Massacre

• Lands (23)
• 1 Snow-Covered Mountain
• 3 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 2 Maestros Theater
• 2 Shipwreck Marsh
• 2 Xander's Lounge
• 3 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway
• 3 Haunted Ridge
• 3 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
• 4 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Soul Shatter
• 2 Demon Bolt
• 2 Hero's Downfall
• 4 Abrade
• 2 Bloodchief's Thirst
• 2 Crush the Weak
• 2 The Meathook Massacre

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To start off, I want to talk about Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost. Normally, the decks I like to play include Rowan, because she can be a source of extra damage. In a deck like this one, though, you'll likely want to wait for later in the game to cast Will instead of Rowan. Will offers you a way of nullifying the effectiveness of your opponent's creatures with his +1 loyalty ability. His -3 loyalty ability will allow you to draw two cards, which pairs nicely with Rowan's +1 loyalty ability. Finally, if you need a way to close out the game, you can use his -7 loyalty ability to exile a couple of your own permanents in order to create a pair of 4/4 Elemental creature tokens.

One great way you have to control your opponent's choices throughout the game is Tergrid's Lantern. You'll be able to activate it multiple times in a turn to force your opponent to either sacrifice a nonland permanent or discard a card. This can be super effective if you have a copy of Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern. With Tergrid in play, you'll be able to put any permanent that your opponent discards or sacrifices into play under your control. This effect is also amazing when you cast The Meathook Massacre.

As another way of controlling your opponent's choices, you can use Xanathar, Guild Kingpin to keep your opponent from getting anything that you don't want them to have from the top of their deck. While you might not always be able to guarantee that the card they draw will be useless, you'll at least have the knowledge of what it is and whether you have any cards in your hand that will help you deal with them.

Selesnya Storm

Next, I have a 'storm' deck that can really steal wins unexpectedly. Let's take a look at the deck.

Selesnya Storm | SNC Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Dragonsguard Elite
• 4 Illuminator Virtuoso
• 4 Luminarch Aspirant

• Instants (23)
• 3 Show of Confidence
• 4 Charge Through
• 4 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier
• 4 Snakeskin Veil
• 4 Vastwood Fortification // Vastwood Thicket
• 4 Wild Shape

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Adventure Awaits
• 4 Homestead Courage

• Lands (18)
• 3 Forest
• 3 Plains
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Blossoming Sands
• 4 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
• 4 Overgrown Farmland

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Skyclave Apparition
• 2 Mavinda, Students' Advocate
• 3 Ollenbock Escort
• 4 Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute
• 3 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 2 Mage Duel

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Illuminator Virtuoso is the other main attacking creature in this deck. This Human Rogue has double strike, and will allow you to connive whenever it becomes the target of a spell you control. As long as you discard a nonland card when you connive, Illuminator Virtuoso will get a +1/+1 counter. Since every +1/+1 counter on a creature with double strike provides extra damage, Illuminator Virtuoso can quickly reduce your opponent's life total. Luminarch Aspirantc can help both Illuminator Virtuoso and Dragonsguard Elite grow quickly.

For this deck to run smoothly, you need a lot of spells that don't cost much to cast. Twenty of your instant and sorcery spells have a mana value of one, while the remaining ten cost 2 mana. That allows you to cast multiple spells each turn, which provides Dragonsguard Elite and Illuminator Virtuoso the potential to receive many +1/+1 counters. These additional +1/+1 counters can make it very difficult for your opponent to be able to plan their blocks effectively, especially with the double strike from Illuminator Virtuoso. Take advantage of that and be aggressive when you play this deck.

Dimir Zombies

The final deck I have for you features a Zombie tribal theme. Let's check it out.

Dimir Zombies | SNC Standard | Random Platinum/Mythic Ranked Player

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
• 4 Bladestitched Skaab
• 4 Champion of the Perished
• 4 Fell Stinger
• 4 Graf Reaver
• 4 Headless Rider
• 4 Shambling Ghast
• 4 Tainted Adversary

• Instants (6)
• 3 Infernal Grasp
• 3 Village Rites

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Grafted Identity

• Lands (19)
• 2 Island
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 4 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway
• 4 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 4 Shipwreck Marsh

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Concealing Curtains // Revealing Eye
• 2 Go Blank
• 4 Crippling Fear
• 4 Duress
• 1 Grafted Identity

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The only creature in the deck that is not a Zombie is Geralf, Visionary Stitcher. Geralf provides all of your Zombies with flying, making them an evasive threat. He also offers a measure of protection from your opponent's creature removal spells. You can activate his ability to sacrifice a nontoken creature you control to create a Zombie creature token that has squared stats equal to the toughness of the sacrificed creature.

One great spell this deck includes that isn't played as often as I think it should be is Grafted Identity. With Grafted Identity, you do need to sacrifice a creature, but that shouldn't be much of a problem with this deck. You can then target your opponent's biggest threat with this enchantment in order to gain control of it, giving it a +1/+1 bonus in the process. Isn't it better to take control of your opponent's threats rather than simply destroying them?

Wrapping Up

I've played against the Selesnya Storm deck and can say that it's very explosive. The other two decks I don't have any direct experience with, but I plan on trying them out on Magic Arena. They already have been proven capable of winning multiple games, so hopefully I can use them to complete some of my daily challenges.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. 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