Hello, everyone! Last weekend, when many eyes were watching Modern at the Mythic Championship IV that took place in Barcelona, a Standard event was taking place in Columbus, OH at the SCG Classic. The winner was Chris Andersen, who was playing a Bant Scapeshift deck. Congratulations, Chris! I've already talked about Bant Scapeshift and how good it is, but there are a few decks from this tournament that just missed out on winning. This week, we'll take a look at those decks. Let's get started.

Jeskai Hero

The first deck we'll take a look at came in second place. It was piloted by Adam Martin. Let's take a look at Jeskai Hero:

Jeskai Hero | M20 Standard | Adam Martin, 2nd Place, SCG Classic 07/28/19

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Tajic, Legion's Edge
• 2 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
• 2 Feather, the Redeemed
• 2 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 2 Tomik, Distinguished Advokist
• 3 Elite Guardmage
• 4 Empyrean Eagle
• 4 Hero of Precinct One
• 4 Lightning Stormkin

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 3 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Instants (4)
• 2 Depose // Deploy
• 2 Justice Strike

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Deafening Clarion

• Lands (24)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Sacred Foundry
• 3 Sulfur Falls
• 4 Clifftop Retreat
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Aether Gust
• 1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
• 2 Deputy of Detention
• 2 Dovin's Veto
• 2 Legion Warboss
• 2 Prison Realm
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 3 Tocatli Honor Guard

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This deck uses a couple of uncommon cards very nicely. The first is Lightning Stormkin. A 2/2 flyer with haste can definitely spoil an opponent's plans. The first time you play Lightning Stormkin, you'll be able to catch your opponent off-guard, potentially attacking a planeswalker and reducing its loyalty to zero. After that, your opponent will know you have the potential of playing another Lightning Stormkin whenever you have the 2 mana needed to cast it available, so they can hold back ways to deal with it. You can use that to your advantage, potentially making them use their answer on a different creature or risk wasting that mana altogether.

The other uncommon that this deck uses to great effect is Empyrean Eagle. Twenty-one creatures in this deck have flying (counting Empyrean Eagle itself), so the +1/+1 bonus that Empyrean Eagle grants them will quickly add up as extra damage you're able to deal to your opponent. Empyrean Eagle boosts Shalai, Voice of Plenty to be a 4/5, putting her out of range of nearly every single burn spell in Standard. While there are some untraditional choices that could be used (like the Response side of Response // Resurgence), if your opponent wants to remove Shalai with direct damage spells while you have a single copy of Empyrean Eagle in play, they'll need to use a minimum of two spells. It only gets more difficult if you get multiple copies of Empyrean Eagle on the battlefield.

Four-Color Elementals

The next deck I have for you this week was piloted by Terren Huck and came in third place. It adds a little Black mana to the Temur Elemental deck to create something a little bit stronger. Let's take a look at it:

Four-Color Elementals | M20 Standard | Terren Huck, 3rd Place, SCG Classic 07/28/19

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Cavalier of Gales
• 1 Cavalier of Thorns
• 3 Scampering Scorcher
• 3 Yarok, the Desecrated
• 4 Cloudkin Seer
• 4 Leafkin Druid
• 4 Omnath, Locus of the Roil
• 4 Risen Reef
• 4 Thunderkin Awakener

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno

• Sorceries (6)
• 3 Lava Coil
• 3 Neoform

• Lands (25)
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Overgrown Tomb
• 2 Rootbound Crag
• 2 Stomping Ground
• 2 Sulfur Falls
• 2 Woodland Cemetery
• 3 Hinterland Harbor
• 3 Steam Vents
• 4 Breeding Pool

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Aether Gust
• 2 Entrancing Melody
• 2 Flame Sweep
• 3 Fry
• 3 Negate
• 3 Veil of Summer

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Thunderkin Awakener is a great addition to any Elemental deck. When Thunderkin Awakener attacks, you'll be able to bring back a Risen Reef from your graveyard temporarily, allowing you either to draw an additional card or to put an extra land onto the battlefield. You can do this turn after turn, as long as Thunderkin Awakener remains on the battlefield and Risen Reef remains in your graveyard. If Risen Reef isn't available, a great second choice to bring back is Scampering Scorcher. You'll end up keeping the two 1/1 Elemental tokens Scampering Scorcher creates when it enters the battlefield, which allows your team to quickly outnumber your opponent's forces.

Jund Dinosaurs

The final deck I have for you this week was piloted by Wes Williamson and took home fifth place. Let's take a look at his Jund Dinosaurs deck:

Jund Dinosaurs | M20 Standard | Wes Williamson, 5th Place, SCG Classic 07/28/19

• Creatures (28)
• 2 Drover of the Mighty
• 3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 3 Regisaur Alpha
• 4 Marauding Raptor
• 4 Otepec Huntmaster
• 4 Ripjaw Raptor
• 4 Rotting Regisaur
• 4 Shifting Ceratops

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Domri, Anarch of Bolas

• Instants (2)
• 2 Collision // Colossus

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Savage Stomp
• 4 Commune with Dinosaurs

• Lands (24)
• 2 Forest
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 2 Woodland Cemetery
• 3 Blood Crypt
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Rootbound Crag
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Unclaimed Territory

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Cast Down
• 3 Flame Sweep
• 2 Noxious Grasp
• 1 Theater of Horrors
• 3 Thrashing Brontodon
• 3 Veil of Summer

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Now, by adding Black mana and making this deck Jund, you have increased the lethalness of this deck. That Black mana is only used for one card, and what a card it is. Rotting Regisaur is a massive threat that you can play as early as turn three. Its 7/6 body does come with a drawback; you have to discard a card at the beginning of your upkeep. However, if you're able to play every card in your hand each turn, you won't have any cards to discard at the beginning of your upkeep. There's no penalty if you can't discard a card. You'll then draw your card for the turn, making sure to play it during that turn and continue the carnage. It gets especially gross when you get multiple Rotting Regisaur on the battlefield at the same time.

Wrapping Up

Congratulations to all of the players I mentioned in today's article for doing so well at this SCG tournament! These decks prove that even existing archetypes such as Esper Hero, Temur Elementals, and Gruul Dinosaurs can be shaken up and tweaked with new cards from Core Set 2020.

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. 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