Hello everyone. Now that we've recovered from the latest round of bannings, it's time to figure out what to play in Standard. This week I have a few different options that you can try out. Let's get started.

Rakdos Sacrifice

We'll get started with a deck that took a hit when Cauldron Familiar was banned. However, even though we no longer have the Cat/Oven combo, Rakdos Sacrifice is still a deck that can bring the pain. Let's take a look at the deck.

Rakdos Sacrifice | M21 Standard | crokeyz, mtgazone.com user

• Creatures (27)
• 2 Fiend Artisan
• 2 Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 2 Serrated Scorpion
• 3 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
• 3 Mire Triton
• 3 Woe Strider
• 4 Gutterbones
• 4 Mayhem Devil
• 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods

• Instants (4)
• 4 Village Rites

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Claim the Firstborn

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Weaponize the Monsters

• Lands (24)
• 3 Mountain
• 7 Swamp
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 2 Temple of Malice
• 3 Castle Locthwain
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Fabled Passage

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Bonecrusher Giant
• 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 1 Redcap Melee
• 2 Heartless Act
• 2 Noxious Grasp
• 1 Act of Treason
• 2 Agonizing Remorse
• 2 Duress
• 1 Soul-Guide Lantern

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A card we haven't see in quite a while is Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger. Back when Theros Beyond Death was released, both of the Elder Giants looked promising. Then, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath proceeded to appear in nearly every deck in Standard and pushed Kroxa out of the picture. Kroxa is back, and fits in nicely in a sacrifice deck like this one. When you first play Kroxa, you'll likely sacrifice it since it will probably be played from your hand. Kroxa also forces your opponent to discard a card from their hand. If that card happens to be a land card, they'll also lose three points from their life total. If they discard a nonland card they won't lose any life, but you might be able to set their plans back for a bit.

Fiend Artisan is another new card for this type of deck. While Fiend Artisan usually starts off fairly small, it has the potential to be one of the largest creatures on the battlefield very easily. That makes Fiend Artisan a threat at all stages of the game. Fiend Artisan also has an activated ability that you can use to sacrifice other creatures. Doing so allows you to put another creature from your library onto the battlefield, so you don't lose any battlefield momentum when this sacrifice takes place (as long as X is greater than zero). This is a great way for you to be able to find the creatures you need in order for the deck to run smoothly.

Sultai Ramp

The next deck I have for you attempts to accelerate its mana production in order to play bigger things faster than its opponent can. Let's take a look at the deck.

Sultai Ramp | M21 Standard | molaboy, mtgazone.com user

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Arboreal Grazer
• 4 Hydroid Krasis
• 4 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

• Planeswalkers (10)
• 1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
• 1 Teferi, Master of Time
• 2 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World

• Instants (4)
• 2 Aether Gust
• 2 Eliminate

• Sorceries (8)
• 2 Agonizing Remorse
• 2 Casualties of War
• 2 Cultivate
• 2 Extinction Event

• Lands (28)
• 2 Island
• 2 Swamp
• 4 Forest
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Fabled Passage
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Watery Grave
• 4 Zagoth Triome

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Elder Gargaroth
• 2 Eliminate
• 2 Negate
• 3 Wilt
• 2 Agonizing Remorse
• 2 Extinction Event
• 2 Thought Distortion

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Once you have the mana, you can begin deploying your army of planeswalkers. Use Narset, Parter of Veils as a means of finding removal spells to keep your opponent's threats in line. She also prevents your opponent from drawing extra cards, which can be very helpful. Tamiyo, Collector of Tales and Teferi, Master of Time both help you draw additional cards. Teferi can also act as removal, albeit temporary removal, thanks to his -3 loyalty ability, which phases out an opponent's creature. Nissa, Who Shakes the World allows for further ramping, while also allowing your lands to perform double duty by becoming creatures. Finally, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon basically wins games on his own. By dealing direct damage or exiling each permanent that costs less than eight mana, you'll be able to put your opponent in a position where it's nearly impossible to win.

I mentioned earlier that Narset, Parter of Veils can help you find removal spells, and there are bunches of them in this deck. For two mana, Eliminate will be able to destroy any creature or planeswalker that costs three or less mana. Also at two mana, you have Aether Gust that can act as pseudo-removal, against the right deck. Then, at four mana, you have Extinction Event. While Extinction Event may only exile creatures with either even or odd mana costs, you'll often be able to destroy just enough of your opponent's creatures to give you the upper hand. Keep in mind, though, that Extinction Event will also exile your creatures, so make sure to look at both sides of the field. The final removal spell is Casualties of War. It acts as a scalpel, surgically removing a specific artifact, creature, enchantment, land, and/or planeswalker of your choosing.

Orzhov Lifegain

The final deck I have for you is a combo deck that punishes your opponent whenever you gain life. Let's take a look at it.

Orzhov Lifegain | M21 Standard | Terence, mtgazone.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 3 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 4 Charming Prince
• 4 Indulging Patrician
• 4 Speaker of the Heavens
• 4 Tavern Swindler
• 4 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis

• Instants (3)
• 3 Dire Tactics

• Enchantments (8)
• 4 Faith's Fetters
• 4 Griffin Aerie

• Lands (24)
• 9 Plains
• 9 Swamp
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 4 Temple of Silence

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This deck also features Speaker of the Heavens and Indulging Patrician, which both have traditional lifelink abilities. I'll talk more about Speaker of the Heavens in a minute, but first I'd like to go over the ability that Indulging Patrician has. If you've gained three or more life during your turn, your opponent will lose three life at the beginning of your end step. This works great in conjunction with Griffin Aerie, which also requires you to gain three or more life during your turn. The same three points of life you gain during your turn will activate both of these permanents if they are on your battlefield, so you'll be able to benefit from both of them.

This deck also features a minor token theme as well. Speaker of the Heavens can be activated to create a 4/4 Angel creature token with flying. Of course, this can only be done if your life total reaches 27 or more, but in a deck dedicated to gaining life, that can happen pretty quickly. As I mentioned earlier, if you gain three life during your turn, Griffin Aerie will create a 2/2 Griffin creature token with flying. Finally, Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis has a -2 loyalty ability that you can use to create two 1/1 Human Soldier creature tokens. By creating a ton of tokens, you'll be able to make an activation of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose that much more effective, and potentially lethal for your opponent.

Wrapping Up

While every banning announcement has the potential to shake things up, some shake things up more than others do. I feel the latest banning announcement was just what the doctor ordered to breathe a little life into a stale Standard environment in the few weeks we have until rotation happens.

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