Hello everyone. Now that previews for Guilds of Ravnica have started, I'm champing at the proverbial bit. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to start brewing some new decks. However, since the entire set hasn't been previewed yet, I'll wait until next week or the week after before I begin to brew. This week instead of writing about any of the new cards, I have for you a selection of decks that are rotation proof. These aren't the usual decks I bring to you that have gone 5-0 on Magic Online (MTGO). Instead, these are untested decks found on other deck-building sites that you can use as a starting point when Guilds of Ravnica releases.

Goblins

The first deck I have for you is a tribal deck that features a creature type that I love to play. Of course I'm talking about goblins. Let's take a look at the deck:

Goblins - Standard | seemenao

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Goblin Trashmaster
• 2 Siege-Gang Commander
• 2 Volley Veteran
• 4 Fanatical Firebrand
• 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
• 4 Goblin Instigator
• 4 Goblin Warchief
• 4 Rigging Runner

• Instants (8)
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Shock

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Goblin Barrage

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 The Flame of Keld

• Lands (22)
• 22 Mountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Banefire
• 3 Fight with Fire
• 1 Goblin Barrage
• 2 Jaya's Immolating Inferno
• 4 Skirk Prospector
• 2 Squee, the Immortal

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In the early turns of the game, this deck wants to get as many goblins onto the battlefield as possible. Flood the board so that your opponent is discouraged from attacking you. Make sure that you're attacking whenever it is possible to do so, because you'll want to whittle a few life points away from your opponent. As the game progresses, you'll eventually end up drawing one of three good ways to close out the game. The Flame of Keld can help you if you have a significantly large amount of creatures on the battlefield or if you happen to draw a couple of burn spells. Siege-Gang Commander can be used to plink away at your opponent's life total two points at a time. This is especially fun in sideboarded games when you've brought in Squee, the Immortal, as you can continue to sacrifice and replay him turn-after-turn. Goblin Barrage can be used similarly to Siege-Gang Commander, except you'll deal four points of damage instead of two.

Vampires

The next deck I have for you is another tribal deck. This one is focused around vampires. Let's take a look at it:

Vampires - Standard | Goferr

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
• 1 Paladin of Atonement
• 2 Bishop of the Bloodstained
• 2 Bloodcrazed Paladin
• 2 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 2 Sanctum Seeker
• 3 Forerunner of the Legion
• 4 Legion Lieutenant

• Instants (3)
• 3 Cast Down

• Sorceries (12)
• 2 Arterial Flow
• 2 Golden Demise
• 2 Soul Salvage
• 3 Call to the Feast
• 3 Queen's Commission

• Enchantments (6)
• 3 Legion's Landing
• 3 Radiant Destiny

• Lands (22)
• 7 Plains
• 7 Swamp
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Memorial to Folly
• 2 Unclaimed Territory
• 4 Isolated Chapel

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Ashes of the Abhorrent
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 2 Divest
• 2 Gruesome Fate
• 1 Murder
• 2 Seal Away
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 2 Vraska's Contempt
• 3 Walk the Plank

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This deck looks pretty similar to some of the vampire decks I saw shortly after Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan were released. Much like the goblin deck above, this deck wants to amass a large amount of vampires onto the battlefield. A fun way to win once this happens will be to attack with any amount of vampires while you have a Sanctum Seeker in play. Not only does this drain your opponent of life, but it also boosts your life total by one for each attacking vampire. Many opponents will get frustrated once you've gained more than a couple of points of life, since it makes them feel like victory is slipping away.

In the sideboard there is a single copy of Ashes of the Abhorrent. I think this card has the potential to see a bit more play once Guilds of Ravnica releases. Not only does it neutralize the Izzet ability Jump-start, but it also can provide incidental life gain.

Boros Midrange

If you've seen some of the previewed cards from Guilds of Ravnica for the Boros Guild and haven't been impressed by the Mentor mechanic, you might be feeling bummed to not be able to play a Boros deck. But fear not because the next deck I have for you is in Boros colors without any of the new cards. Let's take a look at it:

Boros Midrange - Standard | OberstHati

• Creatures (23)
• 3 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• 4 Dire Fleet Daredevil
• 4 Knight of Grace
• 4 Lyra Dawnbringer
• 4 Rekindling Phoenix
• 4 Resplendent Angel

• Instants (8)
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Shock

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Seal Away

• Lands (25)
• 8 Mountain
• 9 Plains
• 4 Clifftop Retreat
• 4 Stone Quarry

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Act of Treason
• 2 Huatli, Warrior Poet
• 3 Invoke the Divine
• 3 Make a Stand
• 3 Relentless Raptor
• 2 Settle the Wreckage

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I like this starting point for a non-Mentor Boros deck. Angels have been a favorite creature type of a lot of players, and this deck has all of the best remaining angels once rotation happens. And all of the angels work well together. When Resplendent Angel was previewed, there was a lot of discussion about whether it was good enough to see play. Eventually the consensus was that it wasn't, and the card has only seen fringe play since. That could change with this deck. If Guilds of Ravnica gives us a new Aurelia, which I believe it will, it could replace Rekindling Phoenix and make this even more of an angel tribal deck.

Sultai Treasures

The final deck I have for you this week is probably the most innovative of the decks I've shown you. Let's take a look at Sultai Treasures:

Sultai Treasures - Standard | hydrothermia

• Creatures (4)
• 2 Poison-Tip Archer
• 2 Twilight Prophet

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Karn, Scion of Urza
• 2 Vraska, Relic Seeker

• Instants (14)
• 2 Vona's Hunger
• 3 Cast Down
• 3 Hornswoggle
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 3 Spell Swindle

• Sorceries (6)
• 3 Divest
• 3 Duress

• Enchantments (5)
• 2 Search for Azcanta
• 3 Revel in Riches

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Treasure Map

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 5 Island
• 8 Swamp
• 1 Detection Tower
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 2 Hinterland Harbor
• 2 Woodland Cemetery
• 4 Drowned Catacomb

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Admiral's Order
• 3 Broken Bond
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 2 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 3 Vicious Offering
• 2 Vraska's Contempt

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Those of you that know me, you know I love an alternate-win condition. I think that's why this deck looks like something I want to try out. Any deck playing the potentially game-winning combination of Spell Swindle and Revel in Riches gets a thumbs-up in my book. But that's not the only way to win. If that plan doesn't come to fruition, you can always fall back on winning with Karn, Scion of Urza and his construct tokens. There's even another back up plan in the form of Twilight Prophet that can steal games from out of nowhere.

Assassin's Trophy is a card from Guilds of Ravnica that will fit in very nicely in this deck. Being able to destroy any permanent your opponent controls is such a powerful ability, even if it does give them an extra land. While it doesn't help out with the treasure plan of this deck, it's still worth consideration.

Wrapping Up

When rotation happens in a few short weeks, I want to be ready for it. All too often after the release of a new set, I've found myself stuck playing a deck that isn't prepared to deal with things from the new set. This time though, there's the Standard rotation to contend with, and I can't simply fall back on playing the deck that I was playing a few weeks ago. These four decks I've provided today likely will not be perfect when they're first played, but they will all contain Standard-legal cards post-rotation. They're a good starting point. Let me know what you think of them. You can reach me 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!

-- Mike Likes