Hi, everyone! Now that Standard has been corrected by the latest round of bannings, many more decks have become playable. Since my family is celebrating Christmas this week, I've decided to make that a loose theme for the decks I have to share with you. But, don't think that these decks can't perform well in Standard just because they follow some kind of theme. I think all of these decks have a good chance to do well at any local tournament or Friday Night Magic event you might attend. Let's get started.

Decorate in Red and Green

Before a Christmas gathering happens, you should prepare the place of the gathering with some decorations. For Christmas, the most common colors for these decorations are Red and Green. So, the first deck I have for you features cards in those colors. Let's take a look at Gruul Boar and Dragon:

Gruul Boar and Dragon | Eldraine Standard | BetaRageBill, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Beanstalk Giant
• 2 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 2 God-Eternal Rhonas
• 2 Shifting Ceratops
• 3 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Gilded Goose
• 4 Paradise Druid

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 1 Domri, Chaos Bringer
• 2 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
• 2 Sarkhan the Masterless
• 3 Nissa, Who Shakes the World

• Instants (3)
• 3 Shock

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Escape to the Wilds
• 1 Finale of Devastation

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 The Great Henge

• Lands (22)
• 10 Forest
• 6 Mountain
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 4 Stomping Ground

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Cindervines
• 3 Collision // Colossus
• 2 Flame Sweep
• 3 Fry
• 2 Shifting Ceratops
• 2 Thrashing Brontodon

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If you don't happen to have Drakuseth in your hand, another great option to play is God-Eternal Rhonas. Doing this will send a total of 17 points of power at your opponent if all you attack with are Rhonas and Ilharg. Since Ilharg has trample, it can be very difficult for your opponent to avoid taking a ton of damage.

Another way you can win games with this deck is through the use of your Planeswalkers. With Sarkhan the Masterless, you're able to turn all of your Planeswalkers into 4/4 flying Dragons each turn. By using your Planeswalkers as attackers, you can quickly deal enough damage to your opponent to end games in a hurry, especially when you have multiple Planeswalkers on the battlefield.

Amass the Guests

Now that we have our place decorated, it's time for everyone to come together for the celebration. Let's take a look at the next deck based around the Amass mechanic:

Rakdos Amass | Eldraine Standard | Jorund, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Dreadhorde Twins
• 2 Invading Manticore
• 3 Mayhem Devil
• 4 Dreadhorde Butcher
• 4 Dreadmalkin
• 4 Grim Initiate
• 4 Lazotep Reaver

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Angrath, Captain of Chaos

• Instants (3)
• 3 Heartfire

• Sorceries (7)
• 2 Spark Harvest
• 2 Toll of the Invasion
• 3 Angrath's Rampage

• Lands (26)
• 11 Mountain
• 11 Swamp
• 4 Blood Crypt

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Banehound
• 3 Bleeding Edge
• 3 Elite Headhunter
• 3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
• 3 Widespread Brutality

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One other source you have to amass with is Angrath, Captain of Chaos. His -2 loyalty ability allows you to add two +1/+1 counters to your Zombie Army token. That can really help your token grow large enough that it becomes difficult for your opponent to deal with. Angrath also gives all of your creatures menace, which can make blocking for your opponent an absolute nightmare.

A cool combo in this deck involves Dreadmalkin and Mayhem Devil. Dreadmalkin offers you a way to sacrifice your creatures fairly easily every turn. If you have a copy of Mayhem Devil in play alongside Dreadmalkin, you could easily choose to sacrifice your Zombie Army token before it grows too big, dealing a bit of damage with Mayhem Devil while also growing the Zombie Cat. Since you have a lot of ways to amass, you can keep playing creatures that have an amass ability when they enter the battlefield, while sacrificing the Zombie Army each time it gets created.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Once everyone has gathered for your party, it's time for the fun to begin. Or should I say Merriment? Let's take a look at the final deck of the week, Mardu Merriment:

Mardu Merriment | Eldraine Standard | Hydrothermia, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Murderous Rider
• 3 Judith, the Scourge Diva
• 4 Corpse Knight
• 4 Cruel Celebrant
• 4 Fervent Champion
• 4 Footlight Fiend
• 4 Hero of Precinct One
• 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Light Up the Stage

• Enchantments (5)
• 2 Outlaws' Merriment
• 3 Experimental Frenzy

• Lands (22)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Swamp
• 3 Plains
• 3 Fabled Passage
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Sacred Foundry

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Drill Bit
• 2 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
• 2 Lava Coil
• 4 Leyline of the Void
• 2 Midnight Reaper
• 1 Murderous Rider
• 2 Sorcerous Spyglass

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Judith, the Scourge Diva gives each other creature you control a +1/+0 bonus. That can turn those small Humans into great blockers or decent attackers. With a copy of Corpse Knight on the battlefield, each Human token that Outlaws' Merriment creates will cause your opponent to lose one life. If you have a copy of Cruel Celebrant, each time one of your creatures dies, you'll gain one life and your opponent will lose one life. As you can see, the small tokens created by Outlaws' Merriment can make it so that you don't even have to attack your opponent in order to win the game.

A couple of other key cards in this deck are Hero of Precinct One and Knight of the Ebon Legion. Since the majority of spells in this deck are multicolored, you'll be able to create quite a few 1/1 Human creature tokens with Hero of Precinct One. As we saw earlier, the simple act of creating new creature tokens can help you win easier. Knight of the Ebon Legion gets a +1/+1 counter every turn that your opponent loses four life or more. Since this counts any type of life loss (not just life loss through combat), you can gain these counters simply by creating new tokens.

Wrapping Up

With Christmas upon us, I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. If you'll be getting together with your loved ones, you might want to give one of these decks a try. Hopefully you'll find these loosely themed decks to be fun and competitive.

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