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Main » Articles » Six Rotation-Proof Decks for Week One of Bloomburrow Standard

Six Rotation-Proof Decks for Week One of Bloomburrow Standard

Paige Smith
Posted on July 24, 2024
 Reddit

Throughout the better part of 2024 I have been extremely locked in when it comes to the Standard format. It was the RCQ season for the first part of the year, the Regional Championship format in Dallas in May, the format of choice for VML, Store Championships, and more. It certainly helped that in a wide array of arguably unhealthy formats - certainly in the wake of yesterday's "no emergency B&R announcement" - that Standard has been one of the most diverse and fun formats out there. Even after the core competitive seasons ended, I kept coming back to it because it's just been that fun.

Raffine, Scheming Seer
Brokers Hideout
Slogurk, the Overslime

As a result, I've been thinking a lot about how I want to approach things now that Bloomburrow comes out in the next week and brings about the first rotation in two years. Decks like Esper Midrange, Temur Analyst, and Four/Five-Color Legends are going away thanks to the removal of some critical cards, and ones like Domain are left crippled -though still potentially viable - for similar reasons. The show must go on, though, and with several local events, an impending VML season, and more, I found myself wondering what would be some good options for the first week into this new format.

As such, I want to cover six great pre-existing decks that are surviving rotation that you'll still be able to bring to events early on as the new format settles. These are decks that require little-to-no changes thanks to the low number of cards leaving the format. As such, they have the benefit of being excellent options for the very first week due to high levels of familiarity and will be a great way to utilize your existing collection.

Before we get going, I want to lay down a couple ground rules. First off, I will be utilizing little-to-no cards from Bloomburrow in these lists. This is mostly because I haven't had a chance to really digest the set's contents and it's hard to say exactly what will be good without getting hands-on practice first. Second, some decks may not have sideboards while others will. The ones that do are because like the main decks, the sideboards see very little changes or have easy analogues. In some cases, though, they're losing out on approximately half of the sideboard options and going into a fresh new meta, it can be a little hard to figure out what should fill those slots instead.

Let's start off with a list that was heavily talked about as a potential ban candidate going into the new season!

Boros Convoke

Post-Rotation Boros Convoke | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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Boros Convoke was one of the first decks that came to mind for an easy post-rotation list to work with. It's almost shocking how little this deck actually loses with only one card typically found in the main deck leaving and a couple sideboard options exiting as well. Naturally, the big loss here is Voldaren Epicure, the quintessential creature that deals a little chip damage while leaving an artifact token for you to sacrifice to Gleeful Demolition. With such a major piece leaving, what's the fix?

Voldaren Epicure
Yotian Frontliner

My pick here is one that's already seen a fair amount of play in Convoke decks previously: Yotian Frontliner! This innocuous little artifact creature was often featured as a one or two-of in Convoke lists prior to the addition of Nurturing Pixie, which has better play with Epicure, Novice Inspector, and Resolute Reinforcements. While it's certainly not quite as good as Voldaren Epicure, it still provides an easy turn one play that sets up Gleeful Demolition effectively. While it doesn't stick around if you do that, the unearth ability provides a way to bring it back with ease for whenever you're ready to go in for your big finish.

The only other notable losses would be in the sideboard. Many lists would often run Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and End the Festivities there (sometimes even playing Thalia in the main) and both are rotating out. While Thalia doesn't have a straight port, End the Festivities does. Tectonic Hazard was printed in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan and mostly does the same thing by way of acting as a cheap board wipe for the mirror and Toxic. Sure you don't get to hit planeswalkers, but that really doesn't matter much since that's not why you run the card in the first place. All of this makes Convoke a very easy deck to play right out of the gate week one.

Dimir Midrange

Post-Rotation Dimir Midrange | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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With the rotation of Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity, The Wandering Emperor, Raffine, Scheming Seer; and more, Esper Midrange is effectively dead as we know it. The big bad of Standard over the last couple years is finally leaving and I for one am quite sad I can't quite play it anymore.

...Or can I?

It may not be quite the same as what Esper Midrange was capable of thanks primarily to Raffine, but Dimir Midrange still manages to play much the same way. Most of Esper's key cards exiting the format are all the White cards, but all of the major Blue and Black pieces stick around. This includes cards like Cut Down, Faerie Mastermind, Go for the Throat, Deep-Cavern Bat, and Tishana's Tidebinder. In short, you can do a lot of the same things in a much slimmer and tighter package.

Cut Down
Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
Faerie Mastermind

Some of the major losses here include counter magic like Spell Pierce and Make Disappear, but these can easily be swapped out for something like Phantom Interference no problem. Tenacious Underdog and Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton also often showed up in these lists, but with their exit from the format too, perhaps try something like Hostile Investigator instead. Finally, it's worth noting that most Dimir lists run three copies of Shipwreck Marsh, so you're losing those along with the Neon Dynasty Channel lands. This is less of an issue too since - as you'll see going forward - most decks are losing some amount of their mana bases. Given that, start with some basics and see if maybe you want to add in something else instead later.

The big issue with Dimir lists going forward is figuring out the sideboard. Cards like Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton, Unlicensed Hearse, and Path of Peril were all staples of Dimir lists for some time, and seeing them go leaves a big hole to fill. I wasn't quite sure what to do in place of those cards, so I opted instead to leave the sideboard a blank here. Keep your eyes on lists and core Dimir pieces that might fit nicely for your sideboard (Harvester of Misery, Gix's Command, additional Liliana of the Veil) and work on it as tournament lists trickle through post-rotation.

Invasion of Amonkhet // Lazotep Convert
Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the cool interaction the deck has with both Invasion of Amonkhet // Lazotep Convert and Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead. If you manage to flip over a copy of Invasion while there's an Aclazotz on the board, your opponents will have a difficult time getting rid of it! If your cloned Aclazotz is killed, then it comes back transformed. Only it's not an actual Aclazotz returning as Temple of the Dead, but rather Invasion of Amonkhet returning as Lazotep Convert! Because of this, it immediately enters and clones Aclazotz once again, thereby providing you with a truly difficult monster to deal with.

Golgari Midrange

Post-Rotation Golgari Midrange | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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Much like Dimir Midrange sticking around as a strong post-rotation choice, so too is Golgari Midrange an excellent option. With both Domain and Azorius Control effectively disappearing in their current forms for a bit thanks to the rotation of important cards, Golgari stands to gain quite a lot. Historically the deck has performed quite well against Dimir Midrange, Esper Midrange, and a host of aggro decks, thereby making it an awesome choice early on post rotation.

Caustic Bronco
Glissa Sunslayer
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Much like Dimir, this deck doesn't lose much either. In fact, the amount of cards leaving is so tiny it's almost laughable. Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton has been a staple, but with its exit, it's pretty easily swapped out for another large body like Hostile Investigator or Gix, Yagmoth Praetor. The handful of lists running Sorin the Mirthless can also swap those copies for either of those two cards, or perhaps additional copies of Liliana of the Veil. Finally there's the lands, which, again, don't really have a clean swap for the losses (Deathcap Glade and the Channel lands). I'd consider an extra copy of Cavern of Souls - especially if you add in Gix - and perhaps either some Mirrex or just basic lands.

Much like Dimir, the big issue is the sideboard. Once again, the loss of both Path of Peril and Unlicensed Hearse is a pretty big deal. The board wipes are easy thanks to the likes of Gix's Command and Harvester of Misery, but the graveyard hate is a little trickier. Normally I'd suggest trying out Tranquil Frillback, but most lists already run almost a full playset as is. Much like Dimir, I'd stick to a general suite of removal and hand disruption for the first week until things start to settle in a little more.

Gruul Aggro (and also Mono-Red Aggro)

Post-Rotation Gruul Aggro | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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If Boros Convoke isn't your speed as far as aggro decks go, how about this one? Gruul Aggro (aka Gruul Slickshot) is a really easy deck to expect to see show up post-rotation. The majority of critical cards - particularly the entire suite of creatures - all stick around. This allows you to play a lot of cheap creatures with Prowess or a sort of alternative Prowess and a number of cheap spells to take your opponents' life totals down to zero in no time flat.

Monastery Swiftspear
Slickshot Show-Off
Monstrous Rage

This deck loses out on a couple of lands (easily swapped for basics and Restless Ridgeline) and only three other key cards: Play with Fire is one of the bigger cheap burn spells to push damage, but thankfully Shock had a fairly recent printing in Murders at Karlov Manor. It's not great, but it'll do the job fine. Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano doesn't really have a clean swap, so here I switched it with Picnic Ruiner for simplicity, though there will likely be something else taking its place as well. One of the more difficult cards to replace, though, is Ancestral Anger. The upcoming Might of the Meek is good at giving trample and a cantrip, but losing out on the buff is a big deal. I put in Demonic Ruckus as a temporary substitute, but it's not quite a clean replacement and will likely find something better with a little time.

While I'm here, I'll also note that the similar Mono-Red Aggro is absolutely going to stick around as well in some form or fashion. The big problem is that compared to the Gruul Aggro lists which are largely quite standardized, there's a ton of variation in the builds of Mono-Red. Couple that with the loss of the aforementioned critical cards and that makes it hard to narrow down exactly what a typically good Mono-Red list will look like post-rotation. Just go through your low-cost Red spells, slap something together, and flesh it out as the initial results start coming through.

Simic Cookies

Post-Rotation Simic Cookies | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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Now how about a deck that loses virtually nothing at all? Simic Aggro - better known as Simic Cookies - has been creeping up as a fairly solid deck in the wake of sets like Wilds of Eldraine and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. The deck takes advantage of a number of cheap creatures that can grow bigger via explore triggers or else just by artifacts entering in the case of Teething Wurmlet. Many other creatures provide a means of spitting out cheap artifacts like map tokens or food tokens - both of which you can animate with the help of Tough Cookie and Zoetic Glyph.

(card pics: Teething Wurmlet, Surge Engine, and Tough Cookie)

Teething Wurmlet
Surge Engine
Tough Cookie

Best of all, as I noted before: almost no cards in this deck actually rotate out! While most lists have some pretty solid substitutes that make for a fairly simple transition, Simic Cookies requires none of that. Every single non-land card sticks around once Bloomburrow enters the picture, allowing you to play with a fully tricked out list right out of the gate. The only thing you really need to adjust here is the lands, which again, is minimal. Once again, it's the couple of Channel lands and the Innistrad slow lands (in this case Dreamroot Cascade). Swap them for some basics and/or round out copies of both Mirrex and Restless Vinestalk for a pretty smooth transition.

Sideboarding is also pretty reasonable. Your big losses here are the copies of Spell Pierce and Unlicensed Hearse. Fortunately, finding cheap countermagic is reasonable enough, and simply sliding in something like Negates for week one can go a long way. I imagine we'll see Spell Pierce soon enough again anyways, so you might not need to wait too long to put them back in. As for the graveyard hate side of things: unlike Golgari Midrange, this deck wasn't already running copies of Tranquil Frillback in it, thereby making it an extremely easy substitute here.

Bant Toxic

Post-Rotation Bant Toxic | BLB Standard | Paige Smith

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Speaking of underdogs, one that's notably been coming and going from the Standard meta over the last year or so has been various iterations of Toxic. The most popular of this variations has been Bant Toxic, but there have also been versions in Selesnya, Dimir, and even Mono-Green thanks to the potency of Venerated Rotpriest. The big reason Bant has had the most results is not just the easy toxic damage, but also the fact that you're capable of performing big combo moves with Venerated Rotpriest and March of Swirling Mists.

Now, though, March of Swirling Mists is rotating out with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, which leaves a pretty gaping hole for the deck. Couple that with the additional loss of Fading Hope and you're left to wonder why you should still be in Bant in the first place. At that point, most of your extra utility comes from counter magic and at that point, is it really worth dealing with Bant Toxic's notoriously rough mana base? As an aggro deck, it can't afford lands that enter tapped, and even with a full suite of fast lands, lists have had to resort to running the heavily lambasted Thran Portal card.

The Seedcore
Venerated Rotpriest
Serum Snare

At first I thought about slimming things down to a Selesnya build, but realized there were still quite a number of Blue cards even with the loss of March and Fading Hope. As such, I looked to retool things a little bit. I added in a couple copies of Slaughter Singer as it showed up in lists already from time to time and seems like a fine addition. Similarly, Aspirant's Ascent showed up here and there and also seemed like a fine inclusion in small doses. The challenge was to find a good cheap bounce spell and I realized I couldn't quite find it in existing Standard cards. For this one list, I looked to Bloomburrow and found a reasonable one mana bounce solution in Into the Flood Maw, which should provide you a solid tempo play.

Fixing the sideboard involved a lot of the usual suspects, and here mainly included removing Spell Pierces and Knockout Blows from the mix. To offset the Spell Pierces, I did the same thing as with other Blue lists here and just added in Negates instead. I'd have added more Bring the Ending, but they're already at max between main and side, so this is probably the best way to make do past that. As for removal, I just put in a bit of extra removal like Get Lost and called it a day. It probably will need a little tweaking once things settle a little early on, but for week one, it'll get the job done just fine.

These six lists (plus the note on Mono-Red) are only a small helping of the decks you'll likely see in the coming weeks ahead. They're the ones that are most obvious, but there's no doubt we'll also find ourselves seeing all new brews coming out of the woodwork as well! If you're interested in the new hotness, Jim Davis will have you covered soon here with his 10 New Brews article or you can go check out yoman5's regular thread over on Twitter right now.

I for one am extremely excited for a continued stellar run for Standard and can't wait to see what rotation and the addition of Bloomburrow bring to the table. While I'm stoked to see the inevitable Mono-Green Stompy list that emerges based on what we're seeing or else perhaps a Rabbits typal deck, there's still the classics to work off of. You'll no doubt see me at local Standard events and grinding the Arena ladder with Dimir Midrange and Boros Convoke for many weeks to come.

What will you be playing for your week one of post-rotation Standard?

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, decklist, rotation, paige smith, bloomburrow, blb standard, 07242024

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