As we near the end of the first Standard RCQ season of this year and head into Modern there are a number of new exciting developments in the world of Standard. With Tarkir: Dragonstorm just about spoiled we have a slew of new powerful cards to talk about, a cool new Ketramose decklist, and potential incoming bans? Without further ado, let's jump right into it:

Tarkir Dragonstorm Spoilers

If there's one thing I've learned from looking at recent winning Rakdos Midrange lists in Pioneer, it's that 2-drop demons in the same format as Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber are very good. Rot-Curse Rakshasa has a couple of cool applications. First and foremost is obviously it turns on Unholy Annex on turn three - the catch being you can't attack or block with it as this card has Decayed. While having Decayed is definitely a pretty big drawback, I think a two-mana demon to turn on Annex is worth it, plus this card also has some extra text on it.

Rot-Curse Rakshasa's Renew ability lets you put Decayed counters on your opponent's creatures, making this card very strong in a potential Mono-Black aggro deck. I could definitely see this card being played alongside cards like Hopeless Nightmare and Unstoppable Slasher while using Unholy Annex to restock. I also like this can help clear the way for your Unstoppable Slashers.

One other cool play you can make with this card is using Kaito, Bane of Nightmares Ninjutsu ability to flash Kaito in after dealing damage, before sacrificing it at the end of combat. This puts Rot-Curse Rakshasa back in your hand while also dealing a nice five damage to your opponent that turn.

One thing I've been interested to see with this set, is how viable Midrange decks are in Standard after Tarkir: Dragonstorm's release. These three Abzan cards appear pretty powerful, with Severance Priest acting as a new Thoughtseize + Skyclave Apparition card, Yathan Roadwatcher being able to get Severance Priests back, and Revival of the Ancestors acting as a Lingering Souls on steroids. However, I worry that these cards are too slow to combat how fast Mono-Red or Esper Pixie is. They also seem weak against decks with high ceilings, like Azorius Omniscience or Domain Overlords.

I feel like these cards are designed to be very powerful, as they all have decent effects stapled onto them.

Roar of Endless Song also fits into this category - five mana for 10 power for only the first two chapters feels incredibly strong - but are three-color decks that aren't Domain viable in this format? My gut says right now, no - but I hope that I'm wrong.

Ketramose in Standard?

While skimming the Standard Challenge lists from this week, I came across a really unique take on Ketramose, the New Dawn in Standard, with a deck that made Top 8 of its event!

Orzhov Midrange | DFT Standard | DB_Dykman, Standard Challenge 64 3/25/2025/8th

• Creatures (22)
• 1 Loran of the Third Path
• 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 2 Ketramose, the New Dawn
• 3 Helpful Hunter
• 3 Overlord of the Balemurk
• 3 Serra Paragon
• 4 Fortune, Loyal Steed
• 4 Nurturing Pixie

• Enchantments (9)
• 2 Nowhere to Run
• 3 Momentum Breaker
• 4 Temporary Lockdown

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Grim Bauble

• Lands (25)
• 4 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 3 Demolition Field
• 3 Shadowy Backstreet
• 4 Bleachbone Verge
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Concealed Courtyard

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Duress
• 2 Ghost Vacuum
• 1 Kutzil's Flanker
• 2 Loran of the Third Path
• 3 Pest Control
• 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 3 Skullcap Snail

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

This is a cool list that I'm sure has great game against Aggro and other Pixie decks. Utilizing four copies of Fortune, Loyal Steed, you can blink great enter the battlefield creatures like Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Helpful Hunter. You can also sacrifice your permanent-based removal like Grim Bauble and Momentum Breaker to buy them back with Serra Paragon - it's also cool that with these two removal spells, once you return them with Serra Paragon they exile themselves which triggers Ketramose. Overall, this looks like a super fun deck to try, I think it's one worth trying out in Best of One Arena as you'll hopefully run into a lot of Red decks!

A Potential Ban Incoming?

? Monstrous Rage ban incoming? #mtg https://t.co/bBLaOI5ZtB

— Robert Taylor? (@fireshoes) March 26, 2025

Based on this info from the MTG Arena store, could Monstrous Rage see a ban this coming Monday? While Modern is poised to get some bans (and potential unbans) with Temur Breach's metagame share, Standard hasn't had to deal with bans for quite some time. Standard overall has been a pretty balanced format as of late, with multiple archetypes seeing play. We have Aggro, Control, Midrange, and even Combo decks in Standard - but diversity doesn't always mean a healthy format.

Red-based Aggro decks take up a pretty high share of the metagame, so a potential Monstrous Rage ban would not surprise me, I'd honestly welcome it. While I don't think Monstrous Rage is the most bannable Magic card of all time by any means, I do think the Red deck is too powerful in its current iteration, with the powerhouse of Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger, Manifold Mouse, and Screaming Nemesis. The Red deck is just so fast and can bounce back quickly, making it the best Red deck Standard has probably ever seen. A Monstrous Rage ban would definitely weaken the deck, but I don't think it would make the deck stone cold unplayable - in fact, I think it would still be very strong.

I think the issue with Standard overall, is that due to the long rotation periods and the power level of certain cards they print, it's harder for new strategies to break into the format. I think banning cards once in a while would be healthy for the format, a sort of necessary evil to keep things fresh. If I were in charge, I'd probably ban Up the Beanstalk and This Town Ain't Big Enough as well. Again, it's not that these cards themselves are too powerful (Beanstalk was banned in Modern though...) it's more so how these cards constrict the diversity of the format.

If Monstrous Rage doesn't get banned on Monday, it isn't a huge deal. However, I worry about the viability of new Midrange Standard cards printed into the format. Why play your dorky four-mana card when you can just play Heartfire Hero into Manifold Mouse?

That about wraps up this week's edition of This Week in Standard. I'll be interested to see how the format shakes up with the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm and if we'll get any Standard bannings on Monday.

Until next time!

-Roman Fusco