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Standard is about to become the premier competitive format in Magic: The Gathering. Following the bombshell announcement at Magic Con Las Vegas, that next year all six major expansion releases will be Standard-legal, along with the following year of RCQ seasons being primarily Standard, Standard is the name of the game for Constructed MTG. November 15th marks the start of the Standard RCQ season, and coincidentally the full release date of Foundations, Magic's next Standard-legal expansion.
Foundations is different from other Magic: The Gathering sets in that it will be Standard-legal for (at minimum) five years! While I was skeptical that Foundations would have an impact on Standard, based on the power level of some of the initial cards spoiled, looking at the fully revealed set has shown me that Standard is about to be turned on its head. Foundations packs a heavy amount of spoilers that I think could have a major impact on Standard as a format. From Boros Charm to Desecration Demon, there are some big players entering Standard on November 15th, and I'm here to give you a look at some of the decks that could make an impact in the new metagame.
As I mentioned, Foundations includes a swath of powerful cards, some brand new and others that have seen heavy Standard play with their previous printings. While I think there's space to brew some brand new decks to the format, like Elves, I'd rather focus on upgrading pre-existing archetypes. Out of all the reprints in Foundations, the one that probably stood out to me the most was none other than a card I've played in many tournaments, Boros Charm.
Burn | FDN Standard | Roman Fusco
- Creatures (16)
- 4 Ghitu Lavarunner
- 4 Monastery Swiftspear
- 4 Screaming Nemesis
- 4 Slickshot Show-Off
- Instants (20)
- 4 Boros Charm
- 4 Burst Lightning
- 4 Lightning Helix
- 4 Lightning Strike
- 4 Monstrous Rage
- Sorceries (4)
- 4 Boltwave
- Lands (20)
- 10 Mountain
- 2 Abraded Bluffs
- 4 Battlefield Forge
- 4 Inspiring Vantage
- Sideboard (15)
- 2 Charred Foyer
- 2 Lithomantic Barrage
- 2 Scorching Shot
- 2 Sunspire Lynx
- 3 Magebane Lizard
- 4 Urabrask's Forge
This list excites me for a number of reasons. First, it plays pretty similar to the Burn list I played for a long time in Modern. The key difference here is that you're forced to play at least one three-drop in your deck, whether it be Screaming Nemesis or Ball Lightning, and play at least one non-burn spell in Monstrous Rage, which I believe is better than plain old Shock.
Boros Charm picks up the slack in a way, as for 2 mana you get two Shocks to the face for 2 mana in one card, but it also gives you some flexibility, like giving a Monastery Swiftspear double-strike, or keeping your board safe from a Day of Judgement. Overall, one Boros Charm for the damage mode reduces 20% of your opponents life total in just one card, and is one of the key cards this archetype needed to be somewhat competitively viable in a format with cards like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Unholy Annex.
The real kicker here is Bolt Wave. While we don't have Lightning Bolt in Standard, Bolt Wave is a fantastic upgrade to Lava Spike, that pairs incredibly well with Monastery Swiftspear and Ghitu Lavarunner. This is another big card that this archetype needed to be competitive. While it's unreliable to deal 20 damage relying on creatures and Burst Lightnings, the extra point on Boltwave matters, and will help you win games where you need to double spell six or seven damage in one turn.
Say your opening hand is this:
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Assuming you draw a third land, and if unchecked, this hand deals a whopping 20 damage by turn three! I know there are explosive hands that the Heartfire Hero decks can have, but the difference here is that you're not dependent on having a creature in play to buff up in order to win the game if your Plan A falls through. I also like that this deck has some secret ways of getting in damage. You can Scorching Shot your own Screaming Nemesis to deal 5 damage to your opponent! Also if a Monster Role token is hanging out on your Monastery Swiftspear or Slickshot Show-Off, you can potentially use Boros Charm's double strike mode to get in more than four damage.
One benefit of Burn that Heartfire Hero decks don't have is that you can just rely on topdecking one or two spells to close out a game, even with an explosive start. While I think Heartfire Hero decks might just slot in Boros Charm, I do think there's a world where Burn is the premier aggro deck of Standard, especially since with Shock and Burst Lightning you get some cheap answers, as well as lifegain in Lightning Helix to counter the Heartfire Hero decks.
I think there will definitely be some tinkering to find the right build of this deck. Monstrous Rage is probably better than plain old Shock, and I think there are some fun things you can do like casting a Witchstalker Frenzy on your own Screaming Nemesis for five damage and life gain negation. While we don't have Wizard's Lightning, Viashino Pyromancer is in Foundations, but I'm not sure if there's room in a deck like this that wants so many cheap spells, or instants for two-mana that deal three or more damage. Although there might be a good wizards build with Hired Claw and Stoke the Flames . . .
Next up is the polar opposite, Azorius Control!
Azorius Control | FDN Standard | Roman Fusco
- Creatures (4)
- 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring
- 2 Horned Loch-Whale
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Jace, the Perfected Mind
- Instants (20)
- 2 Get Lost
- 2 Elspeth's Smite
- 2 Not on My Watch
- 2 Spellgyre
- 4 Deduce
- 4 No More Lies
- 4 Three Steps Ahead
- Sorceries (6)
- 1 Split Up
- 2 Sunfall
- 3 Day of Judgement
- Enchantments (2)
- 2 Temporary Lockdown
While this deck doesn't gain a lot of new cards in the maindeck, aside from Day of Judgement, it does gain a pretty strong number of sideboard options against Aggro in the new metagame. Day of Judgement is a pretty important upgrade to this deck in the face of scary Black-based midrange decks and aggro gaining some new burn spells in Foundations. While Sunfall was probably the best five-mana Wrath of God-effect we've had, having a five-mana wrath is still worse than an unconditional four-mana one. Shatter the Sky, Depopulate, and No Witnesses are all so bad compared to Day of Judgement, it isn't funny. While you may not think a one-mana difference is that major, it's especially important for Control decks due to one key reason: double-spelling.
With Day of Judgement at four-mana Azorius Control can set up better turn six and sevens, either with Day of Judgement + No More Lies/Deduce/Get Lost or Day of Judgement + Three Steps Ahead. You not only get a turn four wrath in Day of Judgement, but you gain more flexibility on following turns where you need to catch up to your opponent.
The sideboard also gives you a couple of nice upgrades. Against decks like Mono-Red aggro and Boros Convoke, Regal Caracal and Authority of the Consuls are your best friends! To think I played these in my Standard UW decks back in 2017...Screaming Nemesis is definitely scary against both of these cards, so you'll have to be careful about sequencing your Not on My Watches and Get Losts, but if you want to stop decks from going wide it's imperative to have these cards in your sideboard. I also really love that you can keep in Three Steps Ahead in against Red decks and use the copy mode to make another Regal Caracal at instant-speed, which is a solid way of regaining board control if you use your cat tokens to block on a previous turn.
I think Azorius Control may still fall behind in the card advantage race with so many Unholy Annex decks taking over Standard since the most recent World Championship, but I do think there's a great window for Azorius to take a slot as one of the top decks in the meta if Burn and various Aggro decks take center stage. With Boros Charm entering the format, Beza, the Bounding Spring never looked better.
As someone who played extensively in Return to Ravnica Standard, I can't write this article without including a Desecration Demon deck:
Mono-Black Demons | FDN Standard | Roman Fusco
- Creatures (17)
- 2 Bloodletter of Aclazotz
- 3 Desecration Demon
- 4 Archfiend of the Dross
- 4 Deep Cavern-Bat
- 4 Unstoppable Slasher
- Instants (10)
- 3 Anoint with Affliction
- 3 Cut Down
- 4 Go for the Throat
- Sorceries (3)
- 3 Duress
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Unholy Annex
- Lands (24)
- 16 Swamps
- 2 Sunken Citadel
- 2 Demolition Field
- 2 Fountainport
- 2 Soulstone Sanctuary
Desecration Demon may be a little dated since its initial release almost twelve years ago (!), but I think it could find its way into Standard as an additional Archfiend of the Dross-type card. Desecration Demon is also bffs with Archfiend, as having your opponents sacrifice creatures will trigger Archfiend!
This deck honestly isn't all that different from its pre-Foundations version, but you do get some nice sideboard options depending on how the Standard metagame shakes out. I like the return of Tribute to Hunger and Mazemind Tome as ways to gain life, especially with Tribute to Hunger gaining you six life against opposing demon tokens.
Soulstone Sanctuary and Sunken Citadel is another match made in heaven, and being able to deal direct life loss or gain life in a pinch after your demon token is destroyed is a nice way to stabilize for a turn or so if need be. If your opponent casts Day of Judgement on your board, it's a pretty devastating follow-up to attack for three and then get in for another two points.
While I do like the Mono-Black version of this deck, I do think there are some Golgari builds that would benefit greatly from Llanowar Elves. In this Standard season, I played Golgari Midrange a few times at my local FNM, utilizing Up the Beanstalk and Overlord of the Hauntwoods, as featured in Seth Manfield's World Championship deck. While I like this initial Mono-Black list, one issue I see the deck facing is getting choked at 4 mana. You don't want to draw opening hands with too many four-mana spells, and with no way to ramp you might end up with some awkward draws - which can be pretty awful if the format turns to Mono-Red and Boros as its premier aggressive decks. While it might not be on the demon theme, I think I'd try a Llanowar Elves Golgari Midrange build, so you can power out cards on turn two like Unholy Annex and Overlord of the Hauntwoods. A base could look something like this:
Golgari Demons | FDN Standard | Roman Fusco
- Creatures (21)
- 4 Archfiend of the Dross
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Mosswood Dreadknight
- 4 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
- 2 Glissa Sunslayer
- 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 1 Sentinel of the Nameless City
- Instants (9)
- 3 Anoint with Affliction
- 3 Cut Down
- 3 Go for the Throat
- Sorceries (2)
- 2 Duress
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Unholy Annex
- Lands (24)
- 6 Forest
- 2 Swamp
- 2 Fountainport
- 2 Underground Mortuary
- 4 Blooming Marsh
- 4 Llanowar Wastes
- 4 Restless Cottage
While you can have some pretty busted starts with Llanowar Elves into any good 3-drop that can snowball in value, I do think there's a decent amount of risk with building a deck this way. If you play a deck with 25-26 lands and four Llanowar Elves, half of your deck is mana! Also any hand that doesn't have a Llanowar Elves start makes Llanowar Elves a much worse draw at any point in the game that isn't your first or second turn. I think there's something to be said about putting Llanowar Elves with spells that draw cards, like Glissa, Mosswood Dreadknight, and Unholy Annex, but I think I'd have to do some testing to see if Llanowar Elves makes a worthy inclusion here. Elves might be better suited for some sort of monsters deck, paired with cards like Terror of the Peaks.
I think Standard leaves a lot to be explored with Foundations. While Midrange decks have taken up the mantle as the best in the business after the 30th World Championship, Foundations packs a lot of new options for all types of strategies. Burn could be good one week, up until your opponents start packing Crystal Barricades. Convoke with Skyknight Squire might be good until the metagame starts adjusting with Day of Judgements and Authority of the Consuls in spades.
My overall hope with Foundations and the adjustment to have more sets in Standard at once will mean that Standard will be abundant in playable archetypes. While part of me looks back fondly on eras with fewer Standard sets, I think at times I forget the rigidness of formats like the era of Mono-Black Devotion (original Theros era) or Jeskai Black (Dragons of Tarkir era). While there certainly clusters of cards that are meant to be played together, and powerful cards that are too busted *not* to play, I'm hopeful that WotC's focus on Standard for the future will lead to a balanced and welcoming format.
While I had some choice words to say about the Foundations era of Magic: The Gathering, I have a good feeling about the future of my favorite Constructed in Magic. I hope Foundations marks a new era where there's a low barrier for entry and there's an abundance of competitive decks to choose from.
