Highlighting Standard, Pioneer, and Modern’s best.
Magic: The Gathering continues to be as competitive as ever. With the return of the Pro Tour and various other competitive events, such as SCG Opens and the NRG Series, there are plenty of ways to tap into high-level Magic these days. Going further, Magic Online (MTGO) and MTG Arena offer plenty of high-level play, where Challenges and Arena Opens fire regularly, with decklists posted so players can keep up to date with the competitive scene. With the amount of accessible information available, it provides players the tool to prepare for their local events with eyes on the Pro Tour themselves.
As the competitive Magic scene continues to flourish under the new Organized Play system from Wizards of the Coast, let’s look at some of the best constructed decks you can play right now in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern.
Standard
Market Price: $18.76
Standard had plenty of attention over the last few months, with numerous Regional Championships happening globally alongside Pro Tour March of the Machine, which advertised the easy-to-enter constructed format massively. In addition, Standard is becoming popular again due to well-design cards taking prominence without breaking harming gameplay while MTG Arena continues to support the format digitally. It’s been some time since the woes of Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and Oko, Thief of Crowns, combined with the reduced amount of competitive play with the pandemic — Standard is now seeing a much-needed revival.
To support this resurgence with an effort to maintain this consistency, Wizards of the Coast announced Standard will follow a three-year rotation cycle instead of two, with no rotation triggering with Wilds of Eldraine’s release on September 8. Generally speaking, this is ideal for tabletop players as they’ll gain an extra year of card mileage from their purchases. However, cards such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker will be hanging around for much longer. With the release of March of the Machine and March of the Machine: The Aftermath, a handful of cards are beginning to make an impact in Standard allowing for a decent level of depth where you can play Aggro, Control, Midrange, or something in between.
Rakdos Midrange
Market Price: $68.57
Market Price: $9.16
Rakdos Midrange was propelled to the front stage of Standard after Nathan Steuer’s victory at Pro Tour March of the Machine, where he incorporated the March of the Machine card Chandra, Hope’s Beacon as it offers fantastic late-game power. Even before the Pro Tour, Rakdos Midrange became a popular Standard option as it traded Grixis Midrange’s Corpse Appraiser and Make Disappear for interaction in additional copies of Cut Down, offering an improved match up against Azorius Soldiers and Mono-Red Aggro.
Standard
Rakdos Midrange
Market Price:$488.76
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (9)
- 4Bloodtithe Harvester
- 2Graveyard Trespasser
- 3Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Planeswalker (2)
- 2Chandra, Hope’s Beacon
Sorcery (7)
- 2Duress
- 1Light Up the Night
- 4Invoke Despair
Instant (8)
- 3Cut Down
- 1Abrade
- 4Go for the Throat
Artifact (4)
- 4Reckoner Bankbuster
Enchantment (4)
- 4Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Land (26)
- 10Swamp
- 1Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 1Mountain
- 2Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 4Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4Haunted Ridge
- 4Sulfurous Springs
Sideboard (15)
- 2Duress
- 2Razorlash Transmogrant
- 2Lithomantic Barrage
- 2Glistening Deluge
- 1Abrade
- 2Liliana of the Veil
- 1Cut Down
- 1Rotten Reunion
- 1Soul Transfer
- 1Obliterating Bolt
Another attractive aspect of Rakdos Midrange is that it shaves the punishing mana base seen with Underground River in Grixis, as adopting one-too-many Pain Lands makes it more challenging against the aggressive archetypes. By running only the four Sulfurous Springs, it refined the mana base in a way where it became resilient against aggressive threats while providing a solid Grixis Midrange match up in the process. Granted, Grixis Midrange remains a decent option to play in Standard if the metagame trends on the slower end, but if you want to pack as much interaction coupled with haymaker threats such as Chandra, Hope’s Beacon, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or even Breach the Multiverse, Rakdos Midrange is excellent which also offers a decent step towards playing the successful Pioneer iteration also.
Azorius Soldiers
While Standard remains in a sea of Midrange archetypes, Azorius Soldiers manages to hold it’s own by offering a disruptive package coupled with aggression. An archetype that’s been around since The Brothers’ War, Azorius Soldiers can provide a hasty clock along with the ability to throw the opponent’s off-course, especially if they’re on any Midrange Reanimator variants featuring Atraxa, Grand Unifier. While Pro Tour March of the Machine was dominated by Rakdos Midrange, one copy of Azorius Soldiers managed to sneak in with Yiwen Chen as the pilot. By adopting a solid curve of Recruitment Officer, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Knight-Errant of Eos from March of the Machine, Azorius Soldiers is able to threaten life totals while also leaving mana efficiency to cast Spell Pierce or Make Disappear to generate tempo.
Standard
Azorius Soldiers
Market Price:$130.00
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (30)
- 3Harbin, Vanguard Aviator
- 4Knight-Errant of Eos
- 4Recruitment Officer
- 4Resolute Reinforcements
- 3Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 4Valiant Veteran
- 4Yotian Frontliner
- 4Zephyr Sentinel
Instant (7)
- 4Make Disappear
- 3Spell Pierce
Land (23)
- 4Adarkar Wastes
- 2Deserted Beach
- 1Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- 4Fortified Beachhead
- 1Island
- 1Mirrex
- 1Otawara, Soaring City
- 3Plains
- 4Seachrome Coast
- 2Secluded Courtyard
Sideboard (15)
- 1Brutal Cathar
- 1Dennick, Pious Apprentice
- 3Destroy Evil
- 3Lantern Flare
- 2Protect the Negotiators
- 1Surge of Salvation
- 4Tocasia’s Welcome
Unfortunately, Azorius Soldiers does struggle against the more removal-focused variants of Rakdos Midrange since packing Cut Down and Go for the Throat allows the strategy to pick off threats without much issue. However, Azorius Soliders offers a solid match up against Mono-White Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, and Grixis Control. If you want a classic Aggro strategy with a disruptive subtheme and don’t want to play the endless Midrange piles, Azorius Soldiers is an excellent-yet-affordable option.
Mono-Red Aggro
Market Price: $11.24
Another budget-yet-aggressive option in Standard is Mono-Red Aggro which features Monastery Swiftspear and Kumano Faces Kakkazan, some of the best Red one-drops printed in recent times. In addition, Mono-Red Aggro packs all the direct damage you could wish for with Lightning Strike and Play With Fire offering versatility on targets if needed. One attractive aspect of playing Mono-Red is the maintenance is relatively low since it rarely requires a complete refresh with every Standard release. While March of the Machine offered plenty of new tools with Nahiri’s Warcrafting and Invasion of Tarkir, the core build remains untouched after numerous releases.
Standard
Mono-Red Aggro
Market Price:$158.95
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (22)
- 4Bloodthirsty Adversary
- 4Falkenrath Pit Fighter
- 2Feldon, Ronom Excavator
- 4Furnace Punisher
- 4Monastery Swiftspear
- 4Shivan Devastator
Sorcery (2)
- 2Nahiri’s Warcrafting
Instant (5)
- 2Lightning Strike
- 3Play with Fire
Enchantment (4)
- 4Kumano Faces Kakkazan
Land (23)
- 4Mishra’s Foundry
- 17Mountain
- 2Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Battle (4)
- 4Invasion of Tarkir
Sideboard (15)
- 3Bloody Betrayal
- 1Chandra, Dressed to Kill
- 3Koth, Fire of Resistance
- 4Lithomantic Barrage
- 2Nahiri’s Warcrafting
- 2Obliterating Bolt
Aggression aside, Mono-Red can adopt a Midrange-esque approach by incorporating Jaya, Fiery Negotiator and Atsushi, the Blazing Sky as post-board options in those longer match ups. If you are interested in a relatively budget Standard strategy that hoses Azorius Soldiers, Izzet Powerstones, and Grixis Midrange, then Mono-Red Aggro is for you.
Pioneer
Market Price: $15.89
Market Price: $35.29
As Standard became the highlighted format Pro Tour March of the Machine, Pioneer remains exciting with plenty of room for creativity despite the shift in focus. This is especially true with the release of March of the Machine, where many competitive players are cracking the code with Rona, Herald of Invasion and Mox Amber, where’s there’s likely a strong combo strategy in Sultai colors somewhere. With more Standard releases entering Pioneer’s card pool, such as March of the Machine and March of the Machine: The Aftermath, the format continues to display diversity and creative deckbuilding without the steep financial investments, as seen in Modern and Legacy.
Rakdos Midrange
Market Price: $19.86
Market Price: $18.55
Considered the classic Jund of Pioneer, Rakdos Midrange remains one of the more consistent and popular strategies in the format. By using cards such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Rakdos Midrange offers decent match ups against Mono-White Humans and Azorius Control. And even then, Rakdos Midrange can bring in the necessary cards to help shore up against closely contested strategies such as Mono-Green Devotion and the unfortunate match up in Izzet Phoenix.
Pioneer
Rakdos Midrange
Market Price:$690.88
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (17)
- 4Bloodtithe Harvester
- 4Bonecrusher Giant//
- 2Graveyard Trespasser
- 2Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
- 2Misery’s Shadow
- 3Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Planeswalker (1)
- 1Liliana of the Veil
Sorcery (4)
- 4Thoughtseize
Instant (7)
- 4Fatal Push
- 3Power Word Kill
Artifact (2)
- 2Reckoner Bankbuster
Enchantment (4)
- 4Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Land (25)
- 2Blackcleave Cliffs
- 4Blightstep Pathway
- 4Blood Crypt
- 3Castle Locthwain
- 4Haunted Ridge
- 2Hive of the Eye Tyrant
- 1Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 4Swamp
- 1Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Sideboard (15)
- 2Abrade
- 3Duress
- 2Extinction Event
- 3Noxious Grasp
- 1Pithing Needle
- 1Reckoner Bankbuster
- 1Ritual of Soot
- 2Unlicensed Hearse
In essence, Rakdos Midrange remains a solid option regardless of the metagame, as you can adapt the strategy to any situation since you have access to Black and Red. Black offers some of the best interaction in Fatal Push and Thoughtseize, with Red offering proactivity in Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Bonecrusher Giant. There isn’t much Rakdos Midrange cannot do, it’s versatile, adaptive, and remains a huge role-player within the Pioneer format.
Azorius Control
Market Price: $28.06
Another Pioneer roleplayer that can easily adjust based on metagame trends is Azorius Control because Teferi, Hero of Dominaria remains a silly Magic: The Gathering card. Often incorporating Kaheera, the Orphanguard as a companion, Azorius Control can offer close-to-favored match ups against Mono-Green Devotion, Niv-to-Light, and Mono-Red Aggro. However, Azorius Control can fall hard to Mono-White Aggro, Mono-Green Devotion, and Lotus Combo, as these strategies simply race ahead before Control has time to play catch up.
Pioneer
Azorius Control
Market Price:$359.98
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckPlaneswalker (6)
- 3Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
- 3The Wandering Emperor
Sorcery (7)
- 1Farewell
- 4Lay Down Arms
- 2Supreme Verdict
Instant (17)
- 2Absorb
- 1Change the Equation
- 3Dovin’s Veto
- 1Fateful Absence
- 1Jwari Disruption
- 2Make Disappear
- 3March of Otherworldly Light
- 3Memory Deluge
- 1Saw It Coming
Enchantment (3)
- 3Shark Typhoon
Land (27)
- 1Castle Vantress
- 3Field of Ruin
- 1Hall of Storm Giants
- 4Hallowed Fountain
- 4Irrigated Farmland
- 4Island
- 1Otawara, Soaring City
- 6Plains
- 3Prairie Stream
Sideboard (15)
- 1Baneslayer Angel
- 1Change the Equation
- 1Divine Smite
- 2Invasion of New Phyrexia
- 1Kaheera, the Orphanguard
- 1Lyra Dawnbringer
- 2Mystical Dispute
- 1Narset, Parter of Veils
- 2Rest in Peace
- 1Starnheim Unleashed
- 2Temporary Lockdown
Despite these rough match ups, Azorius Control is becoming an evergreen part of Pioneer. Through incorporating a myriad of counterspells and interaction, Azorius Control intends to play the long game to then cement Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or Memory Deluge to push ahead on resources, leaving the opponent very little to do in response. Despite being a polarizing archetype over the course of Magic’s history, Azorius Control remains an excellent strategy to play in Pioneer as it’s not only powerful but can adjust to any metagame trends on the fly. If you are after a specialized deck that rewards you for format knowledge, then Azorius Control is a suitable for you.
Mono-Green Devotion
Market Price: $13.35
Market Price: $38.80
If you’re unsure what to play in Pioneer or don’t want to keep up with metagame trends, then Mono-Green Devotion is a fantastic option to play in Pioneer. Essentially a Ramp strategy, Mono-Green Devotion takes advantage of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and ways to untap the Legendary Land with Kioria, Behemoth Beckoner to generate bundles of Green mana. With the release of March of the Machine, Polukranos Reborn is another excellent addition to the strategy as it comes with plenty of Green pips but also provides a Wurmcoil Engine-esque ability on the backside, which is easy to meet given how the strategy can generate so much mana without issue.
Pioneer
Mono-Green Devotion
Market Price:$475.72
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (20)
- 4Cavalier of Thorns
- 1Cityscape Leveler
- 4Elvish Mystic
- 4Llanowar Elves
- 4Old-Growth Troll
- 3Polukranos Reborn
Planeswalker (8)
- 4Karn, the Great Creator
- 4Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Sorcery (4)
- 4Storm the Festival
Enchantment (7)
- 3Oath of Nissa
- 4Wolfwillow Haven
Land (21)
- 2Boseiju, Who Endures
- 13Forest
- 2Lair of the Hydra
- 4Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Sideboard (15)
- 1Cityscape Leveler
- 1Damping Sphere
- 1Darksteel Citadel
- 1Esika’s Chariot
- 1Haywire Mite
- 1Pestilent Cauldron
- 1Pithing Needle
- 1Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
- 1The Chain Veil
- 1The Filigree Sylex
- 1The Mightstone and Weakstone
- 2The Stone Brain
- 1Tormod’s Crypt
- 1Transmogrifying Wand
Another attractive aspect of playing Mono-Green Devotion is how it has this tailored sideboard with Karn the Great Creator, providing combo equity with The Chain Veil and Pestilent Cauldron, along with other decent Artifact answers depending on the opposing deck. While it can be a little tricky to play, Mono-Green Devotion is a consistently strong option that delivers decent match ups against Rakdos Midrange and Azorius Control. In addition, Mono-Green Devotion rarely deviates from the game plan of generating an incredible amount of Green mana and leveraging Storm the Festival best.
Modern
Market Price: $48.68
Market Price: $15.04
While there’s genuine criticism of the format gatekeeping players from playing cards that aren’t from Modern Horizons releases, Modern remains relatively diverse despite the power creep and steep financial accessibility. While there’s no dedicated Modern Horizons release this year, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will introduce Modern-legal cards, allowing these cards to enter Magic’s most popular construct format, perhaps inspiring new archetypes in the process.
Given Modern’s broad application, there are plenty of archetypes that can perform well in Modern that don’t appear in this article. Long time archetypes such as Tron, Burn, and Amulet Titan continue to see decent success depending on the metagame, so it’s hard to have a definitive singular best deck in Modern. However, there are numerous options worth playing in this Modern Horizons era.
Izzet Tempo
Market Price: $12.40
Seeing comparisons to Jund due to the archetype’s evergreen role within Modern, Izzet Tempo (or Izzet Murktide) remains a solid option if you want something with low-maintenance deckbuilding that can also win a bunch of games. However, Izzet Tempo is skill intensive, making it a challenging strategy if you’re new to Modern. However, a common trend in Modern (and with any other competitive format) is the more time you spend on one particular strategy, the better you become with that strategy over time.
Modern
Izzet Tempo
Market Price:$867.53
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (14)
- 3Dragon’s Rage Channeler
- 4Ledger Shredder
- 3Murktide Regent
- 4Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Sorcery (4)
- 4Expressive Iteration
Instant (18)
- 4Consider
- 4Counterspell
- 3Lightning Bolt
- 2Spell Pierce
- 1Spell Snare
- 4Unholy Heat
Artifact (4)
- 4Mishra’s Bauble
Enchantment (1)
- 1Blood Moon
Land (19)
- 1Fiery Islet
- 2Flooded Strand
- 3Island
- 3Misty Rainforest
- 1Otawara, Soaring City
- 1Polluted Delta
- 1Scalding Tarn
- 4Spirebluff Canal
- 3Steam Vents
Sideboard (15)
- 1Abrade
- 1Blood Moon
- 2Dress Down
- 3Engineered Explosives
- 2Flusterstorm
- 1Force of Negation
- 1Fury
- 1Seasoned Pyromancer
- 1Subtlety
- 2Unlicensed Hearse
With the engine of Mishra’s Bauble and Dragon’s Rage Channeler, you have an effective way to fill your graveyard to not only turn on Dragon’s Rage Channeler’s Delirium ability but to reduce your casting cost of Murktide Regent. Plus, Izzet Tempo (along with Jeskai Breach) is one of the best strategies that play Expressive Iteraton, a card that recently saw a ban in Legacy and a ban in Pioneer last year. Since Yorion, Sky Nomad’s ban, Izzet Tempo remains a strong option as the strategy can attack in multiple ways while making efficient use of the graveyard. Oh, and it runs Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, because why not?
Three, Four, and Five-Color Creativity
Market Price: $35.29
Market Price: $44.93
Market Price: $12.83
At present, Modern sees many flavors of Creativity archetypes, with Jund, Four, and Five-Color being excellent options. And right now, it is one of the strongest contenders in Modern, as it has so many tools to combat the metagame, such as various Midrange archetypes and Hammer.
Modern
Four-Color Creativity
Market Price:$1051.28
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (4)
- 4Archon of Cruelty
Planeswalker (4)
- 4Wrenn and Six
Sorcery (15)
- 4Indomitable Creativity
- 4Inquisition of Kozilek
- 4Lingering Souls
- 3Persist
Instant (5)
- 2Fatal Push
- 3Lightning Bolt
Enchantment (8)
- 4Bitter Reunion
- 4Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Land (24)
- 2Arid Mesa
- 2Blood Crypt
- 3Bloodstained Mire
- 4Dwarven Mine
- 1Mountain
- 1Sacred Foundry
- 1Savai Triome
- 3Scalding Tarn
- 2Stomping Ground
- 4Wooded Foothills
- 1Ziatora’s Proving Ground
Sideboard (15)
- 1Ancient Grudge
- 1Boseiju, Who Endures
- 2Brotherhood’s End
- 1Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 2Hallowed Moonlight
- 2Necromentia
- 1Ray of Revelation
- 2Turn the Earth
- 3Veil of Summer
Through using both Dwarven Mine and Indomitable Creativity, searching up Archon of Cruelty allows you to stabilize against threats, the discard trigger provides immediate disruption and is scaleable if you happen to cast Indomitable Creativity for two or three. Typically, you see Creativity in base-Red to cast the namesake spell, with Jund as the preferred three-color option with March of the Machine’s Wrenn and Realmbreaker seeing decent representation. As for Five-Color, Teferi, Time Raveler reduces interaction from your opponent in addition to Leyline Binding, which with an-already intensive mana base with cards such as Savai Triome and Ketria Triome, casting the Dominaria United card becomes effortless.
Four-Color Creativity is currently the more popular option, as it adopts cards such as Persist to create another route to recur Archon of Cruelty to the battlefield, adding redundancy to cards such as Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Bitter Reunion as discard outlets for the win condition. Historically speaking, Combo Control-style archetypes fare well in Modern, and with the number of deckbuilding options available, playing a flavor of Indomitable Creativity remains a highly competitive option.
Mono-White and Azorius Hammer
Market Price: $25.35
Market Price: $10.50
Perhaps one of the most intricate decks to play in Modern but also one of the strongest is Azorius and Mono-White Hammer. Through using a combo element with Sigarda’s Aid and Colossus Hammer, Hammer archetypes can win from what seems unwinnable positions. The win condition of Hammer is simple, deploy a Colossus Hammer, equipped to a creature, and turn sideways — alternatively, you can attach the namesake card to an Inkmoth Nexus and win through Infect instead. There’s an unreal amount of resiliency as it incorporates cards such as Urza’s Saga, where you can just outpace your opponent with Construct tokens. Overall, Hammer archetypes have excellent matchups against Burn and Izzet Tempo, and as mentioned earlier, the latter continues to see heavy representation in the current Modern metagame.
Modern
Azorius Hammer
Market Price:$824.90
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (21)
- 4Esper Sentinel
- 1Gingerbrute
- 3Giver of Runes
- 1Kor Outfitter
- 4Ornithopter
- 4Puresteel Paladin
- 4Stoneforge Mystic
Sorcery (1)
- 1Steelshaper’s Gift
Instant (2)
- 2Blacksmith’s Skill
Artifact (9)
- 4Colossus Hammer
- 1Kaldra Compleat
- 1Paradise Mantle
- 1Shadowspear
- 2Springleaf Drum
Enchantment (4)
- 4Sigarda’s Aid
Land (23)
- 4Horizon Canopy
- 3Inkmoth Nexus
- 11Plains
- 1Silent Clearing
- 4Urza’s Saga
Sideboard (15)
- 3Drannith Magistrate
- 2March of Otherworldly Light
- 2Orvar, the All-Form
- 1Path to Exile
- 1Pithing Needle
- 2Sanctifier en-Vec
- 3Surge of Salvation
- 1Sword of Fire and Ice
At one point, Hammer was something of a fringe (and somewhat meme) archetype as it was extremely budget and offered a glass cannon win condition, but Modern Horizons 2 brought Hammer to the forefront of the metagame with cards such as Esper Sentinel and Kaldra Compleat. More commonly, Hammer also adopts a Blue splash for The Reality Chip from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, a piece of equipment that allows you to filter through your library if equipped. Given how low the mana curve is in Hammer, you can restore your board after an Engineered Explosives or find what you need based on the situation. Another reason to add Blue is because of Spell Pierce, and since Modern cares about these haymaker non-creature spells (such as Indomitable Creativity), having a one mana answer gives you reactive options to protect your game plan. While Hammer often has a terrible Living End and Four-Color Omnath matchup (which the latter is incorporating Nissa, Resurgent Animist from March of the Machine: The Aftermath, no less), the archetype can be explosive as it can be deadly.