Leyline of Resonance go (b)rrrrrr
Last weekend saw a new class of events that will take competitive Magic to the next level while offering another way to qualify for the Pro Tour, called the Magic Spotlight Series. The first of these Magic Spotlight Series took place in Atlanta over the weekend and showcased Standard, which continues to go from strength to strength with the release of Magic Foundations, a set bringing more players to Magic (and Standard) than ever before.
There will be a total of eight Magic Spotlight Series taking place this year – five of these in the United States, two in Europe, and one in Japan, each boasting a $50,000 prize pool and exclusive promos to win, along with a Pro Tour invite for the Top 8 finishers. Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations saw a whopping 1400 players compete for prizes and became the biggest Standard event since rotation triggered with Bloomburrow, so let’s dive into some of the best Standard decks from the high-profile event that you can play at your local events today.
First Place, Gruul Aggro – Nicholas Odenheimer
Taking down the first-ever Magic Spotlight Series is Nicholas Odenheimer on Gruul Aggro, who incorporated Leyline of Resonance to resounding success. Interestingly, Odenheimer felt players were sleeping on the Duskmourn: House of Horror card after its initial success at Magic World Championship 30 and with the banning of the card in MTG Arena’s Best-of-One Standard last year. Despite the shifts in builds over the last few months, Odenheimer was right to include Leyline of Resonance as it encourages these explosive starts because if you have one of these Leyline cards in your opening hand, you may begin the game with the card on the battlefield (without paying any mana, so it’s free!).
Standard
Gruul Aggro
Market Price:$265.09
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (22)
- 4Cacophony Scamp
- 4Heartfire Hero
- 2Callous Sell-Sword//
- 4Emberheart Challenger
- 4Questing Druid//
- 4Slickshot Show-Off
Instant (14)
- 4Monstrous Rage
- 4Snakeskin Veil
- 4Turn Inside Out
- 2Overprotect
Enchantment (4)
- 4Leyline of Resonance
Land (20)
- 4Copperline Gorge
- 4Karplusan Forest
- 6Mountain
- 2Restless Ridgeline
- 4Thornspire Verge
Sideboard (15)
- 3Burst Lightning
- 2Innkeeper’s Talent
- 2Lithomantic Barrage
- 4Pawpatch Recruit
- 2Screaming Nemesis
- 2Twisted Fealty
While the base of Gruul Aggro is red, the second color offers plenty of versatility with Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect offering protection against your aggressive threats, with Innkeeper’s Talent from the sideboard boasting a slower route to victory with the use of +1/+1 counters. Adding a second color to Gruul Aggro is effortless due to the printing of Thronspire Verge from Duskmourn: House of Horror, allowing you to play a second color without losing your consistency of red mana sources to play those early threats. This is a big reason Rakdos Aggro was successful for a while, as Blazemire Verger made adding the black splash easy, as it doesn’t dilute your red sources meaning you add a few copies of Callous Sellsword without much trouble.
Furthermore, Gruul Aggro was the second-most represented strategy at Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations, with Dimir Midrange being the most-played deck over the weekend, but it was fairly close. This sentiment remained true going into Day 2, as both strategies shared 14% of the metagame on the final day. The reason that flavors of Mono-Red, Rakdos, and Gruul Aggro continue to perform remarkably well in Standard is due to the class of cards from Bloomburrow, in particular, Manifold Mouse, Emberheart Challenger, and Heartfire Hero that ties this aggressive strategy together rather nicely.
By incorporating these adorable yet valiant mice, you’re able to encourage an exceptional amount of damage over a few turns that are further amplified by Leyline of Resonance. Combine these cards with the ever-threatening Screaming Nemesis and the recent reprint of Burst Lightning from Magic Foundations, it’s clear red is one of the best colors to play in Standard right now as it seemingly receives new tools with every Standard release. It’s also a fantastic strategy if you’re looking to play a ton of Standard without worrying about rotation, as the Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger, and Manifold Mouse will be in Standard for the next few years, giving you plenty of mileage to play these cards going forward.
Second Place, Dimir Enchantments – Scott McNamara
Market Price: $24.65
Going into Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations, Esper Enchantments (or Esper Pixie) was the talked-about strategy as it saw notable success on MTG Arena and Magic Online leading up to the massive event. However, innovation continues in Standard as Scott McNamara (OafMcNamara on Magic Online) brought Dimir Enchantments to the event, finishing in second place.
StandardDimir
Enchantments
Market Price:$423.46
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (15)
- 4Floodpits Drowner
- 4Spyglass Siren
- 4Fear of Isolation
- 3Enduring Curiosity
Planeswalker (3)
- 3Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
Instant (7)
- 2Cut Down
- 4This Town Ain’t Big Enough
- 1Go for the Throat
Enchantment (11)
- 4Nowhere to Run
- 4Stormchaser’s Talent
- 3Hopeless Nightmare
Land (24)
- 2Soulstone Sanctuary
- 2Restless Reef
- 4Gloomlake Verge
- 4Island
- 4Swamp
- 4Darkslick Shores
- 4Underground River
Sideboard (15)
- 2Gix’s Command
- 2Cut Down
- 2Negate
- 2Duress
- 1Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 2Tishana’s Tidebinder
- 3Preacher of the Schism
- 1Get Out
While it may seem a little odd to cut Nurturing Pixie given how strong they are with a Hopeless Nightmare and Nowhere to Run, Dimir Enchantments is much more streamlined as you’re utilizing Fear of Isolation while keeping a bunch of cards that have proved successful in Dimir Midrange as of late in Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Furthermore, This Town Ain’t Big Enough serves as a fantastic spell as you can to return a nonland permanent you control back to your hand, allowing you to recast Hopeless Nightmare or even a Stormchaser’s Talent, which serve as extra copies of This Town Ain’t Big Enough while creating Otter tokens with prowess for good measure.
As for Dimir Midrange? Well, the strategy saw zero copies in the Top 8 but two in the Top 16, piloted by Victor Hawkins and Mae French.
Third Place, Domain Control – Gray Payne
Market Price: $13.90
Market Price: $17.69
Domain Control (or Domain Ramp) dropped off after rotation as it lost some key pieces in the Tri-Lands, such as Raffine’s Tower, Jetmir’s Garden, and Spara’s Headquarters. However, this didn’t stop Gray Payne from achieving a third-place place finish at Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations with a selection of the Overlord cards from Duskmourn: House of Horror making an impact within the strategy.
For those unfamiliar with the mechanic, Domain is an ability used on cards that rely on the (and the number of) different Basic Land types (so Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest) the player controls. For example, if you have a Shadowy Backstreet, a Hedge Maze, and a Basic Plains in play and you go to cast Leyline Binding, you would only pay two mana for the spell as there are four different Basic Land types in your mana base, which discounts the cost of Leyline Binding.
Standard
Domain Control
Market Price:$591.92
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (14)
- 1Atraxa, Grand Unifier
- 1Beza, the Bounding Spring
- 2Overlord of the Floodpits
- 4Overlord of the Hauntwoods
- 3Overlord of the Mistmoors
- 3Zur, Eternal Schemer
Sorcery (7)
- 2Analyze the Pollen
- 1Day of Judgment
- 1Herd Migration
- 1Split Up
- 2Sunfall
Instant (5)
- 2Elspeth’s Smite
- 3Get Lost$7.73
Enchantment (8)
- 4Leyline Binding
- 4Up the Beanstalk
Land (26)
- 4Cavern of Souls
- 2Floodfarm Verge
- 2Forest
- 2Hedge Maze
- 4Hushwood Verge
- 1Island
- 4Lush Portico
- 2Meticulous Archive
- 3Plains
- 1Shadowy Backstreet
- 1Swamp
Sideboard (15)
- 3Authority of the Consuls
- 1Doppelgang
- 1Elspeth’s Smite
- 2Negate
- 1Nissa, Ascended Animist
- 2Obstinate Baloth
- 2Rest in Peace
- 2Split Up
- 1Tear Asunder
Domain Control essentially uses this ability to leverage value and resources favorably throughout a game, especially with cards such as Herd Migration. The strategy also incorporates Sunfall, which is one of the best board wipes you can play in Standard right now, as a catch-all against all of the aggression you often see from the likes of Gruul Aggro, Azorius Aggro, and Jeskai Convoke. As mentioned earlier, the Overlord cards paired with Zur, Eternal Schemer provide this inevitability that is tough for the opponent to beat, especially when you can passively draw cards from an Up the Beanstalk that triggers whenever an Overlord enters play for its Impending cost.
If you’re interested in checking out the rest of the Top 8 from Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations, you can do so here!
Tenth Place, Mono-White Token Control – Austin Graham
Market Price: $13.00
Another strategy that utilizes Sunfall fantastically well is Mono-White Token Control, which broke out with the release of Bloomburrow and the printing of Caretaker’s Talent and Beza, the Bounding Spring. But with the more recent release of Duskmourn: House of Horror, the strategy has gone from strength to strength with the printing of Enduring Innocence and Overlord of the Mistmoors adding further redundancy and value.
Standard
Mono-White Token Control
Market Price:$309.47
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (11)
- 4Beza, the Bounding Spring
- 4Enduring Innocence
- 3Overlord of the Mistmoors
Planeswalker (1)
- 1Archangel Elspeth
Sorcery (10)
- 4Lay Down Arms
- 2Split Up
- 4Sunfall
Instant (5)
- 1Elspeth’s Smite
- 4Get Lost
Artifact (4)
- 4Carrot Cake
Enchantment (4)
- 4Caretaker’s Talent
Land (25)
- 2Demolition Field
- 4Fountainport
- 15Plains
- 4Sunken Citadel
Sideboard (15)
- 3Authority of the Consuls
- 2Destroy Evil
- 2Elspeth’s Smite
- 1Exorcise
- 2Ghost Vacuum
- 1Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree
- 2Serra Paragon
- 2The Stone Brain
Granted, this doesn’t look like a Control strategy in the traditional sense as there aren’t any counterspells, but this Mono-White build is about developing value through passively creating tokens and drawing cards. If you can’t do that, then Beza, the Bounding Spring can level the playing field by drawing you cards, creating Treasure and Fish tokens, and even gaining life if your opponent is ahead on resources. The biggest draw to play Mono-White Token Control is Lay Down Arms, which is one of the best removal spells in the deck since most of your mana base consists of Plains and ways to maintain that consistency with Demolition Field. As for win conditions, the one-two punch of Caretaker’s Talent and Overlord of the Mistmoors allows for a compelling way to close out games, with any passive tokens gaining +2/+2 if you’ve leveled up the Talent fully.
Best of the Rest
While it’s effortless to focus on the decks that performed best over the weekend, there’s always a ton of innovation at these large-scale events due to Standard becoming so broad with the release of Magic Foundations. We’ve already mentioned how Esper Enchantments was the talk of the town leading into the Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations, but there are a few other strategies worth noting from the event if you want to play something different at your next Standard Friday Night Magic (FNM).
Selesnya Midrange – Brian Kibler
First up is Selesnya Midrange played by Commander At Home’s Brian Kibler, who brewed up a strategy that leverages Llanowar Elves into playing powerful three drops on turn two. While Kibler’s build leans heavier into green, the white splash offers versatile removal in Get Lost and Sheltered by Ghosts with access to Restless Prairie in the mana base, who becomes a convincing threat when paired with Wrenn and Realmbreaker’s first loyalty ability.
Standard
Selesnya Midrange
Market Price:$159.54
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (31)
- 3Pawpatch Recruit
- 3Polukranos Reborn
- 4Llanowar Elves
- 4Bristlebud Farmer
- 4Scrapshooter
- 4Sharp-Eyed Rookie
- 4Keen-Eyed Curator
- 4Evolving Adaptive
- 1Cankerbloom
Planeswalker (2)
- 2Wrenn and Realmbreaker
Instant (3)
- 3Get Lost
Land (24)
- 10Forest
- 4Razorverge Thicket
- 4Hushwood Verge
- 4Brushland
- 2Restless Prairie
Sideboard (15)
- 4Sheltered by Ghosts
- 2Garruk’s Uprising
- 2Elspeth’s Smite
- 1Thrun, Breaker of Silence
- 2Nissa, Ascended Animist
- 1Vivien Reid
- 3Aven Interrupter
Another aspect of this Selesnya Midrange strategy is that it utilizes counters effectively, with Evolving Adaptive, Sharp-Eyed Rookie, and Pawpatch Recruit being some of the notable payoffs here, with Polukranos Reborn becoming a stubborn threat if flipped into Polukranos, Engine of Ruin]].
Selesnya Tokens – d00mwake
Market Price: $11.28
Speaking of Selesnya, Devon O’Donnell (d00mwake) brought a Selesnya Tokens strategy that delivered an impressive undefeated Day 1 run that uses Collector’s Cage to cheat out threats such as Overlord of the Mistmoors without investing mana into casting the card for its Impending cost.
Standard
Selesnya Tokens
Market Price:$250.84
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (27)
- 4Llanowar Elves
- 2Melira, the Living Cure
- 4Overlord of the Mistmoors
- 4Pawpatch Recruit
- 4Sandstorm Salvager
- 4Sanguine Evangelist
- 2Seraphic Steed
- 1Toby, Beastie Befriender
- 2Wilt-Leaf Liege
Instant (2)
- 2Get Lost
Artifact (4)
- 4Collector’s Cage
Enchantment (3)
- 3Sheltered by Ghosts
Land (24)
- 4Brushland
- 3Forest
- 4Hushwood Verge
- 1Mirrex
- 4Plains
- 4Razorverge Thicket
- 4Restless Prairie
Sideboard (15)
- 3Aven Interrupter$3.65
- 1Destroy Evil$1.70
- 2Elspeth’s Smite$1.00
- 3Invasion of Gobakhan$2.02
- 1Sheltered by Ghosts$6.49
- 2Split Up$4.40
- 1Thrun, Breaker of Silence$0.26
- 2Wilt-Leaf Liege$0.45
What makes Collector’s Cage such an impressive card here is that the criteria to activate it is easy when you have a bunch of different tokens at varying power and toughness, where the card can also make it awkward for your opponent when it comes to combat due to the Cage adding a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control (at instant speed). Rounding out the Selesnya Tokens build is Llanowar Elves to help ramp into these threats sooner, with Wilt-Leaf Liege being an answer for the Esper Enchantment strategy that is a fantastic card to hide under a Collector’s Cage.
Azorius Omniscience – Ryan Normandin
Lastly, another strategy that saw some late attention going into Magic Spotlight Series: Foundations is Azorius Omniscience Combo, which uses the namesake card Omniscience to loop a bunch of spells. Ryan Normandin brought the strategy to the the Magic Spotlight Series with an impressive 10-5-0 finish.
Standard
Azorius Omniscience
Market Price:$212.06
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (8)
- 4Picklock Prankster//
- 4Fallaji Archaeologist
Sorcery (8)
- 4Chart a Course
- 4Abuelo’s Awakening
Instant (12)
- 4Moment of Truth
- 4Confounding Riddle
- 4Ephara’s Dispersal
Enchantment (4)
- 4Omniscience
Land (24)
- 3Adarkar Wastes
- 2Blast Zone
- 1Hidden Grotto
- 2Fabled Passage
- 3Floodfarm Verge
- 4Island
- 4Meticulous Archive
- 2Plains
- 3Seachrome Coast
Battle (4)
- 4Invasion of Arcavios
Sideboard (15)
- 3Temporary Lockdown
- 2Kitsa, Otterball Elite
- 1Negate
- 2Exorcise
- 1Get Lost
- 1Unnerving Grasp
- 3Grand Abolisher
- 1Season of Weaving
- 1Rona, Herald of Invasion
Admittedly Azorius Omniscience Combo isn’t the most clear-cut of Magic combos, so let’s break it down:
- Find a way to discard Omniscience (such as Chart a Course).
- Recur Omniscience to the battlefield with Abuelo’s Awakening, it becomes a 1/1 Spirit creature.
- Cast Invasion of Arcavios to find Season of Weaving from the sideboard.
- Cast Season of Weaving selecting the second ability (making a token copy of Omniscience) and the third ability (returning each nonland, nontoken permanent to its owner’s hand, one being Invasion of Arcavios).
- Recast Invasion of Arcavios, obtaining Season of Weaving from the graveyard back into your hand.
- Recast Season of Weaving. Create a token copy of Omniscience and return Invasion of Arcavios to your hand (once again).
- Rinse and repeat until you have enough Omniscience creature tokens to win.
You can splice this in a few ways, such as drawing a bunch of cards with Season of Weaving instead to find a counterspell in Confounding Riddle to protect the infinite combo, then use Season of Weaving to make token copies of Omniscience. The strategy won a Magic Online Standard Challenge just before the Magic Spotlight Series, creating a ton of buzz that led to it appearing on camera over the weekend. It looked impressive as it achieved a turn-four win in each game played (against former Magic World Champion Nathan Steuer, no less).
Market Price: $31.53
Market Price: $132.65
Market Price: $65.38
And if you’re brand new to Magic: The Gathering and want to get in on the Standard action, Magic Foundations is the best way to learn with the fantastic Beginner Box, which includes a How to Play Guide and ten Jumpstart Boosters to start your journey into Magic. As for deckbuilding, the Starter Collection offers a whopping 350+ Standard-legal cards and a couple of Play Boosters to help flesh out your first Magic decks.