Magic: the Gathering Arena is the premier application where you can play the iconic card game of the same name. It is free-to-play and boasts a player population of well over 35 million. It hosts a popular ranked queue, where players compete against each other to attain the rank of Mythic.
While no competitive gamer would disagree with the notion that winning is fun, sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes you want to do it in style instead of just doing the same thing everyone is doing. Here are some of the most creative Standard decks that made it into the top eight of the recent Red Bull Untapped International Qualifier.
1. Gruul Umori
Zachary Borotsik’s deck takes a different approach to the old Magic adage, “Gruul Smash.” Instead of playing the usual Gruul curve, Zachary’s deck ramps early with cards like Arboreal Grazer or Marauding Raptor into big monsters such as God-Eternal Rhonas or even End-Raze Forerunner. With this much ramping into expensive threats, it’s no wonder Zachary was able to make it into the top eight.
2. Jund Citadel Sacrifice
Yuuki Ichikawa is a professional Magic player, so seeing him make it into the top eight of a tournament is no surprise. What is a surprise though is the deck he used to make it into the top eight. The average Sacrifice decks focus on getting under their opponents with cheap, early aggression.
This Jund deck, on the other hand, does the complete opposite by going over the other decks. Bolas’s Citadel and Mayhem Devil work well together as a game winning combo. Cards like Trail of Crumbs and Woe Strider also help the combo by improving its consistency. Wielded in the hands of a skilled player, this versatile combo deck will help you hit the Mythic rank easily.
3. Azorious Yorion Control
Some Magic veterans may be wondering why a mostly traditional control deck made it into a list of creative Standard decks. But that is exactly why – it’s a traditional control deck in a metagame that everyone thought was hostile to control. Gobetti Enrico proved everyone wrong this weekend by using control to win the finals.
Aside from the addition of Yorion, everything else is exactly what you’d expect from an “old school” control deck. What makes control decks successful is that they are prepared for the rest of the metagame. And this deck does just that by playing a ton of counter spells and bounce spells to thwart the usual strategies of the popular Jeskai Lukka decks. If you consider yourself a control mage, then this is definitely the deck for you to compete with.
All decklists from the tournament can be found here.
