Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath dominated much of the Historic Magic: The Gathering metagame while it was legal, being played in upwards of 20 percent of all Historic decks played in tournaments.
Now that it’s officially been banned, there is a lot of open real estate for new decks, and existing ones, to shape a completely new landscape for the format.
While it’s only been a couple of weeks since the extremely powerful card was removed from play, there are a few conclusions about the format that can be made, and there are a few standout decks you’ll definitely see when you load up MTG Arena.
Jund Sacrifice
This deck was already one of the staples of the format prior to Uro’s ban, and now it seems to have taken the throne as the most-played competitive deck.
While the deck uses Black, Red, and Green, don’t expect to see anything other than Red and Black creatures. Tools like Witch’s Oven that synergize with Cauldron Familiar create powerful sacrifice engines.
The only reason this deck has any green in it is exclusively to play the four mana spell Collected Company, which allows you to dig through the top few cards of your library to find a pair of creatures.
In a deck so reliant on unloading a bunch of creatures that can be sacrificed or have some sort of sacrifice payout, having one card that can put two creatures on the battlefield is highly necessary.
Gruul Aggro
If you want to smack your opponent in the face fast and often, Gruul Aggro will do the trick. Similar to “Zoo” decks you might see playing Modern, this deck floods its opponents with 1-3 mana threats, many of which have enter-the-battlefield triggers or other abilities.
It’s not uncommon for these decks to run almost exclusively creature spells, with many using 30 or more.
Just like Jund Sacrifice, Collected Company is perhaps the staple non-creature spell. Running as many creature spells as the deck does, there’s guaranteed value from playing the card any time you have the mana for it.
Rakdos Arcanist
As of right now, this is the most popular deck that doesn’t play Collected Company, but it’s not without its high-value cards.
With a plethora of low mana kill spells to compete with the other top decks in the meta, this Red and Black deck can pop off with threats like Dreadhorde Arcanist, Young Pyromancer, and Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger.
By opening up the game with Stitcher’s Supplier, Thoughtseize, and/or some removal spells, you can fill your graveyard with fuel for Arcanist. Anytime Dreadhorde Arcanist attacks, you may play one of those one mana spells in your graveyard for free.
Meanwhile, if you’re lucky enough to get a Young Pyromancer out in tandem with your Arcanist, replaying your noncreature spell with the Arcanist creates 1/1 tokens that you can swing wide with.
If your graveyard is filling fast and you don’t have an Arcanist out, playing Kroxa and escaping him from your graveyard can win games by forcing your opponent to discard. For an escape cost of just four mana, the 6/6 creature has some of the best value of any creature card in the format.
Azorius Enchantments
If you think boggle and buff decks are fun, this Blue and White deck is what you’re looking for.
Rocking 20 or more 1-2 mana enchantments, this deck relies on getting Kor Spiritdancer or Sram, Senior Edificer out early and protecting it with Alseid of Life’s Bounty or Selfless Savior.
From there, you just pump your threat with low cost enchantments like Cartouches Curious Obsession, and All That Glitters. This deck might not look imposing at first, but even with just one card in hand, it can pop off in late game scenarios.
If you have a decent amount of land and a Kor Spiritdancer out, you can quickly turn the 0/2 creature into a highly threatening creature with 10 or more power by playing an enchantment and getting a chance to draw another.
The ability to Rinse and repeat that draw trigger with Kor Spiritdancer until you’re out of mana makes it so that this deck is never truly out of a game.
