New and reprinted Magic: The Gathering cards from The Brothers’ War have shaken up the Standard Constructed meta, with players putting these new cards to the test during the MTG Arena Standard Metagame Challenge.
Three days after the digital launch of The Brothers’ War (BRO) on MTG Arena, players had the chance to put their best Standard Constructed decks to the test through the Standard Metagame Challenge. Featuring new and returning mechanics like Meld pairs and Prototype Artifact creatures, several cards from the BRO set have the potential to shake up the Standard meta.
The MTG Arena Standard Metagame Challenge showcases best-of-three gameplay with a chance for players to earn up to 30 BRO booster packs with seven wins. Heading into the release of The Brothers’ War were Standard meta decks like Grixis Midrange, Esper Midrange, Mono-Blue, and Izzet. Several cards from the BRO set added strength to the previous archetypes that dominated the meta while other cards revived builds that were missing a few key pieces.
Here are the best Standard Constructed decks to play during the MTG Arena Standard Metagame Challenge.
Izzet Prowess
Izzet decks gained two powerful cards from BRO: Monastery Swiftspear and Third Path Iconoclast. The MTG Izzet Prowess deck is an aggressive build that can typically win against Mono-Black but can also struggle against Mono-White.
Creatures in the Izzet Prowess deck gain power from Instant and Sorcery spells getting cast. The deck can quickly ramp in power to win games while controlling the board state through removal spells like Lightning Strike, Play with Fire, and Fading Hope. The build also has a good amount of card draw which also powers up the Prowess creatures.
Mono-Black
Mono-Black decks in Standard used to dominate the MTG Arena ranked ladder but fell off after the ban of The Meathook Massacre. The BRO set brought Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor into the mix, shifting the archetype from a Midrange/Control build into an aggressive one. Created by CovertGoBlue, this Mono-Black Aggro deck slaps hard and fast when on the Play.
Selesnya Artifacts
Mono-Black and BR decks have flooded the BRO Standard Metagame Challenge meta. Selesnya Artifacts is able to counter both archetypes while still performing like an aggressive MTG deck. The aggressive curve uses Yotian Frontliner (with Unearth), Patchwork Automaton, and Yotian Diddident to apply early-game damage while scaling in power.
Kappa Tech-Wrecker can either defend with a Deathtouch counter or use that counter to remove Artifacts and Enchantments like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Fateful Absence is a cheap way to deal with planeswalkers and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Bankbuster draws cards while synergizing with the deck as an Artifact, and Steel Seraph wins games while Gaea’s Gift protects your creatures.
Mono-White
The previous version of Mono-White prior to the release of BRO is still a strong build. Artifacts from the new MTG set, though, brought about a new look to Mono-White with a deck created by Hello Good Game.
Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopther is a new addition that provides all Artifact and colorless spells Flash, giving an additional edge to creatures like Steel Seraph, Yotian Frontliner, and Patchwork Automaton.
Boros Aggro
The competition of the Pain land cycle in BRO has brought back Boros Aggro the Standard meta, according to KaeroMTG. The list contains all the original cards from several months ago but has room for updates. Monastery Swiftspear can replace Phoenix Chick and Mechanized Warfare can replace a Squee for that extra point of damage from Red sources.
Rakdos Sacrifice
Rakdos Black and Red Sacrifice gained a few new tools with the release of BRO, from the Equipment Transmogrant’s Crown to Goblin Blast-Runner. Created by Strictly Better MTG, the Rakdos build can match up well against many of the early meta decks.
The Rakdos Sacrifice deck also thrives on another BRO card, Gixian Infiltrator. Able to scale in power rapidly, the two-drop applies early pressure in conjunction with Goldhound and Goblin Blast-Runner.
Jeskai Reanimation
Reanimation strategies are back thanks to one of the best cards in BRO, Portal to Phyrexia. Created by Ali Eldrazi, the Jeskai build uses the new Repair and Recharge in conjunction with Invoke Justice to bring back creatures from the graveyard to the battlefield.
The two new stars of this reanimation deck are Portal to Phyrexia and One with the Multiverse. Portal to Phyrexia is the ideal target from the graveyard while One with the Multiverse allows players to cast one spell per turn from hand or top of the library for free.
Sultai Ramp
Showcasing the new Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim in a build created by Swayze, Sultai Ramp can get the planeswalker to his ultimate quickly.
The deck takes advantage of the ramp game plan with existing cards like Wrenn and Seven and Cultivator Colossus. The plant beast can easily get Teferi to his ultimate while new cards like Awaken the Woods can create tokens that remain on the battlefield after casting Karn’s Sylex as a board wipe.
The top decks earning seven wins during the BRO Standard Metagame Challenge will get added once the MTG Arena event is underway.
Update Nov. 19 at 4:30am CT: Selesnya Artifacts was added as a winning deck within the BRO Arena Standard Metagame Challenge
