Scapeshift takes over MTG Standard meta at Denver Grand Prix

Fan-favorite Magic: The Gathering pro Luis Scott-Vargas (LSV) won the Denver Grand Prix over the weekend, building a deck around Scapeshift from the newly released Core Set 2020. 

Recently built and tested on MTG Arena within the past week, four players in the top eight at the Denver Grand Prix were playing Bant Scapeshift. One of these players was LSV, who changed his deck at the last possible minute. Teetering on the edge through each round, LSV lit up after reaching the top eight, beating Gregg Keithley and his Simic Nexus deck 2-0 in the finals. 

Related: Top MTG Standard decks for M20

Scapeshift by itself seems like an odd card at first glance. A player sacrifices their lands on the battlefield, searches their library for that many lands, and then puts them back into play tapped. Combo Scapeshift with the land card, Field of the Dead, and this seemingly mundane ability creates a horde of two/two black zombie creature tokens—one for each land put into play. 

MTG Grand Prix Bant Scapeshift deck

Bant Scapeshift functions around getting lands onto the battlefield as quickly as possible through Arboreal Grazer, Elvish Rejuvenator, Circuitous Route, Grow from the Ashes, and Growth Spiral. 

In order to protect yourself while stacking lands, Hydroid Krasis provides a beefy flyer with card draw, Teferi, Time Raveler does what Tef does (control the board state), and Prison Realm locks up planeswalker and creature threats while providing a Scry. 

Here’s the Bant Scapeshift deck that LSV used to win the Denver Grand Prix:

Other Bant Scapeshift decks

Naturally, the Bant Scapeshift deck LSV won the MTG Grand Prix in Denver with isn’t the only version making rounds in the Standard meta. Some versions are using Tamiyo, Collector of Tales as a distraction for control decks (Thought Erasure) and for digging while others are beefing up life and power to survive through Explore—Wildgrowth Walker, Jadelight Ranger, and Merfolk Branchwalker. 

LSV wasn’t the only player at the Denver Grand Prix who brought Bant Scapeshift to the top eight, though. Chris Oien, Allen Sun, and Jackson King were also playing Bant Scapeshift. The years of experience and skill of LSV, however, is what got him into the finals and led to his victory in the Denver Grand Prix tournament. 

Related: Magic: The Gathering SDCC panel reveals Brawl is coming to MTG Arena

For those who like a tad more action in their gameplay, check out the Jund Scapeshift deck Magic streamer MTG Jeff created about a week ago.