The full moon has risen, Emrakul strangely sleeps, and cascades the lands of Innistrad in a pale yet daunting light. Innistrad’s Midnight Hunt is here and is ready to sink its teeth into the Standard format and rip into rotation. This Thursday, September 16th 2021, Magic the Gathering Arena will rotate and allow players to engage with a brand new Standard. Based on all of the internet chatter this is widely seen as one of the greatest happenings for the format. Not only is Midnight Hunt giving us a whole slew of new cards, and a much anticipated rotation, it is also the first venture back to the beloved plane of Innistrad since its original inception 10 years ago.
Rotation Cheat Sheet
Rotation refers to when sets in the Standard format move out to make room for new sets. Usually infuses the current meta with a fresh set of decks, lines, and cards to learn and prepare for.
What’s staying:
- Zendikar
- Kaldheim
- Strixhaven
- Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
- Midnight Hunt – releasing on MtGA on September 16th, 2021
What’s leaving:
- Throne of Eldraine – good riddance
- Theros, Beyond Death
- Ikoria
- Core 2021
With all these moving parts we are sure to get a shakeup in the Standard meta. But to really understand the coming changes, we must first look at what’s working now.
Current top decks in the Standard 2022 Queue
WotC actually provided a pre-rotation queue on Arena dubbed Standard 2022. It gave players an opportunity to check out a world post Eldraine, post Theros, and so forth. This queue, while regrettably only best of one, saw a variety of decks and play styles represented. I ended up playing this queue more than any other since its release, and it saw me reach Mythic rank in every month since. I compiled a list of the top contenders in the current Standard 2022 which I think will all receive a substantial boost with Midnight Hunt.
Orzhov Snow
Popularized by CovertGoBlue this deck has seen aggro, midrange, and control iterations. A deck with the tools to deal with aggro and grind value against control, I can’t see this leaving the meta any time soon. Add in the brand new removal from Midnight Hunt and I expect this deck to stay tier one.
Cards I’m Adding: Infernal Grasp, Can’t Stay Away, Sigardian Savior
Izzet Dragons
Goldspan Dragon and counters fuel this absolutely overwhelming tempo deck. Though it has moved more towards being a control deck, if this deck curves out it is a near auto-win. The deck in its current iteration is so refined that it will be hard to find replacement cards from the new set. I expect to lose to this the most whilst brewing new decks this coming weekend.
Cards I’m Adding: Vadrik, Astral Archmage, Memory Deluge, Geistflame Reservoir
Mono Green
There are two premiere aggro decks in the current 2022 queue, Mono Green and Mono White. Both with their own strengths and weaknesses, these two will keep control players honest as they can effectively fill the board and accrue value. I lean towards Mono Green myself as I think Ranger Class and Werewolf Pack leader give you more card draw against control. Augur of Autumn is going to be a house in this deck and will be the first card I craft.
Cards I’m Adding: Augur of Autumn, Deathbonnet Sprout, Might of the Old Ways
Mono White
As I mentioned above, this deck is an absolute beating without early removal. This deck has so much to gain from Midnight Hunt with cards like Fateful Absence. As the list becomes more refined this will be the aggro deck to beat. Expect this deck to infest the ranked queue throughout the coming weeks.
Cards I’m Adding: Sungold Sentinel, Brutal Cathar, Bereaved Survivor
New Challengers to the Post Rotation Standard
With the release of Midnight Hunt I expect some influx of the new cards in the already established decks mentioned above. Innovation and testing will yield new contenders which will slowly worm their way into the meta starting with;
Red/Green Wolves
Adding a color to an already successful deck is an easy recipe to create a day one beater. Curving Werewolf Pack Leader into Tovolar, Dire Overlord seems like the nuts and I can’t wait to try it. Toss in Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope and you’ve got yourself a solid brew going. I think you can also use the Day/Night cycle here to really push yourself to the top. This will be the first deck I craft on release.
Black/Green Graveyard Shenanigans
The basic shell is Willow Geist, Consuming Blob, and Ghoulcaller’s Harvest. This deck cares about putting creatures and cards with flashback into its graveyard to further its board state. I’ll try this as a midrange shell at first but quickly switch to aggro with the inclusion of Deathbonnet Sprout.
Blue/Black Poppet Tokens
My “smash this into a deck until it works” card this set is Poppet Stitcher. Being able to create a ton of decayed zombie tokens and turning them into 3/3’s with no drawback seems doable in the current Standard meta. Granted this entire deck is predicated on meeting the requirements to flip into Poppet Factory which might be too slow. There is a ton of decayed zombie support so I’ll try to make it work.
Darkhorse Candidate: New Teferi midrange/control
I really think everyone is underrating the new Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset. As the coolest named Teferi I see this card being incredibly valuable in a midrange shell that can compete with some control decks. If Standard had a Llanowar Elves right now, I think Bant Teferi would be insane. So catch me in Historic trying that out.
Bolash’s Bazaar
A very dear friend of mine wanted to voice his favorite cards releasing in Midnight Hunt, felt wrong not to include his thoughts as I share most of them.
Green: Tovolar’s Huntmaster also known as green grave Titan.
White: Fateful Absence, premiere white removal.
Black: Graveyard Trespasser.
Red: Bloodthirsty Adversary.
Blue: Suspicious Stowaway, maybe the best werewolf in the set.
Multicolored: Siphon Insight, and Liesa, Forgotten Archangel.
Say a Prayer for those Leaving Us
As with every rotation we must bid farewell to cards we’ve come to know and love. I would be remiss if I didn’t wax poetic on some of my favorite cards from the leaving sets.
Fabled Passage: What a great card, a fair fetchland that was a staple in every deck that wanted lands.
Drown in the Loch: My favorite conditional counterspell in the format. Really found its home in the popular rogues deck but I absolutely enjoy the utility that this card brings.
Elder Gargaroth: What more could you want in creature?
Honorable mention: Elspeth’s Nightmare
Cards I am most Excited for
The Adversary Cycle
This is a unique take on the “multi-kicker” ability and I applaud Wizards for discovering this design space. I’m not sure how much these will impact the meta as I see them as aggro based creatures that aren’t completely dead in the late game. Each one is flavorful, powerful, and perfectly inline with their color identity.
The Meathook Massacre
A board clear that has a Blood Artist attached to it? Say no more. An instant addition to the sacrifice decks currently bouncing around.
Smouldering Egg
Also known as Thing in the Ice-lite. I know this little guy and the dragon it can transform into are super susceptible to removal but that won’t stop me from trying to flip this in every game I can.
Honorable mention: Beautiful pitch-black night lands
Big props to the artists who created these lands. Nailed the Innistrad environment.
Final Notes
I am a tad concerned that I will have to compete against Izzet Dragons and an untenable amount of Alrund’s Epiphanys post rotation. But with implementation of a best of three queue, maybe that particular challenge is handled via sideboard. Overall I can’t wait to play with Midnight Hunt and have Standard feel fresh again. Plus I look forward to Crimson Vow’s release and the potential for an all-out vampire aggro deck featuring the lovely couple of Olivia Voldaren and Edgar Markov. Also holy shit Wrenn and Seven is going to slap.
Herb's Words 