Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, Lost Caverns of Ixalan, is sure to shake up the standard meta with its unique blend of new mechanics and powerful creature cards. The set promises to push deck innovation and introduce fresh dynamics that will challenge players to rethink their current strategies.
The Ancient One, a standout card from Lost Caverns of Ixalan, adds an exciting twist to Standard. The Spirit God enables unique synergies and even game-finishing combos, giving players the chance to get truly creative with their deck building.
5. Simic Merfolk
Arguably one of the most popular tribes in Magic: The Gathering, Merfolk are making a big splash in Ixalan. Highly cost-efficient creatures such as Cenote Scout and River Herald Scout make this deck play out more as an aggro strategy than a typical blue deck. The explore mechanic lets players draw a card or put a +1/+1 counter on the exploring creature. Hence, the deck feels like it’s always slightly ahead of its mana curve with either pumped-up creatures or drawing multiple lands. Last but not least, Vodalian Hexcatcher, though not a Merfolk from Ixalan, is a fantastic inclusion as it will further pump all Merfolk by +1/+1. Don’t call it a Merfolk deck if it doesn’t at least run one “Lord” creature.
4. Gruul Dinosaurs
Among the most popular creature types in all of Magic are Dinosaurs and Dragons, because playing colossal creatures is just fun. Lost Caverns of Ixalan brings both back in a single card, Bonehoard Dracosaur. This awe-inspiring creature is accompanied by fellow giant lizards like Trumpeting Carnosaur, Pugnacious Hammerskull, Hulking Raptor, and the cute but fearful Belligerent Yearling. These earth-shaking beasts are relatively easy to cast with the help of “mana dorks” like Ixalli’s Lorekeeper and Intrepid Paleontologist. Additionally, this deck has a decent chance of surviving a board wipe, thanks to The Skullspore Nexus.
3. Fight Rigging
The Ancient One is a towering 8/8 Spirit God for only two mana. Sure, it can’t attack or block right away, but nonetheless it’s a giant creature you can cast as soon as turn two. On top of this, you can time it perfectly with a special card from Streets of New Capenna, Fight Rigging. This green enchantment activates Hideaway 5 when it enters the battlefield.
First, look at the top five cards of your library and exile one card face down. Then, at the beginning of combat, if you control a creature with power seven or greater, you can play the exiled card for free. With this combo and a bit of luck, you can play big, splashy spells without paying mana. The only thing better than casting Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, is putting her on the battlefield for free.
2. Radkos Mid
Rakdos Mid brings a bit of everything to the table. This Standard strategy tries to stabilize during the first few turns with low mana creatures and excessive amounts of removal spells. Subsequently, it punishes opponents during the mid-game stages with big flying dragons like the above-mentioned Bonehoard Dracosaur and Decadent Dragon. This Rakdos strategy plays out much like a traditional and “fair” Jund deck would, with tons of removal, some smaller creatures that help with card draw, and ultimately finishing the job with giant creatures. Patience and timing are key to this evil plan.
1. Grixis Descend
The overarching strategy here is to self-mill and chump-block with smaller creatures to fill up the graveyard. A full graveyard will then allow to attack and block with giant creatures like Souls of the Lost, Cruel Somnophage, and of course, The Ancient One. The juiciest part of the deck is its three-piece game-winning combo on turn four. With The Ancient One on board, you can activate Ob Nixilis’ Casualty ability by sacking the spirit god and creating a copy of Ob Nixilis with X counters on it, where X is equal to The Ancient One’s power.
This allows you to activate the Planeswalker’s ultimate ability immediately. If you’re lucky enough to draw into Sheoldred, The Apocalypse and cast her on turn four, this delightful synergy then turns into a deadly game-finishing combo that deals 21 direct damage to an opponent. By targeting the opponent player instead of yourself for Ob Nixilis’ ultimate, you force them to draw seven cards and lose seven life. Sheoldred deals the finishing blow by dealing the additional 14 damage, two for each card the opponent draws. Check out the following video to see the combo in action.
Players have only just begun brewing Standard decks with the new Lost Caverns of Ixalan cards, and already we’re seeing some spicy builds. It will be interesting to see where the new meta will take the format in the coming months.
