Raising Your Standards #1: Rotation!

Hey everyone, it’s Blue again, and in today’s Raising Your Standards article, we’re talking about the one thing that makes this format unique from the rest – rotation! Depending on who you are, you may be super excited for rotation like myself or really sad to see so many decks leave the format, especially when so many of the current meta has only been here since M20! Today we’re going to cover which decks survive rotation, which decks will be hurt but still function, and which decks will just cease to exist and why. Before we begin, remember to check us out on Twitter @MTGOracle and follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube! Now let’s begin!

Let’s start with the decks leaving the format in October. Honestly, I’m not surprised these are the decks that make up the top three decks in the meta right now. BW Vampires is a deck that was almost there since Ixalan, but nobody could get it quite right. With M20 though, came Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. The very powerful three mana planeswalker is all about vampire synergies. His first +1 makes your vampires bigger while also gaining you life, his second +1 is a repeatable Lightning Helix, and his -3 just slams a vampire on the table. I’ve watched this deck play three one-drops across the first two turns, play Sorin on T3 and tick him down to put a Champion of Dusk into play to draw four cards! Sadly though, Vampires won’t be with us much longer. After rotation, the deck is left with basically just Sorin, Knight of the Ebon Legion, and a handful of removal spells. I can’t say I’m happy to see vampires gone, since I’m one of those few who tried to make it work in Ixalan, but I am happy it got to shine for at least a few months before rotation.

Joining Vampires in the graveyard of near unplayable post rotation is another deck that’s had the pieces for a long time but we couldn’t get it to work without a payoff. M20 brought us Field of the Dead to bring Scapeshift from unplayable garbage in standard to an allstar! Although Bant Scapeshift will only be with us a couple more months, I love how this deck evolved. It started out as a random assortment of cards, different people trying out Risen Reef, others trying Narset, Parter of Veils until it got to the general build we have now. Not to mention the land base is basically a Christmas box of assorted cookies with how many different lands it plays to support Field of the Dead. This is by far the deck I’m saddest to see go. Although, not a lot from the deck rotates, just Scapeshift and random ramp spells that are easily replaceable. Maybe WOTC decides to reprint Scapeshift in Throne of Eldraine and the deck can live on!

Other decks that will saying their Swan Song with Rotation include Mono Blue Tempo, which can’t survive without the powerhouse of a card draw engine in Curious Obsession, Jund Dinos, where, similarly to vampires, is basically an Ixalan block constructed deck, and the dreaded Simic Nexus. I have hated every version of Nexus of Fate to get built since the card was printed and I cannot wait for this deck to be gone. It should not be possible for a deck in standard to put itself in a position where it can take infinite turns. Almost every set to come out since M19 gave this deck a new toy to play with. I can’t stand this deck and I’m so happy it dies in a couple months. I’m honestly surprised Wizards didn’t own up to its mistake and ban it altogether when they banned it from Bo1 on Arena. Either way, I have never been more ready for rotation than I am now with Nexus leaving the format.

We move from the depths of Hell for decks that won’t make it to the next standard to the realm of Limbo, where decks that might survive go depending on what Throne of Eldraine has to offer us. In all honesty, there aren’t many, in fact, there’s only two decks that hold a place in the meta right now that we have no idea where they’ll be at after rotation. The first one is Boros/Naya Feather. If you look at the decklists here, almost every card survives rotation except the most important noncreature spell in the deck – Reckless Rage. From my experience playing the deck and playing against the deck, this card alone is the glue of everything. Being able to cast it repeatably, turn after turn to keep your opponent’s threats off the table so you can keep swinging in is crucial. Even though every other card in the deck except the 1-of Sheltering Light sticks around post rotation, I’m confident that without Reckless Rage, the deck won’t have the staying power is does now with repeatable removal. I might be proven wrong, I have been before, so I’m going to say that the status of Feather decks post rotation is unknown, at least until we see Throne of Eldraine.

As for mono red, the story is very different. Come rotation, the deck loses four of its six creatures, left with only the very powerful Runaway Steam-kin and Ember Hauler. The deck will have to drastically change its creature base and depending on what we see in Throne of Eldraine, their aren’t that many good replacements. The same is true for spells sadly. The versions that play it lose Wizard’s Lightning and every build loses Lightning Strike, The deck still has its two powerhouse card advantage sources in Chandra, Fire Artisan and Experimental Frenzy, so I’m still very much afraid the deck, but I think it’ll be significantly weaker come rotation.

Now not every deck can be as fast as mono red, but there also more likely to be alive after rotation. I’m talking about Esper. Whether you’re playing control or midrange, the stock list for either build only loses Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Search For Azcanta. These cards leaving the format hurt, I’m definitely gonna miss my buddy Teferi, but they don’t completely kill the deck. We have loads of card draw options staying to replace Search, and a lot of really powerful planeswalkers to play Teferi’s role. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Esper splashing red for Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God or maybe Ugin, the Ineffible. That’s not even considering Throne of Eldraine .

With rotation just around the corner, I’m excited to see what’s to come. Some decks I’ll be sad to see leave, others not so much. Let me know below what you’re most excited for with rotation! Anyway, I think it’s about time for me to wrap it up for today! Don’t forget that we are partnered with TCGPlayer! Click the link and any purchases made from that visit go to help support us! As always, check us out on Twitter @MTGOracle and me @TwoBlueUntapped to keep up with everything Magic. This is Blue, Signing out!