Midnight Hunt has had a massive impact on the Standard format. While some cards like
Wrenn and Seven
Wrenn and Seven
+1: Reveal the top four cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
0: Put any number of land cards from your hand onto the battlefield tapped.
−3: Create a green Treefolk creature token with reach and "This token's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control."
−8: Return all permanent cards from your graveyard to your hand. You get an emblem with "You have no maximum hand size."
cost upwards of $30.00, there are tons of cheap Midnight Hunt cards that are seeing play. Some of them are even key players in Standard and are currently under $2.00!
Izzet Dragons
Izzet Dragons was already a top Standard contender before rotation and before Midnight Hunt was released. But because of the newest Innistrad set, the deck received some new toys that are pushing it to new power levels.
Smoldering Egg
Smoldering Dragon makes a good impression of
Thing in the Ice
Thing in the Ice
Defender
This creature enters with four ice counters on it.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, remove an ice counter from this creature. Then if it has no ice counters on it, transform it.
, a Standard all-star from the last time we visited Innistrad. They are both have front sides that care about casting spells and transform into game-ending threats. Smoldering Dragon is definitely living up to the power of its predecessor as far as Standard goes.
Whereas Thing in the Ice cared about the quantity of spells cast, Smoldering Dragon cares about the mana spent to cast those spells. In the context of Standard, this means Smoldering Dragon can potentially be a lot easier to transform because we can do so in less than four spells.
Expressive Iteration
Expressive Iteration
Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand, put one of them on the bottom of your library, and exile one of them. You may play the exiled card this turn.
,
Cathartic Pyre
Cathartic Pyre
Choose one —
• Cathartic Pyre deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
• Discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards.
, and
Saw it Coming
Saw it Coming
Counter target spell.
Foretell {1}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
. That’s all it takes to hatch the egg.
Smoldering Egg plays a crucial part in both the Izzet Dragon and Izzet Turn decks that have been performing well in Standard. And alongside
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
, Smoldering Egg can straight-up win games.
Malevolent Hermit
Malevolent Hermit is an AMAZING sideboard card. Its front-half can help win counter-spell wars. And its back-half gives you some insurance in casting your big noncreature spells like
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
.
You’ll want this card somewhere in your 75 if you are playing blue in Standard. I’ve even seen it in the mainboard of some decklists because of how effective Benevolent Hermit is against popular cards in the format like
Wrenn and Seven
Wrenn and Seven
+1: Reveal the top four cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
0: Put any number of land cards from your hand onto the battlefield tapped.
−3: Create a green Treefolk creature token with reach and "This token's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control."
−8: Return all permanent cards from your graveyard to your hand. You get an emblem with "You have no maximum hand size."
,
Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope
Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
+1: Until your next turn, you may cast creature spells as though they had flash, and each creature you control enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Create two 2/2 green Wolf creature tokens.
, and opposing Alrund’s Epiphany’s.
Dimir Control
Dimir Control has been a good way of countering all the Izzet decks running around. Playing bigger dragons like Imyrith, Desert Doom blocks opposing
Goldspan Dragon
Goldspan Dragon
Flying, haste
Whenever this creature attacks or becomes the target of a spell, create a Treasure token.
Treasures you control have "{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add two mana of any one color."
‘s really well. Also, having access to unconditional removal like
Infernal Grasp
Infernal Grasp
Destroy target creature. You lose 2 life.
is important when playing against lots of creatures with four toughness in the format like Smoldering Egg and Goldspan.
Memory Deluge
Memory Deluge is one of the best draw spells Standard control decks have had access to in a long time. Casting it for four mana makes a decent impression of a
Fact or Fiction
Fact or Fiction
Reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
and at seven mana it is the equivalent of a fully costed
Dig Through Time
Dig Through Time
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Look at the top seven cards of your library. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
.
Memory Deluge is being included in decks beyond just Dimir Control. It will be a staple of all blue decks while it is legal in Standard.
Siphon Insight
Siphon Insight is kind of like an interesting
Think Twice
Think Twice
Draw a card.
Flashback {2}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
. Getting cards off the top of your opponent’s library adds some unpredictability, but each time you cast Siphon Insight you get to look at two cards and pick one, giving you more options as to what card you take. This spell is integral to the Dimir strategy by adding card draw and selection to the deck.