Streets of New Capenna has finally come out on Magic Arena and in Paper! Over the weekend there were a few tournaments with the new set for Standard, and the set is giving the format a real shakedown. Unlike new Standards in the past, this weekend’s events were chalk full of awesome new decks, and three of them could end up being Meta!
New Meta
The event that we’re going go to be primarily focusing on today is Stream League 11. This is a tournament that I frequently play in, but also recently have been an admin for. So I get to see all of the decks in depth and how they perform. While the tourney was taken down by an old staple, Naya Runes, three new decks really stood out as great new additions to the format.
Jund Midrange
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The first deck we have is Jund Midrange. This list comes to us from Jimmy Allen, AKA Jub_77 who took 3rd in the event. Jund got a lot of new toys in New Capenna, so it only makes sense that people would try and make things work.
Tenacious Underdog
Tenacious Underdog
Blitz—{2}{B}{B}, Pay 2 life. (If you cast this spell for its blitz cost, it gains haste and "When this creature dies, draw a card." Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.)
You may cast this card from your graveyard using its blitz ability.
has proven itself to be a powerhouse creature, being a cheap recursive threat at most points in the game. The deck also get to utilize one of the stronger planeswalkers in the set
Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
Casualty X. The copy isn't legendary and has starting loyalty X. (As you cast this spell, you may sacrifice a creature with power X. When you do, copy this spell. The copy becomes a token.)
+1: Each opponent loses 2 life unless they discard a card. If you control a Demon or Devil, you gain 2 life.
−2: Create a 1/1 red Devil creature token with "When this token dies, it deals 1 damage to any target."
−7: Target player draws seven cards and loses 7 life.
. We can do a trick to copy this with
Esika’s Chariot
Esika’s Chariot
When Esika's Chariot enters, create two 2/2 green Cat creature tokens.
Whenever Esika's Chariot attacks, create a token that's a copy of target token you control.
Crew 4
and get massive massive value out of this powerful planeswalker.
We also do get great use out of our new triome
Ziatora’s Proving Ground
Ziatora’s Proving Ground
({T}: Add {B}, {R}, or {G}.)
This land enters tapped.
Cycling {3} ({3}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
and
Riveteer’s Charm
Riveteer’s Charm
Choose one —
• Target opponent sacrifices a creature or planeswalker they control with the greatest mana value among creatures and planeswalkers they control.
• Exile the top three cards of your library. Until your next end step, you may play those cards.
• Exile target player's graveyard.
to really help the deck function. We play a straight forward midrange game plan, and look to seal the deal with our closers
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."
and Titan of Industry.
READ MORE: This New Capenna Infinite Combo Will Leave Your Opponents in Body Bags
Esper Midrange
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The next deck is Esper Midrange. There were 2 different versions of this deck in the top 8, but this one comes to us from Scott Sawyer, AKA OKiScoop. Scott ended up taking 6th in Stream League with this new deck.
This deck is looks to take advantage of
Raffine, Scheming Seer
Raffine, Scheming Seer
Flying, ward {1}
Whenever you attack, target attacking creature connives X, where X is the number of attacking creatures. (Draw X cards, then discard X cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card discarded this way.)
and some solid midrange threats like
Obscura Interceptor
Obscura Interceptor
Flash
Lifelink
When this creature enters, it connives. When it connives this way, return up to one target spell to its owner's hand. (To have a creature connive, draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
to win the game. We take advantage of Connive to churn through our deck to find what we need.
We’re digging through to find more creatures, planeswalkers, and a great line up of non-creature spells to help keep the advantage on our side.
READ MORE: This Streets of New Capenna Card is Reinventing This Pioneer Staple Deck
Bant Festival
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Lastly, we have Bant Festival. This deck comes to us from Alex Wiger, AKA SirHamilton1 who ended up finishing 14th. That being said, a near identical list won JarvisMoonbeam’s Birthday Bash tournament the day before.
Now this deck have many new spells, but what’s interesting is the color combination. We haven’t seen Bant a lot due to mana issues. But now we have a reason to play the Blue.
Brokers Ascendancy
Brokers Ascendancy
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and a loyalty counter on each planeswalker you control.
is an absolute house of a card. This deck can build a very wide board and this can help that wide board grow very tall.
But what really ties the deck together is
Spara’s Headquarters
Spara’s Headquarters
({T}: Add {G}, {W}, or {U}.)
This land enters tapped.
Cycling {3} ({3}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
. The deck has some very diverse mana requirements. Having a triome to smooth out the mana is a huge benefit for the deck.
READ MORE: Ozolith? Is That You in New Capenna?
Standard is in a very interesting place and so we’ll have to wait and see how the format shapes up. These three decks are a great place to start if you’re not sure what to pick up, but want something new and shiny to try.