Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. With Standard Regional Championship Qualifiers (RCQs) now underway, it's the perfect moment to sift through successful decklists and uncover new and spicy standouts. Today, I'll highlight eight of these decks, each offering a compelling option for anyone looking to try something new.

The Standard Metagame at the RCQs in September 2026

Standard is a rotating 60-card format that currently allows expansion sets from Wilds of Eldraine forward. There will be no rotation in the fall of 2026; the next major Standard rotation will take place in early 2027, aligning with the prerelease of Nauctis: The Sunken Realm.

To determine the shape of the metagame in September 2026, I analyzed over 800 successful tournament decks from September 1 through September 21. My dataset was comprised of every published Magic Online Standard Challenge decklist from this period, along with several dozen top decklists from various RCQs around the globe, including the 168-player Champions Cup Premium Qualifier in Tokyo and the 115-player $uper $unday ReCQ at SCG CON Baltimore.

To show which decks are dominating the top tables, I assigned points to each based on its rectified number of net wins, calculated as the number of match wins minus losses, with negative values adjusted to zero. This means that a deck earns more points by both putting more copies into the tournament and converting those entries into match wins. By combining these points across all events, each archetype's share of the total rectified net wins blends popularity and performance into a single, comprehensive metric: the winner's metagame share.

In this table, each archetype name hyperlinks to a top-performing decklist that closely reflects its aggregate build. The "Other" category collects decks with less than one percent winner's metagame share, including Jeskai Lessons, Temur Ferocious, Bant Airbending, Izzet Aggro, Temur Omniscience, Sultai Control, Dimir Control, Orzhov Sacrifice, Jeskai Opus, Jeskai Artifacts, Golgari Midrange, Azorius Prison, and more.

Requiting Hex
Burst Lightning
Opt
Llanowar Elves

The most-played nonland main deck cards were Requiting Hex, Burst Lightning, Opt, and Llanowar Elves. This suggests a reasonable balance between colors and underscores the importance of mana efficiency in Standard. Cards with valuable effects that cost only a single mana are among the cornerstones of the format.

In my previous Standard metagame snapshot from three weeks ago, I provided a format primer on the game plans and key cards of the top decks in the metagame. At the time, Mono-Green Landfall, Dimir Midrange, and Izzet Spellementals together accounted for over half of the winner's metagame. This month, all three have remained top tier, and Izzet Spellementals even surged further ahead in popularity. However, several new contenders have emerged, making the metagame more diverse overall.

Relatively new options like Jund Sacrifice, Boros Dwarves, and Boros Dragons, all bolstered by new additions from Magic: The Gathering® | The Hobbit™, have risen in recent weeks. Meanwhile, mainstays like Four-Color Control, Dimir Excruciator, and Mardu Discard have stuck around at a modest share of the field. As a result, Standard now offers an immense range of viable strategies.

Let's now take a closer look at novel and winning strategies with great recent performances that could catch opponents off guard.

Jund Sacrifice Emerges

1 Forest 4 Blooming Marsh 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Greedy Freebooter 4 Lively Dirge 1 Goldvein Hydra 4 Starting Town 4 Gene Pollinator 4 Biotech Specialist 3 Deadly Precision 4 Obsessive Pursuit 4 The Sackville-Bagginses 4 Umbral Collar Zealot 1 Rottenmouth Viper 3 Blazemire Verge 3 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 2 Mutagen Man, Living Ooze 2 Callous Inspector 2 Tragic Trajectory 3 Duress 2 Shoot the Sheriff 3 Strategic Betrayal 1 Professor Dellian Fel 1 The Ooze 1 Vicious Rivalry 1 Phoenix Fleet Airship 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Urgent Necropsy

Biotech Specialist
The Sackville-Bagginses

Jund Sacrifice was discovered recently and has quickly risen to a whopping 12.2% of the winner's metagame. The list above qualified for a Regional Championship at a 168-player RCQ in Japan, and it's representative of the archetype.

Two of the key cards in the deck are Biotech Specialist and The Sackville-Bagginses. With both creatures on the battlefield, your opponent will lose 3 life for each artifact token you sacrifice. Thanks to a steady supply of artifact tokens from Obsessive Pursuit and other enablers, you can quickly cobble together lethal out of nowhere. If you lack the mana to sacrifice all your Lander or Clue tokens, then Umbral Collar Zealot will happily help out.

Accordingly, this deck can play out as a combo strategy based around this trio of two-drops. Lively Dirge, especially after a few surveils or opposing removal spells, acts as a double tutor that puts both pieces onto the battlefield. This often lets you win on the spot. When playing against the deck, you have to be aware of this potential, as a seemingly innocuous board full of Clues can suddenly represent lethal. This powerful combo angle is particularly strong against Mono-Green Landfall decks that are light on interaction. And if you don't draw the combo pieces, then Obsessive Pursuit can offer a grindy backup plan, which is particularly potent against slower strategies.

While Jund Sacrifice is inherently powerful, there is good counterplay available in Standard. For example, Clarion Conqueror from Boros Dragons and Pinnacle Starcage from Azorius Artifacts can pose significant obstacles for Jund Sacrifice. But if you like solving puzzles where every turn you check whether you have lethal, then Jund Sacrifice may be the deck for you. The Sackville-Bagginses was the key addition from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit that gave the deck the required consistency and redundancy, and it's truly shining here.

Boros Dwarves Marches On

2 Plains 1 Mountain 4 Inspiring Vantage 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Sacred Foundry 2 Basilisk Collar 4 Lavaspur Boots 2 Chainsaw 4 Leyline Axe 4 Sunbillow Verge 4 Dragonfire Blade 1 Giott, King of the Dwarves 1 Iron Man Armor 4 Kíli the Resourceful 4 Dwarven Mauler 4 Thorin, Mountain-king 4 Dáin's Company 3 Dwalin, Weaponmaster 4 The Lonely Mountain 3 Rest in Peace 1 Dawn's Truce 1 Sunspine Lynx 1 Chainsaw 2 Voice of Victory 2 Erode 2 Shattered Acolyte 2 Bofur, Reliable Guardian 1 Mjölnir, Hammer of Thor

Kíli the Resourceful
Leyline Axe

Out of all major archetypes in Standard, Boros Dwarves easily gained the largest number of cards from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit. Over the past few weeks, the deck has established a significant foothold in Standard, with a 6.2% share of the winner's metagame. The representative list above also qualified at that 168-player RCQ in Japan.

The dream draw starts with Leyline Axe in your opening hand, along with Kíli the Resourceful or Thorin, Mountain-king to equip it for free. When the Axe is attached to Dáin's Company, you're attacking with a 3/3 double striking lifelinker, netting a 12-point life swing every turn! With a plethora of delightful Equipment synergies and even The Lonely Mountain providing a Dwarf-creating engine, it's an awesome deck that has steadily proved itself on the competitive stage.

Boros Mobilize Leverages Tokens

4 Inspiring Vantage 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Sunbillow Verge 3 Dalkovan Encampment 2 Fountainport 6 Mountain 4 Stadium Headliner 4 Voice of Victory 4 Belladonna Took 3 Torch the Tower 4 Political Triumph 4 Frontline Rush 4 The Last Ronin's Technique 4 Song of Totentanz 4 Warleader's Call 2 Hop to It 3 Bilbo's Gambit 3 Pyrrhic Strike 2 Rest in Peace 2 Get Lost 2 Lorehold Charm 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer 1 Torch the Tower

Stadium Headliner
Belladonna Took

Another white-red aggro deck, known as Boros Mobilize or Boros Tokens, has also grown into a larger presence in the Standard metagame. It reached three percent of the winner's metagame over the past three weeks. The list above won a 131-player RCQ in Japan last month, and similar builds have continued to put up solid results since then.

While Stadium Headliner, Voice of Victory, and Dalkovan Encampment will steadily mobilize Warrior tokens to help trigger Political Triumph and Warleader's Call, the key new standout card from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit is Belladonna Took. If three tokens enter the battlefield in a single turn, you'll gain 1 life, draw a card, and put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. That's easy to achieve using several mobilize cards. A single copy of Song of Totentanz or The Last Ronin's Technique can also provide all three tokens and unlock the full effect.

Golgari Control Adopts Artificial Demons

5 Swamp 3 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 2 Watery Grave 1 Deathcap Glade 3 Bleachbone Verge 3 Blazemire Verge 2 Restless Cottage 2 Restless Reef 1 Wastewood Verge 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Ba Sing Se 3 Duress 4 Deceit 1 Nowhere to Run 1 Bitter Triumph 4 Firdoch Core 4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber 4 Deadly Cover-Up 3 Requiting Hex 4 Together as One 2 Shoot the Sheriff 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Mazemind Tome 3 Professor Dellian Fel 2 Day of Black Sun 2 Outrageous Robbery 4 Qarsi Revenant 1 Nowhere to Run 1 Duress 1 Vicious Rivalry 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Intimidation Tactics 1 Strategic Betrayal

Unholy Annex [2QH5fJMh6x7SN9X8WW0P9T]
Firdoch Core

Recently, many control decks have adopted the combination of Unholy Annex and Firdoch Core. Since Firdoch Core counts as a Demon, it turns Unholy Annex into a life-draining engine, and opponents can't even use creature removal to stop that combination. Firdoch Core also helps you ramp and fix your mana, most notably for the blue cost of Deceit and/or the converge cost of Together as One. An onslaught of discard spells, spot removal, and sweepers can keep the opponent in check, but Firdoch Core is the glue that holds it all together.

Using the Golgari list above, Mimido Ryuji reached Top 4 at a 77-player RCQ in Japan last weekend. Four-Color Control lists featuring Firdoch Core, Unholy Annex, and Together as One have similarly found success recently. Some of those lists added Dispelling Exhale, taking advantage of the fact that Firdoch Core also counts as a Dragon. All in all, the Changeling artifact enables a diverse array of control strategies.

Goblins Take an RCQ

1 Wildborn Preserver 1 Dwynen's Elite 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler 1 Selfless Safewright 2 Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu 3 Lys Alana Dignitary 3 Champions of the Perfect 3 Elvish Archdruid 4 Virulent Emissary 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Woodland Weavemaster 4 Formidable Speaker 4 Cantankerous Keepers 4 Dawnhand Dissident 1 Swamp 2 Secluded Courtyard 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Elven Passage 4 Eclipsed Realms 6 Forest 1 Reclamation Sage 2 Agatha's Soul Cauldron 4 Nameless Inversion 1 Sentinel of Lost Lore 2 Pawpatch Formation 1 Feral Encounter 1 Mutable Explorer 1 Chomping Changeling 2 Selfless Safewright

Bolg's Company
The Great Goblin

According to decklist aggregator websites, Rakdos Goblins won the 21-player RCQ at Games of Concord. It's great to see an offbeat typal strategy succeed. Surely, the recent addition of Bolg's Company and The Great Goblin from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit has given the archetype a welcome boost.

In its current form, Goblins is an aggressive strategy that benefits from its creatures dying. When a Goblin dies, Boggart Cursecrafter and Boggart Mischief ping the opponent for damage, while The Great Goblin provides card advantage. To enable such deaths, Bolg's Company acts as a sacrifice outlet, and Champion of the Weird similarly lets you blight your own creatures. Tying it all together is Grub's Command, which can expect to hit approximately 2.8 Goblins in your top five cards.

Elves Take an RCQ

1 Wildborn Preserver 1 Dwynen's Elite 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler 1 Selfless Safewright 2 Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu 3 Lys Alana Dignitary 3 Champions of the Perfect 3 Elvish Archdruid 4 Virulent Emissary 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Woodland Weavemaster 4 Formidable Speaker 4 Cantankerous Keepers 4 Dawnhand Dissident 1 Swamp 2 Secluded Courtyard 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Elven Passage 4 Eclipsed Realms 6 Forest 1 Reclamation Sage 2 Agatha's Soul Cauldron 4 Nameless Inversion 1 Sentinel of Lost Lore 2 Pawpatch Formation 1 Feral Encounter 1 Mutable Explorer 1 Chomping Changeling 2 Selfless Safewright

Cantankerous Keepers
Woodland Weavemaster

Continuing with offbeat typal strategies from similarly sourced results, Golgari Elves won a 30-player RCQ at Millennium Games. Cantankerous Keepers and Woodland Weavemaster stood out as valuable new additions from Magic: The Gathering | The Hobbit.

The archetype aims to generate loads of mana through Lys Alana Dignitary, Woodland Weavemaster, and Elvish Archdruid. This mana can fuel explosive turns, during which Champions of the Perfect lets you draw a bunch of cards, while a one-mana Cantankerous Keepers yields an expected 2.6 Elf cards. Ultimately, Formidable Speaker can fetch Tyvar, the Pummeler for the finishing blow. If you like to tap Elves for loads of mana and play multiple creatures in explosive turns, then this deck may be for you!

Orzhov Sacrifice Takes an RCQ

4 Swamp 4 Multiversal Passage 4 Godless Shrine 4 Bleachbone Verge 1 Aang's Iceberg 1 Dusk Rose Reliquary 1 Day of Judgment 1 The Ooze 2 Tolls of War 2 Phoenix Fleet Airship 4 Fanatical Offering 4 Beseech the Mirror 4 Tragic Trajectory 4 Obsessive Pursuit 1 Elegy Acolyte 3 Callous Inspector 4 The Sackville-Bagginses 4 Greedy Freebooter 1 Plains 2 Concealed Courtyard 2 Fountainport 3 Fabled Passage 1 Pyrrhic Strike 3 Voice of Victory 2 Doorkeeper Thrull 2 Seam Rip 2 Strategic Betrayal 1 Ancient Vendetta 1 Duress 1 Get Lost 1 Day of Judgment 1 The Ooze

Beseech the Mirror

While the spotlight has been on Jund Sacrifice as the primary home for The Sackville-Bagginses, the sacrifice plan can also fit into other color pairs and builds. Notably, Freohr went 5-0 at an RCQ at SCG CON Dallas with a white-black list featuring four copies of Beseech the Mirror. Its Bargain cost lets you sacrifice a Clue token for free, triggering various cards along the way, then you'll typically choose between Elegy Acolyte, Day of Judgment, or Phoenix Fleet Airship, depending on what you need most.

Compared to the combo-oriented Jund version, this Orzhov build is a bit more controlling, featuring a larger suite of removal spells. It also features more value-oriented sacrifice payoffs, including Tolls of War and Phoenix Fleet Airship. These two cards work perfectly in tandem: When you sacrifice a permanent during your turn, you'll get both another flying Vehicle and a 1/1 token to crew it. It's great to see these synergies being explored across multiple builds and finding success.

Temur Ferocious Takes an RCQ

1 Hex Magic 2 Spell Pierce 4 Interdimensional Web Watch 4 Devastating Onslaught 4 Michelangelo's Technique 1 Lavaleaper 1 Formidable Speaker 2 Marang River Regent 3 Quantum Riddler 4 Spider Manifestation 4 Outcaster Trailblazer 4 Temur Battlecrier 4 Llanowar Elves 1 Island 1 Stormcarved Coast 1 Riverpyre Verge 1 Willowrush Verge 2 Botanical Sanctum 2 Forest 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Breeding Pool 4 Stomping Ground 4 Starting Town 1 Lake-town Mariners 1 Negate 2 Abrade 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Bolt Bend 2 Into the Flood Maw 2 Ghost Vacuum 2 Fire Magic 1 Spider-Sense 1 Marang River Regent 1 Island

Outcaster Trailblazer
Temur Battlecrier

Finally, I'd like to highlight this spicy Temur Ferocious brew. Hayashi Ryosuke had put up decent results with this version across recent tournaments in Japan, and now Onodera Takumi used it to win a 31-player RCQ. The deck centers around Outcaster Trailblazer and Temur Battlecrier, which reward you for playing lots of 4-power creatures. If you happen to hit one of each with Michelangelo's Technique, then you'll get both card advantage and mana acceleration at once.

The stylish finisher is Devastating Onslaught. Prime targets include Outcaster Trailblazer or Interdimensional Web Watch, and the deck has enough ramp to consistently cast Devastating Onslaught for X=3 by turn five. At that point, three copied Trailblazers would yield three mana, nine cards, and 12 power with haste, while three copies of Web Watches would yield six mana and six cards. With such a resource advantage, overwhelming your opponent becomes easy.

What's Next for Standard?

The current round of Regional Championship Qualifiers features Standard as the designated format for in-store Constructed events. As the deck highlights in this article illustrate, the current Standard metagame is broad and varied. The emergence of Jund Sacrifice shows how the format continues to evolve, while the success of off-meta archetypes demonstrates that experienced pilots can win RCQs with nearly any strategy. This diversity means that you can choose your deck based on familiarity, experience, or simply a fondness for a particular strategy.

If you'd like to put your Standard skills to the test, you can find an RCQ event near you through your local game store or your regional organizer's website. And if your aspirations extend beyond becoming the hero of your local shop, be sure to check out Magic Spotlight: Fracture, a massive open-field Standard tournament taking place at the end of October in Hartford and Beijing. With the upcoming release of Reality Fracture and so much high-level Standard competition on the horizon, the months ahead promise to be an excellent time to explore the format!