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. The Standard round of Regional Championship Qualifiers (RCQs) is in full swing across the globe, and on January 4–5, 2025, the Standard format will at the center of the first-ever Magic Spotlight Series, held at SCG CON Atlanta.
Magic Spotlight Series events are multi-day events that offer a direct path to the Pro Tour. Each of the eight Spotlight Series events in 2025 will feature a flagship two-day open tournament that awards eight Pro Tour invitations, special promos, and $50,000 in prizes. Each event will also spotlight a specific theme, and Atlanta's event is all about Magic: The Gathering Foundations, kicking off this new program and the new era of Standard. Fitting with this theme, the champion will not only walk away with the trophy and the first-place prize of $10,000, but they'll also receive a full Play Booster box case of every Standard-legal Magic release in 2025!
What Standard decks can we expect to see at Magic Spotlight: Foundations? To answer that, this article will dive into the results from major Standard tournaments held earlier this month. By examining the evolving metagame and the standout strategies, I'll highlight the top ten decks that we'll likely see in Atlanta.
Standard in December 2024
Standard is a rotating 60-card format that currently includes expansion sets from Dominaria United to Magic: The Gathering Foundations. To get a metagame snapshot, I analyzed all published decklists from Magic Online Challenges held from December 1-15, all decklists from the Standard $5K RCQ at MXP Houston, all decklists from Arena Championship 7, and the Top 8 decks from the RCQ at Magic Ítaca, the RCQ at Playtime Merate, the 29th God of Standard, and the RCQ at Hareruya Kichijoji.
Out of these events, Arena Championship 7 was by far the most prestigious, offering $250,000 in prizes to an ultra-exclusive field. After two hard-fought days of Standard, both finalists—Keisuke Sato on Gruul Aggro and Mikko Airaksinenon Dimir Midrange—secured their invitations to Magic World Championship 31. In the end, Keisuke Sato emerged victorious.
To get a metagame snapshot, I assigned points for each Standard deck in my data set based on its rectified net wins—calculated as the number of match wins minus losses, with negative values treated as zero. By combining these points across all events, with Arena Championship 7 counted twice due to its importance, each archetype's share of the total rectified net wins can be interpreted as the winner's metagame share. This comprehensively blends both popularity and performance.
In this table, each archetype name hyperlinks to a well-performing, representative decklist. The "Other" category encompasses a diverse array of strategies, including Azorius Enchantments, Dimir Demons, Rakdos Sacrifice, Azorius Aggro, Azorius Tokens, Boros Mice, Boros Discover, Mono-Black Demons, Golgari Ramp, and many others. This broad mix of archetypes reflects the depth of the current Standard environment.
Compared to my metagame snapshot from November, Dimir Midrange has become more dominant. The rise of Dimir Midrange has led to the emergence of decks that match up favorably against it, such as Jeskai Convoke and Simic Terror. Meanwhile, decks that struggle against Dimir Midrange, such as Golgari Midrange, have been trending down, which in turn has paved the way for the return of Gruul Aggro.
At Arena Championship 7, the most common deck choices were Dimir Midrange and Gruul Aggro. Jeskai Convoke, despite being played by only 3 out of 48 players, put two pilots into the Top 8. While the sample size isn't large, that's still a great performance.
So, Dimir Midrange is the prime deck to beat, and the top three decks—Dimir Midrange, Gruul Aggro, and Jeskai Convoke—represent the top tier of the metagame right now. All of these decks are beatable, but you need to have solid plans against them.
There's more to Standard than just these three top-tier decks, though. Many archetypes are competitively viable, and there may be many diamonds in the rough. To take a closer look at the most prominent decks, I used a decklist aggregation algorithm that factors in the popularity, performance, and synergy of individual card choices.
1. Dimir Midrange
4 Swamp
4 Faerie Mastermind
4 Gloomlake Verge
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Underground River
4 Go for the Throat
4 Island
4 Enduring Curiosity
4 Spyglass Siren
4 Floodpits Drowner
4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares [bGPbmuxtex3AmlffwZUqv]
3 Cut Down
3 Soulstone Sanctuary
2 Restless Reef
2 Anoint with Affliction
2 Tishana's Tidebinder
2 Spell Stutter
1 Mockingbird
1 Phantom Interference
2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
2 Negate
2 Gix's Command
2 Duress
2 Preacher of the Schism
1 Tishana's Tidebinder
1 Ghost Vacuum
1 Cut Down
1 Blot Out
1 Anoint with Affliction
Magic World Championship 30 saw the initial rise of Dimir Midrange, also known as Dimir Curiosity, and the deck has continued to dominate Standard. At an incredible 27.8% of the winner's metagame in early December, it's clearly the main deck to defeat in Standard right now.
Dimir Midrange's well-rounded strategy seeks to disrupt opponents with an efficient mix of removal and countermagic, applying pressure through cheap, evasive creatures. Once Enduring Curiosity is in play, your suite of one-mana and two-mana fliers will refill your hand, maintaining a steady flow of resources. Thanks to its versatile interaction, Dimir Midrange has a solid plan against virtually every deck in the field. It even has the ability to pivot to a control-based plan if needed. However, it can struggle against token-based strategies or decks with large creatures that circumvent Cut Down or Anoint with Affliction. Ways to block small fliers—Leering Onlooker, Broodspinner, or The Swarmweaver—might also prove effective.
Dimir Midrange's card choices have evolved over the past month. Compared to the aggregate list from November, more recent versions have replaced Deep-Cavern Bat and Preacher of the Schism with Spell Stutter, Floodpits Drowner, and Tishana's Tidebinder, enabling more instant-speed gameplay. Floodpits Drowner is also a great ninjitsu enabler for Kaito, Bane of Nightmare, and most players have started run four copies of the planeswalker. Although the deck doesn't run any Ninjas aside from Soulstone Sanctuary, Kaito can easily run away with the game.
A more innovative option is Faebloom Trick, as seen in Mikko Airaksinen's second-place deck from Arena Championship 7. The two Faeries enable Enduring Curiosity or trade effectively with an opposing Faerie Mastermind or Floodpits Drowner. Although Faebloom Trick was not prominent enough to make it into the aggregate list shown above, I expect it to become more commonplace due to its value in the mirror match. However, these adjustments may weaken the archetype. As Dimir Midrange players seek to improve in the mirror match, they get worse in other matchups, thereby allowing the metagame to evolve.
2. Jeskai Convoke
4 Spyglass Siren
4 Novice Inspector
4 Warden of the Inner Sky
4 Resolute Reinforcements
4 Imodane's Recruiter
4 Knight-Errant of Eos
4 Gleeful Demolition
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Case of the Gateway Express
3 Adarkar Wastes
3 Sheltered by Ghosts
2 Shivan Reef
2 Clockwork Percussionist
1 Plains
1 Mockingbird
4 Protect the Negotiators
4 Torch the Tower
2 Destroy Evil
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Lithomantic Barrage
1 Sheltered by Ghosts
Jeskai Convoke can curve Novice Inspector or Spyglass Siren into Gleeful Demolition, allowing you to convoke out Knight-Errant of Eos as soon as turn two. This provides card advantage while establishing board presence. This can be followed up by Imodane's Recruiter and unleash a significant surge of damage. Additional payoffs like Case of the Gateway Express and Warden of the Inner Sky reward you for flooding the board with tokens.
This deck splashes for blue to run Spyglass Siren, providing additional fodder for Gleeful Demolition. The blue splash also unlocks Protect the Negotiators from the sideboard, which answers sweepers and adds to the deck's versatility. An interesting additional option, seen in Kazuhiko Hasegawa third-place deck from Arena Championship 7, is to run Mockingbird. Copying Novice Inspector, Spyglass Siren, or Resolute Reinforcements floods the battlefield even more effectively.
At the moment, the metagame is defined by spot removal, with cards like Cut Down, Go for the Throat, and Torch the Tower seeing play. Sweepers like Sunfall, Temporary Lockdown, or Pyroclasm are far less popular. This is great news for a go-wide strategy like this one. Since most of its cards put multiple permanents onto the battlefield, spot removal is easy to shrug off. With a 10.2% share of the winner's metagame over the past two weeks, Jeskai Convoke should not be underestimated.
3. Gruul Aggro
6 Mountain
4 Thornspire Verge
4 Heartfire Hero
4 Burst Lightning
4 Emberheart Challenger
4 Manifold Mouse
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Screaming Nemesis
4 Monstrous Rage
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Hired Claw
3 Rockface Village
2 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Questing Druid
2 Innkeeper's Talent
1 Restless Ridgeline
1 Snakeskin Veil
1 Lightning Strike
1 Witchstalker Frenzy
4 Pawpatch Formation
3 Urabrask's Forge
2 Torch the Tower
2 Lithomantic Barrage
2 Scorching Shot
1 Questing Druid
1 Obliterating Bolt
Gruul Aggro, with an 8.4% share of the winner's metagame, excels at blisteringly fast kills and synergizes with valiant abilities. As opposed to Gruul Prowess, Gruul Aggro chooses raw aggression over prowess synergies, with Hired Claw replacing Monastery Swiftspear. The deck uses Screaming Nemesis and friends over pump-spell synergies based around Might of the Meek and/or Leyline of Resonance. This newest version of Gruul plays like a traditional aggro deck, thriving on relentless pressure with aggressive creatures and burn spells. While Gruul Prowess variants are still around in smaller numbers, they are losing traction in a metagame filled with instant-speed removal.
The most important addition from Foundations is Burst Lightning. Its flexibility as early-game removal and a late-game finisher makes for a significant upgrade over Shock. There's not a lot of life gain being played in Standard right now, and a hand full of burn spells can easily take out an opponent.
The deck's green splash is minimal, allowing for a few copies of Questing Druid and Innkeeper's Talent in the main deck and Pawpatch Formation in the sideboard. Thanks to Thornspire Verge, Copperline Gorge, and Karplusan Forest, there's a low cost of inclusion for these versatile cards.
4. Golgari Midrange
5 Swamp
5 Forest
4 Mosswood Dreadknight
4 Go for the Throat
4 Restless Cottage
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber
3 Glissa Sunslayer
3 Cut Down
2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
2 Soulstone Sanctuary
2 Preacher of the Schism
2 Anoint with Affliction
2 Sentinel of the Nameless City
2 Archfiend of the Dross
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Fountainport
1 Duress
3 Duress
2 Tear Asunder
2 Tranquil Frillback
2 Choking Miasma
1 Gix's Command
1 Cut Down
1 Vivien Reid
1 Nissa, Ascended Animist
1 Thrun, Breaker of Silence
1 Blot Out
Golgari Midrange was 7.7% of the winner's metagame over the past two weeks, but it's trending down as it struggles against Dimir Midrange. As a result, it didn't perform well in Arena Championship 7. Nevertheless, Golgari Midrange matches up well against Gruul Aggro and uses a curated collection of the most powerful cards in black and green. Complementing the deck's efficient interaction, Mosswood Dreadknight, Glissa Sunslayer, and Restless Cottage provide a fast, resilient clock to close out the game.
The most significant addition from Foundations is Llanowar Elves, one of the most iconic and efficient mana producers in Magic's history. Largely replacing Duress in the main deck, Llanowar Elves enables explosive starts by letting you cast Glissa Sunslayer or Unholy Annex as early as turn two.
Unholy Annex has become a pivotal piece of the deck, even as many Golgari players have moved away from the full Demons package. Cards like Archfiend of the Dross are getting shaved as most Dimir Midrange players have adopted Floodpits Drowner to counteract these stompy Demons. Nevertheless, Soulstone Sanctuary counts as a Demon, so this new Foundations land can still turn Unholy Annex into a life-draining powerhouse.
5. Mono-Red Aggro
17 Mountain
4 Burst Lightning
4 Emberheart Challenger
4 Heartfire Hero
4 Hired Claw
4 Lightning Strike
4 Manifold Mouse
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Monstrous Rage
4 Rockface Village
4 Screaming Nemesis
3 Witchstalker Frenzy
4 Torch the Tower
3 Urabrask's Forge
3 Twisted Fealty
3 Sunspine Lynx
2 Lithomantic Barrage
Mono-Red Aggro is effectively a Gruul Aggro deck without the green splash. This deck boasts a smoother and less painful mana base, running more copies of Rockface Village to target your Mice and Lizards. In place of Gruul's green cards, Mono-Red includes extra copies of Monastery Swiftspear, Lightning Strike, and Witchstalker Frenzy, giving the deck a lot of explosive firepower.
Witchstalker Frenzy works phenomenaly with Screaming Nemesis. If the battlefield gets clogged with blockers, you can target your own Screaming Nemesis with Frenzy, dealing 5 damage to your opponent. This effectively transforms Witchstalker Frenzy into a Lava Axe. With these key synergizes at play, Mono-Red Aggro is even more burn-centric than Gruul.
6. Zur Overlords
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Get Lost
4 Leyline Binding
4 Lush Portico
4 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
4 Up the Beanstalk
4 Zur, Eternal Schemer
3 Hushwood Verge
3 Overlord of the Mistmoors
3 Plains
3 Overlord of the Floodpits
2 Forest
2 Hedge Maze
2 Floodfarm Verge
2 Sunfall
2 Shadowy Backstreet
2 Meticulous Archive
2 Split Up
2 Herd Migration
2 Elspeth's Smite
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Authority of the Consuls
2 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Elspeth's Smite
2 Pawpatch Formation
1 Doppelgang
1 Nissa, Ascended Animist
1 Split Up
Zur Overlords is essentially the evolution of Domain Ramp. After the cycle of Overlords were introduced in Duskmourn: House of Horror, many Domain Ramp decks started to include Zur, Eternal Schemer to animate them into lifelinking threats with devastating attack triggers. For example, Overlord of the Hauntwoods can be cast on turn three, triggering Up the Beanstalk and enabling full domain for Leyline Binding right away. On turn four, you have five mana to cast and activate Zur right away, allowing you to attack with the Overlord for massive value.
Since the deck's game plan no longer revolves around traditional Domain Ramp staples like Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Herd Migration; or Sunfall, I've relabeled the archetype as Zur Overlords. It still has a formidable array of cards that allow it to outpace most decks in the late game.
7. Temur Otters
4 This Town Ain't Big Enough
4 Enduring Vitality
4 Stormchaser's Talent
4 Thundertrap Trainer
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Torch the Tower
3 Valley Floodcaller
3 Bushwhack
3 Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna
3 Analyze the Pollen
2 Song of Totentanz
2 Forest
2 Island
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Up the Beanstalk
2 Fabled Passage
2 Questing Druid
1 Mountain
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Tarnation Vista
1 Bitter Reunion
1 Pawpatch Formation
1 Spirebluff Canal
3 Pawpatch Formation
2 Ghost Vacuum
2 Negate
2 Scorching Dragonfire
2 Floodpits Drowner
1 Pyroclasm
1 Ral, Crackling Wit
1 Dissection Tools
1 Aegis Turtle
Temur Otters, also known as Temur Prowess, was the biggest surprise coming out of Magic World Championship 30. Team Sanctum of All, known for their boundary-pushing strategies, brought this inventive deck centered around Valley Floodcaller and Enduring Vitality. With its explosive turns, it's an excellent choice for combo enthusiasts.
The deck's combo is complex but powerful. With at least three mana-generating Otters and an enchantment like Up the Beanstalk, you can create an infinite loop. First, bounce Stormchaser's Talent and Up the Beanstalk with This Town Ain't Big Enough, then replay both enchantments. Next, advance Stormchaser's Talent to level , and return This Town Ain't Big Enough to hand. This loop costs nine mana and allows Valley Floodcaller to untap your creatures three times. With just three Otters, it can be repeated indefinitely, growing your creatures to infinite power.
8. Boros Aggro
6 Mountain
4 Emberheart Challenger
4 Heartfire Hero
4 Hired Claw
4 Manifold Mouse
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Helix
4 Monstrous Rage
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Inspiring Vantage
3 Shardmage's Rescue
3 Restless Bivouac
2 Screaming Nemesis
2 Sheltered by Ghosts
2 Plains
2 Rockface Village
2 Boros Charm
1 Mabel, Heir to Cragflame
1 Raucous Carnival
4 Destroy Evil
3 Torch the Tower
3 Urabrask's Forge
2 Rest in Peace
1 Sheltered by Ghosts
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Exorcise
Boros Aggro has many cards in common with Gruul Aggro and Mono-Red Aggro. All of these decks share a similar core: Heartfire Hero and Hired Claw on turn one, then Emberheart Challenger and Manifold Mouse, then Monstrous Rage and Burst Lightning for interaction and raw damage.
The advantage of Boros Aggro is Shardmage's Rescue, Sheltered by Ghosts, and Boros Charm. These cards provide flexible ways to control the battlefield, protect your creatures, and win damage races. White also offers Mabel, Heir to Cragflame and potent sideboard options. There's even the potential for an infinite combo: If you control two copies of Screaming Nemesis, grant one lifelink with Sheltered by Ghosts, then use Boros Charm to give your creatures indestructible, each Nemesis can ping the other indefinitely. This results in infinite life. While it's unlikely that this will define the deck's performance, it's important to note when discussing the deck.
The main downside compared to a green splash is in the mana base. There is no red-white equivalent of Thornspire Verge, meaning the deck resorts to less appealing options like Raucous Carnival and Restless Bivouac. As a result, Boros Aggro is less prominent than Gruul Aggro. Nevertheless, the white cards are quite powerful. Additionally, more synergy-driven builds, such as Boros Burn with Boltwave or Boros Enchantments with Optimistic Scavenger, hold a small portion of the metagame as well. So, if you face Inspiring Vantage, be aware of the many different decks it could entail.
9. Simic Terror
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Seed of Hope
4 Cache Grab
4 Bushwhack
4 Up the Beanstalk
4 This Town Ain't Big Enough
4 Stormchaser's Talent
4 Eddymurk Crab
4 Tolarian Terror
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Gloomlake Verge
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Hedge Maze
3 Rona's Vortex
2 Island
2 Unsummon
2 Analyze the Pollen
1 Forest
3 Nowhere to Run
2 Negate
2 Pawpatch Formation
2 Ghost Vacuum
2 Tear Asunder
1 Pick Your Poison
1 Minor Misstep
1 Swamp
1 Go for the Throat
Simic Terror is an innovative strategy named after Tolarian Terror, its namesake card. Eddymurk Crab fills a similar role. Both creatures trigger Up the Beanstalk when cast and can have their cost reduced by filling the graveyard with Sleight of Hand, Seed of Hope, and Cache Grab. Meanwhile, the deck's bounce spells, including Rona's Vortex, Unsummon, and This Town Ain't Big Enough, can provide crucial tempo advantages.
After sideboarding, the deck can utilize a minor black splash through Bushwhack and Analzye the Pollen. However, I define the colors of a deck based on the cards in their main deck. The deck can struggle against Lithomatic Barrage, adding to an already difficult matchup against the red aggro decks, but many believe this archetype is favored against Dimir Midrange. As that's the most played deck by far, Simic Terror looks well-positioned in today's Standard metagame.
10. Mono-White Tokens
18 Plains
4 Caretaker's Talent
4 Enduring Innocence
4 Fountainport
4 Get Lost
4 Lay Down Arms
4 Sunfall
4 Beza, the Bounding Spring
4 Carrot Cake
3 Sunken Citadel
2 Soul Partition
2 Overlord of the Mistmoors
2 Virtue of Loyalty
1 Archangel Elspeth
4 Elspeth's Smite
3 Exorcise
3 Authority of the Consuls
3 Rest in Peace
1 Split Up
1 Boon-Bringer Valkyrie
Mono-White Tokens, also referred to as Mono-White Caretaker, excels at dismantling creature-based strategies by using Lay Down Arms and Sunfall. This deck controls the board with cheap removal and powerful sweepers to buy time, eventually capitalizing on token synergies.
Caretaker's Talent is the linchpin of the deckdeck, drawing a card off each Carrot Cake trigger. Its second ability can copy a token, and its final stage turns tiny Rabbits or Fish into formidable creatures. Caretaker's Talent even allows you to draw cards from Sunfall, overwhelming your opponent with card advantage. It acts as a card advantage engine, token enabler, and win condition. That's a lot for a single card. Enduring Innocence also synergizes with Carrot Cake to maintain a steady flow of cards. This looks to be the primary control deck in the current Standard metagame.
Looking ahead — Magic Spotlight: Foundations
In two weeks from now, the new year will kick off with the highly anticipated Magic Spotlight: Foundations. This event, which takes place at SCG CON Atlanta from January 3–5, 2025, will celebrate Foundations Standard and mark the debut for the Magic Spotlight Series.
While Magic Spotlight Series events also feature side events, vendors, special guests, and more, the key attraction for competitive players will be the two-day open main event. Acting as tabletop's fast lane towards the Pro Tour, anyone can register and compete for the eight invitations to Pro Tour Aetherdrift. And let's not forget the exclusive promos, $50,000 prize pool, and Standard Play Booster box cases for a year for the winner!
These harken back to Grand Prix events and are exciting to players like myself. Spotlight Series events are open to everyone eligible to participate, , draw players from a wide geographical region, and reward top performers with direct access to the Pro Tour. For those who can't attend Magic Spotlight: Foundations, there will be live broadcasts by Star City Games on their YouTube and Twitch channels. Their amazing commentary team will make sure you won't miss any of the action.
Standard at Magic Spotlight: Foundations, just like Arena Championship 7, looks poised to be a showdown between Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Emberheart Challenger. However, I expect that Jeskai Convoke to be well-positioned, and there are plenty of off-meta decks that could attack the format from unexpected angles. I can't wait to see how it shakes out.
Thank you for reading, best wishes for the new year, and I look forward to continuing to cover Magic's metagame in 2025!
