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. After the exciting Standard rounds at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, the format once again took center stage at last weekend's Regional Championship for South America. The Standard excitement continues this weekend with Arena Championship 11 and the Regional Championships for the United States and Canada set to deliver more high-stakes Standard action.

As Standard is constantly evolving, today's article offers an up-to-date format primer, providing an overview of the top fifteen decks in the current metagame. The overview draws on the results from the South America Regional Championship and the submitted decks for Arena Championship 11. But first, it is time for a well-deserved celebration of our newest Regional Champion.

Joao Quege claimed the title of South America's latest Regional Champion with a dominant run on Boros Dragons. With this breakout finish, Quege earned an invitation to Magic World Championship 32. In addition, the Top 10 players from South America's Regional Championship who had not yet qualified for Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven locked up their spots for that event.

The Standard Metagame and Win Rates

Standard, the rotating 60-card format that currently allows expansion sets from Wilds of Eldraine forward, is one of Magic's premier competitive formats. To sketch a picture of what awaits at the top tables in mid-February 2026, I analyzed the metagame and win rates (in non-mirror, non-bye, non-draw matches) from last weekend's 211-player South America Regional Championship in Santiago. I also incorporated the metagame breakdown for this weekend's Arena Championship 11. While decklists for Arena Championship 11 will appear once the tournament begins, the overall field composition is already known.

The resulting metrics are presented in the table below. Most win rates rest on small sample sizes, often just a few dozen matches per archetype. With so few matches, a handful of fortunate or unlucky draws can skew the numbers dramatically, so no strong conclusions should be drawn from the win rate numbers of the less-popular archetypes.

Even so, based on a combination of these three metrics, I grouped decks into tiers. The classification and naming is somewhat arbitrary and carries no strict mathematical meaning. After all, a deck's position can rapidly shift as the broader metagame adapts. These tiers convey how likely you are, relatively speaking, to encounter each strategy at a top table in mid-February 2026. For each of the fifteen archetypes listed in this table, I will provide a representative, high-performing decklist later in this article.

The "Other" category collects such decks as Gruul Harmonizer, Boros Aggro, Bant Rhythm, Azorius Artifacts, Dimir Deceit, Dimir Control, Izzet Prowess, Selesnya Landfall, Four-Color Elementals, Simic Omniscience, and more.

Since Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, the Standard metagame has shifted with remarkable speed. At that event, decks featuring Badgermole Cub made up a staggering 45% of the field. Yet the Pro Tour is a crucible for innovation, and competitors arrived armed with targeted answers like Dimir Excruciator, Izzet Spellementals, Izzet Elementals, and Temur Harmonizer. The result was decisive. Cub decks managed only a 40% win rate against non-Cub decks at the Pro Tour, and their metagame share shrunk in the weeks that followed. As Badgermole Cub decks declined, so did the prominence of their most effective predators, including Izzet Spellementals and Temur Harmonizer.

At the South America Regional Championship, Badgermole Cub decks fell to 15% of the field. Even more striking was the shift in shell. Mono-Green Landfall, rather than Simic Rhythm, became the card's most visible home. Compared to Simic Rhythm, Mono-Green Landfall is less vulnerable to Sunderflock, relying more heavily on lands, enchantments, and Elementals instead of swarms of mana-generating creatures. Indeed, with a 64.6% win rate across a meaningful sample, Mono-Green Landfall was the best-performing archetype of the weekend. Strong finishes on Magic Online, including a victory in the 200-player Standard Showcase Challenge on February 6, reinforced this impression. Consequently, 21.8% of the Arena Championship 11 field registered Mono-Green Landfall.

Historically, Mono-Green Landfall has struggled against Simic Rhythm and Bant Airbending, which helps explain its near absence at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed. But as those archetypes receded, Mono-Green Landfall found itself ideally positioned. That said, the pendulum continues to swing. Simic Rhythm rebounded to 11.8% of the Arena Championship 11 metagame, and decks featuring at least one copy of Badgermole Cub climbed back to 40% of that tournament's field, up sharply from 15% in Santiago. This vividly demonstrates how quickly Standard is transforming from one weekend to the next.

Players preparing for the Regional Championships in the United States and Canada, also taking place this weekend, must therefore make a careful prediction. Should they anticipate another Cub-heavy field or a renewed wave of anti-Cub strategies? A correct prediction could chart a clear path to success, but the answer remains uncertain. It is also worth noting that, despite some overlapping vulnerabilities, Mono-Green Landfall is less dependent on Badgermole Cub than Simic Rhythm, making it slightly harder to target effectively. In Mono-Green Landfall, Badgermole Cub is simply a good role-player rather than the deck's central pillar.

With that context in place, let's now take a closer look at my top fifteen decks in Standard right now, ordered roughly from most to least likely to appear at the top tables of a major event.

A-Tier: Mono-Green Landfall

3 Promising Vein 1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower 1 Lumbering Worldwagon 4 Earthbender Ascension 3 Mightform Harmonizer 1 Archdruid's Charm 2 Fecund Greenshell 3 Escape Tunnel 4 Sapling Nursery 4 Sazh's Chocobo 3 Ba Sing Se 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Icetill Explorer 1 Mossborn Hydra 4 Badgermole Cub 4 Fabled Passage 14 Forest 3 Origin of Metalbending 4 Meltstrider's Resolve 1 Vivien Reid 1 Pawpatch Formation 3 Torpor Orb 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Mossborn Hydra

Mono-Green Landfall leverages Escape Tunnel and Fabled Passage to generate multiple landfall triggers in a single turn, with Icetill Explorer doubling the rate of land drops. When you do this, Sazh's Chocobo grows to an enormous size and Earthbender Ascension piles on additional +1/+1 counters. Mightform Harmonizer adds yet another dimension to the deck, threatening lethal attacks out of nowhere and forcing opponents to play cautiously. There are also versions of the deck that splash red for Full Bore, white for Get Lost, or black for Bitter Triumph. The streamlined mono-green versions can more reliably speed out Sapling Nursery, letting you flood the board with Treefolk tokens.

Unlike Simic Rhythm, the deck derives most of its mana from lands rather than creatures. That distinction makes Mono-Green Landfall more resilient to Sunderflock. Enchantments like Sapling Nursery or Earthbender Ascension won't get bounced either, and heavy hitters like Fecund Greenshell and Mossborn Hydra are immune to the bounce since they're Elementals.

Mono-Green Landfall posted the strongest win rate at South America's Regional Championship, putting three players in the Top 8, and it stands to be the most popular deck at Arena Championship 11 this weekend. By any reasonable measure, it is one of the defining forces in Standard today.

A-Tier: Izzet Lessons

6 Island 4 Gran-Gran 1 Three Steps Ahead 3 Stormchaser's Talent 3 Boomerang Basics 1 Agna Qel'a 4 Combustion Technique 2 Mountain 1 Spell Snare 1 Multiversal Passage 4 Firebending Lesson 4 Monument to Endurance 4 Accumulate Wisdom 4 Abandon Attachments 2 It'll Quench Ya! 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Artist's Talent 4 Steam Vents 4 Spirebluff Canal 2 Disdainful Stroke 1 Flashfreeze 2 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian 2 Slagstorm 2 Sear 2 Annul 2 Ral, Crackling Wit 1 Quantum Riddler 1 Spell Pierce

Izzet Lessons revolves around a dense suite of Lesson cards, many of them efficient removal spells. That structure makes it easy to put three Lessons in the graveyard, unlocking the deck's true engine. With Gran-Gran on the battlefield, Accumulate Wisdom effectively becomes Ancestral Recall and Combustion Technique begins to resemble Swords to Plowshares. Add in Artist's Talent and Monument to Endurance, and the deck sustains a steady, almost inexhaustible flow of value. Izzet Lessons remains a fixture of the format, representing 12.3% of the field at the South America Regional Championship and an even larger 18.5% for Arena Championship 11.

The main debate centers on Stormchaser's Talent. Should it be included, typically alongside three to four copies of Boomerang Basics, or not? On one hand, Stormchaser's Talent offers a more proactive angle of attack. On the other, the creature token can be underwhelming on its own, and additional interaction may prove more valuable in matchups where Izzet Lessons must assume a controlling role. In Santiago, Adriano Melo played a build featuring Stormchaser's Talent to an 8th-place finish, while Patricio Roman claimed 10th place without Stormchaser's Talent. Both are now qualified for the next Pro Tour. For the upcoming Arena Championship 11, Izzet Lessons decks are split almost evenly between Talent builds and non-Talent builds. For the moment, the question remains unresolved.

B-Tier: Dimir Excruciator

3 Doomsday Excruciator 2 Intimidation Tactics 4 Restless Reef 1 Archenemy's Charm 3 Deadly Cover-Up 4 Deceit 2 Harvester of Misery 2 Winternight Stories 11 Swamp 3 Bitter Triumph 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Superior Spider-Man 1 Undercity Sewers 4 Requiting Hex 3 Stock Up 4 Watery Grave 4 Gloomlake Verge 3 Insatiable Avarice 1 Harvester of Misery 4 Duress 1 Cruelclaw's Heist 2 Shoot the Sheriff 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 3 Quantum Riddler 1 Outrageous Robbery 1 Riverchurn Monument 1 Negate

Dimir Excruciator, the deck that won Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed in the hands of Christoffer Larsen, is built around the devastating potential of Doomsday Excruciator. As the Pro Tour's elimination rounds made clear, it's one of the best ways to defeat the anti-Cub decks. After exiling both libraries down to six cards, a single attack with Restless Reef or an Insatiable Avarice targeting the opponent is usually enough to force a fatal draw from an empty library. Those cards can be tucked on the bottom with Stock Up beforehand, ensuring the endgame unfolds exactly as planned. Superior Spider-Man plays a crucial setup role in the deck as a four-mana way to get the "if you cast it" triggers from Deceit or Doomsday Excruciator.

At South America's Regional Championship, Dimir Excruciator comprised 10.9% of the field, and both Victor Santos Esquici and Guilherme Merjam secured Pro Tour invites with the deck. For the upcoming Arena Championship 11, it's the fourth most played archetype at 6.7% of the field.

B-Tier: Dimir Midrange

2 Floodpits Drowner 4 Swamp 4 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares 1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian 1 Starting Town 1 Phantom Interference 2 Cecil, Dark Knight 2 Restless Reef 1 Fountainport 4 Island 2 Spell Snare 3 Multiversal Passage 2 Bitter Triumph 4 Enduring Curiosity 2 Shoot the Sheriff 2 Requiting Hex 3 Tishana's Tidebinder 4 Azure Beastbinder 4 Watery Grave 3 Spyglass Siren 1 Soulstone Sanctuary 3 Deep-Cavern Bat 4 Gloomlake Verge 1 Flitterwing Nuisance 1 Entropic Battlecruiser 2 Disdainful Stroke 1 Vren, the Relentless 1 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator 1 Ghost Vacuum 1 The Unagi of Kyoshi Island 2 Duress 1 Tragic Trajectory 2 Day of Black Sun 2 Annul 1 Soul-Guide Lantern

Dimir Midrange disrupts opponents with a mix of removal, discard, and countermagic while pressuring them with cheap, evasive creatures. Once Enduring Curiosity hits the board, those creatures can refill your hand, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares provides additional card advantage. The deck picked up a few small upgrades from Lorwyn Eclipsed such as Flitterwing Nuisance, Requiting Hex, and Spell Snare, typically as one-of or two-of inclusions.

At the South America Regional Championship, Dimir Midrange was the most played deck archetype at 13.3% of the field. Carlos Torrico earned a Pro Tour invite with an unconventional build featuring Azure Beastbinder over the more customary Floodpits Drowner, a reminder that there's always room for personal tweaks. While Dimir Midrange remains one of the more prominent Standard strategies on Magic Online, it's only 3.4% of the metagame for Arena Championship 11, so its positioning in the broader Standard metagame remains in flux.

B-Tier: Simic Rhythm

1 Craterhoof Behemoth 1 Reclamation Sage 2 Oko, Lorwyn Liege 4 Willowrush Verge 4 Botanical Sanctum 2 Spider-Sense 2 Mockingbird 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 6 Forest 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Badgermole Cub 4 Gene Pollinator 4 Breeding Pool 4 Nature's Rhythm 4 Multiversal Passage 1 Marang River Regent 4 Spider Manifestation 2 Ouroboroid 2 Formidable Speaker 4 Quantum Riddler 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 1 Into the Flood Maw 1 Vivien Reid 3 Unable to Scream 1 Ba Sing Se 1 Spider-Sense 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Heritage Reclamation

Simic Rhythm heavily relies on the mana acceleration from Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, Spider Manifestation, and Badgermole Cub to quickly flood the battlefield with cheap creatures while ramping toward a game-ending payoff. A turn-three Ouroboroid can quickly scale the board's power to astronomical heights, but the best draws are even more spectacular. With the right draw, you can generate ten mana by turn three, allowing Nature's Rhythm to fetch a game-ending Craterhoof Behemoth as early as the third turn.

Its metagame share tells a story of constant motion. After standing as the most popular deck at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, Simic Rhythm dropped to just 3.8% of the metagame in Santiago, only to rebound to 11.8% for Arena Championship 11. The tide may be turning again as the archetype has traditionally enjoyed a favorable matchup against Mono-Green Landfall. Interestingly, the best-performing list from the South America Regional Championship opted for Oko, Lorwyn Liege in the main deck. Though far from a universal inclusion, Oko can blunt Sunderflock by turning one of your own creatures into an Elemental. Bant variants also exist, preserving the same explosive foundation while splashing white for Brightglass Gearhulk, which can fetch a variety of one-mana interactive tools.

B-Tier: Azorius Tempo

4 High Noon 4 Floodpits Drowner 1 Restless Anchorage 4 Aang, Swift Savior 2 Avatar's Wrath 4 Starting Town 4 Aven Interrupter 1 Get Lost 3 Seam Rip 4 Floodfarm Verge 4 Hallowed Fountain 3 Island 2 Multiversal Passage 2 No More Lies 2 Spell Snare 4 Voice of Victory 2 Enduring Curiosity 2 Abandoned Air Temple 5 Plains 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer 2 Ajani, Outland Chaperone 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Glen Elendra Guardian 1 Requisition Raid 1 Rest in Peace 1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian 1 Seam Rip 2 Tishana's Tidebinder 2 Avatar's Wrath 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Clarion Conqueror

At Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, Zevin Faust showed that Azorius Tempo was more than a fringe option, posting an impressive 9-1 record in the Standard rounds. Since then, the deck has steadily gained traction, and Rodrigo Pinheiro carried an updated build to the Top 4 at the South America Regional Championship. Compared to Faust's build, Pinheiro's version favors Ajani, Outland Chaperone and Elspeth, Storm Slayer over Enduring Innocence in the main deck.

At its core, Azorius Tempo revolves around Aven Interrupter; Aang, Swift Savior; and Avatar's Wrath to stall the opponent's development. From there, it leverages High Noon to ensure that plotted or airbent spells cannot be replayed as quickly as their owner would like. Meanwhile, Floodpits Drowner stuns opposing creatures, all letting you play a strong tempo game.

C-Tier: Boros Dragons

4 Momo, Friendly Flier 4 Maelstrom of the Spirit Dragon 3 Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest 4 Inspiring Vantage 4 Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant 4 Burst Lightning 2 Get Lost 2 Mountain 2 Twinmaw Stormbrood 4 Voice of Victory 2 Cavern of Souls 4 Multiversal Passage 1 Spectacular Tactics 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Clarion Conqueror 4 Magmatic Hellkite 4 Nova Hellkite 4 Sunbillow Verge 3 Requisition Raid 1 Get Lost 2 The Legend of Roku 1 Spectacular Tactics 2 Pyroclasm 3 Rest in Peace 3 Doorkeeper Thrull

Boros Dragons is only a small slice of the metagame, but it took the trophy at last weekend's South America Regional Championship. Crushing Mono-Green Landfall in both the semifinals and the finals, Joao Quege showed that Clarion Conqueror is one of the best ways to stop an opposing Llanowar Elves. Clarion Conqueror also turns earthbent lands into useless bricks, making it one of the best ways to punish opponents for playing Badgermole Cub.

This deck can deploy Clarion Conqueror as early as turn two with Momo, Friendly Flier, and the three-drop conveniently counts as a Dragon for Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant. In a list loaded with a double-digit number of flying Dragons, both Momo and Sarkhan provide formidable early-game starts. In the late game, Maelstrom of the Spirit Dragon provides access to another threat or answer, ensuring the deck has powerful plays throughout.

C-Tier: Izzet Elementals

1 Cori Mountain Monastery 3 Sunderflock 1 Thundering Falls 4 Vibrance 4 Bounce Off 4 Starting Town 1 Restless Vinestalk 4 Wistfulness 4 Deceit 4 Winternight Stories 2 Breeding Pool 4 Eclipsed Realms 4 Flamebraider 1 Island 4 Ashling, Rekindled 4 Cavern of Souls 1 Pit of Offerings 2 Spirebluff Canal 4 Steam Vents 4 Roaming Throne 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Sear 2 Spell Snare 2 Pyroclasm 2 Flashfreeze 2 Heritage Reclamation 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Sunderflock

Izzet Elements leverages Flamebraider and Ashling, Rekindled to ramp into powerful evoke Elementals, while Roaming Throne doubles their triggers for maximum impact. The off-color costs on cards like Vibrance, Deceit, and Wistfulness are easily met with two-drop mana accelerants and flexible five-color lands such as Cavern of Souls. The evoke Elementals help you deploy Sunderflock, which can sweep the opponent's whole board. Llanowar Elves, Badgermole Cub, and even earthbent lands provide a swing of mana that often proves game-ending.

There are also three-color, four-color, or five-color variants of the deck, distinguished by the nonhybrid spells each list includes. Regardless of the exact configuration, Sunderflock remains an excellent tool against Badgermole Cub decks.

C-Tier: Izzet Spellelementals

4 Sunderflock 6 Island 4 Eddymurk Crab 4 Opt 4 Burst Lightning 2 Spider-Sense 1 Bounce Off 4 Winternight Stories 2 Multiversal Passage 1 Spell Pierce 1 Into the Flood Maw 3 Spell Snare 4 Hearth Elemental 2 Abandon Attachments 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Steam Vents 4 Spirebluff Canal 1 Glacial Dragonhunt 4 Sleight of Hand 1 Broadside Barrage 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Flashfreeze 1 Get Out 2 Hydro-Man, Fluid Felon 2 Annul 1 Abrade 1 Glacial Dragonhunt 2 Pyroclasm 1 Ral, Crackling Wit 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Negate

Izzet Spellementals is built around a high density of cheap instants and sorceries that draw cards, interact early, and stock the graveyard for Eddymurk Crab and Hearth Elemental. Because both creatures are Elementals, they can reduce the cost of Sunderflock to just two or three mana, allowing you to reset the opponent's board and decisively swing the game.

Designed by The Boulder, an influential new team, Izzet Spellementals had an extremely high win rate against Badgermole Cub decks at the Pro Tour, though it fared less well against the rest of the field. As such, it's an excellent choice if the metagame is filled with Simic Rhythm, but it may struggle when facing decks like Izzet Lessons.

C-Tier: Mono-Red Aggro

2 Sear 3 Shock 4 Burnout Bashtronaut 4 Burst Lightning 4 Hexing Squelcher 20 Mountain 3 Zhao, the Moon Slayer 4 Hired Claw 4 Soulstone Sanctuary 2 Tersa Lightshatter 4 Nova Hellkite 4 Sunspine Lynx 2 Lightning Strike 2 Sear 4 Magebane Lizard 2 The Legend of Roku 1 Cut Propulsion 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 3 Twisted Fealty 2 Ghost Vacuum

The classic formula of cheap, hasty threats backed by burn spells never goes out of style. Mono-Red Aggro aims to win as fast as possible, relying on Hired Claw, Nova Hellkite, and Burst Lightning to rapidly reduce the opponent's life total to zero.

There are various ways to build the deck. Some versions use Fanatical Firebrand, Razorkin Needlehead, and Scalding Viper to create synergies with Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might. The highest-placing version at South America's Regional Championship, however, favored Burnout Bashtronaut; Hexing Squelcher; Zhao, the Moon Slayer; and Sunspine Lynx to fill its creature curve and punish greedy mana bases. Boros Aggro variants also exist, splashing for Boros Charm and Lightning Helix to gain additional reach. Regardless of the version, one thing is certain: your life total will be under constant attack.

D-Tier: Rakdos Monument

3 Swamp 4 Iron-Shield Elf 3 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun 4 Starting Town 3 Mountain 4 Multiversal Passage 4 Monument to Endurance 4 Moonshadow 2 Bitter Triumph 4 Marauding Mako 2 Requiting Hex 4 Blazemire Verge 4 Bloodghast 4 Flamewake Phoenix 2 Tersa Lightshatter 1 Restless Vents 4 Blood Crypt 4 Bloodthorn Flail 1 Requiting Hex 2 Duress 2 Shoot the Sheriff 2 Pyroclasm 3 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Case of the Crimson Pulse 3 Sunspine Lynx

The final five decks in this overview, including Rakdos Monument, fall into the lowest tier, primarily due to small metagame representation and/or lackluster performances. Rakdos Monument centers around a dense package of discard effects to exploit Monument to Endurance. Each discard also fuels Marauding Mako; Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; and often Moonshadow to generate bigger creatures and incremental value along the way.

With Iron-Shield Elf and Bloodthorn Flail serving as effective discard outlets, the deck can rack up multiple triggers early. And sometimes, a card is better in your graveyard than in your hand. Flamewake Phoenix and Bloodghast are the perfect discard fodder, reinforcing the deck's aggressive yet grindy game plan. The result is a tightly woven list full of overlapping synergies.

D-Tier: Jeskai Control

1 Cori Mountain Monastery 1 Elegant Parlor 2 Mistrise Village 1 Thundering Falls 4 Consult the Star Charts 4 Floodfarm Verge 2 Seam Rip 3 Hallowed Fountain 3 Get Lost 3 Jeskai Revelation 1 Unravel 1 Island 3 Day of Judgment 1 Sear 4 No More Lies 1 Cursed Recording 2 Marang River Regent 1 The Unagi of Kyoshi Island 4 Lightning Helix 2 Sacred Foundry 1 Meticulous Archive 1 Tishana's Tidebinder 3 Stock Up 2 Riverpyre Verge 1 Plains 4 Steam Vents 1 Fire Magic 3 Sunbillow Verge 2 Abrade 1 Torpor Orb 1 Tishana's Tidebinder 2 Spell Snare 2 Annul 3 Rest in Peace 1 Negate 3 Voice of Victory

Jeskai Control is a classic control strategy that aims to dictate the pace of the game through countermagic, removal, sweepers, and card-draw effects. The typical win condition is Jeskai Revelation. Some Jeskai Control versions adopt main deck copies of Rest in Peace to weaken graveyard-reliant cards like Accumulate Wisdom and Superior Spider-Man, while others prefer to keep Rest in Peace in the sideboard.

Jeskai Control is traditionally weak against Mono-Green Landfall, as the combination of Icetill Explorer and Sapling Nursery can be difficult to overcome. As a result, Jeskai Control is currently somewhat poorly positioned in Standard.

D-Tier: Bant Airbending

3 Interdimensional Web Watch 4 Aang, Swift Savior 4 Temple Garden 3 Seam Rip 4 Floodfarm Verge 4 Llanowar Elves 3 Hallowed Fountain 2 Badgermole Cub 4 Aang, at the Crossroads 4 Bramble Familiar 3 Breeding Pool 3 Airbender Ascension 1 Multiversal Passage 4 Hushwood Verge 2 Kutzil's Flanker 3 Meticulous Archive 4 Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius 1 Plains 4 Appa, Steadfast Guardian 1 Seam Rip 2 Bovine Intervention 1 Aven Interrupter 2 Oko, Lorwyn Liege 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring 1 Chomping Changeling 1 Cavern of Souls 2 Spider-Sense 2 Avatar's Wrath 2 Rest in Peace

Bant Airbending uses its namesake mechanic to remove opposing permanents for tempo or to reset its own creatures for fresh value. Appa, Steadfast Guardian and Aang, Swift Savior form the backbone of the strategy. Alongside Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius, they can airbend each other endlessly to create infinite Ally tokens.

With Interdimensional Web Watch in play, the infinite loop can produce vast amounts of mana and card advantage. It's technically limited by deck size but still overwhelming. Infinite airbending also combines with Badgermole Cub, letting you create an infinitely large land creature with haste.

D-Tier: Temur Harmonizer

1 Willowrush Verge 2 Earthbender Ascension 1 Thunder Magic 2 Forest 2 Spider-Sense 3 Burst Lightning 3 Starting Town 4 Consult the Star Charts 1 Analyze the Pollen 1 Wistfulness 3 Icetill Explorer 4 Fabled Passage 3 Island 3 Mountain 2 Spell Snare 2 Thornspire Verge 1 Into the Flood Maw 3 Sear 2 Ba Sing Se 4 Mightform Harmonizer 4 Stock Up 3 Escape Tunnel 2 Steam Vents 4 Full Bore 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Essence Scatter 1 Sear 2 Spell Pierce 3 Pyroclasm 2 Heritage Reclamation 1 Quantum Riddler 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Sandman, Shifting Scoundrel 1 Songcrafter Mage

Temur Harmonizer can win the game as early as turn four. The sequence begins by spending three mana to warp Mightform Harmonizer, then playing Fabled Passage to put a power-doubling trigger on the stack. Next, sacrifice Fabled Passage to fetch a Mountain, creating a second landfall trigger. With that trigger on the stack, cast Full Bore, making the Harmonizer to a 7-power creature with trample and haste. When both power-doubling triggers resolve, Mightform Harmonizer swells into a 28-power attacker that's ready to charge in for the win.

The deck relies on Consult the Star Charts and Stock Up to assemble its combo, all while backed by a tight package of cheap interactive spells. Temur Harmonizer excelled against Badgermole Cub decks at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, with Toni Portalan piloting it to a 2nd-place finish. It was an amazing deck choice for that weekend. However, as Badgermole Cub decks have waned and instant-speed removal has became more common, Temur Harmonizer's performance has started to falter.

D-Tier: Sultai Reanimator

1 Swamp 1 Willowrush Verge 1 Underground Mortuary 2 Town Greeter 2 Harvester of Misery 3 Wistfulness 4 Deceit 4 Bringer of the Last Gift 3 Awaken the Honored Dead 3 Breeding Pool 2 Ardyn, the Usurper 4 Superior Spider-Man 2 Cavern of Souls 4 Wastewood Verge 1 Marang River Regent 1 Undercity Sewers 2 Bitter Triumph 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Requiting Hex 4 Watery Grave 4 Gloomlake Verge 3 Formidable Speaker 3 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Strategic Betrayal 1 Essence Scatter 2 Intimidation Tactics 1 Oko, Lorwyn Liege 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Duress 1 Urgent Necropsy 2 Glarb, Calamity's Augur 1 Wistfulness 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Outrageous Robbery 1 Zero Point Ballad

Sultai Reanimator is a graveyard-centric combo deck that intends to fill the graveyard while digging for Superior Spider-Man, which can enter as a copy of Bringer of the Last Gift to effectively end the game on the spot.

Even with potent upgrades from Lorwyn Eclipsed, such as Formidable Speaker, Deceit, and Wistfulness, Sultai Reanimator has struggled in a metagame where Soul-Guide Lantern is the most played sideboard card. Over the past month, it has posted consistently weak win rates. Yet it might be poised to strike if graveyard hate disappears from the format.

Three Premier Standard Events This Weekend

While we're in the middle of a simultaneous Standard RC and Standard RCQ round, this coming weekend promises an onslaught of high-level Standard competition, complete with live-streamed coverage.

THIS WEEKEND! ✨

SCG CON makes its way to Milwaukee Feb. 20–22, featuring the Magic Regional Championship! 🏆

With 24 Last Chance Qualifiers on Friday, it's not too late to play in the main event!⚔️

Make plans to join us at #SCGMILWAUKEE! 🔻

🔗https://t.co/9LoaMOivw2 pic.twitter.com/i0D6wNLLx7

— Star City Games (@StarCityGames) February 16, 2026

The MTG Regional Championship is THIS weekend in Vancouver Feb 20-22 🙌 We look forward to seeing you all there 😃💫 https://t.co/ukWdKLxgZj

Le championnat régional de MTG, c’est CE week-end à Vancouver, du 20 au 22 février. On a hâte de vous voir en grand nombre!… pic.twitter.com/mrWuCG1v2r

— Face to Face Games (@FaceToFaceGames) February 16, 2026

Beyond these high-stakes Regional Championships, MTG Arena's pinnacle event is also taking place. At Arena Championship 11, 119 competitors will battle for their share of a $250,000 prize pool, sixteen coveted Pro Tour qualifications, and two prestigious invitations to Magic World Championship 32.

The list of qualified players for Arena Championship 11 is packed with Pro Tour champions, World Champions, and Top 8 veterans from premier events, including Arne Huschenbeth, Christoffer Larsen, Autumn Burchett, Andrew Cuneo, Seth Manfield, Shahar Shenhar, Mike Sigrist, and Shota Yasooka. This sets the stage for a masterclass in high-level Standard gameplay, streamed live starting at 9 a.m. PT each day, February 21–22, at twitch.tv/magic.

With Arena Championship 11 and two Regional Championships running concurrently, Standard is in for a rigorous test this weekend. I can't wait to see which decks rise to the top and how the metagame continues to evolve.