A total of 126 Standard decklists were submitted for Magic World Championship 31, with more than half of the field comprised of Izzet Lessons, Temur Otters, Bant Airbending, and Izzet Looting. Each of those archetypes makes strong use of new cards from Magic: The Gathering® | Avatar: The Last Airbender™, but none of them truly break the mold.

The spiciest decks use innovative combinations of cards, introduce a novel archetype, or do something that no one saw coming. In this article, we'll explore seven of the most intriguing Standard decks that caught my attention. Each one showcases clever applications of the new Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender cards and carries real potential to take the title.

Golgari Dragons

4 Swamp 3 Bloomvine Regent 1 Ygra, Eater of All 4 Restless Cottage 4 Shared Roots 1 The Soul Stone 2 Underground Mortuary 4 Scavenger Regent 6 Forest 4 Icetill Explorer 4 Fabled Passage 2 Urgent Necropsy 2 Bitter Triumph 2 Wastewood Verge 2 Ba Sing Se 4 Esper Origins 2 Disruptive Stormbrood 2 Soulstone Sanctuary 4 Caustic Exhale 3 Overlord of the Balemurk 2 Reclamation Sage 3 Torpor Orb 3 Scavenging Ooze 3 Duress 3 Day of Black Sun 1 Ygra, Eater of All

Hall of Fame member Ben Stark was the only competitor brave enough to register Golgari Dragons. At Pro Tour Aetherdrift, he arrived with an unconventional Orzhov Pixie deck, which he piloted to a stellar 8-1-1 finish. Stark watched it evolve into a top-tier Standard deck. When Stark unveils a spicy new deck, it's usually worth a closer look.

Caustic Exhale
Scavenger Regent
Shared Roots

Golgari Dragons capitalizes on Caustic Exhale and Scavenger Regent, which reward a high density of Dragons. Caustic Exhale becomes a one-mana removal spell, while the Adventure half of Scavenger Regent is a board sweeper that conveniently leaves Dragons untouched. To support these payoffs, the deck relies on Bloomvine Regent and Disruptive Stormbrood as additional Dragons.

The list also incorporates a self-mill angle. Icetill Explorer lets you repeatedly replay Fabled Passage, and Esper Origins can be flashed back from the graveyard. Filling the graveyard helps you collect evidence for Urgent Necropsy and ensures a wider variety of creatures to recur with Overlord of the Balemurk.

All this results in a notably mana-hungry strategy. That's where Shared Roots, a key new addition from Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender, becomes incredibly valuable. Rampant Growth effects remains a classic form of acceleration that, unlike Llanowar Elves, cannot be sniped by removal or swept away. With this upgrade, Golgari Dragons emerges as an ambitious Standard contender.

Orzhov Demons

2 Aang's Iceberg 2 Stab 4 Concealed Courtyard 2 Cecil, Dark Knight 2 Seam Rip 7 Swamp 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring 1 Bitter Triumph 4 Bleachbone Verge 4 Shoot the Sheriff 4 Unholy Annex 3 Abandoned Air Temple 2 Elegy Acolyte 2 Elspeth, Storm Slayer 1 Plains 3 Soulstone Sanctuary 4 Demon Wall 4 Preacher of the Schism 4 Deep-Cavern Bat 4 Godless Shrine 4 Doorkeeper Thrull 1 Aang's Iceberg 4 Duress 3 Day of Judgment 1 Day of Black Sun 2 Soul-Guide Lantern

Yuxuan Zhang, fresh off a Regional Championship win in China, was the only competitor to bring a midrange deck built around Unholy Annex, and his list contains plenty of extra spice.

Demon Wall
Aang's Iceberg
Abandoned Air Temple [2UkRsge8BS5FmSEPQwTkCz]

This deck features a balanced mix of removal and creatures, but its best draws curve Demon Wall into Unholy Annex, turning the enchantment into a life-draining powerhouse. Without Demon Wall, you are at risk of losing 2 life every turn, though Soulstone Sanctuary can step in as a backup Demon.

The white splash unlocks a versatile suite of removal spells, including the new Aang's Iceberg. It can cleanly answer opposing permanents or, after paying the waterbend cost, even "blink" one of your own. Resetting an Unholy Annex this way can rescue you from precarious positions.

The real payoff for the splash, however, is access to Elspeth, Storm Slayer's middle ability and the newly printed Abandoned Air Temple. Both place +1/+1 counters on each of your creatures, allowing Preacher of the Schism's lifelinking tokens to dominate a damage race or giving Demon Wall the ability to attack. After all, Demon Wall doesn't care where those counters originate—as long as it has any, it is ready to swing.

Simic Otters

4 Botanical Sanctum 4 Opt 4 Willowrush Verge 2 Elusive Otter 3 Get Out 4 Bushwhack 1 Forest 4 Stormchaser's Talent 3 Valley Floodcaller 4 Boomerang Basics 4 Breeding Pool 4 Island 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Thundertrap Trainer 3 Enduring Vitality 1 Into the Flood Maw 1 Stock Up 4 Splash Portal 4 Quantum Riddler 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Get Out 2 Tishana's Tidebinder 2 Azure Beastbinder 3 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Heritage Reclamation 1 Spell Pierce 1 Negate 2 Octopus Form

Marc Tobiasch has long been known for piloting inventive combo decks of his own unique design, from Storm Herald decks to the Golgari Food list that carried him to victory at the Regional Championship in Lille. This time, he arrived with a carefully crafted Simic Otters deck.

Splash Portal
Quantum Riddler [DcVXPTardYTwehtVUeYxw]
Boomerang Basics

With Enduring Vitality letting your creatures tap for mana and Valley Floodcaller untapping them after each noncreature spell, the deck can effectively storm off. The newly printed Boomerang Basics even unlocks an infinite loop. If your Otters collectively tap for at least three mana, then you can bounce Stormchaser's Talent with Boomerang Basics, replay it, and advance it to its second level to return Boomerang Basics. This six-mana sequence untaps and buffs your creatures twice with Valley Floodcaller, so you can repeat it to win the game in spectacular fashion.

While 20 competitors registered Temur Otters, featuring a red splash for Torch the Tower and Song of Totentanz, Tobiasch was the only combo player to remain firmly in green-blue. This improves the mana base and frees up space for Opt, Splash Portal, and Quantum Riddler to dig for combo pieces more efficiently. Splash Portal can blink a warped Quantum Riddler for immediate board impact or reset a Thundertrap Trainer for extra cards. The end result blends the most potent synergies of Temur Otters and Izzet Prowess into a single cohesive list.

Tobiasch's build also stands out for notable omission: Badgermole Cub. Despite its synergy with Enduring Vitality, it contributes little to the core combo or consistency. Instead, Tobiasch opted for Get Out and Into the Flood Maw as additional interaction to buy time or to control the game after landing an early Quantum Riddler. All told, it's a unique take on the Otters archetype.

Boros Mobilize

4 Firebender Ascension 4 Inspiring Vantage 1 Burst Lightning 4 Hired Claw 4 Torch the Tower 2 Enduring Innocence 4 Mountain 4 Voice of Victory 4 Arabella, Abandoned Doll 4 Delney, Streetwise Lookout 4 Multiversal Passage 1 Restless Bivouac 2 Kellan, Daring Traveler 2 Lightning Helix 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stadium Headliner 2 Plains 2 Clarion Conqueror 4 Sunbillow Verge 2 High Noon 2 Get Lost 2 Pyroclasm 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 3 Doorkeeper Thrull 3 Magebane Lizard 1 Clarion Conqueror

Kristoffer Lindqvist, the winner of Arena Championship 8 , was the only player to bring Boros Mobilize—a distinctive red aggressive strategy. This strategy revolves around Stadium Headliner and Voice of Victory, both of which create temporary 1/1 Warrior tokens whenever they attack. That token production is doubled by Delney, Streetwise Lookout and allows Arabella, Abandoned Doll to unleash enormous drains.

Stadium Headliner
Firebender Ascension
Clarion Conqueror [WfTR3ML8Gl2dTgy3RmYGV]

A major new upgrade from Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender is Firebender Ascension. Mobilize naturally adds quest counters while pushing damage. Once the Ascension reaches four quest counters, every attack trigger is doubled. The 2/2 token with firebending 1 also provides extra mana, which can be spent on casting Torch the Tower or activating Hired Claw.

Lindqvist's list also includes a particularly clever touch: two main-deck copies of Clarion Conqueror. This card is one of the harshest punishments for a turn-two Badgermole Cub, one of the most played newcomers from Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender. With Clarion Conqueror in play, that earthbent land can no longer tap for mana at all! It's a sharp piece of technology that can dramatically shift the matchup against decks like Temur Otters and Simic Ouroboroid.

Golgari Ouroboroid

3 Swamp 2 Lively Dirge 2 Starting Town 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 5 Forest 4 Llanowar Elves 1 Koh, the Face Stealer 4 Badgermole Cub 4 Gene Pollinator 1 Damage Control Crew 4 Nature's Rhythm 4 Blooming Marsh 4 Wastewood Verge 4 Multiversal Passage 3 Shoot the Sheriff 1 Faunsbane Troll 3 Spider Manifestation 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler 2 Deep-Cavern Bat 4 Ouroboroid 3 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Summon: Fenrir 2 Torpor Orb 3 Intimidation Tactics 1 Overlord of the Balemurk 1 Black Cat, Cunning Thief 3 Duress 1 Pawpatch Formation 1 Ba Sing Se 1 Doorkeeper Thrull 1 Gastal Raider

While Simic Ouroboroid remains the most common home for the powerful mana-ramp core of Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, and Badgermole Cub, five members of Team Handshake Moxfield charted a different course: Zevin Faust, Jonny Guttman, Matti Kuisma, Charles Wong, and Karl Sarap all registered Golgari Ouroboroid.

Badgermole Cub [LerH8gGFQprXZ5n6Qbelh]
Ouroboroid [ZMsEG9WvtJQTR1DKRPm2d]
Koh, the Face Stealer [2BeZUL8I44CkB60f8wkcnJ]

Although the shift to black means giving up the raw power of Jacakl, Genius Geneticist, it offers several compelling advantages. Most notably, black offers premium interaction such as Shoot the Sheriff and Deep-Cavern Bat, allowing you to answer troublesome pieces like Clarion Conqueror or an opposing combo linchpin.

Black also offers more reliable access to Ouroboroid itself. Lively Dirge is one of the most efficient tutors in Standard, and Overlord of the Balemurk can help dig for the eponymous creature as well. Nature's Rhythm carries a hefty cost, but with Badgermole Cub fueling your mana, it becomes trivial to cast, and it can find the deck's namesake threat.

Nature's Rhythm also supports a toolbox of utility creatures and finishers. Faunsbane Troll serves as removal, Keen-Eyed Curator shuts down graveyard-based combos, and Koh, the Face Stealer can quickly take over a game. Exile an Ouroboroid, pay 1 life, and suddenly Koh puts six +1/+1 counters on all your creatures!

Mono-Red Aggro

3 Iroh's Demonstration 4 Lightning Strike 2 Shock 3 The Legend of Roku 4 Burnout Bashtronaut 4 Emberheart Challenger 4 Burst Lightning 2 Rockface Village 18 Mountain 3 Zhao, the Moon Slayer 2 Hazoret, Godseeker 4 Hired Claw 2 Soulstone Sanctuary 2 Muraganda Raceway 4 Nova Hellkite 1 Stingerback Terror 1 The Legend of Roku 2 Abrade 2 Pyroclasm 2 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Cut Propulsion 4 Sunspine Lynx 1 Iroh's Demonstration

Mono-Red Aggro is one of the most classic archetypes in Magic history, so the plan of reducing your opponent to zero as quickly as possible with hasty creatures and burn spells is difficult to classify as "spicy." Yet we can always count on William Araujo to introduce fresh twists. The Regional Championship end boss from Brazil brought a red aggro deck to every Pro Tour this season, and his consistent results have put him in the Top 10 of the Player of the Year leaderboard.

Zhao, the Moon Slayer [56vTRvIJ4K53SbwA92YFOx]
The Legend of Roku [6sYsKwIXdDKpy0nrMLzH3P]
Muraganda Raceway

In Araujo's list, two card choices from Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender stand out. First, Zhao, the Moon Slayer brings nonbasic land hate to Standard, slowing opponents in the early game while applying pressure with a difficult-to-block 2/2 body. In the late game, it threatens to set their entire mana base ablaze for seven mana.

Second, The Legend of Roku was already the most-played new-to-Modern card at the recent Regional Championships, and it can make a serious impact on Standard as well. Effectively, it draws four cards: three from the first chapter ability and one from the creature on the back face. It does all of this while refunding you one mana and putting Avatar Roku onto the battlefield for free. If you value Avatar Roku at roughly three mana, you essentially spend four mana, get four back, and gain four cards across the Saga's progression. In long, grindy games, that rate can rival or even surpass the efficiency of Ancestral Recall.

These new tools make this Mono-Red Aggro build more mana-hungry than usual, which is where Muraganda Raceway shines. Supported by Burnout Bashtronaut and Hazoret, Godseeker to start tracking your speed and a constant flow of damage to keep them roaring, the Raceway lets you activate Zhao, the Moon Slayer and utilize The Legend of Roku a full turn earlier. While this deck may struggle against Izzet Lessons, it showcases some genuinely exciting new additions to the Mono-Red Aggro archetype.

Jeskai Control

1 Cori Mountain Monastery 3 Thundering Falls 2 Restless Anchorage 2 Aang, Swift Savior 1 Pyroclasm 1 Aang's Iceberg 1 Demolition Field 4 Floodfarm Verge 3 Get Lost 1 Island 3 Shiko, Paragon of the Way 2 Multiversal Passage 3 No More Lies 2 Day of Judgment 4 Lightning Helix 2 Meticulous Archive 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stock Up 3 Gwen Stacy 1 Plains 3 Spirebluff Canal 1 Essence Scatter 4 The Legend of Kuruk 2 Ultima 3 Sunbillow Verge 2 Negate 1 Essence Scatter 2 Aang's Iceberg 2 Tishana's Tidebinder 1 Unable to Scream 1 Enduring Curiosity 2 Pyroclasm 4 Voice of Victory

While ten players brought Jeskai Control, aiming to control the game through countermagic, removal, and sweepers, the card choices from Team Sanctum of All's Jennifer-Rose Holloway and Casey Miller stood out. Notably, they were the only Jeskai Control players to include Ultima—a powerful sweeper that helps contain the explosive starts from Llanowar Elves and Badgermole Cub, while preventing earthbent lands from returning to the battlefield.

Gwen Stacy
Aang, Swift Savior [4MHvDH5Uzj8CZ6s3ZAkKwa]
The Legend of Kuruk

A major addition from Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender is The Legend of Kuruk, which these players included four copies of. It provides steady card advantage through its first two chapter abilities before transforming into a formidable win condition. Even though the waterbend cost to take an extra turn will typically remain out of reach, Avatar Kuruk can flood the board with Spirit tokens, giving you an incredible return on your four-mana investment.

Meanwhile, Aang, Swift Savior brings interaction and a sizable body in a very efficient package. It can delay the opponent's plans or reset your own permanents. In the late game, if you have seven mana and resolve Shiko, Paragon of the Way, you can grab Aang, Swift Savior from your graveyard, airbend your own Shiko, and replay it. Another sweet interaction involves airbending your own Gwen Stacy—another peculiar inclusion—and then replaying the exiled card as Ghost-Spider for just two mana.

The Standard Rounds Begin!

If you're on the lookout for an exciting new Standard deck to experiment with, any of these seven innovative builds could be the perfect choice. They might just hold the key to victory at Magic World Championship 31. Should they perform well, you can watch them in action during this weekend's livestream!