4 Great Standard Decks for Non-standard Mana Play
Magic has dabbled with many ways to create alternative resources for casting spells that don’t have to do with directly paying mana. Ramping, of course, is a thing. But the ones that stick (ones that don’t become overpowered) often create a nice balance between build-up/pay-off and fulfilling reasonable conditions. “Promo-eligible discounts”, as one might say.
If the taste of current Standard meta is getting a little stale for you, we suggest trying out these brews. Decide which payment plan would be more favorable to bear the right fruits of your mana income.
Tezzeret & Urza’s Artifact Control
This deck is a bit more conservative towards mana cost reduction/circumvention than others in this list. But it does it more efficiently on specific cards such as Thran Spider
and Surge Engine
, and especially Reckoner Bankbuster
. In rare situations, March of Otherworldly Light
might even chip in for discounted removal, in case multiple Bankbusters and Tezzeret are filling your hand too much during both your and your opponent's turns.
Oh and, while not the focus of the deck, you can also occasionally spook opponents with a four-mana-discount Urza, Planeswalker
from time to time… for even more artifact discounts!
Featured cards:
Tezzeret & Urza's Artifact Control
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
Lands - 26
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
Lands - 26
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
| Creature (11) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $8.00€7.15 | |||
| $6.74 | |||
| $1.07 | |||
| $0.25€0.150.01 | |||
| $0.44 | |||
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (17) | |||
| $4.62 | |||
| $4.77 | |||
| $1.08€1.495.19 | |||
| $1.09€1.451.02 | |||
|
3
Farewell
|
$5.50€5.183.94 | ||
| $0.65 | |||
| Planeswalker (6) | |||
| Land (26) | |||
|
7
Plains
|
$0.32€0.150.04 | ||
| $7.87€7.100.81 | |||
| $4.00 | |||
| $18.04€17.254.24 | |||
|
2
Island
|
$0.42€0.060.03 | ||
| $11.07 | |||
| $0.40€0.190.02 | |||
Sultai Multiverse
If you’re more into the classic zero mana cost endgame style, then this deck might be worth checking out. Removal runs the flavor of Cut Down
for early game, then Invoke Despair
and Portal to Phyrexia
for mid and late game. Until then, survive with cards like Joint Exploration
and Cartographer's Survey
. After that, One with the Multiverse
should become the primary win condition, though any of the multi-advantage sorceries will also do if Farewell
becomes too troublesome.
Featured cards:
Sultai multiverse
Main 60 cards (24 distinct)
Lands - 26
Main 60 cards (24 distinct)
Lands - 26
Main 60 cards (24 distinct)
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (32) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $6.00 | |||
| $0.63 | |||
| $0.61€0.710.02 | |||
| $1.60 | |||
| $0.34€0.180.02 | |||
| $0.20€0.060.03 | |||
| $34.07 | |||
| $0.99€0.880.03 | |||
|
3
Cut Down
|
|||
| $0.15€0.090.01 | |||
| $3.22 | |||
| Creature (2) | |||
| $2.97 | |||
| Land (26) | |||
| $9.31 | |||
| $3.90 | |||
| $4.38 | |||
| $2.00 | |||
| $4.89 | |||
| $6.10€5.060.27 | |||
|
2
Island
|
$0.42€0.060.03 | ||
|
3
Swamp
|
$0.97€0.590.04 | ||
|
2
Forest
|
$0.67€0.160.04 | ||
| $18.04€17.254.24 | |||
| $41.80 | |||
| $0.19€0.060.03 | |||
Chaotic Transformation Standard
The basic idea for this deck is to use Chaotic Transformation
, sacrificing transformed enchantments, as well as creature and Treasure tokens to always hit Titan of Industry
and Portal to Phyrexia (with a bonus recurring saga if there is a remaining enchantment target). The Weatherseed Treaty
also unintentionally adds another mana discount-themed card with its Domain ability.
But even without its main trick, its individual components alone can be surprisingly resilient as the sagas, transformed or not, can complement each other fairly well. Just be aware that if you choose an enchantment creature for Chaotic Transformation, you might end up missing a Titan of Industry drop if the first card that pops up is another saga.
Featured cards:
Chaotic Transformation
Main 61 cards (25 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 61 cards (25 distinct)
Lands - 25
Main 61 cards (25 distinct)
| Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (33) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.32€1.020.01 | |||
| $0.40 | |||
|
3
Cut Down
|
|||
| $9.99€13.3312.04 | |||
| $0.99€0.880.03 | |||
| $34.07 | |||
| $0.35 | |||
| $1.30€1.230.02 | |||
| $1.21€1.420.01 | |||
| $0.25€0.130.02 | |||
| $1.59€1.600.02 | |||
| Creature (3) | |||
| $2.97 | |||
| Land (25) | |||
| $41.80 | |||
| $9.31 | |||
|
3
Forest
|
$0.67€0.160.04 | ||
| $6.30 | |||
| $7.04€4.421.68 | |||
| $3.90 | |||
|
2
Mountain
|
$0.39€0.060.03 | ||
| $3.40 | |||
| $2.05€3.161.58 | |||
| $4.73€3.350.83 | |||
|
1
Swamp
|
$0.97€0.590.04 | ||
| $7.90€8.260.72 | |||
| $7.86 | |||
Naya Domain Aggro
Domain has always been an interesting combination with New Capenna triomes, as you can otherwise hit big effects with very little mana investment. Of course, Domain isn’t restricted to mana reduction, so cards like Gaea’s Might can equally surprise opponents with sudden, low-mana moves that rip any intended board advantage to pieces. Furthermore, since the intention is to strike fast and hard anyway, the deck also splashes Angelfire Ignition
, Lightning Strike
, and even a surprise Fleetfoot Dancer
for the uninitiated.
Pierce through far and wide, and burn the opponent’s last few life points.
Featured cards:
Naya Domain Aggro
Main 60 cards (24 distinct)
Lands - 22
Main 60 cards (24 distinct)
Lands - 22
About ChrisCee:
A witness since the time the benevolent silver planeswalker first left Dominaria, ChrisCee has since went back and forth on a number of plane-shattering incidents to oversee the current state of the Multiverse.
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