[Top 10] MTG Best Standard Decks (August 2021)

Magic the Gathering is the most popular competitive trading card game in the world, with a constantly shifting meta. New decks are constantly popping up, requiring serious standard players to constantly be aware of the best new strategy. This article will take you through the 10 best MTG standard decks as of August 2021

Magic the Gathering is the most popular competitive trading card game in the world, with a constantly shifting meta. New decks are constantly popping up, requiring serious standard players to constantly be aware of the best new strategy. This article will take you through the 10 best MTG standard decks as of August 2021

10. Sultai Ultimatum

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This deck focuses around ramping out hard to play Sultai Ultimatum as soon as possible, at which point you get the three most powerful cards in your deck and force your opponent to pick their own poison

What’s Good About Sultai Ultimatum:

• Filled with some amazing control pieces such as counterspells, removal, and draw spells to keep you going while you hunt for Sultai Ultimatum
• Emphasizes cheating out amazing cards for free such as Vorinclex, Kiora Bests the Sea God, Professor Onyx, and many more

How Sultai Ultimatum Is Played:

• You’ll want to use some of the many ramp spells like Cultivate that are in the deck, as well as the many control pieces, to both get you to the mana you need to cast the ultimatum while keeping your opponent from getting too strong while you're digging for it. Once the ultimatum resolves, the game is pretty much over

  Cards:

1 The Tarrasque

1 Elder Gargaroth

1 Valki, God of Lies

1 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

2 Negate

2 Eureka Moment

2 Eliminate

3 Heartless Act

3 Jwari Disruption

3 Mystical Dispute

1 Shadows' Verdict

2 Alrund's Epiphany

2 Extinction Event

2 Sea Gate Restoration

4 Emergent Ultimatum

4 Cultivate

1 Kiora Bests the Sea God

1 Elspeth's Nightmare

2 Shark Typhoon

4 Binding the Old Gods

4 Wolfwillow Haven

4 Omen of the Sea

1 Professor Onyx

1 Temple of Mystery

1 Castle Vantress

1 Ketria Triome

1 Castle Locthwain

1 Temple of Malady

2 Barkchannel Pathway

2 Clearwater Pathway

2 Swamp

2 Temple of Deceit

3 Zagoth Triome

3 Island

3 Forest

3 Fabled Passage

4 Darkbore Pathway

 

1 Koma, Cosmos Serpent

1 Woe Strider

1 Negate

1 Eliminate

1 Elspeth's Nightmare

1 Polukranos, Unchained

1 Yorion, Sky Nomad

1 Massacre Wurm

2 Test of Talents

2 Lash of Malice

3 Duress

 

9. Red Deck Wins

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A classic mono-red aggro deck, this deck aims to hit hard and win fast

What's Good About Red Deck Wins:

• Red decks have always been fairly simple to pilot while still being competitively viable, meaning that this is a great deck for a beginner player
• This deck may be simple to pilot but it’s very effective, if your opponent has little to no removal they’ll soon find themselves swarmed with goblin tokens and damage amplifiers

How Red Deck Wins Is Played:

• You’ll look to keep a hand with at least one burn spell like Shock and at least one damage amplifier like Torbran. This means you’ll already be able to do ¼ of your opponents health, making it much easier to draw the remainder of the damage you’ll need

Cards:

1 Shatterskull Charger

1 Tectonic Giant

1 Goblin Javelineer

2 Rimrock Knight

2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

2 Fireblade Charger

4 Hall Monitor

4 Robber of the Rich

4 Bonecrusher Giant

4 Anax, Hardened in the Forge

4 Fervent Champion

2 Embercleave

1 Shock

3 Frost Bite

1 Wish

1 Castle Embereth

4 Mountain

19 Snow-Covered Mountain

 

1 Grotag Night-Runner

1 Soul Sear

1 Illuminate History

2 Claim the Firstborn

2 Rimrock Knight

3 Scorching Dragonfire

3 Embereth Shieldbreaker

 

8. Izzet Gold

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This deck aims to create a ton of mana from Treasures in order to pump Inferno of the Star Mounts to the point where it can automatically kill your opponent

What's Good About Izzet Gold:

• Allows you to do some of the coolest things in Magic: Cast big spells and play huge creatures

How Izzet Gold Is Played:

• Use a combination of card draw spells, artifacts, and Galazeth Prismari to be able to play Inferno of the Star Mounts and put enough mana into his ability to win the gameCards:

2 Inferno of the Star Mounts

3 Galazeth Prismari

4 Goldspan Dragon

4 Bonecrusher Giant

4 Brazen Borrower

4 Mazemind Tome

2 Saw It Coming

4 Unexpected Windfall

4 Dragon's Fire

2 Magic Missile

2 Alrund's Epiphany

2 Den of the Bugbear

2 Hall of Storm Giants

4 Riverglide Pathway

4 Fabled Passage

6 Mountain

7 Island

 

1 The Akroan War

1 Test of Talents

1 Disdainful Stroke

1 Negate

1 Shadowspear

2 Mystical Dispute

2 Phoenix of Ash

3 Burning Hands

3 Redcap Melee

 

7. Naya Adventures

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This midrange deck aims to use the new Class cards as support for an aggro creature deck

What's Good About Naya Adventures:

• One of the first decks to combine the beloved archetype of beating face with some of the great cards from the new set

How Naya Adventures is Played:

• You’re going to look to swarm the board early with some cheap creatures, and then use effects like Ranger Class to pump them up to be huge threats

Cards:

2 Giant Killer

2 Monk of the Open Hand

4 Edgewall Innkeeper

4 Lovestruck Beast

4 Bonecrusher Giant

4 Jaspera Sentinel

4 Werewolf Pack Leader

2 Kabira Takedown

2 Paladin Class

4 Showdown of the Skalds

4 Ranger Class

1 Lair of the Hydra

2 Plains

2 Mountain

3 Forest

4 Needleverge Pathway

4 Branchloft Pathway

4 Cragcrown Pathway

4 Fabled Passage

 

1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets

2 Reidane, God of the Worthy

2 Drannith Magistrate

2 Glass Casket

2 Redcap Melee

3 Burning Hands

3 Gemrazer

 

6. Jeskai Cycling 

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Jeskai Cycling looks to abuse the Cycling mechanic, with a ton of great payoff cards

What’s Good About Jeskai Cycling:

• Because Cycling is closely tied to card draw, this deck also has a ton of card draw synergies, which is extremely fun
• There are a ton of impactful Cycling payoff cards, such as Zenith Flare and Valiant Rescuer

How Jeskai Cycling Is Played:

• You’ll look to use cycling to churn through your deck as fast as possible to find more Cycling cards, all the while you have something like an Irencrag Pyromancer or Valiant Rescuer on the field to gain you additional value

Cards: 

4 Valiant Rescuer

4 Irencrag Pyromancer

4 Flourishing Fox

4 Drannith Stinger

1 Shredded Sails

4 Startling Development

4 Zenith Flare

4 Boon of the Wish-Giver

4 Go for Blood

4 Improbable Alliance

4 Footfall Crater

1 Plains

1 Mountain

1 Island

4 Riverglide Pathway

4 Raugrin Triome

4 Needleverge Pathway

4 Hengegate Pathway

1 Test of Talents

1 Soul-Guide Lantern

1 Negate

1 Banishing Light

2 Mystical Dispute

3 Redcap Melee

3 Disdainful Stroke

3 Glass Casket

 

5. Dimir Rogues

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Dimir Rogues looks to take advantage of the mill synergies rogues got in Zendikar Rising to obliterate their opponent's deck

What’s Good About Dimir Rogues:

• This is also a control deck, with plenty of counterspells and removal to make sure you're safe while you're milling
• The ample amount of mill synergies introduced in recent sets make this deck a serious threat if it can get even one or two rogues out

  How Dimir Rogues Is Played:

• It’s very integral to keep at least one or two mill pieces in your opening hand to make sure you can start milling as soon as possible

Cards:

4 Merfolk Windrobber

4 Ruin Crab

4 Soaring Thought-Thief

4 Thieves' Guild Enforcer

1 Mystical Dispute

1 Disdainful Stroke

1 Didn't Say Please

4 Drown in the Loch

4 Heartless Act

4 Into the Story

2 Agadeem's Awakening

3 Of One Mind

1 Castle Locthwain

3 Swamp

3 Temple of Deceit

3 Zagoth Triome

4 Clearwater Pathway

4 Fabled Passage

6 Island 

1 Test of Talents

1 Disdainful Stroke

1 Mystical Dispute

1 Dead Weight

1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

1 Extinction Event

2 Cling to Dust

2 Crippling Fear

2 Epic Downfall

3 Skyclave Shade

 

4. Gruul Aggro

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This newest iteration of a classic archetype looks to use the new Dungeon mechanic to supply extra value while beating in with massive creatures

What’s Good About Gruul Aggro:

• Uses the Dungeon mechanic to supply a lot of versatile value as you’re playing

How Gruul Aggro Is Played:

• Puts down a ton of creatures and give them massive buffs
• Uses aggro cards that revolve around venturing through the dungeon to provide extra support and value

Cards:

2 Varis, Silverymoon Ranger

3 Jaspera Sentinel

3 Rimrock Knight

4 Goldspan Dragon

4 Lovestruck Beast

4 Edgewall Innkeeper

4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw

4 Bonecrusher Giant

2 Embercleave

2 Esika's Chariot

2 Kazuul's Fury

3 Shatterskull Smashing

1 Garruk's Uprising

1 Ellywick Tumblestrum

1 Garruk, Unleashed

1 Hall of Oracles

2 Mountain

3 Riverglide Pathway

4 Barkchannel Pathway

4 Cragcrown Pathway

6 Snow-Covered Forest

1 Frost Bite

1 The Akroan War

1 Snakeskin Veil

2 Ox of Agonas

2 Elder Gargaroth

2 Masked Vandal

2 Disdainful Stroke

4 Redcap Melee

 

3. Rakdos Midrange

Rakdos Midrange works to strip value from your opponents while using sacrifice effects to advance your own board

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What Makes Rakdos Midrange Good:

• Using cards like Kroxa to strip cards from your opponents
• Uses huge beaters to close out the game after denying your opponent their cards

How Rakdos Midrange Is Played:

• A combination of removal, resource denial, and big stompy creatures all come together to chive victory

Cards:

1 Murderous Rider

2 Ebondeath, Dracolich

2 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

2 Bonecrusher Giant

3 Immersturm Predator

4 Woe Strider

4 Shambling Ghast

1 Heartless Act

2 Deadly Dispute

3 Village Rites

4 Power Word Kill

1 Feed the Swarm

2 Pelakka Predation

4 Claim the Firstborn

2 The Akroan War

1 Field of Ruin

2 Den of the Bugbear

2 Castle Locthwain

2 Fabled Passage

3 Mountain

4 Temple of Malice

4 Blightstep Pathway

5 Swamp

1 Go Blank

1 Cleansing Wildfire

1 Ox of Agonas

1 Erebos's Intervention

2 Shredded Sails

2 Pharika's Libation

2 Valki, God of Lies

2 Baleful Mastery

3 Skyclave Shade

 

2. Boros Aggro

This deck is built primarily around Winota, and using her ability to completely smother your opponents in value 

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What Makes Boros Aggro Good:

• Focuses around cheating out huge beaters for completely free, which is extremely powerful

How Boros Aggro Is Played:

• The main goal is to get Winota out as soon as possible, at which point you’ll be able to start cheating out stuff for free and just snowball the game from there

Cards:

1 Kenrith, the Returned King

1 Igneous Cur

2 Alpine Watchdog

2 Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate

2 Akoum Hellhound

3 Bolt Hound

4 Pack Leader

4 Selfless Savior

4 Winota, Joiner of Forces

4 Loyal Warhound

4 Blade Historian

4 Alpine Houndmaster

2 Disdainful Stroke

1 Castle Embereth

4 Needleverge Pathway

4 Riverglide Pathway

4 Hengegate Pathway

5 Mountain

5 Plains

1 Island

1 Reidane, God of the Worthy

1 Elite Spellbinder

1 Skyclave Apparition

1 Bonecrusher Giant

2 Redcap Melee

2 Ox of Agonas

2 Giant Killer

2 Disdainful Stroke

2 Cleansing Wildfire

 

1. Mardu Midrange

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This aristocrats deck looks to gain value by sacrificing your own creatures for massive value

What’s Good About Mardu Midrange:

• Has a ton of different payoff effects for sacrificing your own creatures, such as the drain effects from Warlock Class and Bastion of Remembrance

How Mardu Midrange Is Played:

• It’s good to start by playing cards like Woe Strider to generate tokens, which you can then sacrifice with a drain effect on the board to whittle your opponents down

Cards:

3 Grim Wanderer

3 Extus, Oriq Overlord

4 Woe Strider

1 Power Word Kill

4 Deadly Dispute

4 Village Rites

4 Forbidden Friendship

4 Claim the Firstborn

4 Warlock Class

4 Bastion of Remembrance

2 Lolth, Spider Queen

2 Mountain

2 Fabled Passage

3 Swamp

4 Savai Triome

4 Needleverge Pathway

4 Brightclimb Pathway

4 Blightstep Pathway

2 Bonecrusher Giant

2 Check for Traps

2 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

2 Rip Apart

2 Power Word Kill

2 Duress

3 The Akroan War

There are always new decks rotating in and out of favor and I hope this article helped you find a fantastic new deck to play 

Also Be Sure To Read:

• [Top 10] MTG Best Standard Decks
• [Top 15] MTG Most Expensive Red Cards
• [Top 15] MTG Most Expensive Blue Cards
•  
• [Top 15] MTG Most Expensive Green Cards
• [Top 15] MTG Most Expensive Black Cards
• [Top 15] MtG Best Equipment Cards
•  
• [Top 15] MtG Best Counterspells
• [Top 15] MtG best Planeswalkers
• [Top 15] MtG Best Commanders