Quick Links
With the release of Bloomburrow,Magic: The Gathering’s Standard format will be rotating. Standard only allows cards from the premiere sets from the last three years. 2024’s rotation will be the first rotation since the shift from a two-year rotation to three, cracking the meta wide open as many decks will lose their key cards.
This year’s Standard rotation sees Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, and Streets of New Capenna leaving the format, with everything from Dominara United beyond legal. The decks included here are ones that are losing little to nothing from rotation and will still be playable at (mostly) the same power level.
Meta Decks Rotating Out
With the 2024 Standard rotation, many of thetop decks will be leaving the format. Some lose their entire engines, causing the deck to no longer function, while others, while still playable, become considerably weaker with the cards they’re losing.
Azorius Controlis one of the biggest losers. The loss ofThe Wandering EmperorandMemory Delugehurt the deck significantly. The deck no longer has a comeback mechanic with the lifegain and surprise exile The Wandering Emperor provides, and Memory Deluge cuts back on its ability to generate card advantage to keep your hand full of counterspells and removal.
TheWorldsoul Rampdeck is losing all theNew Capenna fetchlandsthat gain one life and put a basic on the battlefield. While these are the only cards most builds play that are rotating, it’s enough to throw it out of the meta. While playable with fetchlands likeEvolving WildsandFabled Passage, not having the lifegain gets rid of its comeback factor, making it significantly weaker against aggro decks to the point it’s not worth playing.
Esper Midrangeis losing the most cards, with one of the best decks in Standard no longer functional in its build. LosingDennick, Pious Apprentice, Raffine, Scheming Seer,andWedding Announcementare big blows to the deck, getting rid of both its lifegain and card advantage engines. While more control-esque builds may be playable, the build utilizing Legends is a thing of the past.
The other biggest loser of rotation isDomain Ramp. The loss ofTopiary Stomperwould already be a big blow, but losing all theNew Capenna Triomesis the nail in the coffin. While these are the only cards rotating from the deck, it makesLeyline Bindingsignificantly weaker as it becomes much harder to have all five land types on turn two, making its removal suite much worse.
x2 Liliana of the Veil
x3 Preacher of the Schism
x2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
x3 Duress
x2 Go for the Throat
x5 Forest
x4 Restless Cottage
x7 Swamp
Golgari (black/green) Midrangeis a deck that’s only losing the landDeathcap GladeandGraveyard Trespasserin rotation, but all of its key cards remain. As such, it’s the perfect choice for a deck for the 2024 Standard (and if you played it before, you won’t have to obtain any new cards).
The deck is focused ongetting creatures onto the battlefield earlythat slow your opponent down and let you chip away at your opponent’s life total. Itplays a suite of removal spellsto help keep the battlefield clear of any threats that are hindering your progress.
Most of thenon-removal spells help you draw cardsto keep your hand full, ensuring you always have an answer to whatever your opponent may be doing.
x4 Terror of the Peaks
x3 Glimpse the Core
x1 Map the Frontier
x6 Forest
x5 Mountain
x2 Restless Ridgeline
Smuggler’s Surpriseis the namesake of the deck, with the goal of cheating two high-mana creatures onto the battlefield directly for six mana.It’s a ramp deck, utilizing cards likeGlimpse the CoreandMap the Frontierto get as much lands onto the battlefield as possible so you have the mana for Smuggler’s Surprise.
The deck is losing out onTopiary Stomperin rotation, which is a blow to the deck, losing a solid creature and ramp tool. However,Bramble Familiarcan slot in for a nice replacement, giving you a mana dork. Alternatively, though not used in this particular decklist, you can also tryInvasion of Zendikar,but this won’t give you a creature to block with if need be.
The creatures you bring out are generally Dinosaurs with useful effects, many of which bring out other cards with them.Trumpeting Carnosaurdiscovers five, andEtali, Primal Conquerorwill cast something off your opponent’s decks. The rest of the cards benefit from creatures with four or more power entering the battlefield, which almost the entire deck has.
Gruul (red/green) Surprise is great once it gets going. However, due to many of the cards' high casting cost, it is susceptible to aggro decks and can struggle against them. It does pair great against midrange decks, though.
x4 Audacity
x4 Brushland
x2 Cavern of Souls
x2 Forest
x3 Mirrex
x3 Plains
x4 Razorverge Thicket
x4 The Seedcore
For a while, Bant (green/white/blue) was the main way to play talking, primarily using white and blue cards splashing green forVenerated Rotpriest. However, withMarch of Swirling Mistrotating out of the format, the mass creature targeted is no longer an option, significantly weakening the deck. Bant Toxic struggled with a weak mana base since it had to only play fastlands in three colors, but without Swirling Mist, there’s no longer a need to try and force an aggro three color deck to work. As such, Toxic is better reverting to a two-color deck.
The Toxic core isn’t losing anything since Phyrexia: All Will Be One is still in Standard. The Selesnya (white/green) version plays an aggro game plan. With the exception ofBloated Contaminator, no creature costs more than two mana.Slaughter Singer gives creatures with toxic +1/+1 when attacking,making them more likely to not die in combat since their base stats are quite weak.
BothTyvar’s StandandRoyal Treatment(interchangeable withSnakeskin Veil, whatever your preference is) help to keep a creature protected and give it a stat boost to ensure it connects for damage. Since toxic needs any amount of damage dealt togive poison counters,Audacityis a great way to give your best attacker (oftenJawbone Duelist) trample.
The Selesnya Toxic deck is very fast but can struggle against other aggro decks due to the weak stats of its creatures. It’s best against control and ramp decks, as they take a lot longer to set up the battlefield.
x4 Drown in Ichor
x2 Anoint with Affliction
x4 Bring the Ending
x5 Island
x4 Mirrex
x4 Underground River
Unlike Selensya Toxic, Dimir (blue/black) Toxic playsa much more midrange game plan. Rather than focusing on creatures with toxic, it focuses on cards that proliferate, turning one poison counter into another. Itdoes need that first poison counteron your opponent before the proliferation plan starts working.
The creaturesBlightbelly RatandVoidwing Hybridboth help to give poison counters thanks to having toxic one. Even if Voidwing gets removed, it comes back to the hand every time you proliferate to recur it and re-use the creature both offensively and defensively.Infectious InquiryandVraska’s Fallare two other ways to guarantee a poison counter gets put on your opponent.
The deck comes with interaction, with a board wipe inDeadly Cover-Upthat, if you collect evidence, can permanently get rid of an opponent’s problem creature.Anoint with AfflictionandVraska’s Fallboth act as removal as well, withSerum Snaretemporarily bouncing something back to the hand while proliferating (so long as it had a mana value of three or less).
x3 Gingerbrute
x4 Sentinel of the Nameless City
x4 Island
x3 Restless Vinestalk
x4 Yavimaya Coast
Simic (green/blue) Cookies is a deck built aroundturning noncreature artifacts into creatures. This is accomplished withTough CookieandZoetic Glyph. you’re able to even give the ability to another creature thanks toAgatha’s Soul Cauldron(which can also give creatures the abilities forGingerbruteandSurge Engineto make themselves unblockable).
The deckdoes not actually lose any card in rotation, letting it enter the 2024 Standard unscathed, something not many other decks can claim. It’s a very low-to-the-ground deck, capable of running away with the game with the right opening.
Simic Cookie is very resilient, withlow casting costs and Map token generationto give you constant card advantage. There are a lot of ways to make your creatures into big threats, all while creating more artifacts to permanently make into creatures.
x2 Archfiend of the Dross
x3 Tinybones, the Pickpocket
x4 Go for the Throat
x3 Case of the Stashed Skeleton
x4 Corpses of the Lost
x4 Demolition Field
x20 Swamp
Mono Black Skeletons takes advantage of all the powerful black cards that are staying after rotation. The namesakeCorpses of the Lostgives you a constant source of Skeleton tokens, since you’ll be descending a lot thanks toLiliana of the Veil’sability for each player to discard a card. It’s supplemented byCase of the Stashed Skeletonto get another Skeleton token while turning into a tutor later.
The deck is mostly creatures, all of which have fantastic effects.Deep-Caven Batexiles an opponent card from your opponent’s hand, whileTinybones, the Pickpocketcan cast spells from your opponent’s graveyard.Sheoldred, the Apocalypseis just as good as it’s ever been, withInsatiable Avaricebeing either massive lifegain or lifeloss depending on who you target to draw cards while Sheoldred is on the battlefield.
Since it’s a mono-color deck, you may playDemolition Fieldto destroy your opponent’s lands, punishing them for greedy manabases that run little to no basic lands (or as a way to get rid of a problem land).Cut DownandGo for the Throatcan both handle most creatures your opponent will play, andLiliana of the Veilcan force sacrifice as well.
x4 Shock
x3 Audacity
x6 Mountain
x1 Restless Ridgeline
x2 Thran Portal
Gruul Aggro is anincredibly explosive deck that can win as early as turn threewith the right openings. The deck does loseKumano Faces KakkazanandPlay With Fire(the latter replaced by the weakerShock), but it still has a solid core.
The deck is about buffing up a creature so thatPicnic Ruinergains double strike. The most common target for stat-boosting isCacophony Scamp, which can sacrifice itself and deal damage equal to its power to any target when it deals combat damage. This means if it connects for damage, it essentially deals double damage.
It’s supportedby other prowess payoffslikeSlickshot Show-OffandMonastery Swiftspear,which are both backed up by cards likeMonstrous RageandRoyal Treatmentto give them role tokens for permanent stat boosts. The deck deals giant outbursts of damage, and if your opponent doesn’t have removal or a blocker, they won’t be in the game for long.
