Magic: The Gathering content creators got a chance to try out Zendikar Rising before its official release on Arena today, showcasing the Limited environment and provide a glimpse into the new Standard format. Zendikar Rising releases on Sept. 17 on Arena and Sept. 25 on tabletop.
Many streamers were interested in trying out the new party mechanic and test its powerlevel, while some wanted to see just how broken landfall is. Here are three interesting decks from the Early Access streamer event.
CovertGoBlue – Dimir Rogues
“The One in Best-of-One” CovertGoBlue spent a considerable amount of time trying out Dimir Rogues in Standard. Rogues are one of the heavily supported tribes within Zendikar Rising. The deck put up results and has some interesting lines of play. The all-star of the deck is Thieves’ Guild Enforcer which was introduced in Core Set 2021. The card already found a home in Dimir Flash builds, but now it has a stronger shell with better Rogue synergies. Zareth San, the Trickster is a new legendary creature that is excellent in this deck. Since this deck wants to mill the opponent Zareth San should get you a strong creature when his second ability goes off.
CGB did have some clunky opening hands. Without shock lands, two-color aggressive decks are going to sometimes end up keeping some slower hands.
Decklist
- Four Brazen Borrower
- Four Clearwater Pathway
- Two Concerted Defense
- Four Drown in the Loch
- Two Glasspool Mimic
- Four Merfolk Windrobber
- Four Nighthawk Scavenger
- Four Rankle, Master of Pranks
- Four Soaring Thought-Thief
- Four Thieves’ Guild Enforcer
- Three Zareth San, the Trickster
- One Zulaport Duelist
- Three Agadeem’s Awakening
- Seven Island
- Five Swamp
- One Castle Locthwain
- Four Fabled Passage
Reid Duke – Mono-Green Stompy
MTG legend Reid Duke messed around with a powerful Mono-Green Stompy list. The already powerful deck received a handful of new cards to boost its power level. Lotus Cobra is an all-star inclusion in green decks. From landfall to stompy, Lotus Cobra is becoming an easy four-of in these decks. Oran-Rief Ooze was a particularly strong card. It can grow Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig or Scavenging Ooze to a point where they alone become lethal threats
Decklist
- One Bonders’ Enclave
- Two Gemrazer
- Four Kazandu Mammoth
- Four Lotus Cobra
- Four Oran-Rief Ooze
- Four Questing Beast
- Four Scavenging Ooze
- Four Swarm Shambler
- Four Turntimber Symbiosis
- Two Wildborn Preserver
- Two Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig
- Four Primal Might
- Four Stonecoil Serpent
- 13 Forest
- Two Fabled Passage
- Two Castle Garenbrig
Saffron Olive – Bant Party
MTG Goldfish’s Saffron Olive tried out the new party mechanic in a Bant Party deck. Party is a mechanic with a lot of divided opinions. Some people think party is strong, while others think it will put up no results in Standard. Saffron Olive struggled against decks running plenty of board wipe effects. Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate performed well by protecting his party from board wipes but sometimes that wasn’t enough. When a full party is assembled the deck can suddenly win. The cost reduction from party provides significant amounts of value.
- Four Archpriest of Iona
- Two Barrin, Tolarian Archmage
- Four Base Camp
- Four Branchloft Pathway
- One Emeria’s Call
- Two Journey to Oblivion
- Two Kabira Takedown
- Four Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate
- Two Niambi, Esteemed Speaker
- Four Nimble Trapfinder
- One Sea Gate Restoration
- Two Sejiri Shelter
- Four Spoils of Adventure
- Four Squad Commander
- Four Tajuru Paragon
- Two Tazri, Beacon of Unity
- Four Temple of Enlightenment
- Two Plains
- One Forest
- Three Island
- Four Fabled Passage
SIDEBOARD
- Three Concerted Defense
- Three Glass Casket
- Two Journey to Oblivion
- Two Mystical Dispute
- One Negate
- Three Scavenging Ooze
- One Shepherd of Heroes
You can try out these decks when Zendikar Rising releases on Sept. 17 on Arena.
