Who knew throwing Vivi into a bubbling Cauldron would be considered powerful Magic?
Welcome to the post-banning Standard Power Rankings! Seven cards banned at once is an almost unprecedented shakeup to Standard, and you can read my thoughts on the bannings here.
But to know what Standard looks like now that the dust has settled, look no further than these Power Rankings! Red decks took the biggest hit, which means the format has slowed down at least a touch. Still, you’ll find no shortage of punishing creature-based strategies represented.
The Best Standard Decks Right Now, July 2025
If you’re looking for a deck to play in Standard this week, any one of the sixteen featured decks might serve you well. For each deck, I’ll mention a few cards that it stands to lose in the upcoming format rotation. More importantly, stay tuned to ChannelFireball as we’ll have Standard post-rotation content coming, as well as tips for Modern, Limited, and other competitive formats. If you’re curious to see which Standard sets rotate out with Edge of Eternities, you can read more about it here.
#16 Naya Yuna
Market Price: $15.99
These decks can come in various forms. A few that come to mind are Naya (with discard outlets), Selesnya or Abzan (with self-mill), or Bant (with Omniscience). In any case, Yuna, Hope of Spira will be a key card to return your game-winning enchantments directly to the battlefield.
Remarkably, Naya Yuna stands to lose nothing other than some fringe and sideboard options in the upcoming Standard rotation. This could be a great deck to invest in if you’re looking ahead to Edge of Eternities and post-rotation Standard.
#15 Gruul Delirium
This is an aggressive deck with a graveyard theme. But don’t let the unusual card choices fool you! The good draws from Gruul Delirium are every bit as scary as the Heartfire Hero-plus-Monstrous Rage decks used to be. Particularly nasty is Violent Urge, which can lead to enormous double-striking, trample hits, and kill opponents out of nowhere.
Stomping Ground
Edge of Eternities, Rare
The core of the Gruul Delirium deck is from Duskmourn: House of Horror, which remains in Standard after the rotation. Instead, it’s just some non-essential role players like Seed of Hope and Break Out that will be going away. Copperline Gorge and Karplusan Forest also rotate, but since Stomping Ground has been previewed in Edge of Eternities, I suspect we can find a way to make the mana base work.
#14 Azorius Control
Key cards include Stock Up, plus a variety of sweepers and permission spells. With a mix of Temporary Lockdown, Day of Judgment, and Ultima, it’s difficult for opponents to assemble any suite of threats that Azorius Control can’t quickly dismantle. In the rotation, Azorius Control loses some non-essential role players like Jace, the Perfected Mind, Elspeth’s Smite, and Temporary Lockdown. These can be easily replaced.
#13 Pixie
Meanwhile, Stormchaser’s Talent, Nowhere to Run, and Momentum Breaker are among the best permanents to bounce and recast. These Pixie decks are full of brutal and efficient cards and can bury an opponent in value very quickly. Note that I’ve now combined all Pixie decks into this one archetype. You’ll always see white and black, but splash colors are also possible, with blue being the most traditional. In all cases, these white/black-based decks are likely to be well set up against opposing creature decks, as they utilize the very best removal spells available in Standard.
Godless Shrine
Edge of Eternities, Rare
Three-color Pixie decks have demanding mana bases, and the Pain Lands and fast lands will be rotating out of Standard. However, given that at least Godless Shrine will appear in Edge of Eternities, I’m confident that this archetype will survive in some form.
#12 Insidious Roots
Market Price: $26.27
Insidious Roots was a successful breakout deck of Pro Tour: Final Fantasy. Given that it had a lot of hype and then was untouched by the bannings, I thought this had a chance of jumping to the top of the metagame. Instead, Roots seems to have settled in as a solid “Tier 2” archetype.
You might think that a deck that generates so many tokens might be afraid of Temporary Lockdown. However, with access to no less than nine Disenchant effects between maindeck and sideboard, plus ways to reuse them over and over again, the Insidious Roots archetype can shred any gameplay based around enchantments and artifacts.
Note that both a Golgari and a Jund version (using Terra, Magical Adept) of Insidious Roots made an impression at Pro Tour: Final Fantasy, but the plain Golgari version performed better. After rotation, Insidious Roots will lose access to Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler. I don’t expect this to invalidate the archetype, although Tyvar is certainly a strong card for the deck, and contributes to its ability to combo kill all in a single turn. Other notable losses include Haywire Mite and Llanowar Wastes.
Notably, Overgrown Tomb has not been previewed in Edge of Eternities. So I ask on behalf of all Golgari mages: What gives??
#11 Golgari Midrange
Market Price: $64.05
Golgari Midrange stands to lose several cards in the upcoming rotation. They range from easily replaceable to relatively strong and core to the deck. Thankfully, this is an archetype based on flexibility and card quality rather than synergy, so I believe in its ability to survive any loss.
Just a few examples include Glissa Sunslayer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Cut Down, Go for the Throat, Anoint with Affliction, Sheoldred’s Edict, Tear Asunder, and Gix’s Command, which will all rotate out. And once again, no Overgrown Tomb in Edge of Eternities!
#10 Mono-Red Aggro
Market Price: $16.66
Along with Izzet Prowess (#11), Mono-Red Aggro dominated Standard immediately prior to the bannings. At Pro Tour: Final Fantasy, it put a whopping four copies into the Top 8 and won the event in the hands of Ken Yukuhiro!
Particularly scary is Sunspine Lynx, which hammers slower match-ups, and performs even better in Mono-Red Aggro than in other aggressive decks. Mono-Red Aggro only stands to lose fringe options like Obliterating Bolt from the upcoming rotation. Frankly, this archetype already took its big hit in the banning of Heartfire Hero and Monstrous Rage. So if you like Mono-Red Aggro’s positioning right now, it’s also a strong forward-looking option.
#9 Demons
The archetype continues to evolve, and a recent development is Deep-Cavern Bat often now being replaced by other two-drop options like Cruelclaw’s Heist, Demon Wall or even Rot-Curse Rakshasa (which combos really nicely with Jenova, Ancient Calamity). That said, for the most part, †there are no big surprises here, it’s a grindy Midrange deck featuring all of the best black cards in the format. ARTICLE SPOTLIGHTStandard Mono-Black Demons MTG Deck GuideMidrange is back in Standard, and Seth is here to help you master Mono-Black Demons! Seth Manfield7/15/2025
Like Golgari Midrange (#11), Demons stands to lose the long-dominant Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. There are many top-end options for this archetype — including many powerful Demons — so I’m not too worried. Black removal is an evergreen card type, so even as we lose the likes of Cut Down and Go for the Throat, there will be comparable options to replace them.
#8 Selesnya Cage
Key cards include Brightglass Gearhulk and Collector’s Cage, which both provide amazing staying power plus give access to impressive nut draws. It’s worth noting that Selesnya is one of the best archetypes for Llanowar Elves, which is still a powerful way to jump ahead on mana even after all these years.
Most of Selesnya Cage’s key cards remain intact. Though like some other decks, it loses roleplayers like Haywire Mite, plus Brushland, Razorverge Thicket, and Mirrex from its mana base.
#7 Convoke
An interesting development is that two-color Boros Convoke is shaping up to be more popular than the three-color Jeskai version. The inverse was true earlier in the year. In the rotation, Convoke will lose Knight-Errant of Eos and Gleeful Demolition. Some kind of go-wide or token strategy may still be strong, but since the Convoke set (March of the Machine) rotates out, this deck will no longer exist in its current form.
#6 Gruul Mice
Market Price: $11.80
Gruul remains strong with extremely high individual card quality. This archetype is so powerful and proactive that its pilots hardly need to worry about what opponents are up to — they can just get them dead.
Similarly to Gruul Delirium (#15) and Mono-Red Aggro (#10), Gruul Mice looks to be in decent shape after rotation. It may lose some flexible options like Audacity, plus the manabase will replace Karplusan Forest and Copperline Gorge with Stomping Ground from Edge of Eternities.
#5 Jeskai Control
Jeskai Control hasn’t had many big finishes lately, and it was an average performer at the Pro Tour. However, it was unaffected by the bannings and is one of the best homes for the powerful Stock Up. We should remember that it won the United States Regional Championship in Minneapolis, MN earlier this year, and that it’s an archetype that can be highly effective in the hands of skilled pilots.
Shiko, Paragon of the Way is a dream top-end creature for anyone who loves value, as it can give you a second shot at the best card in your graveyard, no matter what the situation calls for. With access to any combination of Lightning Helix, Split Up, Temporary Lockdown, and Day of Judgment, Jeskai Control really has the tools to beat up on Standard’s aggressive red decks. That alone would have my attention. So when you show me a powerful and flexible shell of cards that offers game against everything, this is one I’ll be considering for my next Standard event.
Just like Azorius Control (#14), Jeskai Control loses Jace, the Perfected Mind, Soul Partition, and Temporary Lockdown post-rotation.
#4 Izzet Prowess
Market Price: $46.09
The Izzet Prowess decks you’re likely to see now aren’t about blitzing your life total down with Monastery Swiftspear and combat tricks. Instead, they can play out more like Storm combo decks, landing Vivi Ornitier and chaining spells to end the game in the course of one or two turns. This archetype still has burn and bounce for creature matchups, and can devastate slower opponents by hitting them with a well-timed Spell Pierce to ruin their plans and slam the door on the game.
Izzet Prowess stands to lose Obliterating Bolt and Shivan Reef in the upcoming rotation. Unlike Gruul, which gets Stomping Ground, Steam Vents is conspicuously absent from Edge of Eternities.
#3 Mono-White Token Control
Mono-White Control — or Tokens — is yet another old archetype that’s making a massive resurgence. It was perhaps a uniquely big winner from the bannings because Azorius Omniscience (which lost Abuelo’s Awakening) was a very, very tricky matchup for Mono-White.
Mono-White Token Control is particularly strong against opposing Aggro and Midrange decks, as well as against anyone trying to keep it down using spot removal spells. Mono-White Token Control will lose Sunfall, which is easily replaced. On the other hand, it also loses Lay Down Arms, which is currently the most significant incentive to stay in Mono-White. White-based Control will surely remain strong, but two-color versions may begin to take more of the metagame share.
#2 Izzet Cauldron
Market Price: $46.60
Market Price: $46.09
This deck resembles the familiar shell of Jeskai Oculus, with plenty of cheap spells and ways to fill its graveyard. However, instead of using Helping Hand, it uses Agatha’s Soul Cauldron to grant the activated ability of Vivi Ornitier to its other creatures. Once you do that, you can explode out with mana and kill your opponent very quickly.
A huge appeal of Izzet Cauldron is that Agatha’s Soul Cauldron provides built-in graveyard hate, which can be helpful in a variety of matchups. Izzet Cauldron is a similar story to Izzet Prowess (#5). It loses Shivan Reef with no immediate replacement. Plus, some role players such as Voldaren Thrillseeker will need to be replaced.
#1 Dimir Midrange
Market Price: $15.74
The goal is to come out early with cheap flying creatures. Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares serve as major payoffs for unblocked attackers. Once you start drawing extra cards, your steady stream of removal and disruption keeps the opponent from getting back into the game.
There are very real reasons why players are returning to this old favorite deck. It’s well-rounded, with solid game and effective weapons against every strategy. In short, Dimir Midrange is not going anywhere. It’s great at getting ahead and staying ahead with permission spells, which is important for matchups where you don’t want to trade blows, such as Mono-White Token Control and the various Naya Yuna decks.
Watery Grave
Edge of Eternities, Rare
While I consider it a good thing that Stomping Ground and Godless Shrine will prop up some of the “Tier 2” strategies, I can’t quite say the same for Watery Grave. Dimir is dominant now and looks to be a great choice for day one of post-rotation Standard as well.
Like the other black decks, Cut Down, Go for the Throat, and Sheoldred’s Edict will need to be replaced by Shoot the Sheriff and other black removal options. Additionally, some creature options like Faerie Mastermind and Saiba Cryptomancer will also leave the format with Edge of Eternities’s release.