Plenty of (Izzet) Lessons to be learnt in this new era of Standard.
Welcome to the Standard Power Rankings! We had a round of Standard bannings on November 10th, followed by the release of the powerful Avatar: The Last Airbender expansion on November 21st. Best of all, this past weekend was the Magic: The Gathering World Championships, won by our very own Seth Manfield of Team TCGplayer!
The Best Standard Decks in Magic: The Gathering Right Now
Needless to say, it’s been an exciting few weeks! So let’s check in on the best decks in Standard after the 2025 World Championship. For each archetype, I’ll include the decklist of its highest-finishing pilot at Worlds, plus mention win rate data from the event as provided by Frank Karsten.
#12 Bant Airbending
Market Price: $17.96
That said, I attribute this to an unfavorable matchup against archetypes that showed up in force and performed well in the tournament. I do think Bant Airbending is a good deck that will successfully rebound and become a major player in Standard.
Bant Airbending features an infinite combo fueled by Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius. It normally costs two colorless mana to cast an airbended spell. But with the good doctor, that’s reduced to zero. So Aang, Swift Savior and Appa, Steadfast Guardian can airbend and recast one another an unbounded number of times. That alone triggers Appa to create a huge board of Ally tokens. Still, you can also incorporate other creatures like Aang, at the Crossroads or Bramble Familiar to assemble even deadlier combos!
#11 Simic Ouroboroid
Market Price: $31.54
Since the Simic threats are individually strong, the synergy and combos are simply gravy. It’s particularly cool to pump up Ouroboroid with Innkeeper’s Talent to start distributing counters at an outrageous rate.
#10 Golgari Ouroboroid
Market Price: $46.93
Market Price: $23.07
Like Simic, Golgari Ouroboroid starts with an early curve of mana-generating creatures supercharged by the new Badgermole Cub. From there, it can dump an enormous amount of power and toughness onto the battlefield and quickly outpace any opposing blockers or damage-based removal spells.
#9 Golgari Dragons
Market Price: $13.64
Golgari Dragons has elements of a midrange game plan and mana ramp, plus a lot of cool graveyard synergies. Icetill Explorer is a key card that can simultaneously generate extra mana and set the graveyard with Esper Origins and plenty of fodder for the collect evidence ability.
#8 Mono-Red Aggro
One particularly dangerous sideboard card is Sunspine Lynx, which hammers slower matchups and performs even better in Mono-Red Aggro than in other aggressive archetypes. Another is Magebane Lizard, which becomes more appealing as blue decks full of Lessons rise in popularity. In my humble opinion, it’s a good time to be a red mage!
#7 Izzet Lessons (No Monument to Endurance)
Market Price: $13.05
For example, Derrick Davis put Eddymurk Crab to great use as part of his semi-finals run. Derrick’s version seems to be particularly strong against Izzet Looting and a few other key archetypes in Standard. Plus, if people start to come prepared with more ways to destroy artifacts and enchantments, then leaning less heavily on Artist’s Talent and Monument to Endurance can be a way to sidestep hate cards.
#6 Temur Otters
Market Price: $13.05
Otters is a creature-based combo deck built around Enduring Vitality. Enduring Vitality allows a healthy board of creatures to tap for tons of mana, while Valley Floodcaller causes noncreature spells to untap those creatures and net mana. From there, you can loop Stormchaser’s Talent with Boomerang Basics, or you can simply cast Song of Totentanz and attack for the win.
#5 Jeskai Control
With access to any combination of Lightning Helix, Pyroclasm, Fire Magic, Split Up, Pinnacle Starcage, Ultima, and Day of Judgment, Jeskai Control really has the tools to beat up on Standard’s creature 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’d be considering for an upcoming Standard event.
#4 Sultai Reanimator
Sultai Reanimator seeks to fill its graveyard using flexible and powerful options like Awaken the Honored Dead. From there, it can cast Superior Spider-Man and copy Bringer of the Last Gift. And while Bringer of the Last Gift wouldn’t trigger if you simply return it to play from the graveyard, the fact that Superior Spider-Man becomes a copy and was cast for your hand means that you can actually bring back the rest of the creatures in your graveyard along with it!
#3 Dimir Midrange
Market Price: $15.45
The goal is to come out early with cheap flying creatures, where Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares serve as payoffs for unblocked, evasive attackers. Once you start drawing extra cards, your steady stream of removal and disruption keeps the opponent from ever clawing their way back into the game.
READ MORE ABOUT AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER
Top 10 Most Expensive Cards from MTG | Avatar: The Last AirbenderTop 10 Best Commander Cards from MTG | Avatar: The Last Airbender
There are very genuine reasons why players would want to pick up this well-proven archetype. 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.
#2 Izzet Looting &a Prowess
Market Price: $13.05
Market Price: $43.87
The Izzet decks you’re likely to see now aren’t about blitzing your life total down with Monastery Swiftspear and various combat tricks. Instead, they can play out more like hard-hitting midrange decks, combining Duelist of the Mind with the likes of Fear of Missing Out and Quantum Riddler. This archetype still has burn and tempo for creature matchups, and can devastate slower opponents by hitting them with a well-timed Spell Pierce to ruin their plans to slam the door on the game.
#1 Izzet Lessons (with Monument to Endurance)
Market Price: $19.93
Market Price: $15.48
With the cost reduction of Gran-Gran and Artist’s Talent’s level two effect, this version of Izzet Lessons can play out like a combo deck of sorts. You churn through your library until you have one or more copies of Monument to Endurance on the battlefield. From there, it’s easy to trigger it multiple times per turn cycle, including at instant-speed during the opponent’s turn. It serves as both engine and win condition. All the while, normal countermeasures like blockers and creature removal are woefully ineffective.ARTICLE SPOTLIGHTIzzet Lessons MTG Standard Deck Guide – How to Play, Sideboarding, and More!Learn how to play the Worlds-winning decklist.Reid Duke12/12/2025
I do believe that savvy deckbuilders will be able to adapt and fight Izzet Lessons over time. Graveyard hate, permission spells, and artifact and enchantment removal are all useful weapons to beat Izzet Lessons. However, this strategy is extremely powerful, resilient, and it represents a clear deck to beat coming out of World Championship 31.