Welcome to What We'd Play! With the first Arena Open this weekend, many are unsure what they’d play in Best-of-One Ikoria Standard on Day 1 of such a high-profile tournament. That’s where we come in and let you know what we’d play and why we’d play it. Hopefully this last-minute advice aids in your decision making! Be sure to vote for what deck you would play at the end!
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa — Yorion Jeskai Lukka
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (12)
Lands (36)
Spells (29)
I’ve been playing different versions of Bant in Ikoria Standard, but I think that, for Best-of-One, Bant isn’t a good color combination — it needs to play a lot of counterspells to have a good matchup versus Yorion Jeskai Lukka, and you cannot queue into Obosh, the Preypiercer or Lurrus of the Dream-Den with four Mystical Dispute and four Dovin’s Veto in your deck.
Just like it’s dangerous for you to play these types of cards, it’s dangerous for other people as well. This means that people will adopt a more proactive approach in general, with less disruption. If everyone is goldfishing, Yorion Jeskai Lukka becomes the better deck, since it’s so much more explosive if unopposed, so that’s what I’d play. The list I’m currently playing is slightly tuned towards the higher prevalence of aggro decks that we see in Best-of-One.
You might also notice there’s a sideboard. This is because I was playing on ladder and stole a Vivien, Arkbow Ranger that I couldn’t ultimate. Since then, I vowed to never let myself be caught with my guard down. It’s not likely to be relevant, but it’s also free, so might as well.
Michael Majors — Keruga Temur Reclamation
Creatures (17)
- 4 Frilled Mystic
- 3 Nightpack Ambusher
- 4 Bonecrusher Giant
- 4 Brazen Borrower
- 2 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Lands (26)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Maybe I’m just being a tad contrarian. Yorion Jeskai Lukka is certainly the “best deck,” but I’ve found Keruga Temur Reclamation to be incredibly strong while laddering, and believe that Best-of-One mitigates many of its weaknesses as you never had a particularly potent sideboard without cheap answers like Aether Gust and Negate.
I’ve appreciated the move in Temur Reclamation towards Keruga, the Macrosage, which gives you another strong gameplan to pull ahead with Wilderness Reclamation, and the inclusion of many more proactive elements than traditional Reclamation, which often feels like I’m floundering around if I’m not able to assemble its namesake + Expansion // Explosion. The Adventure creature duo here alongside Frilled Mystic can put games out of reach extremely quickly for your opponent — and your best draws, while not as flashy as those of Jeskai Lukka, are still just as dominant when you can cast Reclamation and leave up Frilled Mystic on a manageable battlefield.
Between Bonecrusher Giant, Brazen Borrower, and Mystical Dispute, you have enough cheap interaction to stop Jeskai Lukka from doing its thing quickly as long as you can contain Teferi, Time Raveler. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you could consider cutting the Flame Sweeps for the last Nightpack Ambusher and/or some more hard countermagic, but I still appreciate having something in your deck to draw against swarms of aggression, of which I suspect there to be more of in Best-of-One. The only truly glaring weakness of the deck is Flourishing Fox, but you can still answer it on the play with Bonecrusher Giant, or try to manage and go over the top of it with Brazen Borrower or Nightpack Ambusher.
Overall, I think this is a great choice if you want to sidestep a sea of mirror matches and still pick up some “easy wins” with some of the most powerful cards in the format.
Emma Handy – Yorion Jeskai Lukka
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (16)
Lands (36)
Spells (25)
The maindeck here is the handiwork of Best-of-One enthusiast CovertGoBlue. My only fingerprints are on the pile of artifacts out of the sideboard.
When there are permanents in the format that can easily grab things out of the sideboard and there isn’t a real use for the sideboard slots otherwise, having your own packages to compensate for these cards is a no-brainer. It’s possible that Agent of Treachery ends up nabbing a Vivien, Arkbow Ranger that can ultimate, but it’s far more common that cards are grabbed with opposing Karns. The thinking here is that Meteor Golem, Sphinx of the Guildpact, Stonecoil Serpent, and Crystalline Giant provide enough overlap for Vivien to have a text box if it comes up.
At this point, Ikoria Standard doesn’t seem like a matter of choosing what to play, but how to build it. This version of the deck has a nod towards the aggressive strategies in the format without sacrificing a ton of points in other places.
Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis holds this version of the deck together. Her second two abilities provide a great grindy plan, as well as a buffer for anti-aggro. The first ability really fleshes out the deck’s backup token plan. Having a -1 be worth up to four damage with haste is real pressure, and being able to do it so many times on a single cast is great for turning the corner without Lukka.
Having this alternative to Shark Typhoon, which is historically weak against low-to-the-ground aggro, makes this version of the archetype a great choice this weekend’s Arena Open.
Dominic Harvey – Mardu Winota
Creatures (27)
- 3 Tajic, Legion's Edge
- 3 Judith, the Scourge Diva
- 4 Grim Initiate
- 4 Lazotep Reaver
- 2 Haktos the Unscarred
- 3 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
- 4 General's Enforcer
- 4 Winota, Joiner of Forces
Lands (24)
Spells (9)
Okay, I won’t lie to you. You should play Yorion Jeskai Lukka. However, if you can’t stand the thought of playing mirrors all day or want something a little different, this take on Winota, Joiner of Forces from @BrewerCoutinho may be a smart choice. I expect a Best-of-One tournament to be full of aggro — a lot of Boros Cycling with a handful of Obosh Mono-Red Aggro and Obosh/Lurrus Rakdos Sacrifice — pushing out slower decks like Yorion Bant Control and Temur Reclamation (with or without Keruga). The Lukka decks have to acknowledge this — likely by playing extra sweepers — while also preparing for the mirrors. A token-heavy Winota deck can clog up the battlefield against aggro before breaking those stalls with Winota, Embercleave, and Judith, the Scourge Diva.
Between Fight as One; Grim Initiate; General’s Enforcer; Anax, Hardened in the Forge; and damage-resistant threats like Tajic, Legion’s Edge and Haktos the Unscarred, sweepers are necessary but still not enough against many draws. You don’t have a companion but card advantage is dead and doesn’t matter if they’re dead — besides, Winota “draws” a lot of cards! This deck can rack up wins very quickly, and if you rack up losses instead, you can always re-register with Jeskai Lukka!
Shaheen Soorani – Yorion Jeskai Lukka
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (12)
Lands (36)
Spells (28)
- 4 Fires of Invention
- 4 Omen of the Sea
- 4 The Birth of Meletis
- 4 Omen of the Sun
- 4 Elspeth Conquers Death
- 4 Shatter the Sky
- 4 Shark Typhoon
Sideboard
Unfortunately, I join the ranks of the rest of the competitive community on this one. Even though Yorion Jeskai Lukka has a broken combo elements in it, the deck often plays like a tap-out control deck. Any deck that lets me slam planeswalkers, play sweepers, draw a bunch of cards, and register expensive spells will pique my interest. Until this crew of companions exits the format, it is a tough sell to play anything without them.
I remember a few content creators argued that deck diversity and health still exist if the top-tier decks ran different companions. In one of the few spots where I was correct about this new mechanic, I argued that the best companion would eventually rise from the top and squash that illusion of choice. This is leaps-and-bounds the best option for those trying to take down a best of three tournament.
Since we are preparing for Best-of-One, Yorion Jeskai Lukka is still the strongest choice; however, aggro decks can steal the win if built properly. The four Glass Casket and two Deafening Clarion are in the sideboard in the decklist above, due to their ineffectiveness in the mirror. There are no sideboarded games in Best-of-One, so any swaps to the maindeck are significant changes. Since the most-played deck will be Yorion Jeskai Lukka, I wouldn’t make any changes to strengthen the aggro matchup. Game 1 isn’t that bad on paper and it would still be risky for a bunch of people to sleeve up one-drops in this format. And any deck without Yorion, Sky Nomad at this point is missing the mark.
Even though I love control with all my heart, I can’t wait for the day when these companions are exiled from Standard.
Corey Baumeister – Yorion Jeskai Lukka
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (12)
Lands (36)
Spells (29)
- 1 Deafening Clarion
- 2 Glass Casket
- 4 Fires of Invention
- 4 Omen of the Sea
- 4 The Birth of Meletis
- 3 Omen of the Sun
- 4 Elspeth Conquers Death
- 3 Shatter the Sky
- 4 Shark Typhoon
Sideboard
Yorion Jeskai Lukka is one of the most powerful decks I have ever played in my life. This isn’t the event to try to mess around and play a super-teched-out deck to beat this well-oiled machine. Those decks usually play eight to ten counterspells to be able to interact on every single turn. The problem is that those decks will get crushed by aggro and they’re only about 55% to take down Jeskai Lukka. That just shows the true power level of this deck.
Would you go back and play the banned Four-Color Copy Cat deck in Standard if you were given the choice? Of course you would! Yorion Jeskai Lukka is just as powerful, if not more powerful. Be a part of history — play the broken deck and enjoy coasting into Day 2 of the Arena Open.