Historic with Strixhaven

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Strixhaven has influenced Standard by creating new decks (UR Prismari), reviving unpopular decks (Winota), and improving existing decks (Sultai Control/Mono Red).
Now, we’ll take a look at Strixhaven’s impact on the Historic format.

 

 

NEW CARDS

 

Strixhaven has ushered in reprints of old cards by making them legal in the Historic format. 

 

 

BRAINSTORM: An old favorite and one of the strongest draw cards, Brainstorm loses some effectiveness in this format because there are no fetches and only Fable Passage. Due to its power level, it will always be played in blue decks.

 

 

FAITHLESS LOOTING: This card’s immense draw power made it perfect in Dredge and got it banned from Modern. Despite losing strength in this format, it’s still strong enough to make UR Phoenix a desirable deck.

 

 

INQUISITION OF KOZILEK: One of the strongest discards in Modern and Historic, it is a great addition to Orzhov Aggro, one of the best performing Historic decks.

 

 

LIGHTNING HELIX: A strong removal that gives you 3 life, this plays well in both aggressive and control decks, especially Jeskai Control.

 

 

TAINTED PACT: The two-card combo with Thassa’s Oracle has upset Historic’s format and is a guaranteed win. A deck is solid when it is having a lot of success despite being 1x.

 

 

OTHER MENTIONS

 

 

Mizzix’s Mastery’s interaction with Magma Opus has brought UWR Control to the top of the format. 

 

 

Memory Lapse is an old-fashioned counter that delays your opponent’s spell for a turn and steals their draw.

 

                   

 

If Abundant Harvest has found a slot in a RUG version, then Time Warp is struggling to find a spot in the meta.

 

                   

 

I had high hopes for a Mind’s Desire and Tendrils of Agony combo, but something is missing to make Storm highly competitive.

 

 

DECKS TO BEAT 

 

 

 

This deck only gained Inquisition of Kozilek through Strixhaven but still has plenty of draws thanks to Sram, Senior Edificer and Kor Spiritdancer. If your opponent can’t respond to one of these cards, then your resources never deplete and you have a significant advantage. 

 

                   

 

This is a typical deck where you have very few creatures and have to plan accordingly what to do with them. I recommend it to those new to the format and who have experience in modern decks like Bogles due to similar gameplay.

 

 

 

 

This is a tough deck that plays well in both Standard and Historic. It’s almost identical to the old Standard version, which required Cauldron Familiar to be banned in an attempt to fix an unbalanced metagame. Strixhaven hasn’t introduced any changes because replacing anything would upset an already balanced and nearly perfect deck.

 

                   

 

There are a large number of triggers that require high attention to resolve, but you can win with this deck if you accurately track its great damage count.

 

 

 

 

To improve a deck that is already this powerful, you would need to add stronger cards than what’s currently available. As such, there are no Strixhaven additions.

 

                   

 

The deck is linear, easy to play, and the starts Burning Tree Emissary enables are hard for your opponent to turn around. Cards like Embercleave dominate in this format, even if not as much as in Standard.

 

EVERGREEN

 

 

 

Selesnya Company is the first of the less competitive but still viable decks. Elite Spellbinder is destined to become a staple in multiple formats. Collected Company has dominated the Standard for years and finds its best use in this deck comprising mostly creatures. 

 

                   

 

Not the most solid deck, it’s still a lot of fun for those who love creatures and playing games with full boards, and it’s great for beginners to the format.

 

 

 

For a detailed overview on this deck, please read Marco Cammilluzzi’s analysis.

 

 

STRIXHAVEN WINNERS

 

 

 

UB Pact is a new deck created with Strixhaven additions. It’s based on a combo that plays a Thassa’s Oracle and, while its ability is on the stack, resolves a Tainted Pact, exile the entire deck and win the game.

 

                   

 

A monocopy deck may seem random, but it’s solid thanks to the massive presence of drawers and tutors in our 60 cards. The deck is complex and not suitable for beginners to the format. It’s a valid tier 1 alternative for more experienced players.

 

 

 

This deck shines due to new cards from the Mystical Archive and the two key Strixhaven cards, Prismari Command and Magma Opus, the latter of which combines beautifully with Torrential Gearhulk or Mizzix’s Mastery.

 

                   

 

The format’s best control deck is fun to play and offers players a myriad of choices for diverse and engaging gameplay. 

 

 

 

Brainstorm and Faithless Looting have restored the appeal of UR Phoenix. In particular, Faithless Looting discards Phoenixes and activates your deck’s synergy. Expressive Itineration solves the deck’s resource depletion problem by contributing resources.

 

                   

 

Historic has the greatest variety of solid decks. I recommend you give it a chance because you will likely find something you enjoy in the format, I’ll see you next week!

 

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