It might only seem like two minutes since Modern Horizons hit the shelves, but the releases from Wizards of the Coast just keep coming. Magic Core Set 2020 (or M20) is just around the corner – the penultimate set before we say goodbye to Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, Dominaria, and Magic Core Set 2019. That means we are going to have three months of Standard madness where anything is possible before the massive meta shift that is rotation.

But what will the next three months of Standard actually look like? Well this coming Monday you will be able to find out as Streamers around the world get to try out new Standard in the M20 Early Access Streamer Event. Thanks to the wonderful people at Wizards of the Coast providing us with access to free preview accounts, we here at Master of Magics will be taking part too.

We have been fortunate enough to be included in all the previous Early Access Streamer Events and they are always a blast. Being able to test out new and exciting decks before the general release is a ton of fun. This time, however, I thought I would try something a little bit different. I want to get your opinions on the decks you want to see during my Streams.

I already have a few idea’s for deck lists I want to try, but I thought it would be fun to build some decks as a community. That way when you tune in to see the stream, you can see how your ideas play out in the upcoming meta. To give you some idea of the deck making possibilities, I thought I would talk you through a couple of the initial strategies I wanted to try out. If, however, you have something more unique you want to see tried out, I’d be happy to give them a whirl.

Zombieshift

Back when M19 came out, many people were surprised to see the Modern playable Scapeshift see a reprint. A win condition in Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks, many people wondered what the Standard applications of Scapeshift could be. Unfortunately, the deck didn’t really coalesce, and the card remained un-played. Until now.

With the printing of Field of the Dead in M20, Scapeshift might have finally found a home in Standard. Green/Blue ramp decks are very much a thing at the moment with cards like Growth Spiral and Circuitous Route, and getting up to seven or eight lands is pretty easy. Most of the time these decks will either play out a giant hydra or dome their opponents with a huge Banefire, but now they can flood the board with zombies.

If we have eight lands in play and cast a Scapeshift (which still allows us to hold up counter magic) we could go and fetch two copies of Field of the Dead as well as six other unique lands and end up with sixteen 2/2 zombies on the board. That is thirty-two power people! Now tell me that doesn’t sound like fun.

You could even splash a third colour to provide more removal or some additional spice. Why not splash black for the new Dread Presence to get some sweet landfall triggers off all your Swamps. Maybe white to add in the best mass removal until you can get your combo online. Or perhaps red for targeted removal and direct damage. The choice is yours.

Infinite Dinosaurs

What’s better than a dinosaur? Two dinosaurs. What’s better than two dinosaurs? Two dinosaurs that make infinite dinosaurs. Yes, if you weren’t already aware there is an infinite combo in the upcoming Standard format, and it’s just a little bit crazy.

Step one, play a copy of the new Marauding Raptor. Step two, play a Polyraptor and have the Marauding Raptor deal two damage to it. This triggers enrage and creates another Polyraptor, which you can then have the Marauding Raptor deal two damage to. This triggers enrage and creates yet another Polyraptor which you can then have the Marauding Raptor deal two damage to. Rinse and repeat.

You get the idea, but this combo is easier to get online than you think. Dinosaur decks have loads of cost reducers and mana accelerators, so casting an eight drop is not that difficult. Secondly, with Samut, Tyrant Smasher and Regisaur Alpha, you don’t even have to wait a turn before your horde of Polyraptors can get stuck in. The only thing you have to be aware of is that Marauding Raptor‘s ability is not a ‘may’ ability, so you will need a way of closing the loop. Or you know, we could just play for the draw every game.

These are just two of the many deck ideas that M20 can make possible. But there are so many more to try out. Maybe you want to do Chandra Tribal, or see if Mono Black Aggro is now viable. If so then hit me up with your deck list and I’ll give them a try during the event. I’ll be doing two streams during the course of the Early Access Event, the first being on Monday at 19:30 til 22:00 BST, and the second on Tuesday at 10:00 til 13:30 BST over on my Twitch channel www.twitch.tv/mtgtengu. I’ll be joined by my fellow #TeamMoM member Kristen for some of the time, so we might even get around to trying out the new Limited environment.

If you have a deck you would like me to try, you can hit me up on twitter @MTGTengu or leave a comment below, and while you’re there you could like and subscribe to keep up to date with all we do here at Master of Magics. We also have a Patreon, so if you want to support future content for the site please consider becoming one of our Patrons. Just $1 a month would do so much to help us create more of the content you enjoy. One such deck I’ll be trying out is this spicy number from Ian Firth, so make sure you tune in for it and all the other decks during the Stream. But until then, remember – no matter the game you play or where you play it: good luck and have fun.

Ian Firth’s – UW Spirit Weenie

In just over a weeks time I’ll be taking part in the #MTGM20 Early Access Streamer Event with a preview account supplied by the wonderful people @wizards_magic. Got some decks planned to try out, but does anyone have any spicy lists they want to see put to the test? #sponsored pic.twitter.com/ogMPZOEU3H

— James Wise, #mtg & #40k content creator, #TeamMoM (@MTGTengu) June 22, 2019

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