I’ve been getting up to speed on Standard in preparation for the current RCQ season. RIW has an RCQ scheduled on February 14 and March 14 I plan to attend. They will also be broadcasting the events if you can’t make it; be sure to check it out on their twitch.
Today I’m going to discuss my favorite Standard deck, Izzet Looting.
The Lorwyn Eclipsed release date is January 23, but there are a few weeks left to play the current format. As the number of sets increases the less likely they will meaningfully affect the format as Lorwyn will not trigger a rotation. The next Standard rotation will happen in early 2027 giving staying power to investments into the format.
I’m also looking to go deep into Standard in preparation of the upcoming Regional Championship in Milwaukee from February 20-22. This is my first Regional Championship and I’m excited to compete.
Here’s the last seven day metagame share on MTGGoldfish as of 12/25/25:
The metagame has plenty of different strategies to appeal to all sorts of play styles. Reanimator, Jeskai Artifacts, and Kona offer a competitive take on linear strategies. Mono Red, Jeskai Control, and Dimir Midrange offer a few options on the fair side of the spectrum, too.
Reaminator is broken up into Sultai and Four-Color on MTGGoldfish due to Terror of the Peaks being included to win in one shot with Bringer of the Last Death. Both versions are functionally a Sultai deck and make up about 10% of the metagame.
Izzet is clearly the strongest color combination with an approximate 30% metagame share between Lessons, Looting, and Prowess. Izzet Lessons dominated the World Championships, but it has a weakness against linear strategies because the card advantage engine takes some time to establish. Dimir is still popular because it has a favorable matchup against many of the decks preying on Izzet Lessons.
I favor Izzet Looting because it can hang with Izzet Lessons and Mono Red while offering a faster clock against Reanimator, Jeskai Artifacts, and Temur Kona. Izzet decks of all flavors line up well against Dimir due to the nimble removal and inherent card advantage.
Izzet Looting is looking to utilize some of the many powerful blue and red cards to form an aggressive shell. It’s a midrange deck at heart meaning it will be able to transform into a deck tailor-made to fight any matchup after sideboard. This is the most ideal type of deck for me as I’m not significantly unfavored in any matchup in the first game.
Standard is in a good place because in the running for the most powerful card in the format is Stormchaser’s Talent. There will typically be a best card in the format and I find the talent to be acceptable.
Stormchaser’s Talent combines well with Boomerang Basics and the true skill lies in deciding when to go to level 2 before bouncing. In game one I’m more likely to bounce Talent early to make more otters while post board I can pick up more targeted interaction. It’s pretty dirty to pick up a Negate against control only to reset with Boomerang Basics. Remember the opponent can kill Stormchaser’s Talent with Get Lost in response to a level up to fizzle the effect.
The Otter token is the only creature with less than three toughness making it tricky for opposing Izzet decks to remove them with damage-based removal. There are plenty of Firebending Talents and Torch the Towers in the format.
Tiger Seal is a flex slot that slants the deck in a more aggressive direction. There are plenty of ways to draw a second card on your turn to untap and attack with vigilance. It can get weaker in post board games as you take a more defensive stance. Lower velocity and less cantripping.
Fear of Missing Out is one of the strongest creatures in the format as it smooths out your early draw and is also a great topdeck in the late game. There are plenty of ways to loot in this deck making it more likely to achieve delirium. Tiger-Seal and Duelist of the Mind have vigilance making the second combat step stronger. I will trim Fear of Missing Out in creature matchups because I want lands to fuel my enchantments and Riddlers making the loot less effective.
Duelist of the Mind is the other two-drop of choice. Fear of Missing Out is weaker to cast in the early game when your hand is strong, but Duelist can be cast on curve more effectively. I will trim Duelist when red removal is less effective because the crime will trigger on the opponent’s turn when countering spells meaning he is weaker on average when attacking.
Crimes for Deuelist of the Mind trigger with red removal, countering an opponent’s spell, and even exiling targeted cards with Ghost Vacuum and Soul-Guide Lantern. The activated ability of Soul-Guide Lantern doesn’t commit a crime because it exiles each opponent’s graveyard and does not target. This means you also cannot exile your own graveyard with Soul-Guide Lantern when the opponent plays Superior Spider Man.
Frostcliff Siege is the reason to play the deck. It began as a singleton, but kept exceeding expectations and winning games singlehandedly. I choose Temur about 95% of the time. Even when I choose Jeskai I’m likely to reset to Temur with Boomerang Basics. A couple weeks ago I fired off a hot take that Frostcliff Siege was stronger than Monument to Endurance in Standard and I stand by it today.
Siege granting +1+0, haste, and trample is powerful because you can win from low resources with Tiger Seal, Fear of Missing Out, and warping a Quantum Riddler. It’s quite satisfying to Lava Axe the opponent with Quantum Riddler and draw some cards, too. The Otter tokens become threatening as well because casting the enchantment makes them at least a 3/2.
Torch the Tower is the premium removal in Standard as you play plenty of tokens, enchantments, and artifacts to deal three damage. It shines against Mono Red and Badgermole Cub decks, but can also enable delirium for Fear of Missing Out.
Winternight Stories has plenty of synergies in Izzet Looting. Drawing the second card will untap Tiger Seal, pump Duelist of the Mind, enable delirium for Fear of Missing Out, and provide a use for a warped Quantum Riddler body. If you haven’t drawn an extra card yet, Tiger-Seal will harmonize and then untap to attack. Previous versions of Izzet Looting played more Winternight Stories, but Frostcliff Siege is the more powerful three-drop.
I’ve also been happy with Opt to cut down to 22 lands and untap Tiger-Seal more often. It’s a way to generate more prowess triggers for Otter tokens and is a generic spell to rebuy when going to level 2 on Stormchaser’s Talent. Izzet decks get rewarded for casting many spells, but there aren’t many opportunities against decks where Torch the Tower is weak.
Soul-Guide Lantern in the maindeck is a concession to reanimator and has applications against Lessons. There are plenty of synergies as it draws a card for Tiger-Seal, bargains with Torch the Tower, and delirium for Fear of Missing Out. I can also bounce it early to cycle a Boomerang Basics and commit a crime for Duelist of the Mind.
A common six card set I board out against non-creature decks are four Torch the Tower and two Soul-Guide Lantern.
Spirebluf Canal is the best land as it’s both painless and there are both blue and red one-drops.
Riverpyre Verge is strong, but doesn’t add blue mana unconditionally which is the more important color as you can see from the basic land spread.
Multiversal Passage is basically a Steam Vents waiting room. Once Lorwyn Eclipsed is released Steam Vents will be the dominant choice, but there may be room for a single Multiversal Passage. I’m more likely to play Passage on Island since there are so many cheap, blue one-drops. In paper tournaments I use Pokemon energy cards to represent the basic land type.
I want a full four sideboard hate artifacts to fight Reanimator as you will lose without proper interaction.
Ghost Vacuum is preferred to Soul-Guide Lantern against Izzet Lessons. The lessons can be cast so quickly I want to deal with them more than once and I can also make sure level 2 on Stormchaser’s Talent is worse, too. Duelist of the Mind also commits a crime each turn with Vacuum making it more synergistic in the deck.
Spell Pierce can come in against Jeskai Artifacts, Lessons, and Control. One-mana counters are important because they are swapped for Torch the Tower on the mana curve.
A single Annul comes in against a variety of matchups: Sultai Reanimator, Izzet Lessons, and Jeskai Artifacts.There are plenty of options for two-mana counters: Negate, Spider-Sense, Disdainful Stroke, and Get Out.
Get Out is well-positioned because it can counter Superior Spider Man, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Awaken the Honored Dead against Reanimtor. They will board in a second Cavern of Souls and find them with their setup spells so it’s important to remain proactive. I also like Get Out against creature decks because they can reset Roaring Furnace and Stormchaser’s Talent, or counter a big monster.
Negate countering Monument to Endurance and permanents against Jeskai Artifacts gives it a nod over Spider-Sense. The only triggered ability I want to counter against something Negate would have countered in the first place is Kona so I do play one copy as well.
Pyroclasm and Fire Magic are less powerful than they might initially appear, but do have a place at killing Pawpatch Recruit. Fire Magic is overrated against Dimir, but it can cleanly deal with Sunset Saboteur and Faebloom Trick tokens. Sweepers kill fewer creatures than expected because there are so many other removal spells in Izzet Looting keeping the battlefield clear.
Izzet decks can have trouble killing large creatures making Broadside Barrage a nice catch-all.
I do like the removal that can kill Beza, Elspeth, Voice of Victory, and Shiko against Jeskai Control. It also kills Kaito when it enters and makes an emblem.
Obliterating Bolt is the second way to damage planeswalkers against Dimir Midrange. This removal spell also exiles Enduring Curiosity.
Abrade is the final red removal spell that also doubles as a way to kill Monument to Endurance against Izzet Lessons while also respecting Gran-Gran. Even when I’m losing game two against Lessons I’ll play it out to get a sense for how many Gran-Grans are left in the deck.
Standard is fun and I’m looking forward to upcoming RCQs. Izzet continues to be the best overall shell despite various bans; the decks are packed with interesting decisions. I plan on continuing to play Izzet until the Regional Championships.
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