Howdy folks! By now you may or may not know about the cool news that Wizards of the Coast dropped down on us today with the announcement of upcoming Challenger Decks for Standard!
You can take a look at the decklists for these bad boys right over here.
These decks will be available on April 6 and will have an MSRP of $29.99.
Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a Standard player by any means, but I do keep up with the format and news enough to know that this is actually a really awesome thing to see coming down from Wizards. Not only are these decklists actually solid starting lists for people wanting to get into the format, but they actually put cards in them that will help drop the price of various mythics, rares, and even solid uncommons to give people starting out in the format a good shot at picking up these cards.
Let’s take a solid look at the rundown of some of the more expensive options these decks offer.
It’s an obvious note that Chandra’s price has been a little nutty high during her life in Standard, due to how much play she sees in it as well as in Modern/Legacy. Out of all the cards included in these decks, this is the one that really shows Wizards is committing to making sure these cards are available for Standard players and for older players as well.
Another all-star card that’s big in Standard and also seeing lots of play down into Modern/Legacy, Hazoret really needed this reprint and it’s again another instance of a really good setup for these decks.
Abrade / Fatal Push / Cast Out / Censor / Blossoming Defense / Field of Ruin
A solid set of uncommons that every Standard player seems to need, it was great to see these hit these decks hard. Granted, there is only one copy of Fatal Push, but one copy is better than no copies. Abrade more than anything is a big deal, all the way down to Modern/Legacy, so it’s great to see this card getting a reprint.
Settle the Wreckage / Heart of Kiran / Unclaimed Territory / Aether Hub / Fastlands
More solid reprints. Settle the Wreckage is pushing $5 or so, and Aether Hub / Unclaimed Territory are solid cards for people getting into the format and needing a good manabase. The inclusions of Inspiring Vantage and Concealed Courtyard is also pretty stellar.
All in all, these decks give people a great way to get into the format at a very competitive price. It’s really great to see Wizards doing something like this, as it shows they’re paying really good attention at how to grab new Standard players into the format as well as making it easy to get into at a moderately competitive pace while being cost effective.
Who knows, even a guy like myself might look into picking up one of these to have a Standard deck for fun hanging around? After all, that Mono-Red deck with Chandra and Hazoret looks like a heck of a fun time to play.
Wrapping Up
Please take a moment to sound off in the comments on what you think about these new Challenger Decks! We want to hear what you guys think about this as well. And if you pick up one of these, share your experiences with them as well! They certainly look like a great option for people looking to get into Standard.
Until next time!
– Joseph Dyer
Joseph is an avid player of eternal Magic formats, including Vintage and Legacy. As a Nic Fit player who will tell anyone who will listen about his deck, Joe spends his time analyzing and playing on Magic Online and various online platforms, while prepping for competitive events. To follow more from Joe, check out his Twitter!