Most promising deck in Amonkhet standard?

[Kingofmottinos]

Sooo which kind of deck looks most promising in the upcoming weeks after Amonkhet is officially released? I'm brewing some zombie decks and while they look fun and fairly strong, I don't think they'll be tier 1.

[Firegriff]

If someone gets vigilance on RW Exert creatures, it could do sone damage.  UB or GB Cycle/Discard -1/-1 counters has some potential.  I think UW tokens has the most promise, however.

[Kingofmottinos]

Always watching could be nice on exert. However I agree, UW token looks dope, but I'd also add Green (Nissa, Rhonas, Rhonas' champion, Hydra)

[tyler9219]

Anybody have a deck list for uw tokens? Gideon, ally of Zendikar is probably getting banned so hows uw tokens gonna work

[Firegriff]

I posted one already.  The Annointed Dead, should be on first page of decks section.

[ComingUpCway84]

I'm gonna throw my spoke in for UR Zombie Haven. The UR Emerge deck that was running around pre-Amonkhet was pretty powerful in and of itself, but with the addition of Drake Haven, Curator of Mysteries and maybe Censor, it looks insane. You could also end up in Grixis by moving the Elder Deep-Fiend/Kozilek's Return combo to the Sideboard (or getting rid of it altogether), and focusing on more aggressive creatures like Flameblade Adept and Shadowstorm Vizier.

[Kingofmottinos]

Do you have some kind of decklist?

[G. Moto]

  At pre-release I played a GRIXIS deck that had some serious control and graveyard play. A lot of the play that I tried leaning towards involved destruction and control oriented spells that helped to either slow down, burn out or gain the advantage over my opponent best I could. I'll include the decklist so that you can view.
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/716360-pain-from-the-grave

[G. Moto]

  Going back to the initial post question the promising decks that I'm forseeing are as follows: JUND -1/-1 Counters, ESPER Mummy control (zombie tokens and life gain), EXERT decks that use vigilance and any graveyard themed recursion. I mention these decks because compared to the mechanics that have been introduced, they share the best hopes of behind streamlined and consistent as far as strategy goes.

[Kingofmottinos]

  Going back to the initial post question the promising decks that I'm forseeing are as follows: JUND -1/-1 Counters, ESPER Mummy control (zombie tokens and life gain), EXERT decks that use vigilance and any graveyard themed recursion. I mention these decks because compared to the mechanics that have been introduced, they share the best hopes of behind streamlined and consistent as far as strategy goes.

Do you have some decklists? I've played around hapatra but I don't know if she can make it to tier 1. By the way, "promising" means tier 1, that's what I meant

[G. Moto]

  Here are some deck lists that I have spent the last few hours making up. This will show how Hapatra, vizier of poisons can really be utilized in multiple colored decks:

Hapatra, vizier of poisons- in order to get her first ability to trigger you need to deal combat damage to your opponent directly (Unblocked). In order to get her second ability to trigger (making the 1/1 snake tokens with deathtouch), all you have to do is place one or more -1/-1 counters on ANY creatures. That means placing them on your opponent's creatures will also cause this to trigger as well.

B/G
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717215-hapatra-s-dying-brood

B/G/W
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717214-growing-pains

B/G/U
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717205-slither-through-the-cracks

B/G/R
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717204-a-burning-burden

Feel free to comment on each of these decks as you would please. I'd like to hear some feed back on your thoughts. If you wish to use these deck lists then go right ahead, let me know if you create any changes to them.

[Captain Pointy Ears]

If we are talking new then RW Humans w/Exert I believe can definitely be a thing. I do like UW Spirits still. Cast out helps for sure the cycles add some flave and censor is very good early and drawing late game is great. I think there is going to be a BG SMASH FACE deck. I could see utilizing the B and G gods heart of Kiran . Just some where you get to turn cards sideways and smash tons.

[Kingofmottinos]

  Here are some deck lists that I have spent the last few hours making up. This will show how Hapatra, vizier of poisons can really be utilized in multiple colored decks:

Hapatra, vizier of poisons- in order to get her first ability to trigger you need to deal combat damage to your opponent directly (Unblocked). In order to get her second ability to trigger (making the 1/1 snake tokens with deathtouch), all you have to do is place one or more -1/-1 counters on ANY creatures. That means placing them on your opponent's creatures will also cause this to trigger as well.

B/G
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717215-hapatra-s-dying-brood

B/G/W
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717214-growing-pains

B/G/U
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717205-slither-through-the-cracks

B/G/R
https://deckstats.net/decks/24826/717204-a-burning-burden

Feel free to comment on each of these decks as you would please. I'd like to hear some feed back on your thoughts. If you wish to use these deck lists then go right ahead, let me know if you create any changes to them.

I really like the first one, although I'd try to fit in a channeler, who makes -1-1 counters while also ramping. I don't like hazoret favor in the last deck however, sacrificing a creature only to get 2/0 seems too much to me... also, why all the decks are 65 cards? Usually it's 60, 61 or 62, it has been calculated that 60 cards or less is the perfect number if you want your best cards as soon as possible, I'm just curious.

[Kingofmottinos]

If we are talking new then RW Humans w/Exert I believe can definitely be a thing. I do like UW Spirits still. Cast out helps for sure the cycles add some flave and censor is very good early and drawing late game is great. I think there is going to be a BG SMASH FACE deck. I could see utilizing the B and G gods heart of Kiran . Just some where you get to turn cards sideways and smash tons.

Do you really think exert could be tier 1? I don't know it seems too much simple to shine... it reminds me of the R/G pummeler, awesome at first, then it got surpassed. Also, do you have a decklist for the G/B smash face?

[G. Moto]

I'm glad that you like the first deck. How do you like the Sultai Deck with the Naga? Lastly I include the Hazoret's Favor because you can use it to power up the soulstinger before you kill it on purpose. Think about it, soulstinger enters with 2x -1/-1 counters, then if you play other spells to give it another -1/-1 counter (meaning it'd have three), you can boost it up with the enchantment and make it die at the end of the next end step. This way if you opponent does not block the attack they may be taking up to 4 points of damage. If they don't block and it dies then you can distribute more -1/-1 counters on other creatures. If you had nest of scarabs on the field then that's going to be A LOT of tokens.

   Also as far as deck size goes I personally like to play larger decks. It's not a "bigger is better" thing with me, I just feel that playing the minimum puts me at a disadvantage as far as resources and possible deck outs go. Also when I play my games tend to go longer than most people's matches (because I don't like giving easy wins). As long as I'm less than 70 cards and I include cycling, drawing multiple times per turn, or self milling tactics that work into the mechanics or theme of the deck then it really doesn't matter too much. For example: at my pre-release event I ran a 60 card deck while everyone else was playing 40 card decks. With the way I played the deck I had 1 win (against a mardu zombie) /1 loss (Rakdos Zombie Token and discard) / 2 draws (Azorious Embalm & Gruul Exert). I've learned in my years of playing that people build their decks as they need to. If a strategy works and the deck flows the way that it's supposed to then bigger won't mean slower.