BEST DECKS! | December 2021 BO1 & BO3 Tier List | Innistrad Crimson Vow | MTG Standard

Hey Planeswalkers Happy Early Holidays!

I finally have a new cut with a load of new decks coming out of Crimson Vow. Personally, I have been a little bit back on schedule creating some more consistency for the last month or so of the year here. Additionally, this will most likely be the last Standard Cut/take for this year, so happy holidays and see you next year as well!

Again, excited to be back as it has been some time, and I appreciate each and everyone of your nice supporting comments. It has been crazy in my household, and I think we may be finally getting into a new routine. However, as any father/mother may know it’s usually short lived! I plan to take advantage of it while I can, and hopefully you are a benefactor of that as well.

You can find this month’s Tier List here along with the article.

As always the article is below, along with observations, trends, and the list! Enjoy! As always appreciate your comments below, and feel free to hop on the Discord server as well!

Latest Friday Night Meta – Weekly Series

December Week 1 (Youtube)

I pull these lists together to help give us an alternative competitive angle, as well as trends, with a nice little timestamp as I believe being competitive there is a long term knowledge angle we need to take as well 🙂

Additionally, I like to provide a competitive MTGA Landscape, those who like a visual or just to discuss! You can find the observations along with the tier list below. Please share your thoughts as always, and feel free to comment on the new format or decks I should consider that I missed.

TLDR: Chain of Top decks continues, with some spicy Tribal getting into the mix. Epiphany continues to do work. Alchemy initial doubts followed by excitement!

Tier List

What it is, current meta observations, and deck overviews! Additionally I love sharing the observations and recent changes we have faced in an ever evolving fast paced format.

Items of Interest & Considerations:

Chain Continues – A lot of the decks coming out of Innistrad Midnight Hunt continued to be strong, locked, and loaded. With the last tier list and now into this month’s as well as first Innistrad Crimson Vow one we see the continuation of pull through decks. A lot of the decks just shored up a few key cards, and continued their dominance within the competitive meta scene.
A few Tribals – Werewolves, Vampires, Humans, and Zombies O my! I definitely think Crimson Vow brought in with it a very nice underlying tribal tone, additionally one that has these decks seemingly more competitive within the Standard format. I do not think they dominate by any means, however it’s a nice fun competitive take and experience to hop away from some of the norm and enjoy a bit more of the Innistrad Plane.
Dichotomy – Turns and everything else. The reality here is once again the decks built around Epiphany to be frank. This card single handedly helps continue to dominate within the meta. If you don’t have an answer to it you are in trouble. On the other hand though we do continue to go under or go big fast strategy continues to be counter to this later game ending deck archetype.
Strengthening Midrange – Orzhov Clerics, Jund, and Temur are a few decks starting to creep in and up a bit more this time around the competitive scene. So far personally I have enjoyed clerics, as I am always a fan of just gaining life in general to continue to hopefully put a win further out of reach for your opponents. I think the list is very solid, and comes with a lot of great answers to what is out there. I think the latest of these on the scene is most certainly Jund Midrange/Aggro that is starting to see a bit more play.
First Impressions – Overall I have enjoyed the new set, found it fun, and enjoyed the tribal additions. As a competitive player dusting off only a few cards never makes it hard to quickly transition into the new format. Personally, I was hoping for a bit more shuffling of the meta decks, however I will certainly welcome the few new archetypes we got. I look forward to rolling out more decks, analysis, and pertinent information as the Season ages and progresses!
Alchemists Point of View – Many folks have asked me my opinions on this, and so I did want to quickly comment. At first I was a little irritated, mainly since I have been a long time MTG Financier, with a pretty large set, that I look at as an alternative investment. I was a little upset about the impact it may have on the value of the cards I currently own. Additionally, the fact that it can be seen as a continuation to squeeze the purse strings! However, as more information came to be, spending more time thinking about it, I have warmed up to the idea a bit more for a couple reasons.
- Evolution – The first reason is the absolute pace at which they can actually change the game. I like this for several reasons. We can have an ever evolving format at a faster pace, introduction of new cards in off cycles that aren’t as constrained, and as a content creator an ability to self improve as well as offer another form of entertainment.
- Hypocrite: The second is to not be a hypocrite myself! I actually wrote about this topic a year ago here. Where I discuss an idea of soft bans etc, to help stagnant formats, and personally I find this solution a much more creative, and innovative one!

What goes into this list?

For returners or those that are new I have been asked before on how I pull these together as well. BO1 is a slightly different beast vs. BO3. Here I rely heavier on win rate stats at very competitive levels starting at Mythic then work my way backwards through the tiers if needed for additional POVs. It is also based on gameplay – and I myself favor BO1 until I usually hit Top 1500 🙂 – I take into consideration untapped.ggs companion app stats as they tend to have a great amount of data, and a good ability to slice and dice decks. One additional call out again is due to the vastness of decks or newest additions not all data is readily available so for the gaps I try to expand where I can via experience, tournaments, and other data driven sites available.

BO3 has much broader impacts when it comes to data. You can find all the sources, experiences, and information I take into consideration in the Additional info spot.

THANK YOU & Additional Info

I have produced this list from a culmination of a few things. I have reached this point by pulling together research data from multiple sources like untapped, MTGAzone, Aetherhub, twitter, personal gameplay, tournament matches, this reddit as well as others, personal stats, and consistently hitting Mythic over the last year and participation in the last Mythic Qualifier.

Again, Happy to discuss or talk about decks not included! Feel free to hop in the Multiverse Discord Server. Tier list below plus deck lists (shells – tweak to your heart’s content) if you are looking for some options most all top 1500 at some point many at the #1 Rank, and multiple top end tournament results!

One last thought I would like to share: If you have a competitive deck (different than one featured) I am always happy to do a piece on it time permitting. I have several folks that ask, and have done several player featured decks. I rather enjoy this so please don’t hesitate to reach out or ask. I always try to prioritize with the following and timing or relevance – MTGA Rank (1500s)/Top Tournaments down to Plat2Mythic Decks.

If you would like to do a collaboration feel free to reach out as well.

All Full Deck lists consolidated below.

This Months Tier List

MTGA Standard BO1 December 2021 Tier List

Tier 1 (4)
Mono White Aggro (Deck Link)

Mono Black Control (Deck Link)

Orzhov Clerics (Deck Link)

Izzet Turns (Deck Link)

Tier 2 (4)

Mono Green Aggro (Deck Link)

Izzet Dragons (Deck Link)

Jeskai Reconstruct Turns (Deck Link)

Orzhov Control (Deck Link)

Tier 3 (4)

Mono Black Zombies (Deck Link)

Azorius Control (Deck Link)

Sultai Festival (Deck Link)

Dimir Control (Deck Link)

MTGA Standard BO3 November 2021 Tier List

Tier 1 (4)
Mono Green Aggro (Deck Link)