Making Standard Blue Again

Whenever the standard format rotates, players scramble and experiment to find the “next hot deck.”  With the rotation of the Kaladesh and Amonkhet blocks, these past few months of the standard format have been no exception.  Players and professionals have been experimenting with different builds; some of the popular deck archetypes being Golgari Midrange, Izzet/Jeskai Control, Mono-Red Aggro, and variations of White Weenie/Boros Aggro decks. A lesser played, yet incredibly powerful deck that is currently my favorite deck in format still seems to be flying under the radar. That deck is Mono-Blue Djinn.
​
Although it has seen some competitive play, Mono-Blue Djinn (or Mono-Blue Tempo) has yet to break into the upper-echelons of decks being played in the competitive scene.


​
Source:https://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/ptgrn/pro-tour-guilds-ravnica-metagame-breakdown-day-one-2018-11-09

As you can see in this graphic from Wizards of the Coast, Mono-Blue Djinn was only represented by 3.1% of the field in the Standard Main Event at Pro-Tour Guilds of Ravnica.  If you look at the decks to dominate the field, it is a mixture of removal heavy decks that look to out-value the opponent or aggressive, go-wide decks.  Mono-Blue Djinn offers an arsenal that is equipped to deal with the removal that decks are dishing out while still having cards to mitigate the aggression from other archetypes. 
Here is the deck list that I am currently playing.

DECK LIST: https://deckstats.net/decks/119993/1142412-mono-blue-djinn/en

The main idea for the deck is to play an evasive threat turn 1 (Mist-Cloaked Herald or Siren Stormtamer) and then start swinging in for damage turn 2 with the card advantage engines of Curious Obsession and Chart a Course.  When you are playing this deck, this is largely what you will want to look for in your opening hand.  You then have a mixture of utility creatures and counter spells to keep the board and your creatures safe.  Ultimately, you try to stick a Tempest Djinn and use the massive power it provides in the air to finish the game.

Siren Stormtamer is an incredibly important part of the deck, serving three roles within it: it serves as an evasive threat to stick a Curious Obsession on, it provides protection for other creatures with its sacrifice clause, and it is a wizard, which makes your Wizard’s Retort cost 1 mana less. 

This deck rewards smart play.  Knowing when to flash in a Merfolk Trickster or what spells to counter can be bigger tasks than they sound like. One of my favorite strategies with the Trickster is to flash it in against an attacking Crackling Drake, reducing the Drake’s power to 0 and causing it to lose flying for the turn.  This allows for an easy double-block to kill off the threatening creature.

The main difference between my deck list and others being played is the inclusion of the 1 Admiral’s Order.  I love this card as a 1-of.  Most players don’t see it coming and wait to use a kill spell until after you declare an attacker.  This allows for you to get them with a 1-mana counter spell.  Then, after you’ve played it once against them, your opponent is always worried that the card is sitting in your hand, waiting to throw off their game. 

Mono-Blue Djinn’s sideboard offers answers to many different archetypes.  Sleep and Diamond mare are great against aggro.  Negate and Disdainful Stroke both give you tools to deal with the control matchup.  Syncopate and Sentinel totem are great against decks like Golgari that are looking to utilize their graveyard to their advantage. 

If I were to change up my list, I would consider adding 1 or 2 copies of sleep to the mainboard.  At times, it can be hard to deal with a deck that gets wide very quickly.  Many players play less than 4 copies of Chart a Course in their deck, and I don’t agree with this.  The deck needs card draw mechanics.  You will find that most games you lose it will be due to not having copies Curious Obsession or Chart a Course.

I highly recommend you give this deck a whirl.  It is incredibly fun, extremely interactive, and highly competitive all while being incredibly affordable.   
-Timmy Standafer

---