GRN Standard: Izzet Blitz

If you would like to see this deck in action, be sure to check out my stream www.Twitch.tv/TuesdayTastic at 11:59 AM MST November 2nd. I will also be doing a follow-up stream of Jeskai Spirits for those who are interested.

Guilds of Ravnica Standard has given us almost everything we could possibly ask for. We have each major archetype represented among the top decks (that being aggro, midrange, control, combo, and tempo), budget decks that can compete as well as a tier one deck, and crazy decks such as Rainbow Lich taking over entire tournaments. This week, I would like to cover the cheaper side of Standard with an ultra-budget deck. For less than 15 dollars you can have and play with a version of Standard Izzet Blitz.

Izzet Blitz is a deck that sees the most success in the Pauper format. The goal of the deck is to stick a creature on one turn and then kill the opponent on the very next turn. The deck achieves this by playing cards such as Kiln Fiend, and then a bunch of cantrips that allow them to tear through their deck with a ton of velocity and grow their Kiln Fiend to the point that it can deal 20 or more damage in one turn. Thanks to the plethora of cheap and even free spells, Pauper players can grow a Kiln Fiend fast enough to enable a turn 3 kill and still have protection available for it.

Izzet Blitz is a fan favorite archetype for many players, and fortunately, this kind of deck does exist in the current pool of Standard legal cards. One of the key pieces to any Blitz deck is a card that gains a lot of power from any spell you cast. In our Standard, we get to use Wee Dragonauts. A flying threat that gets better the more spells you cast sounds very familiar to a certain Drake that many UR decks are playing, but the key difference between the Dragonauts and Enigma Drake is the speed at which it can kill the opponent. Enigma Drake is a card that aims to play the long game. You kill off a creature here, counter a spell there, and eventually, your Drake is big enough to kill your opponent in 3 turns. Wee Dragonauts is a much more aggressive card, that aims to end your opponent in a single turn, and puts the Blitz in Izzet.

Redundancy is key in this kind of deck, and while Wee Dragonauts is the only availble creature to get a prowess type effect, we can still generate the same kind of damage with a Guttersnipe. Guttersnipe is a card that I have long enjoyed because he rewards you for playing Magic. Whether he is in a Counter-Burn control style of shell or in this type of hyper-aggressive combo deck, Guttersnipe always seems to perform exceptionally well. If your opponent can’t remove Guttersnipe on the spot, he can easily convert into several free points of damage.

One of the problems with trying to play this kind of deck in Standard is that the card quality is nothing compared to the likes of Pauper. The difference between Lightning Bolt and Lightning Strike is a pretty significant one, especially for a deck that is trying to spam as many spells as possible in one turn. With the help of a little friend known as Goblin Electromancer, you can turn your Strikes into Bolts, and allow your Dragonauts or Guttersnipe to much more efficiently kill your opponent. With this core of 3 cards, we can throw in a ton of cheap and powerful cards that serve both the combo and the deck in general.

When playing this deck, my advice to you is to wait until the right moment. Use your card draw to find your creature and a spell that can protect it or give it immediate value. Until then, sit tight, kill a few things, and get ready to kill your opponent out of nowhere. If you are interested in a cheap and fun combo deck for this Standard season, look no forward than Izzet Blitz. Thank you all for reading, I hope you have a great week and an amazing Tuesday!

Link to Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1440300#paper