Sphinx of False Conclusions | Illustration by Wylie Beckert

From time to time, WotC prints a Standard-legal set so powerful it impacts many formats. I can think of examples like Throne of Eldraine and War of the Spark, sets that had 50-70 Standard-playable cards and had many banned cards along the way.

While I can’t say for sure if Reality Fracture will be one of these, I’m sure its Standard impact will be much higher than The Hobbit or Marvel Super Heroes, or even in-universe sets like Lorwyn Eclipsed. While looking at the set’s most powerful cards, it was very hard to make a compact list with 30ish cards; we could very well have 50 or 60 cards from FRA join the format.

Before we begin, let’s highlight the current Standard meta and the most played decks:

• Izzet Spellementals uses cheap instants and sorceries, most of them lessons, and the trio of Hearth Elemental, Eddymurk Crab, and Sunderflock.
• 4-Color Control is based on Tablet of Discovery and Jeskai Revelation, as well as the best removal spells and card draw in Standard.
• Dimir Midrange is powered up by evasive small threats and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
• Mono-Green Landfall survived the Badgermole Cub ban thanks to strong landfall cards like Mightform Harmonizer and Earthbender Ascension.
• Orzhov Lifegain has a strong lifegain engine with cards like Amalia Benavides Aguirre, Case of the Uneaten Feast, and Hinterland Sanctifier.

Of course, following the recent Standard bannings, there are many other Tier 1.5 decks that can get stronger with Reality Fracture cards and become tier 1. In fact, I think this set will open up the Standard meta due to the powerful cards it has across many colors and mana costs.

What Reality Fracture Cards Are Standard-Legal?

Darklight Phoenix | Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Cards from the Reality Fracture Play Boosters that have the FRA set code are Standard-legal. This set doesn’t have a reprint bonus sheet like previous sets. There are no other supplementary Standard-legal products this time around, and cards with the FRC set code aren’t legal in Standard.

#34. Mabel, Bitter Recluse

If planeswalkers get powerful in the new Standard, Mabel, Bitter Recluse can be an interesting value creature. It undoes an empower Jace 3 ability by itself. Green decks also often pile up counters on cards like Sazh's Chocobo, so you can use this card in those contexts.

#33. Yuriko, Hope from the Shadows

Yuriko, Hope from the Shadows is a flash 1/1 creature in the same design space as cards like Spyglass Siren and Floodpits Drowner. It can be a combat trick or another way to mill and improve your graveyard synergies.

#32. Countersculpt

With the amount of empower Jace and good Jace planeswalker cards in Reality Fracture, Countersculpt is an excellent payoff. Paying 2 mana to counter any spell in Standard is a good reason to play a blue Jace-themed deck. You also get to empower Jace 1, which is at least worth a surveil. And the worst case is a Cancel, which is okay.

#31. Pia, Aether Ascetic

Pia, Aether Ascetic can already make some waves in Sultai graveyard decks, where you can use its ability to go after powerful Overlords, like Overlord of the Balemurk, or combo pieces like The Sibsig Ceremony. It’s going to fight with Formidable Speaker for the spot in the deck if enchantments get more relevant.

#30. Proft, Sinister Mastermind

Proft, Sinister Mastermind is hard to cast, but it’s very interesting with manifest dread or Recommission. Also, it’s a card that should be in your graveyard most of the time, and it can get there via a discard ability, sometimes even killing a 1/1 on the way. Abhorrent Oculus is still a card, and it can be friends with this version of Proft.

#29. Multiply by Zero

Two-mana instant-speed removal spells are usually playable, and Multiply by Zero covers a lot of threats without a downside when it works. You won’t want to play this if you’re facing cards like Guiding Hydra, creatures with +1/+1 counters, or “living weapon” creatures. It’s a metagame call, no doubt, but even if this card doesn’t kill a creature, it can be a good combat trick.

#28. Theorix Charm

I think all five uncommon charms have a chance to be played in their respective decks, but Theorix Charm looks like the best one for Standard. It’s pretty similar to Izzet Charm: You have a counterspell, a soft removal, and a value self-mill option, which most UB decks in this format need, like the Superior Spider-Man reanimator ones.

#27. Way of the Pyromancer

Way of the Pyromancer is interesting as a 2-mana planeswalker and as an alternate way to ramp in red. You can surveil right away to get some value, and with some extra planeswalkers, you’ll be casting 6-7 drops way earlier than expected.

#26. Theorist’s Proxy

Theorist's Proxy is just a nice, defensive 2-mana flash play, and by empowering Jace, you can draw a card right away and later protect a key spell from a counter. Just a solid card all-around in diverse matchups.

#25. Overwrite the Multiverse

I don’t know if a 6-mana wrath is really playable or not in current Standard, but Overwrite the Multiverse is well worth the price of admission. The format’s been fast lately, but if it slows a little bit, this card is the king of midrange fights. Especially if our opponents keep playing recursive threats. And while white decks have plenty of good wraths to choose, black needs this card if they want mass exile.

#24. Jace’s Machinations

Jace's Machinations will be an interesting card to watch in the “all Jaces” deck. It’s basically an instant-speed card draw, and a Jace token with 8 loyalty can draw you a bunch of cards over the course of subsequent turns. Not to mention the interaction with Jace, Reality Sculptor’s 0-loyalty ability, and for that you’ll need a lot of loyalty counters.

#23. Simulacrum Shaper

Remember 4-mana Solemn Simulacrum? We now have a 3-mana version of it in green. Simulacrum Shaper can be an interesting option in green landfall decks, or you can play it out of the sideboard against grindier decks.

#22. Dark Matter Manipulator

Dark Matter Manipulator only needs seven cards in your graveyard to be an excellent 3/2 creature for 1 mana, and it already puts three cards there. Black aggro decks already play cards like Forsaken Miner and Bloodghast, so the synergies are there.

#21. Vraska’s Final Mercy

Vraska's Final Mercy is a juiced-up sorcery speed removal spell. Sometimes you’ll get rid of a big threat, or you’ll deploy a threat in the form of empower Jace 6 to start drawing cards immediately. It’s like you cast the original Jace Beleren for or something similar.

#20. Stinging Vitriol

I remember Thought Erasure being a very solid card as a 2-mana discard with upside. Stinging Vitriol is a nice discard spell that also burns, perfect for Rakdos () aggro, and a card red decks could easily splash black for. The best thing about this card is that it’s never dead, so it can be an okay burn top-deck in the late game.

#19. Tenured Tethermage

Tenured Tethermage can be a lynchpin card in a RG artifact ramp deck. Turning a land into two tapped Heartwood tokens is solid, setting up your next 4- or 5-mana spell. And if you draw it in the late game, it’s going to be at least a 3/3 creature, and sometimes even stronger.

#18. Enlightened Confidant

Lifegain decks were already strong in the current Standard meta, and Reality Fracture has added a few tools to it. Enlightened Confidant is a value piece, giving you card draw tied to your lifegain. What’s more, you can cast this card, gain some life with something like Case of the Uneaten Feast in play, and already try to draw an extra card in your end step. And if your opponent kills this card, your lifegain enablers will live another day, so it’s not that bad.

#17. Carnivorous Cultivator

Carnivorous Cultivator is so solid as a 2-mana creature. It fixes your mana, it blocks and attacks well, and it even triggers prowess if you need to. Its ability works with any land, so you can even get some land hate, nonbasic land destruction, or creature lands.

#16. Theorist’s Sanctum

Theorist's Sanctum is an easy-to-add land in most blue decks, especially those with empower Jace or any Jace planeswalker. The mana sink you get is pretty good, and it’s also an island for the purposes of Jace, Reality Sculptor. I’d say blue-green ramp decks or blue-based control will play some of these in the 60.

#15. Pompous Battlemage

Pompous Battlemage has a lot going for it to be a strong turn 1 play. It’s got prowess and a prepared spell to turn it on. This card is excellent in multiples because one feeds the other. And discarding and drawing also boosts other red cards like Inti, Seneschal of the Sun.

#14. Proctor of Potential

Proctor of Potential works so well in multiples that it’s easy to jam four of these in a decklist. Scrying and surveilling these days is easy; you can do it with lands and most instants/sorceries. There’s also value when you surveil one of these to your graveyard because they can come back as a recursive threat. I can see a white weenie deck that splashes blue for these cards and Denzilore Fatehold.

#13. Draconic Visitor

Considering only the Standard format, and the number of playable creatures that create a Heartwood token, it’s safe to say that Draconic Visitor will probably create some 5/5 dragon tokens to do a good impression of Broodmate Dragon. This plus Tenured Tethermage is scary, and many Standard cards create artifact tokens these days.

#12. Garruk, Curse Breaker

I think Garruk, Curse Breaker is like the second coming of Elder Gargaroth – it’s just a 5-mana green value card. Its basic mode is to make a 4/4 and draw a card. But you can also untap lands or Overrun. Not to mention the excellent passive static ability. This will be one of those kill-on-sight planeswalkers just for the card advantage it can grant, and it doesn’t require many synergies, just that you play big creatures.

#11. Jace, Reality Sculptor

Jace, Reality Sculptor is the rare Jace that has been receiving all the buzz for the “all Jaces” deck. First, it can empower Jace a lot based on the number of islands you control, typically 5-6 by the time this hits the board. Its -3 is a strong Fog, giving -5 power to all creatures so your planeswalkers survive. And to win the game via the 0 ability, you’ll need like 3-4 different Jaces alive, and a lot of empowering. It's difficult, but it can be done.

#10. Bloodline Recollector

Bloodline Recollector was designed for black aristocrats decks that curve Nezumi Linkbreaker into Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER. It’s hard to enable this card correctly, so it’s best to play symmetrical sacrifice effects. But when you can draw three cards for just 1 mana, and they’re all cheap ones, you’ll be so far ahead.

#9. Samut, Hazoret’s Champion

Samut, Hazoret's Champion is the perfect power level to see play in Standard, considering that a 2/2 haste creature for 2 mana isn’t that bad individually. When you consider that your following 3- and 4-MV plays will also have haste, then we have a card that can power up entire archetypes, like RG, BR, or mono-red aggro.

#8. Denzilore Fatehold

Look, effects that allow you to put +1/+1 counters on all creatures you control are powerful, and so is a 3/4 flash flying threat. If you have Proctor of Potential in play, Denzilore Fatehold will be a 4/5, and your Proctor will be a 4/2 afterwards. If you keep casting creatures, Denzilore often beats down as a 5/6 or bigger. And using cards like Opt as anthems is very cool.

#7. Ingris Stingerquill

Hired Claw is already an annoying creature with its pings, and with Ingris Stingerquill, you can turn all creatures into that. That’s excellent with Bloomburrow lizards, or with damage-amplifying cards like Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might.

#6. The Theorist, Jace Beleren

The Theorist, Jace Beleren is being heralded as a strong planeswalker in Commander because you can draw cards each turn, but in Standard, access to a bounce and a free draw is also good. If your opponent has to attack your Jace or spend a sorcery-speed removal, you’ve already drawn a card anyway. And just making some 1/1s while drawing cards isn’t the end of the world either. If that weren’t enough, I suspect that a blue Jace deck will make some waves in the format.

#5. Liliana the Faultless

Liliana the Faultless is one of the better lifegain enablers available. It triggers on planeswalkers, so empower Jace works, and you can use it to discard a card and protect your big threat, probably the one that’s getting all the lifegain bonuses. This card is something between Giver of Runes and Soul Warden, and that’s an interesting mix.

#4. Ajani Resolute

Ajani Resolute is one of the best lifegain payoffs we’ve seen in a while, and the lifegain deck keeps getting more tools. With some critical mass, this card reaches 8-10 loyalty fast, and from there you can spam tokens or even ultimate and get a permanent bonus. And all of this for just 2 mana.

#3. Aerid Konstrari

Aerid Konstrari is the card that allows RG to be a powerful deck going forward. The rate of it being a 5/4 flier for just 4 mana is a fast clock, and the Heartwood token production is excellent. It’s going to be common to see this card attacking as an 8-power flier or more.

#2. Stingcaster Mage

Stingcaster Mage is an easy card to see play. Regardless if you cast it early to replay a cheap spell, or late to replay a more powerful one, the most important aspect of this card is that you don’t need to attack or deal combat damage to replay your spell. Top-decking this card late means you’re either back in business with more gas, or you’re delivering the final blow by recasting a burn spell on top of attacking with a 2/1.

#1. Darklight Phoenix

Arclight Phoenix was a Standard-defining card, and here’s the black version. Darklight Phoenix needs two or more creatures to die so it comes back from your graveyard to the battlefield attacking, and you can do that via sacrifice outlets or edicts. Like Arclight, you need to build a deck to support it with consistency, but there are already good aristocrats shells in Standard to support it.

Bonus: Mono-Blue Jace in Standard

Theorist's Proxy | Illustration by Matt Stewart

Source

Many players were trying this decklist during MTG Arena’s Early Access, and the deck looks far from a meme. I’ve added more Jaces to the list (four Jace Reawakened). The main idea is to use all mono-blue synergies and Jace synergies, with cards like Countersculpt and Jace, Reality Sculptor. Once you have a few Jaces (including the empower Jace token) with 20+ loyalty, you can win by milling your opponent’s library.

Cards like Waterbending Scroll and Theorist's Sanctum synergize with all your islands, as well as the +1 from Jace, Reality Sculptor. To protect yourself from foes, you can use Aetherize and abilities from your planeswalkers. In particular, it’s very hard to attack through Jace, Reality Sculptor’s -3 ability.

Wrap Up

Liliana the Faultless | Illustration by Marta Nael

Reality Fracture is so powerful that it almost looks like it was made to lead a Standard rotation as the big September fall set. The Standard metagame is going to be wide open with new archetypes, unless the lifegain deck dominates. Look, Tarmogoyf is in this set, and so is Chandra, Torch of Defiance, and I don’t think they make the top 40 best cards for Standard.

The biggest winners for Standard are FRA-supported themes like lifegain, RG artifact ramp beatdown, WU scry + surveil, and even UB graveyard self-mill value. Plus, planeswalkers are back in a big way.

What do you think of Reality Fracture in Standard, guys? Am I wrong in thinking that Reality Fracture impacts the Standard format in a big way? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. And for more on MTG and Reality Fracture, check out The Daily Upkeep YouTube channel.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy playing Standard with the new cards.

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