Welcome back to the Mana Riot Games Tuesday Deck Tech, where we break down the most exciting and competitive builds in Magic: The Gathering. This week there is only one place to start — the deck that has put a stranglehold on Standard and refuses to let go: Izzet Elementals, also known on stream as “Spellementals.”
Following The MTG Hero’s recent breakdown over on MTG Arena Zone, this blue-red tempo monster is now the deck to beat across MTG Arena ladder, Magic Online Challenges, and paper RCQs alike. If you walked into a tournament this weekend without a plan for Izzet, you almost certainly walked out early. Let’s get into why it’s so dominant, what the list looks like, and how to actually pilot it.
Why Izzet Elementals Rules the Format
Izzet has always been the home of “cast cheap spells, draw cards, win the tempo war,” but Secrets of Strixhaven cranked the dial into the red. Between Prismari Charm giving the deck a flexible main-deck answer to artifacts and creatures, Vibrant Outburst functioning like a half-Time Walk, and Traumatic Critique doubling as a draw spell, removal spell, and finisher, every card in the 75 pulls double duty.
And then there’s the boss. Sunderflock — the one-sided sweeper from Lorwyn Eclipsed — turns any creature mirror into a one-sided beating, punishes Landfall lists by bouncing their Earthbended lands back to hand, and closes games in two swings.
The Decklist — Izzet Elementals (The MTG Hero)
Mainboard (60)
Creatures (11)
4 Hearth Elemental // Stoke Genius
4 Eddymurk Crab
3 Sunderflock
Instants (24)
4 Burst Lightning
4 Opt
4 Prismari Charm
4 Traumatic Critique
2 Spell Snare
2 Spell Pierce
2 Get Out
2 Vibrant Outburst
Sorceries (4)
4 Sleight of Hand
Lands (21)
7 Island
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Riverpyre Verge
2 Stormcarved Coast
Sideboard (15)
3 Ral, Crackling Wit
2 Annul
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Abrade
2 Broadside Barrage
2 Soul-Guide Lantern
2 Cavern of Souls
How the Engine Works
The genius of this build is that every cantrip, every removal spell, and every counter is also fuel for your late-game payoffs. Hearth Elemental // Stoke Genius is the perfect example — early on you’re casting the Adventure half to draw two cards and fill the graveyard, and by turn four or five you’re slamming a massively undercosted body that finishes games in three attacks.
Eddymurk Crab is the deck’s stabilizer. Drop it on turn four, leave mana up, and aggressive decks suddenly find themselves unable to attack into a 5-power blocker while you sit on counterspells. Even better, you can bounce it with Get Out or Prismari Command and replay it to repeatedly tap down opposing threats — a tempo loop that buys absurd amounts of time.
Then there’s Traumatic Critique, which is honestly bordering on broken. At its floor it’s a 2-mana Faithless Looting that also dumps two spells into your graveyard. At its ceiling, in the late game, it scales into a 10+ damage Fireball-style finisher that ends games out of nowhere.
Piloting Tips
Lead with cantrips. Opt and Sleight of Hand on turns one and two smooth your land drops, find your removal, and feed Traumatic Critique value later. Resist the urge to hold them — sequence them early.
Don’t be afraid to cast Critique for X=0. Loot, fuel the graveyard, dig for action. The card is at its best when you cast it twice.
Re-buy your Sunderflocks. If your opponent stabilizes after a sweeper, Get Out or Prismari Charm gets the bird back to your hand for round two. Few decks survive a second Sunderflock.
Sideboard with intent. In the mirror and against control, bring in all three Ral, Crackling Wit, both Disdainful Strokes, and the Caverns. Cut Sunderflock (it’s a blank against non-creature decks) and most of your Burst Lightnings.
Matchups to Know
Dimir Excruciator is currently the deck’s worst matchup — they grind through your threats and pressure with Restless Reef. Keep Burst Lightning in to answer the manland. Jeskai Control and the mirror are skill-intensive but very winnable with the right sideboard plan. Landfall and Selesnya Gearhulk tend to fold to a resolved Sunderflock backed up by counters.
Should You Sleeve It Up?
If your goal is to register the best deck in Standard right now, the answer is yes — and probably yes until WotC steps in with a ban. The Lessons shell remains lurking in the wings as Plan B even if Sunderflock eats a hammer, so the archetype isn’t going anywhere quickly.
Need to put this list together? We’ve got the staples — Steam Vents, Spirebluff Canal, Cavern of Souls, the new Secrets of Strixhaven Prismari package, and singles for the full 75 — in stock and ready to ship. Swing by manariotgames.com to grab what you need, or stop into the shop for sleeves, playmats, and a friendly Standard pod.
See you at the tables, Planeswalkers — and watch out for that bird.