If you watched Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven and thought Izzet Prowess had Standard in a chokehold, the Top 8 had other ideas. Nathan Steuer punched through a field where Izzet shells made up nearly half the metagame and beat Christoffer Larsen in a Selesnya Landfall mirror in the finals. That’s right — both finalists were on the same archetype the rest of the room had written off as a 3.5% fringe pick on Day One. So let’s break down exactly why Steuer’s build worked, and how you can sleeve it up at your next FNM.
The Game Plan: Make Lands, Make Threats, Make Removal Hurt
Selesnya Landfall isn’t trying to out-tempo Izzet Prowess. It’s trying to out-resource it. Every landfall trigger is a permanent stat boost, every removal spell on your team gets converted into a free land via the new Strixhaven all-star, and your “creatures” double as untargetable lands the moment a Lightning Helix points their way. By turn four, a single Badgermole Cub plus a fetched land is dumping +1/+1 counters around the board faster than any Prowess deck can race.
The Decklist
Nathan Steuer — Selesnya Landfall — 1st Place, Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven (15-4)
Creatures (23) 4 Badgermole Cub 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Mightform Harmonizer 4 Sazh's Chocobo 2 Dyadrine, Synthesis Amalgam 2 Icetill Explorer 1 Keen-Eyed Curator 1 Mossborn Hydra 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter Spells (12) 4 Erode 4 Earthbender Ascension 2 Bushwhack Lands (25) 7 Forest 4 Fabled Passage 4 Hushwood Verge 3 Ba Sing Se 3 Escape Tunnel 2 Plains 2 Temple Garden Sideboard (15) 3 Rest in Peace 3 Sheltered by Ghosts 2 Mossborn Hydra 2 Snakeskin Veil 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar 1 Restoration Magic 1 Voice of Victory
Key Card Breakdowns
Badgermole Cub — The Mythic Engine
Read this card and try not to grin. A two-mana creature that earthbends a land into a 1/1 with haste on entry, and turns every mana creature you tap into a Gaea’s Cradle trigger? It’s a one-card combo with itself. Drop a Cub on turn two off a Llanowar Elf, animate a Forest, swing for 2 — and now every tap from your elves nets you an extra green. The accelerated mana fuels a turn-three Earthbender Ascension or warped Mightform Harmonizer, and the math gets ugly fast.
Erode — The Tech That Broke The Format
One white mana. Destroy any creature or planeswalker. Then your opponent may grab a basic land. Sounds like a downside, right? Not when you’re the deck that wants to point removal at yourself. Erode a Badgermole Cub you’ve earthbent into a land? You just killed a creature, triggered landfall, fetched a basic, and rebought the Cub from your graveyard via the earthbend “return tapped” clause. This is the Strixhaven card nobody respected, and it’s why Steuer’s Top 8 looked like magic.
Earthbender Ascension — Free Lands, Forever
Three mana for “search up a basic” already passes the value check. Then it keeps stacking quest counters every time a land enters — and at four counters, you get a +1/+1 and trample on a creature. Run two copies, and your “fragile” 1/1 earthbent land is suddenly a tramplin’ 5/5 by turn five. Against grindy Izzet shells with one-for-one removal, this enchantment is the resource fountain that makes you uncrackable.
Sazh’s Chocobo & Mightform Harmonizer — The Payoffs
A one-mana 1/1 that grows on every landfall is already strong; throw in a Cub-and-Forest earthbend on the same turn and the Chocobo enters lethal range before your opponent can untap. Harmonizer takes it further — every land that enters doubles the power of any creature you choose. Pair it with a 5/5 Badgermole Cub, animate two lands, and that’s 20 damage out of nowhere. The warp cost (2G) means you can hold it in exile and ambush a tapped-out opponent.
Ba Sing Se — The Manland You Forgot To Respect
A green source that taps to earthbend 2 in the late game means your “dead” lands in topdeck mode are still threats. Three copies is the sweet spot — enough to find one in long games, not enough to brick your early curve.
How To Pilot It
Mulligan aggressively for a one-drop mana creature plus a two-drop Badgermole Cub. Your nut draw is Llanowar Elf on one, Cub on two, Earthbender Ascension on three with a fetch crack to keep landfall flowing. Against Izzet Prowess, side in Sheltered by Ghosts and Voice of Victory; trim the Bushwhacks. Against grindier control or Doomsday, Rest in Peace and the extra Surrak slot in. The mirror is decided by who hits Harmonizer first — keep one removal spell up at all times.
Should You Build It?
If you love proactive green decks that punish bad blocks and reward sequencing, this is the deck of the format right now. The mythics aren’t cheap — Badgermole Cub is climbing fast — but the rare and uncommon shell (Erode, Sazh’s Chocobo, Earthbender Ascension) is shockingly affordable for a Pro Tour winner. Expect to see it everywhere at the next round of RCQs.
Sleeve It Up At Mana Riot Games
We’ve got Secrets of Strixhaven singles in stock, sleeves and playmats ready, and weekly Standard events where you can test this list against the local meta. Stop by manariotgames.com to grab what you need, or swing through the shop to chat builds with the crew. We’ll see you at the next event — landfall triggers and all.