This avatar card breaks the Gathering standard deck.

Universes Beyond received mixed reactions from fans overall, but especially after Magic: The Gathering's Spider-Man set, the various cards exclusive to Avatar: The Last Airbender seem to fit perfectly into the world and loop of the game. Lesson cards take the best part of their Strixhaven counterparts without the Learn gimmick, and their subtype Ally returns with a vengeance against powerful cards like Great Divide Guide, turning every friendly creature into a mana dud. now, Magic: The Gathering Tomorrow, November 10th, the meta is set to change forever with two major events: Wizards of the Coast's Banned and Restricted post and the release of avatar sets.

As of now, most game formats have distinct metas, and some decks are far better than the majority and dominate the meta. This is especially true in Standard, where there are two dominant decks in the form of Izzet Cauldron and Mono-Red Aggro. Share for the Best 10 MTG Here are the decks based on tournament listings and participation as seen on mtgdecks.net:

Izzet Cauldron (meta share approx. 22%)
Mono-Red Aggro (meta share approx. 19%)
Dimir midrange (meta share about 11%)
Simic Aggro (meta share about 6%)
Sultai Reanimator (meta share approx. 5%)
Control Azorius (about 3% meta share)
4-color control (meta share about 3%)
Jeskai control (about 3% meta share)
Orzhov Pixie (about 2% meta share)
Boros Burn (about 2% meta share)

This makes up about 76% of the meta, with bad decks accounting for almost 4%.

However, that will soon change with the introduction of a card called Moon Slayer Zhao in the Avatar set. This is a 2-CMC (1 regular, 1 red) 2/2 creature with the threat of causing non-basic lands to enter tapped. Basically it destroys the curves of non-solid decks. MTG.

This Magic: The Gathering avatar card makes standard decks virtually unplayable.

The problem with Moon Slayer Zhao isn't even that players can spend 7 mana of any color to put a Conqueror counter on it and turn all non-basic lands into mountains. This is a very powerful effect, and matches perfectly with the Avatar's firebending mechanics. MTGBut what breaks Moonslayer Zhao is the fact that it forces you to enter all your non-basic lands tapped.

Most standard decks in the game, including: MTGThe Izzet Cauldron deck, which still dominates the format, contains some sort of dual lands. This means a land that can be tapped for one (or both) of two colors. This is because it makes the mana curve more manageable for multicolor decks, even decks that only use two colors, and provides a lot of utility and flexibility. Additionally, utility lands such as Rockface Village and Soulstone Sanctuary also come into play to provide more action options.

All of these lands were largely rendered useless by Moon Slayer Zhao. Because no matter what happens, it comes into play tapped. This alone slows down non-monochromatic decks, and Zhao also has the option of spending 7 mana to make most non-solid red decks unplayable.

How MTG's Mono-Red Aggro Decks Might Change After Standard Ban

Magic: The GatheringThe option for Mono Red may be removed due to the standard ban on . This is not guaranteed to happen, but there are a few candidates.

Screaming Nemesis could be banned from Standard because it's a very powerful and problematic creature that single-handedly kills lifegain decks and makes Mono-Red's curve much more consistent and aggressive.
Sunspine Lynx is usually a sideboard choice, but for a 5/4 it's incredibly powerful at 4-CMC, blocking life gain and making damage unblockable, while also dealing damage to players based on non-basic lands they control, and punishing opponents even more when paired with Zhao.

With these cards banned, Mono Red may become less consistent even with the upcoming Zhao, Moon Slayer, but the Avatar set also includes surprising Mono Red cards like Fire Nation Cadets and Firebending Student, which could prove to be surprising in the meta. The ban will inevitably change Standard, but without monochromatic decks appearing, Zhao will likely be very popular.