Streets of New Capenna has only been out for a week and it has already created an entirely new tier-one archetype in Standard! The Riveteers have been making the biggest impression of any family in Standard so far, and players are scrambling to find the ideal decklist in Riveteer colours. Unsurprisingly, these decks resemble Jund decks of old, with plenty of midrange elements and some aggressive leanings. Some people are claiming that Riveteers is the best deck in Standard, and it even received the #1 spot on Reid Duke’s power rankings (although he might have some Jund bias). Below I’ll break down this incoming archetype so you’re prepared to either play it or play against it! 

The main card that is driving the success of this deck is Ob Nixilis, the Adversary. The new three-mana planeswalker has been the most hyped-up card from the new set, and he is proving himself to be worthy of the praise. We have never seen a planeswalker before that instantly provides two copies of itself that opponents have to deal with. The turn Ob is played he will often drain opponents of four life, or create a devil token or even force an opponent to discard. Because the first ability of Ob is better when opponents have less life, he is often best when played with aggressive creatures. This is where another new card comes in: Tenacious Underdog.

With three power for two mana, this warrior is a good way to pressure opponents. More importantly however, the Underdog can be played from the graveyard, making it the ideal target for sacrificing to Ob Nixilis’ Casualty ability.

Some of the other most important cards in Riveteers decks are simply great red, black, and green bombs. Four copies of Esika’s Chariot is just about mandatory. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker provides a lot of value. Lolth, Spider Queen is slightly less ubiquitous, but still very powerful.

Aside from that, the only thing Riveteer decks share is an incredible amount of variation. This archetype is far from solved, and players have been trying a lot of different options. Many of these come from the new set. Here is an example of a Riveteers decklist that has done well recently:

*Weed Strangle represents the new card Strangle, which is not loading into the deckbuilder.

Arena Decklist

2 Workshop Warchief
2 Ziatora’s Envoy
4 Tenacious Underdog
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
4 Bloodtithe Harvester
4 Esika’s Chariot
1 Hagra Mauling
3 Voltage Surge
1 Shatterskull Smashing
1 Bloodchief’s Thirst
1 Duress
2 Strangle
2 The Meathook Massacre
2 Lolth, Spider Queen
4 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
1 Swamp
1 Den of the Bugbear
2 Rockfall Vale
2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
3 Deathcap Glade
3 Darkbore Pathway
3 Haunted Ridge
4 Blightstep Pathway
4 Ziatora’s Proving Ground

1 Workshop Warchief
1 Unleash the Inferno
1 The Meathook Massacre
1 Power Word Kill
1 Invoke Despair
1 Bloodchief’s Thirst
2 Infernal Grasp
2 Go Blank
2 Burn Down the House
3 Duress

This list, from long time pro Martin Juza, takes advantage of Ziatora’s Envoy and Workshop Warchief to top its curve and end games. Both of them provide a lot of power and toughness, and both of them also have the option to be played with a Blitz ability. Blitzing these creatures provides a quick haste attack that can pressure opponents, and both of them provide value with their Blitz as well. Ziatora’s Envoy potentially lets you cast a free spell and Workshop Warchief leaves behind a 4/4 rhino when it dies. 

Lower in the curve we can see four copies of Bloodtithe Harvester, which is another common two-drop for the deck. Riveteer decks don’t usually use blood tokens much, but the Harvester is a good card to sacrifice to Ob Nixilis or simply swing at opponents.

In the spells department, Juza has opted to play three copies of Voltage Surge and two copies of Strangle. These one-mana removal spells are a key part of this deck, as they take care of creatures so efficiently. However, Juza has also left out two cards that many other Riverteer decks have emphasized.

Arena Decklist

4 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
3 Black Market Tycoon
3 Tenacious Underdog
2 Bloodtithe Harvester
2 Valki, God of Lies
1 Infernal Grasp
3 Riveteers Charm
2 Bloodchief’s Thirst
1 Shatterskull Smashing
4 Invoke Despair
4 Esika’s Chariot
3 The Meathook Massacre
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
3 Darkbore Pathway
4 Blightstep Pathway
2 Cragcrown Pathway
1 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
1 Den of the Bugbear
4 Haunted Ridge
2 Deathcap Glade
4 Ziatora’s Proving Ground

1 Sorin the Mirthless
1 Lolth, Spider Queen
1 Valki, God of Lies
1 Infernal Grasp
2 Power Word Kill
1 Riveteers Charm
3 Duress
2 Culling Ritual
2 Burn Down the House

This second list is quite different from Martin Juza’s but you can see that all of the key components (Ob Nixilis, Esika’s Chariot, Tenacious Underdog) are still intact. One of the main things this deck does differently is its four copies of Invoke Despair. The five-mana sorcery does exactly what the name suggests, forcing opponents to sacrifice important resources or have their life total suffer. When Ob Nixilis is already putting so much pressure on life totals, Invoke Despair can be game-ending. However, it also requires four black mana to cast—a difficult task for a three-colour deck. Invoke Despair is an extremely powerful option, especially since it helps this archetype deal with enchantments and planeswalkers, but it remains to be seen how consistently it can be cast. 

In order to help with this the deck also uses Black Market Tycoon, which can provide important mana fixing with its treasures. The life loss the Tycoon causes is less worrying when it can be balanced by Ob Nixilis‘ life gain, so I really like using it in this archetype. Another colour-intensive card the treasures can help cast is Riveteers Charm. This versatile instant can help deal with opposing creatures and graveyard shenanigans. More importantly though, it can also be used to essentially draw three cards for three mana later in games. Don’t sleep on this charm’s middle ability, when it’s cast at the end of an opponent’s turn it provides a ton of card advantage.

When you build your Riveteers deck, try to focus on what small synergies you can find between cards. Although this archetype is centered around playing cards that are powerful on their own, the Riveteer decks that truly excel will be the ones that find combinations of cards that work even better together. The best example of this is Esika’s Chariot and Ob Nixilis, the Adversary. The Chariot being able to make extra copies of Ob Nixilis is an incredible combo that makes this deck truly scary. Smaller synergies, such as playing Bloodtithe Harvester to provide blood tokens that can be sacrificed for Voltage Surge are also super-important for deckbuilding.

The Riveteers have started this Standard season with a bang, true to their demolitioner nature. Bringing one of these decks to an LGS or the Arena ladder would definitely make a stir. The efficient curve, aggressive nature, and incredible threats have already made them the deck to beat in the format, and this reputation will only grow. One of the best parts of the deck is that there are no obvious predators for a midrange deck. Control decks struggle to deal with Ob Nixilis, and aggro decks will often fall victim to the cheap removal and bombs like Esika’s Chariot. Until savvy deckbuilders find a proper answer, Riveteer decks will dominate the format.

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