Following the bannings and the introduction of Rivals of Ixalan, we wanted to find out what decks people considered the best three in the format at the moment. We asked some eminent experts of the game for their opinion …

Julian Knab, second among the MKMS Power 8: “Lisa and I actually tested quite a lot of Standard for GP Madrid. With her going 8-2-1 over the course of the weekend, I am really sold on our build of Green-Blue Merfolk, which we ran in Spain. Looking at general data about the format, it may be a little biased to count it among the top three… but seeing how much it dominated most decks in the long game, I'm surprised it doesn't see more play. As for other decks, I consider Grixis Energy and Blue-Black Midrange to really strong in the format.”

Philipp Krieger, German national champion and WMC semifinalist: “Red-Green Monsters, God-Pharaoh's Gift, and Blue-Black Control.”

David Reitbauer, 2009 Worlds finalist: “Sultai Winding Constrictor, followed by Grixis Energy, then White-Blue God-Pharaoh's Gift. I like Sultai Constrictor the most. There is a lot of room to balance matchups between the main deck and sideboard, and you should be able to adjust to any metagame quite well.”

Jonathan Anghelescu, member of the MKMS Power 8: “Grixis Energy, Blue-Black Midrange, and Red-Green Monsters.”

Oliver Polak-Rottmann, GP champion and former Platinum pro: “Blue-Black The Scarab God Control, Blue-Black The Scarab God Midrange, and HazoRED.”