A modified list I made starting from the old starter deck \”Arcane Aggression\” for new players starting MTG Arena now or old players finding themselves caught in the aftermath of the rotation. A simple aggro deck, that I think is a good list you can start with; helping you farming in the Standard format. Let\’s see the cards I choosed and the addition we can make when the upcoming BloomBorrow expansion will be released.

Creatures:

– Monastery Swiftspear x4: a solid 1 mana red drop with haste and prowess. This card survives the rotation, so why no make use of it? Could be substitued for something else with the upcoming of BloomBorrow.

– Slickshot Show-off x4: a very powerful creature, released in Outlaws of Thunder Junction. A 2 mana 1/2 with flying that gets +2/+0 every time you cast a non-creature spell; very helpful for dealing massive damage and able to win matches alone sometimes. There is a very important detail about this card that with come of Bloomborrow must be kept in check: Slickshot is a BIRD wizard. Kept this in mind!

– Balmor, Battlemage Captain x2: I must admit that this deck is inspired by the most commonly known Izzet Wizards archetype from the Hisoric Format. Balmor is a staple of that archetype, making it a thing (with Symmetry Sage), a treat that must be not ignored. Balmor powers up all your creatures every time you play a non-creature spell, giving them a +1/+0 but also trample. Furthermore, like we have seen before with Slickshot, Balmor is a BIRD wizard!

– Third Pact Iconoclast x3: there are surely best creatures around and with the release of Bloomburrow this card could be replaced with something else, but a the moment (in the Standard format) is a valid choice for a 2 mana creature in UR decks. The most useful thing of Iconoclast is that he gives us bodies every time we cast a sorcery or an instant spell, creating a 1/1 artifact soldier token. These tokens can be used to stop the offensive of the opponent or deal damage (especially if boosted by Balmor).

– Tolarian Terror x4: a 5/5 beast with the abilty ward 2 that cost less to be casted for every instant or sorcery in our graveyard (and we are going to cast a lot of spells). This is a staple in the mono Blue Tempo decks, giving them a valid creature to deal some damage and protect themselves, and in the Standard format we can also make use of it. With the release of Bloomburrow this could be replaced by Eddymurk Crab, a 7 mana 5/5 that, like TT, cost less to be cast for every instant or sorcery in our graveyard, but also with the ability flash (that allows us to cast it during opponent\’s turn) and the possibility to TAP 2 creatures of the opponent when entering the field; very useful for defense.

Instant and Sorceries:

– Monstrous Rage x3: an instant that buffs our creatures giving them basically +3/+1 and trample; you\’ll use this to close the game with our creatures that boost themselves up everytime you cast a spell (like Slickshot or Swiftspear).

– Ral\’s Reinforcments x3: Could be reduced to two copies if others spells fits in better with the upcoming of Bloomburrow. We use this sorcery to give us bodies (the same concept why we use Third Pact Iconoclast) and also boost our creatures.

– Lightning Strike x4: the best 3 damage to anything instant we have in the Standard format. Useful to clean the board or dealing direct damage to the opponent. Might be replaced by other spells coming from Bloomburrow, but I\’m not very sure that this can happen.

– Shock x4: the best 1 mana instant damage spell we have now due the format rotation; these slots would be used by Play with Fire, a 1 mana 2 damage spell that also have the ability scry (that allows us to look at the top card of the deck and decide to put it at the bottom or not). We have to manage use Shock for now in Standard (could be replaced with other upcoming instant in the future).

– Shore Up x2: a 1 mana instant that boosts our creatures and defends them giving the hexproof feat; an utility card we can have at our disposal.

– Impulse x4: a 2 mana instant that let us see the first four cards of the library and choose one of them to add on the hand. There are surely better drawing cards than this, but after the rotation of the format and the lost of cards like Consider, we have to manage with this option for now.

– Phantom Interference x2: a 2 mana counterspell with the spree ability that allows us to create also a token if we pay this spell 4 mana. This card will be replaced with the release of Bloomburrow. You can take it out and substitue it with two option I found:

    The first one, the most powerful, is Long River\’s Pull: a 2 blue mana instant that counters everything if you gift a card to the opponent      (a new mechanic of Bloomburrow that allows you to activate more powerful effects if you give the opponent some tokens); otherwise        is a 2 mana counterspell for creatures.

    The second option I found is Dazzling Denial: a 2 mana (one generic, one blue) instant that counters everything unless the opponent        pays 2 more mana to cast the spell (the same effect of the more powerful and well known Spell Pierce, that we are going to lose with          the rotation). So why use Dazzling Denial, if Long River\’s Pull is better? This card also says that if we control a BIRD (like Slickshot or      Balmor, and we are going to use them a lot) the opponent must pay 4 more mana to cast the spell; paying 4 additional mana is a                freakin lot (basically cutting the opponent out of playing anything else during his turn).

It will be your choice with which of these replace Phantom Interference.

Manabase (Lands analyses):

Due to the format rotation we are going to lose some multicolor lands, however the Izzet or UR archetype is not going to suffer from it. Let\’s see the lands we are going to use in this list.

Shivan Reef x4: pay 1 life to get a red or blue mana or gives you neutral mana. A staple, nothing more to say.

Spirebluff Canal x4: thanks to Outlaws of Thunder Junction we got a reprint of this card, so we are going to use it for the next years. A staple; it gives you blue or red mana (enters tapped if you control more than two lands, so you want to use it preferably at the start of the game).

Eroded Canyon x2: this is a budget dual land card you can put to 4 copies if you don\’t have the rare wildcards to craft Shivan Reef or Spirebluff Canal. I see this card (and his \”brothers\”) like a counterpart of the dual lands that enters tapped and gives you one life; this enters tapped and deal 1 damage to the opponent. I preferred to use this to quicken the demise of the opponent due the fact this decklist is an aggressive one, and we don\’t want to arrive to the late game.

Thundering Falls x2: another dual land that enters the field tapped (so you can\’t use it right away); For this reason I suggest only two copies of it. We are going to use this because Thundering Falls have the ability surveil that allow us to watch the first card of our library and decide to put it into the graveyard or not. This is useful to adjust the draw for the next turn, discarding a useless card, but also synergize with Tolarian Terror, helping us to cast him easier.

That\’s all guys, I hope this analysis and this list helps you moving you first steps into the game, but also makes you think how to improve the list and your deckbuilding abilities. In the future I may upgrade the list based on how the meta settles. Thank you again for reading and have fun playing the game!