Standard is in an interesting spot as we begin to gear up for Oath of the Gatewatch. We had a long stretch where players were trying to out-midrange and out-control one another, swapping Mantis Riders for Soulfire Grand Masters and going deep on Painful Truths to keep the gas flowing in the late game. Then the Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger decks came in to smash the midrange decks. Now we see the format shifting away from big decks toward wide decks, with several takes on Thopter strategies plus anthem-esque effects like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Atarka's Command doing very well. Last weekend, Justin Nguyen had yet another interesting take on this strategy. Check out his build of B/R Dragons:

B/R Dragons ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Justin Nguyen, Top 8 Grand Prix Oakland

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Ashcloud Phoenix
• 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 4 Flamewake Phoenix
• 4 Hangarback Walker
• 4 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury
• 4 Thunderbreak Regent

• Spells (17)
• 3 Murderous Cut
• 4 Draconic Roar
• 4 Fiery Impulse
• 2 Roast
• 4 Hordeling Outburst

• Lands (25)
• 1 Swamp
• 8 Mountain
• 2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
• 3 Polluted Delta
• 3 Smoldering Marsh
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Roast
• 2 Outpost Siege
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 2 Duress
• 4 Transgress the Mind
• 4 Self-Inflicted Wound

Buy This Deck

Abzan's dominance wasn't too long ago, and a R/G take on Dragons was the weapon of choice to beat the Siege Rhino menace. Thunderbreak Regent put evasive pressure on your opponent while turning on Draconic Roar, punished your opponent for removal spells, and gave the deck late game staying power with Haven of the Spirit Dragon. However, that strategy doesn’t really work in a format where the Soulfire Grand Master/Ojutai's Command engine takes over the late game. That engine, plus the ability to chain Siege Rhino, Den Protector, and Kolaghan's Command means Thunderbreak Regent’s nickel and dime approach to value isn’t going to cut it. So Justin went bigger.

This deck excels at maintaining a board presence through removal spells and sweepers. Many of your creatures re-buy Flamewake Phoenix. Hangarback Walker doesn’t care about removal spells. Pia and Kiran Nalaar or Hordeling Outburst immediately rebuild your board. The combination of tokens, Thunderbreak Regent, and Flamewake Phoenix also make you very strong against spot removal like Murderous Cut, which is a great place to be. But why does all of this commitment to creating a board presence matter?

It’s all about Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury. Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury allows you to get in huge chunks of damage out of nowhere. With just one dragon and a Hordeling Outburst, Kolaghan represents eleven damage. With an extra mana, you can rebuy a Flamewake Phoenix to represent eight damage immediately after having your board swept. You can even do things like kill your own Hangarback Walker to create a sizeable air force and sneak in for big damage.

It may not seem like it, but this deck applies enough pressure to your opponent’s life total with early beats, Draconic Roars, and Thunderbreak Regents to force openings from your opponent, and when they’re open, you can dash in a Kolaghan and finish them off. The combination of midrange aggression and explosive damage is a very powerful place to be in the current Standard format, which makes this a great deck to be playing.