At a glance
- Format: Standard
- Colors: White / Blue (WU)
- Archetype: Azorius fliers / tempo
- Power tier: mid-high
- Standard: ✅ Legal
Strategy
Deploy a cheap evasive flier every turn from one to three mana, then back the clock with cheap instant-speed interaction so the air stays open. Empyrean Eagle is the payoff anthem that turns a board of one-drops into lethal-fast damage, while Spectral Sailor and Buzz Bots refill the hand so you never run out of gas. Diversion Unit doubles as an evasive body and an on-demand soft counter, sacrificing to tax the opponent’s key instant or sorcery. Use Spell Pierce, Negate, Essence Scatter, Into the Flood Maw and Unsummon to bounce or counter the opponent’s stabilizers and tempo them off their turn. Sheltered by Ghosts and Stroke of Midnight are the catch-all answers to anything that blocks or threatens to race you. Curve out, hold up one mana, and close before they untap into a sweeper.
Upgrade path
Everything here is OWNED and craft-free. Empyrean Eagle (own3) is the flying anthem and core payoff; Hallowed Fountain (own4) and Gleaming Bastion (own2) provide untapped WU sources alongside basics, so the manabase comes online turn one for an aggressive curve. All fliers and interaction are commons/uncommons Mik owns in playsets. UPGRADE MENU (rares/mythics Mik COULD craft later, NOT in this gated list): 1) a second flying lord / cheap anthem rare to deepen the Empyrean Eagle effect and make one-drops hit harder; 2) a card-advantage planeswalker such as a cheap Kaito-style threat to grind back through removal-heavy control matchups; 3) a premium one-mana flexible counter (Three Steps Ahead-style modal interaction) to upgrade the Spell Pierce/Negate slots into can’t-be-dead-cards. None are required for the deck to ladder.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Deck
4 Spectral Sailor
4 Spyglass Siren
4 Buzz Bots
2 Dawnwing Marshal
3 Empyrean Eagle
3 Inspiring Overseer
2 Spell Pierce
2 Into the Flood Maw
2 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Sheltered by Ghosts
1 Stroke of Midnight
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Gleaming Bastion
9 Plains
9 Island
2 Momo, Friendly Flier
2 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
Sideboard
A 15-card sideboard for best-of-three (Traditional) play — swap these in game 2/3 against the matchups below.
Tempo-flier deck: stay the beatdown vs control/midrange, buy time vs faster aggro. The SB adds cheap EXILE removal for Screaming Nemesis, flexible catch-all exile for the meta’s enchantment engines and planeswalkers, plus grind tools for long games.
vs Mono-Red Aggro: +2 Elspeth’s Smite, +2 Stasis Snare, +1 Angel of Vitality / -2 Negate, -2 Spell Pierce, -1 Spyglass Siren. Smite and Stasis Snare both EXILE, so Screaming Nemesis can’t punish you; Angel buffers the race. Dead counters come out.
vs Gruul Prowess / Boros Burn: +2 Elspeth’s Smite, +2 Stasis Snare, +1 Angel of Vitality / -2 Negate, -1 Into the Flood Maw, -2 Spell Pierce. Prioritize exile removal on Slickshot/Nemesis; keep Spell Pierce only if their burn density is high.
vs Dimir Midrange: +2 Banishing Light, +2 Web Up, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +1 Syncopate / -2 Into the Flood Maw, -2 Sheltered by Ghosts, -2 Spell Pierce. Banishing Light and Web Up exile Enduring Curiosity AND Kaito; Syncopate/Stroke tax their top-end without trading down.
vs Golgari Midrange: +2 Banishing Light, +2 Web Up, +2 Keep Out / -2 Spell Pierce, -2 Essence Scatter, -2 Into the Flood Maw. All six exile/answer Unholy Annex, Glissa, and Overlords; Keep Out doubles as tapped-creature removal.
vs Azorius Oculus: +2 Rooftop Percher, +1 Syncopate / -2 Sheltered by Ghosts, -1 Into the Flood Maw. Percher exiles Oculus fuel from the yard and gives an evasive lifegain body; Syncopate exiles their key spell instead of binning it for recursion.
vs Zur Domain / Mono-White Control: +2 Banishing Light, +2 Web Up, +2 Keep Out, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +1 Syncopate / -2 Into the Flood Maw, -2 Essence Scatter, -2 Sheltered by Ghosts, -2 Spell Pierce. Exile their Overlord / Caretaker’s Talent / Enduring Innocence engines, counter the big payoffs, keep the clock alive.
vs Jeskai Convoke: +2 Elspeth’s Smite, +2 Stasis Snare, +2 Keep Out / -2 Negate, -2 Spell Pierce, -2 Sheltered by Ghosts. Keep Out’s burn mode mows down tapped convoke tokens; spot-exile Knight-Errant refills.
Full deck with sideboard (paste into Arena for Bo3):
Deck
4 Spectral Sailor
4 Spyglass Siren
4 Buzz Bots
2 Dawnwing Marshal
3 Empyrean Eagle
3 Inspiring Overseer
2 Spell Pierce
2 Into the Flood Maw
2 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Sheltered by Ghosts
1 Stroke of Midnight
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Gleaming Bastion
9 Plains
9 Island
2 Momo, Friendly Flier
2 Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator
1 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
Sideboard
2 Elspeth's Smite
2 Stasis Snare
2 Banishing Light
2 Web Up
2 Keep Out
2 Rooftop Percher
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Syncopate
1 Angel of Vitality
Card images & data via Scryfall.