← Back to Sessions

Bant Airbending Meta Performance Deep Dive

1 requestsStarted 2/3/2026, 4:25:30 PM
tell me about bant airbending in the current standard format. Look at results only from the past 2 weeks. Tell me about winrates into the top 15 match ups, any key cards, and suggestions for flex spots based on the current play rates of top performing decks in the past 2 weeks.

I'll analyze Bant Airbending in Standard over the past 2 weeks (2026-01-19 to 2026-02-02). Let me gather the data.

🛠️Get Meta Report
🛠️Get Archetype Cards

Let me get the specific matchup data and card details:

🛠️QueryBant Archetype Card Presence in Tournament Period

Let me get more matchup data using a different approach:

🛠️QueryBant Archetype Performance Against Other Decks

Bant Airbending - Standard Meta Analysis (Past 2 Weeks)

Overall Performance:
Bant Airbending sits at 6.06% meta share (#6 archetype) with an impressive 55.8% winrate across 152 entries in 30 tournaments. This is well above the format average and positions it as one of the stronger performing combo decks in the current meta.

Matchup Winrates vs Top 15 Archetypes:

✅ Favorable (>55%):
• Allies - 90.9% (10-1) - Excellent matchup
• Azorius Control - 75.0% (15-5) - Very strong
• Azorius Midrange - 66.7% (8-4) - Strong
• Izzet Midrange - 63.6% (7-4) - Good
• Dimir Midrange - 60.8% (31-20) - Good
• Landfall - 60.0% (27-18) - Good
• Reanimator - 59.5% (75-51) - Good

⚖️ Even (45-55%):
• Boros Aggro - 55.6% (10-8) - Slight edge
• Simic Cub - 54.0% (68-58) - Slight edge
• Mono Red Aggro - 52.6% (20-18) - Even
• Jeskai Control - 50.6% (42-41) - Even
• Izzet Lessons - 50.4% (72-71) - Even

❌ Unfavorable (<45%):
• Bant Midrange - 45.5% (5-6) - Slight dog
• Golgari Cub - 38.5% (5-8) - Rough
• Izzet Elementals - 16.7% (2-10) - Very difficult

Key Cards (Core Combo):
All appearing in ~50% of lists (4 copies each):
• Aang, Swift Savior // Aang and La, Ocean's Fury - The combo engine
• Appa, Steadfast Guardian - Protection/value
• Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius - Card advantage
• Airbender Ascension - Win condition
• Aang, At the Crossroads // Aang, Destined Savior - Key combo piece
• Bramble Familiar // Fetch Quest - Mana acceleration

Supporting Cast (~45-50%):
• Badgermole Cub - Creature base
• Llanowar Elves - Ramp (45%)
• Interdimensional Web Watch - Utility (45%)

Flex Spots & Tech Choices:

Based on the meta breakdown, here are the key flex spots with adoption rates:

High-flex slots (15-25% adoption):
• Formidable Speaker (25%) - Good against creature decks (Simic Cub, Izzet Lessons)
• Gene Pollinator (15%) - Value engine
• Seam Rip (14%) - Answers problematic permanents
• Quantum Riddler (13%) - Card selection

Meta-specific tech (<10% adoption):
• Oko, Lorwyn Liege (9%) - Strong value card, helps in grindy matchups
• Kutzil's Flanker (7%) - Protection against interaction
• Spider Manifestation (5%) - Token generation
• Wistfulness (5%) - Card draw

Recommendations for Current Meta:

  1. More interaction for Izzet Elementals (your worst matchup at 17% WR) - consider mainboard Seam Rip or bounce
  2. Oko looks strong against the control/midrange heavy meta (Jeskai, Dimir, Azorius)
  3. Formidable Speaker is useful into the Cub mirrors and creature matchups dominating the top
  4. Against the aggro decks (Mono Red, Boros), early blockers like Badgermole Cub are essential

Sources:
Data from 45 Standard tournaments (66.7% Melee, 33.3% MTGO). Recent events: Standard Challenge 32, Premier Summer Series, RC Super Qualifier