What will Standard look like now? It's definitely going to be different without Ravager at the top, but how different, and what new decks will emerge? I'll walk you through the burning questions that are on everyone's mind.
1: Is Ravager really Dead?
Yup. Dead as a doornail. If Ravager was able to survive the loss of just the artifact lands that would have been a small miracle all by itself. Surviving them without access to Disciple of the Vault, Arcbound Ravager, and the artifact lands is impossible. It's safe to say that Ravager Affinity - the deck we've all come to know and hate - has just been brutally murdered.
2: Is Tooth and Nail the new top dog?
No. If anything, Tooth and Nail takes a step backwards from where it was. Tooth was undoubtedly the best non-Ravager deck in the old type 2. In the short term that status will haunt it as people seek to fill the power vacuum created by Ravager. As the percieved new best deck in the format, Tooth will be attacked from all sides by everything from maindecked Cranial Extractions to sideboarded Sowing Salts. Can Tooth and Nail survive such vicious hate? Probably. It will even be a good tier 1 deck, but it won't dominate the format in the same way that Ravager did.
3: What is the new aggressive deck?
I'm betting on Sligh. The red deck was inexplicibly popular even with Ravager around, and with it gone the deck does nothing but get better. Suddenly Bonesplitter becomes a legitimate turn 1 play instead of just an Oxidize target. Juggernaut becomes a genuine finisher, instead of getting Relic Barriered each turn.
Red also has some of the best burn in recent memory, despite losing Shrapnel Blast fodder. The burn is what pushes Sligh over the edge, because it both removes opposing blockers (and attackers) as well as provides a method of winning in the face of cards like Vedalken Shackles and Meloku.
My second choice is the sleeper aggro deck of White Weenie. T2 white has an abundance of solid cheap creatures, and with 3 total fliers that cost 2 or less, it has more evasion than Gary Larson around a tabloid photographer. WW stands to benifit the most from Equipment becoming playable again, as it has access to the Mirrodin block "plays well with equipment" creatures such as Leonin Shikari and Auriok Glaivemaster. Umezawa's Jitte was a powerful enough card that people were risking playing it even WITH Ravager in the format, and it only gets that much more powerful when it is unlikely to meet a turn 3 Viridian Shaman.. WW benifits tremendously from the sudden playability of Equipment, with cards like Leonin Shikari and Auriok Glaivemaster making white most poised to truely take advantage.
4: What Impact does the banning have on control decks?
This has a huge impact on control. Without the ungodly trio of a gigantic Blinkmoth Nexus, instant speed Aether Vial, and the uber rancor of Cranial Plating (ironically none of which were actually banned), Wrath of God becomes good again. There is no existing deck for it to be played in, but when combined with Pulse of the Fields and Final Judgement, one wonders if such a deck might come to exist in a world without Ravager.
More important for the pre-existing control decks is that they may now use artifacts themselves. Solemn Simulacrum will almost definitely find a way back into BG. Blue Green mages might wish to re-consider using Crystal Shard (as insane as that sounds) in a slower format to provide constant Witness recursion, or possibly drop green completely in favor of black or white.
Ironically, because all of the currently established decks (except for Tooth and Nail) benifit greatly from the addition of "new" artifacts, it may be a wise choice for control players to keep Oxidize maindecked. In a metagame where everyone is using artifacts, it's wise to have some method of killing them.
5: What relatively rogue decks (if any) are likely to emerge from the shadows in an affinity free world? Beacon Green. Without nearly as much artifact hate, it's reasonable to expect that a Blasting Station can last for more than one or two turns. This increases the consistency of the deck greatly. In addition, having the ability to churn out lots of 1/1 chump blockers makes Beacon Green a strong choice versus any of the aggro decks that will emerge.
6: Is this better for the format as a whole?
Most definitely. It's blown the entire lid off t2, and will do more to diversify the format than the entirety of Kamigawa block. That's definitely a good thing. Type 2 feels like it did after a set just rotated, with various fringe decks trying to earn thier way into the newly opened upper echelon of the format.
With all that in mind, here's a few decklists adapted for the post Ravager world to get you started on your playtesting.
