By aggro I mean decks like RDW's, Tempered steel and White weenie not decks like Jund which I'd call midrange. Aggro is currently dominant in block right now but has an actual aggro deck ever dominated a standard season?
edit: affinity slipped my mind, though its admittedly not a very traditional aggro deck
One would argue that Affinity started as a combo deck, but yeah... Also zoo decks and white weenie were pretty popular during Kami/RAV and RAV/TS (though didn't dominate). I consider Fae to be fairly aggressive as well despite being blue.
there have been times - but it's worth remembering that no deck stays at the top for too long (apart from a couple of notable "problem decks" such as cawblade)
sligh and zoo decks both had their day in the sun - many many kird apes have seen their way to the red zone on tournament and FNM tables.
for a short while, boros was pretty king.
white weenie has actually seen some serious play at various stages in the game.
aggro has unfortunately taken a backseat recently, with the crazily control-centric metagame that's been with us for what seems like forever.... but yeah, aggro has been (and will be again) a dominant force.
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Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Fires of Yavimaya, if we want to go back a fair way, was dominant and all about the beatdown. Going back even more, you get Tempest, which I don't remember that well but the land of Sligh, Hatred, honest-to-god-White-Weenie...
People mentioned Affinity, but one thing to remember was how damn strong Onslaught Block Goblins were. Goblin Bidding with Skullclamp was stupid.
Not sure what you'd characterise UG Madness/Threshold as; it wasn't midrange in the modern sense, as there weren't really decks in the meta with a lower curves.
Here's a link to Kyle Rose's winning Waylay Weenie list from 1999 US Nats.
I hate that aggro has been dismal these past standard seasons. Pretty much since the printing of Mystical Teachings, aggro hasn't been anywhere the top tier of playable options.
White weenie and black weenie were powerful decks in the early type 11 phase.
Playing dark rituals and getting 2-3 black creatures on t1 or hyppie Spector was pretty tough to play against. Same with white knights and lions back in the early type 2. Also wraith of god, swords and arms were also pretty powerful white could tap for mana clear the board of all creates and lands and play a creature in late games effectively restarting the boars with them having the only the creature.
Mythic Conscription was probably the best deck this time last year. I don't know if you'd consider it a traditional aggro deck (it was more aggro-ramp-combo with stuff like Jace and Mana Leak for defense), but it was filthy good.
Tempered Steel will be one of the default strategies in a couple months, so you have that to look forward to. White Weenie with Hero of Bladehold made a lot of noise in Scars block constructed, too.
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During Mirage/Tempest standard mono-red aggro was one of the best decks. the actual best deck of this era was very likely a White Weenie deck using Empyreal Armor and Cataclysm.
During Tempest/Urza standard, post academy bannings, mono-black aggro was one of the best decks.
During Urza/Masques standard mono-white rebels was by far the best deck. you could argue that that wasn't really an aggro deck though, but it was certainly creature based.
During Masques/Invasion standard there was a RG aggro deck based on Fires of Yavimaya and Saproling Burst. there's a very good case to be made that that was the best deck in its format.
During Invasion/Odyssey standard there was a very good RG aggro deck based on cheap creature combined with Reckless Charge to make them harder hitting and to dodge Wrath of God. that was a very good deck, though probably not the best deck of the metagame. You might also count UG Madness as a type of aggro deck. that could easily be called the best deck of the metagame, though some characterize it as aggro-control rather than pure aggro. It was very beatdown heavy for an aggro-control deck though.
During Odyssey/Onslaught standard you had the incredibly potent Goblins deck which could definitely be called the best deck of its metagame based on raw power. It was so influential that the format ended up being dominated by RW board control decks just because that was the only thing that could contain the Goblin menace. Goblins was the more powerful deck in its own right though.
During Onslaught/Mirrodin standard you had a continuation of goblins, and then eventually you had Ravager Affinity. That was definitely an aggro dominated standard. Banhammer dominant actually.
During Mirrodin/Kamigawa standard (post bannings) one of the best decks was a black weenie deck. Probably not the best deck in the format though (Gifts Ungiven control was probably best).
During Kamigawa/Ravnica there was legitimately a lull in really powerful aggro decks. Boros aggro was decent at the time though, but not format dominating.
During Ravnica/Time Spiral there were several good aggro decks. RB aggro, RG aggro, and GB aggro all had various good builds. However, the best decks in this format were three color control decks (RWU and UBW) and Dragonstorm combo deck, so definitely not an aggro dominated metagame.
During Time Spiral/Lor+Sha there was an incredibly good GB elves deck, and a very good mono-white Kithkin deck. Later there was a powerful BW tokens deck. but most players would say Faeries was the best deck of this standard so i guess it wasn't aggro-dominated, even though it had good aggro decks.
During Lor+Sha/Alara there were not many tier 1 aggro decks. Faeries, 4 color Control decks, and various midrange decks were the best in the metagame.
During Alara/Zen standard you could argue that Mythic Conscription was the best deck in the metagame and most people would consider that a flavor of aggro deck. a ramp heavy type of aggro, but aggro none the less.
In current Standard there are several viable aggro decks but the best deck is probably UW Caw-Go, so i guess not aggro dominated at all.
thats a pretty comprehensive history of standard in a nutshell. as you can see aggro has been the best deck in several metagames. its really only during the last 2 years that its clearly lagged behind other types of decks.
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edit: affinity slipped my mind, though its admittedly not a very traditional aggro deck
sligh and zoo decks both had their day in the sun - many many kird apes have seen their way to the red zone on tournament and FNM tables.
for a short while, boros was pretty king.
white weenie has actually seen some serious play at various stages in the game.
aggro has unfortunately taken a backseat recently, with the crazily control-centric metagame that's been with us for what seems like forever.... but yeah, aggro has been (and will be again) a dominant force.
People mentioned Affinity, but one thing to remember was how damn strong Onslaught Block Goblins were. Goblin Bidding with Skullclamp was stupid.
Not sure what you'd characterise UG Madness/Threshold as; it wasn't midrange in the modern sense, as there weren't really decks in the meta with a lower curves.
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Here's a link to Kyle Rose's winning Waylay Weenie list from 1999 US Nats.
I hate that aggro has been dismal these past standard seasons. Pretty much since the printing of Mystical Teachings, aggro hasn't been anywhere the top tier of playable options.
Playing dark rituals and getting 2-3 black creatures on t1 or hyppie Spector was pretty tough to play against. Same with white knights and lions back in the early type 2. Also wraith of god, swords and arms were also pretty powerful white could tap for mana clear the board of all creates and lands and play a creature in late games effectively restarting the boars with them having the only the creature.
Tempered Steel will be one of the default strategies in a couple months, so you have that to look forward to. White Weenie with Hero of Bladehold made a lot of noise in Scars block constructed, too.
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During Tempest/Urza standard, post academy bannings, mono-black aggro was one of the best decks.
During Urza/Masques standard mono-white rebels was by far the best deck. you could argue that that wasn't really an aggro deck though, but it was certainly creature based.
During Masques/Invasion standard there was a RG aggro deck based on Fires of Yavimaya and Saproling Burst. there's a very good case to be made that that was the best deck in its format.
During Invasion/Odyssey standard there was a very good RG aggro deck based on cheap creature combined with Reckless Charge to make them harder hitting and to dodge Wrath of God. that was a very good deck, though probably not the best deck of the metagame. You might also count UG Madness as a type of aggro deck. that could easily be called the best deck of the metagame, though some characterize it as aggro-control rather than pure aggro. It was very beatdown heavy for an aggro-control deck though.
During Odyssey/Onslaught standard you had the incredibly potent Goblins deck which could definitely be called the best deck of its metagame based on raw power. It was so influential that the format ended up being dominated by RW board control decks just because that was the only thing that could contain the Goblin menace. Goblins was the more powerful deck in its own right though.
During Onslaught/Mirrodin standard you had a continuation of goblins, and then eventually you had Ravager Affinity. That was definitely an aggro dominated standard. Banhammer dominant actually.
During Mirrodin/Kamigawa standard (post bannings) one of the best decks was a black weenie deck. Probably not the best deck in the format though (Gifts Ungiven control was probably best).
During Kamigawa/Ravnica there was legitimately a lull in really powerful aggro decks. Boros aggro was decent at the time though, but not format dominating.
During Ravnica/Time Spiral there were several good aggro decks. RB aggro, RG aggro, and GB aggro all had various good builds. However, the best decks in this format were three color control decks (RWU and UBW) and Dragonstorm combo deck, so definitely not an aggro dominated metagame.
During Time Spiral/Lor+Sha there was an incredibly good GB elves deck, and a very good mono-white Kithkin deck. Later there was a powerful BW tokens deck. but most players would say Faeries was the best deck of this standard so i guess it wasn't aggro-dominated, even though it had good aggro decks.
During Lor+Sha/Alara there were not many tier 1 aggro decks. Faeries, 4 color Control decks, and various midrange decks were the best in the metagame.
During Alara/Zen standard you could argue that Mythic Conscription was the best deck in the metagame and most people would consider that a flavor of aggro deck. a ramp heavy type of aggro, but aggro none the less.
In current Standard there are several viable aggro decks but the best deck is probably UW Caw-Go, so i guess not aggro dominated at all.
thats a pretty comprehensive history of standard in a nutshell. as you can see aggro has been the best deck in several metagames. its really only during the last 2 years that its clearly lagged behind other types of decks.