Standard

There was only one major Standard event, the StarCityGames Open in Vegas this week, and the metagame has changed drastically; the green-based Pod strategies have been usurped by the return of Delver and, surprisingly, an outbreak of Zombies. Magic Online still doesn’t have Magic 2013, so results from this week online will be ignored.

"B/R Zombies"

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Fume Spitter
• 3 Blood Artist
• 3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 4 Diregraf Ghoul
• 4 Geralf's Messenger
• 4 Gravecrawler
• 4 Highborn Ghoul
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph

• Spells (12)
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Doom Blade
• 2 Mortarpod
• 3 Tragic Slip
• 4 Brimstone Volley
• 1 Bonfire of the Damned

• Lands (23)
• 12 Swamp
• 3 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Dragonskull Summit

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Act of Aggression
• 2 Geth's Verdict
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 2 Smelt
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Liliana of the Veil
• 2 Duress

Buy This Deck

Kyu’s Zombies list is quite aggressive, with a suite of ten 1-drop creatures and a curve ending with Falkenrath Aristocrat. The deck, in addition to a strong early game, also has an enormous of reach with four Brimstone Volleys along with the combination of Blood Artist paired with a Falkenrath Aristocrat or Mortarpod. The sideboard having four graveyard-hate slots is worthy of notice given the success of reanimator strategies the week before.

"W/U Delver"

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Blade Splicer
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 4 Snapcaster Mage

• Spells (25)
• 2 Gut Shot
• 4 Mana Leak
• 4 Thought Scour
• 4 Vapor Snag
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder
• 1 Sword of War and Peace
• 2 Runechanter's Pike

• Lands (19)
• 7 Island
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Moorland Haunt
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Phantasmal Image
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 1 Dismember
• 2 Dissipate
• 1 Divine Offering
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 1 Steel Sabotage
• 2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 2 Timely Reinforcements

Buy This Deck

Now that people have gotten over Magic 2013 being new and cool, Delver is back and basically unchanged besides the Talrands in the sideboard. One somewhat significant change from last week’s lists is that Augur of Bolas has been cut from both the more traditional W/U Delver list and the mono-blue Wizards list below.

"Mono-Blue Wizards"

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Augur of Bolas
• 2 Phantasmal Image
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 3 Talrand, Sky Summoner

• Spells (26)
• 3 Gut Shot
• 4 Mana Leak
• 4 Thought Scour
• 4 Vapor Snag
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder
• 3 Runechanter's Pike

• Lands (20)
• 15 Island
• 2 Inkmoth Nexus
• 3 Cavern of Souls

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Spellskite
• 1 Phantasmal Image
• 1 Dismember
• 3 Mental Misstep
• 2 Negate
• 1 Steel Sabotage
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Buy This Deck

Adam Prosak made Top 8 with mono-blue Wizards this week, and the deck once again made it to the elimination rounds (losing to B/R Zombies). The deck plays similarly to Delver, but it is a bit less aggressive, sacrificing this aggression for a slower game focusing on Talrand.

The other decks in the SCG Top 8 are pretty standard builds with no major innovations of note.

Modern

It’s been a while since Modern has been in the spotlight, and this past weekend at Grand Prix: Columbus was the first major event of the format since the Japanese GP last month.

Given that the Modern Pro Tour Qualifier season left off with R/G Tron being the deck to beat, the format has evolved considerably. Delver of Secrets decks made up half the Top 8, with R/U/G being a port from the Legacy Delver strategy and R/W/U Delver being the more aggressive deck overall with the inclusion of Steppe Lynx and more burn.

"Modern Affinity"

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Steel Overseer
• 4 Arcbound Ravager
• 4 Etched Champion
• 4 Memnite
• 4 Ornithopter
• 4 Signal Pest
• 4 Vault Skirge

• Spells (20)
• 3 Shrapnel Blast
• 4 Galvanic Blast
• 2 Steelshaper's Gift
• 3 Springleaf Drum
• 4 Cranial Plating
• 4 Mox Opal

• Lands (15)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Glimmervoid
• 3 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Blinkmoth Nexus
• 4 Darksteel Citadel

Buy This Deck

The winning Affinity list is very Standard with nothing of note other than its reversion to playing Steelshaper's Gifts, which had gone out of favor during PTQ season. Also weird is the inclusion of four Arcbound Ravagers and only one Steel Overseer—as Modern evolved, the number of Ravagers has decreased as Overseer has become more popular. I don’t like running so many Ravagers—the card is nowhere near as powerful as it was when Affinity existed in Standard due to the deck now relying heavily on Cranial Plating for damage.

"U/R Delver"

• Creatures (14)
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Tarmogoyf
• 2 Vendilion Clique

• Spells (25)
• 1 Electrolyze
• 1 Vapor Snag
• 2 Cryptic Command
• 2 Deprive
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 2 Spell Snare
• 2 Thought Scour
• 3 Mana Leak
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Sleight of Hand
• 3 Serum Visions
• 2 Vedalken Shackles

• Lands (21)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Mountain
• 6 Island
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 2 Steam Vents
• 4 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Scalding Tarn

Buy This Deck

"R/W/U Delver"

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Steppe Lynx
• 4 Geist of Saint Traft

• Spells (23)
• 1 Vapor Snag
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Lightning Helix
• 4 Path to Exile
• 4 Remand
• 1 Faithless Looting
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Serum Visions

• Lands (21)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Plains
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Misty Rainforest
• 4 Arid Mesa
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Eiganjo Castle

Buy This Deck

Delver has once again proved itself to be an all-star as both these decks show. Both decks are capable of playing a small number of threats and then protecting them with counter-magic and finally using the reach of its burn to end the game. The cost of both these decks can be seen as a huge barrier to entry from the Modern format, but I hope the reprinting of the shock lands in Return to Ravnicawill help lower the financial bar required for players to start in Modern.

Legacy

Last but not least, GP: Ghent took place this weekend.

"Ad Nauseam Tendrils"

• Spells (46)
• 1 Ad Nauseam
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Cabal Ritual
• 4 Dark Ritual
• 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1 Past in Flames
• 1 Tendrils of Agony
• 2 Duress
• 3 Burning Wish
• 4 Cabal Therapy
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Infernal Tutor
• 4 Ponder
• 1 Chrome Mox
• 4 Lion's Eye Diamond
• 4 Lotus Petal

• Lands (14)
• 1 Island
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 2 Bloodstained Mire
• 2 Scalding Tarn
• 2 Underground Sea
• 4 Polluted Delta

Buy This Deck

ANT has not seen much play as of late (even Ari Lax has given up on the deck), but it performed well and won GP: Ghent. The other decks in the Top 8 aren’t anything unexpected (although it’s been a while since Junk did well), but Simon Goertzen ran an interesting Show and Tell deck that ran Omniscience. Even though he didn’t Top 8, the deck is presented below:

"Omniscient Show and Tell"

• Creatures (4)
• 2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 2 Griselbrand

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Spells (34)
• 4 Brainstorm
• 4 Daze
• 4 Force of Will
• 1 Personal Tutor
• 3 Show and Tell
• 4 Burning Wish
• 4 Ponder
• 4 Preordain
• 4 Omniscience
• 2 Lotus Petal

• Lands (20)
• 2 Island
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Tropical Island
• 2 City of Traitors
• 3 Ancient Tomb
• 3 Volcanic Island
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta

• Sideboard (14)
• 2 Defense Grid
• 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage
• 1 Grapeshot
• 1 Karakas
• 1 Living Wish
• 1 Petals of Insight
• 1 Pyroclasm
• 3 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Show and Tell
• 1 Surgical Extraction

Buy This Deck

Chris Mascioli

@dieplstks on Twitter