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Main » Articles » The Metagame Report, July 27–August 2

The Metagame Report, July 27–August 2

Chris Mascioli
Posted on August 3, 2012
 Reddit

This week marks the first week that Magic 2013 was on Magic Online, and it was also the week of Opens in both Buffalo (StarCityGames) and Providence (TCGplayer), and Delver took the top spot at both. In Legacy, the addition of a new lord was apparently enough to push Merfolk to the top as Joshua Cho managed to win the Legacy Open while brandishing the Pearl Trident.

Standard

SCGOpen – Buffalo

Deck Top 8 Top 4 Top 2 Win
W/U Delver 3 1 1 1
G/W Elves 1 1 1 0
Esper Midrange 1 1 0 0
Bant Pod 1 1 0 0
Naya Pod 1 0 0 0
G/W Aggro 1 0 0 0

TCGplayer Open – Providence

Deck Top 8 Top 4 Top 2 Win
W/U Delver 4 2 1 1
Wolf Run Ramp 1 1 1 0
Elves 1 1 1 0
W/B Hand 1 0 0 0
Naya Pod 1 0 0 0

Both opens have similar results, with W/U Delver taking up around half of the Top 8s and the rest being filled out mostly by aggro decks.

"W/U Delver"

The winning deck from SCG: Buffalo is a combination of the mono-blue Wizards deck from last week and the more traditional W/U Delver builds—it has cut Geist of Saint Traft for Talrand, Sky Summoner and includes main-decked Augur of Bolas and Phantasmal Image. The metagame has shifted to the point where Restoration Angel is not as good as it once was in the main thanks to the popularity of decks playing Slagstorm and/or Whipflare and the fact that creatures such as Strangleroot Geist are decreasing. On the other hand, the surge in popularity of Elves and the increase in Delver players have finally earned Mental Misstep a main-decked slot, although I don’t expect it to remain there much longer.

"G/W Elves"

Elves managed to take a Top 8 slot at both Opens this weekend, and I chose to feature this list (over the one from the TCGplayer open) because it does much more powerful (and cute) things. The goal of the Elf deck is to accelerate into a Genesis Wave or Green Sun's Zenith out a Craterhoof Behemoth, which obviously requires a lot of mana, hence the deck’s thirty-seven ways to generate mana. The deck is fast and consistent, and although I don’t like the inclusion of Village Bell-Ringer, it does make for some explosive starts (assuming turn-one Elf, turn-two Elvish Archdruid, turn-three Elf into Village Bell-Ringer—that’s 7 mana already). This deck’s success is tied to the absence of mass removal, so as Whipflare and Slagstorm reemerge, expect the performance of Elves to decrease.

"G/W Aggro"

Max Brown made Top 8 at SCG: Buffalo with an interesting G/W aggro deck, marking the first successful deck to use Ajani, Caller of the Pride. A couple of the numbers are confusing (such as three Strangleroot Geist), but the deck offers a great alternative for fans of more traditional aggro strategies.

"W/B Hand"

The final featured Standard deck is a copy of W/B Hand, which made Top 8 in Providence. The deck name (and structure) is a throwback to a Kamigawa W/B Junk deck. The deck’s inclusion of Ravenous Rats, Smallpox, and Duress show a strong focus on discard, but the strategy just seems inadequate given the high creature count and speed of the current top decks. However, the deck does excel at killing mana creatures and getting around hexproof, so that may be why it performed so well.

Pod decks continue to perform well, and the choice between Bant and Naya Pod comes down to preference of power over consistency. Bant Pod is capable of incredible plays thanks to an increased number of clones and Deceiver Exarchs, but it has more mana issues and doesn’t run as smoothly when Birthing Pod isn’t in play, whereas the Naya version handles these issues better.

Wizards of the Coast hasn't updated the PTQ-winning deck lists for Pro Tour: Return to Ravnica, so there’s no information on that front.

Legacy

Deck Top 8 Top 4 Top 2 Win
Merfolk 1 1 1 1
R/U/G Delver 2 2 1 0
Maverick 1 1 0 0
Show and Tell 2 0 0 0
Dredge 1 0 0 0
W/U Control 1 0 0 0

"Merfolk"

With only one major Legacy event this week, we have Merfolk coming back from the (semi-) dead state it was in. Josh’s Merfolk deck has a number of interesting inclusions (and cuts). First is the presence of Standstill a card that hasn’t been seen in Merfolk since GP: Columbus—especially in a format where R/U/G Delver will have at least one creature in play and where a Show and Tell deck won’t really care if you draw three cards as it casts its namesake card. The inclusion of Master of the Pearl Trident was obvious, but cutting Coralhelm Commanders instead of Merrow Reejereys seems to be a nonstandard choice. Coralhelm Commander seems to be the better lord overall, but I’m not fully aware of Josh’s rationale for the choice, so can’t comment further.

"R/U/G Delver"

Kenny Castor continues to perform well with R/U/G Delver, although his list is standard.

"W/U Control"

W/U control places again, but this time without the Land Tax package (although it does play one Scroll Rack for all its miracles). The deck has the Counterbalance/Top package, but it only plays two copies of the enchantment, so it’s not a major part of the deck. Of note is the inclusion of a sideboarded Peacekeeper, a sign that the pilot took the threat of the resurgence of Merfolk at least somewhat seriously.

"Dredge"

Not many people running graveyard hate led to another Top 8 by Dredge. This particular list has gone back to running Flame-Kin Zealot for a faster win, but the Dredge creature of the moment changes so much that it’s hard to keep up with what’s “correct.”

Magic Online Community Cup

For those who know me or follow me on Twitter, you’d know that I’m currently in Scotland and that my trip has gone really poorly. The Magic Online Community Cup is currently taking nominations, and it would mean a lot to me if you’d be willing to nominate me (my Magic Online username is chrism315), as Magic has played a central role in my life, and getting to participate in such an important event would mean so much to me—being recognized for my contributions to a game that has literally saved my life would be awesome. So if you’d like, hop over here and nominate me.

Chris Mascioli

@dieplstks on Twitter

TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, deck lists, legacy, chris mascioli

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