The StarCityGames tournament this past weekend was the first major Standard tournament since the bannings earlier this month. Since we now have some data to process, we can discern what the new face of Standard will look like and begin to see where we should be focusing our attention on the trade floor. I have compiled a list of all of the mythics in the Top 8 of SCG: Cincinnati, and a few notable rares to keep an eye on.

Mythics

9 Sword of Feast and Famine

7 Mox Opal

5 Gideon Jura

4 Lotus Cobra

3 Sword of War and Peace

3 Grave Titan

3 Garruk, Primal Hunter

3 Jace Beleren

2 Elspeth Tirel

2 Thrun, the Last Troll

1 Sword of Body and Mind

1 Sun Titan

1 Wurmcoil Engine

1 Liliana Vess

Notable Rares

17 Inkmoth Nexus

12 Seachrome Coast

The Top 8 consisted of two Caw-Blade, two Tempered Steel, one Pyro-Twin, one Puresteel Paladin, one Vampires, and one Big Jund Deck. With the exception of the Jund deck, these are all known quantities from either Standard or Block.

What can we now discern from this information?

It seems apparent that Sword of Feast and Famine did not lose too much from his friend Stoneforge’s taking a “prolonged vacation,” as it was the most-played mythic in the Top 8, mostly thanks to Caleb Durward packing a whopping four copies between his main deck and sideboard. However, what we do not see here is Batterskull being anywhere near these decks.

Next on our list is Mox Opal. This card will be showing up as long as the White aggressive decks remain plausible, which from their numbers here should be a force in the metagame even beyond the pending rotation in September. Let’s look at one of these lists to see what they will lose.

"U/W Tempered Steel (by David Shiels)"

• Creatures (20)
• 4 Memnite
• 4 Signal Pest
• 4 Spellskite
• 4 Steel Overseer
• 4 Vault Skirge

• Planeswalkers (0)

• Spells (21)
• 4 Dispatch
• 3 Preordain
• 4 Tempered Steel
• 3 Origin Spellbomb
• 4 Glint Hawk Idol
• 3 Mox Opal

• Lands (19)
• 7 Plains
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Kor Firewalker
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 3 Mana Leak
• 1 Revoke Existence
• 1 Timely Reinforcements
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
• 2 Contested War Zone

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This deck will lose Steel Overseer, Preordain, and Kor Firewalker in the rotation—and that’s it. While losing the Overseer is admittedly a blow to the deck, I know iterations of this deck will continue to exist in one form or another.

Let’s look at another example:

"U/W Puresteel Paladin (by Caleb Durward)"

• Creatures (12)
• 1 Glint Hawk
• 2 Kor Firewalker
• 3 Trinket Mage
• 4 Puresteel Paladin
• 2 Etched Champion

• Planeswalkers (0)

• Spells (25)
• 4 Dispatch
• 4 Preordain
• 1 Accorder's Shield
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Sword of Body and Mind
• 1 Sylvok Lifestaff
• 2 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 2 Sword of War and Peace
• 3 Flayer Husk
• 4 Mortarpod
• 2 Mox Opal

• Lands (23)
• 1 Island
• 8 Plains
• 2 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Kor Firewalker
• 1 Spellskite
• 2 Negate
• 3 Dismember
• 4 Flashfreeze
• 1 Sword of War and Peace
• 2 Sword of Feast and Famine

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This deck loses Kor Firewalker, Basilisk Collar, Preordain, and Celestial Colonnade. None of these cards are core to the deck like they are for the Tempered Steel version. This deck has a lot of potential moving forward and beyond the rotation. Cards that are in both lists will be safe pickups moving forward, as people will continually be looking for these in the coming months. I know I cannot keep Seachrome Coasts or Mox Opals in stock, as they fly right out of my binder as soon as I pick them up.

Moving forward, a deck that we should be moving away from is Vampires. This deck will not exist post-rotation, and it is about time to begin moving the last few Bloodghasts and Kalastria Highborns that you may have lingering in your binder. Bloodghast may have some Overextended/Modern applications, but it will definitely dive after the rotation, allowing you to pick them back up again on the cheap.

I felt that this weekend would be a good indicator of what the fate of the Splinter Twin deck will be. Will it be a format-altering combo that will dominate for the last few months of this format, or will it be the format’s boogeyman, where people have to be prepared for it only because it exists and not because of an overbearing presence? I think it will be more of the latter and less of the former. People will continue to play this deck, but Splinter Twin won’t mimic its own price inflation when Deceiver Exarch was printed. Splinter Twin will most likely hang out in the $6-to-$8 range for the rest of the season, and you should have a set on hand for the guy who wants them, but don’t stockpile them waiting for that one last price boom.

While the bannings definitely changed the face of what a Caw-Blade deck looks like, it definitely did not kill it altogether. For reference:

"U Caw-Blade (by Tim Pskowski)"

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Sun Titan
• 4 Blade Splicer
• 4 Hero of Bladehold
• 4 Squadron Hawk

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Elspeth Tirel
• 2 Gideon Jura

• Spells (17)
• 2 Dismember
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 4 Mana Leak
• 4 Preordain
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 2 Sword of Feast and Famine

• Lands (27)
• 4 Island
• 4 Plains
• 3 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Tectonic Edge

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Kor Firewalker
• 1 Stave Off
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 3 Flashfreeze
• 3 Mental Misstep
• 2 Day of Judgment

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This deck is a far cry from the Caw-Blade deck of old, but we learned this weekend that is still just as potent as it ever was. This deck will lose its namesake Squadron Hawk in the rotation, but I believe that a version of this deck will continue to exist, replacing the Hawks and continuing to abuse Sword of Feast and Famine like it was born to.

Last, but not least, we have a very interesting Jund deck:

"Jund (by Korey Fay)"

• Creatures (18)
• 3 Grave Titan
• 4 Grim Lavamancer
• 4 Lotus Cobra
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine
• 2 Phyrexian Revoker
• 4 Solemn Simulacrum

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Garruk, Primal Hunter

• Spells (13)
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 2 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Dismember
• 1 Despise
• 1 Duress
• 1 Memoricide
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek

• Lands (26)
• 1 Mountain
• 3 Forest
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 2 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 3 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Lavaclaw Reaches
• 4 Raging Ravine
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Obstinate Baloth
• 1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
• 1 Liliana Vess
• 1 Dismember
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 2 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Duress
• 2 Memoricide
• 2 Pyroclasm

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I will say, the thing I like most about this deck is the fact that it allowed Garruk to be the only new planeswalker to break into the Top 8. This is the kind of deck that Garruk shines in (as long as you are able to cast him). I can only imagine how sweet it would feel to be able to play a turn-two Cobra into a Garruk into a Grave Titan and draw six from it, but I bet it’s pretty nice. As far as a deck goes, the loss of Lotus Cobra will all but neuter this style of deck, but this is also the kind of deck people may want to build locally in the coming weeks for FNMs, as it just has that “I want to do big awesome things” feel to it. I wouldn’t go out and hoard all the Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs you can find, but having copies of the big cards will be worth your while.

One thing that I am going to continue to point out is the inclusion of Inkmoth Nexus in this Top 8. There were seventeen here. That is more than any other nonbasic land card (and it still beat out Mountains, Forests, and Swamps). This card will a hot commodity for its entire stay in Standard. Make sure you always have them in your trade stock, because they are always moving.

To summarize, the hot cards right now are Sword of Feast and Famine, Mox Opal, and Inkmoth Nexus, and we need to keep our eye on Tempered Steel and Puresteel Paladin. Begin moving the last of your Vampire cards and start diversifying your collection. Standard is picking up popularity again, and there were over four hundred people at the tournament this weekend. People want to brew new decks and play Standard again; we need to have the cards they want.

Happy grinding!

JR Wade

JohnRobertWade at gmail dot com

@THEJRRR on Twitter