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New Decks in Standard: TCG Providence and SCG Buffalo
Kyle Boggemes
7/31/2012 11:02:00 AM I know, I know - Delver won some more tournaments, but there's still hope for our beloved format! Today I'm going to break down TCG Open: Providence and SCG Open: Buffalo. Rather than make it two segments, I'll keep it as one to get a clearer picture of the metagame. The Breakdown: 10 UW Delver 2 Wolf Run Variants (1 RG, 1 RUG) 1 BW Hand 2 ELVES! 5 Birthing Pod (2 Naya, 2 Bant, and 1 Junk) 1 RG Aggro 1 GW Aggro 1 UW Control 1 Esper Midrange Once again, we have Delver at the top of the standings of both events with plenty to spare in the top 8, but fear not! It seemed too good to be true that Delver would represent only a small fraction of the top decks for more than a few weeks, but a man can dream can't he? Now that I broke the bad news like quickly ripping off a Bandage, what's the positive side? What good could possibly come out of the dark clouds forming over Standard once again?
That's right everybody, we have a new combo deck in town! Although decks like these aren't really my thing, I pine for the past. I remember getting into Standard when you had more to choose from than aggro, midrange, or control. The Standard I grew up with had various combo decks such as Dragonstrom, Heartbeat, and of course Elves. One of the great things about Standard with two core sets is the possibility of building decks that require redundant pieces. I hope WOTC considers this a reality for M14 because I think the titans have overstayed their welcome and it's too late to start this year. This type of deck would be too difficult to pull off without the help of both Arbor Elf and Llanowar Elf. Kurt Crane's list seems much more focused on comboing off because cards like Village Bell-Ringer aren't just in there for looks. This deck can generate tons of mana quickly and will demand answers. If you think a deck like this isn't going to shake up the metagame, I don't know what will. Zombies and Bonfire of the Damned are two things that will keep Elves in check. The thing about combo decks is that it has been so long since we had one for Standard; I doubt a little bit of hate will keep players from having some fun. Decks like these are dangerous because they reward dedicated pilots and the elves have collected some loyal followers over the years. The great thing about last weekend's results is that Elves wasn't the only Blast from the Past.
Joe Snyder took one of my old favorites to a 4th place finish at the TCG Open. I remember as a lad (2006) when my buddy, Phil Cape Top 8'ed Regionals with this little number:
Although we don't have Umezawa's Jitte in Standard anymore, we can make a pretty cool disruption deck. When Ravenous Rats made a return in M13, I forgot that Smallpox was still legal (oh the possibilities). Gravecrawler is a sweet addition to the deck since it was born to be discarded. Hand disruption decks haven't been good in Standard since Tarmogoyf was legal, but perhaps this will turn over a new leaf. I'm a firm believer that decks attacking from several different angles create diversity. Perhaps WOTC should try their hand at changing their current policy for Standard and see what happens. A format consisting of mostly midrange decks can only be so fun. I had more fun when Stone Rains, combo decks, and powerful discard spells existed. If you think the sweet brews stopped there, think again.
When two great minds (Gerard and Reid) come together and play an exciting brew, you had better pay attention. Gerard placed 40th, but Reid cracked the Top 16 of the SCG Open (with some exciting cards). Temporal Mastery was heralded as “too good to be legal” once it was spoiled and disappointed most of us, but I think it's still a great card (it did win a Pro Tour after all). I made a rough draft of RUG Ramp when Temporal Mastery was spoiled, but the deck wasn't quite there yet. Thragtusk plus Phantasmal Image is a match made in heaven; I think that's the true breakout this weekend. There are so many ways to put these two cards together and we're seeing that with Birthing Pod going beyond Naya (Bant). A more traditional Ramp deck made the finals of the TCG Open:
Thragtusk is getting a ton of love (as he should be) and I don't expect that trend to change any time soon. The last time I played Ramp, cards that impressed me the most were Bonfire of the Damned, Thragtusk, and Dismember. I don't feel alone as Josh included all three of these cards. Kai Burnett (a worthy adversary) made the Top 4 with Bant Pod at the SCG Open:
Kai's a great player who has my number. We've played 4-5 times at PTQs, GPs, and PTs and he beats me most of the time. Cedric Phillips (the nut human) also took down a PTQ last weekend with Bant Pod. His Facebook Status says it all: “For those of you wondering, this is the most powerful deck I have EVER played in my entire life. Thragtusk is the DUMBEST card I have ever played with. Enjoy raking in the victories:
Story Time Cedric is known for playing some “questionable” decks and I don't think we have ever been on the same page. He doesn't like it when people mention Kithkin so I'll just keep it vague (woops). In this particular case I'll make an exception because podding a copied Thragtusk into a Sun Titan seems absolutely insane. I've known CeddyP for a while via the Midwest PTQ scene; a place where winning a qualifier was no easy feat. The first PTQ I Top 8'ed with Cedric had these names also joining us in the elimination rounds: Owen Turtenwald Pat Chapin Adam Yurchick Pat conceded to me in the finals because he was already qualified for PT Hollywood. D.J. Kastner, Pat, LSV, and I tested together for the event at R.I.W. Hobbies. It was a great experience working with some of the sharpest minds in Magic and it helped me eventually break out on the professional level. The moral of this story is to not be that stereotypical guy at a PTQ because your “colleagues” can help you reach your goals. I wouldn't have won anything without my friends that I met playing Magic (and congrats to Pat for getting into the hall of fame!). Back to Birthing Pod What's that you say? You're still not convinced Bant Pod is worth a shot? Well Dan Morton also top 16ed with the deck:
I like two copies of Sun Titan because it's the six drop I would want to see the most. Birthing Pod gives you chances to get cute, but more of a good thing is also a possibility. Bant is certainly a breakout deck this weekend, but we also have Naya and BWG:
Brian's BWG deck looks very interesting as it only plays a single Birthing Pod; Skinrender plus Restoration Angel is certainly worth investigating. This deck just goes to show you that Restoration Angel plus a ham sandwich is good enough to be considered an archetype - it's that good! There are so many different ways to build a Pod deck since the Standard pool is incredibly deep. If you're serious about playing Pod, think about which cards are the most fun for you to play out of this list and add some lands: Restoration Angel Borderland Ranger Birds of Paradise Avacyn's Pilgrim Phantasmal Image Acidic Slime Blade Splicer Elvish Visionary Fiend Hunter Huntmaster of the Fells Inferno Titan Grave Titan Primeval Titan Frost Titan Sun Titan Manic Vandal Thalia, Guardian of Thraben Sublime Archangel Wolfir Silverheart Zealous Conscripts Thragtusk Skinrender Arc Trail Bonfire of the Damned Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Wurmcoil Engine Phyrexian Metamorph Solemn Simulacrum Deadeye Navigator Stonehorn Dignitary Venser, the Sojourner Geist-Honored Monk Viridian Emissary Doom Blade Go for the Throat Garruk Relentless Hero of Bladehold Birthing Pod The crazy thing about this list is that they only contain the Pod cards played last weekend! There's not a chance a deck like this will ever be reduced to a netdeck; you can always add your own touch. Maxwell Brown took the rising deck, GW Aggro to a Top 8 finish at the SCG Open:
Ajani, Caller of the Pride made his way back into the deck, but with three copies. I'm confident this card will break out as soon as we return to Ravnica because it's a very strong Planeswalker (the pool is too deep at the moment). Rancor is an interesting replacement for swords because Thalia makes them more expensive. Gavony Township is the most powerful colorless land in the format so it seems natural GW Aggro has a place. A similar deck was piloted RG Aggro piloted by Alex Barker (woof!).
This deck is starting to shape up as I expected a few weeks ago. For starters, Thundermaw Hellkite is the only 5 drop that is more than a singleton because it can't be tutored with Green Sun's Zenith. Wolfir Silverheart and Thragtusk are singletons to increase the utility of the zenith. Rancor is beginning to be featured as a playset because of the high power level. Bonfire of the Damned is so powerful that I'll be damned if I play less than four! Champion of Lambholt is an interesting card that saw some popularity in early versions of Get er' Dungrove, but has great synergy with Rancor. I actually like the mashing of swords because body and mind has gotten more powerful thanks to the introduction of Talrand, Sky Summoner. The obvious flaw with the sword diversification is the interaction with Rancor. Two out of three swords don't play well with Rancor which makes attacking more difficult. Overall, it seems like an interesting idea, but I think you should stick with war and peace. Control decks made a slightly larger appearance last weekend in the form of Esper and UW.
Control didn't gain much from M13 as both of these decks opted against playing new cards. I like the Grafdigger's Cage out of the sideboard to fight the wave of Birthing Pods. I didn't forget about all of the Delvers that reared their ugly head. Some of the lists were fairly stock so I'll focus on a couple to illustrate how they evolved. Carl Dillihay won the SCG Open with Talrand:
Matt Costa went back to Runechanter's Pike, but cut down to two copies:
Dan Fournier is all about Runechanter's Pike and Unsummon.
Oliver Tiu won the TCG Open with an 18 land Delver deck.
Both opens were won by a Delver deck that featured 18 lands. Greed for lack of a better word is good. I'll forgive Oliver's greediness because his list featured my favorite card- Augur of Bolas! James Searles took a retro approach to Delver by going back to the list that Gerry T used to dominate Standard once Restoration Angel was printed.
Sweet decks that didn't quite get there We saw the decks that tasted success, but what about the cool ideas that came close? Sometimes you just gotta play a brad deck:
Josh Cho took an idea I was thinking about and made a deck of it.
For some reason I had the urge to introduce my friend, Augur of Bolas to my other friend, Bonfire of the Damned. Chemi took a UB Poison deck to the top of a Magic-League Trial:
UW Augur Update It's no secret that Cavern of Souls and Lingering Souls are annoying.
I opted for Sword of War and Peace over Feast and Famine because Lingering Souls was very annoying. The addition of the third equipment ( Runechanter's Pike) allowed me to play the deck more aggressively. Cavern of Souls is annoying and the counters are primarily for Bonfire of the Damned, but I can't sit back until that interaction comes up. I cut a Rewind to account for the increase in caverns which called for a reduction in Think Twice. Since a good amount of decks were focused on the miracle bonfire, cutting a Mana Leak for Negate seemed like a good call. This is a good switch because Birthing Pod decks are able to wait for six mana to play around your leaks; get em with the Negate! What did we learn? - Pod decks are coming back to the top; they have many shapes and sizes. - Thragtusk and Phantasmal Image is the interaction of the week; there's plenty of room to brew. - Elves are back, be sure to have access to mana dork hate. - Try your hand at the Smallpox deck. - Where did all of the Zombies go? They might be back soon so don't go shelving your Celestial Purges just yet. If the discard deck picks up, you want an answer to Liliana of the Veil anyway. - Naya Aggro made no dent in the top 16 of the SCG Open or the top 8 of the TCG Open. After testing more with Naya Aggro, I think Pod is the natural evolution to the deck. I felt very weak against mass removal and Pod will give you some reach against slower decks. - Green-based aggro decks are beginning to auto-include 4 Rancor; watch out! - Control is still alive, but needs some retuning to take down an event. Phantasmal Image seems like a good place to stay because Thragtusk and Geist of Saint Traft are tough customers. - Delver has returned to its dominant self (10/24 of the decks discusses), but we're seeing new archetypes pop up. Runechanter's Pike and Sword of War and Peace are the equipment of choice. Thanks for reading, Kyle |
  
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