Last weekend brought us GP London so let’s take a look at the Standard action that happened last weekend:

Grand Prix London

Decklists

Abzan Aggro was the story of the tournament! Putting four people into the Top 8, [card]Hangarback Walker[/card]  is still a force to be reckoned with. Let’s take a look at some Abzan Aggro card numbers to see where the deck is possibly headed in the future.

Abzan Aggro Deck Numbers

Land
16x [card]Windswept Heath[/card]
16x [card]Sandsteppe Citadel[/card]
14x [card]Temple of Malady[/card]
12x [card]Caves of Koilos[/card]
12x [card]Llanowar Wastes[/card]
8x [card]Temple of Silence[/card]
4x [card]Mana Confluence[/card]
4x [card]Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth[/card]

Planeswalker
6x [card]Sorin, Solemn Visitor[/card]
2x [card]Ajani, Mentor of Heroes[/card]

Creature
16x [card]Anafenza, the Foremost[/card]
16x [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card]
16x [card]Hangarback Walker[/card]
16x [card]Siege Rhino[/card]
12x [card]Den Protector[/card]
6x [card]Warden of the First Tree[/card]
4x [card]Wingmate Roc[/card]

Instant
14x [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card]
12x [card]Abzan Charm[/card]
10x [card]Ultimate Price[/card]
6x [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card]

Sideboard
16x [card]Thoughtseize[/card]
10x [card]Tragic Arrogance[/card]
8x [card]Elspeth, Sun’s Champion[/card]
6x [card]Herald of Torment[/card]
3x [card]Surge of Righteousness[/card]
4x [card]Ultimate Price[/card]
2x [card]Unravel the Aether[/card]
2x [card]Arashin Cleric[/card]
2x [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card]
2x [card]Glare of Heresy[/card]
2x [card]Self-Inflicted Wound[/card]
2x [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card]
1x [card]Sorin, Solemn Visitor[/card]

Based on those numbers, [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] is a new key piece of the Abzan Aggro strategy. [card]Anafenza, the Foremost[/card] is another creature that is critical to the strategy. A 4/4 that keeps growing your creatures every turn, with a bonus of being able to shut down graveyard strategies, is definitely a large threat in the deck. In terms of planeswalkers, [card]Sorin, Solemn Visitor[/card] should not be overlooked as it can greatly help out against the new U/R Thopters archetype by giving you some lifelinking reach throughout the game in order to survive the critical final turns.

The other decks that rounded out the Top 8 were GW Megamorph, Jeskai Tempo, Abzan Midrange, and RG Dragons.

Similar to Abzan Aggro, GW Devotion was playing [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] due to its huge versatility in the format right now. Other cards seen were [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] (again), [card]Hidden Dragonslayer[/card], and [card]Nissa, Vastwood Seer[/card].

Jeskai Tempo is still making good use of [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] however the use of [card]Soulfire Grand Master[/card], [card]Mantis Rider[/card], and [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card] should not be overlooked. These cards provide fast and massive amounts of card advantage throughout the game.

Finally, GR Dragons was packing the usual [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card] and [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card] along with [card]Draconic Roar[/card], [card]Rattleclaw Mystic[/card], and [card]Haven of the Spirit Dragon[/card].

All in all, not an exciting Top 8 it but it does provide us with some data about how Origins continues to shape up the format leading into Battle for Zendikar. Keep tuning in for more weekend updates.

Last weekend brought us Grand Prix San Diego and Star City Games: Washington which featured Legacy as the main event, with some Standard and Modern on the side. Let’s take a look at the results.

Grand Prix San Diego

Format – Standard

Decklists

Magic Origins innovations are abound again! First place this time went to UR Tutelage, a deck based around the uncommon [card]Sphinx’s Tutelage[/card] and the overwhelming mill that the enchantment can generate once the deck’s engine get’s going. The deck only played four creatures in the form of [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] because at it’s heart it is a control deck similar to the Bant Tutelage fog deck that was featured on camera a few weeks back when Origins first hit the tournament scene. This deck seems to be the refined version, which plays strictly blue and red in order to maximize on removal while being able to continue drawing cards with [card]Tormenting Voice[/card] and [card]Magmatic Insight[/card]. The deck also featured [card]Whelming Wave[/card] and [card]Send to Sleep[/card], along with a single copy of [card]Alhammarret’s Archive[/card] to keep the the card draw engine going. In the sideboard, Fiery Impulse seems good as a pseudo-[card]Lightning Bolt[/card] that can take care of pesky fast creatures if you’re playing against decks like Mono-Red Burn. All in all, I’m sure this deck is pretty miserable to play against but sure seems fun to pilot!

Second place went to Abzan Constellation, an archetype that gets one final [card]Swan Song[/card] before it leaves Standard forever in the fall. [card]Herald of the Pantheon[/card] and [card]Starfield of Nyx[/card] have really pushed this deck’s power up a ton until the fall rotation. Again, we see cards like [card]Eidolon of Blossoms[/card] coming back in order to get the most out of all the enchantments that you need to run along with [card]Doomwake Giant[/card] for board control. This deck seems like great fun to pilot, even though we’re only getting most of the pieces for a few months.

Rounding out the Top 8 were Abzan Midrange, Esper Dragons, Abzan Aggro, Black-Red Dragons, GW Megamorph, and Jeskai Tempo. Key cards from Origins that we’re seeing in these archetypes are:

• [card]Nissa, Vastwood Seer[/card] and [card]Languish[/card] in Abzan Midrange
• [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] in Esper Dragons
• [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] in Black-Red Dragons
• [card]Nissa, Vastwood Seer[/card] in GW Megamorph (along with four [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] and two [card]Evolutionary Leap[/card] in the sideboard)
• [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] in Jeskai Tempo (which has also made [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card] see more play these days due to the card advantage it offers with Jace and other creatures in the deck)

All in all, I’m really liking the direction that Standard is going! There are both old and new decks aplenty out there, and players have a wide variety of options that they can choose from when deciding which Standard deck they might select for an event. I’m sure that the “top dogs” will make themselves known over the course of the next few months however for now it seems that the possibilities for Standard are endless.

Star City Games Open: Legacy (Washington)

Decklists

Legacy is still going strong, with SCG still supporting the format with large Legacy opens (even though now they aren’t happening nearly as frequently as before Modern was introduced and hyped up as a format).

Omni-Tell took down the Legacy Open piloted by Josh Pelrine. This deck has continuously been making waves in the format over the past several months, since the combination of [card]Show and Tell[/card] into [card]Omniscience[/card] is unbeatable if allowed to resolve. [card]Dig Through Time[/card] is still seeing extensive play in Legacy in both combo and control decks, so I would continue to expect to see the card since it is super powerful in formats where the graveyard is continuously filled up throughout the game. Also, [card]Cunning Wish[/card] continues to see play in this deck in order to quickly grab any instant from the toolbox sideboard in order to deal with threats both on (and off) the board.

Second went to Jeskai Stoneblade, a prominent deck in the format that has many proven top finishes since the deck is able to control the game so well through both [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card] and [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]. Again, we see [card]Dig Through Time[/card] since it such a powerful card selection spell along with Lingering Souls to create flyers for both an offensive and defensive strategy (depending on the matchup).

Rounding out the Top 8 were Grixis Delver, Temur Delver, Storm, Reanimator, Lands, and Death and Taxes. [card]Vryn Wingmare[/card] is now a solid playset in the Legacy Death and Taxes deck, which shows just how good a flying Thalia can be along with all the other tax effects in the archetype. Take note, and realize that Death and Taxes has yet another great card to add to their arsenal!

Rounding out the Top 16 were UWR Miracles, Shardless Sultai, Jeskai Stoneblade, Grixis Control, Death and Taxes, two Infext, and Grixis Delver. [card]Monastery Mentor[/card] is still appearing in sideboards and main decks throughout the Top 16, so that bodes well for its continued use in eternal formats. [card]Baleful Strix[/card] is still used quite a bit among decks, since it provides a nice way to draw cards and stop bigger creatures from attacking. [card]True-Name Nemesis[/card] is still seeing a small amount of play amongst decks but it isn’t being used nearly as much as when [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] was still legal in the format.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Standard (Washington)

Decklists

Looks like [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] has even made its way into Bant Heroic, since it can provide additional bodies to use all of the enchantments and pump spells on if the main creature dies. Certainly a great innovation by Todd Anderson to enable him to win the Standard IQ. UR Thopters took second place, on the back of the Pro Tour where the deck was prominently featured. Many new cards were seen in this deck – [card]Chief of the Foundry[/card], [card]Hangarback Walker[/card], [card]Whirler Rogue[/card], [card]Ghostfire Blade[/card], [card]Ensoul Artifact[/card], [card]Shrapnel Blast[/card], and even four [card]Stubborn Denial[/card] main deck.

Rounding out the Top 8 were two Mono-Red Aggro, Abzan Delve, Abzan Aggro, Abzan Constellation, Abzan Rally. So, lots of Abzan decks that all are slightly different from each other! Mono-Red is doing quite well these days, since the introduction of [card]Abbot of Keral Keep[/card] and [card]Exquisite Firecraft[/card] have been introduced in Magic Origins. However, Abzan Delve is something new. This deck features multiple copies of cards like [card]Hooting Mandrills[/card] and [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] to take advantage of other cards played like [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card], [card]Gather the Pack[/card], and [card]Commune with the Gods[/card]. Definitely an interesting take on the Abzan archetype, which proved to do quite well that weekend in a field full of crazy new brews. Abzan Midrange has adapted [card]Hangarback Walker[/card] into the build, which is unsurprising given how versatile the Walker can be, along with [card]Tragic Arrogance[/card] as a way to control the board after dropping a [card]Siege Rhino[/card] or some other such threat. Abzan Rally, yet another take on the archetype, is similarly pretty crazy – the deck operates completely differently from other Abzan strategies due to the fact that you want value creatures like [card]Shaman of the Pack[/card] in order to generate value from [card]Collected Company[/card] and [card]Rally the Ancestors[/card]. I think that this is a deck that could possibly survive through rotation, as long as a decent replacement for [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card] is included for Battle for Zendikar.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Modern (Washington)

Decklists

Finally, Jonathan Anghelescu took down the Modern portion piloting Naya Zoo, which is still using Collected Company in order to generate card advantage from cheap creatures off the top of the deck. Rounding out the rest of the Top 8 were two Jund, Goryo’s Vengenace, Grixis Delver, G/W Auras, Affinity,  and something called W/B Hate Bears.

W/B Hate Bears is definitely a misnomer – the only strictly “black” card in the deck was two copies of [card]Orzhov Pontiff[/card], a B/W card that used to be played heavily in the old [card]Birthing Pod[/card] decks of yore but was selected for this deck because of his great ability to kill cards like [card]Delver of Secrets[/card] and [card]Young Pyromancer[/card]. Also, [card]Lingering Souls[/card] was in here for value. Other than this, it was basically a Modern version of Death and Taxes, playing cards like [card]Serra Avenger[/card], Thalia, [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card], [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card], and [card]Aether Vial[/card]. Definitely an interesting take on Hate Bears, since the usual builds splash green for cards like [card]Collected Company[/card] and [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card].

The rest of the Top 16 included Grixis Twin, three Affinity, Goryo’s Vengeance, Jund, Mono-White Aggro, and Dredgevine.

Mono-White Aggro is the most unique Modern deck I’ve ever seen. Literally every single card in the deck is a one-drop – check out the list to see for yourself how John Gniadek had playsets of everything from [card]Boros Elite[/card], to [card]Figure of Destiny[/card], to [card]Champion of the Parish[/card]. The deck seems to be built around the newly released [card]Kytheon, Hero of Akros[/card] from Magic Origins since the planeswalker is transformed when you attack with three or more creatures, which this deck aims to always complete by turn three. What a totally crazy brew, and one I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of (as long as [card]Chalice of the Void[/card] stays out of Modern sideboards!!).

Dredgevine is another deck we haven’t seen place in some time. This deck uses the power of [card]Golgari Grave-Troll[/card] and other Dredge enablers in order to make use of “free” casts from the graveyard like [card]Bloodghast[/card] and [card]Vengevine[/card]. Also, cards like [card]Grisly Salvage[/card] and [card]Faithless Looting[/card] keep the engine going. Even [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card] made it into the deck! Looks like Modern is still a viable place for graveyard strategies to do well since [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] and other Delve cards of its ilk continue to be major threats in the format.

That’s all for this week, keep checking back for more weekend Magic updates. As always, thanks for reading.

Magic Origins continues to showcase some of the potential future directions that Standard could take. This weekend Star City Games heads to Richmond to seek out the direction of the new Standard. Let’s take a look at those results, as well as the Modern and Legacy side events that also were reported.

Star City Games Open: Standard (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

Ray Tautic took down the event with a new brew called Abzan Rally. This deck utilizes the power of [card]Rally the Ancestors[/card] in order to generate advantage from Enter the Battlefield effects at instant speed. The deck also utilizes four [card]Liliana, Heretical Healer[/card] which means that she could be a powerful force in the new Standard if a deck like this places well at the Pro Tour. The deck also utilizes [card]Fleshbag Marauder[/card], [card]Grim Haruspex[/card], [card]Merciless Executioner[/card], [card]Mogis’s Marauder[/card], and [card]Nantuko Husk[/card] as additional ways to generate advantage from Rally and also [card]Collected Company[/card].

Rounding out the Top 8 were two Bant Heroic, Abzan Control, Sultai Control, Mono-Red Aggro,G/R Ramp, and Abzan Constellation. [card]Nissa, Vastwood Seer[/card], [card]Languish[/card], [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card], [card]Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh[/card], [card]Exquisite Firecraft[/card], [card]Herald of the Pantheon[/card], and [card]Starfield of Nyx[/card] all saw play in the top tables. That is a tone of Origins cards that is shaking up Standard! I especially like that someone found a way to make [card]Starfield of Nyx[/card] work since it is definitely one of my favorite Origins cards because we haven’t seen anything like it since [card]Opalescence[/card] (without the confusion!). Even Chandra, rated the worst planeswalker by many players, seems to hold her own in Mono-Red since there are plenty of ways to quickly flip her for profit.

Rounding out the Top 16 were two Abzan Control, U/B Control, Jeskai Heroic, two Jeskai Aggro, G/R Devotion, and Mardu Dragons. [card]Hangarback Walker[/card], [card]Thopter Spy Network[/card], [card]Artificer’s Epiphany[/card], [card]Clash of Wills[/card], and [card]Harbinger of the Tides[/card] are additional Origins cards seen throughout the Top 16. There was also a hearty helping of [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card] being seen in many of the Jeskai decks, since it interacts so favorably with [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] in addition to being a somewhat decent command. I think we’ve found a home for [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card], at least for the time being. Things continue to be shaken up in Standard, and I like the direction it is going! Wizards is certainly turning up the dial on the number of Standard playables in newly released sets and Magic Origins continues to surprise us as the weeks go on.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Modern (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

Mono-Blue Tron made the Top 8 of the Modern IQ. This deck differs from the R/G version by playing spells such as [card]Treasure Mage[/card] (with a package of [card]Platinum Angel[/card] and [card]Sundering Titan[/card]), [card]Condescend[/card], [card]Repeal[/card], [card]Chalice of the Void[/card], [card]Talisman of Dominance[/card], [card]Mana Leak[/card], [card]Mindslaver[/card], and [card]Thirst for Knowledge[/card] in order to control the game and eventually tutor for a win. The sideboard is also interesting since it includes cards such as [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card] and [card]Aetherspouts[/card].

Burn is the story of the Top 16, with four players making it in with one of the quickest decks in Modern. [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card], [card]Goblin Guide[/card], [card]Boros Charm[/card], and of course [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] are all main staples of the deck along with tons of other direct damage to finish off the opponent as quickly as possible by taking advantage of all the fetches and shocklands in the format.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Legacy (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

[card]Monastery Mentor[/card] continues to make appearances in eternal formats, with two copies being seen in Reynolds Esper Control list. Lands also continues to be seen at the top tables, packing cards such as [card]Mox Diamond[/card], [card]Exploration[/card], [card]Gamble[/card], and [card]Thespian’s Stage[/card] / [card]Dark Depths[/card].

Even [card]Day’s Undoing[/card] is seeing play in Legacy, with one copy seen in Omni-Tell. Other interesting cards were [card]Thunderous Wrath[/card] in Grixis Delver and [card]Krenko, Mob Boss[/card] in Goblins.

That’s all for this week. Keep checking back for more weekend updates!

Last weekend brought us Grand Prix: Singapore, Grand Prix: Buenos Aires, and the Star City Games Open: Baltimore. Singapore featured Modern as the format, while Buenos Aires and Baltimore gave us the usual dose of Standard action. Let’s take a look at the results.

Grand Prix: Singapore

Format – Modern

Decklists

Masaaki took down Singapore piloting Affinity, which he also had to beat in a mirror match finals. Key parts of the affinity deck include the usual suspects [card]Arcbound Ravager[/card], [card]Etched Champion[/card], [card]Steel Overseer[/card], and [card]Memnite[/card], however Masaaki opted to play two [card]Spellskite[/card]s in the main deck in order to help combat the onslaught of targeted removal and Splinter Twin lists that are running rampant in Modern. Definitely expect to see Affinity after these results!

Rouding out the Top 8 were two Jund, Abzan Midrange, Temur Twin, 4-Color Company, and Temur Delver.

Jund is also still a force to be reckoned with. Duke opted to play more planeswalkers main deck by including a full playset of [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card] and one [card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card]. Kawasaki included cards like [card]Night of Souls Betrayal[/card] and [card]Damnation[/card] in the sideboard in order to better combat creature based strategies, which Jund is fairly good against already but can make themselves even more devastating games two and three by using those cards.

4-Color Company is reminiscent of the Birthing Pod lists of yore, featuring [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card], [card]Fauna Shaman[/card] (as a [card]Birthing Pod[/card] replacement), [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], and a scattering of one-of’s like [card]Restoration Angel[/card] and [card]Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker[/card] for grabbing with [card]Chord of Calling[/card] and [card]Collected Company[/card]. All in all, it’s a pretty interesting deck that plays similarly to the old Birthing Pod lists yet operates totally differently due to the addition of [card]Fauna Shaman[/card] to the deck.

[card]Sigarda, Host of Herons[/card] and [card]Abzan Charm[/card] are interesting additions to the Abzan strategy. By giving the deck more reach and versatility main deck, it allowed Wee to overcome some weaknesses that usually aren’t addressed until post-board against certain matchups.

Grand Prix: Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Format – Standard

Decklists

Pascal Maynard, not one to shy away from the limelight through events like the #GoyfGate incident, it appears that without crazy limited opportunities to make him stumble that he just goes ahead and wins the whole event. Nice!

Maynard was on Abzan Megamorph Control, the Standard brew that focuses on [card]Elspeth, Sun’s Champion[/card] along with [card]Den Protector[/card] and [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card] in order to keep the megamorphing continuing throughout the tournament. We’ve seen this type of build before – there hasn’t been much innovation for this particular GP with the deck.

R/G Devotion took second place, which isn’t surprising seeing as it has been dominating Standard tables for the past few weeks. De Jesus’ build included key cards [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card], [card]Whisperwood Elemental[/card], [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card], and [card]Rattleclaw Mystic[/card]. [card]Genesis Hydra[/card] is also a nice mana sink when you generate massive amounts of mana off of [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card].

Rounding out the Top 8 were two Mardu Dragons, Esper Dragons, two Abzan Aggro, and Abzan Control.  Nothing new in the way of Standard here.

Mardu Dragons is going heavy on the [card]Soulfire Grand Master[/card]s these days and Ancelmo was even playing two [card]Hidden Dragonslayer[/card] and three [card]Hordeling Outburst[/card] main deck. Both Mardu strategies were a packing a full playset of [card]Crackling Doom[/card] and [card]Draconic Roar[/card].

Star City Games Open: Standard (Baltimore, MD, USA)

Decklists

Boswell took down the Standard portion of the SCG Open in Baltimore piloting Abzan Aggro. Key features of Boswell’s aggro version of Abzan are [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card], [card]Rakshasa Deathdealer[/card], [card]Siege Rhino[/card], [card]Warden of the First Tree[/card], [card]Anafenza, the Foremost[/card], [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card], and [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card].

Second place went to Chirst Andersen, piloting G/R Devotion. I’ve covered this deck already so we’ll move on the rest of the Top 8. These included Bant Megamorph, Jeskia Aggro, G/R Megamorph, Mono-Red Goblin, Mono-Red Devotion, and G/R Devotion.

Bant Megamorph features [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card] alongside [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card] and [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card]. [card]Disdainful Stroke[/card] is also included, and [card]Ajani Steadfast[/card] helps to create endgame. [card]Mastery of the Unseen[/card] is relegated to the sideboard to help more against control strategies.

Jeskai Aggro features [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card], [card]Mantis Rider[/card], [card]Soulfire Grand Master[/card], [card]Stratus Dancer[/card], and [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card] along with [card]Dig Through Time[/card], [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card], and gold old [card]Stoke the Flames[/card]. This makes me wonder if [card]Ojutai’s Command[/card] will be a real card in the fall, when it becomes a four ability blue command that is Standard legal and only costs four mana.

Speaking of which, the reveal of [card]Goblin Piledriver[/card] has got to have made Bobby Birmingham very happy. I mean, he just Top 8’ed an SCG Open playing Goblins in Standard without Piledriver! Imagine this deck’s burst once it becomes a factor. Already, [card]Foundry Street Denizen[/card], [card]Frenzied Goblin[/card], [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card], [card]Obelisk of Urd[/card], [card]Dragon Fodder[/card], and [card]Hordeling Outburst[/card] are an awesome start to the deck.

Also, Mono-Red Devotion is a deck we haven’t seen do well in a while. Here, we have [card]Dragon Whisperer[/card],, [card]Fanatic of Mogis[/card], [card]Flamewake Phoenix[/card], and [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card] along with [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card] to generate absurd amounts of mana and [card]Crater’s Claws[/card] as a nice finisher for the deck.

Rounding out the Top 16 were Atarka Red, Abzan Megamorph, G/R Dragons, two Mardu Dragons, Mono-Black Aggro, Abzan Aggro, and Jeskai Aggro. Of these, Mono-Black Aggro differentiates itself from the rest of the pack. Key cards to this build include [card]Blood-Chin Rager[/card], [card]Bloodsoaked Champion[/card], [card]Mardu Shadowspear[/card], [card]Mardu Strike Leader[/card], [card]Mogis’s Marauder[/card], and [card]Pain Seer[/card]. [card]Sign in Blood[/card] also helps the deck keep drawing cards and playing more dudes. All in all, this is a solid aggro deck that has proven that it can do well at a large event.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Modern (Baltimore, MD, USA)

Decklists

Looking to Modern, we see that Naya Company has taken down the Modern IQ piloted by Steven Borakove. Key cards in this Collected Company build include [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card], [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card], [card]Noble Hierarch[/card], and [card]Wild Nacatl[/card].

The runner up was Grixis Twin, which is a Modern standby at this point and has been covered extensively over the past few weeks. Rounding out the rest of the Top 8 included Jund, two Infect, R/W Burn, Grixis Delver, and U/R Twin. Nothing new or noteworthy to report from the rest of the Top 8.

In the Top 16, the only deck that stood out was Jeskai Twin, which really only splashed white for three [card]Path to Exile[/card] main deck and white sideboard options [card]Leyline of Sanctity[/card], [card]Rest in Peace[/card], [card]Celestial Purge[/card], [card]Wear / Tear[/card], and [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card].

Star City Games Premier IQ: Legacy (Baltimore, MD, USA)

Decklists

At the Legacy IQ, Bob Marshall took down the event piloting Sultai Delver. The rest of the Top 8 included Death and Taxes, Dredge, 4-Color Delver, three Miracles, and Grixis Delver.

Death and Taxes was packing three main deck [card]Magus of the Moon[/card], which is pretty unexpected and I’m sure surprised plenty of people when it was dropped off an [card]Aether Vial[/card]. It also featured two [card]Imperial Recruiter[/card], which not only helped get [card]Magus of the Moon[/card] in opportune moments but can also fetch up any particular piece of hate that the D&T player needed at that time. Splashing red also allowed the deck to play three [card]Sudden Demise[/card] in the sideboard as a great removal option against non-white creature based strategies.

The Top 16 included two Lands, Miracles, Jeskai Stoneblade, Show and Tell, U/R Delver, Infect, and Temur Delver. Nothing new to report here.

That’s it for last weekend’s coverage! As always, thanks for reading.

The major events of last weekend included Grand Prix: Providence, Grand Prix: Copenhagen, and Star City Games: Indianapolis. GP Providence and  SCG Indianapolis focused on Standard while GP Copenhagen was Modern. Of course, SCG Indianapolis also had Modern in addition to Legacy results. Let’s dive in and see what happened.

Grand Prix: Providence (USA)

Decklists

Format – Standard

R/G Devotion took down the field at Providence piloted by Sky Mason. R/G seems to be the top deck these days, with it also putting two more people into the Top 8 as well. Key cards in this strategy included [card]Genesis Hydra[/card], [card]Hornet Queen[/card], [card]Whisperwood Elemental[/card], and [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card]. Pretty much just ramp out into a win condition and take it down from there. Green decks are very solid in Standard these days so expect to see them until the format is shaken up a bit more.

Rounding out the Top 8 were an interesting smattering of decks, two of which were based on four or more colors. Four-Color Whip was playing green as the main color but splashing for cards like [card]Torrent Elemental[/card] and [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card]. You need three colors to play [card]Sidisi, Brood Tyrant already so splashing one more color in this Standard environment doesn’t seem like a big deal especially in lieu of the Five-Color Dragons deck appearing.

Yes, the Five-Color Dragons deck is based around mostly green and black spells however every color of dragon is included in the deck, as it packs two [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card], two [card]Dragonlord Dromoka[/card], three [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card], and one [card]Dragonlord Silumgar[/card]. Using green’s color fixing [card]Sylvan Caryatid[/card] and [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card], you can easily find the colors you need to cast these dragon lords. Also, the deck packs four [card]Haven of the Spirit Dragon[/card] for fixing and to get dragons in the graveyard back to the hand. Talk about maximizing potential! The deck is definitely an interesting way to make use of all the new dragon lords.

Grand Prix: Copenhagen (Denmark)

Decklists

Format – Modern

Looking at Copenhagen, Merfolk took down the Modern GP. Key components of the deck included [card]Mutavault[/card], [card]Aether Vial[/card], [card]Master of the Pearl Trident[/card] / [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card], and [card]Master of Waves[/card]. Protection from red in field full of Burn and Grixis seems support important, and [card]Master of Waves[/card] provides that alongside of a team of creatures that it summons upon entering the battlefield. [card]Hibernation[/card] seems like a great sideboard choice as it can completely wreck green decks out of nowhere.

The runner up Hatto was playing Scapeshift, which isn’t unexpected but seemed poorly positioned in a field fuller of faster [card]Griselbrand[/card] fueled combo decks. However, I’m sure Hatto was an expert Scapeshift pilot and so was able to do exceptionally well with the deck even on Day 2 of the GP. Key components of Scapeshift include of course [card]Scapeshift[/card], [card]Cryptic Command[/card], [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card], [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card], and [card]Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle[/card].

Rounding out the Top 8 were Jund, Mono White Death & Taxes, another Merfolk, Grixis Control, Grixis Twin, and Grixis Delver – lots of Grixis decks in other words.

Mono White Death & Taxes was interesting deck choice. It include cards such as [card]Dryad Militant[/card], [card]Thalia, Guardian of Thraben[/card], [card]Leonin Arbiter[/card], [card]Serra Avenger[/card], [card]Flickerwisp[/card], [card]Blade Splicer[/card], as well as two main decked [card]Spellskite[/card]s and four [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] and three [card]Tectonic Edge[/card]. Quite a punishing deck for the unprepared!

Star City Games Open: Standard (Indianapolis, IN, USA)

Decklists

In Indianapolis, R/G also ruled the day in the form of G/R Dragons piloted by Eric Rill. Key components of the strategy included [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card], [card]Rattleclaw Mystic[/card], [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card], and [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card]. Planeswalkers were left out of the main deck and relegated to the sideboard, but they did include one [card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card], two [card]Nissa, Worldwaker[/card], and two [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card].

Mardu Dragons was the runner up, which featured [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card], [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card], and [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card] as the main creatures. Similar to the G/R dragons deck, Stormbreath and Thunderbreak seem to be the best red dragons to include in Standard decks. With Mardu, you also get [card]Crackling Doom[/card] and access to [card]Foul-Tongue Invocation[/card] and [card]Thoughtseize[/card] which is nice.

Rounding out the rest of the Top 8 were Abzan Midrange, G/B Dragons, Bant Heroic, another G/R Devotion, G/W Devotion, and another Mardu Dragons deck.

G/B Dragons seems like it is something new and exciting however the name is kind of misnomer. It’s the same Five-Color Dragons as talked about before from GP Providence.

Looking at the Top 16 we have two more G/R Devotion, two more Mardu Dragons, Temur Dragons, R/G Aggro, Esper Dragons, and Abzan Megamorph. Temur Dragons made good use of [card]Savage Knuckleblade[/card] alongside [card]Stubborn Denial[/card]. It’s also nice to see Esper Dragons still in the picture without being too dominating.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Modern (Indianapolis, IN, USA)

Decklists

Looking at Modern, we see that Grixis Delver took down the IQ. [card]Gurmag Angler[/card] seems to be the Delve creature of choice along with [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card] in the U/R decks that can quickly amass a ton of cheap instants and sorceries in their graveyard. [card]Shadow of Doubt[/card] is also a nice trick to include these days as it can hose a wide variety of strategies such as Tron and Scapeshift, and can even blank a fetchland in a pinch.

Jund was the runner up and was packing [card]Dark Confidant[/card] and [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] as always, but no [card]Olivia Voldaren[/card]. Two [card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card] were present across the main deck and sideboard, and Blankespoor even opted to play two [card]Fulminator Mage[/card] main deck in order to have a better matchup against Tron and other nonbasic land strategies.

Rounding out the Top 8 were Scapeshift, Grixis Control, another Jund, Zoo, Bant Hexproof (aka Bogles), and Affinity. I think it was interesting that Grixis Control played four [card]Cryptic Command[/card]s. Zoo is now packing [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] along with [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card], [card]Siege Rhino[/card], [card]Ghor-Clan Rampager[/card], and [card]Tribal Flames[/card] in order to maximize the total amount of damage.

Rounding out the Top 16 were U/R Twin, two more Grixis Control, Burn,Grixis Twin, Temur Delver, another Zoo, and Infect. Temur Delver is still packing [card]Hooting Mandrills[/card] and [card]Disrupting Shoal[/card] main deck, and makes good use of [card]Mana Leak[/card] and [card]Stubborn Denial[/card] to help control the game – even [card]Tarfire[/card] was seen as a two-of in the main deck to help [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] out! The second Zoo list was very different than the Top 8 list. Madlem elected to go with the [card]Burning-Tree Emissary[/card], [card]Kird Ape[/card], [card]Loam Lion[/card], and [card]Wild Nacatl[/card] plan and not play any spells costing more than two mana in the main deck – in the sideboard, [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] seems interesting as a way to help counter spell damage removal as well as provide your own removal spell with a creature in play.

Star City Games Premier IQ: Legacy (Indianapolis, IN, USA)

Decklists

Burn took down the Legacy portion of Indianapolis piloted by Adam Minniear. A force to still be reckoned with in Legacy, Burn can still quite well in Legacy thanks to the printing of [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card]. [card]Sulfuric Vortex[/card] and [card]Price of Progress[/card] are components that Legacy Burn players love to sling since they can amass tons of damage over a few turns very quickly.

Death and Taxes was the runner up deck and featured [card]Phyrexian Revoker[/card], [card]Mother of Runes[/card], [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card], and [card]Thalia, Guardian of Thraben[/card]. D&T is also still one of the top Legacy contenders.

Rounding out the Top 8 were Ad Nauseam, Temur Delver, Manaless Dredge, Omni-Tell, U/W Control, and Jund (which is also similar to the archetype Nic Fit). Key cards from Manaless Dredge include [card]Bloodghast[/card], [card]Phantasmagorian[/card], and [card]River Kelpie[/card] which distinguish it specifically from regular Dredge builds. Jund / Nic Fit key components include [card]Veteran Explorer[/card] to ramp up into cards such as [card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card], [card]Primeval Titan[/card], and [card]Thragtusk[/card] – also, cards like [card]Sensei’s Divining Top[/card], [card]Pernicious Deed[/card], and [card]Grove of the Burnwillows[/card] / [card]Punishing Fire[/card] synergy work well at controlling the board until you drop a huge dude.

Rounding out the Top 16 were another Omni-Tell, Elves, two Temur Delver, another Ad Nauseam, U/W Stoneblade, Infect, and Sultai Delver. All of these decks have had extensive Legacy coverage previously so no new updates here.

That’s it for this week! As always, thanks for reading.

This past weekend brought us Star City Games: Cleveland. The main event was Standard, with of course a side of Modern and Legacy. Let’s take a look at the results and see what happened.

Star City Games Open – Standard (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

Ross Merriam took down the Standard portion piloting Bant Heroic. Key players in this deck are [card]Favored Hoplite[/card], [card]Hero of Iroas[/card], [card]Seeker of the Way[/card], and [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] to bring home the versatility. I’m sure that [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] contributed a great deal to Merriam’s success and is definitely a card to watch out for the in future, in Bant Heroic and other decks. Other notable cards in the list are two [card]Monastery Mentor[/card] main deck and three [card]Encase in Ice[/card] out of the sideboard. In this deck we see some interesting innovations in the typical Heroic list that enabled it to come out top dog of the weekend.

The runner up was G/R Dragons, another deck we’ve seen cement itself in the metagame since Dragons of Tarkir was released. This deck was playing [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card] and [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card] as the main dragons, with [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card] backup in case the game goes long. [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card] continues to show up in these lists in order to help generate massive amounts of mana in order to cast the heavier dragons like Atarka or even monstrifying a [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card] for massive amounts of damage.

Rounding out the Top 8, decks of note include two Abzan Aggro decks and Bant Midrange. Boggemes’ list resembled past lists by featuring solid choices like [card]Abzan Charm[/card] and [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card]. Bowman’s list featured a playset of [card]Collected Company[/card] and main decked two [card]Grim Haruspex[/card] as a way to generate card advantage through a “surprise” [card]Collected Company[/card] during the combat phase. Another interesting choice was a full playset of [card]Herald of Torment[/card] and [card]Warden of the First Tree[/card], again to get the most out of those CC plays. Certainly an interesting list that could pick up more steam over time as more creatures that cost three mana or less are added to the Standard card pool. Finally, Bant Midrange features the best of the Heroic and G/W Midrange decks by playing [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card] along with beatstick [card]Surrak, the Hunt Caller[/card], [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card], and [card]Mastery of the Unseen[/card]. All in all just a solid deck choice that has pretty decent matchups against most of the field (though not quite at the level of Esper Dragons).

Rouding out the Top 16, decks of note include Mardu Midrange and Abzan Megamorph. Notable cards in Mardu Midrange are [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card], [card]Outpost Siege[/card], [card]Crackling Doom[/card], and [card]Mardu Charm[/card]. Notable cards in Abzan Megamorph are [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], [card]Den Protector[/card], [card]Abzan Charm[/card], and [card]Mastery of the Unseen[/card] out of the sideboard.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Modern (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

Moving on to Modern, Sultai Control took down the Premier IQ piloted by Matthew Tickal. Similar to the list first introducted by Gerrard Fabiano, again we see [card]Thragtusk[/card], [card]Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver[/card], and [card]Jace, Architect of Thought[/card] battling alongside of [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], and other notable Modern staples. Second place went to Amulet Bloom, a deck that was featured at the Pro Tour and is widely known in Modern at this point. McCoury’s deck featured [card]Grave Titan[/card] as another way to win in addition to [card]Primeval Titan[/card] and the [card]Hive Mind[/card] / Pact combo.

Looking at the rest of the Top 8, G/W Trap seems to be a new brew featuring cards such as [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card], [card]Lotus Cobra[/card], [card]Nest Invader[/card], [card]Primeval Titan[/card], and [card]Emrakul, the Aeons Torn[/card] along with [card]Summoning Trap[/card] and [card]Mosswort Bridge[/card] in order to cheat an Emrakul into play without paying the mana cost. We also see a black splash for [card]Lingering Souls[/card] in the main deck, to help delay the game until Emrakul can come online or to help finish a game that seems stalled. Certainly an interesting build – I’m not sure how good it is on a large scale however it is certainly something to keep an eye on moving forward. The Affinity decks also featured some tech in the form of [card]Temur Battle Rage[/card] and and [card]Ghostfire Blade[/card].

Looking at the rest of the Top 16, Abzan Collected Company continues to showcase its strength and even Jund and Storm showed up to make the Top 16 in Cleveland. Nothing really new or innovative here.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Legacy (Cleveland, OH, USA)

Decklists

With results from GP Kyoto in, it looks like it has changed the face of Legacy. Again we see Miracles and Omni-Tell in the Top 8 however Grixis Control piloted by Jason Smith took down the event. Notable cards here include [card]Baleful Strix[/card], [card]Young Pyromancer[/card], [card]Dack Fayden[/card], and four copies of [card]Dig Through Time[/card].

Moving on to Miracles, key components of the deck include the [card]Counterbalance[/card] / [card]Sensei’s Diving Top[/card] package, [card]Terminus[/card], [card]Entreat the Angels[/card], [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], and [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card]. Nothing innovate going on with Top 8 Miracles lists.

Omni-Tell shows up again, featuring a playset of [card]Omniscience[/card] and [card]Cunning Wish[/card]. Metalworker is playing two [card]Ugin, the Spirit Dragon[/card] these days which is cool. I’m surprised that it makes the cut over [card]Karn Liberated[/card] but it appears that a one-sided [card]Pernicious Deed[/card] with exile is superior [card]Vindicate[/card] with exile.

Rounding out the Top 16, Tezzerator makes an appearance in 11th place and Merfolk makes an appearance in 16th place. Notable cards from Tezzerator include [card]Baleful Strix[/card], [card]Dack Fayden[/card], [card]Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas[/card], [card]Chalice of the Void[/card], [card]Mox Diamond[/card], [card]Sword of the Meek[/card] / [card]Thopter Foundry[/card], and [card]Transmute Artifact[/card]. Notable cards from Merfolk include [card]True-Name Nemesis[/card], [card]Phantasmal Image[/card], a single [card]Mishra’s Factory[/card], a single [card]Thassa, God of the Sea[/card], and [card]Vapor Snag[/card].

That’s all from Cleveland! See you next time.

Last weekend Star City Games brought us two major events: the Invitational and SCG Richmond. The Invitational featured Standard and Legacy action while Richmond featured Standard as the main event with a side of Modern and Legacy. Let’s take a look and see how Dragons of Tarkir has shaken up the format.

Star City Games Invitational (Richmond, USA)

Format – Standard, Legacy

Standard Top 8  Decklists

Legacy Top 8 Decklists

Standard Results

Jacob Wilson’s Standard deck featured two [card]Sidisi, Undead Vizier[/card] main deck. This new Sidisi seems pretty good in a control build. In Abzan, she can exploit Elspeth tokens and [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card]s in order to find the particular card that the deck’s pilot needs at that moment. Also being a 4/6 with deathtouch means that she is really hard to deal with. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of Sidisi in Standard over the next few months, along with the all the action she is sure to see at the Commander tables.

Reid Duke’s Standard deck also featured two undead versions of Sidisi along with a single copy of [card]Dragonlord Silumgar[/card] in the main deck. [card]Sidisi, Brood Tyrant[/card] was one of the deck’s main card advantage engines and was a key component to Reid’s Standard success that weekend. Some other interesting cards from the deck included one [card]Torrent Elemental[/card] and one [card]Silumgar, the Drifting Death[/card].

Rounding out the rest of the Standard decks, some cards to to prepare to play against in future tournaments include:

• [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card], which appeared in Abzan Aggro and G/W Devotion. This was the only command from Dragons of Tarkir to appear in the Top 8 decks.
• [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card], which of course slotted nicely as a full playset into the G/W Devotion deck based around Mastery of the Unseen
• [card]Zurgo Bellstriker[/card], which was featured a playset in Mono-Red Aggro despite being legendary.
  • [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card] also made a Standard appearance in this deck as a playset.
  • I also didn’t think [card]Lightning Striker[/card] would get played, but the Dash ability on the creature can’t be underestimated. I’m sure there were plenty of random blowouts that happened when Berserker came down and stomped face.
• [card]Anticipate[/card] saw play in Jeskai Tokens, to help the deck find [card]Jeskai Ascendancy[/card] faster
• [card]ThunderBreak Regent[/card] and [card]Surrak, the Hunt Caller[/card] slotted nicely into R/G Aggro. [card]Crater’s Claws[/card] is still being played as a playset in this deck, and the two copies of [card]Draconic Roar[/card] can do a ton of work if you’re still holding dragons in your hand as you cast it.

Legacy Results

Dragons of Tarkir didn’t quite have the impact it made on Standard. In fact, there weren’t any cards from Dragons in the Legacy results. [card]Dig Through Time[/card] is now seeing plenty of play without [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] in the format anymore.

Temur Delve and Miracles are run-of-the-mill decks at this point, and Wilson’s and Duke’s lists aren’t innovative in any way. [card]Dig Through Time[/card] is now a three-of in Miracles in order to help sift through the deck faster to get the lockdown pieces.

Moving onto Lands, it is a unique deck but doesn’t have much in the way of innovation either. Some of the key cards to the deck include the [card]Thespian’s Stage[/card] / [card]Dark Depths[/card] combo and the [card]Grove the Burnwillows[/card] / [card]Punishing Fire[/card] synergy in order to control the board while you’re setting up the more deadly finisher.

Esper Thopter Foundry is a deck that has been seen before but hasn’t put up results in a while. Now that the format has slowed down a bit more after the post Cruise banning, more decks that can really take advantage of the card selection [card]Dig Through Time[/card] offers are popping up. This deck features a full playset of [card]Dig Through Time[/card] and plays enablers like [card]Mental Note[/card] and [card]Thought Scour[/card] to help cast the Dig’s quicker. At it’s heart, this deck is a control deck and wins by using the [card]Sword of the Meek[/card] / [card]Thopter Foundry[/card] combo to generate tons of 1/1 flyers and gain enough life survive until they can kill you. Certainly an interesting deck that harkens back to the old [card]Vampire Hexmage[/card] / [card]Dark Depths[/card] / [card]Thopter Foundry[/card] / [card]Sword of the Meek[/card] / [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] extended deck.

The rest of the Legacy Top 8 doesn’t offer us anything new to the format. We still see [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card] making an appearance here and there in order to generate card advantage but nothing else of note.

Star City Games Open – Standard (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

The Standard Open at Richmond continues to offer us insight into the new format. I’ve crunched the numbers from the Top 16 to see which cards, by rarity, are seeing the most play (at least at this event).

As you can see, there are numerous cards that have taken up homes in Standard decks at this event. [card]Deathmist Raptor[/card] and [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card] were the only mythics to be seen at the Top 16 in the main decks, while [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card] and [card]Ojutai’s Exemplars[/card] were mythics that were played in sideboards.

Looking at the rares, the most played new rares from the set include [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card], [card]Surrak, the Hunt Caller[/card], [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card], and [card]Atarka’s Command[/card]. [card]Zurgo Bellstriker[/card] was seen in mono-red decks, and [card]Den Protector[/card] and [card]Secure the Wastes[/card] had brief appearances. Someone tried to make [card]Collected Company[/card] work marginally by including two copies in a deck but there was no breakout Collected Company deck totally centered around the card.

Roast was the breakout uncommon of the set, with sixteen copies appearing across main decks and sideboards. [card]Anticipate[/card] and [card]Dragon Fodder[/card] were the breakout commons, as was probably expected since they are both efficient cards for their mana cost.

All in all, there were definitely some shakeups but nothing too crazy. No new archetypes were formed. However, existing ones got a few boosts from the new cards.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Modern (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

Things seem have to shaken up in Modern, at least in Richmond. Outside of the finalists, the decks are ones that usually don’t see Top 8 appearances.

U/W Tron is one that seems to breaking out recently. Notable cards from the deck include one [card]Ugin, the Spirit Dragon[/card], four [card]Azorius Signet[/card], four [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card], and four [card]Thirst for Knowledge[/card]. This deck is interesting in that you can win with [card]Celestial Colonnade[/card] but also have a Gifts package to get whatever is needed at the moment. My suspicion is that this is a deck that you need to be intimately familiar with in order to pilot to success – there are several lines of play that this deck can go down, and knowing all of them takes a lot of practice. It’s good to see control being better in Modern, where just a month ago it seems that aggro, midrange, and combo were the only decks.

Speaking of which, another two control decks were in the Top 8. Grixis Control featured three [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card], two [card]Go for the Throat[/card], and a package of other counterspells and burn in order to control the game until you get a [card]Blood Moon[/card] or [card]Vedalken Shackles[/card] online. Jeskai Control featured [card]Gideon Jura[/card] as a wind condition along with [card]Anticipate[/card] from Dragons of Tarkir, a single [card]Logic Knot[/card], and splashing black for [card]Lingering Souls[/card] / [card]Mystical Teachings[/card] flashback.

Also, two Merfolk lists made the Top 8! Notables from Merfolk included [card]Master of Waves[/card], [card]Tidebinder Mage[/card], [card]Mutavault[/card], [card]Aether Vial[/card], and [card]Monastery Siege[/card] from Fate Reforged. Looks like Merfolk has really made ahem a splash in Modern now and we’ll be seeing it for some time to come since it is a pretty easy to pilot aggro/tempo deck.

Finally, [card]Collected Company[/card] made a nice debut in Modern Zoo, with the 8th place deck playing a full twenty-seven creatures and three [card]Collected Company[/card] to back them up. [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card] is back in business folks and it’s pretty sick to rip that and, say, [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] off the top of your deck at instant speed. [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card] is a cute addition too, as it allows you to completely blow someone out if they’re not expecting it. [card]Bonfire of the Damned[/card] out of the sideboard is an interesting choice, I guess it helps against token strategies?

Rounding out the rest of the Top 16 were some run of the mill decks like Jund, Twin, and Abzan Midrange. Esper Control was the only outlier here. This deck had a full playset of [card]Monastery Mentor[/card], along with [card]Murderous Cut[/card], [card]Slaughter Pact[/card], [card]Thought Scour[/card], and Tasigur in order to help recur spells back. [card]Creeping Tar Pit[/card] is also a nice finisher in the deck. Despite both [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] and [card]Dig Through Time[/card] being banned in Modern, Delve still seems to be a thing.

Star City Games Premier IQ – Legacy (Richmond, USA)

Decklists

Like I’ve mentioned in the Invitational section, Legacy hasn’t been shaken up much from the Dragons of Tarkir release. Elves is playing [card]Ruric Thar, the Unbowed[/card] as a nice finisher against control decks. That’s about all the innovation I see in the lists here. Legacy is still pretty much Legacy, even after Dragons has hit the shelves.

Whew, guess that’s it for this week. Keep checking back weekly for all the action that happened the previous weekend that you may have missed!