This weekend brought us the Invitationals, which includes the 2015 TCGPlayer Invitational (Standard) and the Star City Games Open Series Invitational (Standard and Modern). Let’s see what the best Magic deck pilots are playing these days.

2015 TCGPlayer Invitational (Standard)

Decklists

Chris Fennell took down the even piloting G/R Devotion, the deck that is all about ramping up into giant threats in order to overwhelm the opponent. Key cards in Chris’ list include [card]Whisperwood Elemental[/card], [card]Rattleclaw Mystic[/card], [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card], [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card], and [card]Genesis Hydra[/card].

Paulo Vitor Damo de Rosa was the runner up piloting Esper Dragons. Key cards in this deck include [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card], [card]Dig Through Time[/card], and [card]Silumgar’s Scorn[/card].

Rounding out the Top 8 we have Mono-Red Aggro, GR Devotion, Abzan Midrange, Mardu Dragons, and UB Control. Very diverse for a field full of some of the top players in Magic. The most distinct deck of the Top 8 was Mardu Dragons, which featured [card]Goblin Rabblemaster[/card] alongside [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card], [card]Thunderbreak Regent[/card] and [card]Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury[/card] with spells [card]Crackling Doom[/card] and [card]Draconic Roar[/card].

The Top 16 included decks GR Devotion, Sidsi Whip, Mardu Dragons, Esper Dragons, UW Heroic, and Red Deck wins. Notable decks here are Sidisi Whip and UW Heroic. Key pieces of Sidisi Whip include [card]Sidisi, Brood Tyrant[/card], [card]Whip of Erebos[/card], [card]Satyr Wayfinder[/card], [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card], [card]Doomwake Giant[/card], and [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card]. Key pieces of UW Heroic include [card]Hero of Iroas[/card], [card]Battlewise Hoplite[/card], [card]Temur Battle Rage[/card], and [card]Ordeal of Thassa[/card]. Even though key components of these decks are on the horizon to rotate in the fall, based on these results you should still expect them in the summer months to come!

Star City Games Open Series Invitational – Standard

Decklists

GR Devotion was the story of the SCG Invitational Standard results, with four of the Top 8 players piloting the deck in the Standard portion of the tournament. Naya Dragons was the choice of Ali Aintrazi, the winner of the Invitational. This features of this deck are [card]Hidden Dragonslayer[/card], [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card], [card]Dragonlord Dromoka[/card], and [card]Xenagos, God of Revels[/card]. Looks like the goal of the deck is to ramp up into either [card]Dragonlord Atarka[/card] or [card]Dragonlord Dromoka[/card] and finish the game with with [card]Xenagos, God of Revels[/card]. Of course, the [card]Whisperwood Elemental[/card] backup plan is still relevant along with twelve mana dorks to accelerate victory. [card]Dromoka’s Command[/card] is in the sideboard of this deck, but four copies can come in against decks with lots of removal or direct damage.

Star City Games Open Series Invitational – Modern

Decklists

Looking at the Modern results, Tron put both the finalist Ali Aintrazi and Christopher O’Bryant into the Top 8. Key components of the Tron deck include [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card], [card]Karn Liberated[/card], [card]Ugin, the Spirit Dragon[/card], [card]Expedition Map[/card], [card]Sylvan Scrying[/card], and [card]Oblivion Stone[/card]. The runner up Chris VanMeter along with Tariq Patel were on Amulet Bloom, further cementing the deck’s presence in Modern. Key cards from this deck include [card]Primeval Titan[/card], [card]Amulet of Vigor[/card], [card]Hive Mind[/card], [card]Summoner’s Pact[/card], and [card]Summer Bloom[/card].

Jund is well positioned in Modern these days, which I’m sure helped Josh Ravitz along in snagging third place. Key cards here include [card]Dark Confidant[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], [card]Scavenging Ooze[/card], [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card], and [card]Kolaghan’s Command[/card]. Out of the sideboard, [card]Fulminator Mage[/card] is important as is [card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card] and [card]Kitchen Finks[/card].

Merfolk allowed Richard Adams to snag 4th place. Key cards here are [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card], [card]Master of the Pearl Trident[/card], [card]Master of Waves[/card], [card]Mutavault[/card], [card]Aether Vial[/card], and [card]Spreading Seas[/card]. Out of the sideboard, [card]Unified Will[/card] is an interesting choice – I’m not sure I’ve seen that one before! Seems good though against control and combo decks that are running few to no creatures.

Rounding out the Top 8 are Abzan Company and Grixis Twin. Both of these decks have been doing great in Modern recently. Key cards in Abzan Company include [card]Birds of Paradise[/card], [card]Chord of Calling[/card], and [card]Collected Company[/card] (along with a host of toolbox creatures of course). Key cards in Grixis Twin include [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], [card]Splinter Twin[/card], [card]Kolaghan’s Command[/card], and [card]Tasigur, the Golden Fang[/card].

That’s all for this week! Key coming back for more weekend summaries.