I'm currently sitting in my room watching Tyler Lytle and Matthew Pratser square off in the finals of GP San Antonio, playing slightly updated lists of what I played back at GP Charleston.

Testing for GP Charleston began way back at the North Carolina State Championships. It was one week after Joe Bernal unleashed this at the SCG Standard Open in Cincinnati. Everyone was prepared for the undead menace by that time, and I could tell that Zombies was clearly on everyone's radar. I was consistently having to kamikaze my creatures into all kinds of Centaur Healers and Thragtusks. The worst was when an Angel or even a Cloudshift came swooping in to save whatever creature I attempted to burn out of my way. I ended that day 4-4 and ready to give up on playing Zombies. I began testing various G/W lists that focused solely on come into play triggers using Restoration Angel and as many Blink targets as possible.

Game Theory, my local store in Raleigh, NC, hosted a Grand Prix Trial for Charleston. I wasn't getting anywhere with my G/W testing. I constantly got beaten down by G/W Humans, and the control decks really didn't care about three or four Thragtusk triggers per game. Reanimator was playing the same game I was, maximizing Thragtusk triggers, but they were doing it much better. The only decks I was winning against were aggressive strategies like what I was trying to play with before. Adam Prosak had just shown the world what a Delver-less U/W Flash deck could do to a Thragtusk heavy metagame, and I was drawing a blank on how to attack the format.

I was struggling to find a deck that I liked enough to play in the Trial.

One night, I had an idea. What would a Zombies list look like that splashed to play Hellrider? Hellrider could undo a Thragtusk's damage, and if I was on the play, it might even make Thragtusk irrelevant. I sketched out this list to run at the Trial.

There were a lot of random card choices because I wasn't sure on the correct numbers. I wasn't planning to win the GP Trial but rather wanted to test a theory. Seven rounds of Magic later, I had three byes to Charleston. I learned a lot about the format during this tournament. Most importantly, I learned that the Bant Control and U/W Flash matchups, even with this terribly raw, untested decklist, were amazing!!

My team at Game Theory and I got to work on testing for Charleston. We all wanted to be ready for the format, and I wanted to see how this deck turned out. While testing Todd Anderson's U/W/R Midrange, I began to see just how powerful Thundermaw Hellkite was in the current format. In fact, I was planning to play U/W/R at the GP at first, with four Thundermaw Hellkites. I wondered if the hasty Dragon would fit into my more midrange Zombies deck. He turned out to be an all-star!!

It was during these testing sessions that I learned that Knight of Infamy was the real deal in the current Standard environment. Against G/W, he's an indestructible 2/1 Wall that lets your other guys swing through 2/2s. He swings through a Centaur Healer, negating the three life your opponent just gained. He allows a Gravecrawler to swing through both halves of a Thragtusk. He does so much behind the scenes and was the star of the tournament for me. If Thundermaw Hellkite is your star MVP quarterback, Knight of Infamy plays the role of your offensive line. He'll do all the dirty work and take absolutely no credit for it. Here's the list I settled on for the GP.

Card Choices

Four Hellriders turned out to be overkill and not nearly as effective once the Rakdos Cacklers were cut for Thundermaw Hellkites, so I went down one Hellrider. I decided to go up to three Thundermaw Hellkites to replace the extra Hellrider that was cut.

Sign in Blood, while great against U/W Flash and Bant Control, just wasn't cutting it against Mono-Red and G/W Aggro.

Ultimate Price was a worse copy of Victim of Night. I was continuously looking to remove a Centaur Healer or Loxodon Smiter, and it just wasn't getting the job done. Cards like Olivia Voldaren, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Falkenrath Aristocrat can't be killed with either spell, so I decided to just run the two Victim of Nights instead.

Over the next week, the team at Game Theory threw every gauntlet matchup imaginable at me. Every match proved to be very winnable, and I was even favored against matchups that used to be abysmal. The easiest matchup during testing was Bant Control. The deck doesn't do anything for the first few turns unless it's able to Farseek into a Jace. If you're on the play, then that play isn't really all that effective.

My card choices allowed me to play around everything. Caverns let you dodge countermagic when you have a threat you want to resolve. Knight of Infamy does a great job playing around Azorius Charm in the U/W matchups. Geralf's Messenger, Falkenrath, and Gravecrawler allow you to play right into Supreme Verdict. I put my opponents into situations all weekend long where Supreme Verdict would have done more damage to their life total than to my board state. After turn 3, every top end creature that you play has haste, so you are almost always attacking, and the sorcery speed removal that currently defines Standard isn't very effective.

Round Summary

Rounds 1-3: Bye
Round 4: Will Haas – G/W Aggro (W 2-1)
Round 5: Carlos Romao – B/R Zombies (W 2-0)
Round 6: Brian Eason - Junk Tokens (W 2-1)
Round 7: Jund (W 2-1)
Round 8: Owen Turtenwald - Bant Control (W 2-1)
Round 9: Joe Pace – U/W/R Midrange (W 2-1)
Round 10: Peter Kelly– G/W Aggro (L 2-1)
Round 11: Matthew Keane – B/R Zombies (L 2-1)
Round 12: Shuhei Nakamura - Bant Control (W 2-1)
Round 13: UW Flash (W 2-0)
Round 14: Craig G/W Aggro (W 2-0)
Round 15: Reid Duke - Bant Control (Draw into Top 8)
Quarterfinals: Morgan Chang - Reanimator (W 2-1)
Semifinals: Matthew Keane – B/R Zombies (W 2-1)
Finals: Brian Eason - Junk Tokens (W 2-0)

Round Reports

Round 5: Carlos Romao – B/R Zombies (W 2-0)

In game 2, Carlos was on the play and had a Blood Artist. He was playing the faster version of B/R Aggro without Knights but had twelve one-drops. I had a Falkenrath Aristocrat with a Knight of Infamy. (The Knight stays in as one of the only ways to block in this matchup, and Thundermaw Hellkite is too slow.) I had a Brimstone Volley in hand, with Carlos at nine. I needed to win the match on this turn.

Normally, I would swing and sacrifice the Knight with the exalted trigger on the stack so that the Falkenrath was a 6/3 for the turn. What would happen, however, if Carlos burned the Falkenrath in response? The correct line was to swing with the Falkenrath and keep the Knight to protect it from removal, dropping Carlos to four, then I sacrificed the Knight of Infamy and, with his Blood Artist trigger on the stack, cast Brimstone Volley targeting Carlos. It turned out he did have removal and would have survived the turn if I had not played it correctly.

Round 6: Brian Eason - Junk Tokens (W 2-1)

The Knight and Thundermaw did a lot of work in this matchup. Brian had not seen Bonfire of the Damned in games 1 or 2, so I was able to clean up both halves of two Lingering Souls. Brian was in racing mode against two Knight of Infamy in game 3 and had to overcommit to the board.

Round 8: Owen Turtenwald - Bant Control (W 2-1)

Game 2 was a long, drawn-out affair. Owen played Sphinx's Revelation for five, seven, and nine respectively across about five turns. In between those turns, Thragtusks came down. I had set up an impenetrable force myself with multiple Falkenrath Aristocrats and multiple Gravecrawlers, and this game was going nowhere. Once Owen found his copy of Nephalia Drownyard, I did a quick calculation of his library vs. my library and we were off to game 3.

During this matchup, Owen played very quickly, even during the massively long game 2. He definitely could have taken a slower pace because many of the plays were very complicated. It was definitely a pleasure to play against Owen. He's an amazing player and a great sport. It turns out many of the Pro Tour mainstays have some of the best attitudes that you'll ever run across.

Round 9: Joe Pace – U/W/R Midrange (W 2-1)

Table 1 and table 2 had all the remaining undefeated players (without draws), and three out of four of them were buddies from the same area of Pennsylvania.

I'd never made Day 2 of a GP, so going undefeated on the first day was pretty exciting. Geoff Mullin told me that night that if I won the GP, he wasn't going to have to pay gas money. I know how difficult it is to take down a GP, so I said sarcastically, "Sure, if I win the GP, no one has to pay me gas money."

Starting Day 2, I got up early and began to prepare mentally for the next day. I knew that with just a few wins, I'd be in a great position to make Top 8 since the field was so small. At breakfast, SCG's own Reid Duke was there, and I politely asked to join him. Reid is another professional who's very approachable, and we had a pretty good conversation about how we each did on Day 1. Reid wished me luck, and I was off to day 2. On the way, we noticed Sam Black and Jackie Lee walking to the conference center. It was raining pretty steadily, so I pulled over on the side of the road to offer a lift!

Round 10: Peter Kelly – G/W Aggro (L 2-1)

This match was a text coverage feature match that can be found here. I kept a removal-heavy Swamp, Swamp, Mountain hand in game 3 and proceeded to get run over while not drawing any other lands. In fact, the awkward thing was drawing back to back Geralf's Messengers as the first two draw steps.

The run goods have to end sometime I guess.

Round 11: Matthew Keane – B/R Zombies (L 2-1)

I got to be on the play in game 1 but had to mulligan to four. I still made it close. Matthew got to see Hellrider and my only remaining Thundermaw Hellkite in game 2. "Now you're just not playing the same game as I am anymore. That's just not fair!!"

Game 3 Matthew got to be on the play. He kept a heavy one-drop, low land count hand and crushed me.

Round 12: Shuhei Nakamura - Bant Control (W 2-1)

How do you define pressure? How about down 0-2 to start Day 2 with your Top 8 hopes hanging in the balance and you get paired against arguably the best player in the world. Then you lose game 1 to top it off. At least the matchup was favorable. Video coverage can be found here. In game 3, I was telegraphing that I had a Zealous Conscripts by offering a Jace/Angel pile vs. Glacial Fortress. I did some math while laying out his piles and figured that by the time Shuhei was able to cast either Thragtusk or Angel of Serenity, I would be able to steal it and the match with Zealous Conscripts. If you watch how that match played out, you can really see just how good that matchup is for the Rakdos player.

Round 13: U/W Flash (W 2-0)

Knight of Infamy let me play around Azorius Charm and Restoration Angel. It also let me swing right through all of the Augur of Bolases he could muster.

Round 14: Craig G/W Aggro (W 2-0)

Craig had just ended Ryan Dail's Top 8 hopes in Round 13, and Ryan was playing the same 75 cards that I was. Craig went on to tell me that he was 5-0 vs. B/R opponents on the day. I told him that he was really only 1-0 vs. my list, and we got down to business. Only one of us would be able to draw into Top 8.

He kept very bad hands in both games and proceeded to lose to a Knight of Infamy fueled beatdown.

Round 15: Reid Duke - Bant Control

Reid and I drew into Top 8.

Quarterfinals: Morgan Chang - Reanimator (W 2-1)

I got to be on the play since I went into Top 8 as the 3rd seed. I curved out relatively well in both games 1 and 3 and am now off to Montreal.

Semifinals—Matthew Keane—BR Zombies (W 2-1)

I was super excited to see that Matt in the quarters. The best banter of the tournament happened during my two matches against Matt. By far, the most fun I had playing Magic was during these two matches. He got to be on the play during game 1 but had a Rakdos Guildgate, Dragonskull Summit hand. I stole the play and game 1 by shocking myself with Blood Crypt into Diregraf Ghoul followed by my curve.

Matthew was on the play again for game 2 with much better mana and crushed me.

Game 3 I got to be on the play and put him in an awkward situation. He could attack with his Falkenrath Aristocrat, but that put him dead to my attack plus my Geralf's Messenger in hand. Matthew thought for a long time and said, "I didn't come all the way to Charleston to block! Bump in the Night you, swing!" I told Matthew that I had the Messenger, and he shook my hand without ever seeing the Geralf's Messenger. He held onto my hand until I was able to flip the Geralf's Messenger over with my other hand. It was a truly a pleasure playing against Matthew, and I wish him the best of luck in Montreal.

Finals: Brian Eason - Junk Tokens (W 2-0)

Video coverage can be found here. I sandbagged a Bonfire for what seemed like forever in game 2. There was a point in the game where I could cast bonfire for one, eliminating all of his blockers, then cast Hellrider and swing everything at Brian, using the Hellrider triggers to kill his lone, transformed Garruk Relentless. To be honest, I did not even consider that play because all along I was holding back the Bonfire to deal with his multiple Lingering Souls. This was definitely incorrect, and the aforementioned play during coverage would have put Brian in a really bad spot.

Here's what I was thinking. Brian knew that I had Bonfire in my list and was actively playing around it. But you don't play around Bonfire by casting Lingering Souls and flashing it back in the same turn unless you have a second copy of Lingering Souls in hand. I got a read that he had three because this is the line that Brian took, and I wanted to preserve the Bonfire as long as possible. I ended up taking the worst line and casting Bonfire for the full amount and attacking one creature into his Garruk. Thankfully, the top of my deck gifted me with a Thundermaw Hellkite at the end to seal the deal and my first victory at a GP.

After I won, the first person that was not a close friend to congratulate me was none other than Reid Duke. Very classy guy and a great ambassador for Magic and StarCityGames.com.

Sideboard Guide

Here's a really quick sideboard guide.

G/W Aggro

-2 Sign in Blood, -4 Gravecrawler, -1 Hellrider

+3 Pillar of Flame, +3 Bonfire of the Damned, +1 Victim of Night

Reanimator

On the draw: -2 Sign in Blood, -2 Brimstone Volley, -2 Diregraf Ghoul

+ 2 Cremate, +2 Zealous Conscripts, +2 Appetite for Brains

On the play: Add Diregraf Ghoul back to the deck and remove the Appetite for Brains.

U/W Flash

+1 Victim of Night, -1 Brimstone Volley

Victim of Night is just more efficient at killing Restoration Angel. If your expect Geist of Saint Traft, go ahead and remove the Sign in Bloods and the other copy of Brimstone Volley for the three Bonfires. Protecting a Geist of Saint Traft or a large Runechanter's Piked creature is really their only way to beat you.

Bant Control

On the draw: -2 Brimstone Volley, -2 Diregraf Ghoul, -3 Hellrider

+1 Victim of Night, +2 Zealous Conscripts, +2 Appetite for Brains, +2 Underworld Connections

On the play: Add back in the Diregraf Ghouls and two Hellriders and remove the Sign in Blood and Appetite for Brains. You want to be more aggressive when you are on the play and force the Bant player to be more reactive to you.

Jund

-2 Victim of Night, -4 Knight of Infamy

This is one matchup where both Knight of Infamy and Victim are really at their worst.

+2 Zealous Conscripts, +2 Appetite for Brains, +2 Underworld Connections

I never thought that I would spawn public enemy number one with my B/R Aggro list. At its core, it's just a Zombies list with a much better late game. Going forward, I would play a list that's similar to Tyler Lytle's San Antonio winning decklist. Moving the Pillar of Flame to the maindeck helps gain percentage points against G/W Aggro and the mirror, which has become a large part of the Standard metagame. I would also look to add two Ultimate Price to the board along with Vampire Nighthawks to bring in during the mirror match. Tyler did a great job tuning my list for the mirror and was able to shore up a previously bad matchup in G/W Aggro. He was rewarded by taking down the GP in San Antonio.

It was really a strange feeling watching two guys that I've never met playing very similar decklists to mine battle it out in the finals of Grand Prix San Antonio. I'm very excited to see where the Standard metagame goes going forward. This deck is very hard to hate on, and anyone who focuses strictly on beating it is going lose a lot of percentage points against the control decks of the format.

Shout out to my testing team at Game Theory. Without these guys jamming endless amounts of gauntlet games against me, we never could have settled on this list. Ryan Dail ended the tournament at X-3 in the Top 32. I owe Jeremy Henry, Chad Hord, Geoff Mullin, Preston Cox, Jackson Barbee, and the rest of the Game Theory team a huge thanks because without them I never would have been able to win this Grand Prix! Ryan, Chad and Jackson all made Day 2 as well. Team Game Theory is starting to put up some impressive numbers!!

Special thanks to my girlfriend, Pamela, for putting up with the endless amount of test games that went on during the week leading up to the GP. I'll take the prize purse and do something special for you! This will be my first Pro Tour, so wish me luck in Montreal! Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think in the comments.