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This is the last week until U.S. Nationals where there is an abundance of tournaments to give me cool things to write about. We had Grand Prix: Manila and the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle this weekend, so there are many new decks to discuss. Luckily, everything is still Standard, so I can talk about them… and you just might learn something, if you are careful.

In Grand Prix: Manila, we almost saw Brian Kibler make back to back Top 8s with Next Level Bant. Yuuya Watanabe was able to accomplish this feat, and he also played Next Level Bant. I am glad that there are people like this out there, because I feel like I am never too big for my britches. I can have a good run, but making Top 8 at two GPs in two weeks is pretty remarkable.

I stick by my statement about this being a great Standard format, and Wizards should take note. The GP Top 8 featured SIX different strategies. Mythic Conscription took down the whole thing. It defeated Polymorph in the finals, which I found surprising. That deck may be the real deal, since the person who piloted the deck was not named Craig Wescoe.

Here is the list that won the Grand Prix.

Mythic Conscription Featured by Naoki Nakada on 2010-06-20 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/19541_The_Nose_Knows_Standard_and_Legacy_Evolutions.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 2 Baneslayer Angel 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Dauntless Escort 4 Knight of the Reliquary 4 Lotus Cobra 4 Noble Hierarch 3 Sovereigns of Lost Alara Planeswalkers 3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Gideon Jura 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Tribal Enchantments 3 Eldrazi Conscription	Basic Lands 4 Forest 2 Island 2 Plains Lands 1 Arid Mesa 4 Celestial Colonnade 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Sejiri Steppe 1 Stirring Wildwood 2 Sunpetal Grove 1 Terramorphic Expanse 2 Verdant Catacombs	Sideboard: 1 Dauntless Escort 1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle 2 Oblivion Ring 1 Bant Charm 3 Celestial Purge 2 Deprive 1 Emerge Unscathed 2 Negate 2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

Here we have a pretty standard version of Mythic Conscription, and it’s not surprising that it won. It has a good matchup against Next Level Bant, which was the deck that had a target on its head going into the tournament. In a Grand Prix, it is important to come with a deck that is capable of beating the best players with the best deck.

The overall good news for the PTQ-goers is that this week did not offer up any new groundbreaking decks that ruin all of the previous testing. This Grand Prix showed how the format from GP: Sendai would have progressed if there had been one single tournament a week later. The most popular decks from Sendai were the most popular decks in Manila. NLB is a good deck that has trouble with Bant and Jund. Those two decks happened to be the ones that put more than one copy into the Top 8.

The six archetypes included NLB, Naya, Polymorph, Mythic Grixis, and Jund. You all are aware that I am a big fan of U/W Control, and I was shocked not to see it anywhere in the Top 8. I would change the build to make sure you good against aggro decks and NLB if you decide to play it in this coming week.

My main testing partner - Donald Kastner - played in the Detroit PTQ last weekend, and made it to the finals with U/W Control. It was a very similar list that I suggested in my last article, but he opted to take out some Flashfreezes from the sideboard. There was a third Oblivion Ring added to the maindeck, and a second Jace Beleren in the sideboard. The two losses he got on the day were from the same Jund player that obviously won the tournament. Don’t think that this is a bad matchup though because he beat jund a whopping six times on the day. He probably would have won the tournament if there was more Jund hate in the sideboard. Unfortunately, if you test with me you are bound to pick up my bad habits, which include getting second place a lot.

I would say Jund is a good call this week because it can beat NLB and Mythic Conscription. It is also a deck I would play if I felt uncomfortable about my play ability. I won my FNM with Jund last week at RIW Hobbies. I beat Grixis, Mythic Conscription, the mirror, and Naya. The list I played was the same maindeck as Owen Turtenwald from GP Washington D.C. My new sideboard was 4 Goblin Ruinblaster, 4 Duress, 4 Doom Blade, 2 Prophetic Prism, and 1 Malakir Bloodwitch. I was skeptical about the power of four Bituminous Blasts, but it lets you come back from bad starts and is insane against the mirror and other creature-based decks. I would not change anything from the maindeck. A new sideboard would include -1 Duress and +1 Inquisition of Kozilek, because I want it for the mirror.

This is where the Standard format would be if that was the only tournament that happened last weekend. There was also the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle this weekend that also shook the Standard metagame. I guess the Top 8 was business as usual in this tournament. The Top 8 was Mythic, two Jund, RDW, Naya, two Brilliant ultimatum, and Turbo Land. This tournament won’t have any impact on future events, at least as far as the decks that made Top 8ed…

Wait just a minute… did I just say there were two Brilliant Ultimatum decks in the Top 8?!

Yes, that sequence of words I just said made perfect sense. We should probably explore this a little bit more before anything else.

Here is the list that may shake up the Standard format as we know it.

Brilliant Ultimatum A Standard deck, by James Nguyen 4th place at a StarCityGames.com Standard Open tournament in Seattle, Washington, United States on 2010-06-13 As reported at http://www.starcitygames.com/ Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Fieldmist Borderpost 1 Mistvein Borderpost Creatures 4 Wall of Omens Instants 3 Esper Charm 1 Into the Roil 3 Path to Exile	Legendary Creatures 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn Planeswalkers 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1 Liliana Vess Sorceries 4 Brilliant Ultimatum 3 Day of Judgment 2 Duress 3 See Beyond 2 Time Warp Basic Lands 3 Island 3 Plains 3 Swamp Lands 4 Arcane Sanctum 2 Celestial Colonnade 2 Creeping Tar Pit 1 Drowned Catacomb 2 Glacial Fortress 4 Marsh Flats	Sideboard: 3 Baneslayer Angel 2 Kor Firewalker 1 Wall of Denial 1 Flashfreeze 2 Negate 1 Path to Exile 1 Jace Beleren 2 Deathmark 1 Duress 1 Identity Crisis
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This deck looks fun, and it survived the ten-round marathon that was the SCG Seattle Standard Open. Oh yeah… I said there was another version of this little guy running around in the Top 8. Here is the other take on the deck. It is pretty similar, since the two worked together on the deck.

Brilliant Ultimatum A Standard deck, by Sean Collins 8th place at a StarCityGames.com Standard Open tournament in Seattle, Washington, United States on 2010-06-13 As reported at http://www.starcitygames.com/ Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Wall of Omens Instants 3 Esper Charm 3 Path to Exile Legendary Creatures 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn	Planeswalkers 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 2 Liliana Vess Sorceries 4 Brilliant Ultimatum 3 Day of Judgment 4 See Beyond 4 Time Warp Basic Lands 3 Island 2 Plains 2 Swamp Lands 4 Arcane Sanctum 2 Celestial Colonnade 3 Creeping Tar Pit 3 Drowned Catacomb 3 Glacial Fortress 3 Marsh Flats	Sideboard: 3 Baneslayer Angel 3 Kor Firewalker 3 Negate 1 Path to Exile 1 Jace Beleren 3 Duress 1 Identity Crisis
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This deck is so neat, and it really showcases the power of Time Warp. I was not just whistling Dixie when I said that card was the real deal and really needs to be in more decks. There are not many decks that play counterspells, so it’s just the best draw when you can cast it. The card is basically in here for the ability to ramp from five mana to seven mana in order to play Brilliant ultimatum faster. It is also a very powerful flip from Brilliant Ultimatum.

There is an abundance of ways to put Emrakul back into your deck, so the odds of hitting it off a Brilliant ultimatum is higher. This is just a control deck that has a combo kill, so it is not the end of the world if you miss, but it is pretty unlikely that there is no value to be had from that card. You can also get another Brilliant Ultimatum and cast it for free to get more chances to hit an Emrakul.

There was another interesting trend in this Top 8. one that involves an extreme lack of U/W Control decks. This time it is a little easier to pinpoint the problem: the two Brilliant Ultimatum decks in the Top 8 as well as the Turbo Land deck played by LSV.

I have not seen the Turbo Land deck in action, so I am not sure if it is good or not. It feels a lot like a couple of weeks ago, when Next Level Bant was introduced. I think the only people that played it were ringers, so it will take about a week to see if other people can win with it. It seems like it would have a weak Jund match so I am not sure if it is a good choice at the moment; Jund is probably the deck I would play, since it seems very well positioned.

I am much more inclined to believe that Brilliant Ultimatum.dec is the real deal because two relatively unknown players were piloting a new deck through ten rounds.

I try to look at all of these results and piece together the format. There were two big tournaments this weekend, so the correct deck to play is going to change. I felt like U/W was the best deck, but it is important to take a look at the decks that are fun to play. If you knew of a wild deck that plays Brilliant Ultimatum into Emrakul that can win, would you try it? That is why I only want to play a deck that would be capable of beating those kinds of decks.

For this week, I feel like you should play either Jund or Mythic Conscription. Play Jund if you want to beat Naya and Mythic, and if you don’t want to think very much. I would stick with the list played by Owen Turtenwald at GP: DC. The sideboard should reflect what you think the metagame will be. My only warning will be to make sure you have enough cards for the mirror. Play Mythic if you want to beat the cool decks that have been doing well last week. These decks include Turboland, Brilliant Ultimatum, and Polymorph.

Those are the conclusions I have drawn from the events that took place last week. Remember that the deck you chose to play a week before for your PTQ may not be a good choice anymore even though it was only the week before.

I want to discuss Legacy, since GP: Columbus is going to be the next big tournament. There have been a lot of Legacy tournaments lately, so we have access to many decklists, and we can deduce how the viable archetypes can progress.

Four-Color Control Featured by osmanozgunay on 2010-06-20 (Legacy) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/19541_The_Nose_Knows_Standard_and_Legacy_Evolutions.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Enchantments 4 Pernicious Deed 3 Standstill Instants 4 Brainstorm 4 Counterspell 2 Cunning Wish 4 Force of Will 3 Spell Snare 4 Swords to Plowshares Planeswalkers 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor	Sorceries 2 Innocent Blood 2 Life from the Loam Basic Lands 1 Island Lands 4 Flooded Strand 4 Mishra's Factory 1 Nantuko Monastery 4 Polluted Delta 1 Scrubland 3 Tropical Island 2 Tundra 2 Underground Sea 2 Wasteland	Sideboard: 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Diabolic Edict 3 Extirpate 1 Hideous Laughter 1 Mindbreak Trap 1 Pulse of the Fields 2 Ravenous Trap 2 Spell Pierce 1 Tsabo's Decree 1 Rootgrapple
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This seems like a cool start for a control deck. It will definitely change if Reanimator gets hated out to the point where it is not worth warping your deck anymore. This list was taken from osmanozguney on Magic Online, where he posted a 4-0 result in a Daily Event. Magic Online has been my main tool for finding Legacy decks, but you have to be aware that the format warps so quickly. I take the decklists with a grain of salt and use it primarily for ideas to try.

I am not a fan of the five manlands because it is a four-color deck, and I would want to reduce the amount of games that come down to me getting land screwed. Innocent Blood is an interesting card that is not seeing much play because Diabolic Edict is the go-to card that has the similar effect. You may also notice that there are four different ways to kill Iona, Shield of Emeria, and there are four different colors to do so. This is important for deckbuilding right now.

Also, if you thought there were only two big tournaments this weekend, you are wrong. The StarCityGames.com Seattle Legacy Open took place, and we had Luis Scott-Vargas making the Top 8 for the second day in a row. He played Reanimator so, despite all of the hate, it is still a viable strategy.

The Top 8 was pretty standard for the Legacy tournament. It featured Merfolk, Reanimator, Zoo, Survival, ATS, and UWG “Boddy Horizons” Fish. I think the landstill deck that was mentioned above would have been a strong choice for that metagame, since it has a lot of ways to kill creatures. The combo matches seem weak, but can handle it if given the proper amount of hate.

If you have not won a PTQ for Amsterdam, don’t get down in the dumps. There are still many opportunities left to qualify. I will most likely be at the Midwest Masters Series in Columbus, Ohio, where there will be a PTQ the following day. Feel free to say hi. Good luck in your tournaments. Don’t forget to tell me what you thought of this article in the forums.

Thanks for reading.

Kyle
Lilbogg675@aol.com