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When we last looked at the MTGO metagame, it was overrun by URza (the UR Urzatron deck which appeared first from the South African team at Worlds), while having a lot of results that many people wouldn't see locally. This week, things are different. The metagame has shifted dramatically.
1/12/06, 673775, Standard 2x (51 players)
1 — sc28x_2 — R/U Aggro
2 — Scorponok — 5-Color Zoo
4 — MCPlayer — G/W Glare
4 — stevemarsh — R/W Aggro
8 — AmandaBynes — R/W Aggro
8 — M.Nagashima — Bob the Builder
8 — FryChikN — R/U Land Destruction
8 — notcoolzeus — U/b Control
This is a huge amount of Aggro in comparison to last week. URza, while doing very well previously, is now completely absent from this tournament's Top 8.
The R/U Aggro deck continues to be a factor — this time actually pulling off the win. It includes Frenzied Goblin, Ninja of the Deep Hours, Hearth Kami, Frostling, Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Remand, Mana Leak, Genju of the Spires, Shock, Flames of the Blood Hand (possibly from the sideboard), and Orcish Artillery (again, from the sideboard). The deck relies on utility creatures, and early drops to enable a turn 2 Ninja.
Here's an example of the deck, played by a user named “Kebe” on Magic-League.com, who posted a 4-1 result in an eighty-six person tournament.
| R/U Aggro Featured by Kebe on 2006-01-29 (Standard) | ||
Creatures 3 Frenzied Goblin 4 Frostling 4 Hearth Kami 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Orcish Artillery Enchantments 2 Genju of the Spires Instants 3 Flames of the Blood Hand 4 Mana Leak 3 Remand 4 Shock |
Legendary Creatures 3 Meloku the Clouded Mirror Basic Lands 8 Island 10 Mountain Lands 4 Shivan Reef | 3 Blood Moon 2 Genju of the Spires 4 Hinder 3 Smash 3 Umezawa's Jitte |
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| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
I described the 5-Color Zoo deck in my last article.
1/13/06, 673776, Standard 2x (53 players)
1 — HappyMilk — R/W Aggro
2 — ziggyd — G/W/U Rogue
4 — mirakurufait — 4-Color Gifts (GUBW)
4 — wojas — G/W Glare
8 — DAMAGEDBRAIN — Battle of Wits
8 — renappel — Battle of Wits
8 — 39804214 — WW/r Aggro
8 — The Glory Seeker — Zoo
I cannot explain this — two Battle of Wits decks made up the Top 8 of a fifty-three man tournament. I wish this was the start of a lasting trend, but it appears to be more a fluke then anything else. This Top 8 was different in terms of results; it started 1/13/06 at 11:00 am EST, so maybe that was part of the factor with it. That doesn't explain the complete lack of pattern to the proceedings.
To describe ziggd's deck, you can just use his words: “It's shake and bake, I made it myself” — Devouring Light; Yosei, the Morning Star; Kodama's Reach; Meloku the Clouded Mirror; Umezawa's Jitte; Sakura-Tribe Elder; Birds of Paradise; Glorious Anthem; Paladin En Vec; and Ninja of the Deep Hours (possibly from the sideboard). It was different, to say the least.
Up next, a triple-header. These days are the reason that the format is so interesting — how many places could run three fifty-plus people tournaments in a matter of twenty-four hours?
1/15/06, 673777, Standard 2x (58 players)
1 - _Vaevictis_ - Battle of Wits
2 — MCPlayer — G/W Glare
4 — Debaxon — G/W Glare
4 — neohcmaharbaluap — U/B Urza
8 — vinmania — WW
8 — j.wolbert1 — Bob the Builder
8 — wojas — G/W Glare
8 — Ceriaton24 - URza
Battle of Wits FTW! The recent Japanese results in the Finals tournament have convinced a lot of people that Battle of Wits is a good choice, and is only going to get better once the format switches to include Orzhov. I wish that I could convince everyone how bad the deck is, since I don't want to play the Battle of Wits mirror match, but seriously, it is surprisingly good.
Here's the list that the Japanese ran at the Finals tournament, as played by Masahiko Morita:
Neohcmaharbaluap's deck included the standard blue URza cards, and also included Black removal — including Hideous Laughter and Last Gasp — instead of the Red portion.
For those unfamiliar with the Bob the Builder list, please refer to the Julien Nuijten article that included the list he ran at Worlds (as well as what changes he would make).
1/15/06, 673778, Standard 2x (55 players)
1 — HolgA — Eminent Domain
2 — riggers — G/W Glare
4 — Aelthain — Tallowisp Aggro
4 — fearthisboy — U/B Aggro
8 — fact_or_fiction — URza
8 — nheo98 — URza
8 — noobs_lord — Battle of Wits
8 — Thommo — R/W Aggro
Aelthain's deck included Tallowisp, Lantern Kami, Frostling, Pacifism, Moldervine Cloak, Lightning Helix, Waxmane Baku, Hearth Kami, Otherworldly Journey, and Kami of Ancient Law.
1/15/06, 673779, Standard 2x (64 players)
1 — o0putz — Bob the Builder
2 — thaumasiotes — Critical Mass (U/G still running Kudzu)
4 — sMann — G/W Glare
4 — CroCoDiLo — Critical Mass Update (U/G/B)
8 — Coulditbenotme — U/R Aggro
8 — jackykng — Greater Good Combo
8 — BigNTasty — G/B Aggro Control
8 — cacahuates — U/W Aggro
Coulditbenotme's list was very similar to the previously discussed Mono Red Aggro list, except it ran Ghost-Lit Raider. There has been discussion about Orcish Artillery's viability as a sideboard card against an Aggro mirror match, and Ghost-Lit Raider serves a similar function.
1/17/06, 673740, Standard (24 players)
1 — dark.striker — URza
2 — Frederica — Fungus Fire
4 — OversoldCemetary — U/W Aggro
4 — Juzza — U/b Hand Destruction
8 — Debaxon — U/b Hand Destruction
8 — MrRotten — R/W Aggro
8 — DuckOut — Critical Mass Update
8 — xorjesus — R/W Aggro
I dislike the smaller tournaments when it comes to looking at the metagame. In these tournaments with twenty-four players, one need only win three matches to make it into the Top 8. Unfortunately, that means a player can suck out a lot easier to get there. They can't be analyzed as well as larger tournaments, so in the future I will be limiting the number I include.
1/18/05, 673791, Standard 2x (34 players)
1 — Angelsnow_cn — URza
2 — ksd9848 — G/U/B Aggro
4 — Sunil86 — URza
4 — zyklone — G/W Glare
8 — haoshiminmtg — Concession without playing (unknown decklist)
8 — subliminal man2 — Elves!
8 — thewhiterabbit — Enduring Ideal
8 — Nolo31 — G/B/W Aggro/Control
Nolo's list included Last Gasp, Putrefy, Dark Confidant, Hypnotic Specter, Birds of Paradise, Faith's Fetters, Wood Elves, Watchwolf, Umezawa's Jitte, and Loxodon Hierarch. It was similar to the G/B Aggro/Control lists, except it included a White splash.
Thewhiterabbit's list was a little different to most of the Enduring Ideal decks I have seen. It seemed to run much of the base for Eminent Domain: Annex/Dream Leash/Confiscate. I like this idea, because it seems more of a consistent decklist when you observe it in action. That said, it was defeated by Sunil86's URza list in three games.
1/18/06, 673782, Standard 2x (57 players)
1 — Dish — URza
2 — VaiN — Greater Good Combo
4 — BarinnOFF — GW Glare
4 — puroculo — Critical Mass Update
8 — johan80 - Mono Blue Decking?
8 — Pedestrian — Concession without playing (unknown decklist)
8 — Thommo — URza
8 — KillaCam — Greater Good Combo
johan80's deck never got off the ground — judging by the cards that we saw, it seems like Mono Blue Decking is probably the best guess. All we really saw was countermagic, and the only possible win condition hint was Howling Mine.
Next up are the “IPA Qualifiers”. The IPA Qualifiers are almost the equivalent of earning a spot in an Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends draft. There were not enough players who had access to IPA online (as MTGO was still in its infancy), so Wizards has created these tournaments to try to get it in the hands of more players. Obviously, the Extended format is affected by not having some staple cards readily available. The Top 8 players earn their ticket into a Sealed Deck event, which uses IPA (Invasion, Planeshift, Apocalypse) cards, and pays out IPA prizes to the top 64. This is important to online players as cards like Pernicious Deed can go for about $90 (according to one online price guide). Needless to say, this will positively affect turnout to these events, as witnessed by our first event:
1/19/06, 677636, Standard 2x — IPA QT (121 players)
1 — Draccon136 — U/R Land Destruction
2 — Dipterans — U/b Urza Control
4 — the negator — G/W Glare
4 — DGoat — Greater Good Combo
8 — julbernabe — G/B Aggro
8 — eroom_j — U/R Land Destruction
8 —ManABirD1 — Greater Good Combo
8 — Meu nome e Baia — G/W Glare
Dipteran's deck is similar to neohcmaharbaluap's deck which I previously described. It's essentially the U/b Control deck with the Urza lands included.
1/20/06, 677639, Standard 2x, IPA QT (91 players)
1 — 39804214 — WWr
2 — Zestagon — U/R Land Destruction
4 — slearch — Mono Black Aggro (green splash)/Hand Destruction
4 — Monster — B/G Aggro/Hand Destruction
8 — Angel_of_fire — Critical Mass Update
8 — dragont99 — Eminent Domain
8 — Kengur - Critical Mass Update
8 — nandas — G/W Glare
Although slearch and Monster's decks had the same objective, they were considerably different. Monster's objective was to accelerate into a turn 2 Hypnotic Specter, while slearch went for the Mono Black Aggro with a Green splash approach (mainly for Putrify in the maindeck and Naturalize from the sideboard).
There has been some discussion on some message-boards on the power of UR Land Destruction. So far, in the biggest events since the deck first appeared, it has made three appearances in the Top 8. It's definitely a contender.
There are five more of these Standard events coming up in the next week, all feeding into the IPA tournament. This will give us five events, with one-hundred-plus people, to analyze.
Until next time,
Patrick
