Wow! The Top 8 to the Netherlands National Championship was loaded, amiright? The bottom half of the bracket was packed with a former World Champion, a player that finished second in his first two Pro Tours, the runner-up to the past World Championship and another Pro Tour Top 8 appearance. With Rogier Maaten squeaking in at eighth place, this country will be well represented at the upcoming World Championships.

We're not really looking at Worlds though, we're more excited about our own personal Champs. The Netherlands did not add much to the current project that we are looking at, with Sea Stompy making it in to the Top 8, Heartbeat, Counterbalance Control, Snakes with Glare, multiple Critical Mass (Called Go Anan is the Best Player in coverage), a B/G Aggro deck (we talked about that in the last article), and Erayo. The only deck that I think we can look at is the one played by Remie and Nuijten, so let's get started with that!

Sea Stompy A Standard deck, by Julien Nuijten 3rd place at a Nationals tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands on 2006-09-10 As reported at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/nethnat06/t8decks Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Plaxmanta 4 Trygon Predator Instants 4 Mana Leak 2 Remand 2 Spell Snare Legendary Artifacts 4 Umezawa's Jitte Legendary Creatures 3 Meloku the Clouded Mirror	Snow Creatures 4 Ohran Viper Basic Lands 6 Forest 3 Island Lands 4 Breeding Pool 1 Simic Growth Chamber 4 Yavimaya Coast Legendary Lands 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds 1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers	Sideboard: 2 Pithing Needle 4 Threads of Disloyalty 3 Hinder 2 Arashi, the Sky Asunder 2 Higure, the Still Wind 2 Iwamori of the Open Fist
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Key losses in the deck are a plenty, with Okina, Minamo, Oboro, Ninja of the Deep Hours, Meloku, and Jitte all falling by the wayside in the main, and every card but Naturalize removed from the sideboard. I see Critical Mass a lot like I see Sea Stompy: they both play similar, but this one eschews the Red splash for an easier manabase and a diversified counterspell package. What you want to do is play a bunch of small men, protect them from removal with the countermagic, and ride them to victory. The losses of the Champions Block cards hurt a lot, but Blue/Green is a powerful combination (did we forget about Madness?), so people will try to make this deck work.

We have to replace the lands, and I want to see another Simic Growth Chamber, so we'll bump that to two and add a basic for each legendary land. Jitte is replaced by Moldervine Cloak, and while we are messing with the spells I'll go ahead and move Spell Snare into the side, so we can have a full set of Remand (which may very well be the best Blue card in the new Standard). The creatures are going to be harder to figure out, but I think we can replace the card draw from Ninja (there is never a good replacement for card advantage.) with Coiling Oracle, and Cytoplast Root-Kin will replace Meloku.

We pretty much have to start with a fresh sideboard, but a set of Spell Snares is an easy inclusion. We can go up to four Naturalize, too. To shore up the Aggro matchup we can include Carven Caryatids, and the final three slots in the board will be Giant Solifuge.

Critical Mass Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Coiling Oracle 3 Cytoplast Root-Kin 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Plaxmanta 4 Trygon Predator Enchantments 4 Moldervine Cloak	Instants 4 Mana Leak 4 Remand Snow Creatures 4 Ohran Viper Basic Lands 7 Forest 4 Island Lands 4 Breeding Pool 2 Simic Growth Chamber 4 Yavimaya Coast	Sideboard: 4 Carven Caryatid 3 Giant Solifuge 4 Naturalize 4 Spell Snare
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With the lack of new innovation in the Netherlands (and really who can blame them?), I'm going to take this time to round off the rest of what I feel is the top tier of Standard as it stands now. We'll finish up this article with a look at Zoo, Vore, Orzhov Aggro, Tron, and Gruul.

Zoo is a fun deck; make a guy, attack blast the opponent with some direct damage, and race them to twenty before they can stabilize and get back into the game. We are not losing much from the deck, and it is sure to be a popular choice for States.

Zoo Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Kird Ape 4 Savannah Lions 4 Scab-Clan Mauler 4 Tin Street Hooligan 4 Watchwolf Enchantments 3 Seal of Fire Instants 4 Char 2 Giant Growth 4 Lightning Helix	Legendary Creatures 4 Isamaru, Hound of Konda Sorceries 4 Volcanic Hammer Lands 3 Battlefield Forge 2 Brushland 2 Karplusan Forest 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple Garden	Sideboard: 4 Kami of Ancient Law 3 Pacifism 1 Seal of Fire 3 Bathe in Light 4 Umezawa's Jitte
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The maindeck does not lose much at all, with Isamaru going to a better place, and the sideboard is losing just Kami of Ancient Law (which has a functional reprint in Ronom Unicorn) and Umezawa's Jitte. We need a quick beater to take the place of the Hound, and with a lack of solid one-drops at this moment, I think we can be better suited running Dryad Sophisticate in that spot. This will almost ensure that we have some sort of two-drop on turn 2, but if you feel the need, we can run Llanowar Elves in the open slot. I like the burn package, so nothing really needs to change there, and Giant Growth proves to be a great combat trick over and over again. As for the board, Kami becomes Unicorn, and Jitte should become some sort of artifact removal, so I'll put in Naturalize.

Zoo Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Dryad Sophisticate 4 Kird Ape 4 Savannah Lions 4 Scab-Clan Mauler 4 Tin Street Hooligan 4 Watchwolf Enchantments 3 Seal of Fire	Instants 4 Char 2 Giant Growth 4 Lightning Helix Sorceries 4 Volcanic Hammer Lands 3 Battlefield Forge 2 Brushland 2 Karplusan Forest 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple Garden	Sideboard: 4 Ronom Unicorn 3 Pacifism 1 Seal of Fire 3 Bathe in Light 4 Naturalize
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Vore seems to be one of the decks that does not lose much, but the card that it does lose is a huge hindrance to the deck. Eye of Nowhere has no sorcery speed replacement, which does make Vore a slightly smaller creature, but I feel as long as we have land destruction, bounce, and counter magic, the deck should be able to survive, and do so strongly.

Vore Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 3 Magnivore Enchantments 3 Annex Instants 3 Boomerang 4 Remand	Sorceries 4 Compulsive Research 3 Eye of Nowhere 4 Pyroclasm 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Stone Rain 2 Tidings 3 Wildfire Basic Lands 8 Island 4 Mountain Lands 1 Izzet Boilerworks 3 Shivan Reef 4 Steam Vents Legendary Lands 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds	Sideboard: 3 Threads of Disloyalty 4 Spell Snare 2 Meloku the Clouded Mirror 2 Shattering Spree 4 Volcanic Hammer
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We lost Eye of Nowhere, but that is fine, as we still have Boomerang in the format. It's not the best replacement; however, the deck still wants to control the opponent's resources, and at instant speed the card is a little more flexible. I am not a fan of the Annex in the deck, but I understand that will help you cast Wildfire, and leave you with more of your own lands in play after the spell resolves. Sadly, I am going to replace them with Demolish since losing Eye leaves us with three fewer sorceries, and we absolutely must pack this homeboy with sorceries to help out the ‘Vore. I do like the idea of Annex so I am going to keep two in. We lose the Legendary lands again, but those are easily replaced with the fourth Shivan Reef and one of each basic. The sideboard is easy to deal with, as Threads become Repeals and Melokus turning into another monster - I would use Niv-Mizzet until something better comes up.

Vore Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 3 Magnivore Enchantments 2 Annex Instants 4 Boomerang 4 Remand	Sorceries 4 Compulsive Research 3 Demolish 4 Pyroclasm 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Stone Rain 2 Tidings 3 Wildfire Basic Lands 9 Island 5 Mountain Lands 1 Izzet Boilerworks 4 Shivan Reef 4 Steam Vents	Sideboard: 3 Repeal 4 Spell Snare 2 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind 2 Shattering Spree 4 Volcanic Hammer
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Orzhov decks have been popular for some time now, and for good reason. We have efficient creatures, great removal and card advantage in the color. The deck gets rocked by Champions leaving, but with some retooling the deck can be a solid contender.

Orzhov Aggro Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Dark Confidant 4 Hand of Honor 4 Paladin en-Vec Enchantments 2 Phyrexian Arena Instants 4 Mortify 3 Shining Shoal Legendary Artifacts 4 Umezawa's Jitte	Legendary Creatures 2 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails 3 Ghost Council of Orzhova 4 Isamaru, Hound of Konda Sorceries 3 Castigate Basic Lands 7 Plains 2 Swamp Lands 4 Caves of Koilos 4 Godless Shrine 3 Orzhov Basilica Legendary Lands 1 Eiganjo Castle 2 Shizo, Death's Storehouse	Sideboard: 2 Manriki-Gusari 3 Descendant of Kiyomaro 2 Faith's Fetters 3 Last Gasp 1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni 1 Castigate 3 Persecute
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You know after saying it so many times, I'm glad the legendary lands are gone. Replace them with basics. We lose Isamaru, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, Umezawa's Jitte, Shining Shoal, and Hand of Honor. Shoal can be replaced with removal, and for this deck I'm going to use Condemn. Jitte is not so easy to replace here, as we have no Moldervine Cloak, so again, I'll go with removal and add Last Gasp. The White two-drops can be replaced as well, and the White-Shield Crusader will take the place of the Hand of Honor, and the Flying Leonin Skyhunter will take place of the fox. I nearly forgot to mention Savannah Lions coming for the pup.

There is no place in the sideboard for Manriki-Gusari, Descendant of Kiyomaro, and Ink-Eyes. Since Last Gasp got the call-up, we're going to have to replace it. We'll add another two Faith's Fetters, the fourth Condemn, two more Arenas, and let's try out Cry of Contrition as another weapon against Control.

Orzhov Aggro Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Dark Confidant 2 Leonin Skyhunter 4 Paladin en-Vec 4 Plagued Rusalka 4 White Shield Crusader Enchantments 2 Phyrexian Arena Instants 3 Condemn 4 Last Gasp 4 Mortify	Legendary Creatures 3 Ghost Council of Orzhova Sorceries 3 Castigate Basic Lands 8 Plains 4 Swamp Lands 4 Caves of Koilos 4 Godless Shrine 3 Orzhov Basilica	Sideboard: 4 Faith's Fetters 2 Phyrexian Arena 1 Condemn 1 Castigate 4 Cry of Contrition 3 Persecute
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Tron does not stand to lose much, and I think the best way to go with the deck is move it to a Blue/Green splash Red base. We'll kill with something besides Keiga (hmm, maybe Simic Sky Swallower) and still run Demonfire as an alternate kill.

Tron Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 4 Izzet Signet 2 Simic Signet Enchantments 2 Confiscate Instants 4 Mana Leak 4 Remand 3 Repeal 3 Spell Snare	Legendary Creatures 4 Keiga, the Tide Star Sorceries 4 Compulsive Research 2 Demonfire 2 Tidings 3 Wildfire Basic Lands 2 Island Lands 4 Shivan Reef 4 Steam Vents 4 Urza's Mine 4 Urza's Power Plant 4 Urza's Tower Legendary Lands 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge	Sideboard: 2 Pithing Needle 4 Annex 2 Copy Enchantment 2 Hinder 2 Meloku the Clouded Mirror 3 Volcanic Hammer
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The maindeck, much like Vore, loses a small amount of cards. Keiga is easily replaced by Simic Sky Swallower, but this makes us shift the color focus of the deck. We'll replace the dual lands with Yavimaya Coast and Breeding Pool, flip the number of Signets, and add a Mountain in place of Minamo, so we have three sources of Red mana to cast Demonfire. With a smaller emphasis on Red mana, we have to toss Wildfire as well. While there is no good board sweeper, we can just add more countermagic, with Rune Snag playing more control. The maindeck was fairly easy.

The sideboard will lose Needle, Hinder, and Meloku, and since we are moving away from Red, Volcanic Hammer. I love the Copy Enchantment sideboard plan, and since we swapped Green for Red we can bring back Giant Solifuge. I feel Voidslime can be a fine replacement for Hinder, and that should be about it for the board. I'm also going to add the fourth Repeal and the fourth Spell Snare to the board.

Tron Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 2 Izzet Signet 4 Simic Signet Creatures 4 Simic Sky Swallower Enchantments 2 Confiscate	Instants 4 Mana Leak 4 Remand 3 Repeal 3 Spell Snare Sorceries 4 Compulsive Research 2 Demonfire 2 Tidings 3 Wildfire Basic Lands 2 Island 1 Mountain Lands 4 Breeding Pool 4 Urza's Mine 4 Urza's Power Plant 4 Urza's Tower 4 Yavimaya Coast	Sideboard: 4 Giant Solifuge 4 Annex 3 Copy Enchantment 1 Repeal 1 Spell Snare 3 Voidslime
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We get to the last deck of this article, and thankfully it is the easiest to change around, so we lose Jitte (frown) just replace it with more burn.

Gruul Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Burning-Tree Shaman 2 Giant Solifuge 4 Kird Ape 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Scab-Clan Mauler 4 Silhana Ledgewalker Enchantments 4 Moldervine Cloak Instants 4 Char	Legendary Artifacts 4 Umezawa's Jitte Sorceries 4 Volcanic Hammer Basic Lands 7 Forest 6 Mountain Lands 4 Karplusan Forest 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits 4 Stomping Ground	Sideboard: 1 Giant Solifuge 4 Tin Street Hooligan 4 Blood Moon 4 Gather Courage 2 Naturalize
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Wow, Jitte really is the only change to the deck - we'll use Seal of Fire and be done with it. Or will we? I think Ohran Viper belongs in the deck so I'm going to switch the Seal to Viper, which will give the deck a little added oomph for removal or card drawing.

The Sideboard does not look like it needs to be changed around any, so we'll keep it as is.

Gruul Skeleton Featured by Joshua Claytor on 2006-09-17 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12760.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Burning-Tree Shaman 2 Giant Solifuge 4 Kird Ape 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Scab-Clan Mauler 4 Silhana Ledgewalker Enchantments 4 Moldervine Cloak Instants 4 Char	Snow Creatures 4 Ohran Viper Sorceries 4 Volcanic Hammer Basic Lands 7 Forest 6 Mountain Lands 4 Karplusan Forest 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits 4 Stomping Ground	Sideboard: 1 Giant Solifuge 4 Tin Street Hooligan 4 Blood Moon 4 Gather Courage 2 Naturalize
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The next issue will see us winding down on the preexisting Standard decks. We'll take a look at Dark Boros, and the two color Boros Deck as well as Glare, Wafo-Tapa, Beach House, Firemane Control, and Mono-Green Aggro (one of my favorite decks). We'll take a look at the previewed cards for the week, and then we will move on to porting some of the more dominant Ravnica Block decks. By the time this is done, we'll have close to twenty-five decks with which to stage some early testing, and then we can jump full swing in to Time Spiral! Hey, if I have the time, I'll take a look at Battle of Wits, and Red White Boros Tron as well!

If I have missed any decks that need to be stripped of Champions, let me know in the forums and I'll make sure to cover it before moving on!

JXC