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This past weekend (which due to my Procrastinarian beliefs is now actually two weekends ago, but who is counting?) marked the first opportunity for players to put Innistrad cards in their Constructed decks and earn Planeswalker Points for their efforts. Cards went on sale Friday, and Standard grinders in Indianapolis and Philadelphia scrambled to find the cards that would let them leave their mark on the emerging Standard metagame—a metagame as profoundly impacted by the departure of Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi, and Magic 2011 as by the inclusion of Snapcaster Mage and friends.
I attended the Philadelphia MTGGrudgeMatch this weekend and had the chance to work the GGsLive booth with the esteemed Rashad Miller and Ben Swartz, with cameo appearances by Jon Becker and Patrick Sullivan. It was the best seat in the house to look at the new Innistrad tech, and we saw an assortment of decks ranging from Puresteel Paladin decks to Red Deck Wins builds to the brand new/old Forbidden Flare decks that can find all the cards they need to win with just one Forbidden Alchemy.
The way the tournament was structured there were two events feeding 32 people into a $10,000 single-elimination bracket. Eight players came from the Sealed Deck release event on Friday, and the remaining 24 came from Saturday's Standard Swiss event. The latter featured 215 players and eight rounds of Swiss play, meaning players could take two losses and still make it into the Sunday action. Let's take a look at the archetypes that made up those 24 decks advancing to the Top 32.
Mono Red
Seven out of 24 decks were Mono Red and all variations on the classic Red Deck Wins formula of just under two dozen lands, some early beaters, and an inevitable fistful of burn. Open Series Grinder and SCG columnist, Dan Jordan, finished first after the eight Swiss rounds and was the only player with as many as seven wins on the day. He built his deck around eleven one-drops and maxed out his curve at four for Koth of the Hammer. I love the inclusion of Galvanic Blast over Shock just in case you have three Shrines humming along. There is no edge a Magic player won't take, no matter how small it is.
Dan's deck seems to be set up well for the mirror with Manic Vandals to dismantle opposing Shrines—not to mention Birthing Pods and assorted Swords from non-red decks—and has access to a full set of Vulshok Berserkers for the last two thirds of a round. An Innistrad card notably missing from the deck is the much ballyhooed Brimstone Volley.
Red Deck Wins
Dan Jordan—7-1 (1st after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Mono Red A Standard deck, by Dan Jordan 1st place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 4 Chandra's Phoenix 4 Furnace Scamp 3 Grim Lavamancer 3 Manic Vandal 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble Instants 4 Galvanic Blast 4 Incinerate |
Planeswalkers 2 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 2 Arc Trail Basic Lands 22 Mountain | 2 Perilous Myr 1 Hero of Oxid Ridge 1 Manic Vandal 4 Vulshok Refugee 1 Manabarbs 2 Dismember 2 Koth of the Hammer 2 Arc Trail |
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Andrey Meyer finished second in the Swiss with one draw and one loss and is a great example of a riff on the archetype that I have been calling Red Deck Runs. This version is running green mana off of seven dual lands, and they let him power up Kessig Wolf Runs for an inexhaustible supply of Howls from Beyond. With Chandra's Phoenix providing a recurring threat from the graveyard, a single burn spell can threaten to become a torrent of damage over two turns. The green also gives him access to Ancient Grudge out of his sideboard, which can get all the same artifacts that the Vandal can hit, but you can discard it to Liliana and play it from your graveyard. You can also get double activations of your Shrines against decks with multiple artifact targets.
Another big difference from Andrey's list to Dan's was how many more three-mana burn spells Andrey played. We already mentioned the Brimstone Volley that was not in Dan's build, but Andrey not only featured four copies of that card but another two copies of Volt Charge. It is a card that plays nicely with the Stromkirk Noble, Stormblood Berserker, Shrine of Burning Rage, and Koth of the Hammer and does three damage in the process.
Red Deck Runs
Andrey Mayer 6-1-1 (2nd after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Wolf Run Red A Standard deck, by Andrey Mayer 2nd place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 2 Chandra's Phoenix 4 Furnace Scamp 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Reckless Waif 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble Instants 4 Brimstone Volley 2 Volt Charge |
Planeswalkers 2 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 4 Arc Trail Basic Lands 14 Mountain Lands 4 Copperline Gorge 3 Kessig Wolf Run 3 Rootbound Crag | 2 Chandra's Phoenix 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Vulshok Refugee 2 Act of Aggression 4 Ancient Grudge 1 Koth of the Hammer |
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Chris Balalaos landed somewhere in between the two decks with no green mana but three copies of Brimstone Volley, four copies of Volt Charge for its proliferate, AND two copies of Tezzeret's Gambit for good measure.
Red Deck Wins
Chris Balalaos 6-1-1 (4th after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Mono Red A Standard deck, by Chris Balalaos 4th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 4 Chandra's Phoenix 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble |
Instants 3 Brimstone Volley 4 Galvanic Blast 3 Incinerate 4 Volt Charge Planeswalkers 2 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 2 Tezzeret's Gambit Basic Lands 24 Mountain | 3 Manic Vandal 2 Vulshok Refugee 3 Act of Aggression 3 Dismember 1 Koth of the Hammer 3 Arc Trail |
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As you can see from the 5th place deck by Joshua Milliken—a great Magic name considering the themes of the current block—on Saturday it was still a Chinese menu of options for the red decks. You could take your mana from column A without any significant risk to your deck's ability to perform, a collection of creatures from column B, and all the decks come with Shrine of Burning Rage.
Red Deck Runs
Joshua Milliken 6-1-1 (5th after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Wolf Run Red A Standard deck, by Joshua Milliken 5th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 3 Chandra's Phoenix 3 Hero of Oxid Ridge 3 Reckless Waif 4 Spikeshot Elder 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble |
Instants 4 Galvanic Blast 4 Volt Charge Sorceries 4 Arc Trail Basic Lands 13 Mountain Lands 4 Copperline Gorge 3 Kessig Wolf Run 3 Rootbound Crag | 4 Torpor Orb 3 Vulshok Refugee 4 Ancient Grudge 4 Dismember |
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Half the decks in the Top 10 were Mono Red with Chris Bourroughs rounding out that set of decks with Red Deck Wins taking three of the spots to Red Deck Runs' two spots. One of the compelling reasons to go with the Red Deck Wins build is the very existence of Red Deck Runs and other decks that are taking advantage of the cycle of utility lands from Innistrad. Moorland Haunt and Kessig Wolf Run are problematic cards that, when left unchecked for more than one turn, will often throw a wrench in the works of an opposing player's plans. Chris Burroughs only ran a lone Ghost Quarter, and while it is highly unlikely that your opponents will allow themselves to get color screwed by it, you can stop them from Running all over you with it. I expect that the more classic version of RDW will persevere and will also feature an increasing number of Ghost Quarters as the format develops.
Red Deck Wins
Chris Bourroughs 6-2 (9th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Mono Red A Standard deck, by Chris Bourroughs 9th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 3 Chandra's Phoenix 3 Furnace Scamp 4 Grim Lavamancer 3 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble Instants 4 Brimstone Volley 3 Incinerate |
Planeswalkers 2 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 3 Arc Trail Basic Lands 23 Mountain Lands 1 Ghost Quarter | 2 Batterskull 3 Manic Vandal 3 Vulshok Refugee 1 Act of Aggression 3 Dismember 1 Koth of the Hammer 1 Arc Trail 1 Traitorous Blood |
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The remaining two red decks were found sneaking in at the bottom of the standings with a pair of losses apiece. Win Lin took a tribal approach to red in a subarchetype I was calling Goblin Deck Wins but that you could easily just call Goblins. The deck does follow the same formula as the RDW builds though with cheap creatures, some midrange guys—in this case Goblin Chieftain over Chandra's Phoenix—and Shrine of Burning Rage. I guess the minimum number of artifacts you need to be playing to go with Galvanic Blast over Shock is four since Win went with the strictly inferior Shock with only three Shrines at his disposal.
Goblin Deck Wins
Win Lin 6-2 (19th Place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Goblins A Standard deck, by Win Lin 19th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 4 Goblin Arsonist 4 Goblin Chieftain 4 Goblin Fireslinger 4 Goblin Wardriver 3 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Spikeshot Elder |
Instants 4 Brimstone Volley 4 Shock Sorceries 4 Goblin Grenade Basic Lands 22 Mountain | 1 Sword of War and Peace 4 Vulshok Refugee 4 Manabarbs 4 Arc Trail 2 Traitorous Blood |
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Finally we have Chris Mascioli, an up-and-coming curmudgeon, playing the classic archetype beloved by cranky old men everywhere. Chris made some unique choices to his list that we did not see in the other decks. For one thing, he maxed out on Koth in his maindeck, which led him to play three copies of Devil's Play. A potentially game-ending combination when used with Koth's ability to “ritual” equal to the number of Mountains you control. He also played more lands than any of the other decks. It is interesting to see what he changed over to for the subsequent tournament, which saw him make the Top 4. Players were not obligated to play the same list in the 32-person bracket, since it would be introducing eight players from the Sealed qualifier on Friday.
Red Deck Wins
Chris Mascioli 6-2 (24th Place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Mono Red A Standard deck, by Chris Mascioli 24th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 4 Reckless Waif 4 Spikeshot Elder 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble |
Instants 4 Brimstone Volley 4 Incinerate Planeswalkers 4 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 3 Devil's Play Basic Lands 25 Mountain | 3 Batterskull 4 Manic Vandal 4 Vulshok Refugee 4 Arc Trail |
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U/W Control
The next most played archetype in the Top 24 decks from the big Swiss event was U/W Control, which placed five players into the 32-person bracket. These decks are generally characterized by card drawing, removal—both spot and mass—and the ability to take inexorable control of the game with a variety of planeswalkers and/or creatures and equipment. These decks range from reiterations of the Caw-Blade strategy to a reboot of the Super Friends archetype.
Peter Grube was the highest finishing player with the archetype, and he eschewed equipment despite having Geist of Saint Traft in his deck as a potential hexproof swordsman. Instead he loaded up on removal with Day of Judgment, Ratchet Bomb, Oblivion Ring, Dismember, and six counterspells. Geist of Saint Traft is a card that is going to do some heavy work in a short span of time, and when you can clear the path turn after turn with removal the game ends quickly.
On the other hand, should the game go long, another card from Innistrad that made Grube's starting lineup—Moorland Haunt—gives Grube's deck an uncounterable win condition. Like the Kessig Wolf Run we saw earlier in the red decks, this card provides grinding inevitability in a match where players are countering, board sweeping, and trading off each other's creatures. Grube even built his deck with two Ghost Quarters, no doubt expecting to have the upper hand in the Moorland Haunt late game. It is also worth noting that Moorland Haunt is also very good at protecting Geist of Saint Traft from Liliana's evil clutches, since that is one of the few ways to deal with the hexproof legend.
U/W Snapcaster
Peter Grube 6-2 (7th Place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Control A Standard deck, by Peter Grube 7th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 2 Ratchet Bomb Creatures 1 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Hero of Bladehold 2 Snapcaster Mage 2 Sun Titan Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring Instants 2 Dismember 2 Dissipate 4 Mana Leak 3 Think Twice |
Legendary Creatures 3 Geist of Saint Traft Planeswalkers 3 Gideon Jura Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 2 Timely Reinforcements Basic Lands 5 Island 7 Plains Lands 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Glacial Fortress 3 Inkmoth Nexus 1 Moorland Haunt 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Snapcaster Mage 1 Volition Reins 2 Celestial Purge 1 Divine Offering 3 Negate 3 Steel Sabotage 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Timely Reinforcements |
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Mike Lannigan maxed out his Snapcaster Mages and armed them with Swords in his version of blue-white that included a light black splash to pay the flashback cost on Forbidden Alchemy. Lannigan was clearly missing his Squadron Hawks and looked to Midnight Haunting to fill their slot. You get two 1/1 fliers at instant speed for 2W, and you can flash it back with Snapcaster Mage to keep the pressure on. The list is as close an approximation to Caw-Blade as I have seen in the new format and is surprisingly clean and straightforward.
Snap-Blade
Mike Lannigan 6-2 (8th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Blade A Standard deck, by Mike Lannigan 8th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Sword of Feast and Famine Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 4 Snapcaster Mage Enchantments 2 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 2 Dismember 3 Dissipate 4 Forbidden Alchemy 4 Mana Leak 4 Midnight Haunting Planeswalkers 3 Gideon Jura Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment Basic Lands 6 Island 5 Plains Lands 2 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 3 Inkmoth Nexus 2 Isolated Chapel 4 Seachrome Coast | 2 Batterskull 2 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Trinket Mage 1 Oblivion Ring 1 White Sun's Zenith 2 Revoke Existence 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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When Drew Levin was knocked out of Top 24 contention by Michael Baraniecki's Snap-Blade deck, the Legacy pundit seemed extremely impressed with the deck. Levin was playing a blue-black deck with Liliana, and he found his efforts to take control of the game thwarted by the innocuous Doomed Traveler. If your opponent plays Liliana and uses the edict ability, then you can sacrifice Doomed Traveler and swing over for the last point of loyalty. Baraniecki has no trouble finding willing swordsmen in this deck with his “air force” of Doomed Traveler and Midnight Haunting. Baraniecki also employs the special services of Invisible Stalker to provide a very difficult-to-deal-with tandem of hexproof with a Sword.
Baraniecki's deck also sports three copies of Moorland Haunt—a card that really stood out for Levin as a great addition to the deck. Baraniecki also has a light black splash, but it is simply to “mise” a few points of life out of casting his Dismembers—and then casting them again out of his bin.
Snap-Blade
Michael Baraniecki 6-2 (18th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Blade A Standard deck, by Michael Baraniecki 18th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Sword of Feast and Famine Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 3 Doomed Traveler 4 Invisible Stalker 4 Snapcaster Mage Enchantments 2 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 3 Dismember 2 Disperse 4 Mana Leak 3 Think Twice Planeswalkers 2 Gideon Jura Sorceries 2 Day of Judgment Basic Lands 6 Island 5 Plains Lands 1 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 2 Inkmoth Nexus 1 Isolated Chapel 3 Moorland Haunt 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Oblivion Ring 3 Divine Offering 3 Negate 2 Purify the Grave 3 Steel Sabotage 1 Day of Judgment 2 Timely Reinforcements |
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Jason Chan's deck name will make even less sense than Tim Landale's, which appears one deck further down on the lists. While watching Tim Landale play his deck on camera, Rashad and I were talking about how it was an update of the old Super Friends archetype and after riffing off of the super-hero theme for a while ended up calling his deck the West Coast Avengers. Jason's list had fewer planeswalkers but followed the same general game plan and hence...
Great Lakes Avengers
Jason Chan 6-2 (16th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Control A Standard deck, by Jason Chan 16th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 1 Batterskull 1 Sword of Feast and Famine Artifact Creatures 1 Solemn Simulacrum 2 Wurmcoil Engine Creatures 1 Azure Mage 1 Blade Splicer 2 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Hero of Bladehold 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Sun Titan Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 2 Dissipate 4 Mana Leak 4 Think Twice Planeswalkers 2 Gideon Jura 1 Jace, Memory Adept Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 1 Timely Reinforcements Basic Lands 8 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 2 Inkmoth Nexus 1 Moorland Haunt 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Torpor Orb 1 Mirran Crusader 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Volition Reins 2 Celestial Purge 1 Divine Offering 3 Flashfreeze 1 White Sun's Zenith 1 Elspeth Tirel 1 Revoke Existence 2 Timely Reinforcements |
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We had a chance to watch Tim Landale on camera against Chris Mascioli and saw the red deck come storming out of the gate to drop Landale down to seven life by turn four. An Elspeth and a Wurmcoil Engine later, and the game ended with Landale sitting comfortably at 30+ life. Landale—who was pretty adamant when we interviewed him on camera that Snapcaster Mage was terrible—came into this event gunning to beat aggro decks, and he did so convincingly. He would go on to win the elimination bracket with a slightly modified version of the list, and it seemed equally adept at fighting decks with Goblins and Vampires and those with Swords and Spirits.
West Coast Avengers
Tim Landale 6-2 (18th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Control A Standard deck, by Tim Landale 18th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifact Creatures 3 Wurmcoil Engine Creatures 1 Consecrated Sphinx Enchantments 4 Oblivion Ring Instants 3 Dismember 2 Dissipate 4 Mana Leak 3 Think Twice |
Planeswalkers 3 Elspeth Tirel 2 Gideon Jura 2 Karn Liberated Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 3 Timely Reinforcements Basic Lands 7 Island 9 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 3 Inkmoth Nexus 4 Seachrome Coast | 3 Mental Misstep 1 Negate 3 Surgical Extraction 1 White Sun's Zenith 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 3 Geist of Saint Traft 1 Gideon Jura 1 Jace, Memory Adept 1 Timely Reinforcements |
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U/B Control
The archetypes start to get scattered into smaller and smaller pockets from here on out, and no other deck after U/B had as many pilots—three—in the Top 24. Alexander Douglas finished highest with his version of the deck that featured a maindeck package of Trinket Mage along with Elixir of Immortality and Nihil Spellbomb. With so many Sun Titans, Pseudo Titans, Unburial Rites, and even random sightings of Skaab Ruinators in the room, Nihil Spellbomb and Trinket Mage was a package that multiple blue-based decks were running but from what I could tell only Douglas's version had in the starting sixty. Blazing Torch barely saw any Constructed play as a Zendikar card but got cup of coffee this time around in the sideboard of Douglas's build as another Trinket that can serve as removal.
U/B Trinket Control
Alexander Douglas 6-1-1 (6th after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/B Control A Standard deck, by Alexander Douglas 6th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 1 Batterskull 1 Elixir of Immortality 1 Nihil Spellbomb Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Grave Titan 3 Trinket Mage Instants 3 Doom Blade 1 Forbidden Alchemy 2 Go for the Throat 4 Mana Leak 4 Think Twice |
Planeswalkers 1 Karn Liberated 4 Liliana of the Veil Sorceries 2 Black Sun's Zenith 3 Despise Basic Lands 7 Island 8 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Drowned Catacomb 3 Inkmoth Nexus | 2 Blazing Torch 1 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Ratchet Bomb 1 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Go for the Throat 2 Negate 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Black Sun's Zenith |
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Notable for its absence in Douglas's list was Snapcaster Mage—and this could be a matter of card availability since the cards had barely been out of their packs by the time the first round started—but Ralph Fitzpatrick took only two losses in the Swiss with his take on blue-black that was all about Tiago Chan's Invitational card. Forbidden Alchemy seems like a surprising exclusion in any blue-black control list that maxes out on Snapcaster Mages.
Ralph also has Liliana of the Veil in his sideboard along with an assortment of one-ofs that seem like they would be much more effective fueled by Forbidden Alchemy. While Fitzpatrick was not putting cards in his own graveyard with his spells, he could do that to his opponents with Life's Finale—a risky proposition in a room with people looking to find the right reiteration of Solar Flare.
Blue-Black Snapcaster
Ralph Fitzpatrick 6-2 (12th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/B Control A Standard deck, by Ralph Fitzpatrick 12th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifact Creatures 3 Solemn Simulacrum Creatures 1 Azure Mage 2 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Grave Titan 2 Phantasmal Image 4 Snapcaster Mage Instants 2 Dismember 2 Disperse 2 Dissipate 3 Doom Blade 2 Go for the Throat 4 Mana Leak 4 Think Twice |
Planeswalkers 1 Karn Liberated Sorceries 1 Life's Finale Basic Lands 8 Island 6 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Drowned Catacomb 3 Ghost Quarter | 1 Phantasmal Image 1 Volition Reins 1 Blue Sun's Zenith 1 Negate 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Tribute to Hunger 2 Victim of Night 2 Liliana of the Veil 1 Black Sun's Zenith 1 Praetor's Grasp 1 Sorin's Vengeance |
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Mitchell Zelmanovich made it to the finals of the 32-person elimination event before scooping to Tim Landale—spurring some debate about the matchup between the newest versions of blue-white and blue-black in Landale's forums. Zelmanovich loaded up on Mages and Forbidden Alchemy and had three copies of Liliana of the Veil. The deck is remarkably straightforward and simply plays with the best cards from the new set in the two colors that Zelmanovich was playing.
Blue-Black Snapcaster
Mitchell Zelmanovich 6-2
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/B Control Featured by Mitchell Zelmanovich on 2011-10-02 (Standard) | ||
Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Grave Titan 4 Snapcaster Mage Instants 2 Dissipate 3 Doom Blade 4 Forbidden Alchemy 4 Mana Leak 4 Think Twice Planeswalkers 3 Liliana of the Veil |
Sorceries 3 Black Sun's Zenith 3 Despise Basic Lands 9 Island 6 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 3 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Dismember 1 Dissipate 1 Doom Blade 3 Mental Misstep 3 Negate |
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Solar Flare
I just call the deck Forbidden Flare to acknowledge how powerful the new blue instant is in this new take on an old archetype. Grand Prix Dallas winner Dave Shiels made the deck look effortless throughout the Swiss rounds with the deck playing like a control deck until it was time to “combo” off with a seemingly endless rank of Sun Titans, Oblivion Rings, and Liliana of the Veil leaping onto the board after one Unburial Rites. Merfolk Looter has seen play in past Reanimator decks, and Shiels brought it back for this event. He must have liked them because he left them in for the elimination event—although he did swap one out for an Azure Mage.
Forbidden Flare
Dave Shiels 6-1-1 (3rd place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Solar Flare A Standard deck, by Dave Shiels 3rd place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 1 Grave Titan 3 Merfolk Looter 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Snapcaster Mage 4 Sun Titan Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring Instants 2 Doom Blade 3 Forbidden Alchemy 4 Mana Leak |
Planeswalkers 4 Liliana of the Veil Sorceries 2 Day of Judgment 3 Unburial Rites Basic Lands 3 Island 2 Plains 3 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 3 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Isolated Chapel 3 Seachrome Coast | 2 Nihil Spellbomb 1 Azure Mage 2 Dissipate 1 Doom Blade 3 Mental Misstep 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Day of Judgment 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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Craig Berry's list has many of the same cards as Shiels' list but played the deck much more as a combo deck with no Mana Leaks—foreshadowing Jon Medina's take on the archetype from this (actual) past weekend's SCG Open—and Sphere of the Suns to ramp/fix his mana. His selection of monsters was also very different with no Consecrated Sphinx or Grave Titan. Instead he played Rune-Scarred Demon—which could get him an Unburial Rites should a player be able to deal with the Demon—and Elesh Norn with his extra slots.
Forbidden Flare
Craig Berry 6-2 (13th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Solar Flare A Standard deck, by Craig Berry 13th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Sphere of the Suns Artifact Creatures 3 Solemn Simulacrum Creatures 2 Phantasmal Image 2 Rune-Scarred Demon 3 Sun Titan Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 2 Doom Blade 4 Forbidden Alchemy Legendary Creatures 2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite Planeswalkers 4 Liliana of the Veil Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 4 Unburial Rites Basic Lands 2 Island 4 Plains 4 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 2 Drowned Catacomb 1 Glacial Fortress 4 Isolated Chapel 4 Seachrome Coast | 2 Batterskull 2 Ratchet Bomb 2 Spellskite 1 Phantasmal Image 1 Doom Blade 3 Surgical Extraction 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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Bant Pod
There were only two players making the cut with Birthing Pod decks, and they were both playing the Bant version. Chris Kvartek played a pretty straightforward version that smoothed its mana with Avacyn's Pilgrim and went up the curve all the way to Elesh Norn with most of the usual suspects in between.
Bant Pod
Chris Kvartek 6-2 (17th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Bant Birthing Pod A Standard deck, by Chris Kvartek 17th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Birthing Pod Artifact Creatures 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Sylvok Replica 1 Wurmcoil Engine Creatures 3 Acidic Slime 1 Archon of Justice 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Blade Splicer 1 Fiend Hunter 1 Frost Titan 3 Hero of Bladehold 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Sun Titan 2 Viridian Emissary Legendary Creatures 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite |
Sorceries 4 Ponder Basic Lands 6 Forest 2 Island 3 Plains Lands 4 Hinterland Harbor 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Viridian Corrupter 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Celestial Purge 3 Naturalize 2 Creeping Corrosion 2 Day of Judgment 3 Timely Reinforcements |
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Pro Tour Los Angeles Top 8 competitor Lawrence Creech had to tussle in the last round of the Swiss to get into the Top 24 and was playing a slightly different version of Bant Pod. Creech made most of the same stops along the curve, but he opted for the answer-me-now Skaab Ruinator in the three hole over Kvartek's Fiend Hunter. He also played a Stonehorn Dignitary in the four spot and was able to lock players relying on the attack phase out of the game with the two-card combination of Dignitary and Venser, the Sojourner. Also sitting in the four spot was Tree of Redemption—a card that caused many an unsporting comment from red players throughout the day. I really liked this deck, and it's one of four decks that I'll be building on MTGO shortly. The other three are still forthcoming.
Bant Pod
Lawrence Creech 6-2 (22nd place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
Puresteel Paladin
I have been looking forward to seeing Puresteel Paladin decks in Standard since they performed so well in Block Constructed at Pro Tour Nagoya. There were two different takes on the archetype in the Top 24, and the first was a version I call Pure Daggers by Aaron Kluck. Mentor of the Meek plays so well with Puresteel Paladin since you get two different chances to draw a card off of your living weapons like Mortarpod and Flayer Husk. Kluck loaded up with creatures, including Trinket Mage, Invisible Stalker, and that poor Doomed Traveler. Kluck did not play any Swords; instead he looked to play cheaper equipment and dig through his deck. An Invisible Stalker with a Silver-Inlaid Dagger can close a game out very quickly.
Pure Daggers
Aaron Kluck 6-2 (10th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| U/W Puresteel A Standard deck, by Aaron Klluck 10th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Flayer Husk 4 Mortarpod 3 Silver-Inlaid Dagger 1 Sylvok Lifestaff Artifact Creatures 2 Etched Champion Creatures 4 Doomed Traveler 3 Invisible Stalker 3 Mentor of the Meek 4 Puresteel Paladin 3 Trinket Mage Instants 1 Dismember 3 Dispatch |
Legendary Artifacts 2 Mox Opal Basic Lands 2 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Inkmoth Nexus 2 Moorland Haunt 4 Seachrome Coast | 2 Silverchase Fox 3 Nevermore 1 Dismember 1 Dispatch 3 Mental Misstep 3 Surgical Extraction 2 Timely Reinforcements |
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Jason Imperiale called his deck Kha-Go for the sideboarded Kemba, Kha Regent (which he added to his maindeck for the 32-person elimination event), but he was playing a white weenie deck with equipment that did not really resemble the Caw decks he was referencing with the deck name. An interesting addition to his deck's armory was Swiftfoot Boots, which allowed him to play a Paladin and pile all the equipment onto it and smash in with haste after a board sweeper cleared the first wave.
Watching the deck in action, it looked like an aggro deck that was able to keep up with the card drawing of the control decks seemingly at every table. I would love to take elements from both Imperiale's and Kluck's. I like the Swords and want them on Invisible Stalkers, and I really like the Doomed Traveler and Moorland Haunt to buy some protection for your key card drawers against Liliana.
Kha Go
Jason Imperiale 6-2 (11th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| White Puresteel A Standard deck, by Jason Imperiale 11th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Flayer Husk 4 Mortarpod 2 Origin Spellbomb 2 Swiftfoot Boots 4 Sword of War and Peace Artifact Creatures 4 Phyrexian Revoker Creatures 4 Mentor of the Meek 4 Mirran Crusader 4 Puresteel Paladin Instants 3 Dispatch |
Legendary Artifacts 3 Mox Opal Basic Lands 18 Plains Lands 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 4 Celestial Purge 1 Dispatch 4 Divine Offering 2 Kemba, Kha Regent 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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Other
There are just three decks left unaccounted for, and the first one was easily my favorite to watch in action all weekend. Every time I turned around, it seemed like James Buckingham was smashing someone with a turn-two Geist of Saint Traft off of a Birds of Paradise or Avacyn's Pilgrim. If his opponent could put something in its path he would run through it with a Sword...
...or fly over it with Angelic Destiny. I saw that happen to SCG editor Steve Sadin on turn three. Steve did not win that game. If you see my loitering about the Tournament Practice Room on MTGO, this is likely the deck I will be playing with.
Geist-Blade
James Buckingham 6-2 (14th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Bant Destiny A Standard deck, by James Buckingham 14th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Sword of War and Peace Creatures 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Invisible Stalker 4 Mirran Crusader 3 Skinshifter Enchantments 3 Angelic Destiny 2 Oblivion Ring Instants 2 Mana Leak 2 Negate |
Legendary Creatures 4 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Thrun, the Last Troll Basic Lands 7 Forest Lands 4 Hinterland Harbor 1 Moorland Haunt 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Sunpetal Grove | 1 Bonehoard 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Mental Misstep 2 Naturalize 1 Negate 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Gideon Jura 2 Creeping Corrosion 3 Timely Reinforcements |
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There is not much to say about Gerald Freas' deck, which straddles somewhere between Block Tempered Steel lists and the Steve Sadin created Hawkward from Pro Tour Paris at the start of the year. It has literally ZERO Innistrad cards in it.
Tempered Steel
Gerald Freas 6-2 (20th place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Tempered Steel A Standard deck, by Gerald Freas 20th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Glint Hawk Idol 4 Origin Spellbomb 2 Piston Sledge Artifact Creatures 4 Memnite 2 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Signal Pest 4 Spined Thopter 4 Vault Skirge Creatures 2 Glint Hawk Enchantments 4 Tempered Steel |
Instants 4 Dispatch Legendary Artifacts 3 Mox Opal Basic Lands 15 Plains Lands 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 2 Phyrexian Revoker 2 Hero of Bladehold 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Divine Offering 2 Revoke Existence 2 Contested War Zone |
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I kept trying to get a chance to see Bernard Hsu's Shape Anew deck in action, but he must have won his matches very quickly because every time I went to track him down, the search ended at an empty table. Blightsteel Colossus should only need one hit to end the game, and he can hit play with a turn-three Splicer getting its Golem parlayed into its infectious bigger, uglier, nastier brother. If your opponent does not have an Oblivion Ring or Day of judgment, the game is going to be over within an untap step. I might be playing this deck some in the Tournament Practice room as well.
Shape Anew
Bernard Hsu 6-2 (23rd place after Swiss)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Shape Anew A Standard deck, by Bernard Hsu 23rd place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifact Creatures 2 Blightsteel Colossus Creatures 4 Blade Splicer 3 Grand Abolisher 2 Phantasmal Image 4 Wing Splicer Enchantments 2 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 2 Dismember 4 Mana Leak Planeswalkers 1 Gideon Jura 2 Venser, the Sojourner Sorceries 2 Day of Judgment 4 Ponder 4 Shape Anew Basic Lands 5 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Inkmoth Nexus 4 Seachrome Coast | 3 Stony Silence 3 Divine Offering 3 Mental Misstep 1 Gideon Jura 2 Revoke Existence 3 Timely Reinforcements |
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Bonus Decklists: Top 8 decks from 32-person Elimination Bracket
West Coast Avengers
Tim Landale—Winner
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| U/W Control A Standard deck, by Tim Landale 1st place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifact Creatures 3 Wurmcoil Engine Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx Enchantments 4 Oblivion Ring Instants 3 Dismember 2 Dissipate 4 Mana Leak 3 Think Twice |
Planeswalkers 3 Elspeth Tirel 2 Gideon Jura 2 Karn Liberated Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment 2 Timely Reinforcements Basic Lands 7 Island 8 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Inkmoth Nexus 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Mind Control 3 Mental Misstep 3 Surgical Extraction 1 White Sun's Zenith 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 3 Geist of Saint Traft 1 Jace, Memory Adept 2 Timely Reinforcements |
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Blue-Black Snapcaster
Mitchell Zelmanovich —Finalist
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| U/B Control A Standard deck, by Mitchell Zelmanovich 2nd place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Creatures 2 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Grave Titan 4 Snapcaster Mage Instants 3 Dissipate 3 Doom Blade 4 Forbidden Alchemy 4 Mana Leak 4 Think Twice Planeswalkers 3 Liliana of the Veil |
Sorceries 2 Black Sun's Zenith 3 Despise Basic Lands 9 Island 6 Swamp Lands 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 2 Batterskull 3 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Dismember 1 Doom Blade 3 Mental Misstep 3 Negate 1 Black Sun's Zenith |
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Red Deck Wins
Chris Mascioli—Semifinalist (lost to Zelmanovich)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| Mono Red A Standard deck, by Chris Mascioli 4th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 4 Furnace Scamp 4 Spikeshot Elder 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble Instants 4 Geistflame 4 Incinerate 4 Volt Charge |
Planeswalkers 4 Koth of the Hammer Basic Lands 24 Mountain | 3 Manic Vandal 4 Vulshok Refugee 4 Curse of the Pierced Heart 4 Arc Trail |
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Puss 'N Boots
Jason Imperiale—Semifinalist (lost to Landale)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| White Puresteel A Standard deck, by Jason Imperiale 4th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Flayer Husk 4 Mortarpod 2 Origin Spellbomb 2 Swiftfoot Boots 4 Sword of War and Peace Artifact Creatures 3 Phyrexian Revoker Creatures 4 Mentor of the Meek 3 Mirran Crusader 4 Puresteel Paladin Instants 3 Dispatch |
Legendary Artifacts 3 Mox Opal Legendary Creatures 2 Kemba, Kha Regent Basic Lands 18 Plains Lands 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions 4 Celestial Purge 1 Dispatch 4 Divine Offering 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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Geist-Blade
James Buckingham Quarterfinalist (Lost to Imperiale)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| Bant Destiny A Standard deck, by James Buckingham 8th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 3 Sword of War and Peace Creatures 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Invisible Stalker 4 Mirran Crusader 3 Skinshifter Enchantments 3 Angelic Destiny 2 Oblivion Ring Instants 2 Mana Leak 2 Negate |
Legendary Creatures 4 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Thrun, the Last Troll Basic Lands 7 Forest Lands 4 Hinterland Harbor 1 Moorland Haunt 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Sunpetal Grove | 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Mental Misstep 2 Naturalize 1 Negate 2 Purify the Grave 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Gideon Jura 4 Timely Reinforcements |
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Blue-White Snapcaster
Peter Grube—Quarterfinalist (Lost to Landale)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| U/W Control A Standard deck, by Peter Grube 8th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 1 Batterskull Creatures 1 Consecrated Sphinx 2 Hero of Bladehold 3 Snapcaster Mage 2 Sun Titan Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring Instants 3 Dissipate 4 Mana Leak 2 Negate 4 Think Twice |
Legendary Creatures 3 Geist of Saint Traft Planeswalkers 2 Gideon Jura Sorceries 2 Day of Judgment 2 Timely Reinforcements Basic Lands 6 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Inkmoth Nexus 1 Moorland Haunt 4 Seachrome Coast | 1 Batterskull 1 Hero of Bladehold 3 Mirran Crusader 1 Volition Reins 3 Celestial Purge 1 Divine Offering 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Day of Judgment 1 Timely Reinforcements |
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Tempered Steel
Gerald Freas—Quarterfinalist (Lost to Zelmanovich)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Finals
| Tempered Steel A Standard deck, by Gerald Freas 8th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Glint Hawk Idol 4 Origin Spellbomb 2 Piston Sledge Artifact Creatures 4 Memnite 2 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Signal Pest 4 Spined Thopter 4 Vault Skirge Creatures 2 Glint Hawk Enchantments 4 Tempered Steel |
Instants 4 Dispatch Legendary Artifacts 3 Mox Opal Basic Lands 15 Plains Lands 4 Inkmoth Nexus | 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 2 Phyrexian Revoker 2 Hero of Bladehold 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Divine Offering 2 Revoke Existence 2 Contested War Zone |
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Red Deck Runs
Andrey Mayer—Quarterfinalist (Lost to Mascioli)
MTGGrudgeMatch Standard Swiss Qualifier
| Wolf Run Red A Standard deck, by Andrey Mayer 8th place at a Grudge Match tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 2011-10-02 | ||
Artifacts 4 Shrine of Burning Rage Creatures 2 Chandra's Phoenix 4 Furnace Scamp 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Reckless Waif 4 Stormblood Berserker 4 Stromkirk Noble Instants 4 Brimstone Volley 3 Volt Charge |
Planeswalkers 2 Koth of the Hammer Sorceries 3 Arc Trail Basic Lands 14 Mountain Lands 4 Copperline Gorge 3 Kessig Wolf Run 3 Rootbound Crag | 2 Chandra's Phoenix 2 Hero of Oxid Ridge 4 Vulshok Refugee 4 Ancient Grudge 1 Koth of the Hammer 2 Traitorous Blood |
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