This entire year has been a blast. Traveling around the US, hanging out with awesome people, and battling Magic non-stop. Recently I had the pleasure of back-to-back-to-back trips with Kansas City, Vegas, and Grand Prix San Diego. Easily the most insane series of events I've attended this in 2011, and here are some highlights.

• A week with the One and Only Tim Aten
• Adam Boyd winning the Kansas City Standard Open
• Halloween with Ryan O'Connor's family
• Adam Boyd wearing a giant Teletubbie costume and scaring children
• Impromptu dance party (AJ Sacher can do a pretty mean moonwalk, btw)
• Three weeks with the One and Only AJ Sacher
• Some couple yelling and cursing at each other about getting a divorce on the plane, then making out under a coat for the last half of the flight
• Hanging out with Christian Keeth, Cedric Phillips, Patrick Sullivan, and AJ's awesome sister Sam in Las Vegas
• Watching Cedric double down on a 14 (“Bet me I won't!”)
• Korean BBQ, Sushi, and Trampolines...all you can eat!
• A weekend with Patrick Sullivan at his sicko condo with Justin Gary
• Drafting on a big screen at Kibler's condo, and he wasn't even there!

As you can see, these three weeks were pretty insane, and that's not even taking into account that I played in four Opens, a Grand Prix, and a PTQ. I've played a lot of Magic recently, over a myriad of formats. We've got a lot to go over, so let's jump right in.

Sealed/Draft

Coming into GP San Diego, I had done quite a few drafts and sealed decks on MODO. I even recently lost in the finals of a PTQ in Kansas City—boy, Delver of Secrets is a helluva card. Draft and Sealed are both completely different monsters with Innistrad. The draft format is very aggressive for the most part, with lots of cheap and efficient creatures backed by removal and common bombs like Travel Preparations. The only real control deck is aiming to mill themselves and win with cards like Spider Spawning and Burning Vengeance.

The archetype I have had the most success with in draft has been a U/W tempo-based deck. Efficient curves with lots of fliers allow you to take advantage of Feeling of Dread and race most decks. The most important card for me so far has been Silent Departure. The effect this card has on the game is just unreal: bouncing two creatures so you can swing for the game, delaying their bomb two turns so you can find an answer or race them, even bouncing your bomb that is stuck with a case of Claustrophobia. You don't even have to cast it the second time for it to affect the game, as just having it in your graveyard will make your opponent play accordingly. Silent Departure definitely has my vote for best common.

Sealed is a slower format, more based on accruing incremental advantage. There are exceptions, like always. There is going to be the guy with three Travel Preparations, Gavony Township, Mayor of Avabruck, and Champion of the Parish, but for the most part you are maneuvering your way through the game towards a converging point where you both have played bombs and answers and one player just outplays the other. It's the passes without attacks into their Rebuke, the sandbagged Blazing Torch to kill their creature, or them—these are the plays that give you the incremental advantage that wins the games. These types of plays are also important in draft as well, but to me it feels like the draft decks are so much more streamlined that there are less opportunities.

Standard

In Kansas City, I played Neo-Flare and did poorly. The deck felt fine, but in the wake of Grand Prix Brisbane and the results from the Kansas City Open, we needed to go in a new direction. Cards like Moorland Haunt and planeswalkers backed with Mirran Crusader were getting popular and tough to deal with for Flare. For Vegas, we decided we were going to play Juza's deck from the GP with a few minor changes.

G/W Tokens A Standard deck, by Chris VanMeter 37th place at a StarCityGames.com Standard Open tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 2011-12-04 As reported at http://www.starcitygames.com/events/20111106_lasvegas.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 2 Mortarpod Creatures 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Blade Splicer 1 Geist-Honored Monk 4 Hero of Bladehold 4 Mirran Crusader Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring Legendary Creatures 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 2 Mikaeus, the Lunarch	Planeswalkers 3 Elspeth Tirel 3 Garruk Relentless Sorceries 2 Overrun Basic Lands 8 Forest 4 Plains Lands 4 Gavony Township 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Sunpetal Grove	Sideboard: 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Sword of War and Peace 1 Fiend Hunter 1 Oblivion Ring 2 Celestial Purge 2 Naturalize 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 2 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Garruk Relentless 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
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The only change we made was to swap one Overrun for a maindeck Elesh Norn. In theory it was great, as we imagined the mirror and the U/W decks would be grindy, attrition-centric matchups, when in reality it was completely wrong. Just about every matchup focuses on tempo. Curving out right and playing the right spells at the right time is key, not to mention she is seven mana. We really shouldn't even be sideboarding one in without a twenty-fifth land.

With the way the format is changing, the deck has some glaring problems. Your mana creatures are extremely important to your game plan. This becomes a liability with the copious amount of Gut Shot being played currently. In fact, two of the three matches I lost in Vegas were to Gut Shots on my turn 1 mana creature, and losing too much tempo.

In addition to this, you have Mirran Crusader. This guy is the main reason to be playing a deck like this right now, but times are changing. U/B control is on the downswing, and Wolf Run decks are either packing Day of Judgment or just slamming Inferno Titans on you and laughing. There are also a whole slew of U/R decks that are coming, now that everyone is realizing the power of Desperate Ravings, not to mention how popular the Illusions deck is becoming—and they even play Gut Shot. In a world of Dungrove Elders and Unburial Rites, you want to be on Mirran Crusaders, but this isn't that world anymore.

If you do plan on playing Tokens moving forward, I would highly suggest another land, a third Mortarpod (cutting Mikaeus), maxing on Blade Splicers and playing some Swords in the maindeck. Township itself is such a powerful card we should still keep it on our mind, but for now I wouldn't recommend this for anything other than FNM.

For the St. Louis Open, I am looking at either a U/R deck or a Grixis deck akin to Chapin's brew from Worlds. Desperate Ravings is the future, and after playing with the card I am more than happy to surrender to my new "blue” overlord.

Olivia is much better than I would have imagined, but I kind of feel like the mana is tough trying to play her. I also feel like I'd rather be more “all-in” on Snapcaster Mage.

For U/R, I am leaning towards something like this, a la Patrick Sullivan.

U/R Tempo Featured by Patrick Sullivan on 2011-11-20 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/23132.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Grim Lavamancer 1 Inferno Titan 4 Snapcaster Mage Instants 3 Brimstone Volley 4 Desperate Ravings 2 Dismember 2 Gut Shot 2 Incinerate 4 Mana Leak 2 Shock	Sorceries 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Ponder Basic Lands 12 Island 4 Mountain Lands 1 Shimmering Grotto 4 Sulfur Falls	Sideboard: 4 Shrine of Burning Rage 2 Dissipate 3 Flashfreeze 2 Negate 4 Arc Trail
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Patrick is definitely on the right track, fixing the mana by cutting Stromkirk Noble and Chandra's Phoenix. This deck is very good at taking advantage of Snapcaster Mage, which is the main reason for diversifying the removal in the main. If this is the type of deck you are interested in playing, I would highly recommend Patrick's article on it.

There has already been a lot said about just how good Desperate Ravings is, so I won't get very deep into it…but I will say that it is just as good as everyone is saying it is. Probably even better! There are still two more sets potentially with flashback spells, and “graveyard matters” is a thing. Screwed and need land, Ravings. Flooded and need spells, sandbag lands and Ravings.

I will definitely be playing something with Ravings in it for St. Louis.

We also have a new Wolf Run deck to worry about. The winning deck from Worlds is quite the innovation, at least for that particular tournament. The Galvanic Blasts and the Slagstorms were a perfect read on the meta for Worlds, but it's the use of eight Titans that I am more excited about. In a world where Slagstorm is good, how can Inferno Titan not be? Taking a line from the Wolf Run Robot deck that Corbett Gray used to land himself in the Top 4 of the Las Vegas Open, Iyanaga goes all-in on the 2-4-6 curve. Rampant Growth, Sphere of the Suns, or Green Sun's Zenith on turn 2 allows you to cast Solemn or another two-mana ramp spell on turn 3, leading to a turn 4 Titan. In Corbett's deck, he used Palladium Myr as one of the “ramp spells” to put him at seven mana on turn 4 and make his Green Sun's Zenith's live. Iyanaga decided to bypass the mediocre Myr and just play a set of Inferno Titans!

Wolf Run Ramp A Standard deck, by Junya Iyanaga 1st place at a Worlds tournament in San Francisco, California, United States on 2011-11-20 Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 4 Sphere of the Suns Artifact Creatures 4 Solemn Simulacrum Creatures 1 Birds of Paradise 4 Inferno Titan 4 Primeval Titan	Instants 4 Galvanic Blast 1 Shock Legendary Creatures 1 Thrun, the Last Troll Sorceries 2 Devil's Play 2 Green Sun's Zenith 4 Rampant Growth 3 Slagstorm Basic Lands 5 Forest 6 Mountain Lands 4 Copperline Gorge 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Kessig Wolf Run 4 Rootbound Crag	Sideboard: 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Tree of Redemption 1 Viridian Corrupter 2 Ancient Grudge 4 Autumn's Veil 1 Beast Within 2 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Slagstorm
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This is the future of the ramp decks. Adding Sphere of the Suns into the mix also allows you to play other colors in your sideboard, opening up a whole new world of tech. Moving forward, you can probably shave some of the one-mana burn spells, but I still like Devil's Play.

Love it or hate it, Primeval Titan and friends are still here and still very good.

Legacy

Now we get to talk about my favorite format. As you all know, I am quite the Brainstorm lover. Whether it's making sure I don't flip a Tombstalker to my Bob or using them to find Stoneforge Mystics, I am all about some Brainstorm—and Vegas wasn't any different. Here's the Bant list I sleeved up.

Bant A Legacy deck, by Chris VanMeter 19th place at a StarCityGames.com Standard Open tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 2011-12-04 As reported at http://www.starcitygames.com/events/20111106_lasvegas.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 2 Knight of the Reliquary 4 Noble Hierarch 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Scavenging Ooze 2 Snapcaster Mage 3 Tarmogoyf Instants 4 Brainstorm 3 Force of Will 3 Spell Snare 4 Swords to Plowshares Legendary Creatures 3 Vendilion Clique Planeswalkers 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor	Sorceries 4 Green Sun's Zenith Basic Lands 1 Forest 1 Island Lands 2 Flooded Strand 4 Misty Rainforest 1 Savannah 3 Tropical Island 3 Tundra 2 Wasteland 2 Windswept Heath Land Creatures 2 Dryad Arbor Legendary Lands 1 Karakas	Sideboard: 1 Phantasmal Image 1 Snapcaster Mage 1 Force of Will 3 Krosan Grip 4 Path to Exile 2 Purify the Grave 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1 Bojuka Bog
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On the plane ride to Vegas, AJ and I were "brainstorming" and came up with the idea that all of the RUG decks were weak to Bant strategies. We also wanted to play Spell Snare and more controlling cards over the Stoneforge package that was popular. We knew that we wanted to be jamming Elspeths, since we had even moved one to the main in our Stoneforge iterations in Kansas City, and she was simply amazing. I even let Alex Bertoncini in on the secret before the tournament, and he kept coming over and thanking me all day.

The deck was great, and I played poorly. I was 5-0-1 going into the seventh round of the tournament, needing to win just one of the next two to make Top 8. I ended up drawing on camera against Goblins, making some of the biggest “bonehead” mistakes I ever have, and then losing to a nice guy playing G/W Maverick in Round 8.

I would still recommend this deck, but it does need some changes. You want a Maze of Ith somewhere in the seventy-five, and probably a third Knight of the Reliquary. I'd also find room for a Scryb Ranger. The Elspeths were so good that I wanted a third somewhere, possibly over the third Jace in the board. In a battle against Jace, Elspeth is going to win most fights, if not all of them.

For St. Louis, I will probably be back on a U/W Stoneforge deck with Elspeths in the main—she really is that good! I still feel like there is a lot of room to explore the format with Snapcaster Mage. Being able to cast your good spells twice and with a 2/1 body attached really does make him one of the best cards in the format, and we've only seen the tip of the iceberg with Brainstorm and Swords to Plowshares. I want to flashback Berserk, and Price of Progress, and Intuition, but those might have to wait for another time.

Here's a Stoneforge list I am thinking about for St. Louis.

U/W Stoneblade Featured by Chris VanMeter on 2011-12-04 (Legacy) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/23192.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Batterskull 1 Sword of Feast and Famine Creatures 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Spellstutter Sprite 4 Stoneforge Mystic Instants 4 Brainstorm 2 Counterspell 4 Force of Will 4 Spell Snare 4 Swords to Plowshares Legendary Creatures 2 Vendilion Clique	Planeswalkers 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Basic Lands 4 Island 1 Plains Lands 4 Flooded Strand 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Mutavault 2 Riptide Laboratory 4 Tundra 2 Wasteland Legendary Lands 1 Karakas	Sideboard: 1 Crucible Of Worlds 4 Path to Exile 3 Purify the Grave 2 Spell Pierce 1 Umezawa's Jitte 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Wrath of God 1 Wasteland
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The big difference with this list is mainly in the sideboard. Having the twenty-fifth land to board in against other control decks, or decks trying to Wasteland you out of the game, is something I've wanted for a while. Since it is a Wasteland, you can also bring it in along with the Crucible against RUG tempo decks. Most of them run eighteen land and no basics, which makes Wasteland good and Crucible game over. David Ochoa had a Crucible in his maindeck at Worlds, but I'd rather have an Elspeth.

As the season is about to come to an end, I am looking forward to St. Louis. I've met a lot of awesome people this year, and am thankful for everything that I've learned from my peers. I plan on continuing to get better, learning more every day, and I can't wait to battle again.

There are only two Open Series weekends left this season, and I plan on finishing strong and holding onto my lead for StarCityGames.com Open Series Rookie of the Year!

See you in St. Louis!

<3 CVM