Decks of the Week: Feb. 25

by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-02-25 10:58:00
tagged: WOTC, MTG, Magic, Wizards, Wizards of the Coast, Magic the Gathering, Decks of the Week, DOTW, DailyMTG

Pro Tour-San Diego is in the books, making this week's Decks of the Week on DailyMTG.com a particularly interesting installment. Instead of just focusing on the PTQ format, we're bringing you some of the cooler Standard decks too. But first, check out this little number for PTQ San Juan:

 

 

Kyle Eck

Top 8, Extended Pro Tour Qualifier at Pro Tour–San Diego

 2  Arid Mesa

3  Forest

3  Ghost Quarter

4  Misty Rainforest

2  Plains

1  Sejiri Steppe

2  Stirring Wildwood

4  Temple Garden

2  Wooded Bastion

 

4  Aven Mindcensor

3  Gaddock Teeg

4  Kitchen Finks

3  Knight of the Reliquary

2  Loxodon Hierarch

4  Noble Hierarch

4  Qasali Pridemage

3  Samurai of the Pale Curtain

 

3  Otherworldly Journey

4  Path to Exile

3  Umezawa's Jitte

 

Sideboard:

3  Baneslayer Angel

1  Bojuka Bog

3  Celestial Purge

2  Ethersworn Canonist

3  Great Sable Stag

3  Rule of Law

 

With the PTQ season dragging on into its X month, where X > 2, Extended is pretty much a solved format. But Kyle Eck is doing a good job of keeping up the good fight. Using plain ole' GW goodstuff, the player netted a Top 8 at a recent PTQ. The deck is actually kind of reminiscent of Spirit Stompy from Rashad Miller an Extended season or two back. It relied on green and white cards to overwhelm a format unprepared to deal with them. It also had a Tallowisp engine. Kyle's deck doesn't rely on the 1/3, but every season it seems some type of white-based Good Stuff deck blows a hole straight into an unassuming metagame. Looks like this year it's Kyle's deck's turn.

 

Zvi Mowshowitz

1st Place, Standard Public Event at Pro Tour-San Diego

 

4  Celestial Colonnade

6  Forest

2  Island

4  Misty Rainforest

1  Plains

1  Sejiri Steppe

3  Stirring Wildwood

2  Sunpetal Grove

4  Verdant Catacombs

 

4  Baneslayer Angel

4  Birds of Paradise

4  Knight of the Reliquary

4  Lotus Cobra

4  Noble Hierarch

3  Rafiq of the Many

2  Rampaging Baloths

4  Rhox War Monk

1  Thornling

3  Finest Hour

 

Sideboard:

2  Admonition Angel

3  Bant Charm

1  Day of Judgment

2  Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4  Mind Control

3  Negate

 

Zvi Mowshowitz played what he called "Mythic Bant" at Pro Tour-San Diego, but failed to make Day 2 with it (though his testing mates Gaudenis Vidugiris and Sam Black did). The Hall of Famer wasn't content to just wander off and not win ANYTHING with the deck, taking it instead to a Public Event for a Kindle device and ripping off the straight wins to take the whole thing down. For a deck tech with Zvi on the deck from Top8Magic.com, visit this link. You can also scope out our half hour long interview with Zvi here.

 

Joe Gabbard

7th Place, Standard Public Event at Pro Tour-San Diego

 

18  Forest

2  Khalni Garden

4  Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

 

4  Birds of Paradise

4  Elvish Visionary

3  Leatherback Baloth

4  Lotus Cobra

2  Omnath, Locus of Mana

3  Wolfbriar Elemental

 

3  Bestial Menace

3  Explore

4  Garruk Wildspeaker

4  Gigantiform

2  Overrun

 

Sideboard:

4  Fog

4  River Boa

4  Slingbow Trap

3  Vines of Vastwood

 

Joe Gabbard also made the Top 8 of the Kindle public event with a fascinating Monogreen deck. Sure Joe Gabbs had Omnath, but check out Leatherback Baloth, Khalni Garden, Overrun, and Gigantiform. Is this deck a Standard secret? Or was the Top 8 just a fluke? I'm hoping it's the former, because this deck seems fun as hell to play. Interested to know what the Slingbow Trap in the sideboard is for. It seems like most of the format's biggest flying threats, like Iona, and Sphinx of Jwar Isle, are immune to the card (assuming, of course, your opponent selects "green" when they hit Iona).

 

Leviticus McNeese

8th Place, Standard Public Event at Pro Tour-San Diego

 

4  Arid Mesa

14  Mountain

4  Scalding Tarn

2  Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

 

1  Banefire

4  Burst Lightning

2  Comet Storm

4  Earthquake

3  Font of Mythos

4  Howling Mine

4  Lightning Bolt

4  Pyroclasm

3  Pyromancer Ascension

3  Runeflare Trap

4  Searing Blaze

 

Sideboard:

4  Demolish

4  Dragon's Claw

2  Goblin Ruinblaster

2  Lavaball Trap

3  Volcanic Fallout

 

The final deck from the Kindle event is Leviticus McNeese. I'm a huge fan of any deck with Howling Mine, and Leviticus is essentially running an updated Owling Mine list. Use lots of burn, keep your hand stocked with the howlers (including Font of Mythos!) and blow them out with Runeflare Trap whenever possible. This is a deck I can get behind, though it seems a bit weak to artifact removal like Maelstrom Pulse.

 

Luis Scott-Vargas, 30 points

Pro Tour–San Diego 2010, Standard

 

4  Arid Mesa

5  Forest

3  Misty Rainforest

2  Mountain

2  Plains

1  Raging Ravine

1  Rootbound Crag

1  Sejiri Steppe

2  Stirring Wildwood

1  Tectonic Edge

2  Terramorphic Expanse

 

2  Birds of Paradise

4  Bloodbraid Elf

4  Knight of the Reliquary

4  Noble Hierarch

4  Ranger of Eos

1  Scute Mob

2  Stoneforge Mystic

4  Wild Nacatl

 

2  Ajani Vengeant

1  Basilisk Collar

1  Behemoth Sledge

1  Elspeth, Knight-Errant

3  Lightning Bolt

2  Oblivion Ring

1  Path to Exile

 

Sideboard:

2  Baneslayer Angel

1  Basilisk Collar

1  Behemoth Sledge

4  Cunning Sparkmage

2  Dauntless Escort

1  Goblin Guide

2  Manabarbs

1  Oblivion Ring

1  Stoneforge Mystic

 

On to the Pro Tour! Luis Scott-Vargas was one of the biggest stories of the weekend, finishing 17-0 before finally being felled by eventual champion Simon Goertzen in the Semifinals. The Standard list that got him that far was a Zoo build created by Louisiana state champ and former PT Top 8er Tom "The Boss" Ross. The hottest tech comes from the sideboard, where Cunning Sparkmage + Basilisk Collar = all creatures dead. Stoneforge Mystic helps to ensure the combo always comes together. Overall this is a very exciting addition to the Standard gauntlet (pro players playing beatdown!), and the deck's overall winning percentage on the weekend was absurd (LSV finished 3rd, while Ross himself was 9th). Read LSV's article on Pro Tour-San Diego here.

 

Patrick Chapin, 25 points

Pro Tour-San Diego 2010, Standard

 

2  Arid Mesa

4  Celestial Colonnade

4  Glacial Fortress

4  Halimar Depths

3  Island

4  Plains

1  Scalding Tarn

4  Tectonic Edge

 

1  Iona, Shield of Emeria

4  Cancel

1  Celestial Purge

3  Day of Judgment

2  Essence Scatter

4  Everflowing Chalice

2  Flashfreeze

4  Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2  Martial Coup

2  Mind Spring

1  Negate

3  Oblivion Ring

1  Path to Exile

4  Treasure Hunt

 

Sideboard:

3  Baneslayer Angel

1  Elspeth, Knight-Errant

1  Essence Scatter

2  Flashfreeze

3  Kor Firewalker

1  Mind Control

2  Negate

1  Perimeter Captain

1  Plains

 

The 2009 Pro Tour season was rough on Patrick Chapin, who didn't live up to his promise following his Top 8 at Worlds the year before. His 14th place performance in San Diego has loudly declared him to be back in business. And the deck he took to do it? Blue-White Control, an archetype he is famous for loving. But the deck's overall performance was fantastic, even beyond Pat's 14th place finish. Gabriel Nassif, who played the deck and ended Day 1 at 8-0, and Mark Herberholz all did well with the same deck. In fact, consider the reality of Pat's performance: he went 3-3 in the Draft, and STILL managed a 14th place finish based on the power of his Standard decklist. On top of the Pro Tour success, Chapin wrote one of the best articles of his career covering the deck for StarCityGames.com. You can find that article here.

 

Craig Wescoe, 24 points

Pro Tour–San Diego 2010, Standard

 

4  Arid Mesa

4  Dread Statuary

1  Emeria, the Sky Ruin

4  Marsh Flats

12  Plains

 

4  Kor Firewalker

4  Kor Skyfisher

4  Steppe Lynx

4  Stoneforge Mystic

4  White Knight

 

1  Basilisk Collar

2  Day of Judgment

4  Elspeth, Knight-Errant

2  Oblivion Ring

4  Path to Exile

1  Sigil of Distinction

1  Trusty Machete

 

Sideboard:

2  Day of Judgment

4  Devout Lightcaster

3  Kor Sanctifiers

2  Luminarch Ascension

2  Oblivion Ring

2  Relic of Progenitus

 

At the first Pro Tour of 2009, Kyoto, a Rust Belt American made the Top 8 playing White Weenie. His name? Cedric Phillips. This year, it was Craig Wescoe following that plan. While his version was not Kithkin-based, for obvious reasons, he did manage to be the highest finishing beatdown deck in the Top 8 (depending on how you classify Jund). For more comparisons between Pro Tour-Kyoto and Pro Tour-San Diego, check out our article here. 

 

Niels Viaene, 22 points

Pro Tour–San Diego 2010, Standard

 

2  Celestial Colonnade

4  Glacial Fortress

4  Island

2  Kabira Crossroads

2  Marsh Flats

3  Plains

1  Swamp

2  Terramorphic Expanse

 

4  Architects of Will

4  Filigree Angel

4  Glassdust Hulk

1  Sharuum the Hegemon

4  Sphinx of Lost Truths

 

3  Courier's Capsule

3  Day of Judgment

2  Fieldmist Borderpost

2  Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2  Journey to Nowhere

1  Mistvein Borderpost

3  Oblivion Ring

4  Open the Vaults

4  Spreading Seas

 

Sideboard:

1  Day of Judgment

3  Flashfreeze

2  Hindering Light

1  Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2  Journey to Nowhere

4  Negate

1  Oblivion Ring

1  Sanguine Bond

 

Last, but certainly not least, Niels Viaene's Open the Vaults Control deck was one of the hottest builds from the Top 8. Luis Scott-Vargas was troubled about the possibility of facing the deck, and Niels himself felt he was favored against most of the Top 8 save for a single Monored deck. A single deckbuilding flaw kept him out of the Semifinals as his mana stumbles in three games revealed why he shouldn't have skimped on his manabase. A low 23 lands for a 61 card deck with six and seven drops it hopes to cast was simply too much. However, by cutting the Jace's from the maindeck and skimming one or two other cards you can create a powerful "fixed" version with sufficient lands to shore the deck up where it was weak in the Top 8. Find a deck tech with Niels from Deckbuilders here. You can check out our interview with Niels here.

 

Read this week's installment of Decks of the Week on DailyMTG.com here.

 

Share your thoughts on these decks and more through the forum link below!

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