Whether or not you like B&R list debates in Type One, this last one was more like hammer to the forebrain than a regular old discussion. I think at one point roughly ten different restriction debate threads were open in maybe four different forums on TMD. It was so insane that TMD owner Steve O'Connell said it “convinced [him] that certain people need knuckles broken so they can no longer type.” Regardless of what you thought of it or the policies that were just announced, though, it’s worth noting that a lot of the discussion was very sophisticated and insightful. I was impressed, most of the time.
Behind the scenes of the debate, though, Steve Menendian was typing even faster than he was in public. And part of it was devoted to making suggestions concerning the structure and presentation of my data. Since this debate was arguably at least as intense as November 2003 (when Mr. Menendian had unleashed Burning Desire on the format), and probably moreso, lots of people were flailing around looking for support for their contentions. Unlike that past incident, which happened before I started my articles, this time there was a concentrated supply of data besides morphling.de’s deck database. I got cited all over the place, and a lot of people improvised their own data where they didn’t feel mine was adequate. So I had direct feedback from Steve, and indirect feedback seeing what people substituted themselves and what they used most accurately. As a result, I’ve tried to overhaul my presentation to give you as much information as you can handle.
(1) What’s Winning? (detailed Top 8s in Appendix 2)
11 events totaled, 50-player minimum
(53,54,66,70,73,77,78,91,99,126,136 players; 83.9 average)
10 Trinistax (1,1,1,1,3,3,4,7,8,8)
10 TPS (1,1,2,2,2,3,3,5,8,8)
7 Mud / Welder Mud* (1,2,4,4,4,6,7)
7 Control Slaver (2,3,5,5,5,7,7)
7 Landstill (2,2,2,3,4,7,7)
7 Oath of Druids (3,3,5,5,6,6,6)
5 Dragon (2,4,7,7,8)
5 4C Control (3,4,4,7,8)
5 Fish (5,5,7,8,8)
4 Psychatog (1,6,6,6)
4 Workshop Slaver (1,5,8,8)
3 Rector Tendrils (2,3,4)
2 5/3** (2,5)
2 Salvagers (6,6)
1 Food Chain Goblins (1)
1 Vengeur Masque (1)
1 U/G Threshold (3)
1 3C Control*** (4)
1 Transmute 7/10 (4)
1 White Weenie (5)
1 Bazaar-Workshop (6)
1 Sensei, Sensei (6)
1 Sligh (6)
1 Affinity (8)
* : 2 Mud, 5 Welder Mud
** : Formerly listed as Stacker. You win this time, TMD naming conventions!
*** : Formerly known as the confusing “Eon Blue Apocalypse” or EBA.
One of the changes that Steve suggested (and this wasn’t the first time he did so) was a higher cutoff for including events, like 100 players. The first and most important reason I don’t do this is that there would be almost no data. I would be looking at two Top 8s instead of eleven. There would be nothing from Southern Europe, the most fertile source of large tournaments in the format. Even at 75 players, I would be cutting the number of events in half. The 50-99 player events are not noticeably worse than the largest ones, though during the B&R debate I did uncover that there was a correlation between higher player counts and more Welders, at the least. Ideally, we’d have infinitely large events with a random sampling of player skill and deck preference (or a set of perfect Spikes), and they’d give us laboratory-verifiable data. But we can’t, so I’ll stick to the compromise cutoff of 50 players.
Metagame Occurrence (by percentage of all T8 decks)
(Decks appearing once or twice in the course of 14 months are generally excluded.)
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_2.5, _0.0, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0 3C Control
12.5, 10.0, _9.7, _9.7, 14.6, 19.6, _9.7, _7.5, 10.9, _1.3, _1.3, _5.7 4C Control
_2.5, _2.5, _2.8, _4.2, _6.3, _1.8, _1.4, _7.5, _7.8, 10.0, _7.5, _8.0 Control Slaver
_2.5, _5.0, _0.0, _1.4, _6.3, _5.4, _2.8, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 GAT
_7.5, 12.5, 12.5, _8.5, 10.4, 10.7, _8.3, _2.5, _9.4, _5.0, 12.5, _4.6 Hulk Smash
_5.0, _2.5, _2.8, _4.2, _4.2, _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _6.3, _1.3, _2.5, _8.0 Landstill
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.4, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _5.0, _6.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Monoblue
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, 12.5, 12.5, _8.0 Oath of Druids
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0 Salvagers
_0.0, _2.5, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 SuperGro
_2.5, _0.0, _1.4, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 U/rPhid
35.0, 35.0, 33.4, 30.8, 43.9, 39.3, 25.0, 25.0, 40.7, 32.4, 38.8, 34.3 TOTAL Drain archetypes*
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_2.5, _5.0, _4.2, _8.5, _8.3, _8.9, 11.1, 15.0, 12.5, _5.0, 13.8, 11.4 TPS
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _1.3, _0.0 Doomsday
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _1.6, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 DeathLong
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0 Meandeck Tendrils
_0.0, _0.0, _2.8, _1.4, _2.1, _5.4, _1.4, _2.5, _0.0, _2.6, _0.0, _0.0 Belcher
_0.0, 12.5, _5.6, _4.2, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0 Rector
_2.5, 17.5, 12.6, 14.1, 12.5, 14.3, 12.5, 20.0, 14.1, _8.9, 17.7, 11.4 TOTAL Ritual Archetypes
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_7.5, _5.0, _2.8, _1.4, _2.1, _7.2, _2.8, 12.5, _6.3, 10.0, _1.3, _2.2 5/3
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.1, _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0 7/10 Split
_2.5, _2.5, _1.4, _2.8, _2.1, _0.0, 13.9, _2.5, _6.3, _7.5, _6.3, _8.0 MUD / wMUD
_7.5, _7.5, _2.8, _4.2, _2.1, _3.6, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, 10.0, 10.0, 11.4 Stax
_5.0, _5.0, _2.8, _5.6, _4.2, _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0 TnT
_2.5, _2.5, _1.4, _5.6, _2.1, _3.6, _4.2, _2.5, _1.6, _0.0, _1.3, _4.6 Workshop Slaver
25.0, 22.5, 11.2, 19.6, 14.7, 18.0, 27.8, 32.5, 18.9, 30.2, 21.4, 26.2 TOTAL Workshop Archetypes
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
12.5, _7.5, _2.8, _4.2, _6.3, _5.4, _6.9, _0.0, _4.7, _3.8, _0.0, _0.0 Bazaar Madness
_2.5, _5.0, _5.6, _6.9, _4.2, _8.9, _5.6, _2.5, _6.3, _6.3, _6.3, _5.7 Dragon
_5.0, _0.0, _1.4, _0.0, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.6, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Oshawa Stompy**
_0.0, _2.5, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 MadDragon
20.0, 15.0, 12.6, 11.1, 12.6, 14.3, 12.5, _2.5, 12.6, 10.1, _6.3, _5.7 TOTAL Bazaar Archetypes
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_2.5, _0.0, _5.6, _2.8, _6.3, _0.0, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, _3.8, _1.3, _5.7 Fish
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0 Kiodo CounterBurn
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 U/G Madness
_2.5, _0.0, _5.6, _2.8, _8.4, _0.0, _9.7, 12.5, _4.7, _5.1, _1.3, _5.7 TOTAL Null Rod Archetypes
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_5.0, _5.0, _5.6, _1.4, _4.2, _7.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.8, _2.5, _1.1 FCG / Gobvantage
_0.0, _2.5, _2.8, _4.2, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _1.1 Vengeur Masque
_5.0, _2.5, _1.4, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Goblin Sligh
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _4.2, _0.0, _5.4, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _1.1 Affinity
_0.0, _0.0, _2.8, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.1 Sligh
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Modular
_2.5, _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _1.3, _0.0 R/G Beatz
12.5, 10.0, 15.4, 16.8, _8.4, 14.4, _5.6, _0.0, _3.1, _7.7, _3.8, _4.4 TOTAL Other Archetypes
* : Just because the archetypes are defined by a card doesn’t mean all of them played it. The numbers for the engine cards like Mana Drain will be lower than the archetype numbers would predict, due to various things like budgetized decklists (Landstill has historically been prone to this), and a 4CC decklist unaccounted for in June. Occasionally there’s an “error” in the opposite direction, for example when Richard Mattiuzzo a.k.a. Shockwave Top 8ed with a deck based on both Workshop and Drain. And don’t even get me started on Workshops from Belcher sideboards. I checked into it a bit when Steve asked, and even where there’s a discrepancy between the archetypes and the actual Drain counts, they are both still accurate. *pats self on back*
** : Oshawa Stompy is both Bazaar of Baghdad and Null Rod, but I think Bazaar is most clearly the power card here. If I counted it for both, I’d have to take David Morale’ innovative use of Null Rod in a monobrown Stacker deck, too, and that just wouldn’t make any sense.
I would just like to issue forth a giant “OH, SNAP!” concerning this information, and a cautionary statement: things are not as they appear. If you go by this table, Mana Drain, Dark Ritual, and Mishra’s Workshop archetypes have only fluctuated mildly for the entire year of 2004. So, in the mighty world-mocking habit of Type One godfather Darren Di Battista a.k.a. Azhrei, are we all a bunch of drama chicks on a synchronized menstrual cycle, or is the periodic (and periodically constant) whining of Type One players actually based in some kind of change in the metagame?
Well the numbers do reveal some changes. Bazaar and Other archetypes have declined over 2004. Workshops have swung upward, but contrary to popular understanding the lowest ebb for them was in between the release of Trinisphere and the release of Crucible.* Mana Drain’s lowest moment was also the summer months immediately following Crucible’s release (including the 24-Welder GenCon Championship). But these fluctuations are relatively minor, temporary, and expose no broad trend of disastrous change.
* : In Vintage, we don’t refer to expansion set releases, we refer to the card that mattered most from that set. It’s a subtle way of discouraging people from looking back too closely at our predictions of what would be good from the set, because that would be embarrassing.** The More You Know!(tm)
** : We have always been at war with East Asia.
I decided that maybe what’s happening is strictly North American change. Northern Europe has started to follow many changes in the US, but still has a relatively stable mix overall; it’s just a matter of which control deck and which combo deck they’re playing at the time (I frequently see sudden changes, like the one from 4CC to Oath of Druids). Southern Europe (Italy and Spain) are very stable, with periodic evolutions such as the decline of Bazaar Madness in the face of things like Oath of Druids. North America, though, is the source of most online discussion. (At least, discussion visible to the overall community – only the Italians, Dutchies, Germans, etc. know what’s posted in their own languages.) That also means that they’re the source of most of the whining, so maybe they’re not delusional. Let’s see!
North American Tournaments Only (by percentage)
(number of events by month: 1,1,4*,1,1,3,1,3,4,2,3,1)
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
50.0, 50.0, 31.3, 50.0, 37.5, 45.8, 50.0, 29.2, 43.8, 43.8, 54.2, 50.0 Mana Drain Archetypes
25.0, 25.0, 12.5, 12.5, _0.0, 29.2, 12.5, 29.2, 21.9, 43.8, 20.8, 25.0 Workshop Archetypes
_0.0, _0.0, _6.3, _0.0, _0.0, 12.5, _0.0, 16.7, 12.5, _6.3, 16.7, _0.0 Dark Ritual Archetypes
25.0, 25.0, 12.5, 12.5, 12.5, _4.2, _0.0, _4.2, _9.4, _0.0, _4.2, 12.5 Bazaar of Baghdad Archetypes
_0.0, _0.0, _9.4, 25.0, 37.5, _0.0, 37.5, 16.7, _9.4, _6.3, _0.0, 12.5 Null Rod Archetypes
_0.0, _0.0, 28.1, _0.0, 12.5, _8.3, _0.0, _4.2, _3.1, _0.0, _4.2, _0.0 Other Archetypes
* : One March Workshop deck powered… Vengeur Masque. Just thought I’d point out again that any surface evaluation leaves a lot hidden to the casual observer.
That doesn’t even tell the other half of the story. A year ago, the Workshop decks flying around were TnT and Workshop Slaver. As the summer began, there was a small shift to 7/10 Split and even *gasp* a Trinistax deck. Belcher started appearing. But Workshop Slaver was still debateably state of the art, and the last devotees of TnT were still holding on. Stacker decks (distinguished from 7/10 by increased creature count, and including Trinisphere usually in the maindeck, as well as not packing multiple Sundering Titan) as unthreatening as Eric Miller’s “The Man Show” appeared.
Then there’s the other interesting story: even when Trinistax does appear, it tends to be from further away, like Seattle.* The more New England-proximate events, including the sometimes unfashionable Minnesota ones, play either no Workshops or only the aggro-leaning versions. Even at the archetype level, the change isn’t very intense: just a little more Stax, continued use of Juggernauts. The only sea change as far as I can tell is Trinisphere and then Crucible in maindecks, the latter of which became a dominant choice starting in the summer until now it’s an unchallenged standard for prison components.
* : Europeans, this like saying it happened in a tournament in Moscow: almost inconceivably far away.
As you can see from the numbers, though, North America’s more Drain-based metagame still didn’t undergo a huge shift. The biggest move is away from Bazaar toward Dark Ritual, but Mana Drain is still half of the picture, and Workshop is still almost always around half that. The only possible conclusions are that Americans are either congenital whiny brats, or the archetypes fail to reveal a deeper picture. (Can’t it be both?)
(2) Metagame Concentration
Steve asked especially that I work on representing this idea numerically, because it has so much to do with how healthy things are. Steve suggested a summary of what percent the top few decks make up in a given month. I just couldn’t decide how many I thought would most summarize concentration, so I finally decided not to decide and did from one to five decks. Each line includes the number from the previous line, and adds the next most successful deck.
Top 8 Percentage Formed by Top 1-5 Decks
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
12.5, 12.5, 12.5, _9.7, 14.6, 19.6, 13.9, 15.0, 12.5, 12.5, 13.8, 11.4 Best 1 deck
22.5, 25.0, 22.2, 18.2, 25.0, 30.3, 25.0, 27.5, 23.4, 22.5, 26.3, 21.6 Best 2 decks
30.0, 35.0, 27.8, 25.1, 33.3, 39.2, 34.7, 37.5, 32.8, 32.5, 38.8, 29.6 Best 3 decks
37.5, 42.5, 33.4, 32.0, 39.6, 48.1, 43.0, 47.5, 40.5, 42.5, 48.8, 37.6 Best 4 decks
45.0, 50.0, 39.0, 37.6, 45.9, 55.3, 49.9, 55.0, 46.8, 50.0, 56.3, 45.6 Best 5 decks
My alternative idea was based on the idea in comparative politics (oooh, fancy political science major terminology!) of counting major political parties in a given country. Many countries have a threshold for what percent of the popular vote a party has to get to receive its proportion of seats in the parliamentary legislature. The most open systems’ requirements are just enough to make sure that fifty members of the Dutch National Magic Mafia can’t get a seat in the legislature, while other countries set the minimum at something like five percent because if Germany didn’t do that, they might accidentally have a lone Neo-Nazi in the legislature, and that’s just bad PR.
Sooo, Magic. My idea concerned what percent of the Top 8 results were “major decks”, as in composed more than five percent of the total. This idea was awesome until I remembered that for months with only five tournaments of results (January, February, and August), it would include anything that appeared twice. So I went with just Steve’s measure. As you can see, this is another table that perplexes and vexes. Has nothing at all changed in Type One over our most active year? I decided that couldn’t possibly be true, so I extended the table twice as far.
Top 8 Percentage Formed by Top 6-10 Decks
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
50.0, 55.0, 44.6, 43.2, 52.2, 62.5, 56.8, 62.5, 53.1, 56.3, 62.6, 53.6 Best 6 decks
55.0, 60.0, 47.4, 47.4, 58.5, 67.9, 63.7, 67.5, 59.4, 61.3, 68.9, 59.3 Best 7 decks
60.0, 65.0, 50.2, 51.8, 64.8, 73.3, 69.3, 70.0, 65.7, 66.3, 71.4, 65.0 Best 8 decks
65.0, 70.0, 53.0, 56.2, 69.2, 78.7, 73.5, 72.5, 73.1, 70.1, 72.9, 70.7 Best 9 decks
70.0, 75.0, 55.8, 60.6, 73.4, 84.1, 77.7, 75.0, 77.8, 73.9, 75.4, 75.3 Best 10 decks
…and was surprised again. It’s like no matter what I do, Type One says, “nope, status quo, sir”. March looks like it’s a lot lower, but it was also the month in which I received data in my email from out of nowhere. (I didn’t even know there were T1 players in Colorado, let alone fifty of them.) It was the first time that I got nine events in one month, so it reflected a lot more of the non-ideal metagame than later months, and it was also a year ago, when proxy tournaments were exclusive to New England. So the concentration of decks actually hasn’t changed very much.
(3) How’re They Winning? The Watch List
If something approximating the same number of the same engine cards are winning, what in the world is the matter?
2003, Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May., Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J., Feb.
_0.4, _3.8, _1.4, _1.6, _2.6, _1.7, _2.9, _3.2, _2.4, _3.3, _3.4, _1.2, _3.9 Ancient Tomb
_6.8, _6.4, _4.0, _3.6, _3.6, _4.0, _4.6, _4.9, _0.8, _3.9, _3.5, _2.4, _2.2 Bazaar of Baghdad
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.4, _0.0, _0.2, _0.5, _0.0 Cabal Ritual
____, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____, _0.4, _4.6, _8.2, _7.3, _7.3, _5.6, _8.0 Crucible of Worlds
_8.2, _1.6, _5.6, _4.0, _4.7, _4.0, _4.6, _4.8, _6.4, _4.6, _3.9, _7.1, _5.5 Dark Ritual
_0.0, _1.6, _0.0, _3.0, _1.3, _1.8, _1.9, _0.4, _1.8, _2.0, _2.2, _0.6, _1.0 Elvish Spirit Guide
_4.9, _6.4, _5.6, _4.8, _7.8, _6.0, _7.7, _6.9, 12.0, _7.0, 12.3, _7.4, _9.8 Goblin Welder
_4.6, _2.2, _3.2, _3.2, _2.1, _4.5, _2.9, _3.2, _0.8, _4.5, _6.5, _8.3, _4.8 Intuition
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.9, _0.9, _0.7, _1.7, _0.4, _0.8, _0.0, _0.8, _0.4, _0.0 Land Grant
_7.7, 10.4, _8.8, _9.8, _9.3, 13.8, _9.1, _8.0, _8.6, 13.3, _9.5, 11.7, 11.9 Mana Drain
_4.8, _7.0, _6.4, _4.2, _8.9, _4.2, _6.6, _9.8, 11.4, _7.5, _9.8, _7.1, _9.1 Mishra’s Workshop
_0.4, _2.4, _3.4, _1.3, _3.8, _3.2, _5.1, _3.8, _7.6, _4.8, _7.9, _5.3, _6.4 Thirst for Knowledge
_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.9, _0.4, _0.7, _1.7, _0.4, _0.8, _0.0, _0.8, _0.0, _0.0 Tinder Wall
____, ____, _0.0, _1.1, _6.3, _3.5, _6.1, _8.4, _9.6, _6.8, _9.2, _6.6, _7.8 Trinisphere
_9.0, 16.4, _7.8, 10.7, 12.1, 17.0, 11.7, 17.4, 16.2, 19.1, 16.5, 12.6, 16.0 Wasteland
I think that half of the Type One cardpool is on the Watch List for some people. For those outside “the know”, the cool kids like to allude to the movie Aliens, when Sigourney Weaver’s character says, “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” Well, that was the attitude of many players in this debate. A thread polling the topic “What would you want to do to the format?” on TMD got 94 votes (presumably mostly from the most active and attentive members), with the following breakdown:
24% Nuke the format
24% Restrict 2-3 cards
20% Restrict 1 card
30% Restrict 0 cards
I think that this shows there must be a considerable difference that is not uncovered by the surface of the data, because such a poll doesn’t bias perception in favor of a small handful of vocal plaintiffs. It also shows that people don’t dislike the individual accelerant cards that are the core of all modern decks, they dislike the new uses of them. Witness my earlier discussion of shifting from TnT and Workshop Slaver toward Stax. The Workshop numbers stay the same, but the deck kills faster. Shifting from 4C Control to Oath of Druids and Control Slaver means shifting from playing just Drain to something more. Both of those decks can play an incredible, non-Drain supplemental accelerant on the first turn without disrupting their Drain plans or committing to a nonblue color (Oath and Welder both bleed blue). 4CC never did things like that; your first turns were virtually unmolested except by Drain, FoW, and Wasteland. Landstill is so mystifying because it seems closer to the tame, old paradigm than the new, die-roll-based one.
The March 1st announcement explicitly recognized these subsurface shifts toward the first turn, and we will see how well it turns out. The poll above shows that the DCI picked the least popular answer, but probably the one that will leave the fewest people upset for the next three months.
(4) Who’s Winning? Type One Pro Points
Northern Europe
6 Brian Nielsen
6 Ralf Meyer
5 Johannes Goeth
5 Kenny Öberg
4 Claudius Bauer
4 Lars Birch
4 Ole Krieger
4 Troels Krog
3 Andreas Petersen
3 Jonas Cleemann
3 Jonas Lay
3 Martin Schultz-Nielsen
3 Matthias Oertel
3 Oliver Klein
3 Stefan Richter
3 Ulrik Tarp
Southern Europe
10 Giuseppe De Luca
9 Oliver Satizabal
9 Ruben Lanzaco
8 David Morales
6 David Besso
6 Filippo Grigatti
6 Gabriele Pontalti
6 Jose Luis g. Requejo
6 Sergio Perez
5 Jaime Cano
5 Michele Frasson
4 Adria Galito
4 Alejandro Escribano
4 Angelo Cadei
4 Aurelio Crespo
4 Cristiano Scoz
4 Danilo Benvenuti
4 Jonathan Genovese
4 Mario Namtao Shanti Larcher
4 Mauro Bonino
4 Pablo Ambrojo
4 Roberto Lopez
3 Gaby van Dinteren a.k.a. Gabethebabe
3 Andrea Garella
3 Bonato
3 Cavalera
3 Danilo Brescia
3 Dario De Palma
3 Dario Gonzalez
3 David Pla
3 Fabrizio Marchi
3 Fernando Orgilles
3 Francisco Avalos
3 Giorgio Dal Trozzo
3 Giovanni Gesiot
3 Jorge Luque
3 Pietro Cavalletti
3 Marco Marotta
3 Marco Sponza
3 Miguel Angel Rodriguez
3 Miguel Angel Vallejo
3 Rafa Manzano
3 Raul Montejano
3 Thomas Zavaroni
North America
6 Kevin Cron
5 Bob Kochis
4 Lam Phan
4 Eli Kassis
3 Jeff Anand
3 Keith Johnson
3 Matt Kadilak
3 Marc Sims
Philip Stanton
prstanto at gmail.com
Appendix 1: Card Counts
73 Black Lotus
71 Mox Sapphire
69 Mox Ruby
68 Mox Jet
67 Sol Ring
66 Mox Pearl
65 Ancestral Recall
64 Mox Emerald
56 Mana Crypt
55 Strip Mine
55 Time Walk
48 Demonic Tutor
44 Tolarian Academy
39 Tinker
37 Mystical Tutor
36 Mana Vault
36 Vampiric Tutor
34 Yawgmoth’s Will
30 Memory Jar
28 Fact or Fiction
26 Lotus Petal
22 Library of Alexandria
22 Timetwister
17 Balance
15 Wheel of Fortune
13 Desire
13 Necropotence
13 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
11 Mind Twist
7 Windfall
6 Chrome Mox
6 Enlightened Tutor
5 Time Spiral
4 Entomb
3 Crop Rotation
3 Gush
3 Mox Diamond
2 Burning Wish
2 Demonic Consultation
2 Frantic Search
2 Grim Monolith
2 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Black Vise
1 Regrowth
244 Force of Will
203 Brainstorm
176 Wasteland
163 Polluted Delta
149 Island
143 Volcanic Island
131 Mana Drain
116 Flooded Strand
113 Chalice of the Void
107 Goblin Welder
107 Underground Sea
105 Rack and Ruin
100 Mishra’s Workshop
97 Red Elemental Blast
93 Tormod’s Crypt
90 Duress
88 Crucible of Worlds
86 Trinisphere
75 Smokestack
70 Thirst for Knowledge
65 Swords to Plowshares
60 Accumulated Knowledge
59 Cunning Wish
56 Tangle Wire
55 Dark Ritual
54 Fire/Ice
53 Blue Elemental Blast
53 Intuition
53 Stifle
52 Triskelion
51 Tundra
49 Energy Flux
48 Misdirection
44 Standstill
43 Ancient Tomb
43 Pyrostatic Pillar
40 Mishra’s Factory
38 Engineered Explosives
37 Null Rod
36 Oath of Druids
35 Mountain
32 Duplicant
32 Forbidden Orchard
31 Swamp
30 Rebuild
28 Metalworker
27 Sphere of Resistance
26 City of Brass
26 Gemstone Mine
26 Sundering Titan
25 Defense Grid
25 Skeletal Scrying
25 Squee, Goblin Nabob
24 Bazaar of Baghdad
24 Chain of Vapor
23 Bloodstained Mire
23 Meddling Mage
23 Tendrils of Agony
22 Daze
22 Mindslaver
22 Rushing River
21 Arcane Laboratory
21 Gorilla Shaman
21 Hurkyl’s Recall
21 Karn, Silver Golem
21 Mana Leak
21 Platinum Angel
21 Seal of Cleansing
20 Tropical Island
19 Annul
19 Cloud of Faries
19 Curiosity
19 Disenchant
19 Gifts Ungiven
19 Pyroblast
19 Worldgorger Dragon
18 Decree of Justice
18 Grim Lavamancer
18 Maze of Ith
18 Plains
17 Deep Analysis
17 Juggernaut
16 Damping Matrix
16 Darksteel Colossus
16 Echoing Truth
15 City of Traitors
15 Claws of Gix
15 Gilded Lotus
15 Nevinyrral’s Disk
14 Necromancy
14 Spiketail Hatchling
13 Animate Dead
13 Faerie Conclave
13 Ground Seal
13 Hydroblast
12 Cabal Therapy
12 Exalted Angel
12 Jester’s Cap
12 Lava Dart
11 Academy Rector
11 Elvish Spirit Guide
11 Orim’s Chant
11 Wooded Foothills
10 Darksteel Citadel
10 Skullclamp
9 Blood Moon
9 Brain Freeze
9 Diabolic Edict
9 Pyroclasm
9 Xantid Swarm
8 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
8 Badlands
8 Coffin Purge
8 Gaea’s Blessing
8 Lightning Bolt
8 Naturalize
8 Psychatog
8 Rishadan Port
8 Synod Centurion
8 Viashino Heretic
7 AEther Spellbomb
7 Auriok Salvagers
7 Bayou
7 Chill
7 Dance of the Dead
7 Glimmervoid
7 Impulse
7 Spawning Pit
7 Su-Chi
7 Verdant Force
6 Ensnaring Bridge
6 Gilded Drake
6 Memnarch
6 Overload
6 Pentavus
6 Ray of Revelation
6 Serenity
6 Shattering Pulse
6 Shivan Reef
5 Ambassador Laquatus
5 Control Magic
5 Engineered Plague
5 Gempalm Incinerator
5 Lim-Dul’s Vault
5 Night of Souls’ Betrayal
5 Razormane Masticore
5 Seat of the Synod
5 Snuff Out
5 Spirit of the Night
5 Sword of Fire and Ice
5 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Artifact Mutation
4 Artificer’s Intuition
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Blistering Firecat
4 Death Wish
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Ebony Charm
4 Firestorm
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Fling
4 Food Chain
4 Frogmite
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Great Furnace
4 Illusionary Mask
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Myr Servitor
4 Old Man of the Sea
4 Ornithopter
4 Oxidize
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Pillage
4 Pristine Angel
4 Sacred Ground
4 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
4 Savannah
4 Savannah Lions
4 Scrabbling Claws
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Soltari Priest
4 Staff of Domination
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Taiga
4 Thoughtcast
4 Trinket Mage
4 True Believer
4 Underground River
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Windswept Heath
3 Abolish
3 Arcbound Crusher
3 Careful Study
3 Chains of Mephistopheles
3 Choke
3 Compulsion
3 Cranial Plating
3 Dust to Dust
3 Empyrial Armor
3 Future Sight
3 Goblin Matron
3 Helm of Awakening
3 Land Tax
3 Masticore
3 Meditate
3 Mental Note
3 Morphling
3 Nimble Mongoose
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Phyrexian Tower
3 Powder Keg
3 Pyrite Spellbomb
3 Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]
3 Seasinger
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Serum Powder
3 Skirk Prospector
3 Uba Mask
3 Volrath’s Shapeshifter
3 Werebear
2 Aura of Silence
2 Back to Basics
2 Barrin, Master Wizard – WTF of the Month
2 Buried Alive
2 Eternal Dragon
2 Forest
2 Form of the Dragon
2 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
2 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Night’s Whisper
2 Orim’s Thunder
2 Phantom Nishoba
2 Plagiarize
2 Quirion Ranger
2 Shivan Hellkite
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Silver Knight
2 Somber Hoverguard
2 Stroke of Genius
2 Teferi’s Response
2 Transmute Artifact
2 Welding Jar
2 Woodripper
2 Wrath of God
1 Akroma’s Vengeance
1 Aura Fracture
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Cranial Extraction
1 Counterspell
1 Devout Witness
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Eternal Witness
1 Extract
1 Flash Counter
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Hanna’s Custody
1 Illusions of Grandeur
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Living Wish
1 Phage, the Untouchable
1 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Plateau
1 Possessed Portal
1 Primitive Justice
1 Recoup
1 Root Maze
1 Scion of Darkness
1 Seal of Removal
1 Submerge
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Tainted Pact
1 Treachery
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Voidmage Apprentice
1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Zuran Orb
Appendix 2: The Data Sources
2005-01-23 Mostoles (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=240)(70 players)
1. Trinistax
2. Control Slaver
3. Trinistax
4. Welder Mud
5. U/R Fish
6. Bazaar-Workshop
7. Control Slaver
8. Dragon
1. Jose Luis g. Requejo
2. Jaime Cano
3. Alejandro Escribano
4. Aurelio Crespo
5. Miguel Angel Vallejo
6. Raul Montejano
7. Dario Gonzalez
8. Fernando Orgilles
2005-01-28 Faraos Cigarer (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=241)(53 players)
1. Trinistax
2. TPS
3. Rector Tendrils
4. Transmute 7/10
5. Oath of Druids
6. Oath of Druids
7. Trinistax
8. TPS
1. Brian Nielsen
2. Kenny Öberg
3. Lars Birch
4. Troels Krog
5. Martin Schultz-Nielsen
6. Andreas Petersen
7. Ulrik Tarp
8. Jonas Cleemann
2005-01-29 Barcelona (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21685)(78 players)
1. TPS
2. Mud (Staff-Metalworker combo)
3. Trinistax
4. 4C Control
5. Monobrown 5/3
6. Sligh
7. 4C Control
8. U/W Fish
1. Oliver Satizabal
2. Ruben Lanzaco
3. Pablo Ambrojo
4. Roberto Lopez
5. David Morales
6. Rafa Manzano
7. Francisco Avalos
8. Jorge Luque
2005-01-29 Wittlich (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=242)(99 players)
1. Trinistax
2. Rector Tendrils
3. Oath of Druids
4. Landstill
5. U/R/W Fish
6. Oath of Druids
7. Landstill
8. 4C Control
1. Ralf Meyer
2. Johannes Goeth
3. Ole Krieger
4. Claudius Bauer
5. Jonas Lay
6. Matthias Oertel
7. Stefan Richter
8. Oliver Klein
2005-01-30 Alessandria (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21897)(91 players)
1. Workshop Slaver
2. U/W/R Landstill
3. TPS
4. Welder Mud
5. Workshop Slaver
6. Welder Mud
7. Dragon
8. Workshop Slaver
1. Pietro Cavalletti
2. Giacomo Giunta
3. David Beduzzi
4. Danilo Benvenuti
5. Luca Chiassoni
6. Alberto Bertinetti
7. Marco Marotta
8. Federico Malacarne
2005-01-30 Iserlohn (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=244)(126 players)
1. Vengeur Masque
2. U/R/W Landstill
3. TPS
4. Rector Tendrils
5. Control Slaver
6. Salvagers
7. U/R/W Landstill
8. Affinity
1. Christoph Duncker
2. Michael Topp
3. Dennis Rosinski
4. Daniel Huszar
5. Christian Heuer
6. Andreas Klaes
7. Dominic Dach
8. Eugen Perman
2005-02-06 Milan (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21896)(77 players)
1. U/B/R Psychatog
2. TPS
3. 4C Control
4. Dragon
5. TPS
6. U/B/R Psychatog
7. U/R Fish
8. Workshop Slavery
1. Filippo Grigatti
2. Giuseppe De Luca
3. Mauro Bonino
4. Angelo Cadei
5. Pietro Cavalletti
6. Thomas Zavaroni
7. Giovanni Gesiot
8. Marco Marotta
2005-02-13 Trento (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=246)(54 players)
1. Welder Mud
2. Dragon
3. Oath of Druids
4. 4C Control
5. White Weenie
6. U/B/R Psychatog
7. Oath of Druids
8. TPS
1. Gabriele Pontalti
2. Michele Frasson
3. Mario Namtao Shanti Larcher
4. Cristiano Scoz
5. Cavalera
6. Bonato
7. Giorgio Dal Trozzo
8. Fabrizio Marchi
2005-02-19 Liga Catalina (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=345357#345357)(66 players)
1. Food Chain Goblins
2. Monobrown 5/3
3. Control Slaver
4. Trinistax
5. Control Slaver
6. Salvagers
7. Control Slaver
8. Trinistax
1. Sergio Perez
2. David Morales
3. Adria Galito
4. Ruben Lanzaco
5. Oliver Satizabal
6. Miguel Angel Rodriguez
7. Gaby van Dinteren a.k.a. Gabethebabe
8. David Pla
2005-02-20 Genoa (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22055)(73 players)
1. TPS
2. TPS
3. U/R/W Landstill
4. Welder Mud
5. Oath of Druids
6. Psychatog
7. Mud
8. U/R Fish
1. David Besso
2. Giuseppe De Luca
3. Danilo Benvenuti
4. Jonathan Genovese
5. Marco Sponza
6. Andrea Garella
7. Danilo Brescia
8. Dario De Palma
2005-02-26 SCG P9 V Syracuse (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandevent.php?Article=9041)(136 players)
1. Trinistax
2. U/W Landstill
3. U/G Threshold
4. 3C Control
5. Control Slaver
6. Sensei Sensei
7. Dragon
8. Trinistax
1. Kevin Cron
2. Bob Kochis
3. Lam Phan
4. Eli Kassis
5. Jeff Anand
6. Keith Johnson
7. Matt Kadilak
8. Marc Sims