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April Type One Metagame Breakdown

Phil has the scoop on all the info you need to know to prepare for the war at Rochester, including the post-Trinisphere metagame shifts, the Vintage Pro Tour standings, and more analysis than you can shake a stick at!

Open your mouth and say “ahhhh”. If you make your mouth wider and the “ahhh” louder, you will be approximating my reaction to the whopping twenty-six post-Trinisphere archetypes adorning my screen from just seven Top 8s. Keep in mind that almost all of the recurring archetypes have substantial variants and twenty-six seems like a condensed count to some who divide archetypes more finely.


Identifying archetypes has never been harder. Is a deck really Transmute-Chi if it only has two Transmutes? How can it be 7/10 with just one Sundering Titan? Renowned pontiff JP Meyer labeled a deck in the SCG Chicago Top 8 “Affinity” upon sighting Ravagers, even though none of the cards in the deck have Affinity, and only the Ravagers have Modular – I went with “Ravager” due to the substantial difference of focus between it and the two mechanic-based decks. Eli Kassis T8’d with a cross between Academy Rector combo and Sensei’s Divining Top combo. Oath Salvagers is wickedly close to being like other Oath decks, but it’s a more “hard combo” deck as opposed to a combo-control deck like Akroma-based Oath.


7 tournaments totaled (50,54,66,85,111,140,152)

6 Gifts Ungiven* (1,1,3,3,6,8)

6 TPS (2,2,4,4,5,5)

4 Oath of Druids (2,6,7,7)

3 Fish (1,1,5)

3 Dragon (1,2,5)

3 Mud** (1,3,4)

3 Stax*** (1,6,7)

3 Oath Salvagers (2,7,8)

2 U/W Landstill (3,3)

2 4C Control (2,5)

2 Bazaar Replenish (2,6)

2 Control Slaver (3,7)

2 7/10 Split (4,7)

2 Belcher (4,8)

2 U/G Madness (8,8)

1 Suicide Black (3)

1 Ravager (4)

1 Sensei Sensei (4)

1 Rector Sensei (5)

1 U/B Masknought (5)

1 Cerebral Assassin (6)

1 Psychatog (6)

1 Workshop Slaver (6)

1 U/B Control (7)

1 MonoBlue (8)

1 Reanimator (8)

* : 3 Charbelcher, 2 Colossus, 1 Salvagers

** : 2 Welder, 1 Monobrown

*** : 2 5C, 1 U/R


All of this convinced me that my point about March’s data was growing more and more correct: “Presently, the theme is less categorical-hybridization and more hybridization amongst individual cards. Decks running more of the biggest-effect cards win more.” No deck makes this clearer than today’s star, Gifts Ungiven. Gifts basically dictates that with a small pile of mana, you can give your opponent an impossible set of options, letting you resolve Magic’s most apoplexy-inducing spells.


There are several win tactics for a Gifts deck, including Goblin Charbelcher, Darksteel Colossus, and Auriok Salvagers. TPS, the only archetype besides Gifts to break 10% of this month’s results, is coincidentally also driven by Gifts Ungiven; it just uses Dark Ritual instead of Mana Drain. This means you might want to count Tendrils of Agony as another Gifts kill option. There are a lot of subtleties in between the shades, but all the Drain versions are the same archetype. What they do, in short, is maximize Type One’s cardpool.


Type One gives its players lots of mana and easy tutoring. There are also cards that provide some disincentives to playing this way (Sphere of Resistance, Null Rod, Chains of Mephistopheles, etc.), but David Price aphorism applies: answers are weak. The Gifts players have it right, abusing everything that they can. The restricted list’s one-copy limit means that the natural abuse of Gifts’ “different name” supposedly disadvantageous drawback is to use the abundance of unfair cards to get two somewhat-less-unfair cards. No matter what, any idiot who has a viable Vintage deck in his hands isn’t going to give you Tinker or Yawgmoth’s Will*, so the deck design goal is then to have cards that are able to win anyway.


* : Okay, I guess if he’s looked through your library and Jester’s Capped all the artifacts, he won’t care about Tinker. And if he’s got Tormod’s Crypt in play he might give you Will. You get the point, though.


Boo!

You can easily force someone to give you Will with other recursion cards. Red is better than Green, so Recoup is the natural choice, and it can just as easily give you Tinker. Gifts Ungiven single-handedly neuters the effect of restriction for these cards, and, returning to my earlier notion, it makes hybridizing them as natural as having three mana on turn one. In most Gifts decks, it’s already down to two copies (fourteen decks used them, averaging 1.64 copies), so restricting would be a minor impediment at best. Think back to the mighty Homelands expansion, and remember that Gifts is an instant. A single Merchant Scroll would be just a hiccup in the efficiency of the deck. These days it’s not hard to talk about decks playing four or more virtual Tinkers, and we’ve all seen how that goes.


Metagame Occurrence (by percentage of all T8 decks)

(Decks appearing once or twice in the course of the year are sometimes excluded.)

Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8 U/B Control

_0.0, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0 3C Control

_9.7, 14.6, 19.6, _9.7, _7.5, 10.9, _1.3, _1.3, _5.7, _8.9, _3.6 4C Control

_4.2, _6.3, _1.8, _1.4, _7.5, _7.8, 10.0, _7.5, _8.0, 10.7, _3.6 Control Slaver

_1.4, _6.3, _5.4, _2.8, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 GAT

_8.5, 10.4, 10.7, _8.3, _2.5, _9.4, _5.0, 12.5, _4.6, _8.9, _1.8 Psychatog

_4.2, _4.2, _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _6.3, _1.3, _2.5, _8.0, _5.4, _3.6 Landstill

_1.4, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _5.0, _6.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.6, _1.8 Monoblue

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, 12.5, 12.5, _8.0, _3.6, _7.1 Oath of Druids

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.6 Oath Salvagers (Drain)

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Salvagers

_1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 U/rPhid

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8, _1.8 Sensei, Sensei

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8, 10.7 Gifts Ungiven (Drain)

30.8, 43.9, 39.3, 25.0, 25.0, 40.7, 32.4, 38.8, 34.3, 46.5, 39.4 TOTAL Drain archetypes*


Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_8.5, _8.3, _8.9, 11.1, 15.0, 12.5, _5.0, 13.8, 11.4, 12.5, 10.7 TPS

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Doomsday

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _1.6, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 DeathLong

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Meandeck Tendrils

_1.4, _2.1, _5.4, _1.4, _2.5, _0.0, _2.6, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.6 Belcher

_4.2, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0 Rector

14.1, 12.5, 14.3, 12.5, 20.0, 14.1, _8.9, 17.7, 11.4, 14.3, 17.9 TOTAL Ritual Archetypes


Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_1.4, _2.1, _7.2, _2.8, 12.5, _6.3, 10.0, _1.3, _2.2, _3.6, _0.0 5/3

_0.0, _2.1, _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _3.6 7/10 Split

_2.8, _2.1, _0.0, 13.9, _2.5, _6.3, _7.5, _6.3, _8.0, _1.8, _5.4 MUD / wMUD

_4.2, _2.1, _3.6, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, 10.0, 10.0, 11.4, 12.5, _5.4 Stax

_5.6, _4.2, _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 TnT

_5.6, _2.1, _3.6, _4.2, _2.5, _1.6, _0.0, _1.3, _4.6, _0.0, _1.8 Workshop Slaver

19.6, 14.7, 18.0, 27.8, 32.5, 18.9, 30.2, 21.4, 26.2, 17.9, 18.0 TOTAL Workshop Archetypes


Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_4.2, _6.3, _5.4, _6.9, _0.0, _4.7, _3.8, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8, _1.8 Bazaar Madness

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.6 Bazaar Replenish

_6.9, _4.2, _8.9, _5.6, _2.5, _6.3, _6.3, _6.3, _5.7, _0.0, _5.4 Dragon

_0.0, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.6, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Oshawa Stompy

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 MadDragon

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _8.9, _1.8 Cerebral Assassin

11.1, 12.6, 14.3, 12.5, _2.5, 12.6, 10.1, _6.3, _5.7, 10.7, 14.4 TOTAL Bazaar Archetypes


Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_2.8, _6.3, _0.0, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, _3.8, _1.3, _5.7, _3.6, _5.4 Fish

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Kiodo CounterBurn

_0.0, _2.1, _0.0, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8 U/G Madness

_2.8, _8.4, _0.0, _9.7, 12.5, _4.7, _5.1, _1.3, _5.7, _3.6, _7.2 TOTAL Null Rod Archetypes


Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_1.4, _4.2, _7.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.8, _2.5, _1.1, _1.8, _0.0 FCG / Gobvantage

_4.2, _0.0, _1.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _1.1, _0.0, _0.0 Vengeur Masque

_1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Goblin Sligh

_4.2, _0.0, _5.4, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0, _1.1, _0.0, _0.0 Affinity

_1.4, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.1, _1.8, _0.0 Sligh

_4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.1, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Modular

_0.0, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _1.3, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 R/G Beats

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8 Oath Salvagers (no Drain)

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.8 Rector Sensei (no Drain, no Ritual)

16.8, _8.4, 14.4, _5.6, _0.0, _3.1, _7.7, _3.8, _4.4, _3.6, _3.6 TOTAL Other Archetypes


* : Bazaar Replenish is a Drain-using archetype, but is counted as Bazaar-driven because, well, Bazaar made it into the name.


Despite the surfeit of Gifts decks, Mana Drain had a somewhat lower percentage than it did in March. Remembering that Bazaar Replenish has Drains in it makes the difference in overall occurrence rather negligible, though. I was especially intrigued by the reduced power of Control Slaver, probably because the Charbelcher version of the Gifts archetype has such close overlap with the archetype. The other shift that stands out is the reduced popularity of Cerebral Assassin. Barring a sudden rebound, my read on it is that the deck finished well a few times on the strength of surprise*, but is now petering out as more people have been exposed to it. You’ll also notice that Dragon didn’t appear in March while Bazaar players flirted with Goblin Welder, but now as Assassin declines, Dragon returns.


* : Even those who read David Lawrence a.k.a. Eastman’s thread on TMD may not remember much of what it does the first time that they see it.


Also worth watching is the long-absent Belcher combo deck returning in Northern Europe. Since North American players have a longstanding aversion to Dark Ritual decks (moreso if they can win a turn later off a Mana Drain), I’m not expecting an outbreak, but Northern Europeans may continue to play it, trying to capitalize on its huge variance to win before Gifts decks get a chance to wipe them out with superior resources.


The Type One Watch List (number of copies per Top 8 by month)

Apr, May., Jun, Jul., Aug, Sep., O-N, D-J., Feb, Mar., Apr.

_2.6, _1.7, _2.9, _3.2, _2.4, _3.3, _3.4, _1.2, _3.9, _3.3, _2.0 Ancient Tomb

_3.6, _4.0, _4.6, _4.9, _0.8, _3.9, _3.5, _2.4, _2.2, _3.4, _5.1 Bazaar of Baghdad

_0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.4, _0.0, _0.2, _0.5, _0.0, _0.0, _1.0 Cabal Ritual

____, ____, _0.4, _4.6, _8.2, _7.3, _7.3, _5.6, _8.0, _7.9, _5.0 Crucible of Worlds

_4.7, _4.0, _4.6, _4.8, _6.4, _4.6, _3.9, _7.1, _5.5, _4.6, _5.7 Dark Ritual

_1.3, _1.8, _1.9, _0.4, _1.8, _2.0, _2.2, _0.6, _1.0, _0.0, _1.7 Elvish Spirit Guide

_7.8, _6.0, _7.7, _6.9, 12.0, _7.0, 12.3, _7.4, _9.8, 10.3, _7.4 Goblin Welder

____, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____, _0.3, _1.4, _1.8, _1.4, _3.3 Gifts Ungiven

_2.1, _4.5, _2.9, _3.2, _0.8, _4.5, _6.5, _8.3, _4.8, _5.9, _6.0 Intuition

_0.9, _0.7, _1.7, _0.4, _0.8, _0.0, _0.8, _0.4, _0.0, _0.0, _1.1 Land Grant

_9.3, 13.8, _9.1, _8.0, _8.6, 13.3, _9.5, 11.7, 11.9, 15.0, 13.0 Mana Drain

_8.9, _4.2, _6.6, _9.8, 11.4, _7.5, _9.8, _7.1, _9.1, _5.7, _5.7 Mishra’s Workshop

_3.8, _3.2, _5.1, _3.8, _7.6, _4.8, _7.9, _5.3, _6.4, 10.0, _9.9 Thirst for Knowledge

_0.4, _0.7, _1.7, _0.4, _0.8, _0.0, _0.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.4, _0.6 Tinder Wall

12.1, 17.0, 11.7, 17.4, 16.2, 19.1, 16.5, 12.6, 16.0, 14.0, 10.9 Wasteland

_2.3, _1.7, _2.3, _2.1, _4.0, _2.9, _3.3, _3.1, _3.6, _5.0, _4.6 Tinker

_3.3, _4.0, _3.7, _3.1, _3.6, _3.4, _2.0, _3.6, _3.1, _4.3, _4.3 Yawgmoth’s Will



I think the key dynamic of the month was somewhat more diversity thanks to the absence of Trinisphere’s stifling power. May will likely put us back on track to ever-increasing Mana Drain dominance. Tinker and Will also took slight bumps this month because of the diversity level, but once we shed weaker decks like Mono-Blue and U/G Madness, I expect more of those two.


The undisputed champion of awesome lands.

One of the less-noted shifts is the twelve-month low in Wastelands. Island is now the most-played land, and at almost seventeen copies per Top 8, nearly everyone is packing. This is what leads me to believe Fish’s success is more flash-in-the-pan than returning metagame genius, because manabases are much less vulnerable to shenanigans than they were last summer, and control decks now play considerably faster game plans, cutting short the time 1/1s need to win. U/G Madness is little better, because of its high-cost creatures in a high-Drain environment. Draining any Wurm into a Gifts turn is an extremely likely win.


Another subtle shift you might not have noticed is the collapse of Fire / Ice numbers – this month there was an average of just one copy per Top 8. If you’ve got Welder tech begging for a comeback, now is the time (I add this to the laundry list of reasons Fish was a fine choice for the multiple-Waterbury winner Jason Zheng to bring).


Swords to Plowshares is at roughly the same level it historically has been at, despite the dropoff in conventional control, and I attribute this to people playing it as an Oath-breaker. Darksteel Colossus was a mere one copy away from being the most-played Artifact Creature, and it is in more decks than Triskelion, so its match impact is broader; this card alone can drive Swords into nearly perpetual use, and demonstrates how influential Tinker’s 60% metagame presence is. A well-prepared player will walk into an event with an instant-speed solution to the Akroma/Colossus class of threats immune to regular removal, and it should really be instant speed to compensate for the Time Walk replays the often come part-and-parcel with Gifts deck Colossi.


You might notice that answering power plays is full of lameness and fraught with opportunities to lose the game, so I think the wiser path is to just give in and play the popular toys until they’re finally so dominant they get the no-ban limit lifted. Plus, I hear Kowal and Menendian both love playing eleven mirror matches in a row at events. Why not give the people what they want good and hard? (Speaking of them, I’ve had enough requests about the North American Type One Pro Points to append the current totals here. I’m sure there will be a good time to go over the European information around the time the European GenCon events start pouring in.)


Philip Stanton

prstanto at gmail.com

(Tables in this article only go back one year; email me if you’re interested in older information.)


Appendix One: Card Counts for April

54 Mox Sapphire

49 Black Lotus

48 Ancestral Recall

48 Mox Emerald

47 Mox Pearl

46 Mox Jet

46 Mox Ruby

43 Sol Ring

42 Time Walk

37 Demonic Tutor

33 Mana Crypt

32 Tinker

30 Tolarian Academy

30 Yawgmoth’s Will

28 Mana Vault

28 Vampiric Tutor

26 Mystical Tutor

25 Strip Mine

21 Library of Alexandria

17 Fact or Fiction

16 Lotus Petal

16 Timetwister

15 Memory Jar

11 Trinisphere (including one 4-of deck from March 19th)

11 Yawgmoth’s Bargain

10 Balance

9 Necropotence

7 Mind’s Desire

7 Wheel of Fortune

6 Mind Twist

5 Enlightened Tutor

5 Lion’s Eye Diamond

4 Frantic Search

4 Time Spiral

3 Burning Wish

3 Chrome Mox

2 Channel

2 Entomb

2 Grim Monolith

2 Gush

1 Crop Rotation

1 Demonic Consultation

1 Fastbond

1 Living Wish

1 Mox Diamond

1 Regrowth



176 Force of Will

138 Brainstorm

118 Island

102 Polluted Delta

91 Mana Drain

91 Underground Sea

88 Flooded Strand

87 Duress

80 Chalice of the Void

76 Wasteland

69 Thirst for Knowledge

52 Goblin Welder

52 Tormod’s Crypt

49 Volcanic Island

44 Tundra

42 Intuition

41 Rack and Ruin

41 Red Elemental Blast

40 Dark Ritual

40 Mishra’s Workshop

36 Bazaar of Baghdad

36 Swamp

35 Crucible of Worlds

34 Stifle

32 Forbidden Orchard

32 Oath of Druids

30 Swords to Plowshares

29 Cunning Wish

29 Energy Flux

29 Squee, Goblin Nabob

28 Null Rod

24 Arcane Laboratory

24 Tropical Island

23 Blue Elemental Blast

23 Gifts Ungiven

22 Smokestack

22 Sphere of Resistance

22 Triskelion

21 Darksteel Colossus

21 Ground Seal

21 Phyrexian Furnace

21 Tangle Wire

20 Chain of Vapor

20 Misdirection

20 Rebuild

20 Skeletal Scrying

20 Tendrils of Agony

19 City of Brass

18 Deep Analysis

18 Mana Leak

18 Mishra’s Factory

17 Sundering Titan

16 Accumulated Knowledge

16 Echoing Truth

16 Metalworker

16 Rushing River

15 Coffin Purge

15 Hurkyl’s Recall

15 Standstill

14 Ancient Tomb

14 Gemstone Mine

12 Animate Dead

12 Disenchant

12 Duplicant

12 Elvish Spirit Guide

12 Engineered Explosives

12 Goblin Charbelcher

12 Platinum Angel

12 Seal of Cleansing

11 Mindslaver

11 Worldgorger Dragon

10 Daze

10 Decree of Justice

10 Meddling Mage

10 Mountain

10 Necromancy

9 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

9 Annul

9 City of Traitors

9 Defense Grid

9 Gilded Lotus

9 Hydroblast

9 Karn, Silver Golem

9 Pernicious Deed

8 Auriok Salvagers

8 Basking Rootwalla

8 Cloud of Faeries

8 Curiosity

8 Damping Matrix

8 Jester’s Cap

8 Land Grant

8 Orb of Dreams

8 Pristine Angel

8 Propaganda

8 Replenish

8 Sensei’s Divining Top

8 Spiketail Hatchling

8 Su-Chi

8 Underground River

8 Wild Mongrel

8 Xantid Swarm

7 Cabal Ritual

7 Chill

7 Chromatic Sphere

7 Circular Logic

7 Fire/Ice

7 Masticore

7 Naturalize

7 Pyroblast

7 Waterfront Bouncer

6 Brain Freeze

6 Eon Hub

6 Forest

6 Lava Dart

6 Maze of Ith

6 Ninja of the Deep Hours

6 Pentavus

6 Plains

6 Pyrite Spellbomb

6 Recoup

6 Verdant Force

6 Windfall

6 Wooded Foothills

5 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

5 Cabal Therapy

5 Diabolic Edict

5 Exalted Angel

5 Future Sight

5 Gaea’s Blessing

5 Helm of Awakening

5 Impulse

5 Memnarch

5 Merchant Scroll

5 Old Man of the Sea

5 Powder Keg

5 Razormane Masticore

4 Academy Rector

4 Arcbound Ravager

4 Carnophage

4 Claws of Gix

4 Counterspell

4 Dance of the Dead

4 Darksteel Citadel

4 Engineered Plague

4 Ensnaring Bridge

4 Exhume

4 Flying Men

4 Form of the Dragon

4 Hymn to Tourach

4 Icatian Javelineers

4 Illusionary Mask

4 Mana Severance

4 Mind’s Eye

4 Myr Retriever

4 Myr Servitor

4 Nantuko Shade

4 Nether Void

4 Ophidian

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Oxidize

4 Phyrexian Dreadnought

4 Pyrostatic Pillar

4 Sacred Ground

4 Sinkhole

4 Skullclamp

4 Spawning Pit

4 Spirit of the Night

4 Tinder Wall

4 Uba Mask

3 Aquamoeba

3 Arrogant Wurm

3 Back to Basics

3 Bayou

3 Careful Study

3 Chains of Mephistopheles

3 Faerie Conclave

3 Great Furnace

3 Grim Lavamancer

3 Hatred

3 Humility

3 Iridescent Angel

3 Morphling

3 Nevinyrral’s Disk

3 Phyrexian Negator

3 Planar Void

3 Ray of Revelation

3 Reanimate

3 Rule of Law

3 Sarcomancy

3 Serrated Arrows

3 Shivan Reef

3 Solemn Simulacrum

3 Sword of Fire and Ice

3 Voidmage Prodigy

2 Ambassador Laquatus

2 Aura Fracture

2 Badlands

2 Bloodstained Mire

2 Caller of the Claw

2 Erase

2 Exploration

2 Firestorm

2 Flametongue Kavu

2 Genju of the Falls

2 Gilded Drake

2 Glimmervoid

2 Gorilla Shaman

2 Hidden Herd

2 Lim-Dul’s Vault

2 Night of Soul’s Betrayal

2 Phantom Nishoba

2 Psychatog

2 Pyroclasm

2 Silent Arbiter

2 Snow-Covered Island

2 Solitary Confinement

2 Staff of Domination

2 Stroke of Genius

2 Transmute Artifact

2 Wonder

2 Woodripper

1 Ancient Hydra

1 Artificer’s Intuition

1 Bosh, Iron Golem

1 Candelabra of Tawnos

1 Circle of Protection: Red

1 Citanul Flute

1 Compulsion

1 Coretapper

1 Cranial Extraction

1 Darksteel Ingot

1 Disrupting Shoal

1 Ebony Charm

1 Elvish Lyrist

1 Elvish Scrapper

1 Eternal Witness

1 Flash Counter

1 Fling

1 Granite Shard

1 Innocent Blood

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Mana Cylix

1 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror

1 Nezumi, Graverobber

1 Overload

1 Pentad Prism

1 Plated Slagwurm

1 Political Trickery

1 Possessed Portal

1 Primitive Justice

1 Riftstone Portal

1 Seat of the Synod

1 Shallow Grave

1 Shattering Pulse

1 Slice and Dice

1 Snuff Out

1 Viashino Heretic

1 Windswept Heath


Appendix Two: North American Type One Pro Points 2004 through April, 2005

North America

[points] [name] [team and alias if applicable/known] [number of Top 8s]

28 Ben Kowal (Short Bus)(6)

17 Scott Limoges (4)

15 Eli Kassis (4)

15 Jason Zheng a.k.a. Nantuko Rice (3)

15 Rich Shay a.k.a. The Atog Lord (3)

14 Jacob Orlove (Meandeck)(3)

14 Eric Miller (Short Bus)(3)

13 Stephen Menendian a.k.a. Smmenen (Meandeck)(4)

13 Carl Winter a.k.a. CrazyCarl (Meandeck)(3)

12 Jeffrey Tussi (3)

11 Ashok Chitturi a.k.a. M.E.T.H.O.D. (3)

11 David Allen a.k.a. thorme (Short Bus)(2)

10 Marc Perez a.k.a. Phantom Tape Worm (Short Bus)(2)

9 Andrew Probasco a.k.a. Brass Man (3)

9 Kevin Cron a.k.a. CHA1N5 (Meandeck)(2)

9 Matt Jendro (2)

8 Dan Emmons (2)

8 John Blake a.k.a. Ultima (2)

8 Justin Walters a.k.a. Saucemaster (Meandeck)(2)

8 Luke Ojala (8)

8 Seth Levy (2)

8 Stephen Houdlette a.k.a. Grand Inquisitor (2)

8 Jim Gaffney (2)

7 Jeff Anand a.k.a. Samite Healer (2)

7 Justin Timoney (2)

7 Travis LaPlante (2)

6 Andrew Stokinger (2)

6 Craig Olson a.k.a. Milton (2)

6 Keith Johnson a.k.a. ctthespian (2)

6 Brad Ojala

6 Bryan Finch

6 Jarad Mann

6 Jason Schikli

6 Jean-Philippe Keable

6 Jim Demarsico

6 Joe Oginsky

6 Joshua Roughley

6 Mark Biller a.k.a. Windfall

6 Mike Panas

6 Mike Vraa

6 Raymond Robillard a.k.a. iamfishman

6 Ross Wolf

5 Bob Kochis

5 Brian Cox

5 Brian Demars

5 Brian Fisher

5 Chris Buker

5 Dan Rosu

5 Darek Flaten

5 Glenn Bliss

5 James Coffman

5 Jay Coffman

5 Joe Carroll

5 Justin Bramsfield

5 Lany Chabot Laroche

5 Richard Mattiuzzo a.k.a. Shock Wave

5 Steve Capsuras

5 Wayne Oickle

4 Aaron LeKarz a.k.a. snoop

4 Adam Bowers a.k.a. iLL_Dawg

4 Alan Koxlien

4 Chris Byrnes

4 Corey Canfield a.k.a. Diaonic

4 Darren Bennett

4 Frankson Lee

4 Geoff Zeiger a.k.a. gzeiger

4 Giovanni Conedera

4 Guillaume Ouimet

4 Guillaume Ranville

4 I@n DeGraff a.k.a. I@n

4 Ian Smith

4 Jason Henke

4 Jeff Urich

4 Jeffrey Greene

4 Jeremy Zwirn

4 Jesse River

4 John Moore

4 Josh Zwadlo

4 Justin Bransfield

4 Koskal Karakus

4 Lam Phan

4 Luke Smith

4 Mark Sadowski a.k.a. Mark Pharoah

4 Michael Simister

4 Pat Kolson

4 Ray Mitchell a.k.a. Razor

4 Rich Herbert

4 Rocky McCumbee

4 Roland Chang

4 Sean Brownlee

4 Shane Knepshield

4 Shawn Ahern

4 Steven Stoots a.k.a. Triple_S (Short Bus)

3 Adam Hartzler

3 Adrian Dziergowski

3 Alex Hughes

3 Andrew Oyen

3 Andrew Petkovics

3 Bob Dash

3 Brian Phelon a.k.a. hulk3rules

3 Brian Rozzero

3 Charles P. Kruginator

3 Chris Hufnagel

3 Chris Janjigian

3 Chris Leather

3 Chris Marchand

3 Chris McDaniel

3 Chris Phillips

3 Clarence Li

3 Cody Vinci

3 Crossman Wilkins

3 Dan Carp

3 Dan Richardson a.k.a. pern

3 David Feinstein

3 Doug Linn a.k.a. Hi-Val (Meandeck)

3 Drew Fisher

3 Eric Dupuis

3 Eric Wilkinson

3 Ethan Lippett

3 Guillaume Baril

3 James Beltz

3 James Kreinbihl

3 Jason Stinnett (Meandeck)

3 Jeff Rieck a.k.a. methuselahn

3 Jim Phillips

3 Joe Bushman (Meandeck)

3 John J. Wolfensberger

3 Jon Tschida a.k.a. Frost

3 Josh Franklin

3 Josh Ochse

3 Josh Rayden

3 Justin Koprek

3 Lee Hall

3 Luc Tremblay

3 Marc Sims

3 Martin Bonneville

3 Matt Brandt

3 Matt Gronke (Short Bus)

3 Matt Kadilak

3 Matt Smith a.k.a. Mr. ChannelFireball

3 Matthew Kershaw

3 Mike Gumbinger

3 Nick Trudeau a.k.a. nickvos

3 Noam Benavi

3 Ralph Parsinite

3 Phil Doyle

3 Philip Schmitt

3 Preston Honey

3 Ray Clavette

3 Rob Raven

3 Robert O’Leary

3 Robert Vroman

3 Ryan Lorenz

3 Ryan Quick

3 Sam Antill a.k.a. abhorsen105

3 Scott Britschock

3 Shannon O’Meara a.k.a. MuzzonoAmi

3 Simon Cliche-Lamoureux

3 Stephan Rakovich

3 Steve Reinertz

3 Steven Brown

3 Tom Rotchadl

3 Travis Lee

3 Taylor Hustad

3 Thomas Lee

3 Tony Blue

3 Wilson Kan

3 Zach Gable a.k.a. Green Knight


Appendix Three: The Results

2004-03-19 Tours (http://solomoxen.com/?page=7&id=18&menu=1)(66 players)

1. Dragon

2. Dragon

3. U/W Landstill

4. Welder Mud (Metalworker/Staff of Domination)

5. TPS

6. U/B/R Psychatog

7. U/B Control

8. Gifts Ungiven (Salvagers)


1. Frédéric Courtois

2. Stéphane Tichadou aka. despon

3. Yann Levet

4. Davide Cohen

5. Mickaël Lellouche

6. Jean-Marc Seguin

7. Florian Faucheux

8. Pierrick Mode aka. CwaM


2004-04-03 Castricum (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=254)(54 players)

1. Stax (5C)

2. 4C Control

3. Suicide Black

4. Belcher

5. 4C Control

6. Bazaar Replenish

7. Oath of Druids

8. Reanimator


1. Stefan Gordijn

2. Daniel Paardekooper

3. David Martinez

4. Jos Scheurs

5. Koen Moerman

6. Hugo van Dijke

7. Barrie Sattink

8. Nico van der Hoeven


2005-04-24 Iserlohn (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=256)(111 players)

1. Welder Mud

2. TPS

3. U/W Landstill

4. TPS

5. U/B Masknought (Ritual)

6. Workshop Slaver

7. Oath of Druids

8. Belcher


1. Michael Stys

2. Dennis Rosinski

3. Christian Höttgen

4. Christopher Wilhelm

5. Oliver Schultheis

6. Torben Schröder

7. Thomas Pittner

8. Aurel Bokermann


2004-04-16 SCG P9 VI Chicago (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/event/9446.html)(152 players)

1. Gifts Ungiven (Charbelcher)

2. Oath of Druids

3. Control Slaver

4. Ravager (Workshop)

5. TPS

6. Stax (U/R)

7. 7/10 Split

8. Oath Salvagers (no Drain)


1. Ben Kowal

2. Brian Demars

3. Jeff Anand

4. Jesse River

5. Luke Ojala

6. Robert Vroman

7. Dan Carp

8. Thomas Lee


2004-04-30 Barcelona (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=22976.0)(85 players)

1. Gifts Ungiven (Colossus)

2. Bazaar Replenish

3. Mud (Monobrown)

4. TPS

5. Dragon

6. Oath of Druids

7. Stax (5C)

8. MonoBlue


1. Miguel Angel Rodriguez

2. Jordi Monraba

3. Sergio Perez

4. Javi Rubio

5. Daniel Gomez

6. Jorge Pinazo

7. Pablo Ambrojo

8. Alex Cruz


2004-04-30 Waterbury (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=23004.0)(140 players)

1. U/W Fish

2. TPS

3. Gifts Ungiven (Colossus)

4. 7/10 Split

5. Rector Sensei (no Ritual, no Drain)

6. Gifts Ungiven (Charbelcher)

7. Oath Salvagers (Drain)

8. U/G Madness


1. Jason Zheng

2. Justin Bramsfield

3. Carl Winter

4. Travis LaPlante

5. Eli Kassis

6. Rich Shay

7. Dan Emmons

8. Brian Rozzero


2004-05-01 Waterbury (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=23004.0)(50 players)

1. U/R Fish

2. Oath Salvagers (Drain)

3. Gifts Ungiven (Charbelcher)

4. Sensei Sensei

5. U/W Fish

6. Cerebral Assassin

7. Control Slaver

8. U/G Madness (Bazaar)


1. Jarad Mann

2. Dan Emmons

3. Ben Kowal

4. Justin Timoney

5. Crossman Wilkins

6. Ralph Parsinite

7. Jeff Tussi

8. Preston Honey