The December installment of the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open series reached Philadelphia last week, making it the last Standard tournament before Worlds for us to salivate over. By the time you read this, Worlds will be ready to kick off, with a bunch of exciting coverage to read up on all weekend. The top decks from Philly is exactly what I expect to see come time for Worlds, and with studs like Dirv and Osyp breaking into the Top 8, the tournament gets some more reps in my mind.
It’s not that the tournament is a bunch of scrubs playing in a big FNM, but watching Chris Woltereck taking down several in succession gave me the impression that the competition wasn’t what it should be. Given the increasing turnouts to this tournament, this series definitely has a very bright future.
The results from the Top 16 show a stagnant metagame that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Three Faeries in the Top 8, three more in the Top 16. Not total dominance like we’ve previously experienced, but it was still an unexpectedly strong showing. Only one Five-Color Control deck made it into the entire sixteen, piloted by Michael McGee, who I played at Nationals a year ago. He was wearing a colorful jester hat.
Reveillark had a good tournament, with two R/W versions in the Top 8, and another in the Top 16. Dirv had his own UWB Reveillark concoction… more on that later. Those RW versions have Flores written all over them.
From there, we don’t have any other consistent winners. Kithkin with Ajani got the top spot, and Red Deck Wins crept into the Top 4 (most likely fueled by the Faerie flock that found their way to the top).
The other three decks in the Top 16 were GB Elves at 10th, an awful-looking Jund Aggro deck in 12th, and a Mono-White Kithkin deck in 13th.
Before I go to the decklists, I wanted to clarify what exactly tournament results mean. There are a lot of people who put tournament-winning decks on pedestals, when actually the winner of the chicken dinner is really just the luckiest duck in the room (most of the time). I’m not saying that there aren’t cases when the best player wins, but it always feels like the guy who wins is the one who is running the best. They’re the player that “gets there” on those narrow top-deck situations, or are fortunate to play against opponents who make a lot of mistakes, or get those dream matchups late in the tournament when you need those wins to break the Top 8.
Despite the poor Five-Color Control showing, it will still be a big contender in the metagame from now until Reflecting Pool is banned or rotates out. Everyone and their mother knows about Five-Color Control and Faeries… the real excitement is in the fringe decks.
That said, the first place deck sucks.
Creatures (27)
- 3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 4 Cloudgoat Ranger
- 4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
- 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
- 4 Wizened Cenn
- 4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
- 4 Figure of Destiny
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (19)
Spells (10)
Sideboard
I have a lot of experience with the Kithkin deck, with and without the red splash and all the varying degrees in between. I pitched my FlameKin deck way back on October 1st, and it has remained a solid contender all the while. My version had more burn spells, to enhance Ajani’s utility while giving the deck a powerful end game plan opposite the control decks with their many Wrath spells. However, I can definitely get behind Corey’s concept.
Cutting down on the Red to have a more consistent curve is gravy, but this deck has no way to answer the opponent’s threats outside of threats of its own (or a single Ajani use every main phase). If you’re going to make the effort to make the deck more White, you have to include Unmake / Oblivion Ring / something in the main. I’m also a believer that Ranger of Eos is better than Cloudgoat Ranger, which would make up for the fact that this current version has no removal spells or tricks. But not including Ranger anywhere in the 75 is a mistake for any and all kin of Kith.
Wilt-Leaf Liege is also vomit.
I’d also guess that this deck has some mana issues. The curve is a little heavier than usual, with Ajani, Liege, and Cloudgoat taking up the 4-or-more mana slots on 25 lands… but most importantly, this deck is just dudes and more dudes. Mirrorweave was so great in Kithkin during Block Constructed season because it gave the deck some more options to compliment the creature-filled board. Combined with Unmake, the deck had a lot of range to deal with problems like Mistblind Clique or Reveillark, to maneuver around Cryptic Commands, and to have a strong late-game finisher that can deal a lot of damage to make up for a slow start.
The sideboard is also bunk. Ajani Goldmane and Ajani Vengeant will never be able to pursue Planeswalkery plots together, so why have him in there? I can’t imagine a situation I would want Goldmane over Vengeant. It is similarly true about Reveillark; is there a time where you’d want Reveillark over Cloudgoat Ranger? I find it hard to believe it’s possible to squeeze a full set of both five-drops into the same deck, which is another reason I prefer Ranger of Eos to Cloudgoat Ranger. It allows you to compliment the sideboard Reveillarks while not clunking up the curve. I do like Stillmoon Cavalier, as it has a good amount of utility opposite both the mirror and the fiendish Fae.
Moving on…
Creatures (24)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 4 Tattermunge Maniac
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Stigma Lasher
Lands (4)
Spells (32)
Sideboard
Nice Reflecting Pool.
I really like the basic nature of this deck. A strong ascending curve, turn 1 dude, turn 2 dude, turn 3 dude, turn 4 kill their dudes/burn their dome, turn 5 Demigod, boom.
Tattermunge Maniac is the weakest creature of the bunch, but the inclusion of Magma Spray ups his value significantly since Finks won’t be around to block him, and using a Magma Spray on a Faerie token to get in two more with Maniac is the most efficient use for Spray in that matchup.
The sideboard has a lot of match-specific narrow cards to cover the bases that need covering. Chaotic Backlash provides an answer to a Kithkin or Fishy horde. Everlasting Torment counteracts Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender, which is one of the Red deck’s prime nemeses. Pyroclasm is a little out of place if he’s planning on Backlashing his Kithkin opponents, but I suppose you need to have a card that will buy you enough time to implement the Backlash.
Dominus of Fealty looks pretty jank, but I’m a big fan of having a few random cards in extremely linear decks to provide a veritable curve ball. I commonly use X-spells in Red decks for that slot, but Dominus only needs an upkeep or two to win the game, and can pull you out of board-clogged situations by sending the opponent’s creatures into his own troops. I really feel like I was stretching to make Dominus seem good, but it’s really just an Air Elemental unless it lives to your upkeep. Warhammer provides a similar role, except it is a much better recovery card, enabling many comeback scenarios, while the Dominus feels like a win-more card by the time it usually hits, barring an extremely clogged board on which he can do his work.
Creatures (21)
Lands (24)
Spells (15)
Sideboard
Now this is my kind of deck. Lots of super-efficient spells that set up all kinds of decision trees, backed by Wrath and card draw. In a metagame filled with Fae and Five-Color Control, isn’t this the deck you want to play? Fulminator Mage and Scully do serious work opposite the big two, especially when Reveillark and Mannequin are backing them up. Throw in Thoughtseize and you can see what matchups Dirv was contemplating when concocting this brew.
His main deck is a bit stretched, but he has several three-ofs that will blow up the creature matches. Kitchen Finks, Sower, and Wrath are part of a nine-slot combination to deal with aggro decks. The other 1/3 is clearly aimed at beating control decks, with 4 Scully and Fulms along with three Thoughtseize to have eleven awesome ways to disrupt the opponent.
The remainder of the deck provides a solid core of card advantage and control, with four Cryptic Command and Mulldrifter complimented by three Reveillark, Esper Charm, and a pair of Mannequin to complete the sixteen-card shell.
When you look at the deck from that perspective, you have a 9/11/16/24 setup, the nine being cards benefitting the creature matchups, the eleven being the cards geared toward control matchups, and the sixteen being cards that are neutral providing the backbone of card advantage for the deck to keep the diesel pumping.
Honestly, I think the numbers can be cleaned up a bit, but given that some cards overlap for mutual utility (Fulminator opposite aggro / Kitchen Finks versus Bitterblossom), the deck doesn’t need much help in distributing the love. The only thing I feel like I’d want to change in this deck is possibly adding a third Makeshift Mannequin to have 10 desirable end-of-turn effects, and maybe a fourth Kitchen Finks.
I’ve had very similar lists minus Scully, plus more Wraths, Finks, and Mannequins, but Scully really brings a lot to the table when paired with Reveillark, Thoughtseize, and Fulminator Mage. As soon as you can see your opponent’s hand, you can virtually make all the decisions in the game by forcing him into a corner with the continuous wall of disruption. My lists also didn’t involve Sower in the main deck, but I can definitely see where he’s coming from and why he wants it. The deck is pretty low on actual kill conditions, aside from beating for two here and there. Sower is also an awesome way to shore up any Rock-like matchups, since they usually rely on one or two creatures to kill you (Doran/Chameleon Colossus).
The sideboard is aimed toward dealing with the problem matchups. Mono Red can be a serious pain for this deck so a set of Forge-Tenders and three Runed Halo, and a pair of Condemn is needed. It may seem like overkill, but decks like this don’t have many bad match ups, but when you hit a bad one its a really bad one. It’s just a prime example that it’s not possible to cover all your bases in one main deck. However, Dirv has the right idea to go balls-out to graft the deck around beating Red games 2 and 3.
I’m not sure what the singleton Negate is doing there over a third Glen Elendra; I suppose against Faeries on the play you want to have four answers to Bitterblossom post board? I also really like Stillmoon Cavalier as a three-of.
This is the deck you should be playing in Standard right now.
Creatures (30)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 3 Siege-Gang Commander
- 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
- 3 Reveillark
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 3 Murderous Redcap
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Ranger of Eos
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (15)
As I mentioned earlier, this deck reeks of Flores. Voice of All? Murderous Redcap? Siege-Gang Commander? I forgot all those cards were even in Standard. And they’re all Reveillarkable!
Honestly, this deck looks like a pile through my scope. A hodge podge of good cards. That’s not to say that it isn’t good… after all, it was technically the breakout deck of the tournament. I just have a problem playing with cards my subconscious doesn’t agree with. The mana on this deck is also way too risky for my taste. 22 lands?! With eleven four-drops and six critical five-drops?
Frown.
The positives? Figure of Destiny and Knight of Meadowgrain are a proven powerful front court, however the usual Kithkin suspects you’d expect aren’t the followup. This time you have Finks, better than most Kin, Ajani, already assumed in most Kin lists, Murderous Redcap, the lowly goblin, and Siege-Gang Bang, a horde of Goblins.
All of this supported by no way to manipulate your draw, other than sacrificing a Mind Stone and Windbrisk Heights?
Definitely a Flores deck and, given the sheer number of greedy overzealous plays this deck can come up with, I would bet my last dollar that Flores made this list, handed it to several of his subjects and Osyp, and three out of seven or eight of them did well. That’s all a hypothesis, but sometimes these puzzles piece themselves together. Calosso Fuentes and Ted Renner also played the deck successfully on the day, so there’s got to be something there, right?
The sideboard looks to overload on protection creatures, as if Stillmoon wasn’t enough. Guttural Response looks to stop Cryptic Command, and Wrath of God is there as a board sweeper for equally aggressive matches.
I’m just not sure what to think of this deck. It looks so bad, but is clearly at least playable despite the awkward configuration.
Creatures (18)
Lands (20)
Spells (22)
- 4 Forest
- 2 Eyeblight's Ending
- 3 Garruk Wildspeaker
- 3 Nameless Inversion
- 3 Profane Command
- 4 Thoughtseize
- 3 Bitterblossom
Sideboard
Solid looking Elves deck with all the usual suspects. I do think Bitterblossom could and should be a four-of in here, so you have a chance to out-Bitterblossom the Fae deck while providing synergy with Garruk, to both protect him and provide bodies for his Overrun. This deck has excellent end game tactics, with Profane Command and Garruk being the key pieces, and just looks to hang in there until the mana catches up to enable big plays.
I’m really curious why Elves isn’t a bigger player than it is right now. Being a Rock deck means it has answers for the top aggro and control decks and a solid creature base to hammer the twenty in. It doesn’t have the same manipulation as the other good decks, but it makes up for it in hard to handle threats like Chameleon Colossus and Treetop Village.
Creatures (22)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Imperious Perfect
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 4 Bramblewood Paragon
- 4 Chameleon Colossus
- 2 Taurean Mauler
Lands (22)
Spells (16)
Sideboard
So we have an Elf Warrior base with some burn spells to finish them off. This isn’t what you want out of your Green deck, and if you’re looking to have an aggro deck and splash burn, Kithkin is the best way to go.
Paragon isn’t resilient enough to carry this archetype, but he’s also the only reason you’d branch out to a Green base rather than White. Chameleon Colossus is nice, and Imperious can create an army, but those lines of attack just walk into all the Wrath effects and pitfalls of our current Standard era. Everyone is equipped to deal with a weak creature curve, and with only Shock, Puncture Blast, and two Profane Command to back them up, I can’t see why anyone would want to play this deck.
Although it does have Paragon / Taurean Mauler synergies…
Creatures (15)
Lands (20)
Spells (25)
Sideboard
This is my idea of a good Faeries list, and gets my vote for best version out of the six in the Top 16. Personally I never understood Gerry’s argument on why Faeries should play zero Conclave. His reasoning is mostly backed by the fact that you need it in any of the big matchups, but the fact is that it doesn’t cost you anything to play two of them, and it will randomly come in handy here and there against the fringe decks.
So, those are the big decks from Philly, but what can we learn from this?
– It was a fluke that Five-Color Control didn’t make the top tables. I can’t imagine it being underplayed in the NE, what with all that’s been written about it lately and its positive tournament results.
– A White-based aggro deck backed by Ajani Vengeant is powerful enough to take down a tournament without a strong supporting cast behind it.
– Faeries is still the best deck.
– Reveillark on the rise.
The last tournament of the year is upon us, and the year, it feels, has ended prematurely. It feels weird to only have 3 Pro Tours followed by Worlds. I hope Magic gets to the point where it can start expanding again rather than being stuck in this constant state of recession, but the future is only what we make of it.
Thanks for reading!
Kyle
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Top 5 Picks
1) Red and Purple — The Dodos
2) If The World Ends – Guillemots
3) Ribbons — Four Tet
4) Side Talk — 9th Wonder and Buck Shot
5) Motion & Movement — Blue Scholars