Plane touchdown…
Milwaukee? Home, at least for today. Thinking of flying out to Vegas tomorrow, but that’s okay. It’s a nice life if you can get it…
Pro Tour: San Juan? So sick. I mean, talk about a good time. It’s disappointing that Block Constructed has been so de-emphasized, but it is what it is (and it was great). While there are no Block Constructed PTQs or GPs, the format is a sweet one and will nevertheless be played by some. Randy Buehler and I were discussing just how good a format this was, and we were in agreement, with the one minor complaint being the Top 8 being draft, instead of actually playing out the Constructed portion to a conclusion.
Don’t get me wrong, Rise of the Eldrazi draft is one of the actual greatest Limited formats of all time (Of All Time), but at the end of the day, draft Top 8s are just not nearly as interesting to as many players as Constructed ones. You may prefer this draft format, you may prefer all draft formats, but playing in a draft and watching a draft are not the same. I am not talking my personal preference, either. Again, I love this draft format. I am talking about not as many people watching both in person and at home on the monitors. What was the best Block deck? Much like how last year’s Hawaii ended with three different decks laying claim to “the best deck in the format,” this year’s Block tournament is similarly muddied, which is a shame as it is one of the most interesting Block Constructed formats ever.
Last year, Paul Rietzl and Brian Kibler made Top 8 with the Neil Reeves “Esper Stoneblade,” which makes a good claim for “best deck for THAT tournament,” with awesome numbers and a relatively small sample size. They took advantage of a field that was not fully aware of all that was possible. Kazuya Mitamura won the tournament (albeit with a draft deck) and championed the G/W aggro deck that was the best performing macro-archetype. Using Tomohiro Saito’s version, he made Top 8 where his draft skills took him to the top, but how would things have played out if he had to face Rietzl and Kibler with the Stoneblade, or Zac Hill piloting the other deck to lay claim to the format, albeit the “best deck, once the format is known”…? Hill piloted Michael Jacob and Yours Truly’s Five-Color Cascade Control deck, which then went on to be the undisputed dominant deck of the same format Block championships at GenCon later in the year (including Brian Kibler splitting the finals after giving up the Stoneblade for 5CCC, as well as half of the rest of the Top 8 piloting nearly identical copies).
This year’s block PT has brought a number of claims to “best deck.” Up first, the champ is here!
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (28)
Spells (14)
Paulo first, Wraptor fifth, and Ochoa twelfth all played nearly identical updates to Michael Jacob Comet Storm deck that Brad Nelson used to win the Magic Online Block Championships just a month ago, with MJ finishing third, and LSV ninth on breaks, all piloting the same. Michael Jacob was also playing a Rise update of his deck this past weekend, finishing 26th himself. With so many outstanding finishes, despite such a small percentage size of the field employing this strategy, it is not hard to argue that MJ’s deck is the best in the format, though it is certainly not without competition, and it would have been nice to have the top decks battle it out for the title.
The somewhat unfortunately named Comet Storm deck is actually a Oracle of Mul Daya / Jace, the Mind Sculptor deck. MJ’s theory was that Jace, the Mind Sculptor was the best card in the format by no small margin and that he wanted to find the best Jace deck. Oracle of Mul Daya, Green Acceleration, Raging Ravine, and burn help you win the Jace wars, and lots of cheap removal plus card draw and Avenger of Zendikar help win the aggro fights.
This strategy is chronically under-estimated, as many people are quick to dismiss the archetype out the gate, often without even playing a single game, generally on account of it not fitting so neatly into “control,” “aggro,” “combo,” or some other easy mental box. What they miss is that this is a classic ramp deck that uses mana acceleration, removal, card advantage, and expensive bombs to dominate the game. It would really not take much for a strategy like this to break out in Standard and in fact, the rotation of Jund is likely to prompt this U/G/R to climb to tier 1 in Standard this fall (if not sooner…). We have been saying it for a long time now, but Michael Jacob has quietly climbed the ranks to become one of the top 10 deck builders in the world today.
You may notice that Paulo has only 5 Rise of the Eldrazi cards in his maindeck and 4 more in the board, none of which is very difficult to replace. The lesson here is to remember that you don’t have to play new cards just to play them. The format is the entire collection of cards, and the changes made by the addition of Rise of the Eldrazi don’t just add cards to people’s decks, they also change which existing cards are good and which are not. For instance, when MJ was looking for a sideboard plan to duck under Mind Sludge and gain ground against U/W, I had suggested to him the Lotus Cobra / Goblin Ruinblaster / Rampaging Baloths plan for the block championships. Paulo (and Wraptor, Ochoa, and MJ) have moved the plan to the maindeck. The reason? The format has shifted. Gideon has made U/W much stronger, and Eldrazi Green decks have changed the texture of the metagame to greatly increase the need for land destruction and high tempo plays.
Let’s set aside the Comet Storm deck for a moment, and take a look at its top finishing pilot, Paulo. This is PV’s first PT win, but it is his sixth (!) Pro Tour Top 8, a feat matched only by Jon Finkel, Kai Budde, Gabriel Nassif, Darwin Kastle, Kenji Tsumura, and Masashi Oiso. That is pretty elite company. Now let’s take a moment to consider that this is only PV’s 23rd Pro Tour! That means he is making Top 8 at a clip of better than 1 in 4. Now, back in the day, the absolute elite could Top 8 one in six, one in five, maybe even one in four, but times have changed. Magic is harder than it used to be, as there are literally thousands of players with a pro level understanding of the game. To Top 8 one in four today in absolutely unreal, and to cement that epic-ness of the feat, Paulo is a player of unquestionable integrity. Is Paulo the best player in the world today? Maybe. The truth is, he is probably top 10 all-time at this point. This is no Paulo love-fest, just giving props where they are due. I will tell you one thing, Paulo just about always plays “the best deck,” (at least out of known decks) ranging from Faeries, to Jund, to Zoo, to Dark Depths. The very fact that Paulo is playing Comet Storm is actually a pretty strong argument on the deck’s behalf.
Who else can lay claim in San Juan? After all, who has the chips…?
Creatures (29)
- 1 River Boa
- 4 Lotus Cobra
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 4 Wolfbriar Elemental
- 4 Joraga Treespeaker
- 4 Kozilek's Predator
- 4 Nest Invader
- 4 Vengevine
Lands (24)
Spells (7)
Sideboard
It is not entirely clear yet who was chiefly behind Zvi’s team’s Monument Green deck, but from the sound of it, Zvi deserves at least a large portion of the credit, perhaps on design, and at least certainly on organizing the group the produced the best performing macro-archetype, which was actually just about the only surprise break-out deck of the tournament. Both Brad Nelson and Noah Swartz made Top 8 with the deck, and I am hopeful that Sam Black or Zvi or Alexander West will share with us the results of all the pilots. I believe that the 13 pilots using this exact list ended up with a 68% match win percentage on Day 1, which is pretty unreal given the number of pilots (courtesy of @TheZvi on twitter).
The plan is a fairly straightforward Green token strategy, using Beastmaster Ascension and Eldrazi Monument as the pay-offs, but rather than focus entirely on producing Eldrazi Spawn, like so many token players had tried, they just used quality creatures like Lotus Cobra, Joraga Treespeaker, Arbor Elf, and Vengevine, removing the strategy inherent weakness to players that could keep an Ascension or Monument off the table.
This deck is a brilliant build, consistent, powerful, capable of truly incredible nut-draws, and equipped with a great deal of resiliency, even to sweepers. The best part? It sidesteps entirely the paper-rock-scissors of those stuck in the U/W Control / Red Aggro / Green Ramp metagame. For reference, a big talking point in the format was how the U/W Control decks beat Mono-R and Boros which beat Green Ramp, like Mono-G Eldrazis and Oracle of Mul Daya decks, which beat the U/W decks.
Monument Green’s weakness? Imagine an opponent with Cunning Sparkmage… and Basilisk Collar. Awk. Who is to say what the metagame would like if we ran it back, knowing now what we have learned? Do I think Monument Green would perform as well? Doubtful, but then again, perhaps it was the “best deck to play THAT weekend.” Regardless, this is my favorite deck of the weekend. It is tempting to port this into Standard, but Maelstrom Pulse, Oblivion Ring, Martial Coup, Knight of the Reliquary, Baneslayer Angel, and more make it a relatively unappealing option right now. Still, as the format shifts, this is a strategy to keep your eye on, especially with the possibility of hybridizing it with other strategies and colors.
Gigantiform is a pretty filthy sideboard option that a number of misers have already been experimenting with, but I never read anything about, so I thought I’d say a few words on it. The key to Gigantiform is using it against someone that isn’t going to play an instant speed removal spell. When you play against U/W or Eldrazi Green, Gigantiform is essentially an 8/8 trample haste creature (typically enchanting an Eldrazi Spawn or Plant token). Zvi, bless his heart, has even included the second copy so as to make possible the twelve-year old’s fantasy of kicking Gigantiform for max-pain!
You may be wondering where are the Nissa Revanes? Isn’t she supposed to be in decks like this? Alas, she is a victim of Searing Blaze, a card that single-handedly obsoletes her in the block format. Kozilek’s Predator is just more reliable at doing what you actually need done, and you really don’t want random Elvish Warriors in this deck when you could have River Boas, Nest Invaders, and Lotus Cobras.
Another great aspect of this build is how well it takes advantage of Vengevine, the most powerful card that no one was using in the format. The lesson here is to be mindful of what there is a need for. Zvi’s team saw a need for a home for Vengevine and did not stop looking until they found one. What they found turned out to be a true treasure.
Vengevine is continuing to stake its claim as the best (or at least one of the best) cards in Rise of the Eldrazi. It is definitely safe to say that things are different now. Vengevine is so aggressive, so deadly, so tough to work around. Interestingly, every single person (4/4) that finished the Constructed swiss 9-1 or better had 4 Vengevines in there deck. This is no small feat, considering something like 12% of the field played the card at all.
The best deck? Maybe. Who else can stake a claim?
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (27)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Florent was the most successful U/W pilot in the Constructed portion, though relatively low draft records left him with a Top 16, rather than the coveted Top 8. This strategy is very familiar to Standard players these days, and uses Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Gideon Jura along with a host of support spells to take full advantage of the two super-charged Planeswalkers. U/W was by far the most popular deck, and it performed reasonably, but on the whole, it does seem like it did not quite reach the levels the hype suggested it would. What happened?
Going into the event, nearly every competitor was very familiar with the past week’s worth of Magic Online results, which painted a picture of U/W’s dominance going into the event. This put a giant bullseye on the strategy, with everyone testing against it to the extreme. Add to this the recent upswing of Eldrazi Green, a ramp deck that using Eldrazi Temples and Eye of Ugin to fuel a never-ending stream of giant Eldrazi monsters that tend to go over the top of the U/W decks, literally brute forcing through them. That match-up is “quite bad” for the U/W decks, and being stuck in the paper-rock-scissors metagame doesn’t paint that flattering of a picture of the deck.
That said, U/W was probably the best deck two weeks ago, and the reason the entire format revolves around it is because it is probably the best baseline strategy in a vacuum. The thing is, we don’t play in a vacuum. For that reason, I think that while U/W may be the strongest strategy in the abstract, it is probably not the best.
Florent’s build has a few notable choices. First, his Deprives are sideboard and Spell Pierces main, a swap most did not make. This improves his ability to win fights over turn 3 and turn 4 Jaces, as well as force through his own. In addition, Florent has opted against the somewhat popular Spreading Seas, preferring instead to max out on fives, with a full play-set of both Gideons and Sphinx of Lost Truths.
So how much of this translates to Standard? Well, this is actually probably more than anything a case of Standard translating to Block, since this deck is more or less just a port of the most dominant Standard deck of the past couple of months. Spell Pierce is probably too narrow when Negate is available, and Cancel is less popular given the hostile nature of Standard, though it may be poised to make a comeback, if people can figure out how to adjust for the oppressive influence of Vengevine.
What were the other top decks of Pro Tour: San Juan? Let’s take a look at U/W’s arch-nemesis, the Eldrazi.
Creatures (17)
- 4 Oracle of Mul Daya
- 4 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- 4 Overgrown Battlement
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 4 Wall of Omens
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (14)
Otsuka’s build features the common addition of White for Wall of Omens and Gideon Jura to the Green Eldrazi Ramp strategy. The most notable feature of Otsuka’s take on the archetype is his choice to max out on Kozileks, trimming Ulamogs (which are generally at least as popular, if not more so). In addition, he has moved the Emrakul to the sideboard, a card that is generally only important against U/W and other ramp decks. It also cannot be overlooked that Otsuka has opted for Oracle of Mul Daya as an additional source of card advantage and mana ramping. Without Jace, Fetchlands, and Halimar Depths, this is not as strong a weapon as in Comet Storm, but it is still a threat, especially with such devastating cards to ramp into.
Can Eldrazi ramp strategies cross over to Standard? I think it may be possible. See, the tough thing is that in Standard, all of the decks are faster, which is particularly bad for Eldrazi ramp, a strategy that’s biggest weakness is being a little slow out of the gate. That said, the Eldrazi end-game is a very powerful Stage 3, and if clever deck builders can figure out how to not get run over by Vengevines or Kargan Dragonlords or Putrid Leeches, this could be a very exciting fringe strategy, if not tier 1.
I do think that any attempt at a Standard build would probably result in a different sort of take on Eldrazi ramp than the Block decks, most likely hybridizing with Polymorph or Summoning Trap. I don’t see any reason why one can’t build a U/G version that adds the Eldrazi engine to a Polymorph deck with Jaces. You end up with weaker Polymorphs on account of often flipping “only” Ulamogs or Kozileks, but gain a potent end-game that threatens to go over the top of the popular U/W decks.
Creatures (16)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
The Devastating Summons combo has already made a big impact on Standard, and just about every competitor in San Juan was quick to realize that if you take out four Lightning Bolts, you have a Block deck. While some have experimented with Kiln Fiend instead of some of the good two-drops, it would seem that most top finishing Red pilots have opted for just the standard package of Geopede and Dragonlord, though if budget is a concern, Kiln Fiend is a reasonable replacement for Dragonlord. The Kiln Fiend is better against Goldfish, whereas Dragonlord is better against opponents that fight back.
Giarola has chosen to replace the Lightning Bolts with Zektar Shrines and call it a day, which seems fine, but it is his sideboard where we see some pretty sweet new action. While Punishing Fires (Kor Firewalker, Vampires) and Goblin Ruinblaster (Ramp, U/W) are par for the course, the Tuktuks are exciting, giving Giarola a powerful trump for the mirror. Tuktuk is not just essentially a 1/1 haste-shroud-unblockable creature, he is also at times Moat and Doran the Siege-Tower. The Red mirrors generally involve burning everything the opponent does. How do you break the mirror, then? While some use Hellkite Charger as a fatty that is difficult to burn, Giarola aims lower, and I expect more and more adoption of Tuktuk in Standard, a place where I think he is grossly under-played.
Kitesail is probably the least likely card to appear in the Constructed decks of the Top 8 competitors, but it is actually quite smart. The primary use is to provide a way to fly over the top of Kor Firewalker, Wall of Omens, or endless streams of Eldrazi Spawn blockers. This is an excellent example of changing the field of battle, as Giarola realized that many of his sideboard wins were a result of fully-leveled Kargan Dragonlords, so he set about “making more Dragonlords.”
The miser’s Mark of Mutiny is just so those Eldrazi ramp people never know…
Nice.
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (22)
The other Guillaume did not have a deck just days before the event, but ended up piloted a U/G/R tokens deck which I think was the product of Olivier Ruel, though I am not positive on the origin and hopefully he will fill us in later in the week. Matignon’s deck features a modest amount of the token engine, but also employs an unpredictable mixture of removal, permission, and card draw to allow it to play a sort of control game, that often quickly morphs into a “combo deck” at a moment’s notice. While the deck is very cool and surprisingly effective, I suspect that much of its advantage was gained by continually playing cards that the opponents were not prepared for. All in all, though, a clever list that shows a great deal of creativity, and is probably a useful case to study for aspiring deck builders on ways to think outside the box.
The final block deck I want to look at today (seeing as how Vampires and Boros are pretty bad) is Jeremy Neeman innovative take on White Weenie, adding Blue for Jace, Celestial Colonnade, and the increasingly popular Sea Gate Oracle, as well as a sweet sideboard, and Red for Cunning Sparkmages out of the sideboard.
This list is super sweet, utilizing some of the best elements of White Weenie, U/W Control, and Boros to form a list that can come out aggressive, but plays a solid big game as well. I would be really interested to see if this strategy would catch on if the format was continued to be played heavily. I am also very interested to see if White Weenie lovers use this as a shell for a standard port, though it may just be that Vengevine is too good not to play.
Creatures (21)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
I am not going to examine the deck I played at the PT in depth, as it is my least favorite deck that I have used in a while and I do not recommend it, but for reference here is the list.
Creatures (15)
- 3 Lotus Cobra
- 3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
- 4 Oracle of Mul Daya
- 1 Rampaging Baloths
- 2 Sphinx of Lost Truths
- 2 Avenger of Zendikar
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (28)
I would definitely not play the deck again and for those that play something similar, I greatly suggest having access to sideboarded Naturalizes and All is Dust (not the Summoning Traps, among other changes). The deck isn’t “bad,” but it is a bad Comet Storm deck, in my opinion. I suspect Kibler will have more to say (and probably more positive) in his article, so for thoughts on this strategy check him out. Long story short, it is a basically a Comet Storm deck with “Obv” Nixilis instead of Comet Storm.
Touching on Standard for just a moment before I bounce, let’s look at the deck that Tom “@semisober” Martel used to last chance qualify for the PT, the night before.
Creatures (23)
- 2 Birds of Paradise
- 3 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Scute Mob
- 4 Sea Gate Oracle
- 4 Vengevine
- 4 Wall of Omens
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (24)
Spells (6)
Martel has built on what he learned from GP: DC, with a few tweaks which all seem good to me, aside from cutting the second Island (which is CRAZY). While I do think a second Plains is good, the second Island is vital, and Tom even lost a game where he had Misty Rainforest untapped and couldn’t fetch up and Island to cast Deprive. That said, I like the minor changes of the fourth Sea Gate Oracle and second Elspeth, moving the fourth Jace to the sideboard and cutting the “cute” Kor Skyfisher. Also, Oust and Celestial Purge are nice additions to the sideboard, against Mythic and Jund, respectively.
The key to Martel’s success? In the tournament, he played 10 rounds. His record? 9-0 vs U/W and 0-1 vs Jund. Talk about a warped format! These days, U/W Control is absurdly popular and if they are the problem, Next Level Bant is the remedy, as that match-up is, how shall we say… “Positive.” My recommendation? If U/W is as popular in your area as it is in ours, this is the deck to play. The U/W match-up is a joke, and the rest of your match-ups are close, tight, and solid. I plan on playing something like this at the StarCityGames.com Open in St. Louis later this month, though that still leaves a few weeks to experiment with variations. It will be interesting to see what the next two weeks of Asian GPs reveal. I am guessing that this strategy puts up some numbers, especially if pilots come up with new angles of attack and U/W continues to be overplayed.
San Juan was beautiful, despite the tournament taking place in the middle of the rainy season, which basically means 6-7 torrential downpours a day. Outside of the abundance of shady cab-drivers, I have to say I loved the place. The weather, the wildlife, the people, the culture, I’m a fan, though Puerto Rico is a small enough island that the PT did not exactly have much spectating going on, which was a little disappointing.
The house that Kibler, Rubin, Rietzl, Sperling, The Ben Seck (TBS) and I stayed in was certainly fun, though it was not without a fair amount of drama, as we had to deal with a middle-aged woman of questionable sanity renting it to us. It took us over an hour to even get past the gates to the property as security would not let us in, claiming that she was not supposed to be renting out her property short-term. Once we got it, we had to deal with the woman’s six-hour mission to find a way to have our paypal payment process “immediately” rather than the three days that was used as a security feature, given that we were transferring thousands of dollars from an international IP address. All in all, though, all is well that ends well, as we managed to deal with that whole “situation” and move on to such matters as TBS’s cooking, Nassif’s dancing, Rubin taking his shirt off and spinning round his head like a helicopter, and partying with GerryT, Nassif, Amanda, Megan, Kibler, Rietzl, Parke, Martel, Sti (whoever that is), Turtenwald, Rubin, and TBS.
While the times were good, I was certainly disappointed with my finish, but even more so, disappointed with not preparing as I would have liked, leaving me not only unhappy with my deck choice, but unfocused and playing poorly in the event itself. Still, it was a very educational experience and I have certainly learned much that will aide me for U.S. Nationals and Pro Tour: Amsterdam. Besides, one should be so lucky as to have as fun of “character building life lessons” as I have had.
Summer is finally here, and it’s an awesome time to be playing Magic. See ya next week!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”