It is truly interesting how much can change in during one PTQ season. I’m not sure if this kind of article has ever been done before. If it has, shame on me. If not, I hope it is interesting for you to read. As a Magic history aficionado, I truly enjoy looking at how a PTQ format has evolved over time to see where we started and to see how we ended up.
Standard as a PTQ format is always fairly exciting. Attendance is high, staying ahead of the game is a time-consuming endeavor, and innovations are rewarded. And by innovation, I don’t mean jamming Bloodbraid Elf into Faeries and Merfolk and calling it a brand new deck.
Throughout any PTQ format, the same cries are heard at one point or another:
“This format is ________!”
“There are too many good decks. How am I supposed to test against them all?”
“_______ card is so stupid against _________ deck!”
“_______ mechanic is such a stupid mechanic!”
“I cannot believe they printed ________!”
“_______ needs to be banned!”
It’s like playing a game of Mad Libs!
Today, I am going to highlight how the PTQ: Austin format evolved. It’s so easy to forget that on May 2, 2009, BW Tokens was the deck to beat:
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Remember this deck? It’s been a while since I have seen it too! BW Tokens set the bar for this past PTQ season. How was one supposed to combat a deck that could feasibly do it all? BW Tokens had a great early game with Bitterblossom and Tidehollow Sculler; an awesome mid-game thanks to Spectral Procession, Glorious Anthem, and Kitchen Finks; the ability to reestablish itself due to Marsh Flitter and Cloudgoat Ranger; and had access to blowout draws that no one could come back from no matter how well they drew (thanks Windbrisk Heights!).
With the domination of BW Tokens, players were looking for answers. It seemed like Ben Stark may have found one on May 17, 2009:
Creatures (20)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (13)
Ben wasn’t the first player to qualify for Austin with GW Tokens, but he was certainly the most notable. Ben let players know that GW Tokens was for real. It had a positive matchup against the menace that was BW Tokens, and was just fine against the rest of the format.
See, GW Tokens did everything that BW Tokens did, but it was much more unforgiving. Yes, BW Tokens was a much more consistent deck, but it also was a fairly sluggish deck. It did a lot of different things, but none of them too quickly or too well. If you stumbled against GW Tokens, Overrun was there to shut you up and get you on to your next round. GW Tokens had some nice staying power due to Treetop Village and Dauntless Escort, and its nut draw was much better than BW Tokens nut draw.
Now it was a battle of the token decks. The format was starting to become pretty degenerate. It became a format of Anthem effects. Whoever drew more Anthem effects and token producers was winning the games. Worse yet, Ajani Goldmane was almost impossible to beat. Whoever played it first typically won the games. The games felt like crap shoots. Until one large angry bird had something to say about that in Barcelona:
Creatures (8)
Lands (41)
Spells (11)
Joel Calafell said “enough with these stupid token wars!” He didn’t care if his opponent drew Ajani Goldmane or not. As it turns out, Joel didn’t care what his opponent drew, if it involved a Windbrisk Heights, as he was goldfishing for most of the weekend. Seismic Swans was the solution to the token menace that people had been looking for and Calafell cashed in big time. This craze was started due to a regional slot being acquired in Chicago, followed by an article written on this very website by Samuel X Black. Few got the news in time for Barcelona, but those that did sure did capitalize on it. While I was attacking with Goldmeadow Stalwart in Spain (a shock, I’m sure), the true masters (Calafell, Penick, Locke, Thompson, Scott-Vargas, Paulo) were targeting their Swans of Bryn Argoil with Seismic Assault and being rewarded quite nicely for it. There was a new bully on the block.
Well, until an old bully showed the new bully what a real bully is!
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
Sideboard
Yes, Ben didn’t win the tournament (for everything else, there is Massicard), but that doesn’t hide the fact that Faeries was back and better than ever. Lundquist, Scott-Vargas, PVDDR, Potovin, and others had quite the successful weekend with the annoying pests. As natural a foil to tokens as Seismic Swans was, the same can be said of Faeries about Seismic Swans. Seismic Swans does everything that Faeries preys on:
1) It plays strictly in its main phase
2) It has very few relevant spells
3) It has no good answer to a Mistbind Clique.
Not only did Grand Prix: Seattle put Faeries back on the map, we were introduced to a new deck by the Innovator of Innovation himself, Patrick Q. Chapin esq ddr. Can you guess what card was in it?
Creatures (19)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
- 1 Forest
- 1 Mountain
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 1 Cruel Ultimatum
- 2 Jund Charm
- 2 Volcanic Fallout
- 4 Maelstrom Pulse
- 2 Bituminous Blast
Sideboard
5CB was unveiled at Grand Prix: Seattle to some moderate success. DJ Kastner and Josh “Joan of Arc” Wludyka were both off to impressive starts, but chose to fly too close to the sun, crashed, and burned. 5CB continued to be a mainstay in the format, but never really had consistent finishes. I’m not sure why that was, but two Cascade Bluffs and four Putrid Leeches may have had something to do with it.
Or it could have been the combination of Putrid Leech, Bituminous Blast, and Cryptic Command in the same deck.
The jury is still out on this one. Moving on to more logical things…
Pro Tour: Honolulu was on the horizon. We all know how miserable that format is/was, but something of relevance did occur on Thursday evening at the Last Chance Qualifier:
GB Elves
Brett Blackman
1st Place, Last Chance Qualifier, Honolulu
4 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Mutavault
2 Swamp
4 Treetop Village
3 Twilight Mire
3 Chameleon Colossus
3 Civic Wayfinder
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Llanowar Elves
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Putrid Leech
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Nameless Inversion
3 Profane Command
3 Thoughtseize
Sideboard:
1 Chameleon Colossus
3 Cloudthresher
1 Eyeblight’s Ending
1 Hurricane
3 Infest
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Primal Command
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Thoughtseize
GB Elves
Robert Gildec
2nd Place, Last Chance Qualifier, Honolulu
3 Thoughtseize
3 Profane Command
2 Nameless Inversion
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Putrid Leech
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Civic Wayfinder
3 Chameleon Colossus
3 Twilight Mire
4 Treetop Village
2 Swamp
2 Mutavault
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Forest
Sideboard:
3 Cloudthresher
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Eyeblight’s Ending
1 Hurricane
3 Infest
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Primal Command
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Thoughtseize
GB Elves
Gabriel Carlton-Barnes
3rd Place, Last Chance Qualifier, Honolulu
3 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Mutavault
2 Swamp
4 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
3 Chameleon Colossus
4 Civic Wayfinder
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Putrid Leech
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Nameless Inversion
3 Profane Command
4 Thoughtseize
Sideboard:
1 Chameleon Colossus
3 Cloudthresher
4 Deathmark
3 Guttural Response
1 Hurricane
3 Loxodon Warhammer
GB Elves
James Bishop
4th Place, Last Chance Qualifier, Honolulu
2 Nameless Inversion
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Eyeblight’s Ending
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
4 Putrid Leech
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Civic Wayfinder
3 Chameleon Colossus
2 Twilight Mire
4 Treetop Village
3 Swamp
3 Mutavault
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
3 Forest
4 Thoughtseize
Sideboard:
1 Chameleon Colossus
2 Deathmark
3 Guttural Response
1 Hurricane
3 Incremental Blight
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Scattershot Archer
GB Elves was back, and it was back in a big way. While the Last Chance Qualifier in Honolulu was not that large a tournament, the metagame at that tournament was much more diverse than this top four leads on. For one deck to take home all four qualifications is a resounding statement. With the printing of Putrid Leech and Maelstrom Pulse, GB Elves had reestablished itself in the metagame and went from an off-the-radar deck to a tier one contender in the span of about eight hours. InSane! (The way Evan Erwin says it when describing any new card.)
It was just two weeks ago that Seismic Swans was all the rage around town. With Faeries and GB Elves reestablishing itself, and token decks in the process of adapting to all the new decks around town, what was going to be the next break out deck? Chris Greene presented us with an answer to that question at the StarCityGames.com $5000 Atlanta Standard Open:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 3 Chameleon Colossus
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 2 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Putrid Leech
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 4 Anathemancer
Lands (21)
Spells (10)
Sideboard
Chris Greene lost one match at this SCG $5k. To me. Via the Kithkin. But that is neither here nor there…
Jund was a deck that was very similar to GB Elves. They were both midrange decks that capitalized on how the format had been shaping up. With the format taking a definitive shape, these Rock hybrids had an easier time selecting the correct answers for the necessary problems. Jund was a deck that was a long time in the making in my opinion. All of the cards had been available for a while. It just took a lot longer than expected for it to experience some real success.
Another deck that quietly did well at that $5k was the Elf Combo deck:
Creatures (31)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 1 Mirror Entity
- 4 Heritage Druid
- 4 Devoted Druid
- 4 Nettle Sentinel
- 4 Regal Force
- 4 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Elvish Visionary
Lands (13)
Spells (16)
It is frightening how little was said about the success of ELVES! at this tournament. It sure reared its ugly head later this season in Japan, now didn’t it? But more about that later…
It was around June 20, 2009 where the format really began to settle down. The StarCityGames.com $5000 Boston Standard Open took place, and GW Tokens took the victory home, but that deck was old news. This Standard format was set:
Faeries
G/W Tokens
Seismic Swans
B/W Tokens
Jund
5CB
G/B Elves
Sure, there were some crazy Enlisted Wurm decks, some people were insane enough to try to play Red aggro, UW Reveillark was around the town, and there was even some loudmouth freak telling people to play Kithkin for seven weeks, but we had our tiers set. It was at this point in time where my favorite part of a PTQ season takes place:
The Innovations in Deck Building!
Examples include:
– Paladin En-Vec against Jund and 5CB
– Snakeform to counteract Paladin En-Vec
– Windborn Muse to win the token mirrors
This is when we get to see who the true masters are. Who has the real tech when a format figures itself out and who is left casting Deity of Scars because it tested well last night in our play session. What tech is real? What tech is fake? This is when the deck archive pages on this website get real busy.
It. Is. Awesome.
But for how awesome of a time that is, it didn’t last very long. Great Sable Stag and company had to come and ruin everything.
Stupid M10. Grr…
Wait. Kithkin got super good!
And gunned for…
Stupid M10. Grr…
I was really enjoying my “under the radar, no one takes Kithkin seriously as a deck so I keep making Top 8 at PTQs and smashing Magic Online Daily Events” success before M10 came out. Damn you, Baneslayer Angel!
Then M10 changed everything. Or the lack of 10th Edition changed everything. Either one is correct.
We lost a lot and didn’t gain much in return. Or so we thought. If you look at how the format had panned out by the end of June to what it is now, it’s actually crazy:
Pre M10
Faeries
GW Tokens
Seismic Swans
BW Tokens
Jund
5CB
GB Elves
Post M10
Five-Color Control
Faeries (with or without Red)
Kithkin
Jund
UW
Elves!
Merfolk
Remember when Ajani Goldmane was $15 and was considered by many as the best card in Standard? Now that card doesn’t even see any play. Crazy!
Now we had a brand new format. Faeries was pronounced dead. No, seriously. It was over. Even LSV, Sam Black, and PVDDR didn’t want to fight against the Little Horsie That Could.
Then this happened:
Creatures (35)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 1 Cloudthresher
- 1 Mirror Entity
- 4 Heritage Druid
- 4 Devoted Druid
- 4 Nettle Sentinel
- 4 Regal Force
- 4 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 4 Elvish Archdruid
Lands (19)
Spells (6)
But Enric Marti didn’t care! He had the answer!
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (27)
Spells (20)
- 2 Terminate
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 1 Negate
- 1 Runed Halo
- 2 Hallowed Burial
- 2 Cruel Ultimatum
- 4 Esper Charm
- 1 Naya Charm
- 1 Path to Exile
- 2 Volcanic Fallout
Sideboard
And then some guy named Kenji said “Shut up, Enric Marti! I am the best player this game has ever seen! Your Five-Color Control deck does not scare me!”
Creatures (36)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 1 Cloudthresher
- 4 Heritage Druid
- 4 Devoted Druid
- 4 Nettle Sentinel
- 4 Regal Force
- 4 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 2 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Elvish Archdruid
Lands (20)
Spells (4)
Fourth place… thank god!
Then Shuuhei said “Actually Kenji, I’m the best player this game has ever seen. You cannot come and go as you please. This is my house. Kindly leave.”
Creatures (9)
Lands (26)
Spells (25)
First place… USA is doomed.
And, as much as the USA loves Kenji, we agreed with Shuuhei anyway.
Creatures (9)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (23)
Spells (26)
- 3 Island
- 3 Broken Ambitions
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 2 Negate
- 2 Hallowed Burial
- 3 Cruel Ultimatum
- 4 Esper Charm
- 4 Volcanic Fallout
- 1 Essence Scatter
Sideboard
“Now if only that Five-Color Control deck had Bloodbraid Elf in it!” – Patrick Chapin (busy innovating as usual)
“That is a great idea, Patrick! You are the smartest man alive! Can I get a list for a deck with Tidehollow Sculler and Flooded Grove in it for my next PTQ?” – Everyone else
“Yeah, let me innovate that right up for you. I’ll make sure it has Bloodbraid Elf in it too!” – Patrick Chapin
“Why play Bloodbraid Elf when you can play Glen Elendra Archmage?” -Dan Gardner (… who?)
“You are stupid and your deck sucks! Chapin! Chapin! Chapin!” – Everyone else
“But, my deck plays Baneslayer Angel!” – Dan Gardner (… again, who?)
“Ooooooooh! Show us pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!” – Everyone else
“It would be better if it had Broodmate Dragon…” – Patrick Chapin (walking away in disgust)
Creatures (24)
- 3 Meddling Mage
- 4 Mulldrifter
- 1 Reveillark
- 4 Vendilion Clique
- 4 Glen Elendra Archmage
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Baneslayer Angel
Lands (7)
Spells (29)
Finally, a home for Baneslayer Angel! Everyone can rejoice as one of the best White cards to see print in years has finally found a home. And, somehow, it wasn’t in Five-Color Control.
“Forget Baneslayer Angel. Let’s get a home for Wake Thrasher!” — Adrian Sullivan
Creatures (24)
- 4 Meddling Mage
- 4 Merrow Reejerey
- 4 Silvergill Adept
- 3 Sower of Temptation
- 3 Sygg, River Guide
- 4 Wake Thrasher
- 2 Merfolk Sovereign
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
“That deck sucks, and you suck. And James Gates sucks too.” — PVDDR
And that brings out most recent PTQ format to an end. I would say we are in the innovation stage of our newish format, but the PTQs are over. Standard has been a ton of fun over the past four months. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, and I’ve only really played one deck the whole time. For you whiners out there, I find it difficult to find complaints about our most recent PTQ format. It was extremely deep, rewarded innovation, and PTQ attendance was through the roof. I think this is the healthiest Constructed magic has been in some time, and wish I had another PTQ to rock Goldmeadow Stalwart.
However, being the snarky jerk that I am, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight some of the terrible decks that happened to win some tournaments. Like Yann Mastercard’s Doran deck!
Creatures (29)
- 4 Doran, the Siege Tower
- 3 Gaddock Teeg
- 4 Treefolk Harbinger
- 4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 3 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Knotvine Paladin
- 3 Dauntless Escort
Lands (17)
Spells (14)
Those are some sweet Knotvine Paladins, Yann. But hey, you got the chips.
Or how about any Time Sieve deck ever made!
You beat Five-Color Control and nothing else. Proof? How about the fact that Olivier won next to zero matches with this deck at French Nationals. Nice pipedream!
Or how about Josh Jackson winning a PTQ in Nebraska with this gem!
Spells (51)
- 4 Time Warp
- 4 Howling Mine
- 18 Island
- 4 Twincast
- 4 Broken Ambitions
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 4 Jace Beleren
- 1 Ponder
- 4 Dream Fracture
- 4 Sanity Grinding
Sideboard
Not sure how I convinced myself to play a PTQ with this deck, but I still regret it. Time Warp is a pretty sweet card though!
Or we could highlight Aaron Nicastri abysmal Makeshift Mannequin deck!
Creatures (21)
Lands (25)
Spells (14)
Sideboard
And last, but certainly not least, is any psychopath willing to drive X hours to a PTQ, pay $30 to play in said PTQ, and then decide that playing a Red deck is the best option.
Look, guys. You know who you are. Listen closely.
Ball Lightning sucks. Deal with it.
Flame Javelin sucks. Yeah, I said it.
Tattermunge Maniac sucks. You probably already knew that.
Anathemancer is overrated. I don’t care what Chapin says.
Magma Sprays sucks. Probably knew that too, but you can’t wait to sideboard them in to show that Kitchen Finks who the boss is.
Your Beta Mountains do not look cool. Sell them, or I will steal them.
Your Chaotic Backlashes do not beat Kithkin. Well, at least when I’m playing Kithkin.
Demigod of Revenge sucks in a format full of people with a functioning brain. That isn’t as many people as you think (BURN!).
Lightning Bolt is the only good card in your deck. And you know what? THE CARD ISN’T EVEN THAT GOOD!
You don’t go to Waffle House and order Bert’s Chili, do you? Stop playing crappy Red decks!
That will do it for me this week. If you have not listened to Owl City yet, be sure to do so. It is playing on my iPhone on repeat as I scribe this piece of work. Speaking of music:
1.) Play For Keeps — Miss Melissa
2.) Cash Cash — Two Days Old
3.) Mayday Parade — Jamie All Over
4.) Paramore — Ignorance
5.) Owl City – Fireflies
If you don’t like those, I don’t like you!
Have a great weekend!