It’s been a busy weekend for a lot of Magic players, hasn’t it? Brian Kibler was over in Japan smashing face to net his third Grand Prix win, and over in Philadelphia the StarCityGames.com Open Weekend attracted over 800 players for some Standard and Legacy action. I had considered making the trip to Philly at the very least, but failed to find many interested in making the journey there. Still, we have two tournaments’ worth of Standard data as well as a small taste of what the Legacy metagame is moving towards with Grand Prix: Columbus right around the corner.
Kibler’s deck of choice for Sendai was of course Next Level Bant, a deck that served both him and the rest of the Chapin crew very well in DC. His list for reference:
Creatures (24)
- 2 Birds of Paradise
- 2 Ranger of Eos
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 1 Borderland Ranger
- 1 Scute Mob
- 2 Sphinx of Lost Truths
- 4 Sea Gate Oracle
- 4 Vengevine
- 4 Wall of Omens
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (16)
Spells (13)
Sideboard
Essentially what we’re looking at is the same deck as two weeks ago, but with a few minor modifications. Sphinx of Lost Truths has always been a solid creature, and now that he can facilitate Vengevine blowouts and dig into the library of a creature deck, I think that his time has really come to shine. Beyond that change, though, the deck is primarily as it was last we knew — that is to say, probably the best strategy. Jund is the most powerful deck, but beating an onslaught of Vengevines backed up by a defense filled with Wall of Omens is simply too good against Jund’s gameplan, and even a deck like UW has a hard time putting a stop to the endless card advantage of Next Level Bant.
Even if we ignore how well this deck has been performing, it’s hard to ignore how well these three colors themselves have been performing. For example, check out the Top 8 from the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Philly:
Mythic Conscription
Jund
Mythic Conscription
Jund
Turboland
Red Deck Wins
Mythic Conscription
Mythic Conscription
And, further, the remaining 8 decks in the Top 16:
Jund
Jund
UW Control
Naya
RUG Vengevine
Mythic Conscription
Jund
UW Control
Five of the Top 16 decks were Mythic Conscription, and four of them were in the Top 8. That’s actually really absurd to me. This makes me think that maybe UW was underrepresented in this event, because otherwise these Bant decks would not have so easily dominated this Top 16. When piloting the Mythic Conscription deck, the only match-up I truly feel like a dog in is the UW match-up. Anything else and steamrolling is a high probability. This being said, I wonder if UW actually is just waning in popularity. The less UW there is, the better Mythic gets. And no, I don’t just mean marginally better — I mean that it becomes the clear-cut best deck. It is not only a fairly forgiving deck, but it is also absurdly explosive at times and it can win a lot of games that other creature decks simply would be too far behind to ever win. I’m not excited as a Mythic Conscription pilot to be sitting across from a Next Level Bant deck either, but it’s just not UW. NLB is a creature deck at the end of the day, and Vengevine is pretty poor against removal-light creature strategies.
So this really does beg the question… was no one playing UW? I mean, there are clearly two UW decks in the Top 16, but I find it hard to believe that even with a high density of Jund decks in the Top 16 (just as many as Mythic, actually) that UW just “couldn’t get a win.” The only problem with wondering this is that there isn’t a very solid reason why UW wouldn’t be as heavily-played. After all, the deck is hot off of a win in DC, and despite this particular author’s opinion on the deck itself, it’s clearly good. Hopefully those of you who attended the event can shed some light on this matter for me, as otherwise I’m prepared to just say that this was a fluke. Mythic is a fine deck, but I wouldn’t even begin to use this data as the metagame for, say, a PTQ. I mean, Turboland and Red Deck Wins aren’t the type of decks I would expect to see in terribly many Top 8’s in the coming weeks, whereas NLB, Jund, Conscription, and UW are the decks I’d be getting lots of games in against. Still, if these results are to be taken at face value, maybe it would be time to reevaluate our sideboard and maindeck card choices in light of this shift in the metagame. Sendai had UW decks in its Top 8, but for those grinding it out in PTQs we’re much better off examining something like an SCG Open, since those are typical PTQ players anyway.
Before I move on to the Legacy portion, let’s take a look at that peculiar Turboland deck:
Creatures (13)
- 4 Oracle of Mul Daya
- 3 Avenger of Zendikar
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 4 Overgrown Battlement
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (16)
Spells (28)
Primarily based on Josh Silvestri 30Lands deck, this list is pretty interesting. Josh said that he didn’t really like the Eldrazi creatures in his deck, but a Top 8 finish at an SCG Open is good enough to get my respect, and I think Aintrazi’s version of the deck is very solid. The Expedition Map to find Eye of Ugin/Eldrazi Temple is a nice touch, and Overgrown Battlement is a like a more synergistic Wall of Omens. Not drawing the card sucks, but when you’re able to ramp into Avenger of Zendikar, Ulamog, and Emrakul, what difference does it make? The one-of Garruk is a little odd to me to be honest, and it could probably be a fourth Avenger or perhaps a Mind Spring. I could also see cutting an Oracle or something for a second Garruk, if that’s the plan you want to run.
I’m still not thrilled with this archetype as a strategy, but that’s mostly because of the same thing that turned me off from decks like Valakut and other ramp decks: sometimes you have infinite gas and zero business. I mean, if your opener can shoot you to 7-8 lands blisteringly fast, what good does that do if that’s all your hand does? Or what about those hands where you’ve got a few lands and then Avengers and an Ulamog? Besides that, having so many lands and zero lands that can attack means you have to place even more reliance on Avenger of Zendikar and Jace. I wouldn’t necessarily say that that is a horrible thing in its own right, but I’m not sure how strong a Jace is from a deck that can’t do much to keep it alive. It’s an archetype that has finally proven itself as a legitimate deck, but as for now I’m not sure how strong it is in the face of UW, NLB, Jund, and Mythic. We’ll see.
Standard is getting really interesting, and finally we have a more defined “tier” of the best decks moving towards the rotation of M10. With Baneslayer back in and the M10 lands returning as well, I’m not entirely sure where that leaves us for this fall. UW will have Gideon, Jace, Colonnade, Day of Judgment, Wall of Omens, and undoubtedly a freshly-reprinted Oblivion Ring. The only thing I hope for, with all of my being? That Elspeth isn’t in M11. I mean, the fact that it’s likely is what bothers me so much. Elspeth was featured with the other Lorwyn planeswalkers on those Jones Soda promotional bottles, and she has the fact that she’s a human on her side when it comes to competing with Ajani. Well, that and the fact that she’s the most popular and arguably the best planeswalker in the game. Still, reprinting her in M11 so people keep playing with Jace and Gideon? Please, Wizards… just don’t. If you ever want creatures to be playable in Standard again after rotation, you’ll let her go. Please.
Anyway, let’s talk a bit about Legacy. First and foremost, let me just say how glad I am to see Zoo perform well again, and a big congrats to Matt Elias for taking the whole thing down with Wild Nacatl. Not much has changed with the Zoo deck, sadly, but that just means that they had it right the first time. I’ve been doing a fair amount of testing with that deck for Columbus, and I never understood why it was such an underplayed deck as of late — sure, the Blue Lands match-up is fairly poor if they’re playing maindeck Zuran Orb, but Price of Progress is simply an easy switch over…well, any other spell in the deck. The reintroduction of Price into Zoo was the only big change to the archetype that Matt made, but it was a solid one. I would imagine it to be the standard card in that slot from here on out as long as Lands is still a popular deck.
New Horizons, the Knight/Goyf/Terravore tempo control deck from recent SCG Open events also made a Top 8 appearance. Well, actually, two of them — this deck is apparently the real deal. I have not gotten around to testing with it yet, but with more results under its belt I am compelled to dedicate some time to doing so. The concept of playing huge creatures alongside tempo spells like Stifle and removal like Swords to Plowshares has always been a good strategy, and to me this archetype just seems like a natural evolution of the Team America archetype. Efficient creatures, counterspells, removal, tempo, and a solid graveyard interaction — a cookie-cutter image of the kind of deck I like to play. One of the two decks featured CounterTop instead of Terravore, but I wonder why that decision was made. After all, has anyone ever cast a Terravore? He’s such an absurd creature. In this deck he’s usually a 4/4 or bigger all on his own, and with your opponent’s help he’s usually a 6/6 or 7/7 trampler for 3 mana. Sign. Me. Up.
The most interesting deck, however, was Lewis Laskin Landstill variant:
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (33)
Ironically enough, just last week I was talking to my playtest group about Landstill and why it wasn’t a force in Legacy anymore. However, Lewis has done it again: he’s constructed a new archetype that is not only engaging to play but also a powerful deck in the metagame. The deck itself is built very soundly and Cunning Wish allows for a ton of flexibility against pretty much any strategy. I get the notion that at any point in a game, if you’re holding a Cunning Wish, it’s probably pretty hard to lose. This version of Landstill doesn’t have Ajani Goldmane or Elspeth to grind out wins with manlands. While Factory is present, Lewis said he killed almost all of his opponents with Jace, and I could easily see how much more efficient that kill mechanism would be. The issue with Landstill before was that often it took the whole 50 minutes of a round to win the game, which quite obviously doesn’t work very well. This version, though, can not only win much faster on its own but can also cause opponents to lose, if you catch my meaning. Pretty sure 8-for-1ing a Goblins player is the definition of “making your opponent lose.”
Isochron Scepter seems fishy, to be honest. I think maybe this is the same issue that I had with the Garruk in Turboland, but to me it seems like if you’re going to play a one-of in decks like these then you need to either play more than one or cut it and round out the rest of the deck. The lone Spell Pierce is fine because it is just another counterspell (I’m fine with redundancy), but wouldn’t the Scepter be reasonable as another Pierce, or even the last Wish? Lewis seemed pretty optimistic about the Scepter, but I think if I were to test the deck seriously (I plan to), I’d rock another Pierce in that slot. That seems better to me, though I could be wrong.
All in all, he’s got a fine deck here. Landstill has always been a good deck in Legacy, but it’s never been a 4-color control deck with Pernicious Deeds and Cunning Wish toolboxes. Color me excited for this one. I’m going to run it against the gauntlet this coming week, and hopefully my results will be worth discussing.
And with that, I’ll wrap up discussion for this week. Good luck at your PTQs everyone, and happy testing!
Until next time…
Chris Jobin
Team RIW
Shinjutsei on MTGO