Looking around the Top 64 tables at the beginning of Round 4 showed that the Extended metagame is completely bonkers. Why, you ask? Well because after decks that were predominantly Red featured so strongly in the last Grand Prix Top 8 at Reims, you would expect Red to make a strong return engagement in New Orleans – especially as the folks with three byes stepped into the fray. When played by the Pros, both Sligh and Red Deck Wins are thought to have a good chance of going 3-1-1 over 5 rounds, a record that when combined with three byes should see players through to Day 2.
However, what can actually be seen at the top tables right now is a sea of decks running Green, complimented with various colors (including Green/White and Green/Black (piloted by Rubin and Kibler) variations of Oath, a lot of Rock, and a lot of U/G/x Madness). Instead of playing the Red decks, most players have tried to stay one step ahead of the metagame by running Ravenous Baloths and/or Spike Feeders (often with Genesis recursion).
This is the same scenario that played itself out in the Grand Prix Trial on Friday night – where as of the sixth round, Red was completely absent from the Top 8 tables. Has all the Green made it impossible for players running Red decks to win, and will players who planned ahead for a metagame featuring a preponderance of Green/x decks do quite well?
We’ll have to wait for Day 2 to find out.