TagStandard

After rocking his Regionals with Korlash Control, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin wanted a similar fish to take him upstream towards U.S. Nationals Top 8 success. After much debate and discussion with some of the top theorists and players in the game, he settled on an interesting control variant that harnessed the power of both Korlash and Tarmogoyf. It served him well, and almost took him to the very top. Today’s article looks at his preparation for the event, and brings us a new Standard control deck for those looking for top tech.

With both U.S. and UK Nationals now in the books, the Standard metagame is beginning to take shape. One of the major players in this evolving meta is Gabe Walls and Gerry Thompson’s U/G/W Blink deck. Today’s Peebles Primer sees BPM take us through the history of the deck, and he also lays down some matchup specific sideboarding plans for other decks in the field.

Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin, fresh from his sterling performance at this year’s U.S. Nationals, brings us the entertaining story of The Greatest Deck That Never Was. While the creation of this deck proved to be in vain, it does highlight how difficult it is to position yourself correctly in order to break a format. Plus, we have Patrick’s U.S. Standard decklist, and a fresh take on beatdown for Time Spiral Block Constructed.

In preparation for U.S. Nationals, and for the meatgrinders in particular, this week’s Flores Friday sees Mike bring us a selection of fun and powerful Standard decks across a number of popular archetypes. Looking for the best of Gruul beatdown? Or something more mid-range and controlling? How about a Green/White deck with plenty of trickery? Mike’s got all the bases covered…

With the Standard metagame finally taking shape in this Post-Tenth Edition era, Adrian Sullivan opens another weighty tome from the Sullivan Library. By looking back at some pre-Tenth Mono-Black shenanigans, he creates an exciting new deck that may just be the weapon of choice for 2007’s National champion! Intrigued? Then read on…

Nationals competition really heat up this coming weekend, with both the U.S. and UK tournaments scheduled to highlight the cream of both nations. But how can we gauge the evolving metagame now the new core set has been integrated into Standard play? Ben looks back at Australian Nationals, the first major tournament to showcase the new card-pool, and walk us through some of the highs and lows we can expect to face…

Nationals is fast approaching, and the deadline for Tenth Edition’s Standard debut is actually today… so, what can we expect of the new metagame? Mike takes a timely look at all the major players pre-rotation, and places them in the Winners or Losers enclosure. Some decks gain, while some fall from grace. If you’re looking to form a picture of the evolving metagame before it officially arrives, this article is invaluable.

With Nationals fast approaching, and Tenth Edition making a major impact on the Standard metagame, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy takes us through the probably changes that will be made to the powerhouse Gruul Aggro deck now that Kird Ape has hit the showers. With U.S. Grinders consisting of a largely aggro field, you’ll need to beat this deck if you’re aiming for success…

Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin is always happy to put his money where his mouth is. Not so long ago, he brought us the lowdown on his deck of choice for Regionals… and he rocked up to the tournament and took home a Nationals invite. This week, he brings us the first pass of his deck for Nationals itself… will it be enough to book him a slot at the Sunday table?