Monday, November 19, 2012

Thirst for Knowledge - RTR Standard 11/18

4:01 PM | Posted by | | Edit Post

There were plenty of events that happened this weekend with 2 GP and a SCG Standard Open, so there is a lot of data to look at this week.



Let's start with Seattle SCG:


 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th Total
BG Zombies

1












1
Bant Control 1














1
UW Aggro
1













1
Junk Reanimator


1











1
Esper Aggro



1










1
Mono Red




1






1

2
Jund Aggro





1








1
Frites






1
1





2
UW Control







1

1



2
WG Aggro









1
1


2
Naya Aggro













1
1
BR Aggro














1 1


Again we have a lot of different decks in the Top 16.  It is nice to know that aggro decks are still very potent in an environment with Sphinx's Revelation and Thragtusk.  I am sure that you are wondering why BG Zombies is back.  Well, one of my playtest partners, Matthew Norton, said that he had been playtesting BG Zombies because the deck was amazing against UW Flash.

GP Charleston:


 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th Total
Junk Tokens
1













1
WU Flash




1 1








2
Bant Control



1



1





2
GW Aggro


1



1

1
1

4
Frites






1







1
BR Aggro 1
1












2
5C Control









1




1
WU Control











1


1
Esper Control













1
1
Hoof There it is














1 1


How'd this happen?  Four GW Aggro decks and 2 BR Aggro (including the winner) decks in the Top 16 at Charleston this weekend is again a shock in what was suppose to be a Midrange / Control format.  Now that's an evolving metagame.  There is a deck list with an odd name called "Hoof, There It Is" designed by Brad Nelson.  I plan on doing a Deconstruct article this week on some of the decks (including this one) from this weekend but essentially this is a reanimator deck with a new card added, Somberwald Sage.

Here are the Top 16 from GP Bochum:


 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th Total
Jund Control



1

1

1




3
Bant Control




1









1
Hoof There it Is 1











1

2
BR Zombies

1 1











2
UW Flash





1
1






2
RUW Midrange
1













1
WW








1





1
WU Aggro










1

1
2
WG Midrange











1

1 2


Speaking of a diverse metagame, Bochum had 9 different decks in the Top 16.  There were a few interesting decks here too, including the Hoof There It Is deck piloted by Martin Juza (winning the event at GP Bochum for the 2nd consecutive time).

Here is a breakdown of all decks on Day 2 of GP Bochum (Thanks to Frank Karsten):

G/W Aggro31
Jund22
Zombies19
Bant Control18
Reanimator17
U/W Flash16
Mono Red Aggro16
U/W/R Geist Midrange15
U/W Aggro10
Esper Control6
G/W/B Tokens5
U/W Delver4
Naya midrange3
Hexproof Bant2
Hoof, there it is!2
Staticaster/Peddler Jund2
White Weenie2
U/W Control2
G/R Midrange1
G/W/B Midrange1
G/W/R Aggro1
R/U/G Soulbond1
U/W Nivmagus Elemental1

So that's 16% G/W Aggro, 11% Jund, 10% Zombies, 9% Bant Control, and 9% Reanimator together making up over half of the field.
Some of the archetype categories above are a little broad. For those of you interested in more fine-grand descriptions:

  • The 31 G/W Aggro decks were comprised of 20 relatively standard versions, 7 Human-themed featuring Champion of the Parish and/or Mayor of Avabruck, and 4 slightly slower versions with Armada Wurm.
  • 19 Zombies player almost all went for Black-Red, as only 3 Zombie players ran a Black-Green variant.
  • The 17 Reanimator decks were comprised of 7 Green-White-Black builds, 6 versions with Red for Faithless Looting, and 4 versions with Blue for Tracker's Instincts.
Besides these more conventional archetypes, there were plenty of spicy brews around. You see the "R/U/G Soulbond" category above? Well, that refers to a deck that not only features the Izzet Staticaster / Nightshade Peddler combo but also the Deadeye Navigator / Zealous Conscripts / Gilded Lotus infinite mana combo! (All that mana can then be put to good use by either blinking Zealous Conscripts to steal the entire opponent's board or by blinking Huntmaster of the Fells to gain infinite life.) It's essentially the same deck that Conley Woods featured in a Daily Deck List piece, so be sure to check that out to see a fun and innovative deck that is now competing for a spot in the Top 8 of Grand Prix Bochum.
Current RTR:


 Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Total

Cincy Providence Indy New Orleans St Louis Dallas Seattle GP Charleston GP Bochum

Junk Tokens
1




1
2
Reanimator 1 1

2
1

5 16
Frites 1
2 1
1 2 1
8
Hoof, There it is!






1 2 3
Jund Midrange 2 3 5 4 1 1

3 19
BG Zombies 1 1



1

3
UW Control
3


1 2 1
7
Bant Control 2 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 13
Mono Red Aggro
1
1

2

4 10
RB Zombies 1 2


1

2 6
RB Aggro 1




1 2
4
Esper Tokens
1






1
GW Midrange
1





2 3
UWR Midrange

2 4 1 2

1 10
GW Aggro 1
2 3 2 3 2 4
17
Jund Aggro

1





1
Bant Midrange 1
1





2
UWR Control 2
2





4
Jund Zombies 2







2
WU Aggro 1 1

2 1 1
2 8
Naya Midrange


2
1


3
Grixis Control



1



1
RUG Soulbound



1



1
Esper Midrange



1



1
Junk Midrange




1


1
UW Flash



2 2 1 2 2 9
Esper Planeswalker




1
1
2
Naya Aggro





1

1
Esper Aggro





1

1
White Weenie







1 1
5C Control






1
1

Your basic playtesting decks will probably want to add UW Flash and BR Aggro decks back to the playtesting pool after their consistency and performance levels this weekend.

Come back on Wednesday for the Deconstruct article about some of the interesting decks and innovations from this past weekend.

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