My younger years, before there was such a game as Magic, were spent playing video games & chess.  Most of the video games that I enjoyed were puzzle games like Tetris, Minesweeper, and Mahjong.  Chess was my 1-on-1 competitive outlet in those days:

1. e4 e5
2. Qh5?! Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6??
4. Qxf7# 1–0

Games of chess don't often end so quickly.  So, why do I bring up these in an article about Magic?  Patience my young padawan...

I want to apologize to my readers as I have not been active the past few weeks.  I have had some issues with writer's block.  I have had to put that article away until I can overcome it.

Greetings to the attendees of the Colosseum and viewers of The Phyrexian Arena!  You have joined us here, in the grand arena, because you want to get better at Magic.  There is a question that you can train yourself to ask constantly that will help you become a better Magic.

Phyrexian Conquests

News and Announcements

Pro Tour Gatecrash has come and gone, but not without a huge list of firsts.

Imagine for a moment a Modern format without Jund as we have known it for the past several years (Standard, Extended and then Modern).  Now imagine a Modern format without Storm.  This PTQ season was just disrupted by an episode of the Twilight Zone...

We are currently about a month into the Modern PTQ season and so far Jund still dominates the landscape.  Jund is an archetype that uses the best cards within its color range (mostly RBG or the Jund shard) but will splash for other colors too.  Some players have clamored for cards in Jund to be banned (like Bloodbraid Elf, Tarmogofy, or Dark Confidant).

Today, I am going to do something a bit differently.  As you might have heard, Pro Tour Atlantic City featured a couple of decks in the finals that might surprise some people:

With the return of the Thirst for Knowledge, I have several weeks of data to catch us all up on.

Sorry for the delay guys.

Hope you guys like the new layout!

I would like to introduce a new writer, Eddie Walker (aka Praethus) to the team.  He will be taking over the Ideas Unbound column.

As far as the schedule, here is our update:

Mondays: Thirst for Knowledge
Wednesdays: Ideas Unbound with Praethus
Thursdays: Arcane Melee with YawgmothsWill

"Two magi could trade spells all day and never crown a victor. The real battle is not one of power but of will. If your confidence breaks, so too shall you." —Venser

This past weekend had only one major Standard event, GP San Antonio with 908 players.  Let's take a look at what shifted in the past week:

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	Total
RB Aggro	1	1						1	1		1						5
4C Midrange			1														1
UW Flash							1			1				1			3
Bant Control				1													1
GW Aggro						1											1
RWU Midrange					1												1
Reanimator													1				1
Naya Midrange												1					1
4C Control															1		1
GW Midrange																1	1

It looks as if the metagame has come full circle.  The first week of post RTR standard started with players preparing for public enemy #1: Zombies.  After filling the format with Zombie hate cards, the deck slowly dropped off in numbers and performance.  With new innovations, RB Aggro returned to the spotlight in a huge way at San Antonio with 5 copies in the Top 16.  GW Aggro didn't have the same success as it did during the previous few weeks as it only posted 1 copy in the Top 16.  UW Flash continues to place well with another 3 copies in the Top 16 this week.

There were a lot of players who had complained about the Standard format but after the last couple of weeks, this might be the healthiest Standard format I've ever seen in 13 years of playing competitive Magic.

Totals by Placing:

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	Total
GWB Tokens	1	1															2
Reanimator		1		1	1			1		2	1		1				8	17
Frites	1	1		1		1		1						1			6
Hoof there it is!	1													1		1	3
Jund Midrange		2	3	1	3	3	1	1	1		1			1	2		19
BG Zombies			1	1				1									3
UW Control					1		1	1	1	1		1	1			1	8
Bant Control	1	1	2	1	1	1			2			1	2				12
Mono Red						1				2				1			4
RB Aggro	2	1	2	2				1	1		2	1		1	1	1	15
Esper Tokens												1					1
GW Midrange													2			2	4
RWU Midrange	1	2	1	1	2	1	1		1							1	11
GW Aggro	1			2		1	1	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	18
Jund Aggro							1					1					2
Bant Midrange										1				2			3
UWR Control	1										1		1			1	4
Jund Zombies						1										1	2
WU Aggro		1			1		1					1		1	3		8
Naya Midrange								1			1	2					4
Grixis Control									1								1
RUG Soulbound											1						1
Esper Midrange													1				1
Junk Midrange												1					1
UW Flash	1					1	4	1	1	2				1			11
Esper Control									1						1		2
Esper Aggro					1												1
Naya Aggro															1		1
White Weenie										1							1
5C Control											1						1
4C Control															1		1
4C Midrange			1														1

First thing, I merged the RB Aggro and RB Zombie deck into RB Aggro now as such they are basically the same deck at this point, which brings its 8 week total to 15 Top 16 so you better be prepared for Hellrider and company.  Next, if UW Flash isn't on your radar by now, better wise up, it needs to be.

Totals by Week:

	Wk 1	Wk 2	W 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7			Wk 8	Total
	Cincy	Providence	Indy	New Orleans	St Louis	Dallas	Seattle	GP Charleston	GP Bochum	GP San Antonio
Junk Tokens		1						1			2
Reanimator	1	1			2		1			1	6	17
Frites	1		2	1		1	2	1			8
Hoof								1	2		3
Jund Mid	2	3	5	4	1	1			3		19
BG Zombies	1	1					1				3
UW Control		3				1	2	1			7
Bant Con	2	1	1	1	3	1	1	2	1	1	14
Red Aggro		1		1			2				4
RB Aggro	2	2				1	1	2	2	5	15
wub Tokens		1									1
GW Mid		1							2	1	4
UWR Mid			2	4	1	2			1	1	11
GW Aggro	1		2	3	2	3	2	4		1	18
Jund Aggro			1								1
Bant Mid	1		1								2
UWR Con	2		2								4
rgb Zombies	2										2
WU Aggro	1	1			2	1	1		2		8
Naya Mid				2		1				1	4
Grixis Con					1						1
Soulbound					1						1
Esper Mid					1						1
Junk Mid						1					1
UW Flash					2	2	1	2	2	3	12
Esper Con						1		1			2
Naya Aggro							1				1
Esper Aggro							1				1
WW									1		1
5C Control								1			1
4C Control										1	1
4C Mid										1	1
	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Join me Wednesday on my Twitch TV channel, Arcane Melee on Wednesday this week.  I will be testing Modern with the Modern PTQ season starting in Late December!  Let's crush this format!

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.