Pro Tour Berlin

Pro Tour Berlin is this weekend, and obviously its Extended format (else I wouldn't even bring it up). I'll be following the event coverage this weekend and posting some of the more interesting decks as they are revealed. Extended meta-game will cemented once this is over, and after that its time to start actually testing out some deck ideas against the new meta-game. Extended PTQs season won't happen until early next year, but with a format so seemingly wide-open you gotta get on the testing train earlier.



On a side note: Pro Tour Kyoto Qualifiers have started and the format is Shards of Alara Sealed deck. Unfortunately one of the Los Angeles dates is TBD, but the other is on 12/27/2008. I will definitely be attended that one, and encourage any reader in LA to do the same, since Shards of Alara limited has been a fun and intricate format so far.

For my bay area peeps:
Sacramento 12/06/2008
San Jose 12/20/2008

It don't matter if youre black or white

So you know what card used to rape my U/G Tron build last season? Mesmeric Orb. Well only if it was combined with Extirpate…well maybe it was just extirpate which ownd me. Whatever, while we’re on the subject lets talk about Tron.

Last season, Tron was a big contender which came in two main varieties; U/g and U/w. The green versions used Moments Peace to stall the board long enough to power out an early Titan or Angel, or fetch the lock for the win. The white versions actually had board control, and didn’t utilize the Mindslaver lock instead opting for things like Decree of Justice for a supplementary kill-mech alongside Titans.

So now that we actually have some deck lists for the post rotation Extended metagame, lets take a look at how Tron is doing this season…

1 Top 4 appearance… and its U/b…

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?!!?

Sigh… well for starters Tron is a control killer. This format is dominated by aggro. U/g lost their Moment’s Peace, so until there is a good replacement for that (Wall of Roots is a terrible replacement btw) the deck is done for. But why U/b over U/w? Here’s the list:

creatures [5]
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
1 Platinum Angel
3 Sundering Titan

instants [15]
4 Condescend
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Remand
2 Spell Snare
4 Thirst for Knowledge

sorceries [5]
1 Beacon of Unrest
3 Damnation
1 Zombify

artifacts [11]
2 Chrome Mox
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Dimir Signet
3 Engineered Explosives
1 Mindslaver

lands [24]
1 Academy Ruins
1 Island
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Watery Grave

Sideboard [15]:
3 Extirpate
3 Remand
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Smother
1 Damnation
1 Mind Shatter
4 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives

Okay so what makes Black superior to White? White gives us Oblivion Ring, Wrath of God, Decree of Justice, Circle of Protection: Red, Kataki, War’s Wage, and Exalted Angel. Black gives us Damnation, Beacon of Unrest (for the lock), Thoughtseize, Extirpate, Oona, and some good tutorable spot removal. Hmmm…

Let’s sum all of this up: White is pretty good against creatures, has an uncounterable finisher against control and has some amazing sideboard options for Affinity and Red Decks. Black is about equal in the creature removal department, but Extirpate and Thoughtseize give it some extra power against the slew of combo decks running around these days. Because of the rise of aggro and combo I believe that Black a better suited support color for Tron than white. However, if control becomes a major force again, then maybe Tron will have to switch back to White.

Z says: Morb

Journeyman ARuiz broke down the format, but he failed to mention a certain latent variable that will change the landscape of the tier lists. This one card, when used properly, has the potential to rout the efforts of any other popular deck. Some of you may already know what I am talking about. The rest of you need to take a closer look at yourselves as Magic players.

Yes, I speak of Mesmeric Orb.

1. It is 2 mana. Yes, chalice of the void can cancel Morb with a humble 4 manaroonies (and believe me, once Morbs start hitting the decks, chalices will be in all sideboards x4). However, chalices don't impress me. Besides, they'll probably end up being put into your opponent's graveyard from your opponent's library. In the meantime, your second turn Morb is already on the board.

2. It's an artifact. You can throw it in your monoblack control deck or your green, red and white aggro deck. This is key, because Morb is a powerful addition to any deck. And there are no exceptions. If your deck starts fizzling out, sit back and let the orb do the job.

3. The cards in your hand suck. The cards in your library are okay. But the cards in all players' graveyards are amazing. With Morb, you don't have to limit yourself to 0-7 cards. With the right cards, you will have all graveyards at your spellcasting disposal.

4. The unforeseen danger. Okay, so this bonus is void once word hits the plains, but, really; when was the last time you were building a deck and wondered, "Oh, I better adjust to address the untapping too much issue"? I'm guessing it was another famous orb, of which I was also a fan -- Worb.

5. Dredge. Problem solved.

Angelic Musings

Alright, so anyone who has played constructed with me knows that my two favorite loves are Tron and Lightning Angel. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that Lightning Angel is good enough for Extended these days. However, if you haven't seen Shards of Alara yet, it contains a new Lightning Angel Variant:

Stoic Angel

Creature - Angel
Flying, vigilance
Players can't untap more than one creature during their untap steps.
3/4

Now, I shouldn’t have to explain how amazing this card is. If the trends in extended continue the way they are, this format will be dominated by various aggro decks, which Stoic Angel excels against. It’s also in the color of Cryptic Command, which besides being an amazing counter, also has the ability to tap all your opponent’s creatures. Throw in some Threads of Disloyalty, Tarmogoyf, Kitchen Finks, Bant Charm

Stifle and a shit load of counters and you got a deck that can easily hold its own against the slew of aggro and combo which are defining the format right now.

Here’s a sample deck list:

Bant Level Blue:

Lands (23):

1 Forest
4 Island
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
3 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
2 Temple Garden
1 Plains

Creatures (12):

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Stoic Angel
4 Kitchen Finks

Spells (25):

2 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Spell Snare
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
2 Stifle
3 Bant Charm

4 Ancestral Vision

I haven’t had the opportunity to test this at all, but there are a few things I’m unsure about right off the back. First, I’m not sold on Kitchen Finks in this list. Maybe Wall of Roots would be better? It would have greater synergy with Stoic anyways. Also, Chrome Mox might be good to power out early Stoic Angels. Vedalken Shackles over Threads of Disloyalty?

Sigh ...I don’t know … I couldn’t play this deck even if I wanted to. I’m not shelling out 200 dollars for an unstable mana base and an extra 200 for Cryptics and Goyfs. I can barely afford to live as it, and all my extra money needs to go to drinks. Still an interesting idea if anyone wants to toy around with/ refine it.

Metagame Breakdown thus far...

I mentioned last week that there had been a series of Post-Rotation Extended tournaments taking place on Magic Workstation. While the metagame won't entirely be shaped until Pro Tour Berlin, here is a quick glimpse on what the metagame is shaping out to be thus far:

Aggro: 30%

Zoo – 4

WW -1

Burn – 5

Goblins -1

Sea Stompy – 1

Elves – 1

Boros -1

Affinity -2

Mid-Range: 15%

Doran – 8

Control: 25%

Death Cloud – 3

New level Blue – 6

Faeries – 3

Tron -1

Combo: 30%

Dues Red – 5

Bubble Hulk – 2

Belcher – 1

Swath Storm – 4

Swans - 4

Hmmmm... well first thing I want to say is that some of these deck archetypes are a bit off. For instance, some versions of Swans play like a control deck and just have a a combo as the finisher. The Dues decks work as both a combo deck accelerating into a first or second turn giant creature, or a more mid range deck with ritual powered out land disruption.

With that out of the way a few things. One, over half the field is fast aggro and combo. Cards like chalice of the Void and Trinisphere are looking to be really good in this format. Affinity is not being the powerhouse it was supposed to be this season, but thats probably because people are expecting it in large numbers right now. A few players will definitely be able to squeeze a top finish in the upcoming season once all the affinity hype (and resulting sideboards) die down. Zoo is doing well, but not as well as I would expect, especially since everyone was praising the new Wild Nacatl as the card which was gonna put the deck over the top. Overall, nothing too unexpected is happening just yet (except for some awesome combos like Bubble Hulk and Belcher)

You can check out the wining decklists here: http://www.deckcheck.net/format.php?format=Ons_8th_SoA