This weekend I attended the first tournament ran by the new shop in town, Gamer’s Paradise. Overall I have to say that I was impressed. The tournament was run with efficiency and the site was great, having just enough room for all 55 of us, quite the showing. But the best part of the tournament was the aggressive prize payout. First place was to receive a full 4x play set of the yet unreleased Dark Ascension, while second would walk away with a 1x of the set. Not to mention the countless packs and store credit handed out to the other top 16 finishers. These prizes are great but when it comes to the tournament itself what did the winning decks tell us about the state of standard and where will we go from here when Dark Ascension is finally released to the world?
We will start with the winning deck list. A Wolf-Run list played by Ronndre Price.
Ronndre Price - Wolf-Run 1st Place
4 Primeval Titan
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Viridian Emissary
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Rampant Growth
3 Inferno Titan
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Devil’s Play
1 Birds of Paradise
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Slagstorm
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Whipflare
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Forests
3 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Mountains
Sideboard
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Beast Within
2 Incinerate
1 Shock
3 Acidic Slime
1 Slagstorm
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Thrun, the last Troll
Now while Slagstorm has been an accepted card in wolfrun since the decks coming out party, Ronndre’ was additionally packing 2 Whipflare in his main deck. I really like this inclusion. Whipflare goes a long way in slowing down the 2 most popular agro decks right now, delver and humans. Whipflare being one mana cheaper is really important in keeping the hexproof creatures in check. Also, Whipflare being only one red mana is an important detail in Ronndre’s deck since he is a little light on mountains. I love that he can more consistently cast his sweepers since he has also moved away from playing sphere of the suns. Ronndre’s sideboard also packs a little more burn than the typical wolf-run list, a fact that no doubt helped him wade through all the creature aggro decks all day long in route to his victory. Jody Keith also made top 8 with Wolf-Run, but with quite a different take on the deck.
Jody Keith - Wolf-Run Top 8
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Daybreak Ranger
2 Inferno Titan
2 Primeval Titan
2 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Stingerfling Spider
1 Thrun, the last Troll
4 Viridian Emissary
2 Batterskull
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Slagstorm
2 Sword of War and Peace
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Mountain
9 Forest
Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Gut Shot
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Karn Liberated
2 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Naturalize
1 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Acidic Slime
Jody made a few different choices than most wolf-run lists but I really like them. While Rondre’s list had Whipflare main to help keep the aggro decks in check, Jody had 3 Ratchet Bomb. I love this card right now in Standard. With obvious implications versus aggro decks it can really cause problems for decks that rely on cards like Oblivion Ring and Relic Warder to slow down and control this deck. I also really like the inclusion of Daybreak Ranger and Stingerfling Spider in the main, I’m not sure about 3 Daybreak Ranger though. I played Daybreak Ranger in Orlando and he was good for me all day long. Daybreak Ranger goes a really long way in keeping the aggro decks in check, especially delver. Not only can he hold all their Delvers in check, it forces them to start playing more cards on their own turn to keep him from turning into a real clock. This can lead to some awkward games for the Delver decks and more of the Wolf-Run player’s turns being affected. I had been talking with some friends lately about Stingerfling and Into the Maw of Hell in Wolf-Run and was glad to see Jody run them. Stingerfling just seems great versus Delver right now. Not only will it usually kill a flipped Delver when cast but also it keeps other Delvers in check. Not to mention how well it holds off Geist of St.Traft. Jody and I talked during the tournament about Into the Maw of Hell. I love this card for the mirror and so did he. Jody could not have spoken my mind better when he told me that one of the problems the deck has is just how cold you are to a resolved titan in the mirror. Usually you are going to lose if your opponent plays one before you do. Into the Maw of Hell allows you to not only kill their titan but also one of the lands they have searched up, putting you back into a much more winnable position. Jody told me after the tournament that while he didn’t get to use the card much he felt like he wanted at least 1 more copy in his sideboard.
Coleman Peret was the lone control player to make the top 8. Coleman, despite being just 15, is a very talented local player who has a bright future in front of him if he gets more time to play. If it wasn’t for a misplay in the top 8, to eventual winner Rondre, we may have seen this tournament as a coming out party for the youngster.
Coleman’s weapon of choice was a UB control deck that grinds out games and piles card advantage on its opponents. His list was only 2-3 cards different from the list I played myself at the tournament, we worked a lot on the list and I really liked and respected his ideas on the deck versus the field.
Coleman Perret - UB Control Top 8
1 Karn Liberated
1 Batterskull
2 Black Sun’s Zenith
2 Blue Sun’s Zenith
2 Curse of Death’s Hold
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Tribute to Hunger
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Dissipate
4 Mana Leak
3 Think Twice
3 Virulent Wound
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doomblade
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacombs
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Nephalia Drownyard
7 Islands
7 Swamps
Sideboard
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Go for the Throat
1 Azure Mage
1 Curse of Death’s Hold
1 Life’s Finale
1 Sorin Markov
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
2 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Bloodline Keeper
2 Jace, Memory Adept
I really like this deck vs the field right now. You just have so much game against every deck out there. The real standout for me in this deck has been Virulent Wound. Why not Wring Flesh you ask? While Wring Flesh does take away 3 power for the turn it does not leave a –1/-1 counter like wound does. Combine that with Coleman’s Zeniths and Curses and you can get a lot of value out of that one mana. I really like the sideboard options Coleman has. Being able to add lands to your deck for the control match ups is just awesome. But wait, those lands do so much more. Against most other control decks Drownyard is pretty unbeatable. While you have Ghost Quarter to deal with their opposing Drownyards or their quarters making it safe for your own milling land. Bloodline Keeper seems great to bring in against the decks that are going to shave removal against you, allowing the limited all-star to take over the game. This may be the best “Jace” deck I have seen in standard; the more I play with the deck the more I want one main. I would also like to add a Ratchet Bomb to the deck to help out with a few matchups, especially UW humans, maybe taking out the Azure Mage.
Jeffery Moseley - Puresteel Paladin Top 4
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
4 Flayer Husk
4 Mortapod
3 Sword of War and Peace
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Spellskite
3 Etched Champion
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Glint Hawk
4 Pursteel Paladin
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Mox Opal
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Inkmoth Nexus
10 Plains
Sideboard
4 Dispatch
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Mana Leak
2 Celestial Purge
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Trinket Mage
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Batterskull
2 Timely Reinforcement
The last deck I am going to talk about is certainly the most fun deck of the top 8. While Puresteel decks have been around and on the fringe the whole season, I like this deck choice right now. Mortapod has not been this good since Squadron Hawk and Stoneforge Mystic ruled standard. I talked to Jeff after the tournament and asked him what he would change about the deck going forward. Jeff only wanted to change a few cards in his maindeck, starting with the swords. He said that while Sword of Feast and Famine was good for him during the day he wanted the 4th Sword of War and Peace. This is a move I can get behind since Sword of War and Peace is a game breaker in the UW humans and Delver matchups. Jeff also told me that he would have liked the Trinket Mage main. I can see this change really helping out with the games that go longer since anything Trinket Mage searches up has so much value in this deck. The final change Jeff wanted was the cut the Inkmoth Nexi from the deck and play another Moorland Haunt. Jeff told me that he was never in postion to poison someone during the day and just felt that it was unrealistic. Adding another Moorland Haunt would help this deck a lot in the long and grinding games, not to mention allowing another basic land in the deck to help the mana. If you are looking for a fun deck to play in Standard look no further.
The top 8 was rounded out by a few stock UW humans lists and one Delver deck. Until Dark Accession hits standard these three decks will continue to wrack up lots of wins and be the dominant decks in standard. So make sure you play a deck with both main deck and sideboard plans to combat them. Until the new set is standard legal I will be playing the UB deck with a few changes. If you have any questions or comments leave them in the forum or email me.
Tannon Grace
tannongrace@gmail.com
tannon311 @MTGO
