What a great week for Magic the Gathering! Last weekend saw the prerelease of Modern Horizons, major standard events with the Star City Games Invitational, Star City Games Summer Championship, Grand Prix Taipei, and two Mythic Championship Qualifiers. Plus, on Tuesday we got our first look at Core Set 2020 with the preview of three new Chandra Nalaars. Based on the released information about the set, Core Set 2020 will explore Chandra’s history from acolyte to Awakened Inferno. You can find out more about these new planeswalkers here.
The five major standard tournaments produced an interesting variety of results. On Friday, June 7th, the Mythic Championship Qualifier in Roanoke was won by Even Lee piloting a Sultai Dreadhorde deck. You can look at the deck here.
Sultai Dreadhorde, by Evan Lee 1st place at a tournament in Roanoke, Virginia, United States on 2019-06-07
| Creatures (22) 2 Hostage Taker 4 Hydroid Krasis 4 Jadelight Ranger 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Merfolk Branchwalker 4 Wildgrowth Walker Instants (3) 3 Assassin’s Trophy Legendary Planeswalkers (8) 3 Nissa, Who Shakes the World 3 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales 2 Vraska, Golgari Queen Sorceries (3) 3 Command the Dreadhorde Lands (24) 3 Forest 4 Breeding Pool 2 Drowned Catacomb 3 Hinterland Harbor 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Watery Grave 4 Woodland Cemetery | Sideboard: (15) 2 Ripjaw Raptor 3 Thrashing Brontodon 2 Cast Down 2 Negate 2 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Duress 2 The Elderspell |
Earlier in the day, Mythic Champioship Qualifier Taipei was won by Kevin Anctil piloting a Bant Ramp deck that is listed below.
Bant Ramp, Kevin Anctil, 1st place at MCQ Taipei
At Grand Prix Taipei, a second Bant Ramp deck piloted by Kim Seok Hyun won. Kim’s deck centered around the use of Mass Manipulation. Here’s the deck.
Bant Ramp Kim Seok Hyun 1st Place at Grand Prix on 6/8/2019
| Creatures (19) 2 Frilled Mystic 3 Hydroid Krasis 4 Incubation Druid 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Paradise Druid 2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty Planeswalkers (8) 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Lands (25) 2 Forest 2 Island 4 Breeding Pool 2 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Hinterland Harbor 3 Sunpetal Grove 4 Temple Garden Spells (8) 1 The Immortal Sun 2 Entrancing Melody 1 Finale of Glory 3 Mass Manipulation 1 Time Wipe | Sideboard (15) 2 Ripjaw Raptor 2 Thrashing Brontodon 2 Ixalan’s Binding 2 Negate 1 The Immortal Sun 2 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves 2 Trostani Discordant 2 Entrancing Melody |
Back in Roanoke, Star City Games Summer Championship was won by Jonathan Blank and his Simic Mass Manipulation deck that is listed below:
Simic Mass Manipulation Jonathan Blank 1st Place at Summer Championship on 6/9/2019
| Creatures (22) 2 Frilled Mystic 4 Hydroid Krasis 4 Incubation Druid 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Paradise Druid 4 Ripjaw Raptor Planeswalkers (4) 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World Lands (26) 10 Forest 7 Island 4 Breeding Pool 4 Hinterland Harbor 1 Simic Guildgate Spells (8) 1 Growth Spiral 3 Entrancing Melody 4 Mass Manipulation | Sideboard (15) 2 Frilled Mystic 4 Thrashing Brontodon 4 Negate 2 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales 2 Vivien Reid 1 Entrancing Melody |
Finally, Collin Roundtree won the Star City Games Invitational with his Esper Superheroes deck.
Esper Superheroes Collin Rountree 1st Place at Star City Games Invitational on 6/7/2019
| Creatures (8) 4 Basilica Bell-Haunt 4 Hero of Precinct One Planeswalkers (12) 1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General 3 Narset, Parter of Veils 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Lands (26) 1 Plains 1 Swamp 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Godless Shrine 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Isolated Chapel 4 Watery Grave Spells (14) 1 Cast Down 1 Despark 3 Tyrant’s Scorn 3 Oath of Kaya 1 Command the Dreadhorde 1 The Elderspell 4 Thought Erasure | Sideboard (15) 1 Ixalan’s Binding 1 Cast Down 2 Despark 3 Lyra Dawnbringer 1 Command the Dreadhorde 2 Duress 3 Kaya’s Wrath 2 The Elderspell |
Here are my take a way from the weekend. First, the overall metagame is at a great place with over a dozen Tier 1 decks that can win a tournament from one week to the next. It has been a long time since standard has had this level of competitive diversity. Each week players tweak decks to fine tone them for the current metagame. Making this an exciting time to play standard.
Second, this week’s breakout card was Mass Manipulation. With so many games going long, Mass Manipulation makes a lot of sense. The card lets you take control of a few your opponent’s creatures and/or planeswalkers. The card costs four blue mana plus X mana for each creature and/or planeswalker you take control of when it is cast. In the matches I have seen and played, having eight to ten mana in the late game. This commonly occurs and the ability to take control of a significant portion of your opponent’s board crippling an opponent. It will be interesting to see if more counter spells enter the format to limit the power of Mass Manipulation.
Third, the Ixalan explore package continues to play a key role in a few strategies. When you look deeper into last weekends results, you will find the package all over the format. I expect it to remain a strong strategy until rotation this fall.
Finally, Bant Midrange/Ramp/Mass Manipulation had twelve decks place in the Top 8 or Top 16 this past weekend. Bant’s ability to produce large quantities of mana from mana dorks and with Nissa, Who Shakes the World makes the decks explosive.
Until next time, good luck finding your win condition!