DECK DISCOURSE - SPDC 2.04

METAGAME from SPDC 1.07 - 2.04

= First Place
= Top 4
= Top 8

WU (3)
WW/u -
WU Aggro-Control -

UB (11)
UB Aggro-Control -
UB Control -
Five Dollar Kill -
UB Madness -
UB Aggro Madness -

BR (4)
BR Aggro-Control -
Jakdos (BR Aggro) -

RG (6)
Blood Graft -
RG Aggro -
Strength Tokens -

GW (3)
Gnarrly Beats -
GW Squad -

WB (11)
Orzhov Blink -
WB Aggro-Control -
Desert Harvest -
Orzhov Rebels -

UR (9)
Dragonaut Storm -
Izzet Blink -
UR Storm -
Burnt Fish -
UR Aggro-Control -

BG (1)
Janky Rock (BG Aggro-Control) -

RW (7)
Snowros -
RW Aggro -

GU (3)
UGAC Update -
Snapgraft -

MONO COLOR (6)
Blue Aggro -
Blue Aggro-Control -
Mono-Green Aggro -
LIL'red (Red Storm) -
WW -

3-5 COLOR (8)
I Hate Your Bouncelands (BRG Control) -
WUB Aggro-Control -
Parlor Tricks (UBR Control) -
GWB Good Stuff v2 -
UBR Madness -
BWur Control -
BRg Control -

RAKDOS AGGRO-CONTROL
Scarletknight, SPDC 2.04, 1st place

8 Swamp
5 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Mountains
4 Rakdos Carnarium
4 Terramorphic Expanse

4 Ravenous Rats
4 Pit Keeper
4 Gobhobbler Rats
2 Stinkweed Imp
2 Urborg Syphon-Mage
1 Rakdos Ickspitter
3 Trespasser il-Vec

1 Cackling Flames
3 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Wrecking Ball
4 Seal of Fire
2 Volcanic Hammer
3 Rift Bolt

Sideboard
4 Last Gasp
4 Shock
4 Skred
3 Strangling Soot

In our last article, Eegag and I were somewhat surprised at the data showing the success rate of Rakdos decks. This guild seems to exist 'under the radar' -- or at least, did until we shed some light on what's been going on. Therefore I'm not really surprised to see a Rakdos deck chock full of removal, disruption, recursion, and reach do well in an SPDC event. Even without Skred, this deck was able to pull it off, combining the raw power of burn with the tricksiest creatures in the format. I actually played against this deck, and one horrible play error cost me the second game, and the match. During the first game, he managed to find his lone copy of both his Ickspitter and his Cackling Flames.

Rakdos has some great tools, and while other colors may have gained more than red and black in PC, this color combination is already quite strong.

MONO-GREEN AGGRO
Kingritz, SPDC 2.04, 2nd place

4 Boreal Druid
4 Martyr of Spores
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
3 Elvish Warrior
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Boreal Centaur
4 Nantuko Shaman

4 Giant Growth
4 Wildsize
4 Surging Might
1 Gather Courage

20 Snow-Covered Forest

Sideboard
4 Zodiac Monkey
4 Aurochs Herd
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
3 Naturalize

It's somewhat exciting that this deck is already performing so well given the very strong new green cards Planar Chaos is bringing to the field. I expect this deck to be a repeat contender, perhaps splashing red for some reach (and probably Scab-Clan).

GNARRLY BEATS V2.221
hokusai22, SPDC 2.04, 3rd place

4 Fists of Ironwood
5 Plains
4 Scatter the Seeds
4 Selesnya Evangel
4 Selesnya Sanctuary
8 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Veteran Armorer
4 Fortify
4 Herd Gnarr
4 Icatian Crier
4 Kjeldoran War Cry
4 Ronom Unicorn
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
3 Naturalize
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Strength in Numbers
4 Temporal Isolation

I've tested a little bit with this deck but I've never really liked the way it plays. However, it does seem to make a significant showing once in a while, and luckily for Selesnya mages, green and white are both greatly strengthened in Planar Chaos. Pallid Mycoderm has never been happier than in this very deck. The two green all-stars, Uktabi Drake and Mire Boa, may not be AS synergistic in here, but they're solid enough to merit consideration. Essence Warden in the sideboard goes a long way to combat burn and reckless weenie strategies.

I'd keep my eye on this deck, as well.

ORZHOV BLINK
TheCheeseMatrix, SPDC 2.04, 4th place

4 Blind Hunter
4 Castigate
1 Dimir Aqueduct
2 Faith's Fetters
1 Island
4 Last Gasp
4 Orzhov Basilica
4 Pillory of the Sleepless
6 Plains
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Shrieking Grotesque
6 Swamp
3 Thoughtpicker Witch
3 Grim Harvest
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Momentary Blink
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
2 Faith's Fetters
1 Mountain
1 Thoughtpicker Witch
4 Amrou Scout
1 Amrou Seekers
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Subterranean Shambler

This deck is a pillar of the metagame, and you won't be seeing it fade away now that Whitemane Lion and Blightspeaker are joining the party. There are surely more cards this deck will consider adopting, but the two PC commons I mentioned represent possible 'alternate realities' of this existing archetype.

Perhaps I will make this a weekly column, focusing on one particular deck instead of all four, and taking a more in-depth look at that deck. Ideally, I'd have some matchup data, but SPDC players don't provide that much in the way of tourney reports. If anyone cares to contribute matchup data about any decks, feel free to leave comments.