Magic Menagerie - Snapshots From Standard

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This is the turning point, when SPDC began to skyrocket to prominence among PDC events. It was the first time a Standard event had really been hyped. The rotation offered Standard Paupers something that Classic didn't have: "reboot" for the format; a chance to experiment and to try whatever new idea suited them. The tournament itself was not that important for the metagame - Polyjak's winning deck, a Rakdos aggro deck dubbed Jakdos had little impact on the long-term metagame, Polyjak just capitalized on the flood of experimental decks with a hard-hitting aggro deck that could win before the opponent knew what had hit them. However, the fact that everything was so new and fresh in SPDC was of great importance. Players, both new and old, saw opportunity in Standard where they did not in Classic. It was a tournament that bred creativity, with players struggling to come up with the "next best thing" every week. It was in this atmosphere that SPDC attendance grew from averaging a dozen players to almost forty on a regular basis.

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It is amazing that it took almost four months after Pallid Mycoderm's release for a Saproling deck to win an event, but it did. The Princes of Pauper, namely Polyjak and hokusai22, had been developing Saps Rising since the release of Planar Chaos, but they had yet to break through and win an event. It took fellow clan member eegag and a handful of luck for the deck to grab the gold for the first time, as Saps Rising rampaged its way through the swiss to an undefeated performance. Saprolings, as we will see, later found much greater success in Standard, but it was the efforts of these Princes of Pauper that laid the groundwork for that success.

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The biggest SPDC event so far was a titanic struggle from beginning to end. Kehmesis, with Storm Control, battled through Saps Rising and Burnt Fish, as well as Noridoom's surprise Seer Dredge, to capture the title of Season 2 Champion. SPDC Season 2 Worlds is memorable as a snapshot of the format at that time - a tournament filled with traditional Season 2 powerhouses The Steam Machine, Orzhov Blink, and various Hulk decks ... all of which were bested by two surprise decks that took advantage of the metagame in the aforementioned Seer Dredge and Storm Control. Unfortunately for Storm Control, its time in the spotlight would be short as 10th Edition would take away key cards like Seething Song and Sleight of Hand. Dredge would also fade once Saprolings infested the format. Though it seems almost anticlimactic due to the limited impacted on the long-term Standard metagame, SPDC Season 2 Worlds was the indeed the apex of a memorable season.

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Though it would later shift its focus to Time Spiral Block, UPDC opened the door for the Standard format by emphatically demonstrating that the community could indeed support two (or more) Standard events per week. UPDC's accessibility and uniqueness combined to attract a different mix of Paupers who would later infuse other PDC events with their energy and enthusiasm, while at the same time drawing players who usually stuck to Classic but now found themselves able to give Standard a shot. Decks developed in UPDC, notably GloinOin's three-color Peel deck, found backers in SPDC. Even after its switch to Block format, UPDC still affected Standard, as Slivers and Jungle Storm have recently won Standard events. UPDC's effect on Pauper, in general, is greatly overlooked; it has been one of the PDC's hidden gems. Also, it was at this first event that LulThyme debuted Storm Control with a solid victory, paving the way for his testing partner kehmesis' World Championship.

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The summer of 2007 was the season of Spore Cry, the descendant of Saps Rising popularized by Polyjak's article detailing the deck's progression. Kingritz took on Polyjak's challenge and created a metagame monster which won four Standard events in a row and six out of the next nine. Since this date, Spore Cry has been Standard's boogie man. It's dominance altered the format drastically, as Standard found itself flooded with decks that recurred Martyr of Ashes to stop the Saproling menace - Martyr Harvest and khirareq's Suicide Pact are notable examples of this reactionary movement. It is only fitting that Spore Cry will be there at the end. There has been only one other deck that has so dramatically impacted the format in the past year ...

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Orzhov had been strong before the rotation to be sure, but when its core cards were paired with Momentary Blink, its stock shot skyward. Now you couldn't just kill a Blind Hunter. Instead, you'd waste your removal while they came out four life points ahead - with the opportunity to use Momentary Blink a second time! The winning deck's pilot, ioginy, stated after that tournament that "if this is the new Orzhov, the format may not be all that healthy." Even the winner was scared of its potential. In the end, Standard Paupers averted a year of Orzhov domination, but no new deck could ever be created without first considering its viability against Orzhov Blink. From the beginning of the format to its end, the deck has been ever present. It is hard to imagine Standard without a Blind Hunter overhead.

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A year of metagame twists and turns ends this week. SPDC and MPDC Worlds will be the last Standard events in which Ravnica is legal. The decks of the past year are wonderfully varied and unique: Turkey Dressing, centered around getting that turn two Bloodthirst; Peel a RUG, utilizing the best card advantage that three color combination had to offer; Nightwalker, turning possibly disadvantageous auras into victory; and who could forget Orzhov Blink and Spore Cry? It's been wild ride - one that comes to a climax at SPDC Season 3 Worlds. Who will claim final bragging rights in the Ravnica and Time Spiral Standard format? Will the title of "best deck" finally be awarded? October 18, 2007: it will be the most important Standard event to date; the final snapshot from a Standard format that has provided so many.