SPDC 3.12 Follow-Up

You must have been living under a rock that can't be tapped for red mana for the last few months if you don't recall that hurriboy's deck of choice was, up until the 10th Edition rotation, a black-red affair called Wreck 'n' Rain. Without Stone Rain, the deck is castrated, stripped of the lion's share of its manly potential to destroy lands.

But hurriboy didn't make up another deck -- especially not on the night of the tourney. He found a decklist that looked fun, that he understood, that a clanmate could help him playtest and tweak, and (as the kids say) "got his practice on." I'm pretty convinced it's impossible to win with Suicide Pact unless you practice the deck. The strategies in there are pretty unique to the metagame (and somewhat different from Wreck 'n' Rain, though they're both red-based control).

So the 1st place winner today was playing a deck he didn't design.

But, you know what? The 2nd place winner was also playing with a decklist he didn't design!

Longtime UGAC enthusiast (and designer/player of blue-based aggro-control decks in general) eegag took a SpikeBoyM Standard creation to the final bracket of SPDC 3.12, only to be beat down by righteous Castle Raptors in the final innings. Due to various obligations, eegag has been out of Standard for much of the summer, but his recent return was not accompanied by the creation of a new deck archetype (he IS, however, working on XPDC). He returned and looked for a good deck that matched his style of play (blue-based aggro control). Having a lot of prior experience with Simic aggro-control strategies helped eegag feel right at home with the deck, even though he didn't design it. And through the swells and ebbs of the evening, eegag's tide rose ever higher, until he found himself grappling for the gold.

No one (at least no one I'm aware of) faults PDC Paupers for playing decklists designed by other players. In fact, I'd say that there's some level of honor and prestige in using another Pauper's decklist. There is definitely a collaborative element to our community, and the longer-term PDC'ers know this well. The give-and-take, the "brain trust" environment we create really helps bond the community in a way that you don't see with other formats.

We are creating and keeping chronicles of our very own format. We have total control over the metagame. Sometimes, our part to play isn't as a deck designer but instead as a deck selector.