UPDC 1.10 Follow-Up |
 Well, it certainly was an UBeR day for UPDC, with a hefty percentage of the Top 8 drawing cards from U, B, and R. Mr Slippery 39 was nowhere to be seen, but JXClaytor helmed the Blue Beats deck with impressive finesse into the quarterfinals. It was not to be, though, and our Top 4 ended up devoid of the three archetypes we have all come to expect: Blink, Saps, and Beats. Instead, we see a whole lot of snow lands, Dimir Aqueducts, Rakdos Carnariums, and Izzet Boilerworks.  Let's have a look! Top 8: -------------------------------- If there is a lesson to be learned from today, it is this: the quality of the Standard PDC metagame is largely (if not almost wholly) dependent on the players who choose to attend any given event. For example, StiLLiRise, whose name I invoked last article in an effort to summon him to UPDC (it worked) seems to Top 8 almost every event he plays. His deck of choice is invariably some form of UBR control. Also, we had no Mr Slippery 39 today, so it's no surprise that Blue Beats didn't claw its way to the top. Similarly, Kingritz seems to be the top contender when it comes to Spore Cry (at least nowadays), and his absence from Standard PDC events of late may have something to do with the marked absence of Saps victories. Kehmesis doesn't often attend Standard PDC events, yet he is the SPDC Season 2 champion with his very innovative and powerful UR Storm-Control deck. No one else plays that deck. Why? It can obviously win (it has done so twice). It's not enough to point out that no one plays Storm-Control. It also must be noted that Kehmesis doesn't play the Storm-Control deck -- or any deck, for that matter. What I'm saying is: we have too long focused on the DECK as the source of victory or defeat, rather than looking at the player. As I continue to play my part (whatever that may be) in the Standard PDC community, I will bear in mind that we need to begin considering ourselves as competitors, and preparing not only our decklist, but also our own skill and strategy in playing the deck. This will be reflected in the articles I write, and perhaps even in some of the other things I do. Subtly, of course. We're not all master deck designers. We're not all amazing at testing decks and making the proper changes. Luckily, PDC is set up so we don't really have to do that. All we have to do is find the deck that best suits our play style, and become amazing with that deck. If we are able to reduce the number of unpracticed play mistakes we make with any given deck, we'll notice our skill and success improve drastically. It's hard to perform well with a deck that has existed for less than an hour prior to a tourney.
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I'm not saying we should play a metagame deck every week. But I am saying we should be aware of the metagame, and at least adjust our sideboard accordingly. If there's a deck we pilot that we can perform fairly consistently with, it's a lot easier just to tweak a card or two for the metagame than to invent a whole new (untested) archetype. The worst-case-scenario is when players register for an event, then say "Now to decide what to play!", and procede to design a deck that is absolutely horrible in the face of the dominating decks. This happens more often than anyone realizes or addresses. To some degree, I am advocating for players to net-deck. More importantly, though, I am advocating for players to playtest and practice. Get into situations where you have to make judgment calls, and practice making those calls. See how certain cards work in various matchups. If you're not going to playtest, use a deck that has already been tested, but still: practice.
flippers = sliver zoo |
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