Last weekend, another major Magic was the Gathering local tournament for the MTG Iloilo Community. It was another APAC League qualifiers event, with Standard as the primary format. There was a total of 19 players in attendance, me included. Huge prizes are at stake so yeah, we had to send out three players and maximize the decks from the card pool.
I played a version of the Esper Raffine deck, as suggested by my teammate Ace. I was initially not confident that I will play it well as before my deck choices were Jund and Grixis, but Ace assured me that it is the best currently in the format.
You can check the previous night’s MTG Arena ranked playtest here.
After five Swiss rounds, I was able to secure the Top 8 slot with a 3-1-1 record. The last round match was with a teammate who was playing a Mono-Black midrange deck and so we decided to draw to cement our Top 8 spots.
Upon checking the decklists, it was good to see the variance of the decks in the post-ban Standard metagame. Here below are the decklists of the Top 8 finishers.
AJ (Grixis Midrange)
Maindeck
4 Tenacious Underdog
4 Bloodtithe Harvester
4 Corpse Appraiser
1 Bloodthirsty Adversary
2 Evelyn, the Covetous
2 Ertai Resurrected
1 Graveyard Trespasser
2 Cut Down
2 Voltage Surge
2 Infernal Grasp
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
2 Invoke Despair
1 Soul Transfer
1 Sorin the Mirthless
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
4 Haunted Ridge
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Otawara, Soaring City
4 Shipwreck Marsh
2 Shivan Reef
1 Maestros Theatre
1 Tramway Station
4 Sulfurous Springs
2 Swamp
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
4 Xander’s Lounge
Sideboard
2 Abrade
1 Aggressive Sabotage
1 Anje
1 Bloodthirsty Adversary
2 Burn Down the House
1 Infernal Grasp
2 Duress
1 Kaito’s Pursuit
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Pilfer
1 Soul Transfer
Atan Sia (Mono Black Midrange)
Maindeck
4 Evolved Sleeper
4 Tenacious Underdog
4 Graveyard Tresspasser
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
3 Cut Down
3 Infernal Grasp
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin the Mirthless
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
4 Invoke Despair
22 Swamp
2 Crystal Grotto
2 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Sideboard
1 Cut Down
4 Duress
2 Pilfer
1 Infernal Grasp
3 Parasitic Grasp
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Soul Transfer
1 Path of Peril
1 Unlicensed Hearse
Bedia Jan (Mono Black Midrange)
Maindeck
4 Evolved Sleeper
3 Tenacious Underdog
4 Graveyard Tresspasser
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 The Raven Man
4 Cut Down
1 Hero’s Downfall
3 Infernal Grasp
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 March of Wretched Sorrow
1 Sorin the Mirthless
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
4 Invoke Despair
24 Swamp
1 Roadside Reliquary
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Sideboard
4 Duress
2 Pilfer
2 Parasitic Grasp
1 Path of Peril
2 Whack
1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
1 March of Wretched Sorrow
2 Unlicensed Hearse
Ericson (Jund Midrange)
Maindeck
3 Tenacious Underdog
4 Bloodtithe Harvester
4 Graveyard Trespasser
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 Nemata, Primeval Warden
4 Cut Down
2 Infernal Grasp
3 Unleash the Inferno
2 Soul Transfer
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Mountain
3 Swamp
2 Karplusan Forest
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Haunted Ridge
4 Deathcap Glade
4 Ziatora’s Proving Ground
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Sideboard
2 Jaya, Fiery Negotiator
1 Nemata, Primeval Warden
2 Voltage Surge
1 Unleash the Inferno
4 Duress
1 Soul Transfer
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
2 Unlicensed Hearse
Gus (Dimir Control)
Maindeck
3 Ertai Resurrected
4 Graveyard Trespasser
2 Mirrorshell Crab
4 Cut Down
2 Devious Cover-Up
2 Infernal Grasp
3 Invoke Despair
4 Make Disappear
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Memory Deluge
4 Reckoner Bankbuster
1 Sorin the Mirthless
1 The Celestus
7 Island
8 Swamp
4 Shipwreck Marsh
3 Raffine’s Tower
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Otawra, Soaring City
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Sideboard
3 Duress
2 Negate
2 Siphon Insight
2 Rona’s Vortex
1 Hullbreaker Horror
1 March of Wretched Sorrow
2 Kotose the Silent Spider
2 Drag to the Bottom
Mark Ian (Esper Raffine)
Maindeck
3 Dennick, Pious Apprentice
1 Ertai Resurrected
2 Malevolent Hermit
3 Obscura Interceptor
4 Raffine, Scheming Seer
3 Tenacious Underdog
2 Cut Down
2 Infernal Grasp
3 Make Disappear
2 Void Rend
2 Kaito Shizuki
3 The Wandering Emperor
4 Wedding Announcement
3 Adarkar Wastes
4 Caves of Koilos
3 Deserted Beach
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Otawra, Soaring City
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Raffine’s Tower
2 Shattered Sanctum
4 Shipwreck Marsh
1 Swamp
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Sideboard
1 Cut Down
2 Destroy Evil
2 Farewell
2 Negate
4 Siphon Insight
3 Knockout Blow
1 Unlicensed Hearse
Mark T (Esper Raffine)
Maindeck
3 Dennick, Pious Apprentice
1 Ertai Resurrected
3 Obscura Interceptor
4 Raffine, Scheming Seer
4 Tenacious Underdog
2 Cut Down
2 Destroy Evil
1 Depopulate
1 Infernal Grasp
3 Make Disappear
1 Spell Pierce
2 Kaito Shizuki
3 The Wandering Emperor
4 Wedding Announcement
3 Adarkar Wastes
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Deserted Beach
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Otawra, Soaring City
1 Plaza of Heroes
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Raffine’s Tower
3 Shattered Sanctum
4 Shipwreck Marsh
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Sideboard
2 Cut Down
1 Destroy Evil
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
2 Farewell
2 Negate
2 Knockout Blow
2 Liliana of the Veil
Speedy (Izzet Djinn)
Maindeck
4 Haughty Djinn
1 Hullbreaker Horror
2 Abrade
2 Burn Down the House
2 Lightning Strike
3 Play with Fire
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
4 Consider
4 Make Disappear
4 Impulse
3 Negate
2 Silver Scrutiny
1 Spell Pierce
2 Jaya, Fiery Negotiator
4 Shivan Reef
4 Stormcarved Coast
2 Xander’s Lounge
2 Molten Tributary
1 Otawra, Soaring City
7 Island
2 Mountain
Sideboard
1 Abrade
1 Burn Down the House
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Ertai’s Scorn
1 Spell Pierce
2 Reckoner Bankbuster
2 The Elder Dragon War
2 Invoke the Winds
1 Unlicensed Hearse
2 Pithing Needle