This is quite a bit late but nevertheless, I will write a summary of the event. Last March 18 to 19 we held another tournament in which the place was sponsored by Robinsons Jaro. We called it the MtG Revolt at the Robinsons. The first day, Saturday accommodated the Standard tournament with 14 players in attendance. After four Swiss rounds, the Top finishers were:

1st, Raymund (Mardu Vehicles)
2nd, Ace (4 Color Copycat)
3rd, JayR (Mardu Vehicles)
4th, Mark T (4 Color Copycat)
5th, Mark Ian (4 Color Copycat)

We also accommodated the previous new players from WVSU who last time played at Critical Hit. A few of the card packages I prepared were distributed to them and they happily brew new ones and updated their current decks. Here are the pictures from Day 1.

Sunday’s schedule was Duel Commander and I am happy to share that we had 16 players in attendance. I think that was the highest number of participants on record for this format. That was still four rounds of Swiss though and after the matchups, the top finishers were:

1st, Mark Ian (Zurgo, Bellstriker)
2nd, Raoul (Geist of Saint Traft)
3rd, Glifford (Breya, Reanimator)
4th, Oliver (Vial/Kraum, Partner control)
5th, Jason (Titania, Protector of Argoth)

It was an impressive showing for the Red Commander deck, Zurgo as well as the UW Tempo Commander deck, Geist of Saint Traft. We both went 3-0 before deciding to draw the last round and divide with us the prized Aether Revolt booster packs.

There were lesser new faces or those who were interested to learn the game during the event. I guess that was because I didn’t make much announcement of the activities and also did not prepare enough. It was a small event but then maybe next time we advertise it more, with an online poster in various Iloilo local and hobby groups.

We do not know yet the next schedule that Rob will permit us again to play at their mall but I am hoping this time it will be improved.

Until the next post.

The next Magic: the Gathering Standard deck that I would add to the upcoming deck projects of the team is an archetype I found in one of the Standard tournament reports in Spikes subreddit. The deck is Black Red Control and has won a Gameday tournament in the

user’s area. Here below is the list:

Land (25)
4 Aether Hub
1 Blighted Fen
4 Foreboding Ruins
5 Mountain
4 Smoldering Marsh
7 Swamp

Creature (10)
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

Spells (25)
2 Fatal Push
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Shock
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Live Fast
2 Ruinous Path
3 Dynavolt Tower

Sideboard (15)
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Fatal Push
1 Oath of Chandra
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Release the Gremlins
2 To the Slaughter
4 Transgress the Mind
2 Weaver of Lightning
1 Yahenni’s Expertise

For reference

I built a last-minute brew deck for the first Iloilo Gameday held last Saturday at Rei’s Place. Initially, the deck that I planned to pilot was the Sultai Control list that I found in the list of top-performing decks during the Aether Revolt Pro Tour but due to the card constraints with the Jeskai combo build, I decided to give way to my Blue components so that the deck will be completed.

The Red Black lands were vacant at that time so I have thought why if I substitute Blue with Red, while doing the same strategy? I ended up building and playing this list below:

Maindeck
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Foreboding Ruins
4 Forest
1 Game Trail
3 Hissing Quagmire
1 Mountain
2 Smoldering Marsh
5 Swamp

2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
2 Mindwrack Demon
1 Noxious Gearhulk
4 Sylvan Advocate
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Walking Ballista

3 Fatal Push
3 Grapple with the Past
2 Grasp of Darkness
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Radiant Flames
1 To the Slaughter
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Vessel of Nascency

Sideboard:
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Geth
1 Ruinous Path
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
3 Transgress the Mind
1 Pick the Brain
1 Lost Legacy
1 Release the Gremlins
1 Natural State
1 Natural Obsolescence
1 Yahenni’s Expertise

Last weekend held the first ever two Gameday tournaments for the Iloilo community. The second event was hosted by Critical Hit: Comics and Games and congratulations to them on reaching the store level that would finally hold future tourneys like this one. The first Aether Revolt Gameday was held at Rei’s place, at 1 pm and twenty players were in attendance. It was five rounds of Swiss with a cut to the Top 8. The initial rounds finished at around 6pm. The metagame was littered with BG Constrictor, Mardu Vehicles and a few rogues builds, including mine which I will discuss in a separate blog post. By the way, I finished 9th after Swiss.

The top eight decks consist of three BG Constrictor, two Mardu, one Black Red Artifacts, one Red Green Energy, and a Jeskai Copycat combo. It was John Paul that eventually won, playing a Black Green Constrictor created by pro player Brad Nelson which had a main-deck Gonti and the vehicle Aethersphere Harvester. The final Top 8 are as follows:

MtG Aether Revolt Gameday at Rei’s Place
Final Top 8:
1st, John Paul Imperial (BG Constrictor)
2nd, Mao Gonzalez (BG Constrictor)
3rd, Eric Borromeo (Mardu Vehicles)
4th, Mark Tubola (BG Constrictor)
5th, Dean Antonio (Jeskai Copycat)
6th, Raoul Suarez (Mardu Vehicles)
7th, Franco Agudo (BR Vehicles)
8th, Rino Morales (RG Energy)

Sunday’s Gameday at Critical Hit was attended by 16 players and we somewhat started an hour late because we had to wait for the other players in order to get a high number of attendance. Still we ended up one player short for a five-round Swiss. I played the winning Brad Nelson BG list and hoping to a finish this time. That day’s metagame again saw the usual suspects, BG Constrictor and Mardu Vehicles, while there was a new deck in the form of 4-color Shaheeli Marvel, a combo deck which can also curve into an early Elder Deep Fiend. The prizes were still the same, though there were fewer booster pack allocations as compared to that of Reis.

After the four rounds of Swiss, the top eight were a mix of aggro and combo decks. The newcomer archetypes were White Humans & Blue Red Zombies. One Humans deck which I built myself was piloted by my teammate Val and the Zombies was played by my other teammate Ericson. Two other teammates also made it; Raoul playing Mardu Vehicles and Dean playing Jeskai Copycat.

The finals saw Mark T’s 4-color Shaheeli Marvel facing Franco’s BG Constrictor but Mark conceded the matchmaking Franco the Gameday Champion. It was the second championship for the BG Constrictor deck.

I am perceiving that the current Standard metagame will eventually stabilize into the Top 3 archetypes of Mardu, BG Constrictor, and Copycat combo: still a rock-paper-scissors game.

That is a wrap for this post. I will try to write a report of the local weekly tournaments, mentioning specific matchups and new deck techs if ever there is one.

Thanks for reading and until next time.

While reading through the topics posted at the Spikes subreddit, I came upon a tournament report of a person playing UR Dynavolt in their Gameday and which he faced a kid piloting a mono-Green aggro deck. The card composition according to the way his match went were Blistering Hydras, Servant of the Conduit, Tireless Tracker, and coupled with pump spells like Larger than Life. He posted an assumed decklist but I decided to refine it a bit.

Here is my first version of the deck:

4 Bristling Hydra
4 Greenbelt Rampager
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Servant of the Conduit
2 Architect of the Untamed
1 Aetherwind Basker

4 Lifecraft Bestiary
4 Attune with Aether
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Larger than Life
1 Deadlock Trap
2 Heroic Intervention

4 Aether Hub
3 Evolving Wilds
15 Forest

The poster also mentioned that the kid was having Pummelers for the sideboard which I think would look subpar with just eight pump spells in the deck and no access to Red’s Double Strike ability. As for color splashes, Black would be my first choice for the Winding Constrictor and Rishkar package. Just substitute a few Forest to a playset of Blooming Marsh and maybe two Hissing Quagmires.

Comments and suggestions are pretty much welcome, so just post them on the box below.

This is a quick decklist I have come up with while discussing with my teammate Rey about the potential of the Aether Revolt mechanic Improvise as an archetype in Standard. Another of such reference was was when I drafted Red and White on last weekend’s draft session playtest for Mark Tubola, our first Ilonggo contender for the MTG Pro Tour. I took a photo of the second draft but forgot to post about it in a separate blog article. Anyhow, here below is the first version of the deck Red White Improvise affinity:

Maindeck
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Toolcraft Exemplar
4 Sweatworks Brawler
4 Freejam Regent
2 Master Trinketeer

4 Sran’s Expertise
2 Servo Schemantic
4 Servo Exhibition
4 Outnumber
2 Harnessed Lightning
2 Artifact Tapper

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

2 Aether Hub
4 Inspiring Vantage
3 Spire of Industry
7 Mountain
7 Plains

Feel free to comment about any suggestions or ideas that you have in mind. Please post them on the box below.

With the loss of Emrakul in Standard and the rise of the supposedly Black Green Constrictor-based decks, non-Blue control archetypes might have the chance again to get a slot in the metagame. One of which is Black White Control which was very popular back when Languish was still legal. Now it was replaced with Yahenni’s Expertise as the new Black sweep spell. The minus 3 minus 3 might look a bit inefficient to deal with large creatures but with its free spell bonus gains you a free spot removal and even a Liliana.

Here is a decklist that I referenced from Craig Wescoe’s article on the TCG Player website.

Maindeck
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Noxious Gearhulk

4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis

2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Fatal Push
2 Fumigate
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Murder
4 Succumb to Temptation
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Yahenni’s Expertise

4 Concealed Courtyard
3 Forsaken Sanctuary
7 Plains
4 Shambling Vent
8 Swamp

We were recently brewing some Standard decks with my friend Rey Victor and he mentioned of a Green Black version of the Pummeler Energy deck. Aether Revolt offered some new gears for the deck and the need for Red is somehow not that important. The Black replacement opens the access to effective spot removals like Fatal Push as well as discard spells like Transgress the Mind, not to mention the Winding Constrictor. I made an initial decklist of the build below.

4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Electrostatic Pummeler
4 Bristling Hydra
3 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
2 Verdurous Gearhulk

4 Attune with Aether
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Larger than Life
3 Highspire Infusion

4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
6 Forest
6 Swamp

The first major Standard tournament after Aether Revolt became legal to play in the format was the SCG Standard Open last weekend which was held in Columbus. One the deck archetypes that held a respectable finish was Black Green Aggro, powered by the Winding Constrictor, Walking Ballista and Rishkar, Peema Renegade. I made a Jund Energy version of the deck before but the straightforward two-color build was looking more effective and the preferred choice by most of the players.

Here below is the decklist piloted by Andrew Skorik which finished 3rd in the tournament.

Maindeck
Creatures (23)
4 Verdurous Gearhulk
4 Walking Ballista
3 Catacomb Sifter
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Rishkar, Peema Renegade

Planeswalkers (5)
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

Spells (8)
2 Fatal Push
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Heart of Kiran

Lands (24)
8 Forest
6 Swamp
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Hissing Quagmire

Sideboard
2 Distended Mindbender
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Natural Obsolescence
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
3 Flaying Tendrils
3 Transgress the Mind

The continuation set of the Kaladesh storyline, Aether Revolt, will be out for sale and automatically enter the Standard format this Friday. I referred to Friday as part of Magic weekends was based on the Grand Prix schedules which usually start with the Friday GP Trials. Anyhow, we are all excited to use these new card components for our deck whether it is a main or sideboard upgrade.

This Friday also reminds us of the start date of the implementation of the Standard bannings, which bids us goodbye to our Smuggler’s Copter, big momma Emrakul and the ever reliable Reflector Mage. See you guys in Modern.

As for our local happenings, it will be the Dinagyang 2017 weekend and given that tourists and locals will be flocking the city for the Ati-ati tribe competitions and the merry making via parties and booze, I will negatively conclude that we will expect delays in the arrival of the Aether Revolt stocks in our local game stores. It reminds me of Rei’s AER Prerelease last Saturday which was almost cancelled because of the courier’s delay in the delivery. I would not mind that much though in terms of opening new cards as the price of the booster packs increased by 10 pesos and is now around 170php per pack, unless I cannot stop my urge to open one. We had people preordered for the booster boxes and will be waiting for Rei’s update and confirmation if the stocks will be delivered before this Friday’s FNM.

I guess I can still safely say that you guys enjoy your AER release party and other related tournaments and events in your local game stores this weekend. Until the next post.

The story is out and it was sort of a punch in the gut of our card pool. It has been six years and boom, another Standard bannings happened. The casualties: Emrakul, Smugglers Copter and Reflector Mage. They must have figured out the metagame getting stagnant with the usual archetypes which is either with copter or Emrakul and so they implemented the ban. I would agree with Wizards decision of ‘freeing’ the Standard playfield of decks oppressed by these cards but then in a financial aspect, it was investment down the drain. To note, days ago I have our card pool’s current Standard decks and half of them uses the banned cards. That is about four playsets (16 pieces) of copter and six Emrakuls. I remembered buying a playset for 3k pesos or about 60 usd. I wonder if they would at least compensate those who’re affected since it is not easy to nerf like those cards in Hearthstone or Clash Royale.

Anyhow, with Standard forced to make changes again, I will presume to be spending more again for card components in Aether Revolt as new cards will enter the format in a few weeks. Back to the old drawing board as they say. 

As the blog post says it, I decided to create an initial decklist of this new tribe for the Aether Revolt Standard format. The main cause of this was the card Midnight Entourage. As I first saw this new Protoss err Aetherborn lord, I immediately scan the Aether Revolt spoilers as well as the Kaladesh set for its other potential components.

Mono Black is always the easy way to go and thus, presenting the initial decklist:

Creatures
4 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Metallic Mimic
4 Midnight Entourage
4 Syndicate Trafficker
3 Vengeful Rebel
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
4 Weaponcraft Enthusiast

Spells
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Fatal Push
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Sinister Concoction

Lands
1 Blighted Fen
3 Evolving Wilds
19 Swamp

For card info reference, just check the official Aether Revolt Card spoilers at the Wizards website.

What best color should I splash? Would this be stable just being Mono Black? Your comments and suggestions are very welcome.