For those who are on a tight budget to play competitively in Standard, here is a decklist that I found which was played in a Saturday Showdown event in Caslav, Czech Republic. The deck finished in the Top 4 rank and was piloted by Michal Michal.

Here is below the decklist:

4 Evolving Wilds
20 Island

4 Consulate Skygate
3 Filigree Familiar
4 Manic Scribe
4 Minister of Inquiries
3 Pilgrim’s Eye

4 Engulf the Shore
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Startled Awake
4 Take Inventory

Sideboard
4 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Confiscation Coup
4 Negate
1 Shrewd Negotiation
4 Summary Dismissal

The Grand Prix weekend in Denver saw another Standard deck innovation courtesy of Weitz and Maynard, two members of the Team East West Bowls. They called the deck the boogeyman of the current metagame. It abuses the ability of the artifact Panharmonicon with creatures that has “enter the battlefield” effects: from the utility Cloudblazer and Thraben Inspector to the powerful Eldrazi, Drowner of Hope.

Check out the decklist below.

Maindeck
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Reflector Mage
3 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Drowner of Hope
4 Cloudblazer
1 Thought-Knot Seer

4 Smuggler’s Copter
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
4 Panharmonicon
2 Stasis Snare

8 Plains
5 Island
1 Wastes
2 Aether Hub
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Prairie Stream
2 Westvale Abbey

Sideboard
2 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Blessed Alliance
3 Spell Shrivel
3 Fragmentize
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Thalia’s Lancers
2 Filigree Familiar
1 Declaration in Stone

Black Green Delirium was the deck to beat in the past weeks in the MTG Standard format. Last weekend’s Grand Prix in Denver though proved that the metagame has once again shifted. Looking at the Top 8 decks of the tournament, no BG Delirium deck was able to make it through. That is maybe because they were thwarted by the rising Aetherworks decks. That again opened the way for agro decks to run rampant and one was able to grab the trophy and championship. Presenting the Mardu Vehicles piloted by Matt Severa.

Maindeck
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Toolcraft Exemplar
3 Inventor’s Apprentice
4 Veteran Motorist
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Scrapheap Scrounger

3 Harnessed Lightning
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Smuggler’s Copter
3 Cultivator’s Caravan

4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Aether Hub
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Mountain
4 Plains

Sideboard
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Fragmentize
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
4 Galvanic Bombardment
2 Declaration in Stone

Grand Prix Denver full coverage can be found here:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpden16

Today’s deck tech reminded me of the Modern Dredge deck from the recent World Magic Cup. It is because of the same strategy of cheating creatures into the battlefield from the graveyard and would cost you at lesser or even zero mana.

The deck is Blue Black Zombies and I think this one is the same deck that won Neutral Ground’s Gold Rush which was held last weekend. Here below is the list:

Maindeck
4 Choked Estuary
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
4 Sunken Hollow
14 Swamp
1 Westvale Abbey

4 Cryptbreaker
1 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Gisa and Geralf
4 Haunted Dead
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Relentless Dead
4 Voldaren Pariah

1 Collective Brutality
1 Corpse Churn
2 Grasp of Darkness
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Sinister Concoction
4 Smuggler’s Copter

Sideboard
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
1 Distended Mindbender
1 Essence Extraction
1 Grasp of Darkness
2 Lost Legacy
1 Negate
2 To the Slaughter
3 Transgress the Mind

I was having a discussion with my teammate Raoul with regard to how the Red Green Pummeler deck will work out with the current Standard metagame. The deck’s strategy is already known and most of its matchup has already prepared an efficient sideboard plan.

For instance, Blue White has an Immolating Glare to bypass Blossoming Defense. For Grixis and Black Green, they have To the Slaughter as an instant kill. I was thinking and suggesting that the deck should have a third color and that would be Blue. The color opens access to efficient counterspells such as Dispel and Negate.

With that in mind, I have come up with a version 1 decklist of Temur Pummeler. Check it out below.

Maindeck
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Forest
2 Game Trail
3 Mountain
4 Spirebluff Canal

4 Bristling Hydra
4 Electrostatic Pummeler
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Voltaic Brawler

2 Dispel
4 Attune with Aether
4 Blossoming Defense
3 Built to Smash
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Larger Than Life
1 Slip Through Space
1 Turn Aside

For today’s Standard deck tech, we take a look at some of the unusual archetype from the recent Grand Prix which was held last weekend. This one I got from GP Providence in which was based on an aggro list but occupied almost all of the mana colors. The deck si 4-color Aggro, finished in Top 16 and here below is the decklist:

Four Color Aggro
by Julian Wildes
9th-16th – 2016 Grand Prix Providence

Maindeck
Creature [29]
4 Longtusk Cub
2 Reflector Mage
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Spell Queller
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
4 Voltaic Brawler
3 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Woodland Wanderer

Planeswalker [3]
3 Tamiyo, Field Researcher

Spell [6]
4 Attune with Aether
2 Harnessed Lightning

Land [22]
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
1 Evolving Wilds
3 Inspiring Vantage
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
3 Spirebluff Canal
4 Forest

Sideboard
1 Blossoming Defense
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Evolving Wilds
2 Harnessed Lightning
2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
3 Negate
1 Reflector Mage
2 Tireless Tracker

Despite the popularity of UW Flash in the Grand Prix scene last weekend, it was Mardu Vehicles that was able to grab the trophy and championship specifically in GP Kuala Lumpur. Here below is the decklist piloted by Fumiya Matsumoto.

Maindeck
3 Depala, Pilot Exemplar
4 Inventor’s Apprentice
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Toolcraft Exemplar
4 Veteran Motorist

2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Cultivator’s Caravan
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Smuggler’s Copter
2 Unlicensed Disintegration

4 Aether Hub
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Inspiring Vantage
3 Mountain
3 Plains

Sideboard
4 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Fragmentize
4 Galvanic Bombardment
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1 Unlicensed Disintegration

One of the breakout deck archetypes in Standard post-Kaladesh was seen at the recent Pro Tour in Honolulu Hawaii. The deck was Colossus Affinity and its components are mainly noncreature artifacts that can accelerate your Metalwork Colossus to an early turn. Cantrip cards like Prophetic Prism and Cultivator’s Caravan for mana ramp.

Here is one build from an MTGO tournament which finished 5-0 and was played by username argh:

Maindeck
4 Aether Hub
4 Inspiring Vantage
2 Inventors’ Fair
6 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Sanctum of Ugin
2 Spawning Bed

2 Elder Deep-Fiend
3 Filigree Familiar
4 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Metalwork Colossus

1 Blessed Alliance
3 Fumigate
4 Galvanic Bombardment
4 Cultivator’s Caravan
2 Hedron Archive
2 Metalspinner’s Puzzleknot
4 Prophetic Prism
3 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Sideboard
2 Blessed Alliance
3 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Fragmentize
1 Fumigate
3 Negate
4 Thought-Knot Seer

The new Magic: the Gathering Kaladesh Standard has in a way got me excited to play the format. A whole lot of deck designs have entered especially archetypes that adopted the mechanics from the latest set. Last night’s Friday Night Magic gave me the chance to play a deck that is one of the previous strategies in the Innistrad set. The deck was Blue White Spirits and here below is the decklist:

8 Island
8 Plains
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream

3 Archangel Avacyn
2 Bygone Bishop
3 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Nebelgast Herald
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller

2 Essence Flux
4 Revolutionary Rebuff
3 Unsubstantiate
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Stasis Snare

Back in its earlier version before the rotation, I saw it as just a pseudo-tempo deck that benefits from the use of Flash creatures and counterspells. Honestly, I have not played a list before and just saw match replays on YouTube. Anyhow, I had a background and somewhat read about it and how its interactions work so I decided to give the deck a try in the tournament.

The FNM held 18 players in which I am glad of the consistently high attendance. My matchup summary was as follows:

Round 1 vs Green White Aggro – won 2-0
Round 2 vs Blue Energy Colossus – won 2-0
Round 3 vs Blue Red Ping Burn – won 2-0
Round 4 vs Red Green Energy Aggro – drew 0-0-3

My final record was 3-0-1, with 10 points equivalent, and garnered me first place and was prized with 3 Kaladesh booster packs.

With regards to the RG matchup, I don’t think I am fast enough preboard to stop the early aggression. Though with the planned sideboard of Blessed Alliance and Immolating Glare, I would be in good shape in Games 2 and 3.

The other grindy matchup on both games I played was against Green White Aggro in which the Verdurous Gearhulk is much of a board changer. It was way beyond the Queller’s reach and cannot be countered by Revolutionary Rebuff. I was just glad that I was able to play the right sideboards as well as the correct combat tricks and gameplay decisions.

Overall, I can say Blue White Spirits is probably a safe deck choice as of the moment even though Red White Vehicles are still popular and with people preparing and I think has already defined a game plan for that matchup.

I am hoping this next Saturday’s Standard tournament will still garner a high number of participants. I can see though not claim that these are the fruits of our efforts in promoting the hobby in Iloilo City.

To wrap up this post, here are a few pics of the FNM tournament scene from last night.

Found this decklist while I was looking some topics at the Magic TCG thread on Reddit. The Standard format is still young a two weeks after the rotation and the metagame given has not yet stabilized. This deck archetype for instance another way of going aggro and at the same time providing a way to one-shot kill the opponent. Below is the decklist:

Maindeck
4 Attune with Aether
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Built to Smash
2 Harnessed Lightning
4 Larger Than Life
4 Uncaged Fury

4 Bristling Hydra
4 Electrostatic Pummeler
2 Longtusk Cub
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Voltaic Brawler

4 Aether Hub
3 Game Trail
3 Cinder Glade
7 Forest
3 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Clip Wings
4 Galvanic Bombardment
2 Harnessed Lightning
4 Lathnu Hellion
1 Natural State

I have posted a few months ago regarding the potential of an Eldrazi Black deck for Standard. That was during the preview days for the set Eldritch Moon. It was not quite of a deck choice that time, but not until after the rotation. I was able to discover this updated list on Magic-League, in which the deck finished first and was piloted by Csquared08.

Here is the decklist:

Main Deck
4 aether hub
4 evolving wilds
1 wastes
10 swamp
1 mirrorpool
3 blighted fen
2 sea gate wreckage

3 transgress the mind
3 grasp of darkness
3 liliana, the last hope
3 ruinous path
2 ob nixilis reignited
2 morbid curiosity

4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
2 kalitas, traitor of ghet
3 distended mindbender
1 demon of dark schemes
2 noxious gearhulk
3 filigree familiar

Sideboard
1 mirrorpool
1 emrakul, the promised end
2 reality smasher
2 flaying tendrils
1 transgress the mind
1 demon of dark schemes
3 gonti, lord of luxury
3 essence extraction
1 warping wail

The previous decklist

I made this list as my card poolmate Raoul requested an updated version of Mono Red for this coming Standard rotation on Friday as Kaladesh enters the format. As I have noticed, the deck suffered little as most of the components that rotated out were replaced with somewhat a better version. The new additions include Lathnu Hellion, Smuggler’s Copter and Fleetwheel Cruiser.

Here is my take and probably the first version of the Red Aggro deck.

Lands
18 Mountain
2 Hanweir Battlements

Creatures
3 Lathnu Hellion
4 Village Messenger
3 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Falkenrath Gorger
1 Sin Prodder
4 Hanweir Garrison

Spells
4 Galvanic Bombardment
1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
4 Smuggler’s Copter
1 Magmatic Chasm
4 Collective Defiance
4 Incendiary Flow