Welcome to Gathering Magic's weekly quintet of decks you should be aware of this weekend, whether you're playing a major online event, going to a Grand Prix, or hitting Friday Night Magic. This week, Grand Prix Brussels will be Standard, so it's worth checking in on the format, both from Dailies and Standard Championship Qualifiers, with a peek at where Battle for Zendikar is taking Modern.

Summarize Sprout

Here's what went 3–1 or better in Magic Online Dailies at least twice this week (Bold = won a Daily):

• Abzan: 16 (won 3)
• Atarka Red: 6
• Esper Planeswalkers: 5
• Esper Dragons: 3
• Dark Jeskai: 3
• Red-Green Ramp: 3
• Esper Control: 2
• Five-Color Bring to Light and Abzan Company each won a Daily in their only 3-1 or better appearance.

That is a lot of Abzan. Let's look at Saturday's winner:

Abzan ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | okd

• Creatures (21)
• 2 Heir of the Wilds
• 2 Wingmate Roc
• 4 Den Protector
• 4 Siege Rhino
• 4 Warden of the First Tree
• 1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• 4 Anafenza, the Foremost

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

• Spells (9)
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 4 Abzan Charm
• 4 Dromoka's Command

• Lands (26)
• 2 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 2 Canopy Vista
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Shambling Vent
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 4 Duress
• 2 Mastery of the Unseen
• 2 Self-Inflicted Wound
• 2 Silkwrap
• 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
• 2 Ultimate Price

Buy This Deck

The biggest news here is the absence of Hangarback Walker and presence of Heir of the Wilds. Heir of the Wilds does more work in the mirror since Abzan Charm and Anafenza, the Foremost are ready for Hangarback Walker. Abzan's removal is typically Abzan Charm, Dromoka's Command, and Murderous Cut; only Murderous Cut is safely usable, and even then, Abzan usually has much bigger threats to worry about. So I like this switch if the mirror match is as frequent as it currently is.

Finishing consistently well (as opposed to Atarka Red, which earned four of its results in the above table on November 3 and struggled afterward), placing in almost every Daily this week, is Esper Planeswalkers:

Esper Planeswalkers ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | hypgn0sis

• Creatures (11)
• 3 Wingmate Roc
• 4 Knight of the White Orchid
• 4 Hangarback Walker

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
• 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

• Spells (15)
• 1 Utter End
• 2 Murderous Cut
• 3 Secure the Wastes
• 1 Ruinous Path
• 2 Painful Truths
• 2 Stasis Snare
• 4 Silkwrap

• Lands (26)
• 3 Swamp
• 4 Plains
• 1 Scoured Barrens
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 2 Prairie Stream
• 3 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Shambling Vent

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Arashin Cleric
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Dragonlord Silumgar
• 4 Duress
• 2 Planar Outburst
• 3 Surge of Righteousness

Buy This Deck

There are many similar versions of this, but I picked this one because it had more Planeswalkers than some other versions and because hypgn0sis reminds me of the ’70s/’80s British album-cover designers Hipgnosis. And one of the best write-ups of the deck is from a British deck designer, Fabrizio Anteri, and although some of his choices going into the last Pro Tour were different, the idea is the same: a midrange deck with a load of removal, made more consistent by being able to run Knight of the White Orchid and Painful Truths. The typical build is like this one in having blue main-decked only for Painful Truths, with some cheap blue instants in the sideboard and Dragonlord Silumgar. There aren't any cute synergies (unless you count Secure the Wastes plus Wingmate Roc's attack trigger), but individual card quality is high, and the deck looks consistent enough to place regularly, just as it did this past week.

Spicy Metaballs from the Standard Championship Qualifiers

This 4–1 deck doesn't look consistent, but it definitely looks fun:

Dark Temur ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Kofurea

• Creatures (21)
• 2 Icefall Regent
• 2 Stratus Dancer
• 4 Frost Walker
• 4 Savage Knuckleblade
• 4 Skyrider Elf
• 4 Thunderbreak Regent
• 1 Dragonlord Silumgar

• Spells (13)
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 1 Wild Slash
• 2 Dig Through Time
• 3 Stubborn Denial
• 4 Draconic Roar
• 2 Crater's Claws

• Lands (26)
• 2 Forest
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 2 Frontier Bivouac
• 2 Sunken Hollow
• 3 Shivan Reef
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Feed the Clan
• 3 Horribly Awry
• 3 Radiant Flames
• 2 Roast
• 1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
• 1 Silumgar's Command

Buy This Deck

This is, at its core, the Temur Aggro deck of a past metagame, using Frost Walker, Savage Knuckleblade, and Thunderbreak Regent for a beefy early curve backed by Stubborn Denial and Crater's Claws. But there are several other elements. Dragonlord Silumgar and Murderous Cut give an extra dimension, Silumgar, Icefall Regent, and Thunderbreak Regent power Draconic Roar, and Skyrider Elf fills the curve with even more flying (a lone Prairie Stream completes access to all five colors). With as many Abzan decks as are out there, having this many flyers is a great game plan, and while it has a mana base only a brewer could love, it has several sweet plays.

Speaking of sweet plays . . . why use a junk mythic like Part the Waterveil when you can use a junk mythic like The Great Aurora? Winning a Standard Championship Qualifier on Friday:

Aurora Ramp ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | JayBoneCapone

• Creatures (14)
• 4 Elvish Visionary
• 4 Jaddi Offshoot
• 4 Hangarback Walker
• 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

• Spells (19)
• 4 Explosive Vegetation
• 4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 4 Nissa's Renewal
• 4 The Great Aurora
• 3 Retreat to Kazandu

• Lands (24)
• 20 Forest
• 4 Blighted Woodland

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Gaea's Revenge
• 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 3 Void Winnower
• 4 Whisperwood Elemental
• 3 Winds of Qal Sisma

Buy This Deck

I'm going to make no bones about it: I love this deck. I loved Warp World in the old days, I loved it when it powered a successful Standard deck, and I love The Great Aurora as a finisher here. With only forty-four permanent cards, it appeared The Great Aurora wouldn't hit as asymmetrically as Warp World normally does, but the difference is Hangarback Walker, whose tokens add up to more drawn cards. With a load of life-gain in Jaddi Offshoot, Retreat to Kazandu, and Nissa's Renewal and massive threats in Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, this is as Timmy as Standard can get.

The sideboard contains Void Winnower, which I've been playing in the main decks of various FNM builds of late; it's the real deal in my experience, as nobody builds his or her deck to sidestep it. It has problems with Murderous Cut, Crackling Doom, and Abzan Charm, but so do most things, and unless those happen to be in the opponent's hand at the time, an 11/9 that creates blocking restrictions should end the game in short order.

Coralhelm Commander? No, Coralhelm Modern!

Coralhelm has been best known for its level up Merfolk, but Battle for Zendikar is making it famous as a retreat center. Winning Wednesday's Daily:

Four-Color Retreat Zoo ? Modern | Pulskas

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Birds of Paradise
• 3 Qasali Pridemage
• 4 Knight of the Reliquary
• 4 Noble Hierarch
• 4 Tarmogoyf
• 4 Wild Nacatl
• 4 Geist of Saint Traft

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

• Spells (10)
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Path to Exile
• 2 Retreat to Coralhelm

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 2 Stomping Ground
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Fracturing Gust
• 3 Grim Lavamancer
• 2 Kor Firewalker
• 2 Negate
• 1 Stony Silence
• 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 2 Unified Will

Buy This Deck

Rather than devote a load of space to the combo, Pulskas has integrated it into a normal four-color Zoo list, with a couple cards, such as Elspeth, Knight-Errant, that might not make every deck of this type but that definitely do when Retreat to Coralhelm with Knight of the Reliquary provides a win condition. Kessig Wolf Run as a singleton is clearly part of the same package; if the combo is working, Kessig Wolf Run doesn't need to do much more than give trample. Elspeth's +3/+3 and flying ability is the reason she's here, letting Knight of the Reliquary be lethal but also making Geist of Saint Traft and Tarmogoyf fly (as though those cards weren't obnoxious enough). But those are the differences: the flavor of this Zoo deck, more than a new archetype. It's still Bant Zoo with Lightning Bolts; it just has a new combo angle with a different line of attack than most people facing Zoo are ready for.

Conclusion

Finding the next level to beat Abzan is one of the biggest decisions players face heading to Brussels. Is the answer playing Heir of the Wilds to stop the ground game? Is it dropping green for removal? Is it going over the top with flyers? Or is it going way over the top with Eldrazi? I wouldn't be surprised if a heavily metagamed deck only good for this Grand Prix wins the whole thing. In any event, it should be fun to see who solves the puzzle this weekend and how.