The block metagame has changed drastically since the introduction of Avacyn Restored, and with Grand Prix Anaheim being Innistrad Block this weekend I hope to provide a rundown of the new archetypes and metagame. For an excellent analysis of how decks performed during Pro Tour Avacyn Restored (#PTAVR), you should check out Paul Jordan’s article here.

The post-Pro Tour Block metagame, unlike the one that preceded it, really has no pillars. Each deck plays a pretty distinct set of cards, and there is no longer a best Huntmaster and best non-Huntmaster deck dynamic as there was before; instead, each archetype feels distinct, rather than just being a point on the how-controlling/aggressive-you-want-to-make-your-Huntmaster-deck spectrum.

There are viable aggressive, control, and “combo” (Angel of Glory's Rise) decks, and the format has a healthy metagame. (As an aside, a healthy metagame does not make a good/skill-intensive format. It seems to be the general consensus of many pros that this Block format is high variance and demands little play skill, making it not a particularly enjoyable play experience.)

Post-#PTAVR Block Metagame Chart

"W/U Miracle Control – “Hallelujah"

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

• Spells (29)
• 1 Dissipate
• 4 Feeling of Dread
• 4 Think Twice
• 4 Thought Scour
• 4 Devastation Tide
• 4 Entreat the Angels
• 4 Temporal Mastery
• 4 Terminus

• Lands (27)
• 10 Plains
• 13 Island
• 4 Evolving Wilds

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Angel's Mercy
• 4 Cathedral Sanctifier
• 3 Dissipate
• 3 Geist of Saint Traft
• 2 Midnight Haunting
• 2 Snapcaster Mage

Buy This Deck

This deck is bad. Yes, I know it won the Pro Tour, but it’s still bad; it won under 50% of its matches, and the Canadian team was the worst performing large team at the event. In fact, the only thing good that came of this deck winning the event is that people got every imaginable miracle-related pun/joke/phrase out of their systems early into the ability’s life cycle.

I guess I should explain why I think the deck is bad:

• It is very reliant on Wrath effects and light on spot removal, so a player who’s conscious of this can play around them effectively.
• It has no way to interact with the graveyard, so reanimation strategies are particularly effective.
• A Nevermore on Entreat the Angels is pretty close to unbeatable.
• The Wrath effects are expensive when not miracled, so there are times when you just die with a few copies of Terminus in your hand.
• If you ever accidentally miss a miracle trigger due to drawing too quickly, you might want to just off yourself.

Unfortunately, no one is playing this deck on Magic Online, so the table toward the end of the piece will have no further data about the deck. I think the combination of Avacyn Restored cards being very expensive (Entreat is around 10 tickets at the time of writing) and people realizing it’s not very good both contribute to the lack of its popping up.

"Boros"

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Lightning Mauler
• 3 Cloistered Youth
• 3 Fiend Hunter
• 4 Champion of the Parish
• 4 Hellrider
• 4 Silverblade Paladin
• 4 Stromkirk Noble
• 3 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

• Spells (10)
• 3 Brimstone Volley
• 3 Midnight Haunting
• 4 Gather the Townsfolk

• Lands (24)
• 7 Mountain
• 9 Plains
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Clifftop Retreat

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Angelic Overseer
• 1 Brimstone Volley
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage
• 1 Nevermore
• 2 Pillar of Flame
• 1 Purify the Grave
• 2 Riders of Gavony
• 1 Slayer of the Wicked
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 1 Smite the Monstrous

Buy This Deck

This deck hasn’t changed much since last time; it’s still the format’s premier aggro deck and is capable of some scary starts. The deck gained a bit with Silverblade Paladin and has become more permanent-based (as it’s dropped from eight burn spells to three). This is another deck with a moderately bad match against Naya (as that deck’s creature quality is significantly better) but that is favored against control decks and can race the reanimator decks successfully.

"Naya"

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 3 Borderland Ranger
• 3 Fiend Hunter
• 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 4 Scorned Villager
• 4 Wolfir Silverheart
• 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Garruk Relentless

• Spells (3)
• 3 Bonfire of the Damned

• Lands (25)
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 8 Forest
• 3 Clifftop Retreat
• 3 Gavony Township
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Evolving Wilds

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Brimstone Volley
• 1 Grafdigger's Cage
• 3 Nevermore
• 3 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1 Slayer of the Wicked
• 2 Tree of Redemption
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 2 Zealous Conscripts

Buy This Deck

The most popular deck at #PTAVR (and one of the best performing), the deck is as stereotypically midrange as you can be. The basic plan is to play some creatures and then take over the game with Huntmaster transformations or Wolfir Silverheart.

The deck is relatively consistent, but one of its main weak points is the mana, as it’s a three-color deck with three colorless lands (as well as four Cavern of Souls, which can at time raise the colorless count to seven). It’s not particularly good at doing what it does, but the power of Huntmaster and Silverheart alone account for a large number of its wins. The deck performs poorly against Bant Spirits and reanimation strategies, so I assume the popularity of this deck will decrease at the GP compared to the PT.

"Bant Spirits"

• Creatures (22)
• 3 Dungeon Geists
• 3 Strangleroot Geist
• 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 4 Invisible Stalker
• 4 Wolfir Silverheart
• 4 Geist of Saint Traft

• Spells (14)
• 3 Silent Departure
• 4 Increasing Savagery
• 3 Abundant Growth
• 4 Spectral Flight

• Lands (24)
• 1 Plains
• 2 Island
• 9 Forest
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Hinterland Harbor

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Dissipate
• 2 Garruk Relentless
• 4 Tree of Redemption
• 2 Undead Alchemist
• 1 Witchbane Orb
• 3 Wolfir Avenger

Buy This Deck

The SCG Black deck performed spectacularly at the PT, putting two people in the Top 8, and it was the best performing archetype played by a significant number of people. The deck is essentially an updated (and much better) version of the U/R Stalker deck from my last article on Block, and it relies on creatures that are difficult to interact with and spells/creatures that enhance them in order to close games quickly.

The deck’s strength was most likely amplified by the caliber of pilots playing it, but it has also performed well on Magic Online. The deck’s main weakness is how poorly it mulligans (due to a combination of its mana base and the number of cards (such as Spectral Flight and Increasing Savagery) that rely on having one of the deck’s important creatures in play. Abundant Growth also happens to play quite well against Devastation Tide in the unlikely case the W/U miracles deck gains some popularity.

"Reanimator"

• Creatures (12)
• 3 Borderland Ranger
• 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 2 Griselbrand

• Spells (23)
• 1 Burning Oil
• 3 Devil's Play
• 3 Sever the Bloodline
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Mulch
• 4 Pillar of Flame
• 4 Unburial Rites

• Lands (25)
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 5 Forest
• 5 Mountain
• 2 Shimmering Grotto
• 3 Woodland Cemetery
• 4 Clifftop Retreat
• 4 Evolving Wilds

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Appetite for Brains
• 2 Bonfire of the Damned
• 2 Human Frailty
• 2 Olivia Voldaren
• 2 Restoration Angel
• 1 Sever the Bloodline
• 2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1 Zealous Conscripts

Buy This Deck

Robert Jurkovich’s reanimator deck performed very well at the PT, and while the deck is good, it’s not even the recommended reanimation strategy, as Angel Reanimator is just a superior choice, but I decided to leave this deck in for completeness.

"Angel Reanimator"

• Creatures (25)
• 3 Angel of Glory's Rise
• 3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 3 Geist-Honored Monk
• 4 Borderland Ranger
• 4 Cathedral Sanctifier
• 4 Fiend Hunter
• 4 Huntmaster of the Fells

• Spells (12)
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Mulch
• 4 Unburial Rites

• Lands (23)
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Forest
• 4 Plains
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Clifftop Retreat
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Woodland Cemetery

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Blasphemous Act
• 2 Devil's Play
• 1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 3 Purify the Grave
• 1 Restoration Angel
• 3 Sever the Bloodline
• 2 Witchbane Orb

Buy This Deck

This deck is another reanimation strategy, but it’s one that’s much less reliant on the graveyard. Angel of Glory's Rise bringing back a literal army is an extremely strong play, and exiling all Zombies is an actually relevant bonus.

The deck probably needs post-sideboard answers to Grafdigger's Cage given the success of reanimator strategies at the PT, but the list doesn’t exactly have room for much customization, so it will be relatively close to this. The deck performs well against both Naya and Bant Spirits and should be a strong contender at the GP this weekend

"Zombies"

• Creatures (31)
• 2 Falkenrath Noble
• 3 Bloodflow Connoisseur
• 3 Butcher Ghoul
• 3 Skirsdag High Priest
• 4 Blood Artist
• 4 Diregraf Ghoul
• 4 Geralf's Messenger
• 4 Gravecrawler
• 4 Highborn Ghoul

• Spells (9)
• 1 Victim of Night
• 3 Tragic Slip
• 2 Sever the Bloodline
• 3 Dead Weight

• Lands (20)
• 20 Swamp

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Appetite for Brains
• 4 Crypt Creeper
• 4 Human Frailty
• 1 Sever the Bloodline
• 1 Skirsdag High Priest
• 1 Tragic Slip
• 1 Victim of Night
• 1 Zombie Apocalypse

Buy This Deck

For a reason not to play this deck, please read Angel of Glory's Rise. If you still feel a desire to play it after reading, reread.

"U/R Control"

• Creatures (6)
• 3 Fettergeist
• 3 Snapcaster Mage

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

• Spells (24)
• 2 Dissipate
• 2 Thought Scour
• 3 Brimstone Volley
• 3 Geistflame
• 4 Desperate Ravings
• 1 Silent Departure
• 2 Devil's Play
• 3 Bonfire of the Damned
• 4 Pillar of Flame

• Lands (27)
• 10 Mountain
• 9 Island
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 3 Desolate Lighthouse
• 4 Sulfur Falls

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 4 Claustrophobia
• 4 Demolish
• 2 Dissipate
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Rolling Temblor
• 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
• 1 Think Twice

Buy This Deck

I once wrote an article about leveling, and this is a perfect example of a deck for which you have to have a leveled read in order to play. The deck has a very poor matchup against Naya, but at the same time, it has a good match against both Spirits and reanimator—both decks that beat Naya.

So, if you assume people are rational and will switch to playing a lot of Spirits and reanimator rather than playing a lot of Naya, playing this deck would be a good call. However, if a lot of people decide to show up with Naya, you might as well just pick up your cards, as your P (beating a Wolfir Silverheart) is about as close to 0 as you can get. Given the results of the PT, it’s probably wise to up the number of Blasphemous Acts (as it’s basically your only Silverheart out, but don’t be too hopeful about the match even after that).

Magic Online Results

I don’t even bother to pretend that any of these are in any way statistically significant, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to include some results (5 Daily Events tracked).

Sadly, I don’t have any magical way of accumulating Magic Online results (as making an API would be way too much work), so every DE tracked means I have to track what deck each player is playing and then record the results; I have the spreadsheet pretty automated to reduce the time it takes (after recording each player’s decks, each DE takes me around five minutes), but it’s still a super-tedious process.

An Aside on Cavern of Souls

Recently, the ruling on Cavern of Souls was reversed again with the following e-mail on the DCIJudge mailing list:

This change in ruling makes me feel uncomfortable about both the ruling and the reason for the change.

Players would quickly learn the correct way to do things (after maybe having their “uncounterable” creatures countered once or twice, the same as the learning process for countering Demigod of Revenge), and it would result in a bit of an edge for players aware of the ruling. It also allowed players to level their opponents, and by not announcing a Cavern use, allow their opponents to believe they “got” them by countering the spell, only to have wanted this result in order to resolve a more important creature of another type on a subsequent turn.

The new ruling removes any edge from players who keep up with the rules, and it instead rewards sloppy and ambiguous play, and it also removes any chance of tricking your opponent into countering a spell—saying, “Tap Cavern for colorless,” is much less than subtle. What’s to stop players from piling their lands sloppily and leaving a Cavern in the middle of said pile and leaving their opponents completely unaware that Cavern was used?

The reason for the change is also slightly unsettling: R&D told them to. While I have no problem with R&D contributing input during the process of making the original ruling (which took considerable time to arrive at), R&D completely overruling the judge community for no other reason than, “That’s how we feel the card should work,” shows how little autonomy and authority the judge program possesses and also that they’re willing to change a ruling that has been covered and announced widely (which will only lead to future confusion).

It’s unfortunately too late to change the ruling back, but this is essentially putting us back into the era of where Time Vault’s text was unofficially, “When this enters play, roll a 6-side die. Refer to the Time Vault Oracle text card for which version you get to play with today.”

– Chris Mascioli

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