This past weekend was a big one for Standard, with three high-profile events occurring simultaneously. My boy Alex Hayne (whom I interviewed last year took down Grand Prix Calgary with R/W/U Flash. Over in New Jersey, Erik Smith and David Reed won the StarCityGames Invitational and the StarCityGames Open respectively, both with Jund. I said last week that Jund was the best deck in the format, so it’s no surprise to see six copies in Top 8s across the three tournaments. As always, the format evolves, so decks that Jund happens to be relatively weak against also did well this past weekend. It was a good environment for blue decks to make their quiet comeback, although at this point, it’s more of a resistance movement to the Jund regime.

First, let’s take a look at Hayne’s winning deck:

"R/W/U Flash"

• Creatures (11)
• 3 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Augur of Bolas
• 4 Restoration Angel

• Spells (24)
• 1 Rewind
• 2 Counterflux
• 2 Syncopate
• 2 Turn // Burn
• 2 Warleader's Helix
• 3 Azorius Charm
• 3 Sphinx's Revelation
• 4 Think Twice
• 2 Supreme Verdict
• 3 Pillar of Flame

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 1 Moorland Haunt
• 1 Mutavault
• 3 Clifftop Retreat
• 3 Sacred Foundry
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Sulfur Falls

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 1 Negate
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 3 Ratchet Bomb
• 2 Renounce the Guilds
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 3 Thundermaw Hellkite

Buy This Deck

It’s nearly identical to Huey Jensen’s deck from last week, as the main deck only differs by a few cards. The changes make the deck slightly more aggressive by including proactive cards such as Mutavault and Moorland Haunt. Again, I’m impressed that a blue can do well at all these days, but that may be a testament to the ability of elite players like Hayne and Jensen. This deck has a lot of play against Jund, as it’s capable of countering Jund’s big threats, and the flash creatures do a good job of dodging the sorcery-speed removal. Restoration Angel in particular is hard to kill with Bonfire of the Damned, gives Liliana a lot of trouble, and is immune to Abrupt Decay. I still feel that the matchup favors Jund, but only slightly. That can change if Slaughter Games starts seeing more play in sideboards.

Also coming out of Calgary is a deck near and dear to my heart, W/U control piloted by Grand Prix ringer Jacob Wilson:

"W/U Control"

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Aetherling
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Augur of Bolas
• 4 Restoration Angel

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought

• Spells (23)
• 4 Azorius Charm
• 4 Sphinx's Revelation
• 4 Syncopate
• 4 Think Twice
• 4 Supreme Verdict
• 3 Detention Sphere

• Lands (26)
• 7 Plains
• 8 Island
• 1 Moorland Haunt
• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Aetherling
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 3 Celestial Flare
• 1 Clone
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 3 Negate
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Renounce the Guilds
• 1 Terminus

Buy This Deck

Wilson lost in the quarterfinals to Hayne, so part of me wonders what might have been had they not had to play each other so early. On the surface, it seems very similar to Hayne’s deck, as it does play a lot of the same cards, but the game plan is quite different. With a full four copies of Supreme Verdict, this deck isn’t messing around. Augur of Bolas and Azorius Charm can serve as speed bumps for when the turn-four Wrath is too slow, and Syncopate can also slow things down by keeping opponents honest. This is as close as you can get to a draw-go deck in Standard. What I really like about Wilson’s deck is the large number of basic lands, making it highly resilient to Burning Earth aggro decks, which of course brings me to the next deck I want to showcase. Let’s check out Eric Cieszynski’s mono-red deck from the SCG Open:

"Mono-Red"

• Creatures (28)
• 2 Lightning Mauler
• 3 Ash Zealot
• 3 Young Pyromancer
• 4 Burning-Tree Emissary
• 4 Chandra's Phoenix
• 4 Hellrider
• 4 Rakdos Cackler
• 4 Stromkirk Noble

• Spells (11)
• 2 Brimstone Volley
• 2 Shock
• 4 Searing Spear
• 3 Pillar of Flame

• Lands (21)
• 18 Mountain
• 3 Mutavault

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Legion Loyalist
• 3 Burning Earth
• 1 Magmaquake
• 3 Skullcrack
• 2 Thunderbolt
• 2 Flames of the Firebrand
• 2 Rolling Temblor

Buy This Deck

Mono-red players (you know who you are), rejoice! Burning Earth is a better version of Manabarbs, which was the push this deck needed to be competitive again. Jund packs a huge amount of life-gain from Thragtusk and Huntmaster of the Fells, but with a recurring source of damage, red mages actually have a chance now. Very few decks in the format play more than a couple basic lands, so Burning Earth really is a one-sided Manabarbs most of the time. It wasn’t the only Magic 2014 Core Set card to make an appearance in Cieszynski’s deck, however, as both Chandra's Phoenix and Young Pyromancer are welcome additions. This build is fairly creature-heavy due to the Hellriders, so the new cards won’t be triggering a ton, but mono-colored decks have to take what they can get. I don’t see this deck surviving post-rotation due to the fact that all of the good burn spells are on their way out, but I can definitely see Burning Earth seeing a lot of play in the future.

Speaking of decks that play a lot of basic lands, a few players did well with B/G Mutilate, placing a copy each in the Top 8s of Calgary and the Invitational. Three of my friends also made Top 8 at a Pro Tour Qualifier in Detroit last Sunday, including my boy Kyle Duncan, who took it all down. I had the chance to go with them, but since I was nursing a sinus cold and couldn’t go to Dublin anyway, I stayed home. Now I wish I had gone, not because I think I would have won, but so that I could have been the first to give Kyle a giant bear hug. He can finally shed the mantle of Best Canadian Player to Never Play on the Pro Tour, and I’ll definitely be rooting for him come October. I’m hearing this news literally as I’m writing these words, so I don’t have his decklist quite yet, but I’m sure it’s similar to Jeff Hoogland’s from the Invitational:

"B/G Mutilate"

• Creatures (17)
• 2 Disciple of Bolas
• 3 Scavenging Ooze
• 4 Desecration Demon
• 4 Lifebane Zombie
• 4 Thragtusk

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Vraska the Unseen
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Spells (14)
• 1 Devour Flesh
• 1 Putrefy
• 2 Tragic Slip
• 3 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Gaze of Granite
• 2 Mutilate
• 2 Sign in Blood
• 2 Ratchet Bomb

• Lands (25)
• 13 Swamp
• 2 Golgari Guildgate
• 2 Mutavault
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Woodland Cemetery

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 1 Deadbridge Chant
• 1 Underworld Connections
• 1 Golgari Charm
• 1 Putrefy
• 1 Tragic Slip
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 3 Duress
• 1 Increasing Ambition
• 2 Mutilate
• 1 Sever the Bloodline

Buy This Deck

Can I just say that Desecration Demon is gigantic? It’s so huge that it often survives your own Mutilate, which makes it a darn good win condition for this deck. It also seems insane with Disciple of Bolas. There’s a fair amount of overlap between this deck and Jund, but that’s to be expected for midrange decks that share two colors. Trent Douglas, the player who made Top 8 in Calgary with a similar deck, said that Sphinx's Revelation decks are the worst matchup, and it’s easy to see why. It needs to draw specific cards and isn’t fast enough to slip under cheap countermagic. Every other matchup seems perfectly fine, though, so unless your metagame is infested with blue players, this is a good choice to take to your local tournaments.

1. Scavenging Ooze (last week: 1)
2. Lifebane Zombie (last week: – )
3. Burning Earth (last week: – )
4. Mutavault (last week: 3)
5. Ratchet Bomb (last week: 6)
6. Chandra's Phoenix (last week: – )
7. Doom Blade (last week: 4)
8. Fiendslayer Paladin (last week: 2)

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys again next week.

Take care,

Nassim Ketita

arcticninja on Magic Online

http://www.youtube.com/nketita