Locations
The Standard Metagame
Standard has been very busy of late. Last weekend, Atlanta hosted both the StarCityGames Invitational and a Standard Open tournament. The weekend before, Orlando featured two SCG Standard Open tournaments. Having four tournaments in nine days definitely deserves a graph:
This is the breakdown of the combined top decks of these events: the Top 16 of both Orlando Opens, the Top 16 of SCG Open: Atlanta, and the Top 8 of the Invitational. It’s worth noting that for the Invitational, these are the Standard decks of the Top 8 players, not necessarily the top eight Standard decks since the event featured both Standard and Legacy.
No big surprises here. The top three decks have been on top in Standard for several weeks with Reanimator the clear front runner. This next graph takes a longer view of the Standard metagame and displays the archetypes with the most Top 16 appearances over the last month.
Here, we see an even clearer view of Reanimator’s dominance. Esper Control is on the upswing, Jund Midrange remains in the mix, and a few other decks are competitive.
Tournament Review
Now we will check in on the Top 16 decks from the Atlanta Open and the Standard decks played by the Top 8 finishers at the Invitational.
| Place | SCG Open Atlanta | Colors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reanimator |
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| 2 | Reanimator |
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| 3 | Jund Midrange |
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| 4 | Esper Control |
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| 5 | Jund Aggro |
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| 6 | The Aristocrats |
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| 7 | Jund Midrange |
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| 8 | UWR Tempo |
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| 9 | Wolf Run Bant |
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| 10 | The Aristocrats |
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| 11 | Esper Control |
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| 12 | Turbo Fog |
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| 13 | GR Aggro |
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| 14 | Jund Zombies |
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| 15 | Reanimator |
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| 16 | Reanimator |
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| Place | SCG Invitational | Colors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UWR Tempo |
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| 2 | Esper Control |
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| 3 | Reanimator |
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| 4 | GR Aggro |
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| 5 | UWR Tempo |
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| 6 | Jund Midrange |
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| 7 | Esper Control |
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| 8 | Esper Control |
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The following graphs are based on the combined twenty-four decks out of Atlanta:
Card Catalog
The following graphs display the cards in the combined Top 16 decks of SCG Open: Orlando, SCG Open: Atlanta, and the Top 8 of the Invitational, fifty-six decks in all. The following information is provided for creatures, removal, and other nonland cards:
- The total number of copies played (main and side)
- The average number of copies played (main and side)
- The percent of decks in which the card appeared
The goal is to give you a good idea of what cards are most prominent in the metagame and allow you to plan accordingly.
Leading Indicators
In this section, I like to shine the light on cards that have seen little to no play in Standard Top 16 decks prior to appearing in a recent list. I tried something a bit different last week in order to mix it up, so I’ll backtrack and look at the decks from both Orlando and Atlanta below.
Orlando
Saturday’s Tournament:
| Card | # Copies | Main | Side | Decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conjurer's Closet | 1 | 1 | Bant Midrange (15th) | |
| Madcap Skills | 2 | 2 | Jund Aggro (11th) | |
| Sylvan Primordial | 1 | 1 | Reanimator (8th) |
Sunday’s Tournament:
| Card | # Copies | Main | Side | Decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conjurer's Closet | 1 | 1 | GW Midrange (9th Place) | |
| Firefist Striker | 3 | 2 | 1 | GR Aggro (5th Place) |
| Heroes' Reunion | 2 | 2 | Wolf Run Bant (14th Place) | |
| Mugging | 4 | 4 | GR Aggro (5th Place) | |
| Slaughterhorn | 3 | 3 | GR Aggro (5th Place) |
Atlanta
Open:
| Card | # Copies | Main | Side | Decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borborygmos Enraged | 1 | 1 | Turbo Fog (12th) | |
| Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord | 1 | 1 | Reanimator (15th) | |
| Memory's Journey | 3 | 3 | Wolf Run Bant (9th) | |
| Rise from the Grave | 1 | 1 | Jund Zombies (14th) | |
| Urban Evolution | 4 | 4 | Turbo Fog (12th) |
By the Numbers: The Color of Standard
The following graphic displays the number of cards of each color played in the Top 16 decks of major tournaments since the format rotated in October 2012. The pie chart delves a little deeper and shows color by card type.
The Close
That’s it for this week’s article on the SCG Invitational and Open in Atlanta. Join me next week for more Standard tournament results, metagame review, and Magic analysis. Thanks for reading!
Nick Vigabool
