Locations
StarCtiyGames: Edison: The Results
Here are the top sixteen decks from SCG Open: Edison. I determined the average mana cost of the main deck and prices in dollars and Magic Online tickets by importing each decklist into the Decked Builder app. Dollars are from CoolStuffInc.com, and tickets are from MTGOTraders.com. The graphs display the strategies, colors, and most played archetypes of the Top 16.
| Place | Deck | Colors | Avg Mana | Cost ($) | Cost (Tix) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jund midrange |
|
3.03 | $692 | 444 | |||||
| 2 | Esper control |
|
2.88 | $481 | 241 | |||||
| 3 | Naya aggro |
|
2.59 | $506 | 279 | |||||
| 4 | Junk midrange |
|
3.03 | $743 | 365 | |||||
| 5 | Jund aggro |
|
2.47 | $440 | 227 | |||||
| 6 | Mono-red aggro |
|
2.19 | $305 | 169 | |||||
| 7 | Naya Humans |
|
2 | $580 | 300 | |||||
| 8 | Mono-red aggro |
|
2.08 | $352 | 196 | |||||
| 9 | Mono-white Humans |
|
2.24 | $248 | 121 | |||||
| 10 | Blue Naya midrange |
|
2.58 | $516 | 319 | |||||
| 11 | R/G aggro |
|
1.9 | $261 | 158 | |||||
| 12 | R/G aggro |
|
1.84 | $137 | 59 | |||||
| 13 | R/G aggro |
|
1.9 | $275 | 164 | |||||
| 14 | Jund aggro |
|
2.61 | $497 | 292 | |||||
| 15 | Naya midrange |
|
2.97 | $616 | 424 | |||||
| 16 | Dark Naya midrange |
|
2.92 | $670 | 425 | |||||
| Average: | 2.5 | $457 | 261 |
Deck Check: The Top 16 Rundown
Let’s start with a quick look at the top two decks of SCG Open: Edison. These are fairly standard Jund midrange and Esper control lists that got it done in New Jersey.
First Place
"Jund Midrange by William Postlethwait, First Place at SCG Open: Edison"]
[Creatures]
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
2 Olivia Voldaren
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Liliana of the Veil
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Searing Spear
2 Ultimate Price
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos's Return
4 Farseek
1 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Staff of Nin
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Woodland Cemetery
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Slaughter Games
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Rolling Temblor
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Barter in Blood
2 Duress
[/Sideboard]
[/cardlist
Second Place
"Esper Control by Chris Marshall, Second Place at SCG Open Edison"]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Augur of Bolas
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
1 Dissipate
1 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Devour Flesh
2 Ultimate Price
3 Think Twice
4 Azorius Charm
4 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
1 Detention Sphere
3 Blind Obedience
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Godless Shrine
3 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Nephalia Drownyard
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Rest in Peace
1 Detention Sphere
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Terminus
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Dispel
3 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
[/Sideboard]
[/cardlist
Now for a couple newer lists . . .
Mono-White Humans
"Mono-White Humans by Jared Blumberg, Ninth Place at SCG Open: Edison"]
[Creatures]
3 Fiend Hunter
3 Sublime Archangel
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Elite Inquisitor
4 Knight of Glory
4 Silverblade Paladin
4 War Falcon
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Blind Obedience
[/Spells]
[Lands]
23 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Rest in Peace
4 Faith's Shield
2 Witchbane Orb
2 Nevermore
1 Fiend Hunter
2 Oblivion Ring
[/Sideboard]
[/cardlist
This deck is similar to the very aggressive W/U Human lists we have seen in the past, but it plays Boros Reckoner as a 3-drop instead of Geist of Saint Traft or Lyev Skyknight, allowing it to drop blue altogether.
R/G Aggro
"R/G Aggro by Phillip Napoli, Eleventh Place at SCG Open: Edison"]
[Creatures]
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Hellrider
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Rancor
[/Spells]
[Lands]
12 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Traitorous Blood
4 Reckless Waif
4 Volcanic Strength
[/Sideboard]
[/cardlist
This deck, as well as the thirteenth-place deck by Josh Cho, is Tomoharu Saito’s R/G Aggro list discussed in this Daily Deck List article by Sam Stoddard. It’s a very fast deck in an already aggressive format.
Cards of Choice
Now let’s take a look at the most played creatures and removal spells in the top sixteen decks of the tournament.
| Creature | # Decks | Avg Main | Avg Side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boros Reckoner | 8 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| Hellrider | 8 | 3.6 | 0.0 |
| Burning-Tree Emissary | 6 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Flinthoof Boar | 6 | 3.7 | 0.0 |
| Restoration Angel | 5 | 3.6 | 0.0 |
| Thragtusk | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Stromkirk Noble | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Avacyn's Pilgrim | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Ghor-Clan Rampager | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Rakdos Cackler | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Ash Zealot | 4 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
These numbers are evidence that red decks are winning. Ten of the twenty most played creatures are red, eight of which are on this list.
Boros Reckoner sure seems like a new Standard staple, appearing in eight decks in his second week of Standard eligibility—twice as much as last week at SCG Open: Atlanta. The Minotaur was included in both mono-red aggro decks, mono-white Humans, Naya aggro, Naya Humans, Naya midrange, and in two of the three R/G aggro decks.
Another new creature that saw plenty of play in the Edison Top 16 is Burning-Tree Emissary, appearing in six decks: all three R/G aggro, Naya aggro, Naya Humans, and Naya midrange.
| Removal | # Decks | Avg Main | Avg Side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Searing Spear | 10 | 3.7 | 2.0 |
| Pillar of Flame | 6 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
| Mizzium Mortars | 8 | 1.8 | 2.2 |
| Abrupt Decay | 5 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Ultimate Price | 4 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
Searing Spear appeared in the most decks of any card: all three R/G aggro, both mono-red aggro, both Jund aggro, blue Naya, Naya Humans, and Jund midrange.
The SCG Open: Edison Top 16 contained the fewest removal spells since rotation. Take a look at the trend since SCG Open: Baltimore back in early December of 2012.
This Top 16 is full of very aggressive decks that are looking to finish off opponents before they can really get into gear. Using spells such as Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear to remove the occasional blocker and deal direct damage to an opponent aids that purpose well.
The MTG Standard Metagame
The following graphs track the deck archetypes with the most Top 16 finishes at major Standard tournaments. The top graph shows results in the last month, and the bottom shows results since Return to Ravnica rotated into the format in October of 2012.
Jund midrange is on top based on Top 16 finishes over the past month. Faster Jund aggro decks have also found success—three in the two events since Gatecrash released—and may be better suited to take on the ultra-aggressive red-based decks in the current metagame.
By the Numbers: Expansions in Edison
The Standard-legal card pool includes six expansions: Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, Magic 2013, Return to Ravnica, and the recently released Gatecrash. I took a look at the cards played in the Top 16 at SCG Open: Edison by expansion, excluding basic lands, to see which had the biggest impact. This first graph displays unique cards by expansion (each card is only counted once).
Innistrad is the most mature set in Standard and makes up 24% of the cards played in Edison. Dark Ascension is a smaller set and can claim only7% of the cards. Avacyn Restored was a large set and is only slightly better at 9%. Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash combined accounted for 39%, compared to 40% for the full Innistrad block.
This next graph is total cards by expansion (Hellrider adds twenty-nine to the Dark Ascension total, for example).
Nonbasic lands play a big factor in these numbers for Innistrad (52), M13 (70), Return to Ravnica (61), and Gatecrash (70). The last three expansions make up 69% of the total cards played in Edison, in part due to these lands, but also thanks to an assortment of aggressive red-based creatures.
I’ll take a look at this expansion breakdown over more than just one tournament in a few weeks once Gatecrash matures in the metagame.
What Do You Think? Creatures in Cincy
[poll id=222]
Last week, in my article about SCG Open: Atlanta, I asked, “Which Gatecrash card will see the most copies played in the Top 16 decks of SCG Open: Edison?” You answered, and here are the results of the poll:
The correct answer was indeed Boros Reckoner. He was not only the most played Gatecrash card in the poll, but the most played nonland card overall after Searing Spear. Here is the list of Gatecrash cards played at SCG Open: Edison.
The Close
That wraps up this week’s column. Join me next week when I review the results of SCG Open: Cincinnati and the Standard metagame. Thanks for reading!
Nick Vigabool
@MrVigabool
