U/R Control 4
If you’re not a fan of white cards this is the deck for you this week. Todd Anderson built a very tempo oriented Thing in The Ice control deck. That can attack from a few angles but will predominantly freeze it’s opponent out with Thing in the Ice or burn them with Fall of the Titans. Allowing you to form a gameplan your opponent can’t play around not unlike a deck Todd was famous for in TarmoTwin if you play to the creatures you die to the hand and vice versa. The goggles are an interesting inclusion that I wouldn’t be surprised to see cut from more streamlined versions but they have powerful interactions with much of the deck.
U/R Control By Todd Anderson
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
2 Jori En, Ruin Diver
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
3 Island
7 Mountain
4 Drownyard Temple
3 Highland Lake
4 Shivan Reef
4 Wandering Fumarole
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Anticipate
2 Fall of the Titans
4 Fiery Temper
1 Kozilek’s Return
4 Lightning Axe
3 Pyromancer’s Goggles
3 Magmatic Insight
4 Tormenting Voice
SB: 4 Eldrazi Obligator
SB: 4 Fevered Visions
SB: 1 Kozilek’s Return
SB: 3 Negate
SB: 2 Void Shatter
SB: 1 Chandra, Flamecaller
W/B Eldrazi 7
I can’t say I’m happy about this, I thought I was done writing about Eldrazi Displacer decks. Thanks a lot Eric Hymel. Predominantly a midrange deck that can exploit the powerful ETBs of cards like Archangel Avacyn and to a lesser extent Knight of the White Orchid to pull further ahead. Whether this deck can compete with the super aggressive and tempo oriented decks at the top of the standing will be the question we need to ask about this deck.
W/B Eldrazi by Eric Hymel
3 Hedron Crawler
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Archangel Avacyn
2 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
6 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Blighted Fen
4 Caves of Koilos
3 Forsaken Sanctuary
1 Foundry of the Consuls
4 Shambling Vent
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Ultimate Price
4 Declaration in Stone
SB: 2 Reality Smasher
SB: 2 Virulent Plague
SB: 1 Anguished Unmaking
SB: 1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
SB: 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 2 Read the Bones
SB: 3 Tragic Arrogance
W/B Midrange 7
Less synergy based than the above deck but with a similar gameplan using the removal backed by powerful late game if you can get the game to go long enough this could prove to be one of the better “control” decks of the format.
W/B Midrange by Blake Conti
4 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Wasteland Strangler
3 Archangel Avacyn
2 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1 Linvala, the Preserver
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
7 Plains
4 Swamp
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Forsaken Sanctuary
4 Shambling Vent
2 Westvale Abbey
2 Silkwrap
3 Stasis Snare
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Secure the Wastes
3 Declaration in Stone
1 Languish
3 Transgress the Mind
SB: 3 Pitiless Horde
SB: 1 Quarantine Field
SB: 1 Virulent Plague
SB: 1 Hallowed Moonlight
SB: 1 Linvala, the Preserver
SB: 1 Declaration in Stone
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Flaying Tendrils
SB: 1 Infinite Obliteration
SB: 1 Languish
SB: 1 Read the Bones
Bant Company 13
The deck I expected to be the best in format coming in showed off some it’s potential by winning the tournament. The shell is quite different than the old version relying on Duskwatch Recruiter and Archangel Avacyn to become impossible to play against and giving yourself many lines of attack. Playing much more like a aggro/combo deck without needing a combo.
Bant Company by Jim Davis
4 Bounding Krasis
1 Den Protector
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
4 Reflector Mage
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3 Forest
2 Island
3 Plains
3 Canopy Vista
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Fortified Village
4 Lumbering Falls
1 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
4 Collected Company
3 Dromoka’s Command
1 Ojutai’s Command
SB: 1 Den Protector
SB: 1 Hidden Dragonslayer
SB: 2 Lantern Scout
SB: 1 Tireless Tracker
SB: 2 Invocation of Saint Traft
SB: 2 Clip Wings
SB: 3 Negate
SB: 1 Ojutai’s Command
SB: 2 Declaration in Stone
Humans 20
The most popular deck of the tournament and without doubt one of the better decks in the format as well as the de facto aggro deck of this early format. Coming in Mono White, Blue-White, and Green-White varieties, the root of the deck is in early pressure back by the best removal spell printed in recent memory Declaration in Stone to disrupt your midrange opponents midgame threats to push through the final points of damage.
Mono-White Humans by Kellen Pastore.
2 Consul’s Lieutenant
3 Dragon Hunter
2 Expedition Envoy
3 Hanweir Militia Captain
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Thraben Inspector
3 Town Gossipmonger
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
19 Plains
1 Westvale Abbey
3 Always Watching
3 Gryff’s Boon
2 Stasis Snare
4 Declaration in Stone
SB: 2 Felidar Cub
SB: 1 Lantern Scout
SB: 2 Silkwrap
SB: 1 Stasis Snare
SB: 1 Hallowed Moonlight
SB: 3 Secure the Wastes
SB: 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
SB: 2 Westvale Abbey