A Stoneforge Mistake? Pyromancer Ascension in GP Dallas

Hello 🙂

I forgot to update here when the second half of my trip report went live last night – A Stoneforge Mistake? Pyromancer Ascension in GP Dallas.

Thanks for reading, and do be sure to check out the rest of my work here at The Brewery and on Quiet Speculation!

Thanks,

Dylan

Stoneforge What? Pyromancer Ascension for GP: Dallas

GP Dallas is going to be my first Grand Prix since Atlanta in 2004 and my first major B&M event since PT Columbus in 2005. Yeah, it’s been a while. Yes, I’m fucking excited! The plan was to start testing at the beginning of last month for a really cool Standard format. PT Paris had shown the power of CawBlade and the format was finally less awful (Valakut makes me :(). So of course I started my GP Dallas testing quite late Thursday night with the following decklist:

Decklist

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
3 Arc Trail
4 Preordain
4 See Beyond
4 Mana Leak
4 Into the Roil
3 Unsummon
4 Pyromancer Ascension
3 Jace’s Ingenuity

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Halimar Depths
8 Island
7 Mountain

Sideboard:
3 Combust
4 Spell Pierce
3 Trinket Mage
1 Darksteel Axe
3 Shape Anew
1 Darksteel Colossus

Versus U/W CawBlade:
+3 Combust, +4 Spell Pierce
-3 Unsummon, -3 Arc Trail, -1 Burst Lightning

Versus Darkblade:
+3 Combust, +4 Spell Pierce
-3 Unsummon, -3 Arc Trail, -1 Burst Lightning

Versus Valakut:
+4 Spell Pierce, +3 Trinket Mage, +1 Darksteel Axe, +1 Blightsteel Colossus, +3 Shape Anew
-3 Unsummon, -3 Arc Trail, -1 Jace’s Ingenuity, -4 Pyromancer Ascension, -1 Into the Roil

Versus G/W Aggro:
+3 Trinket Mage, +1 Darksteel Axe, +1 Blightsteel Colossus, +3 Shape Anew
-4 Mana Leak, -4 Pyromancer Ascension

Versus RUG:
-X Arc Trail, -(4-X) Unsummon
+4 Spell Pierce

Versus Boros:
+3 Trinket Mage, +1 Darksteel Axe, +3 Shape Anew, +1 Blightsteel Colossus
-4 Mana Leak, -4 Pyromancer Ascension
Versus RDW:
+3 Trinket Mage, +1 Darksteel Axe, +3 Shape Anew, +1 Blightsteel Colossus
-4 Mana Leak, -4 Pyromancer Ascension

Versus U/B Control:
+4 Spell Pierce
-3 Arc Trail, -1 Unsummon

Versus U/B Infect:
*

Versus Eldrazi Green:
+3 Spell Pierce, +3 Trinket Mage, +1 Darksteel Axe, +3 Shape Anew, +1 Blightsteel Colossus
-3 Unsummon, -1 Jace’s Ingenuity, -3 Arc Trail, -4 Pyromancer Ascension

*I don’t really know. My brain is kind of fried. Any thoughts here? I ❤ your comments. 🙂

Those were the Sideboard plans. One match win in the Tournament Practice room against Vampires and another win in the 2-man queues against Eldrazi Green, and I was ready to metaphorically scribble all over my decklist and rebuild it from scratch.

So of course I changed 4 cards.

Decklist

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
4 Arc Trail
4 Preordain
4 See Beyond
4 Mana Leak
4 Into the Roil
3 Jace Beleren
4 Pyromancer Ascension
2 Jace’s Ingenuity

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Halimar Depths
8 Island
7 Mountain

Sideboard:
3 Combust
4 Spell Pierce
3 Trinket Mage
1 Darksteel Axe
3 Shape Anew
1 Darksteel Colossus

I’m not going to redo the sideboarding plans on principle. If you take a look at what comes in and what comes out above, you should be able to expand that to the second decklist. A quick explanation of the changes:

Cutting Jace’s Ingenuity for Arc Trail

Over my gigantic sample size of 5 games, I drew too many of them. Adding Arc Trail to the maindeck makes my Aggro matchup slightly better, tightens up the decklist a little with another 4-of (and a 2-of) instead of two 3-ofs. I haven’t done the math on that but I have to imagine it’s at least a tiny bit better for triggering Pyromancer Ascension.

Cutting 3 Unsummon for 3 Jace Beleren

My first thought when Chad Havas (@torerotutor) shared this decklist with me was that the large removal suite (4 Lightning Bolt, 4 Burst Lightning, 4 Arc Trail, 4 Into the Roil), Jace Beleren would be extremely easy to protect against most deck. Even Aggro decks should struggle to keep threats on the board long enough for Jace to provide as many (or more!) cards for you as the more expensive Instant bearing his name.

Unsummon was the spottiest card in the deck. It was originally Treasure Hunt, a card that I’ve never been fond of, but the addition of Jace Beleren makes me excited to continue testing. And hey, if I bomb out of the Grand Prix, at least it won’t be with Unsummon in my deck.

On the Transformational Sideboard

This is definitely the way to go with a Pyromancer Ascension sideboard today. Boarding into Titans isn’t sustainable with the versatile removal in Standard right now, and they simply aren’t the powerful game-ending effects that Pyromancer needs them to be to make that plan worthwhile. Similarly, treating Pyromancer as a high-powered U/R Control shell and boarding into more Counterspell effects, more board sweepers, etc. doesn’t seem worthwhile.

However, blanking your opponent’s Game 2 plan (however gimmicky it may seem) is an extremely powerful effect. Again, small sample size, but my 2-man Queue opponent boarded in Ratchet Bomb and kept an opener with the artifact. As awesome as you imagine it is to see your opponent cast a sideboard card that is 100% irrelevant, it’s even more awesome than that. Really. I hope I don’t have to take Chad’s word on how amusing it is to see someone whiff on a Memoricide.

Think of it as turning a card your opponent thinks is powerful into a virtual mulligan. Awesome, right? On a much smaller scale, it reminds me of the game-breaking rules in playing postboard with or against Dredge in Legacy.

Plus you get to fuck with your opponent for Game 3. Should they board back in their Gatekeepers of Malakir? What about Enchantment hate? Unfortunately, Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Into the Roil have tons of game against you and are unlikely to come out of an opponent’s deck for Games 2 or 3. The downside to having this particular transformation is that I’ll be left with a 7-card sideboard (3 Combust & 4 Spell Pierce) against CawBlade, RUG, and most other Blue-based decks.

CawBlade

Like I could actually get through writing anything on Standard today and not include a separate section for CawBlade in some way. Well, as of 2:30 AM on Friday morning, I still haven’t played the matchup. Seriously. I’m banking on bumping into it on MTGO at some point and finding someone in the hotel room to test against Friday night.

I’m banking on having a pair of gameplans to make the matchup as winnable as the traditional UW Control match.

Lightning Bolt, Burst Lightning, and Arc Trail

Before CawBlade, I played a Pyromancer Ascension deck that got away with a removal suite of simply 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Burst Lightning, and 3 Pyroclasm. Before that, 4 Lightning Bolt & 4 Burst Lightning was the standard. All of this was supplemented, of course, with Call to Mind.

Now, I’ll be working with 12 removal spells for CawBlades 1/1s and 1/2s. I’ll have 4 Into the Roil to answer Swords, albeit to minimal effect. Eight of those removal spells, as well as the Into the Roils, are Instant-speed to battle equipment. The only cards that should truly scare me are going to be Gideon Jura and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. This is the main matchup that encourages me to play Jace Beleren instead of Unsummon.

Second, I’ll have the Pyromancer Ascension over-the-top plan to beat the UW Control element of the CawBlade deck. CawBlade is such a dominant force in part because it can play a very solid Control game, or a very solid Aggro game, and it can switch back and forth with relative ease with the help of Sword of Feast & Famine. That Control element though is pretty lacking in its ability to stop a 1R enchantment. My hope is that I can keep the board clear of a swordbearer long enough to set up inevitability through Pyromancer Ascension

So, there you have it. The insomniac ramblings of an overly excited Mage. Please be sure to check out Quiet Speculation all weekend long, as long as I’m not too overwhelmed by the Grand Prix experience, I intend to do some weekend updates from Dallas, TX!

Dylan

@dtlerch on Twitter

PS: If you can name this decklist something awesome in the comments, I’ll credit you here and ship some MTGO tix or something. I don’t want to register a deck with a boring, lame name. 😦

PPS: If you’re going to be at GP: Dallas, I want to meet you. Email me (dtlerch at gmail dot com) or something. I haven’t gone on a road trip in ages and could use an epic fun time. 🙂

PPPS: If you plan on playing against me in the Grand Prix, boo on you for reading about my deck. 😦

Dissecting Standard Caw-Go, Worlds 2010

Worlds 2010 is underway!

I slipped onto the computer late last night, and I had no plans of doing anything except binging on MTG Worlds content. Imagine my surprise when I saw this awesome deck in the video coverage!

Dissecting Standard Caw-Go, Worlds 2010

Caw-Go, as played by Brian Kibler at Standard Worlds 2010, 6-0
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Day of Judgment
2 Condemn
3 Journey to Nowhere
3 Gideon Jura
2 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Deprive
2 Mana Leak
4 Spell Pierce
1 Jace Beleren
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Preordain
1 Spreading Seas
4 Plains
4 Island
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Arid Mesa
2 Scalding Tarn

Sideboard:
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Day of Judgment
1 Jace Beleren
1 Deprive
3 Spreading Seas
2 Condemn
3 Celestial Purge
2 Flashfreeze
1 Elspeth Tirel

The Brewery on QS: Building a Better Pyromancer Sideboard

Hello again 🙂

Just in time (hopefully!) for the SCG Invitational, here is my latest article on Pyromancer Ascension.

Building a Better Pyromancer Sideboard

As always, comment here or on QS and I’ll be sure to respond!

And like I wrote in the article, Tweeting, Facebooking, StumbleUponing (okay, that one’s a stretch, but you get the idea) are the best ways to give thanks to your favorite writers out there. Please don’t be shy 🙂 It takes a couple of moments, a handful of clicks, and it would warm my heart 🙂

Thanks again and good luck!
Dylan

“There is a lot more in him than you guess…

…and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.”

-Gandalf the Grey, The Hobbit

I feel like I’ve been saying this every week for weeks, but there are big things in the works for The Brewery.

One of my biggest peeves when reading Magic, the Gathering writing on the internet is a lack of good autocard popups. Well, now that I’m finally exploring all that WordPress has to offer, I can safely say: The Brewery will soon be joining the rest of the 21st Century and should become much, much, much more readable.

As always, if you ever have comments or questions, concerns, criticisms, suggestions, or feedback, you can always find me at dtlerch at gmail dot com. I also make it a point to respond to every comment left on any page here at The Brewery – and the more intelligent the comment, the more intelligent my response will be. 🙂

In the meantime, browse around and see what you’ve missed. A few of my favorites:

The Pyromancer Ascension Compendium
MTG Combined Power Rankings
GA States: Metal Red Redux
W/u Tempered Steel
Building “OozeVine”

Browse around, comment often, and enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

2010 Kentucky Open Standard Top 8 decklists!

Finally!

Thanks to @Chosler88 and MTGPulse.com, here are the Top 8 decklists for the 2010 Kentucky Open

1st Place, BUG Control by Donnie Noland (cool name ;))
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
3 Frost Titan
1 Avenger of Zendikar
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Doom Blade
4 Mana Leak
1 Jace’s Ingenuity
4 Explore
4 Preordain
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Drowned Catacomb
5 Forest
3 Island
1 Halimar Depths
2 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Acidic Slime
2 Flashfreeze
3 Consume the Meek
3 Memoricide

2nd Place, RUG Control by Chris Anderson
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
2 Frost Titan
2 Avenger of Zendikar
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Deprive
3 Mana Leak
1 Pyroclasm
4 Preordain
4 Explore
1 Volition Reins
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
4 Raging Ravine
5 Island
3 Forest
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Halimar Depths

Sideboard:
1 Frost Titan
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Pyroclasm
1 Ratchet Bomb

3rd Place, UB Vat Control by Thomas Graves
2 Grave Titan
2 Sea Gate Oracle
3 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Jace Beleren
4 Doom Blade
2 Into the Roil
2 Disfigure
4 Mana Leak
1 Consuming Vapors
4 Preordain
1 Mimic Vat
2 Everflowing Chalice
1 Volition Reins
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
5 Island
3 Swamp
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard:
2 Disfigure
3 Consume the Meek
2 Spell Pierce
1 Negate
1 Consuming Vapors
3 Memoricide
2 Duress
1 Volition Reins

4th Place, UB Elixir by E. McKenzie
3 Abyssal Persecutor
3 Trinket Mage
2 Frost Titan
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Jace Beleren
4 Doom Blade
2 Into the Roil
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
2 Consuming Vapors
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Brittle Effigy
2 Everflowing Chalice
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Scalding Tarn
5 Island
3 Swamp

Sideboard:
3 Consume the Meek
4 Disfigure
2 Flashfreeze
2 Negate
3 Memoricide
1 Nihil Spellbomb

5th Place, RUG Control by Corey Waugh
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
3 Frost Titan
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Mana Leak
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Preordain
4 Explore
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Raging Ravine
2 Mountain
3 Forest
3 Copperline Gorge
4 Scalding Tarn
6 Island
1 Halimar Depths

Sideboard:
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Flashfreeze
2 Spell Pierce
4 Pyroclasm
1 Arc Trail
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Volition Reins

6th Place, Boros by Jon Robinson
4 Plated Geopede
4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Burst Lightning
3 Adventuring Gear
3 Journey to Nowhere
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
1 Teetering Peaks
5 Plains
5 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Tunnel Ignus
2 Cunning Sparkmage
1 Pyroclasm
2 Revoke Existence
2 Mark of Mutiny
1 Act of Treason
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Sword of Body and Mind
3 Koth of the Hammer

7th Place, RUG Control by Bernie Wen
2 Frost Titan
2 Avenger of Zendikar
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Explore
4 Preordain
5 Island
3 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Halimar Depths
4 Raging Ravine
3 Copperline Gorge
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest

Sideboard:
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Gaea’s Revenge
2 Spell Pierce
2 Flashfreeze
2 Nature’s Claim
4 Pyroclasm
1 Ratchet Bomb

8th Place, RUG Control by Ben Weinburg
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Frost Titan
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
4 Explore
4 Island
3 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Raging Ravine
2 Halimar Depths
4 Copperline Gorge

Sideboard:
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Obstinate Baloth
2 Spell Pierce
2 Into the Roil
4 Pyroclasm
1 Flame Slash
1 Ratchet Bomb

Analysis to come!

Standard Power Rankings

My first attempt at a crude Power Ranking for the Standard format is complete! For now, this only includes Magic Online Daily and Premier Events.

Since November 7th, 2010:
1. Valakut Ramp (239)
2. B/r Vampires (117)
3. Quest WW (109)
4. Boros (84)
5. RUG (82)
5. UB Control (82)
7. UW Control (72)
8. Eldrazi Green (33)
9. RDW (24)
10. Vampires (21)
11. Metal Red (15)
12. Elf Aggro (10)
13. UWR Control (9)
14. Black Aggro (7)
14. Pyromancer Ascension (7)
14. UG Fauna Shaman (7)
14. UR Control (7)
18. Quest WW/u (5)
19. Bant Fauna Shaman (4)
19. Stompy (4)

These are ordered based on their finishes in MTGO events. Crude calculations are as follows: 1 point for going 3-1 in a Daily, 2 points for going 4-0, and 4 points for a Premier Event Top 8. Like I said, very crude. My spreadsheet has the results broken down by deck, event, and date, so I hope to do some more interesting things with these in the coming days.

You should note that this does not reflect which decks are best, but simply which decks put up the most top finishes. Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is everywhere. Considering all the information above, what would you all like to see most? I can do graphs and charts breaking down results by date, weighted power rankings based on date, and pretty much anything else that Excel can do. Please let me know in the comments!

A couple of interesting decklists that I found during this process:

Naya Quest, by PDiddy (3-1 Standard Daily #1733795, 11-10-2010)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Raging Ravine
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Cunning Sparkmage
4 Fauna Shaman
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Cobra
2 Molten-Tail Masticore
2 Mul Daya Channelers
4 Squadron hawk
1 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Vengevine
2 Argentum Armor
1 Basilisk Collar
3 Quest for the Holy Relic

Sideboard:
1 Flame Slash
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Journey to Nowhere
2 Koth of the Hammer
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Manic Vandal
2 Mark of Mutiny
2 Obstinate Baloth
2 War Priest of Thune

Jund, by mbrolin (3-1 Standard Daily #1758321, 11-16-2010)
1 Dragonskull Summit
4 Forest
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Mountain
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
4 Raging Ravine
4 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Bloodghast
2 Grave Titan
4 Nest Invader
4 Sylvan Ranger
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Chandra Nalaar
4 Consuming Vapors
4 Doom Blade
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Sarkhan the Mad

Sideboard:
4 Consume the Meek
4 Duress
3 Memoricide
4 Naturalize

A Second Look at U/w Control

I’ve been waiting on coverage for the Kentucky Open this weekend, but so far I’ve found not a single decklist. So back to Austin we go!

UW Control by Kyle Sanchez, 1st Place 2010 TCGplayer.com WWS Austin, TX
3 Baneslayer Angel
2 Gideon Jura
3 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Sun Titan
4 Wall of Omens
3 Condemn
3 Day of Judgment
2 Into the Roil
2 Journey to Nowhere
4 Mana Leak
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Spell Pierce
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard:
1 Condemn
1 Day of Judgment
4 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Negate
1 Ratchet Bomb

http://twitter.com/#!/The_Sanch/status/3889158523195392

A breakdown of Kyle Sanchez’ U/w Control deck

Removal

The first thing I like to look at when assessing a Control deck in today’s format is its removal suite. Kyle Sanchez has a mix of spot removal and board sweepers.

2 Gideon Jura
3 Condemn
3 Day of Judgment
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Ratchet Bomb

One of the criticisms of U/w control versus U/b or even U/r is the quality of removal. White lost Path to Exile and Oblivion Ring, and it seemingly has not been the same since. However, Sanchez chose to go a different route: Between Gideon Jura, Day of Judgment, and Ratchet Bomb, there are as many as 7 cards in the maindeck (and 2 more in the Sideboard) to deal with multiple threats at once. Consider the interactions here with Wall of Omens as well! Wall of Omens often forces the opponent to commit multiple threats to the board, at which point Day of Judgment and friends can be guaranteed 2-for-1s or better.

Instant-speed spot removal is served by Condemn, which does its best Path to Exile impression against the aggressive decks. Unfortunately it does little against Fauna Shaman, Hedron Crab, and other non-attacking threats. It is still an extremely efficient spell though. Journey to Nowhere picks up the stragglers, and it’s an extremely efficient spell as well. It may have been overshadowed by Oblivion Ring, but the 1W Enchantment saw some play even when the better 2W option was available.

Counterspells

Every Blue-based Control deck in my memory has found at least some amount of Countermagic to get to the late game. This deck is no different.

4 Mana Leak
3 Spell Pierce

I really like this. Rather than reaching to Cancel/Stoic Rebuttal or Negate, Sanchez went with the extremely crafty Spell Pierce. Anyone who has played against this spell knows how difficult it is to play around, especially if you’re not sure your opponent even has it. This isn’t a format where every Blue deck has Force Spike (speaking of, is that card really too powerful?). Mana Leak is obvious to play around, but Spell Pierce is much more subtle.

Card Advantage

3 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

People have been struggling for months now to find the right configuration of Jr. and Sr. Jace, and I think this comes close. I actually think Jace Beleren is a more important card to have 4 of than the Mind Sculptor, and Kyle Sanchez agrees with the fourth copy living in the Sideboard. That’s not to say Jace, the Mind Sculptor isn’t the most powerful card in Standard and the most powerful to be printed in a long, long time.

Win Conditions

1 Sun Titan
3 Baneslayer Angel

Frost Titan, what? Sun Titan is pretty obvious, as it allows recursion and card advantage of Journey to Nowhere, Ratchet Bomb, Jace Beleren, Tectonic Edge… At least as a single copy, the oft-maligned Titan finds a pretty good home here. Baneslayer Angel however is an interesting choice. It comes down a turn earlier than the Titans, and it does really well in a race. In any case, it shouldn’t be so surprising: We all know how good Baneslayer Angel has been in the most recent Standard formats.

Other

2 Into the Roil
4 Wall of Omens
0 Preordain 😦

Into the Roil is obvious. In fact, Kyle Sanchez himself called it “the best blue instant:”

http://twitter.com/#!/The_Sanch/status/27161862971

Wall of Omens is pretty obvious too. Pretty much every U/w Control deck since Rise of the Eldrazi has had a full playset of them, and I think this is the most likely explanation for where Preordain is (or, rather, where it isn’t). Preordain has been a staple of U/r and U/b Control decks, but those don’t have Wall of Omens to cycle. Scry 2 is obviously better than a 0/4 Wall in some matchups, but combined with White’s board sweepers, I like the innovation here.

Lands

4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Terramorphic Expanse

There are only two interesting slots here: 4 Tectonic Edge and 3 Terramorphic Expanse. As far as Tectonic Edge goes, I think every single deck should be trying to fit in as many of them as it can possibly handle. This card is extremely strong. It provides an answer to Creeping Tar Pits, Valakuts, and more. Standard is full of nonbasic lands right now, and some of them are extremely powerful win conditions. Tectonic Edge handles all of them with ease.

Terramorphic Expanse is serving as a replacement for 1-2 fetchlands that most Jace decks use to interact with Brainstorm. However, unlike Misty Rainforest or Scalding Tarn, Terramorphic Expanse can actually fix your mana too! Coming into play tapped is relatively insignificant most of the time, and Sun Titan recursion is a lot less painful with Terramorphic Expanse than with a true fetchland.

Sideboard

1 Condemn
1 Day of Judgment
4 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Negate
1 Ratchet Bomb

Here are a few extra copies of Ratchet Bomb, Jace Beleren, Day of Judgment, and Condemn. 4 Flashfreeze and 3 Negate is pretty unspectacular, and the matchups where they come in should be pretty obvious. I wouldn’t bring a Blue-based Control deck to a tournament without at least “a few” of both of those spells. Leyline of Sanctity is actually awesome. This all-star turns off Red burn, Valakut, Pyromancer Ascension, Memoricide… I’m not sure which matchups Sanchez brought them in for, but it would have an effect in almost every matchup.

http://twitter.com/#!/The_Sanch/status/3889322478538752

Pretty slick, IMO.

Congratulations, Kyle Sanchez. You built quite a nice deck!

Kyle Sanchez wins 2010 WWS in Austin, TX

This weekend has been a big one for that Standard format, with both the Kentucky Open in Louisville, KY and the Wizard World Series in Austin, TX. As coverage was nonexistent except for Twitter, decklists will be posted here as they’re discovered.

UW Control by Kyle Sanchez, 1st Place 2010 TCGplayer.com WWS Austin, TX
3 Baneslayer Angel
2 Gideon Jura
3 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Sun Titan
4 Wall of Omens
3 Condemn
3 Day of Judgment
2 Into the Roil
2 Journey to Nowhere
4 Mana Leak
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Spell Pierce
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard:
1 Condemn
1 Day of Judgment
4 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Negate
1 Ratchet Bomb

This is the most intriguing version of U/w Control I’ve ever seen. In my opinion, Kyle Sanchez has been one of the game’s best deckbuilders, and this deck is one that I would be excited to sleeve up and test.

The spot removal suite looks a little weak compared to U/b Control (2 Journey to Nowhere, 3 Condemn) until you get to the 3 Day of Judgment and 2 Ratchet Bomb maindeck (with 1 more of each in the sideboard).

The singleton Sun Titan has Jace Beleren, Ratchet Bomb, Journey to Nowhere, Terramorphic Expanse, and Wall of Omens to recur to great effect. Terramorphic Expanse is an especially interesting pick, and going with the painless fetchland over Misty Rainforest actually looks quite revolutionary, and I’m curious if the swap allowed Sanchez to play 3 copies instead of 1 or 2 Misty Rainforest that most Blue Control decks use for Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s Brainstorm.

The other maindeck key to this deck that I absolutely love is Spell Pierce. Sanchez plays three copies of this spell, and I have to imagine that it surprised people all day long.

Is this deck better than the U/b Control decks that supplanted it in the week after States? Only testing can truly reveal that, but I really like what I see. Congratulations, Kyle Sanchez!

Coming soon will be a breakdown of the Top 8 of both events, as well as an analysis of any interesting decklists. Initial analysis shows 1 U/w Control, 1 Eldrazi Green, 1 RUG Control, 1 U/b Control, 1 Valakut ramp, 1 RDW, 2 Vampires (1 B, 1 B/r).

The rest of the Top 8 decklists:

2nd Place, Karl Roeder
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Primeval Titan
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Cultivate
3 Everflowing Chalice
4 Explore
3 Growth Spasm
4 Summoning Trap
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Eye of Ugin
12 Forest
4 Khalni Garden
2 Mystifying Maze
4 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard:
4 Acidic Slime
2 All Is Dust
1 Gaea’s Revenge
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Terastodon

3rd-4th Place, Cal Miller
1 Avenger of Zendikar
3 Frost Titan
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Deprive
4 Explore
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
1 Volition Reins
3 Copperline Gorge
3 Forest
2 Halimar Depths
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
4 Raging Ravine
4 Scalding Tarn

Sideboard:
2 Flashfreeze
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Obstinate Baloth
3 Pyroclasm
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Spell Pierce

3rd-4th Place, Joe Bass
1 Frost Titan
2 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Trinket Mage
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Consume the Meek
1 Consuming Vapors
2 Disfigure
3 Doom Blade
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Everflowing Chalice
2 Into the Roil
2 Jace’s Ingenuity
4 Mana Leak
2 Mimic Vat
2 Negate
1 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
6 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Swamp
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
1 Consume the Meek
2 Disfigure
3 Duress
3 Flashfreeze
2 Memoricide
1 Negate
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Spell Pierce

5th-8th Place, Aaron McNeely
4 Avenger of Zendikar
2 Koth of the Hammer
3 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Primeval Titan
4 Cultivate
1 Explore
4 Harrow
4 Khalni Heart Expedition
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Summoning Trap
2 Evolving Wilds
6 Forest
2 Misty Rainforest
11 Mountain
2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Sideboard:
2 Gaea’s Revenge
4 Memoricide
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Pyroclasm
1 Swamp

5th-8th Place, Matt Wehner
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Pulse Tracker
2 Vampire Lacerator
4 Viscera Seer
2 Arc Trail
2 Burst Lightning
2 Dark Tutelage
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mark of Mutiny
2 Sword of Body and Mind
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
12 Swamp

Sideboard:
2 Arc Trail
1 Dark Tutelage
4 Doom Blade
4 Duress
3 Manic Vandal
1 Mark of Mutiny

5th-8th Place, Scott Lipton
4 Ember Hauler
4 Goblin Guide
3 Inferno Titan
4 Kargan Dragonlord
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Plated Geopede
2 Arc Trail
4 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Staggershock
4 Arid Mesa
13 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Teetering Peaks

Sideboard:
4 Brittle Effigy
3 Manic Vandal
4 Ratchet Bomb
4 Tunnel Ignus

5th-8th Place, Nathan Zamora
4 Bloodghast
4 Bloodthrone Vampire
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Pawn of Ulamog
4 Pulse Tracker
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Viscera Seer
3 Blade of the Bloodchief
4 Vendetta
4 Marsh Flats
14 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
4 Dark Tutelage
1 Disfigure
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Marsh Casualties
2 Skinrender
3 Smother

Video: Hedron Ascension versus U/w Control

Enjoy!

Decklist:
4 Preordain
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Hedron Crab
4 See Beyond
4 Mana Leak
4 Pyromancer Ascension
3 Call to Mind
4 Staggershock
2 Jace Beleren
4 Foresee

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa*
3 Halimar Depths
8 Island*
4 Mountain*

Sideboard:
4 Negate
4 Flashfreeze
3 Into the Roil
3 Pyroclasm
1 Jace Beleren

*I think the deck really needs a better manabase.