Constructed

Off the Beaten Path – I’m Not Dead Yet

First of all, I’d like to offer congratulations to Brian Kibler on his “Dewey defeats Truman” moment on his run to the Pro Tour-Austin championship. (Listen to Randy Buehler at the end his quarterfinal match on the webcast and you’ll know what I’m talking about.) Nothing like Baneslayer Angel to get past Progenitus of all things.
And now back to our regularly scheduled article. It’s clear that Zoo has established itself as the deck to beat going into Worlds and this winter’s extended PTQ season, with Hypergenesis, Dredge, and Dark Depths not far behind. But there were a few welcome blasts from the recent and not so recent past that earned some players a good chunk of Pro Points, if not a date with the Sunday stage. Here are some of my favorite deviations from the pack.

Garcia piloted the lone Tooth and Nail deck with 18+ points in the extended rounds. Not only was his deck choice a fun throwback, but some of his card choices were throwbacks as well. Some would think that Mephidross Vampire is well past its prime in an age with Empyrial Archangel, Inkwell Leviathan, and other potentially higher quality fatties, but Garcia didn’t think so, as he included the Vampire alongside Iona, Shield of Emeria and Painter’s Servant – a combo that enables a much faster scoop than any other combination Tooth could otherwise enable. Gaddock Teeg and Blood Moon may problematic if they hit early, but that’s where Oblivion Stone, Trinisphere, and Krosan Grip come in handy. Were it not for a lackluster showing in the draft portion for Garcia, we may have seen Tooth make its way to the top 8.

What a novel concept! Lightning Bolt in the Lightning Bolt Deck! I tried playing this deck in the last Extended PTQ’s but worried too much about my opposition pre-board. Thus, it took a lot of speed out of the deck and cost me a couple of matchups I could’ve won. Dupont worries very little about his opposition, and his sideboard is dedicated mostly to Dredge, which was a very good choice, seeing as it was the second-most played deck in Austin. After that, Blood Moon for Hypergenesis and Smash to Smithereens for Affinity and other problem artifacts show he has come up with the ultimate budget choice for PTQ players in January.

While Lucas Siow’s Hexmage/Thopter Gifts was featured on the mothership, Shouta Yasooka’s more traditional build of Gifts Ungiven finished a full nine places higher than Siow and $475 richer. With four copies of Gifts to get anything in the toolbox your heart desires, plus Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Life from the Loam and Eternal Witness to get those pieces back, the versatile threats in this deck make it another force to be reckoned with come PTQ season. Sure, you can say what you want about a single Duress in the sideboard, but who are we to argue with one of the Japanese masters?

I always love to see “forgotten” archetypes make strong showings at PTQs, Grand Prix, and Pro Tours. In a world where formats are defined by maybe two, three, or four decks, to see an overconfident player get rolled by a legitimate deck he never saw coming brings a smile to my face. Having said that, you can’t expect every player in a major tournament to be playing a different set of 75 cards. Anyone who gets into that mindset clearly has not been to Friday Night Magic or even left their kitchen table. (With all due respect to kitchen table players who might choose never to see the inside of a PTQ, this is just how tournament players operate.) Why do you think we have the term “metagame-defining”? It’s for cards and decks that show their superiority over all challengers.

You can talk about the aforementioned decks, along with Dark Depths, Dredge, and Hypergenesis all you want, but in the end, Zoo is the deck du jour, no two ways about it. As Brian David-Marshall pointed out during the webcast, “it’s the new Rock” – that is, there is not one conformist or median list. You can now tailor Zoo to your metagame with various interchangeable parts. Whether you build it around Domain with Tribal Flames and Might of Alara, or around the Punishing Fire – Grove of the Burnwillows combo (which we might look at down the road as one of the greatest innovations of all time), or any other method, one thing’s for sure: if you’re not playing Zoo, you better be prepared to beat it.

I may sound like I’m contradicting myself, but let me remind you that I am not telling you what to play. When I say “if you’re not playing Zoo, you better be prepared to beat it,” I do not mean to say other archetypes are not viable. Do not come into a Extended PTQ with a deck only geared to beat Zoo – you will be disappointed. There’s no sense in playing the best deck in the room if you can’t play it properly.

See you next week for another look at Standard, including my first analysis of a reader-submitted deck. Until then, watch out for those pesky Blood Moons.

-Sam