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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.
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
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