Two UR control decks (UR Storm Control and URw Burnt Nemo) beat WW, Blinkdrifter and much more to face each other in the finals, where Kehmesis beat Icarodx to take home the gold.

One amazing feat is Icarodx losing the first game in all of his matches, but finishing with a 5-1 record. Talk about come backs. Meanwhile, Kehmesis won all his matches 2-0, besides his 2nd round match loss to StillIrise's Uber Teachings.

All in all, it was a very interesting events with a lot of newer decks beating on the established tier one decks. UR illusions, UR Storm Control, UR Burnt Nemo... See a pattern? It looks like SPDC Season 2!

There was also a new UGb good stuff deck called "Chill Teachings" that went 3-0 in swiss. A very interesting control deck that was designed and piloted by White_Djinn.

Uber Teachings and Stick N' Stones also made their usual trip to the playoffs, once again failing short.

Event Thread

The metagame

SPDC 4.07 Metagame is also available in the forums.

Metagame

Thanks to all those who participated in the metagame gathering.

Aggro

GravespwnGoddess-> WW
Krosanbeast9359-> WW
zaxx81-> WW
hokusai22-> WW
ecupiratefan69-> WW
arachnid1313-> RDW
jnr91-> MG Elves
NanoChaos-> MG Elves
WoCoNation-> Strawberry Shortcake

Mid-range

bluedragon123-> Blinkdrifter
BlueWurm-> Blinkdrifter
Bulldog333-> Blinkdrifter
53N531-> Dark Hulk
hurriboy-> Stick N' Stones
33arod-> Dark Evocation(?)
Javafreak911-> UGR Slivers

Aggro-Control

Me5794-> UR Illusions
nybaseb3-> UR Illusions
VTC-> Blue Beats

Control

StillIRise -> Uber Teachings
HWolverine83-> DS Rock
Stiffdiddypinky-> DS Rock
redleg-> DS Rock
White_djinn-> UGb Chill Teachings
Icarodx-> Burnt Nemo

Combo-Control

Kehmesis-> Storm Control

----

WW -
RDW -
MG Elves -
Strawberry Shortcake -
Blinkdrifter -
Dark Hulk -
Stick N' Stones -
Dark Evocation -
UGR Slivers -
UR Illusions -
Blue Beats -
Burnt Nemo -
Uber Teachings -
DS Rock -
Chill Teachings -
Storm Control -

----

I don't think standard has ever been as interesting as it is right now. Tons of decks are viable. New ones are showing up and pulling off good results. We haven't seen this in a very long time.

Standard players are used to see dominating decks throughout a season. This season seemed like it was going in that direction when Blinkdrifter was annihilating all opposition, until WW showed up. And now, WW hasn't won an event in quite some time, and it's not because it lacks any backers.

There were 5 WW and 3 Blinkdrifter decks this week, but only one of each reached the playoff rounds. That's 2 out of 8 decks and hardly dominating. I think it's fair to say that while they are still very strong decks, the domination is over and it didn't last as long as I had expected.

What's great in such a shifting metagame is that we're starting to see some rock, paper, scissors loop. The best decks can't win all the time anymore because there are way too many factors to take into account. And in my opinion, standard hasn't been this healthy in a very long time, if ever.

Playoffs

TOP 8:

--------------------------------
(1) White Djinn (Chill Teachings)
(8) Kehmesis (Storm Control)
--------------------------------
(5) Still I Rise (Uber Teachings)
(4) Nybaseb3 (UR Illusions)
--------------------------------
(3) Hurriboy (Stick N' Stones)
(6) GravespwnGoddess (WW)
--------------------------------
(7) Bluedragon123 (Blinkdrifter)
(2) Icarodx (Burnt Nemo)
--------------------------------

TOP 4:

--------------------------------
(8) Kehmesis (Storm Control)
(5) Still I Rise (Uber Teachings)
--------------------------------
(6) GravespwnGoddess (WW)
(2) Icarodx (Burnt Nemo)
--------------------------------

Final:

--------------------------------
(8) Kehmesis (Storm Control)
(2) Icarodx (Burnt Nemo)
--------------------------------

Metagame Breakdown

You can always access the standard Top 8 metagame at PDCMagic's Forums.

Standard Top 8 Metagame

Includes all Standard (SPDC and MPDC) events to date.

Kehm's personal top 5 decks: (what are yours?)

1- WW
2- Blinkdrifter
3- Storm Control
4- Uber Teachings
5- UR Illusions

Up and coming: Burnt Nemo, Buffeting Boggarts, Dark Hulk.

If we look at the top 5 decks, we can see some pretty interesting match ups. All the decks have strong and less strong matches. I think the weakest link is surprisingly blinkdrifter, but due to its history, I had to put it up there. However, WW and uber teachings have really good matches against it, and Storm Control is around 50%.

WW is also losing steam with the emergence of the UR control decks and the surprisingly popular DS Rock. I personally have no idea why it is played because it never wins, but it does beat WW. DS Rock's record is near pathetic with 2 top 8s since the beginning of the season, and probably more than 20 appearances. Time to give up.

Power Rankings

Here's how the power ratings are calculated:

Each event, players gain points depending on the final standings:

1st - 10 points
2nd - 7 points
T4 - 4 points
T8 - 2 points
Other - 0 point

The power rating of a player is the point average for the current season. (By adding all points accumulated and dividing the total by the number of event participations, we get the average/power rating)

Players who play in less than 40% (2/5) of the events will suffer a small penalty.

There are 38 ranked players out of 94. To be ranked you need to reach the playoff rounds once.

The number of events played serve as first tie breakers, followed by the best finishes.

Thanks to Eegag for the top 5 Icons

Rank (Power rating) - Medals

1 Subliminal man (4.75) -
2 Kehmesis (4.00) -
3 Baron Sengir (3.40) -
4 Bluedragon (3.33) -
5 Boin (3.33) -

6 Icarodx (3.14) -
7 GravespwnGoddess (3.06) -
8 Krosanbeast (3.00) -
9 Kingritz (2.78) -
10 Cecilia Jupe (2.78) -
10 Eegag (2.78) -

12 Evu (2.75)
13 Karakusk (2.50)
14 Khirareq (2.50)
15 StillIRise (2.00)
16 Hurriboy (2.00)
17 Robe (1.75)
18 Death Knight (1.67)
19 Rancorous Fool (1.67)
20 Serra Monk (1.67)
21 Plainstrider (1.50)
22 Kaityson (1.20)
23 Me5794 (1.13)
24 Cp70 (1.11)
25 Cadaeic (1.11)
26 White Djinn (1.11)
27 LostSymphonies (1.00)
28 Jtamaro (0.56)
29 Redleg (0.56)
30 ZechMaples (0.56)
31 Brokn990 (0.56)
32 Leadwing Coachman (0.56)
33 Nybaseb (0.56)
34 WoCoNation (0.50)
35 HWolverine (0.40)
36 Jamuraa (0.40)
37 Lysandar (0.40)
38 Carinon (0.29)

Most Events Played: Krosanbeast (9)
Most Playoffs: Krosanbeast, Baron Sengir, Icarodx (5)
Most wins: Cecilia Jupe, Eegag, Karakusk, Subliminal Man, Kingritz, Krosanbeast, Boin, BlueDragon, Kehmesis (1)
Most Points: Krosanbeast (25)
Best Playoff %: Baron Sengir (100%) (Most events played as tie breaker)

Decklist

1st place deck - Storm Control - Piloted by Kehmesis

4 Remove Soul
10 Snow-Covered Island
9 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Errant Ephemeron
3 Foresee
4 Grapeshot
3 Martyr of Ashes
4 Ponder
4 Rift Bolt
4 Skred
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Think Twice

Sideboard
4 Faerie Trickery
1 Foresee
1 Martyr of Ashes
4 Rite of Flame
4 Rune Snag
1 Think Twice

Not much that hasn't been said last week. The changes are the Rite of Flame and Remove Soul main deck switch.

Congrats! (yes it feels weird)

---

2nd place deck - Burnt Nemo - Piloted by Icarodx

2 Incinerate
1 Island
4 Remove Soul
10 Snow-Covered Island
6 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Errant Ephemeron
4 Lash Out
2 Momentary Blink
4 Mulldrifter
2 Ponder
4 Rune Snag
2 Shimmering Grotto
4 Skred
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Think Twice
2 AEthersnipe

Sideboard
3 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Faerie Trickery
3 Infiltrator il-Kor
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Subterranean Shambler

Icarodx's deck is basically a UR Control deck that splashes white for 2 main deck blinks, 3 sideboard riftwatcher and 3 sideboard oblivion ring. It is really close to a 2 color deck, making the mana base pretty strong and consistent. The burnt fish aspect of the deck is nearly gone. Ica transformed the old burnt aggro decks into a control monster instead. The deck's main weakness is probably the small amount of win conditions, making it very vulnerable to removal heavy decks. That's probably why there are 9 creatures in the sideboard, and also why he did not win a single game 1 in the whole tournament... Perhaps.

Congrats!

---

Top 8 deck - Chill Teachings (Snow Control) - Piloted by White Djinn

1 Faerie Trickery
1 Nameless Inversion
2 Broken Ambitions
4 Aurochs Herd
4 Chilling Shade
4 Dreamspoiler Witches
4 Edge of Autumn
4 Mystical Teachings
4 Rune Snag
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Sprout Swarm
3 Snow-Covered Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
6 Snow-Covered Island
11 Snow-Covered Forest

Sideboard
1 Evolution Charm
1 Naturalize
1 Wrap in Vigor
4 Eyeblight's Ending
4 Grim Harvest
4 Think Twice

White Djinn finished 1st after the swiss rounds, going 3-0. He was unprepared for Storm, and he still gave a hell of a fight. The deck is very impressive. It is packing removal and counterspells, making dreamspoiler witch a permanent removal tool. He also has 12 very strong win conditions with the cows, the (very big) Chilling Shade and the annoying sprout swarm.

Congrats!

If anyone would like to write for MPDC, please contact Polyjak. If you would like to have any data I have gathered or my article templates, contact me. (You can PM us in the forums)

Nothing to report this week as I was late with my last report due to the holidays and included MPDC in it.

Is there something you would like to see in these reports? Post a comment!

Well, that is 2 standard wins in a row for Storm Control, a top 4 and a 2-1 finish in 4 participations. Can we expect a lot of token hate next week? Maybe more players will lean towards the underplayed Uber Teachings.

See you next week!

Kehm.