Silver Lining #2

First, I think it's important to note the absence of black and green from the following decklists. There are three possible conclusions:

1. black and green are so good they're winning 1st;
2. black and green are so bad they can't even get this far;
3. black and green aren't seeing play

Green seems to be perpetually underplayed in Standard. Last issue we had several decks with green and or black, however: R/G Warriors, Dreamspore Rock, and Polish Level Grimdrifter, to name just three.

We have three mono-colored decks here, which is interesting in its own way. The other three silver medalists piloted decks that combine one of white, blue, or red. Blue/red, in particular, seems to be a fairly strong pairing, with a combo-control and another, less combo-based iteration showing up in our report.

The metagame seems to be succeptible to fads, and we may just be in another phase where these three colors seem to kick the most butt. I'm not totally up on the metagame at large, so I'll withhold my further analysis on that point, though I'd be happy to hear your speculations or thoughts in the comments. :)

BURN BABY
frycek, SPDC 5.03, 2nd Place (4-2)

4 Karplusan Wolverine
4 Keldon Marauders
3 Gathan Raiders
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Incinerate
4 Lash Out
4 Needle Drop
4 Rift Bolt
4 Shard Volley
3 Shock
3 Tarfire
16 Mountain
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
4 Icefall
4 Martyr of Ashes
4 Spitting Earth
1 Lava Axe
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Tarfire

BLUE ILLUSION
coolbartbr, MPDC 2.04, 2nd Place (4-2)

4 Errant Ephemeron
4 Fathom Seer
4 Gossamer Phantasm
4 Krovikan Mist
4 Shaper Parasite
4 Spiketail Drakeling
3 Mulldrifter
2 Infiltrator il-Kor
1 Blind Phantasm
4 Faerie Trickery
4 Rune Snag
18 Island
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
4 Dream Stalker
4 Piracy Charm
4 Remove Soul
3 Whirlpool Whelm

BLINKDRIFTER
jonathanreeves, SPDC 5.04, 2nd Place (4-2)

4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Errant Ephemeron
4 Infiltrator il-Kor
4 Mulldrifter
3 Knight of Sursi
3 Pestermite
2 Whitemane Lion
4 Momentary Blink
4 Ponder
3 Oblivion Ring
9 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
4 Negate
4 Sunlance
3 Surge of Thoughtweft
2 Temporal Isolation
1 Oblivion Ring

STORM CONTROL
kehmesis, MPDC 2.05, 2nd Place (5-2)

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

Sideboard
4 Faerie Trickery
4 Rune Snag
3 Cancel
3 Fathom Seer
1 Martyr of Ashes

UR DECK WINS
cRUMMYdUMMY, MPDC 2.06, 2nd Place (3-2)

4 Gathan Raiders
4 Infiltrator il-Kor
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Pestermite
4 Brute Force
4 Incinerate
4 Negate
4 Ponder
3 Tarfire
2 Think Twice
12 Mountain
9 Island
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
4 Grapeshot
4 Martyr of Ashes
3 Faerie Trickery
2 Hurly-Burly
2 Rift Bolt

WHITE WEENIE
hokusai22, SPDC 5.05, 2nd Place (3-2)

4 Amrou Scout
4 Benalish Cavalry
4 Burrenton Bombardier
4 Knight of Sursi
4 Sidewinder Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
3 Ivory Giant
2 Shade of Trokair
1 Amrou Seekers
1 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Mana Tithe
4 Surge of Thoughtweft
2 Fortify
19 Plains

Sideboard
3 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Forfend
3 Martyr of Sands
3 Temporal Isolation
2 Zealot il-Vec
1 Amrou Seekers

As much fun as this article is to do, I'm not going to be able to continue it with the beginning of BPDC Season 2. If there's somebody out there in Pauperland who would like to continue analyzing the 2nd place decks at Standard tourneys, please feel free to pick up the mantle and run with the 'Silver Lining' brand. Or find a way to do it in your own style. I'll be pre-occupied with scouting out the future of Standard and having some fun in the process, Lorwyn Block Pauper style. See you Monday!