The Monday Mulligan #9: He Said He'd Be Back

I will post the Gatherling entry for the event (which I would have edited to include at least all decknames and colors), so you can browse the meta yourselves. The play-offs and metagame paragraphs will list the archetypes that were played (aggro, control, etc.) and how many.

Gatherling Metagame Breakdown

Play-offs:
Blinkdrifter by kehmesis
Polish Level Grimdrifter by ostry1337
Storm Control by JMason
Rogue Madness by Zouily
Kingdrifter by LostSymphonies
RDW by sadisteck
WW by x_Force_of_Will_x
Elves by yogev_ezra

Metagame:
Aggro - 14
Control: - 8
Aggro-Control: - 6
Mid-range: - 0
Unclassifiable - 2

Discussion:
Another winning list sprung from the mind of kehmesis, this time based on the Juggernaught from the beginning of last season: Blinkdrifter. The main reason this deck is viable again is, my opinion, Morningtide. Morningtide brought us the Winnower Patrol and Shard Volley. These two factors made red based aggro, including RDW (which was underplayed at the end of last season, but has now surpased WW as the primary aggro deck) and Gruul Warriors serious contenders. The best way to beat a burn endgame, is blinking Riftwatchers, which explains Blink being back. I will talk further about new age Blinkdrifter in the Spotlight.

On the other side of the spectrum, Storm Control is losing. Though Storm can beat multiple small creatures easily, it can't handle tons of burn to the head on top of an answer to Empty (Martyr of Ashes). It did put one out of three in top 4, but he didn't face a single red deck on the way.

Next up is a new creation, ostry1337 is the first player to get a high placing with a deck I have been trying to build myself: Grim Harvest in combination with Fertilid. His Polish Level Grimdrifter deck beat Slivers, WW, Kingdrifter and Storm, but lost to Blinkdrifter in the finals. By removing red from the established Grimdrifter decks, he loses the best removal, Skred and Strangling Soot. The deck compensates by playing a lot more black removal, such as Nameless Inversion and Eyeblights Ending. Instead of red, ostry decided to play green. This allows you to run a lot of CA, lands that is, generating cards, such as the aformentioned Fertilid and Civic Wayfinder, but also the CA beater that is Aurochs Herd. Grim Harvest really likes having a lot of lands in play, preferably more than your opponent. My suggestion is playing Tendrils of Corruption. It is a backbreaking card and the deck can generate huge amounts of lands/swamps.

Another Rogue deck made top8, this time based on Madness instead of the pure speed we saw last week. I still think there is a Rogue/Faerie tempo deck somewhere in Standard. Next is aggro, with RDW placing one person out of five, and Elves/Warriors, which placed the mono green version in the play-offs. One out of four WW decks also made the cut-off. A redless version of Kingdrifter rounded out the top8.

The rest of the meta was really random, with one-offs like Dreamspore, Illusions (how many times do I have to tell you this deck is GOOD, play it!) and Slivers.

I suspect next week the meta will be full of Blinkdrifter. Almost every player likes the deck, even if it isn't viable it is played much. To counter this surge to aggro-control, WW should become much better. With MD Riftwatchers and SB Martyr of Sands, WW has a favorable matchup (almost a blowout matchup) against burn based aggro. And from last season we have learned that WW is extremely capable of beating Blinkdrifter. Also, because these red aggro decks are doing so well, Grimdrifter could be making a comeback. Grimdrifter can utilize Tendrils as a perfect aggro-burn foil and can beat Blinkdrifter or WW if tuned too.

Season Rankings

These are the top eighteen players that would be invited to the Chamionship if it would be held next week.

Rank , Name , Season Points
1 , SerraGodFather , 48
2 , Jmason , 41
3 , kehmesis , 36
4 , Smurff , 35
5 , SypherSun , 26
6 , ostry1337 , 25
7 , Bulldogg333 , 23
8 , Zouily , 21
9 , ZeroFusion , 19
10 , Jeriko1 , 18

Power Rankings

Power Rankings are used to determine seeding of the players attending the season Championship. Power Rankings are intended to provide a snapshot of the strongest players through the course of the Alt season. These Rankings take into account both the player's rate success and the sample size over which that success occurs. The Power Ranking raw scores award 10 points for 1st, 7 points for 2nd, 4 points for 3rd-4th, 2 points for 5th-8th (if the event has a Top 8), and 0 points for missing the cut. The resulting rankings range from 0 (this player never makes the Top 4/Top 8) to 10 (this player wins every event).

Rank , Name , PowerRanking
1 , SerraGodFather , 5,67
2 , Bulldogg333 , 3,89
3 , kehmesis , 3,89
4 , Jmason , 3,73
5 , SypherSun , 3,27

Today I am joined by JMason, a MPDC regular who has achieved to go 3-0 during the Swiss three events in a row! Sadly for him, he has lost the first or second play-off match untill now.

Who are you if you're not playing PDC and where are you from?

My real life name is John and I'm a software engineer with a web systems company in the UK. At 45 years of age I could be the oldest active pauper? I've played magic for around 6 years, but not as often as I would like.

What is your favorite PDC format? Standard, FutEx, Classic, Block,etc.?

Standard. I wish I had more free time to play other formats seriously.

What do you most enjoy about playing Magic?

I think it's the mental discipline. There are so many things you have to get right in order to succeed.

Your favorite standard PDC card?

Viscid Lemures. Only kidding:) I think it would be Empty the Warrens. The one thing better than a Goblin is hordes of Goblins!

Lemures? Finally something harmless :P.

You have gone 3-0 three times now, what is the reason you are doing so well lately? And why haven't you gone to the top yet?

Better decks. I spent last season trying to make my own creation work. Now that season points are harder to get it's more important to play to win. Bad sideboarding is letting me down in the playoffs.

What are your thoughts on the Standard metagame at this time? Do you think it is balanced enough, enough different decks? Are you missing certain strategies or decktypes you would love to play?

It's good that it's not just one deck dominating. I'm concerned that too much power resides in one or two cards like Grim Harvest or Blink; why couldn't Lorwyn block have been just a bit better? I want Sunflare Shaman to be a playable X-burn spell but currently it's impossible to get enough cards into your own graveyard. Maybe Shadowmoor will support graveyards better.

Yeah, next time you do a tribal block WotC, make it balanced at commons please!

What do you think are the best current decks?

The default deck seems to be a blinkdrifter variant. Clever meta deck choices like the recently returned Dreamspore Rock also do well. I hate to play slow decks myself.

How do you prepare for an event? Do you playtest a lot, with friends or random people?

MPDC2.03 was during Easter, so I got drunk, grabbed a deck I'd never used before at the last minute, and went top 4. LOL. Normally I design my own decks and playtest with anyone I can find in the pdc room. To be honest I miss out on a lot by not testing systematically against all of the tier 1 decks.

Do you play decks you think are strong in the meta, or decks you think are fun playing?

A bit of both. It's funny when you win with some pile.

Thanks for your time, any final words?

To anyone who has never played in a PDC tournament, you have more to gain by joining in than not.

Previous interviews:
SerraGodFather
Kingritz
kehmesis
RaiserUK
53N531/Sensei
icarodx

Blinkdrifter, as piloted by kehmesis at MPDC 2.03

Creatures
4 Knight of Sursi
4 Errant Ephemeron
3 Gossamer Phantasm
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Pestermite
2 Avian Changeling
4 Mulldrifter

4 Burrenton Bombardier

Spells
3 Ponder
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Momentary Blink

Lands
9 Island
9 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

SIDEBOARD
2 Avian Changeling
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Pentarch Ward
4 Surge of Thoughtweft
3 Temporal Isolation

Discussion:
Blinkdrifter, like I said last week, is a great answer to burn based strategies. This deck takes perfect advantage of the current metagame. First of all, all creatures fly. This means both Martyr of Ashes and Subby Shambler are blanks in this matchup. Both of these cards are maindecked in a lot of decks, from RDW to Grimdrifter. A full playset of maindeck Riftwatchers is the decks concession to Burn Deck Scoops.

Next up is the curve: Turn 1 acces to a playset of Suspend Knights and three Ponder, turn two playset Suspend EE and three drawless 2/1 flyers. It goes on to the meat of the deck at 3, four Pestermite and four Aven Riftwatcher. If you can't find these three drops, both Avian Changeling and Burrenton Bombardiers can fill in. The top of the curve belongs to Mulldrifter. This curve delivers the beats ASAP, while countering spot removal with Blink and Bombardiers and reusing CIP triggers. Losing steam? Blink a Mulldrifter and you are back in business.

As his spells (on top of Blink), kehmesis has eschewed counterspells in favor of some maindeck removal and the Bomber, who on top of saving your creatures from Skred, Soot, Burn and Tendrils while giving them +2/+2, substitutes as a beater. Ponder is a wonderfull spell that finds you what you need, when you need it for a lousy .

What I do find strange are the two Avian Changeling MD/SB, while you still have room for a 3rd/4th Oblivian Ring (not needed because everything flies) 4th Ponder and Gossamer Phantasm. I find those last two both superior to the three mana 2/2.

The sideboard is a bit of mystery for me. The Oblivion Rings and Temporal Isolations are the neccesary removal for aggro strategies, Blinkdrifter is weak against aggro decks without a burn endgame. Why the last two Changelings? Why four protective aura's? Aren't Blinks doing that job already? Are a couple of counterspells not more affective, because the creature can't be killed in response for a 2-1? I'd rather be reactive with my protection than pro-active. And Surge, do you need to kill your opponent that much sooner, or is this a response to Grapeshot?

Previous decks:
Gruul Warriors
Dreamspore Rock
Lorwyn Season:
Red Deck Wins
Storm Control
New Tricks and Grimdrifter
Use UR Illusion
GW Changelings

I tried to start a Clan last week, but it wouldn't be acknowledged. So after talking to an Adept, I mailed Customer Support. After a day I got the response the person responsible was sick, but they would enable the clan after Wednesdays downtime. And look at that, they did what they told! But not everyone was online, so we were a two-person Clan for a whole day. And the day after? They purged the Clan because we had too few members, lol! So now we have to wait, AGAIN.

After typing this, this message from Optimus Worth, which explained it, so I am a little less bugged now.

Pondering the Championship cut-off, I have decided to run with kehmesis suggestion and invite the top thirtytwo players to this Seasons Championship. I have also decided that MPDC will remain at its current time frame, unless a high number of attendees demans adding a new round, which would then be the hour before the current starting time. But don't worry about this, that is far far in the future. MPDC is running great as it is, even with 25+ players! Just remember to go 3-0, like JMason...

That was my venting for today, hopefully see you next Monday at another MPDC!

* (c) Evan Erwin