March 4- March 8

 

Domination

    This week's issue may as well be titled "The Domination of pk23".  In the two tournaments pk23 had a 13-1 record in matches and possibly even more stunning, 27-5 in games.  This is pure domination. It's obviously the sign of a great deck by a great deck builder, but several other players used nearly identical decks and didn't come even close to that level of greatness.  Congratulations to pk23.  Lets take a look at the breakdown of his deck and any possible answers for it in upcoming tournaments.



MPDC 20.02

    In Monday's tournament, hosted by Malum, pk23's Esper Control was undefeated with an impressive 8-0 record, losing only two games.  One of those games was to a Boros deck, which is important, so pay attention because it will be on the test.
   To me, the strength of this deck is that it carries fourteen removal spells.  It has a great ability to dig deep for what it needs in any circumstance by using Amass the Components and Forbidden Alchemy, but you have to have something for which to dig, and those are usually removal or the ever important Seraph.  When sideboarding those digging targets become Gravepurge, Essence Scatter or perhaps Keening Apparition when facing a Boros deck.
   This deck's ability to withstand the early barrage from Boros and WW rests on the back of its heavy removal.  Normally, when faced with the decision to kill or not to kill, it is best to wait for a top tier creature so as not to waste precious removal.  Esper Control however, will almost always have plenty of removal in hand or easily dug up so the decision is an easy one: kill anything that moves.  It's vital for this deck's performance to keep the opponent's board clean early in order to build up a front line of Seraphs and Basilica Guards to begin extorting in advance of any creature threat the deck poses in late rounds.
  If there is any room for change in this deck in accordance with the upcoming meta it may be interesting to see what could be put in it's place.  Ogre Jailbreaker is a classic value card which works smoothly in a deck full of Gates like this one, but let's be honest, it's a 4/4 for 4.  Not bad, but I'd like to see how something like a Mist Raven works in this deck.  It's evasive as well as providing huge creature advantage and causing a recast of what usually turns out to be the opponent's biggest threat.  It's double blue cost may be it's downfall however, but I still believe there is a better option for a control deck like this.



   Joekewwl was runner up in this weeks mpdc with his deck Selesnya Beats and his only two match losses came to pk23.  Ranger's Guile is a critical spell in this deck as it allows the big dumb transformers to do the work they are meant for.  The problem with the Innistrad transform creatures is that despite all the sugar coating they received they are still just big vanilla creatures for the most part, susceptible to any old removal and even susceptible to themselves.
   Against decks running light removal it's easy to see why the deck flourishes.  Common Bond, Trusted Forcemage and Travel Preparations can make quick work out of most decks, even modern WW doesn't stand a chance against these massive beasts. The problems start to arise when facing decks like Esper Control(who doesn't have problems against this deck?) or something like Black Flag with tons of cheap removal.
   One answer this deck has for heavy removal is Primal Huntbeast. Throwing around a bunch of +1/+1 counters on that hexproof monster is gg in a hurry.



  In a tournament so completely dominated by one deck I believe there is one more deck worth mentioning and that is Avalon's Boros 2.0.  What Boros did for standard pauper was to basically enable it to compete with or substitute for WW.  Quick creatures like Skyknight Legionnaire and Wojek Halberdiers allowed red to get in on White Weenie's action and add some great cards like Martial Glory and Madcap Skills to the already potent classic WW lineup.  There is more to talk about with this style of deck later on, but there is no doubt if anything can take down Esper Control it is lightning-fast, unabated aggro and this could be the archetype for that deck.



SPDC 19.17



    As mentioned, pk23's Esper Control  took top honors in this week's spdc hosted by jamuraa.  There is not much else I have to say on this deck as it is the identical list used in mpdc.  It did however, play against a slightly different meta game, which is of note, so let's get to it.

   Petermere's Boros Beta was runner up this week, losing only to pk23.  At first glance these two decks may seem polar opposites but look closer.  What do they both have in common? What is the backbone of both of these decks?  If you said massive removal you passed the test.  Please allow 7-10 business days for delivery of your cookie.
   This deck is almost as fast as current WW but with much more control over it's opponents because of the removal.  Every main board non creature in this deck is removal, or not if you don't need it, thank you Bonds of Faith .  It can't compete with Esper Control though Cloudshift and Curse of the Pierced Heart help.  I love the inclusion of four Curses, but I have a love/hate relationship with this card.  In my experience it takes at least two on the board in the first five turns to make it worth including.  That isn't something that tends to happen often enough for my liking, but as a sideboard option it works well to speed up the tempo against control.
    Another card in this deck I'm not sure the jury is out on yet is Daring Skyjek.  In WW it's perfect, but in Boros I think I'd rather have Wojek Halberdiers. A 3/1 flyer when Battalion is triggered isn't always that great while a 3/2 first strike is almost always getting through or at least acting as a lightning rod, meaning that's one less removal that can be used on another top tier creature.

   Moromete's top four deck MWFHD was the only deck to beat pk23 in a match in either tournament this week.  It is a deck specifically designed for the long haul, which is why it succumbed to Boros Beta .
    Ghostly Flicker is the all-star of this deck, with its ability to bounce almost all of the deck's creatures back to hand for recasting to positive effect.  Goblin Electromancer is, of course the perennial stud of the deck in terms of creatures and it's a good thing he's got some Negates to back him up.
   However, as I mentioned this deck is somewhat slow off the ground and weak on the defense so aggro decks will generally have an easy time against it, as evidenced by the fact that it lost to the only aggro deck it faced in the tournament.  Though this is a noteworthy deck because those looking to end pk's tyrannical reign of terror may want to consider tweaking this deck to get off and running faster.




Thoughts on the Meta

    Looking ahead to next week and beyond, it seems that if one could get around the massive amounts of removal appearing in the top decks, one would have a slight advantage.  The question is: would it be worth card slots to include anti-removal?
    Cards like Undying Evil, Cloudshift and to a lesser extent Shielded Passage help in this regard(Orzhov anyone?), but including these cards instead of removal of your own could end up being a liability.  It should be interesting to watch the battle of aggro vs. control play out over the next few weeks because at this point I  can see either strategy, if done well, overpower the other.
    I think it's safe to say that most people interested in the evaluation of pauper saw that Extort would be the dominant mechanic to come out of Gatecrash and that Evolve would be basically useless.  The only surprise to me is that Basilica Guards has topped Basilica Screecher. As an evasive creature getting out a turn earlier than Basilica Guards that could also attack, I was sure the bat would be a mainstay by this point.  I admit that I overlooked the ground-clogging importance of Basilica Guards and most importantly the prevalence of white creatures over black creatures.
   In any event, it should be fun to watch the meta game of standard pauper become solidified in the next few weeks so keep tweaking those decks and may the shuffler be with you.