The first large Standard events with Magic 2013 are in the books, and the metagame is quite a bit different than how it was before. Due to having such a small number of events, the Magic 2013 cards in each archetype will be highlighted to show the impact on the metagame.

TCGPlayer Open

The winning Frites deck has two cards from Magic 2013 (and probably the cards that will have the most Constructed playability in the long run): Thundermaw Hellkite and Oblivion Ring. Other than the new additions, the Frites list is essentially the same as those that were doing well last month, and a lack of graveyard hate has allowed the deck to perform well again (there are zero Grafdigger's Cages in the Top 8 sideboards, although there was one Nihil Spellbomb).

"Frites"

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Thundermaw Hellkite
• 2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 3 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 3 Griselbrand

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Spells (22)
• 1 Doom Blade
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 3 Lingering Souls
• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Unburial Rites
• 4 Whipflare
• 2 Oblivion Ring

• Lands (25)
• 3 Plains
• 4 Mountain
• 4 Swamp
• 2 Dragonskull Summit
• 2 Slayers' Stronghold
• 3 Clifftop Retreat
• 3 Isolated Chapel
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Angel of Glory's Rise
• 3 Celestial Purge
• 4 Mental Misstep
• 2 Spellskite
• 2 Stony Silence
• 2 Torpor Orb

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The runner up Esper midrange and Top 4 Solar Flare lists have both added a few Oblivion Rings, but given how little room for change the pre-Magic 2013 lists had for tuning, this isn’t very surprising. The deck that benefitted the most from Magic 2013’s legality is R/G aggro, which gained Rancor, Thundermaw Hellkite, and Thragtusk.

Although the deck performed well, Bonfire of the Damned is less well-positioned post-rotation due to the presence of an increased number of control and reanimation strategies. Notably absent from this deck is Beast Within, which becomes markedly better with the presence of Rancor in the format. It’s also a fairly good answer to reanimation strategies—it kills the primary targets.

"R/G Aggro"

• Creatures (20)
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 2 Thragtusk
• 2 Thundermaw Hellkite
• 3 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 4 Strangleroot Geist

• Spells (17)
• 2 Dismember
• 4 Bonfire of the Damned
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 2 Rancor
• 1 Batterskull
• 4 Sword of War and Peace

• Lands (23)
• 4 Mountain
• 8 Forest
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 2 Kessig Wolf Run
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Rootbound Crag

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 2 Ancient Grudge
• 1 Daybreak Ranger
• 1 Ezuri's Archers
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 2 Pillar of Flame
• 1 Stingerfling Spider
• 2 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 2 Zealous Conscripts

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None of the other decks from this Top 8 were particularly new or innovative (although the Delver deck did have four Augur of Bolas in it), but it had just slight modifications (if any at all) compared to pre-Magic 2013 versions.

SCG: St. Louis

The other major (and larger) Standard event this past weekend was the StarCityGames Open taking place in St. Louis. The event was won by Caleb Durward’s Naya Pod deck, but I think the most important deck in terms of future metagame implications is Adam Prosak’s mono-blue aggro deck.

"Mono-Blue Wizards Aggro"

• Creatures (16)
• 2 Phantasmal Image
• 3 Augur of Bolas
• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 3 Talrand, Sky Summoner

• Spells (26)
• 2 Gut Shot
• 2 Mana Leak
• 2 Mental Misstep
• 2 Mutagenic Growth
• 4 Thought Scour
• 4 Vapor Snag
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of War and Peace

• Lands (18)
• 9 Island
• 2 Moorland Haunt
• 3 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Phantasmal Image
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 2 Dismember
• 1 Dissipate
• 1 Gut Shot
• 2 Negate
• 2 Steel Sabotage
• 1 Cavern of Souls

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The primary new inclusion in Adam’s deck is Talrand, Sky Summoner, which helps to give the Delver deck a more solid endgame—if left undisrupted, it will create an inevitability the deck did not previously possess (or that was only gained through sideboard options such as Consecrated Sphinx). The Equipment package has reverted back to Swords, and the Restoration Angels have been moved to the sideboard in order to accommodate Talrand.

Mono-green aggro also has evolved since Carrie Oliver’s World Magic Cup Qualifier win, and it placed in the Top 4 with the following list:

"Mono-Green Aggro"

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Thragtusk
• 1 Viridian Corrupter
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 2 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 3 Llanowar Elves
• 3 Predator Ooze
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Dungrove Elder
• 4 Strangleroot Geist

• Spells (13)
• 2 Dismember
• 3 Revenge of the Hunted
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 4 Rancor

• Lands (24)
• 24 Forest

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Thragtusk
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 2 Beast Within
• 2 Crushing Vines
• 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
• 2 Garruk Relentless
• 2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1 Prey Upon

Buy This Deck

As mentioned above, Beast Within seems like a solid inclusion with the addition of a full set of Rancors, but the combination of aggressive and uninteractive creatures along with some of the best-quality pump spells ever available is bound to be a successful combination.

No Battle of Wits deck placed in the money at either event. Sad face.

Chris Mascioli

@dieplstks on Twitter