Here are the Top 16 decks from StarCityGames Open: Philadelphia.

Place	Deck	Colors
1	Esper Control	{invisible}{invisible}
2	Reanimator	{invisible}{invisible}
3	4-Color Reanimator	{invisible}
4	Naya Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}
5	RG Aggro	{invisible}{invisible}{invisible}
6	GB Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}{invisible}
7	Esper Control	{invisible}{invisible}
8	Jund Aggro	{invisible}{invisible}
9	Bant Auras	{invisible}{invisible}
10	Jund Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}
11	GB Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}{invisible}
12	Jund Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}
13	UWR Tempo	{invisible}{invisible}
14	Naya Aggro	{invisible}{invisible}
15	Jund Midrange	{invisible}{invisible}
16	The Aristocrats	{invisible}{invisible}

Decks worth Noting:

• The first-place Esper Control deck includes five planeswalkers and one copy of Cyclonic Rift.
• There are two BG Midrange decks in the Top 16 that are very similar. They both play the hallmark creature package of Desecration Demon, Geralf's Messenger, Disciple of Bolas, and Thragtusk along with lots of removal. The sixth-place list plays Liliana of the Veil, whereas the eleventh-place list opts for Gaze of Granite. This archetype has been a popular choice on Magic Online since this deck finished sixth at SCG Open: Nashville.
• The Four-Color Reanimator deck in third place includes a single copy of Boros Battleshaper as an Unburial target.

Here’s a look at the most-played cards in the Top 16 decks of SCG Open: Philadelphia.

Cards not on this list that appeared in quite a few of the Top 16 decks are Vampire Nighthawk with eight copies in four different decks and Sire of Insanity with six copies in four decks. It is also worth noting an uptick in Thundermaw Hellkite: six copies in three decks.

Other cards seeing widespread use are Putrefy, with eight total copies in five different decks, Gaze of Granite, with seven copies in five decks, Dreadbore, with six copies in four decks, and Sever the Bloodline, with five copies in four decks.

In this section, I shine the light on cards that were included in a Top 16 deck last weekend but have seen little to no play in Standard Top 16 decks prior to then.

Boros Battleshaper is a new target for this week’s 4-Color Reanimator deck. The potential is high, based on the board state, though I wonder how often the single Gisela, Blade of Goldnight swaps in from the sideboard. Crypt Incursion is a different option to battle reanimation strategies and gain some life. Hands of Binding on an Invisible Stalker or enchanted creature with flying or trample can lead to some nice repeatable blocker tapping. I like Lavinia of the Tenth against the myriad of aggressive red decks in the format.

Magic Online serves as a proving ground for new cards and strategies. Here are some ideas that have found digital success and are worth consideration.

Junk Tokens continues to do well on Magic Online, and several recent decks—including this one—have included Mayor of Avabruck. This version also included Mikaeus, the Lunarch. For an in-depth review of the deck, I recommend this article by Jay Lansdaal.

The return of Zombies is underway on Magic Online with several varieties sighted of late. We have old-school black and red with Falkenrath Aristocrat and Blood Artist as well as the more recent Zombie Dragon variety with Hellrider. There is also this lean, mean, black and green version patterned after the eighth-place deck from SCG Open: Columbus. A BG version with Strangleroot Geist and Gloom Surgeon preceded them both online. We have Jund Zombies with special appearances by Vexing Devil, Domri Rade, and Varolz, the Scar-Striped. There is also this black and white version that includes Thrull Parasite and Falkenrath Noble along with the usual cadre of creatures.

When Magic 2014 is released in July, the Standard format will have its largest card pool of the season, which maximizes the potential of cards such as Conjurer's Closet. The intriguing artifact has found a home in a couple Magic Online decks lately. This Four-Color deck plays two copies alongside some well-known creatures with excellent enters-the-battlefield abilities—most prominently Huntmaster of the Fells, Restoration Angel, and Thragtusk. This deck plays the full four copies along with thirty-two creatures with enters-the-battlefield abilities, including Gatecreeper Vine and Acidic Slime.

AEtherling has seen relatively little play in SCG Top 16 decks—only five copies were in the Top 16 at Philly—but is showing up in multiple online archetypes. This UWR Control deck finished first in a recent Premier Event with it as a primary win condition. AEtherling is very common in UWR and appears in different variations—alongside Boros Reckoner and Ral Zarek in this deck for example or alongside Restoration Angel in this one. It has found a home in both Bant Control and Bant Midrange with Prime Speaker Zegana. Esper Control is another common deck for this Shapeshifter, and here we see it in a BUG Control deck with a host of planeswalkers. This is probably just a precursor of more to come—much more after rotation.

That’s it for this week’s article on SCG Open: Philadelphia. Join me next week as I continue tracking the metagame and highlighting the cards and decks played in Standard. Thanks for reading!

Nick Vigabool

@MrVigabool