It's been a week since I last wrote about Standard and TS Block metagames, then came the Xth Edition phenomenon. I put what was supposed to be my fourth edition on hold  due to my busy schedules. And now I'm back to give you a report on last Saturday's Nationals Qualifiers.

First, let me present you the metagame breakdown of last Qualifiers:

Deck	No. of players	%
Angelfire	12	10.2
Solar Flare	11	9.3
Mono Black	9	7.6
Red Deck Wins	8	6.8
Gruul	8	6.8
U/B Control	7	6.0
G/W Aggro	7	6.0
Mono Green Aggro	6	5.1
G/W/x Glittering Wish Control	5	4.2
R/x Aggro	5	4.2
Mono Blue Control	5	4.2
Satanic Sligh	3	2.5
U/W Control	3	2.5
B/G Rock	3	2.5
Glare X	3	2.5
NarcoDredge	3	2.5
U/G Tempo	3	2.5
Korlash Control	3	2.5
Sliver Aggro	3	2.5
Project X	2	1.7
Mishra Combo	2	1.7
White Weenie	1	0.8
B/W Fader	1	0.8
Others	8	6.8

As we can see, aggro archetypes seemed to gain the most benefit from Tenth Edition. Which accounts for why 35% of the players who attended the Qualifiers used aggro decks. Though Mogg Fanatic and Incinerate were some of the most wanted cards when 10E came out, few players used red-based decks last Saturday. Also, around 30% preferred control decks like Angelfire and Solar Flare while the rest were mid-range and combo-ish rogue decks. Red Deck Wins, being the least popular in TS Block, made a strong statement in Standard as many players made it to Top 32; one in Top 8. U/B Control variants like Dralnu du Louvre and U/B Teferi became appreciable. Glare and Glittering Wish Control were the "fire extinguishers"  as one of them finished Top 4. On the other hand NarcoDredge, same with Project X, became less popular.

Post-X decks are very interesting. Let's look at some of them:

Joebert Pre Top 8 - 2007 Nationals Qualifiers
Lands: 1 Ghost Quarter 3 Forest 4 Karplusan Forest 4 Stomping Ground 1 Pendelhaven 1 Keldon Megaliths 1 Skaarg, the Rage Pits 1 Horizon Canopy 6 Mountain	Creatures: 4 Greater Gargadon 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Tin Street Hooligan 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Mogg War Marshall 4 Keldon Marauders Other Spells: 3 Seal of Fire 4 Incenerate 4 Rift Bolt 4 Call of the Herd	Sideboard: 4 Cryoclasm 4 Magus of the Moon 3 Word of Seizing 4 Sulfur Elemental

This isn't a Gruul deck, but a green-splashed RDW. Still packed with burn spells and red critters. Also, not only does it have Gargadon as the MVP,  but this one also has Tarmogoyf and Call of the Herd as early beatsticks. And as with other red decks, Mogg Fanatic and Incenerate are the newcomers in this deck.  Comparing its creature mass to RDW, this one has larger. This also has a singleton Horizon Canopy for card drawing. Sideboard, 4 Cryoclasm is very effective against Solar Flare and Mono Blue. Word of Seizing snatches an opponent's Gargadon or even a Teferi in a split-second. Joebert finished 6-0-1, very impressive!  (Unfortunately falling prey to it's "only auto-loss" in the T8 playoff.)

Benedict Cardenas Top 8 - 2007 Nationals Qualifiers
Lands: 4 Temple Garden 3 Sacred Foundry 2 Stomping Ground 3 Grove of the Burnwillows 2 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree 2 Ghost Quarter 2 Flagstones of Trokair 1 Forest 1 Plains 4 Selesnya Sactuary	Creatures: 3 Loxodon Hierarch 3 Firemane Angel 1 Akroma, Ange of Wrath 4 Wall of Roots Other Spells: 4 Wrath of God 4 Lightning Helix 3 Faith's Fetters 3 Harmonize 2 Hunting Wilds 4 Glittering Wish 2 Gaea's Blessing 3 Selesnya Signet	Sideboard: 1 Loxodon Hierarch 1 Wreak Havoc 1 Debtor's Knell 1 Savage Twister 1 Saffi Eriksdotter 1 Harmonic Sliver 1 Congregation at Dawn 1 Privileged Position 2 Moratorium Stone 2 Krosan Grip 3 Quagnoth

Just imagine, you're an aggro deck and you're up against this deck. He surprises you with a bunch of Hierarchs, then tosses a few Lightning Helix, then drops a big, sexy, white Akroma afterwards. GG. It actually works the same as a Glittering Wish Control with a twist of red for burn. His SB has lots of singletons, but because this uses Glittering Wish, there's no problem getting one of them. Savage Twister becomes the fourth Wrath of God; Privileged Position is anti-spot removal; and Debtor's Knell is for reanimation tech. I can't really tell you what kind of deck this is. But one thing I can tell you is that it made it toTop 4.

Lorenz Cortezo Top 8 - 2007 Nationals Qualifiers
Lands: 4 Dreadship Reef 4 Desert 3 Dimir Aqueduct 1 Urza's Factory 13 Island	Creatures: 4 Vesuvan Shapeshifter 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 3 Willbender 2 Fathom Seer 1 Aeon Chronicler 1 Brine Elemental Other Spells: 4 Spell Snare 4 Rune Snag 4 Remand 2 Cancel 3 Mystical Teachings 4 Repeal	Sideboard: 4 Bottle Gnomes 2 Cancel 2 Delay 1 Pongify 1 Terror 1 Draining Whelk 2 Extirpate 2 Remove Soul

I am a big fan of Mono Blue Pickles. I've been using this kind of deck for months and it's never failed me so far. This archetype has already conquered both Standard and TS Block formats. The idea of this deck is plain and simple: start off by controlling the game then do the Vesuvan-Brine dance for the win. Mana Leak and Rewind have been replaced by Rune Snag and Cancel, respectively. Against aggro though, it has an 20-80 win probability, which is the main problem. Which is why Bottle Gnomes, Pongify and Terror are necessary. Mystical Teachings are very helpful to fetch a Teferi or an instant solution. Desert is the best removal against those pesky Mogg Fanatics and Scorched Rusalkas. Willbender, with Vesuvan Shapeshifter, is the main combo here against any direct damage. Mirror matches are like a staring contest but whoever makes one wrong move will fall into a Chris Masters lock.

Paul Mendoza Top 8 - 2007 Nationals Qualifiers
Lands: 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Llanowar Wastes 1 Golgari Rot Farm 1 Pendelhaven 2 Horizon Canopy 2 Treetop Village 2 Swamp 5 Forest	Creatures: 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Hypnotic Specter 3 Ohran Viper 1 Troll Ascetic 4 Dark Confidant 2 Razormane Masticore 4 Elves of Deep Shadow 2 Nekrataal Other Spells: 3 Putrefy 2 Last Gasp 1 Terror 2 Call of the Herd 3 Loxodon Warhammer 1 Distress 3 Cry of Contrition	Sideboard: 3 Viridian Shaman 3 Spike Feeder 3 Pithing Needle 1 Nekrataal 3 Extirpate 2 Quagnoth

Yes, I smell it. The Rock is back. This deck shows an example of good midrange type strategy. It has enough mana accelerators and three-drops for a very consistent second turn. An early Hypnotic Specter will definitely bring control decks down to their knees. Troll Ascetic is an aggro deck's headache; Dark Confidant is the card advantage guy, and Razormane Masticore is the midgame beatstick. Loxodon Warhammer keeps you alive in the game; it also has good synergy with Dark Confidant. Another addition here is Treetop Village. I am so sure that this card will be green's best friend.  Nektrataal helps this deck to gain advantage as well as Putrefy, Terror and Last Gasp. Sideboard, Pithing Needle prevents any activation ability; Spike Feeder is for life gain; and Quagnoth is against any control deck.

So there you have it, the rest of the decklists can be found here. It's too early to tell which deck will conquer the high mountains. Expect that there will be more innovations and breakthroughs over the next few weeks.


Final note...
Noticed the new NG Forums? We moved the forums to a new one due to some problems with spammers and other issues with the previous platform. Features are mostly new to us so keep on exploring it. Also, it's a little bit shaky so any problem that you would encounter, just let us know and we'll try sorting them.

Until next week...