Decks of the Week - 5/17/16

Some big events this week in Modern and Legacy to make up for the lack of Standard events. I should mention that these Modern deck are quite brewtastic, so be prepared.

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Standard

5) Nahiri Goggles by moris – MTGO Standard League (5-0)
Plays more straightforward game with [mtg_card]Pyromancer’s Goggles[/mtg_card] hoping to smash out an opponent with [mtg_card]Reality Smasher[/mtg_card] and [mtg_card]Thought-Knot Seer[/mtg_card] behind quite a bit of removal.

4) Sultai Seasons Past by TSPJendrek – MTGO Standard League (5-0)
There were about 3 version of this deck the cropped up in MTGO decks. Most were splashing blue in order to get access to [mtg_card]Dragonlord Silumgar[/mtg_card] and [mtg_card]Silumgar’s Command[/mtg_card]. Also helped in sideboard games where the deck could bring in more counter magic to defend its [mtg_card]Seasons Past[/mtg_card]s.

3) Naya Midrange by Butakov – MTGO Standard League (5-0)
Nothing fancy in this Midrange deck. Relies on [mtg_card]Nahiri, the Harbinger[/mtg_card] in order to keep dangerous threats from the board and removal other troublesome enchantments.

2) Mono-White Eldrazi by pinkbom69 – MTGO Standard League (5-0)
If you take the Mono-White Humans decks and make them go big, you get this deck. I’d play some [mtg_card]Archangel Avacyn[/mtg_card] in this deck to get a little more synergy out of [mtg_card]Eldrazi Displacer[/mtg_card], which is used more to keep other cards from getting out of the way of the face punchers like [mtg_card]Reality Smasher[/mtg_card].

1) WR Eldrazi by Kevin Geissler – 1st Place SCG Super IQ Newington
This is a deck that’s been slowing gaining popularity the past 3 weeks. This is probably the best placing I’ve seen out of it.

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Modern

5) Temur Traverse by Sam Black – 8th Place Magic Online Championship
I’ve wondered if [mtg_card]Traverse the Ulvenwald[/mtg_card] could get some play outside of Standard. Single mana tutor effects tend to be very strong. Sam Black built the deck to be able to quickly turn it on in very few turns. I’m very curious how the choice of [mtg_card]Tireless Tracker[/mtg_card] went for him.

4) RG Valakut by Daniel Hendrickson – 3rd Place SCG Open Indianapolis
This deck reminds me of a few [mtg_card]Summoner’s Pact[/mtg_card]/[mtg_card]Summoning Trap[/mtg_card] decks that were showing up a few months back. This version interests me because it’s a Scapeshift deck that gets away from [mtg_card]Scapeshift[/mtg_card]. My only question would be [mtg_card]Oracle of Mul Daya[/mtg_card]. I think [mtg_card]Courser of Kruphix[/mtg_card] might be a better choice in that slot.

3) UG Infect by Niels Noorlander – 1st Place Magic Online Championship
It’s still here. Nothing fancy in this tournament winning deck.

2) Jund by David Biedermann – 1st Place MKM Series Frankfurt – Modern
The spice is real. The deck took down a 600-man event. I totally did not expect to see [mtg_card]Sin Prodder[/mtg_card] played in a Modern deck. This deck curves much higher than most Jund decks, which makes playing [mtg_card]Dark Confidant[/mtg_card] that much more dangerous. Nice to see [mtg_card]Arlinn Kord[/mtg_card] get some love as well.

1) Jeskai Control by Peter Ingram – 1st Place SCG Open Indianapolis
JEFF HOOGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!
/raises fist in the air

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Legacy

5) Auriok Salvagers by Matthew Szabo – 2nd Place SCG IQ East Windsor
To those who don’t know the combo, [mtg_card]Lion’s Eye Diamond[/mtg_card] with [mtg_card]Auriok Salvagers[/mtg_card] is an infinite mana loop. You can kill your opponent with [mtg_card]Pyrite Spellbomb[/mtg_card] from there. Or just a bunch of [mtg_card]Monastery Mentor[/mtg_card] [mtg_card]Monk[/mtg_card] tokens in this version's case.

4) Sultai Control by gnorilgrande – MTGO Legacy League (5-0)
[mtg_card]Thing in the Ice[/mtg_card] in Legacy. And used well I might add. We might have a deck in the future here. Oh, and [mtg_card]Spell Snare[/mtg_card] looks really bad here. I think you can do better. That card should be reserved for Modern.

3) Food Chain by Rosen_87 – MTGO Legacy League (5-0)
To those who don’t know the combo, [mtg_card]Misthollow Griffin[/mtg_card] and [mtg_card]Food Chain[/mtg_card] is an infinite mana combo to resolve an [mtg_card]Emrakul, the Aeons Torn[/mtg_card].

2) Maverick by Fabian Görzgen – 2nd Place MKM Series Frankfurt – Legacy Event
Took second in a 400-man Legacy tourney. That quite a few players for a non-SCG Legacy event. [mtg_card]Grove of the Burnwillows[/mtg_card] with [mtg_card]Punishing Fire[/mtg_card] is really good.

1) Punishing Loam by Niklas Kronberger – 1st Place MKM Series Frankfurt – Legacy Event
Took first in a 400-man Legacy tourney. That quite a few players for a non-SCG Legacy event. [mtg_card]Grove of the Burnwillows[/mtg_card] with [mtg_card]Punishing Fire[/mtg_card] is really good. Notice the theme.