U/W Eldrazi's Place in Standard

[ ] Many thanks are in order. I've been playing competitive Magic for more than 15 years, and before this weekend I thought I could say I've seen it all. A flood in Valencia practically washed out a Pro Tour? Seen it. The final round of Grand Prix St Louis 2006 be paired by hand? Seen it. A fire alarm go off during the finals of an Invitational while sitting next to Patrick Sullivan? Seen it. But what happened at GP Charlotte was even new for me. I'm talking about watching over 2,500 people make the best out of one crazy situation. So today I say thank you to the judges, who not only answered many a judge call but also helped direct traffic all weekend long. I say thank you to all the organized play teams who effortlessly ran side events all weekend long, some of which had record setting attendance. And I say thank you to all the players who came out to The Queen City, for your patience and understanding as we tried to turn a wild situation into a positive and memorable one. You didn't have to do that, but trust me when I say we're incredibly thankful that you did. GP Charlotte might not be remembered for the reasons we want it to be—like Andreas Ganz taking the title home with Ad Nauseam—but I'll never forget watching so many members of the community I love rally together to find a way to play the game we love. So, thanks. — Cedric Phillips, Media Manager [@CedricAPhillips] [Results] [[Andreas Ganz triumphs with Ad Nauseam!] Andreas Ganz triumphs with Ad Nauseam!] [StarCityGames.com Open] [Editor's Picks] [Making It To Platinum With Jund] GP Charlotte had its share of problems, but Mike Sigrist reaching Platinum wasn't one of them. For the 2015 Player of the Year, it was a timely Top 8 with Jund that he will remember most. Is Jund still a powerhouse in Modern? Let Siggy answer that for you. [The Four Metagames] Jennifer Long, or Mrs. Mulligan as she's known by fans, is now a member of the StarCityGames.com family! 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Ships July 22!] [What I'd Play At The Open Series] The SCG Tour won't be making any stops this weekend, though personally I'll be battling in Grand Prix Minneapolis, which happens to be the same format as [#SCGATL] next weekend. I've been working on a Standard deck for a while, and Minneapolis will be my chance to bring it to a large tournament. Last weekend I made the Top 4 of a local seven round event, and I'll be making minor changes if any before the GP to this list: U/W Eldrazi by Ryan Overturf Maindeck 4 [Stratus Dancer] 4 [Eldrazi Skyspawner] 4 [Eldrazi Displacer] 2 [Hedron Crawler] 4 [Thought-Knot Seer] 4 [Reflector Mage] 4 [Gideon, Ally of Zendikar] 4 [Archangel Avacyn] 4 [Declaration in Stone] 4 [Evolving Wilds] 4 [Prairie Stream] 4 [Shivan Reef] 1 [Yavimaya Coast] 4 [Battlefield Forge] 1 [Foundry of the Consuls] 5 [Plains] 2 [Island] 1 [Wastes] Sideboard 4 [Negate] 2 [Scatter to the Winds] 4 [Spatial Contortion] 1 [Silkwrap] 1 [Tragic Arrogance] 2 [Drowner of Hope] 1 [Linvala the Preserver] The [Eldrazi Displacer]/[Reflector Mage] interaction has been extensively explored in Standard, so why would I want to house that combination in this shell instead of a deck with [Collected Company]? Partially because I excel at interactive Magic and prefer to force interaction instead of hoping that the top of my deck delivers. The larger factor is that I would easily rank [Archangel Avacyn] as the most powerful spell in Standard by such a significant margin that I wouldn't mess around with a deck playing fewer than four. Even with four [Avacyn], that doesn't rule out [Collected Company] though this shell is much more my style. Most of the card choices are just nods to raw power, though a few are a bit off the wall. [Stratus Dancer card preview] OK, so maybe this is the only slot that looks completely crazy. When I was working on this deck before the PT I had one more [Plains] and [Knight of the White Orchid] in this slot. Now that [Seasons Past], [Languish], and [Secure the Wastes] are commonplace, [Stratus Dancer] is actually very well positioned. Tagging [Collected Company] isn't bad either. The one matchup where you're losing with [Stratus Dancer] is against Humans, though it at least trades with non-first-striking creatures and can block a creature enchanted by [Gryff's Boon]. [Gideon, Ally of Zendikar card preview] [Gideon] shows up somewhere in the 75 of most white decks, though figuring out his exact role in this deck was tough. Initially, I had four [Gideon] and no [Thought‑Knots], and then moved down to two [Gideon] as [Thought‑Knot] became better positioned. Ultimately, it became clear that I just wanted four of both, and that being a little top heavy was fine given the swingy nature of both cards. A good interaction to be aware of is the ability to +1 [Gideon], blink him with [Displacer] and then use him to make a 2/2 in the second main phase as he is technically a new Planeswalker on the battlefield. [Archangel Avacyn card preview] [Avacyn, the Purifier card preview] The way I see it, there is no way that a version of this deck without four [Avacyn] is anywhere near as powerful as this build. [Avacyn] is great just as a means to turn one combat on its head, though the interactions with [Eldrazi Skyspawner] and [Displacer] shine in this deck. The scion from the [Skyspawner] enables you to either play [Avacyn] ahead of schedule or to flip her on command. Sacrificing a scion with [Avacyn] in play is your most common route to victory against aggressive decks and tokens decks alike. If you haven't seen [Avacyn] with [Displacer] before, the ability to Displace Avacyn to make your creatures indestructible with or without the trigger to damage creatures on the stack is superb. [Reality Smasher card preview] While playing last weekend, I was asked less about what was in the deck and more about this exclusion. It's uncommon to see a deck with Eldrazi in the name that doesn't feature this monster. The answer is more or less the reason that Maverick doesn't play [Tarmogoyf] in Legacy. This deck isn't looking for creatures that just attack and block. Every slot promotes interactive play and some way to gain a strategic edge, whereas [Reality Smasher] will either be attacking or be embarrassing. With regard to sideboarding, the plan is to transition to a lower to ground deck with more removal to combat the more aggressive decks, or a counter-heavy deck to go toe-to-toe with the slower decks. [Spatial Contortion] is favored over [Silkwrap] so that you never get caught with two [Silkwrap] when you cast [Tragic Arrogance]. Being instant speed and good against [Dromoka's Command] are nice boons as well. The deck has been performing very well for me in testing, and I'm hoping that this keeps up this weekend. If you're looking for something a little spicy with a lot of tricky interactions I strongly recommend this list. The deck doesn't play itself, but if you pick it up now you should have more than enough time to prepare for [Atlanta]. — Ryan Overturf, [@RyanOverdrive] [Game Night] [Cardboard Crack] [Invitational Qualifier announcement] [Join the Conversation] [StarCityGames.com] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Youtube] [If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here.] StarCityGames.com, 5728 Williamson Road N.W, Roanoke, VA 24012 [SafeUnsubscribe™ {EMAIL}] [Forward email] | [Update Profile] | [About our service provider] Sent by [donotreply@starcitygames.com] in collaboration with [Constant Contact] [Try it free today]