Metagame at SCG Rhode Island

[lordofthepit]

I was interested in how Avacyn Restored would affect the Legacy metagame, and fortunately, SCG posted a lot of decklists for this Open (32 events) and there were a lot of players (247). I went ahead and wrote a script to count 45 cards (off the top of my head), and below are the number of copies found in the top 32 (out of a possible 128).

(Edit: now 91 cards. Tried to include Legacy staples, as well as a few individual cards from AVR and some that are representative of an archetype.)



82 Wasteland
76 Brainstorm
68 Force of Will
62 Misty Rainforest
55 Spell Pierce
54 Scalding Tarn
50 Lightning Bolt
48 Ponder
44 Delver of Secrets
43 Swords to Plowshares
39 Volcanic Island
36 Noble Hierarch
35 Tropical Island
34 Green Sun's Zenith
32 Knight of the Reliquary
29 Windswept Heath
28 Mother of Runes
26 Tarmogoyf
26 Savannah
25 Snapcaster Mage
24 Nimble Mongoose
22 Spell Snare
19 Polluted Delta
19 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
17 Umezawa's Jitte
17 Umezawa's Jitte
16 Flooded Strand
14 Chain Lightning
13 Karakas
13 Chalice of the Void
12 Underground Sea
12 Stoneforge Mystic
12 Aether Vial
11 Path to Exile
11 Arid Mesa
11 Ancient Tomb
10 Wooded Foothills
10 Verdant Catacombs
10 Vendilion Clique
10 City of Traitors
9 Tundra
9 Life from the Loam
9 Cabal Therapy
8 Thunderous Wrath
8 Taiga
8 Stifle
8 Standstill
8 Bloodstained Mire
7 Sensei's Divining Top
7 Rishadan Port
7 Natural Order
7 Intuition
6 Liliana of the Veil
5 Pernicious Deed
5 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
5 Cavern of Souls
5 Bayou
5 Badlands
4 Veteran Explorer
4 Temporal Mastery
4 Sneak Attack
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lingering Souls
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Griselbrand
4 Goblin Welder
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Dark Ritual
4 Counterbalance
3 Serra Avenger
2 Scrubland
2 Progenitus
2 Birthing Pod
2 Batterskull
1 Mox Opal
1 Marsh Flats
0 Terminus
0 Reforge the Soul
0 Plateau
0 Hive Mind
0 High Tide
0 Golgari Grave-Troll
0 Entomb
0 Dream Halls
0 Careful Study
0 Burning Wish
0 Argothian Enchantress


Looks like meta hasn't really been affected by AVR yet.

[dontbiteitholmes]

There were also at least 4 Thunderous Wraths in there and the second place deck had Birthing Pods.

4th was Goblins with 2x Caverns MD.

No blue in the top 4.

[Koby]

44 Delver of Secrets
43 Swords to Plowshares

LOL. Delvers. Altho, to really count it fair it's


50 Lightning Bolt+43 Swords to Plowshares
44 Delver of Secrets

[coraz86]

Really not sure what to make of the 9th-place deck (http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/deck_tech_planeswalker_stax_wi.html), other that it's both hilarious and (to me) sweet to see a set of Decree of Pain in someone's tournament list.

[csy]

Anyone else watching notice how bad most of the players in the feture matches were?

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Anyone else watching notice how bad most of the players in the feture matches were?

Lightning Bolt is apparently a very skill-intensive card :confused:

[Jim Higginbottom]

Most of the people there were terrible. The tournament was very soft.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Anyone else watching notice how bad most of the players in the feture matches were?

I didn't catch most of the Legacy, but the Standard OMG...

This one guy was playing Solar Flare, he plays a Ratchet Bomb, leaves it at zero counters, his opponent is playing Ramp and drops a Huntmaster. During Solar Flare players turn he plays a main phase Forbidden Alchemy to keep Huntmaster from flipping. His next turn he plays a Day to kill the lone Huntmaster. Opponents next turn he picks up the Ratchet Bomb and reads it then gives it back to the guy and activates Inkmoth Nexus, the Solar Flare player, having just watched his opponent read Ratchet Bomb activates it trying to kill Inkmoth, which of course does nothing... Next game he leaves in Ratchet Bomb when he sideboards... You should have seen the comments, I was pretty sure the people on the Twitter feed were ready to form a lynch mob and drive to the convention center to crucify him.

Later in the event, not sure if it was the same guy but same matchup, Solar Flare player has Sun Titan and Image copy. Attacks with both triggers go on stack he gets back a Ghost Quarter, sacs it to get Inkmoth then gets back the same Ghost Quarter and gets Wolf Run...

By far the sloppiest play I've ever seen overall at an event that big. The parts of the Legacy I caught I saw plenty of misplays as well, I just didn't watch that much.

[Teferi Planeswalker]

Anyone else watching notice how bad most of the players in the feture matches were?

I thought the play was okay. It certainly wasn't great, but I can see how these players would be above average players who are featured because their deck has been running good. What really irked me was how poor the commentating was.

First of all, Fabiano and Van Lunen have no chemistry and for some moments it looked like Fabiano just hated Van Lunen's guts.

Secondly, their knowledge of the format was very disappointing.
-For a guy who "invented" his own Legacy deck and saying on air that his deck is a good meta choice, its very telling that he doesn't know a single thing about Veteran Explorer, a card thats been in one of the top decks for the past few months. Its not called "Veteran the Explorer" (I was thinking to myself, "Is he relating this guy to Dora the Explorer?"), it only works if it hits the graveyard (AKA Leyline will stop it), and it puts lands into play untapped.
-Not knowing that brainstorm isn't run in merfolk makes me think you haven't played or heard of Legacy for longer than 1 year.
-Not knowing what a card in one of the trifecta of Legacy does is unacceptable. I think this was JVL? Mindcensor only affects opponents.
-As a D&T player, it was obvious that the commentators had little knowledge of that deck when Roosa was playing as his lines of play were very straight-forward. Also, not seeing that vial extra cost was
-There were a number of other errors, but specifically, Fabiano's lack of knowledge of the format should prevent him from commentating in future Legacy Opens. I didn't watch the standard coverage, but assuming hes competent in that format, just replace him for day 2.

[Machahiko]

There were a plenty of misplays and watching some Maverick pilots was hard when the lines of play were so clear, but they still did it wrong. I guess it wasn't so clear then. What I hated was the judge ruining the goblin player's game when players were using shortcuts.

I would be more than interested in reading TMI by Hatfield brothers about this SCG, hint hint if you're reading this.

[Teferi Planeswalker]

There were a plenty of misplays and watching some Maverick pilots was hard when the lines of play were so clear, but they still did it wrong. I guess it wasn't so clear then. What I hated was the judge ruining the goblin player's game when players were using shortcuts.

I would be more than interested in reading TMI by Hatfield brothers about this SCG, hint hint if you're reading this.

I agree with you on the bad judge ruling. Also, the double submerge misplays were pretty bad. I'm guessing he was just greedy wanted to "save" submerge for something better instead of timewalking him twice with a 3/2 flyer and burn?

[Koby]

IDK man, Dryad Arbiter can block a Veteran the Explorer pretty well. Oops another Tezz has been bought. It should be played in the Loam deck - it looks like the Modern deck that is going infinite.

</gfabs-sarcasm>

[DragoFireheart]

-Not knowing that brainstorm isn't run in merfolk makes me think you haven't played or heard of Legacy for longer than 1 year.


This reminds me of a certain The Source poster...

[CorpT]

I thought the play was okay. It certainly wasn't great, but I can see how these players would be above average players who are featured because their deck has been running good. What really irked me was how poor the commentating was.

First of all, Fabiano and Van Lunen have no chemistry and for some moments it looked like Fabiano just hated Van Lunen's guts.

Secondly, their knowledge of the format was very disappointing.
-For a guy who "invented" his own Legacy deck and saying on air that his deck is a good meta choice, its very telling that he doesn't know a single thing about Veteran Explorer, a card thats been in one of the top decks for the past few months. Its not called "Veteran the Explorer" (I was thinking to myself, "Is he relating this guy to Dora the Explorer?"), it only works if it hits the graveyard (AKA Leyline will stop it), and it puts lands into play untapped.
-Not knowing that brainstorm isn't run in merfolk makes me think you haven't played or heard of Legacy for longer than 1 year.
-Not knowing what a card in one of the trifecta of Legacy does is unacceptable. I think this was JVL? Mindcensor only affects opponents.
-As a D&T player, it was obvious that the commentators had little knowledge of that deck when Roosa was playing as his lines of play were very straight-forward. Also, not seeing that vial extra cost was
-There were a number of other errors, but specifically, Fabiano's lack of knowledge of the format should prevent him from commentating in future Legacy Opens. I didn't watch the standard coverage, but assuming hes competent in that format, just replace him for day 2.

I played Fabiano at GP:Indy. I attacked him with a Geist of Saint Traft and had a few Exalted creatures in play. The result was a a five minute judge call to make sure I got the Exalted triggers even though I was attacking with two different creatures. :rolleyes:

So, yeah... There were also quite a few comments about how I lucky I got and how unlucky he got. His Team Italia deck had no chance against Maverick, so I'm not sure how it's a good meta choice.

[lordofthepit]

I agree with you on the bad judge ruling. Also, the double submerge misplays were pretty bad. I'm guessing he was just greedy wanted to "save" submerge for something better instead of timewalking him twice with a 3/2 flyer and burn?

What happened with the judge ruling?

[Koby]

What happened with the judge ruling?

Jim Davis plays Mogg War Marshal reaches for his box for tokens and passes the turn; opponent ruleslawyers him by saying he didn't resolve the lapsing trigger completely when he passed the turn. Nevermind that it's a mandatory trigger either.

It didn't look like it matter wholly in the end, but still a bad call by the judges.

EDIT: It's just a missed trigger, rather than a Lapsing trigger. The opponent did nothing to correct this until his turn, but a turn cycle has not passed in whole.

[ThomasDowd]

Jim Davis plays Mogg War Marshal reaches for his box for tokens and passes the turn; opponent ruleslawyers him by saying he didn't resolve the lapsing trigger completely when he passed the turn. Nevermind that it's a mandatory trigger either.

It didn't look like it matter wholly in the end, but still a bad call by the judges.

It was determined after the match that the judge stopped him. His opponenet did not rules lawyer. The judge said he missed the trigger and that he did not get the token. All players were accepting shortcuts.

[csy]

yeah koby the judge was the one that actually did it. Joe was just as shocked as the golbin player. I really enjoyed trolling the twitter all day though. Got a few shout outs. In case anyone was wondering why he kept saying, "veteran the explorer" or back to the basics, or price of the progress.

[Aggro_zombies]

IDK man, Dryad Arbiter can block a Veteran the Explorer pretty well. Oops another Tezz has been bought. It should be played in the Loam deck - it looks like the Modern deck that is going infinite.

</gfabs-sarcasm>
The commentary made me want to cut something. Forget the misplays, listening to Fabiano was the worst part of the tournament.

[damionblackgear]

The commentary made me want to cut something. Forget the misplays, listening to Fabiano was the worst part of the tournament.

I miss Good Trolls Live.

[ESG]

Also, the double submerge misplays were pretty bad. I'm guessing he was just greedy wanted to "save" submerge for something better instead of timewalking him twice with a 3/2 flyer and burn?

Win the game or wait for something better? Hmmmm ... Better wait ...

As for the commentators, I found them fairly entertaining despite their shortcomings.

[Whippoorwill]

I miss Good Trolls Live.

Likewise. What happened to them anyways? I had stopped watching coverage for a couple weeks then next thing I know they weren't doing commentary. :frown:

[lordofthepit]

So far, 31 decks from SCGORL have been posted, including most of the Top 28, although with some missing (don't ask why): http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t[C1]=3&start_date=2012-05-20&end_date=2012-05-20&event_ID=20

An additional eight finished anywhere between 42nd and 64th, so I have no idea why SCG included those lists. I'm excluding those eight decklists from my analysis because those are not impressive results.

Anywhere, without further ado:


64 Brainstorm
61 Ponder
52 Force of Will
44 Wasteland
44 Misty Rainforest
40 Scalding Tarn
40 Lightning Bolt
36 Delver of Secrets
35 Tarmogoyf
35 Daze
32 Nimble Mongoose
31 Volcanic Island
27 Spell Pierce
26 Spell Snare
25 Tropical Island
24 Stifle
24 Flooded Strand
22 Tormod's Crypt
21 Polluted Delta
20 Swords to Plowshares
16 Windswept Heath
15 Show and Tell
15 Lion's Eye Diamond
14 Scavenging Ooze
14 Knight of the Reliquary
13 Surgical Extraction
13 Green Sun's Zenith
12 Savannah
12 Mother of Runes
12 Careful Study
12 Ancient Tomb
11 Qasali Pridemage
11 Noble Hierarch
11 Intuition
10 Underground Sea
10 Snapcaster Mage
9 Stoneforge Mystic
9 Path to Exile
8 Umezawa's Jitte
8 Golgari Grave-Troll
8 Chain Lightning
8 Cabal Therapy
7 Leyline of the Void
7 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
7 Grim Lavamancer
7 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
7 Counterbalance
7 Arid Mesa
6 Verdant Catacombs
6 Vendilion Clique
6 Tundra
6 Taiga
6 Griselbrand
6 City of Traitors
5 Wooded Foothills
5 Sensei's Divining Top
5 Karakas
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Terminus
4 Sneak Attack
4 Progenitus
4 Lingering Souls
4 Life from the Loam
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Hive Mind
4 Goblin Guide
4 Entomb
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Dream Halls
4 Dark Ritual
4 Burning Wish
3 Plateau
3 Marsh Flats
3 Gaea's Cradle
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Gut Shot
2 Batterskull
1 Scrubland
1 Bloodstained Mire
0 Vexing Devil
0 Veteran Explorer
0 Thunderous Wrath
0 Temporal Mastery
0 Standstill
0 Serra Avenger
0 Rishadan Port
0 Reforge the Soul
0 Phyrexian Dreadnought
0 Pernicious Deed
0 Natural Order
0 Mox Opal
0 Mox Diamond
0 Mishra's Factory
0 Massacre
0 Lord of Atlantis
0 Liliana of the Veil
0 Lava Spike
0 High Tide
0 Goblin Welder
0 Goblin Lackey
0 Glimpse of Nature
0 Geist of Saint Traft
0 Extirpate
0 Chalice of the Void
0 Cavern of Souls
0 Birthing Pod
0 Bayou
0 Badlands
0 Argothian Enchantress
0 Aether Vial


RUG Tempo dominated this list. Every single one of them top 16 played cards are played in RUG Delver, and you can argue #17-19 (Flooded Strand, Tormod's Crypt, and Polluted Delta) are "RUG Delver cards" as well.

Of the new cards from Avacyn Restored, Griselbrand and Terminus were the only cards to see play (and I'm very happy those were the only two cards for which I preordered a set). None of the most hyped cards (Temporal Mastery, Cavern of Souls, or Reforge the Soul) made any impact. That might change if the five missing decklists in the top 28 (or presumably decks #29-32, since a top 28 is such an arbitrary cutoff) get added to the database.

[phonics]

Likewise. What happened to them anyways? I had stopped watching coverage for a couple weeks then next thing I know they weren't doing commentary. :frown:

I think they only do gps now, and even then they run it under wizards so they have BDM, Sheldon and that other guy doing commentary most of the time instead of Rashad, and the old crew. IIRC they basically helped SCG develop their streaming then they moved production to in house.

[CorpT]

An additional eight finished anywhere between 42nd and 64th, so I have no idea why SCG included those lists. I'm excluding those eight decklists from my analysis because those are not impressive results.


They're including all decks that were on camera now.

[damionblackgear]

Likewise. What happened to them anyways? I had stopped watching coverage for a couple weeks then next thing I know they weren't doing commentary. :frown:

I don't know but it was the best. I think SCG sent a cease and desist. I know they didn't like it.