Big Arse II T8 Deck Lists - Updating thoughout the day

73 players.

1st – Gro (GUW) – Cavern Ninja - VA
2nd – Dryad Burn – Xenoq - Albany
3rd/4th – Vial Goblins – Matt Carl - VA
Landstill (UWr) – RayD3 - NYC
5th – 8th – RGSA – Jeff Watts - Rochester
Landstill (UW)– BoTs - VA
Angel Stompy Variant (Wub) – Philip Stolze - Rochester
Crappy Survival Junk (RG) – Watcher487 - Albany

Top 8 matches
W L
Dryad Burn vs. Bots Landstill
Gro vs. Crappy Survival Junk
Vial Goblins vs. RGSA
Ray Landstill vs. Angel Stompy Variant

Top 4 matches
W L
Dryad Burn vs. Ray Landstill
Gro vs. Vial Goblins

Finals
W L
Gro vs. Dryad Burn


1st– Gro (GUW) – Cavern Ninja

Creatures
4 Werebear
4 Meddling Mage
2 Mystic Enforcers

Draw
4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions
4 Predict
4 Accumulated Knowledge

Control
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Counterspell
2 Stifle
2 Disenchant

Lands
3 Windswept Heath
3 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
3 Island
1 Forest

SB
2 Tivadar’s Crusade
2 Honorable Passage
3 Nimble Mongoose
3 Armageddon
3 Pithing Needle
2 Phyrexian Furnace


2nd– Burn – Xenoq

Creatures
4 Kird Ape
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic

Burn
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Dart
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast

Lands
9 Mountains
1 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Wasteland
4 Taiga

SB
4 Naturalize
3 Anarchy
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyrostatic Pillar


3rd – 4th
Landstill (UWr) RayD3

Draw
4 Standstill
4 Fact or Fiction

Control
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
3 Mana Leak
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Fire/Ice
3 Nevinyrral’s Disk
2 Wrath of God

Lands
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Faerie Conclave
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
4 Volcanic Island
1 Island
1 Plains

SB
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Exalted Angel
3 Disenchant
2 Teferi’s Response

Vial Goblins – Matt Carl

Creatures
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Siege –gang Commander
1 Goblin Pyromancer
1 Kiki-Jikki Mirror Breaker
1 Skirk Prospector

Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
2 Umezawa’s Jitte

Lands
4 Wasteland
1 Rishadon Port
16 Mountain

SB
2 Anarchy
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Ruinnation
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Umezawa’s Jitte

5th – 8th
RGSA – Jeff

Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Flametongue Kavu
3 Ravenous Baloth
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Eternal Witness
1 Anger
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Sharpshooter
1 Genesis
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Spore Frog
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary

Search
4 Survival of the Fittest
3 Burning Wish

Control
2 Naturalize

Lands
9 Forest
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mountains
2 Bloodstained Mire

SB
1 Reverant Silence
1 Pyroclasm
1 Regrowth
1 Hull Breach
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 PyroBlast
1 Seeds of Innocence
1 Ruination
1 Tsunami
1 Anarchy
1 Goblin Sharpshooter


Crappy Survival Junk – Watcher487

Creatures
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Fyndhorn Elves
2 Viridian Zealot
2 Troll Ascetic
2 Spike Feeder
2 Eternal Witness
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Stampeding Wildebeests
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Spore Frog
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Orcish Settlers
1 Granger Guildmage
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Genesis
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Fangreen Firstborn
1 Anger

Search
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 Land Grant

Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
4 Umezawa’s Jitte

Lands
8 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
3 Taiga
2 Gaea’s Cradle
1 Mountain

SB
1 Aroshi, The Sky Asunder
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Goblin Pyromancer
1 Gorilla Shaman
3 Gaea’s Blessing
1 Gaea’s Herald
1 Horned Kavu
1 Ichcuman Druid
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Masticore
1 Stampede Driver
1 Thunderscape Familiar

(yeah, that was fun to type up)

Landstill – BoTs

Creatures
2 Eternal Dragon
2 Decree of Justice

Draw
4 Standstill
4 Brainstorm
2 Fact or Fiction

Control
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Wrath of God
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Disenchant
2 Akroma’s Vengeance

Lands
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Tundra
3 Island
2 Plains

SB
1 Wrath of God
3 Circle of Protection: Red
3 Pulse of the Fields
1 Reverence
2 Humility
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Decree of Justice
2 Stifle

Angel Stompy Variant – Phil

Creatures
4 Meddling Mage
3 Soltari Priest
4 Exalted Angel
3 Spectral Lynx
4 Silver Knight
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda

Utility and Control
2 Seal of Cleansing
4 Duress
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Swords of Fire and Ice
2 Tithe
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Chrome Mox

Lands
4 Plains
3 Flooded Strand
3 Windswept Heath
3 Ancient Tomb
2 Wasteland
3 Tundra
4 Scrubland

SB
2 In the Eye of Chaos
4 Pithing Needle
2 Acid Rain
3 Engineered Plague
4 Armageddon


Post any errors if you notice them. More data will be posted tonight: Meta and Archetype breakdown. Also, sometime this week, I’ll try to take a look at the most played cards in the tourney

Archetype Breakdown:

Aggro: 18 decks (2 in T8) = 25% of the field/ 25% of T8
Vial Goblins - 7 (2 with Bidding)
Burn/Sligh - 7 (1 splashed G)
Ravager - 1
Garv.dec - 1
Angel Stompy - 1
GU Random list - 1

Aggro Control: 16 decks (2 in T8) =22% of the field / 25% of T8
Gro Variants - 6 (3 BUG, 1 UGW, 2 RUG - Also note that the one Gro deck to T8 did not run Dryad!)
Fish Variants - 4 (lists differ greatly)
3 Deuce - 1
Rock - 1 (Amazing Results II)
Black Disruption - 2 (1 Pox, 1 more like Poxicide without Pox and a W splash)
Angel Stompy Variant - 1
RGW - 1 (very odd list)

Survival Variants: 10 decks (2 in T8) = 14% of the field / 25% of T8
RGSA - 5 (1 splashing black for Cabal Therapy)
ATS - 3
WeldSur - 1
SurVial - 1 (Crappy Survival Junk)

Control: 20 decks (2 in T8) = 27% of the field / 25% of T8
Landstill - 11 (9 UW, 1 UWr, 1 Bob the Belcher)
Hulk 2 - (1 w/ Wish-Zerk, 1 without)
Rifter - 2
UW Chant Lock - 2 (builds vary greatly)
Turboland - 1
UW Enlightened Tutor - 1
BBS - 1

Combo: 9 decks (0 in T8) = 12% of the field
The Game - 3
2 Land Belcher (Menendian's exact list) - 1
Nausea - 1
Battle of Wits - 1
Solidarity - 2
Spring Tide - 1

Some more numbers:
1/7 Vial Goblins T8ed - 14% of those decks T8ed
1/7 Burn T8ed - 14% of those decks T8ed
1/6 Gro T8ed - 17%
1/2 AngelStompy T8ed - 50%
1/5 RGSA T8ed - 20%
2/11 Landstill T8ed - 18%
1/1 SurVial T8ed - 100% :;):

- Most popular deck = Landstill - 15% of the field
- 2nd most popular deck = Gro, Burn, Vial Goblins variants - 10% of the field (each)
- 3rd most popular deck = RGSA - 7% of the field

Card #s worth noting:

Spells
[*]FoWs - 30 decks playing 4 copies - 1 deck playing 3 copies. This is around 42% of the decks in the tourney![*]StP - 23 decks playing 4 copies - 3 decks playing 3 copies. 31% of the decks ran StP.[*]Duress - 9 decks playing 4 copies - 2 deck playing 3 in the SB - 1 deck playing 4 in the SB. 16% of the decks ran Duress.

Creatures
[*]Decks with creatures - 69 = 95%
- 3 Creatures - 2 decks
- 4 or more creatures between Main and SB - 67 decks. Keep in mind that this number is a little misleading due to what I considered a "creature." Landstill needs to win with creatures so I considered Eternal Dragon, Decree of Justice, Faerie Concalve, and Mishra's Factory to be creatures. Also, this number may be not truly informative since so many creatures serve so many different functions. Making an assumption that WoG would be great against the whole field would be incorrect, since WoG is obviously bad against The Game, is a bit of a speed bump for RGSA, and not that great against Mogg Fanatic and Grim Lavamancer. Do what you will with this number.[*]Troll Ascetic - 9 decks playing Troll = 12%
- 2 Trolls - 1 deck
- 3 Trolls - 5 decks
- 4 Trolls - 4 decks[*]Birds of Paradise - 12 decks playing BoP = 16%
- 2 BoPs - 1 deck (I'm assuming budget prevented running 4, since this was one of the ATS decks)
- 4 BoPs - 11 decks[*]Meddling Mage - 8 decks (3 decks main, 5 decks SB)[*]Exalted Angel - 6 decks[*]Psychatog - 5 decks


Artifacts
[*]Crucible of Worlds - 14 decks running Crucibles - no deck ran 4[*]AEther Vial - 10 decks - all ten ran 4 copies[*]Pithing Needle - 10 decks - all in the SB[*]Umezawa'z Jitte - 7 decks[*]Sword of Fire and Ice - 5 decks

Lands
[*]Mishra's Factory - 16 decks - 22%[*]Dual Lands - 57 decks using Dual Lands = 78%
- 0 Dual Lands - 16 Decks
- 1 Dual Land - 2 decks
- 2 Dual Lands - 5 decks
- 3 Dual Lands - 5 decks
- 4 or more Dual Lands - 45 decks = 62%[*]Fetch-Lands - 60 decks using Fetch-Lands = 82%
- 0 Fetches - 13 decks
- 1 Fetch - 1 decks
- 2 Fetches - 2 decks
- 3 Fetches - 1 decks
- 4 or more Fetches - 56 decks = 77%[*]Wasteland - 35 decks using Wasteland = 48%
- 4 Wasteland - 29 decks
- 3 Wasteland - 4 decks,
- 2 Wasteland - 2 decks [*]No legitimate Wasteland Targets
- 4 decks (I did not consider Fetch Lands to be Legitimate Wasteland targets. Some decks were running only Wastelands as non-Basics, but one can consider a Wasteland a worthwhile non-Basic for one's own strategic Wasteland.)
- 95% of the decks had at least a decent target for Wasteland.

Dual Land Specifics[*]Dual Lands #s
- 0 duals - 16 decks
- 1 dual - 2 decks
- 2 duals - 6 decks
- 3 duals - 4 decks
- 4 duals - 24 decks
- 5 duals - 0 decks
- 6 duals - 3 decks
- 7 duals - 10 decks
- 8 duals - 5 decks
- 11 duals - 1 deck
- 16 duals - 1 Big Arse Battle of Wits deck
[*]Tundra - 18 decks = 25% of the decks ran Tundra! (67 Tundras)
- 2 Tundras - 1 deck (likely budget reasons)
- 3 Tundras - 3 decks
- 4 Tundras - 14 decks[*]Tropical Island - 17 decks = 23% (52 Trops)
- 1 Trop - 2 decks
- 2 Trops - 3 decks
- 3 Trops - 4 decks
- 4 Trops - 8 decks[*]Taiga - 16 decks = 22% (50 Taigas)
- 1 Taiga - 2 decks
- 2 Taigas - 3 decks
- 3 Tiagas - 2 decks
- 4 Tiagas - 9 decks[*]Bayou - 7 decks = 10% (14 Bayous)
- 1 Bayou - 4 decks
- 3 Bayou - 2 decks
- 4 Bayou - 1 deck[*]Savannah - 7 decks = 10% (19 Savannahs)
- 2 Sav - 4 decks
- 3 Sav - 1 deck
- 4 Sav - 2 decks[*]Volcanic Island - 5 decks = 7% (20 Volcs)
- 4 Volcs - 5 decks[*]Underground Sea - 5 Decks = 7% (18 Seas)
- 2 USeas - 1 deck
- 4 USeas - 4 decks[*]Plateau - 5 decks = 7% (11 Plats)
- 1 Plat - 1 deck
- 2 Plat - 3 decks
- 4 Plat - 1 deck[*]Badlands - 3 decks = 4% (11 Badlands)
- 3 BL - 1 deck
- 4 BL - 2 decks[*]Scrubland - 3 decks = 4% (12 Scrubs)
- 4 Scrubs - 3 decks

Also, consider some of the following #s of cards in T8...

17 Wasteland
16 StPs
12 FoWs
12 Brainstorms
9 Jittes (in 3 different decks)
8 Vials
8 Survivals
8 Standstills
8 Meddling Mage

only 7 Black cards! (4 Duress and 3 Plagues)

Color Breakdown

- 58 decks running Artifacts
- 48 decks running Artifacts main
- 10 decks running Aritfacts in the SB only
- 42 decks running BLUE cards
- 35 decks running RED cards
- 33 decks running WHITE cards
- 33 decks running Green cards
- 19 decks running Black cards

Would it be possible to post some lists of interesting decks? I always like cool stuffs

I'm most interested in the fact that there were only 3 Tide decks there, I'd be interested in learning where they placed out, who was piloting, and the decklists they were running.

Was Ken the one running 3 Deuce, and how did he place out?

What was the Belcher's record? Do you really consider The Game to be a combo deck? Wouldn't it be better listed under control?

Kenderleech placed 33rd after a bad day...

Peter_R: just keep it under Crappy Survival Junk... I just think that's a better name for it.

Man, what happened to Solidarity?

It's very interesting that noone(relatively noone) played it, even though it is one of the strongest, if not, the strongest, deck in the format, currently. Especially in BA's case, where the T8 was almost entirely aggro.

Very interesting, indeed.

It's good to see Gro variants getting play again. It's always a fun deck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrzyMoose

Man, what happened to Solidarity?

It's very interesting that noone(relatively noone) played it, even though it is one of the strongest, if not, the strongest, deck in the format, currently.

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UWG Gro decks own Solidarity. All of the counters, coupled with Meddling Mage, and a quick clock in the form of Dryad and/or Mystic Enforcer and/or Werebears make it an extremely difficult match for Solidarity to win it seems.

EDIT: Peter, thanks for typing up those decklists. I have noticed a considerable 'drought' in Legacy decklist availability.

Updated for some creature and land info.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KrzyMoose

Man, what happened to Solidarity?

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All I can say is most people were expecting tons of it so everyone was teched for it. So the two or three that showed up got hated out.

What's the RGW(very odd list) ? Obviously it's not 3 Deuce or SDZ, so I'm curious as to what it was running. Or was it just random crap?

Clearly there was an error in who won the tournament; that guy running Battle of Wits should have just automatically won by default for being infinitely cooler than the rest of you combined.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frogboy

Clearly there was an error in who won the tournament; that guy running Battle of Wits should have just automatically won by default for being infinitely cooler than the rest of you combined.

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Hmm....You probably don't actually know how true that statement is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frogboy

Clearly there was an error in who won the tournament; that guy running Battle of Wits should have just automatically won by default for being infinitely cooler than the rest of you combined.

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I was expecting a lot more solidarity.

P_R, thank you so much for the work you have put into this. The Big Arse tournaments will definitely be THE source (no pun there) people look to when guessing the metagame come GenCon. We are lucky that we have some real hard data from them.

I was personally hoping for more Solidarity. I was Running one of the 2 Hulk Smash decks. Mine had the Berserk but also ran Chalice of the void MD. After seeing the results of this tournament I seriously question the viability of Solidarity. When I played against it I simply dropped a Chalice for 1 and started to laugh. Game two I dropped Arcane Labs and laughed again.

My friend who ran my bad version of GAT smashed a Solidarity player immensely just with his main deck. He boarded in no cards and won 2 games in a row, after receiving a game loss for an error on his deck registration.

If you want the best card analysis around, go annoy Phil Stanton (Dr Sylvan) and he'll probably churn them out for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peter_rotten

[*]Birds of Paradise - 12 decks playing BoP = 16%
- 2 BoPs - 1 deck (I'm assuming budget prevented running 4, since this was one of the ATS decks)

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Yeah, I couldn't find the other 2 birds and was not gonna pay altered prices for birds....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Redtail

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peter_rotten

[*]Birds of Paradise - 12 decks playing BoP = 16%
- 2 BoPs - 1 deck (I'm assuming budget prevented running 4, since this was one of the ATS decks)

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Yeah, I couldn't find the other 2 birds and was not gonna pay altered prices for birds....

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You have two kidneys....suck it up, Ebay HongKong has the listing for you, 'Prime American Organ' right between 'Classroom of Small Asian Children' and 'Mail Order Bride'. Then you can afford to buy needed rares at Altered States.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scrumdogg

You have two kidneys....suck it up, Ebay HongKong has the listing for you, 'Prime American Organ' right between 'Classroom of Small Asian Children' and 'Mail Order Bride'. Then you can afford to buy needed rares at Altered States.

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and sigged

So when are all 73 lists being posted ??? LOL :;):

Well I think I have broken PR's hand, and talking about breaking I don't think he wants to list out every card in that Battle of Wits deck... You see Battle of Wits and PR have had a very bad relationship...

Let's just say it was nasty.

What was Battle of the Wits record?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hacksign

What was Battle of the Wits record?

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0-2 Drop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by braves54321

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hacksign

What was Battle of the Wits record?

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0-2 Drop.

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no. 0-3 drop.

I did win two games. They didn't happen to be in a row.

This is the Solidarity list that my brother Mike piloted to a 3-4 record for 29th place.

4 opt
4 brainstorm
4 high tide

4 peer through depths
4 impulse
4 reset
3 brainfreeze

4 meditate
3 cunning wish

3 turnabout

4 force of will

4 flooded strand
4 polluted delta
11 island

SB:
4 blue elemental blast
1 misdirection
1 turnabout
1 rebuild
1 echoing truth
1 chain of vapor
1 stifle
1 stroke of genius
1 words of wisdom
1 counterspell
1 brain freeze
1 tolarian winds

He's a competent player but like what's already been said, he got hated out. He said game one was usually easy but games two and three were impossible.

It's definitely surprising that so few people played Solidarity, with so much discussion on it's strength.

I wasn't there to play my rocking budget-madness because I was in a play; jumping around in sixteenth century clothing and a wig.

Updated some more numbers in the 2nd post. The stats at the bottom of that post may be used when considering a testing gauntlet.

updated Post #3 for some dual land specifics. Tundra was the most played dual, with Trop being 2nd, and Taiga being 3rd.

There are only 57 cards posted in my Angel Stompy list. Your are missing 3 swords of fire and ice.

How can you call it a "gro" deck when it doesn't even run dryad?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Machinus

How can you call it a "gro" deck when it doesn't even run dryad?

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If you are referring to Ian's deck, it isn't Gro, it's Not Quite Gro. Besides, how can you call a deck 'The Rock' when it doesn't even run Phyrexian Plaguelord?

Becaue he is still "Gro"ing the Mystic Enforcer and the Werebears, which to me always seemed to be the more potent threats than the Dryad. A turn 4 Dryad is still a 1/1.... a turn 4 Werebear is almost always a 4/4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T is for TOOL

Besides, how can you call a deck 'The Rock' when it doesn't even run Phyrexian Plaguelord?

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Quoted for Truth and Emphasis.



Edited By CorruptedAngel on 1122177091

Ok, final update on post #3. Take a look at how many decks were running Mishra's Factory. Also, note how many decks are running the best creature - Tog. :(

I think that I've milked about as much out of those lists as possible. If anyone has any other ideas for 'em, feel free to PM me.