! IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER !
As I've reviewed my code I've noticed that I made a mistake. I forgot to scrap some tournaments because they shared the exact same name as others and thus were treated as duplicates. My bad. This concerns a bunch of MTGO Standard MOCS and SCG Open Series (mainly in Atlanta, go figure) of the 2012-2014 era. Also added the 3 latest Okorgies while I'm at it. Doesn't change a lot but I've decided to include these tournament results changing the metagame shares of all the archetypes and edited the previous post to take into account these changes. Some intra-format metagame shares may have changed but rest assured, it didn't make Grixisor Mono Green relevant overnight. The most significant changes being Mono Blue losing 0.3% share and thus dropping from 17th place to 18th and Sultai since it now outrageously dominates Elkdraine meta allowing it to jump from 21th place to the 13th.
This also now gives me a satisfying number of tournaments per formats with at least 5 for each. Rivals of Ixalan being the exception with 3 since most of the tournaments then were team constructed.
I'll edit the last post for the changes and plots, in case you missed it or want a refresh you can find it here, there's also Mono Blue, Dimir, Selesnya, Mono Black, Mardu there since I've hit the limit cap here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/dshhi8/analyzing_the_competitiveness_of_the_color/
And for those interested, you have the JSON file from the scrapping here :
Finally, please keep in mind that english is not my first language, you might stumble upon some grammar mistakes :)
Let's dive !
11 - Temur
Expected share : 3.57 %
Key Archetypes : Temur Energy, Temur Marvel, Temur Aggro, Temur Control, Temur Pod
Standard environments : 18
Best top8 share : 36.1 % (Amonkhet)
Back in the day where Caw-Blade was everywhere, some rebellious players chose no to go down this path.
Of course they would keep the [[Preordain]], [[Jace, the Mind Sculptor]] and [[Mana Leak]] core because they may be crazy but not stupid. Instead of going for the mystic package they would add ramp elements to the party. It's true that [[Lotus Cobra]] and [[Explore]] work great together, two cobras on board could turn your Explore into a cantripping free ramp if you have enough land in hand. With all that mana and lands available your finisher of choice was [[Inferno Titan]], backed by a copy of [[Avenger of Zendikar]]. For a less expansive option you could go for [[Precursor Golem]] which was especially effective since spot removal was not that prevalent. Red also brought solid cheap removal with a playset of [[Lightning Bolt]].
Talking wedges means talking about Khans standard, where Temur aggro was represented. [[Savage Knuckelblade]] wasn't the meta-warping monster it was supposed to be but it still did a fair amount of work. The deck was pretty mana hungry since it played the Knuckelblade, [[Polukranos, World Eater]] [[Strombreath Dargon]] and [[Crater's Claws]] so you'd play a hefty amount of dorks between not-Llanowar Elves and [[Rattleclaw Mystic]]. In this Ferocious world cards like [[Heir of the Wild]] and [[Stuborn Denial]] were naturally excellent.
You should have figured out by now what deck stood out during that period. I've already talked a fair bit of Energy with the 4 color archetypes so let's talk about the terror of Amonkhet standard : Temur Marvel. Funny thing is, the card had virtually no card from Amonkhet. Matt Nass top8'ed with the deck at Pro Tour Kaladesh but that was the only notable result during that time. The best Emrakul deck wasn't exactly this one but Golgari Aggro and the rest of the field consisted of piles of creatures to crew for [[Smuggler's Copter]]. In january 2017 a ban hits the copter, [[Emrakul, The Promised End]] and [[Reflector Mage]]. Aether Revolt releases right after with [[Felidar Guardian]] making CopyCat the powerhouse of the moment. The cat is banned late april at the moment of Amonkhet release. This is where [[Aetherworks Marvel]] comes back in full force. Even if Emrakul is long gone it turns out that a turn 4 [[Ulamog, Ceaseless Hunger]] is good enough for the Marvel to be need to be banned in june. After that the Temur Energy reigns supreme with RDW until the last round of energy bans hitting [[Attune with Aether]] and [[Rogue Refiner]] in january 2018. Energy was a broken mechanic since it could act as a free form of mana, players had no way to interact with opponent's energy and the energy cards like [[Harnessed Lightning]] or [[Rogue Refiner]] were just good on their own in a standard environment. In the specific case of [[Aetherworks Marvel]] the "dice roll" feeling on whether you hit Ulamog in your first 6 or not wasn't particularly fun to say the least.
10 - Jund
Expected share : 3.84 %
Key Archetypes : Jund Midrange, Jund Aggro
Standard environments : 21
Best top8 share : 23,5 % (Gatecrash)
Entering top 10 is Jund which had various strong archetypes in the fist half of the decade.
Gatecrash was its golden age though with two archetypes that didn't share much in common. Jund Aggro put up decent results [[Experiment One]], [[Flinthoof Boar]], [[Dreg Mangler]], [[Falkenrath Aristocrat]], [[Burning Tree Emissary]] and [[Ghor-Clan Rampager]]. You flood the board with creatures and +1/+1 counters and you close the game with [[Hellrider]] or [[Stormbreath Dragon]]. Relied on on some copies of the good olds [[Abrupt Decay]] and [[Dreadbore]] for removal.
Going higher in the average cmc and overall success is Jund Midrange.
The main villains were [[Thragtusk]], [[Huntmaster of the Fells]], [[Olivia Voldaren]], [[Liliana of the Veil]] and [[Garruk, Primal Hunter]].
High value creatures and PW spitting out tokens and Olivia's abilities matched really well with the Huntmaster. To back these creatures the deck was litterally filled with removals : [[Dreadbore]], [[Abrupt Decay]] [[Mizzium Mortars]], [[Murder]], [[Tragic Slip]], [[Bonfire of the Damned]] could all see play mainboard. Add discard to the mix with [[Liliana of the Veil]] and [[Rakdos' Return]] and you get the classic. Jund playstyle consisting of depleting with your opponent hand and board. until the value brought by your creatures and planeswalkers overwhelm that poor opponents of yours.
[[Kessig Wolf Run]] helped you grow whatever was left on the battlefiled for damage. A playset of [[Farseek]] made the mana base feel very consistent and [[Arbor Elf]] saw play to help you ramp.
Not long after came Jund "aggro" during Journey into Nyx. A gruul core with playsets of [[Elvish Mystic]], [[Sylvan Caryatid]] ramping into [[Stormbreath Dragon]], [[Xenagos, the Reveler]], [[Polukranos, World Eater]] and [[Thragtusk]]...wait, why is it called aggro ? Seems more. like midrange to me. Anyway you also had some copies of [[Scavenging Ooze]] and [[Courser of Kruphix]] because they're damn good green cards and the best bloodrush reprensentative in [[Ghor-Clan Rampager]] to push for that extra bit of damage. The Courser worked especially well with [[Domri Rade]] to make sure you'd never run out of gas mid-late game.
Black was pretty light main board, here to bring some quality removal : [[Abrupt Decay]], [[Dreadbore]] along with [[Golgari Charm]] and also [[Rakdos' Return]] out of the sideboard.
9 - Rakdos
Expected share : 3.87 %
Key Archetypes : Zombies, Rakdos Aggro
Standard environments : 23
Best top8 share : 31.9 % (Dominaria)
Coming close we have Rakdos. The color distribution of this archetype is rather polarized, you'd either go heavy black or heavy red and thus its kinda a variation of some mono colored decks depending on how you see things.
Remember the mono B zombies with [[Gravecrawler]], [[Geralf's Messenger]], [[Diregraf Ghoul]] ? Well in Return to Ravnica it went more Rakdos. Mostly thanks to [[Falkenrath Aristocrat]] which really liked recursive creatures. [[Knight of Infamy]] was almost an auto-include main deck in a field dominated by Azorius-based decks which also made [[Thundermaw Hellkite]] the top-end of choice. The deck also played not-lightning strike, not-shock as removal/face damage and some of these lists would lower down the Zombie synergy for [[Hellrider]].
On the other end of the spectrum we have the infamous r/b Aggro from Dominaria days. Red was by far the best color in Standard at that time and Mono Red or variations of it dipping into black were the. Tier 0 decks. Playing against it felt like a survival-horror game, you'd do your best to last the longest possible but at the end of the day (here referring to turn 5) you knew you were dead anyway.
Main board it was basically a Mono Red deck, the only black cards being [[Scrapheap Scrounger]] and [[Unlicensed Disintegration]]. The Scrounger was an excellent crewing creature for [[Heart of Kiran]] and otherwise a great attacker thanks to its recursion ability.
The lower end of the curve was usually filled with [[Bomat Courier]] (please don't print that ever again, PLEASE) which was an excellent CA machine and (more rarely in the Rakdos version though) with [[Soul-Scar Mage]] which was an absolute nightmare for creature decks.
The deck was also home of the best removal in the format with [[Abrade]], the best Chandra in [[Chandra, Torch of Defiance]] allowing you ramp, crew HoK, CA, removal or game-winning ult you just name it and of course the card that I think I lost the most to in my Standard carrer : [[Glorybringer]].
I won't talk about the disgusting playset of [[Goblin Chainwhirler]] in every.single.deck as I'm still traumatized by this card. Just for the lol : there were more whirlers than basic forest or basic plains then. Why the first strike ? I mean can I ever block this damn card ? He's got a mana open I'm gonna get wrecked... Should I just let it obliterate my face like it already obliterated (or shrank with the Mage AH AH AH) my board ? Arghhhh here's me talking about this fucking monster again.
Black comes more heavily sideboard-wise where you'd pack multiple copies of [[Duress]] and [[Doomfall]] to roll on the few matchups that could resist you G1, [[Hour of Glory]] for any scarab deity infestation. [[Arguel's Blood Fast]] and [[The Eldest Reborn]] or [[Angrath, The Flame Chained]] also saw some more limited play.
8 - Jeskai
Expected share : 4.28 %
Key Archetypes : Jeskai Control, Jeskai Tokens, UWr Midrange
Standard environments : 25
Best top8 share : 18.8 % (Guilds of Ravnica)
Jeskai never was overly dominant but places itself as one of the most consistent archetypes meaning that there's almost always a viable Jeskai deck around with 25 appearances and 11 times where it got more than 5% top8 share.
Before Khans introducing the name the archetype was sometimes named Patriot which could actually refer to pretty much half of the western world. The first notable iteration is UWr Midrange in Return to Ravnica. An Azorius core where the fun involved flickering a [[Snapcaster Mage]] with [[Angel of Restoration]] into [[Azorius Charm]] or cheap red removal like [[Pillar of Flame]] or [[Searing Spear]]. [[Geist of Saint Thraft]] was still present of course and [[Thundermaw Hellkite]] was there to finish the. job. Sprinkle that with some counterspells like [[Dissipate]], [[Essence Scatter]] or [[Negate]] and more [[Supreme Verdict]] to help you fight early aggression and you get to 12,5% share.
Speaking Wedges ? Speaking Khans ! Two archetypes produced notable results there. Tokens went on an affair with Jeskai. [[Goblin Rabblemaster]], [[Hordeling Outburst]] as the usual suspects and [[Raise the Alarm]] assured you'd flood the board. [[Jeskai Ascendancy]] was the main payoff, making those creatures real big once you chained non-creature spells. A stretegy where [[Seeker of the way]] was pretty potent thanks to prowess and lifelink that made you hard to race. To achieve that you'd play cheap red burn like [[Stoke the Flames]] or [[Lightning Strike]] and [[Treasure Cruise]] to refill that hand of yours.
If you liked a more Midrange/tempo version Jeskai also had something to offer. [[Goblin Rabblemaster]] and [[Seeker of the Way]] are now. becoming reccurent guests to us, along with the red removal package and [[Jeskai Charm]] which did anything you wanted here but mainly insane stuff with Rabblemaster. [[Dig Through Time]] helped you...well, dig for the spells you need like [[Banishing Light]] for rhino removal or more. burn. Two planeswalker played here with usually couple copies of [[Chandra Pyromaster]] for CA that translates into burn and messing with. 1 toughness aggro creatures and [[Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker]] where the indestructible clause was pretty relevant in an exile-light meta. [[Mantis Rider]] was the nail in the coffin, a must answer evasive threat that applies pressure the turn it lands AND can block well. After sideboarding you could go BIG with options like [[Elspeth, Sun's Champion]] or [[Narset, Enlightened Master]].
Finally control builds did gave some voice, especially during Guilds of Ravnica meta where it was the strongest shell for [[Teferi, Hero of Dominaria]] until [[Kaya's Wrath]] got printed the set after.
[[Deafening Clarion]] is still a decent 3-mana sweeper today just as it was last year. [[Seal Away]] or [[Justice Strike]] helped to deal with the creatures that survived the Clarion or protect your Teferi thanks to its plus. A sizable of counterspells were played with [[Syncopate]], [[Essence Scatter]] or [[Sinister Sabotage]]. The goal was to survive the first turns until Teferi drops. Do I need to talk about Teferi ?
[[Search of Azcanta]], once flipped, made sure you'd never run out of answer. Most builds played [[Crackling Drake]] as its ability to close games in 2/3 turns and the fact that it cantrips made it less painful to expose yourself to the opponent's creature removal. Some builds even went bigger with [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]] which usually meant GG once you untap with it and start chaining those [[Opt]].
7 - Golgari
Expected share : 4.31 %
Key Archetypes : Golgari Constrictor, B/G Delirium
Standard environments : 22
Best top8 share : 28.8 % (Kaladesh)
My personal favorite archetype is in the top 10, let me get some champagne.
Golgari is one of the rare non-blue guild that could boast about having a competitive control archetype with Golgari Control in Magic 2014.
The deck was PACKED with creature and permanent removal : [[Tagic Slip]], [[Putrefy]], [[Doom Blade]], [[Abrupt Decay]] all saw main board play. Add [[Liliana of The Veil]], [[Desecration Demon]] and a copy of [[Vraska the Unseen]] and you made sure your opponent's creatures would have a bad time. A grindy deck in the true vein of Golgari, playing a similar game as the Jund Midrange that dominated the era. Deplete your opponent from ressources and turn the corner thanks to [[Sign in Blood]] or a [[Disciple of Bolas]] sacrificing a tapped [[Desecration Demon]] or a [[Thragtusk]]. Gain 10, draw 5, leave a 3/3 and a 2/2, grow that [[Scavenging Ooze]].
Fast-forward to Kaladesh meta where Golgari reigned supreme with B/G Delirium. Delirium was a mechanic that required you to have 4 different card types in your graveyard in order to enble it. In order to do you play [[Evolving Wilds]], [[Vessel of Nascency]], [[Grapple with the Past]], [[Liliana, the Last Hope]], [[Mindwrack Demon]].
Once enbled you enable it [[Traverse the Ulvenwald]] becomes a 1-mana creature tutor letting you search for bullets like [[Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet]], [[Tireless Tracker]], [[Noxious Gearhulk]] or...[[Emrakul, The Promised End]]. The other Delirium payoffs were also great : [Ishkanah, Grafwidow]] let you flood the board with tiny cutie spiders and [[Grim Flayer]] was not only a Delirium Enabler, it let filter you draw and then became a 4/4 trampler for 2 mana. Nice rate.
Right after comes Aether Revolt bringing [[Walking Ballista]] and its best friend which was my biggest love affair in Standard in a long long time : [[Winding Constrictor]]. You like counters ? Sure. Let me put more counters. Not only did it put more +1/+1 counters but also energy counters. Suddenly [[Glint-Sleeve Siphoner]], [[Aether Hub]] become great. [[Tireless Tracker]] gets scary and don't get me started on [[Verdurous Gearhulk]] with that sweet +12 power on board for 5 mana. [[Rishkar, Peema Renegade]] turned all of those creature into dorks for more +1/+1 counters. Counters everywhere. The deck was viable, although not T1, during all of the boa's existence in Standard pairing well with Explore Creatures.
Speaking of Explore you did have to wait the rotation with Guils of Ravnica for it to truly shine. [[Jadelight Ranger]], [[Merfolk Branchwalker]] provided card selection and fueled [[Wildgrowth Walker]]. An unanswered walker T2 followed by [[Jadelight Ranger]] made aggro cry. The deck was filled with recursion between [[Find//Finality]], [[Memorial to Folly]] or [[The Eldest Reborn]] out of the sideboard. The removal package was the best of its time with [[Cast Down]], [[Vraska's Contempt]], the Finality part, [[Ravenous Chupacabra]], [[Vivien Reid]], [[Thrashing Brontodon]] out of the sideboard. The CA was provided the explore creature hitting lands, [[Vivien Reid]], [[Midnight Reaper]]. No Krasis yet but my boy [[Carnage Tyrant]] that made opponent play [[Detection Tower]] out of desperation ah ah ah. Ramp it ull up with [[Llanowar Elves]] and you got a well-rounded midrange deck.
6 - Bant
Expected share : 4.74 %
Key Archetypes : Bant Company, Bant Golos, Bant Scapeshift
Standard environments : 21
Best top8 share : 44.4 % (Eldritch Moon)
[[Collected Company]] was poised to be the centerpiece of a dominant archetype. An instant speed spell that would reliably bring two bodies worth of 6cmc on the field could decently not be average, just need to find the best 3- cmc creatures to be collected. The first one that comes to mind is [[Tireless Tracker]] which provided CA and could scale well at all stages of the game, similarly [[Sylvan Advocate]] was also a creature to would turn itself into a 4/5 vigilance for 3 mana once you hit 6 lands. While Green brought efficient on-rate creatures, Azorius brought disruption : [[Reflector Mage]] brought tempo and [[Spell Queller]] from Eldritch Moon brought the deck to another dimension by giving it a counterpell on a body.
If these creatures were the staples, you didn't lack options to build : [[Jace Vryn's Prodigy]] gave you card selection and was able to bring back Collect Company once flipped, [[Nissa, Vastwood Seer]] brought ramp and more CA.
2019 is a great year for Bant with no less than 3 different archetypes scoring 10%+ top8 shares in 3 different environments. Thanks to the plethora of dorks [[Llanowar Elves]], [[Arboreal Grazer]], [[Incubation Druid]], [[Paradise Druid]] Bant could go BIG in War of the Spark. Turn 3 [[Nissa, Who Shakes the World]] is still a trauma for many players and if you untap with it you can fuel a huuuuuge [[Hydroid Krasis]], a [[Finale of Glory]] or steal the whole board with [[Mass Manipulation]]. [[Teferi, Time Raveler]] was a key player since it gave Bant much needed intercation a protection for the big swing. Ever cast a X=4 Mass Manipulation on the opponents end step ? It was overkill most of the time but boy was it a dramatic way to win.
Magic 2020 brought [[Field of the Dead]] and [[Golos, Tireless Pilgrim]] to the menu. Golos wasn't that used in the beginning since an instant speed [[Scapeshift]] was the favorite way to win since it could bring a million zombies on the opponent's end of turn, then when with Eldraine out the deck survived pretty well to the point where [[Field of the Dead]] got banned.
5 - Gruul
Expected share : 5.16 %
Key Archetypes : Golgari Constrictor, B/G Delirium
Standard environments : 31
Best top8 share : 17.5 % (Dark Ascension)
The most consistent archetype throughout the decade with 31 appearances out of 36 metas. Not only was it present but it usually defends itself pretty well: there are 15 standard environments where Gruul hits more than 5% top8 share. Pretty groold.
Gruul is what I'd call an evergreen archetype since it doesn't have to revolve around a specific mechanic or card but efficient on-rate creatures that you'll turn sideways until someone dies.
In that category you have for example Gruul Aggro from the RtR/Magic 2014 blocks era with some ramp ([[Arbor Elf]], [[Elvish Mystic]]), efficient aggressive creature on the low-end of the curve ([[Flinthoof Boar]], [[Strangleroot Geist]]) and on the higher-end creature with either reach or evasion like [[Thundermaw Hellkite]] and [[Hellrider]]. [[Scavenging Ooze]] seems more and more like an auto-include the more we see it, [[Ghor-Clan Rampager]] is a proud representative of one of Gruul's core identity which are pump spells that can can also be a threat if needed. All these these sweet gentlemens were lead by the OG [[Dormi Rade]]. Rings any bell ? It should. Whether it's the Gruul Aggro that won a MC against a field of Oko and FotD decks earlier this fall or the Gruul Dragons from Tarkir era they all play a similar game.
Kessig Titan was arguably one of the strongest contender for the archetype but I already talked about it for Mono Green since the archetype was kinda dry besides Devotion but this iteration was the strongest. The Gruul version comes right after the Mono Green one in Dark Ascension, although [[Strangleroot Geist]] found its place immediataly the deck would more on Red since it played [[Huntmaster of the Fells]] and [[Slagstorm]] along the titans and Kessig Wolf Run.
Another variation would drop the titans altogether and focus on smashing the opponents in a more classic gruul approach : no more [[Rampant Growth]] but dorks like [[Birds of Paradise]] and [[Llanowar Elves]]. [[Pyrexian Metamorph]] and [[Swords of War and Peace]] were included which unleashed the power of [[Galvanic Blast]]. Both deck would still play [[Green's Sun Zenith]] allowing the use of bullets like [[Thrun, the Last Troll]] and [[Acidic Slime]]. Both of these decks combined made Gruul the top contender of Dark Ascension.
As I've briefly mentionned pump spells I should talk about the deck that elevated the concept to a form of art : Atarka Red.
It's a heavily Red based aggro deck(divided between Mono Red and Gruul depending on the lists) playing prowess creatures like [[Monastery Swiftspear]] and [[Abbot of Keral Keep]] along with [[Zurgo Bellstriker]]. [[Dragon Fodder]] and [[Hordeling Outburst]] flooded the board with goblins and triggered prowess. What to do with all those creatures ? [[Atarka's Command]] made that army real scary with a 3 to-the-face bonus damage.
Finally [[Become Immense]], [[Titan's Strength]] and especially [[Temur Battle Rage]] made you wish you could block them all. The deck was fast, it could go wide or tall, or wide and tall. A nightmare to play against.
4 - Mono Red
Expected share : 5.52 %
Key Archetypes : Red Deck Wins, Mono Red Aggro, RDW
Standard environments : 26
Best top8 share : 19.1 % (Hour of Devastation)
Red deck wins. The most successful deck archetype of the decade (of history ?). If you consider the r/B aggro from Dominaria or Atarka Red as Mono Red it would be even clearier. It's been so regularly good that you can hear red mages eyes red, wandering on the streets disoriented at night whenever they're not viable like it's something WotC owes to them.
WotC seems to like Red Aggro maybe because it seems pretty easy to design : how much cards and mana do you need to inflict 20 damage asap ? How will each creature fare against the removal available ? Other creatures able to block ? All those considerations fall flat when a quarter of your deck are instants screaming FACE DAMAGE. Fast, aggressive and half-braindead. Red's values are for sure well represented here. It's also pretty easy to build compared to control, especially after a rotation.
More seriously it is generally the safety valve of any given format keeping in check no-early-interaction decks that would go over the top of everything else if it wasn't there. It makes Mono Red is as evergreen as you can get : besides a drought starting from Oath of the Gatewatch to Aether Revolt it's almost always there to put up results.
What drives the successful Mono Red ? Burn spells from [[Lightning Bolt]] to [[Skewer the Critics]], cheap hasty creatures from [[Goblin Guide]] to [[Bomat Courier]]. Mono Red is at its best when it's low to the ground, forget about your delusions on Big Red. It's like White Weenie but in a sense but it does get some variations whether you're heavy on burn spells or creatures and it actually does get you wins. Higher cmc creatures do exist but there are usually either recursive like [[Chandra's Phoenix]] or any other phoenix to tell the truth, or arethere to close the game real quick like [[Hazoret the Fervent]].
Scariest iterations were the RDW from Magic 2012 era with [[Goblin Guide]], [[Lightning Bolt]], [[Searing Blaze]], [[Grim Lavamancer]], [[Teetering Peaks]] where you'd better keep a hand that interacts in the first two turns if you don't want to die turn 3 and which was basically the only thing capable of going under ExarchTwin and Caw-Blade, sad times formidrange. Years later the release of Amonkhet sets started a new era of Magic The RedDeckWins. [[Ramunap Ruins]], [[Ahn-Crop Crasher]], [[Earthshaker Khenra]], [[Soul-Scar Mage]], [[Hazoret the Fervent]], [[Glorybringer]], [[Abrade]] came to a party where [[Chandra, Torch of Defiance]], [[Bomat Courier]], [[Kari Zev, Skyship Raider]] and [[Pia Nalaar]] prepared the bloody marys. The fun continued with each subsequent set adding a new piece to the bloodbath until [[Ramunap Ruins]] and [[Rampaging Ferocidon]] died for Hazoret's sins. Didn't impact much though, as a certain whirler goblin would come soon after to spit on whatever was left of your face.
3 - Esper
Expected share : 5.67 %
Key Archetypes : Esper Control, Esper Hero, Kozilek Caw-Blade
Standard environments : 27
Best top8 share : 30.4 % (War of the Spark)
The first Esper deck to make waves was Kozilek Caw-Blade, a variation of a janky deck in 2011 that played equipments (yes, some people really tried their best to make them viable before the superior [[Embercleave]] got printed, crazy huh) and Black for [[Inquisition of Kozilek]], [[Go for the Throat]] and [[Creeping Tar Pit]] but let's keep the jank for later.
Otherwise the big archetype here is of course Esper Control. Another evergreen archetype combining the 3 best control colors (sorry Grixis, you're still not relevant). Blue gives you card draw and counterspells, Black takes care of your opponent's creatures and hand and white gives catch-all removal, strong planeswalkers and...Azorius cards I guess ?
The archetype gave its best results during Born of The Gods where [[Sphinx's Revelation]], [[Supreme Verdict]], [[Thoughtseize]] and [[Doom Blade]] were legal at the same time. I mean no offense but even I could have built that Esper deck. Add the best counterspells available like [[Syncopate]] and [[Dissolve]], more creature removal [[Hero's Downfall]], [[Last Breath]] sprinkle that mess with the best iterations of Jace/Teferi/Elspeth available [[Jace, Architect of Thought]], [[Eslpeth, Sun's Champion]] and hard-to-deal-with backup wincon [[Mutavault]]. Doesn't seem too hard.
2019 is a hell of year for Esper, not only did it get back a 4-mana sweeper with [[Kaya's Wrath]], arguably the best discard spell since Thoughtseize with [[Thought Erasure]] but it also enjoyed an actually good 3-mana counterpell with [[Absorb]] aaand [[Teferi, Hero of Dominaria]]. Starting from Ravnica Allegiance it replaces Jeskai as the best control build. It was really obnoxious to play against though since the wincon was tucking Teferi into your library. The funniest wincon since [[Elixir of Immortality]].
War of the Spark shaked up the list heavily with [[Teferi, Time Raveler]], which must the most hated card by the players who actually played it.
Exit the counterpells, costly instant speed removal and card draw, say hello to a Planewalker based build with T3feri and [[Narset, Parser of Veil]]. [[Oath of Kaya]] synergized greatly with T3feri and the deck could pack actual wincons like [[Command the Dreadhorde]] and [[Liliana, Dreahorde General]] if the Oath pings weren't enough.
Many objected that it wasn't the best Esper deck in War of The Spark. Esper Midrange revolved around [[Hero of Precinct One]] thus dropping Kaya's Wrath to the sideboard. You could then play creatures like [[Thief of Sanity]] which was prevalent in the early builds until everyone brought shocks, [[Elite Guardmage]] and especially [[Basilica Bell-Haunt]] which stopped aggro right on its tracks. The strength of these deck is that they weren't that far away from each other, players would generally board out the Heros and bring back Kaya's Wraths to transform into a full-on control build after sideboard. A prime example of a good transformative sideboard strategy.
2 - Abzan
Expected share : 6.40 %
Key Archetypes : SIEGE RHINO AND A PILE OF CARDS, Junk Reanimator
Standard environments : 16
Best top8 share : 31.8 % (Khans of Tarkir)
[[Siege Rhino]] ? Siege Rhino. If you ever doubted of the power level of this card in standard well it got Abzan on the second spot according to my metric.
Abzan's rank might still be surprising to you. It wasn't even present in a top8 in half of the standard environments. Nothing of a staple like Gruul or Esper in that regard. But when it did... Starting from its printing in Khans of Tarkir to Oath of the Gatewatch the Rhino dominated standard and it wasn't faking it.
Rhino decks composed 1/4th to 1/3rd of the top8 for 5 standards environments straight and was still a solid player in Oath of Gatewatch until the card rotated. Sure some were more oppressive in a given format like the Chainwhirler in Dominaria but there is no other creature that had such an impactful and lasting effect on the format this decade. The best shell for it was Abzan Midrange but the variety of options available and the fact that it survived a rotation with no hussle makes it pretty difficult to give you a stock list, the only constant being 4 Siege Rhinos.
The first best buddies were [[Courser of Kruphix]] and [[Sylvan Caryatid]] backed by [[Thoughtseize]], [[Abzan Charm]] and [[Hero's Downfall]]. Lists would differ slightly beyond that : some would play play more creatures like [[Fleecemane Lion]] while others would lean more on control with more copies of [[Elspeth, Sun's Champion]] for example. The goal was to find the best pile of strong cards to fill up the 56 remaining slots.
Various pieces were added with each following set like [[Warden of the First Tree]] from Fate Reforged, [[Dromoka's Command]] from Dragons of Tarkir or [[Gideon, Ally of Zendikar]] in Shadows over Innistrad to accompany the Rhino.
But the pachyderm wasn't the only reason for Abzan's success. Before its printing an Abzan, called Junk back then, Reanimator deck dominated Gatecrash (22.1 %) and Dragon's Maze (22.7 %) metas. We talked about a little bit on its 4-color variation but this was the real stock list : [[Unburial Rites]] was the centerpiece of the deck. The goal was to ramp with [[Avacyn's Pilgrim] and [[Arbor Elf]], put big creatures like [[Angel of Serenity]], [[Acidic Slime]], the [[Thragtusk]]/[[Restoration Angel]] couple in the graveyard thanks to [[Mulch]] and [[Grisly Salvage]] and reanimate them with Rites.
1 - Azorius
Expected share : 10.94 %
Key Archetypes : Caw-Blade, UW Delver, UW Control (x20), UW Midrange, Azorius Aggro, God Pharaoh's
Standard environments : 29
Best top8 share : 44.3 % (Mirrodin Besieged)
Looks like no one's above the law. Not even close to it. With almost 11 % (!!!) share and also having all three of the 3-color UW-based archetypes in the top 8, the Azorius shell never really had any shadow of a competition this decade. 30 standard appearances and it did more than just appear with 21 times scoring 5%+ share and 6 fucking times it was above 30% !! No one even comes close, I mean look at those shares damn.
To the Orzhov and Izzet fans out there, why do you even bother trying ? You're fighting for a lost cause.
What's also appalling is that Azorius came in all of the flavors Magic can offer : draw-go control ? UW Control and its million different flavors. Aggro ? Azorius Heroic. Midrange ? Got it with UW(x) Midrange. Combo, artifact and graveyard synergies ? God's Pharaoh's G***. Tempo ? UW Flash. All of the above but in a truly degenerate way ? UW Delver, Caw-Blade.
You just can't go wrong by choosing White-Blue. They should print ramp cards in white so they don't need to go Bant and complete the full circle.
Things get ugly right from the start with Caw-Blade. Equip a [[Squadron Hawk]] with a Sword that you fetched with [[Stoneforge Mystic]], counter everything early with [[Mana Leak]] and [[Spell Pierce]], select the things you need at a miserable cost with [[Ponder]] AND [[Preordain]], laugh it all up with [[Jace, the Mind Sculptor]]. Get half share of every top8 possible. New Phyrexia even gave it [[Batterskull]] to further up the non-sense. Jace and Mystic got finally banned in July 2011, the first ban in Standard in 6 years after the Mirrodin shitshow, but even after those bans it was still the deck to beat AH AH AH. Looks like [[Gideon Jura]] and [[Elspeth Tirel]] were solid enough as replacement. If you count the Esper variant you get the most oppressive deck of the decade.
At least the mirrors were fun they say.
The rotation with Innistrad left out the Squadron Hawk and Preordain, maybe finally the time to see something else, right ? Enter two of the best creatures in Magic's history, in Blue of course : [[Snapcaster Mage]] and [[Delver of Secrets]]. Oh and there was [[Geist of Saint Traft]] too, just to be sure.
The goal is pretty straight-forward, drop the best 1-drop beater this game ever witnessed. Flip it and never let your opponent resolve anything with [[Mana Leak]] and [[Dissipate]], or just bounce it/protect your threat with [[Vapor Snag]] or [[Restoration Angel]]. Keep chipping your opponent life away with that 1-mana 3/2 flyer. Empower your Snapcaster and [[Runechanter's Pike]] with [[Thought Scour]]. Add a playset of [[Gitaxian Probe]] and a couple of [[Dismember]], accidents happen you never know if your opponent is finally able to stick a creature on the table, and TADA! you won and your opponent never got to play Magic.
I hope the mirrors were fun.
WotC learned from it by never printing [[Ponder]], [[Preordain]] or [[Mana Leak]] in a Standard legal set again. The most effective standard ban ever IMO. Good riddance. How did UW fare without its much needed cheap universal counterspells and cantrips ? Pretty fucking well of course.
Another "evergreen" archetype is UW Control. Tons of variations, from UW Miracles to the current Gadwick builds it's pretty much always there. Throughout the ages Azorius usually had the best control cards. Best card draw ? [[Sphynx's Revelation]]. Best board wipe ? [[Supreme Verdict]]. Best rage inducing PWs ? [[Teferi, Hero of Dominaria]], [[Teferi, Time Raveler]]. All White-Blue. Sure you can go Esper or Jeskai depending on the quality of White's removal and if the mana base allows it but most of the time Azorius Control is dominant enough in its own.
Quick question for you : how many control decks can you name that didn't use Blue ? Ever seen a Selesnya, Rakdos or Gruul control ? Right. You want to build control in Pioneer ? You'll probably start from Azorius. Aggro or Midrange ? You can reasonably try anything.
Sure one of the many strengths of this game is the color pie, making sure every color and combinations have their own identities. But UW doesn't care since it's also competitive on every aspect of this game besides big mana (even there you could argue for some artifact ramp shenanigans). I remember some R&D talk about Ravnica Allegiance design where they said they focused on the aggro fliers side of Azorius since the control side was already pretty strong thanks to [[Teferi, Hero of Dominaria]] alone... Azorius is just too good at that.
After browsing all these decks I cannot stop thinking that Blue is warping control archetypes a little bit too much by being the only color with access to counterspells and the best card draw. It's more of a diversity issue than a power level one though. Maybe they're tinkering with that in mind which could explain Green's printing of cards like [[Veil of Summer]] as another color should have some form of counterspell. That or bring back land destruction to the menu, or efficient tax effects on creatures. It would also help Red do something other than just pure aggro or limit itself to bring [[Lightning Bolt]] replicas for control archetypes and White could stop being about Weenies ad nauseam or the splash color that goes well with Blue. I'm not a game designer though, I know they do a wonderful job since I wouldn't be playing this game on-and-off since 2003 otherwise.
That's it for today, next time I'll probably dive into the textbox with questions like which mechanics are the most competitive (Surely Haste. lol @ Vigilance you ugly limited offspring no one likes you) ? Which deck archetypes were the strongest after Red Deck Wins ? What colors or combinations get the most build-around cards ? Best set mechanics to build around ? Which are limited to an evergreen archetype à la White Weenie ?
Submitted November 29, 2019 at 08:02PM by Abrruti https://ift.tt/2L7nx0h
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