What we will see this weekend at Gamer's Guild AZ Legacy City Champs 1k II
This weekend is the next City Champs at Gamers Guild. From the results of the previous 4 events we can get a general idea of what we can expect.
The most popular.
Since the format doesn’t change much we still have the most dominate and most popular deck in the format that we will see in good numbers. U/R Delver + variations will show up the most. Every event previous to this one has had at least 5+ people pilot the deck. Theis a standard shell of the Delver list.
U/R Delver
CREATURES (13) 1 Brazen Borrower 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Dragon's Rage Channeler 4 Murktide Regent LANDS (19) 2 Flooded Strand 1 Island 2 Misty Rainforest 1 Mystic Sanctuary 2 Polluted Delta 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Steam Vents 4 Volcanic Island 4 Wasteland SPELLS (26) 4 Brainstorm 1 Chain Lightning 4 Daze 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Force of Will 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Ponder 1 Pyroblast ARTIFACTS (2) 2 Mishra's Bauble SIDEBOARD (15) 1 End the Festivities 1 Energy Flux 1 Force of Negation 1 Grafdigger's Cage 2 Meltdown 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Price of Progress 3 Pyroblast 1 Rough / Tumble 1 Submerge 1 Surgical Extraction |
Rise in popularity.
With the release of Displacer Kitten There have been many people trying to make the Teferi / Kitten combo work. These have all been in U/W shells so they are pretty much control shells. So expect U/W and Jeskai control decks upping representation. Initially there were around 3 pilots for the Jeskai control deck and the last event in June had 3 Jeskai control decks and 3 kitten combo decks.
Jeskai Control
CREATURES (3) 2 Snapcaster Mage 1 Timeless Dragon LANDS (20) 4 Flooded Strand 5 Island 1 Mountain 2 Plains 4 Prismatic Vista 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Tundra 1 Volcanic Island SPELLS (25) 4 Brainstorm 1 Day's Undoing 1 Flusterstorm 1 Force of Negation 4 Force of Will 4 Ponder 4 Prismatic Ending 2 Supreme Verdict 4 Swords to Plowshares ARTIFACTS (1) 1 Shorikai, Genesis Engine ENCHANTMENTS (4) 2 Dress Down 2 Shark Typhoon PLANESWALKERS (7) 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor 4 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Teferi, Time Raveler SIDEBOARD (15) 1 Flusterstorm 1 Force of Negation 1 Izzet Staticaster 4 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Ruination 2 Serenity 1 Sevinne's Reclamation 2 Surgical Extraction |
These are the main culprits for the Kitten combo. You draw a card play a noncreature spell and flicker tefri and repeat the draw card. The enablers are cheap spells and artifacts. People prefer 0 cost artifacts as you can bounce it with teferi and keep playing it to repeat. Mox amber and mox opal are the best for this but you can use anything that cost 0 to make it work.
Fall from favor.
The second most popular deck was 8 Cast. It went from being the second most represented deck with the first 2 events having 5+. When Kappa Cannoneer was released it was a card that was strong finisher with little answers. The speed that 8 cast could resolve a Kappa on turn 2 or 3 would make it hard for people to deal with. With delver and jeskai control being so popular now it is making it hard to play this deck as it only has forces to protect itself. Here is a standard list for 8 Cast
8 Cast
CREATURES (13) 2 Kappa Cannoneer 4 Emry, Lurker of the Loch 3 Sai, Master Thopterist 4 Thought Monitor LANDS (16) 4 Ancient Tomb 2 Island 1 Otawara, Soaring City 4 Seat of the Synod 1 Snow-Covered Island 4 Urza's Saga SPELLS (7) 4 Force of Will 3 Thoughtcast ARTIFACTS (24) 1 Aether Spellbomb 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Lotus Petal 4 Mishra's Bauble 4 Mox Opal 1 Pithing Needle 1 Retrofitter Foundry 1 Shadowspear 4 Urza's Bauble SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Brazen Borrower 2 Dismember 2 Engineered Explosives 3 Force of Negation 1 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Karakas 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Torpor Orb 1 Welding Jar |
Surpise showing.
In the June city champs there was a surprise rise in pilots with land strategies. There were 3 Depths variants and 1 lands deck. With all of that together there were a total of 6 decks. Usually we would only see about 2-3 land strategies. This spike was unexpected and I dont know if we will see the same kind of numbers but don’t be shocked if you do.
For more information on the upcoming event visit the Calendar to see the details of the event.