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Quick info thread of some top performing lists at #PTFinals.
TL;DR:
Best deck anyone could have found - 4C Reclamation
Best deck someone could have found - Mardu Winota
Most surprising performer - Jund Sacrifice
Best deck - Riku Kumagai's Mono Black aggro
TL;DR:
Best deck anyone could have found - 4C Reclamation
Best deck someone could have found - Mardu Winota
Most surprising performer - Jund Sacrifice
Best deck - Riku Kumagai's Mono Black aggro
4C Reclamation was played at previous standard events and had a good win rate against Reclamation. Turns out that the level 2 choice was the best performer out of the multi-pilot decks.
At least, people should have played 29 lands, 2 Narset, 4 Castle Vantress as Autumn did.
At least, people should have played 29 lands, 2 Narset, 4 Castle Vantress as Autumn did.
It was obvious Temur would see heavy play, so playing a version that beats the "mirror" was an easy choice, especially as WW aggro was a fixable match-up (common wisdom says that adding a colour makes you worse, but testing this match-up in few games would show it's quite even).
Mardu Winota from Michael Jacob is interesting - there was only one pilot, but the whole process was broadcast from start to finish. You could watch the games, look at the list and decide if it was worth running or not.
No one took it on. MJ was rewarded with a Top 8 finish.
No one took it on. MJ was rewarded with a Top 8 finish.
Jund Sacrifice placed two players in the top 8 and had a winning win rate overall in a field full of Reclamation, its "worst match-up".
What gives?
Turns out both these players are very skilled with this style of deck (Hardened Scales / Jund Sac) and trusted their play skill.
What gives?
Turns out both these players are very skilled with this style of deck (Hardened Scales / Jund Sac) and trusted their play skill.
They adapted to Temur Reclamation by running zero Rotting Regisaur (which is not actually good due to Sharks) and morphing their plan into discard + heavy hitter (Korvold / Citadel).
The thing that helped them the most? 4C Reclamation.
The thing that helped them the most? 4C Reclamation.
Turns out that focusing less on the combo and not having access to the card Blast Zone (for most competitors) is a good evolution for Jund Sacrifice and helped experienced pilots make top 16.
The key here is - experienced pilots. Both players are exceptional with this archetype.
The key here is - experienced pilots. Both players are exceptional with this archetype.
Speaking of zero Rotting Regisaur, the best deck for the PT Finals was Riku Kumagai's Mono-Black aggro. You may think this was "easy", but looking at Riku's build and play through-out the week-end, I don't think this list was easily findable and takes serious deck-building chops.
What makes this deck so good is that it's both a level 2 AND a level 3 choice, crushing the common level 1 and level 2 decks.
Compare to Esper midrange - that deck should beat Temur, but it's extremely cold to 4C Rec that runs Teferi and an appropriate removal / sweeper suite.
Compare to Esper midrange - that deck should beat Temur, but it's extremely cold to 4C Rec that runs Teferi and an appropriate removal / sweeper suite.
Esper Midrange was not a good level 2 deck as a result, because it loses to the most common level 2 deck.
Riku ran no Regisaur, had 3 Duress main (+ 4 Freebooter). All the creatures are efficient and mostly resilient to the cards Solar Blaze and some to Storm's Wrath.
Riku ran no Regisaur, had 3 Duress main (+ 4 Freebooter). All the creatures are efficient and mostly resilient to the cards Solar Blaze and some to Storm's Wrath.
The sideboard was for every non-Reclamation match-up, with just a few tweaks in Remorse and maybe Noxious Grasp if they run a few too many Nightpacks / Kenrith.
The sideboard could focus on everything else, because the deck was so tuned against the top decks already.
The sideboard could focus on everything else, because the deck was so tuned against the top decks already.
For me, Riku's deck was the best list in the PT Finals. The only thing standing in his way to the trophy now is that only 4 Temur Reclamation players are in the top 8 to munch on, with Jund Sacrifice being some really bad news.
Tagging @yoman_5 for value, since guess he will enjoy this thread.
If you read this far, I hope you did too.
If you read this far, I hope you did too.
