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3 years ago  ::  Jan 26, 2010 - 5:51PM #1
mntwinsfan
  • Metalhead
Date Joined: Jul 19, 2007
Posts: 4,955
So I took at the look at the number of decks of a bunch of different archetypes that made the Top 8 of PTQs since two weekends ago.  The information is straight off of deckcheck, so any PTQ not on there hasn't been counted.

Anyways, here are the results:

18 Fast Zoo
17 Scapeshift
13 Angel Zoo
10 Faeries
8 Thopter Foundry Control
7 Dark Depths
6 AIR
6 Dredge
5 The Rock variants
4 Burn
4 Tezzerator
4 Hypergenesis
3 Elves
3 Bloodbraid Zoo
3 Bant
3 MWC
2 Hive Mind
2 Affinity
2 GB Dark Depths
1 Thopter-Depths
5 Rogue

Note: the "Scapeshift" archetype includes the classic UGr Scapeshift, Bloodbraid Scapeshift, and even a few Angel Zoo-Scapeshift hybrids.  Also, Thopter Foundry control is any deck playing 3+ copies of both Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek, whereas Tezzerator is any deck that seeks to play control until it can tutor for the combo with Tezz or Gifts Ungiven. 

Observations:
-Zoo is on top of the metagame once again.  Both Fast Zoo and Angel Zoo have been putting up impressive results, though even in that 2-week time span, it shifted from primarily Angel Zoo to mostly Fast Zoo.
-Scapeshift, Faeries, and decks with Thopter Foundry combo are also firmly in the first tier.  However, like I mentioned earlier, both Scapeshift and Thopter Foundry each have a few different variants.
-The metagame has adapted to Tezzerator.  In fact, it appears that builds aiming to combo out fairly quickly are better, or at least more successful. 
-There are a ton of tier 2-3 decks having success: Dredge, Dark Depths, AIR, The Rock, Hypergenesis, etc. 

So what does this tell us?  When building a deck, Zoo needs to be at least winnable to have success, and you also need to be able to handle Scapeshift and Thopter Foundry.  Remember, though, that the metagame is wide-open.  The best deck is the one that you can play the best. 

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3 years ago  ::  Jan 26, 2010 - 7:32PM #2
javert
Date Joined: Jul 26, 2006
Posts: 1,313
It seems to me that even if that was two weeks ago, the metagame is settling and Zoo has been displaced. Since Gerry Thompson's win with his Thopter Dephts brew, the deck has been catching up and I dare to say it will be the overall best deck of this Extended season and the one that either people will be playing or trying to metagame against. It is really hard for any random deck to deal with both threats at the same time and thanks to its discard and tutoring, it can fight the resistance well. Pure Thopter Foundry may be the second best deck, although I think going straight UW control without cute Gifts piles is better in order to stop Zoo aggro rushes.

Does anyone else agrees that black is now the best color of Extended? With permission being softer than in the past, discard is what can really force threats through and Extraction effects are what hurt most current combo decks.
If Limited gets in the way of printing good Constructed cards...

Screw limited
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3 years ago  ::  Jan 27, 2010 - 7:05PM #3
mntwinsfan
  • Metalhead
Date Joined: Jul 19, 2007
Posts: 4,955

Jan 26, 2010 -- 7:32PM, javert wrote:

It seems to me that even if that was two weeks ago, the metagame is settling and Zoo has been displaced. Since Gerry Thompson's win with his Thopter Dephts brew, the deck has been catching up and I dare to say it will be the overall best deck of this Extended season and the one that either people will be playing or trying to metagame against. It is really hard for any random deck to deal with both threats at the same time and thanks to its discard and tutoring, it can fight the resistance well. Pure Thopter Foundry may be the second best deck, although I think going straight UW control without cute Gifts piles is better in order to stop Zoo aggro rushes.

Does anyone else agrees that black is now the best color of Extended? With permission being softer than in the past, discard is what can really force threats through and Extraction effects are what hurt most current combo decks.



I don't think that Zoo will be leaving anytime soon.  People said the same thing about Tezz-Gifts after Worlds that you are saying now about GT's deck.  Sure, it's great, and is definitely strong enough to be tier 1 throughout the season, but it won't push Zoo out.  A properly metagamed Zoo deck is still a very good choice for a PTQ. 

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3 years ago  ::  Jan 30, 2010 - 1:40PM #4
CyrusBales
Date Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Posts: 9,267

The most intriguing thing is Faeries being the premiere control deck.
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3 years ago  ::  Jan 30, 2010 - 2:02PM #5
mntwinsfan
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Date Joined: Jul 19, 2007
Posts: 4,955

Jan 30, 2010 -- 1:40PM, CyrusBales wrote:


The most intriguing thing is Faeries being the premiere control deck.



Yeah.  Despite the bad Zoo matchup, the prevalence of Thopter Foundry and Scapeshift decks makes Faeries a pretty good choice for a PTQ.

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3 years ago  ::  Jan 30, 2010 - 2:12PM #6
CyrusBales
Date Joined: Aug 30, 2007
Posts: 9,267

I expect a lot more Zoo decks come worldwake, since Loam Lion is a good addition, keeping the creature base in GW. Quicker one drop zoo seems like more of a suitable option that Rubin zoo, with this set up of decks.
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3 years ago  ::  Feb 01, 2010 - 4:17PM #7
febbstalicious42
Date Joined: Sep 16, 2008
Posts: 6,996

OMG, WHY IS NOT ON THERE!?

Real men hold shift.

If everyone has their fingers in the pie, then someone is eating fingers.
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