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GP  Turin

  Woo hoo! Over one thousand (one thousand sixty eight, to be exact) players entered GP Turin. This is freakin' awesome! I'll leave the hoopla and  dancing girls to the pro's, and let's dive right in to those Top 4 decks! I was expecting weirdness, and Turin did not disappoint.

RUG Delver

Antonino De Rosa - 1st - GP Turin on 4/1/2112

Beaters 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Tarmogoyf Utility 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Vendilion Clique 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 15 Creatures Counters 3 Mana Leak 2 Cryptic Command 2 Deprive 2 Spell Pierce 1 Spell Snare Damage 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Burst Lightning 1 Electrolyze Utility & Control 4 Serum Visions 2 Vedalken Shackles Planeswalkers 1 Garruk Relentless 24 Other Spells

Basic Lands 1 Forest 6 Island 1 Mountain Fetches 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn Dual 2 Breeding Pool 2 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 21 cards Sideboard 3 Huntmaster of the Fells 3 Blood Moon 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Threads of Disloyalty 2 Relic of Progenitus 1 Combust 1 Negate 1 Spell Pierce 15 cards

  The main deck looks pretty straight forward for a RUG Delver. It's the Huntmaster sitting there in the sideboard that's making me go hmmm....

Martyr Proc

Michael Thiel - 2nd - GP Turin on 4/1/2112

Beaters 4 Ajani's Pridemate 4 Serra Ascendant Utility 4 Ranger of Eos 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Soul Warden 3 Soul's Attendant 3 Martyr of Sands 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch 27 Creatures Other Spells 4 Spectral Procession 3 Honor of the Pure 3 Path to Exile 2 Proclamation of Rebirth 12 Cards

Basic Lands 14 Plains Utility 3 Windbrisk Heights 2 Tectonic Edge 2 Flagstones of Trokair 21 Lands Sideboard 4 Disenchant 4 Surgical Extraction 3 Grafdigger's Cage 2 Ghostly Prison 1 Path to Exile 1 Ratchet Bomb 15 cards

  Plain ol' Martyr Proc. This is the most "normal" deck in the T4; every other deck in the T4 has a slight "twist" to what we normally see.

UBeR Splinter Twin

Alessandro Lippi - T4 - GP Turin on 4/1/2112

Creatures 4 Deceiver Exarch 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 3 Pestermite 9 Combo Creatures Combo Piece 4 Splinter Twin Disruption 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize Counters 3 Remand 2 Dispel Damage 2 Electrostatic Bolt 2 Flame Slash Draw 4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 2 Faithless Looting 28 Other Spells

Basic Lands 3 Island 2 Mountain Fetches 3 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn Dual 3 Steam Vents 3 Sulfur Falls 2 Watery Grave 2 Cascade Bluffs 1 Breeding Pool 23 Lands Sideboard 2 Ancient Grudge 3 Blood Moon 2 Combust 2 Echoing Truth 4 Leyline of Sanctity 2 Relic of Progenitus 15 Cards

  Splashing B for disruption seems to be very popular in Europe!

Gifted Splinterstorm

Jose Luis Velazquez Del Pozo - T4 - GP Turin on 4/1/2112

Beaters 3 Empty the Warrens 1 Grapeshot Draw & Tutor 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Manamorphose 4 Serum Visions 3 Gifts Ungiven Utility 4 Desperate Ritual 4 Seething Song 3 Pyretic Ritual 2 Past in Flames 1 Noxious Revival Control 4 Remand 3 Lightning Bolt 40 Cards

Basic Lands 4 Island 1 Mountain Fetches 4 Scalding Tarn 3 Misty Rainforest Utility 2 Halimar Depths Dual 3 Sulfur Falls 2 Steam Vents 1 Shivan Reef 20 Lands Splinterboard 4 Deceiver Exarch 4 Splinter Twin 3 Dispel 3 Pestermite 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 15 cards

  This is basically Splinterstorm with Gifts added. The Rest of the T8 were Splinter Twin, Jund, RUG Storm, and RUG Delver, all of which were "plain vanilla", although both RUG Delver (winner and T8) decks had Huntmaster in the sideboard.

  Lastly, while not in the T8, this is my favorite GP Turin deck so far: instead of Storm siding into Splinter Twin, it's Splinter Twin siding into Gifts Reanimator! This deck takes the B splash for disruption of UBeR Splinter one step further, allowing the sideboard transformation into a UBR Gifts Reanimator! As you've probably noticed, I do love transformational sideboards. And this one is no exception. Most people don't expect a Splinter Twin deck to transform, while many people are ready for a Storm deck to do so.

PTQ Wrap-up

  The PTQ season for PT Barcelona is over! This section contains the last PTQ results for this past season. More late results might come in, but I don't really see the need to bring them out, as they're effectively moot points. Although I will still be trotting out any decks I see in those late results that tickle my fancy. LOL! Now that my "filler" is gone, I'm going to have to dig a little further afield in the Modern world for material to write about! We'll see what develops.

Austin, TX (3/24, 125 Players)
 GR Thin Tron - Zac Elsik - 1st
 BRW Control - 2nd
 Boros Taxes (T4)
 RUG Delver (T4)
 Splinter Twin (T8)
 GR Thin Tron x2 (T8)
 Grixis Control (T8)

GPT Turin: Barecelona, ES (3/17, 24 Players)
 Splinter Twin - Marc Samarra - 1st
 RUG Delver - 2nd
 UWB Delver (T4)
 Martyr Proc (T4)
 Affinity (T8)
 UWR Delver (T8)
 BR Vampires (T8)
 Martyr Proc (T8)

GPT Malmö: Copenhagen, DK (3/31, 18 Players)
 Boros - Rune Jørgensen - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Fae (T4)
 Storm (T4)
 Affinity (T8)
 Hate Caw (T8)
 Storm (T8)
 Bant (T8)

Denton, TX (3/18, 89 Players)
 Splinter Twin - Will Lowry - 1st
 Geist of St. Bant - 2nd
 BRW Control (T4)
 Eva Green (T4)
 Fae (T8)
 Affinity (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 RUG Delver (T8)

Lincoln, NE (3/24, 69 Players)
 RUG Delver - Richard Germar - 1st
 Affinity - 2nd
 Solar Flare (T4)
 G Tron (T4)
 RUG Delver (T8)
 Solar Flare (T8)
 WB Tokens (T8)
 Splinter Twin (T8)

Sacramento, CA (3/24, 104 Players)
 Ad Nauseam - Ryan Reynolds - 1st
 UWR Delver - 2nd
 Zoo (T4)
 UBW Delver (T4)
 Jund (T8)
 RUG Delver (T8)
 GR Thin Tron (T8)
 Martyr Proc (T8)

Springfield, MO (3/24, 85 Players)
 GBW Pod - John Penick - 1st
 UWR Delver - 2nd
 Summoning Trap (T4)
 GBWU Pod (T4)
 Affinity x2 (T8)
 Martyr Proc (T8)
 Geist of St. Bant (T8)

Tampa, FL (3/24, 84 Players)
 Affinity - John Cuvelier - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Affinity (T4)
 Geist of St. Bant (T4)
 BU Zombies (T8)
 GR Fat Tron (T8)
 RUG Delver (T8)
 Affinity (T8)

West Jordan, UT (3/24, 55 Players)
 GR Thin Tron - Bryan Hawley - 1st
 Summoning Trap - 2nd
 R(akdos)DW (T4)
 Splinter Twin (T4)
 Jund x3 (T8)
 Splinter Twin (T8)

Break It Down!

  Since the PTQ season (for PT Barcelona) is now over, I don't think I need to "break down" the PTQ meta any longer. Also, since this is the start of a new quarter, this section will now be devoted to the SE meta breakdown. Right now, this looks rather sparse, as only a few SE's have fired so far this quarter, and only seventy or so decks have been entered so far. You can now watch "live" as the Q2 meta grows from nothing and does it's thing.

  Up till now, I've only been keeping track of the "big picture" in the SE meta. I think it's time to start filling in the details. So now, in addition to their "big picture" part, I'm going to break those components down a little more. Here are the Delver and Tron charts to show what I'm talking about.

  In the GR Tron categories, "Fat" means more than twenty lands, and "Thin" means twenty lands or less. I only added categories that I remember from the Q1 meta. If a UG Delver or a WR Tron show up, they'll get added in as well. If any archetype can be said to be "cutting though the meta like a hot knife through butter", it's Tron. This archetype has gone from zero (minor player) to hero (almost every event has a few) in the space of about two months.

  Splinterstorm and Delverstorm will now be categorized in Storm, as will Gifts Storm and UBeR Storm, both of which I expect to start showing up in the SE's soon. Archetypes that only come in two flavors, like Pod (GWB & GWBU) or Fae (U & UR), I'm not sure that I want to break them down. Although someone did tell me of a "SplinterPod", which I have not seen yet.

  For those of you that like "raw numbers", here is the SE meta in it's raw form.

Overdrive! #39 Round-up

SethDrone - Overdrive! #40 Champion

RUG Delver

Beaters 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Tarmogoyf Utility 4 Snapcaster Mage 2 Vendilion Clique 1 Phyrexian Metamorph 15 Creatures Counters 3 Remand 2 Cryptic Command 2 Deprive 2 Spell Pierce 1 Spell Snare Damage 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Burst Lightning 1 Electrolyze Utility & Control 4 Serum Visions 2 Vedalken Shackles Planeswalkers 1 Garruk Relentless 24 Other Spells

Basic Lands 1 Forest 6 Island 1 Mountain Fetches 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn Dual 2 Breeding Pool 2 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 21 Lands Sideboard 3 Huntmaster of the Fells 3 Blood Moon 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Threads of Disloyalty 2 Relic of Progenitus 1 Combust 1 Negate 1 Spell Pierce 15 Cards

  Won against BYE, WBU Tokens, Soul Sisters, Swathstorm, and Goblins.

mayure - Overdrive! #40 Runner-up

Goblins

Goblins 4 Goblin Arsonist 4 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Goblin Chieftain 3 Goblin Cohort 4 Goblin Guide 4 Goblin Wardriver 4 Mogg War Marshal 27 Goblins Burn 4 Goblin Grenade 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Flame Javelin 3 Searing Blaze 14 Other Spells

Basic Lands 19 Mountain 19 Lands Sideboard 2 Shard Volley 2 Combust 4 Lava Spike 2 Ball Lightning 1 Searing Blaze 1 Shatter 3 Smash to Smithereens 15 Cards

  Won against BYE, Storm, Green Taxes, Living End, lost to RUG Delver.

Semifinalists

Hellione

Living End

Cyclers 4 Street Wraith 4 Deadshot Minotaur 4 Monstrous Carabid 4 Jungle Weaver 4 Fulminator Mage 2 Architects of Will Utility 1 Shriekmaw 1 Ingot Chewer 24 Creatures Combo Piece 3 Living End Cascaders 4 Demonic Dread 4 Violent Outburst Control 3 Beast Within 14 Other Spells

Basic Lands 3 Mountain 1 Forest Fetches 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Misty Rainforest Dual 4 Stomping Ground 4 Rootbound Crag 2 Overgrown Tomb 22 Lands Sideboard 4 Avalanche Riders 4 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Ingot Chewer 3 Faerie Macabre 1 Jund Charm 15 Cards

  Won against BYE, BRW Burning Palisade, WB Tokens, lost to Goblins.

American Nightmare

Swathstorm

Beaters 4 Grapeshot 2 Pyromancer's Swath Utility 4 Desperate Ritual 4 Pyretic Ritual 4 Seething Song 4 Past in Flames Draw 4 Faithless Looting 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Manamorphose 4 Serum Visions 4 Thought Scour 42 Cards

Basic Lands 5 Island 2 Mountain Fetches 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Misty Rainforest Dual 4 Shivan Reef 2 Steam Vents 18 Lands Sideboard 4 Empty the Warrens 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Spell Pierce 3 Echoing Truth 15 Cards

  Won against BYE, WBR Tokens, Esper Snappy Teachings, lost to RUG Delver.

 
Eurodrive! #24 Round-up

  Won against BYE, Splinter Twin, GWB Pod, and GW Trap.

  Won against BYE, GWB Pod, Elfball, lost to Jund.

Semifinalists

  Won against GR Tron, Boros Shrines, lost to Jund.

grapplingfarang

Elfball

Elves 2 Imperious Perfect 4 Elvish Archdruid 2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader 2 Elvish Champion 4 Joraga Warcaller 3 Heritage Druid 4 Bramblewood Paragon 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher 4 Arbor Elf 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Nettle Sentinel 37 Elves Other Spells 2 Thorn of Amethyst 3 Lead the Stampede 5 Cards

Basic Lands 18 Forest 18 Lands Sideboard 2 Thorn of Amethyst 2 Tajuru Preserver 2 Viridian Shaman 3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss 3 Wilt-Leaf Liege 3 Grafdigger's Cage 15 Cards

  Won against UB Goryo, GR Ramp Aggro, lost to GW Trap.

Interesting Tidbits

  Our next Modern format GP's are a few months away, and will be GP Yokohama on June 23-24, followed by GP Columbus on July 21-22, There are still several GP's whose format is being shown as "TBD". I can only hope that at least two of those will be Modern. 

  Our first ever Modern format PT will be PT "Hook" Seattle on Oct 19-21.

  As you can see, I've changed up the charts a bit, and hope to use these to provide you with more in-depth meta information.

Fools Rush In...

Where Angels Fear To Tread 

  I am pleased to announce a new, limited seating, Modern format event: Where Angels Fear To Tread will have it's inaugural event on Sunday, April 1st 2012 at 1800 UTC/GMT. There will only be twenty four (24) seats available, period. These seats will be filled on a first come, first served basis. No reservations will be accepted. No fees will be accepted. There is no Dress Code, but cleanliness and style is appreciated, and pants are optional. We do not have a bar, feel free to bring your own. You are responsible for your own behaviour. Let the party begin!

  I decided to use Sunday afternoon at 1800 UTC/GMT as a starting time, as this time slot is relatively convenient for players on both sides of the Atlantic. When I looked at the calendar and saw that April Fool's Day happens to be on a Sunday, boom! There it is. I believe that inaugurating an event on a "holiday" is good Feng Shue. Overdrive! started on July 4th, 2011, for example.

  This event is structured exactly like the MTGO Modern format SE's: four rounds of Swiss pairings, with prizes to all 4-0 and 3-1 players. You may play all four rounds, win or lose. Each match win gives you three points. All pairings and standings will be generated using DCI Reporter.

  The sponsor for this event is ValueBot. All prizes will be in the form of bot credits at ValueBot. ValueBot's has a very large Modern stock, and has prices consistent with the major retailers. I was told to explicitly mention that there are many foils in stock! 

  Prizes will be determined by the number of entrants. There will be one ticket credit per player entry put into a pool, which will be split thusly:
  40% of pool split between all twelve point (4-0) players.
  60% of pool split between all nine point (3-1) players.

  Using SE #3567447 (which had 24 players) as an example, this would have resulted in the lone twelve point player receiving 9.6 tickets credit, with each of the seven nine point players receiving 2.05 tickets credit. 

  Using SE #3567381 (which had 16 players) as example number two, the undefeated player would have received 6.4 tickets credit, and the four one-loss players would have gotten 2.40 tickets credit each.

  Since ValueBot uses the latest in bot technology, these prizes will be added to the bot "automatically"; there is no need to go through the process of creating a credit entry.
 

  I asked the head honcho over at ValueBot about his bot, and what he hopes to get out this. He told me "Selection, quality service, fair prices, and giving back... It is always nice to give back via PREs.  To give you an idea about successful bots - you can see that 'brand' has a lot to do with it.  Brand is really just the name.  CardBot has the best brand by far.  Alphabot is quite strong as well.  It has a lot to do with the name, but a lot more to do with consistency and just getting noticed.  I'm opening a second ValueBot (ValueBot2) - which I actually just turned on today.  The goal would be to give both ValueBot and more importantly ValueBot2 some recognition to increase its brand awareness"
 

  Let me stress again that this is a limited seating event. There will be a total of twenty four seats available at any given event. You will be able to read all the "fine print" when the official post for the event goes up on the mothership after the downtime on March 28th. Many of you have already played in my, or other, PREs, and are familiar with sending in decklists, reporting results in a seperate chat room, etc. There will nothing new or unusual in those regards.

 

  I look forward to seeing you there! 

March Madness

  In the Modern World, it seems there's a never-ending font of weird and wacky decks. Driven by the forces of demented brewers locked in rooms with enough Dr. Pepper and Doritos to choke a small horse, some more decks make their entrance to the stage....

  Who doesn't love big green fatties? The game plan here is simple and straight forward: "Hulk smash!" This deck has very little in the way of main deck control, pretty much just Pridemage & Canonist. 

  While not really a new deck, I am presenting this as evidence. Evidence of what, I don't know. I just found it giggleworthy that Goblins made T8 in a PTQ.

  This was the "unknown deck" in last week's Winnipeg PTQ report. (The corrected results are shown below). On the surface, it looks a lot like Big Zoo with (Vengevine) jammed in, along with Faithless Looting to facilitate getting (Vengevine) into the graveyard. Looking closer, it's still Big Zoo with the Vine jammed in. And (Eternal Witness) for graveyard recursion. The only problem I see with this deck is consistency in getting (Vengevine) into the graveyard. 

  There's a reason you keep seeing _Batutinha_'s name in the SE lists: because he pays attention to the meta, and is contantly brewing tasty treats like this little RUG number. Honestly, I have no idea how to play this deck; I'm an aggro Timmy. So I just broke it down as best I could, and leave it up to you to figure it out.

GPT/PTQ Round-up

  This coming weekend is the final weekend of the current PTQ season. 

3606620 (3/24, 129 Players)
 GR Tron - rizer - 1st
 Storm - 2nd
 Hive Mind (T4)
 Jund (T4)
 Melira Pod (T8)
 UWB Delver (T8)
 Splinter Twin x2 (T8)

3606628 (3/25, 213 Players)
 Storm - Zygonn - 1st
 Storm - 2nd
 Affinity (T4)
 GR Tron (T4)
 GR Tron (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 Living End (T8)
 Jund (T8)

Allentown, PA (3/10, 32 Players)
 Affinity - Frank Skarren - 1st
 UR Tron - 2nd
 Aggro Loam (T4)
 UW Tron (T4)
 Storm (T8)
 Goblins (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 Fae (T8)

Berlin, DE (3/24, 82 Players)
 Storm - Mike Hofmann - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Storm (T4)
 Splinter Twin (T4)
 MBC (T8)
 Caw (T8)
 Affinity x2 (T8)

Brooklyn, NY #2 (3/18, 105 Players)
 Jund - William Eads - 1st
 UWB Delver - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 Aggro Loam (T4)
 Aggro Loam (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 UWR Delver (T8)
 Boros (T8)

Cedar Rapids, IA (3/17, 122 Players)
 Fae - Brandon Nelson - 1st
 UW Control - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 Living End (T4)
 UW Control (T8)
 RUG Delver x2(T8)
 Dredge (T8)

Certaldo, IT (3/25, 152 Players)
 Next Level Blue - Luca Ravagli - 1st
 RUG Delver - 2nd
 WB Tokens (T4)
 Melira Pod (T4)
 Bant (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 Affinity x2 (T8)

Coimbra, PT (3/17, 160 Players)
 Jund - Pedro Martinho - 1st
 Storm - 2nd
 Melira Pod (T4)
 Zoo (T4)
 Storm (T8)
 Melira Pod x2 (T8)
 Delverstorm (T8)

Henderson, NV (3/10, 81 Players)
 Splinter Twin - Nicholas Lassen - 1st
 UW Tron - 2nd
 Esper Gifts (T4)
 Splinter Twin (T4)
 Affinity (T8)
 Splinter Twin (T8)
 Caw (T8)
 Melira Pod (T8)

Honolulu, HI (3/10, 32 Players)
 Caw - Alex Ahia - 1st
 Splinterstorm - 2nd
 UW Tron (T4)
 Esper Control (T4)
 Fae (T8)
 Aggro Loam (T8)
 Splinterstorm (T8)
 WU Control (T8)

GPT Turin: Kloten, CH (3/11, 26 Players)
 Fae - Shen Haemmig - 1st
 Zoo - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 Storm (T4)

  Only the T4 was presented in the report.

Leeds, GB (3/17, ?? Players)
Caw - 1st
Caw x2 (T8)
Aggro Loam x3 (T8)
RUG Delver (T8)
Fae (T8)

  This was pieced together from player recollections and tweets. I'm still unclear as to any of the standings other than "Caw won". 

Leuven, BE (3/24, ?? Players)
 Fae - Christophe Gregoire - 1st
 RDW - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 UR Tron (T4)
 Summoning Trap (T8)
 RDW (T8)
 Splinter Twin x2 (T8)

Lodz, PO (3/17, 61 Players)
 Jund - Jakub Nowak - 1st
 Red Affinity - 2nd
 UWR Delver (T4)
 Jund (T4)
 Jund (T8)
 Zoo (T8)
 UR Tron (T8)
 Affinity (T8)

London, GB (3/24, ?? Players)
 5CC - Stuart Wright - 1st
 Aggro Loam - 2nd
 Splinter Twin (T4)
 Storm (T4)
 Jund (T8)
 Bant(T8)
 Aggro Loam (T8)
 Affinity (T8)

Marseille, FR (3/25, 82 Players)
 Splinter Twin - Paul Briceno - 1st
 GR Tron - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 Affinity (T4)
 Melira Pod (T8)
 Affinity (T8)
 Melira Pod (T8)
 Caw (T8)

Osaka, JP #1 (3/17, ?? Players)
 RUG Delver - H Tomoyuki - 1st
 UWB Delver - 2nd
 GR Tron (T4)
 Fae (T4)
 UWR Delver (T8)
 WB Tokens (T8)
 UGR Tron (T8)
 Jund (T8)

Phoenix, AZ (3/17, 103 Players)
 UWR Delver - Marc Lalague - 1st
 UWR Delver - 2nd
 UWR Delver x2 (T4)
 Aggro Loam (T8)
 Summoning Trap (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 Grixis Control (T8)

GPT Turin: Porto Sant'Elpidio, IT (3/4, 34 Players)
 Affinity - Christian Garbi - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Fae (T4)
 Jund (T4)
 Caw (T8)
 Hate Caw/Big Zoo mash-up (T8)
 Jund x2 (T8)

Seattle, WA #2 (3/17, 162 Players)
 Aggro Loam - Charles Wong - 1st
 UWR Delver - 2nd
 Jund x2 (T4)
 Aggro Loam x3 (T8)
 Storm (T8)
 Fae (T8)

Stockholm, SE (3/24, 83 Players)
 Caw - Patrik Thor - 1st
 Death Cloud - 2nd
 Affinity (T4)
 WB Tokens (T4)
 RUG Delver (T8)
 Melira Pod (T8)
 Splinter Twin x2 (T8)

Talinn, EE (3/25, 52 Players)
 Aggro Loam - Mikk Kaasik - 1st
 UW Tron - 2nd
 Affinity (T4)
 Fae (T4)
 UWR Delver (T8)
 Affinity (T4)
 Splinter Twin (T8)
 UW Tron (T8)

Therwil, CH (3/25, ?? Players)
 Affinity - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Jund (T4)
 Zoo (T4)
 UWR Delver x2 (T8)
 Jund (T8)
 Melira Pod (T8)

Torrelavega, ES (3/17, 65 Players)
 Jund - Alejandro Bermejo - 1st
 UR Fae - 2nd
 UWR Delver x2 (T4)
 UWR Delver (T8)
 Zoo x2 (T8)
 Splinter Twin (T8)

Winnipeg, CA (3/17, 70 Players)
 Splinter Twin - Brendan Kelin - 1st
 Death and Taxes - 2nd
 UW Tron (T4)
 RDW (T4)
 Jund (T8)
 UW Tron (T8)
 Fae (T8)
 Vengevine Zoo (T8)

  The "unknown" deck reported last week is another mashup: Vengevine jammed into Big Zoo.

Zagreb, HR (3/24, 78 Players)
 UWR Delver - Robin Dolar - 1st
 Jund - 2nd
 Splinter Twin (T4)
 Boros (T4)
 Karn Tron (T8)
 Summoning Trap (T8)
 Splinter Twin (T8)
 UW Tron (T8)

Break It Down!

  This may be your last time seeing these charts, other than as "historical perspective"; the PTQ season is quickly winding to a close. I'll also be able to a more leisurely look at the data, since it will have become static, rather than dynamic. While I have presented you with over one hundred twenty five PTQ results. including the fifty three that WotC has posted, there are at least two hundred more that I haven't been able to dig up. So any analyses I do on these numbers will be based on incomplete data.

    Remember, all chart images in my articles are "live", and will change as new information is added. Clicking on them will take you to the actual GoogleDocs spreadsheet that I use for tracking this data.

Sheer Speculation

  When DKA first came online, I mentioned some cards that made their impact felt in the Modern world immediately. Among them was Thalia:

"In the realms of Magic "Lore", I can see Thalia willingly allowing herself to fuse with a weakened Avacyn, and in doing so, ignite her spark; thus becoming Magic's first angel planeswalker. The sheer resulting power of a planeswalker archangel will turn the hunters into the hunted, and Innistrad's dark forces will find themselves scrambling for cover, driven to the brink of extinction as the humans once were. Looking at a close-up of her card art and the promo art for Avacyn Restored, their faces and hair color are almost identical. This may be why Thalia's card art shows her at such an unusual angle. Her flavor text (while it certainly doesn't prove anything) could support this theory. Of course, this is pure speculation, and is probably not going to happen."
 

  OK. Let me be straight up here. I pull from a lot of sources, including Gatherer. This includes comments I read while using Gatherer to research cards I'm writing about. I should point out that much of that paragraph was pulled - almost verbatim - from Gathering discussion about Thalia. So what? I liked the word choice, they echo my sentiments about Thalia, and why re-invent the wheel? When you steal from one source, it's plagiarism. When you steal from many sources, it's research. To get back on target:

  This morning, upon reading The Guardian, the Witch, and the Angel, my hope flared immediatley. Sorin, Lilly, and Garruk are already on Innistrad, and I recall statements to the effect of a new Planeswalker for AVR. Lilly wants Grislbrand's head on a platter. Garruk wants Lilly's head on a platter. A showdown at the Helvault! Woo hoo! Grand operatic melodrama fit for MTG! I hear the fluttering of rumorfly wings sighing through the æther already...

Overdrive! #39 Round-up

  Just as I was getting ready to post the decklists in the Overdrive! main thread, the power went out, and I had not saved any of my work! :( Since I was working on the desktop rather than the laptop, I now don't have the decklists from Overdrive! #39, nor do I have the chat logs to recopy them. At least GoogleDocs autosaves, so I have the archetypes and results; the best I can do is present it like a T4:

Hellione - Melira Pod - 1st
silence1186 - RW Lightning Shrine - 2nd
allstar997 - Death & Taxes (T4)
NO_Life - UW Polymorph (T4)

Eurodrive! #23 Round-up

  Won against Pod, Pod, WB Tokens, MBC

  Won against BR Control, Splinter Twin, WG Tokens, lost to Jund.

Semifinalists

  Won against GW Aggro, R(akdos)DW, lost to Jund

  Won against Simic Doubling, Kithkin, lost to MBC

Interesting Tidbits

  At this point, the rumor that "the winner of PTQ Prague is a twelve-year old kid, who also mullied to three and won in the semifinals against Splinter Twin" remains undocumented. So far I have only heard anecdotal confirmation that yes, there was a kid playing. As far as the "mully to three against Plinter Twin and win" portion goes, there is only anecdotal verification that there were mullys involved, with no numbers specified: "I was there. I didn't see the mulligan to 3 (was watching Loam and 5c-Pod at that point) but he mulliganned more than once. But the kid was 12 (looks like he's 8) and after winning game 1 in the finals vs aggro loam, he asked everyone watching: 'Hey, what format is being played in Barcelona?' Was very cute / funny."

  The Community Cup Challenge is just a few short months away. Time to start thinking about who you want to represent you (not me!) this year in the quest for the Hammy. 

  With the quarter coming to an end, an opportunity is here for me to tweak how I maintain my meta data. For example, next quarter, x/U/x Delver will be broken down, U/x/x Control will be broken down, etc. This will allow better nitpicking of the data.