Esper Human – Esper Midrange
Takao, Shota
2nd place at GP Shizuoka 2013 Top 8
Lands (25)
Creatures (24)
Other Spells (11)
Sideboard
This deck got a lot of heads turning at Grand Prix Shizuoka on Dec. 22nd. Esper Midrandge or Humans piloted by Shota Takao, so named for its interactions between its humans paired up with Xathrid Necromancer. It is based on the more recent Orzhov Midrange strategy that evolved out of Paul Rietzl Orzhov Midrange at Pro Tour Theros. Takao was running into problems against Pack Rat so he added blue for Detention Sphere which also give him access to Lyev Skyknight. Adding the third color did not make the mana worse by taking full advantage of all the duals in Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Temple of Deceit and Temple of Silence.
Esper Midrange has a strong match up against the three major decks in the format: Mono-Blue Devotion, Mono-Black Devotion, and Blue-White Control. The interaction between Whip of Erebos with Obzedat, Ghost Council is very important in these matches. You use the Whip to bring Obzedat back into play from the graveyard, then by stacking the triggers properly you can exile Obzedat to his trigger and return him back into play on your next turn.
As two-drops Takao opted to make a metagame call with a singleton Cartel Aristocrat which is strong against Domestication used mostly in Mono-Blue Devotion, Imposing Sovereign to slow down aggro decks and Daring Skyjek to speed up the clock especially when paired up with Lyev Skyknight, Desecration Demon or even Mutavault to activate Battalion. Adding a set of Detention Sphere allows him to drop the Hero’s Downfall that can get awkward to cast on the double black. Accompanied with a singleton of these removal spells Doom Blade, Ultimate Price and Far // Away again a metagame call.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa can be devastating against white and black based decks like this one, but Takao has answers like a Far // Away and two Supreme Verdicts in the main as well as access to Thoughtseize and another Far // Away and Supreme Verdict in the sideboard. Imposing Sovereign is also interesting as it stops Blood Baron but only for the turn it was summoned.
Overall Shato Takao got a lot of attention with this deck as it kept winning him round after round giving him a 14-1 record going into Quarterfinals, but finally losing in the finals to the GP Shizuoka champion Ryo Nakada piloting Orzhov Human.
Orzhov Human – White Weenie
Ryo Nakada
1st place GP Shizuoka 2013
Lands (22)
Creatures (29)
Other Spells (9)
Sideboard
Ryo Nakada piloted this Orzhov Human list to take down the final Grand Prix of the year in Shizuoka. The first thing we notice about the deck is that it is basically a White Weenie deck with a splash color similar to the Boros ‘white weenie’ that Ben Lundquist used to win SCG L.A. in November. This time we see a black splash instead of red for Xathrid Necromancer and Orzhov Charm in the main as well as a plethora of answers in the sideboard.
Generally White Weenie comes out of the gates fast, but then is weak to sweepers like Supreme Verdict and Mizzium Mortars. Enter Xathrid Necromancer which can be dropped on turn 3 making your opponents sweepers awkward to use by leaving an army of 2/2 Zombies behind to deal with. The Orzhov Charm in the main is used as cheap instant removal to clear the path for your team or can also be used to bring back a 1-drop in your graveyard onto the battlefield. The black becomes more then a splash once you look into the sideboard, with all black except for a singleton Pithing Needle. Bringing in Dark Betrayal against the strong and popular Mono-Black Devotion decks. A fourth Xathrid Necromancer to use against sweepers from UW and Esper control decks. Profit // Loss against the mirror and other popular ‘White Weenie” versions and probably also good against burn decks like Boros Burn. I imagine the Sin Collectors are used to get your opponents removal and sweepers. The Thoughtseize and Pithing Needle is the decks only answers to planeswalkers.
This version of White Weenie curves out almost like its predecessor with the exception of a turn 3 Xathrid Necromancer instead of Ajani, Caller of the Pride or Frontline Medic. Orzhov Humans starts off with a turn 1 Boros Elite, Dryad Militant or Soldier of the Pantheon followed on turn 2 with a Daring Skyjek, a Precinct Captain or an Imposing Sovereign and finally comes turn 3 with a Banisher Priest to clear the path for more beats or Xathrid Necromancer to “protect the team”. Spear of Heliod helps speed your clock by pumping your team and can act as removal against big threats. And in classic White Weenie fashion Brave the Elements protects your team against targeted spells or helps push through an alpha strike for the win.
Rakdos Aggro (R/B)
Luis Navas
28 creatures
10 other spells
15 sideboard cards
Rakdos is back with Madcap Skills, Spike Jester and Rakdos Cackler taking us back to Return to Ravnica drafts. That’s some pretty quick beats when your getting hit turn 2 for 5, of course they’ll probably just burn it away. This is why it’s all about timing, dropping the madcap skills when its right just like in RTR draft. The black devotion Mogis’s Marauder is also a good card in draft and can end up a win condition even in constructed. Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch bringing out the beats and giving haste to its plethora of unleashed monster mash. This was definitely a great deck for Halloween…
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am stuck in the middle with you!
