Pro Tour Premonitions
Will Price | June 1, 2009 | 5:34 pmPro Tour Honolulu is right around the corner, and this time the format is Alara block constructed. Cascade, the signature mechanic from Alara Reborn, has had a huge impact on Standard since its release. Will Cascade be showing up in the top 8 this weekend? If the results from the Season 2 Magic Online 2009 Championship Series are an indicator of what is good in block right now, then the real question is whether or a not there will be a deck in the top 8 that does not feature at least one set of Cascade spells.
Magic Online 2009 Championship Series: Season 2 <– Click here for deck lists!
32 Bloodbraid Elf
22 Bultiminous Blast
9 Enlisted Wurm
2 Captured Sunlight
The top 8 decks averaged a little over 8 Cascade spells each! 7 of the decks also featured some number of Blightning to Cascade into. See also: Sprouting Thrinax, Madrush Cyclops, Maelstrom Pulse, Terminate and Putrid Leech as likely spells to come flying into play at no cost this weekend.
~WillPoP
I expected to see more Ajani in those lists.
Jund seems like the obvious choice with Elf and Blast in its colours, followed by Naya I spose.
I wonder (with any testing of course) if a Grixis control deck with Double Negative and Cruel Untimatum might find a home in the metagame?
I’ve been playing a bunch of Block on MODO myself, though mostly in the tournament practice room. It’s funny, I’ve played against decks like these, but I didn’t really peg them to be all that strong. Almost all the decks in that top 8 are either BRG or GWR midrange, whereas I see a bunch more Artifact Aggro, Exalted weenie, Unearth and control decks than are represented by those figures. I’ve been running UWB control with artifact finishers and I feel like it’s pretty strong, even against these. What this result tells me, though, is that it’s probably pretty safe to run even 2-3 Celestial Purge MD, and Double Negative seems to be the one of the, if not THE best spell in this format. I’m going to see if I can’t “break” this format.