Standard Results & First Spring Standings!

12 players came to do battle in the poorly air-conditioned SUB for both a chance to play Standard for the first time in nearly 3 months and an opportunity to get an early jump on the spring semester's league points. With this being the first Standard event at FIT since the release of Scars of Mirrodin, many of us wondered what kind of impact the release of Scars and the rotation of Shards of Alara would have on the format. It turned out to be quite significant, as many of the top decks were heavily based on the new set:

11/20/10 Top Finishers: Standard Constructed

1. 6-0 Quest White Weenie by Michael Carney

2. 4-2 Genesis Elves by Joe Hammond

3. 3-2 RUG Ramp by Dominic Casali

4. 3-2 Big Red by Michael Smith

It was a pretty diverse field, featuring a variety of tribes and mechanics from the last few sets, including Level Up, Landfall, Vampires, Eldrazi, and especially Infect. Three poison decks survived were in the field, and two of them survived the cut, along with the four decks listed above. However, in the end, it was more traditional damage-based strategies that made it to the top of the leaderboard. Most of my matches were quick and I actually paid attention to what everyone else was doing today (amazing, right? XD), so I have a decent write-up for you guys today.

In one semifinal, my red/blue/green landfall deck was paired against Joe's Elf ramp. Some early Lightning Bolts on mana producers and a particularly productive Oracle of Mul Daya led to a quick Frost Titan, who helped me survive a Genesis Wave by locking down a 12/12 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen to take home the first game. In game two, I resolved an Avenger of Zendikar, but could only get one land afterwards, and couldn't finish off Joe before his elephant army of Terastodon and friends took me out. Game 3 was quite anticlimactic, as I could not find a fourth land despite keeping 3 lands, Preordain, and Explore in my opening 7, and I got beat down by Terastodon and Emrakul without putting up much resistance.

The other semifinal pitted Michael Smith's Koth "Fire Truck" deck, which used expensive finishers like Wurmcoil Engine, Inferno Titan, and Destructive Force powered out by Koth of the Hammer, against Michael Carney's mono-white equipment deck, which featured several ways to cheat powerful equipment onto efficient creatures. Carney took the first game with a barrage of zero-mana artifact creatures, Glint Hawks, and Kor Skyfishers that set off Quest for the Holy Relic fairly early and got Argentum Armor online before the big red deck could get going. However, Smith's transformational "Race Car" sideboard helped him keep pace in game 2 to even the match. But in the end, Carney's sideboard reinforcements - a pair of Kor Firewalkers - helped him squeak out the rubber game.

Michael took on Joe in the finals, which immediately turned into a race situation, where Joe tried to ramp into fatties before Michael killed him with efficient flying beaters. Michael brought a team of Squadron Hawks to the race, as well as two Kor Skyfishers, who were kept in check by Joe's pair of Contagion Clasps. However, Stoneforge Mystic came down for Michael, fetching up the mighty Argentum Armor. Joe proliferated his Everflowing Chalices and passed the turn at 7 life, two mana short of casting his Emrakul. "It's over if you have Outfitter," he said warily. Michael used his Mystic to put the Armor into play, revealed the Kor Outfitter in his hand, and they were on to game 2. Game 2 featured lots of mulligans, with Joe keeping 6 and Michael keeping 5. Unfortunately for Joe, this game turned out to be scheduled during the Kor Skyfisher Thanksgiving parade, and the frequent bouncing of withered permanents made his Contagion Clasps and even Contagion Engine fairly ineffective. Michael put down an early Quest for the Holy Relic, and quickly put it up to 5 counters thanks to his Glint Hawk and Skyfishers. When a Skyfisher picked up the Armor and blew up an Everflowing Chalice, there was nothing left but the crying (and the destruction of an unlucky Contagion Clasp).

This was a fun event and hopefully a good precursor to the Standard events we'll have for the main and side events of the top 8. Standard is surprisingly diverse and I think most or even all of us have been enjoying the format. Here's the first look at the Spring Standings:

1. 7 - Michael Carney (1)

2. 6 - Joe Hammond (1)

3. 5 - Michael Smith (1)

4. 4 - Jason D'Mellow (1)

5. 3 - Kevin Crowley (1)

6. 2 - David Kim (1)

7. 1 - Kevin Hoover (1)

7. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

7. 1 - Steven Nelson (1)

7. 1 - Chris Pear (1)

7. 1 - Noah Senzel (1)

If you didn't get to earn any spring points, you will still get two more chances this semester - once at the Friday night draft next week and again at events in the top 8 invitational (which is Thursday, December 2, the first study day). However, the casual event will be rescheduled (or possibly cancelled), as I will be unavailable that Saturday. Check the Upcoming Events section of the site occasionally for more details and updates on those events. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

- Dom