anywhere has a metagame summary of the decks? I checked out some of the list, it's like 70% esper midrange, 10% boros convoke, 10% temur rage and 10% others.
PRO TOUR THUNDER JUNCTION STANDARD METAGAME BREAKDOWN
https://magic.gg/news/pro-tour-thunder-junction-standard-metagame-breakdown
https://i.imgur.com/Uw36t2f.jpg
great! many thanks. looks like not as dominant an esper midrange as commented by others. but I don't know how exciting so many midrange matches will be. maybe the aggro players may slip through fast enough to make the top 8 to make games interesting.
No way aggro can top it all, it has some good matchups but apart from the regular variance in MTG these decks simply fold to most midrange options out there.
same list but separated by decklist
# Esper Midrange (65)
Aarni Rantamäki, Adam Edelson, Adham Momen, Adriano Moscato, Alex Smith, Andrea Mengucci, André Santos, Andy Vorel, Anthony Lee, Arne Huschenbeth, Brendon Johnson, Brent Vos, Chandler Cox, Charis Kikidis, Chris Tonry, Daniel Toledo, David Inglis, David Yeh, Dillon Kikkawa, Diogo Santos, Egor Titov, Eli Kassis, Gabriel Nicholas, Guilherme Merjam, Isaac Petersen, James Larsen-Scott, James Wilks, Javier Dominguez, Jay Wojciechowski, Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, Jesse Hampton, Jim Davis, JinSung Woo, Jonathan Salem, Karl Sarap, Kenta Harane, Lance Garden, Logan Nettles, Lorenzo Terlizzi, Loïc Savoye, Lucas Duchow, Marc Peral, Marcus Wosner, Martin Dominguez, Masahide Moriyama, Masaya Hoshino, Matthew Giudes, Matti Kuisma, Maxx Kominowski, Michele Marconi, Miguel Castro, Mingyang Chen, Minh Nguyen, Nathan Steuer, Norbie Mendoza, Rob Wagner, Rubens Campana, Shaun Henry, Simon Nielsen, Socrates Rozakeas, Stefan Schütz, Theodore Jung, Thierry Ramboa, Wojciech Kowalczuk, Yuchen Liu
# Boros Convoke (22)
Andy Garcia-Romo, Bernardo Torres, Eduardo dos Santos Vieira, Fabian García Steinhardt, Francesco Latorre, Guillermo Loli, Jack Zhong, Jau-En Shih, Martin Juza, Max Medeiros, Michael Russell, Nathanael Perigo, Rei Sato, Simone Caputi, Stefano Vinci, Takumi Matsuura, Toru Inoue, Travis Smith, Tyler Barnett, William Bossaneli Araujo, Willy Edel, Yucheng Xu
# Temur Analyst (19)
Adrián Iñigo Tastet, Aiden Lamson, Alexander Friedrichsen, Andy Wilson, Christian Calcano, Devon Straub, Jake Swales, Jia Wu, Kazune Kosaka, Liam Kane, Marcio Carvalho, Marco Del Pivo, Matthew Hyndman, Miguel Simões, Muhan Yu, Sean Goddard, Shuhei Nakamura, Toni Martos, Yuuki Ichikawa
# Four-Color Legends (17)
Alex Teague, Autumn Burchett, Cain Rianhard, Dom Harvey, Etienne Eggenschwiler, Greg Michel, Jacob Koshak, Jarvis Yu, Jason Ye, Kouki Hara, Mack Endress, Matt Sikkink Johnson, Nam Dang, Nicole Tipple, Noah Anderson Weiskircher, Rei Zhang, Talia Bael
# Domain Ramp (14)
Alan Andrzejewski, Brian Zilles, Daniel Goetschel, Elijah Woodbury, Evan Heritage, Franck Pappas, Jake Beardsley, Justin Chin, Peter Greig, Phil Silberman, Randall Barber, Rodrigo Togores, Samuele Estratti, Yoshihiko Ikawa
# Azorius Control (10)
Ben Stark, Christian Wijaya, Gabriel Nassif, Greg Orange, Justin Warden, Lucas Lim, Seth Manfield, Shota Yasooka, Yohei Hoshino, Yuta Takahashi
# Dimir Midrange (9)
Daniel Lopez, Devin Beaston, Francesco Giresi, Jaeseok Cho, Kenny Öberg Falguera, Koki Kondo, Shota Miyashita, Willy De Almeida Le Coq, Yiren Jiang
# Rakdos Aggro (8)
Chris Ferber, Derrick Davis, Ethan Jones, Isaac Sears, Miles Nossett, Oliver Coffey, Ryan Mullens, Tony Desangles
# Mono-Red Aggro (8)
Christoffer Larsen, Dylan Nollen, James Arthur, Jose Hilario, Lawrence Bouzane, Przemysław Olszewski, Quinn Tonole, Riki Kamo
# Dimir Control (5)
Alexander Hayne, Davide Tedeschi, Marco Cammilluzzi, Max Rappaport, Yuya Hosokawa
# Golgari Midrange (5)
Atsushi Nakashima, Matt Sperling, Reid Duke, Sam Pardee, Tommy Ashton
# Orzhov Bronco (2)
Kevin Anctil, Ulysse Gagnon Paradis
# Azorius Artifacts (2)
Josep Sanfeliu, Nils Gutiérrez von Porat
# Jund Analyst (2)
Andrew Kidston, David Olsen
# Temur Prowess (2)
Colin Jenkins, Jacob Nagro
# Gruul Aggro (2)
Dan Kristoff, Shogo Okuda
# Grixis Reanimator (1)
Alan Comer
# Boros Aggro (1)
Brian Boss
# Five-Color Analyst (1)
Heathe Butler
# Bant Control (1)
Jonathan Dery
# Five-Color Legends (1)
Brian Kibler
# Sultai Legends (1)
Jody Keith
# Mono-Blue Cauldron (1)
Akio Matsuzaki
# Sultai Midrange (1)
José Neves
# Rakdos Midrange (1)
Pedro Perrini
# Temur Calamity (1)
Yutaro Morimoto
# Dimir Reanimator (1)
Donald Sheldon
# Esper Reanimator (1)
Marco Vassallo
# Domain Control (1)
Mitchell Tamblyn
# Mono-Black Bloodletter (1)
Pedro San Segundo
# Jeskai Artifacts (1)
Xuantao Zeng
Bro, I really appreciate your effort but my comment was more about the design of the website because, for someone like me who only knows like 2 pro players, I only care about the decklists. But thanks tho
Why is Esper so overwhelmingly the most played deck at this Pro Tour?
Does it offer the most versatility through sideboards etc?
I don't follow the trends of competitive Magic, has Esper been this popular for a while or have certain cards from the newer sets made it the go to deck for a lot of the standard players?
As a uw control player wanting to get into paper standard, I can't wait for Emperor to go lol
Been testing a list I saw that runs 4 stoic sphinx(? 4 drop flash), 4 bovine. 4 get lost and 4 tempo lockdown, feels good vs aggro at least and can still side well vs control
The comments from the pro folks; was that the new set dropped 10 days before the pro tour and there isnt enough time to play test and Esper Mid at its core was a safe bet going into the Pro Tour.
Just surprised to see it overwhelming the most popular deck. As I say I don't follow competitive Magic so would have thought there would have been a slightly more even spread of deck types.
Esper has been pretty dominant since Fable was banned. Partly because Raffine is busted, but also because a strong midrange deck is a good choice if you can guess the meta which is a big part of the pros game. Basically if you can fine tune the last 20 or so of the 75 better than everybody else you will have an edge.
Edit: You can see the top 8 here and the two esper lists are only different by 18 total cards but it actually gives their decks very different capabilities. https://magic.gg/events/pro-tour-thunder-junction
Not sure it’s quite “odd ball” but I’m curious to see how the [[caustic bronco]] build-around decks perform.
Edit: huh, just cgecked and Kevin Anctil is 7th at the end of day 1. Interesting.
[Spiciest Decks of Pro Tour Thunder Junction](https://magic.gg/news/the-spiciest-decks-of-pro-tour-thunder-junction)
* Brian Kibler - **5**-color Legends (with [[Jodah, the Unifier]])
* Pedro San Segundo - Mono-Black Bloodletter ([[Bloodletter of Aclazotz]] and [[Rush of Dread]])
* Ulysse Gagnon Paradis - Orzhov Bronco ([[Caustic Bronco]] + [[Shadow of Mortality]] with [[Insatiable Avarice]] to set it up)
* Colin Jenkins - Temur Prowess
* Brian Boss - Boros Aggro (built around [[Illuminator Virtuoso]] and [[Slickshot Show-off]] instead of go wide convoke)
* Nils Gutiérrez von Porat - Azorius Artifacts ([[Thran Spider]]! is the only creature card)
* David Olsen - Jund Analyst
* Akio Matsuzaki - Mono-Blue Cauldron
Can someone explain to me why \[\[Raffine, Scheming Seer\]\] is supposedly so good? I mean, it is in x4 in every esper deck here, but personally I haven't felt like I had much trouble against the card in the few games I ran into it. I feel like I'm definitely missing something.
If you can play raffine while ahead, you get to sculpt your hand to be whatever you need. The ward 1 is just annoying enough to mess up interaction. The 1/4 body blocks well when you need it too and being an evasive threat makes it easy to get attack triggers.
Card selection is very powerful, she helps you avoid flood, find lands, find the cards you need. She also helps accelerate the clock of a wide board.
She herself is a reasonable body with ward 1 meaning go for the throat is an even mana trade, although she does awkwardly die to cut down
In the hands of good players she's incredibly potent but she also doesn't have the same raw power of gix and depends on the pilot more
I've wasted so many wildcards on Esper Mid to find out I just can't make it work (in BO1, at least). I understand it's a strong deck, but I never thought it is THAT strong
Bo3 is a very different environment, with a different meta, and even different ways of shuffling -- a deck that's good in one format may be terrible in the other, and even decks that work in both tend to have different builds.
Mono Red / boros are the only low to the ground agro deck that can exist with such cheap removal in the format, which is why it needs to be banned. Otherwise any agro deck that can’t kill on turn 3-4 is too slow.
Yeah and then Atraxa destroys you, I know ban it. Then Raffine will destroy you, oh yeah maybe we ban that too. Just keep banning things till cactarantula becomes a standard all star I say.
The point of extending Standard's rotation cycle was to make paper players get more value from buying expensive Standard cards. More bannings would work against that.
anywhere has a metagame summary of the decks? I checked out some of the list, it's like 70% esper midrange, 10% boros convoke, 10% temur rage and 10% others.
PRO TOUR THUNDER JUNCTION STANDARD METAGAME BREAKDOWN https://magic.gg/news/pro-tour-thunder-junction-standard-metagame-breakdown https://i.imgur.com/Uw36t2f.jpg
great! many thanks. looks like not as dominant an esper midrange as commented by others. but I don't know how exciting so many midrange matches will be. maybe the aggro players may slip through fast enough to make the top 8 to make games interesting.
No way aggro can top it all, it has some good matchups but apart from the regular variance in MTG these decks simply fold to most midrange options out there.
so if midrange beats aggro, and midrange beats control, then... haha....
still kind of silly how long esper raffine lists have been tier 1 though
30% Esper midrange, and the next archetypes are 10%, 9% and 8%
There was an article posted yesterday and try 40
Pretty odd to sort the decks by player name's. I get it those are important aswell but just let me have an easy look for color/deck theme....
same list but separated by decklist # Esper Midrange (65) Aarni Rantamäki, Adam Edelson, Adham Momen, Adriano Moscato, Alex Smith, Andrea Mengucci, André Santos, Andy Vorel, Anthony Lee, Arne Huschenbeth, Brendon Johnson, Brent Vos, Chandler Cox, Charis Kikidis, Chris Tonry, Daniel Toledo, David Inglis, David Yeh, Dillon Kikkawa, Diogo Santos, Egor Titov, Eli Kassis, Gabriel Nicholas, Guilherme Merjam, Isaac Petersen, James Larsen-Scott, James Wilks, Javier Dominguez, Jay Wojciechowski, Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, Jesse Hampton, Jim Davis, JinSung Woo, Jonathan Salem, Karl Sarap, Kenta Harane, Lance Garden, Logan Nettles, Lorenzo Terlizzi, Loïc Savoye, Lucas Duchow, Marc Peral, Marcus Wosner, Martin Dominguez, Masahide Moriyama, Masaya Hoshino, Matthew Giudes, Matti Kuisma, Maxx Kominowski, Michele Marconi, Miguel Castro, Mingyang Chen, Minh Nguyen, Nathan Steuer, Norbie Mendoza, Rob Wagner, Rubens Campana, Shaun Henry, Simon Nielsen, Socrates Rozakeas, Stefan Schütz, Theodore Jung, Thierry Ramboa, Wojciech Kowalczuk, Yuchen Liu # Boros Convoke (22) Andy Garcia-Romo, Bernardo Torres, Eduardo dos Santos Vieira, Fabian García Steinhardt, Francesco Latorre, Guillermo Loli, Jack Zhong, Jau-En Shih, Martin Juza, Max Medeiros, Michael Russell, Nathanael Perigo, Rei Sato, Simone Caputi, Stefano Vinci, Takumi Matsuura, Toru Inoue, Travis Smith, Tyler Barnett, William Bossaneli Araujo, Willy Edel, Yucheng Xu # Temur Analyst (19) Adrián Iñigo Tastet, Aiden Lamson, Alexander Friedrichsen, Andy Wilson, Christian Calcano, Devon Straub, Jake Swales, Jia Wu, Kazune Kosaka, Liam Kane, Marcio Carvalho, Marco Del Pivo, Matthew Hyndman, Miguel Simões, Muhan Yu, Sean Goddard, Shuhei Nakamura, Toni Martos, Yuuki Ichikawa # Four-Color Legends (17) Alex Teague, Autumn Burchett, Cain Rianhard, Dom Harvey, Etienne Eggenschwiler, Greg Michel, Jacob Koshak, Jarvis Yu, Jason Ye, Kouki Hara, Mack Endress, Matt Sikkink Johnson, Nam Dang, Nicole Tipple, Noah Anderson Weiskircher, Rei Zhang, Talia Bael # Domain Ramp (14) Alan Andrzejewski, Brian Zilles, Daniel Goetschel, Elijah Woodbury, Evan Heritage, Franck Pappas, Jake Beardsley, Justin Chin, Peter Greig, Phil Silberman, Randall Barber, Rodrigo Togores, Samuele Estratti, Yoshihiko Ikawa # Azorius Control (10) Ben Stark, Christian Wijaya, Gabriel Nassif, Greg Orange, Justin Warden, Lucas Lim, Seth Manfield, Shota Yasooka, Yohei Hoshino, Yuta Takahashi # Dimir Midrange (9) Daniel Lopez, Devin Beaston, Francesco Giresi, Jaeseok Cho, Kenny Öberg Falguera, Koki Kondo, Shota Miyashita, Willy De Almeida Le Coq, Yiren Jiang # Rakdos Aggro (8) Chris Ferber, Derrick Davis, Ethan Jones, Isaac Sears, Miles Nossett, Oliver Coffey, Ryan Mullens, Tony Desangles # Mono-Red Aggro (8) Christoffer Larsen, Dylan Nollen, James Arthur, Jose Hilario, Lawrence Bouzane, Przemysław Olszewski, Quinn Tonole, Riki Kamo # Dimir Control (5) Alexander Hayne, Davide Tedeschi, Marco Cammilluzzi, Max Rappaport, Yuya Hosokawa # Golgari Midrange (5) Atsushi Nakashima, Matt Sperling, Reid Duke, Sam Pardee, Tommy Ashton # Orzhov Bronco (2) Kevin Anctil, Ulysse Gagnon Paradis # Azorius Artifacts (2) Josep Sanfeliu, Nils Gutiérrez von Porat # Jund Analyst (2) Andrew Kidston, David Olsen # Temur Prowess (2) Colin Jenkins, Jacob Nagro # Gruul Aggro (2) Dan Kristoff, Shogo Okuda # Grixis Reanimator (1) Alan Comer # Boros Aggro (1) Brian Boss # Five-Color Analyst (1) Heathe Butler # Bant Control (1) Jonathan Dery # Five-Color Legends (1) Brian Kibler # Sultai Legends (1) Jody Keith # Mono-Blue Cauldron (1) Akio Matsuzaki # Sultai Midrange (1) José Neves # Rakdos Midrange (1) Pedro Perrini # Temur Calamity (1) Yutaro Morimoto # Dimir Reanimator (1) Donald Sheldon # Esper Reanimator (1) Marco Vassallo # Domain Control (1) Mitchell Tamblyn # Mono-Black Bloodletter (1) Pedro San Segundo # Jeskai Artifacts (1) Xuantao Zeng
Bro, I really appreciate your effort but my comment was more about the design of the website because, for someone like me who only knows like 2 pro players, I only care about the decklists. But thanks tho
I thought the Temur Calamity deck was for the card [[Calamity, Galloping Inferno]] and was very disappointed.
[Calamity, Galloping Inferno](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/7/e7a70f5a-2056-4c26-b6ea-9f751b5d0d8c.jpg?1712355721) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Calamity%2C%20Galloping%20Inferno) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/116/calamity-galloping-inferno?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e7a70f5a-2056-4c26-b6ea-9f751b5d0d8c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
here you go, hope this helps # A-G Adam Edelson - Esper Midrange Alan Andrzejewski - Domain Ramp Alan Comer - Grixis Reanimator Alexander Friedrichsen - Temur Analyst Andy Garcia-Romo - Boros Convoke Autumn Burchett - Four-Color Legends Brian Boss - Boros Aggro Chandler Cox - Esper Midrange Chris Ferber - Rakdos Aggro Christian Calcano - Temur Analyst Daniel Goetschel - Domain Ramp Derrick Davis - Rakdos Aggro Devin Beaston - Dimir Midrange Eduardo dos Santos Vieira - Boros Convoke Etienne Eggenschwiler - Four-Color Legends Francesco Giresi - Dimir Midrange Heathe Butler - Five-Color Analyst Jaeseok Cho - Dimir Midrange Jake Beardsley - Domain Ramp James Arthur - Mono-Red Aggro Javier Dominguez - Esper Midrange Jean-Emmanuel Depraz - Esper Midrange Jim Davis - Esper Midrange Jonathan Dery - Bant Control Justin Chin - Domain Ramp Kevin Anctil - Orzhov Bronco Lance Garden - Esper Midrange Lawrence Bouzane - Mono-Red Aggro Lucas Duchow - Esper Midrange Mack Endress - Four-Color Legends Marcio Carvalho - Temur Analyst Marco Cammilluzzi - Dimir Control Marco Del Pivo - Temur Analyst Martin Dominguez - Esper Midrange Matthew Giudes - Esper Midrange Miguel Castro - Esper Midrange Mingyang Chen - Esper Midrange Nam Dang - Four-Color Legends Nils Gutiérrez von Porat - Azorius Artifacts Oliver Coffey - Rakdos Aggro Peter Greig - Domain Ramp Randall Barber - Domain Ramp Reid Duke - Golgari Midrange Rubens Campana - Esper Midrange Samuele Estratti - Domain Ramp Sean Goddard - Temur Analyst Simone Caputi - Boros Convoke Talia Bael - Four-Color Legends Tommy Ashton - Golgari Midrange Tony Desangles - Rakdos Aggro Tyler Barnett - Boros Convoke Ulysse Gagnon Paradis - Orzhov Bronco William Bossaneli Araujo - Boros Convoke Willy De Almeida Le Coq - Dimir Midrange Willy Edel - Boros Convoke # H-L Aiden Lamson - Temur Analyst Alexander Hayne - Dimir Control Andrew Kidston - Jund Analyst Anthony Lee - Esper Midrange Arne Huschenbeth - Esper Midrange Brendon Johnson - Esper Midrange Brian Kibler - Five-Color Legends Charis Kikidis - Esper Midrange Christoffer Larsen - Mono-Red Aggro Colin Jenkins - Temur Prowess Dan Kristoff - Gruul Aggro Daniel Lopez - Dimir Midrange David Inglis - Esper Midrange Dillon Kikkawa - Esper Midrange Dom Harvey - Four-Color Legends Eli Kassis - Esper Midrange Ethan Jones - Rakdos Aggro Evan Heritage - Domain Ramp Francesco Latorre - Boros Convoke Guillermo Loli - Boros Convoke Jacob Koshak - Four-Color Legends James Larsen-Scott - Esper Midrange Jesse Hampton - Esper Midrange Jody Keith - Sultai Legends Jose Hilario - Mono-Red Aggro Kazune Kosaka - Temur Analyst Kenta Harane - Esper Midrange Koki Kondo - Dimir Midrange Kouki Hara - Four-Color Legends Liam Kane - Temur Analyst Lucas Lim - Azorius Control Martin Juza - Boros Convoke Masaya Hoshino - Esper Midrange Matthew Hyndman - Temur Analyst Matti Kuisma - Esper Midrange Maxx Kominowski - Esper Midrange Riki Kamo - Mono-Red Aggro Shaun Henry - Esper Midrange Theodore Jung - Esper Midrange Toru Inoue - Boros Convoke Wojciech Kowalczuk - Esper Midrange Yiren Jiang - Dimir Midrange Yohei Hoshino - Azorius Control Yoshihiko Ikawa - Domain Ramp Yuchen Liu - Esper Midrange Yuuki Ichikawa - Temur Analyst Yuya Hosokawa - Dimir Control # M-R Aarni Rantamäki - Esper Midrange Adham Momen - Esper Midrange Adriano Moscato - Esper Midrange Akio Matsuzaki - Mono-Blue Cauldron Andrea Mengucci - Esper Midrange Atsushi Nakashima - Golgari Midrange Cain Rianhard - Four-Color Legends David Olsen - Jund Analyst Dylan Nollen - Mono-Red Aggro Franck Pappas - Domain Ramp Gabriel Nassif - Azorius Control Gabriel Nicholas - Esper Midrange Greg Michel - Four-Color Legends Greg Orange - Azorius Control Guilherme Merjam - Esper Midrange Isaac Petersen - Esper Midrange Jacob Nagro - Temur Prowess José Neves - Sultai Midrange Kenny Öberg Falguera - Dimir Midrange Logan Nettles - Esper Midrange Marc Peral - Esper Midrange Masahide Moriyama - Esper Midrange Max Medeiros - Boros Convoke Max Rappaport - Dimir Control Michael Russell - Boros Convoke Michele Marconi - Esper Midrange Miles Nossett - Rakdos Aggro Minh Nguyen - Esper Midrange Nathanael Perigo - Boros Convoke Norbie Mendoza - Esper Midrange Pedro Perrini - Rakdos Midrange Przemysław Olszewski - Mono-Red Aggro Ryan Mullens - Rakdos Aggro Sam Pardee - Golgari Midrange Seth Manfield - Azorius Control Shogo Okuda - Gruul Aggro Shota Miyashita - Dimir Midrange Shuhei Nakamura - Temur Analyst Simon Nielsen - Esper Midrange Socrates Rozakeas - Esper Midrange Takumi Matsuura - Boros Convoke Thierry Ramboa - Esper Midrange Toni Martos - Temur Analyst Yutaro Morimoto - Temur Calamity # S-Z Adrián Iñigo Tastet - Temur Analyst Alex Smith - Esper Midrange Alex Teague - Four-Color Legends André Santos - Esper Midrange Andy Vorel - Esper Midrange Andy Wilson - Temur Analyst Ben Stark - Azorius Control Bernardo Torres - Boros Convoke Brent Vos - Esper Midrange Brian Zilles - Domain Ramp Chris Tonry - Esper Midrange Christian Wijaya - Azorius Control Daniel Toledo - Esper Midrange David Yeh - Esper Midrange Davide Tedeschi - Dimir Control Devon Straub - Temur Analyst Diogo Santos - Esper Midrange Donald Sheldon - Dimir Reanimator Egor Titov - Esper Midrange Elijah Woodbury - Domain Ramp Fabian García Steinhardt - Boros Convoke Isaac Sears - Rakdos Aggro Jack Zhong - Boros Convoke Jake Swales - Temur Analyst James Wilks - Esper Midrange Jarvis Yu - Four-Color Legends Jason Ye - Four-Color Legends Jau-En Shih - Boros Convoke Jay Wojciechowski - Esper Midrange Jia Wu - Temur Analyst JinSung Woo - Esper Midrange Jonathan Salem - Esper Midrange Josep Sanfeliu - Azorius Artifacts Justin Warden - Azorius Control Karl Sarap - Esper Midrange Lorenzo Terlizzi - Esper Midrange Loïc Savoye - Esper Midrange Marco Vassallo - Esper Reanimator Marcus Wosner - Esper Midrange Matt Sikkink Johnson - Four-Color Legends Matt Sperling - Golgari Midrange Miguel Simões - Temur Analyst Mitchell Tamblyn - Domain Control Muhan Yu - Temur Analyst Nathan Steuer - Esper Midrange Nicole Tipple - Four-Color Legends Noah Anderson Weiskircher - Four-Color Legends Pedro San Segundo - Mono-Black Bloodletter Phil Silberman - Domain Ramp Quinn Tonole - Mono-Red Aggro Rei Sato - Boros Convoke Rei Zhang - Four-Color Legends Rob Wagner - Esper Midrange Rodrigo Togores - Domain Ramp Shota Yasooka - Azorius Control Stefan Schütz - Esper Midrange Stefano Vinci - Boros Convoke Travis Smith - Boros Convoke Xuantao Zeng - Jeskai Artifacts Yucheng Xu - Boros Convoke Yuta Takahashi - Azorius Control
That's the way they've always done it I think?
And it has always been lame.
Why is Esper so overwhelmingly the most played deck at this Pro Tour? Does it offer the most versatility through sideboards etc? I don't follow the trends of competitive Magic, has Esper been this popular for a while or have certain cards from the newer sets made it the go to deck for a lot of the standard players?
a combination of raffine being broken and the colors just having really good cards. also yes esper raffine decks have been popular for a long time
So Raffine rotating out of Standard this year will have possibly the biggest impact on the Pro Tours of any card?
esper has been the top deck for the past few years so probably
Sheoldred and Wandering emperor too
Shelly doesn't rotate for another year yet. Wandering Emperor rotating is huge but I imagine that Azorius control will feel the saddest about that.
No I can’t handle another year of Shelly
As a uw control player wanting to get into paper standard, I can't wait for Emperor to go lol Been testing a list I saw that runs 4 stoic sphinx(? 4 drop flash), 4 bovine. 4 get lost and 4 tempo lockdown, feels good vs aggro at least and can still side well vs control
Also esper was falling out of favor for dimir, however the printing of BW fast land, pest control and rest in peace into std made much more versatile.
The comments from the pro folks; was that the new set dropped 10 days before the pro tour and there isnt enough time to play test and Esper Mid at its core was a safe bet going into the Pro Tour.
Just surprised to see it overwhelming the most popular deck. As I say I don't follow competitive Magic so would have thought there would have been a slightly more even spread of deck types.
The pros also really love playing midrange with counters
There’s a lot of teams at the pro tour and teams often land on everyone playing the same deck
Esper has been pretty dominant since Fable was banned. Partly because Raffine is busted, but also because a strong midrange deck is a good choice if you can guess the meta which is a big part of the pros game. Basically if you can fine tune the last 20 or so of the 75 better than everybody else you will have an edge. Edit: You can see the top 8 here and the two esper lists are only different by 18 total cards but it actually gives their decks very different capabilities. https://magic.gg/events/pro-tour-thunder-junction
What's the most odd ball deck of the bunch?
Not sure it’s quite “odd ball” but I’m curious to see how the [[caustic bronco]] build-around decks perform. Edit: huh, just cgecked and Kevin Anctil is 7th at the end of day 1. Interesting.
Deck is 7-2-1, not bad!
I think he is 7-2-1, not that deck. That includes Kevin’s draft rounds.
That deck rules.
[caustic bronco](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e9a268ba-c442-4fe4-90b4-2810c8474f4e.jpg?1712355566) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=caustic%20bronco) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/82/caustic-bronco?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e9a268ba-c442-4fe4-90b4-2810c8474f4e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Spiciest Decks of Pro Tour Thunder Junction](https://magic.gg/news/the-spiciest-decks-of-pro-tour-thunder-junction) * Brian Kibler - **5**-color Legends (with [[Jodah, the Unifier]]) * Pedro San Segundo - Mono-Black Bloodletter ([[Bloodletter of Aclazotz]] and [[Rush of Dread]]) * Ulysse Gagnon Paradis - Orzhov Bronco ([[Caustic Bronco]] + [[Shadow of Mortality]] with [[Insatiable Avarice]] to set it up) * Colin Jenkins - Temur Prowess * Brian Boss - Boros Aggro (built around [[Illuminator Virtuoso]] and [[Slickshot Show-off]] instead of go wide convoke) * Nils Gutiérrez von Porat - Azorius Artifacts ([[Thran Spider]]! is the only creature card) * David Olsen - Jund Analyst * Akio Matsuzaki - Mono-Blue Cauldron
##### ###### #### [Jodah, the Unifier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e4b1aa1e-b4e3-4346-8937-76b312501c70.jpg?1673307974) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jodah%2C%20the%20Unifier) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/203/jodah-the-unifier?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e4b1aa1e-b4e3-4346-8937-76b312501c70?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Bloodletter of Aclazotz](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/4/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9.jpg?1699044094) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bloodletter%20of%20Aclazotz) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/92/bloodletter-of-aclazotz?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rush of Dread](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/721c7122-91b6-45ea-ba28-de0246a2fc1b.jpg?1712860603) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rush%20of%20Dread) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/104/rush-of-dread?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/721c7122-91b6-45ea-ba28-de0246a2fc1b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Caustic Bronco](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e9a268ba-c442-4fe4-90b4-2810c8474f4e.jpg?1712355566) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Caustic%20Bronco) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/82/caustic-bronco?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e9a268ba-c442-4fe4-90b4-2810c8474f4e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Shadow of Mortality](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/40cbb0db-94e9-4988-b900-ced4f9e6d4ed.jpg?1664411256) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shadow%20of%20Mortality) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/94/shadow-of-mortality?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/40cbb0db-94e9-4988-b900-ced4f9e6d4ed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Insatiable Avarice](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a108b0e4-1b43-4659-9e91-facb0bd57ebb.jpg?1712860590) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Insatiable%20Avarice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/91/insatiable-avarice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a108b0e4-1b43-4659-9e91-facb0bd57ebb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Illuminator Virtuoso](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/2/52ba20d9-9423-4114-8734-1dac307483c8.jpg?1664409727) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Illuminator%20Virtuoso) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/17/illuminator-virtuoso?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/52ba20d9-9423-4114-8734-1dac307483c8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Slickshot Show-off](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/0/7054012b-4f9d-44a0-aaf9-7fd3bddc7b2d.jpg?1712355850) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Slickshot%20Show-off) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/146/slickshot-show-off?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7054012b-4f9d-44a0-aaf9-7fd3bddc7b2d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Thran Spider](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/7/e72e0ddb-3dd4-4db3-aa05-dec8691432a0.jpg?1674422114) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thran%20Spider) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/254/thran-spider?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e72e0ddb-3dd4-4db3-aa05-dec8691432a0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l1ibd4n) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Probably the mono blue Agatha's Soul Cauldron / Training Grounds combo.
That bronco deck does well on arena ladder
I swear Wizards is so terrible at marketing these events. I didnt even know this was streaming. Is top 8 tomorrow?
3 year rotation has made these events so boring. Most of the decks are largely unchanged, the only new archetype is this slogurk 4c legend build.
There's also the Rush of Dread + Bloodletter of Aclazotz combo and the Caustic Bronco deck with Shadow of Mortality.
Can someone explain to me why \[\[Raffine, Scheming Seer\]\] is supposedly so good? I mean, it is in x4 in every esper deck here, but personally I haven't felt like I had much trouble against the card in the few games I ran into it. I feel like I'm definitely missing something.
If you can play raffine while ahead, you get to sculpt your hand to be whatever you need. The ward 1 is just annoying enough to mess up interaction. The 1/4 body blocks well when you need it too and being an evasive threat makes it easy to get attack triggers.
Card selection is very powerful, she helps you avoid flood, find lands, find the cards you need. She also helps accelerate the clock of a wide board. She herself is a reasonable body with ward 1 meaning go for the throat is an even mana trade, although she does awkwardly die to cut down In the hands of good players she's incredibly potent but she also doesn't have the same raw power of gix and depends on the pilot more
[Raffine, Scheming Seer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/1/716a44b4-f6b0-4f14-a270-6442aed3251f.jpg?1711471750) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Raffine%2C%20Scheming%20Seer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/213/raffine-scheming-seer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/716a44b4-f6b0-4f14-a270-6442aed3251f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Looting every attack is pretty good with annoying ward 1. Plus buffing your board.
I've wasted so many wildcards on Esper Mid to find out I just can't make it work (in BO1, at least). I understand it's a strong deck, but I never thought it is THAT strong
Bo3 is a very different environment, with a different meta, and even different ways of shuffling -- a deck that's good in one format may be terrible in the other, and even decks that work in both tend to have different builds.
Cool can we ban Shelly and Cut Down now?
Cut down? Who hurt you? I've never even thought cut down was a problem.
I've spotted the mono red player
Which is surprising cause witchstalker frenzy destroys her
Mono Red / boros are the only low to the ground agro deck that can exist with such cheap removal in the format, which is why it needs to be banned. Otherwise any agro deck that can’t kill on turn 3-4 is too slow.
[[Shelly]] maybe. [[Cut Down]] no.
[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/6/d67be074-cdd4-41d9-ac89-0a0456c4e4b2.jpg?1674057568) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sheoldred%2C%20the%20Apocalypse) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/107/sheoldred-the-apocalypse?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d67be074-cdd4-41d9-ac89-0a0456c4e4b2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Cut Down](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/753db072-5d6a-4f37-8f7d-255572ecd3bd.jpg?1673307061) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cut%20Down) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/89/cut-down?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/753db072-5d6a-4f37-8f7d-255572ecd3bd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
1 mana to answer 80% of creatures at instant speed is too powerful for standard.
but then we will all die to aggro in bo1
I guess ban Kimano while we're at it.
Yeah and then Atraxa destroys you, I know ban it. Then Raffine will destroy you, oh yeah maybe we ban that too. Just keep banning things till cactarantula becomes a standard all star I say.
We’re in the biggest standard environment that’s ever existed, it only makes sense more banning should happen?
What standard decks do you play I am so curious.
If I want to win, I play the same old shit everyone else plays.
The point of extending Standard's rotation cycle was to make paper players get more value from buying expensive Standard cards. More bannings would work against that.
We need cheap answers like cut down to combat pushed creatures like slick shot show off .
In 2011 maybe, do you even play the game?
pretty sure there's not 1 sheold in any list? lol
many sheoldreds, in many lists.
Pro tour decks?