MTG Top 8 Analysis | Big Magic (Osaka, Japan)

Greetings, Ladies, Gentlemen and Kavus! we are due for another MTG Top 8 analysis, this time around we are looking at Champions Cup Final Season 4 Round 2 in Osaka, Japan, there’s a bit of changes in the meta since the introduction of the TMNT set, let’s look at the top 8 Standings in this competitive setting.

5th-8th

Simic Nature’s – Koki Hara

Simic Nature Rythm, this deck is consistent, even when key pieces are removed or diminished in play, Nature's Rythm is a cheat in play from deck to battlefield so basically let’s you play anything that is strictly better for the boardstate, need more power? Ouroboroid comes in play to power up the creatures in play, Brightglass Gearhulk let’s you fetch for an artifact, enchantment or creature for one mana CMC, basically anything in this deck for 1 CMC is fetchable, and with the early mana dorks, is easy to use Nature’s Rythm to transform it into a solution from the Brightglass Gearhulk, this is a really fun deck to play and pilot.

Mono Green Landfall – Atsushi Nakashima

Mono Green Landfall is still the same for a quite awhile, top tier mana dorks and Badgermole Cub and Llanowar Elves, and Mightform Harmonizer is a great way to deal damage big time and forces your opponent to deal with the immediate threat, and you also get into the gameplan of forcing your opponent to resolve the boardstate and it becomes predictable and Meltstrider's Resolve helps you use your power state from big creatures and removing opponents creatures and also making it harder for your opponent to block that creature.

Mono Green Landfall – Kento Izumi

A difference into this mono green landfall from Kento Izumi, is the Mossborn Hydra, Earthbender Ascension is a trample source which is really really importante for Mono colored creatures pressure, avoiding the chump block efficiency is a must, so getting a trample effect is A MUST.

Izzet Lesson – Onoda Kenji

Izzet lessons revolves around spellslinging with Gran-Gran that after 4 lessons in graveyard your spells get cheaper, and with Monument to Endurance everytime you discard choose one of three effects, it depends on what do you need at the moment, draw a card, or make your opponent lose 3 life points, when having 2 or more Monuments in play it becomes really easy to deplete your opponents life each you discard a card.

3rd-4th

Mono Green Landfall – Masakuni Hamaguchi

this is a more straight forward attrition based Mono Green Landfall, Bushwhack has the option to deal damage with your creature or search for a land, Meltstrider's Resolve also helps you deal with creatures dealing damage to other creatures before combat, Icetill Explorer helps with the landfall triggers, and the innovation being Sapling Nursery with a 3/4 token on Landfall trigger.

Izzet Prowess – Horiuchi Makoto

Another Izzet but this time in Prowess form, Stormchaser's Talent and Slickshot Show-Off pack together with Quantum Riddler, and typical Izzet control spells, for Slickshot Show-Off to pop off on attacks, Burst Lightning, Opt, this decks excels into being fast quick and pressure wise.

2nd

Weenie White – Tase Yuya

This is refreshing to see in competitive Standard White Weenie tokens gain life mono white, Cosomogrand Zenith is one of the key pieces paired with Haliya, Guided by light helps with the life gains and draw card effects while having a Warp option for 1 white mana makes it really useful if you are tight on mana and need those triggers happening, this deck relies on patience as everything else practically more aggresive so you just have to minimize your opponents efforts into developing a board state and use Get Lost surgically.

1st

Simic’s Nature Rythm – Ma Noah

This version runs more Seam Rip which diminishes early fast decks, Unable to Scream makes it really easy to ignore the reanimator decks, which are usually quite scary mid game, Nature's Rythm let’s you cast from deck to play plenty of mana dorks to freely cast, and when the time is right, Nature's Rythm into Craterhoof Behemoth trampling the board.

Wrap

For a closing though Izzet is losing terrain in the metagame thats alot healthier right now, Mono green in the top 8 is a good sign, though the Ouroboroid is a prominent 4 mana drop that thickens the creatures is a good contrast from previous Izzet iterations, and even White Weenie had a shot to end 2nd place in the standing, that’s a prominent future for mono colored decks being able to have a place in the meta.