This week on the podcast we discuss how to read swiss standings just before the last round of the tournament. You can listen to that episode here. The example we use is shown below.
| Player | Points | OMW% |
| One | 19 | 66 |
| Two | 19 | 62 |
| Three | 19 | 57 |
| Four | 18 | 72 |
| Five | 18 | 71 |
| Six | 18 | 64 |
| Seven | 18 | 64 |
| Eight | 18 | 54 |
| Nine | 18 | 54 |
| Ten | 18 | 53 |
| Eleven | 16 | 55 |
| Twelve | 16 | 53 |
| Thierteen | 15 | 66 |
| Fourteen | 15 | 64 |
Here is the overall view of the meta at the 3 break points of the season. See the full breakdown here.
| Deck Name | Pre GP Brum Total | Brum to PT Dom | Post PT Total |
| UW Control | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| UB Control | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Jeskai Control | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Esper Control | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Mono B Control | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| UW Approach | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Esper Approach | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| WR Approach | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mono W Approach | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| UW Flash | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sultai Midrange | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Mardu Midrange | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| UB Midrange | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| BR Midrange | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Abzan Midrange | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Naya Midrange | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Esper Midrange | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grixis Energy | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| WG Angels | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bant Angels | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Snakes and Ladders | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| GB Constrictor | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| GR Monsters | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| GW Monument | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mono G Stompy | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| UG Climb | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mardu Vehicles | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| WB Vehicles | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| WB Knights | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Esper Knights | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BG Saprolings | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| UR Wizards | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| UR Tempo | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| WG Aggro | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| WR Aggro | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BR Aggro | 10 | 43 | 44 |
| Mono Red | 14 | 6 | 15 |
| Mono Black Aggro | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| WR Mettle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mono W Tokens | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| UR Gift | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| UW Gift | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Grixis Gift | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| UB Gift | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| UW Cycling | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| UG Climb | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Simeon got hold of an overall meta breakdown for each deck at Sneak Attack.
| Deck | Total | Top 8 | %age of Field | Conversion | Archetype |
| UW Control | 7 | 1 | 20.6% | 14.3% | c |
| RB Aggro | 4 | 2 | 11.8% | 50.0% | ra |
| Mono Red | 4 | 1 | 11.8% | 25.0% | ra |
| Mono G Stompy | 3 | 0 | 8.8% | 0.0% | m |
| UR Wizards | 2 | 1 | 5.9% | 50.0% | a |
| UW Gift | 2 | 1 | 5.9% | 50.0% | com |
| Esper Control | 2 | 0 | 5.9% | 0.0% | c |
| GW Midrange | 2 | 0 | 5.9% | 0.0% | m |
| RW Aggro | 1 | 1 | 2.9% | 100.0% | ra |
| UW Approach | 1 | 1 | 2.9% | 100.0% | c |
| Esper Knights | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | m |
| Mono B Midrange | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | m |
| Naya Stuff | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | m |
| Sultai Acquisition | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | c |
| UB Midrange | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | m |
| UW Cycling | 1 | 0 | 2.9% | 0.0% | com |
| Totals | 34 | 8 | 100.0% | 23.5% |
Simeon also broke down by Archetype to really lay out what seams to be going on at the moment. Midrange is getting nowhere at the moment, and Red and Control are mostly the ones splitting top 8s.
| Archetype | Total | Top 8 | %age of Field | Conversion |
| Red Aggro | 9 | 4 | 19.1% | 44.4% |
| Other Aggro | 2 | 1 | 4.3% | 50.0% |
| Midrange | 9 | 0 | 19.1% | 0.0% |
| Control | 11 | 2 | 23.4% | 18.2% |
| Combo | 3 | 1 | 6.4% | 33.3% |
Conversion rates at Alpha Games, along with a breakdown of metagame share. View the top 8 lists here.
| Deck Name | Copies | T8 | Meta Share | Conversion |
| UW Approach | 1 | 1 | 2.78% | 100.00% |
| Mardu Vehicles | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| UB Control | 3 | 0 | 8.33% | 0.00% |
| GW Cats | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| UW Tokens | 1 | 1 | 2.78% | 100.00% |
| Mono Red | 5 | 2 | 13.89% | 40.00% |
| BW Vamps | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| UG Merfolk | 4 | 0 | 11.11% | 0.00% |
| RW Form of the Dino | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| RG Monsters | 2 | 0 | 5.56% | 0.00% |
| Grixis Energy | 4 | 1 | 11.11% | 25.00% |
| Mono W Servos | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| Naya Monsters | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| UW Cycling | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| BW Approach | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| BW Tokens | 2 | 0 | 5.56% | 0.00% |
| Sultai Constrictor | 3 | 1 | 8.33% | 33.33% |
| UG Pummeler | 1 | 1 | 2.78% | 100.00% |
| Mono W Vamps | 1 | 0 | 2.78% | 0.00% |
| UB Midrange | 1 | 1 | 2.78% | 100.00% |
| Total | 36 | 8 | 100.00% | 22.22% |
This week on the podcast we discussed the possible shifting of the meta-game at the local level due to GP Memphis having shown how broad this standard format can be. We had looked at our local lists and talked through the power of red in the format, particularly in Mono-Red Aggro. We spoke about how various decks could possibly have a good match up and if they did then we would see the meta-game pivot around these decks that could give an advantage over much of the rest of the field by being either more controlling than other decks, or having a hard to interact with win condition, but still surviving the early onslaught of red based decks.
We talked about all of this before we had looked at the numbers. And now we have to double down on this sentiment because if you intend to do well at a PPTQ, fighting red should be your expectation, not something you can realistically dodge. Beyond the anecdotal evidence we have from talking to players at these tournaments that there is a lot of red in the room, we also now have compiled the data from the most recent weekend’s top 8s. There is a table below which shows the success each week of the decks we have seen, compiled by Simeon. The table uses our scoring system of winning deck gets 4 points, runner up gets 3, decks knocked out in the semi’s get 2 and the rest get 1 point. The table shows a combined score for that weekend, and its had a little bit of tinkering for us not knowing some of the final positions of some players in some tournaments, and a Top 4, but what it shows is reasonably clear.
| 1st Week | 2nd Week | 3rd Week | 4th Week | 5th Week | Total Points | |
| Jeskai Gift | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||
| UW Gift | 3 | 7 | 5 | 15 | ||
| UB Gift | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Esper Gift | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||
| UW Approach | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |
| Bant Approach | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||
| Esper Approach | 1 | 1 | ||||
| UB Control | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| Grixis Control | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | ||
| Esper Control | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Rakdos Control | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 5C Superfriends | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Grixis Energy | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| Sultai Energy | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Temur Energy | 1 | 1 | ||||
| BG Constrictor | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Sultai Constrictor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| BG Journey | 2 | 2 | ||||
| UB Midrange | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| RG Monsters | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Mardu Vehicles | 3 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 26 |
| UG Merfolk | 4 | 5 | 9 | |||
| Mono Red | 4 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 46 | |
| Big Red | 1 | 6 | 3 | 10 | ||
| Scrapheap Red | 1 | 6 | 9 | 16 | ||
| WR Mettle | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Mono Black | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
| WU Auras | 1 | 9 | 10 | |||
| Mono White Vamps | 1 | 1 | ||||
| BW Vampires | 1 | 1 | ||||
| WB Tokens | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Abzan Tokens | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| UW Cycling | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Abzan Mastermind | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 15 | 45 | 85 | 15 | 70 | 230 |
This format has a Hazoret the Fervent problem. At least locally, Mono Red is doing better than basically any other deck. And its dominance is increasing. Here is a graph showing those numbers as a percentage of the total available.
We can see an upward trend of Red Aggro in total, and Mono Red in particular. Red aggressive decks now account for almost 50% of all points scored last weekend, meaning that there is a lot of them, and they do well. I would recommend to everyone playing this weekend, either know that your deck can beat red decks, or follow the advice I have been given many times over the last couple of years.
If you can’t beat em’, join em’.
Simeon has been keeping records of the top 8 decks, and as a result has come up with a fairly comprehensive breakdown of how the top 8s have been shaping up over the last few weeks. I’ve also added a total bar to the right, so that you can see which are the dominant decks as the season continues. 4pts are awarded for a win, 3pts for a finals finish, 2 for a semis, and 1 for a quaters.
Hopefully, with another week of results we can start turning this data into something that makes more sense of where the format is and where it is going.
| Deck Name Top 8 | Gamers at Hart 2001818 | Forge 26 030218 | Castle Comics 030218 | Axion Now 040218 | Chaos Cards 100218 | Xaos 100218 (Top 4) | West End Games 100218 | The Dice Cup 110218 | Totals |
| Jeskai Gift | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| UW Gift | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | |||
| UB Gift | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| Esper Gift | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| UW Approach | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Bant Approach | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| UB Control | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| Grixis Control | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Esper Control | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Rakdos Control | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Grixis Energy | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||||
| Sultai Energy | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| BG Constrictor | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Sultai Constrictor | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| BG Journey | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| UB Midrange | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| RG Monsters | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Mardu Vehicles | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | ||||
| UG Merfolk | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| Mono Red | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 18 | ||
| Big Red | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| WR Mettle | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Mono Black | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Scrapheap Red | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |||||
| WU Auras | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 10 | ||||
| WB Tokens | 1 | 1 |
| Castle Comics | T8 | Axion Now | T8 | Total Players | Total T8 | Conversion % | |
| UB Control | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 33.33 | |
| Grixis Control | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Esper Control | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Ascend (Esper) Control | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| 5C Superfriends | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Esper GPG | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 33.33 | ||
| UB GPG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | ||
| UW GPG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | ||
| Esper Approach | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| UW Approach | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Sultai Approach | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Mardu Vehicles | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 42.86 |
| BG Constrictor | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 25.00 | |
| Sultai Constrictor | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| GR Monsters | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Pirate Mettle | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| UB Midrange | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 33.33 | |
| Naya Dinos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| GW Cats | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Sultai Midrange | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Sultai Energy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Jund Superfriends | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| BG Journey | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | ||
| New Perspectives | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| BG Explore | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Grixis Energy | 1 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 9.09 | |
| UW Auras | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 16.67 | |
| BR Aggro | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 50.00 | |
| Esper Flyers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| UR Auras | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| RW Path | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | ||
| RB Pirates | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Merfolk | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Mono Red | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 66.67 | ||
| Abzan Tokens | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| 4C Tokens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |