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[5 – Cream of the Crop]

BFZ has not been fully spoiled yet but I thought I might as well start with this already. I will rate other notable cards once they are revealed.

Here is the rating metric I will use for this review:

Rating scores:
5 – Cream of the Crop A card that is so strong it will almost always be played when its colors are supported. Examples: Demonic Tutor, Brainstorm, Swords to Plowshares, Sylvan Library, Lightning Bolt

4 – Archetype Staple If it fits your overall strategy, you are very likely to play this card. Examples: Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Goblin Guide, Dark Confidant, Mana Drain, Fauna Shaman

3 – Key card in certain archetypes The card is essential for your primary gameplan or is one of the core cards of your strategy. Examples:  Academy Rector, Time Spiral, Blood Moon, Oath of Druids, Yawgmoth's Will

2 - Roleplayer in certain archetypes The card fits thematically/strategically with your gameplan either as a supportive card or as a main component. Examples: Three Visits, Thought Scour, Dark Ritual, Faithless Looting, Honor of the Pure

1 – Optional inclusion You may include a card like this if it is approximately as good as another card but just a little bit different, has several synergies with your deck, as a toolboxing option or as a metagame choice. Examples: Magma Jet, Shardless Agent, Zealous Persecution, Relic of Progenitus, Auriok Champion, Body Snatcher


If I do not list a card it is because I think it is unplayable (or I just missed it ).

Let me hear your opinion!


White

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2WW
Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Until end of turn, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar becomes a 5/5 Human Soldier Ally creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

0: Put a 2/2 white Knight Ally creature token onto the battlefield.

-4: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control get +1/+1."

Loyalty: 4

Gideon is a straightforward and powerful Planeswalker. Your usual play pattern with him will be to use his 0-loyalty ability first and produce a Knight. Next turn, if the board permits, you +1 him and swing for 7 (2/2 + 5/5). If attacking seems bad, you just produce another Knight and set up for his anthem ability.

I'm pretty sure he will replace Sorin, Lord of Innistrad in 4c Blood. Let's quickly compare the two:
Regarding their mana cost they are basically even. In 4c Blood, Sorin is slightly easier to cast. This advantage is kind of offset however by the fact that you are running two Sorin's which can lead to awkward double Sorin-draws.
When they come into play and produce a token, their loyalty becomes 4. That's basically even. Sorin produces 1/1 lifelinkers while Gideon makes beefier 2/2 Knights. I see a slight advantage for Gideon here.
Your second turn with the respective Walker in play is – in my opinion – what tips the scale in Gideon's favor. With Sorin, you will will either go for another 1/1 or you might go for the emblem and +1/+0 your team.
Gideon allows you to either add another 2/2 (and two 2/2's look much more impressive than two 1/1's) or you can go smack for seven (!) with Gideon and his Knight buddy. And you also have the option to go for the anthem and +1/+1 your guys. Here Gideon clearly outshines Sorin.
Although lifelink is a pretty strong ability in several matchups (Mono Red or Jeskai for example), lifelink on 1/1's isn't as exciting. You usually need a way to buff up the 1/1's to really gain a relevant amount of life. In both the Mono Red and the Jeskai matchup, I actually prefer Gideon over Sorin, because of the big body and the better clock he provides.
The only situations where I would rather have Sorin, is in a long, stalled out midrange mirror, where your opponent can't get through and you slowly threaten Sorin's ultimate because producing vampires ticks him up.

Gideon of course will be a nice addition to White Weenie and other white-centric beatdown decks. My prediction is we will see him a lot in the future.

Rating: 4 – Archetype Staple

Black

Ob Nixilis, Reignited
3BB
Planeswalker - Nixilis
+1: You draw a card and you lose 1 life.

-3: Destroy target creature.

-8: Target opponent gets an emblem with "Whenever a player draws a card, you lose 2 life."

Loyalty: 5

In my opinion, the best incarnation of Ob Nixilis printed so far. Five mana is very doable for most decks and he will repay your mana investment with powerful options.
Both drawing a card while ticking up to six loyalty and destroying a creature are very good abilities when it comes to protecting himself from attackers and ensuring he lives another turn.

His ultimate is slow but inevitable and far from useless, although you will most of the time end up wiggling Ob Nixilis's loyalty up and down which will help you to out-resource your opponent.

In the end it comes down to what kind of deck you are playing. Ramp decks with access to black will surely want him. Esper Control might be a home for him too. Even slower Midrange decks will be able to incorporate him. Overall, I think we will see him quite a bit.

Rating: 2 - Roleplayer in certain archetypes

Red

Radiant Flames
2R
Sorcery
Converge — Radiant Flames deals X damage to each creature, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast Radiant Flames.

This will certainly be played in 3+ color control or ramp decks. I imagine RUG-Scapeshift to want this for example because it can be cast for R(UG for example) instead of 1RR (like Anger of the Gods or Slagstorm).

Rating: 2 - Roleplayer in certain archetypes

Green

Woodland Wanderer
3G
Creature - Elemental
Vigilance, trample

Converge — Woodland Wanderer enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.

2/2

Well, that thing can be big! I'm considering this for my 4c-Blood list, which in itself says something about the power level of a card.

You certainly must be playing 4+ colors to want this and also follow a beatdown plan. If those criteria are met however, Woodland Wanderer becomes really exciting.

With only three colors available, this will be a 5/5 trample, vigilance for four, which is good already (even as a 4/4 with only two colors spent on it, this isn't that bad). For the full four colors though, we get a 6/6, which will basically dominate every other creature on the board. The real kicker are the two abilities though. Trample will make this tree-man a superb equipment target and prevent pesky chump blocking. Vigilance on a 6/6 usually means your opponent can't attack back, which is very valuable in a race.

Downsides are that you can't be Aether Vialling or GSZ'ing this thing into play (well, you can but it is kind of embarrassing to do so) and Restoration Angel doesn't synergize very well with this, too. But that shouldn't stop Woodland Wanderer to show up quite a bit.

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Multicolor

Bring to Light
3UG
Sorcery
Converge — Search your library for a creature, instant, or sorcery card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of colors of mana spent to cast Bring to Light, exile that card, then shuffle your library. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost.

Very exciting card! It imposes some specific requirements on your deck though: You want to be playing four or five colors and there should be at least one card in your deck that is worth tutoring for which optimally costs four or more mana (otherwise you are paying a hefty price by paying five for Bring to Light. In some cases it might be worth it nevertheless).

The first deck I thought of was 4c-Scapeshift. Bring to Light there functions as another virtual copy of Scapeshift itself. However – and that's where the card goes from good to great – it can also get other stuff like Damnation, Bribery, Thundermaw Hellkite or what have you.

That's pretty flexible and powerful. I will love to brew with the card.

Rating: 2 - Roleplayer in certain archetypes

Brutal Explosion
2UR
Instant
Devoid (This card has no color.)

Choose one or both —
• Return target spell or creature to its owner's hand.
• Brutal Expulsion deals 2 damage to target creature or planeswalker. If that permanent would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile it instead.

Flexible spells like this are exactly the kind of cards you want for Highlander. Since – in our format – creature sizes are rather varied and planeswalkers play a huge role, you will most likely find good targets for the two damage mode. Imagine killing a Vendilion Clique and bouncing Bribery back to your opponent's hand for example. That is a huge tempo swing. The exiling clause on the damage part is not irrelevant either (Kitchen Finks and Voice of Resurgence are often faced cards). Also, there are some cute value tricks available like bouncing your own Snapcaster or letting a removal spell on your Young Pyromancer fizzle by bouncing it while also exiling their creature and so on.

Brutal Explosion seems to always be at least solid and will occasionally lead to blowouts. URx decks will certainly try this one out and I think it is powerful enough to warrant a spot in many lists.

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Catacomb Sifter
1BG
Creature - Eldrazi Drone
Devoid (This card has no color.)

When Catacomb Sifter enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 colorless Eldrazi Scion creature token onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this creature: add 1 to your mana pool."

Whenever another creature you control dies, scry 1.

2/3

The combination of all the abilities this has might be enough to raise it to playability level. It won't find its way into goodstuff decks but can play nicely in decks with a sacrificial theme. It does a little bit of everything somehow. It is a little bit beefy (cumulated 3 power and 4 toughness for 'only' three mana), a little bit 'valuey' (two creatures out of one card), it ramps for 1 colorless and will enhance the quality of your topdecks.

Too bad you can't GSZ for this one because it has Devoid...

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Kiora, Master of the Depths
2UG
Planeswalker - Kiora
+1: Untap up to one target creature and up to one target land.

-2: Reveal the top four cards of your library. You may put a creature card and/or a land card from among them into your hand. Put the rest into your graveyard.

-8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have it fight target creature." Then put three 8/8 blue Octopus creature tokens onto the battlefield under your control.

Loyalty: 4

I don't like this Kiora very much because it is too fragile. Imagine playing her on the third turn off of an elf of some kind. Then what? You might -2 to get the rough equivalent of draw about two cards. That is certainly not bad, but the fact that she now sits on only 2 loyalty makes her rather vulnerable. Imagine Arc Trail at this spot...
You could also use her untap mode and follow up with a 2 drop (if you happen to have one). Now she sits on 5 loyalty but has not produced value for the time being.
Starting with the second turn, you might be able to ramp into something (provided she lived through your opponent's last turn) or you could cash her in for another 'not quite two' cards.

Overall I feel I'm not getting enough bang for my buck with Kiora. That being said, there surely are specific strategies which want this. Like an UG-centered ramp strategy for example and maybe something like a creature-based BUG-Reanimator deck.

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Lands

Canopy Vista, Cinder Glade, Prairie Stream, Smoldering March, Sunken Hollow
Land - Forest Plains
(T: Add G or W to your mana pool.)
Canopy Vista enters the battlefield tapped unless you control two or more basic lands. (The other lands tap for the remaining allied color pairs and are of the appropriate basic land types)

Pretty good dual lands because you can fetch for them. They are not good enough for 4+ colored lists but some will make the cut in 3 colored decks. Especially Scapeshift decks will profit here, because they can substitute shabby mountains and play Cinder Glade and Smoldering March instead.

Another thing I like about these lands is that 2c-lists will profit relatively more from them than 3c-lists.

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Lumbering Falls
Land
Lumbering falls enters the battlefield tapped.

t: Add G or U to your mana pool.

2GU: Lumbering Falls becomes a 3/3 green and blue Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land.

Pretty good UG-manland. The power level seems to be somewhere in the Stirring Wildwood league. Will definitely see play. I like that you can run this into open mana without the risk of getting blown out.

Rating: 1 – Optional inclusion

Shambling Vent
Land
Shambling Vent enters the battlefield tapped.

T: Add W or B to your mana pool.

1WB: Shambling Vent becomes a 2/3 white and black elemental creature with lifelink until end of turn. It's still a land.

This is somewhat lacking. It just feels a little bit weak. This either needed to be a 2/4 or a 3/2, I guess. It is not bad, don't get me wrong. Just having this up on defense will discourage an opponent from attacking with about as much as four 2/2's. The problem is, Highlander has long stopped being a format where 2/2's are good. In reality, Shambling Vent can't block very well and can't attack very well either (compared to Stirring Wildwood and Treetop Village for example). Lifelink makes up for some of that though.

I admit I could be very wrong here. Usually manlands play their biggest part in a game where everything has been trade off and the board is kind of clear while cards in hands are scarce. In a scenario like this Shambling Vent shines because it can gradually get you back into a game where you have been on the backfoot since the beginning by recovering precious lifepoints and thereby initiating a comeback.

In the end, I'm just not sure. Let's wait and see...

Rating: unplayable or 1 – Optional inclusion

I made a graph with some numbers regarding the forum activity here on magicplayer.org.

The scale is a logarithmic one. So be aware of the "jumps" on the vertical axis. I find the number of views per month impressive, which rose from about 6000/month in 2007 to about 100.000/month in 2015. I don't know if this represents any bot activity or if those numbers are real. Can an admin enlighten me here?

Rank	Name	Points	Archetype
1	Stier, Thomas	10	4c Blood
2	Thiemann, Kai	9	4c Blood
3	Lehmann, Ronald	7	Izzet Control
4	W., Dirk	7	Izzet Control
5	Stahl, Gerry	6	4c Blood
6	Neumann, Andreas	5	Esper Control
7	Balikci, Hüseyin	4	Abzan Aggro
8	Iacono, Giuseppe	drop	Esper Control
9	Gölz, Markus	3	4c GBWr Pattern Rector
10	Würz, Alexander	drop	4c Blood

Winning list can be found here: http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/20399#289272

EDIT:
The results of our last regular tournament have unfortunately been lost. First place was BUG-Goodstuff, followed by Bant-AggroControl and 4c Blood iirc, for those interested.

[Rank]

Thanks to ZeSword's effort of uploading our winning decklists on mtgtop8.com we can compile a list of the most played cards within our top performing decks.

I chose to omit lands whose sole purpose is to fix mana (no fetches, no duals etc.). Here is the list:

Rank	Card Name	Decks
1	Wasteland	93.0 %
2	Kitchen Finks	66.7 %
3	Swords to Plowshares	64.5 %
4	Path to Exile	57.0 %
5	Sensei's Divining Top	56.5 %
6	Lightning Bolt	53.2 %
7	Noble Hierarch	51.1 %
8	Green Sun's Zenith	51.1 %
9	Birds of Paradise	50.0 %
10	Demonic Tutor	48.9 %
11	Scavenging Ooze	48.9 %
12	Tarmogoyf	47.8 %
13	Flametongue Kavu	47.3 %
14	Brainstorm	46.8 %
15	Sword of Fire and Ice	46.2 %
16	Jace, the Mind Sculptor	45.7 %
17	Sylvan Library	45.7 %
18	Mana Drain	45.2 %
19	Elspeth, Knight-Errant	44.1 %
20	Treetop Village	44.1 %
21	Oblivion Ring	43.5 %
22	Karakas	43.5 %
23	Preordain	43.0 %
24	Qasali Pridemage	43.0 %
25	Arc Trail	42.5 %
26	Force of Will	42.5 %
27	Fauna Shaman	41.4 %
28	Eternal Witness	41.4 %
29	Mana Leak	40.3 %
30	Vendilion Clique	39.8 %
31	Ponder	39.2 %
32	Knight of the Reliquary	39.2 %
33	Garruk Wildspeaker	38.7 %
34	Eladamri's Call	38.7 %
35	Grim Lavamancer	37.6 %
36	Snapcaster Mage	37.6 %
37	Fact or Fiction	37.1 %
38	Maze of Ith	36.6 %
39	Chain Lightning	36.0 %
40	Aven Mindcensor	36.0 %
41	Lotus Cobra	36.0 %
42	Llanowar Elves	35.5 %
43	Venser, Shaper Savant	35.5 %
44	Lightning Helix	34.4 %
45	Counterspell	33.9 %
46	Horizon Canopy	33.3 %
47	Phyrexian Metamorph	33.3 %
48	Thrun, the Last Troll	32.8 %
49	Daze	32.3 %
50	Tectonic Edge	32.3 %

[Rank]

Here are the final standings of today's Cup Trial:

Rank	Name	Archetype	Points
1.	Stier, Thomas	4c Blood	12
2.	Feige, Bernhard	UWR Midrange	9
3.	Hauck, Manuel	Gruul Beatz	9
4.	Lehmann, Ronald	Grixis Burn	9
5.	Noetzel, Sebastian	Holy RUG Midrange	9
6.	Ehrle, Philip	UWR Midrange	6
7.	Dziuba, Adrian	4c Blood	6
8.	Hauck, Christian	4c Blood	6
9.	Jeths, Yannick	UWR Midrange	6
10.	Rosenberger, Alexander	UWR Midrange	6
11.	Korbel, Jochen	UR Midrange	3
12.	Stahl, Gerry	Gruul Beatz	3
13.	Schwarz, Stephan	Grixis Reanimator	3
14.	Barsamian, Yann	UG Aggro	3
15.	Ziesche, Sebastian	BUG Goodstuff	3
16.	Thiemann, Kai	4c Blood	0

Decklists on mtgpulse.com: http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/18622#262473 (I will upload place 2 to 4 over the course of the weekend)

Hi!

We recorded our league t8 and published the videos on planetmtg.de. Please let us know how you like it and what we can improve. Thank you and enjoy!

http://www.planetmtg.de/articles/artikel.html?id=6806&typ=2&action=comments

[Ajani Steadfast (Grade 2)]

M15 got around and it's time to scan the set for Highlander playables. I will only highlight some cards of the set and express my opinion on them. The following list is surely incomplete, so feel free to chime in with other cards you think have potential or share critique you might have.

I will grade the cards from 1 to 5 (with 1 meaning the card has low-impact and 5 meaning it has very high impact). The grading will usually only regard the playabilty of a card in the context of our format and say nothing about the individual power level of the card.

Ajani Steadfast (Grade 2) - Easily splashable and very powerful on the offense. This will certainly see play in WW, Naya-Aggro and GW Beatz, which all profit almost equally from his +1 and -2 abilities (unfortunately those decks are only tier 2 strategies at the moment, but someone might prove us wrong on this in the future).

I don't think he has what it takes to earn a spot in the already power-crammed 4c-Blood list, since Ajani lacks the ability to provide value or defend himself without anything else on the board.

As I said, he is best suited for decks with a high creature density and an aggressive outlook.

Dauntless River Marshal (Grade 1.5) - UW-Fish will want this. Solid 2-drop, but nothing to get too excited about.

Heliod's Pilgrim (Grade 3.5) - That's a big one (although its body is rather small). Fetching up not only creature enchantments, but also things like Squirrel Nest, Underworld Connections, Faith's Fetters etc. is very nice. It also tutors for Splinter Twin, which is insanely good for UWR-Twin lists, since they usually are rather tutor-light. The Pilgrim can get Treachery too and on its own might warrant the inclusion of small aura-packages, much like Trinket Mage does. For example, I could see myself playing a Pacifism over Journey to Nowhere, when I have this guy in the deck. Also: PatternRector.

Hushwing Gryff (Grade 1.5) - The Gryff has potential as a hoser card, but most creature-centric decks like to have value from their own ETB-creatures. White Weenie may want this, because it is already lacking many ETB-triggers. Maybe Naya will want this, maybe UWR. My guess is that its ability is too narrow and it won't see much play. Aven Mincensor for example - of which the Gryff is reminiscent - has applications basically across all matchups, while this one only shines against some.

Resolute Archangel (Grade 1) - A solid toolbox target for Reanimator, not much else is my guess.

Return to the Ranks (Grade 2) - This is hard to evaluate. It has very high upside but needs setup and is a bit too situational maybe. But tapping down Lingering Souls Tokens for this to possibly rebuy Dark Confidant and Tarmogoyf seems super-strong. It might have a home in Pattern-Rector and Rock-style decks.

All of the Souls - unplayable

Spirit Bonds (Grade 0.5) - Seems interesting but I have a gut feeling that it's a trap because of its mana requirements.

Jace, the Living Guildpact (Grade 2) - I'm totally disappointed by this one. Not power-level wise (because it's just fine to not print overpowered Planeswalkers all the time) but because non of his abilities have anything to to with being "the Living Guildpact". They are just some ordinary blue abilities of card selection, bounce and draw. Lame. Nevertheless, this one has certain potential in very tempo-oriented decks because of its universal bounce ability or may play a role in decks that can make good value out of its self-mill ability.

Jorubai Murk Lurker (Grade 2.5) - Solid body that races quite well thanks to his lifelink ability. He is one of the seldom and playable ways for Grixis-colors to get back precious life points and will see play just because of this fact alone. He also defends very well against RDW because he's a 2/4 which makes him an important role player for UB-centric creature strategies.

Void Snare (Grade 3) - Very solid tempo card that just bounces everything no questions asked for just a blue mana. Void Snare your 4-drop, next turn Snapcaster-Void Snare your 4-drop again will be a devastating line of play. I guess that the fact that it can bounce stuff like Planeswalkers, Moat, Crumbling Sanctuary, Treachery, Vedalken Shackles, Blood Moon, Sword of Fire and Ice etc. will make this a much more played card than Vaporsnag, even though it's lacking instant speed.

Waste Not (Grade 0.5) - Typical "build around me"-card that is just very hard to utilize in Highlander, although it is potentially very powerful.

Aggressive Mining (Grade 0.5 - 3.5) - The "best" of the foreign party designed cards in my opinion. It has a very unique effect and a high powerlevel but seems very hard to utilize correctly. It has combo potential with Manabond but seems otherwise out of place in a "Lands"-deck. It might be worth as a splash in an Elf-combo deck which uses its first three land drops to establish a creature-mana-base and then let's you gas up to a combo finish of some sort. It might also have a home in a theoretical Big Red deck as a finisher by helping you find the appropriate amount of cheap burn to finish your opponent off. Another possibility is to have some sort of reliable out to your own enchantment, so you can remove it when it has you locked up (cards like Read the Runes come to mind). This might also lead to hard locks with Donate In the end, I don't know where to put this right now, but I would be delighted to see this being played.

Altac Bloodseeker (Grade 2.5) - Seems a natural fit for RDW. Turn 2 Altac Bloodseeker, T3 Arc Trail two of your guys for 6 damage seems mean. Also first strike is the nuts in RDW and will make blocking it a very dangerous endeavour. Also haste, the guy just has it all.

Generator Servant (Grade 3) - Seems potentially very strong and can lead to broken openings. In that it reminds of Lotus Cobra. T2 Generator Servant into T3 Hero of Bladehold with haste seems like a nice line. Also, it ramps into hasty Titans which seems equally broken. In contrast to Lotus Cobra, Generator Servant "always works", not needing a land drop in hand. But it also only works once and goes away after you used it. However Lotus Cobra's utility tends to wane the longer the game goes, while Generator Servant keeps being more than decent even in later stages.

The fact that it allows you to give your lategame topdecks haste is really useful. Imagine topdecking a Knight of the Reliquary or Fauna Shaman and being able to immediately cash in their ability. That might decide a game right there.

That being said, it 1-for-2's yourself and if your play gets countered/destroyed you will usually be quite behind on board as well as on cards.

Basically, decks that want Lotus Cobra and other random utility 2/1's and have creatures that profit much from haste will usually also want this.

Inferno Fist (Grade 2) - Another tool for RDW. Keep in mind that you can enchant opposing creatures when you're lacking targets yourself, so this becomes a bad Shock. The upside obviously is to be able to bash with a 4/1 and remove your opponent's first blocker or just go to the dome when it becomes useless. Might be a bit expensive for RDW and a bit situational, but it has a high upside and high potential damage output.

Nissa Worldwaker (Grade 3) - I like this Nissa. Much more so than her first incarnation obviously. What's cool about her is that she has two +1 abilities. So if you manage to protect her, there will be no foreseeable end to the gifts she provides.

The first +1 ability turns lands into 4/4 tramplers, permanently. That is good. Be aware though, that making your lands vulnerable to spot removal is risky.

Her second +1 ability lets you untap up to four forests, which basically makes Nissa almost free if you have her mana requirements set up. Now here is a big caveat. Only forests means Nissa will only be at her best in a heavy green deck (and I think this fact is the only thing that holds me back giving her a grade of 4 or higher).

Both abilities play well together. 4/4 trampling forests which she has grown in previous turns can gain pseudo-vigilance from her second ability. Also, you can pump mana out of your 4/4s and still attack with them. there's some useful synergy.

Let's construct some "god draws" with Nissa, to see what she is capable of:
T1 - Forest, Fyndhorn Elves
T2 - Forest, Kodama's Reach => put a Forest into play tapped
T3 - Forest (now 4 Forests in play), Nissa => Untap 4 Forests, Harmonize ( )
T4 - Play another Forest, Tap all Forests, untap 4 of them with Nissa, tap your Elf for a total of 10 green mana...

Another scenario:
T1 - Forest
T2 - Savannah, Sakura-Tribe Elder (sac at the end of the opponent's turn for a Plains)
T3 - Forest, Elspeth, Knight-Errant => Make a Soldier
T4 - Forest, Nissa => Turn a Forest into a 4/4, make a Soldier with Elspeth
T5 - Make another 4/4 Forest (which can attack immediately) and swing for 13 (2 Soldiers, 2 4/4s with an Elspeth pump at the ready)

Note that in the second scenario you threaten another 17 damage with creatures on the following turn and still have 4 cards in hand to work with (5 when on the draw).

Both of the above scenarios are obviously constructed, but they show that Nissa basically always does the things you want most. When you have gas, she let's you cast your stuff through her untap ability. When you have nothing going on, she clogs the board with 4/4s. All the while she's ticking up.

Her ultimate is solid. Threatening a safe kill the next turn and at the same time emptying your library from useless lands, so your topdecks become much better. That being said, an ultimate is not what makes or breaks a planeswalker, but it is nice to have a good one.

In the end, I like Nissa very much but acknowledge that her constraint on "only forests" will hold her back.

Reclamation Sage (Grade 4.5) - At first glance this seem innocuous, but it is not. This is the super Harmonic Sliver that all green based midrange decks have been longing for for a long time.

If you have played green based midrange (be it 4c Blood, 4c DarkBant, Bant, Rock etc.) you know how often you wished for something that could could be tutored up by GSZ, Eladamri's Call, Fauna Shaman, Worldly Tutor etc. that would be able to destroy this pesky enchantment right there and is not named Qasali Pridemage. You could have played Harmonic Sliver of course, but the card is just a little bit too weak overall and the fact that you have to kill something with it makes it a very "reactive only" type of card, which these decks usually don't want.

Therefore Vithian Renegades was the go-to card for midrange (if they had access to red) because you could drop him for his stats alone, although you had to be aware not to kill your own stuff. Though good, the list of enchantments that really matter is very long and right now in the current meta, enchantments matter much more than artifacts (sorry Swords of Xs and Ys, but your time as enemy number one is over since SFM got the axe ).

Reclamation Sage just does it all. Killing Bitterblossom, Sylvan Library, Phyrexian Arena, Courser of Kruphix, Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Detention Sphere, Back to Basics, Blood Moon, Sulfuric Vortex, Splinter Twin (when hopping out of an Aether Vial), Oath of Druids, Necromancy, Animate Dead, Parallax Wave, Treachery and so on. All this in addition to all the artifacts that Vithian Renegades could kill.

I cannot express how important this guy is. The fact that it costs a mere single green makes it a much better solution to the Blood Moon/B2B nonsense that your opponent throws at you than what was available before.

The only thing that makes me not give this guy a straight grade of 5 is that it is "just" an answer-card of some sort. Much like Council's Judgement is insane removal but it is "just" removal.

Reclamation Sage won't change the metagame like TNN has or has the same impact on games like Workshop, Drain or Oath. It is not a proactive game-shaping card but its influence will be very noticable just because he is an important missing link in an already well established and strong shell.

Sunblade Elf (Grade 2) - A solid 1-drop in good beatdown colors with a relevant lategame ability. Nice one.

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard (Grade 2) - I think it was Reid Duke who recently wrote in one of his articles that the phrase of "search your library" paired with the phrase "put onto the battlefield" has historically been very good. And that is true. Look at Stoneforge Mystic, Birthing Pod and Green Sun's Zenith for example, let alone Tinker or Natural Order...

Yisan is not in this league whatsoever. He is very slow and clunky and in contrast to most of the above mentioned powerhouses won't net gain on mana until his fourth (!) activation. Nevertheless, he is a value machine and if he goes unmolested for several turns he will take over the game. His playabilty in a given deck will depend on the quality of targets he can fetch on each point in the curve.

To make we want to play him, I want to have access to Mother of Runes (to protect him early in the chain), very good value 2-drops (like Dark Confidant) and strong board-presence 2-drops (like Tarmogoyf) and powerful 3s (like Courser of Kruphix and TNN). Therefore I think he can be good in something like a 4c-DarkBant shell but at the same he will have it hard to earn his spot in such a power-crammed 4c-"Greed" list (as the Berlin crew would call it ).

Garruk, Apex Predator (Grade 2) - Very expensive and not good at all is my guess. Destroying Planeswalkers is a good ability that becomes more and more important. But it is not as relevant as killing creatures is. And having a -3 on his best defensive ability, which then leaves him at just 2 loyalty, makes him very fragile.

If you can drop this onto a stalled board, he will win you the game (as does almost any Planeswalker not called Tibalt). But imagine playing this on an empty board against just two 3/3 Beasts? What do you even do? You cannot kill one if you want Garruk to survive. Your best bet is to make your own Beast, a line which loses to almost any spot removal ever printed...

He will see play because people like big Walkers. After a while he will join Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Karn Liberated at the fringe of the Highlander multiverse, showing up from time to time in board-heavy ramp-strategies.


That about wraps it up. The rest of the set seems unexciting for Highlander. I like the overall power level of M15. Some interesting cards and role players but nothing too broken (thankfully no ridiculous auto-includes like Abrupt Decay or Deathrite Shaman...).

Final Standings

1____Schwarz, Stephan__________10 pts___UW Control
2____Rölle, Christian___________8 pts___DarkBant Midrange
3____Rosenberger, Alexander_____7 pts___UW Control
4____Gölz, Markus_______________7 pts___PatternRector
5____Kunz, Patrick______________7 pts___4c Blood
6____Stier, Thomas______________6 pts___Cruel Control
7____Lewis, Dominik_____________6 pts___Bw Midrange
8____Hoischen, Boris____________6 pts___4c Blood
9____Feige, Bernhard____________4 pts___?
10___Kannegiesser, Thomas_______3 pts___Esper Control
11___Lehmann, Ronald____________3 pts___4c Blood
12___Leuck, Marc________________1 pt____?

Top 3 lists are up on mtgpulse.com

EDIT: Fixed the decktype of 4th place from Elves to PatternRector

Final Standings 2013-11-01
http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/14746#209132

1----Stier, Thomas (Maqi)---12 pts---4c Blood Midrange
2----Hauck, Christian--------9 pts---4c Blood Midrange
3----Hauck, Manuel-----------9 pts---Bg Midrange
4----Hoffmann, Dennis (Lash)-7 pts---5c Acadamy Control
5----Moyschewitz, Fabian-----6 pts---UW Control
6----Schorr, Aron------------6 pts---Esper Control
7----Schuhmann, Timo---------6 pts---Naya Aggro
8----Zengerling, Michael-----4 pts---UB Reanimator
9----Thiemann, Kai-----------3 pts---DarkBant Midrange
10---Henssler, Mirko---------0 pts---Mono Black Control
11---Iacono, Giuseppe--------0 pts---5c Acadamy Control

Final Standings 2013-09-07 (Sorry about the delay. This tournament was still run with the spoils mulligan)
http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/14745#209129

1----Hauck, Christian----12 pts---4c Blood Midrange
2----Günzel, Achim--------9 pts---UR Control
3----Nötzel, Sebastian----9 pts---BUG Control
4----Moyschewitz, Fabian--9 pts---UW Control
5----Hauck, Manuel--------6 pts---Bg Midrange
6----Bastian, Alexander---6 pts---Junk Midrange
7----Stier, Thomas--------6 pts---Jund Aggro
8----Henssler, Mirko------3 pts---Mono Black Control
9----Feige, Bernhard------3 pts---Naya Midrange
10---Thiemann, Kai--------3 pts---DarkBant Midrange

[Place Name Points Archetype]

Here are the results of Mannheim's last HL Tournament:

Final Standings after 4 rounds of swiss:

Place   Name                    Points   Archetype
1-------Hauck, Christian--------10-------UWR Aggro Control
2-------Nötzel, Sebastian-------10-------BUG Control
3-------Hauck, Manuel------------9-------Bg Midrange
4-------Scherer, Daniel----------9-------DarkBant Aggro Control
5-------Iacono, Giuseppe---------9-------Izzet Control
6-------Schwarz, Stephan---------6-------RDW
7-------Stier, Thomas------------6-------BUGw Oath
8-------Kannegießer, Thomas------6-------Esper Control
9-------Kunz, Patrick------------6-------Izzet Control
10------Lehmann, Ronald----------3-------UWR Aggro Control
11------Henssler, Mirko----------3-------Bg Midrange
12------Feige, Bernhard----------3-------Naya Aggro
13------Wolf, Vanessa------------3-------Jund Aggro

Top 3 decklists can be found here on mtgpulse.com.

To give credit where credit is due: Second place finisher Sebastian and first place finisher Christan ID'ed their last round. They played it out beforehand and Sebastian won. So you could say that 1st and 2nd place should be switched based on actual games played.

[1st matchup was 4c DarkBant Goodstuff (me) vs. 4c UBRW Staxx (him)]

So, today I had a first test session of about 5 hours together with hitman. We played some games with the free mulligan rule. Here's how things went down.

1st matchup was 4c DarkBant Goodstuff (me) vs. 4c UBRW Staxx (him)

His Staxx list was pretty standard. He added iirc 3 lands to the deck and took out some random stuff.
My Goodstuff deck was running 37 lands. I pretty much gave up on Force Spike / Mana Tithe style counters and some random elves. I played a slightly higher curve with turn 2 acceleration (aka Wall of Roots / Sakura-Tribe Elder) and the usual Goodstuff + a Tezzeret package (some artifact lands, Baleful Strix and Thopter combo).

The games where smooth but slow. The first 3 turns where usual setup turns devoted to mana development.

Game 1 I beat him down with Tarmogoyf. Restoration Angel seals the deal where it blinks the otherwise Tamiyo-locked Tarmogoyf for the win.

Game 2 and 3 he beats me in semi-close games with Humility.

Games were fun. The matchup seemed slower, but not much different to "spoils"-games.

2nd matchup was Esper Control (me) vs. Rock Midrange (him)

My list was pretty stock, I think. running 37 lands and 5 mana stones.

I beat him very easily 2:0.

Since Rock (and I guess basically any 3+ colored core green deck) won't curve out consistently anymore, control has much time to set up.

I cannot recall, in all honesty, to have played such a lopsided matchup within the last 2 or 3 years.

That first impression leads me to believe, that control will be very strong and (non-blue) midrange won't stand a chance against it.

3rd matchup was RDW (me) vs. Rock Midrange (him)

He used the same Rock list as in the Esper game.

He beat me 2:0 rather easily with the help of Bloodbaron of Vizkopa in both games. And Karmic Guide into Bloodbaron (again!) in both games...

I also stumbled on my draws. The matchup felt unfavourable but winnable, given the right draws/starting hands.

4th matchup was Esper Control (me) vs. RDW (him)

He won 2:1. Matchup felt hard for Esper. Especially game 3, where he had the perfect curve of T1 Goblin Guide into T2 Smash the Smithereens my mana stone into T3 Searing Blaze my Trinket Mage, felt unwinnable. But I guess that happens sometimes, right?

Overall Impressions

1.) Free Mulligan feels smooth. The probability to hit at least 2 lands in your initial opener is about 80% with 37 lands in your deck. The chance to not have at least 2 lands after your free mulligan equals to about 4% (2/10 * 2/10) since you basically have two shots with the free mulligan. Therefore I think that about 37 lands will be the magic number in a world with a free mulligan (might be a bit more for some and a bit less for other decks; RDW for exmaple seems to get along with 33-34).

2.) Utility lands are of great importance. You will be flooded more often and you desperately need the ability to make use of those "flood" lands.

3.) 4c/5c-Aggro is dead. Though I have not tested it against other decks I goldfished some games with Blood aggro and it felt horrible. Kird Apes / Loam Lions and Nacatls cannot be turned on reliably, you won't curve anymore and you have no real reach in the lategame (as RDW does).

4.) 1 and 2 drop aggro is where it's at, it seems. That means RDW and WW seem to be viable. Can't think of anything else.

5.) Games are fun. But I found the games to be fun with Spoils also. As I said, the early turns are more for setup. The game basically starts at turn 3 most of the time.

6.) Green centered Elf decks get worse. Elves get worse in general. That is mostly because you cannot guarantee the perfect curve or simply will have to keep more hands that don't have an elf and get them as bad topdecks later.

7.) I goldfished Bant Midrange and immediately unsleeved the deck and built Esper. It just felt very weak on the goldfish. Going Land, Land, Land into Kitchen Finks into Restoration Angel is just bad. Sure, I had some good goldfishes, but not enough at all. Most of the time you are forced to keep semi-slow hands that really don't get there against Control.

8.) I predict a Metagame of UW(x) Control vs. RDW  and a third deck that beats RDW and loses to Control.

I will continue testing. I'll tell you what I find out. Cya!

[1 Stier, Thomas ---------- 13 --- 5c Aggro-Fish]

Here are (with an unfortunate delay) the results of our monthly tournament (06.07.2013):

Final Standings after 5 rounds of swiss:

1    Stier, Thomas ---------- 13 --- 5c Aggro-Fish
2    Müller, Thomas --------- 12 --- RDW
3    Iacono, Giuseppe ------- 12 --- 4c Scapeshift
4    Lehmann, Ronald -------- 10 --- Esper Control
5    Hauck, Christian ------- 10 --- 4c Blood Midrange
6    Wolf, Tobias -----------  9 --- 4c Blood Aggro
7    Grossmayer, Christian --  9 --- RG Beatz
8    Kannegießer, Thomas ----  7 --- Esper Control
9    Fischer, Jürgen --------  6 --- Esper Humility-Control
10   Nötzel, Sebastian ------  6 --- BUG Control
11   Schwarz, Stephan -------  6 --- UW Control
12   Hauck, Manuel ----------  6 --- Bg Control
13   Scherer, Daniel --------  6 --- 5c Reanimator
14   Gandyra, Christian -----  6 --- UW Control
15   Bodenstein, Louis ------  3 --- BW Control
16   Möske, Michael ---------  3 --- DarkBant Goodstuff
17   Rosenberger, Alexander -  0 --- UWR Control
18   Feige, Bernhard --------  0 --- Naya Aggro



The top 3 decklists can be found on mtgpulse.com (http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/13783#194160).

Results Mannheim 04.05.2013

1   Thiemann, Kai              12   Blue Rock
2   Rosenberger, Alexander      9   UW Control
3   Hauck, Christian            9   4c Blood Midrange
4   Stier, Thomas               6   GBW PatternRector
5   Kannegießer, Thomas         6   Esper Control
6   Feige, Bernhard             6   Naya
7   Nötzel, Sebastian           3   BUG Control
8   drop                        0   RDW
9   drop                        0   4c Blood Aggro
10  drop                        0   4c DarkBant Aggro-Control
11  drop                        0   ?


Top 3 lists on mtgpulse. http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/13118#184169

Final Standings of Mannheims HL Cup Trial Tournament:


1   Korbel, Jochen          13   UBWR Helm-Staxx
2   Schwarz, Stephan        12   UW Control
3   Lauter, Alban           12   5c Aggro
4   Wörner, Tobias          12   4c Blood Aggro
5   Stier, Thomas           10   GBW Rock
6   Ehrle, Philp             9   Bant Control
7   Nötzel, Sebastian        9   BUG Control
8   Hauck, Christian         9   4c Blood Midrange
9   Lehmann, Ronald          6   Blue Rock
10  Hauck, Manuel            6   Bg Control
11  Kuhnle, Norman           6   5c Zombie Bombardment
12  Wagner, Johannes         6   Naya Aggro
13  Thiemann, Kai            6   HotBant Goodstuff
14  Hirsch, Joachim          6   Mono G Ramp
15  Gerber, Christoph        3   RG Beatz
16  Hoischen, Boris          3   DarkBant Goodstuff
17  Lewis, Dominik           3   Bw Control
18  Feige, Bernhard          3   Naya Aggro
19  Bartz, Michael           0   UB Control

Top 3 decklists will follow on mtgpulse.

[Banned:]

Valid during April 15th, 2013 0:00 CET until October 14th, 2013 24:00 CET.

Changes to the present list, effective 04/15/2013:

Banned:

    * Shahrazad
    * Stoneforge Mystic

Unbanned:

    * -

Watchlist:

    * Demonic Tutor
    * Dread Return
    * Enlightened Tutor
    * Natural Order
    * Oath of Druids
    * Worldly Tutor
   
Unban-Watchlist:

    * Mystical Tutor
    * Tolarian Academy
    * Umezawa's Jitte

Single card Explanations:

Shahrazad

The Highlander format currently has ante and dexterity cards banned. Shahrazad belongs to neither of these categories, but the card has been recognized earlier back in 2007 by Wizard's Organized Play to be problematic both because of technical issues during tournament play (table space, round time) and from a rules point of view (no official errata received anymore due to card's cross-format ban status).
In addition Shahrazad also had some potential power level issues in this format, which however, are minor compared to the problems already mentioned above. In order to combat the card's effect and to mitigate the potential loss of round time, opponents could easily concede the subgame and return to the "real" game, but at that point the card was punishing with a rounded up loss of current life total. This kind of abuse was best observed in various WW based decks for which life totals and round time mattered less when paired up against combo or control. When Shahrazad is cast during the precombat mainphase with enough early threats on the board, it has the potential to be the best non-targeting player burn spell one could dream to have. Once back to the main game while still in the early game, one could then proceed to deliver the rest of the lethal damage with creatures.
So far in this format, we've seen the card making only two appearances, but based on those we concluded it has the risk to fulfill the same negative aspects described above, and we want to avoid those beforehand. Hence also the ban of the card without an initial entry to the watch list, which would be the normal procedure.

Stoneforge Mystic

Stoneforge Mystic has been a borderline card for a long time in the format, driving a larger part of the player base to demand its ban. This increased dramatically a year after, when Batterskull was printed. While we've heard you, we've also been collecting and analyzing tournament stats posted to mtgpulse.com over these couple of years to see what Stoneforge Mystic's impact on the format really has been, and whether it's removal could be warranted.
We noticed from the posted top-8 standings that the card continues to maintain its omnipresence, usually in various GWx builds which we see people playing more. Past quarter had only two tournaments in which the card did not reach the top-8.
Like with Tinker and Birthing Pod, Stoneforge Mystic is extra good in our format due to its combined abilities to tutor from a big deck and circumvent mana costs, fetching that best equipment for any given play situation, then a turn after cheat it into play with an added bonus to get around a counter, and finally have a ready body to carry the equipment. All these abilities combined made Stoneforge a very good card for a mere 1W mana investment.
Magic's trend during the last few years has been that a winning game strategy typically involves more board control, and that's something that Stoneforge can shift very well, with an early play leaving little chance to interact properly.
While the format has strategies and deck types that don't automatically lose to an early Stoneforge Mystic deployment, and the overall power level of the card doesn't automatically warrant its ban, we looked at the bigger picture in which the tournament results and community feedback led us to favor the option in which a format without Stoneforge Mystic will ultimately be better in the long run.

Demonic Tutor

Demonic Tutor was introduced last time to spark the discussion on the status of the tutors overall. We received some feedback. The majority of the respondents thought that the sorcery status and more common applications to find answers were enough to warrant its status in the format, despite its "splashability", and that the format needs to have that one good tutor which can't be played in other formats outside of Vintage. 
Black being the second least popular color in HL, the loss of Demonic would probably mean black will be seen even less. At the moment we haven't had a chance to gauge Demonic Tutor efficiently enough yet so this research continues.

Dread Return

While Hermit Druid combo attempts to build its presence in the format, Dread Return is added to the watchlist in order investigate if the free reanimation spell after activating the Druid is a disturbance for the format. Right now getting Hermit Druid combo activated requires battling through grave hate, creature removal and counterspells, all which can be found plenty in the format. Nothing in the top tournament deck results point out currently that the deck is a problem, but the potential speed of the deck, and whether that becomes a factor (a reliable combo kill) is put under observation.

Enlightened Tutor

When we unbanned Enlightened Tutor, we wanted to leave the card on the watchlist to track it no matter what the first results were going to be, and because we knew this would go to the majority of decks with white, which allows us efficiently to collect data on this. The evaluation is now ongoing and the results can be shared when the cycle is over. So far we've seen the Enlightned Tutor deployed more in control/combo builds as it gives more consistency to them. The applications to fetch mana hosers like Back to Basics have been few, with Winter Orb even less so.

Natural Order

Natural Order has been lately seen in the Rock, Junk and big Naya builds and then some Bants, all archetypes we don't consider problematic. Also the data from the last quarter shows that Natural order is not that widely played anymore, as top-8 appearances limit themselves to 7 tournaments only. We still feel that a 4 mana sorcery with additional cost is balanced, as the end result is still removable in theory with a large portion of spells. However, Natural Order stays on the list as its impact to game after resolving is still unknown.

Oath of Druids

Oath of Druids has occasionally a powerful effect, which with traditional builds brings Emrakul or some other game winning beast into play, but this hasn't always warranted a win since the board position then can already be in such a way that the opponent is just one turn away from winning via attacking with creatures, or it leaves the opponent some other window to react properly. However, since the last GP we saw a new approach in the winning deck, that enabled a consistent combo kill that was able to end the game right there after one turn. The deck is hard to pilot and we haven't seen it perform after the GP, but we're watchlisting the card largely due to power level reasons and to react faster if there's reason to.

Worldly Tutor

Worldly Tutor is in culmination of the tutor policy seeing where the line should be drawn. When we have taken a look at mtgpulse results from the last quarter, we can see only five tournaments where this card has been marked on top-8 eights. As the results are so slow, it will tell us either that

a) the card is not played as much as we thought
b) builds it has been used have not been successful

Knowing this, we continue to investigate in the coming months what the situation is.

Tolarian Academy

"The early game was the coin flip, the mid game was the mulligan, and the end game was the first turn."

-- Pro players at PT Rome, 1998

An era known as the "combo winter", Tolarian Academy played a pivotal role in Standard, often ending games as early as turn three, although turn 1 wins in mirror matches happened as well. In Highlander a turn three win with Academy is certainly a possibility, but it would require a very lucky hand of seven and virtually little to no interaction from opponent. This begs a question of how good Academy is nowadays?
Tolarian Academy made its first major entry on Highlander GP II, with winning 5C-Stax and the only two TPS decks making both to top-8, all three running Academy. After this Grand Prix III took place, this time with four copies of Academy (1x in TPS, 3x in Stax). Those same decks can be benchmarked even today to get a glimpse how good they could be, without Gifts Ungiven, Mana Vault and Balance obviously. So the two deck types that are expected to get most out of the card are Stax and pure combo, both which are not heavily presented in the format currently. This watchlisting now serves the purpose to find out, as the players have argued, whether Tolarian Academy's entry to the format would distort the meta, or serve merely as a very good card for the aforementioned archetypes.

Umezawa's Jitte

With Stoneforge Mystic gone, we decided to reintroduce Umezawa's Jitte on the watchlist. Jitte was banned close to 7 years ago with reasons that are still valid. But how well do they apply now that the power level of the decks has been risen? That's a question we are determined to find an answer for while testing. We remember well that a first drawn Jitte in the aggro mirror used to have a similar unnecessary luck factor impact as Library of Alexandria had in control mirrors. On the other hand Jitte is too slow against many non-creature combo and control builds for which attaining board control matters less.

Mystical Tutor

Mystical Tutor would no doubt have many decks to put this into, of which maybe UW-control would be one of the most potent. With this we're referring to the Miracle-factor, of which Entreat the Angels and Terminus are the most potent ones. Knowing this, our last time announcement on the card is still valid.


Other announcements:

Rounding of IE/CE card corners

Cards from International/Collectors Editions do not need to have their corners rounded anymore. If a player so chooses, he must ensure that there's no possibility to discern a IE/CE card from the back of the card (which usually means it has to be played in relatively new and opaque sleeves).

This change was made so that in the future there will be no need to damage your otherwise fine IE/CE cards (some of which have become quite expensive). Since sleeve products are enhanced in quality and variety (e.g. perfect fit sleeves) the rounding of corners doesn't seem necessary anymore.

[1st place - Jochen Korbel - 4c-Blood Aggro]

Final Standings:

1 Korbel, Jochen ----12 pts--- 4c-Blood Aggro
2 Stier, Thomas ------9 pts--- Angry Plasm
3 Schwarz, Stephan ---9 pts--- UW Control
4 Czolk, Stefan ------9 pts--- Rb Aggro
5 Hauck, Christian ---9 pts--- 4c-Blood Midrange
6 Thiemann, Kai ------6 pts--- 4c-HotBant Goodstuff
7 Huber, Stefan ------6 pts--- 5c Aggro
8 Schwarz, Wolff -----6 pts--- Naya Midrange
9 Platz, Jens --------4 pts--- Bant Midrange
10 Henssler, Mirko ----3 pts--- RG-Beatz
11 Nötzel, Sebastian --3 pts--- BUG Control
12 Lewis, Dominik -----1 pts--- Bw Control
13 Feige, Bernhard ----0 pts--- Naya Aggro

top 3 decklists:

1st place - Jochen Korbel - 4c-Blood Aggro
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Marsh Flats
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Badlands
1 Plateau
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Copperline Gorge
1 City of Brass
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Brushland
1 Karakas
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Treetop Village
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Wasteland
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Mother of Runes
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Loam Lion
1 Dryad Militant
1 Experiment One
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Flinthoof Boar
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Putrid Leech
1 Dark Confidant
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Bitterblossom
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Vithian Renegades
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Loxodon Smiter
1 Woolly Thoctar
1 Dreg Mangler
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Flickerwisp
1 Blade Splicer
1 Lingering Souls
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
1 Shriekmaw
1 Mirri's Guile
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Chain Lightning
1 Forked Bolt
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sylvan Library
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tainted Pact
1 Winter Orb
1 Tribal Flames
1 Arc Trail
1 Lightning Helix
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Boros Charm
1 Vindicate
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Parallax Wave

2nd place - Thomas Stier - Angry Plasm
10x Fetchland
6x Dual Land
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 City of Brass
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Careful Study
1 Impulse
1 See Beyond
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sylvan Library
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Mental Misstep
1 Daze
1 Mana Leak
1 Evasive Action
1 Negate
1 Mana Drain
1 Force of Will
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Shred Memory
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Rhystic Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Sylvan Tutor
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Intuition
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Altar of Bone
1 Trinket Mage
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Reanimate
1 Unearth
1 Animate Dead
1 Shallow Grave
1 Postmortem Lunge
1 Regrowth
1 Eternal Witness
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellskite
1 Mother of Runes
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Abeyance
1 City of Solitude
1 Shuko
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Nomad En-Kor
1 Shaman En-Kor
1 Cephalid Illusionist
1 Hermit Druid
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Wall of Roots
1 Mox Diamond
1 Aether Vial
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Vindicate
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Baleful Strix
1 Fatestitcher
1 Lingering Souls
1 Narcomoeba
1 Dread Return
1 The Mimeoplasm
1 Triskelion
1 Lord of Extinction
1 Memory's Journey

3rd place - Stephan Schwarz - UW Control
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Restoration Angel
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Trinket Mage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Wall of Omens
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mana Drain
1 Force of Will
1 Remand
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Cryptic Command
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Intuition
1 Disenchant
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Mana Leak
1 Path to Exile
1 Brainstorm
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Miscalculation
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgment
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Terminus
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Bribery
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Ancient Den
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of the Meek
1 Pithing Needle
1 Batterskull
1 Azorius Signet
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Detention Sphere
1 Back to Basics
1 Treachery
5 Plains
10 Island
1 Mystic Gate
1 Karakas
1 Marsh Flats
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Maze of Ith
1 Academy Ruins
1 Vesuva
1 Arid Mesa
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tundra
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Dust Bowl
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wasteland
1 Kor Haven
1 Windswept Heath
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Jace Beleren
1 Gideon Jura
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Karn Liberated

Hello everybody!

Last time I shared with you a little EXCEL tool to calculate probabilities.
This time however I won't share something "little" with you but rather a monstrous database.

You can find it here: HL-Lists_2010-2013.xls

I collected all Highlander decklists posted on mp.org and mtgpulse.com beginning with late 2010 tournaments up to the present. (I surely missed several decks. Nevertheless the list is quite exhaustive...).

The EXCEL database contains more than 15600 rows of data!

I built the sheet in a way that for every card ever posted you will be able to know who played the card, where, when and in which deck. Additionally you will be able to know how many players attended the tournament, which place the card finished and how many HL-decklists where posted for this event.

You can use the sheet for all kinds of calculations. Here are two interesting results that I computed with the data.

Most commonly played cards in top finishing HL decks 2010-2013:

Rank Cardname            total#   Score (the lower this value the better the card performed compared to other top listed cards)
1  Wasteland               161   0,616545894
2  Misty Rainforest        143   0,603243978
3  Flooded Strand          140   0,606150794
4  Windswept Heath         137   0,609489051
5  Scalding Tarn           136   0,617749183
6  Marsh Flats             132   0,604482323
7  Polluted Delta          128   0,596137153
8  Verdant Catacombs       128   0,598307292
9  Arid Mesa               127   0,5970035
10 Wooded Foothills        124   0,594198029
11 Kitchen Finks           114   0,594176413
12 Swords to Plowshares    112   0,58891369
13 Bloodstained Mire       111   0,633758759
14 Phyrexian Metamorph     106   0,58110587
15 Stoneforge Mystic       103   0,583333333
16 Sensei's Divining Top   101   0,610286029
20 Birds of Paradise        95   0,571491228
21 Maze of Ith              94   0,597369976
22 Noble Hierarch           94   0,57358156
23 Sword of Fire and Ice    94   0,576536643
24 Oblivion Ring            92   0,588164251
.
.
.


Very interesting is the fact, that StP and Kitchen Finks appeared more often than Bloodstained Mire in top finishing lists!

Here's another statistic which shows the top performing cards (that appeared at least 20 times total) within all of the posted decklists (which basically means that these cards were especially good at winning tournaments or placed very high):


deck# Cardname            total#   Score
1 Rhox War Monk           22   0,504419192
1 Reveillark              27   0,513888889
1 Geist of Saint Traft    24   0,516203704
1 Razorverge Thicket      26   0,517628205
2 Forest                  23   0,523550725
1 Enlightened Tutor       24   0,528935185
1 Into the Roil           21   0,534391534
1 Gaea's Cradle           23   0,535628019
1 Gifts Ungiven           20   0,5375
1 Birthing Pod            45   0,539814815
1 Arbor Elf               45   0,544135802
1 Stirring Wildwood       46   0,544384058
1 Sower of Temptation     34   0,546160131
1 Loxodon Hierarch        22   0,547348485
1 Temple Garden           71   0,552230047
1 Worldly Tutor           43   0,552648579
1 Seat of the Synod       24   0,553240741
1 Tainted Pact            44   0,55334596
1 Primeval Titan          55   0,554292929

Note the fact that a configuration of "2 Forest" seems to place very high overall. A curious fact is that "Into the Roil" seems to place very high, too. Rhox War Monk being at the top together with some other cards on this list suggests that Bant decks have been the cream of the crop during the last 3 years (add this to the fact that Kitchen Finks and StP are played more often than Bloodstained Mire...).

These are just two calculations that I made. Please feel free to do your own and share them with the community. I'm very interested in what else the data can tell us.

One thing though: Please make sure to disable the "auto-calculate function" in the Options menu of your EXCEL. At least with my laptop it can take quite a while to calculate more complex formula (especially when you choose to implement WHEN-operators and things like that).

'til next time!

Maqi

Hi fellows!

Those of you who do an office job will certainly know: MS Excel is everywhere. And it is great!

At least that's my opinion... And because I like this little piece of software so much I often find myself tinkering around with it during my breaks... recently for things related to our beloved cardgame: Magic: the Gathering, of course.

So, I made a little calculator that let's you know the specific probabilities and expected numbers of certain cards drawn, depending on the size of your deck, the total number of these specific cards in your deck and the number of cards drawn.

Here's the link btw: Probability.xls (@Stephan: Couldn't attach it to the post. Is this function even working?)

One thing the calculator can accomplish for you is to tell you the right amount of lands you will want to run in your deck.

Of course, you can also use it for other types of cards and answer questions like "How likely is it to draw a 2-drop with that Ponder I have?" or "What's the probability of having 1cc removal in my starting hand?" etc.

Feel free to play around with this tool. You might want to add formula so you can calculate more complex scenarios.

Have fun and please let me know if this was helpful to you!

Maqi

[good / good / good]

Hello fellows!

In my last article I said I would write about the manabases of Esper Artifact Control and the Scapeshift deck respectively. Since then some time has passed and my interests moved on to other fields.
If somebody is really interested in this topic, please tell me. I will then keep my promise and elaborate my thoughts on these decks.

Today however, I have a different thing in mind that I want to share.

A friend of mine (hitman) and me had a discussion about Ponder and Preordain lately. The discussion was mainly about the question of how much better Ponder was than Preordain. I felt that it is better, but not by a wide margin (I therefore almost always play both, if I want an effect like this).

His opinion was that Ponder is way better than Preordain and that he actively dislikes Preordain (and therefore most of the time doesn't run it even though he may run Ponder).

We pondered for while (pun intended) and came to the conclusion that Ponder is in most cases clearly better. After our discussion I continued thinking about this for a while and found the results quite interesting. Therefore I decided I'll share my thoughts with you here.

To gauge the relative quality of Ponder vs. Preordain we have to take a look at the different scenarios that determine the outcome of the respective cantrips. I'm working with a simplified model here because it is impossible to take a gazillion of possible game states into the equation. I therefore set, that the outcome of Ponder / Preordain is mainly determined by the top 3 cards of your deck.

(I will however take into account some typical possibilities that a player might usually have at his disposal when it comes to decide which cantrip wins a specific scenario that is not so clear cut.)

Those "top of the library cards" can be ones that you (1.) actively want to draw, (2.) that you actively don't want to draw and/or (3.) cards that you are indifferent to draw. During my further explanations I will call these "good", "bad" and "indifferent" cards. (I won't go deeper than this and will ignore finer nuances in card value for the sake of simplicity).

In addition I will use a point system to measure the net gain of each cantrip in any given scenario, so that the outcomes are more easily compared to each other. A good card nets you 1 point, a bad card equals -1 point while an indifferent card has a point value of 0.

There are essentially seven different scenarios of how your top 3 cards can be arranged:

I
good / good / good
Ponder: There's no incentive to shuffle. You will get 1 point now and 2 points more with your next two card draws. Total: 3 points.
Preordain: Exactly the same result as Ponder.
Conclusion: Draw.

Ponder 0:0 Preordain

II
good / good / bad
Ponder: You will most likely draw one of the cards you want (1 point). The next draw step will net you another 1 point. The next one will net you -1 point. Result = 1 point.
Preordain: You will opt to not scry. After all three draws you will also have 1 point.
Conclusion: Ponder is slightly better here, since it provides you with more knowledge because you know which card rests in third place and you might be able to shuffle it away with a fetchland or something along those lines. With Preordain you just don't know what the third card is and have no clue if shuffling will do you any good.

Ponder 1:0 Preordain

III
good / bad / good and bad / good / good
Ponder: You will most likely rearrange both good cards on the top. After 3 draws you will have a net gain of 1 point.
Preordain: You will put the bad card on the bottom of your library. After 3 draws you will have a net gain of 2 points plus the expected value of the unknown third card.
Conclusion: Preordain wins because the expected value* of the unknown card is greater than -1.

* A statistical indicator that measures the average value of a given unknown event based on the probability distribution of the population (of events).

Ponder 1:1 Preordain

IV
good / bad / bad and bad / good / bad
Ponder: You will most likely shuffle. Your expected gain is determined by the unknown card plus two additional drawn unknown cards the turns after that.
Preordain: You will put the bad card on bottom, then draw a 1 point card, then a –1 point card. Net value = 0. Your third draw is unknown.
Conclusion: Both cantrips give you the option of taking the good card on the spot. Should you have a shuffle effect for the bad cards, you will most likely use it in the case of Ponder. Ponder has the advantage of giving you more insight (as usual). However, if you have no shuffle effect at your disposal, you will almost always be forced to shuffle the 3 cards in the first place and move into top deck mode. If this is better than Preordain's option of "1 good / 1 bad card" may vary from situation to situation. I consider this case a draw.

Ponder 1:1 Preordain

V
bad / bad / good
Ponder: You will most surely shuffle. Expected gain from your next three draws is unknown for each (and solely determined by the distribution of the cards in your library). This equals approximately 0 points.
Preordain: You will put two on bottom. And draw the good card. This equals 1 point.
Conclusion: Preordain wins because of its ability to keep a card and shuffle nevertheless.

Ponder 1:2 Preordain

VI
bad / bad / bad
Ponder: Since you don't want any of these cards, you will shuffle. Your next draw has an expected value depending on the total amount of cards of each category left in your library.
Preordain: You'll put away the first two, then draw -1 points.
Conclusion: Ponder wins.

Ponder 2:2 Preordain

VII
indifferent / indifferent / indifferent
Ponder: You will get 0 points. Expected value for the blindly drawn card (if you so choose) depends on the total amount of cards of each category left in your library.
Preordain: You will get 0 points.
Conclusion: Ponder gets the nod here because it allows for the option of aiming for more than 0 points card quality value. Even though the option is a risky one since you are not guaranteed to draw better than "indifferent".

Ponder 3:2 Preordain

You have to take into account that scenario III (which Preordain wins) weighs double, because it covers two possible distribution patterns. (As does scenario IV, but that's a draw). Therefore we should update our results:

Ponder 3:3 Preordain

Wow! I had not thought that Preordain is so close to Ponder!

One might argue that Scenario V (which again Preordain wins) is not as likely as, say, Scenario II because your deck likely consists of more cards that you want to draw than cards which you don't want to draw (although that may differ quite a bit form deck archetype to deck archetype. Just compare RDW to Ramp or Oath decks, which rely more heavily on (not) drawing specific cards at certain times in the game).

If you look at the cases where Preordain wins (III and V) you'll see that it does so because of its ability to keep a good card and shuffle the other's away.

Ponder on the other hand only gives you the option of drawing or shuffling.

That being said, one must keep in mind that other factors also matter, which are not represented in the above simplified model. Every fetchland or other shuffle effect you might have, clearly let's Ponder be the much better "digging" cantrip because you can circumvent its liability of having to keep bad cards on the top of your deck sometimes.

Then again, with Preordain you might not have needed this shuffle effect in the first place and could have saved it for another time...

A bold statement (after taking all the above into consideration) might be that Preordain is actually better than Ponder in decks that consist of many "bad" cards, which you only want to draw at specific times and/or is light on shuffle effects.

What do you think? Is there any flaw in my reasoning?

I hope I did not bore you with things you already knew all along. Please discuss! I'm very interested in your thoughts.

[1st place - Ronald Lehmann - Mono Red]

Final Standings:

1___Lehmann, Ronald____10 pts___Mono Red
2___Nötzel, Sebastian__10 pts___BUG Control
3___Thiemann, Kai_______9 pts___4c HotBant Midrange
4___Stier, Thomas_______9 pts___Pattern Rector
5___Hauck, Manuel_______7 pts___4c Blood Midrange
6___Huber, Stefan_______7 pts___5c Aggro
7___Lewis, Dominik______7 pts___Bw Control
8___Leuck, Marc_________6 pts___5c Goodstuff
9___Korbel, Jochen______6 pts___UBGr Scapeshift Ramp
10__Gölz, Markus________4 pts___4c Blood Pattern Rector
11__Gerber, Christoph___4 pts___Grixis Stax
12__Möske, Michael______4 pts___4c DarkBant Midrange
13__Bass, Daniel________3 pts___URW Control
14__Hanssler, Mirko_____3 pts___Mono Red
15__Feige, Bernhard_____3 pts___Naya Aggro

Top 3 decklists:

1st place - Ronald Lehmann - Mono Red
Ankh of Mishra
Black Vise
Mox Diamond
Shrine of Burning Rage
Archwing Dragon
Ash Zealot
Ball Lightning
Blistering Firecat
Blood Knight
Boggart Ram-Gang
Chandra's Phoenix
Chandra's Spitfire
Ember Hauler
Figure of Destiny
Frenzied Goblin
Goblin Guide
Grim Lavamancer
Hell's Thunder
Hellspark Elemental
Kargan Dragonlord
Keldon Champion
Keldon Marauders
Kiln Fiend
Magus of the Moon
Rakdos Cackler
Reckless Waif
Slith Firewalker
Stigma Lasher
Stormblood Berserker
Stromkirk Noble
Tattermunge Maniac
Vexing Devil
Blood Moon
Sulfuric Vortex
Brimstone Volley
Burst Lightning
Chain of Plasma
Char
Fireblast
Flame Javelin
Flames of the Blood Hand
Incinerate
Lava Dart
Lightning Bolt
Magma Jet
Price of Progress
Pulse of the Forge
Rhystic Lightning
Searing Blaze
Searing Spear
Smash to Smithereens
Staggershock
Sudden Shock
Thunderous Wrath
Koth of the Hammer
Acidic Soil
Arc Trail
Chain Lightning
Fire Ambush
Firebolt
Flame Rift
Forked Bolt
Lava Spike
Molten Rain
Pillage
Rift Bolt
Rolling Earthquake
Ruination
Volcanic Hammer
Wheel of Fortune
Barbarian Ring
Mishra's Factory
24x Mountain
Mutavault
Rishadan Port
Shivan Gorge
Wasteland

2nd place - Sebastian Nötzel - BUG Control
Llanowar Elves
Deathrite Shaman
Noble Hierarch
Birds of Paradise
Brainstorm
Nature's Claim
Darkblast
Spell Pierce
Green Sun's Zenith
Preordain
Inquisition of Kozilek
Sensei's Divining Top
Strangleroot Geist
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Phantasmal Image
Scavenging Ooze
Tarmogoyf
Snapcaster Mage
Wall of Roots
Lotus Cobra
Tainted Pact
Mana Drain
Daze
Counterspell
Go for the Throat
Mana Leak
Logic Knot
Abrupt Decay
Ultimate Price
Hymn to Tourach
Demonic Tutor
Farseek
Sylvan Library
Animate Dead
Vendilion Clique
Eternal Witness
Kitchen Finks
Tribute to Hunger
Intuition
Maelstrom Pulse
Pernicious Deed
Phyrexian Arena
Coalition Relic
Vedalken Shackles
Jace Beleren
Liliana of the Veil
Phyrexian Metamorph
Glen Elendra Archmage
Thrun, the Last Troll
Damnation
Natural Order
Cryptic Command
Fact or Fiction
Mystical Teachings
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Garruk Wildspeaker
Shriekmaw
Thragtusk
Force of Will
Bribery
Primal Command
Treachery
Vraska, the Unseen
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Primeval Titan
Maze of Ith
Snow-Covered Swamp
2x Snow-covered Island
2x Snow-covered Forest
2x Island
2x Forest
Swamp
Reflecting Pool
Tropical Island
Hinterland Harbor
Bloodstained Mire
Underground Sea
Breeding Pool
Verdant Catacombs
Volrath's Stronghold
Flooded Strand
Bayou
Scalding Tarn
Overgrown Tomb
Watery Grave
Drowned Catacomb
Windswept Heath
Dryad Arbor
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Creeping Tar Pit
Wooded Foothills
Tectonic Edge
Wasteland
Marsh Flats
City of Brass
Treetop Village

3rd Place - Kai Thiemann - 4c HotBant Midrange
Taiga
Tundra
Tropical Island
Volcanic Island
Plateau
Savannah
Island
Mountain
Plains
Snow-covered Island
2x Forest
Marsh Flats
Scalding Tarn
Flooded Strand
Wooded Foothills
Arid Mesa
Windswept Heath
Polluted Delta
Misty Rainforest
Verdant Catacomb
Bloodstained Mire
Maze of Ith
City of Brass
Wasteland
Gaea's Cradle
Seat of the Synod
Dryad Arbor
Karakas
Breeding Pool
Tectonic Edge
Reflecting Pool
Horizon Canopy
Engineered Explosives
Ancestral Vision
Noble Hierarch
Birds of Paradise
Llanowar Elves
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Fyndhorn Elves
Green Sun's Zenith
Preordain
Ponder
Brainstorm
Sensei's Divining Top
Stifle
Mental Misstep
Force Spike
Mana Tithe
Enlightened Tutor
Aether Vial
Swords to Plowshares
Lightning Bolt
Scavenging Ooze
Wall of Blossoms
Phantasmal Image
Qasali Pridemage
Fauna Shaman
Lotus Cobra
Stoneforge Mystic
Wall of Roots
Sylvan Ranger
Daze
Momentary Blink
Eladamri's Call
Sylvan Library
Arc Trail
Mana Drain
Mana Leak
Eternal Witness
Aven Mindcensor
Rhox War Monk
Trinket Mage
Knight of the Reliquary
Kitchen Finks
Imperial Recruiter
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Harmonic Sliver
Vendilion Clique
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Feast and Famine
Beast Within
Oblivion Ring
Fiery Justice
Flametongue Kavu
Avalanche Rider
Venser, Shaper Savant
Phyrexian Metamorph
Restoration Angel
Huntmaster of the Fells
Ajani Vengeant
Bloodbraid Elf
Opposition
Parallax Wave
Garruk Wildspeaker
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Garruk Relentless
Mulldrifter
Acidic Slime
Thragtusk


First two placed guys ID'ed. They played it out and Mono Red won.

Thx everybody for a nice tournament and see you next time!