I am always interested in PTQ results, and I am especially interested in decklists from international events because they offer an opportunity to view the constructed metagame from a different perspective.

Last weekend there was a PTQ in Japan, and the decklists are available. The event in Japan drew out 108 competitors, a modest size that is comparable to recent American PTQ fields. It was filled with talent, and within the Top 8 finishers are multiple Japanese Pro players.

Today I will share and explore all eight decklists.

8th: Jeskai Aggro, Tamada Ryoichi

You may remember him for his Top 8 at Grand Prix Los Angeles the week after PT: KTK, but Tamada Ryoichi also had a string of consecutive Japanese Nationals Top 8s in 2010-2011, and he finished in the Top 32 of the Standard Pro Tour Dark Ascension in 2012.

Tamada's take on Jeskai Aggro is sleek. It plays only the most efficient creatures and it supplements them with a loaded suite of support spells.

New additions include:

Wild Slash is capable of creating massive tempo swings against opposing creatures, which also makes the "philosophy of fire" burn plan more robust.

Valorous Stance is a strong tempo play against opposing creatures when applicable, especially against Green creatures, but it's also a tempo play against opposing removal spells like burn and Hero's Downfall, and it's even a potential tempo play in creature combat.

Playing a full set of Valorous Stance allows Tamada to focus on playing only the best creatures because he knows he can fall back on his spells to protect his creatures and allow them to survive further into a game than they would otherwise.

This lends itself to more attack steps. But this is particularly valuable when creatures include Goblin Rabblemaster, which creates value in its Goblin Token, and Mantis Rider, which is, for practical purposes, a reliable 3-damage-a-turn clock that evades essentially all blockers.

7th: RW Aggro, Shou Tagomori

Shou Tagomori played a Fate Reforged update on the hottest deck going into the new format, RW Aggro:

Additions here include:

Soulfire Grand Master has been heavily hyped up, and it has now followed that up with results. With Lightning Strike and Stoke the Flames, it will generate life in the early game. In the late-game it will generate all-important card advantage, and at that stage it will demand an answer or will take over the game.

It's important to note that it has Lifelink, and, unlike Seeker of the Way, will gain life every turn in combat even without triggering Prowess, so it's a great turn-two play followed up by powerful three-drop creatures.

Citadel Siege is a limited bomb that has made the jump to Standard. The Dragons mode turns the card into a strong removal spell, but the real draw here is Khans, which generates two +1/+1 counters a turn.

With a supply of creatures to target, this will lead to a tempo swing on board, and in a goldfishing sense has the same damage value as a Xenagos, the Reveler, creating a token each turn. While susceptible to Glare of Heresy, the card is particularly hard to remove in game one.

6th: Jeskai Aggro, Shinta Inoue

Shinta Inoue brought his own interpretation of Jeskai Aggro:

This build is similar to the RW Aggro deck in that it maxes out on Soulfire Grandmaster. It also plays Ashcloud Phoenix and even Stormbreath Dragon, but just two Goblin Rabblemaster! Rather than focusing on only the most efficient creatures, this deck plays a mix of the most powerful and reliable.

5th: Sidisi-Whip, Kento Arita

Kento Arita's version of Sidisi-Whip incorporates powerful new tools from Fate Reforged that seem tailor-made for the archetype--Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Torrent Elemental, with Crux of Fate in the sideboard.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang is part Tarmogoyf, part Azure Mage, and it's likely the best all-time card in Fate Reforged. This deck is perfect for the card with loads of graveyard filler.

Torrent Elemental is a bit clunky, but it helps to push through Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Zombies, and whatever else through opposing blockers. It's also a source of card-advantage and value from the graveyard when combined with Delve cards Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Murderous Cut.

Crux of Fate is a much needed board sweeper, and it gives this deck a very robust sideboard plan.

4th: RG Aggro, Shou Matsumoto

RG Aggro has risen from the the dead with the addition of Flamewake Phoenix, Shaman of the Great Hunt, Whisperwood Elemental, and even an Outpost Siege in the sideboard.

Flamewake Phoenix is the centerpiece, and it serves as an aggressive, evasive, and recursive threat that dominates the creature-removal attrition battles that are so common in Standard and tend to be the RG Monsters archetype's achilles heel. Fourteen creatures fulfill the Ferocious requirement, including three Boon Satyr, a playset of Ashcloud Phoenix, and two new cards:

Shaman of the Great Hunt is simply excellent when combined with the numerous cheap creatures this deck employs, and it has great synergy with the evasive Ashcloud Phoenix in particular.

Whisperwood Elemental is a source of constant card advantage that is particularly powerful considering this deck has so many good creatures to Manifest, but it also offers a built-in resistance to board sweepers.

Outpost Siege in the sideboard has two useful sides--either Dragons to help finish off a near-dead opponent or Khans as a robust source of card advantage.

3rd: Monored Aggro, Takashi Boku

Monored aggro even has a Fate Reforged addition!

Goblin Heelcutter is a great limited card, but here it is in Standard. It's a fine four-drop creature to top the curve, but it might be used best of all as a surprise spell with its Dash cost that will push through extra damage.

2nd: Abzan Aggro, Yasunori Baba

The finals saw two Abzan Aggro decks face off.

Yasunori Baba added three Warden of the First Tree to an otherwise relatively stock Abzan Aggro deck and performed quite well.

Thoughtseize has been moved to the sideboard, which illustrates the card's relatively diminished placed in the metagame compared to before Fate Reforged due to the rise of coherent and aggressive decks, and the fact that as a one-drop it competes with Warden of the First Tree for space in the mana curve.

1st: Abzan Aggro, Yuuta Takahashi

Notable long-time Japanese Pro Yuuta Takahashi won the event with Abzan Aggro featuring zero Fate Reforged cards!

If anything, this illustrates the fact that Khans of Tarkir was very good to Abzan and that the archetype is still the deck-to-beat.

As far as the decklist is concerned, this is the Abzan Aggro list I'd recommend to anyone interested in playing the archetype this weekend. I expect that Courser of Kruphix in the maindeck will be the new standard going forward.
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Share your thoughts on these decklists and the Standard metagame in the comments! I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Cheers!
-Adam