This past weekend was significant in that the first round of Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers took place all around the world. Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers, or PPTQs, have been occurring for months, and finally players have come together in Regional PTQ magnet tournaments to vy for invitations to Pro Tour Origins this Summer.

There are surely many great storylines to come from these rPTQs, but so far the most important result to be aware of was that of Mike Flores. Mike Flores was so determined to qualify for the Pro Tour, and so confident in his Standard deck, that he flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, to play the Regional PTQ there. In the end, he qualified with his Five-Color Dragon deck, which is something that must be on your radar this week.

For those who have been asking, my winning #RPTQ deck. More later friends! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/mdNDmaLueN

— Michael Flores (@fivewithflores) April 26, 2015

The decklist:

Mike is a hype machine, and the internet catches on to things quickly, so his deck has already blown up on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. There will surely be articles on the deck across the web, including Mike's own column on TCG Player, and it’s likely that Patrick Chapin will discuss the deck at length in his article this week on SCG.

This deck is more like Mono-Blue, with the splashed colors only coming from the dragons themselves. These dragons are supported almost solely on the four Crucible of the Spirit Dragon and four Haven of the Spirit Dragon in the deck, with extra help from ten blue scry lands.

Cards of Note

Mike played four Crucible of the Spirit Dragon, a card that not many people can legitimately claim has been on their radar. The price is near rock-bottom on MTGO, selling for around 0.11 tix, while it’s $0.50 in paper, half the presale price of $1. As a four-of in a deck with hype around it, this seems like a slam dunk pick up all around.

I’m not sure where the price could go--$5 if it really gains steam, more likely a few dollars, but certainly not down. It’s also likely that this card is not only good in Mike’s deck, but other dragons decks as well, and it will be widely adopted.

This card is not off the radar, but Mike’s deck uses it as a four-of. On MTGO, price has already grown by 40%, from 1 tix to 1.4 tix, and I expect it will hit 2 tix. The paper price has already grown from $4.6 on the back of Esper Dragons, so if Mike’s Dragons deck or another that uses four Haven of the Spirit Dragon becomes a popular top-tier archetype, this could very well creep up towards $10, and perhaps towards 5 tix.

Dragonlord Dromoka is a featured player in Mike’s deck, getting equal billing along with Dragonlord Ojutai.

It has more than doubled on MTGO in the past day, from 1.8 tix to 3.6 tix, likely based on hype from Mike’s deck. The price has already ticked up in paper, from $7 to $7.2 in the last day, and I expect the price will only grow in both mediums over the coming week.

5 tix and $10 are reasonable expectations, and given the massive spike in the price of the other Dragonlords after strong finishes, these numbers could be too conservative. Much like Dragonlord Ojutai, Dragonlord Dromoka is not only good in dragon control decks, but in other archetypes as well.

On MTGO over the past day, Master of Waves has grown from 5 tix to 7 tix. I am sure some of this demand is driven by Mike’s deck, and if it catches on more, this could grow to 10 tix or more.

Given the low transaction costs on MTGO, cards are less subject to cyclical price trends around format rotation. They are also significantly more volatile. While paper prices of Theros block cards have began falling and will continue to do so into the Fall, online cards are more likely to spike after a big weekend without regard to rotation. If the deck becomes hyped further, the price will spike further, but it’s important to sell into it, because rest assured the price will fall right back down as the hype dies.

Consider that this sideboard plan is viable for any dragon deck going forward, and it will remain a potent anti-red sideboard strategy for the remainder of its Standard life. It’s liable to make an appearance on any given weekend.

These are a good paper target if you can get in cheap this week, with potential for profits if you can move them quickly over the weekend. This is also a solid long-term hold that’s likely to appreciate as a “blue chip”, given the Merfolk status and its occasional eternal format play, so any investment comes with minimal risk of catastrophic failure.

There are other unexplored cards in the decklist, and while their common status makes them less financially relevant, it’s certainly valuable to know what cards may be in demand this weekend and beyond.

In the sideboard, four Omenspeaker support the Master of Waves plan.

Maindeck, two Nullify add redundancy to Mike’s counterspell plan. This card is criminally underplayed in Standard, and it could play a star role given how central creatures are to the format. This card is excellent and could be a part of any Silumgar's Scorn deck going forward.

Even the name, Nullify, signals that Magic R&D intended this to be a tournament staple; the most elegant names, especially one word names, are reserved for only the best cards. (Roast is a good recent example.) Foil copies, especially foreign, would be strong pickups, because this will be a casual-format favorite for years to come.

A single Voyage's End also graces the maindeck.

~

Not only is this deck likely to generate a lot of buzz this week, but it may be a paradigm-shifting archetype that changes the Standard landscape as we know it. Time will tell, and as I begin testing it myself and researching how others perform with the deck, I'll certainly report back my findings.

What are your thoughts on this deck?

-Adam

Follow me @ www.twitter.com/adamyurchick