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Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad – Deck Techs

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Hello everyone! As part of our dual-coverage for this event, we wanted to compile the PT:SOI Deck techs in one place for everyone's convenience. We will look at all of the Deck Techs provided and break down each one with some notes--and some key cards to consider from each deck.

Day 1  Deck Techs

BR Control by Adam Jansen

creatures

4 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Hangarback Walker

spells

2 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
3 Ruinous Path
2 Grasp of Darkness
2 Ultimate Price
3 Fiery Impulse
2 Languish
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Read the Bones
2 Transgress the Mind

lands

3 Cinder Barrens
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Foreboding Ruins
7 Swamp
6 Mountain
2 Blighted Fen

This is an awesome direction to take to try and combat this meta. I think there're some great solutions here, and when playing 4 Dark-Dwellers, it makes sure this Control list has some staying power. The removal package is surely a great strategy to the overwhelming aggressive/Company lists that showed up at the PT.

I think this deck is in a good spot going forward, as it has the staying power that I mentioned earlier andplenty of interaction against linear decks. While the Control matchup may be tough, there are still some decent plays off the back of Dark-Dwellers. Transgress the Mind being cast and re-cast would be great in that situation.

Notable Cards

Crush Pact by Eduardo Sajgalik

creatures

1 Dragonlord Silumgar

spells

3 Crush of Tentacles
4 Dark Petition
4 Demonic Pact
1 Ultimate Price
1 Ruinous Path
2 Silumgar's Command
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Languish
1 Sphinx's Tutelage
2 Disperse
2 Duress
4 Oath of Jace

lands

4 Sunken Hollow
4 Choked Estuary
12 Swamp
5 Island
2 Blighted Fen

Such an awesome decklist! We've seen Demonic Pact lists tried before in other Standard formats prior to this, but this seems like a great way to play the card without having any clear "gimmick". Pairing Pact with Crush of Tentacles is a subtle but extremely potent synergy that none have really tried before to any great success. We still see familiar cards like Silumgar's Scorn, but now with the potent addition of Dark Peititon to grab either missing piece to the 2-card "combo".

I don't know the future of this list, but I suspect any that have shown up at the Pro Tour has been tested rigorously. The metagame may shift going forward, but, in a field of aggressive lists, this is a great choice for a deck. Don't be surprised to see it at local FNM and/or SCG Opens.

Notable Cards

Mono White Aggro by Craig Wescoe

creatures

3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Dragon Hunter
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Town Gossipmonger
2 Anointer of Champions
3 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Thalia's Lieutenant

spells

4 Always Watching
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Gryff's Boon

lands

18 Plains

Mono White Aggro (Humans) was a known quantity going into the PT. Craig adds some very interesting additions and takes the archetype in a few different directions (as Craig normally does!). In the meantime, there's not much to say here other than it seems more tuned to a PT meta. I would be surprised that we see a card like Anointer of Champions as a maindeck card in Humans going forward. Craig is the master of White Aggressive lists, so I think he may be the only one to get away with it.

Notable Cards

Bant Company by Andrea Mengucci

spells

4 Dromoka's Command
4 Collected Company
1 Ojutai's Command

creatures

4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Reflector Mage
4 Bounding Krasis
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Archangel Avacyn

lands

2 Island
4 Forest
3 Plains
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Lumbering Falls
4 Prairie Stream
2 Yavimaya Coast
3 Canopy Vista

I don't know much to say here other than it's a PT primed Collected Company list. Some interesting things to take note of is the spell package and the always main-deck Archangel Avacyn. There're subtle changes and number allocation differences between Company lists, but this is largely Bant Company, which we've seen plenty of in the preliminary weeks prior to PT.

Hope you all enjoyed the Deck Techs from the PT! I think these were great choices to highlight.

@ChazVMTG

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