I know that the English have their WMCQ’s at the weekend, so it might be an idea for me to share the Top 8 decks from north of the border, to show y’all what worked up here.
Archetype breakdown as follows:-
2 UW Delver
2 Ux Zombies
1 Solar Flare
1 RG Aggro
1 UR Delver
1 Naya Pod
I’ll show the lists in order of their final standings.
Chris Davie (Winner) – UW Delver
4 Glacial Fortress
9 Island
3 Moorland Haunt
2 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Blade Splicer
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Dismember
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Gut Shot
4 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
2 Sword of War and Peace
2 Thought Scour
4 Vapor Snag
SB
1 Batterskull
2 Celestial Purge
2 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Day of Judgment
2 Dissipate
2 Divine Offering
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Timely Reinforcements
Gabor Kovacs (Runner Up) – UB Zombies
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
14 Swamp
3 Blood Artist
4 Diregraf Ghoul
2 Fumespitter
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
4 Phantasmal Image
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Geth’s Verdict
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Killing Wave
3 Mortarpod
1 Sword of War and Peace
4 Tragic Slip
SB
2 Corrosive Gale
3 Despise
2 Doom Blade
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
Edward Marsh-Smith (Semi-Finalist) – UR Delver
1 Desolate Lighthouse
11 Island
7 Mountain
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Invisible Stalker
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Devil’s Play
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Incinerate
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Ponder
2 Runechanter’s Pike
4 Thought Scour
3 Vapor Snag
SB
1 Batterskull
1 Consecrated Sphinx
2 Frost Titan
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Gut Shot
2 Koth of the Hammer
2 Mana Leak
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Vapor Snag
Jamie Ross (Semi-Finalist) – UW Delver
4 Glacial Fortress
9 Island
3 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Faith’s Shield
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Gut Shot
3 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
3 Sword of War and Peace
2 Thought Scour
4 Vapor Snag
SB
1 Act of Aggression
1 Batterskull
2 Celestial Purge
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Day of Judgment
2 Dissipate
1 Divine Offering
1 Frost Titan
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Revoke Existence
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Timely Reinforcements
Thys van der Velden (Top 8) – Grixis Zombies
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Darkslick Shores
10 Swamp
4 Blood Artist
3 Diregraf Captain
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
4 Phantasmal Image
2 Treacherous Pit-Dweller
2 Bone Splinters
3 Dismember
3 Killing Wave
SB
3 Act of Aggression
2 Crypt Creeper
4 Despise
2 Hex Parasite
1 Memoricide
3 Ratchet Bomb
John Malanaphy (Top 8) – RG Aggro
4 Copperline Gorge
9 Forest
4 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Acidic Slime
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Daybreak Ranger
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Wolfir Avenger
1 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Pillar of Flame
3 Sword of War and Peace
SB
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Arc Trail
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Manabarbs
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Zealous Conscripts
Graeme McIntyre (Top 8) – Solar Flare
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Drowned Catacomb
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Island
3 Isolated Chapel
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Swamp
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Sun Titan
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Curse of Death’s Hold
3 Day of Judgment
1 Dead Weight
2 Dissipate
1 Doom Blade
4 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Go for the Throat
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Lingering Souls
3 Mana Leak
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Unburial Rites
SB
1 Curse of Death’s Hold
1 Day of Judgment
2 Deathmark
2 Despise
1 Dissipate
2 Divine Offering
1 Doom Blade
2 Karn Liberated
1 Mana Leak
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Ratchet Bomb
Jeremy Mansfield (Top 8) – Naya Pod
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Copperline Gorge
6 Forest
2 Gavony Township
2 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Rootbound Crag
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Blade Splicer
2 Borderland Ranger
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Restoration Angel
2 Strangleroot Geist
2 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Birthing Pod
1 Garruk Relentless
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Incinerate
SB
3 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
2 Inferno Titan
2 Sword of War and Peace
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Thunderbolt
2 Zealous Conscripts
Actually seems a bit more representative of the format that I’d first thought. The Grixis Zombies deck looks really exciting, as a full on balls-to-the-wall aggro deck, and the other decks seem to look relatively stock. There are a few outliers here and there, in terms of card selection, but for the most part, this looks as though it could be a top 8 from anywhere.
To be honest though, UW Delver was underrepresented. This seems to be the case at the vast majority of Scottish events. For whatever reason, people decline to play what is obviously the best deck. Realistically, if you want to win the tournament, and you’re playing anything other than UW Delver at the moment, you’re stacking the deck against yourself. I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to be on Delver for the upcoming PTQ’s, assuming nothing changes. I’ve played it before, but as its grown more and more similar to Faeries, the attraction is becoming stronger and stronger. People have said that Restoration Angel is basically Mistbind Clique, and they’re not far off.
Hope this has been of some help
Stay classy mtgUK,
