All players with 19 points made Day 2, meaning 68 players would return to battle for a shot at the Top 8 of the Standard Open at #SCGINDY. Ravnica Allegiance is here along with the return of Standard Opens on the SCG Tour®! With the release of a new set, Standard has evolved, even if the biggest change has been the splash of blue to Golgari decks, forming Sultai Midrange and Sultai Climb decks – all latching onto Hydroid+Krasis. In fact, 23 of the 68 Day-2 decks are midrange builds based around Hydroid+Krasis, not including the Nexus+of+Fate decks also packing the powerful new Simic creature.
After Sultai Midrange’s 12 copies, Mono-Red is up next, taking advantage of Light+Up+the+Stage and Skewer the Critics from Ravnica Allegiance. Tied for third at five copies include: Sultai Climb, Bant Nexus, and Esper Control. Bant Nexus gained Wilderness+Reclamation from the latest set while Esper Control benefited most from Hallowed+Fountain and Godless+Shrine along with Kaya’s Wrath. Esper Midrange and Izzet Drake clock in at four players each, both gaining many cards from Ravnica Allegiance. Esper Midrange utilizes Deputy+of+Detention, Hero+of+Precinct+One, Seraph of the Scales, Mortify, and Basilica+Bell-Haunt. Izzet Drakes mostly adds Pteramander, another cheap threat that enables Chart a Course and threatens a larger creature as the game progresses.
Lastly, the Gates matters decks put four copies into Day 2, splitting into Four-Color Gates and Nexus of Gates. While appearing like a gimmick at first, the results from the Gates decks show they are no laughing matter.
The full metagame breakdown looks like this:
Sultai Midrange – 12
Mono-Red Aggro – 9
Sultai Climb – 5
Bant Nexus – 5
Esper Control – 5
Esper Midrange – 4
Izzet Drakes – 4
Bant Climb – 3
Four-Color Gates – 2
Nexus of Gates – 2
Mono-Blue Aggro – 2
Rakdos Aggro – 2
Azorius Aggro – 2
Bant Midrange – 2
Izzet Phoenix – 1
Mono-Red Phoenix – 1
Golgari Midrange – 1
Boros Aggro – 1
Grixis Control – 1
Temur Climb – 1
Bant Tokens – 1
Gruul Aggro – 1
Jund Midrange – 1
