All players with 19 points made Day 2, meaning 64 players would return to battle for a shot at the Top 8 of the Standard Open at #SCGDFW. Standard continues to adjust following two weeks of Opens in Indianapolis and Baltimore, and while Esper Control maintains its prevalence, Mono-Blue Aggro is now vying for the top spot in the metagame. Mono-Blue Aggro has drawn much attention after Alexander Hayne streamed and took the top spot on the Magic Arena ladder with the deck, alongside plenty of content backing up the deck as a real contender.
Sultai Midrange is still holding strong in the second spot, coming off an Open win in the first week of the format and a solid showing in the Team Open a week later. Azorius Aggro and other builds of white-based aggro keep the unrefined decks in check while pressuring combo and control. The next big surprise to go along with the rise of Mono-Blue Aggro is the power of tuned Nexus+of+Fate decks. Nexus of Gates has four pilots in Day 2 and is accompanied by two copies of Simic Nexus and Bant Nexus, along with a copy of Four-Color Nexus.
Izzet Drakes had three copies in Day 2, but a build of Drakes splashing green piloted by Jonathan Job went 8-1 on Day 1, adding Hydroid+Krasis to the powerful strategy from last season. Jeskai Drakes also showed up, highlighting the ability to splash a third color without disrupting velocity.
The full metagame breakdown looks like this:
Esper Control – 10
Mono-Blue Aggro – 10
Sultai Midrange – 9
Azorius Aggro – 8
Nexus of Gates – 4
Izzet Drakes – 3
Simic Nexus – 2
Bant Nexus – 2
Esper Midrange – 2
Sultai Climb – 2
Four-Color Gates – 1
Four-Color Nexus – 1
Temur Drakes – 1
Orzhov Aggro – 1
Mono-White Aggro – 1
Rakdos Midrange – 1
Jeskai Drakes – 1
Bant Midrange – 1
Temur Reclamation – 1
Chromatic Black – 1
Izzet Phoenix – 1
Mardu Aggro – 1
