Weekend Review: July 19 - 20
Tags: #Legacy, #Modern, #News, #OpenSeries, #SCGBALT, #Standard
posted 2014-07-21 by Nick Miller
If Magic 2015 is going to shake up Standard, it’s going to have to wait another week to do so.
Dan Jessup won the Standard portion of the StarCityGames.com Baltimore Open with Mono-Black Devotion, besting a Top 8 made up of four black devotion strategies (three Mono-Black and one B/W Midrange), two copies of Mono-Blue Devotion, one G/W Aggro, and one Naya Aggro. Jessup’s version of the most dominant deck in the format included four cards from M15: two copes of Sign in Blood, one Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and one copy of Liliana Vess in the sideboard.
Jessup, in his third Open Series Top 8, defeated Andrew Boswell and his updated G/W Aggro build in the finals. Boswell’s deck contained four cards from the latest set as well, using two copies of Sunblade Elf and two copies of Ajani Steadfast in the sideboard.
Ross Merriam made another Open Top 8 with Mono-Blue Devotion, piloting a build with zero cards from M15. Dylan Donegan made the Top 8 with Thassa and friends, opting for a one-of Polymorphist’s Jest from M15 in the sideboard. Stephen Reed reached the elimination rounds with a new take on Naya Aggro, but didn’t play any cards from the new set, instead playing an incredibly low curve with eight bloodrush creatures in Ghor-Clan Rampager and Slaughterhorn.
The Legacy Open Top 8 had a similar look to the Standard Open as three players from the Standard Top 8 ran it back Sunday night. Lloyd Kurth improved on his third-place finish in the Standard Open by winning the Legacy Open with Shardless BUG. Kurth beat Dustin Shiles and his Punishing Jund deck in the finals to cap off his fantastic weekend.
Boswell and Donegan joined Kurth in making back-to-back Top 8s on the weekend with Boswell bowing out in the semifinals with Sneak and Show and Donegan falling in the quarterfinals with RUG Delver. Four Delver decks made the Top 8 with Josh Rhoades and Jesse Crowley also playing RUG. Atlanta 2014 Legacy Open winner Stephen Mann reached his fifth Top 8 with BUG Delver. Mann has made a Legacy Open Top 8 with all three tri-color Delver decks, showing his proficiency with the Insectile Aberration.
This weekend marked the first Open to also run a Modern Premier IQ alongside the Legacy Open. James Pogue won the 205-person event with Melira Pod, beating Pieter Tubergen and his affinity deck in the finals.