Top Stories of Grand Prix Memphis 2018

By Chapman Sim

With Standard all shook up, 1082 players arrived at the Memphis Cook Convention Center for a weekend of Standard. Only 217 made it through to Day 2, and only one stood tall at the very end. Let's take a look at the top stories of Grand Prix Memphis and relive the weekend in a matter of minutes.

Day 2 Metagame Breakdown

217 players made Day 2 of Grand Prix Memphis, and it was clear that the Standard metagame was incredibly diverse, allaying concerns resulting from the recent bans. With the overly-dominant decks nerfed, the playing field was leveled for other archetypes to emerge. There were over 30 strategies represented, and most of them had distinct game plans.

Archetype	Quantity	Percentage
Mono-Red	40	18.43%
Blue-Black Control	28	12.90%
Black-Red Aggro	23	10.60%
Grixis Energy	21	9.68%
Blue-Black Midrange	15	6.91%
Mardu Vehicles	15	6.91%
White-Black Tokens	9	4.15%
Black-Green Constrictor	7	3.23%
Red-Green Monsters	7	3.23%
White-Black City's Blessing	6	2.76%
Grixis Control	5	2.30%
Mastermind Ramp	4	1.84%
Sultai Midrange	4	1.84%
White-Blue Approach	4	1.84%
Blue-Green Pummeler	3	1.38%
Naya Monsters	3	1.38%
White-Black Vampires	3	1.38%
White-Green Aggro	3	1.38%
Bant Approach	2	0.92%
Jund	2	0.92%
Mono-White Vampires	2	0.92%
White-Blue Auras	2	0.92%
Abzan Tokens	1	0.46%
Blue-Red Artificers	1	0.46%
Esper Approach	1	0.46%
Esper Control	1	0.46%
Esper God-Pharaoh's Gift	1	0.46%
Mono-Black Aggro	1	0.46%
Red-White Aggro	1	0.46%
White-Blue Cycling	1	0.46%
White-Blue God-Pharaoh's Gift	1	0.46%

	217	100.00%

First things first, there were a lot of Hazoret the Fervents and The Scarab Gods out there. Players looking to attack the metagame will need to have a plan for these key cards. Vraska's Contempt was one card that was very well-positioned, as was Ixalan's Binding. Mono-Red aggro was the most dominant deck in Day 2 by far. There were also 23 Black-Red Aggro decks, some of them merely splashing for Scrapheap Scroungers and Unlicensed Disintegrations, while others had Hour of Glory, Dread Wanderer, and Bone Picker. Even if we grouped these decks, that's still less than 30% of the entire metagame.

As for the Blue-Black players, there are two easy ways to tell them apart. They're either playing with a lot of counterspells and removal or eschewing those for more threats. Grixis Energy was the next most popular archetype. Since players weren't allowed to pair Whirler Virtuoso with Rogue Refiner, they decided to hold hands with Glint-Sleeve Siphoner instead.

Moving down the list, we see a refreshing blend of old and new. Mardu Vehicles, Grixis Control, Pummeller, and Vampires were not unfamiliar archetypes, but Monsters and White-Black City's Blessing were fresh, and only made possible with numerous cards from Rivals of Ixalan. Then, there was also a cluster of Ramp decks featuring Mastermind's Acquisition, to go over the top. Isn't having such a diverse Standard metagame beyond your Wildest Dreams?

Cool Decks, Cool Plays

Now that we've showcased the wide variety of Standard decks let's take a closer look at some of the more unique ones. All these players might be wielding unorthodox weapons, but they were all potent enough to make it through to Day 2.

Chris Botelho calls himself a “deck building enthusiast," and he continued to delight us with his masterpiece. There were other versions of Mastermind Ramp, but his version aimed to win with Approach of the Second Sun instead. If you're trying to ramp your way into big spells, you might as well have a copy of The Immortal Sun or Torment of Hailfire in your sideboard.

Or, Zacama, Primal Calamity.

Chris Botelho's Mastermind Ramp

Grand Prix Memphis 2018

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Sorcery (16)

4 Approach of the Second Sun 2 Beneath the Sands 4 Fumigate 4 Hour of Promise 2 Mastermind's Acquisition

Instant (8)

3 Fatal Push 3 Settle the Wreckage 2 Spring // Mind

Artifact (4)

4 Treasure Map

Enchantment (6)

2 Cast Out 4 Gift of Paradise

Land (26)

1 Arch of Orazca 4 Blooming Marsh 3 Concealed Courtyard 1 Forest 2 Hashep Oasis 1 Ifnir Deadlands 1 Painted Bluffs 2 Plains 4 Scattered Groves 1 Scavenger Grounds 1 Shefet Dunes 4 Sunpetal Grove 1 Swamp

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Authority of the Consuls 1 Dispossess 2 Duress 1 Ixalan's Binding 1 Lost Legacy 1 Profane Procession 4 Regal Caracal 1 The Immortal Sun 1 Torment of Hailfire 1 Zacama, Primal Calamity

Deal Another Hand

Zhou Zirui was fresh off a team Grand Prix win at Indianapolis and continued his chase for Pro Points here in Memphis. Showing up with something genuinely unconventional, he surprised everyone with his tribal deck.

The plane of Ixalan was populated by Merfolk, Pirates, Dinosaurs, and Vampires, so the Artificers of Kaladesh was not a tribe which was on anyone's radar. Perhaps that was why he was able to shock and awe.

Inventor's Goggles can be tapped to help cast Metallic Rebuke and Maverick Thopterist before jumping onto any of his Artificers, and he even had the combo of Decoction Module and Whirler Virtuoso for potentially an infinite amount of Thopters. He didn't need that many though. Saheeli Rai copying Maverick Thopterist was sweet enough to seal the deal!

Zhou Zirui's Blue-Red Artificers