Let me tell you, it feels good to breathe. The week after the PE, my boss was out so I was pulling double duty. Then I got sick, knocking me out of commission for another five days. And all the while, Lee Sharpe (aka, the man) had answered my prayers and sent me every list from the February 1^st Premier Event.

Did I mentioned that Lee Sharpe is the man?

So I have all this information, and have been chomping at the bit to get it out you all you eager readers...but the questioned remained how to get it all out. I could do a aggregate deck list of all the Sliver decks or focus on the top 8, the top 32, or every last list.

No, not today. Today I'm going to take a look at the highest finishing deck of every major archetype and take a look at those innovations that really caught my eye.

Let's start at the top:

Mono Black Control

1st Place-SlashRus

Creatures 4 Chittering Rats 4 Crypt Rats 2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi 4 Phyrexian Rager 4 Twisted Abomination 4 Warren Pilferers 22 cards Other Spells 4 Corrupt 4 Diabolic Edict 3 Distress 3 Tendrils of Corruption 10 cards

Lands 24 Swamp 24 cards Sideboard 1 Death Denied 1 Distress 3 Dross Golem 4 Duress 4 Echoing Decay 1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi 1 Tendrils of Corruption 15 cards

SlashRus has been playing MBC in the PDC events for quite a while, and it does not surprise me that he took home first place with the deck. Although I tend to favor Duress over Distress in the maindeck, I cannot argue with his decision considering the amount of Slivers seen during the day. The ability to disrupt their combo is key. Slash also lowered the true removal count to seven, and kept the Crypt Rats count at the maximum- again, something that likely helped him facing off against the Sliver masses. The sideboard is interesting, and seemingly geared towards mirror matches, with Death Denied as a late game breaker and a third Okiba-Gang Shinobi as a total wrecking ball for the control decks of the day. If I were going to build an MBC deck for the future, I would base my list off of this elegant and direct build.

I will not be highlighting the Mostly Black Control decks since I feel they are so similar in principle to this build. The inclusion of Mulldrifter in these decks mostly goes to the the tendency of MBC to run out of gas in the late game. Zargazag found an interesting solution to this problem by including Mind Stone in his MBC. I like this for a number of reasons. In addition to cycling late, the Stone helps you to get to your game breaker mana one turn quicker in the mirror, which can be huge if you are planning on facing MBC all day.

Teachings Control

2nd Place-StilliRise

Creatures 4 Errant Ephemeron 4 cards Other Spells 1 Condescend 4 Counterspell 1 Echoing Decay 2 Exclude 2 Faerie Trickery 1 Ghastly Demise 1 Muddle the Mixture 4 Mystical Teachings 3 Prismatic Lens 1 Prohibit 2 Remove Soul 1 Repulse 4 Rune Snag 2 Terror 4 Think Twice 33 cards

Lands 18 Snow-Covered Island 5 Snow-Covered Swamp 23 cards Sideboard 1 Annul 1 Circle of Protection: Black 2 Circle of Protection: Red 2 Deep Analysis 1 Echoing Decay 1 Echoing Truth 4 Hydroblast 1 Remove Soul 2 Terror 15 cards

StiLLiRise's Teachings control is similar to a number of builds that had been circulating on PDCmagic.com in the weeks prior to the event. Once Slivers rose to prominence, the controlling Paupers started finding ways to introduce removal into the Blue control builds. That is not to say Teachings was a new concept in Pauper, rather it just was not as desirable as MUC until the rise of Slivers, where the added flexibility of removal and the quality advantage of Teachings became increasingly important. That said, there is still some debate as to which color goes best with Blue- Black or Red. Some lists choose not to decide and run both. To me, it comes down to whether you think Ghastly Demise, and a more consistent mana base is better than Skred. Personally, I have no clue, but that should be one of the informing decision behind your construction of the deck.

All that being said, I am wary of the running only four win conditions and no way to get them back from the dead. I personally like some cards to help me regrow threats when I'm running Black in a control deck, and would have tried to squeeze in one Grim Harvest for insurance.

Dimir Madness

3rd Place- Pedro_Alves

Creatures 4 Gathan Raiders 2 Grave Scrabbler 4 Looter il-Kor 4 Merfolk Looter 4 Mulldrifter 18 cards Other Spells 4 Agony Warp 4 Dark Withering 4 Ichor Slick 4 Ostracize 4 Psychotic Episode 20 cards

Lands 4 Dimir Aqueduct 7 Island 7 Swamp 4 Terramorphic Expanse 22 cards Sideboard 4 Annul 3 Echoing Decay 4 Hydroblast 4 Negate 15 cards

Pedro_Alves' deck is an oddity. Dimir Madness has long been a dream of many Paupers, but many were just unable to make it work. Pedro did, going undefeated in the swiss rounds. While some decisions seem odd-Gathan Raiders alongside Mulldrifter- the inclusion of Ostracize seems inspired in the wake of Slivers, but I would not run them myself.

This deck looks interesting, but vulnerable to all sorts of strategies common in the Pauper metagame. It came up in conversation during the event that Pedro is something of a ringer in Premier Events and a solid player on top of that, so I am not surprised that he succeeded with such a deck.

Slivers

5th Place- petkos

Creatures 4 Plated Sliver 4 Sidewinder Sliver 4 Sinew Sliver 4 Spinneret Sliver 4 Virulent Sliver 20 cards Other Spells 1 Cenn's Enlistment 3 Holy Light 4 Muscle Sliver 3 Prismatic Strands 4 Temporal Isolation 3 Thrill of the Hunt 14 cards

Lands 10 Forest 10 Plains 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Tranquil Thicket 22 cards Sideboard 2 Armadillo Cloak 4 Circle of Protection: Red 1 Holy Light 4 Obsidian Acolyte 4 Ray of Revelation 15 cards

Petkos ran a fairly stock Slivers build to a fifth place finish. I am not a big fan of this lsit, however, since it severely presideboards against Storm. Holy Light and Prismatic Strands, would have been fine inclusions in a field with more Storm, but I could easily see cutting the Lights in the current environment and cutting back on the Strands. Note the (Cenn's Elistment), helping to provide some semblance of a late game.

Orzhov Blink

8th Place- Ivan_Kulbich_aka_Striped

Creatures 3 Aven Riftwatcher 4 Blind Hunter 4 Chittering Rats 3 Mulldrifter 4 Phyrexian Rager 4 Ravenous Rats 1 Shrieking Grotesque 23 cards Other Spells 4 Duress 3 Echoing Decay 4 Momentary Blink 2 Recoil 13 cards

Lands 3 Island 4 Orzhov Basilica 4 Plains 9 Swamp 4 Terramorphic Expanse 24 cards Sideboard 1 Aven Riftwatcher 4 Circle of Protection: Black 4 Circle of Protection: Red 1 Echoing Decay 1 Mulldrifter 3 Oblivion Ring 1 Plains 15 cards

In 8^th place, the old standby Orzhov Blink. Ivan's build is interesting in that he eschewed a ton of maindeck removal in favor of slow, overwhelming Momentary Blink advantage. Even with the sideboard, there were only seven true removal spells. Given the number of Sliver decks, I would have run at least two more main. However, his sheer creature count and disruptive elements helped him against the Black based control decks, and the life gain without a doubt helped against Burn (which had ten decks present on the day).

Cloak Zoo

9th Place- ELPACIFISMO

Creatures 4 Armadillo Cloak 4 Basking Rootwalla 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 River Boa 4 Silhana Ledgewalker 4 Wild Mongrel 4 Wild Nacatl 28 cards Other Spells 4 Firebolt 4 Incinerate 4 Lightning Bolt 12 cards

Lands 8 Forest 5 Mountain 3 Plains 4 Terramorphic Expanse 20 cards Sideboard 3 Ancient Grudge 4 Aven Riftwatcher 4 Circle of Protection: Red 4 Oblivion Ring 15 cards

In 9^th we see an evolution of Red Green aggro and old three color Cloak decks into something resembling a Cloak Zoo. The burn and Armadillo Cloak sare well suited to fighting Slivers and Burn all day. However, these decks still lack a strong game plan against Black control and suffer because of that hole.

However, considering a predicted meta that featured Blue control In greater numbers, ELPACIFISMO made some great calls, including River Boa main and 12 aggressive one drops. Again, a fantastic base for three color Zoo.

Goblin Storm

10th Place- chas

Creatures 3 Mulldrifter 4 Skirk Prospector 7 cards Other Spells 4 Desperate Ritual 3 Distant Melody 4 Empty the Warrens 3 Goblin War Strike 3 Ideas Unbound 3 Lotus Petal 4 Manamorphose 3 Peer Through Depths 3 Ponder 4 Rite of Flame 31 cards

Lands 2 Irrigation Ditch 5 Island 3 Mountain 4 Sulfur Vent 3 Terramorphic Expanse 2 Tinder Farm 19 cards Sideboard 4 Echoing Truth 4 Flash Counter 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Thoughtbind 15 cards

Tenth place, and we see our first combo deck. Chas' version of Goblin-Storm goes with the Invasion Sac Land engine but instead of the traditional Grapeshot kill, goes for a lethal Goblin War Strike off of Empty the Warrens. This is perhaps the strongest plan currently, as it is not as easily hosed as the Grapeshot version. Note the interesting inclusions of Ponder, a card many cast aside in GSK and the ubiquitous Blue flying fish. Seriously, he shows up everywhere.

White Weenie

20th Place- Giraffe

Creatures 4 Akrasan Squire 2 Benalish Cavalry 3 Icatian Javelineers 2 Knight of Sursi 4 Order of Leitbur 4 Razor Golem 4 Shade of Trokair 23 cards Other Spells 3 Mana Tithe 2 Oblivion Ring 2 Renewed Faith 4 Soltari Trooper 4 Unmake 11 cards

Lands 22 Plains 22 cards Sideboard 3 Dust to Dust 4 Holy Light 2 Oblivion Ring 3 Obsidian Acolyte 3 Prismatic Strands 15 cards

Ten more places and we see Giraffe (hi Sam!) piloting an updated White Weenie list. Everything between here and Storm was either MBC or Slivers, with one Teachings thrown in for good measure. Sam and I had talked at length about the viability of White Weenie on the day, and I advocated my land light build. That being said, the inclusion of Renewed Faith was a smart call, although I find it hard to get behind only three Mana Tithes. The sideboard seems strong, if a tad overprepared for Affinity, which while showing up, failed to make an impact at the top tables.

For what its worth, I expect this archetype to get a severe shot in the arm with the release of Conflux, and an eight counter version with Lapse of Certainty and Tithe.

Red Deck Wins

22nd Place- Dolbert

Creatures 4 Gathan Raiders 4 Intimidator Initiate 4 Keldon Marauders 12 cards Other Spells 2 Bonesplitter 2 Fireblast 2 Firebolt 2 Fireslinger 2 Flame Jab 4 Incinerate 4 Orcish Cannonade 4 Rift Bolt 4 Seal of Fire 24 cards

Lands 4 Forgotten Cave 18 Mountain 22 cards Sideboard 4 Echoing Ruin 4 Fire at Will 3 Gorilla Shaman 4 Pyroblast 15 cards

In 22^nd place, we have our first Red deck, but it is like nothing we have seen before. Somewhere between Sligh and Burn, we have Dolbert's sixty. This deck certainly has mor reach and was better suited for a field featuring blockers, but some of the choices still strike me as odd, including Orcish Cannonade. However, this is coming from the guy who was running Hematite Golem in his own Red decks, so that that as you well.

Cogs and Stripes

24th Place- Mahadevaa

Creatures 2 Aven Riftwatcher 2 Leonin Squire 4 Looter il-Kor 3 Mulldrifter 3 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Steamcore Weird 4 Trinket Mage 22 cards Other Spells 1 Æther Spellbomb 1 Bonesplitter 4 Incinerate 4 Momentary Blink 2 Pyrite Spellbomb 2 Remove Soul 1 Sunbeam Spellbomb 1 Viridian Longbow 15 cards

Lands 1 Ancient Den 2 Azorius Chancery 1 Great Furnace 7 Island 3 Izzet Boilerworks 1 Mountain 2 Plains 1 Seat of the Synod 4 Terramorphic Expanse 22 cards Sideboard 2 Holy Light 2 Negate 3 Obsidian Acolyte 4 Pyroblast 2 Snapback 2 Wispmare 15 cards

Coming in at 24 we have our first UWR Blink build, or Cogs and Stripes. Frankly, I feel this deck is better suited to Extended Pauper.

Affinity

25th Place- andrewtiu

Creatures 2 Arcbound Worker 3 Disciple of the Vault 4 Frogmite 3 Krark-Clan Shaman 4 Myr Enforcer 3 Somber Hoverguard 19 cards Other Spells 4 Chromatic Star 4 Lotus Petal 2 Pyrite Spellbomb 2 Reaping the Graves 2 Rush of Knowledge 3 Scale of Chiss-Goria 3 Scarscale Ritual 1 Springleaf Drum 4 Thoughtcast 1 Tooth of Chiss-Goria 22 cards

Lands 3 Ancient Den 3 Great Furnace 4 Seat of the Synod 1 Shimmering Grotto 4 Vault of Whispers 15 cards Sideboard 2 Circle of Protection: Black 2 Circle of Protection: Red 2 Echoing Decay 2 Gorilla Shaman 2 Hydroblast 1 Krark-Clan Shaman 1 Pyrite Spellbomb 1 Pyroblast 2 Sunbeam Spellbomb 15 cards

25 decks in and we finally come across out first Affinity deck, and it is, well, different. Going for a combo kill with Disciple of the Vault is nothing new, and the main deck Krark-Clan Shaman seems inspired with all the Slivers running around. Reaping the Graves is some savage tech, as the same turn you bin your board you are likely to cast at least two spells, so you can just recoup some of your losses if need be. Some of the other numbers seem awkward, and the (Scarscale Rituals) seem odd (but you can always cast it on a Shaman and in response blow up the world), and the lone Shimmering Grotto seems inspired and inane at the same time.

Parlor Tricks

26th Place- Kingritz

Creatures 2 Dimir Infiltrator 2 Izzet Chronarch 2 Mulldrifter 3 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Ravenous Rats 4 Steamcore Weird 17 cards Other Spells 1 Death Denied 1 Echoing Decay 3 Innocent Blood 3 Prismatic Lens 4 Probe 1 Rolling Thunder 1 Shred Memory 4 Skred 1 Terminate 1 Train of Thought 19 cards

Lands 3 Dimir Aqueduct 2 Izzet Boilerworks 6 Snow-Covered Island 5 Snow-Covered Mountain 5 Snow-Covered Swamp 2 Terramorphic Expanse 23 cards Sideboard 4 Ancient Grudge 1 Circle of Protection: Black 2 Circle of Protection: Red 1 Nausea 2 Negate 4 Pyroblast 1 Snow-Covered Plains 15 cards

26, and we come to the deck I thought was perfectly suited to win the tournament. Yes, I know- I am not a fan of Parlor Tricks, but given the field of MBC and Slivers, I thought a deck that could win the long game attrition war and still keep the board clean early would have had the best chance to win on the day. If not for a terrible beat, I'm sure Anthony would have made a stronger run towards the top 8. I am not sure, however, if Grixis Teachings supplants this deck in the meta.

Burn

27th Place- m0x

Creatures 4 Keldon Marauders 4 Martyr of Ashes 4 Mogg Fanatic 12 cards Other Spells 4 Fireblast 4 Firebolt 4 Fireslinger 4 Incinerate 4 Lava Dart 4 Lava Spike 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Needle Drop 4 Rift Bolt 32 cards

Lands 16 Mountain 16 cards Sideboard 4 Pyroblast 3 Rain of Embers 4 Tremor 4 Vulshok Sorcerer 15 cards

In 27^th we find our first true burn deck. Note the Martyr of Ashes main; someone was expecting Slivers.

I went over my 29^th place list last week. For what it's worth, I think the deck is a solid choice for the queues as of now. And after that, well, it's all repeats and awkward lists, including the highest placing Grapeshot Kill deck in the low 40s and my woefully performing Rock list in 120^th place.

So what does this tell us? First, that Slivers and MBC (including Mostly Black) made up nearly a third of the field. However, looking at the Top 8, there were only two true aggro decks-both Slivers-three black based control decks, one Teachings deck, one rogue Aggro and one creature based midrange control. Expanding to the top 32, nearly half the decks were MBC or Slivers, although the trend in the queues has seen a decline in Slivers and rise in Teachings control.

Why did these decks do well? Slivers, well, Slivers is aggro and combo , and can attack you on those two metrics. Slivers had nearly a third of the top 33 decks (all of those with 15 points), so it was able to dodge the hate and just win, as combo is wont to do. In the wake of this event, however, people seem more prepared.

Mono Black, on the other hand, is always a good choice. It is the Swiss Army Knife of Pauper and in the hands of a skilled pilot can be as delicate as a surgeon's scalpel. It has a strong matchup against three of the four most played decks (Burn, Affinity, and Slivers) and the fourth deck was the mirror. In fact, examining the entire meta, only Blue based control was a poor matchup that featured more than one competitor, but those decks were too busy getting stomped by Slivers.

I am excited to see what the next six weeks bring. The release on Conflux should introduce some new cards to the format and give rise to some old decks with new toys. It will also be interesting to see what direction Teachings control will take now that is has a top finish.

It's going to be a wild ride, and we just got on the highway.

A huge thanks to Lee Sharpe, Mike Gills, and the entire PDCMagic.com community!

Keep slingin' commons-

-Alex