The MTG Eternal community discord hosted another community event, this time a Historic tourney on July 6th, 2024 , with the goal of cracking open the meta right before the upcoming Arena Championship 6 event!! With the release of Modern Horizons 3 to Historic and Timeless, Magic: Arena’s two unique eternal formats, a lot of archetypes have been created, enhanced, or given many other choices for their cardpools! It’s no secret that Boros Energy has been one of the, if not THE dominant decks in the format since MH3 released. Are we doomed to Boros Energy mirrors until WOTC takes action, or can other decks rise to the occasion and keep the Boros Energy decks in check? We hope that this tournament provides a way forward in answering this question! Without further ado, let’s check out the top 8.
First Place
coming in first, we have Omrithopter piloting an innovative Mardu Sacrifice deck . With a Lurrus of the Dream Den companion, this deck utilizes, to great effect, new creatures like Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, and Marionette Apprentice alongside archetype favorites like Goblin Trapfinder, Unlucky Witness, and Shambling Ghast. Two Chthonian Nightmares round out the new additions from MH3, while a strong supporting cast of cards like Deadly Dispute and Claim the Firstborn work alongside the centerpiece of Goblin Bombardment to keep the pressure on while also generating advantage. Aggressive, low-to-the-ground, and interactive strategies like this seem like a great way to keep Boros Energy in check, and with only ten new cards from MH3, this deck may be considered on the somewhat more budget-friendly end of the spectrum! Congratulations again to Omrithopter, a frequent competitive player and two-time winner in our events!! Be sure to check out their Full Tournament Run!
Second Place
Keeping it cool at second place, we have Ramirinho9 piloting a formidable Jeskai Lotus list with new additions in Wrath of the Skies, Consign to Memory, Three Steps Ahead from OTJ, Nulldrifter, and Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury alongside archetype-defining cards like Lotus Field, Divine Purge, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Strict Proctor. Notice the sideboard has two more boardwipes and two copies of Suncleanser, a card I personally haven’t really seen much of in ANY constructed environment, to deal specifically with the go-wide Boros Energy decks. Other traditional interaction and removal spells commonly played in eternal formats on Arena round out the list, built to grind opponents down and enable explosive jumps in mana with lotus fields. Congratulations again to Ramirinho9!
Third Place
At third, we have davidcampbell piloting an Abzan Energy Yawgmoth list. In addition to the previously mentioned Ajani and Apprentice, we have Ocelot
Pride helping to go wide and generate bodies that can be convoked with Chord of Calling and then sacrificed to Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, the deck’s namesake. For the most part, the deck is an innovation on the previously strong Yawgmoth archetype, with sideboard Chthonian Nightmares rounding out the new cards. Note, again, the two Suncleansers in sideboard as tech for the Boros Energy matchup. If Yawgmoth is your jam, then this deck may be a good starting spot to explore the archetype in a post-MH3 Historic!
Fourth Place
Rounding out the top 4, we have A-D playing another Abzan Yawgmoth list with significant differences from our 3rd place contender. First, there is no energy subtheme, and in fact only Marionette Apprentices make the maindeck from MH3. This list is more tuned to beat up on the energy decks, featuring a maindeck Suncleanser and three more, along with a Nightclubber, hiding in the sideboard. A single sideboard Eladamri, Korvecdal finishes out the inclusions from MH3 in this deck with minimal post MH3 updates! This list generally has the appearance of a pre-MH3 Historic Yawgmoth list minimally updated to beat up on the meta after the release of MH3; if you are a Yawgmoth player on a budget, this 4th place list may be a better starting spot.
Fifth Place
Coming in hot at 5th place, we are joined by Kelvandil piloting a Jeskai Control list with significant differences from the second place list. First, there is no Lotus Field package to speak of; this deck aims for the more traditional build of a control shell, though there are no maindeck planeswalkers to speak of! Kelvandil has opted for two Snapcaster Mages and two Phlages alongside a single Dream Trawler and a single copy each of Hall of the Storm Giants and Castle Ardenvale as the finishers, additionally with a single The Wandering Emperor and Calim, Djinn Emperor in the board. We see our first copy of Invert Polarity in the event, with a worst use-case as a counterspell that sometimes takes your opponents’ spells for your own use. The rest of the list is mostly variants of the usual card advantage and interaction suites, where we’ll highlight Expressive Iteration as an important contributor.
Sixth Place
Our 6th place contender is Toxtrok (aka Fanver) with our third variant of Jeskai control , and a third distinct energy-focused iteration on the archetype. Here we see both maindeck T5feri’s and the Snapcaster + Phlage + Calim trifecta, with three copies of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student rounding out the creature package. Tamiyo can fairly consistently transform into a powerful planeswalker, and even if she doesn’t, she generates clues that can be cashed in later. Alongside the aforementioned Wrath of the Skies we see four Tune the Narratives and four Galvanic Discharges, a single Sink into Stupor roudning out maindeck MH3 inclusions, alongside the loved and hated Flame of Anor in a slightly different, non-Izzet Wizards context. Notable sideboard inclusions are Chandra, Awakened Inferno, two Disruptor Flutes, two Prismatic Endings, and two more Suncleansers, which seems to have been the hate piece of choice for this event.
Seventh Place
At lucky number 7 we have SuperMax keeping it hot with a Primal Prayers-based Abzan Prayers Combo deck . With Guide of Souls, Prayers, and Sigardian Evangel, one ought to be able to play as many Evangels as desired to tap down opponents’ permanents and flood the board with a lethal number of the 3/1 creatures. The new-to-Arena Recruiter of the Guard shows up as an effective four-of in the maindeck, and with a sideboard utilizing Ocelot Pride, Culling Ritual, Orim’s Chant, and Suncleansers again, this list packs a punch its opponents won’t recover from if left unchecked. This is a shining example of one of the archetypes birthed by MH3, make sure to test it out and join our server if you are interested in the deckbuilding process and continuing to innovate on it with others!
Eight Place
*Note: Played without a Sideboard
Last but not least in our top 8 is gonio piloting Rakdos Exile Crawler , a list that I am definitely not comfortable explaining the ins and outs of, but I’ll
show you the relevant cards: Chitinous Crawler + Amped Raptor + Party Thrasher alongside support such as Seasoned Pyromancer, Stitcher’s Supplier and Gnawing Vermin. Unstable Amulet also seems to be the perfect card for this archetype and is appropriately included as a 4-of. Galvanic Discharge and Fatal Push and Tormod’s Crypt round out the interactive pieces of this incredibly unique deck – if graveyard-based combo is your thing but you aren’t playing Rakdos Breach in timeless, this may scratch the same itch in the same colors!
In Closing
And that’s our top 8!!! Make sure to check out the full list of competitors and their decklists here.
Let’s have a few quick remarks and questions:
1. Not a single Boros Energy list in sight! (Okay, well, at least not in the top 8). Â Were the competitors too well-prepared for a known ‘best deck’, or is there much more to explore in the format that handily beats Boros?
2. Where was Izzet Wizards or Monogreen? Before MH3, these were two of the decks-to-beat in the format, consistently killing opponents either very quickly or very effectively in a grinder, rampier sort of way. Was MH3 so powerful that these previous boogeymen just can’t compete?
As we can see, there are a lot of archetypes that can be tuned to beat Boros Energy and still have game versus other lists, but the consensus is clear: MH3 has left an unmistakable mark on the beloved format of Historic. What will you take to the ladder and to future events?
Congrats and thank you to all of our players, we are looking forward
to future events with you and anyone else! Join our server, talk shop
about your favorite decklists, and we’ll see you next time!
– alfalfa1
