Gentry Arena Leaderboard – Episode 5

By Niels Viaene

26 Players joined the 5th edition of the Gentry Weekly. This is the first event after the nerf to Cycling, but since many people were already expecting them, or had assumed some of the changes were already in place, the deck had been played less in recent events.

This event saw a resurgence of Bogles, an archetype that aims to upgrade and protect a single creature, often using All that Glitters to mount a sizable offense in a very short time.

4 – 0 Niels Viaene
Azorius Bogles (Lurrus)

Companion (1) 1 Lurrus of the Dream Den Deck (60) 4 Karametra’s Blessing 6 Island 4 Gingerbrute 3 Sentinel’s Eyes 4 All That Glitters 1 Hushbringer 3 Transcendent Envoy 4 Faerie Vandal 8 Plains 4 Omen of the Sea 2 Essence Scatter 4 Staggering Insight 4 Tranquil Cove 4 Evolving Wilds 3 Alseid of Life’s Bounty 1 Drannith Magistrate 1 Hallowed Fountain

Sideboard (15) 1 Lurrus of the Dream Den 4 Pacifism 3 Disenchant 1 Kasmina’s Transmutation 4 Negate 2 Keep Safe

Oh look, it is me! Yes, I have finally reached a point where I am comfortable enough dealing with event issues to be playing myself. I played one of the aforementioned Bogles decks that did well in this event, combining All that glitters with Staggering Insight to increase the amount of scary starts I can present. Again, Lurrus of the Dream-Den is there more as an insurance policy, rather than a plan A since it cost very little to fit the Companion in the deck.

I played the deck last week as well, but stranded on 2-2 due to displays and misbuilding the deck a little. The swap to Gingerbrute and a better control suit really felt better.

4 – 0 Jan Ceusters
Rakdos Sacrifice (Obosh)

Companion (1) 1 Obosh, the Preypiercer Deck (60) 4 Gingerbrute 5 Swamp 4 Cauldron Familiar 1 Woe Strider 4 Footlight Fiend 4 Grim Initiate 3 Mayhem Devil 10 Mountain 3 Bloodfell Caves 1 Theater of Horrors 4 Evolving Wilds 4 Witch’s Oven 1 Midnight Reaper 4 Shock 2 Spark Harvest 4 Anax, Hardened in the Forge 2 Act of Treason

Sideboard (15) 1 Obosh, the Preypiercer 4 Duress 4 Sanitarium Skeleton 2 Spark Harvest 2 Pharika’s Libation 2 Act of Treason

Mayhem Devil remains a very scary card, especially when paired with Obosh, the Preypiercer. The rest of the deck is engineered to optimize this one card, while having a decent aggro plan as a back-up. Jan chose to go a lot ‘bigger’ than most other Obosh decks try to go and in doing so made his deck less vulnerable against Cry of the Carnarium, a very important card right now.

3 – 1 Sander De Quick
Dimir Control

Deck (60) 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse 4 Dismal Backwater 3 Dimir Guildgate 1 Lochmere Serpent 1 Ugin, the Ineffable 3 Chemister’s Insight 4 Omen of the Sea 4 Cry of the Carnarium 3 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Essence Scatter 2 Devious Cover-Up 7 Island 9 Swamp 4 Murder 1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General 1 Ashiok, Dream Render 2 Negate 2 Quench 1 Mystic Sanctuary 2 Nightveil Predator 2 Mystical Dispute

Sideboard (15) 2 Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty 2 Negate 4 Duress 2 Pharika’s Libation 2 Stern Dismissal 3 Whisper Agent

3 Dimir decks managed to go 3-1. Sander finished highest in tiebreakers and illustrates well what Dimir is shaping up to be. There are a lot more victory conditions in these versions than we have seen in this archetype before. That are solidifying themselves as the most played deck currently, but that also comes with the added risk of becoming a target to others, so they can’t stop innovating just yet.

3 – 1 Yens Goethals
Selesnya Bogles (Lurrus)

Companion (1) 1 Lurrus of the Dream Den Deck (60) 4 Karametra’s Blessing 6 Forest 3 Blossoming Sands 1 Temple of Plenty 11 Plains 1 Temple Garden 4 Season of Growth 4 Sentinel’s Eyes 4 Glaring Aegis 4 All That Glitters 4 Alseid of Life’s Bounty 3 Healer’s Hawk 3 Paradise Druid 4 Gingerbrute 1 Stonecoil Serpent 2 Solid Footing 1 Angelic Gift

Sideboard (15) 1 Lurrus of the Dream Den 2 Light of Hope 2 Plummet 3 Return to Nature 2 Warbriar Blessing 1 Setessan Training 3 Pacifism 1 Healer’s Hawk

Much like the Azorius version I played, this deck aims to put a big threat on the board using All that Glitters and protect it for long enough to win. Even if that fails, there is Lurrus to try again. The green version has Season of Growth for card advantage and here we see Yens taking maximum advantage of that card, playing way more cheap auras than we have seen up to now in decks like these. The heavy white requirement was an issue in his match against me, though.

The standings

For the first time, we have a player that manages to stay in the top position. Congratulations to Jelle Lauwers, for defending his top position. A lot moved in the center of the leaderboard though and now that we have reached 5 events, expect people to start stagnating and unexpected people to emerge on top of the standings all of a sudden. Only the best scoring 5 events are counted for your position on the leaderboard, so next week those with 6 events will not have their worst event count for the leaderboard, allowing people that joined later a chance to catch up. With this season running all the way into September, we might have not even seen the eventual winner on the leaderboard. It could be you! Just go to our organizer page on MTGMelee and join the event, they’re free!

Peter Jönsson and Kristof Van Holsbeeck are poised to suddenly appear at the top of the standings next week, as they have yet to claim a 5th result and are around 30 points behind the leader. Take into consideration you get reversed standings +33% as your points per event and you could see these players jump up to 40 points where the rest will struggle to secure an extra 10.

May your brews be original, spicy, yet juicy,
Niels