By Niels Viaene
18 players battled it out again in Gentry and boy were things shaken up big time! The Swedes are still the major contingent, with 9 players, something that is also visible in the insights about who reads this website. But what was the outcome? Let’s see…
4-0 Karl Lister
UR Spells
Karl went with a slightly more creature based version of the deck, adding in Faerie Vandal and even Aegar, the Freezing Flame. He even kept space for Reconnaissance Mission, making this a deck that ca play a rather different game compared to other versions of the deck. Karl has way more access to card advantage and card selection from his permanents, allowing him to play more impactful spells rather than the 12 draw spells we often see in other versions of the deck.
3-1 Joseph Rygaard
WUG Ramp
A new beast has entered the metagame, and it is magnificent! Joseph played ramp, a strategy where you aim to get a mana advantage as early as possible with Ilysian Cariatid, Llanowar Visionary, Sculptor of winder and Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footprints and then overwhelm your opponents with big threats like Beanstal Giant // Fertile Footprints or his rares. He has the full set of Fierce Empath to go look for the perfect monster for the job as we see anti-aggro options and anti control folks reporting for duty.
The maindeck has just enough interaction not to be caught pants down while the sideboard shows he wants to play a more interactive game in games 2 and 3. I like his addition of Shepherd of the Flock // Usher to Safety which will have kept his big finishers safe for sure.
3-1 Kobe Keymeulen
BR Discard
Kobe came in with Control’s worst nightmare, a deck that attacks you hand. The deck is definitely strong in it’s preferred match-ups, but may feel quite pressured by strong aggro decks. But since almost no one is playing these, this deck is a fine choice to bring to a gentry event at the moment.
3-1 Jens Alden
UB Reanimator
We saw Ramp decks a few spots up, this is Reanimator, the ‘other’ strategy for bringing big beaters into play too early. This one goes through the graveyard and aims to discard a big creature with Obsessive Stitcher, Thirst for Meaning or to itself like Waker of Waves and then bring them to life with Obsessive Stitcher or Rise Again. He also has access to self reviving Narfi, Betrayer King while sporting quite a bit of interaction in his deck.
This allows him to take more time for his finishers, while having the option of recurring them when they do get answered. That makes this a far more control-like strategy to play compared to the Ramp deck, but dropping in a hard to answer threat early will always be a threat and an option.
Rest of the 3-1 and the metagame
Thomas Conmy on his Sultai Control list and myself on Mono-White Auras were the remaining 3-1 players. The rest of the tournament was A LOT of Sultai Control but they struggled a bit and ended up with a 50% win rate. We see a comparable result for Izzet decks, with the more classic versions well represented but going a combined 4-8 in matches. Both UW fliers decks struggled as well, going 2-6 combined, it seems the metagame has adjusted to this new threat.
This week was one for the innovators, it seems, with a revamp of Izzet Spells coming out on top and both ramp and reanimator taking a spotlight slot in the event, showing there is still room for improvement and creativity in Gentry.
The leaderboard
As the title of this article said, the true champion sits atop the leaderboard right now, and that champion is, of course, me. (/humility) I would like to point out that the path I took to get there used RW equipment, WG counters/Mutate and Mono-White Auras in a field full of control and midrange decks. Perhaps I got lucky (I did) but I also feel people tend to underestimate the more aggro oriented decks in Gentry. They do need a mechanic to put themselves over the top in matches but in the end, a good pro-active plan can carry you very far in Gentry!
This week, I was the only former top 6 player that managed to end in the upper half of the weekly, and that is the main reason I am up there now. But don’t forget, this was the fifth event, from now on we get into the equalizer events, since only your best 5 performances count. That means that people that do not have 5 events yet are poised to jump a looooot of spots once they do, so keep an eye out for Teddie Anderssen and Karl Lister, while people that had a trajectory with extreme highs and lows have more room for improvement, which means Noa Munther could make surprising jumps still while there are a few chasers that have what it takes to compete for top slots. People like Kobe Keymeulen, Mathias Thorgren and Jens Alden might look like they are not doing too hot, but they have some of the highest marks in the pocket already.
Next week
On Tuesday 16th, we play the Gentry Weekly 6 of this split. Besides the aforementioned impact this will have on the leaderboard, it is also a special edition with special deckbuilding restrictions:
- You must have 20 creatures that share a creature type maindeck
FAQ:
1. Changelings count as any creature type
2. Double faced cards count as either side
3. You are allowed to sideboard to less creature
What creature type will you be playing and what do you think will be the most popular choice?
Enjoy brewing,
Niels Viaene
