GENTRY OPEN XVIII: a healthy metagame and an exciting future

By Niels Viaene

Gentry had taken a bit of a back seat in my life for this season but the response by the community for this edition of the event made me realize it deserves to be a thing, especially now we have the largest card pool to build with ever, and it still has not reached its full potential.

This Gentry Open was full of interesting stories with Sander looking for his 4th title and Tom and Alan possibly going for a third one. There was also the reminder that there are other communities still playing, with Kortrijk fielding two players. And finally, new people join the fray with Kenzo playing his first Gentry event ever and making it to the finals!

The top 4

After 5 rounds of swiss, there was a clear cut to the top 4 play-offs with the people on 4 wins and 1 loss making the cut. Kenzo faced off against Kevin, also a newer face in the community while the other match was between Nathan and Pepijn, two well-established players who have been around pretty much since the beginning of Gentry.

In the end, Nathan fell to Pepijn, apparently his deck, nicknamed “Ginger with a soul” did not measure up against what Pepijn brought to the table. I love Nathan’s deck as it showcases that in Gentry you can pick a cool theme to build your deck around and compete up to the highest levels. The list, with all its 3’s does imply a lack of knowledge of the metagame (which makes sense considering there were very few events) so this deck has a lot of flexibility left. I would love to see 1 or 2 Spell Pierces in the main deck, though!

Main deck (60) 1 Drafna, founder of Lat-Nam 1 Dollhouse of Horrors 1 Unctus, Grand Metatect 1 Liberator, Urza’s Battlecopter 4 Unctus’ retrofitter 4 Covert Technician 3 Zoetic Glyph 2 Hulking Metamorph 2 Chart a course 4 Malcator’s Watcher 3 Network Disruptor 3 Gingerbrute 3 Shore Up 3 Disruption Protocol 3 Impulse 18 Island 4 The Surgical Bay

Sideboard (15) 4 Planar Inclusion 3 Ephara’s Dispersal 4 Spell Pierce 3 Witness Protection 1 Disruptor Protocol

In the other Semifinal, Kevin fell to Kenzo. Kevin brought UR Spells, probably the most iconic archetype in Gentry through the years. The balance between card selection, burn, and counterspells coupled with a sort of engine to put pressure as you cast spells is a strong tool in the hands of people who know how to tackle different decks in different ways. The deck is hard to play and can feel very underwhelming if not played correctly but a vicious tool in the right hands.

Main deck (60) 1 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim 1 Haughty Djinn 1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned 1 Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch 1 Play with Fire 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Third Path Iconoclast 2 Balmor, Battlemage Captain 3 Gnawing Crescendo 2 Tolarian Terror 4 Consider 3 Make Disappear 3 Search the Caves 4 Swiftwater Cliffs 10 Mountain 10 Island 4 Reckless Impulse 2 Electrostatic Infantry

Sideboard (15) 3 Strangle 2 Smash to Dust 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Negate 2 Lightning Strike 2 Shore Up 2 Spell Pierce

The Finale

Pepijn faced Kenzo in the Finals, truly a story of the old community versus the new. Having attended multiple Opens and Invitationals, Pepijn can be considered one of the founding members of this community with strong deckbuilding skills. Kenzo on the other hand is about as new as it gets, this was his first Gentry event, he borrowed the deck from multi-Open winner Tom De Wael and went to town. This is not a rare occurrence, Tom often has multiple decks available for people to use at any given event.

In the end, the experience got the upper hand and Pepijn dispatched Kenzo wielding the following mono-green stompy deck. one of the more linear and therefore straightforward to play of the decks Tom had to use. It relies heavily on Blanchwood Armor to pose a faster clock than anything else in the format while protecting the buffed creature with Gaea’s Gift and Tamiyo’s Safekeeping.

Main Deck (60) 4 Audacity 20 Forest 4 Toadstool Admirer 4 Gingerbrute 4 Fang of Shigeki 4 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping 4 Redtooth Vanguard 4 Gaea’s Gift 4 Tomakul Honor Guard 4 Blanchwood Armor 1 Kami of Transience 1 Fight Rigging 1 Jugan Defends the Temple 1 Sentinel of the Nameless City

Sideboard (15) 3 Turn the Earth 2 Return to Nature 2 Bamboo Grove Archer 2 Epic Confrontation 2 Return to Nature 4 Bite Down

And that leaves us with Pepijn’s deck, which took home the title in the 18th edition of the Gentry Open. He took the Rite of Oblivion focused WB deck and added blue for more interaction. There were already versions adding blue for Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart but Pepijn pushes a lot further and updates the list to be better against Control with the central discard theme and Obscura Charm. It looks like a very interesting core that has a lot more flexibility than most people gave this deck credit for and looks to be a good choice for a deck to tinker with using insight.

Main Deck (62) 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer 1 Kaito Shizuki 1 The Wandering Emperor 1 Elspeth Resplendent 3 Halo Forager 2 Obscura Charm 3 Raff, Weatherlight Stalwart 4 Deep-Cavern Bat 1 Rite of Oblivion 4 Phyrexian Missionary 2 Duress 2 Anoint With Affliction 3 Inspiring Overseer 4 Recommission 3 Raffine’s Informant 3 Spirited Companion 3 Swamp 2 Island 5 Plains 1 Waterfront District 4 Scoured Barrens 4 Obscura Storefront 3 Skybridge Tower 2 Dismal Backwater

Sideboard (15) 2 Not dead after all 2 Duress 3 Rotten Reunion 2 Eaten Alive 2 Cathar Commando 2 Vanish into Eternity 2 Overwhelming Remorse

The Rest of the Metagame

In the end, 15 people joined the Gentry Open, and they played 15 different decks and we were still missing some core archetypes like WG Toxic, UG Tempo, and RW Batallion. Below, you will find the rest of the decklists in no particular order.

Sander

Main deck (60) 1 Cut Down 3 Rona’s Vortex 4 Syncopate 3 Essence Scatter 1 Go for the Throat 3 Impulse 1 Infernal Grasp 1 Negate 2 Sheoldred’s Edict 2 Sunset Revelation 1 White Sun’s Twilight 2 Malicious Malfunction 2 Quick Study 1 Union of the Third Path 3 Demon’s Due 1 Hullbreaker Horror 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 1 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim 3 Tolarian Terror 4 Obscura Storefront 1 Scoured Barrens 2 Tranquil Cove 6 Island 5 Swamp 2 Plains 4 Dismal Backwater

Sideboard (15) 1 Cut Down 3 Duress 1 Rona’s Vortex 2 Disenchant 2 Negate 2 Honored Heirloom 1 Malicious Malfunction 2 Devious Cover-up 1 Tolarian Terror

Daan

Main deck (60) 1 Sigarda’s Summons 1 Defiler of Vigor 1 Tribute to the World Tree 1 Vorinclex // the Grand Evolution 4 Botanical Brawler 3 Illuminator Virtuoso 3 Kami of Whispered Hopes 3 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar 2 Sigardan Paladin 4 Gaea’s Gift 4 Angelic Intervention 4 Cosmic Hunger 4 PArish-Blade Trainee 3 Miner’s Guidewing 10 Forest 8 Plains 4 Evolving Wilds

Sideboard (15) 3 Seeker of Sunlight 3 Ironpaw Aspirant 3 Planar Disruption 3 Atraxa’s Trail 3 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping

Maurice

Main deck (60) 4 Hidden Volcano 4 Hidden Necropolis 4 Hidden Cataract 4 Hidden Courtyard 4 Hidden Nursery 2 Lightning Strike 4 Walk With Ancestors 4 Plundering Pirate 4 Murder 4 Scrollshift 3 Daring Discovery 1 Forgotten Monument 1 Illicit Shipment 1 Gargantuan Leech 1 Sinuous Benthisaur 3 Spelunking 4 Scampering Surveyor 4 Calamitous Cave-in 1 Cosmuim Confluence 1 Chimil, the Inner Sun 1 See Double 1 Arcane Bombardment

Sideboard (15) 2 Mountain 1 Forest 1 Plains 1 Swamp 1 Captivating Cave 4 Promising Vein 2 Rumbling Rockslide 3 Etali’s Favor

Boyan

Main Deck (60) 1 Elesh Norn // The Argent Etchings 1 Gix’s Command 1 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary 1 Thrun, Breaker of Silence 2 Rite of Oblivion 3 Skyfisher Spider 2 Phyrexian Missionary 3 Infernal Grasp 2 Colossal Skyturtle 4 Hopeless Nightmare 4 Jewel Thief 4 Spirited Companion 2 Urborg Repossession 3 Rowan’s Grim Search 4 Fanatical Offering 3 Scoured Barrens 3 Blossoming Sands 3 Jungle Hollow 6 Swamp 4 Forest 4 Plains

Sideboard (15) 2 Surge of Salvation 1 Rite of Oblivion 3 Duress 3 Eaten Alive 2 Return to Nature 2 Rotten Reunion 2 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping

Kofi

Main deck (60) 3 Bortuk Benorattle 1 Brair Hydra 1 Drag to the Bottom 5 Forest 4 Gaea’s Might 2 Haunted Mire 1 Herd Migration 1 Island 4 Merida’s Outrider 1 Molten Tributary 3 Mountain 4 Nishoba Brawler 1 Plains 1 Radiant Glow 4 Return from the Wilds 2 Shadow Prophecy 1 Sphinx of Clear Skies 3 Swamp 3 Tangled Islet 4 The Weatherseed Treaty 4 Up the Beanstalk 3 Wooded Ridgeline 4 Yavimaya Sojourner

Sideboard (14) 1 Atraxa’s Fall 4 Bite Down 2 Carniverous Canopy 3 Gaea’s Gift 2 Shadow Prophecy 1 Shoot Down 1 Swamp

Alan

Main deck (60) 4 Gaea’s Gift 4 Lightning Strike 4 Belligerent Yearling 4 Burning Sun Cavalary 3 Itzquinth, first born of Gishath 2 Invasion of Ergamon 4 Scytheclaw Raptor 2 Thrashing Brontodon 4 Pathfinding Axejaw 2 Seismic Monstrosaur 1 Huatli, Poet of Unity 1 Palini’s Hatcher 1 Bonehoard Dracosaur 1 Trumpeting Carnosaur 4 Rugged Highlands 10 Mountain 9 Forest

Sideboard (15) 4 Tamiyo’s Safekeeping 3 Flame-blessed Bolt 3 Return to Nature 3 Volcanic Spite 2 Burn the Accursed

Izaak

Main Deck (60) 4 Angelic Intervention 4 Attentive Skywarden 1 Deadly Derision 2 Dreg Recycler 1 Elesh NOrn // the Argent Etchings 1 Grafted Butcher 4 Ichor Drinker 2 Invasion of New Capenna 4 Norn’s Inquisitor 3 Phyrexian Awakening 4 Phyrexian Cansor 1 Progenitor Exarch 2 Sculpted Perfection 1 Sunfall 1 Vanquish the Weak 4 Scoured Barrens 10 Plains 11 Swamp

Sideboard (14) 2 Alabaster Host Sanctifier 2 Crawling Chorus 2 Cut Short 1 Deadly Derision 1 Dreg Recycler 1 Infected Defector 2 Inspiring Charge 2 Tarkir Duneshaper 1 Vanquish the Weak

Sven

Main Deck (60) 1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel 4 Rite of Oblivion 1 Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn 4 Blight Pile 2 Eaten Alive 1 Faithbound Judge 3 Gibbering Barricade 3 Infernal Grasp 2 Lunarch Veteran 2 Rotten Reunion 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 4 Shield-Wall Sentinel 4 Spirited Companion 4 Wingmantle Chaplain 12 Plains 12 Swamp

Sideboard (15) 4 Candletrap 2 Eaten Alive 1 Gibbering Barricade 2 Honored Heirloom 2 Lunarch Veteran 2 Rotten Reunion 2 Urborg Repossession

Tom

Main Deck (60) 8 Island 4 Prologue to Phyresis 4 Anoint with Affliction 8 Swamp 4 Infectious Inquiry 4 Vraska’s Fall 1 Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting 4 Experimental Augury 4 Bring the Ending 2 Vivisurgeon’s Insight 4 Sheoldred’s Edict 1 Sorin the Mirthless 1 Mirrex 2 Reject Imperfection 4 Obscura Storefront 4 Dismal Backwater 1 Kaito, Dancing Shadow

Sideboard (15) 4 Duress 3 Rotten Reunion 4 Negate 4 Malicious Malfunction

Ward

Main Deck (60) 4 Play with Fire 21 Mountain 4 Ancestral Anger 4 Thermo-Alchemist 4 Lightning Strike 1 Chandra, Dressed to Kill 4 Unruly Catapult 1 Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might 4 Reckless Impulse 4 Electrostatic Infantry 4 Voldaren Epicure 1 Mechanized Warfare 1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus 3 Stoke the Flames

Sideboard (15) 3 Abrade 4 Raze the Effigy 4 Flame-Blessed Bolt 1 Abrade 3 Burn the Accursed

That is all but 1 decklist in the event, Robbe’s, which might have gone lost to the digital spheres. They are pretty much 15 different lists, borrowing from different strengths on the metagame right now. But there is so much more to be discovered as strong contenders were even missing from this event like RW Batallion and WG Toxic aggro. In the meantime Murders at Karlov Manor has entered the metagame, and it looks like it has a lot to offer for Gentry in its uncommon multicolor slot (that is where I browse for new deck ideas).

I was also alerted to the fact that there is still a playing community in Kortrijk, which means there is still plenty to put effort into for the 19th edition, and even for the 20th one that we might push extra hard for…

See you across the table,
Niels, your Gentry overlord