Revolution, March 2024

The third tournament of Revolution’s tenth rotation concluded this past month at Grand Prix Five-Thorn Peaks! GP Five-Thorn Peaks marks the last chance for players to qualify for the upcoming Revolution: Worlds tournament, and we were excited to see a variety of archetypes, new and old, represented at the penultimate GP of the rotation. These exciting lists included Green-White Go-Wide Tokens, Green-Black Self-Mill Midrange, and Blue-White Enchantress, all of which were underappreciated old lists that had another chance to truly shine. 

However, by far the most exciting development in the metagame was the discovery of new combo-adjacent decks, which, accordingly, fought in the finals. Kayiu came to the table bearing Cult of the Yeti, a RB-midrange deck with the 1-2 punch of Cabal Class and Rano's Slopeguard to kill their opponent as early as turn 3. The deck was also highly resilient; featuring oodles of disruption and value in the form of Shatter Identity, Chronicle of Extinction, and Forgotten Cultivator, providing a strong controlling-midrange plan that both bought time if the combo didn't go off, and could even close out game on its own. 

By contrast, 7nix brought a much more explosive list to bear: RB Chicken Mandates. Making use of Embrace Hopelessness and Set Ablaze to throw Chainbreaker's Familiar and Smolderwing into the graveyard, and using Erupting Fury and Brilliant Mandate to bring them back, the deck presented a brutally fast clock seemingly from nowhere–and could bring its phoenixes back again and again to apply relentless pressure until their opponents cracked.

During the finals, these two very different takes on red-black combo decks squared off in a tight-fought matchup. Ultimately, Kayiu managed to stabilize and stave off the phoenixes gnawing at his heels for long enough to close out the game, winning a narrow 2-1 victory against 7nix. With this victory, the worlds slate was locked in, and the players retired to the locker room to begin playtesting and tweaking their decks for worlds...

Congratulations to Kayiu on their win, well played to 7nix, and remember: if you’re interested in playing some awesome custom magic, the best time to join the revolution is now!