Revolution, February, 2024

The second tournament of Revolution’s tenth rotation concluded this past month at Grand Prix Telhedo! We had the chance to see players more fully explore the tools that latest set Awakening in Oldun brought to the format, and debuted powerful new decks like RB Ruins that relied heavily on the new cards. 16 players piloting 13 different decks (which can be found here: https://lackeybot.herokuapp.com/rev/gp) began the climb together, including old favorites like UR Tempo and Esper Flash, as well as spicy new brews like Jund Fleshmaker's Tribute or Mardu Legends; but only one could reach the summit. 

The finals brought together two very different decks. In the right corner, Splitmoon, piloting RB ruins, a novel aggro deck taking advantage of ruins, a new card subtype featured in Awakening at Oldun. Although relatively creature-light, the deck took maximal advantage of spellcharge, allowing them to convert innocuous-seeming ruins into bastion powerhouses just by spending mana on the spells they were going to cast anyway while evading sorcery-speed interaction. The deck is fast, aggressive, and resilient: a dangerous combination to be sure. 

In the left corner, AllWhoWander, piloting Esper Enchantress. While we've seen enchantress decks before, Wander's list leaned heavily in the controlling direction, with cards like Seal Away and Omen of Deception to control the board, Ephara, Hero-Maker and The Founding of the Twelve as persistent value engines, and Stormscraper of Ketaphos to close out the game. The deck plays a slow, controlling gameplan that aims to gradually pull ahead on value and grind its opponents out.

Going into the final round, the game was already a grudge match: Wander had already beaten Splitmoon 2-0 in the first round of the tournament on the back of Stormscraper of Ketaphos, a resilient threat that allowed Wander to stabilize and lock down the board (while bashing for 5 in the air every turn). And when Wander took the first game in a similar manner, it seemed as though the match was locked up. After a tense game 2, however, Splitmoon managed to turn the tables and out-grind the value deck using potent spells like Field Test and Chronicle of Extinction. With both players poised for a dramatic final showdown, Splitmoon managed to claw back victory in game 3, upsetting Wander and emerging the champion of GP Telhedo!

Splitmoon attributes his success to cards like Field Test and Chronicle of Extinction, which have the advantage of being one-sided board wipes in a deck filled with ruins (which won't become creatures until after they've resolved) while also having alternative modes that provide value against slower and more controlling decks. By virtue of requiring variable amounts of mana, they also allow him to ensure that all of his ruins properly spellcharge–even late into the game, when players might be in topdeck mode. 

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