by Sean Gifford

Hello Broken City Magic [and Mana Deprived] fans. My name is Sean Gifford. A quick bit of context for you: I’ve been playing Magic for only about one year. I started with the Duels of the Planeswalkers game on Xbox 360 and transitioned to bona-fide competitive Magic around the time of the Rise of the Eldrazi Release. It hasn't been long, but I've progressed quickly, gaining experience primarily in Standard, Limited and Block Constructed formats (the topic of today's article).

About Block Constructed

Now that introductions are out of the way, Let’s take a look at the meta-game of a recent Pro level tournament shall we?

UW Control 27.54%
Eldrazi Green 14.49%
Beastmaster Ascension 13.04%
RDW 17.39%
RUG Ramp/Control 10.14%
Vampires 8.70%
Boros 4.35%
Other 4.35%

Where is Valakut, U/B Control and Quest White Weenie? And what the hell is Beastmaster Ascension?

The meta-game above is in fact from Pro Tour San Juan last spring, a Zendikar Block Constructed Tournament that was held shortly after the release of Rise of the Eldrazi. Block Constructed is a format where you build 60-card decks with 15-card sideboards, however you may only build your decks with cards from a particular expansion block. In this case it was Zendikar Block, which included Zendikar, Worldwake, and Rise of the Eldrazi. For more information on Pro Tour San Juan, I recommend this read.

The meta-game in Zendikar Block Constructed is surprisingly similar to our current Standard meta-game, and that’s because at present, the only cards available in Standard are Zendikar Block, Magic 2011 and Scars of Mirrodin.

So I know what you’re thinking, “Thanks for the history lesson pops, got anything I actually might care about?.” Well I do in fact, and I’ll start by sharing why I know any of this at all.

Going Infinite

It started with me wanting to play more Magic. And if you ask anyone, the best way to play more magic is to play on Magic the Gathering Online. Unfortunately, MTGO ain’t free. In fact depending on which formats you play online, it can be downright expensive.

Always the consummate researcher, I investigated the best way to play MTGO without going broke. That’s when I started seeing the phrase “Going Infinite” bandied about. For those not in the know, “Going Infinite” essentially means that you are able to pay for the cost of playing on Magic Online (entry fees into events, purchase of cards, etc.) with money (or "tickets,” as the currency is called on MTGO) earned from playing in and winning events.

Two very notable professional Magic the Gathering Players who got their start on MTGO have written articles on “Going Infinite”.

Firstly, Luis Scott-Vargas in "Going Infinite on MTGO."

And secondly, current Player of the Year 2010 frontrunner, Brad Nelson in"Single-Set Block and Playtesting."

For the impatient or link adverse among you, I’ll sum up the two articles very briefly. LSV declares that the best way to go infinite on MTGO is to play in a Constructed format, and furthermore, to devote your play time to playing in the largest events available online: Daily Events, which are scheduled multiple times each day, and Premier Events, which run only on the weekends. The Magic Online calendar is available here.

Brad Nelson’s input to the “Going Infinite” discussion is to recommend that one plays in Block Constructed, and specifically, what he calls “Single-Set Block”. “Single Set Block” is what Scars of Mirrodin can be described as right now, as only the first set in the block has been released so far. His reasoning for this is that with a minimal investment, you can own a large portion of the available card pool and be able to use your own creativity in designing and playing decks. That and you will be able to play Block Constructed through the release of the entire block, earning the money to purchase cards as they are released online.

Not one to shun the advice of such esteemed professionals, I leapt right in to playing Block Constructed on Magic Online. But first I had to figure out which deck to play!

I knew I was going to play in Scars Block Constructed before Scars was released online. Unfortunately I didn’t know what decks were any good. That’s where a little friend called Magic League came in handy.

Magic League is an online league that schedules player-run events utilizing a piece of software called Magic Workstation. That last sentence probably bears further explanation, but there's enough there for a whole 'nother article. Suffice it to say the reason I was interested in Magic League is that they often run events in a format before it is available Online, and often before even the Paper cards are available for purchase. They also conveniently post the decklists here.

That’s where I got my first ideas for a deck to play in SOM Block. Luckily for you fine people, Scars of Mirrodin Block Constructed has been an active format online since mid-October, and you don’t have to resort to such elite levels of future-looking espionage. Wizards of the Coast makes it even easier for you, with their “What’s Happening” page, which lists the results of all of the Premier Events and Daily events in the past two weeks, as well as all of the Decklists.

Lists, Lists, Lists

Before you exert yourselves digging through tournament results trying to extract some deck tech gold, how about I just share what’s going on. I gathered all of the Daily Event Results, featuring decks that went 3-1 or 4-0 in a Daily event, between November 24th, and December 2nd. Here’s what I found:

SoM Block Constructed Metagame
4-0 and 3-1 Deck %s
U/W Venser Control 32.3%
Big Red 17.7%
Grand Architect 15.6%
B/W/u Venser Control 8.8%
Glint Hawk Aggro 5.4%
R/B Removal 5.4%
Mono B Infect 5.4%
Other 13.6%

Blinky010’s U/W Venser Control
(That’s me!)

U/W Venser Control is the premiere control deck of the format. This deck strives to use Venser, the Sojourner’s +2 “Blink” ability to the fullest, with 10 creatures main-deck that have an “Enters the Battlefield” trigger. Glimmerpoint Stag is the poster child for these sorts of interactions, as you can use Venser’s +2 ability to blink your own Glimmerpoint Stag and remove any one of an opponent’s permanents during their entire turn.

The blink abuse continues with a playset of Contagion clasps spread between the maindeck and the sideboard, which can be cast once and then bounced repeatedly to take down creatures of any size, and also come in handy to proliferate counters on the 3 Main-deck Tumble Magnet, as well as the Loyalty counters of both Venser and Elspeth.

Four Stoic Rebuttal, three Revoke Existence, and two Volition Reins main-deck flesh out the control elements of the deck, assisting you in containing an opponent’s game-plan while protecting your own proactive plan of beating down with Sunblast Angel, Glimmerpoint Stag, and Elspeth tokens, or a plan B of Venser’s Ultimate and associated emblem.

asadabao’s Big Red

Big Red tries to ramp into numerous high mana cost threats as quickly as possible, while also boasting some of the best artifact removal in the format. Turn 2 Iron Myr followed by a Turn 3 Koth of the Hammer is one of the most terrifying openings in the format, and will often lead to Koth’s ultimate and associated emblem. This particular build leverages the pre-existing artifact removal further by including 2 Liquimetal Coating to turn any of an opponent’s permanents into artifacts which can then be destroyed.

essenia’s Grand Architect

Grand Architect uses its namesake card to ramp quickly into difficult to deal with artifact threats like Wurmcoil Engine or Myr Battlesphere, and then protect them with blue control spells like Disperse, Stoic Rebuttal, and the often-sideboarded Turn Aside. This deck plays 1-2 Mindslavers, but does not attempt any infinite Mindslaver Lock shenanigans, instead hoping to set up a powerful board position, before playing Mindslaver and using it to attack with an opponent’s would-be chump blockers and waste all of their removal and control spells. This is the first deck in my list to not have any Planeswalkers within it, but it does sport an excellent plan of attack against opposing planeswalkers with Argent Sphinx to kill them, or Volition reins to steal them.

stir’s B/W/u Venser Control

B/W/u Venser Control takes all the bouncy goodness of U/W Venser Control, and replaces the blue spells for black, in essence adding Skinrender to the mix in order to terminate opposing creatures rather than attempt to counter them or steal them. The blue splash for Venser is accomplished by using all eight of the U/W and U/B Scars Dual Lands, a rather painless splash, all things considered. Carnifex demon also perches at the top of the mana curve for this deck, and has the potential to quickly become the largest creature on the battlefield once played. The proliferate subtheme continues to be enforced with maindeck Contagion Clasps, which combine well with Carnifex Demon’s -1/-1 counters, as well as Tumble Magnet charges, Skinrender’s -1/-1 counters, and the Planeswalkers Loyalty counters.

pvtdanser’s Glint Hawk Aggro

Glint Hawk Aggro has the potential for the most explosive starts in Scars Block Constructed. Glint Hawk combines with eleven 0-casting cost artifacts to threaten the skies with a 2/2 flier on turn 1, often with a Memnite sidekick. Myrsmith and Origin Spellbombs churn out 1/1 Myr tokens which can then be boosted by the assortment of equipment maindeck, as well as the 3-casting cost Tempered Steel, which gives every artifact creature +2/+2. Former US National Champion and PT Amsterdam Top 8 Competitor Micheal Jacob recently wrote an article on StarCityGames.com Premium touting this deck in particular for Scars Block Constructed, and revealing his love affair for Tumble magnet both in Block and in Standard. If you've got a Premium StarCityGames.com account, you can read it here, and if not, the article will be available for free as of December 19th, 2010.

Darth_Revan’s B/R Removal

Red/Black Removal is just that. Stocked to the brim with removal, headlined by the two “Flametongue Kavu” wannabe’s of Oxidda Scrapmelter and Skinrender, this deck aims to have the only creatures still alive on the board. Mimic Vat benefits from all of the carnage caused by the various removal spells, generating copies of the opponents’ creatures to use for smashing face. In the early game, if your opponent is not playing any creatures or artifacts for you to lovingly destroy with the unconditional Skinrender or Scrapmelter, you can always be proactive with a Koth of the Hammer, or as a last resort, Moriok Replica beats.

mattwhite26’s Mono B Infect

And finally, the oft-maligned powerhouse of Scars of Mirrodin draft, Infect. All three of Black/Green, Mono Green, and Mono Black Infect have seen play in tournaments, however the most successful thus far has been Mono Black. Boasting arguably the best mana-curve in Scars of Mirrodin Block Constructed, Mono Black infect attempts to quickly start poisoning an opponent with twelve 2-drop infect creatures, and then finish things off with some great reach in the 7 Proliferate artifacts, Ichor Rats’ Enter the Battlefield trigger, and Hand of the Praetor’s passive ability. At the top of the curve sits the Legendary Infect dragon, Skithyrix, ready to lay down a hasted 4 poison counter beating at the drop of a hat. With its hoard of X/1s, Mono Black Infect suffers somewhat from the popularity of Contagion Clasp within the metagame. If Mirrodin Beseiged brings us a cycle of Enemy Colored Dual lands of any kind, I expect B/G infect to have a real renaissance, but as is, the double colored casting costs are often a stumbling block for that version of the deck.

That pretty much sums up the MTGO Block Constructed meta-game. I hope to see all of you on MTGO soon, grinding away at the SoM Block Constructed Daily Events and Premiere Events. For those of you with aspirations of playing on the Pro Tour, SoM Block Constructed will also be the Constructed format in the 2nd Pro Tour of 2011, Pro Tour Nagoya in June 10-12 2011. If Shawn has me back, my next article will address the financials of playing on Magic Online a little further, and share my own experiences in my attempt to go infinite. Until next time!

Sean Gifford

(Shawn's note: of course we'll have ya' back – for financial talk, randomness, whatever. We'd probably all love to see one of your 4-0 or 3-1 Daily Results turned into a tournament report for insight into how the specific match-ups play out and which cards are most dangerous).

Kar Yung Tom

Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.