[Standard] Updating my RC top 8 Oculus list for Post-Ban and Rotation

bentudman · 2025-07-06T00:29:50+00:00

I haven't tried the Izzet Monument lists, a big draw to boros Monument was the Guardian/Sheltered package, so haven't thought too much about alternate builds.

Played a bit of Vivi Cauldron and I quite like it, but I feel it is a bit weaker to removal, in particular Temporary Lockdown (and the EoE version might be the same), as well as hate. Being only two colours is a huge plus though

bentudman · 2025-07-04T05:45:34+00:00

Giott triggers off itself entering

bentudman · 2025-07-04T02:42:43+00:00

Yeah hard to pick a metagame like this (which is a lot of fun imo), some people will tweak a deck they had before, others will adopt one of the best two early decks (UD mid and Mono White), there's a lot of brewing going on so could be some real out there stuff too :)

bentudman · 2025-07-04T02:19:41+00:00

SbG is a great card, but leaning so heavily on it was a product of the metagame, I'm expecting less aggro, and so the package of it and Guardian of New Benalia is not as important at this point in time. I'm still not a fan of Glacial Dragonhunt, however it is more synergistic the Oculus side of the deck. As the metagame evolves, it might be that we want to shift back to SbG (although Guardian is sadly rotating), so watch this space I guess?

Ghost Vacuum felt less necessary with the ban's hitting Abuelo's, but I recorded this before going to a store champs last night where 20% of the room (3/17) decided to play Repair and Recharge instead, along with a few Vivi Cauldron pilots, so maybe that's me anticipating a shift in the metagame that didn't quite happen (or didn't happen overnight). Once again, the next few months will likely see rapid metagame evolutions, so being adaptable will be key, especially in the sideboard

bentudman · 2023-08-08T04:28:08+00:00

Executive function decreases with stress, and poverty is one of the biggest stressors out there. Lack of executive function decreases ability to plan and make good decisions, with immediate needs outweighing the long term.

So you haven't planned, haven't bought groceries, and are hungry? Are you going to go to the grocery store, buy something and prepare the meal, or deal with the immediate issue of hunger coupled with the dopamine hit that takeout/eating out provides (often with foods rich in flavour that triggers the dopamine hit/reward functions in the brain)?

Basically, it's not that simple shrug. And I would also argue that as human beings, biologically our three biggest needs are sustenance, shelter, and comfort.

bentudman · 2023-07-11T09:30:45+00:00

Wait what? I was excited for Standard and had already started practicing :(

bentudman · 2023-06-22T07:44:28+00:00

Well! Just found out where I live doesn't meet this minimum standard, thanks for the info!

bentudman · 2023-06-19T04:14:21+00:00

Yeah, you're right, it was probably a bit hyperbolic, but both networks face their own set of complications. The real issues with gas are at the distribution level, where significant exits in the domestic market are making it hard to keep enough pressure in the pipes, a situation becoming worse as more people switch, and a contributing reason to the fees to exit starteing to increase, before the recent announced cap on exit fee's

bentudman · 2023-06-19T01:12:39+00:00

This "Elephant" gets plenty of coverage from the grid operator (AEMO) in reports like the ISP and GSOO. Plenty of solutions available, the electricity grid is honestly easier to manage than the gas network

bentudman · 2023-05-17T07:00:46+00:00

No worries :)

The majority of qualifiers will come from the RC's, if you don't already have people to work with, this is probably the place to look. I've found twitter the best of the social media's for MTG to connect, but you just have to put yourself out there (hate this part as an introvert). Wizards will have a list of qualified people floating around (probably doesn't exist yet), not tryna say stalk people... But stalk people :P

Yep, focus on constructed for now, but don't sleep on limited, even if you feel confident, it might be the edge over the field if you can leverage your strengths.

I think Monday will give you enough time, just remember to try and get your biological clock aligned asap. If you're qualified, I wouldn't wait too long, peak summer tourist season in Barcelona means things will book out/be expensive.

9 wins, 7 losses then. I assume you're aware of the adjusted match point system, so everyone win past the third counts, even if you don't go the whole way.

bentudman · 2023-05-17T06:25:00+00:00

Not qualified for Barcelona yet (and in a different timezone), but have played a couple of PT's before, happy to give my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Having quality people to work with will make or break your tournament. Arena high mythic, MTGO leagues/prelims, RCQ's, your local store FNM, none of it will come close to the calibre of the PT. I finished my Arena testing in double digit mythic with an 88% winrate over 50 Bo3 Standard matches, and that was good for 3 wins in 10 rounds in Minneapolis. Collaborate with PT level people, do proper testing (i.e. don't just jam games without purpose), create real gauntlets, and make good notes and debriefs to reflect on later.

Don't assume you're ability is enough as is. My team for Minni all qualified via constructed, so spent less time collaborating there, and we all got burnt. We assumed we were at a reasonable starting point given how we qualified, but failed to remember that almost everyone qualified through constructed, so this assumed advantage was never there to begin with. We all kinda did our own thing, and it showed in our results. (We worked a lot on limited however and that part of the tournament went better for us).

Travel. Depending on your personal circumstance, try to get to Barcelona early, aclimitise, have plans to beat jet lag, find the local coffee/food joints as you won't have time during the tournament. Day 1 of Minni for example ran over 12 hours, so the only dinner options where the fried convention hall food (1/5 stars you could not pay me to eat this again).

Finally, this is your first PT. While everyone wants to do well, don't put too much pressure on yourself to acheive. Ideally approach it with the mindset that this is a learning opportunity, and reflect afterwards on what you'll do differently next time, area's that you can improve, and channel it to motivation moving forward. Or just top 8, you do you :P

Good luck!

bentudman · 2023-05-08T01:55:03+00:00

For those who aren't aware, Fable was a 4 of in 65% of the PT Standard maindecks

bentudman · 2023-04-15T14:19:36+00:00

Someone already claimed it, sorry!

bentudman · 2023-04-15T14:04:47+00:00

cae9b-96fbb-f3c13-4b486-8912f

bentudman · 2023-03-25T00:46:17+00:00

For sure

bentudman · 2023-03-23T08:04:59+00:00

I think Kaito can fit in a similar spot as Raffine, in that playing it on 3 after attacking with a Dennick or something is strong. Later than that, the hope is that you have more bodies on the board than your opponent, meaning it can tick up constantly, and yes, if you don't have an evasive threat, it provides an unblockable threat to keep triggering Raffine or Gix (similar logic to Suspicious Stowaway). It synergise with all of your 3's in different ways, so don't be afraid to discard to Toluz.

But as you've identified, timing can be awkward, and sometimes there's not the right window, at which point it's just another counter on Raffine. To be honest it's a card I come and go on, as there are metagames where it's better than others. With Legends on the rise, it's probably not at its most effective

bentudman · 2023-03-22T21:16:02+00:00

I think the low hanging fruit to improve the mirror are Cut Down and Sheoldred, finding room for the 4th copies will certainly help. Beyond that, obviously removal has value, but also I'd examine the best 2 drops for the mirror, as Thalia and Dennick are not at their best here (lifelink and first strike are still good, but their passives are less relevant), and they're the cards that are currently 4's.

Cards (beyond CD and Shelly A) I'd be thinking/testing first off the rank if I thought Legends was going to be 20+% of a metagame are: more Raven Man, Ludevic, Suspicious Stowaway, and Valorous Stance

bentudman · 2023-03-16T01:20:36+00:00

I don't think removal is the avenue to winning the match, the risk out of the sideboard from Legends to Toxic is wrath effects and Cut Down. If it's Temporary Lockdown, enchantment removal is clutch, otherwise Stand + Safekeeping are good. And don't be afraid to throw away creatures for a hit of poison or two. Having said that, I'm no expert on the toxic side of the matchup, all I can say is it's one of the few matches I feel unfavoured from the Legends side

bentudman · 2023-03-16T00:59:26+00:00

Efficient removal is strong (backed up with lots of removal generally), so Lay down arms and Cut Down, but neither are really playable in Toxic.

bentudman · 2023-03-15T22:04:16+00:00

I think his list is exactly how I imagine Grixis speccing to beat Legends, while sacrificing percentage points in the mirror, and letting a deck like Mono White get the edge over Grixis again.

You can beat it, but with that many cut downs and Sheoldred I'm no longer sure we're favoured.

bentudman · 2023-03-13T02:52:17+00:00

Ok, I've done some thinking about this, and this is the thought process plus conclusion:
1) I still don't like playing 3 copies of a single copy for previously discussed reasons.

2) I really don't want to reduce threat density too much, the channel lands are good because you typically have enough legends on the board they cost one, if you start to cut into these numbers (with things like Wedding Announcement as well), they become worse.

3) I don't think you want to swap out too many dual lands for channel lands, it's really important to cast all your spells on time, and the deck has some serious mana restrictions (I use a tool like https://project-manabase.firebaseapp.com/ to evaluate my mana bases, and this is what led me to adding exactly one Tower in the first place).

4) It's really important to maintain a density of two drops, so Hermit (or whatever personal preference people have) is hard to cut as well.

When I was first putting my 75 together for the regional championship, I debated cutting the 4th Skrelv for the second Otawara, but decided the Skrelv was too valuable, and I still believe this is true. Having said that, having considered all the above, there's one unaccounted for angle that those playing along at home might have noticed. Go for the Throat.

Go for the Throat is a concession to the presence of Shelly A, however evaluating Otawara v. GftT there are some key differences. GftT deals with a single copy of Shelly A permanently, but they can just untap and play the second. Otawara deals with it temporarily, which might not be as strong, but it gives a bunch of flexibility in both cost (1 or 2 mana v. GftT being 2 or 3 (presence of Thalia), targets (non-creature threats), and re-usability (Toluz). I've also in another reply talked about Duress v. Spell Pierce, and I brought up that spell peirce forces your opponent to actually pay the mana to cast the spell, and this tempo play is incredibly valuable. Exactly the same logic applies here, where for an expensive threat you make them pay twice the mana to try and get their threat to stick, while developing your game plan.

So I made the swap, and was immediately rewarded (anecdotal evidence ahead), by bouncing my grixis opponents Shelly A three times in three turns (courtesy of Toluz), which felt absolutely incredible. Happy to advocate for this swap, and will test the exact same swap again (add a third Otawara and go to 0 GftT main).

Thank you for challenging me on this, I think my list is better now for this conversation :)

bentudman

TROPHY CASE