Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wilderness Reclamation was the dominant force at this weekend’s Players Tour Finals.
Temur Reclamation and its variants have been the clear best archetype since Fires of Invention was banned in Standard at the beginning of June. It was the most popular archetype by far in the the four Players Tour Online events that fed the Players Tour Final, winning both the Players Tours 1 and 2 and making up over over 40.5% and and 38.5% of those metagames, respectively. It dropped in popularity a bit the following weekend at Players Tour Online 3 to 23.8% of the field and 26.40% Players Tour Online 4.
That dominance only increased at the Players Tour Final, with over half of the players registering Wilderness Reclamation decks looking to make tons of mana to cast huge Expansion // Explosions. The traditional Temur Reclamation deck made up 39.3% of the metagame, while the Four-Color Reclamation deck, which splashed white for mirror-breakers like Dovin’s Veto and Teferi, Time Raveler, made up 15.2% of the field.
The Standard metagame at the Players Tour Finals.
While Temur Reclamation managed a 50% conversion rate from Day 1 into Day 2 of the tournament, Four-Color Reclamation—which, again, is built to beat opposing Wilderness Reclamation decks—posted an impressive 72.7% conversion rate.
Both version of the Wilderness Reclamation archetype achieved the two best non-mirror match win rates in the Players Tour Final: 54.5% for Four-Color and 52.8% for Temur Reclamation. Jund Sacrifice was the only other deck with over a 50% win rate at 51.7%.
Archetype win rates at the Players Tour Finals.
The success of Four-Color Reclamation speaks to just how dominant Wilderness Reclamation was at the Players Tour Finals. The deck is specifically tuned to fight opposing Wilderness Reclamations with Teferi, Time Raveler—which makes the extra mana from opposing Wilderness Reclamations useless and protects Four-Color Reclamation’s spells from counterspells—and Dovin’s Veto as an uncounterable answer to Expansion // Explosion. And both Temur and Four-Color Reclamation decks even ran as many as four maindeck Aether Gusts as a way to deal with other Wilderness Reclamations.
The card warped every other deck in the tournament around itself, as well. Both Mono-White and Mono-Black aggro made appearances as pure metagame choices by trying to race Wilderness Reclamation and strand Aether Gusts in the Reclamation decks’ hands. Mono-Black, piloted by Riku Kumagai, even made the Top 8 thanks to its combination of disruption (Duress and Kitesail Freebooter) and pressure (Knight of the Ebon Legion, Hunted Nightmare, and Spawn of Mayhem)—none of which could be targeted by maindeck copies of Aether Gust in half of the decks in the tournament.
In the end, four of the Top 8 decks at the Players Tour Final were Wilderness Reclamation decks: two copies of Temur Reclamation, in the hands of Allen Wu and Patrick Fernandes, and two copies of Four-Color Reclamation, piloted by Benjamin Weitz and Kristof Prinz. They were joined by the aforementioned Riku Kumagai on Mono-Black Aggro, Michael Jacob with Mardu Winota, Raphael Levy on Azorius Control, and Christoffer Larsen on Jund Sacrifice.
Who Could Have Predicted…
After four Players Tour Online events were overrun by Wilderness Reclamation decks last month, who could have predicted that that same archetype would dominate the Players Tour Finals?
Two weeks ago—after all four of those events were held—Wizards of the Coast decided let Standard be while banning cards in three other formats. “After careful review of the metagame, we’re choosing not to make any changes to Standard,” they said at the time. “Players Tour Online 3 and 4 saw the overall win rates and Day 2 conversion rates of the most played decks, Bant Ramp and Temur Reclamation, come down to healthier levels. In the weeks following we’ve seen other archetypes rise in popularity and win rate.” Additionally, “Core Set 2021 has brought a variety of new tools, and generally we’re seeing steady motion in the metagame leading up to the Players Tour Finals.”
But Wizards also acknowledged that the saw the same warning signs as the Magic community. “While we agree with concerns that Growth Spiral ramp decks, in aggregate, have recently represented a larger than ideal portion of the metagame,” they continued, “we do see different archetypes within that larger category behaving differently in terms of strengths, weaknesses, and roles in the metagame.”
Wizards then went on to say: “With signs of the metagame shifting away from ramp in recent weeks, the release of Core Set 2021, and Standard with rotation coming in the fall, we’ve decided to allow the metagame to continue its natural evolution.”
Needless to say, that shift away from ramp strategies wasn’t reflected at the Players Tour Finals.
What’s Next
In an unusual move, Wizards decided to split the Swiss portion of the Players Tour Finals, which were played this weekend, from the Top 8, which will be played next Saturday, August 1.
Those players also earned invites to the Season Grand Finals, the capstone event to the online tournaments that replaced Magic’s 2020 in-person schedule, that will take place later this year. They will be joined by the other eight players in the Top 16 of the Players Tour Final—Autumn Burchett, Sam Sherman, Seth Manfield, Alvaro Fernandez Torres, Austin Bursavich, Ivan Floch, and Eetu Perttula—as well as the Top 16 of the upcoming Mythic Invitational.
The Mythic Invitational, which will be held on September 10-13, will feature the Historic format’s debut on Magic’s professional stage. However, even after the banning of Nexus of Fate two weeks ago, it appears that Historic might have its own Wilderness Reclamation problem.
Top 8 Deck Lists
Standard Four-Color Reclamation by Benjamin Weitz
| Planeswalkers (4) 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Creatures (3) 2 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 1 Brazen Borrower Enchantments (8) 4 Wilderness Reclamation 4 Shark Typhoon Instants (15) 4 Expansion // Explosion 4 Growth Spiral 4 Mystical Dispute 2 Dovin’s Veto 1 Aether Gust | Lands (30) 4 Temple Garden 4 Ketria Triome 4 Raugrin Triome 4 Fabled Passage 3 Breeding Pool 3 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 2 Castle Vantress 1 Plains 1 Mountain 1 Forest 1 Blast Zone Sideboard (15) 4 Glass Casket 3 Solar Blaze 2 Kenrith, the Returned King 2 Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse 2 Spectral Sailor 1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 1 Dovin’s Veto |
Standard Temur Reclamation by Allen Wu
| Creatures (5) 2 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 2 Nightpack Ambusher 1 Brazen Borrower Enchantments (8) 4 Wilderness Reclamation 4 Shark Typhoon Instans (18) 4 Mystical Dispute 4 Growth Spiral 4 Expansion // Explosion 3 Aether Gust 3 Negate | Lands (29) 4 Ketria Triome 4 Breeding Pool 4 Fabled Passage 3 Steam Vents 3 Stomping Ground 3 Castle Vantress 2 Forest 2 Island 2 Blast Zone 1 Temple of Mystery 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Scorching Dragonfire 2 Mazemind Tome 2 Elder Gargaroth 1 Narset’s Reversal 1 Commence the Endgame 1 Flame Sweep 1 Storm’s Wrath 1 Brazen Borrower 1 Negate 1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath |
Standard Temur Reclamation by Patrick Fernandes
| Creatures (4) 2 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 2 Brazen Borrower Enchantments (8) 4 Wilderness Reclamation 4 Shark Typhoon Instants (20) 4 Expansion // Explosion 4 Growth Spiral 4 Mystical Dispute 3 Negate 2 Opt 2 Aether Gust 1 Commence the Endgame | Lands (28) 4 Breeding Pool 4 Fabled Passage 4 Ketria Triome 3 Castle Vantress 3 Steam Vents 3 Stomping Ground 2 Forest 2 Island 2 Blast Zone 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Bonecrusher Giant 2 Scorching Dragonfire 2 Nightpack Ambusher 2 Spectral Sailor 1 Commence the Endgame 1 Negate 1 Brazen Borrower 1 Narset’s Reversal 1 Storm’s Wrath |
Standard Mono-Black Aggro by Riku Kumagai
| Creatures (28) 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion 4 Gutterbones 4 Kitesail Freebooter 4 Hunted Nightmare 4 Spawn of Mayhem 3 Rankle, Master of Pranks 2 Blacklance Paragon 2 Tymaret, Chosen from Death 1 Murderous Rider Sorceries (3) 3 Duress Instants (4) 4 Heartless Act | Lands (25) 19 Swamp 4 Castle Locthwain 2 Mobilized District Sideboard (15) 4 Cry of the Carnarium 3 Agonizing Remorse 3 Noxious Grasp 3 Grasp of Darkness 1 Murderous Rider // Swift End 1 Kaervek, the Spiteful |
Standard Mardu Winota by Michael Jacob
Standard Four-Color Reclamation by Kristof Prinz
| Planeswalkers (3) 3 Teferi, Time Raveler Creatures (6) 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 2 Brazen Borrower 1 Kenrith, the Returned King Enchantments (8) 4 Shark Typhoon 4 Wilderness Reclamation Instants (14) 4 Growth Spiral 3 Expansion // Explosion 3 Mystical Dispute 1 Dovin’s Veto 1 Aether Gust 1 Scorching Dragonfire 1 Negate | Lands (29) 4 Fabled Passage 4 Ketria Triome 4 Raugrin Triome 4 Temple Garden 2 Breeding Pool 2 Castle Vantress 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 2 Stomping Ground 1 Forest 1 Mountain 1 Plains Sideboard (15) 2 Kenrith, the Returned King 2 Solar Blaze 2 Spectral Sailor 2 Justice Strike 2 Dovin’s Veto 2 Glass Casket 1 Aether Gust 1 Deafening Clarion 1 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath |
Standard Azorius Control by Raphael Levy
| Companion (1) 1 Yorion, Sky Nomad Planeswalkers (8) 4 Teferi, Time Raveler 4 Narset, Parter of Veils Creatures (4) 2 Yorion, Sky Nomad 2 Archon of Sun’s Grace Artifacts (3) 3 Glass Casket Enchantments (17) 4 Omen of the Sea 4 Elspeth Conquers Death 4 Shark Typhoon 3 The Birth of Meletis 2 Omen of the Sun Sorceries (3) 3 Shatter the Sky Instants (10) 4 Dovin’s Veto 2 Mystical Dispute 2 Thirst for Meaning 2 Aether Gust | Lands (35) 9 Island 7 Plains 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Temple of Enlightenment 4 Fabled Passage 2 Raugrin Triome 2 Field of Ruin 2 Castle Vantress 1 Castle Ardenvale Sideboard (14) 2 Aether Gust 2 Sky Tether 1 Brazen Borrower 1 Archon of Sun’s Grace 1 Commence the Endgame 1 Narset’s Reversal 1 Shatter the Sky 1 Heliod’s Intervention 1 Glass Casket 1 Spectral Sailor 1 Giant Killer // Chop Down 1 Disdainful Stroke |
Standard Jund Sacrifice by Christoffer Larsen
| Creatures (24) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Gilded Goose 4 Mayhem Devil 4 Woe Strider 3 Priest of Forgotten Gods 3 Solemn Simulacrum 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Artifacts (6) 4 Witch’s Oven 2 Bolas’s Citadel Enchantments (4) 4 Trail of Crumbs Sorceries (2) 2 Claim the Firstborn | Lands (24) 4 Blood Crypt 4 Fabled Passage 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Stomping Ground 3 Forest 3 Swamp 1 Castle Locthwain 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Agonizing Remorse 2 Claim the Firstborn 2 Lava Coil 2 Noxious Grasp 2 Return to Nature 1 Cindervines 1 Duress 1 Bolas’s Citadel |