KMC Brake-Down 8/2-8/3

bobby brakeWe are now a month into this KMC season. The meta seems to be changing a little bit every week, but will it stabilize soon? I sure hope not, I like it when there are a drastic amount of different decks that can do well in a tournament. There will always be cards that are just good in every deck, but if you can use them in different deck types and use them with different strategies, then that can make the game more enjoyable to play. An example of this is the Light civilization, it is used in practically every deck because the cards are strong and it can be used for a variety of strategy, whether it be Rush, Tempo, or Control. Let’s look at the top 8 decks from the KMC’s this weekend and see if it is still as diverse as before.

Toronto, ON 8/2

 1st LWD Panopter Control Noah Long
 2nd LN Megabugs Denniel Santos
 Top 4 LDN Midrange Raymart Mayordo
 Top 4 LN Aggro Cory Linhares
 Top 8 LWD Panopter Control Greg Cresswell
 Top 8 LN Aggro Maxim Guillotte
 Top 8 LF Rush Richard Yan
 Top 8 LN Aggro Alexander Hugh Sam

           

            All the way up in Canada Panopter has made a comeback winning the whole KMC. We did not see this deck in any of the KMC’s from last week so people should still be prepared for it while playing at future KMC’s because it is not going away any time soon. LN Aggro decks have become really popular, but Denniel Santos used that concept except added the Megabug core to the deck to make it even more fierce. Using The Hive Queen and Rulchor, makes for a very scary turn 6. One Rush player made top 8, not just any Rush player, Richard Yan who got 2nd place at the 2014 Summer Championship.  I do not really like the Rush strategy, but it is needed to keep decks in check. Let’s Brake-down this KMC’s top 8.

LWD Panopter Control 25%

LN Megabugs 12.5%

LDN Midrange 12.5%

LN Aggro 37.5%

LF Rush 12.5%

 

Lindenhurst, IL 8/2

 

 1st LD Control Joseph Maldonado
 2nd Mono-Nature Midrange Benjamin Rowe
 Top 4 LW Panopter Control Robert Arguelles
 Top 4 LWN Tempo Tyler Norris
 Top 8 LWD Panopter Control Sam Rowe
 Top 8 LN Megabugs Alexis Rogganbuck
 Top 8 LDN Midrange Mikey Lockhart
 Top 8 LF Rush Edward Costello

 

            A LD control deck won this event and he teched 1 General Dorzim. I think that card can be very powerful if you can attack over a Blinder Beetle Prime or have an Underworld Stalker out with it, you have to watch out for Blaze Helix though. Mohamed’s infamous Mono-Nature Midrange deck qualified, piloted by Benjamin Rowe. The power behind that deck is incredible; it has done well at every event it has been at so far. We have even more Panopter Control decks in this top 8. I guess players thought with the changing meta, it was time to go back to the old fashioned deck that won the 2014 Summer Championship. There is another LN Megabug deck that made top 8, they did not use Rulchor in their deck, but 3 copies of both Anjak and Blinder Beetle Prime. There was one LDN Midrange and one LF rush in here as well. For the first time this season, I believe there technically were 8 different decks in a top 8. This is how you can see a meta forming. Two KMC’s many miles apart, had very similar distribution of deck types. This shows what decks are more dominant and popular than others. Let’s Brake-down this KMC’s top 8.

 

LD Control 12.5%

Mono-Nature Midrange 12.5%

LW Panopter Control 12.5%

LWN Tempo 12.5%

LWD Panopter Control 12.5%

LN Megabugs 12.5%

LDn Midrange 12.5%

LF Rush 12.5%

 

Poughkeepsie, NY 8/2

 

 1st LN Enforcers Mike Zeits
 2nd LN Control Brandon Keeney
 Top 4 LN Aggro Brian Durkin
 Top 4 LN Enforcers Chris Thomas
 Top 8 LN Aggro Jason Annichiarico
 Top 8 LN Aggro Joshua Kruse
 Top 8 LDFN Control Justin Gray
 Top 8 Mono-Nature Midrange Anthony Grasso

 

            Here is an example of the opposite of what we saw in Illinois. LN decks completely dominated the top 8 of this tournament. Though some had a few different card choices, LN took 6 of the top 8 spots. Two of those decks were running 3 copies of the new Duel Day promo, Prism Blade the Ascendant. That is a very interesting card that allows you to untap one of your creatures and give it blocker for the turn when your opponent attacks you. A very similar deck, but not quite the same to Mohamed’s Mono-Nature Midrange deck lost in the top 8. From what I understand, there were a lot of LN decks in this tournament, which is probably why so many made top 8. If a lot of people are using a deck in a tournament there is a more likely chance that you will see that deck in the top 8. Let’s Brake-down this KMC’s top 8.

 

LN Enforcers 25%

LN Aggro 37.5%

LN Control 12.5%

LDFN Control 12.5%

Mono-Nature Midrange 12.5%

 

Parker, CO 8/3

1st LDN Midrange David Woodward
 2nd LWN Panopter Control Preston Brimage
 Top 4 LWN Tempo Michael Swartz
 Top 4 LN Aggro John Sherman
 Top 8 LWN Tempo Justin Ratliffe
 Top 8 LDN Midrange Weston Johnson
 Top 8 LWN Tempo Adam Smith
 Top 8 LW Tempo Seth Nelson

 

            My friend, David Woodward, just happen to be in Colorado for a family vacation and he was able to go to the KMC and win it all! He used a very similar deck from the Tyler KMC he made top 8 with. Preston Brimage actually used another deck that David Woodward designed to get 2nd place, it was a LWN Panopter Borran deck, which is really fun if you are able to pull off the combos. LWN Tempo was pretty popular at this KMC taking 3 spots. There were not any rush decks that made the cut this time. Let’s Brake-down this KMC’s top 8.

 

LDN Midrange 25%

LWN Panopter Control 25%

LWN Tempo 37.5%

LN Aggro 12.5%

 

So we have seen each KMC this weekend, a lot of them very similar in diversity, expect for the KMC in New York. Let’s Brake-down all the KMC’s as a whole and see what deck types are seeing the most play and performing better than others.

 

Individual                                                       Generic

LWD Panopter Control 9.4%                        Control 25.2%

LN Megabugs 6.3%                                          Aggro/Midrange 47%

LDN Midrange 12.5%                                     Rush 12.6%

LN Aggro 21.9%                                               Tempo 15.6%

LF Rush 6.3%

LD Control 3.1%

Mono-Nature Midrange 6.3%

LW Panopter Control 3.1%

LWN Tempo 12.5%

LN Enforcer Rush 6.3%

LN Control 3.1%

LDFN Control 3.1%

LWN Panopter Control 3.1%

LW Tempo 3.1%

 

Aggro/Midrange got a big boost in play this weekend, accounting for almost half the decks that were in the top 8 of all the KMC’s. Control and Tempo performed less than last week, with Rush staying at pretty much the same percentage. I hope you guys are enjoying these Brake-downs to help you prepare for your KMC’s. I would expect to play against a lot of LN and LWN decks this upcoming week. Good Luck!

Bobby Brake

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