Happy New Year everyone!
I'm starting the year off right with a Magic tournament. The first RCQ Standard of the year and my first Standard tournament since last May's RC. The format has changed a lot since then, with several bans hitting Izzet decks (Cori-Steel Cutter and Vivi Ornitier) as well as a rotation in September. Yet, it's still an Izzet deck that's caught my eye.
Izzet Lessons made a splash at the World Championship in December, winning the tournament with Seth Manfield at the helm. The deck relies heavily on the Lessons mechanic from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender set. With enough Lessons, Accumulate Wisdom is remarkably similar to Ancestral Recall. With Gran-Gran's help, it's essentially the same card. Gran-Gran is often compared to Ragavan because of the advantage it allows you to gain if you can attack freely in the early turns. The addition of Artist's Talent and Monument to Endurance is what really took the deck to another level.
Since then, other decks in the format have adapted by adding more interactions for enchantments and artifacts, as well as for the graveyard. Despite this, the deck continues to perform well. I personally opted for a new version that adds a touch of green to Origin of Metalbending, which I found particularly useful in the mirror match, but also against the format in general. There are quite a few enchantments in the format right now.
We were 22 players, and to my surprise, only 2 were playing Izzet Lessons. The most popular deck was Dimir Midrange with at least 5 pilots. The range of decks was still very diverse, with some decks that deviated from the usual meta. We played 5 rounds with a top 8 finish, with only 4 invitations up for grabs. My rounds went as follows:
Round 1: 0-2 Golgari Ramp
Round 2: 2-0 Orzhov Sacrifice
Round 3: 0-2 Boros Burn
Round 4: 2-1 Mono Black The Sibsig Ceremony
Round 5: 1-2 Bant Airbender Combo
With a disappointing 2-3 result, good for 16th place, I won't go into detail about my rounds, but rather offer a general overview. I was sorely lacking in practice in this new Standard format. I had read a little, watched the Worlds somewhat casually, played a few games on Arena, but that was about it. Between summer, work, the baby, and vacations, I had neglected Standard in recent months. In my defense, until Vivi's ban, the format was uninteresting, even unplayable. So I preferred to focus more on Duel Commander and Vintage Cube drafts. It was a nice break, but now I've had a rude awakening. I need to know my deck better and understand which hands are viable. I also need to know other decks to understand my role in each situation. If I want to return to competition and be fully prepared for my potential trip to RC Vancouver at the end of February, I'll have to put in the necessary work.
Also, there's the new Lorwin set, which might change things a bit. The Prerelease is in two weeks, it's coming up fast. I hope you'll go to some events to take advantage of it. I'll definitely be there with my son.