There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
This is Goblin Chainwhirler's world and we're just living in it.
I played a RB Chainwhirler deck at Pro Tour Dominaria, also known as Pro Tour If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em. While things didn't go particularly well for me, I was happy with the deck and think I made a lot of good deckbuilding decisions.
Going into the tournament, it was pretty clear that UW Control and RB Aggro/Midrange were the best decks. It seemed really difficult to attack one without giving up significant ground against the other, with Mono Red standing out as maybe the sole candidate that could hold its own against both.
These predictions more or less played out to expectation. While it's hard to parse some of the archetype names from coverage, the Pro Tour metagame was something close to the following:
RB Midrange by Jon Stern
vs RB Aggro/Midrange
Pre-sideboard: Slightly Favorable
Post-sideboard: Slightly Favorable
Overall: Favorable
vs UW Control
Game 1 is a tough as you will lose most games where you draw too many dead removal spells, but your sideboard is great and rewards you for playing additional planeswalkers. I don't like Glorybringer because of how poorly it plays into Settle the Wreckage, and don't think you need to hedge with Disintegrations to play around the possibility of Lyra Dawnbringer. Doomfalls and Vraska's Contempts should be enough to keep them honest. If you aren't curving out from turns 1 to 4, don't be afraid to hold Duress for a turn or two as the information you get from seeing their hand as late as possible helps you to really punish them for having the wrong spell at the wrong time. With so many threats, it's ok to let them trade resources one for one. Denying them card advantage from cards like Glimmer of Genius is more important than trying to ride a single Chandra to victory.
While it may seem like I've made concessions in this matchup by cutting Bomats, I think my changes provide the tools for a more cohesive game plan that opponents won’t necessarily be prepared for. UW Control is better than most people seem to think right now, and I’m pretty happy with a version that wins about half the time without having to play cards that are poorly positioned against the field.
Pre-sideboard: Unfavorable
Post-sideboard: Slightly Favorable
Overall: Slightly Unfavorable
vs Mono Red
Pre-sideboard: Slightly Unfavorable
Post-sideboard: Favorable
Overall: Slightly Favorable
vs Green Stompy
Pre-sideboard: Favorable
Post-sideboard: Very Favorable
Overall: Very Favorable
vs BG Snake
Pre-sideboard: Favorable
Post-sideboard: Slightly Favorable
Overall: Favorable
vs UB Midrange
Pre-sideboard: Favorable
Post-sideboard: Slightly Favorable
Overall: Favorable
As I'm proclaiming positive matchups against five of the six most played decks, you can see why I think this version of RB is so well-positioned right now, and why Goblin Chainwhirler decks are dominating tournaments around the world. In the 20 or so Standard leagues I played with various incarnations of the deck before the Pro Tour, I had a winning record against every major archetype except for Mono Black Control. While that's a deck that could resurface if RB continues to oppress, it does have some fundamental flaws to keep it in check. I'm not saying that UW Control or Mono Red are bad choices if they fit your play style. Both are certainly capable of good finishes and winning tournaments. If you’re unsure of what to play, however, RB is likely to maintain its position at the top of the metagame at least until the next update to the banned and restricted list. Not only does it get to play some incredibly powerful cards, but it's highly customizable and can be personalized and adapted to succeed in almost any metagame.
Best of luck with the deck and thanks for reading!
Previous Articles · Meet the Massdrop Teams: http://dro.ps/mtg-team-announce · *2nd* at Pro Tour Ixalan: http://dro.ps/ixalan · Unclaimed Creature Types: http://dro.ps/ari-creatures · Why I Never Drop From Tournaments: http://dro.ps/eric-nevergiveup · The Art of Sideboard Construction - Sultai Energy: http://dro.ps/jon-sideboard · A Commoner’s View on Pauper: http://dro.ps/mark-pauper · Blue Moon Beach Control: http://dro.ps/scott-bluemoon · Top 5 Modern Decks: http://dro.ps/pascal-modern · Storm in Vintage Cube: http://dro.ps/ben-storm · An Early Look at Rivals for Standard: http://dro.ps/shaun-rivals · A Standard Approach to Evaluating New Cards: http://dro.ps/rob-newcards · Drafting Rivals of Ixalan: http://dro.ps/tim-ixalan · Team Sealed Secrets: http://dro.ps/eric-secrets · Steal My Standard Ideas: http://dro.ps/tommy-secrets · Vexing Devil. Any Questions?: http://dro.ps/jon-devil · Team Massdrop Rivals of Ixalan Limited Primer: http://dro.ps/ari-primer · Gestation of RG Eldrazi: http://dro.ps/ben-gestation · Top Tim Tournament Training Tips: http://dro.ps/tim-tips · What Makes Someone Bogle?: http://dro.ps/tommy-bogle · A Pauper Adventure: http://dro.ps/pascal-pauper · Blue Moon at GP Phoenix: http://dro.ps/rob-bluemoon · Brawling into Dominaria: http://dro.ps/scott-brawling · Looking at The Current Lands(cape) of Legacy http://dro.ps/jarvis-land · Deconstructing Dominaria Limited: http://dro.ps/jon-dominaria · Diving into Dominaria Standard: http://dro.ps/mark-dominaria · What are your.. drives?: http://dro.ps/tommy-drives · Top 10 Cards for Dominaria Modern: http://dro.ps/rob-dominaria · Brewing Standard with Dominaria: http://dro.ps/pascal-dominaria · Dominaria Team Sealed: A Case Study: http://dro.ps/tim-dominaria · Battlebonding in Vintage and Legacy: http://dro.ps/jarvis-battlebond · Decks I Almost Played at PT Dominaria: http://dro.ps/ben-dominaria