Long-time Alberta Magic player Bo Su has booked his ticket to the upcoming Mythic Championship in Barcelona after taking down our Montreal MCQ this past weekend.

Su piloted Esper Hero in Standard to his victory on Saturday. This is an Esper midrange deck that relies on [Card]Hero of Precinct One[/Card] to snowball an early game advantage with powerful multi-coloured mid-game cards. This deck existed during last Standard format, but has picked up a lot of steam after the release of War of the Spark blessed it with the addition of a format warping all-star in [Card]Teferi, Time Raveler[/Card].

Su has been a pillar of the Alberta Magic community for years and is our lead buyer at Face to Face Games, it was awesome to see him in the winner’s circle on Saturday.

Su had to wade through the treacherous waters of a field crawling with Red Aggro decks to achieve his victory. Mono-Red Aggro of course had its coming out party last weekend at a StarCityGames Open in Richmond where it made up three of the Top 4 decks. Again, at our MCQ in Montreal, it was the most represented deck by a wide margin. One of those red decks was Su’s finals opponent in Quebec grinder Maxime Auger who splashed a little green in his red deck to go bigger with [Card]Domri, Anarch of Bolas[/Card].

With the exception of Su, Marc-Antoine Dion’s Grixis Midrange deck and Dayle Champman’s Bant deck, the rest of our Top 8 was completely made up of red-based aggressive decks. Despite it not taking down the top spot, it’s clear that red is quite good in Standard right now.

Check our full metagame breakdown:

As you can see, it wasn’t just the Top 8 where aggro decks were king, as it made up more than 20 per cent of our total metagame. That said, Su showed us that it can be beaten and Esper Hero is definitely one of the ways you can do it. He came ready with multiple copies of [Card]Basilica Bell-Haunt[/Card] in his sideboard and let me tell you, red has an uphill climb to beat that card.

Looking at the data above, it feels to me like Standard is in a pretty good place right now. There are some clearly defined best archetypes in Esper and Mono-Red, but they’re flanked by a handful of other competitive decks that could make a spike on any given weekend. I for one cannot wait for June 15 in Toronto when Face to Face Games will be hosting our second MCQ of the season. If you’re looking to take what you learned from Montreal and battle there, please be sure to pre-register here.

Thank you to everyone who joined us this past weekend in Montreal for our first ever Mythic Championship Qualifier. It was great to see so many familiar faces, and a whole swath of new ones as well. Before I leave you, I’d also like to thank our judge staff who ran a smooth event all day long. Congratulations once again to Bo Su on his victory!

Check out the Top 8 decklists and photos below!

[deck title= First Place, Esper Hero – Bo Su]
[Creatures]
2 Deputy of Detention
2 Elite Guardmage
4 Hero of Precinct One
1 Hostage Taker
4 Thief of Sanity
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Enter the God-Eternals
2 Mortify
1 Oath of Kaya
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Thought Erasure
3 Tyrant’s Scorn
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
2 Vraska’s Contempt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
1 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Oath of Kaya
1 Unmoored Ego
1 The Elderspell
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Dovin’s Veto
1 Time Wipe
2 Basilica Bell-Haunt
1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
3 Duress
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Second Place, Gruul – Maxime Auger]
[Creatures]
3 Dire Fleet Daredevil
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Growth-Chamber Guardian
4 Gruul Spellbreaker
4 Rekindling Phoenix
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Chandra, Fire Artisan
1 Collision // Colossus
2 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
1 Lava Coil
4 Lightning Strike
3 Sarkhan the Masterless
3 Shock
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Forest
2 Gruul Guildgate
9 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
4 Unclaimed Territory
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Kraul Harpooner
2 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
2 Lava Coil
4 Cindervines
1 Chandra, Fire Artisan
2 Legion Warboss
1 Shock
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Third Place Place, Rakdos Aggro – Terrence Johnstone]
[Creatures]
4 Dire Fleet Daredevil
4 Dreadhorde Butcher
4 Footlight Fiend
4 Gutterbones
3 Judith, the Scourge Diva
4 Kitesail Freebooter
3 Rix Maadi Reveler
4 Spawn of Mayhem
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Angrath’s Rampage
1 Angrath, Captain of Chaos
2 Carnival // Carnage
2 Lightning Strike
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
5 Mountain
8 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Carnival // Carnage
3 Theater of Horrors
2 Lightning Strike
3 Rekindling Phoenix
1 Field of Ruin
2 Bedevil
2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
1 Fiery Cannonade
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Fourth Place, Grixis Midrange – Marc-Antoine Dion]
[Creatures]
4 Augur of Bolas
2 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Angrath’s Rampage
2 Bedeck // Bedazzle
4 Bedevil
2 Chemister’s Insight
2 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Deliver Unto Evil
2 Enter the God-Eternals
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
4 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
2 Ritual of Soot
4 Thought Erasure
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
2 Duress
1 Cry of the Carnarium
2 Moment of Craving
3 Thief of Sanity
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
3 Negate
1 Enter the God-Eternals
1 Ritual of Soot
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Fifth Place, Mono-Red Aggro – Karim Badrudin]
[Creatures]
4 Fanatical Firebrand
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Runaway Steam-Kin
4 Viashino Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Chandra, Fire Artisan
1 Experimental Frenzy
4 Light Up the Stage
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
2 Skewer the Critics
2 Wizard’s Lightning
[/Spells]
[Lands]
20 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
2 Rekindling Phoenix
4 Lava Coil
3 Legion Warboss
1 Experimental Frenzy
2 Risk Factor
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Sixth Place, Mono-Red Aggro – Sebastien Lachance]
[Creatures]
4 Fanatical Firebrand
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Runaway Steam-Kin
4 Viashino Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Chandra, Fire Artisan
1 Experimental Frenzy
4 Light Up the Stage
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
2 Skewer the Critics
2 Wizard’s Lightning
[/Spells]
[Lands]
20 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
2 Rekindling Phoenix
4 Lava Coil
2 Legion Warboss
1 Experimental Frenzy
3 Risk Factor
2 Dire Fleet Daredevil
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Seventh Place, Bant Midrange – Dayle Chapman]
[Creatures]
2 Deputy of Detention
4 Frilled Mystic
3 God-Eternal Oketra
4 Growth-Chamber Guardian
4 Hydroid Krasis
4 Incubation Druid
2 Knight of Autumn
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Hinterland Harbor
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Baffling End
2 Prison Realm
2 Vivien Reid
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dovin’s Veto
1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
1 Time Wipe
1 The Wanderer
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

[deck title=Eighth Place, Mono-Red Aggro – Chris Gray]
[Creatures]
4 Fanatical Firebrand
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Runaway Steam-Kin
4 Viashino Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Experimental Frenzy
4 Light Up the Stage
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
2 Skewer the Critics
4 Wizard’s Lightning
[/Spells]
[Lands]
19 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
4 Lava Coil
3 Legion Warboss
1 Experimental Frenzy
2 Risk Factor
2 Chandra, Fire Artisan
1 Mountain
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]