Zeta is here! We all thought the new banlist would be the biggest change since last time, but nooo! Our dear friends at Wizards of the Coast decided to downshift a whole batch of powerful (and some less powerful) cards for the sake of capitalism! This even prompted an emergency update to the fresh banlist, because Narcomoeba at common and Doomsday at uncommon were deemed a little bit too dangerous to exist in the format. That still leaves us with a smattering of impactful new tools. While the Zeta set contains a couple of interesting cards new at uncommon, Raffine, Scheming Seer chief among them, its biggest contribution to Peasant will undoubtedly be the downshift of several powerful uncommons to common. While the cap at 5 uncommons made several of these cards unattractive before, they are now very useful tools. I feel the most notable new commons are Baleful Strix, Cut Down, Dispatch, Price of Progress, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Vandalblast, and four of these saw play tonight!
Now on to the tournament itself! For the first time since we rebooted the format, yours truly managed to clinch the 4-0! Sweet victory! I must confess that it is a win with a small blemish, since I discovered I had accidentally not sided out two uncommons when adjusting my deck last minute at half past midnight the day before the tournament. Je m'excuse! I was very relieved I didn't draw the cards in question during my games against Stefan, and quickly corrected this error when I realized what had happened after the game. To be honest, I fully expected my only points to come from the bye, since this deck was slapped together so last minute. However, while I did get the bye in the first round, the deck delivered some very tense and exciting games in the other three rounds. The Vandalblasts were key in snatching victory against Stefan's very exciting Esper Glitters update, which was running full playsets of both Dispatch and Baleful Strix. He was most impressed by Dispatch, which is essentially an upgraded Swords to Plowshares in his deck. However, I also overheard Arjan noting Baleful Strix was super problematic for the Blue Terror deck, since you have no good removal for the bird, and all your important threats die to it in combat.
Now, someone on the French Discord server noted I should have been running Price of Progress in my sideboard, and I fully agree, but my copies hadn't arrived in time. Other players did run the card though, and proved red is still strong without Painter's Studio and Reckless Bushwhacker. Despite Kuldotha Rebirth being relegated to the sidelines for now, three out of thirteen players arrived with a mono red deck. Madness burn edged out the two pure burn decks, congrats to Johan for claiming second place! The other 3-1 was a masterful four-color combo deck piloted by Arjan. Hawkeye's Bow has been on people's radar since it got released, and even prompted the Pauper Council to ban Seeker of Skybreak, the bow's counterpart in a two card combo. In Peasant both cards are still legal, and what's more, Arjan had five uncommons to make the combo that much more consistent. However, not only does Aphetto Alchemist combo off with the bow like Seeker of Skybreak does, it can also untap artifact lands to generate extra mana while you are looking for your combo! As his fifth uncommon, Arjan played Tinker to tutor for the bow. Great little synergies all around. Congrats on a nice third place!
Alright, I think I rambled on quite enough. This blog post is already late due to a particularly busy schedule and a stubborn cold. Let's get to the decklists already!
01.
Hennink *
UR Tempo
4/4/0
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets // Insectile Aberration
4 Guttersnipe
3 Mischievous Mystic (U)
4 Sneaky Snacker
Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Daze
4 Faithless Looting
4 Fiery Temper
2 Foil
4 Grab the Prize
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Magma Spray
2 Test of Talents (U)
Lands
10 Island
8 Mountain
Sideboard
4 Faerie Macabre
3 Hydroblast
2 Magma Spray
2 Pyroblast
4 Vandalblast
02.
Johan *
Madness Burn
4/3/0
Creatures
3 Voldaren Epicure
1 Kessig Flamebreather
4 Sneaky Snacker
4 Thermo-Alchemist
3 Guttersnipe
Spells
2 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Grab the Prize
1 Price of Progress
4 Skullcrack (U)
3 Vision of Love
3 Fiery Temper
2 Fireblast
Lands
18 Mountain
Sideboard
2 Campfire
3 Fanged Flames
1 Flames of the Blood Hand (U)
2 Guerrilla Tactics
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Smash to Smithereens
03.
Arjan *
Bow Combo
4/3/0
Creatures
4 Aphetto Alchemist (U)
4 Baleful Strix
4 Seeker of Skybreak
4 Refurbished Familiar
Spells
2 Blood Fountain
4 Giant's Boulder
2 Grim Bauble
4 Hawkeye's Bow
4 Deadly Dispute
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Malevolent Rumble
1 Tinker (U)
Lands
1 Darkmoss Bridge
1 Drossforge Bridge
1 Foreboding Landscape
2 Mistvault Bridge
2 Seat of the Synod
1 Silverbluff Bridge
1 Surveillance Room
1 Tanglepool Bridge
3 Tree of Tales
3 Vault of Whispers
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Swamp
Sideboard
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Campfire
2 Duress
1 Hydroblast
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
2 Tithing Blade
6 Snow-Covered Wastes
04.
Stefan *
Esper Glitters
4/2/1
Creatures
4 Ornithopter
4 Gingerbrute
1 Novice Inspector
1 Thraben Inspector
4 Baleful Strix
4 Moon-Circuit Hacker
4 Refurbished Familiar
Spells
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Dispatch
4 All That Glitters
4 Michiko's Reign of Truth (U)
4 Thoughtcast
Lands
4 Ancient Den
3 Goldmire Bridge
3 Razortide Bridge
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
Sideboard
2 Annul
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Echoing Truth
1 Sheltered by Ghosts (U)
2 Standard Bearer
2 Steel Sabotage
3 Thraben Charm
05.
Rob *
Black Initiative
4/2/1
Creatures
3 Accursed Marauder
3 Chittering Rats
3 Crypt Rats
4 Passageway Seer (U)
2 Thorn of the Black Rose
3 Troll of Khazad-dûm
Spells
3 Defile
2 Duress
1 Toxin Analysis
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Rancid Earth
1 Engineered Plague (U)
3 Snuff Out
Lands
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Witch's Cottage
17 Swamp
Sideboard
3 Drown in Sorrow
2 Duress
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Toxin Analysis
2 Unearth
2 Unexpected Fangs
Creatures
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Kessig Flamebreather
Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Flame Rift
3 Searing Blaze
1 Skullcrack (U)
4 Light Up the Stage (U)
4 Rift Bolt
4 Skewer the Critics
3 Fireblast
Lands
18 Mountain
Sideboard
2 Cast into the Fire
2 End the Festivities
4 Price of Progress
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Smash to Smithereens
07.
Melle
Rakdos Reanimator
4/2/0
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Creatures
Spells
Lands
Sideboard
08.
Martijn B *
Burn
4/2/0
Creatures
Creature
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Thermo-Alchemist
Spells
1 Boltwave (U)
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Flame Rift
4 Price of Progress
4 Skullcrack (U)
2 Rift Bolt
4 Skewer the Critics
1 Thunderous Wrath
4 Fireblast
Lands
18 Mountain
Sideboard
4 Kiln Fiend
2 Pyroblast
4 Searing Blaze
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Tectonic Hazard
09.
Rutger *
UG Initiative
4/2/0
Creatures
4 Arbor Elf
4 Jewel Thief
2 Nantuko Vigilante
4 Avenging Hunter
4 Feywild Caretaker (U)
2 Generous Ent
4 Annoyed Altisaur
Spells
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Wild Growth
3 Malevolent Rumble
2 Ram Through
3 Winter's Rest
1 Propaganda (U)
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
Lands
2 Rimewood Falls
14 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
Sideboard
3 Deglamer
3 Hydroblast
2 Nantuko Vigilante
2 Nylea's Disciple
1 Ram Through
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Winter's Rest
10.
Ivan *
Blue Terror
4/1/1
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Cryptic Serpent
4 Tolarian Terror
Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Thought Scour
4 Counterspell
2 Daze
1 Lose Focus
4 Deem Inferior
1 Foil
2 Force of Will (U)
4 Gush
4 Lórien Revealed
Lands
15 Island
Sideboard
2 Annul
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Hydroblast
2 Energy Flux (U)
1 Propaganda (U)
2 Murmuring Mystic
2 Steel Sabotage
11.
Luciano *
Landfall
4/1/1
Creatures
4 Akoum Hellhound
3 Brushfire Elemental (U)
2 Makindi Sliderunner
4 Plated Geopede
1 Tannuk, Memorial Ensign (U)
2 Tilling Treefolk
Spells
4 Adventuring Gear
3 Apostle's Blessing
4 Crop Rotation
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Temur Battle Rage
1 Become Immense (U)
Lands
1 Bountiful Landscape
4 Escape Tunnel
1 Gruul Turf
1 Sejiri Steppe
4 Sheltering Landscape
3 Twisted Landscape
4 Forest
7 Mountain
Sideboard
1 Abrade
1 Arboreal Grazer
2 Barrage of Boulders
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Call Damage Control
1 Glimpse the Impossible
2 Makindi Sliderunner
2 Naturalize
2 Sabotender
1 Writhing Chrysalis
12.
Niels *
Naya Gates
4/1/0
Creatures
4 Sacred Cat
2 Outlaw Medic
4 Sneaky Snacker
2 Gatebreaker Ram (U)
4 Writhing Chrysalis
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Journey to Nowhere
4 Malevolent Rumble
4 Melded Moxite
4 Pursue the Past
2 Thraben Charm
4 Prismatic Strands
Lands
4 Basilisk Gate
3 Citadel Gate
3 Cliffgate
3 Gond Gate (U)
2 Manor Gate
2 Mountain
3 Plains
Sideboard
3 Breath Weapon
3 Dust to Dust
4 Pyroblast
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
13.
Reinder *
Ux Tron
4/0/1
Creatures
2 Sicarian Infiltrator (U)
3 Mnemonic Wall
1 Colossal Skyturtle (U)
Spells
2 Crop Rotation
4 Expedition Map
4 Giant's Boulder
2 Cryogen Relic
1 Echoing Truth
2 Impulse
1 Lose Focus
2 Moment's Peace
1 Prohibit
3 Prophetic Prism
3 Ghostly Flicker
2 Pulse of Murasa
1 Unwind
3 Mystical Teachings
2 Force of Will (U)
2 Lórien Revealed
1 Meteorite
Lands
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Surveillance Room
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Island
Sideboard
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Breath Weapon
2 Heritage Reclamation
3 Hydroblast
2 Moment's Peace
4 Pyroblast
1 Weather the Storm