Ultimate Guard European Magic Series - Regional Championship Lille - Top 8 Decklists
A big thank you again to everyone who came out to Lille for our first Regional Championship in the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series (UGEMS). We had a great turnout of players and an exciting top 8 with amazing games being played. If you want to try your hand at Pioneer or just want to see what was played at Lille, you can find the top 8 decklists here.
1st Place: Marc Tobiasch - Golgari Sacrifice
Starting with our grand champion, Marc Tobiasch, we have what he proclaimed to be his own custom brewed Golgari Sacrifice deck. What it lacks in burst damage from the Jund variant, this deck makes up for it in consistency. The main focus is to generate value utilising the sacrifice mechanics and generate card advantage. Witch’s Oven and Cauldron Familiar make their return to generate constant food and life drain. Ygra, Eater of All now loops Cauldron Familiar if there is one in the graveyard and one on the field, causing infinite life loss and life gain as the Cauldron Familiar bounce back and forth between the field and graveyard.
Alex Kivitz
2nd : Sergio Gimenez - Rakdos Demons
Unholy Annex really is the engine that powers this deck. The one side being a 5 mana 6/6 flyer and the other being a solid card draw and life drain permanent. Blade of the Oni is a low cost 2 mana demon that can also be reconfigured to turn Bloodtithe Harvester into a 5/5 Demon as well. The early game has solid control with cards like Fatal Push and Thoughtseize taking care of potential threats. Torch the Tower helps deal with the early game threats of Rakdos Prowess and exiles the Arclight Phoenixes as well, a staple deck in the Pioneer format. As an added Bonus, the deck runs Mutavault to be that little 2/2 demon for the annex to drain even more.
3-4th: Lorenzo Terlizzi - Jund Sacrifice
A Jund variation of the Cauldron Familiar and Witch’s Oven deck, the addition of red mana adds more explosiveness and damage sacrifice package. Mayhem Devil consistently pings damage whenever a permanent is sacrificed, giving a bit of an edge into other Cauldron Familiar decks as well. Additionally, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker adds a lot of value by eventually being able to copy Mayhem Devils to help count to 20 damage, or, in general, squeeze out any bit of extra value. As one of the more math-based decks, the game becomes a puzzle on how quickly and efficiently you can get to 20 damage dealt.
3-4th: Stefan Schütz - Izzet Phoenix
This deck focuses on utilising cheap spells and card cycling effects to put Arclight Phoenix in the owner’s graveyard and then return them to the battlefield using Arclight Phoenix’s effect. Opt, Consider, and Sleight of Hand are efficient one mana spells to churn through the deck to find the Phoenix’s and satisfy the three instant and sorcery requirements. Brazen Borrower functions as a good tempo swing, while simultaneously acting as a spell for Phoenix, and becoming a flying threat later in the game as well. Cards like Treasure Cruise act as a way to force through your deck and find the pieces you need.
5-8th: Gerardo D’Elia - Rakdos Demons
Similar to Sergio’s deck, Gerardo runs the Unholy Annex value engine while also swapping out Blade of the Oni with Archfiend of the Dross. Archfiend being a four mana demon helps turn on the life drain effect of Unholy Annex, as well as provide a solid beat stick in the early-mid game. Gerardo also drops two instants to go up two creatures, as well as swapping in a single copy of Heartless Act to potentially get an easy win against other Archfiend of the Dross players.
5-8th: Andrea Mengucci - Jund Sacrifice
Almost identical to the list run by Lorenzo Terlizzi, this version differs only in the sideboard. Where Terlizzi ran 2 Unlicensed Hearses, Andrea Mengucci opted to run only 1 and add in a single copy of Ghost Vacuum instead. Ghost Vacuum has the upside of being able to be played on turn 1. A turn one Ghost Vacuum on the draw is quite good because it allows you to remove an early Phoenix from your opponent’s graveyard if they discarded it early. I also appreciate being able to bring back copies of familiars and devils if you’re in a mirror match to quickly close out games.
5-8th: Max Penzkofer - Four-Colour Zur
Four-Colour Zur is a powerful enchantment based deck that looks to control the game and disrupt its opponent’s strategy. Zur, Eternal Schemer animates your enchantments and attacks with them, while also giving them deathtouch, lifelink, and hexproof. This synergises really well with the Overlord cycle from Duskmourn. Overlord of the Hauntwoods has a mana value of 5, however, can be cast earlier with its impending cost. The following turn, Zur uses his ability to make it a creature and attack with it, circumventing the drawback of using its impending cost. This deck packs a lot of powerful removal and the Everywhere token generated by Overlord of the Hauntwoods synergises really well with Leyline Binding.
5-8th: Denny Weinhardt - Rakdos Demons
Representing the third Rakdos Demons list in the top 8, Denny meets the other two decks in the middle with 13 creatures, opting to run 3 copies of Archfiend of the Dross and 2 copies of Blade of the Oni. Similarly, it runs Heartless Act as a good meta call and includes 2 Anger of the Gods in sideboard to swiftly deal with the Selesnya Company decks and other early game aggro decks.
More about RC Lille
If you want to read more about Regionals in Lille, check out the WoTC recap article!
