The ETS Invitational over the weekend was a tremendous amount of fun. We saw the best tournament players in Eternal duke it out over the 2 day tournament, witnessing some high level play and crazy moments along the way.

Since camat0 already did a great job compiling the tournament data from over the weekend, I thought it would be more fun to do a “quick hits” piece discussing the tournament metagame, my favourite decks, and the some of the most exciting plays that happened in the tournament. Let’s get to it!

The Metagame

(Pie chart courtesy of a screenshot from the ETS broadcast provided by the wonderful RNGEternal team, who provided excellent analysis throughout the weekend.)

Every player going into the tournament knew that the boogieman would be the vaunted TJP Midrange. The combination of evasive fliers, decent removal, and insane tricks like Stand Together has proven to have staying power, both on the ladder as well in the tournament scene.

Only 25% of players in the Invitational brought the TJP Midrange list – most opted to counter it, resulting in a very diverse metagame. Praxis Tokens players aimed to go under the TJP Midrange, while Time midrange decks like Xenan and Praxis preyed on TJP with Sandstorm Titans and Predatory Carnosaurs.

The eventual Finals was played between Paradox, piloting Praxis Midrange, and BruisedByGod, piloting Big Xenan. Paradox took home first place in a 5-game series, where Praxis’ quicker tempo and higher density of threats showed its power.

The MVPs

As already memed on Discord and Reddit, Predatory Carnosaur was the MVP of this tournament. In such a midrange-focused metagame, Carnosaur was king, always generating a two-for-one and a massive swing in power on the board.

However, my personal MVP goes to the oft-forgotten Time 4-drop, Praxis Displacer. The ol’ Displacer did heavy work through most of the tournament in multiple lists. We saw Praxis Displacer being used to bounce opposing units, creating tempo swings. We saw it used to reset a unit with Permafrost. We saw it use to draw a card by bouncing Temple Scribes.

And of course, we saw it used to bounce Carnosaurs to create ridiculous board swings, like in this wonderful moment in Semifinals between Paradox’s Praxis and Tobboo’s TJP Midrange.

Displacer is an awesome card in many decks – let this tournament be a reminder of that.

Favourite Play

This award obviously had to go to BruisedByGod’s Big Xenan against camat0’s TJP Midrange in the Quarterfinals. Let’s set the scene.

Early in the game, camat0 played an Equivocate on BruisedByGod’s Auric Interrogator in a play for tempo.

The Equivocate gave BruisedByGod a a Combrei Healer, which was later used to great effect in popping the Aegis on a Shelterwing Rider. The Combrei Healer would eventually hit the void for BruisedByGod.

Several turns later, we arrive at this position.

At this point, BruisedByGod knows that camat0 has a fast spell in hand. In this spot, most players would gamble that the spell was Equivocate, and play a Worldbearer Behemoth, which would result in a game loss due to the Stand Together.

But not BruisedByGod. Making the read that his Opponent either had Stand Together or Finest Hour in hand, he plays his Dark Return on the Combrei Healer, making him safe from either effect for one more turn. For those who did not catch the stream, here’s the highlight.

As said by SirRhino in the casting booth, “BruisedByGod, showing off why he’s here in the invitational, finding those lines to stay alive, and buying some time. Again, we’re not sure how he wins from this spot, but he’s not dead yet.” It was an amazing play by BruisedByGod under the stressful circumstances of the ETS Invitational, and one that we should remember.

Favourite Decklist

Although Praxis Midrange took down the tournament, I have to show my control bias and say that my favourite decklist was SecondBlue’s JPS Unitless Control.

SecondBlue played this list in the LCQ the previous week with 27 mana – the list he brought to the Invitational cut two power for 2 Privilege of Rank, a change that I absolutely adore. This deck has so much card advantage inbuilt, and also allows for sweet “virtual” card advantage plays, like bottoming a Justice Sigil with Scout, only to search for them later with a discarded Privilege of Rank with Herald’s Song. I have been jamming this deck a ton on ladder over the past few days, and will definitely be doing a more in-depth breakdown of its ins and outs in the near future.

Final Puzzle

Of course, we can’t leave this tournament without looking at a puzzle! Looking at the board state, Tobboo has a commanding board position and a two-turn clock. However, ThePlatypusKing has two Xenan Obelisks active, a large board, and a card in hand. The puzzle is simple – what should Tobboo do to maximise his odds of winning the following turn without dying on his turn?

Answer: Attack with one Shelterwing Rider, and play Valkyrie Enforcer silencing the Initiate of the Sands.

Attacking with one Rider and playing a dude already prevents Single Rally, Single Rally + Torch, or double Rally from being lethal, since you have 3 blockers available.

The question is whether to play Hooru Pacifier or Valkyrie Enforcer.

Playing Hooru Pacifier instead of Valkyrie Enforcer prevents Rally + Torch+ warped Alluring Ember from being lethal, since Enforcer can die to Torch but Pacifier cannot.

However, playing Hooru Pacifier takes away your lethal the following turn if your opponent has Initiate + power. It is also lethal if your opponent has Initiate + power + warped Alluring Ember. Playing Valkyrie Enforcer prevents your opponent from reaching 8 power.

It is more likely that your opponent has Initiate + power than Rally+Torch+ warped Alluring Ember. Therefore, playing Valkyrie Enforcer is the correct play.

Commendations

Before I conclude, the RNGEternal team deserves a huge amount of credit for the great event they put on. Week after week, they host great tournament series so we, the players of the game, get metagame shifts and great decklists to try out.

The Invitational is the feather on the cap of what has been a very successful season for them. The casting was great, the pre-tournament shows was great, the quality of stream was great – it was overall a great experience for the viewer, and I am happy to have been a witness to that.

Neon and SirRhino deserve an extra shoutout for their superb casting during the second half of Day 2 – their insightful, entertaining and funny commentary provided the Invitational with the huge dose of professionalism and entertainment value that the tournament deserved.

That’s all my quick hits – thanks for reading!