With the S2W8 ETS Open, Dire Wolf Digital’s decision to drop such a format-defining card in Svetya has shown to yield rewards once again. Ever the intelligent player base, the average tournament Eternal player clearly decided that TJP Midrange was the “boogieman” of the format to be avoided.

As can be seen, TJP Midrange made up a fairly small percentage of the field. Argenport Midrange came out in droves, and that is logical – it has a reasonable matchup against TJP, and is a consistent proactive deck that is, at worst, even against the field.

The defining deck of this tournament, however, was Xenan Midrange. For those who have their finger on the pulse of the Eternal metagame, this should hardly be a surprise. Xenan has access to Predatory Carnosaur and Sandstorm Titan, cards that match up very well against the TJP Fliers. With access to other efficient annoyances like Suffocate and Blistersting Wasp, Xenan is a archetype that matches up well against TJP Midrange. I have been brewing with Xenan myself for that very reason.

However, due to the small turnout of TJP Mid players, it would seem that these plans backfired. What do the results say?

It seems the low TJP turnout did not hinder Xenan Mid, since the list did fairly well relative to its proportion. Xenan decks typically match up fairly well against other Time-based Midrange decks, which comprise a large chunk of the field. However, no single archetype completely dominated the field like, unlike ETS Opens prior.

Xenan lists can generally be broken down into two types. They generally either go for a more Killer-based gameplan, with Dawnwalkers and Auric Interrogators as the core value engines. An example would be Krizalio’s list which went 4-2, but ultimately went short of Top 8:

Krizalio’s list, running 12 2-drops and only 2 Predatory Carnosaurs, is a more aggressive version of what is typically dubbed Xenan Killers. Xenan Killers in general tends to perform well in aggro and midrange-heavy metagames, due to its high degree of efficient interaction with the opposing player’s board.

The second style of deck, one which was far more successful in this ETS, is the list SooNo and BruisedbyGod brought:

This flavour of Xenan clearly aims to go bigger, with 4 Mystic Ascendant as its value engine. It is important to note the lack of Dawnwalkers – given the lack of control decks in the ETS metagame, Dawnwalker’s stock tends to take a dip. This freed up space in the deck for 4 copies of Banish and In Cold Bloods, the former definitely valuable against all forms of Midrange decks.

Dreamsnatchers were an interesting choice, one which I initially disagreed with looking at the list – shouldn’t they obviously be Blistersting Wasps?

However, after having played with the list a fair amount, I can say that Dreamsnatchers definitely earn their place in the list. When facing aggro or tokens, the additional life-gain is nothing to slouch at. Its ultimate, while rarely activated, gives the deck a late-game mana sink that can potentially disrupt Destiny-ed Maktos while giving you another large threat. While I can’t say its definitely better than Blistersting Wasp, Dreamsnatcher is up for consideration as the 2-drop to play. In my opinion, I think its a meta-dependent call – if you’re facing a lot of fliers, Blistersting Wasp is definitely better. Against everything else, Dreamsnatcher feels better.

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I did not mention an archetype that performed surprisingly well in the ETS – Stonescar Gunslingers! With the decline of TJP Midrange and its endless supply of X/4s, it would seem this aggro deck capitalised against the largely midrange field. Hideout Pistol is definitely a standout against all manner of midrange lists, gaining so much tempo by itself such that it basically wins the game. If Tokens decks are on the low, and midrange decks look to be the most popular, definitely try out this Stonescar list.

Sideboard Tech of the Week

The list run by both SooNo and BruisedbyGod run a single copy of Hall of Lost Kings in the sideboard. It fits well with the idea of the deck, since it runs 8 units with Lifesteal and the full 4 Amber Waystones. Obviously its only brought in against durdly control decks that don’t really challenge Xenan’s life total, but I like the greedy idea that underlies the running of a single copy – I’ll never draw multiples, but if I get lucky once, why not?

In conclusion, it seems the metagame has gone full-circle – now that soft counters to TJP Midrange has emerged, bigger midrange lists have come to the forefront. Is it time for Control decks to come back to the metagame? We’ll have to find out next week. Til next time!