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For the dedicated Magic enthusiast, the year is broken up by several significant, paramount moments. The new set release changes everything, the unveiling of a hot new breakout deck changes everything, and the Pro Tour changes everything.
Not every Pro Tour breaks the format with an insane new deck. In fact, most Pro Tours reinforce things people already knew coming into the weekend. What's significant is that after a Pro Tour the various claims being bandied about are firmly cemented as either fact or fiction.
Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar is one of those "cementing things we knew" PTs.
Several Hall of Fame players appeared in the Top 16, alongside others who will certainly be in the Hall of Fame before they are done. A high percentage of the players at the top of the heap were players I would expect to perform, and they were all playing decks I'd expect them to: Jeskai, Abzan, Red, and G/W.
I just got done watching the finals and honestly I don't think the narrative of the event would even change much depending on who won.
Familiar Faces
Various Abzan and Jeskai decks asserted themselves as the format-defining, tier one decks in Standard. Both decks pack a ton of high-powered spells and benefit greatly from an even more consistent manabase thanks to the "Battle" or "Tango" lands.
The strength of these two decks hinges in no small part on the following cards:
Mantis Rider and Siege Rhino are respectively the most powerful three- and four-cost spells in the format. To begin with, their stats are insane for the mana cost. But secondly, even the mere casting of them can turn games around--both deal damage immediately and play defense and offense simultaneously.
I've been preaching these two cards as fantastic pickups since I started writing here on QS. Next month should yield a nice payoff as players scurry to build whichever deck caught their eye. Note that many players wait until after the Pro Tour to invest in a deck because they want their purchase to be rubber-stamped by the pros.
Also, it's worth noting that both of these cards help break through opposing Hangarback Walkers. Hangarback Walker, for its part, is still clinging to a $15 price tag immediately after its reprint. Hold on to those Walkers! They will be expensive at some point in their Modern career.
Gideon
The biggest card of the tournament, without a doubt, was Gideon.
Gideon had crossover success, appearing in both the Jeskai and Abzan decks--and almost always as a four-of. A lot of people are going to need a lot of Gideons...
The card already has a hefty price tag but I expect it to continue to climb as it becomes more difficult to acquire copies. It isn't exactly a surprise that the card turns out to be fantastic. Everybody who has ever cast it in Standard pretty much sang its praises--but this event cements the fact that roughly half the decks will be playing four moving forward.
Gideon will be around for another two years, and it's likely to define the format that entire time. This leads me to believe it's a buy right now despite the high price.
Certainly, if you don't own your playset I would prioritize getting in ASAP, because it will continue to climb for the next three or four weeks (unless it spikes really big this week).
Jace
It would be completely irresponsible of me to talk about Standard finance without dedicating a few paragraphs to Jace, the Mind Sculptor version 2.0.
The card is extremely overpowered and provides a ton of value for little investment. In addition, there are very few cards that answer it efficiently. In short, it creates a massive advantage for a tiny cost.
The card is fantastic in basically every format, which makes it relatively safe to pick up since we can assume we'll be able to play it for years. Even if it drops on rotation, play in Modern, Legacy, and yes, even Vintage will help grow the long-term value.
The card has been treading water in the $70-$80 range. With the success of Jeskai at the Pro Tour, it feels like a foregone conclusion it will creep over $100.
It isn't getting any easier to acquire copies of this extremely high-demand staple. Chances are most people are interested in playing Jace in at least one format! And don't even get me started on how good this card is as a Tiny Leaders Commander... (Well, at least until they ban it).
The combination of Gideon, Mantis Rider, and Jace makes me feel like Jeskai is the new Caw Blade. Super efficient threats, an insane planeswalker and cheap instant-speed interaction. The fact that many of the premier players in the tournament opted for Jeskai leads me to believe it will be a popular choice moving forward.
Dragonmaster Outcast
Dragonmaster already gained some ground over the weekend but I think it will continue to trend up. It's a great card with crossover Modern and casual applications.
Don't underestimate the ability of ridiculously popular cards to rebound to their former value after a reprinting. I'm looking at you, Wurmcoil Engine, Oblivion Stone and Hangarback Walker. Dragonmaster will get back to $10 and stay there before you know it.
Fetchlands
It is also quite clear that the format is defined by the fetchland manabases. Not only do they make it possible to play three or four colors with ease, but they also quickly fill up the graveyard for delve spells.
It is basically impossible to play any constructed format without owning fetchlands. Yes, some decks use other cycles of lands, but generally speaking 95% of constructed Magic decks are fetching in some way, shape or form.
I think it is a foregone conclusion that the Khans fetches will continue to gain value even past the point where they are Standard legal. I'd be looking to pick up as many as possible, and basically anytime I see a fetchland in a trade binder I try to acquire it.
Silkwrap
Another card that has made a huge impact and quickly become an elite-level card in Standard is:
The card is great against Hangarback, Mantis Rider and Jace, and conveniently can be played in both Abzan and Jeskai. If the Pro Tour metagame persists, as we have every indication it will, this card will be in high demand. Look for Silkwrap to reach $1.50 or $2.00 as every local game store struggles to keep it in stock for customers.
I cannot urge you enough to check bulk and draft leftovers for copies of this card, because people will be buying them!
Anafenza
I'm sure this card will have already spiked by the time this article goes live, but it is worth noting that Anafenza had a tremendous tournament at PT BFZ.
The card has insane stats and pumps your other creatures, but it also pwns opposing Hangarback Walkers hard. It is pretty awesome the way it beefs up your Walkers and essentially shuts your opponent's down.
~
My takeaway from this PT is that Abzan and Jeskai will be the format-defining decks of Standard until Khans rotates. I'd be watching Khans cards closely right now and looking to sell as soon as they jump in price. Now's the time to capitalize on these cards, as spikes over the next few months will likely be their last.
Fetchlands, on the other hand, I will hold to reap dividends as Modern continues to grow. The game is growing by leaps and bounds, which basically ensures a neverending stream of players looking to buy into Modern.
The other cool takeaway is that Standard looks pretty awesome and skill-intensive. It says a lot that the top tables were dominated by the best players in the game, playing relatively known commodities.
It isn't like some team concocted a super secret deck that ran wild. Rather the format consisted of established archetypes everyone was prepared for, which the elite players nonetheless managed to leverage using superior play.
Choose your weapon and prepare to continue to Battle for Zendikar as we move into the post-PT metagame.
I know I'll get questions about the "missing" Harbinger of the Tides and Tidebinder Mages so I'll just answer them up front, respectively: Not right now and when would I ever. Harbinger is one of the most tempo-y? tempo cards I have ever seen. He is at home turning around races and is not great anywhere else. He cannot remove blockers (except with help from Reejery, which rarely comes up) and any savvy Twin player will play around Harbinger by either tapping the Vial or your fourth land (which you may never hit) stranding Harbinger in your hand while you lose. Yes, bouncing delve creatures is good, but if a delve creature is attacking your board is almost certainly empty or weak and a 2/2 won't change that. Right now he's only good against Burn and Infect and even then it's marginal. If Delver of Secrets was a larger part of the metagame then I would cut the Will's for Harbinger in a heartbeat and play at least another one in the side, since Harbinger is ideal for tempo-on-tempo matchups where everyone is racing. For now though, I'll stick with Echoing Truth which I can use both offensively (removing blockers) and defensively.
I do not know why Merfolk players play Tidebinder Mage in Modern. I have tried it and am always disappointed. She is at her best locking down a mana Elf turn two, but against Elves or Collected Company she does little to save you from either Ezuri, Renegade Leader or the combo. Against Jund, she usually just taps Tarmogoyf for a turn before eating a Lightning Bolt, and if that is good you were probably winning anyway. Against Infect Glistener Elf and Noble Hierarch usually don't kill you. Blighted Agent does. It would take a massive shift to Gruul for me to consider her.
I play first and lead with Aether Vial, which ends up getting Detention Sphered after giving me a Cursecatcher and Silvergill Adept. The two Merfolk are joined by a hardcasted lord to get around his Lingering Souls and Wall of Omens. Alex tries to draw himself out of the hole with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and almost does but misplays his Ojutai's Command into my Cursecatcher and it's off to game two.
I lead with Cursecatcher and follow with Master of the Pearl Trident, piling on pressure while Alex has few answers and is never really in the game. He gains some life back with Lone Missionary but it's not enough. The last several turns Alex could have sequenced differently and played Wrath of God into Day of Judgment without worrying about Cursecatcher, but he doesn't and just dies. As consolation I point out that I had two Mutavaults and had two Lord of Atlantis on top anyway and he was at eight. Maybe if he had hit the maximum number of foil triggers he would have won. /troll
We both mulligan and Hans forgets to scry and I don't. According to him it makes no difference. It will be awhile before this stops being a problem for we long-time players.
Doug comes roaring out of the gate with Goblin Guide and Tarmogoyfs. I'm never really in though I fight with Path's and Master of Waves but it is in vain against his Wild Nacatls, Burning-Tree Emissary and Ghor-Clan Rampager follow-up. When I can't block profitably I struggle to remove creatures from the board and he had many.
This time I have enough creatures and can trade effectively enough to stabilize at four life thanks to a timely Hibernation. If I had more than two blue sources then I might have been higher but it worked out since a pile of Master of the Pearl Tridents manages to overrun Doug's board before he finds the burn or Ghor-Clan Rampager to kill me.
ame Two
I'm on the play and lead with Vial then Seas on his Pendelhaven, which proves to be his only green source. He never gets an infector greater than 1/1 and my lords get there. At one point I think I hear him say that Kira affects every creature. It doesn't but I was not about to clarify what he said for fear of clearing up a misconception that could win me the game. It wasn't relevant if he actually did think that it, since he couldn't play anything. Seeing him play after the fact I decide that I just misheard: he seemed too experienced to misunderstand Kira.
Game Three
I double mulligan, Kylen mulligans. Despite getting to Cursecatch a Summer Bloom the fact that I draw three Vials (again) means that Kylen gets Titan and 16's me. Had my last draw been a Path I might have lasted another turn but it's just my fourth land and I lose.
I'm kind of a bystander this game. Kylen uses Ancient Stirrings to find Ugin, Seal of Primordium to kill my Vial and Slaughter Pact to kill himself. Yes, he plays Pact on a Silvergill Adept either thinking that his Tendo Ice Bridge still had a counter on it (he'd used it for Stirrings), that he had left Gemstone Mine in play instead when he played his bounce land or possibly that his Gruul Turf was actually Golgari Rot Farm, but I didn't want to ask and appear to rub salt in the wound. There's no way I'll let him take it back, he announced it and chose the target, so I win. It feels scummy but if you're going to play at Competitive REL this is what you need to be ready for and if you misplay a pact I will take my free win. Still sucks for him though.
We just received these gorgeous infographics from our own Diego Fumagalli. Check 'em out!
Tarmogoyf represents the peak of power/toughness efficiency. I love cards that excel at their jobs. Take the most powerful burn spell of all time, Lightning Bolt. Despite the card's simplicity, its flexibility is unrivaled. My favorite creatures follow Bolt's example, attacking and blocking very well and doing almost nothing else; I'll play Delver of Secrets, Wild Nacatl, and Hooting Mandrills over wordy staples like Snapcaster Mage and Tasigur, the Golden Fang any day.
In Magic, an "ability" as simple as "this creature is way bigger than it should be" adds countless dimensions to games, and to deckbuilding in general. None of Modern's removal performs as well as Lightning Bolt given the format's speed, and Goyf is its only reasonable attacker who survives the instant for just two mana. That means he outclasses all other creatures at his mana cost, itself located halfway to four, the crucial turn in Modern; Goyf then has enough time to pressure opponents and leave his master with open mana to answer game-winning plays. All these elements combine to provide the perfect Stomping Ground for Tarmogoyf, while pulling the format's "goodstuff" archetypes like tempo and midrange into green.
Having established my crush on Tarmogoyf, I'd be remiss not to mention my infatuation with Blood Moon. As I bit into Modern, I spent some time 
I don't understand Ryuuta's choice to play Rituals over mana birds. Rituals have some benefits, such as "surprising" opponents with a burst of mana and not getting chewed up by Lightning Bolt, but they only put us ahead a mana for one turn. Birds of Paradise, on the other hand, pushes us ahead for the whole game, allowing us to follow Blood Moon with higher-curve haymakers like Huntmaster of the Fells. Additionally, it seemed to me like attracting Bolts wasn't a horrible place for Birds to be, considering the low toughness of Goblin Rabblemaster and Magus of the Moon. In the following builds, I scraped the rituals (and eventually the Sprit Guides) for mana dorks.
An early Blood Moon can prove impossible for game one opponents to overcome and the time it buys us is best utilized beating them up with efficient threats. Modern’s most efficient threat is Tarmogoyf, a card so far off the format’s relative power level it’s become infamous as a $200 staple that fits into just about everything. TURBOGOYF's strategy resembles that of 
Of course, running eight Birds and 6-8 Moons means a lot of dead draws and redundant pieces. We need a way to turn these superfluous pieces into actual business. Faithless Looting does just that. It also has the benefit of cycling extra lands - since the deck curves out at four mana, cards that provide mana in excess of four filter into additional threats or disruption.
Birds and Magus already take some heat off Huntmaster of the Fells by competing for Bolts, and the Human Werewolf provides an ungodly amount of board presence if untouched. He curves us out perfectly - 4 mana lets us cast Birds into Moon into Huntmaster. Flipping him over multiple times provides card advantage without costing cards, and doing so proves laughably easy with so many mana birds and Looting. Against a locked-down opponent, he deals 8 damage the turn after we cast him, 6 the turn after, and 10 the next, rivaling even Geist of Saint Traft in terms of pure damage-for-cost. And while Goyf survives Bolt and even Roast, Huntmaster gets around Edict effects, most importantly Liliana of the Veil's.
I liked that she provided a soft-lock against decks like Affinity and Infect, eating away at their creatures and giving me ample time to overwhelm the board with pressure.
