Top 4 in MPDC 24.10

Over the past couple weeks, I have been writing  about the Crouching Cipher Hidden Strings decklist that has emerged into the Standard Pauper metagame. I presented my own take on the deck and discussed my rationale for the changes that I made.

I ended up running the deck with just a few tweaks in MPDC 24.10, and finished in the Top 4. A build similar to the original version of the deck actually took home the trophy, and I played that deck twice - once in Round 1 where I won 2-1, and then again in Top 4 when I lost 0-2.

Here's the version that I ran:

AzAgCon

MPDC 24.10 Top 4

Creatures 4 Cloudfin Raptor 4 Daring Skyjek 3 Syndic of Tithes 3 Vaporkin 3 Wavecrash Triton 3 Wingsteed Rider 4 Akroan Skyguard 24 cards Other Spells 4 Gods Willing 3 Essence Scatter 3 Hidden Strings 2 Mizzium Skin 1 Negate 1 Swift Justice 14 cards

Lands 9 Island 9 Plains 4 Azorius Guildgate 22 cards Sideboard 3 Keening Apparition 3 Celestial Flare 2 Hopeful Eidolon 2 Dispel 2 Beckon Apparition 1 Negate 1 Disperse 1 Essence Scatter 15 cards

Overall I was pretty happy with my build. Adding 2 lands to the deck seems to have worked out, as the deck mulliganed much better than previous versions. Essence Scatter also proved it worth several times, and am more confident now that it deserves its place in the main deck. I also was pleased with my decision to add both Swift Justice and Hopeful Eidolon back into the decklist. However, playing 3 copies of Wavecrash Triton seems to be a mistake - I would definitely swap the 4th copy of Vaporkin in its place.

If you haven't tried out this deck before, you should sleeve it up and give it a try. It's surprisingly fun. Later this week, I'll write up a quick deck-tech on exactly how the deck works.

If you've played against this archetype successfully, I'd love to hear what you think works well against it. Let me know in the comments below.