Multicolor Mayhem Followup

Back at the end of May, I announced on this blog the start of a league-style Player Run Event called Multicolor Mayhem. In case you missed it, this was a special event featuring a mashup of the Shards of Alara Block and the Return to Ravnica Block.

Perhaps due to the short time span between the announcement and the start of the event, we ended up with only 17 participants, including myself. Nonetheless, the event was a lot of fun, and the winner walked away with one of the bigger prizes I've ever given out: 14 tickets!

This past week, the two remaining participants battled it out in the Finals, and Adner's Esper Mayhem was crowned the winner!

Esper Mayhem

1st place in Multicolor Mayhem by Adner

Creatures 4 Sanctum Gargoyle 4 Ubul Sar Gatekeepers 3 Deft Duelist 3 Deputy of Acquittals 3 Sunspire Gatekeepers 2 Basilica Guards 1 Keymaster Rogue 1 Opal Lake Gatekeepers 21 cards Other Spells 3 Courier's Capsule 3 Executioner's Capsule 3 Oblivion Ring 3 Soul Manipulation 2 Stab Wound 1 Crypt Incursion 1 Midnight Recovery 16 cards

Lands 4 Azorius Guildgate 4 Dimir Guildgate 4 Orzhov Guildgate 4 Plains 3 Island 3 Swamp 1 Esper Panorama 23 cards Sideboard 3 Relic of Progenitus 3 Dispeller's Capsule 2 Stab Wound 2 Executioner's Swing 2 Agony Warp 1 Crypt Incursion 1 Opal Lake Gatekeepers 1 Keymaster Rogue 15 cards

Esper was probably the most dominant archetype in Standard Pauper back when the Shards of Alara block was part of the format, and it's easy to see why. Using Sanctum Gargoyle, one can recur the excellent "spell-artifacts" Courier's Capsule and Executioner's Capsule, as well as looping multiples of the gargoyles themselves. That set also featured one of the best removal spells at Common: Oblivion Ring. To this solid core Adner added the excellent Gatekeepers from Dragon's Maze as well as additional recursion via Deputy of Acquittals. The result is a powerful Control deck capable of handling most any threat and equipped to generate tons of card advantage over the course of a game.

This event was a lot of fun, and there is already discussion about what format to do next. In the future, I would make two small changes:

1. Advertise the event a few weeks in advance so as to generate maximum exposure. 
2. Allow players to change their decklist each week rather than requiring them to keep it the same throughout the event.

For those of you who participated, I'd love to hear any comments or feedback you might have. Thanks for reading!