GP Omaha Top 8
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 11, 2015, 5:12 p.m. by JWiley129
So the Top 8 for GP Omaha was just announced, and here are the decks:
- Birthing Pod
- Amulet of Vigor Combo
Delver featuring Goblin Guide- Merfolk
- 4-color Zoo
Through the Breach- Tron
- Delver
And at 9th looking in is our world champion Shahar Shenhar running Burn. Talk about a top 8 with variety. The games begin in around 20 minutes (5:30 EST) for those watching at home.
quesobueno123 says... #3
Huh, interesting top 8, sucks my favorite deck (burn) was so close which that it made it! But like the variety.
January 11, 2015 5:28 p.m.
ChiefBell - Well, the Pod deck is Abzan Pod. I saw the deck on stream a few times casting several Siege Rhinos. Only 1 
deck surprises me a bit, but the metagame looks fairly healthy right now. I don't expect to see any bannings prior to PT Fate Reforged
January 11, 2015 5:29 p.m.
No. The meta is fine.
I meant Abzan Rock. Not like Abzan pod. That's my jam.
January 11, 2015 5:39 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #9
Dammit blue Scapeshift pilots, you all suck.
Still, looking forward to some fun matches.
January 11, 2015 6 p.m.
So the quarters are over:
Delver beat Through the Breach
Merfolk beat 4-color Zoo
Pod beat Delver thanks to Chalice of the Void
Amulet of Vigor beat Tron
Matchups:
Birthing Pod vs Merfolk. (Pod will be on the play)
Amulet of Vigor vs Delver (Amulet will be on the play)
January 11, 2015 6:11 p.m.
Interesting feed so far. Especially Ben Starks 'tasteless' comments. It'll be interesting to see if he'll be getting firied come tomorrow.
January 11, 2015 7:08 p.m.
Semi's are over, Pod and Amulet Bloom are in the finals. Place ya bets!
January 11, 2015 7:31 p.m.
notamardybum says... #14
if treasure cruise gets banned, im switching to amulet of vigor
January 11, 2015 7:34 p.m.
Bloom Titan is definitely one of the more fun decks in Modern. Lets you get some value from your bounce lands you've been hoarding for no reason.
January 11, 2015 7:37 p.m.
Blind_Guardian says... #16
I'm betting on pod. But the amulet deck is very strong.
January 11, 2015 7:39 p.m.
And Pod wins another Modern GP. Snore.
Joking aside, Pod is just a more consistent deck, which is why it beat Amulet Bloom.
January 11, 2015 8:03 p.m.
Hickorysbane says... #18
Ha! and someone tried to tell me Pod was on the outs cause of Delver xD
January 11, 2015 9:13 p.m.
OhHellfireMTG says... #20
Just thought I'd tell you guys that Stephen Speck, the bloom player, works at my LGS and he's so awesome. I'm really happy for him!
Congrats Speck!
January 11, 2015 9:27 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #21
@PrecintSix6Six Pod has been tuning itself to beat Delver for a while. Choke and Chalice of the Void out of the sideboard are the most prominent of these changes.
January 11, 2015 9:36 p.m.
Chalice of the Void has been steadily rising in popularity due to Delver, and Choke is just a mean card against blue decks. In one of the match replays it showed the Pod deck resolving a Choke against Merfolk and just ruined their day.
January 11, 2015 9:43 p.m.
Hickorysbane says... #23
GlistenerAgent, true. But they tried to tell me Pod was dead in the water when Delver showed up.
January 11, 2015 9:49 p.m.
I'd recommend you look not at the Top8 but Top32 decks. It paints a better picture of the true problem Modern has right now -> it's basically Pod vs. Delver. In fact Game 2 Metagame looked like this: 28% Pod, 13% Delver, 7% Scapeshift 7% Affinity. I can't be the only one who is reminded of the Metagame that existed about a year ago, when Jund was ~ 30%...
January 12, 2015 10:37 a.m.
Azban Pod is better than Azban Rock. I love how no matter what's trending in the format, Pod always tops the big tournaments. I'm surprised Ascendency decks couldn't ruin Pods chances at winning but hey, that's probably a good thing.
January 12, 2015 11:05 a.m.
Pod is certainly the more sturdy deck, but I should remind you that at all times BG, GBR or GBW are present in the meta. It's certainly also a very solid deck.
I personally hate pod. It runs too little removal for my taste and plays out like a dumb 'turn things sideways' strategy. But that's just me. It's certainly a crude deck in many senses - you play creatures and win. That's not to say the deck is bad, I'm just saying it's not my favoured strategy.
January 12, 2015 11:13 a.m.
There's lots of strategy in playing a Pod deck, it just utilizes a stronger board presence and one finisher (Pod) over more removal. You could always run a little more removal in the Pod deck, but the point of it is to be a more proactive build rather than a reactive deck. It generally forces and opponent to answer rather than have an opponent use that mana to generate threats, which is why removal isn't as important for the deck. Additionally, the minor advantages and control from many of the creatures ETB effects (Reclamation Sage, Pontiff, Siege Rhino, Voice, etc) are what give Pod the edge in most games.
January 12, 2015 11:19 a.m.
I understand how pod works. I know the deck quite intimately. My point was mainly that in being a proactive rather than a reactive deck it loses some of the technical intricacies you get with other decks. All pod needs to do is commit creatures to the board, whereas other decks have to think carefully about whether to even make that decision or not. It's a whole other level of thinking.
January 12, 2015 11:33 a.m.
notamardybum says... #29
so back to bloom titan, i like the idea of having a 2nd win con with Inkmoth Nexus and Kessig Wolf Run, but not a lot of people are doing that. is there a reason?
January 12, 2015 11:49 a.m.
mainly because you're aiming for a combo finish of Primeval Titan+ Amulet of Vigor + Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion + Slayers' Stronghold and you don't want to devote land spots to lands that don't help there. I could see an argument for running Kessig Wolf Run to help push through a Titan, but there are better things you could be doing.
Disclaimer, I've never played Bloom Titan, so I could be wrong.
January 12, 2015 12:54 p.m.
@notamardybum the secondary win-con of Bloom Titan is Hive Mind with Summoner's Pact. No need for easy to remove creatures.
January 12, 2015 2:03 p.m.
To be honest, how does bloom Titan keep winning? It's a really fragile and inconsistent deck (T1 thoughtseize and you concede) granted it can win turn 2... But it just keeps to 8ing. HOW?
January 18, 2015 11:15 p.m.
Because all the aggro decks can't interact with it.
January 19, 2015 3:03 a.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #35
because it can win t1 or much later and it runs multiple Pact of Negation to protect its combo as well as Tolaria West to fetch for the pacts
ChiefBell says... #2
Very nice.
Shame to not see my fave Abzan in there, but oh well.
January 11, 2015 5:14 p.m.