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Highlander Championships Top 8 Deck Lists! 5th and 6th

Hey everyone! We’re back with more deck lists from the Highlander Championships! Today we’re featuring the deck lists of the two players who were just barely knocked out of the top 4 winning one game but missing out (in both cases barely) on the second win.

Josh elected to bring a Grixis control deck to the fray. Much like Alistair’s Esper control deck Josh elected to insert Time Vault combo into the deck. This plan was pretty effective and made cards such as Tezzeret the Seeker a must answer as it can find Time Vault and then untap it all in one card. Josh also elected to not go too far into his combo plan and kept the rest of his deck full of typical control cards. In his victory over Nelson while he did combo in one game he also managed to win through conventional damage!

Here is Josh’s list!

Vedalken Shackles

Doom Blade

Dispel

Izzet Charm

Negate

Divert

Remand

Toxic Deluge

Misdirection

Lightning Bolt

Opt

Condescend

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Vendilion Clique

Voltaic Key

Ral Zarek

Fact or Fiction

Thirst for Knowledge

Time Vault

Into the Roil

Trinket Mage

Cryptic Command

Delay

Forbidden Alchemy

Complicate

Jace, Architect of Thought

Fire//Ice

Compulsive Research

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Batterskull

Logic Knot

Magma Jet

Electrolyze

Treasure Cruise

Spell Snare

Ancestral Vision

Ponder

Mind Twist

Mana Leak

Impulse

Muddle the Mixture

Counterspell

Pithing Needle

Tezzeret the Seeker

Blood Moon

Sensei’s Divining Top

Spell Pierce

Glen Elendra Archmage

Daze

Brainstorm

Shadow of Doubt

Flametongue Kavu

Arc Trail

Preordain

Engineered Explosives

Punishing Fire

Dimir Infiltrator

Venser, Shaper Savant

Snapcaster Mage

Force of Will

Dig Through Time

Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Mystical Teachings

Portent

Young Pyromancer

Mox Sapphire

Wasteland

Sulfur Falls

Bloodstained Mire

Steam Vents

Marsh Flats

Watery Grave

Grove of the Burnwillows

Underground Sea

Volcanic Island

Arid Mesa

Badlands

Polluted Delta

Flooded Strand

Cascade Bluffs

Wooded Foothills

Verdant Catacombs

Shivan Reef

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Misty Rainforest

Scalding Tarn

Blood Crypt

Mountain

Swamp

11 Island

Nick is a well known and respected deck builder in the Highlander community. Though he is well known for playing Tolarian Academy combo and Esper control typically he is perfectly capable of designing and playing very effective decks of many varieties. He elected to play a very unexpected deck for the Highlander championships, Bant control, in hopes that he would be able to surprise some players with unexpected cards. This control deck was designed to have a better match up against some of the more aggressive decks due to the high density of large creatures with powerful enter the battlefield effects. Many of these creatures also double as powerful threats against other control decks meaning that Nick had the potential to be aggressive enough to get ahead in control mirrors. Nick actually made a pretty good call about the metagame but lost a few close games to both Spencer and Shane to be knocked out.

mox sapphire

mox emerald

batterskull

sensei’s divining top

sword of fire and ice

coercive portal

trygon predator

tarmogoyf

reclamation sage

aven mindcensor

edric, spymaster of trest

vendilion clique

consecrated sphinx

sylvan caryatid

snapcaster mage

kitchen finks

glen elendra archmage

birds of paradise

scavenging ooze

noble hierarch

llanowar elves

truename namesis

thrun

avacyn’s pilgrim

courser of kruphix

thada adel

restoration angel

detention sphere

banishing light

luminarch ascension

condescend

mana leak

daze

brainstorm

spell pierce

logic knot

dig through time

mana drain

swords to plowshares

counterspell

miscalculation

memory lapse

ancestral recall

mana tithe

remand

arcane denial

jace’s ingenuity

fact or fiction

delay

negate

force of will

path to exile

garruk relentless

kiora

jace, the mind sculptor

garruk wildspeaker

elspeth, knight errant

gideon jura

nature’s lore

compulsive research

wrath of god

treasure cruise

three visits

ancestral vision

supreme verdict

arid mesa

temple garden

marsh flats

adarkar wastes

tropical island

savannah

wooded bastion

polluted delta

sunpetal grove

stirring wildwood

glacial fortress

celestial colonnade

hinterland harbor

scalding tarn

flooded strand

flooded grove

wooded foothills

mysticv gate

yavimaya coast

tundra

treetop village

verdant catacombs

hallowed fountain

brushland

breeding pool

wildswept heath

misty rainforest

4 island

3 plains

1 forest

Thanks as always! Tomorrow we break into the top 4 deck lists with the aggro masters Shane and Spencer!

-Liam Coughlan