Time to start the rant of the week. What exactly is Regionals? Well regionals is a series of tournaments that are held in different countries to determine the invitations for Nationals. In many cases the number of invitations are determined by population. An example of the number of invitations that are given is in Texas we have eight invitations available, while in Alaska they have two invitations. So if you make it in to the top eight at your regionals tournament if you have eight invitations you will be qualified for the nationals tournament and if you only have two or four invitations available you will have to win make it higher to get the invite. So the next question would be “what good is the invite?”. Well the invite to Nationals is great because it gets you the chance to play for the chance to represent your country on the world stage. If you win the nationals event you get to play on your nations team and represent your country, to show the world what you are made of. So that is a brief explanation of what Regionals can lead too. By the way for those of you that are in Texas you can see me at our regionals event trying to make it into the realms of the qualified for Nationals. Feel free to stop by and talk with me. I will be dressed in my lucky blue Team Game Closet shirt or at the vendor booth we are setting up for the Game Closet.

So now you have heard my rant on Regionals and you could be telling yourself “wow I need to get some of the Regionals action for my self”. Well I am sorry that I have tricked you into playing at Regionals and exposing you to so much fun stuff. Regionals can be very addicting, you might even have to go every year. Well there is only one way for me to clear the way between us and make up for dooming you to playing regional every year and that is to give you a good look at what I consider to be the top ten deck list that you will play against at Regionals. I have ranked them from the top to the bottom in what I consider to be the most dominant decks in the format. Now I know that some of you will think that a few of my choices should be higher on the list and some should be lower on the list but this is just my interpretation of where the decks should be arranged.

This is the king daddy of decks too annoy people with. Ravager Affinity has several different build that are very close to the same but may have four to ten different cards in each build. The build that I have provided has a small element of control that I believe will help with the unknown factor you can run into in Regionals and can help you with some of the decks that have a better chance in this match up. Be prepare to face this match up at least two or three times if you make play more than six rounds. The closer you get to the top eight the more I expect you to come across this deck. You can expect the deck to do well because it is one of the top decks in the format and sometimes just wins the game for you. The problem with playing one of the top decks is that everyone that is serious about Regionals has play tested this match up and is ready for it. Forewarned is forearmed, so use this deck at your own discretion.

4 Darksteel Citadel

4 Glimmervoid

4 Great Furnace

1 Seat of the Synod

4 Vault of Whispers

4 Arcbound Ravager

4 Arcbound Worker

4 Disciple of the Vault

4 Frogmite

4 Myr Enforcer

4 Ornithopter

4 Pyrite Spellbomb

3 Scale of Chiss-Goria

4 Shrapnel Blast

4 Skullclamp

4 Welding Jar

Sideboard

2 Electrostatic Bolt

4 Mana Leak

2 Seat of the Synod

3 Shatter

4 Stabilizer

The deck so nice it has been in the format in one form or another for as long as Goblin Warchief has been around. This is another of those decks that you can expect play two or three times on the day if you play more than six rounds. If you play this decks you will face many players that get advantage over you from being familiar with deck. The deck has been around for over a year and a half yet shows no sign of going away till the Goblin Warchief rotates out of Type 2. The same warning that went with Ravager Affinity goes with this deck list, use the deck at your own discretion.

4 Bloodstained Mire

4 City of Brass

12 Mountain

3 Swamp

3 Gempalm Incinerator

4 Goblin Piledriver

4 Goblin Sharpshooter

4 Goblin Sledder

4 Goblin Warchief

4 Siege-Gang Commander

4 Skirk Prospector

2 Sparksmith

1 Echoing Ruin

3 Patriarch's Bidding

4 Skullclamp

Sideboard

3 Dark Banishing

3 Detonate

3 Echoing Ruin

4 Electrostatic Bolt

1 Gempalm Incinerator

1 Patriarch's Bidding

Some people consider this to be the last truly viable control deck in Type two. I would say that if you want play a control deck this probably one of your better options. The drawback to this deck is that it is control and might not be strong enough in a Regionals that has two of the fastest decks available. If it matters to anyone out there this is the deck I will most likely play. I warn you that there are several strategies that work against astral slide and it has been around for as long as Goblin bidding so many better players know how to play this match up.

4 Forgotten Cave

3 Mirrodin's Core

6 Mountain

7 Plains

4 Secluded Steppe

3 Temple of the False God

4 Eternal Dragon

3 Exalted Angel

2 Akroma's Vengeance

3 Astral Slide

3 Decree of Justice

3 Gilded Light

2 Lay Waste

4 Lightning Rift

3 Spark Spray

3 Starstorm

4 Wrath of God

Sideboard

3 Circle of Protection: Red

3 Damping Matrix

3 Detonate

2 Duplicant

2 Wing Shards

2 Wipe Clean

A suprising amount of people have begun to play this deck and I expect a lot of people to play it out of the shear fact that it is different. It should be noted that it has a way of punishing decks that are not prepared to deal with indestructible creatures or can not get rid of a single Platinum Angel. It has a couple of different builds that are in standard right now. One is built with the fireball finishing strategy and one that is focused on just getting out the creatures to control the game. I don’t think this decks is one that will win the tournament for you, but I would play against it to get a feel for how it will be at regionals. If you play more than six rounds I would say you will play it at least one or two times.

4 Cloudpost

7 Forest

2 Mountain

1 Stalking Stones

4 Temple of the False God

1 Tranquil Thicket

4 Wooded Foothills

2 Darksteel Colossus

1 Duplicant

1 Leonin Abunas

1 Platinum Angel

3 Ravenous Baloth

4 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Triskelion

4 Vine Trellis

3 Viridian Shaman

3 Fireball

2 Oxidize

4 Reap and Sow

4 Sylvan Scrying

4 Tooth and Nail

Sideboard

4 Damping Matrix

4 Mindslaver

2 Oxidize

4 Pyroclasm

1 Viridian Shaman

This is the other deck that I might play at Regionals. It could be the control deck that takes the place of Astral Slide. I personally love all the board sweepers and the Wing Shards could prove to be invaluable in the Tooth and Nail match up. I don’t recommend this deck to every player as some off you will not like to sit back and play the long game. This deck is one that most likely will tire you out on a long day at Regionals. It should be ranked higher than Tooth and Nail type decks but I am wagering that more people will play Tooth and Nail than this.

10 Plains

4 Secluded Steppe

4 Urza's Mine

4 Urza's Power Plant

4 Urza's Tower

2 Darksteel Colossus

4 Eternal Dragon

2 Solemn Simulacrum

4 Akroma's Vengeance

4 Decree of Justice

3 Mindslaver

4 Oblivion Stone

3 Pulse of the Fields

4 Renewed Faith

2 Wing Shards

4 Wrath of God

Sideboard

4 Holy Day

1 Mindslaver

3 Purge

4 Silver Knight

1 Wing Shards

I have seen several players testing out this deck as one of the options in a meta game with so much Clamp Bidding and Ravager Affinity. I think it will also allow for a good answer to some of the randomness that you will see during the day at Regionals. You had better play the deck a lot though as it is not just a deck that simply attacks all the time for the win. My recommendation for this deck is simple. Play test, play test, and oh yeah do not forget to play test.

3 City of Brass

12 Forest

8 Swamp

4 Bane of the Living

4 Birds of Paradise

1 Elvish Aberration

4 Ravenous Baloth

4 Twisted Abomination

3 Viridian Shaman

2 Viridian Zealot

4 Wirewood Herald

4 Death Cloud

3 Oversold Cemetery

4 Skullclamp

Sideboard

4 Infest

4 Oxidize

1 Viridian Shaman

2 Viridian Zealot

4 Withered Wretch

How the mighty have fallen. This used to be one of the most dominant decks in the format till that dang Skullclamp came about. I still like this deck and it is on the list of good decks in my opinion but it does tend to go a little too slow for a speed driven meta game. You can be advised that the deck is working out a lot better now that Stifles are back in the main. If you play this deck be prepared for a long day. You could run into long rounds and if you play this deck so make sure that you have a good breakfast and a aspirin or two.

4 Cloudpost

2 Coastal Tower

4 Flooded Strand

6 Island

8 Plains

2 Temple of the False God

3 Eternal Dragon

3 Akroma's Vengeance

4 Damping Matrix

4 Decree of Justice

4 Mana Leak

2 Pulse of the Fields

2 Renewed Faith

2 Rewind

2 Stifle

4 Thirst for Knowledge

4 Wrath of God

Sideboard

4 Circle of Protection: Red

3 Exalted Angel

2 Mind's Eye

2 Mindslaver

3 Purge

1 Stifle

Ah elves they are good enough to play and you can bet that you will see one or two of them busting heads the day of the tournament. Sadly this is not the deck that will win Regionals for you but, it can be a deck to play if you want to have a enjoyable day. If fortune favors the bold give it a try and see how far you can get.

17 Forest

4 Birchlore Rangers

2 Caller of the Claw

4 Elvish Lyrist

4 Elvish Vanguard

1 Tribal Forcemage

4 Viridian Shaman

4 Viridian Zealot

4 Wirewood Herald

4 Wirewood Hivemaster

4 Wirewood Symbiote

4 Chrome Mox

4 Skullclamp

Sideboard

1 Caller of the Claw

3 Fecundity

4 Naturalize

4 Oxidize

3 Steely Resolve

This decks ranks up there with the black/green death cloud deck and could be another good choice for Regionals. It has lots of main deck hate for artifact decks and has good chances versus goblins. I still favor the Ravager Affinity deck versus this deck but it’s a world gone mad and you could snatch a few wins on the day. If you are a newer tournament player I would actually suggest this deck for the day. It like a well used tool, it might not always be perfect but its dang good for most jobs.

10 Forest

3 City of Brass

3 Contested Cliffs

4 Mountain

4 Wooded Foothills

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Fangren Firstborn

3 Molder Slug

4 Ravenous Baloth

4 Troll Ascetic

3 Viridian Shaman

4 Viridian Zealot

4 Electrostatic Bolt

3 Pulse of the Tangle

3 Shock

Sideboard

4 Naturalize

3 Flashfires

2 Oxidize

3 Pyroclasm

3 Dwarven Blastminer

This is another deck that although I don’t think it can win the tournament, I do believe that it can win you several matches on the day. It is an inexpensive deck to build and most people like to play creatures to win the day so this might be your deck. The biggest draw back to this deck is that a lot of the strategies that work against Goblins also work against this deck. So consider that a warning about playing this deck.

4 Auriok Steelshaper

4 Deftblade Elite

4 Leonin Shikari

2 Savannah Lions

4 Silver Knight

3 Whipcorder

3 Bonesplitter

4 Chrome Mox

4 Pacifism

4 Raise the Alarm

2 Second Sunrise

4 Skullclamp

18 Plains

Sideboard

3 Gilded Light

3 Story Circle

2 Worship

4 Dampning Matrix

3 Altar's Light