Pro Tour Gauntlet: Oath of the Gatewatch
- For the professional Magic tournament, see Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch.
| Pro Tour Gauntlet: Oath of the Gatewatch | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic: The Gathering Online | |||||
| Event Details | |||||
| Event date | February 10 to 17, 2016 | ||||
| Format | Modern | ||||
| Themes and mechanics | Decks from Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch | ||||
| Number of decks | 16 decks | ||||
| Deck size | 75 cards | ||||
| Magic Online Gauntlets | |||||
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| Digital preconstructed decks | |||||
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The inaugural phantom preconstructed Gauntlet on Magic Online was held between February 10 and 17, 2016[1][2]. It featured 16 of the top-performing Modern decks from Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch. Players were randomly assigned a deck from the Gauntlet and played three best-of-three matches.
Decks with 9 wins
1st Jiachen Tao: Blue-Red Eldrazi
A 
typal Eldrazi deck played by tournament champion Jiachen Tao, with a similar deck piloted by 6th place player Andrew Brown.
| “ | [The Eldrazi decks] are the best decks in the gauntlet. The power level they offer by allowing you to play a full eight lands that make two or more mana each turn puts them on a level above all the other decks in modern. These decks do not have much interaction outside of Dismember, they will generally be the aggressor against whatever deck they are playing against.
The only somewhat hard matches you should expect in the Gauntlet are the fast combo / aggressive decks that can race you. That being said, the Eldrazi decks seem to be vastly more consistent at pushing damage than these other options, so you are likely still favored, especially post-board when you can board in a bit more removal.[3] |
” |
2nd Ivan Floch: Colorless Eldrazi
A 
typal Eldrazi deck played by runner-up Ivan Floch, also piloted by 3rd place player Luis Scott-Vargas and 5th place player Shuhei Nakamura.
Top 4 Patrick Dickmann: Affinity
A Affinity deck played by semi-finalist Patrick Dickmann, with a similar deck piloted by 7th place player Pascal Maynard.
| “ | While Affinity is most known for its explosive starts, it is important to recognize that you can also play a fairly reasonable mid-range game against the fair decks in modern. Between your man lands, Arcbound Ravagers making opposing removal poor, and Thoughtcast to gas back up - do not feel like you have to take risks to end the game ASAP. Because Affinity has a plethora of creatures with only a single toughness, it tends to have a bit harder of a time beating Blue-Red decks that have access to Electrolyze.[3] | ” |
Top 8 Frank Lepore: Blue-Black Eldrazi
A 
typal Eldrazi deck played by quarter-finalist, and Pro-Tour debutante, Frank Lepore.
9-1 Matthew Rogers: Archangel Chord
A 
deck played by Matthew Rogers. While Matt did well in the Constructed portion of the event, equaling winner Jiachen Tao's score of 27 points[4], he did not place.
| “ | Removing a 1/1 counter from your Spike Feeder to gain life triggers your Archangel of Thune, allowing you to put a new 1/1 counter on every one of your creatures. Your Spike Feeder stays a 2/2, but the rest of your creatures grow as large as you want them to.
The most important thing to remember when playing the Angel Chord and Abzan Company decks is that you are a midrange creature deck first and a combo deck second. Your goal should be to pressure your opponent with your "fair" game plan enough that they eventually put themselves into a position where they cannot beat your combo. Interactions to be aware of with this deck are that Wall of Roots can take two mana towards a Chord of Calling. You can make mana with its ability and tap it to convoke for a second. It is also worth knowing that Wall of Roots with Convoke is currently bugged on MTGO when Wall of Roots only has one toughness remaining.[3] |
” |
Decks with 8 wins
8-2 Vagner William Casatti: Burn
A aggro deck played by William Casatti.
| “ | The burn deck is very redundant. It plays all of the most efficient one-cost creatures in modern, and then a variety of spells that deal damage in three and four-damage increments directly to the dome. The most important thing when playing the burn deck is having at least one threat in your opening hand. Any time one of your creatures can deal 4+ damage before being dealt with, you end up ahead in a big way.
When playing against Jeskai Control and Breach-Goryo in the Gauntlet, remember to bring in your copies of Destructive Revelry, as they have access to copies of Leyline of Sanctity. The copies of Tarmogoyf in the sideboard are something fairly unique to Vagner’s list, but they seem reasonable against the control decks in the format, whose removal is already taxed against you. Finally, against other aggressive decks such as Affinity and Zoo, always board out your copies of Eidolon of the Great Revel on the draw, as it will do more harm than good.[3] |
” |
Creatures (18)
Lands (20)
2 Mountain
8-2 Reid Duke: Jund
A Midrange deck played by Reid Duke.
| “ | One of the most tried and true decks in modern, Jund is just a collection of some of the best / most efficient spells in the format. Quality removal, targeted discard, and efficiently priced threats are the highlights. Your game plan is to make sure their game plan cannot be executed.[3] | ” |
8-2 Ari Lax: Abzan Company
A deck played by Ari Lax.
| “ | Abzan Company is the most complex combo to execute that is included in the gauntlet. For those who have not seen it before, there are two different combos.
[Viscera Seer, Kitchen Finks & Melira, and Sylvok Outcast] can be used to scry 1 as many times as you would like and gain as much life as you would like. You sacrifice Kitchen Finks to the Viscera Seer, it persists back into play, and it does not get a -1/-1 counter because of Melira, Sylvok Outcast. If you replace Melira, Sylvok Outcast with Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, you simply bolster onto Kitchen Finks, canceling out the counters. If you replace Kitchen Finks with Murderous Redcap, you deal as much damage as you want, as opposed to gaining as much life as you want. Just like Angel Chord - Abzan Company should be viewed as a midrange creature deck first and a combo deck second. Focus on pressuring your opponent and getting value from your creatures as opposed to rushing to combo kill them.[3] |
” |
8-2 Michael Majors: Zoo
A deck played by Michael Majors.
| “ | Many of the burn deck’s best draws involve three one-drops. This Zoo deck aims to maximize the number of these draws by playing a full sixteen one-drops. Having more recurring sources of damage means the Zoo deck can close the game out a bit faster than Burn on average. Having less reach, though, means that if your opponent can drag the game out a bit, you are less likely to be able to burn them out.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is good against every deck in the Gauntlet aside from the Eldrazi and Creature Combo decks. Deflecting Palm shines against other decks containing Red removal, as well as against Affinity. As with all the decks in this section, less is more. Try not to dilute your game plan too much in the post-board games.[3] |
” |
8-2 Thien Nguyen: Red Green Valakut
A deck played by Thien Nguyen.
| “ | The most important thing you need to know is the Valakut deck is that you need 7 lands in play to deal 18 damage with a Scapeshift, and with 8 lands, you can deal 36. On seven lands, you get one Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and six Mountains to yield 6 triggers, and on eight lands, you can have two Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and six Mountains to yield 12 triggers.
This is easily my least favorite deck in the gauntlet. While it offers a lot of redundancy in its combo pieces (effectively playing ten "game enders" in the form of Primeval Titan, Scapeshift, and Summoner’s Pact), it offers very little interaction against the aggressive decks and fast combo decks that are almost always going to be able to end the game before you do.[3] |
” |
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (4)
Sideboard (15)
8-2 Kentaro Yamamoto: Through the Breach
A Reanimator deck played by Kentaro Yamamoto.
| “ | It is important to remember that just because you can combo ASAP, does not mean you should with this deck. The reason for this is that it is important to remember the mantra of "one is not none" when playing this deck. With the help of Simian Spirit Guides you can put an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play as early as turn one, but if your opponent has one (or no) permanents in play, putting them from 20 to 5 is not going to end the game if you do not have a follow up. So, wait a few turns and make sure your annihilator trigger is going to put some work in when you knock 15 points off of their life total.
In most cases, when you have both Griselbrand and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn to put into play, but only have one enabler, it is important to lead on Griselbrand if you do not immediately have another way to cheat a fatty into play. The reason for this is that Griselbrand allows you to restock your hand on his way out, often giving you a means of closing out the game. The only important interaction to be aware of in the deck is that if you Goryo’s Vengeance Jace, Vryn's Prodigy into play and flip him, you keep the planeswalker Jace, Telepath Unbound.[3] |
” |
Decks with 7 wins
7-2-1 Paul Rietzl: Mardu
A deck played by Paul Rietzl.
| “ | The Mardu deck is similar to Jund, but it trades the pressure Tarmogoyf offers for additional one-cost removal in the form of Path to Exile. This configuration of Mardu should have a reasonable matchup against the Fast Combo decks in the gauntlet because it is packing a full seven discard spells in the main deck.[3] | ” |
7-3 Joel Larsson: Death's Shadow Aggro
A deck played by Joel Larsson.
| “ | Sometimes the Death's Shadow deck does an impersonation of the Zoo deck we talked about above. You just play out your Monastery Swiftspears and Wild Nacatls and attack for small amounts. In other games, you will deal 8+ damage to yourself on the first turn through a combination of Street Wraiths, Gitaxian Probes, and Shock lands to play a Death's Shadow right off the bat that can be lethal as early as the second turn in combination with Temur Battle Rage.
Playing against decks containing Lightning Bolt and other reach in them can be a delicate balance with the Death’s Shadow deck. You need to deal just enough damage to yourself to have a threatening Death's Shadow, but not so much that you end up getting killed by a pile of burn. As far as sideboarding goes, you should note the basic Forest in the sideboard. This should come in when you are boarding in more expensive cards such as Phyrexian Unlife and Tarmogoyf, as well as against any deck playing Path to Exile. Speaking of Tarmogoyf, the second Tarmogoyf, as well as the Hooting Mandrills, should come in against the removal-heavy control decks that you are not likely to be able to combo against.[3] |
” |
7-3 William Jensen & Owen Turtenwald: Infect
A Infect deck played by William Jensen and Owen Turtenwald.
| “ | The most important thing to remember when playing infect is that hands without threats are not keepable at seven. They become more reasonable at five and six cards if your hand involves a cantrip at least. As far as tricks of the trade go, the most important thing to remember is that Vines of the Vastwood does not give "Hexproof". The way Vines of the Vastwood is worded allows you to use it to counter spells your opponent uses to target their creatures as well. Meaning you can counter a Become Immense targeting a lethal Death's Shadow or stop Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker from targeting Restoration Angel for a turn.[3] | ” |
7-3 Jason Chung: Blue Moon
A deck played by Jason Chung.
| “ | Blue Moon is a Blue-Red control deck that contains a one-card combo called Blood Moon. The heavy amount of counter magic in the main deck puts this deck in a good position against spell-based combo decks like Breach-Vengeance. This deck tends to struggle against creature-based aggressive decks like Zoo, especially when you are on the draw. Unfortunately for players who get this deck in the Gauntlet, your namesake card is much less effective in these matches because people should quickly be able to identify which deck you are playing and fetch accordingly.[3] | ” |
7-3 Jelger Wiegersma: Jeskai Control
A deck played by Jelger Wiegersma.
| “ | This is the closest thing to Twin left in a post-bannings world. Just like Twin, it is important to remember you are not a dedicated combo deck. Play your control game and put your opponent into a position where they cannot afford to beat your combo when you have it. Jeskai tends to have a strong matchup against aggressive decks due to its plethora of cheap removal and a full four copies of Wall of Omens. The decks you tend to struggle against are things that have a variety of creatures too large for your red removal to kill, like Jund.
One of the best pieces of advice I can give when playing the Jeskai deck is do not be afraid to play out your value threats as just flash creatures when you need to close a game out. Against spell-based combo decks like Breach-Vengeance and GR Valakut, you need to get the game over sooner rather than later, and you will not always have your combo to do so.[3] |
” |
References
- ↑ Lee Sharpe (February 3, 2016). "Pro Tour Gauntlet Comes to Magic Online (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved on May 16, 2025.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (February 9, 2016). "Pro Tour Gauntlet: Oath of the Gatewatch Details (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved on May 16, 2025.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jeff Hoogland (February 2016). "MTGO Modern Gauntlet Primer (website)". Card Hoarder. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved on May 16, 2025.
- ↑ MTG Top 8 (2025). "Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch (Atlanta) - Archangel Chord - Matthew Rogers (website)". MTG Top 8. Retrieved on May 16, 2025.