Ravnica Standard Throwback Standard Gauntlet League
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| Ravnica Standard Throwback Standard Gauntlet League | |||||
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| Magic: The Gathering Online | |||||
| Event Details | |||||
| Event date | August 16 to 17, 2017 | ||||
| Format | Standard | ||||
| Themes and mechanics | Historical decks from Ravnica block Standards. | ||||
| Number of decks | 9 decks | ||||
| Deck size | 75 cards | ||||
| Magic Online Gauntlets | |||||
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| Digital preconstructed decks | |||||
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The Ravnica Standard Throwback Standard Gauntlet League event was originally scheduled to run between August 16 and 22, 2017. However due to issues with the cards Goryo’s Vengeance and Descendant of Kiyomaro causing the Magic Online client to crash, it was ended prematurely and replaced by the Tribal Lorwyn Standard Throwback Standard Gauntlet League[1][2].
| “ | Unfortunately, issues related to Ravnica-Era Throwback Standard Gauntlet with Goryo’s Vengeance and Descendant of Kiyomaro are causing this gauntlet to be frustrating, rather than take a fun look back at an old Standard as we had planned.
This afternoon, we are going to cancel that league and return entries to active players in it. We will replace it with the Tribal Lorwyn-Era Throwback Standard Gauntlet league, originally scheduled for next week. This new league will end with the August 23 downtime.[3] |
” |
The decks featured were either from the Kamigawa block/Ravnica block or Ravnica block/Time Spiral block Standards.
Dragonstorm
A 
deck.
| “ | Hall of Famer Makahito Mihara's signature win came at the 2006 Worlds in Paris with this deck. The plan here is pretty straightforward. Cast a couple of spells, typically "dark rituals" of some kind, then a Dragonstorm all on the same turn. Four copies of Bogardan Hellkite add up to 20 damage when they come into play, which is usually enough to get it done. If not, the hasty 6-power Hunted Dragon is also available in case you draw a Hellkite. Sometimes you can just win by summoning giant flying monsters, too. Gigadrowse is shockingly good at buying time and/or taking away all the opponent's mana during their end step so you can untap and "go off."[1] | ” |
Dragonstorm
Artifacts (4)
Sideboard (15)
4 Repeal
Dragonstorm was the third best performing deck in the gauntlet[4].
Ghazi Glare
A 
deck as sued by Katsuhiro Mori to win the 2005 World Championships.
| “ | Early in Ravnica's Standard lifetime, the defining deck was Katsuhiro Mori's 2005 Worlds-winning deck from December of that year. Glare of Subdual was not as annoying to play against as Opposition was, since it can't tap lands. Still, it was good enough to build around, especially when the same color combination had Selesnya Guildmage and especially Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree.[1] | ” |
Ghazi Glare
Creatures (24)
Enchantments (3)
Sideboard (15)
Greater Good Gifts
A 
deck which was played by 2005 World Championships runner-up Frank Karsten.
| “ | Frank Karsten took second at the 2005 Worlds with a pretty crazy brew. At first glance, it's a ramp deck: a bunch of mana acceleration and a half-dozen Dragons sitting on top of his mana curve. Look closer, though, and you see that all those dragons are legendary creatures that can be reanimated for a turn with Goryo's Vengeance. And what better to do with your Dragon that's about to die than sacrifice it to Greater Good? I'll wait while you read that card. Yes, seriously. Oh, by the way, Gifts Ungiven lets you set all of this up. Enjoy![1] | ” |
Greater Good Gifts
Creatures (11)
Artifacts (3)
Enchantments (3)
Sideboard (15)
Hand-in-hand
A deck.
| “ | The deck on the receiving end of Craig's semifinal top deck was a grindy Orzhov deck that's kind of hard to describe. It's got a little bit of beatdown, a discard theme, and a heaping helping of value plays available to anyone who is into that sort of thing. The Orzhov guild was set up to be very grindy, and this deck is very capable of being exactly that. Plus, Umezawa's Jitte turns out to be a very powerful Magic card as well.[1] | ” |
Hand-in-hand
Izzet-Tron
A deck.
| “ | In the first round of Quick Questions from the Grand Prix Kyoto coverage in March of 2007, Japanese legend Kenji Tsumura boldly stated that an unknown amateur named Yuuya Watanabe would win the tournament. I think you know where this is going: Yuuya did just that, earning his very first Pro Tour invite in a career that led straight to the Hall of Fame without missing a single PT. This Izzet-Tron list was his weapon of choice. I still can't believe that's a real thing that happened, but it is. There was even an extra "amateur prize" back then, so Yuuya got to double-dip on his first prize money.[1] | ” |
Izzet-Tron was the best performing deck in the gauntlet, narrowly heading off Zoo. The two decks had win rates of 59.28% and 58.62%, respectively. As a consequence it was included in the Best of Throwback Standard Gauntlet[4].
Owling Mine
A deck.
| “ | This has got to be one of the most perverse decks to ever Top 8 a Pro Tour, but it was also one of the most requested Gauntlet decks when I asked Twitter what they most wanted me to include, so here we are. The plan here is to force the opponent to draw more cards than they can play, via Howling Mine and Kami of the Crescent Moon, and then kill them with Ebony Owl Netsuke and Sudden Impact. The rest of the list is just ways to slow them down.[1] | ” |
Owling Mine
Creatures (4)
Sideboard (15)
Owling Mine was the third best performing deck in the gauntlet[4].
Pickles
A deck.
| “ | A year after making the team with Paul Cheon, Luis Scott-Vargas won a US National Championship title of his own, and his career was truly off to the races. The ten years since then include eight Pro Tour Top 8s, a world-class commentary career, and the launch of ChannelFireball. But let's talk about how sweet this deck is. The name refers to Brine Elemental, and a large percentage of the deck's wins involve finding that one Brine Elemental with Chord of Calling and then copying it over and over again with Vesuvan Shapeshifter, effectively locking the opponent into never untapping ever again. (More precisely: threatening to do this usually prompts a concession.) A couple of months later, Paul won Grand Prix Krakow with the same basic strategy, making him the first American to win a European GP in over five years.
[Editor's Note: In honor of Paul recently joining R&D, we've decided to use his deck here even though it technically falls just outside this Gauntlet's window.][1] |
” |
Pickles
Creatures (15)
Enchantments (2)
Lands (25)
Sideboard (15)
Solar Flare
A Reanimator deck.
| “ | One could argue that the entire future of competitive Magic changed at US Nationals in the summer of 2006. Two guys no one had ever heard of (outside of a few people whispering Magic Online usernames and wondering if that was them) came out of nowhere to make the US National team with a funky reanimator deck they called Solar Flare (for reasons I'm not sure I ever knew). Paul Cheon was the winner, and Luis Scott-Vargas was the leader of the Cheon-tourage accompanying him to Worlds.[1] | ” |
Solar Flare
Creatures (11)
Zoo
A aggro deck.
| “ | Yes, I know Mark Herberholz was the one who won 2006's Pro Tour Honolulu, but his "Heezy Street" deck, brilliant metagame call that it was, just wasn't as influential as the three-color Zoo deck that Craig Jones used to finish second. Besides, you know you all want the opportunity to burn your opponent's face, knock the top of your deck, and windmill slam a Lightning Helix for the win![1] | ” |
Zoo was the second-best performing deck in the gauntlet, narrowly missing out to Izzet-Tron. The two decks had win rates of 58.62% and 59.28% respectively[4].
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Randy Buehler (August 10, 2017). "Throwback Standard Gauntlet 5: Ravnica (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved on May 20, 2025.
- ↑ /u/nine_of_swords (August 17, 2017). "Throwback Gauntlet Change: Lorwyn in, Ravnica back later (Social Media post)". Reddit. Retrieved on May 20, 2017.
- ↑ Lee Sharpe (August 17, 2017). "Gauntlet Schedule Change (Social Media post)". Tumblr. Retrieved on May 20, 2025.
- ↑ a b c d Randy Buehler (November 29, 2017). "Best of Throwback Standard Gauntlet (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved on May 20, 2025.