Temur Reclamation reasserts dominance in Player’s Tour Online Arena 4 qualifiers

The meta's best deck is at it again.

Image via Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering

MTG Player’s Tour Online Arena 4 saw a familiar finish to the post-ban standard meta with Akira Asahara’s Temur Reclamation list taking home the victory in a final against Azorius Control this past weekend.

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The top eight was dominated by Temur Reclamation and Azorius Control, culminating in a semifinal of mirror matches. Despite a strong day two showing, the two Bant Ramp decks that made the top eight suffered 0-2 losses.

Temur Reclamation accounted for 26.4 percent of the meta but had an underperforming day two conversion rate of 21.7 percent. Mono-Green Stompy and Rakdos Sacrifice had strong performances, being the only decks with positive conversion rates at two percent or higher.

Here’s the breakdown of the decks featured in PT Arena 4.

  • Temur Reclamation: 33
  • Bant Ramp: 26
  • Rakdos Knights: 11
  • Azorius Control: Eight
  • Rakdos Sacrifice: Eight
  • Jund Sacrifice: Seven
  • Mono-Green Monsters: Seven
  • Bant Flash: Six
  • 4-Color Reclamation: Six
  • Mono-Green Stompy: Six
  • Sultai Ramp: Six
  • Mono-Red Aggro: Four
  • Boros Cycling (Lurrus): Three
  • Mono-White Aggro: Three
  • 4-Color Control: Two
  • Jund Sacrifice (Jegantha): Two
  • Mardu Knights: Two
  • Mono-Black Aggro: Two
  • Orzhov Yorion: Two

Single decks that were featured in the tournament meta included Azorius Control (Yorion), Esper Control, Esper Control (Yorion), Esper Dance, Gruul Aggro, Mono-Red Cavalcade, Rakdos Sacrifice, and Selesnya Adventure.

The top eight lacked diversity in decks but showcased Azorius Control’s strong performance, bringing two decks into the top eight while only making up four percent of the meta. Bant Ramp and Temur Reclamation were the top two decks of the meta, making up a combined 43.1 percent of the decks.

Here’s the full top eight of Player’s Tour Online Arena 4.

  1. Akira Asahara: Temur Reclamation
  2. Thomas White: Azorius Control
  3. Gabriel Nassif: Azorius Control
  4. Arne Huschenbeth: Temur Reclamation
  5. Thomas Hendriks: Bant Ramp
  6. Tomasz Sodomirski: Temur Reclamation
  7. Pesach Israeli: Bant Ramp
  8. Alexander Hayne: Temur Reclamation

Companions continued their drop in popularity this weekend. Jegantha, the Wellspring was played in two Jund Sacrifice lists and one Rakdos Sacrifice list. Three Azorius Control players brought Yorion, Sky Nomad as a companion, and only one advanced.

The Player’s Tour Finals start on July 25 and 26 with the top eight on Aug. 1 for a $250,000 prize pool. With all the attention focused on taking down Temur Reclamation, it’s unclear if a month of preparation will be enough to take down the meta’s top deck. Coverage will resume on Magic’s Twitch channel.

Author
Image of Xavier Johnson
Xavier Johnson
My name is Xavier Johnson and I'm a freelance writer who covers Magic: The Gathering. I love control decks and my favorite card is Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.