Well, well, well, a Phoenix that actually lived up to the hype. Creatures with the type Phoenix have a long and storied tournament history going all the way back to Shard Phoenix. In recent memory though, most of these majestic creatures have been hyped with no real payoff. Now we’re seeing that Rekindling Phoenix is arguably a better 4-drop than Chandra in many decks. Expect R/G Aggro with Phoenix and Glorybringer to only get more popular after a victory in Memphis.

Remember last time, when I said it’d be difficult for Contempt to see the same amount of play as Fatal Push or Abrade? It turns out that it was the most played card (not including lands) in the Top 32 of Memphis. Nearly every single deck that wants Contempt is now running the playset. As decks with powerful 4- and 5-drops take center stage, expect Contempt from all of your opponents running black.

Despite the lack of Top 8 representation, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to ignore the 9 Bomat Courier decks (all red) in the Top 32. Red decks were systematically targeted by everyone, and that the number of Magma Sprays was nearly on par with Abrades is a testament to this. While some prefer a splash color, everyone can agree that red is still a major player in Standard.

Speaking of Abrade, Lightning Strike is quickly fading into the background yet again as Abrade becomes more relevant thanks to Torrential Gearhulk. While 3 damage is nice, being able to snipe Gearhulk for only 2 mana is just that much better. Along with the uptick of Grixis Energy at Memphis, we’ll see if this trend continues.

Another big winner from the weekend is The Scarab God. Notably, it saw nearly identical play to Torrential Gearhulk, which is a huge shift from the first few weeks of the format. Essentially, every control deck has shifted back toward Gearhulk as a primary and Scarab God as a secondary win condition. Meanwhile, midrange has gone all-in with quad Scarab God now and Gearhulks as backup plans in grind matches.

Blue made a huge comeback in Standard and U/B Control is riding high right now. Had the pairings played out differently, we could’ve easily seen a U/B Control winning GP Memphis. More attention will have to be paid to dealing with midrange decks that aren’t heavy black, as you only have so many ways to stop the endless stream of monsters from G/R. Abrade is already high in popularity, but Gearhulk into Contempt is so strong that I doubt we’ll see any immediate drops in Torrential stock.

You knew this one was coming. Aaron Barich nearly won the whole thing with what would be considered a meme deck on Magic Online. The real key inclusion here was the reintroduction of Bristling Hydra to a field full of powerful spot removal. If Hydra resolved, it was incredibly difficult for Grixis or U/B to kill, and if Climb flipped into Winged Temple of Orazca, then the game ended. This also gives a backup plan in midrange matches that bog down as few decks can stop a 10+ power flyer.

While Glint-Sleeve Siphoner really should stay on the list, Merfolk Branchwalker has been mocked relentlessly by a handful of esteemed players. After this weekend, hopefully that has come to an end. In any deck looking to abuse eternalize, this card is solid and the fact that it isn't a dead draw in th midgame is a huge boon for a 2-drop. Between G/R and Naya Monsters, both Branchwalker and Jadelight Ranger should see play for the foreseeable future.