"Raw as F*ck" | 2025 Spotlight Series Orlando: Mono B Skeletons Standard Tournament Report
Written by Raynor Kuang
Deck Selection
Vivi Cauldron was the best deck. You brought that deck to win. I hate playing the best deck. I hate playing Cauldron mirrors. I accepted my goals for Orlando would change from winning to having fun — this is a longer topic that deserves its own discussion. I don't want to bait anyone into thinking Skeletons is a serious deck.
This was my final decklist submitted:
I really enjoyed playing this. It can go under Cauldron, is aggressive, and has access to a black interaction for game versus every deck. It’s not hard-favored against anything, but it’s at worst 40-45% versus everything. The rest counts on variance and skill expression. At one point, I was 20-1 on Arena in Mythic; about when I decided to lock the deck in.
As an aggro deck with poor card filtering, it is extremely vulnerable to bad draws.
Die by the top deck, live by the top deck.
Sometimes you live. I accepted the coin-flip behavior, because there was enough skill expression built in to nudge the odds in my favor.
Deck's Creator — David Yuan
I was skeptical at first. When I tested the list, I really enjoyed it. Some flaws, like lack of card selection, were survivable. I suggested some new cards, cleaned up the sideboard and mana base, and helped strategize meta matchups. David had a similar performance at Orlando, though he pivoted last-second to a white splash.
Friday
I went 5-0 in the 4 p.m. ReCQ. I was lucky in many ways. My round two Vivi Cauldron opponent had a game loss for tardiness. I’m not sure I would have beat them otherwise. I top-decked pretty amazingly in the semifinals versus another Vivi Cauldron player after they bricked on land for several turns and I found some key skeletons. My finals opponent was on 4c Control — a pretty good matchup that I steamrolled.
Up until the ReCQ, I debated doing David's white splash. After going undefeated, I stuck to what I tested. I made a small change: cut a Poison the Waters from the board for a third Qarsi Reverant. That Qarsi Reverant mattered in one match on coverage. Poison the Waters might have mattered in two matches against Dimir Midrange.
Saturday
I had a much better Saturday than expected, going 6-3. Here are the highlights:
- Round Two Loss — Vivi Cauldron
- Racing a massive Marauding Mako. I probably win if I find a single removal spell, but alas.
- Round Four Win — Dimir Midrange
- I get lucky game one when my opponent essentially kills themself to a Starting Town.
- Game three, I have a tanky decision to offer a trade between a skeleton and an Enduring Curiosity, or force removal. I offered the trade, which they declined. Next turn, they cast a chumper and passed. I had removal. When I untapped, went to attacks with my animated land, they activated theirs. I fired the removal before blocks. They had to kill a skeleton, which solved my Case of the Stashed Skeleton. The tutor turned into a kill.
- Round Seven Win — Mono Red
- This match was on coverage.
- Game one in the blind, I kept an aggro hand with terrible blockers: two Rot-Curse Rakshasha, Dark Confidant, Bitter Triumph). I get punished when my opponent has the near nuts on the play.
- Game two, my Qarsi Reverant-heavy draw coasted.
- Game three, they mulled to six after tanking. I turn-one Intimidation Tactics to a hand of 3x Mountain and Nova Hellkite.
- This was the highlight of my weekend. One of my career goals has been to be on coverage, and even better, to win. I did both with an off-meta brew!
- Reid Duke said he thought my deck was cool on coverage was especially awesome.
- Between the 5-0 ReCQ and winning this match to lock Day Two, I achieved my weekend goals.
- Rounds Eight & Nine Losses
- I rattle off two quick losses to Vivi Cauldron. Both losses weren't avoidable.
- The last game of the day, my opponent Wild Ride plus Vivi's me out of nowhere.
Overall, a great Saturday. Happy with my performance even if with the two losses to end the day.
Sunday
Had great sleep, got to the gym, and ate breakfast. Overall, I felt great. I expected to do worse on Sunday, since the Mono B deck had performed worse against the stronger Vivi players.
- Round 11 Loss — Vivi Cauldron
- I remember racing in Game Three.
- “I didn’t build this deck to block,” I said.
- “That's raw as fuck,” my opponent replied.
- He killed me because I couldn’t block.
- I remember racing in Game Three.
- Round 12 Win — Vivi Cauldron
- The luckiest I get all tournament.
- After trading two non-games, we topdecked in game three.
- He had Proft's Eidetic Memory and Agatha's Soul Cauldron with Vivi under it. He needs anything, but bricked. My Case of the Stashed Skeleton ate an Annul. I chained Corpses of the Lost. Opponent was at 11, I dealt exact lethal in two turns.
- 99% of draws I don't get there, but this was the near perfect scenario. Live by the top deck.
- Round 13 Win — Vivi Cauldron
- I played against Minh Nguyen; really close game with many decisions. Minh was pleasant to play against. Genuinely my most enjoyable game of the weekend.
- Round 14 Win — Vivi Prowess
- Against a testing teammate. We knew each other’s decks well and that it was a good matchup for me — barely took 12 minutes.
- I had nut openers.
- Game one, I found several Sunset Saboteurs against only spot removal. He ran out a naked Vivi because of a tapped land. I killed with a double Corpses of the Lost draw plus removal.
- Game two, he had more Fire Magic, but I found Fire-Magic-proof creatures plus Skeletons and kill quickly.
- Round 15 Loss — Vivi Cauldron
- Finished 4-5 against Vivi Cauldron overall.
- I locked Top128 regardless of this match's outcome. My breakers were so bad I couldn't make Top64 even with a win.
Finished 9-6 for 96th place. I received many compliments on the deck and everyone happy to not play a Vivi mirror.
If I play more Standard this season, I will make a Mono B deck guide. Timeline Culler sucks.
Mike Long
I birded my friend (Player A) playing Dimir Control versus UW Control in round six. Player B made a mana mistake, so I asked them to stop the game while I retrieved a judge. Player B exploded, accusing me of trying to assist my friend, interfere, etc.
The judge rushed over, I conferred with them, who conferred with another judge, and eventually we confirmed it was my mistake. I misunderstood the spell being cast. Player B asked that I be removed from the match area. The judge asked me to leave, and I complied.
I spoke to the judge who confirmed I did nothing wrong. I already knew that, but wanted confirmation from a judge. Perhaps Player B was really new and didn't understand the rules of Competitive Rules Enforcement Level (Comp REL). I’m not sure why he was so angry.
Afterward, my friend said they thought that was a winnable game (he lost). Apparently, Player B was a pro. “He was hyping himself up; even showed me his Wikipedia page."
For those not in the know, Mike Long is one of the “G.O.A.T.s” of OG 90s Magic; an infamous cheater during an era when cheating was rampant.
Everyone I spoke to about this story after was stunned Mike was even allowed to play, much less choose to play. He didn’t register in Melee with his real name.
Two rounds later, Tranquil Domain, who has a Youtube documentary about Mike Long’s cheating escapades chased down my friend to give a lengthy explainer about Mike Long.
Apparently, my friend not only didn’t know who Mike Long was, but when Mike presented the deck to cut, my friend tapped the deck and said “You’re good.” Tranquil Domain was stunned that my friend chose not to cut Mike Long's deck.
Wonders of the First
That same friend signed up for a new TCG, “Wonders of the First,” which had a sealed $10k with a 64 player cap on Sunday. It later reduced to 32 players. That is an incredible payout. I planned to sign up until I successfully made Day Two.
My friend stayed up until 2 a.m. speed-running the rules and card pool. They Top 8’d for a nice cash payout. It's hilarious that there were several other Magic grinders there who also learned a game from first principles as quickly as they could for some quality EV (entrance value).
The Mountain Melt
In Orlando, a friend said there was basically no good food on International Drive, where the convention was held, but recommended the “Mountain Melt” from Miller’s Ale House. The Ale House was as suburban an experience as you could get: thick menu, big booths, heavy food, loud families.
As a New Yorker, I can be snobby about food. After a tiring Day One, the Mountain Melt and a beer was about as satisfying a dinn