Review: Steel City Spectacular - the Top 4 of the largest cEDH event yet!

We recently had a cEDH tournament with over 500 players, the Steel City Spectacular. This attendance was unprecedented for the format, and we're unlikely to see another tournament this large any time soon, although I hope this was actually the first of many large events to come. Go go cEDH!

Unfortunately, I couldn't attend this event because I live too far away, so today's article won't be about the event's experience per se, but rather an analysis of the Top 4 lists. There were in total 514 players, and while I wish I could stop to check all the strategies, it would be practically impossible. So let's focus on the crème de la crème!

There two big surprises from the event's outcome:

No Blue Farm (R.I.P. NBC) or Sisay made the final cut. In fact, we didn't have any traditional blue Midrange in the finals. Is this the "midrange hell" we've talked so much about?

Lotho reaching the final pod, something never seen before. This Lotho, by the way, had an incredible performance: 5 wins and only 1 loss!

Now, let's get to the lists:

Rocco - Spencer Miller

Rocco has been increasingly present in the meta, even winning recent events, such as Ian Losch, who won the cEDH Cookout in July. As a fan of this type of deck, it's great to see non-blue, creature-focused strategies gaining more space in competitive. One day, we'll be free from the shackles of Rhystic Study.

Among the new additions, the list introduced Frenzied Baloth from Edge of Eternities, which makes creatures uncounterable, and can even bypass The One Ring's protection. Furthermore, the new silence effect, Voice of Victory, has also appeared, which in hindsight should be a no-brainer in any white deck. Unless your strategy, for some reason, centers around a Polymorph effect.

Rog Si - Dexter Idzikowski

The Rog Si list wasn't particularly innovative, but it's worth highlighting Demonic Counsel. There was a lot of discussion about whether it would be good enough, but the results show that even as a conditional tutor, it works well. I've been high on this card since the beginning! Thank you, dear Dexter, for proving me right and winning with this wonderful deck. Prove to us that turbo is still viable.

Another interesting detail was the inclusion of Chromatic Star, a tech that adds consistency in a discreet but effective way.

Lotho, Corrupt Shiriff - Zecharia Boyce

Lotho may not have won the event, but won the crowd and our hearts. The list balances stax and value plays, with Bennie Bracks, Zoologist finally seeing competitive play. One day, we'll reach critical mass on token cards.

Regarding win conditions, everything points to a loop involving Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward and Hoarding Broodlord. I won't speculate on the details without confirmation, but it likely involves Animate Dead and Orcish Bowmasters. It's great to see creative decks like this gaining momentum. Almost everything in this decklist is new, in the sense that this strategy hadn't seen play yet. But one thing is certain: Voice of Victory is here.

Etali, Primal Conqueror - Robert

And now for the big winner! Many people thought Etali was dead after the format's massive bans last year, but the deck continues to prove otherwise. The results keep coming, people keep winning, and the archetype is increasingly popular and quick. It's like each new set brings something that makes this deck even faster.

The list didn't feature many new cards, but the inclusion of Evendo Brushrazer stood out as another ramp and card advantage option. It's reminiscent of Orcish Lumberjack, but it sacrifices any land, generates less mana, and still costs three mana. It's unclear whether this card will remain in the deck's core in the future. My bet? No, but Robert certainly understands the deck more than I do, so we'll see.

Steel City Spectacular showed us that cEDH is constantly evolving. Even without Blue Farm, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, or even Thrasios, Triton Hero at the top, we saw new cards impacting the format and the presence of alternative strategies, such as Lotho.

The outcome is clear: the metagame isn't stale, and there will always be room for innovation. Large tournaments like these strengthen the community and show that cEDH still has a lot of room to grow.

If this was the biggest event of the format so far, here's hoping that it marks the beginning of a new era, and may we have many great tournaments to come.

Don't forget to leave your opinion on these decks in the comments!