Oh, What a Wonderful World!

In case you live under a rock, the Magic World Championships have been going on for the past 3 days in Chiba, Japan and all that is left is the Top 8, which starts at 8:45 tonight EST. My pick from the start, PV, is seeded 1st, and if he makes it to the final table he will be the Player of the Year. To say the least, the Magic World Championships is an epic event. I don't know the complete details on how it works, but here is what I do know:

Day 1: 6 rounds of Standard
Day 2: 6 rounds of Draft (2 8-man drafts)
Day 3: 6 rounds of Extended
Day 4: 6 rounds of Legacy, cut to Top 8 (standard)

Talk about a greuling 1/2 of a week! I am honestly really glad they have this system, because it means to be a world champion, you actually have to be good at every format. Getting 5 losses straight out prevents you from getting into the top 8. That's 5 losses across the entire tournament! So while it is possible to top at after starting 3-3 (Brad Nelson) you pretty much have to go 18-0 from there.

One of my favorite parts of any Pro Tour is the Deck Techs that come out over the course of the event. This is when the Pros get to talk about their sick new brews across all the formats. In Standard, there wasn't a whole lot simply because the format has settled reasonably well, but Brian Kibler's Caw-Go deck was definitely one that got people's attention at TNT Gaming at last night's FNM (and one guy copied the entiree 75 cards and played it to 4-1). The other 3 deck techs released were GR Valakut, which there isn't much room for variation at all, MG Elves, which also was fairly straightforward, and UG Genesis Wave. UG Genesis Wave was a very cool deck. Basically the deck mana ramped into a Genesis wave for 6 or more, and would then drop a smattering of green and blue Titans and Planeswalkers to lock opponents out of the game.

Extended is the format, however, where Deck Techs were all innovative. The deck techs were of:

Ooze and Oz - Conley Wood's BG Necrotic Ooze combo deck
Steel Artifact - Esper artifact creature deck that used Tempered Steel, Steel Overseer, Master of Etherium to make guys like Ornithopter and Memnite menacing
Polymorph - UB Polymorph has much more control than Simic, and makes tokens with Bitterblossom which can also get tons of damage in while you wait for the Polymorph
Faeries - Very straightforward Faeries deck

I think Steel Artifact was a really cool deck, and definitely one that you should keep your eyes on going forwards. As Scars block unfolds, we will get more and more cool artifacts and pro-artifact cards which could really pump up the deck. In each deck tech, the person mentioned played against Jund, but there was no actual deck tech for Jund, which dissapointed me as it is the deck Mark and I wrote some letter to eachother about (and my next letter should be up tomorrow). I still think Jund is a Viable deck, but UB Polymorph is awesome, so that's something to seriously consider.

But going back to the top 8. This is unfortunately going to be a dry top 8... unless you love counter wars that is. Here's the top 8 and what everyone is playing:

1st PV - UB Control
2nd Love Janse - MG Eldrazi Ramp
3rd Guillaume Wafo-Tapa - UB Control
4th Guillaume Matignon - UB Control
5th Eric Froehlich - BR Vampires (with 4x Demon of Death's Gate!)
6th Lukas Jaklovsky - UB Control
7th Christofer Wolf - UB Control
8th Jonathan Randal - UW Control

One quick note: None of the UB players are playing any Frost Titans in the main or board, but they all have about 3 Sea Gate Oracle and 3 Grave Titan for creatures

So we have 5 UB Control decks, a UW Control deck, MG Eldrazi Ramp, and BR Vampires. Yeah, it's going to be a long finals! After having played UB, I can tell you that the deck wins by reacting, so it's going to be all wars of attrition. In the top 8, there is no time limit on the rounds, so rounds could go for 2 hours. What is interesting to note is the lack of so many great decks like Valakut and RUG. I know that's very misrepresenting because gettign into top 8 requires you to excel at all formats, but if that MG Eldrazi Ramp deck were Valakut, it would simply walk casually into 1st. MG Eldrazi Ramp has a tougher time against Control, but let's do this fantasy league style:

Round 1:
PV (1) vs Jonathan Randal (8) - UW is better against an aggro loaded field, which is why it dominated so much when Jund and Mythic were huge because Day of Judgement is so efficient. However, the Meta has shifted and Control is way better now. Black gives some great deck and hand control cards which puts it over the top in the control matchup. Duress can snag counterspells on turn 1 and Memoricide can strip Janathan's only creature, Baneslayer, from the deck and leave him with almost no outs. I think PV will win and advance.

Guillaume Matignon (4) vs Eric Froehlich (5) - This is going to be a great Control vs Aggro matchup, but I think once again UB will prevail. Looking at their decklists, Guillaume has 2 Consume the Meek in the maindeck and only 2 Doom Blades maindeck. This means there are 2 dead cards, and 2 cards that completely wipe out Vampires cold in the main. As I have said before, game 1 is critical in a best of 3, and I think it could come down to that. Post board, the Control deck has no more blades, but instead has Disfigure, Ratchet Bomb, and maybe even the 1 Sorin Markov. As for Vampires, I think think they have to get insanely aggressive, and I think this is where Demon of Death's Gate will shine. Turn 2 Demon can end the game immediatly. Consider: T1 Pulse Tracker, T2 attack, play 2 1 mana guys (Viscera Seer, Vampire Lacerator) sac all for Demon. T3, get them down to 9, T4 they are dead. The only out UB has is to counter the Demon or to get Jace TMS in play and bounce Demon. Guillaume doesn't play Chalice so there is no T3 Jace. I think that is the only way Vampires can win, but since that won't happen 2 games straight, UB wins 2-1.

Love Janse (2) vs Christofer Wolf (7) - This is MG Eldrazi Ramp vs UB Control, and I think UB may have the edge, but this is actually quite even. I think game 1 could very possibly go to Eldrazi. Love has a Terastadon in the Main, which is a champ against Control because it can hit play and blow up a Jace at 9. Also, having 2 Ulamog in the Main is another way to deal with a Jace at critical mass because you can't counter the Vindicate effect. Wolf plays 3 Ratchet Bomb main, which I feel doesn't really do much against MG Eldrazi. For the sideboard, I think MG Eldrazi could cut Treespeaker for Oracle, because it's very easy to get time walked when you Treespeaker gets hit with Disfigure in response to the level up, while Oracle produces plently of mana by itself. Depending on his style, I think Wolf could bring in almost all his counterspells (3 Flashfreeze, 2 Mindbreak, 1 Negate of 3) to try and prevent Eldrazi from getting ahead. This is a close call, but I am going to say MG Eldrazi because I don't want a top 4 of all UB Control

Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (3) vs Lukas Jaklovsky (6) - UB Control mirror. Really boring stuff. Incredibly similar lists with all the differances in the details. Honestly, It's a coin flip. Guillaume is awesome though, so I am going to go for him.

So here is my predicted top 4:
PV
Guillaume Matignon
Love Janse
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

Here's something you need to know: There are only 3 players left who can possibly be player of the Year: Brad Nelson, PV, and Guillaume Matignon. Here's how it works out:

If PV makes it to the finals, he will be the Player of the year. If Guillaume Matignon WINS the world championships, he will be TIED for player of the year with Brad. If neither of these happens (Guillaume beats PV, loses in finals) Brad Nelson is POY. So who gets Player of the Year in a tie? At the next Pro Tour, Brad and Guillaume would have a single standard match to decide who wins it all! Talk about an epic game if it turns out that way! But back to the top 4:

It's basically all control, and I am expecting a PV vs Guillaume Wafo-Tapa UB Control mirror for the finals. Keep in mind the finals are 5 rounds, not 3, so this could be simply a test of endurance. Both of these guys are quiet and reserved, so if you want to watch the finals, be prepared for an epic war of patience, and yes I think PV is your 2010 POY.

On a completely irrelivant note, I have been telling myself I would give credit where credit is due for one of the greatest Magic referances I have ever heard. November 27th I went to see Harry Potter 7 with a bunch of people including Defo. In one scene, Hermoine is setting up dozens of protective Enchantments to prevent the hunters who want to capture Harry and Hermione (Ron was a bum and ran away) from finding them. As she was finishing her long string of spells. Defo turned to me and said somethingto the degree of, "Okay, you set up all those enchantments and I will play my Back to Nature". It was truly a thing of beauty. =D

So that is all for now, until next time, check out the deck techs on the mothership, they're awesome! And stay classy.