Despite being at the tip-top of the standings throughout the closing rounds of Dutch Nationals, potential Hall of Famer Frank Karsten lost in the quarterfinals of this year’s Dutch Nationals. It was a missed an opportunity for the Netherlands bring the same star power to the Team Championships as the U.S., Brazil, and Japan. Kevin Grove is the Dutch National Champion, playing Cruel Control The team will also include; Niels Noorlander, who wwas playing Faeries; Tom van Lamoen, who was playing an exciting red-white control deck with Swans of Bryn Argoll and Baneslayer Angel; and Johnny Niemeijer, playing JundBlood, as the alternate.

Tom van Lamoen was the reigning champ from last year’s Dutch National team and earned that title on the back of another unusual, non-combo Swans deck. After virtually dissapearing from the Magic scene for a year he made the team again with another unexpected Swans deck. He has reportedly said it will be his last National team berth since his pet card will not be legal next year.

Tip of the hat to Sven Dijt of manamaze.com for the link to the coverage and the decklists, which I have copied here for your convenience, as well as the story about Tom’s Swans (no relation to Tom Swan).

Dutch Champion Kevin Grove

Cruel Control
Kevin Grove - Champion
2009 Dutch National Championship

3 Island
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Meadow
2 Vivid Crag
2 Vivid Marsh
2 Mystic Gate
2 Sunken Ruins
2 Flooded Grove
2 Cascade Bluffs
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Plumeveil
2 Shriekmaw
4 Mulldrifter
1 Reveillark
2 Cloudthresher
1 Essence Scatter
1 Agony Warp
3 Firespout
2 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Cryptic Command
2 Hallowed Burial
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Martial Coup
1 Pithing Needle
3 Jace Beleren
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Liliana Vess

Sideboard:
4 Great Sable Stag
4 Anathemancer
4 Volcanic Fallout
2 Runed Halo
1 Identity Crisis Read the rest of this entry »

Uruguay's National Champion, Juan Odriozola

Congratulations to Juan Odriozola on winning the 2009 Uruguay National Championships and earning an invite to Worlds. In contrast to the 5Color domination of the U.S. Nationals this event — which was admittedly close to 10 times smaller — featured 8 different deck archetypes. The Top 8 reads like a Standard primer from the past year of Magic with a range of archetypes from Bant to Reviellark all rearing their heads.

Thanks to second place finisher Gustavo Fischer for the lists. Gustavo was quick to point out that his Top 8 berth was due almost entirely to his undefeated Limited performance. Top 8 finisher Jorge Sierra went undefeated in Standard - up until the Top 8 that is - with Kithkin.

Reveillark (aka “Goodbye to Wrath”)
Juan Odriozola - Champion
Uruguay Nationals

4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
2 Wall of Reverence
3 Sower of Temptation
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Reveillark

4 Path to Exile
4 Cryptic Command
2 Austere Command
2 Martial Coup

4 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Mutavault
2 Wandervine Hub
4 Mystic Gate
2 Glacial Fortress
6 Island
6 Plains

Sideboard:
2 Negate
2 Celestial Purge
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Meddling Mage
2 Wispmare
1 Hallowed Burial
Read the rest of this entry »

If you have not already checked out the coverage of Spanish, Japanese and Australian Nationals for fresh from the oven M10 Standard tech, you should do so right now. The Elvish Archdruid-powered Combo deck took the top spot in Australia and dominated the Japanese event with three Top 8 finishes although Shuhei Nakamura hoisted the trophy with Cruel Control. Cruel Control also won Spanish Nationals with nary an Elf Combo deck to be found in the elimination rounds.

Based on a handful of Twitter comments it sounds like a lot of American players are gnashing their teeth right now over the tremendous performance of the Elves Combo deck. It would have been a great deck to have in your back pocket going into US Nationals but now everyone will either be playing it or have a firm plan for playing against it. Osyp, who ended up making the finals of a massive PTQ in Edison, NJ, compared the raw power of the deck to that of Affinity. How people prepare for and with the deck will be one of the dominant storylines next weekend as Bill Stark and I cover Nats in KC.

The 2009 Singapore National team

In the meanwhile I have the Top 8 decklists from Singapore Nationals which featured some interesting non-Elf concoctions including a Sanity Grinding/Time Warp deck by Pro Tour Barcelona Top 8 competitor Albertus Law. He went 6-0 in the Swiss rounds of Standard, including multiple victories over Kithkin, but fell to one of the two Kithkin finalists in the quarterfinals. The other really interesting deck was the 5Color deck featuring Brion Stoutarm that ended up earning a spot on the National team. Thanks to Jun-Wei Hew for the decklists and the photo of the team! (Decklists appear below the fold. Click to keep on reading!)

Read the rest of this entry »

My brother, Zeilend and myself arrived at Fight House in NYC for the M10 Pre-re. The venue is small and not really equipped for hosting events. Because of the limited space, the organizers could not do continuous flights, so we had to wait a bit for the next scheduled event to start. Of course, all this information was available, should we have had the foresight to look at the organizers website or read the emails stating the event schedule for the day.

Here is the pool I received for Gold flight, which started around 1pm:

Read the rest of this entry »

Mike and BDM discuss (among other things) the Top8Magic.com M10 preview card… Mold Adder! You may need to turn the volume up a bit as this was recorded on BDM’s iPhone.

Mold Adder!

The ballots for the fifth class of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame have gone out and 2009 is shaping up to be an interesting year as many people see this year’s crop of pros as a potential “catch-up” season for a handful of players like Steve OMS, Chris Pikula, Justin Gary, Scott Johns, William Jensen, Mark Justice, Mike Long, and a host of others.  Antoine Ruel and Kamiel Cornelissen are the only two people new to the ballot with numbers that leap off the page so there is clearly room for someone from year’s past to make a move. Here are all the players on this year’s ballot (which includes players still eligible from previous ballots). Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Lepore is a long-time Top8Magic listener who has previously written a tournament report for Top8Magic.com about his attempts to reach the beaches of Hawaii. This most recent piece was inspired by events at his local FNM store as well as the recent changes to the game’s rules and base set card pool.

Has Magic Lost Its Way?

The following is my cumulative opinion of three separate events that transpired last night which lead me to believe that not only is Magic in more frightening shape than it has perhaps ever been, but that it may never return to the form that I once fell in love with. Before going any further I would like to completely stress the word “opinion.” Nothing said is by any means meant to be presented as fact, and I not only welcome but encourage counter points and arguments.

The first event occurred while I was running the local FNM last night. At one point in the night, I was leaning on a counter that overlooked a game that was in progress and I began to watch. One player who was obviously less familiar with the intricacies and timings of the game, Magic’s token casual player if you will, had a Chameleon Colossus in play. He was piloting a sort of red green aggro deck. His opponent, a player who had even won a Regionals once, was playing Cascade Swans. His relevant cards were a Seismic Assault and a Ghitu Encampment with one land in hand.

The incident in question happened when the Chameleon Colossus attacked into the Swans player. He in turn activated his land and blocked. After this was declared, the Colossus player played double Colossal Might on the Colossus – which should not be said five times fast – without stopping to ask for responses or pass priority. It was at this point that his opponent said to him, “After first strike damage, kill it before the Colossal Might resolves?” Read the rest of this entry »