73 countries, 13 rounds, 1 City.
73 three man teams representing their respective countries traveled to Nice for this years World Magic Cup. The three players making up each team are the cream of the crop of each country this year, each team being made up of that countries pro player of the year, the winner and runner up of that countries nationals.
Hall Of Famers, Pro Tour Champions and even a Worlds Champion or two made appearances which meant countries had some incredible skill on show. Gerry Thomson, Shota Yasooka and Shahar Shenhar were just a few of the players to watch and as the teams sat down for their first format of the weekend, the qualification process for day two in mind, everyone was hoping to get off to a good start.
It wasn’t just about the competitive side however and there were some teams representing their countries with traditional garb and flags. Scotland definitely jumped out in this area with all three members - Duncan Tang, Bradley Barclay and Stephen Murray - donning braveheart-esc face paint along with Jimmy hats and kilts.
Mexico - Jose Daniel Garcia Rosas, Marcelino Freeman and Emmanuel Ramires Sanchez - were also turning heads with their Magic related Aztec style outfits, perfectly topped off with a team photo including Huatli Cospalyer Nadine Grendelmeier.
Going into this World Magic Cup there were countries that people would have had high on their lists of big hitters. USA, China, Japan and France have all both put up fantastic team results in the past along with having some exceptional pro players, so it was definitely worth keeping an eye on them.
Ixalan Team Sealed gives each team 12 booster packs to make 3 decks from. That meant each player had a good chance to play one of the tribes from Ixalan with a lot of the powerful utility cards without fear of having to split up key cards. What teams would be looking for in this first format would be a nice clean 3-0, getting off to the perfect start to put them in good stead for a fourth win and automatic day two qualification.
Nine countries managed to achieve that perfect record after the limited portion; Spain, Wales, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Thailand, Poland, South Korea and Hungary. Everyone under these nine countries were looking to rattle off at least two more wins to ensure they continuance in one of the years biggest events.
Team Unified Standard may be a format unknown to some of you. In this format each player must bring a standard deck each to the table, however players are not allowed to overlap on playing the same card. If a player chooses to play Lightning Strike, which Ramunap Red probably will, neither of that players other two team mates could have any copies of Lightning Strike in their deck.
Going into the Unified team standard part of the event I think we all new that energy would be the top of the metagame breakdown. This time though it was a question of which flavour of energy it would be, this time around it was Sultai Energy. There were 26 copies of Sultai Energy in day one closely followed by 22 copies of Temur Energy, the old favourite. There have been some brilliant results recently with 4 Colour Energy but the general census is that the fourth colour gives you more mana issues than first though, even with Attune With Aether. The switch from red to black gives Sultai more access to card draw through utility creatures with Glint-Sleeve Siphoner as well as better removal in the form of Fatal Push. Most importantly could be the ease of casting and activating The Scarab God, a card that has proven time after time it's potential in completely swinging an all-but-lost game around in your favour. One of the new boys, Green Blue Pummeler made a relatively small showing despite its powerful, almost unanswerable draws with 3 copies in day one.
So nine countries were coming out of the limited portion of the day with there eyes of that all important fourth win. A chance to relax and get and early dinner. The top seeds in day 2 would be the teams that had a clean sweep 4-0. This is were the pack started to separate a bit with Germany, Wales, Belgium and Italy making their way through to day 2 to await their fellow competitors. As the end of the standard play drew nigh most of the day 2 spots had been taken. Only 12 places were up for grabs and the way the points were being accumulated there would be some teams ending on 12 points that wouldn't make the cut. Uruguay, the Philippines, Argentina, Peru, Slovakia, Malaysia and Guatemala were the lucky countries bringing up the rear having some tight matches near the end, but they persevered and were rewarded.
In day 2 the 32 teams were split into 8 pools of 4 teams each. Teams would be aiming for 2 wins in order to make it to the second stage of day 2 and a chance at the top 8, with a 1 match loss buffer.
Germany and the USA bested Ireland and Guatemala, with Germany soaring through 2-0 where the USA had to play off making it through with a 2-1 record in pool A.
Slovakia started off day two unbeaten to make it through to the second stage with Wales in hot pursuit qualifying through the play off match in pool B. All three of the Welsh team draped in Welsh flag onesies may have attributed to their success, scaring off any opponents.
Malaysia and England were the unfortunates from pool C, with Malaysia being taken down in short order with a quick 0-2. One of those loses came at the England and Belgium played off for their second stage slot with Belgium emerging victorious overall in a long fought match.
Pool D saw the Philippines walk through with relative ease over South Korea and Italy. Though the Azuri would make it through after winning a play off against South Korea, this was definitely a blip for the Italians and an unwanted stumble.
Panama have made a huge name for themselves over the last year on the Magic circuit with a memorable run into top 8 back in Holland. They would continue that fantastic form with a quick 2-0 over Spain as Bulgaria which was a turn up for the books. Both those teams have some quality players in the roster but Panama proved too much for them. Bulgaria would make it over the line with a 2-1 record, defeating Spain in the play off of pool E.
Uruguay, China, the Czech Republic and Hungary were the teams that made up group F. A fairly powerful group of players and truly anyone’s game going into the first round. Uruguay were able to have a relaxing progression into their second stage with a 2-0 record from the first stage. Hungary weren't able to handle the Czech Republic or China dropping out of the group at 0-2 which left China and the Czech Republic to playoff for the second slot. Both of these teams have players with incredible prowess and it would truly be a massive match with a stage two slot up for grabs. China managed to eek it out and advance to the next stage, but props had to go the the Czech team putting up a fantastic fight.
Japan were the team to watch heading up group G and they did not disappoint. A quick 2-0 saw them into the second stage of day 2, their attention would then turn to who they would be paired against in that stage. Australia couldn't find their feet and picked up 2 loses finding themselves eliminated. Lithuania and Peru managed to get to the playoffs with Lithuania taking the match and hoping for a good match up the following stage.
Finally, group H saw Austria, Scotland, Paraguay and Thailand battle it out. The Scots, despite their country spirit and fantastic outfits, picked up 2 loses sending the home early on. Austria took one of those wins from them and took down Thailand to send them through cleanly. This left Thailand and Paraguay in the playoffs, it would be close and well fought but Thailand would come out on top to take the second spot from group H.
The first stage all done, the second stage would split those teams into 4 more groups of 4 with each team looking for another 2 wins. Those 2 wins would allow that team to represent their country in the top 8 and be in with a chance to take home the World Magic Cup.
Poland kept up their winning ways with a 2-0 record defeating Thailand and Germany to make it into the top 8. Piotr Glogowski - UW Cycling, Radoslaw Kaczmarczyk - Ramunap Red - and Grzegorz Kowalski - 4 Colour Energy - had done almost everything they could and were so close to that trophy.
Germany's Phillip Krieger - Mardu Vehicles, Moritz Templin - Ramunap Red, and Marc Tobiasch - 4 Colour Energy, were able to pull out their two wins despite losing to Poland and made it into the top 8 as group A's runner up.
Italy made light work of Austria and Uruguay with a 2-0 record thanks to Andrea Mengucci's Green Blue Pummeler, Adriano Moscato's Ramunap Red and Mattia Rizzi's Blue Black Control. Austria made it through the playoff against against Uruguay to ensure Elias Klocker - 4 Colour Control, Oliver Polak-Rottmann - Ramunap Red and Adrian Schrenik - White Blue Gift, had their spot in the top 8.
The main team to watch from group C were Japan; a trio of Shota Yasooka with a handful of Pro Tour wins a load of Grand Prix wins along with a players championship to his name, Yuuya Watanabe again with a bunch of Pro Tour and Grand Prix wins, a players championship, 2 Worlds titles and had taken home the World Magic Cup back in Barcelona, and Kenta Harane the rookie of the group. If you’re going to learn from your teammates this is definitely the team do so in so I’m sure he was in good hands. Slovakia made it through cleanly defeating Japan on their way to the top 8, though Japan did strike back to win the playoff and join Slovakia at their last opportunity.
Group D was last up on the list. With Wales, China, the USA and Panama in this group it was going to be a good one to watch. China got out of the gates fast with a 2-0 record defeating Panama and Wales. The USA took a match off of Panama to eliminate them but had a really tough match in the playoff against Wales. The Americans fought hard but ultimately couldn't stop the rampaging welsh dragons on their way to the top 8.
Top 8:
Austria
China
Germany
Italy
Japan
Poland
Slovakia
Wales
The first quarter final saw the top seed, Germany, take on Slovakia. The captains of both teams were the main focus for this match up, Ivan Floch for playing Temur Energy for Slovakia sitting opposite Marc Tobiasch piloting 4 Colour Colour.
Seat B: Ivan Floch vs Marc Tobiasch
Game 1 was slightly disappointing with Tobiasch missing a land drop after both players exchanged spells back and forth. Floch took full advantage of the situation dropping a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance and getting off a few activations, following that up with a Glorybringer exerting it to keep Tobiasch off the board. The German did try and mount a comeback with The Scarab God which was met by a swift Confiscation Coup from Floch and he couldn't come back from there.
Game 2 started off smoother with Tobiasch hitting his land drops and drawing a tonne of extra cards due to Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. Floch tried going for a 1-2 punch of Glorybringer into Confiscation Coup but Tobiasch hit back with a Supreme Will into Torrential Gearhulk to flash a Supreme Will back. From there he had full control of the match, card advantage with a full grip and a big hitter in the form of Gearhulk, it wasn't long before he took game 2.
There were some more early game exchanges in game 3. Floch started hitting in with Servant Of The Conduit and Rogue Refiner taking chunks out of Tobiasch's life total with very little to stop him. Tobiasch was patient, choosing not to block with a Siphoner to gain more card and waiting for the right time to fire off an Essence Scatter and The Scarab God to try and turn the tide of the match. The long game plan was seeming to work with Tobiasch stabilising the board, a Whirler Virtuoso made it through and, with Tobiasch at 1 life and Floch having 10 energy, the thopters flew over to secure the first match for Slovakia.
Slovakia 1-Germany 0
Seat A: Peter Snoha vs Phillip Krieger
Slovakia were one match up which meant that if Snoha could take this match they would have their seat in the semi final. Snoha one was on UW Gift, a fairly uninteractive deck looking to fuel its graveyard with creatures like Angel Of Invention or Champion Of Wits, find a God-Pharaoh's Gift to return it to play and start attacking. Krieger was on an older version of Mardu Vehicles, leaving out the Bomat Couriers and Hazorets in favour of their Ramunap Red team mate to play.
Game 1 was a fast affair. A mix of Toolcraft Exemplar, Veteran Motorist and Walking Ballista got there by turn five to take the game for Krieger, all the while Snoha was sat there filter his deck in search or a Refurbish for the all important God-Pharaoh's Gift that didn't come.
Game 2 was sloppy from Snoha, forgetting his third landrop and dropping an untapped Glacial Fortress on turn four after a first turn Fortress and second turn Ipnu Rivulet. Krieger on the other hand had almost a perfect start; Heart Of Kiran followed by a Dipala, Pilot Exemplar with a Duress for a potential Refurbish. It was plain sailing from there on out and Krieger took the match for Germany.
Slovakia 1-Germany 1
Seat C: Ondrej Kedrovic vs Moritz Templin
Game 1 went the best way it probably could for Templin on Ramunap Red; he landed an active Hazoret, The Fervent on turn 4 and attacked a lot. Unfortunately Kedrovic, opting for Mardu Vehicles, has a Heart Of Kiran that just couldn't measure up to one of the most powerful starts in standard and the game was quickly over.
On the play Mardu Vehicles can be a very difficult deck to beat. A couple of early Scrapheap Scroungers from Kedrovic proved awkward for Templin to deal with in the long run. His hand full of reactive removal spells could only hold of the flood for so long with the Scroungers coming back time after time. The recurring robots took down game 2 for Kedrovic and everything was all square going into the final game of the third match.
It was another brilliant start for Templin in game three with a lovely curve out. Turn 1 Soul-Scar Mage into turn 2 Lightning Strike, topped off with not one but two Rampaging Ferocidons. Kedrovic could only bring Pia Nalaar to the table taking 4 in the process, as soon as Templin drew the forth land for an active Hazoret however the game was over and Templin nabbed the third game and seal the match for Germany.
73 three man teams representing their respective countries traveled to Nice for this years World Magic Cup. The three players making up each team are the cream of the crop of each country this year, each team being made up of that countries pro player of the year, the winner and runner up of that countries nationals.
Hall Of Famers, Pro Tour Champions and even a Worlds Champion or two made appearances which meant countries had some incredible skill on show. Gerry Thomson, Shota Yasooka and Shahar Shenhar were just a few of the players to watch and as the teams sat down for their first format of the weekend, the qualification process for day two in mind, everyone was hoping to get off to a good start.
It wasn’t just about the competitive side however and there were some teams representing their countries with traditional garb and flags. Scotland definitely jumped out in this area with all three members - Duncan Tang, Bradley Barclay and Stephen Murray - donning braveheart-esc face paint along with Jimmy hats and kilts.
Mexico - Jose Daniel Garcia Rosas, Marcelino Freeman and Emmanuel Ramires Sanchez - were also turning heads with their Magic related Aztec style outfits, perfectly topped off with a team photo including Huatli Cospalyer Nadine Grendelmeier.
Going into this World Magic Cup there were countries that people would have had high on their lists of big hitters. USA, China, Japan and France have all both put up fantastic team results in the past along with having some exceptional pro players, so it was definitely worth keeping an eye on them.
Ixalan Team Sealed gives each team 12 booster packs to make 3 decks from. That meant each player had a good chance to play one of the tribes from Ixalan with a lot of the powerful utility cards without fear of having to split up key cards. What teams would be looking for in this first format would be a nice clean 3-0, getting off to the perfect start to put them in good stead for a fourth win and automatic day two qualification.
Nine countries managed to achieve that perfect record after the limited portion; Spain, Wales, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Thailand, Poland, South Korea and Hungary. Everyone under these nine countries were looking to rattle off at least two more wins to ensure they continuance in one of the years biggest events.
Team Unified Standard may be a format unknown to some of you. In this format each player must bring a standard deck each to the table, however players are not allowed to overlap on playing the same card. If a player chooses to play Lightning Strike, which Ramunap Red probably will, neither of that players other two team mates could have any copies of Lightning Strike in their deck.
Going into the Unified team standard part of the event I think we all new that energy would be the top of the metagame breakdown. This time though it was a question of which flavour of energy it would be, this time around it was Sultai Energy. There were 26 copies of Sultai Energy in day one closely followed by 22 copies of Temur Energy, the old favourite. There have been some brilliant results recently with 4 Colour Energy but the general census is that the fourth colour gives you more mana issues than first though, even with Attune With Aether. The switch from red to black gives Sultai more access to card draw through utility creatures with Glint-Sleeve Siphoner as well as better removal in the form of Fatal Push. Most importantly could be the ease of casting and activating The Scarab God, a card that has proven time after time it's potential in completely swinging an all-but-lost game around in your favour. One of the new boys, Green Blue Pummeler made a relatively small showing despite its powerful, almost unanswerable draws with 3 copies in day one.
So nine countries were coming out of the limited portion of the day with there eyes of that all important fourth win. A chance to relax and get and early dinner. The top seeds in day 2 would be the teams that had a clean sweep 4-0. This is were the pack started to separate a bit with Germany, Wales, Belgium and Italy making their way through to day 2 to await their fellow competitors. As the end of the standard play drew nigh most of the day 2 spots had been taken. Only 12 places were up for grabs and the way the points were being accumulated there would be some teams ending on 12 points that wouldn't make the cut. Uruguay, the Philippines, Argentina, Peru, Slovakia, Malaysia and Guatemala were the lucky countries bringing up the rear having some tight matches near the end, but they persevered and were rewarded.
In day 2 the 32 teams were split into 8 pools of 4 teams each. Teams would be aiming for 2 wins in order to make it to the second stage of day 2 and a chance at the top 8, with a 1 match loss buffer.
Germany and the USA bested Ireland and Guatemala, with Germany soaring through 2-0 where the USA had to play off making it through with a 2-1 record in pool A.
Slovakia started off day two unbeaten to make it through to the second stage with Wales in hot pursuit qualifying through the play off match in pool B. All three of the Welsh team draped in Welsh flag onesies may have attributed to their success, scaring off any opponents.
Malaysia and England were the unfortunates from pool C, with Malaysia being taken down in short order with a quick 0-2. One of those loses came at the England and Belgium played off for their second stage slot with Belgium emerging victorious overall in a long fought match.
Pool D saw the Philippines walk through with relative ease over South Korea and Italy. Though the Azuri would make it through after winning a play off against South Korea, this was definitely a blip for the Italians and an unwanted stumble.
Panama have made a huge name for themselves over the last year on the Magic circuit with a memorable run into top 8 back in Holland. They would continue that fantastic form with a quick 2-0 over Spain as Bulgaria which was a turn up for the books. Both those teams have some quality players in the roster but Panama proved too much for them. Bulgaria would make it over the line with a 2-1 record, defeating Spain in the play off of pool E.
Uruguay, China, the Czech Republic and Hungary were the teams that made up group F. A fairly powerful group of players and truly anyone’s game going into the first round. Uruguay were able to have a relaxing progression into their second stage with a 2-0 record from the first stage. Hungary weren't able to handle the Czech Republic or China dropping out of the group at 0-2 which left China and the Czech Republic to playoff for the second slot. Both of these teams have players with incredible prowess and it would truly be a massive match with a stage two slot up for grabs. China managed to eek it out and advance to the next stage, but props had to go the the Czech team putting up a fantastic fight.
Japan were the team to watch heading up group G and they did not disappoint. A quick 2-0 saw them into the second stage of day 2, their attention would then turn to who they would be paired against in that stage. Australia couldn't find their feet and picked up 2 loses finding themselves eliminated. Lithuania and Peru managed to get to the playoffs with Lithuania taking the match and hoping for a good match up the following stage.
Finally, group H saw Austria, Scotland, Paraguay and Thailand battle it out. The Scots, despite their country spirit and fantastic outfits, picked up 2 loses sending the home early on. Austria took one of those wins from them and took down Thailand to send them through cleanly. This left Thailand and Paraguay in the playoffs, it would be close and well fought but Thailand would come out on top to take the second spot from group H.
The first stage all done, the second stage would split those teams into 4 more groups of 4 with each team looking for another 2 wins. Those 2 wins would allow that team to represent their country in the top 8 and be in with a chance to take home the World Magic Cup.
Poland kept up their winning ways with a 2-0 record defeating Thailand and Germany to make it into the top 8. Piotr Glogowski - UW Cycling, Radoslaw Kaczmarczyk - Ramunap Red - and Grzegorz Kowalski - 4 Colour Energy - had done almost everything they could and were so close to that trophy.
Germany's Phillip Krieger - Mardu Vehicles, Moritz Templin - Ramunap Red, and Marc Tobiasch - 4 Colour Energy, were able to pull out their two wins despite losing to Poland and made it into the top 8 as group A's runner up.
Italy made light work of Austria and Uruguay with a 2-0 record thanks to Andrea Mengucci's Green Blue Pummeler, Adriano Moscato's Ramunap Red and Mattia Rizzi's Blue Black Control. Austria made it through the playoff against against Uruguay to ensure Elias Klocker - 4 Colour Control, Oliver Polak-Rottmann - Ramunap Red and Adrian Schrenik - White Blue Gift, had their spot in the top 8.
The main team to watch from group C were Japan; a trio of Shota Yasooka with a handful of Pro Tour wins a load of Grand Prix wins along with a players championship to his name, Yuuya Watanabe again with a bunch of Pro Tour and Grand Prix wins, a players championship, 2 Worlds titles and had taken home the World Magic Cup back in Barcelona, and Kenta Harane the rookie of the group. If you’re going to learn from your teammates this is definitely the team do so in so I’m sure he was in good hands. Slovakia made it through cleanly defeating Japan on their way to the top 8, though Japan did strike back to win the playoff and join Slovakia at their last opportunity.
Group D was last up on the list. With Wales, China, the USA and Panama in this group it was going to be a good one to watch. China got out of the gates fast with a 2-0 record defeating Panama and Wales. The USA took a match off of Panama to eliminate them but had a really tough match in the playoff against Wales. The Americans fought hard but ultimately couldn't stop the rampaging welsh dragons on their way to the top 8.
Top 8:
Austria
China
Germany
Italy
Japan
Poland
Slovakia
Wales
The first quarter final saw the top seed, Germany, take on Slovakia. The captains of both teams were the main focus for this match up, Ivan Floch for playing Temur Energy for Slovakia sitting opposite Marc Tobiasch piloting 4 Colour Colour.
Seat B: Ivan Floch vs Marc Tobiasch
Game 1 was slightly disappointing with Tobiasch missing a land drop after both players exchanged spells back and forth. Floch took full advantage of the situation dropping a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance and getting off a few activations, following that up with a Glorybringer exerting it to keep Tobiasch off the board. The German did try and mount a comeback with The Scarab God which was met by a swift Confiscation Coup from Floch and he couldn't come back from there.
Game 2 started off smoother with Tobiasch hitting his land drops and drawing a tonne of extra cards due to Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. Floch tried going for a 1-2 punch of Glorybringer into Confiscation Coup but Tobiasch hit back with a Supreme Will into Torrential Gearhulk to flash a Supreme Will back. From there he had full control of the match, card advantage with a full grip and a big hitter in the form of Gearhulk, it wasn't long before he took game 2.
There were some more early game exchanges in game 3. Floch started hitting in with Servant Of The Conduit and Rogue Refiner taking chunks out of Tobiasch's life total with very little to stop him. Tobiasch was patient, choosing not to block with a Siphoner to gain more card and waiting for the right time to fire off an Essence Scatter and The Scarab God to try and turn the tide of the match. The long game plan was seeming to work with Tobiasch stabilising the board, a Whirler Virtuoso made it through and, with Tobiasch at 1 life and Floch having 10 energy, the thopters flew over to secure the first match for Slovakia.
Slovakia 1-Germany 0
Seat A: Peter Snoha vs Phillip Krieger
Slovakia were one match up which meant that if Snoha could take this match they would have their seat in the semi final. Snoha one was on UW Gift, a fairly uninteractive deck looking to fuel its graveyard with creatures like Angel Of Invention or Champion Of Wits, find a God-Pharaoh's Gift to return it to play and start attacking. Krieger was on an older version of Mardu Vehicles, leaving out the Bomat Couriers and Hazorets in favour of their Ramunap Red team mate to play.
Game 1 was a fast affair. A mix of Toolcraft Exemplar, Veteran Motorist and Walking Ballista got there by turn five to take the game for Krieger, all the while Snoha was sat there filter his deck in search or a Refurbish for the all important God-Pharaoh's Gift that didn't come.
Game 2 was sloppy from Snoha, forgetting his third landrop and dropping an untapped Glacial Fortress on turn four after a first turn Fortress and second turn Ipnu Rivulet. Krieger on the other hand had almost a perfect start; Heart Of Kiran followed by a Dipala, Pilot Exemplar with a Duress for a potential Refurbish. It was plain sailing from there on out and Krieger took the match for Germany.
Slovakia 1-Germany 1
Seat C: Ondrej Kedrovic vs Moritz Templin
Game 1 went the best way it probably could for Templin on Ramunap Red; he landed an active Hazoret, The Fervent on turn 4 and attacked a lot. Unfortunately Kedrovic, opting for Mardu Vehicles, has a Heart Of Kiran that just couldn't measure up to one of the most powerful starts in standard and the game was quickly over.
On the play Mardu Vehicles can be a very difficult deck to beat. A couple of early Scrapheap Scroungers from Kedrovic proved awkward for Templin to deal with in the long run. His hand full of reactive removal spells could only hold of the flood for so long with the Scroungers coming back time after time. The recurring robots took down game 2 for Kedrovic and everything was all square going into the final game of the third match.
It was another brilliant start for Templin in game three with a lovely curve out. Turn 1 Soul-Scar Mage into turn 2 Lightning Strike, topped off with not one but two Rampaging Ferocidons. Kedrovic could only bring Pia Nalaar to the table taking 4 in the process, as soon as Templin drew the forth land for an active Hazoret however the game was over and Templin nabbed the third game and seal the match for Germany.
Slovakia 1-Germany 2
The second quarter final saw Wales take on Poland. The red dragons had smashed their way to this top 8 and certainly had no plans of leaving any time soon.
Phillip Griffiths vs Radoslaw Kaczmarczyk
These games would always be a quick set thanks to both players bringing a red deck to the table. Griffiths on Treasure red, so named for the implementation of Treasure maps to gain extra mana or extra cards when needed. Kaczmarczyk went for a more tradition Ramunap Red deck, a deck that hit hard, fast and plays the long game by throwing deserts at the opponent.
Game 1 started out quickly for Kaczmarczyk who went on the offensive early. Griffith managed to stem the damage with a few removal spells while also finding a Treasure Map and steadily ticking it up. The board started to build up on Kaczmarczyk's side once again but with a huge turn for Griffith, involving the treasures from the Treasure Map making a Glorybringer and Sand Strangler to try and turn the tide of the game.
Kaczmarczyk attempted to force his way through again in game 2. Both players had a slower start and traded off resources before getting into the late game and landing some haymakers. A Hazoret, Glorybringer and a huge all in attack looked like a good option for Kaczmarczyk, Griffith fought back though with a couple of removal spells and a block from the now prowessed Soul-Scar Mage. Transforming a Treasure Map and using it to gain so much card advantage, Griffith managed to take Hazoret down with a combination of Soul-Scar Mage's ability, a Sand Strangler and a Glorybringer to finish off the damage needed to both Hazoret and Kaczmarczyk. Wales take the first match and have the advantage.
Wales 1-Poland 0
Aaron Boyhan vs Grzegorz Kowalski
An energy mirror match seemed very indicative of the current standard format. Aaron Boyhan and Grzegorz Kowalski found themselves in what must have been yet another tedious, samey match and, as you can imagine, the early game went as standard. Attunes, Longtusk Cubs and Rogue Refiners, that's the early game sorted but as the players made it to the mid-to-late game Kowalski found The Scarab God and pulled ahead to take him 1-0 up.
After another board stall of Cubs, Virtuosos and Servant Of The Conduits that all met there fate in combat or at the hand of a removal spell, both players were looking for a way to turn the corner. Making the most of their creatures, Boyhan and Kowalski readied their board again trying to find a way through.
Even with Boyhan landing a Nissa, Steward Of Elements, Kowalski fired off a River's Rebuke and wiped Boyhan's board. It was a cake walk from there as Kowalski put Poland back on par.
Wales 1-Poland 1
Sam Rolph vs Piotr Glogowski
UB Control against UW Cycling has the potential to be a very slow game and that just how game 1 went. Both players accrued a whole bunch of lands at which point it was just a matter of who blinks first. The Scarab God and a Torrential Gearhulk tried to get the job done for Rolph but a pair of Drake Havens kept Glogowski in the game. He managed to clear both the God and the Gearhulk and, even with Rolph's mass of removal spells in hand, Glogowski was able to make enough drakes to take game 1.
Game 2 was a lot of draw-go before either player made a move. Rolph amassed a board full of creatures and a Liliana, Death's Majesty and The Scarab God to put him in commanding position, leaving Glogowski to find a way out. A way came as he managed to resolve a Fumigate to get back into the game after sending some drakes in to take out Rolph's Liliana. With a last ditch attempt to stay in the game Rolph fired off a Renewed Faith that his Gonti, Lord Of Luxury had stolen, though with the growing amount of drakes on Glogowski's side the game was out of Rolph's grasp and Poland took the game and the match to send them into the semi finals.
Wales 1-Poland 2
Japan and Austria were the third semi final and though Japan had a rough start with some losses on day one and a playoff win to get here, it was time for them to show the world why they were some of the best players around.
We'll start off with seat C, Oliver Polak-Rottmann playing Ramunap Red vs Kenta Harane with UW Gift.
When playing against Ramunap Red you know you're going to be under pressure constantly. Polak-Rottmann kept up this expectation by smashing in quick and hard to get Harane down to a single figure life total, but Harane was just getting started. After using the early game to filter his hand and look for a God-Pharaoh's Gift which never came, he decided to go onto plan B and went into creature mode. He did find a Cast Out to keep Polak-Rottmann's Hazoret from getting out of hand and on turn five went on the offensive with an Angel Of Invention followed by a Sacred Cat. Harane managed to deal with any pesky red creatures in play, found a Refurbish to bring back a God-Pharaoh's Gift which returned an Angel Of Invention to close the door on Polak-Rottmann in game 1.
Game 2 was a breeze for Harane with Polak-Rottmann mulliganing to 6 and flooding out with draws of mountain after mountain. He did have the answer to God-Pharaoh's Gift in the form of Abrade but Harane was wise to it and decided to have a repeated of game 1 and go with the creature plan. Harane used Fairgrounds Warden and Cast Outs to deal with any board presence Polak-Rottmann could amass before Embalming an Angel Of Sanctions and ride it home for Japan's first match win.
Over in Seat A, Shota Yasooka piloting Ramunap Red faces off against Elias Klocker looking to take down the red menace with 4 Colour Control.
Game one was fairly quick, an early exchange of cards leading into a mid game Hazoret from Shota. Klocker has a Vraska's Contempt to deal with the red God and a Whirler Virtuoso to get a presence back on the board but the red mage took Klocker all the way down to 3 with an active Ramunap Ruins. It didn't take long for Shota to find that last point of damage to take game 1.
In the midst of all of this, the players in Seat B split the first 2 games and were put on hold to await the result of the match in Seat A.
With little back and fourth in the early stages of the second game, Klocker found himself with a Whirler Virtuoso and 6 Energy. Still at 20 life, and Shota only having a lone Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, it seemed pretty safe for Klocker to be attacking in.
An Abrade was able to take out the Virtuoso and a pair of Earthshaker Khenra took a huge chunk out of Klocker's life total followed by another attack from the trio - quartet with Ragavan making an appearance. Klocker was able to deal with the small of army of red creatures only to have Shota embalmed an Earthshaker Khenra but not attack, fearing a flash blocker like Torrential Gearhulk. Shots continued to play around the big blue robot in the following turns but not attacking and keeping up mana to use his Scavenging Grounds, essentially nullifying the Gearhulk's enter the battlefield effect. Shota produced a second embalmed Earthshaker Khenra and looked like he was going on the offensive. With Klocker only being able to bring a Deathgorge Scavenger to the table in place of a Torrential Gearhulk - which he never had - Shota took out the graveyards to stop any lifegain and the pair of Khenras took Klocker down low enough to be finished off with a Ramunap Ruins.
The second quarter final saw Wales take on Poland. The red dragons had smashed their way to this top 8 and certainly had no plans of leaving any time soon.
Phillip Griffiths vs Radoslaw Kaczmarczyk
These games would always be a quick set thanks to both players bringing a red deck to the table. Griffiths on Treasure red, so named for the implementation of Treasure maps to gain extra mana or extra cards when needed. Kaczmarczyk went for a more tradition Ramunap Red deck, a deck that hit hard, fast and plays the long game by throwing deserts at the opponent.
Game 1 started out quickly for Kaczmarczyk who went on the offensive early. Griffith managed to stem the damage with a few removal spells while also finding a Treasure Map and steadily ticking it up. The board started to build up on Kaczmarczyk's side once again but with a huge turn for Griffith, involving the treasures from the Treasure Map making a Glorybringer and Sand Strangler to try and turn the tide of the game.
Kaczmarczyk attempted to force his way through again in game 2. Both players had a slower start and traded off resources before getting into the late game and landing some haymakers. A Hazoret, Glorybringer and a huge all in attack looked like a good option for Kaczmarczyk, Griffith fought back though with a couple of removal spells and a block from the now prowessed Soul-Scar Mage. Transforming a Treasure Map and using it to gain so much card advantage, Griffith managed to take Hazoret down with a combination of Soul-Scar Mage's ability, a Sand Strangler and a Glorybringer to finish off the damage needed to both Hazoret and Kaczmarczyk. Wales take the first match and have the advantage.
Wales 1-Poland 0
Aaron Boyhan vs Grzegorz Kowalski
An energy mirror match seemed very indicative of the current standard format. Aaron Boyhan and Grzegorz Kowalski found themselves in what must have been yet another tedious, samey match and, as you can imagine, the early game went as standard. Attunes, Longtusk Cubs and Rogue Refiners, that's the early game sorted but as the players made it to the mid-to-late game Kowalski found The Scarab God and pulled ahead to take him 1-0 up.
After another board stall of Cubs, Virtuosos and Servant Of The Conduits that all met there fate in combat or at the hand of a removal spell, both players were looking for a way to turn the corner. Making the most of their creatures, Boyhan and Kowalski readied their board again trying to find a way through.
Even with Boyhan landing a Nissa, Steward Of Elements, Kowalski fired off a River's Rebuke and wiped Boyhan's board. It was a cake walk from there as Kowalski put Poland back on par.
Wales 1-Poland 1
Sam Rolph vs Piotr Glogowski
UB Control against UW Cycling has the potential to be a very slow game and that just how game 1 went. Both players accrued a whole bunch of lands at which point it was just a matter of who blinks first. The Scarab God and a Torrential Gearhulk tried to get the job done for Rolph but a pair of Drake Havens kept Glogowski in the game. He managed to clear both the God and the Gearhulk and, even with Rolph's mass of removal spells in hand, Glogowski was able to make enough drakes to take game 1.
Game 2 was a lot of draw-go before either player made a move. Rolph amassed a board full of creatures and a Liliana, Death's Majesty and The Scarab God to put him in commanding position, leaving Glogowski to find a way out. A way came as he managed to resolve a Fumigate to get back into the game after sending some drakes in to take out Rolph's Liliana. With a last ditch attempt to stay in the game Rolph fired off a Renewed Faith that his Gonti, Lord Of Luxury had stolen, though with the growing amount of drakes on Glogowski's side the game was out of Rolph's grasp and Poland took the game and the match to send them into the semi finals.
Wales 1-Poland 2
Japan and Austria were the third semi final and though Japan had a rough start with some losses on day one and a playoff win to get here, it was time for them to show the world why they were some of the best players around.
We'll start off with seat C, Oliver Polak-Rottmann playing Ramunap Red vs Kenta Harane with UW Gift.
When playing against Ramunap Red you know you're going to be under pressure constantly. Polak-Rottmann kept up this expectation by smashing in quick and hard to get Harane down to a single figure life total, but Harane was just getting started. After using the early game to filter his hand and look for a God-Pharaoh's Gift which never came, he decided to go onto plan B and went into creature mode. He did find a Cast Out to keep Polak-Rottmann's Hazoret from getting out of hand and on turn five went on the offensive with an Angel Of Invention followed by a Sacred Cat. Harane managed to deal with any pesky red creatures in play, found a Refurbish to bring back a God-Pharaoh's Gift which returned an Angel Of Invention to close the door on Polak-Rottmann in game 1.
Game 2 was a breeze for Harane with Polak-Rottmann mulliganing to 6 and flooding out with draws of mountain after mountain. He did have the answer to God-Pharaoh's Gift in the form of Abrade but Harane was wise to it and decided to have a repeated of game 1 and go with the creature plan. Harane used Fairgrounds Warden and Cast Outs to deal with any board presence Polak-Rottmann could amass before Embalming an Angel Of Sanctions and ride it home for Japan's first match win.
Over in Seat A, Shota Yasooka piloting Ramunap Red faces off against Elias Klocker looking to take down the red menace with 4 Colour Control.
Game one was fairly quick, an early exchange of cards leading into a mid game Hazoret from Shota. Klocker has a Vraska's Contempt to deal with the red God and a Whirler Virtuoso to get a presence back on the board but the red mage took Klocker all the way down to 3 with an active Ramunap Ruins. It didn't take long for Shota to find that last point of damage to take game 1.
In the midst of all of this, the players in Seat B split the first 2 games and were put on hold to await the result of the match in Seat A.
With little back and fourth in the early stages of the second game, Klocker found himself with a Whirler Virtuoso and 6 Energy. Still at 20 life, and Shota only having a lone Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, it seemed pretty safe for Klocker to be attacking in.
An Abrade was able to take out the Virtuoso and a pair of Earthshaker Khenra took a huge chunk out of Klocker's life total followed by another attack from the trio - quartet with Ragavan making an appearance. Klocker was able to deal with the small of army of red creatures only to have Shota embalmed an Earthshaker Khenra but not attack, fearing a flash blocker like Torrential Gearhulk. Shots continued to play around the big blue robot in the following turns but not attacking and keeping up mana to use his Scavenging Grounds, essentially nullifying the Gearhulk's enter the battlefield effect. Shota produced a second embalmed Earthshaker Khenra and looked like he was going on the offensive. With Klocker only being able to bring a Deathgorge Scavenger to the table in place of a Torrential Gearhulk - which he never had - Shota took out the graveyards to stop any lifegain and the pair of Khenras took Klocker down low enough to be finished off with a Ramunap Ruins.
Japan 2-Poland 1
The last quarterfinal of the top 8 focused on Italy and China.
Seat B: Andrea Mengucci vs Lu Chao
Mengucci presented a deck that has had a lot of good showing over the last few months, UG Pummeler. This deck can have some incredibly powerful starts and can often provide a one turn kill with the decks namesake Electrostatic Pummeler combined with pump spells and evasion. Chao came with the more mainstream Sultai Energy, a list that has access to a lot of utility creatures, removal spells and a long game in its card advantage.
Game 1 started off rather well for Lu Chao as a Winding Constrictor slipped past the lack of removal spells in Mengucci's deck. Walking Ballista and Longtusk Cub were made doubly effective thanks to the snake and it looked like Chao was going to take the first one. Mengucci found a Longtusk Cub Of his own and had gotten some shots in but was finding it hard to turn the tide or even stabilise, until he found a Cartouche Of knowledge. The enchantment gave the Cub evasion and Mengucci was able to secure the game.
Game 2 was fairly short order. A Duress from Lu grabbed a Cartouche Of Knowledge from Mengucci's hand, it also revealed the Italian was holding a Bristling Hydra. Lu has a hand full of removal but with such an awkward creature to deal with, realistically there would never be a good spot to remove the Hexproof Hydra. Bristling Hydra quickly got out of hand going unanswered and the first match went to Mengucci.
Italy 1-China 0
Moving over to seat A, Mattia Rizzi playing UB Control day opposite Liu Yuchen on Ramunap Red.
Yuchen started off with the typical Ramunap Red start in the form of a Bomat Courier and began attacking. He was running out of gas by turn three however, thanks to any other creatures running into counter or removal spells from Rizzi. Yuchen missed his third land drop at which point Rizzi went in for the kill, attempting to Essence Extraction the Bomat Courier. Liu decided to sacrifice the Courier, discarding 6 cards in the process for a measly 2 cards. It wouldn't help though and Rizzi was able to untap with an active The Scarab God to take game 1.
With Liu on the play in game 2 he was hoping to get off to a nice fast start, and that's exactly what happened for him. A good on curve sequence of plays from Yuchen put pressure on Rizzi and on turn four that pressure just kept coming. A Chandra, Torch Of Defiance into an Abrade for Rizzi's Gifted Aetherborn in the same turn let the Ramunap Red player get in with three creatures. Rizzi has a Vraska's Contempt but it wouldn't be enough and was taken down on the next attack.
Bomat Courier was the star player of game 3. Dropped on turn one and left unchecked for five attacks let the small robot accrue 5 cards, and when Rizzi tapped a whole bunch of mana unable to disallow the ability Liu picked his spot to refresh his hand. Rizzi tried to get back into the game with a handful of counterspells, but the card advantage was too much for the UB Control player and the bevy of threats from Yuchen made it all square on matches.
Italy 1-China 1
Seat C: Adriano Moscato vs Gao Tan
This would be the decider to allow one of these teams to make it to the semi final. Moscato had gone with Ramunap Rap; a very, fast effective deck capable of explosive draws. Tan opted for UW Gift, usually a very consistent deck that can steal games out of nowhere.
Game 1 was almost exactly what Moscato could've asked for. A pair of Earthshaker Khenra did a lot of damage and a Scavenger Grounds dealt with a Refurbish attempting to return a God-Pharaoh's Gift. Without an answer for the two Khenra that would be all she wrote for the Italian to take the first game.
A Scavenger Grounds in game 2 left Moscato feeling confident, what he maybe wasn't expecting though was Tan to be in his plan B and hard cast two Angel Of Invention on turns five and six. A scrappy attempt to fight back involving a Bomat Courier activation from Moscato to find a burn spell missed the mark and Gao Tan and his Angel boosted Servos were able to take game 2.
The red deck had the edge again in game 3. Starting with Kari Zev, Skyship Raider into Ahn-Crop Crasher got Moscato off to a good start with those creatures being quickly followed up with a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance. Tan meanwhile was trying to get a God-Pharaoh's Gift into his graveyard to fire off a Refurbish, but even with multiple Minister Of Inquiries activations that wasn't happening. A Cast Out answered Chandra but a Sacred Cat and another Minister on turn five could only provide blockers for Tan. Moscato turned his creatures sideways and Tan extended the hand.
Italy 2-China 1
The semi finals had been decided: Germany would face Poland and Japan would square off against Italy.
We'll start at the all European table where Poland's Kaczmarczyk sat opposite a Ramunap Red deck, piloted by Moritz Templin, for the second round in a row. The first match wasn't a long one; the lack of removal or burn spells pointed at creatures meant that Kaczmarczyk could land an attack with multiple Earthshaker Khenra turn after turn, sealing up the first game with a pair of Cut//Ribbons.
Game 2 was mainly about the creatures with an early exchange of red men. Templin had packed 3 Sand Stranglers in his sideboard for just such an occasion and after finding a couple to whittle down Kaczmarczyk's board position, he was able to get in. There wasn't much resistance from Kaczmarczyk and Templin took down game 2.
Game 3 was a removal heavy one, Templin's hand was a mix of burn spells and a Hazoret, the former of which he used to take out most of the creatures Kaczmarczyk could throw down. Templin was still taking damage despite all of these burn spells thanks to Kaczmarczyk's own burn spells and creatures but there was about to be a big turning point in in the game. On turn five Templin cast Hazoret with a Mountain open and two cards in hand. The polish team huddled up weighing up there options; Templin could have a removal spell in hand if he left that one mana open, this could spell trouble especially because then the Hazoret could block. If he has nothing Kaczmarczyk wins and Poland progress. Eventually decided that an all out attack was the best course of action, Templin looked at the two cards he was holding, then he extended the hand. He had a pair of Mountains.
Poland 1-Germany 0
Seat A: Phillip Krieger vs Piotr Glogowski
Any match involving Ramunap Red was bound to be fast. The match between Krieger and Glogowski definitely gave it a run for its money. Krieger had gone for a deck of old standard, Mardu Vehicles, where Glogowski went for a newer deck in the format, UW Cycling. The shear speed of the Vehicles deck made light work of Glogowski, hitting a nice curve and dropping hard to deal with Vehicles. Krieger took game 1 without breaking a sweat and it was a similar story in game 2. Toolcraft Exemplar, Heart Of Kiran, Scrapheap Scrounger, constant threats that Glogowski just couldn't find the time or the resources to deal with.
Poland 1-Germany 1
With the score tied it came down to seat B between Marc Tobiasch and Grzegorz Kowalski, the 4 Colour mirror. Tobiasch wasn't having a fun game 1, his draws were less than optimal and when you're facing down a deck that has so much potential power with its creatures, it can be devastating when you stumble even just once. Speaking of potential power, Kowalski managed to combine the game winning pair of Rhonas, The Indomitable and Bristling Hydra. With two of the biggest and baddest creatures in Magic on the table in front of him the first game win came quickly after.
The grin on Kowalski's face was hard to hide when he looked at his opening grip. Game 2 went swimmingly for him as he opened with a Servant Of The Conduit, Whirler Virtuoso and a Bristling Hydra. This was quickly followed by a pair of Longtusk Cub, the power was quickly increasing on Kowalski's side of the table, Tobiasch would have to find something to keep him alive. A Vraska's Contempt and a Torrential Gearhulk that traded with the Hydra gave Tobiasch some hope to try and stabilise but that'd where the good fortune ended. A sequence of draws including Lands and a Negate for Marc Tobiasch allowed Kowalski to make a small army of Thopters. The tiny little robots flew over turn after turn which unfortunately spelled the end of the line for Germany and Tobiasch graciously extended the hand.
Poland 2-Germany 1
The second semi final between Italy and Japan was going to be a big one. Both teams were so close to the final they could almost taste it; true Japan the quality going into this match with two Hall Of Famers in the form of Watanabe and Yasooka, but their national champion Harane was no slouch. Italy weren't a million miles away with their play, the consistency was admirable; three semifinals appearances in a row, the title back in 2015 and falling in the semis last year.
Let's start in Seat B, Yuuya Watanabe Vs Andrea Mengucci.
Let's dive right into the first game. Watanabe played a Servant Of The Conduit on turn two, a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance on turn three and a Vraska, Relic Seeker on turn four. That was all.
Game 2 didn't last much longer. Mengucci mulligan'd for the first time in the tournament and kept a shoddy looking hand of all green spells with only an Aether Hub as his green source. Watanabe assembled a group of creatures that started chipping away at Mengucci's life and thanks to Mengucci never drawing a second green source, those creatures never stopped attacking.
Japan 1-Italy 0
Seat C: Kenta Harane vs Adriano Moscato
UW Gift against Ramunap Red, two decks that have two completely different strategies. Those strategies would be shown in full view over the three games between Harane and Moscato. In game 1 Moscato, being the aggressor, curves out over the first four turns with a bunch of threats, while all Harane could do was fuel his graveyard using his Minister Of Inquiries. Harane was after a God-Pharaoh's Gift so he could Refurbish it into play on turn four but alas had no such luck. Even if he did manage to find it the God-Pharaoh's Gift may not have won him the game as Moscato was able to land a Rampaging Ferocidon. The dinosaur would have made the Angel Of Invention sitting in Harane's graveyard less potent and eventually helped him take down game one over the Japanese national champ.
Going into game 2 what Harane would have loved to see was an on curve start resulting in a God-Pharaoh's Gift on turn four. What Moscato wanted was a straight up 1-2-3 drops into an active Hazoret.
The game started off a little slow from Moscato's point of view, Harane was able to deal with some early gas from the Italian and Cast Out a Rampaging Ferocidon, ensuring he would take less damage from a possible Angel Of Invention. It seems that's how he drew it up perfectly except without the help of a 7 mana artifact and on turn five play and simply cast the Angel. Harane followed one angel up with two more over the next two turns, this time Angel Of Sanctions, took over the battlefield and took down game 2.
The third game in this match was incredibly close. Moscato curves out nicely again over the early game, using all of his mana in the first three turns putting Harane down to 13. On Harane's fifth turn he dropped an Angel Of Invention, made two Servo tokens and passed the turn back at 4 life. It looked like it was over. Soul-Scar Mage, Kari Zev and an eternalised Earthshaker Khenra taking a Servo token out of combat action. An all our attack from Moscato forced a block from Harane which left him at 1 life and looked like the match was going to Italy. Harane started to make a surprise comeback however thanks to runner-runner Angel Of Sanctions to gain a little control over the board, at which point he get aggressive. Moscato needed a burn spell, he had several outs; Shock, Lightning Strike, Ramunap Ruins, even a Sunscorched Desert would do it. The tension was unbearable. Moscato slowly reaches for the top card of his library, he flipped it over. It was Lightning Strike, Italy had pulled one back and now all the pressure was on Shota Yasooka and Mattia Rizzi.
Seat A: Shota Yasooka vs Mattia Rizzi
Yasooka is a Control player through and through, the problem is that a control deck wasn't really viable. Between Yuuya Watanabe and Kenta Harane most of the cards for a control deck had been taken, because of this Yasooka opted for the polar opposite Ramunap Red.
Because of his history playing control decks did give him an edge on Rizzi who had chosen to play UB Control. "It was pretty easy to guess what the opponent was holding and what his game plan was, so I could just relax and play," Yasooka said after the match.
In game 1 Shota really showed why he's a good player. He had the option of going on the offensive with Ahn-Crop Crasher or the more reserved Harsh Mentor, for the sole reason that he knew the odds of a control player holding a counter/removal spell would be quite high. The play came up trumps for him as Rizzi spent a removal spell on the Harsh Mentor subsequently allowing the Ahn-Crop Crasher to get in a fair chunk of damage. All the attacking knocked Rizzi down to 11 but the Italian was about to turn the corner courtesy of a certain God. The Scarab God Game crashing down for Rizzi and Yasooka took one look, came to the conclusion that the red deck couldn't do much about it and reached for his sideboard.
Almost a perfect curve out was Yasooka's reward on the play. With a progression of Soul-Scar Mage, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, Pia Nalaar and Rampaging Ferocidon Rizzi was on the back foot with a deck that didn't play well at all when behind. The momentum continues to build and even with Rizzi producing a Torrential Gearhulk, Shota was able to keep attacking past the big blue robot and take game 2.
The last semi final game went about as planned for the first few turns; Yasooka drop some little red men and Rizzi draw cards finding ways to answer them. Rizzi passed up the opportunity to Fatal Push Yasooka's Kari Zev in favour of getting maximum value out of Bontu's Last Stand. It paid off when Rizzi was able to take out three creatures with the sweeper and utilise the Revolt clause on Fatal Push thanks to Field Of Ruin, taking out Yasooka's Aethersphere Harvester. Rizzi was in the driving seat now and when he flashed in a Torrential Gearhulk to replay a Vraska's Contempt Italy were sitting pretty. Right on time Yasooka had an Abrade for the Gearhulk and was able to start rebuilding his board, Rizzi tried to find something, anything to stabilise but no such thing came. Yasooka pushed into the red zone and Italy fell in the semi finals once again.
The last quarterfinal of the top 8 focused on Italy and China.
Seat B: Andrea Mengucci vs Lu Chao
Mengucci presented a deck that has had a lot of good showing over the last few months, UG Pummeler. This deck can have some incredibly powerful starts and can often provide a one turn kill with the decks namesake Electrostatic Pummeler combined with pump spells and evasion. Chao came with the more mainstream Sultai Energy, a list that has access to a lot of utility creatures, removal spells and a long game in its card advantage.
Game 1 started off rather well for Lu Chao as a Winding Constrictor slipped past the lack of removal spells in Mengucci's deck. Walking Ballista and Longtusk Cub were made doubly effective thanks to the snake and it looked like Chao was going to take the first one. Mengucci found a Longtusk Cub Of his own and had gotten some shots in but was finding it hard to turn the tide or even stabilise, until he found a Cartouche Of knowledge. The enchantment gave the Cub evasion and Mengucci was able to secure the game.
Game 2 was fairly short order. A Duress from Lu grabbed a Cartouche Of Knowledge from Mengucci's hand, it also revealed the Italian was holding a Bristling Hydra. Lu has a hand full of removal but with such an awkward creature to deal with, realistically there would never be a good spot to remove the Hexproof Hydra. Bristling Hydra quickly got out of hand going unanswered and the first match went to Mengucci.
Italy 1-China 0
Moving over to seat A, Mattia Rizzi playing UB Control day opposite Liu Yuchen on Ramunap Red.
Yuchen started off with the typical Ramunap Red start in the form of a Bomat Courier and began attacking. He was running out of gas by turn three however, thanks to any other creatures running into counter or removal spells from Rizzi. Yuchen missed his third land drop at which point Rizzi went in for the kill, attempting to Essence Extraction the Bomat Courier. Liu decided to sacrifice the Courier, discarding 6 cards in the process for a measly 2 cards. It wouldn't help though and Rizzi was able to untap with an active The Scarab God to take game 1.
With Liu on the play in game 2 he was hoping to get off to a nice fast start, and that's exactly what happened for him. A good on curve sequence of plays from Yuchen put pressure on Rizzi and on turn four that pressure just kept coming. A Chandra, Torch Of Defiance into an Abrade for Rizzi's Gifted Aetherborn in the same turn let the Ramunap Red player get in with three creatures. Rizzi has a Vraska's Contempt but it wouldn't be enough and was taken down on the next attack.
Bomat Courier was the star player of game 3. Dropped on turn one and left unchecked for five attacks let the small robot accrue 5 cards, and when Rizzi tapped a whole bunch of mana unable to disallow the ability Liu picked his spot to refresh his hand. Rizzi tried to get back into the game with a handful of counterspells, but the card advantage was too much for the UB Control player and the bevy of threats from Yuchen made it all square on matches.
Italy 1-China 1
Seat C: Adriano Moscato vs Gao Tan
This would be the decider to allow one of these teams to make it to the semi final. Moscato had gone with Ramunap Rap; a very, fast effective deck capable of explosive draws. Tan opted for UW Gift, usually a very consistent deck that can steal games out of nowhere.
Game 1 was almost exactly what Moscato could've asked for. A pair of Earthshaker Khenra did a lot of damage and a Scavenger Grounds dealt with a Refurbish attempting to return a God-Pharaoh's Gift. Without an answer for the two Khenra that would be all she wrote for the Italian to take the first game.
A Scavenger Grounds in game 2 left Moscato feeling confident, what he maybe wasn't expecting though was Tan to be in his plan B and hard cast two Angel Of Invention on turns five and six. A scrappy attempt to fight back involving a Bomat Courier activation from Moscato to find a burn spell missed the mark and Gao Tan and his Angel boosted Servos were able to take game 2.
The red deck had the edge again in game 3. Starting with Kari Zev, Skyship Raider into Ahn-Crop Crasher got Moscato off to a good start with those creatures being quickly followed up with a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance. Tan meanwhile was trying to get a God-Pharaoh's Gift into his graveyard to fire off a Refurbish, but even with multiple Minister Of Inquiries activations that wasn't happening. A Cast Out answered Chandra but a Sacred Cat and another Minister on turn five could only provide blockers for Tan. Moscato turned his creatures sideways and Tan extended the hand.
Italy 2-China 1
The semi finals had been decided: Germany would face Poland and Japan would square off against Italy.
We'll start at the all European table where Poland's Kaczmarczyk sat opposite a Ramunap Red deck, piloted by Moritz Templin, for the second round in a row. The first match wasn't a long one; the lack of removal or burn spells pointed at creatures meant that Kaczmarczyk could land an attack with multiple Earthshaker Khenra turn after turn, sealing up the first game with a pair of Cut//Ribbons.
Game 2 was mainly about the creatures with an early exchange of red men. Templin had packed 3 Sand Stranglers in his sideboard for just such an occasion and after finding a couple to whittle down Kaczmarczyk's board position, he was able to get in. There wasn't much resistance from Kaczmarczyk and Templin took down game 2.
Game 3 was a removal heavy one, Templin's hand was a mix of burn spells and a Hazoret, the former of which he used to take out most of the creatures Kaczmarczyk could throw down. Templin was still taking damage despite all of these burn spells thanks to Kaczmarczyk's own burn spells and creatures but there was about to be a big turning point in in the game. On turn five Templin cast Hazoret with a Mountain open and two cards in hand. The polish team huddled up weighing up there options; Templin could have a removal spell in hand if he left that one mana open, this could spell trouble especially because then the Hazoret could block. If he has nothing Kaczmarczyk wins and Poland progress. Eventually decided that an all out attack was the best course of action, Templin looked at the two cards he was holding, then he extended the hand. He had a pair of Mountains.
Poland 1-Germany 0
Seat A: Phillip Krieger vs Piotr Glogowski
Any match involving Ramunap Red was bound to be fast. The match between Krieger and Glogowski definitely gave it a run for its money. Krieger had gone for a deck of old standard, Mardu Vehicles, where Glogowski went for a newer deck in the format, UW Cycling. The shear speed of the Vehicles deck made light work of Glogowski, hitting a nice curve and dropping hard to deal with Vehicles. Krieger took game 1 without breaking a sweat and it was a similar story in game 2. Toolcraft Exemplar, Heart Of Kiran, Scrapheap Scrounger, constant threats that Glogowski just couldn't find the time or the resources to deal with.
Poland 1-Germany 1
With the score tied it came down to seat B between Marc Tobiasch and Grzegorz Kowalski, the 4 Colour mirror. Tobiasch wasn't having a fun game 1, his draws were less than optimal and when you're facing down a deck that has so much potential power with its creatures, it can be devastating when you stumble even just once. Speaking of potential power, Kowalski managed to combine the game winning pair of Rhonas, The Indomitable and Bristling Hydra. With two of the biggest and baddest creatures in Magic on the table in front of him the first game win came quickly after.
The grin on Kowalski's face was hard to hide when he looked at his opening grip. Game 2 went swimmingly for him as he opened with a Servant Of The Conduit, Whirler Virtuoso and a Bristling Hydra. This was quickly followed by a pair of Longtusk Cub, the power was quickly increasing on Kowalski's side of the table, Tobiasch would have to find something to keep him alive. A Vraska's Contempt and a Torrential Gearhulk that traded with the Hydra gave Tobiasch some hope to try and stabilise but that'd where the good fortune ended. A sequence of draws including Lands and a Negate for Marc Tobiasch allowed Kowalski to make a small army of Thopters. The tiny little robots flew over turn after turn which unfortunately spelled the end of the line for Germany and Tobiasch graciously extended the hand.
Poland 2-Germany 1
The second semi final between Italy and Japan was going to be a big one. Both teams were so close to the final they could almost taste it; true Japan the quality going into this match with two Hall Of Famers in the form of Watanabe and Yasooka, but their national champion Harane was no slouch. Italy weren't a million miles away with their play, the consistency was admirable; three semifinals appearances in a row, the title back in 2015 and falling in the semis last year.
Let's start in Seat B, Yuuya Watanabe Vs Andrea Mengucci.
Let's dive right into the first game. Watanabe played a Servant Of The Conduit on turn two, a Chandra, Torch Of Defiance on turn three and a Vraska, Relic Seeker on turn four. That was all.
Game 2 didn't last much longer. Mengucci mulligan'd for the first time in the tournament and kept a shoddy looking hand of all green spells with only an Aether Hub as his green source. Watanabe assembled a group of creatures that started chipping away at Mengucci's life and thanks to Mengucci never drawing a second green source, those creatures never stopped attacking.
Japan 1-Italy 0
Seat C: Kenta Harane vs Adriano Moscato
UW Gift against Ramunap Red, two decks that have two completely different strategies. Those strategies would be shown in full view over the three games between Harane and Moscato. In game 1 Moscato, being the aggressor, curves out over the first four turns with a bunch of threats, while all Harane could do was fuel his graveyard using his Minister Of Inquiries. Harane was after a God-Pharaoh's Gift so he could Refurbish it into play on turn four but alas had no such luck. Even if he did manage to find it the God-Pharaoh's Gift may not have won him the game as Moscato was able to land a Rampaging Ferocidon. The dinosaur would have made the Angel Of Invention sitting in Harane's graveyard less potent and eventually helped him take down game one over the Japanese national champ.
Going into game 2 what Harane would have loved to see was an on curve start resulting in a God-Pharaoh's Gift on turn four. What Moscato wanted was a straight up 1-2-3 drops into an active Hazoret.
The game started off a little slow from Moscato's point of view, Harane was able to deal with some early gas from the Italian and Cast Out a Rampaging Ferocidon, ensuring he would take less damage from a possible Angel Of Invention. It seems that's how he drew it up perfectly except without the help of a 7 mana artifact and on turn five play and simply cast the Angel. Harane followed one angel up with two more over the next two turns, this time Angel Of Sanctions, took over the battlefield and took down game 2.
The third game in this match was incredibly close. Moscato curves out nicely again over the early game, using all of his mana in the first three turns putting Harane down to 13. On Harane's fifth turn he dropped an Angel Of Invention, made two Servo tokens and passed the turn back at 4 life. It looked like it was over. Soul-Scar Mage, Kari Zev and an eternalised Earthshaker Khenra taking a Servo token out of combat action. An all our attack from Moscato forced a block from Harane which left him at 1 life and looked like the match was going to Italy. Harane started to make a surprise comeback however thanks to runner-runner Angel Of Sanctions to gain a little control over the board, at which point he get aggressive. Moscato needed a burn spell, he had several outs; Shock, Lightning Strike, Ramunap Ruins, even a Sunscorched Desert would do it. The tension was unbearable. Moscato slowly reaches for the top card of his library, he flipped it over. It was Lightning Strike, Italy had pulled one back and now all the pressure was on Shota Yasooka and Mattia Rizzi.
Seat A: Shota Yasooka vs Mattia Rizzi
Yasooka is a Control player through and through, the problem is that a control deck wasn't really viable. Between Yuuya Watanabe and Kenta Harane most of the cards for a control deck had been taken, because of this Yasooka opted for the polar opposite Ramunap Red.
Because of his history playing control decks did give him an edge on Rizzi who had chosen to play UB Control. "It was pretty easy to guess what the opponent was holding and what his game plan was, so I could just relax and play," Yasooka said after the match.
In game 1 Shota really showed why he's a good player. He had the option of going on the offensive with Ahn-Crop Crasher or the more reserved Harsh Mentor, for the sole reason that he knew the odds of a control player holding a counter/removal spell would be quite high. The play came up trumps for him as Rizzi spent a removal spell on the Harsh Mentor subsequently allowing the Ahn-Crop Crasher to get in a fair chunk of damage. All the attacking knocked Rizzi down to 11 but the Italian was about to turn the corner courtesy of a certain God. The Scarab God Game crashing down for Rizzi and Yasooka took one look, came to the conclusion that the red deck couldn't do much about it and reached for his sideboard.
Almost a perfect curve out was Yasooka's reward on the play. With a progression of Soul-Scar Mage, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, Pia Nalaar and Rampaging Ferocidon Rizzi was on the back foot with a deck that didn't play well at all when behind. The momentum continues to build and even with Rizzi producing a Torrential Gearhulk, Shota was able to keep attacking past the big blue robot and take game 2.
The last semi final game went about as planned for the first few turns; Yasooka drop some little red men and Rizzi draw cards finding ways to answer them. Rizzi passed up the opportunity to Fatal Push Yasooka's Kari Zev in favour of getting maximum value out of Bontu's Last Stand. It paid off when Rizzi was able to take out three creatures with the sweeper and utilise the Revolt clause on Fatal Push thanks to Field Of Ruin, taking out Yasooka's Aethersphere Harvester. Rizzi was in the driving seat now and when he flashed in a Torrential Gearhulk to replay a Vraska's Contempt Italy were sitting pretty. Right on time Yasooka had an Abrade for the Gearhulk and was able to start rebuilding his board, Rizzi tried to find something, anything to stabilise but no such thing came. Yasooka pushed into the red zone and Italy fell in the semi finals once again.
The Final
Going into the World Magic Cup there were a handful of teams people would be keeping an eye on; The USA, with Reid Duke ranked second in the world and Gerry Thompson who took down Pro Tour Amonkhet. Italy who had Andrea Mengucci a familiar face to top 8's and Brazil, a team consisting of Pro Tour winners Lucas Esper Berthoud, Carlos Romão and arguably the best player in the world right now, Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa. Japan however were probably at the top of most of those lists with with two Pro Tour Hall Of Famers in Yuuya Watanabe and Shota Yasooka and the national champion Kenta Harane who could boast a 70% win rate at Grand Prix.
Poland weren't a team to be scoffed at with a fantastic record over the weekend. They'd taken down Brazil in day two of the WMC, come from behind against Germany to make it to the top 8 and brought down the Red Dragons - Wales - in the quarter finals. Poland now had the chance to continue that brilliant string of wins against Japan to take home the title.
At each end of the tables were Ramunap Red decks facing off against UW builds - Yasooka with the Red deck against Glogowski's UW Cycling and Harane playing UW Gift against Kaczmarczyk's Ramunap Red. In the middle sat Watanabe and Kowalski both running 4 Colour Energy and, in a surprise twist, were the first to finish a game. Kowalski put together a sizeable board advantage to take the first game, Poland in the driving seat.
Meanwhile, Yasooka being the master he is, evened things up when he sent his creatures into the red zone against Glogowski's Double Drake Haven to go a game up. It looked like it wouldn't last long however when Kaczmarczyk took Harane down to 3 life with a board full of threats. A timely Fumigate got Harane out of that tight spot and allowed him to follow that up by flipping Search For Azcanta and casting a God-Pharaoh's Gift. The seven mana artifact brought back an Angel Of Invention so Harane could turn the corner to put Japan 2-1 up in games.
Back to Glogowski and Yasooka and UW Cycling had found not one, not two, but three Drake Haven. All Glogowski needed now was a way around Yasooka's Hazoret, along with the rest of his board. The answer came in the form of a pair of Settle The Wreckage which allowed him the time he needed to find a cycler and take the initiative in the second game. Yasooka and Glogowski's weren't the only ones heading to their third game as Watanabe took a Bristling Hydra and kept applying counters. The four mana creature completely took over the game for Yuuya.
Kaczmarczyk needed a win over Harane, luckily he was playing the right deck to do it. A fantastic curve out start was what he got with Soul-Scar Mage into Earthshaker Khenra, followed up by Rampaging Ferocidon into Chandra, Torch Of Defiance. That's a hard start to beat no matter what deck you're playing and Harane decided not to fight over that game any more.
The 4 Colour Energy mirror went into its third game and both player found themselves in a bit of a ground stall. Cubs, Rogue Refiners, Vizier Of Many Faces and Whirler Virtuoso, along with thopters, littered the board making it hard for either player to force damage through. Kowalski landed a Vraska, Relic Seeker to take charge, little did he know that the Japanese Hall Of Famer was on a planeswalkers plan of his own holding a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and a Vraska of his own. A devastating combat phase left the board almost empty bar Vraska for Kowalski and a Servant Of The Conduit for Watanabe. Kowalski followed up that combat phase with a Nissa, Steward Of Elements to go down his own planeswalker route. Watanabe untapped and slammed Nicol Bolas with the hope it could win him the game on the spot, Kowalski had one card left in his hand with a treasure and a land up, unfortunately for Yuuya that last card was Negate for his big bad planeswalker. Watanabe came back from the countered planeswalker with another planeswalker, one that resolves this time, in the form of Chandra, Torch Of Defiance. The four mana planeswalker found him a Whirler Virtuoso and Watanabe was on track to start gaining speed. Kowalski peeled the top card of his library, it was exactly what he needed; River's Rebuke. He cast the six mana blue spell and the game was over. Poland now were one win away from the trophy and the prize money, only Shota Yasooka and Kenta Harane stood in their way.
Kaczmarczyk's and Harane's last game had slowed down a tad in comparison to the first two. Harane had boarded in Fairgrounds Warden as extra removal for Rampaging Ferocidon but that wouldn't stop the red dinosaur from taking some life points from Harane when he cast an Angel Of Invention, which was swiftly dealt with. Harane's life points were in jeopardy and had to do something drastic. He got the Ferocidon off the board in combat with a block and came back with and Angel Of Invention which connected the turn after to bring Harane back up to 11. Kaczmarczyk couldn't find a way to deal with the flying lifelinker so imagine his annoyance when a second one joined the fray. A few turns later Harane had secured the game to bring Japan level on matches, it was down to Glogowski and Yasooka.
Shota flew out of the gates in his final game; Bomat Courier into Kari Zev, Skyship Raider knocking Glogowski down to ten very quickly. Glogowski wasn't without a plan though and dropped a Drake Haven on turn 3 while holding up a Renewed Faith but he was in a little trouble. He hadn't found his fifth land and Yasooka was pressuring with the Hazoret he had just cast, and to top it all of the Bomat Courier has six cards underneath it. An attack from Yasooka prompted Glogowski to cycle two Cast Outs and make two Drakes to block with, that got him to the next turn where he found his fifth land. Glogowski dropped Authority Of The Consuls and sat back holding a settle The Wreckage, Yasooka saw through this though and declined to attack with his Hazoret. Glogowski found himself at 5 life, the beating had seemed to stop but he knew something was brewing on the opposite side of the table. Yasooka has cashed in the Courier for a brand new full grip of cards and now had a lot of resources to work with. A Bomat Courier and Rampaging Ferocidon came down for the Japanese team to put even more pressure on Glogowski, all he could retaliate with was a Fumigate to get him back up to 7. With a pass back to Yasooka, Glogowski needed something to go right for him to survive this turn. Unfortunately mistakes aren't something Yasooka makes. Shota drew his card, weighed up his options and concluded thusly: he threw three cards at Glogowski thanks to Hazoret and then sent the team in. That was all she wrote as the Polish team couldn't muster anything to combat the red god and Japan had sealed the victory.
Japan 2-Poland 1
So after a long weekend of Magic, many teams fell and one emerged victorious.
Congratulations to Japan on their win, there were some bumps along the way but in the end the better team won.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at the World Magic Cup, well be back next year to do it all again.
Keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates and remember to check out Arcane Cards for all your Magic: The Gathering needs.
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