Tournaments reports are always in a way demanding in terms of the publication time as it should be out in my personal schedule the week after the event. As of the current, I still have three more to write and thoroughly discuss but then being not in a mood is taking its toll. Plus, that I have to cope up with the office work and preparation for graduate school’s Urban Planning diploma next semester.

What I am sharing today is the Grand Prix Hong Kong 2017 Day 1 recap. It is very long overdue but I still wanted to share the experience anyway. I can also say that this is a relevant tournament for me as it was the first time I made it on Day 2 in a major Limited event. With the deck building practice and familiarization of the archetypes in Ixalan Limited, that maybe sort of helped me and a little luck of course. Let me follow up my Part 1 report with what we did on that Friday afternoon.

Day 0 Revisited

After registering for that Standard LCQ, we still could not make it to the right number of players so we could get the byes as the first prize. On-site registration for the Grand Prix was about to open that time and so JayR and I went to fall in line on that side of the venue. After a few moments, the registration started. Each was given lanyards, IDs, a sling bag and the GP HK Playmat after confirming our registration online. I think the foil promo card will be distributed that Saturday morning.

I then went to back to check on the Standard LCQ as there was still no announcement or update from the judges. It was still short of four players so I just decided to tell the organizers to erase my name and move it to the other event that JayR was joining which was the Turbo Sealed event. They had a registration fee of 90 HKD but since we already registered months ago, we were given 3 vouchers for a 50% discount on selected side events. We each used one voucher so it only cost us 45 HKD. We were then paired as there will be only one round match and then given six Ixalan boosters each. We were given a time limit to build a 40-card deck out of those boosters. I recall to have built a Black-White Vampires aggro deck and JayR made a Red-Green Dinosaurs.

We then started the match and ended with me winning in three games. He had a good card pool but I think I was able to answer all his threats while pushing my damage with small life linking Vampires. We submitted our results and got the winning points tallied before we go to the Airbnb apartment. Before that I dropped by RK Post’s booth to buy some tokens to be used tomorrow.

The venue, Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, was two-MTR rides away from the Air BnB apartment that we rented as I stayed with JayR’s family. We were not familiar with the exact location of the apartment at first so after dropping off the nearest MTR station, we used Google maps to locate the address. It was a two-block walk from the station but the hard part is that the block going to the apartment is somewhat inclined and it was difficult to walk upward while carrying the baggage. I think I had my best sleep that afternoon after an overnight travel and Friday gaming. I woke up that evening and prepared my things and other stuff needed for the big day tomorrow. I also discussed with JayR his card choices for his pool earlier from that Turbo Sealed event and the possible deck setup. I wrapped up the night with two cans of Tiger Beer while checking some Ixalan draft videos.

Main Event Day 1

I woke up around 7:00am and checked on JayR if he is also up. I checked to see if there is coffee available and immediately got a cup along with some bread. I then rechecked my stuff to bring to the Grand Prix: ballpen, pad paper, sleeves, dice and deck box, towels, my wallet and a power bank for recharging. We left at around 7:30 am and since we only have to travel by train, we would still be arriving early. The player meeting is set to be at 9:00 am. We arrived at around past 8:00am so we dropped by McDonald’s located on the ground floor for the breakfast meal. It was just in time when we went back to the venue that the player seating was being posted.

The Sealed Deck

The player meeting started with a short introduction and welcome message by the head judge. A total of 731 participants was announced in the Grand Prix. The sealed packages were then distributed on the tables, which were previously listed and registered. That saved us time opening the packs, listing them on the checklist and passing them on a judge count like those done in the previous GPs. We were then instructed to double check the cards on the list if it really were included in the package.

While listing the cards, I had noticed some decent Rares from the Black color but the relevant ones were Settle the Wreckage and Wakening Sun’s Avatar for White and Rampaging Ferocidon for Red. With some playable removals (i.e. Ixalan’s Binding) and cheap-costed creatures that go along with the theme, that convinced me to go to the Red-White Dinos route. I then added a Green splash for the RG Dinosaur that deals one damage to each creature when it enters the battlefield. Here is what the deck looked like.

The Matchups

Here is the recap of the matchups results per round.

Round 1 vs Yau, Winnie – Won
Round 2 vs Chun Yuan, Liu – Won
Round 3 vs Yu, Yin – Lost
Round 4 vs Ka Chun, Chu – Won
Round 5 vs Jeong, Wonjun – Lost
Round 6 vs Chong, Ernest – Won
Round 7 vs Lark, Robert – Lost
Round 8 vs Gu, Ruo Chen – Won
Round 9 vs Profeta, Francis Robert – Won

I would recall one of the highlights in the matches was during Round 8 Game 3 wherein we were just top decking and outlasting each other’s creatures. We were trading up until I have drawn a new creature and he had none. That took two more turns of attack before I got him down to zero and he just had drawn blanks.

The match with Francis Profeta, a Philippine National Champion, was also intense as it was the elimination stage. The good thing though was that my two White bombs answered his threats until I was able to push through the lethal damage. Final Day 1 Record, 6-3 and qualified for Day 2. Woot!

I was very happy that time to be able to qualify in a limited major event. I guess the preparation had its worth. After a few browsing at the sellers’ booth looking for the cards needed for our Modern deck back at home, we decided to go back to the apartment. It was just in time that JayR’s mother-in-law bought some ingredients for her planned hotpot dinner and we got excited to have a taste of it. It was a heavy meal and I enjoyed every sip and bite of the noodles, squid balls, kimchi, tofu, and stuff.

I then rested for a while after dinner and checked the GP coverage at the mothership website. There were three 9-0 players on Day 1, one of which was the hometown favorite Lee Shi Tian. I think there were only five or six of us Filipinos that made it to the second day. With that setup, I focused on the previous draft practice we did and noting the possible archetypes and signals which I am still not very familiar. I then read some more Ixalan draft guide before I ended the night.

That is a wrap for Day 1. Day 2 to be continued.