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.

My Turbo Sealed deck, a mix of Vampires and Dinos in Black and White

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.

The possible build from JayR’s card pool which we also discussed.

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.

My Day 1 Sealed deck already registered and ready for deck building.

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 Day 1 Deck on a Red-White Dinosaurs strategy with Settle the Wreckage & WSA reset card.

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.

Our GP HK Post Day 1 Hotpot Dinner

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.

It is already a day late for Christmas but not yet too late for a greeting, right? Merry Christmas dear followers and hopefully you’ve enjoyed the holiday break with your family and friends.

One probable reason for this short blog update is that I was pretty swamped with work up until the second half of this month, which was mostly spent on the requirements for graduate school.

Anyhow, with one week left for the year, I will try to catch up with the pending blog posts, starting with my Grand Prix Hong Kong experience last October and ending with the recent Magic: the Gathering event here in Iloilo City. I think I’ll also include the activities and seminars on Disaster Risk Reduction that I’ve attended related to my work at the City Planning and Development office. Let us hope for a barrage of words in mind for me to use for these write-ups.

That’s a wrap. Merry Christmas once again and until the next post.

With my recent busy schedule of attending seminars and workshops related to Urban Planning, I have been thinking if I conduct my seminar for an introduction to Magic: the Gathering. In this way, I can present the hobby in a sort of formal but fun platform

and at the same time recruit new members of the MTG Iloilo Community. This is also a way to introduce Magic to schools, to discuss its positive effects on critical/mathematical thinking and also to appreciate it as a stress outlet to most kids who are facing problems in their youth.

I have not yet planned the final layout of the discussion but it will be most likely about the introduction and the basic rules and goals of the game, along with the parts of the card and card types. I cannot get to detail those at the moment so just stay tuned for post updates. For now, I think my best reference is Wizards’ New to Magic Page.

I am also in the process of coordinating with the new players and their schools with regard to the possible inclusion in one of their future school events. That’s a wrap for now. Until the next post.

Here are the recent tourney events regarding the Commander format at our local Magic: the Gathering Iloilo community. I have been trying to make it possible that the format will be part of the weekly tournament schedule, and so far the player attendance has been good, even at a minimum. Last Sunday gathered seven players and here is the tourney results after 3 rounds of gameplay:

Sunday Duel Commander @ IBAM
Top 3:
1st, Jason (Griselbrand)
2nd, Allen (Narset, Enlightened Master)
3rd, Christian (Olivia Voldaren)

7 players, 3 rounds gameplay

The event was held at IBAM in Marymart Mall, the newest venue for our local events. The place can currently accommodate eight players at max and I am working with the owner on how to further expand if ever more people will be playing.

Here are the pics I took yesterday during the Duel Commander tournament:

Click Here

Another Saturday means another tournament day for us MtG enthusiasts. Two events were scheduled that day, with the Standard constructed tournament in the morning and the Magic Celebration in the afternoon. For the morning’s event, I’ve decided to play Mono Green rendition with a splash of White for the main decked Unflinching Courage. Here is the list:

Maindeck
2 Arbor Elf
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Predator Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Ulvenwald Tracker
4 Witchstalker
4 Wolfir Silverheart

4 Rancor
3 Selesnya Charm
4 Unflinching Courage

13 Forest
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden

Sideboard
2 Blind Obedience
2 Fog
2 Garruk Relentless
3 Ranger’s Guile
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Triumph of Ferocity

It runs like the usual Mono Green Aggro but you have the option of the powerful card combo of Witchstalker and Unflinching Courage. The Armadillo Cloak is just an effective trump for aggro matchups, aside from your creatures being fatter than them.

The tournament had ten players and so four rounds of gameplay. Here is a short recap of my matchups.

Round 1 vs Barely Boros Aggro (Benedict)

Both games were dominating on my side as I held the fort with my bigger creatures while I bash with the stalker enhanced with Unflinching Courage. I boarded in Fog and the ooze for Wolfir Silverhearts.

Round 2 vs Bant Hexproof (Sir Herman)

Game one was somewhat a race with me starting aggressive, but he held off with a first striking Invisible Stalker. With a few aura enhancements later, he was able to kill me off with two swings as I didn’t draw my life gaining aura to stem the damage.

In game two, he mulliganed to five with only one mana source when he accidentally attacked into my Knight token with his Avacyn’s Pilgrim. It was just one-sided after that.

Game three saw an early paladin on his side as I struggled to setup my board and I didn’t draw by removals. He just killed me a few turns later after enchanting Rancor and Spectral Flight on his dude.

Round 3 vs Zombies (Emerson)

This should be a difficult matchup if his creature would curve on the first three turns. Unfortunately, he got stuck on two lands on the first game but somewhat kept attacking with two Knight of Infamy. I got my Predator Ooze and Witchstalker on the offensive and didn’t look back.

He had mediocre draws on Game Two which got me on the advantage again as played elf into stalker into Wolfir Silverheart. It was easy peasy.

Round 4 vs Jund (Mao)

I was crushed in Game 1 as he just killed my critters and went offensive with double Thragtusk. I boarded Ranger’s Guile, two bombs, Garruk Relentless, and ooze and boarded out all the aura spells.

Game two was quite interesting. I got early offense with ooze and stalker while he went with Olivia Voldaren. He setup a play to ping and gain control of my ooze but I had Ranger’s Guile to block it. He went for it again on the next turn but I got the second Ranger’s Guile to trump it. He eventually had to chump block with Olivia to stay alive, and held off with Huntmaster of the Fells the next turn. I top decked a Selesnya Charm to trample for the win. I boarded in again my third charm for game three.

The decider game was no Farseek on his turn two while I went to Strangleroot to Predator Ooze. He pillared the geist but no Tragic Slip for the ooze as it got bigger on the few turns of attack. I added Witchstalker and later on Wolfir Silverheart as I noticed that he was drawing lands. His Huntmasters held the fort but then I draw my Selesnya Charms again, trampling for the win.

The deck’s final record was 3-1 and I am very happy with its turnout. I think it’s an effective version for Green aggro based on the current metagame in Standard. Theros will be out in a few weeks and I am hoping this kind of deck strategy will carry over after the rotation.

Until the next post.