Picks of Pics: Lenten Special
Written by Oliver Mastilero
Friday, 17 April 2009 10:30
Good Day to all MTG Peeps! Here I am again bringing you the 2 day tournament picture compilations which happened last April 4 and April 6. Without further ado I will be breaking down the two tournaments in details…
April 4, 2009 Standard Tournament at MSIS

It was a jam-packed Saturday as 20 player showed up to do battles for supremacy! A new record for our local tournament event was achieved here in MSIS. Looks like Magic Iloilo is gaining much numbers in the past few weeks and the event is a 5 rounder which means more Magic!

The Black Green Elves are back! Lead by Chameleon Colossus with a Loxodon Warhammer and a second Warhammer is about to be casted for more life gain by Isaiah aka Speedy. On the other hand, Carl’s Blightning Beatdown deck couldn’t do much but to just stare on the lone superstar of the elves.

Here comes the Broodmate Dragon just like from the famous Nintendo computer game Double Dragon and its token which are known as Billy and Jimmy Lee. This is what you’ll see when two 5 Color Control collides.

Furthermore, a new twist on 5 Color Control with Liliana Vess and Jace Beleren on its main deck that earned Tonton the lead versus mirror matches like that of Rei. Although the Obelisk of Alara was shutdown by the Pithing Needle, the two Planeswalkers keeps on giving Tonton the card advantage he wanted.

The Soul of the World has once again returned but a Runed Halo form Emben tamed the Big Fellow for a moment. Although not for long as PR Melo manage to bounce the Progenitus stopper and the Legendary Hydra continues his onslaught!

Perfect timing! The death of Ralph’s three planeswalkers namely Garruk, Elspeth and Chandra (left) was caused by the rarely played Violent Ultimatum of Yammy.

Omar’s ultimate answer to Ralph’s Planeswalkers as well to other control decks, Thorn of Amethyst and Gaddock Teeg keeping the 4 and up casting cost spells from playing as well as locking the control decks while his beefy’s keeps on bashing.

Just like Pro Tours and Grand Prix, this round table is setup for the top players in the tournament especially those with unbeaten record, Mark Ian aka Zeichen (Boat Brew) goes head to head againt AJ (BW Tokens) in the feature match drawing spectators to watch how these duelists outwit each other.

A closer look to the matchup between Mark A. and AJ. The lone Stillmoon Cavalier of Zeichen making its final attack against the massive army of BW Tokens. Too bad none of the crits of AJ can deal with the headless horseman since it hosed the whole deck alone.

One of the known classic creature in Magic (Clone, top right) made its comeback in a Bant deck by Emben. Cloning the Cloudgoat Ranger of Nonoy, making his own army of Kithkins.

After the 5 exciting rounds of MTG, 8 players made it through the cut off to play for the top prize and the top 4 slot namely: Left-Right: Tonton (5 Color Control), Jayr (Merfolks), Makoy (Boat Brew), Isaiah (Elves), Ramon (5 Color Control), Mao (Boat Brew), PR (Dramatic Progenitus) proxied by Raymund, and AJ (Black White Tokens). And here are some of the actions in the top 8…

Progenitus made a surprise ambush on an attacking Wren’s Run Vanquisher that is carrying 2 Loxodon Warhammers, thanks to Dramatic Entrance, Mr. Protection from Everything temporarily gains flash.

“Touch me not!” dubbed Chameleon Colossus to Progenitus as Isaiah is about to equip the Warhammer to the Changeling and goes for the final damage and for the win! Thanks to Progenitus black bloodline he can’t even block the mighty Elf… err… whatever it is that has protection from black.

Banefire for 14! The new record here in MSIS conjured by Ramon to Tonton but unfortunately for him Tonton manage to bounce the Runed Halo with Cryptic Command and renamed Banefire to prevent the next one from happening.

After the quarterfinal matches these 4 guys conquer it all! From left: Tonton (finished 4th), Isaiah (nailed the 3rd spot), Mao (back to his winning ways as once again the Champ), and AJ (secured the 2nd place after an upset against Makoy).
Here’s a preview of the tournament area taken by Zeichen.
April 6, 2009 Araw ng Kagitingan/Holy Monday Standard Tournament at MSIS

It was just a matter of days since the last tournament for in this day was the “Araw ng Kagitingan” meaning no work and classes for everyone. Although 16 players showed up still it was a 5 rounder event.

PRgenitus does it again as the new addition Wispmare does what it supposes to do by eliminating the Halo from Progenitus as Tonton falls to be the first victim of Progenitus for the day.

The debut of Grixis Control from Nonoy that features Sedraxis Specter for the first time was seen in the tournament scene here on MSIS.

Too much tokens! An elf deck turns out to be a Green Black Token deck as a barrage of tokens came from Garruk (Beast) and Bitterblossom (Faeries, the facedown cards) by Isaiah infested the board in play. Even the Kitchen Finks and Obelisk of Alara of Omar couldn’t do much from stopping the Horde!
Although there were no picture of the top 8 players due to an unknown reason and maybe everyone is excited to play for the quarterfinals. The top 8 matches were: Rei (5 Color Control) vs JP (Blue White Lark); Makoy (Boat Brew) vs Tonton (5 Color Control); Mao (Boat Brew) vs Me (Black Green Elves); and Carl (Blightning Aggro) vs PR (Progenitus Combo). Here are some highlights of the game…

The Esper Charm from Rei made a perfect catch on JP’s hand as it rips off those 2 most important spell from JP namely Reveilark and Path to Exile.

Blightning Aggro by Carl proves to be one of the most efficient Aggro deck in the metagame as they flew off to victory lead by the maximized Figure of Destiny and the unearth dudes Hell’s Thunder and Shambling Remains. Giving no time for PR to setup his combo and letting Progenitus out to the battlefield.
After the quarterfinals the top 4 players slug it out to determine who will own the pot prize plus the foil Path to Exile and the matchups were: The mirror match between Mao and Makoy and the classic Aggro vs Control match between Carl and Rei.

The 5 Color Control firewalls, Wall of Reverence and Plumeveil of Rei helps contain the blazing damage caused by the fast and furious Blightning Beatdown deck of Carl. One of the major pains if you’re using burn is the life gain and that makes Wall of Reverence the most annoying card to deal with.

Thriller in MSIS! As the mirror match of the two Boat Brew decks between Makoy and Mao clashed on the top 4. One of the most exciting games I’ve ever seen wherein series of “what a play” moves by both players were witnessed but in the end Makoy manage to keep the advantage and knock off Mao in contention.
Too bad there is no victory pose for the top 4 players because the other 2 guys were not able to wait for the match between Mark and Mao that took a lot of time to finish. Congratulations to the winners and I’ll be seeing you next time!

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