Player’s Championship Qualifier 12 Recap
We’re nearing the end of the year, with the end of our 12th Player’s Championship Qualifier. 19 players came out to battle it out in the Modern format for an invite to our end of the year tournament in December. In a Top 8 filled to the brim with blue cards, the only 2 decks not playing any main deck cards that say “counter target spell” met in the finals. 2 different flavours of the popular energy-themed aggro deck duked it out. Olivier Mayer’s Mardu version of the deck defeated Chris Brennan’s Jeskai build. Both players opted to add a 3rd colour instead of the traditional Boros list with Blood Moons, proving that even with an established top dog of the format, you can still innovate! Let’s take a look at their unique styles of the deck as well as the rest of our Top 8 deck lists!
Olivier Mayer – Mardu Energy (1st)
Chris Brennan – Jeskai Energy (2nd)
Douglas Maguire – Mono-Blue Tameshi Belcher (3rd-4th)
Michael Giles – Mono-Blue Tron (3rd-4th)
Mark MacGregor – Dimir Frog (5th-8th)
Gabe Vienneau – Azorius Tameshi Belcher (5th-8th)
Connor Cheney – Dimir Frog (5th-8th)
Justin Hockney – Dimir Frog (5th-8th)
Our 10th Qualified player took some time to answer a few questions about his deck and play style in general. I threw a few questions at Olivier, and here’s what he had to say!
T: So, I see you picked public enemy number one for the tournament! I know you as a Yawgmoth main, what made you switch to the Energy deck?
O: I played Yawgmoth before MH3 came out and it was fun, but since then I wasn’t able to find how to build the deck to still be fun and competitive. I tried Ruby Storm for a bit, but it felt like it was also missing legs, so I went with Mardu Energy. It’s aggressive but it can also play a longer game if needed. I have been liking it and it fits my play style a bit more than the other decks I tried.
T: Nice, and what you pick the black splash over any other colour, or even the regular Boros version?
O: I like black, I play it in Standard and Pioneer as well. The One Ring is also very present, and Bowmaster feels like an ok answer to it. It also makes bodies to feed Guide of Souls and a flipped Ajani. And of course, Thoughtseize is really good in a lot of matchups. Black gives it a more midrange feel, which is a style of play I like a lot.
T: Were there any matchups you were afraid of seeing?
O: Anything Eldrazi is pretty scary, I don’t have ways to remove them once they are out really and I don’t have counter magic to prevent them. Luckily I only played against one matchup that had Eldrazi (Blue Tron).
T: Are you qualified for the Modern Regional Championship in January? If so, would you run back the same deck provided there are no crazy modern shake-ups?
O: I am not but if I was, yes I would most likely play the same deck.
Congratulations to Olivier Mayer on qualifying for our end of year Player’s Championship Tournament on December 14th, as well as the rest of our Top 8! Our next (and final) Player’s Championship Qualifier will be Pioneer on November 23rd! There will be 5 invites given out to our top non-qualified Leaderboard leaders, so check that out and see if you’re close to earning one of our at-large qualifications!
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Written By: Travis Benedict Pro Tour Competitor, Cat Lover |
