November Player’s Championship Qualifier Recap
November Player’s Championship Qualifier Recap
This past weekend, we had 17 players battle it out for our final Player’s Championship Qualifier of the year. This event was the Standard format as it was also our Spider-Man Final Battle event! Many considered this Vivi Ornitier’s last hurrah, as it had been heavily hinted at that the Vivi Cauldron deck would be getting hit in some capacity by the November 10th Banned and Restricted announcement. As of me writing this, those people were proven correct, with the announcement banning Vivi Ornitier, Proft’s Eidetic Memory, and Screaming Nemesis in Standard (Also Heartfire Hero in Pioneer… but who’s playing Pioneer anyway?). Last hurrah it was indeed, with 2-time Player’s Champs attendee Doug Maguire outdoing himself with the deck. In our last Qualifier, Doug racked up wins to a Top 4 finish, and this time showing up in the Finals! In the end, it was Brad Perry’s attack on the metagame that paid off. Brad’s Orzhov Control deck has been pressed to the grindstone and sharpened, fine-tuned to destroy the two most prevalent decks in Standard: Mono-Red and Vivi Cauldron. Brad made a Top 8 appearance with this deck in our last Standard Qualifier, but with no opposing Control deck to stop him this time, Brad cleared a path to victory. Let’s take a look at Brad’s unique version of Control as well as the rest of our Top 8!
Brad Perry – Orzhov Control (1st)
Doug Maguire – Vivi Cauldron (2nd)
Zach Nauffts – Dimir Midrange (3rd-4th)
Tijler de Jong – Azorius Aggro (3rd-4th)
Matt Bailey – Sultai Reanimator (5th-8th)
Cody Leblanc – Temur Battlecrier Combo (5th-8th)
Travis Benedict – Mono-Red Aggro (5th-8th)
Kosta Alekseev – Dimir Midrange (5th-8th)
Brad was once again kind of enough to give me some of his time and his thoughts in regard to his latest Player’s Championship Qualifier win! Here’s what he had to say about his deck, the Player’s Championship event and the Standard format!
T: Hey Brad! Congrats on winning yet another Player’s Champs Qualifier! I believe you are one of just 3 people to win more than one of our Qualifiers, with both of your wins coming from Standard!
With having such good results in the format, are you feeling confident going into the Player’s Championship knowing the Constructed format is Standard?
B: Hi Travis, thanks for having me, it’s great to be here. I don’t know if confident is the word. I think I really benefitted from some pretty favourable matchups on Saturday. Plus, with the whole format being shaken up by the new set releasing soon, who knows what Standard is going to look like?
That all being said, I like the deck I played, and I think the core of it can translate into a brave new Standard world.
T: You mention hitting good matchups, but don’t discredit yourself! I know we talked before about why you played this deck and the metagame you’re trying to attack. I think a deck like this is a very smart, conscious decision that paid off!
Avatar is looking like quite a strong set for Standard. Are there any new cards in particular that you’ve seen that you think are going to greatly impact the format?
B: Being the President of the Ketramose fan club, I’m toying around with the cards that have Airbending. Low key, I think Shared Roots could be one of the most played cards in the set. A lot of the cards seem pretty sweet though.
T: Even Glimpse the Core saw some play in Standard, and that was just a worse Farseek, so a Rampant Growth will be awesome to have in the format. And of course, there’s the most recent bans. Having built your deck with Vivi Cauldron and Mono-Red in mind, do you think you’re going to just tweak your list, or are you going to start from scratch and decide what to deck against if you continue to play this deck?
B: We will see what shakes out of the new set, but I think my deck can be tweaked. Might not need all the main deck Authority of the Consuls if the format starts shifting into more of a Midrange/Control direction.
T: That makes a lot of sense! With a wide-open format and a new set about to come out, I’m excited to see what you show up with on December 6th!
Before I let you go enjoy the rest of your night, are there any cool moments from your tournament, shout outs, or any final thoughts you’d like to add?
B: I’d like to apologize to the families of every creature I killed on Saturday. I’m sure there were times when they felt like there was Nowhere to Run when I told them to Get Lost. On that Day of Judgment, I’m sure many of them weren’t ready to admit that it was their Ride’s End. I just want to assure their families that there is no Deadly Cover-Up, and at The End of the day, I’m glad things turned out the way they did.
Wow, some beautiful yet sadistic closing thoughts by local Mardude, Brad Perry! With a few multi-event winners, at the end of the year we have 10 participants with Qualifier invites and 6 spots coming from our At-Large Leaderboard! If you do not yet have your invite and you are in the Top 6 performers, then congratulations! We’ll see you at the 2nd HFXGames Player’s Championship on December 6th!
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Written By: Travis Benedict Pro Tour Competitor, Cat Lover |