Player’s Championship Qualifier/Edge of Eternities Store Champs
The end of August brought 18 Standard players to our latest event this past weekend, duking it out for some sweet Store Champs promos, prizing, and of course the coveted invite to our 2nd Player’s Championship at the end of the year. While some red cards did come out to play this time around, it was yet again Esper Pixie that bounced its way to a win. This time in the hands of local Mardu Guy™️, Brad Perry, who had to defeat Jayden Szymanski’s take on Mono Red in the finals. There has to be something in the water here, as we have back-to-back tournaments with not a Vivi Ornitier to be seen! Let’s take a look at Brad’s version of Esper as well as the rest of our Top 8!
Brad Perry – Esper Pixie (1st)
Jayden Szymanski – Mono Red (2nd)
Adam Joyce – Temur Battlecrier (3rd-4th)
Connor Cheney – Izzet Aggro (3rd-4th)
Tim Goodine – Selesnya Kona (5th-8th)
Cody Leblanc – Esper Pixie (5th-8th)
Michael Cameron – Azorius Aggro (5th-8th)
Michael Giles – Azorius Control (5th-8th)
The powerful Wizard Brad Perry was kind of enough to lend me some of his time and let me pick his brain about the game we all love!
T: Congratulations Brad! This is going to be your 2nd Player’s Championship! Last year I believe you qualified through the Leaderboard with consistent Top 8 finishes throughout the yar, but this time you absolutely dominated a Qualifier to get your invite. How does it feel closing one out and being the Top Dawg of the weekend?
B: Hey Travis, thanks for having me. It’s great to be here. It’s been a good while since I’ve been the “top dawg”, so it feels good to take an event down. Halifax players are tough, so it’s never easy winning an event. That being said, I’m MUCH happier knowing I’ve qualified rather than needing to keep putting up good performances to keep my spot.
T: We do have some real talent tucked away in our little corner of the world!
So, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been slinging red cards. Sometimes with black, sometimes with black AND white. Sometimes without the red! So, what led you to move away from your Mardu brews and pick up this Pixie deck?
B: Trust me, I have been trying to get a Mardu list to work in Standard. The biggest issue is that the card advantage in blue is really hard to keep up with.
I had been playing Pixie in the times of Hopeless Nightmare, so the shell was familiar. The reason I got pushed into blue was for Cryogen Relic. I played against fellow Qualifier Connor Cheney, and the amount of cards he drew off of Relic showed me that it was worth playing.
T: It’s funny how such an unassuming little cantrip can end up being so impactful!
Do you have any favourite moments in the tournament? Sweet lines or funny interactions?
B: Aside from laughing at Cody for playing Hallowed Fountain turn one against Mike Giles, not really.
T: Wait, I don’t get why Hallowed Fountain is funny.
B: Very fine card, just not in Edge of Eternities.
T: OH, RIGHT LOL!!
So, what does testing look like for Brad Perry? Is it just getting ideas and trying them out? Do you have a group you test with or bounce ideas off of? Any favourite kinds of Magic content that you learn from?
B: Testing usually involved playing Arena while trying to keep a 3-year-old out of something she shouldn’t be into. I don’t really have a dedicated play test group, but I have a group of deft hands that I can always bounce (usually bad) ideas off of.
T: That’s awesome! I’ve been asking the people who have re-qualified this one, so I’ll ask you too. Now that you’re onto your 2nd Player’s Champs, what would winning the whole ting mean to you?
B: It would be pretty validating. I haven’t really won any big event in a long while, so being able to claim those kinds of bragging rights would be pretty sick.
Congratulations to Brad Perry for qualifying once again for the Player’s Championship this December, and to the rest of our Top 8 for a great performance! There are only 4 more chances this year to earn an invite through a Player’s Championship Qualifier, with 4 slots going to the Top 4 unqualified Points Holders! Our next Player’s Championship Qualifier will be Modern on September 27th so mark your calendars and we’ll see you there!
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Written By: Travis Benedict Pro Tour Competitor, Cat Lover |
