Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

The long wait is over.

In just 3 more rounds of play Malaysia will crown her new National Champions and find out who is the best Magic player in the country in 2008. 68 players played 12 long Swiss rounds in order to find out who are the best 8 players of the tournament. and the top 8 players will then have to play through 3 rounds of single elimination Standard Constructed before they are able to take home the title of Malaysia’s Best Magic Player in 2008.



The top 8 modified Single Elimination finals have no time limit. The matches will be best three out of five games; with the two non-advancing semifinalists playing off to determine the third- and fourth-place finisher.
The pairings for the top 8 are as follows:

Adrian Kuan – ‘Swan's Combo’
vs
Chong Kin Leong – ‘5C Reveilark’

Nico – ‘Dragonstorm’
vs
Ng Wei San – ‘Cheap Deck Wins’

Jason Yap – ‘Jacob’s Biscuit’
vs
Terry Soh – ‘Elf’

Kok Kim Yin – ‘B/G Elves’
vs
Au Yong Wai Kin – ‘Reveilark Combo’

Quarterfinals – Terry Soh vs. Jason Yap



Jason Yap is playing the deck that is smoking hot in the metagame at the moment (pardon the pun), tearing nationals after nationals apart; a Mono-Red aggro monstrosity which is also the most played archetype in the tournament. Jason and his team put up a really unique twist on the deck, and it has proven to be very successful for Jason.

Player Name: Jason Yap
Deck Name: Jacob's Biscuit

21 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Keldon Megalith
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Skred
2 Magus of the Scroll
2 Disintegrate
4 Blood Knight
4 Incinerate
4 Flame Javelin
3 Ashenmoor gouger
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Demigod of Revenge

Sideboard -
2 Faerie Macabre
4 Sulfurous Blast
2 Pithing Needle
3 Martyr of Ashes
1 Disintegrate
3 Sulfur Elemental



Meanwhile, Terry is also playing a very popular deck which lost much of its popularity with the surge of Mono-Red decks due to the inability for Terry’s G/B Elves to deal with the black and big creatures like the Ashenmoor Gouger and Demigod of Revenge. However, Terry’s tweak of replacing the cheaper Terror for Eyeblight's Ending seems to be the key for a reemergence of the deck, and it has clearly serve Terry well for in this tournament.

Player Name : Terry Soh
Deck Name : Elf

3 Swamp
3 Forest
4 Mutavault
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Treetop Village
1 Pendelhaven
4 Thoughtseize
4 Profane Command
3 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Nameless Inversion
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Chameleon Colossus
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Civic Wayfinder

Sideboard -
1 Shriekmaw
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Razormane Masticore
2 Primal Command
2 Sudden Spoiling
2 Faerie Macabre
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Squall Line
2 Cloudthresher
1 Extirpate

Decklists courtesy of Mtg-Malaysia.com - http://mtg-malaysia.com/smf2/index.php?topic=342.0

There was plenty of cheerful vibes from both sides as the players shuffled up their decks with idle chatter between the two. As pieces of paper with their names that were printed out in large bold letters are put at the end of their table as makeshift public scorecards, the Head Judge announced that there will be no sharing of decklists for this event before the start of the match.



Both players seemingly unconcerned continued their shuffling and got ready for the match. Both players seem already clear about what each other are playing, and what to expect from each other. In fact, earlier, Jason had tactically conceded a round during the Swiss rounds so that he can arrange the top 8 pairings to be in his advantage, and successfully and brilliantly maneuvered a matchup that was desirable to him.

Game 1

Jason won the die roll and unsurprisingly elected to go first. What was surprising however was that he had no plays for his first 2 turns and Terry instead, made the first move by playing a Tarmogoyf off a painland. It became obvious why Jason kept his hand however as he plays a Magus of the Moon which was quickly followed by an Ashenmoor Gouger. Meanwhile, Terry’s board position is looking bleak as he misses a land drop and only had a board of ‘mountains’ and a harmless Tarmogoyf.



Jason took Terry down to 17 with an attack with the Magus, and was ready to add another 6 more with his team, but Terry was ready for it. A Slaughter Pact hits the Magus, which gave Terry access to his mana so that he could cast an Eyeblight’s Ending on Jason’s Gouger, taking only 1 damage from his painland rather than the intended 6. Terry’s Tarmogoyf, no longer just a table decoration, stepped in to deal 3 damage to Jason, but Jason keeps the tension high despite just having seen his team all sent to the ‘yard with painful end of turn Javelin and Incinerate, dropping Terry down to 8. A Maniac joined Jason’s board, but Terry had to take another damage from his own lands as he taps it for a green mana to cast his late Civic Wayfinder so that he can look for a forest and hopefully stop his reliance on the painlands. But the damage from the painlands are to be fatal as Jason plays another 2 Incinerates on Terry’s end of turn that takes him down to one. And when Jason plays his Keldon Megalith, Terry knows it was but just a matter of formality and concedes.

Jason Yap 1 – Terry Soh 0

Jason jokingly points out that Terry gave him a free Flame Javelin with the 4 damage he took from his painlands. All Terry could do was smile and shrug. Jason also commented on the Eyeblight’s Ending instead of the more common Terror, both agreed it being a great choice in the metagame especially how Gouger and the Demigod is both resistant to Terror.

With sideboarding done, the players quickly moved into game 2.



Game 2

Terry takes the first turn, playing a Treetop Village, while Jason’s first turn Figure of Destiny spells trouble for Terry. All Terry had was a Llanowar Elf and he takes 2 as the Figure of Destiny becomes a 2/2. Terry then tries to take control of the board with a turn 3 Chameleon Colossus, but is denied by Jason with an end of turn Flame Javelin. The Figure takes another 2 off Terry, and Terry relentlessly kept up his play with a Civic Wayfinder and a Wren’s Run Vanquisher. Jason passes his turn without doing anything, and Terry attacks cautiously with just his Vanquisher. The elf took Jason down to 17, and Terry plays another Colossus. Again however, the Colossus was forced to meet an early demise as Jason has a Skred for it.



It was then clear however why Jason was playing such a patient game as he plays his Sulfurous Blast during his main phase, clearing the board and taking both of them down another 3. Terry however calmly puts a Razormane Masticore into play who takes a huge chunk of Jason’s life that takes him down to 9.



Terry then adds another Tarmogoyf to his party. Meanwhile, things are not looking too good for Terry as well as Jason now has two Figure of Destiny to his side and enough mana to make them 8/8 monsters. With 6 mana available, Jason took some time to think and chose to burn the Masticore away with a Disintegrate instead of investing the mana into the Figures. Terry, obvious to the fact that his grasp on the game is quickly slipping away and Jason is poised to steal the game, attacks with his Tarmogoyf, taking Jason down to 5 before playing another Tarmogoyf. But things does not seem to be going in Terry’s way as Jason strengthens his board position, playing two Blood Knights, and laying a land, emptying his hand. Terry knows the turn to do or die is coming up soon and he too empties his hand, playing a Wren’s Run Vanquisher.



At a critical turn, Terry spends a very long time thinking, aligning both sides’ creatures through possible combat situations, and in the end, sent his army into the red zone.



Jason blocks calmly, allowing damage to go through to put him down to 1, but ultimately his survival led to the demise of Terry as Jason invests the mana to make both of the Figures of Destiny 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with flying and first strike, to do 16 damage in a turn to Terry.



Jason Yap 2 – Terry Soh 0

Game 3

Terry leads off with a Llanowar Elves, while Jason started with a Figure of Destiny. The elf takes 1 off Jason while Jason’s Figure of Destiny takes 2 from Terry as Jason invests the mana into the Kithkin. A Nameless Inversion sends Jason’s Figure of Destiny to his destiny, and Terry animates his Mutavault to chip into Jason’s life totals. Jason plays his second Figure of Destiny, sends it into combat to take Terry down to 16, players his third Figure of Destiny, and passes his turn. Luckily for Terry, he has a Shriekmaw, that he casted in full, which took care of one of the Figures.



Not willing to let up on his assault, Jason attacks with the Figure for another 2 damage, Incinerates Terry’s Shriekmaw, and even Llanowar Elves was not spared as he met a Disintegrate, clearing Terry’s side of the board. Undaunted, Terry plays Primal Command choosing to tutor up a Tarmogoyf and deny Jason a draw by placing one of Jason’s lands onto the top of his library.



Determined to pile on the damage, Jason’s surviving Figure of Destiny attacks for 4, taking Terry down to 10. Terry then tries to hold the ground with a Tarmogoyf and a Kitchen Finks, but Jason decides to take the fight to the air, and plays a Demigod of Revenge that takes Terry down to 7. Terry knows it’s all but over as he attacks with his Tarmogoyf, and another attack from the Demigod takes Terry down to 2 and Jason shows Terry his Disintegrate that seals the game.

Jason Yap 3 – Terry Soh 0


Terry, Jason and his teammates recounts and chats about the match that just concluded.

Jason Yap wins the Quarterfinals match defeating Terry Soh 3-0!

Complaints and feedback will be very greatly appreciated and can be sent to qj.wong@gmail.com or posted at mtg-malaysia.com's forums.