Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

After 6 long rounds, out of 39, only 8 remain. Each of these 8 players must win another 3 rounds to win the ultimate prize, or be eliminated if they lose.

This is the top 8 coverage of PTQ: Berlin, The Comics Corner Tournament Center II, 3rd August 2008.



The top 8 players are made out of entirely veteran players, including PTQ top 8 regular Jason Yap, the 2007 Malaysian Champion Wong Weng Sheng, and Malaysia’s own international Magic star, multiple premiere event top 8s, Magic Invitational 2005 winner, and the Malaysian leader in lifetime Pro Points, Terry Soh. Also making top 8 is Manawerx co-founder Victor Gan. Rounding up the rest of the top 8 are veterans Ong Whey Whey, Loco, Arif and Jo.

The top 8 consists of a Faeries, 2 Mono-Red, 4 Kithkins and a Light From Within deck.

The matchups for the quarter finals are:

Left Bracket

(Faeries) Terry Soh VS Wong Weng Sheng (Kithkin)

(Mono-Red) Victor Gan VS Jo (Kithkin)

Right Bracket

(Mono-Red) Jason Yap VS Loco (Kithkin)

(Kithkin) Arif VS Ong Whey Whey (Kithkin)

The winners of each matches plays each other in the same bracket after the first round. The winners of each brackets plays each other for the finals.

Quarterfinals – Terry Soh VS Wong Weng Sheng

Game 1



Arguably the two most well-known players in the top 8 are paired up against each other for the first elimination round. Both players were cheerful and there was smiles all around as they chatted with each other and spectators. Before long however, both players got serious and the table quiet down as they shuffled each other’s decks and presented their decks.

The players drew their opening seven and Weng Sheng was content with his hand filled with many high casting costs creatures while Terry took a mulligan. Terry decided to keep his six and the players are ready to start the quarterfinals. Weng Sheng has nothing for his first turn while Terry made the first move with a Thoughtseize that presented him with a choice from 2 Cloudgoat Rangers, a Spectral Procession and a Thistledown Liege which he chose the earliest threat from the 4. Weng Sheng took first blood when his Wizened Cenn attacked for 2, and an end-of-turn Vendilion Clique took away Weng Sheng’s Liege. Terry passed the turn without doing anything and after spending a lot of time thinking about it, Weng Sheng played a second Wizened Cenn which was countered by Terry’s Cryptic Command. Weng Sheng pushed hard for damage as he attacked with his Wizened Cenn that got traded with Terry’s 3/1 Clique.



On his turn, Terry took one of Weng Sheng’s 2 Cloudgoat Rangers with a 2nd Thoughtseize, while Weng Sheng continued to put pressure on the board with a freshly drawn Figure of Destiny and Cloudgoat Ranger that got countered by Terry with a Broken Ambitions. A 4/4 Figure of Destiny made it in for 4, but was bounced back into Weng Sheng’s hand at end of his turn. Passing another turn without doing anything on his turn, Terry could only watch as Weng Sheng played Figure of Destiny and a Knight of Meadowgrain that promptly went slamming into the red zone the next turn. Facing a 4/4 Figure with 6 untapped white mana sources, Terry blocked the Knight with his 2 animated Mutavaults.



Unfortunately for Terry, Weng Sheng has a Rustic Clachan which he put to good use, giving the Knight a +1/+1 counter, surviving the double-block thanks to first strike damage. Weng Sheng turned the Figure of Destiny into an 8/8, and continued his assault on Terry’s life totals with his creatures. After chump blocking with his remaining Mutavault, untapped, drew, Terry failed to find an answer for the upcoming onslaught and conceded game 1.

Terry Soh 0 – Wong Weng Sheng 1

While the players reached out for their sideboards and mull over what cards to take out and what to take in, a quick glance around the room reveals that..



From a table away from the match, Whey Whey and Arif are locked into a grand battle with a huge army on each side.



Meanwhile next to them, Jo made quick work of Victor Gan in two very quick games and is very proud that his rather unorthodox deck is doing so well.



A few tables away, Loco and Jason Yap prepared for another game to see who goes through.

Quarterfinals – Terry Soh VS Wong Weng Sheng

Game 2

Terry starts off game 2 with an Island, while Weng Sheng played the Lorwyn white hideaway land, drawing into a Figure of Destiny which was quickly played on the following turn. It however made a quick trip to the graveyard thanks to Terry’s Nameless Inversion. Weng Sheng drew and played another Figure and attacked with his Mutavault. Terry ready to turn the tide of the battle, played a Sower of Temptation, gaining control of Weng Sheng’s Figure of Destiny. Playing hard to keep pressure on Terry, Weng Sheng played a Spectral Procession unopposed while Terry was tapped out.



Trying to keep up the pressure, Weng Sheng played a Cloudgoat Ranger on the following turn which met a Broken Ambitions from Terry. Not wanting to let up, the Spectral Procession tokens sneaked in 2 damage, with Terry’s Sower blocking and killing one of them.



Terry’s Sower and Figure went on the offensive, and during Weng Sheng’s upkeep, a Mistbind Clique gave Terry a free turn that gave the opportunity to take a huge chunk of Weng Sheng’s life away with the Clique. Weng Sheng tried to play another Spectral Procession but it met a Cryptic Command, which however allowed Weng Sheng to sneak a Figure under Terry’s counter magic. Terry however, untapped, drew and played Incremental Blight, clearing Weng Sheng’s side of the board. A last ditch attempt from Weng Sheng, he plays a Cloudgoat Ranger. Unfortunately for him, Terry has a Cryptic Command ready for it, which prompted Weng Sheng to concede game 2.

Terry Soh 1 – Wong Weng Sheng 1

Quarterfinals – Terry Soh VS Wong Weng Sheng

Game 3

Weng Sheng mulligan’ed to see 3 Wizened Cenns but only 1 land in his 6 card hand. Playing it safe, he decided to take another mulligan, flipping over the next card to see what he’ll be drawing, revealing plains and regretted it immediately. He eventually settled on his next hand. A first turn Figure of Destiny managed to quickly take first blood before being dealt with by a Nameless Inversion before it got out of Inversion range. Weng Sheng played a Knight of Meadowgrain which was followed by a Goldmeadow Stalwart that Weng Sheng had to pay 3W for, which got countered by a Broken Ambitions. A Spectral Procession managed to resolve while Weng Sheng’s Knight kept chipping down Terry’s life total. A Mistbind Clique on Weng Sheng’s upkeep however gave Terry a critical turn as he untapped to play Incremental Blight clearing all but 1 creature on Weng Sheng’s side. Weng Sheng, not ready to give up yet, drew a Reveillark, played it while Terry was tapped out from casting the Blight. Fortunately for Terry, he had a Bitterblossom whose tokens then chump blocked Weng Sheng’s Reveillark every turn, losing one life instead of 4 if he hadn’t have the enchantment.

Attempting to turn the situation around to his advantage, Weng Sheng tried to hide the Bitterblossom under the pile of boosters that is supposed to go to the loser of the match. (See picture below – the Bitterblossom is under the boosters.)



Unfortunately for him, Terry did notice where his missing enchantment went.

Weng Sheng attacked hard every turn but when Terry played a Plumeveil to stop all of Weng Sheng’s creatures but Reveillark from attacking, and with Terry’s Mistbind Clique doing 4 a turn, the game was slipping out of Weng Sheng’s hands. When Terry drew and played his Sower of Temptation, gaining control of the Reveillark, with no way out of the situation he landed in, Weng Sheng conceded.

Final result: Terry Soh 2 – Wong Weng Sheng 1

Terry Soh advances to the semifinals!

In the meantime, Whey Whey and Jason Yap emerged as winners of their respective quarter finals matches.

Semifinal – Terry Soh VS Jo

Game 1

Jo mulligan’ed to 5 but made the first play of the game when he played a Kitchen Finks. The Finks managed to knock 3 life off Terry, and Jo plays a Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers while Terry only plays a Scion of Oona at end of Jo’s turn.



The next turn when Jo attacked however, his Cavaliers ran head on into an unexpected Mistbind Clique that killed off Jo’s 3/4. A Wilt-Leaf Liege got countered by a Cryptic Command and a Bitterblossom threatens to spell doom for Jo unless Jo finds an answer or win before Terry does. Jo dropped a Figure of Destiny, which got countered by a Spellstutter Sprite. Undeterred, he drops another, only to get countered by another Sprite, much to his chagrin. Jo had to settle with a Safehold Elite before passing the turn. Terry then played a Vendilion Clique, targeting himself, while his army of fliers swung in for a huge amount of damage. When Jo tried to play his Divinity of Pride, Terry showed him what he drew off the Vendilion Clique: a Cryptic Command. With the game complete out of his hands, Jo concedes.

Terry Soh 1 – Jo 0



Jo has another ominous start when he mulligan’ed a 1 lander into a 5 lander before settling on another 5 card hand. Jo starts off with a Figure of Destiny and a Wilt-Leaf Cavalier while Terry plays a turn 2 Bitterblossom. Jo quickly piles on his damage while Terry does little until he plays a Vendilion Clique on Jo, taking away an Unmake. Over the next few quick turns, with his Clique and Bitterblossom token, Terry closes the gap between both players’ life totals while the Figure got killed by a Shriekmaw. Jo plays another Cavalier but this time it got countered by a Sprite. Jo’s ¾ Cavalier got chump blocked by a token, while Terry continues his aerial assault. A Knight of Meadowgrain and a Kitchen Finks met a Fearie Trickery and a Spellstutter Sprite respectively which prompts Jo to concede a game that he has lost control of.

Final result: Terry Soh 2 – Jo 0

Terry Soh makes it to the finals!

Meanwhile, on the other bracket, Whey Whey conceded to Jason in the other semifinals.

Finals – Terry Soh VS Jason

Not interested in going to Pro Tour Berlin, Jason conceded to Terry Soh after reaching a mutual understanding.

Terry Soh is the winner of this PTQ!

As usual, thank you very much for reading and my sincere apologies to everyone mentioned if I messed up the details and/or your names. I’m also very sorry if you didn’t like to be mentioned in the report nor have your pictures posted. Please contact me at QJ.wong@gmail.com and I’ll remove them as soon as I can. Comments, suggestions or complaints are all very appreciated and welcomed.