Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Seven grueling rounds and two nail-biting elimination rounds later, and it all come down to the very final round. Almost a hundred players played all day long to get to where these two men are right now, but all but two have failed, and only Nico Surinidran and David Tan remain standing. But there is only one invite for Pro Tour Kyoto in this tournament, only one return flight ticket to give away.



Only one Champion.

And it's only a mere two more game wins away for Nico and David.

David Tan is challenger who came all the way from Singapore to fight the locals for an invite, and only Nico alone now stands in his way in his quest for the ultimate prize of the tournament.

Nico had a disappointing finish in this year's Nationals, failing twice on the Semifinals and the 3rd place play-off to be on the National team in this year's World Championship to be held in Memphis, USA later this year, and an invite and return flight to Pro Tour Kyoto would be a wonderful redemption for the missed opportunity earlier this year.

PTQ Kyoto @ Manawerx November 9 2008 - Finals
Nico Surinidran vs David Tan

Game 1

Nico wins the dice roll and elects to start first.


David Tan

A Knight of the White Orchid starts off the finals for Nico while David as a Druid of the Anima. Nico then plays a Metallurgeon before attacking David for 2 with his Knight. Meanwhile David plays an Esper Obelisk and used the obelisk and the druid to play a Knight of the Skyward Eye. Nico's knight attacked for another 2 damage, taking David down to 16. David attacked with his knight, and it was blocked by Nico's Metallurgeon that regenerated itself, before David adds a Cavern Thoctar to his side of the board which stumped Nico's offense as his creatures now cannot go through David's 5/5. A Rakeclaw Gargantuan bolsters David's board, and decides not to press on with his 5/5 deciding that it wasn't worth it with a Metallurgeon on Nico's side. Nico plays a Executioner's Capsule, using it immediately to kill the first strike giving 5/3. David plays a Gift of the Gargantuan who nets him a land and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer. Nico who has been light on action for the past few turn, passes his turn again. David attacks with both his creatures, prompting a block from Nico with Metallurgeon which regenerated itself again before David simply adds another Druid of the Anima. Nico plays Esper Charm to draw himself 2 cards and takes the opportunity to attack with his Knight of the White Orchid, before adding a Courier's Capsule to his side of the board. David plays a Welkin Guide, sending his now 7/7 flying beast, taking Nico down to 11. Nico cracks his capsule, and plays a Esper Battlemage during his turn and passes.



David tries to play a Magma Spray to kill off one of Nico's creatures but was met by a Swerve, which killed off David's Welkin Guide. Undaunted, David presses on, attacking with his 5/5 and Knight, Forcing Nico to block with his Metallurgeon and Knight of the White Orchid, before David's Jund Charm clears away the rest of Nico's board. Nico has a Deft Duelist and a Etherium Sculptor, but it hardly seems enough to deal with the upcoming onslaught. The Deft Duelist blocks the Knight of the Skyward Eye while the Sculptor blocks the beast as David presses on the following turn, and before first strike damage, David pumps his Knight, which prompted an Agony Wrap from Nico, but he loses his Etherium Sculptor to the beast irregardless. David then adds a Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, and it was all too much for Nico to handle as he succumbs to David's overwhelming force.



Nico 0 – David 1

Game 2

Nico chooses to start first, and made the first play with a Deft Duelist and David promptly followed up with a Knight of the Skyward Eye. Nico attacked with the Deft Duelist on the following turn, while David's Knight attacked Nico for 2 as well on his following turn. A Gift of the Gargantuan helped David gain card advantage as he nets a creature and a land, while all Nico could do was to crack his panorama and attack for another two with the Deft Duelist before adding a Filigree Sages to his board. Meanwhile, David plays Sanctum Gargoyle before attacking Nico for another 2, taking both players to 16 life. An Agony Wrap from Nico to the Gargoyle paves the way for Nico's Sages and Duelist, hitting David for 4, taking him down to 12, and he adds Metallurgeon to his board. A Welkin Guide lifted Knight attacks Nico for 4 as well before Nico continues to trade blows with David with another attack for 4 taking David to 8, and adds an Executioner's Capsule to his board.


Nico Surinidran

David simply plays Rockslide Elemental and puts his creatures back for defense as he realize he's a turn slow on race and is no longer beneficial to press on with Nico's board being what it is. When Nico attack with his Duelist and Sages, David puts the Rockslide Elemental in front of the Deft Duelist as the two first strikers kill off each other, but still takes another 2, going down to 6. A Yoked Plowbeast forces Nico to rein his Sages back, and David attacks with his Welkin Guide before adding a Cavern Thoctar to his board. Nico although at one point at the brink of victory, now faces a setback as his opponent as a lot of fat that Nico has to struggle to deal with. But yet again, Nico's deck shines once more as his Scourglass makes another appearance in difficult moments forcing a desperation last attack from all of David's creatures. Nico throws his Sages in front of one of the attacking creatures, while Nico's Executioner's Capsule kills off another fatty, to take only 2 before the Scourglass resets the board once again.


Nico trying to stave off as much damage as possible before his Scourglass can clear the board for him

A Metallurgeon shows up again for Nico as he tries to rebuild his board fast enough to steal the game from David but meets a Jund Charm, killing it off, before a Cylian Elf comes in for David. An Esper Charm forces David to discard two cards, and Nico could breathe a sigh of relief as David was forced to discard an Empyrial Archangel, and a Courier's Capsule which was used immediately found a Tower Gargoyle for Nico which stopped David's offence and spell doom for David, and when Nico plays his Knight Captain of Eos, David concedes as he realizes he no longer has any outs from the game.

Nico 1 – David 1

Game 3

After an exciting roller coaster game, the match came to an anti-climatic finish as David took a mulligan and only cycled his Yoked Plowbeast whole game long as David plays Metallurgeon, Esper Battlemage, and Tower Gargoyle as David concedes in disgust in a game that barely lasted a few minutes.



Nico 2 - David 1

Nico Surinidran is PTQ Kyoto @ Manawerx November 9th Champion beating David Tan 2-1!

Irregardless – a win is still a win as Nico jumped for joy and covered his face with his hands in relief as the audience clapped and cheered for the local boy who defended the invite from David and an endless string of congratulatory handshakes for the Champion.


PTQ Kyoto November 9th Champion, Nico Surinidran

A win made all the sweeter for the Magic community as Nico last told the writer that he is hoping to make a run at the Pro Tour. The writer has high hopes for who could be our country's latest rising star and wishes our PTQ: Kyoto November 9th champion all the best on his endeavor.