This is where legends are born. Four annual worldwide stops make up the Tour, with each event showcasing a prize pool of more than $230,000. Travel the world, face off against the best players the game has to offer, and enjoy the spoils available to those living the life of a professional Magic player.


Hawaii
Hawaii, Adventure-Travel.org.uk

One of Pro Tour Honolulu's Qualifier Tournaments will be held in Manawerx Trading, PJ on the 5th of April!

Read on for more details on how to win a free return air trip to Honolulu, Hawaii!

PRO TOUR QUALIFIER HONOLULU, HAWAII, USA

Venue:
Manawerx Trading
1-008 1st Floor, Millenium Square,
Dataran Millenium PJ,
98 Jalan 14/1,
46100 Petaling Jaya.

Date:
5th April 2009 (Sunday)

Time:
10.00AM (Registration starts at 9.00am)

Entry Fee:
RM40.00

Format:
EXTENDED DECK CONSTRUCTED
(8th Edition, 9th Edition, 10th Edition, Onslaught, Legions, Scourge, Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa, Ravnica : City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension, Coldsnap, Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide, Shards of Alara & Conflux)

Banned Cards : Aether Vial, Disciple of the Vault, Entomb, Sensei's Divining Top & Skullclamp

PRIZE STRUCTURE:

1st place Invitation + Return Airline Ticket to HONOLULU or USD 375.00
2nd place 24 CONFLUX Boosters
3rd – 4th place 12 CONFLUX Boosters
5th – 8th place 6 CONFLUX Boosters
9th – 32nd place 3 CONFLUX Boosters

If U have any questions please call me 012 2608438 or U can email me at ccgorganizer@myjaring.net

Michael Toh
KL TO
Read more!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Announcing Zendikar

Magic's October 2009 large set, code-named "Live", is called Zendikar.

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Deadly Perils, Priceless Treasures.

Read on for more information!

Official Announcement: here.

Set Name: Zendikar
Three-Letter Abbreviation: ZEN
Number of Cards: 249
Release Date: Friday, October 2, 2009
Prerelease Events: September 26-27, 2009
Launch Parties: October 2-4, 2009

Previews start on magicthegathering.com: September 7, 2009

Design Team

Mark Rosewater (lead)
Doug Beyer
Graeme Hopkins
Kenneth Nagle
Matt Place

Development Team

Henry Stern (lead)
Aaron Forsythe
Mark Globus
Erik Lauer
Devin Low
Matt Place
Mike Turian
Steve Warner


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Read more!

58 Malaysians made the trip to Grand Prix Singapore 2009, and 8 made day 2. Out of the 8, only 1 made it out of the money, while 3 made it to the top 32, and 4 more in the top 64 but unfortunately no Malaysians made it in the top 16.

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After finishing just outside the top 16 at Grand Prix Hanover last weekend, Tomoharu Saito went back to the drawing board, gutting his Naya Zoo deck and rebuilding it. He had the technology. He made it better, stronger and faster. Entering the Top 8 without a match loss, he continued battling on, knocking back Sam Black and his Faeries, Yuuta Takahashi with a seemingly unfavorable match up in Green/Black Loam, before finally besting Masaya Kitayama’s Next Level Blue deck to become the Grand Prix-Singapore champion. 14 wins and 3 draws, not that has to be good for his rating.

- Wizards of the Coast, Official coverage.

Full standings can be found here.

Day 2 Malaysian Player list and standings:

17 Mohd Nasir, Mohd Ik * [MYS] $400 2
20 Mokhtaruddin, Mohd * [MYS] $400 2
32 Uzair, Faruqi * [MYS] $400 2
49 Ng, Wei San * [MYS] $200 1
47 Law, Albertus * [MYS] $200 1
63 Nazim, Mohamad * [MYS] $200 1
64 Aw Yeong, Weng Kwon * [MYS] $200 1
68 Ng, Kar Wye * [MYS]Read more!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Grand Prix Singapore is this weekend!

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Take part in a weekend of fun-filled Magic weekend with many exciting events to to do: Magic artist Warren Mahy will be signing cards, join the public events or take part in the main tournament and get a cool foil Chrome Mox promo card!

The Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix tournament series is a great reason to get out of the house, catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and play Magic. Grand Prix tournaments are world-wide open events that allow all Magic players to participate and experience the thrill of a large-scale competition. In addition to $30,000 in cash prizes, Pro Tour invitations for the top 16 finishers, and exclusive foil promo cards for participants, Grand Prix feature a host of other activities, including public events and artist signings. Find out more about the Grand Prix tournament schedule here.


Read more for more information!

Date: March 21-22, 2009

Format: Extended

Tournament Location
Conference Hall A-F
Singapore Expo
1 Expo Drive
Singapore 486150
Website

Registration: SGD $30
Friday, March 20: 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 21: 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.


Detailed information on GP Singapore can be found here.

More information about Grand Prix can be found here.

Read more!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Announcing From the Vault: Exiled

It is said there were once fifteen Magic: The Gathering cards so potent, they were banned or restricted from the known realms of competition. But in the years that have passed, the game has evolved and these elder cards are once again in play. Master these weapons from ages past and give your opponent a beating of historic proportions.


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For more information...

Contents

15 Premium foil cards, including 8 with new art

An exclusive spindown life counter

A collector’s guide

Each card has been printed using a foil process unique to the "From the Vault" series.

The 15 cards are all printed in the current card frame – for several, it is for the first time.

8 cards have new artwork commissioned from artists including Rebecca Guay, John Avon, and Randy Gallegos.

From the Vault: Exiled will be available world-wide in English only, and will have an extremely limited print run.

All cards are black-bordered and tournament legal. This means that these cards are legal for use in any tournaments where the original printings are still legal.


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Product Concept and Development Team: Mark Rosewater, Tom LaPille, Mark Purvis
Release Date: August 28th, 2009
MSRP: US$34.99

Official announcement here.

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Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.

Charles Law is PTQ Honolulu at Manawerx, March 15 2009 Champion!

Charles Law
Charles Law

Singaporean Charles Law came and conquered Pro Tour Qualifier Honolulu as his Elves combo deck dealt with Peter Lim's U/B Faerie Wizards, masterfully and patiently playing around Peter's Chalice of the Void before a timely artifact destruction spell took care of the stumbling block, allowing him to power his way through to victory with his combo.

Charles Law defeated Wong Qin Jin and his Slide deck in the quarterfinals before having to fight his way through Mohd Hafiz and his Naya Zoo in the semifinals in order to make his way to the Finals. Peter Lim on his way to the finals defeated GPT Singapore winner Zac Hill and his Mono-Blue Faerie Wizards in the quarterfinals before dispatching the other Singaporean contender in the top 8, Kong Chong Teng in the semifinals, also with Elves combo.

Rounding up the rest of the top 8 are Ng Kar Wye and his Bant Agro-Control and Terry Soh with his Slide. Both of them, along with Wong Qin Jin made back to back top 8 appearances following top 8 appearances just last weekend in the smaller scaled GPT Singapore at Decards.

With the PTQ in the books, many attentions are upon GP Singapore where USD 30,000 is up for grabs, along with Pro Points and more invitations to Pro Tour Honolulu next weekend. Players all around the world are expected to attend as everyone will be fighting hard for the cash, fame and glory.

After the Grand Prix, Malaysians will have another PTQ early April to look forward to as the tournament will wrap up the Extended Constructed season. Yet, after that the year is still filled with plenty of excitement however, as Alara Reborn release celebrations, the road to the World Championships with National Qualifiers and Regional Championships and PTQ Austin season are all forthcoming in the following months to come.

Great times and opportunities abound!

Top 8 Single Elimination Rounds

Quarterfinals


Ng Kar Wye vs Mohd Hafiz (won)

Wong Qin Jin vs Charles Law (won)

Terry Soh vs Kong Chong Teng (won)

Peter Lim (won) vs Zac Hill

Semifinals

Mohd Hafiz vs Charles Law (won)

Peter Lim (won) vs Kong Chong Teng [Coverage Report]

Finals

Peter Lim vs Charles Law (won) [Coverage Report]

Keep reading more for more pictures from the event and the top 8 players!

The top 8 players (in no particular order)

Terry Soh
Terry Soh

Zac Hill
Zac Hill

Ng Kar Wye
Ng Kar Wye

Mohd Hafiz
Mohd Hafiz (right)

Kong Chong Teng
Kong Chong Teng

Charles Law
Charles Law

Peter Lim
Peter Lim

Wong Qin Jin
Wong Qin Jin (right)

Photos

Quarterfinals - Zac Hill vs Peter Lim
Quarterfinals - Zac Hill vs Peter Lim

Quarterfinals - Terry Soh vs Kong Chong Teng
Quarterfinals - Terry Soh vs Kong Chong Teng

Quarterfinals - Ng Kar Wye vs Mohd Hafiz
Quarterfinals - Ng Kar Wye vs Mohd Hafiz

Quarterfinals - Charles Law vs Wong Qin Jin
Quarterfinals - Charles Law vs Wong Qin Jin

Semifinals - Charles Law vs Mohd Hafiz
Semifinals - Charles Law vs Mohd Hafiz
Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.

PTQ Honolulu @ Manawerx Mar 15 2009 - Finals
Peter Lim vs Kong Chong Teng

Game 1


Peter Lim
Peter Lim

Charles started off the game with a Birchlore Ranger while Peter had a Dark Confidant. The Rangers took Peter to 18 with the help of Pendelhaven, before playing a Symbiote while Peter's Confidant revealing a Spellstutter Sprite took Peter to 16. Another combat phase sees Peter go down to 14, as A Mirror Entity entered play for Peter. An end of turn Vendilion Clique took away a Summoner's Pact from Charles as Peter revealed another Vendilion Clique on his upkeep from Dark Confidant to lose another 3 to 11. Peter played and equipped his Jitte to his Clique, took Charles to 16, and immediately used one of the charge counters to kill Charles's Symbiote which resulted in Charles bouncing his Entity into his hand via his Wirewood Symbiote.

Peter then tried to kill Charles's Rangers, but a Pendelhaven saved it from being killed by the -1/-1. The 3/1 Clique took Charles to 13, and another 2 charge counters ensured that the Rangers will die for sure as Peter spent his charge counters to give the elf another -2/-2 after some confusion as Charles put his Rangers into his graveyard as Peter only used one of his charge counters.

Charles Law
Charles Law

After drawing his card for his turn, Charles decided that it wasn't worth trying to play around Peter's Jitte and scooped up his cards for the 2nd game.

Peter Lim 1 - Charles Law 0

Game 2


Peter started off game 2 with a mulligan as Charles kicked off the game with a Llanowar Elves, followed by a Glimpse of Nature powered turn as Charles played another Llanowar Elves and a Heritage Druid while drawing 2 off them. A Wirewood Hivemaster met a Spell Snare as Peter took 3 to 17 from the 3 1/1 elves.

He then played a Ponder before casting a Chalice of the Void for 1. But Charles, undeterred, played a Regal Force which drew him 3 cards. The Regal Force attacked Peter to 12 and at the end of Charles's turn, an Echoing Truth tried to bounce Charles's Llanowar Elves but Charles tapped his creatures for a Chord of Calling fetching a Wirewood Symbiote which rendered Peter's Echoing Truth to have an illegal target after bouncing the targeted Llanowar Elves. Peter then bounced Charles's Regal Force as well, forcing Charles to discard a Llanowar Elves for having more than 7 cards. An Elvish Visionary on Charles's following turn drew Charles a card as he attempted a Chord of Calling for 3 on Peter's upkeep to force him to exhaust his resources, but Peter had a Condescend for 1 while Charles was all tapped out. Meanwhile, Charles had to discard Regal Force on his end of turn as he had 8 cards.

Charles vs Peter

A Viridian Shaman on Charles's following turn allowed Charles to go off on a Glimpse of Nature powered turn as he played more elves, bouncing them with his Symbiote and recasting them after destroying Peter's Chalice of the Void. After a flurry of elves hitting play and leaving and reentering play, Charles fired off a Grapeshot that did more than the 12 damage required to finish off Peter.

Peter Lim 1 - Charles Law 1

Game 3


Peter started off with another mulligan and kicked things off with a Ponder and chose to shuffle his library while Charles had a Llanowar Elves and a Mirror Entity on the following turn, taking 1 damage from his Horizon Canopy but that spell got countered by a Condescend for 1. Charles then played a Nettle Sentinel and both players started passing turns doing nothing for a couple of turns while building up their mana base.

Charles vs Peter

Peter then dropped a Chalice of the Void for 1 as Charles tried to Chord of Calling for 2, but that spell met a Flashfreeze. A Gleeful Sabotage destroyed Peter hopes of holding the elvish horde at bay as Charles went for a Glimpse of Nature powered turn, playing a Summoner's Pact which found a Wirewood Symbiote, and then proceeded to play elves and with the help of cards like Symbiote and Heritage Druid and Nettle Sentinel as he kept drawing cards as he went along his plays.

Charles vs Peter

A Regal Force showed up to draw more cards for Charles and a Chord of Calling for 1 fetched Charles his 3rd Nettle Sentinel and there was nothing Peter could do as Charles’s combo allowed him to draw as many cards as he want as he goes through the combo, accumulating into a double Grapeshot that was more than enough to kill Peter’s challenge for the invite and flight ticket to Pro Tour Honolulu.

Peter Lim 1 - Charles Law 2

Charles Law is PTQ Honolulu @ Manawerx Mar 15 champion defeating Peter Lim 2-1!

Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.

PTQ Honolulu @ Manawerx Mar 15 2009 - Semifinals
Peter Lim vs Kong Chong Teng

Game 1


Peter vs Kong

Peter won the dice roll and started first, but Kong led off the game with a Nettle Sentinel off a Gilt Leaf Palace who chipped Peter to 18 while a Wirewood Hivemaster met a Spell Snare. The Sentinel chipped another 2 off Peter before a Llanowar Elves met a Spellstutter Sprite, but another Nettle Sentinel managed to sneak into play. The 2 Sentinels attacked Peter to 12, while another Hivemaster is countered by another Sprite.

Peter vs Kong

Kong then tried to play a Wirewood Symbiote which went unopposed from Peter. Kong then sent his 2 Sentinels into combat, which prompted Peter to play a Mistbind Clique. Kong thought about his options before simply floating 2 green mana before the Mistbind Clique forced him to tap all of his lands. The Clique blocked a Sentinel which got returned into hand with the Symbiote, and after the combat damage step, Kong used the 2 mana and tapped 2 of his creatures to play Chord of Calling to find a Heritage Druid.

Peter vs Kong

Peter then played a Ponder, chose to shuffle his deck, before attacking with his Sprite to take Kong to 17 after taking 2 from his untapped Overgrown Tomb. Kong's Druid and Sentinel attacked Peter, and with the Druid blocked by the Mistbind Clique, Peter went down to 8 from the Sentinel as the Druid got returned into Kong's hand through his Symbiote and then played a Sentinel. Peter then returned his Sprite into his hand as well, but through his Riptide Laboratory, and on his following turn, played a Ponder which shuffled his library again.

The Sentinels ran into combat yet again, and Peter went down to 6 while his 4/4 Clique blocked another Sentinel which once again got returned to Kong's hand. When he tried to replay the Sentinel, Peter countered it with his Sprite, which gave Kong an opening to play his Heritage Druid, after which he played a Summoner's Pact which got Kong a Birchlore Rangers, which Kong try to play, but met a Remand, from Peter. The Birchlore Rangers was replayed, and with the Ranger providing Kong the red mana, Kong finished Peter off with a Grapeshot with enough storm copies for lethal damage while Peter's lands were all tapped out.

Peter Lim 0 - Kong Chong Teng 1

Game 2


Peter started off the game with an Island while a Birchlore Rangers led off the game for Kong. Peter then dropped a Chalice of the Void on his second turn.

Peter vs Kong

Kong cracked a Windswept Heath for a Temple Garden while his Rangers chipped Peter for 1 to send him to 19. Meanwhile, Kong cracked another Windswept Heath for a Forest, which sent him to 18 before playing a Morph creature which on the following turn was stolen by Peter's Sower of Temptation.

Peter vs Kong

Kong then played Chord of Calling fetching a Heritage Druid. Peter's Sower and the Morph creature under his control attacked Kong to 14 from 18, and Kong then played a Glimpse of Nature, which Peter responded with a Echoing Truth, bouncing Kong's Heritage Druid. Kong then played a Grapeshot which with it's storm copies killed off Peter's Sower, returning control of Kong's Morph creature to him. Kong then played a Hivemaster which got countered by a Remand, and on Peter's following turn, Peter played a Clique, choosing to take a Chord of Calling of Calling. The 3/1 Clique then attacked Kong to 11 from 14.

Peter then returned and replayed his Clique, found nothing of immediate threat, and kept beating Kong down with his 3/1 flyer, in the next few turns. Kong kept sneaking Birchlore Rangers into play by playing them facedown as Morph creatures at first, and when a second Rangers is turned face up, Peter bounced both of them with a Echoing Truth. After a few more turns, Kong scooped up his cards for game 3, facing a lethal 3/1 Faerie Wizard who would finish him off on the following turn.

Peter Lim 1 - Kong Chong Teng 1

Game 3


Peter started off his game 3 by taking a mulligan while a Llanowar Elves kicked off the game proper. A Ponder is Peter's first play on his first turn, choosing to shuffle his library yet again. A Windswept Heath found a Forest for Kong, which allowed Kong to play a Jitte and a Wirewood Symbiote off the Llanowar Elves. Peter dropped a bomb on Kong with a Chalice of the Void set to 1, while a Jitte equipped Llanowar Elves and Symbiote sent Peter to 18 with Kong's Jitte gaining charge counters.

Peter vs Kong

Things do not look too well for Peter despite the Chalice he cast, as Kong continued to beat Peter down with just his Llanowar Elves, pumping once to take 3 from Peter to take him to 15, fearing Peter's 2 Mutavaults, he chose not to attack with his Symbiote. The Llanowar Elves continued to attack Peter, Kong deciding to pump just once to send Peter to 12. An Echoing Truth bounced Kong's Jitte, which caused Kong to use the counters to gain 8 life to go to 26 from 18. Peter then played a Mistbind Clique, championing an animated Mutavault, which proceeded to attack Kong to 21 on the following turn.

Peter vs Kong

Kong then played and replayed his Elvish Visionary, drawing 2 cards thanks to his Symbiote. Peter then played a Spellstutter Sprite on the end of Kong's turn, and on his following upkeep, Peter then attempted to play another Mistbind Clique to try to virtually time-walk away Kong's turn.

After spending some time to think about his options, Kong chose to do nothing, and then played an Elvish Visionary tapping his Llanowar Elves, and untapped via his Symbiote. The two Mistbind Clique ran into Kong, sending him to 9 from 17 while a Sower of Temptation gained control of Kong's Symbiote.

A Harmonic Sliver broke the stand still for Kong, and a Glimpse of Nature quickly followed, along with a Heritage Druid, Llanowar Elves, another Heritage Druid, Llanowar Elves, yet another Heritage Druid, Wirewood Symbiote, another Wirewood Symbiote, Nettle Sentinel, Viridian Shaman, several Hivemaster returning and recasting creatures through his Symbiote, all while drawing a card off each of the creature spells and getting a large number of insect tokens while all of it was going on and fetching a Mirror Entity so that his creatures can grow really huge.

Peter vs Kong

However all of his efforts are in vain as he only had 2 creatures that don’t have summoning sickness and with Peter having just enough creatures to block the 2, all Kong could do was to go through the motions, and conceded the game after Peter slowly and carefully blocked the two huge attacking monsters.

Peter Lim 2 - Kong Chong Teng 1

Peter Lim proceeds to the Finals defeating Kong Chong Teng 2-1!

Read more!

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Magic Online will now offer Champion Series where players can earn Qualifier Points to qualify themselves for the Series Championship, 7 seasons starting from April to October, where each Season Championship tournament winner (and season 7's 2nd place winner) receive an invitation to compete in the 2009 Magic Online Championship AND an invitation to participate in the 2009 Magic the Gathering World Championship as well.

The Online Championship itself is played during the World Championship in Rome, and the 8 players will win a minimum of $4,000 USD, with $13,000 going out to the first place winner.

The official announcement, and more importantly, the many detailed fine print on the rules and regulations can be found here.Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.

Nico Surinindran is GPT Singapore Decards 8th March Champion!

Nico Surinindran
Nico Surinindran

Just fresh off his Pro Tour Kyoto appearance last week, Nico cruised through the swiss rounds and the top 8 single elimination rounds on the back of his Mind's Desire Storm deck, combo-ing off and dispatching his quarterfinals opponent Matthew Wong on his back to back GPT top 8 appearance with a Naya Zoo, before defeating Terry Soh with his Slide deck, and in the finals, Faruqi Uzair with his Faerie Wizards. Faruqi Uzair on his way to the finals defeated Vincent Gan also with Faerie Wizards in the quarterfinals before defeating Wong Qin Jin [That's me! - QJ] with his Slide deck in the semifinals. The rest of the top 8 consisted of Ng Kar Wye with Bant who lost to Terry Soh and Arif Kamaruddin also with Bant who lost to Wong Qin Jin.

Nico Surinindran now joins Mohamad Nazim, Hari, Hafiz, Ong Joe Lin, Zac Hill, Kenneth Wong and Vincent Gan as winners of GPT Singapore in Malaysia as Decards finished off the Malaysian GPT Singapore season. In two weeks time, the players who have won their opportunities will see their playskills put to the test in the Main Event as the race to USD 3,500, Pro Points, fame and glory begins at GP Singapore 2009!

In the meantime, PTQ Honolulu kicks off this coming weekend at Manawerx as the local players will get the opportunity to win a flight and invite to Pro Tour Honolulu, Hawaii.

Top 8 Single Elimination Rounds

Quarterfinals


Vincent Gan vs Faruqi Uzair (won)

Wong Qin Jin (won) vs Arif Kamaruddin

Matthew Wong vs Nico Surinindran (won)

Terry Soh (won) vs Ng Kar Wye

Semifinals

Wong Qin Jin vs Faruqi Uzair (won)

Nico Surinindran (won) vs Terry Soh

Finals

Faruqi Uzair vs Nico Surinindran (won) [Coverage Report]

Keep reading more for more pictures from the event and the top 8 players!

The top 8 players (in no particular order)

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Terry Soh (past event's photo)

Nico Surinindran
Nico Surinindran

Faruqi Uzair
Faruqi Uzair

Arif
Arif Kamaruddin

Ng Kar Wye
Ng Kar Wye

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Vincent Gan (past event's photo)

Matthew Wong
Matthew Wong

[No Photo]
Wong Qin Jin

Photo Essay


The table everyone is aiming for...


The announcement board


Brendan Soo really proud...


... of pulling off a turn-1 kill.

Read more!

The writer can be contacted for feedback at qj.wong@gmail.com or here.

GPT Singapore @ Decards Mar 8 2009 - Finals
Faruqi Uzair vs Nico Surinindran

Game 1


Uzair vs Nico

Nico started off the game with a Polluted Delta which found a Steam Vents untapped, took Nico to 17 after which he used it to play a Ponder and drew a random card off the top of his library after choosing to shuffle his library, not content with the top 3 cards of his library before he played another Ponder on his following turn, choosing not to shuffle his library this time. Both players spent turns building up their mana base until when Nico had 8 cards in hand, he started laying out cards face down and running through his possible plays in his mind.

A Rite of Flame attempt from Nico met a Spellstutter Sprite which Nico tried to Remand to bring back his Rite to his hand but it got countered by a Spell Snare instead. Nico then started his turn mulling over his options again but this time just played a Steam Vents and passed his turn. Faruqi Uzair then attacked Nico for 3 to take him down to 13 with his Sprite and an animated Mutavault. Nico passed his turn doing nothing yet again as Faruqi Uzair took 2 damage from playing untapped Breeding pool to go to 18 after attacking for another 3 to take Nico to 10.

Nico Surinindran
Nico Surinindran

Nico then played a Desperate Ritual which was followed by a Seething Song, which chained into another Seething Song, each of the spells going through untouched by Faruqi Uzair, followed by a Metamorphose adding 2 blue mana to his pool of red, with another Desperate Ritual and Metamorphose – and finally casting a Mind's Desire with 6 storm copies which flipped over a Rite of Flame, Steam Vents, Lotus Bloom, Dreadship Reef, Peer Through Depths, Grapeshot and a Desperate Ritual. Nico then played his Rite and Ritual followed by a Peer through Depths, found another Grapeshot, cast the first one for 12 damage followed up by another 13 from his second Grapeshot to finish Faruqi Uzair off.

Nico Surinindran 1 – Faruqi Uzair 0

Game 2


Faruqi Uzair
Faruqi Uzair

The game started off with Faruqi Uzair playing an Island and a Chrome Mox imprinting a Trinket Mage while Nico started off with a untapped Steam Vents going for a Ponder which he chose to shuffle away. Then his opponent followed up with a untapped Secluded Glen and a Vendilion Clique taking away a Gigadrowse from a hand of – Lotus Bloom, Desperate Ritual, Seething Song, Rite of Flame, and Pact of Negation.

Nico then suspended a Lotus Bloom while his opponent took Nico down to 12 with his Clique. A Ponder from Nico is met a with a Spellstutter Sprite followed up with a Grapeshot, choosing to target the Clique twice and his Sprite, killing them all off. Another Clique sees a hand of Remand, Rite of Flame, Seething Song and Desperate Ritual along with a Pact of Negation – which Uzair chose to take nothing before his Clique further chipped Nico down to 9.



Lotus Bloom came into play for Nico and Nico played Grapeshot on the Clique twice to avoid being killed by the flying 3/1. Faruqi Uzair then played a Thirst for Knowledge, drawing 3 and discarding a Chrome Mox to the spell before adding a Miren, the Moaning Well and a Mutavault to his empty board before playing a Glen Elendra Archmage which met a Remand, which in return met a Mana Leak but a Pact of Negation from Nico ensured that the spell stayed countered. A sacrificed Polluted Delta took Nico down to 8, and he paid his Pact upkeep cost before playing another suspended Lotus Bloom and passed his turn. His opponent's Mutavault took Nico to 2 in 3 turns while Nico continued to build up his mana with his Dreadship Reef.



When Nico's Lotus Bloom tried to resolve it got countered by a Cryptic Command which also tried to bounce Nico's other Lotus. Nico sacrificed his Lotus in response for 3 blue mana, but after he drew blank there was nothing he could do but to scoop up his cards for the 3rd game.

Nico Surinindran 1 – Faruqi Uzair 1

Game 3


Nico started off with again an untapped Steam Vents and a Ponder, choose to rearrange his top cards of his library and drew, suspending a Lotus Bloom as well while Faruqi Uzair played an Engineered Explosives for 0 and passed his turn with an Island and a Riptide Laboratory.



Nico then tried to play a Peer Through Depths but met a Mana Leak. When Nico's Lotus Bloom was about to resolve, his opponent moved to destroy it with his Explosives, but Nico backed up the game state to attempt to Remand his Lotus Bloom on the stack, but it met a Spell Snare. Faruqi Uziar dug deep into his library with a Thirst for Knowledge, discarding a Mana Leak and Thirst for Knowledge in the process. Nico cracked a Delta to go to 17 to find another Steam Vents but that land got bounced into Nico's hand while drawing a card with Cryptic Command by his opponent, followed up with a Glen Elendra Archmage which later chipped Nico off for 2 to take him to 15.

A Trinket Mage came into play for Uzair, who fetched a Seat of the Synod, after which an untapped Breeding Pool took Uzair to 16 while he attacked Nico to 11 from his 2 2/2 creatures, followed by another 2 life points lost through his sacrificed fetch lands. After Nico's draw step, Uzair played a Vendilion Clique which saw a hand of 2 Gigadrowse, Rite of Flame, Desperate Ritual, Metamorphose, Pact of Negation and Seething Song, choosing Grapeshot after carefully writing down the content of Nico's hand.



After thinking for a while, Nico commented, "Let's try...", played Gigadrowse to tap away all of his opponent's blue mana sources, prompting him to float the mana, but then Nico moved into his combat phase, which forced Uzair to spend his mana on his Laboratory to bounce his creature back to his hand and burn for 1, as Nico went for it with a Rite of Flame, Desperate Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Seething Song and Metamorphose, and having nothing else in his hand, commented that it's all about the top card of his deck now, drawing the top card face down, covered it with another card, and slowly rub it open to see it, and the audience went wild as Nico drew the very card he needed, a Mind's Desire with the exact mana, of 4 red and 2 blue, for 6 storm copies.



The spell flipped over a Seething Song, Ponder, Grapeshot, Peer Through Depths, and a second Grapeshot that was more than enough to deal fatal damage to seal the game.

Nico Surinindran 2 - Faruqi Uzair 1

Nico Surinindran is GPT Singapore Decards March 8th champion!


Read more!

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