Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Thank you Wizards of the Coast and Ray "blisterguy" Walkinshaw for the opportunity to grace the pages of Wizards official coverage once again in Grand Prix Manila 2010 by covering a Quarterfinals and a Semifinals match! To be able to sit in the top 8 matches area and write is one of the most awesome things in Magic I've ever done (second being doing the exact same thing in Grand Prix KL 2010).


Grand Prix Manila 2010 Top 4 competitors - L-R: Yuuya Watanabe, Naoki Nakada, Taufik Indrakesuma, Gerald Camangon

My apologies for the amateur level work, but I hope some of you at least had enjoyed reading the coverage reports as much as I had writing them. :)

Covering the matches had really brighten up my disastrous performance at the Grand Prix, ending up 92nd, despite the highlight of my performance being playing at table 1 against Shouta Yasooka (yup, lost that one) late into day 1.

My coverage work will be reposted below, originally appearing on the official coverage here.

Once again, thank you very much Wizards of the Coast and Ray "blisterguy" Walkinshaw!

(Now, time to work harder on being the person in the coverage, instead of being the person doing the coverage.)

Quarterfinals - Taufik Indrakesuma vs Yuuta Takahashi
by QJ Wong

Takahashi won the dice roll but quickly sent his opening 7 for a fresh 6, while Indrakesuma kept his opening hand. Takahashi led off the match with a Putrid Leech while Indrakesuma spent his time setting up his combo with a Halimar Depths and a Khalni Garden. Takahashi attempted to take 4 off Indrakesuma as he gave his Putrid Leech +2/+2 but it was returned into his hand by Indrakesuma's Into the Roil, forcing Takahashi to re-summon it.

Indrakesuma then followed it up with a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which allowed him to Brainstorm for free. Not taking any chances, Takahashi killed Indrakesuma's Plant token with a Lightning Bolt while his pumped Putrid Leech killed off Jace, before summoning a second Putrid Leech.

Indrakesuma had a second Jace however, and after another virtual Brainstorm, he played a Khalni Garden that gave him another Plant token. Takahashi killed off the Plant with a Maelstrom Pulse this time, and once again, killed Indrakesuma's Jace with a pumped Putrid Leech while the second Putrid Leech was also pumped to take 4 off Indrakesuma.

A 3rd Khalni Garden however, spelled doom for Takahashi as Indrakesuma cast Polymorph on his Plant token, which brought in an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into the battlefield, and all Takahashi could do was scoop up his cards and start side-boarding.

Indrakesuma 1 – Takahashi 0

Takahashi quickly chose to keep his opening 7 while Indrakesuma had to take a mulligan. Takahashi went first but Indrakesuma got the game going with a Ponder as he chose to shuffle his library before drawing from the spell. A second turn Duress from Takahashi revealed Indrakesuma's hand of

2x Into the Roil,

Awakening Zone,

Flashfreeze,

Island and

Misty Rainforest.

Takahashi forced Indrakesuma to discard his Awakening Zone while a second Duress the turn after revealed a freshly drawn Deprive in addition to the cards before, with the Deprive being the card discarded this time.

Indrakesuma then cast a top-decked Awakening Zone, which drew a cringe from Takahashi. After considering his options Takahashi cast a Mind Rot, which forced Indrakesuma to discard 2 copies of his Into the Roil and played a land that entered the battlefield tapped, which left him with no untapped mana sources. Knowing that there's nothing Takahashi could do to stop his combo, Indrakesuma could only grin widely as he showed Takahashi the Polymorph he just drew off the top of the deck that forced Takahashi to scoop up his cards in clear frustration.

Indrakesuma 2 – Takahashi 0

Semifinals - Naoki Nakada vs Yuuya Watanabe
by QJ Wong

Watanabe won the dice roll and after some consideration, chose to keep his opening 7, while Nakada took a mulligan to a hand of 6. Watanabe summoned a Noble Hierarch on his second turn off his first turn Seaside Citadel as Nakada summoned a mana accelerator of his own in the form of Lotus Cobra. An Elspeth, Knight-Errant gave Watanabe a Soldier token while Nakada summoned a Knight of the Reliquary.

Another Noble Hierarch helped Watanabe's Soldier token attack for 6 with the help of Elspeth's +3/+3 and flying ability. Watanabe then cast an Oblivion Ring to exile Nakada's Cobra. An Elspeth of Nakada's own sent both Planewalkers into the graveyard but Watanabe had another Elspeth on his following turn to help take another 6 off Nakada as Watanabe emptied his hand as he summoned a Birds of Paradise.

Nakada made his knight of Reliquary grow bigger as he searched up lands but the Knight could do little as Watanabe animated his Celestial Colonnade, pumped his soldier token with his Elspeth, and then attacked with his team. All Nakada could do was to animate his own Celestial Colonnade to trade Watanabe's, but he had to take another 4 from the Soldier token in the process. Nakada drew no answer as all he could do was watch as Watanabe animated his second Colonnade and pumped his Soldier token again to attack for the win.

Nakada 0 – Watanabe 1

Nakada promptly chose to keep his opening 7 while Watanabe chose to send his back after he mulled over it for a while. Watanabe then agonized over his 6-card hand before he chose to take another mulligan to begrudgingly settle on a 5-card hand.

A first turn Birds of Paradise led to a 2nd turn Knight of Reliquary from Nakada but Watanabe exiled it with a Path to Exile. Nakada then summoned a second Birds of Paradise which Watanabe attempted to Oust but Nakada had a Negate to counter that spell. A Baneslayer Angel from Nakada presented a threat to Watanabe but a Journey to Nowhere dealt with it before Nakada exiled the enchantment with an Oblivion Ring to get his Baneslayer back into the battlefield along with a newly summoned Lotus Cobra.

Nakada's team of Baneslayer Angel and Lotus Cobra hit Watanabe for 7 but an Elspeth, Knight-Errant from Nakada met Watanabe's Negate. Watanabe tried to stay alive with an Oblivion Ring to exile Nakada's Baneslayer, but with the help of Lotus Cobra, Nakada cast an Eldrazi Conscription on his Lotus Cobra to attack for the win.

Nakada 1 – Watanabe 1

Watanabe chose to send his opening hand back twice and ended up with a 5-card hand to start his game again as Nakada chose to kept his opening 7. Nakada's first turn Hierarch led him to a second turn Knight of Reliquary while Watanabe played his own Noble Hierarch after Nakada's.

A late Master of the Wild Hunt was summoned to Watanabe's side of the battlefield but Nakada was ready for the threat, as he calmly put it away with an Oblivion Ring. Watanabe attempted to get his Master of the Wild Hunt back with an Oblivion Ring of his own, but Nakada's Negate made sure that it didn't. Nakada then summoned a Baneslayer Angel and along with his 8/8 Knight of Reliquary, the game seemed to be quickly slipping away from Watanabe's grip.

Watanabe chose to cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor, using the second ability to return the Knight back into Nakada's hand to stay alive but as Nakada's Baneslayer Angel killed Jace handily, and Nakada followed it up with double Knight of Reliquary which was enough to make Watanabe extend his hand to Nakada.

Nakada 2 – Watanabe 1