Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Two Boros decks climbed on top of a top 8 filled with Caw-Blade (with a URB Planeswalker control hidden in between) and Hiew Chee Choong was the last man standing, defeating Ryan Luo to clinch the invite and flight ticket to Philadelphia, USA!

Along the way, Hiew had to take down back to back Caw-Blade with Soh Weng Heng in the Quarters before meeting Stanley Sim in the Semis. On his way to the Finals, Ryan also had to take down back to back Caw-Blade with Brendan Soo in the Quarters and Tay Jun Hao in the Semis.

Tay Jun Hao defeated Eddy Ng with URB Planeswalker control while Stanley Sim defeated Chen Tze Kang with Caw Blade in the other Quarterfinals matchup.

Photo Gallery - Facebook Gallery

Semifinals Report (Hiew vs Sim) - here

Finals Report (Hiew vs Luo) - here

Top 8 Decklists - here

Read more!

Champion – Hiew Chee Choong
Deck Name – Boros
Deck Designer – [Left blank]

4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
2 Spikeshot Elder
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Ember Hauler
4 Hero of Oxid Ridge
1 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Bonehoard

4 Marsh Flats
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
3 Evolving Wilds
5 Mountain
5 Plains

Sideboard

4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Kor Firewalker
3 Mark of Mutiny
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Bonehoard

Finalist – Ryan Luo
Deck Name – [Left blank]
Deck Designer – [Left blank]

4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spikeshot Elder
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Koth of the Hammer
1 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Gideon Jura
1 Bonehoard

4 Marsh Flats
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
2 Teetering Peaks
5 Mountain
6 Plains

Sideboard

1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Inferno Titan
1 Gideon Jura
2 Arc Trail
1 Divine Offering
4 Kor Firewalker
4 Mark of Mutiny
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Semifinalist – Stanley Sim
Deck Name – [Left Blank]
Deck Designer – [Left Blank]


2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Condemn
3 Oust
1 Mortarpod
4 Preordain
3 Mana Leak
1 Spell Pierce
4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Gideon Jura
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Day of Judgment
2 Hero of Bladehold

4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Arid Mesa
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard

4 Flashfreeze
2 Divine Offering
2 Condemn
1 Oust
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Sun Titan
2 Jace Beleren
1 Into the Roil
1 Deprive

Semifinalist – Tay Jun Hao
Deck Name – [Left Blank]
Deck Designer – [Left Blank]


1 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Condemn
2 Oust
1 Mortarpod
4 Preordain
3 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
1 Tumble Magnet
4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
3 Gideon Jura
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Day of Judgment

4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard

4 Flashfreeze
1 Divine Offering
1 Oust
1 Celestial Purge
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Sun Titan
1 Jace Beleren
1 Into the Roil
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Kor Firewalker

Quarterfinalist – Chen Tze Kang
Deck Name – Caw Blade
Deck Designer – [Left Blank]


1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Condemn
2 Oust
1 Mortarpod
4 Preordain
3 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
3 Gideon Jura
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
2 Day of Judgment
1 Tumble Magnet

4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Island
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard

4 Flashfreeze
2 Divine Offering
2 Oust
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Sun Titan
1 Jace Beleren
1 Into the Roil
1 Deprive
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Quarterfinalist – Brendan Soo
Deck Name – I was late, so what?
Deck Designer – Unknown


2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Condemn
1 Mortarpod
4 Preordain
3 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
3 Gideon Jura
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Day of Judgment
3 Hero of Bladehold

3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Arid Mesa
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Island
4 Plains
3 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard

3 Flashfreeze
1 Negate
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Divine Offering
1 Sun Titan
2 Jace Beleren
1 Into the Roil
1 Volition Reins
2 Tumble Magnet
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Day of Judgment


Quarterfinalist – Soh Weng Heng
Deck Name – [Left Blank]
Deck Designer – U/W Control


2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Condemn
1 Mortarpod
4 Preordain
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Pierce
4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Gideon Jura
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
2 Day of Judgment
1 Deprive

4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Island
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard

3 Flashfreeze
1 Divine Offering
2 Condemn
2 Oust
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Jace Beleren
1 Deprive
1 Tectonic Edge
3 Hero of Bladehold
1 Gideon Jura

Quarterfinliast – Eddy Ng
Deck Name – [Left Blank]
Deck Designer – [Left Blank]

4 Scalding Tarn
2 Island
7 Mountain
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Drowned Catacombs
2 Blackcleave Cliffs

4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Everflowing Chalice
4 Tumble Magnet
3 Koth of the Hammer
2 Contagion Clasp
1 Inferno Titan
2 Wurmcoil Egine
3 Slagstorm
3 Jace. The Mind Sculptor
1 Grave Titan
2 Go for the Throat

Sideboard

4 Duress
4 Flashfreeze
1 Stoic Rebutta;
1 Pyroclasm
3 Memoricde
2 Doom Blade
Read more!

Finals - Ryan Luo vs Hiew Chee Choong

Both players started with 7 cards and a first turn Goblin Guide, but Luo, who played first, chipped two off Hiew while he elected to keep his on defence. A Lightning Bolt on his Guide threw Hiew to 15 after a fetchland activation, while Luo added a Steppe Lynx to his board who died to Hiew’s Lightning Bolt in response to a landfall trigger from Luo. In the meantime, Luo ‘sGuide has been hard at work, chipping off Hiew’s lifetotals to 12. Things were not looking good for Luo however, despite the board advantage as Hiew was stuck at 2 mana, and clearly holding a lot of gas. Luo‘s Guide picked up a Sword of Body and Mind which started to gobble up blockers after blockers from Hiew, unwilling to take a hit from the Sword.

Meanwhile, Hiew had a Bonehoard in hand after fetching it with a Mystic, who had died to a Bolt before Hiew could cheat the equipment into play with just 2 lands. A second Mystic however found him his own Sword of Body and Mind.


When Hiew started seeing his lands and the game seemed to be slipping away from Luo‘s grasp however, Luo drew a Koth of the Hammer, and set it to work, knocking Hiew to 8. But by the time Koth hit play, Hiew managed to untap with a Mystic and a potential 6/6 blocker flashing into the battlefield stunts Luo’s willingness to commit to the red zone. Attack he did anyway, with the help of Teetering Peaks, it took down the 6/6 Germ.

Hiew then put his Bonehoard to great use as he finally turned the tables around, pressing onto the offensive, and always keeping Koth off 5 loyalty counters instead of killing him outright, having saw another copy of Koth off the top thanks to his Guide.

Unable to draw into any form of defence, Hiew soon packed it in as his wave after wave of Hawks, Mystic with Bonehoard and Sword took the game down for Hiew.

Hiew 1 – 0 Luo

Game 2


Luo started off with a Steppe Lynx but Hiew had a Bolt before it could threaten his lifetotals, and all Luo could do was followed it up with back to back Kor Firewalkers. Hiew had back to back Steppe Lynx however, and both players traded damage until Hiew kept his Evolving Wilds behind to stop Luo’s Kors from punching through.

Things however went from bad to worse for Luo as he misses landdrops, allowing Hiew to develop his board almost unimpeded, throwing down Squadron Hawks, Mystics and equipment

Very soon, Luo had to start chump blocking Hiew’s creatures as a never ending stream of lands kept Hiew’s Lynx bigger than Luo could handle and eventually Luo got overwhelmed so much, Hiew could easily finish him off with double Lightning Bolt, giving an elated Hiew his plane ticket to Philadelphia and his invite to the Pro Tour!

Hiew 2 – 0 Luo
Read more!

Semifinals – Hiew Chee Choong vs Stanley Sim

Sim won the dice roll but Hiew got the first play with a Goblin Guide chips off Sim’s lifetotals 2 at a time while giving Sim free lands as his opponent plays back to back Squadron Hawks. A Stoneforge Mystic fetched an Adventuring Gear and got geared up and took Sim to 11 while the Hawks double teamed to take out the GoblinGuide. Sim’s own Mystic found a Mortarpod along with another Hawk to to shore up his defences.

Arid Mesa pumped Hiew’s Mystic as Sim chump with his own Mystic before summoning an Ember Hauler. Gideon Jura forces Hiew to divert his damage to him as Sim used his Hawk to keep the damage to Gideon low as Hiew thought hard before adding another Hauler to the board.

Jace the Mind Sculptor saw a Plains on top of Hiew’s library which was left on top after much consideration as Gideon provokes all of Hiew’s creatures to focus on him yet again and cast the Mortarpod into the battlefield.

Squadron hawk helped Hiew reload his hand as Sim’s Germ chumped but Gideon goes down to 4 anyways. Desperate to hang on, Sim dug for an answer with Preordain and sent both cards down to draw a fresh card, after which Jace drew him another 3 and an answer was found.

A Day of Judgement prompted Hiew to send 4 damage to Sim with the Ember Haulers. Switching gears, Sim went on the offensive with his Gideon to send Hiew to 11. A Lightning Bolt with his last untapped mana during that turn to the dome got Mana Leak’ed and then on his following turn, Hiew thought long and hard before casting a kicked Burst Lightning to send Sim’s lifetotals tumbling to 3.

Sensing impending doom, Sim cast a Hawk and Oust it himself to gain 3 life to buffer himself while Gideon picked up a Sword of Feast and Famine to take Hiew to 3 and discard a hawk. Jace fetched the Hawk back from the library and it picked up the Mortapod and the Sword.

Visibly shaken, Hiew had to play defence as he summoned two Hawks and a Spike Elder. Jace unsummoned one of the hawks and when an Inkmoth Nexus tried to pick up the Mortapod, Hiew delayed his demise with a Burst Lightning but it was all for naught as Sim calmly animated his Gideon, wore the Mortapod and took away Hiew’s only flying blocker to clear the path to his Sword’ed Hawk to finish Hiew off.

Sim 1 - 0 Hiew

Game 2

Hiew starts off with yet another Goblin Guide who quickly got Oust’ed but not before chipping 2 off and giving Sim a land. Hiew revealed that he had a 2nd Guide which went to work on SIm’s life totals but first revealed a Condemn which would make short work of him a turn later. When the first Guide tried to return to the battlefield, he got denied by Sim who flashed a Mana Leak.

Jace the Mind Sculptor unsummoned an Ember Hauler but Koth of the Hammer from Hiew made short work of Jace. Sim is not done defending though as Gideon Jura shows up to put up a defence to the onslaught. A third Goblin Guide with Koth’s mountain dispatched of the roadblock as Koth threatened to go off on his ‘ultimate’.

Sim had a Stoneforge Mystic to make sure he doesn’t however, fetching a Mortarpod to send Koth to 4. Hiew continued working on Sim’s lifetotals again as Sim chumped with his Mystic to go to 8. A second Stoneforge Mystic brought a Sylvok Lifestaff to make a 2/2 Squadron Hawk with a Lifestaff and Mortarpod to knock Koth to 3.

Bonehoard then entered play as a 6/6 as Koth animates another Mountain to continue to pressure Sim. Divine Offering negates the Bonehoard and the attack as Hiew could only add a late Steppe Lynx into his side of the board. Sim tries to keep Koth in check with his well equipped Hawk and Mystic and added two more Hawks into his side of the board.

Ever wary, Sim used the equipped Hawk to kill off the Lynx to go to 11 thanks to the Lifestaff and eventually managed to kill off Koth with the seemingly never ending torrent of Hawks.

A Spikeshot Elder managed to resolve onto an empty board, and got himself killed by the Mortarpod’ed Hawk as he tried to take down the bird on his own.

“Finally killed off all the Hawks, just top deck lands for the rest of the game please,” quipped Hiew as he managed to resolve a Koth, paying the 3 mana for Sim’s Mana Leak.

A Mountain was untapped with Koth but Hiew elected to not attack with it. When the Mystic tried to pick up the Lifestaff however, Hiew sent a Lightning Bolt onto her.

Somehow Hiew’s curse was effective as Sim could draw nothing but lands and when Hiew could go ultimate with Koth on the next turn, Sim scooped up his cards to prepare for the third game.

Hiew 1 – 1 Sim

Game 3

Sim kept a sketchy hand with 2 Inkmoth Nexus as his only mana sources as Hiew took a mulligan but yet again started off with a first turn Goblin Guide. Sim’s draws were brutal as he failed to draw his crucial colored sources until it was way too late, as Hiew laid down Steppe Lynx, and continued the beat down.

A Plains finally came off the top of the deck as Sim laid down a Squadron Hawk to hope to stop the bleeding with 2 untapped mana representing Mana Leak gave Hiew pause as he shakes his head, taps 4 of his lands, slammed down his Hero of Oxid Ridge and asked, “Mana Leak?”

Sim shook his head, and packed his cards – sending Hiew into the Finals.

Hiew 2 – 1 Sim

Read more!

Source - http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/692
Read more!

Phyrexian Mana
Colored Artifacts
Golems
Living Weapon
Proliferate
Infect and "Poisoned"
Metalcraft

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/newphyrexia/mechanics

Read more!

A surprise announcement revealed a major change in Wizards of the Coast plans in terms of Organized Play in 2012, all the way from the store-level WPN events to the Pro Tour.

Most notable of the announcement is the doubling of numbers of Grand Prix around the world to approximately 40 and the announcement that Pro Tours will become exclusive private events dedicated to the main tournament.

Details are scarce, but one thing for sure, the future is bright for competitive Magic fans!

Full announcement can be found - here.

Read more!

Spotted on the updated Nationals info page on Wizards.com is some notable dates Malaysian players should take note of!

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=events/magic/nationals

The Malaysian Nationals 2011 will be held on July 23-24, a week after the Launch of Magic Core Set 2012! Top 75 rated players in the country will receive invites on June 1 2011, but it will be based on ratings published on May 18 2011!

Held each year, National Championships are the highest level competition for a particular country. In 2011, players from 69 countries will compete in Magic: The Gathering National Championships for the right to represent their countries at the 2011 World Championships held in San Francisco, USA on November 17-20, 2011.

Read more!

After some notable names raised the issue of going ahead with the Magic Weekend in Nagoya after the whole earthquake tragedy, Wizards of the Coast have made it official that it will go on as scheduled.

Wizards of the Coast is committed to hosting Magic Weekend Nagoya in June. The Japanese players and fans are looking forward to the event, and we’re excited to bring them the highest level of Magic competition in the world.

We understand that each individual player needs to make the decision for themselves about whether or not they’re comfortable attending, and we always recommend checking with your local travel authority for more information. Official details about Magic Weekend Nagoya can be viewed here.

Arron Goolsbey is the senior director of Organized Play for Wizards of the Coast.

Sunday 1st May 2011

Grand Prix Trials Shanghai
Format: Scars Block Sealed Deck (Each player will receive 3 Scars of Mirrodin Boosters and 3 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters)
Entry Fee: RM75
Start Time: 10.45 am (Start Registration : 10.00am)
Structure: Swiss With Top 8 Booster Draft Playoffs
K-Value: 24

Details below!

Prizes:

If 33 or more players:
1st Place 36 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
2nd Place 18 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
3rd - 4th 9 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
5th - 8th 6 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
9th - 16th 3 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
17th - Last Place 1 Scars of Mirrodin Booster

If less than 33 players:
1st Place 18 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
2nd Place 9 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
3rd - 4th 6 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
5th - 8th 3 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
9th - 16th 2 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
17th - Last Place 1 Scars of Mirrodin Booster

In addition to booster prizes above, 3 Round Byes to Grand Prix Shanghai 2011 will be awarded to top X finishers in the tournament, depending on the number of participants.

No. of participants -> X
8 – 32 -> 1
33 – 64 -> 2
65 – 128 -> 4
129 + -> 8

For example, if there is more than 64 players, but 128 or less, the top 4 finishers will win the 3 Round Byes.

For any inquiry please contact Kelvin Seow at 0147366830 or email at seowqj(at)yahoo(dot)comRead more!

EVENT SITE
Eternal Magic
1-038 Millenium Square98 Jalan 14/1
46100 Petaling Jaya
Selangor , Malaysia
Phone: (+603) 7956 5205
www.eternal-magic.com

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Sunday, April 10th

Grand Prix Trials Shanghai
Format: Scars Block Sealed Deck
(Each player will receive 3 Scars of Mirrodin Boosters and 3 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters)

Entry Fee: RM80.00
Start Time: 11:00
Structure: Swiss With Top 8 Booster Draft Playoffs
K-Value: 24
Prizes:

1st Place 36 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
2nd Place 18 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
3rd - 4th 9 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
5th - 8th 6 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
9th - 16th 3 Mirrodin Besieged Boosters
17th - Last Place 1 Mirrodin Besieged Booster + 1 Scars of Mirrodin Booster

In addition to booster prizes above, 3 Round Byes to Grand Prix Shanghai 2011 will be awarded to top X finishers in the tournament, depending on the number of participants.

No. of participants -> X
8 – 32 -> 1
33 – 64 -> 2
65 – 128 -> 4
129 + -> 8

For example, if there is more than 64 players, but 128 or less, the top 4 finishers will win the 3 Round Byes.

NEED CARDS?
Buy, sell and trade with Malaysia's largest Magic the Gathering retailer! Eternal Magic will have a massive dealer booth set up all weekend long! How may we help you?

TRADING
Although trading is both allowed and encouraged, please note that the following things are not permitted at this event:

-Soliciting to buy/sell cards elsewhere
-Advertising without receiving permission from Eternal Magic’s on-site Event Manager
-Utilizing an excessive amount of space when trading
-Using suitcases, handcarts, luggage carts, etc. for the purpose of transporting excessive amounts of trade stock.

Please note that failure to obey these rules may result in all involved parties being both removed from the event without refund, and banned from attending future events.

DIRECTIONS
For directions to the venue, use Google Maps, or see here.

MORE INFORMATION
Players who want specific information can contact us at eternalmagic2009@gmail.com or by calling (+603) 79565202 .Read more!