Top 8 Details & Quick Standings Update

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I wanted to elaborate a little bit on how the events on Thursday are going to work. Basically, there is going to be a continual event going on for the Fall Top 8 throughout the day. That will begin at 10 AM with a draft and 3 rounds of limited and then be followed by a lunch break and 2 rounds of standard. After round 5, half of the field will be eliminated, and the remaining players will face off in a single elimination bracket to determine the Fall 2010 Magic champion. These players will earn points toward the Spring Standings in addition to having the chance to win some cool prizes. It will cost a total of $12 per player, which includes the draft, standard, and prizes.

For everyone else, there will two separate events. There will be a Scars of Mirrodin draft at 11 AM (after the Top 8 draft), which will cost $10 per player. Space is limited, and signing up is required, so email me ASAP to sign up! At 3 PM, there will be a 3-4 round Standard tournament, which will cost $5 to enter (sign up is not necessary for this event). This will hopefully be over before the playoff rounds of the top 8 are done, so that anyone who is interested can play in this and still watch the end of that event. You can play in both side events if you'd like, and you'll get Spring League Points for both, but it will only count as one event instead of two. If anyone still has any questions about the event, send me an email and I'll try my best to help explain it better.

Also, a few people came out to the Friday Night Magic draft and we had a good time despite too many of us trying to draft Infect. A couple people also attended the Extended Grand Prix: Atlanta trial at Dogs of War on Saturday. Unfortunately, we were all rather mediocre this weekend, and both events resulted in a slew of 2-2 records for all of us, but at least we got to play Magic, even if it didn't go quite as planned for us this week. Here's the slightly updated Spring Standings, and it looks like you current Fall Top 8 are going to have to work a little bit harder to hold your places next semester:

1. 10 - Michael Carney (2)

2. 7 - Jason D'Mellow (2)

3. 6 - Joe Hammond (1)

4. 5 - Michael Smith (1)

5. 4 - Chris Pear (2)

6. 3 - Kevin Crowley (1)
6. 3 - Dane Newton (1)

8. 2 - David Kim (1)

9. 1 - Kevin Hoover (1)

9. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

9. 1 - Steven Nelson (1)

9. 1 - Noah Senzel (1)

As always, call or email me if you have any questions. I hope to see lots of you on Thursday!

- Dom

Standard Results & First Spring Standings!

12 players came to do battle in the poorly air-conditioned SUB for both a chance to play Standard for the first time in nearly 3 months and an opportunity to get an early jump on the spring semester's league points. With this being the first Standard event at FIT since the release of Scars of Mirrodin, many of us wondered what kind of impact the release of Scars and the rotation of Shards of Alara would have on the format. It turned out to be quite significant, as many of the top decks were heavily based on the new set:

11/20/10 Top Finishers: Standard Constructed

1. 6-0 Quest White Weenie by Michael Carney

2. 4-2 Genesis Elves by Joe Hammond

3. 3-2 RUG Ramp by Dominic Casali

4. 3-2 Big Red by Michael Smith

It was a pretty diverse field, featuring a variety of tribes and mechanics from the last few sets, including Level Up, Landfall, Vampires, Eldrazi, and especially Infect. Three poison decks survived were in the field, and two of them survived the cut, along with the four decks listed above. However, in the end, it was more traditional damage-based strategies that made it to the top of the leaderboard. Most of my matches were quick and I actually paid attention to what everyone else was doing today (amazing, right? XD), so I have a decent write-up for you guys today.

In one semifinal, my red/blue/green landfall deck was paired against Joe's Elf ramp. Some early Lightning Bolts on mana producers and a particularly productive Oracle of Mul Daya led to a quick Frost Titan, who helped me survive a Genesis Wave by locking down a 12/12 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen to take home the first game. In game two, I resolved an Avenger of Zendikar, but could only get one land afterwards, and couldn't finish off Joe before his elephant army of Terastodon and friends took me out. Game 3 was quite anticlimactic, as I could not find a fourth land despite keeping 3 lands, Preordain, and Explore in my opening 7, and I got beat down by Terastodon and Emrakul without putting up much resistance.

The other semifinal pitted Michael Smith's Koth "Fire Truck" deck, which used expensive finishers like Wurmcoil Engine, Inferno Titan, and Destructive Force powered out by Koth of the Hammer, against Michael Carney's mono-white equipment deck, which featured several ways to cheat powerful equipment onto efficient creatures. Carney took the first game with a barrage of zero-mana artifact creatures, Glint Hawks, and Kor Skyfishers that set off Quest for the Holy Relic fairly early and got Argentum Armor online before the big red deck could get going. However, Smith's transformational "Race Car" sideboard helped him keep pace in game 2 to even the match. But in the end, Carney's sideboard reinforcements - a pair of Kor Firewalkers - helped him squeak out the rubber game.

Michael took on Joe in the finals, which immediately turned into a race situation, where Joe tried to ramp into fatties before Michael killed him with efficient flying beaters. Michael brought a team of Squadron Hawks to the race, as well as two Kor Skyfishers, who were kept in check by Joe's pair of Contagion Clasps. However, Stoneforge Mystic came down for Michael, fetching up the mighty Argentum Armor. Joe proliferated his Everflowing Chalices and passed the turn at 7 life, two mana short of casting his Emrakul. "It's over if you have Outfitter," he said warily. Michael used his Mystic to put the Armor into play, revealed the Kor Outfitter in his hand, and they were on to game 2. Game 2 featured lots of mulligans, with Joe keeping 6 and Michael keeping 5. Unfortunately for Joe, this game turned out to be scheduled during the Kor Skyfisher Thanksgiving parade, and the frequent bouncing of withered permanents made his Contagion Clasps and even Contagion Engine fairly ineffective. Michael put down an early Quest for the Holy Relic, and quickly put it up to 5 counters thanks to his Glint Hawk and Skyfishers. When a Skyfisher picked up the Armor and blew up an Everflowing Chalice, there was nothing left but the crying (and the destruction of an unlucky Contagion Clasp).

This was a fun event and hopefully a good precursor to the Standard events we'll have for the main and side events of the top 8. Standard is surprisingly diverse and I think most or even all of us have been enjoying the format. Here's the first look at the Spring Standings:

1. 7 - Michael Carney (1)

2. 6 - Joe Hammond (1)

3. 5 - Michael Smith (1)

4. 4 - Jason D'Mellow (1)

5. 3 - Kevin Crowley (1)

6. 2 - David Kim (1)

7. 1 - Kevin Hoover (1)

7. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

7. 1 - Steven Nelson (1)

7. 1 - Chris Pear (1)

7. 1 - Noah Senzel (1)

If you didn't get to earn any spring points, you will still get two more chances this semester - once at the Friday night draft next week and again at events in the top 8 invitational (which is Thursday, December 2, the first study day). However, the casual event will be rescheduled (or possibly cancelled), as I will be unavailable that Saturday. Check the Upcoming Events section of the site occasionally for more details and updates on those events. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

- Dom

Final League Standings

A group of 7 of us attended the Scars of Mirrodin FNM draft at the Wizard's Wall, and collectively we did pretty well (I ended up winning with a 4-1 record and great tiebreakers) and had a good time. The point spread for this event was one point for coming and one for each match won, which was done to make it worth more than a normal off-site event but less than an on-site event. Here are the final standings:

Final Fall Semester Standings (number of events attended in parentheses):

1. 51 - Skye Kutner (11)

2. 50 - Michael Smith (12)

3. 37 - Hunter Garrett (9)

4. 34 - Joe Hammond (10)

5. 32 - Emile Paul (12)

6. 26 - John Kreinbring (13)

7. 26 - Haren Lalchand (11)

8. 21 - Liz DiGangi* (9)

9. 21 - Bryant Benson (8)

10. 21 - Dan Hooghkirk (6)

11. 20 - Michelle Karl (8)

12. 16 - Brent Kollinger (7)

13. 16 - Scott Record (4)

14. 14 - Nick Catalfano (6)

15. 14 - Helen Croce (3)

16. 12 - Will Sturges (5)

17. 11 - Alycia Johnson (4)

18. 9 - Kevin Crowley (4)

19. 9 - Jordan Arnold (1)

19. 9 - Tyler DeForge (1)

21. 8 - Stephen Kwok Choon (7)

21. 8 - Glen Parker (7)

23. 8 - Ben Monge (4)

23. 8 - Ethan Pepmiller (4)

25. 7 - Krystal Lutz (4)

26. 7 - Greg Lovell (3)

27. 6 - Michael Carney (5)

28. 6 - Anna Hallahan (4)

28. 6 - Noah Senzel (4)

30. 6 - Dan Hoekstra (3)

31. 5 - Matt Wills (4)

32. 5 - Andrew Capik (3)

32. 5 - Dane Newton (3)

34. 5 - Mike Mooty (2)

35. 4 - Steven Nelson (3)

36. 4 - Kevin Hoover (2)

37. 3 - Shawn Brabant (3)

37. 3 - Kareem Elashmawy (3)

37. 3 - Nikita Nikolayev (3)

40. 2 - David Chesnutt (2)

40. 2 - Jennifer Mori (2)

42. 2 - John Chandler (1)

42. 2 - Aaron Macy (1)

44. 1 - Michael Cambata (1)

44. 1 - Thomas Fitch (1)

44. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

44. 1 - Bryan Lam (1)

44. 1 - Mike Sedivy (1)

44. 1 - Hannah Sharp (1)

44. 1 - Trish Vincent (1)

*8th place tie was broken based on greatest number of events attended.

Congrats to those who made the top 8 and to everyone for making this a really fun semester of Magic. A few people have asked me about my point total, and just for those who are curious, I haven't calculated it exactly but my estimate is that it's in the mid-60's. But, I have the big advantage of being able to attend every event, so that total should be taken with a grain of salt.

There are still two events left, but they will be done a little differently than all the ones we have done so far. Next weekend (probably Saturday) will be a special event for the top 8 players, as well as 8-player Draft and Standard side events. This is potentially a logistical nightmare for me, but I'm stupid enough to try to run 3 events at the same time. I'll explain how that will work later. The approximate scheduling is posted under "upcoming events," but it is subject to change if any of the top players have scheduling conflicts.

The weekend after that will be a special Magic Thanksgiving event of some kind. I'm open to suggestions as to what the format should be, but it will probably be either something heavily multiplayer or a draft of an out-of-standard set (or even a combination of the two!), as those are the only suggestions I've received. Let me know if you'd like to do something else. I will let you all know once we have something concrete set up.

Finally, I am graduating at the end of the spring semester, so I would like to teach one or a few people how to run Magic events so that they can continue after I leave FIT. Please let me know if you're interested in that, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.

- Dom

Planeswalker Event Results & Standings Update

Though half of them need to buy a watch, we did get 15 players to play in the Planeswalkers Against Cancer event. Despite starting a little late and the SUB being filled with random computer science majors from other universities, we all had a great time channeling ourselves into planeswalkers and playing a variant of the new Extended. There were a lot of powerful spells and planeswalker ultimates, but in the end, a group of familiar faces comprised the top four:

11/6/10 Top Finishers: Planeswalker Extended

1. Suicide Black by Faradan, Calignomancer (a.k.a. Hunter Garrett)

2. UGR Aggro by Skye, Master of Fools

3. UW Control by Dom, Arcane Illusionist

4. Cruel Control by Michael, Master of the Scroll

Hunter's aggressive and disruptive mono-black deck netted him a win for the second straight week. He also beat me, Michael, and Skye twice on his way to victory, so he definitely earned it. With just one event to go, there are still a lot of people in contention for the last spot in the top 8:

Standings through 15 events (number of events in parentheses):

1. 47 - Skye Kutner (10)

2. 46 - Michael Smith (11)

3. 37 - Hunter Garrett (9)

4. 34 - Joe Hammond (10)

5. 32 - Emile Paul (12)

6. 26 - John Kreinbring (13)

7. 26 - Haren Lalchand (11)

8. 21 - Bryant Benson (8)

9. 21 - Dan Hooghkirk (6)

10. 20 - Michelle Karl (8)

11. 19 - Liz DiGangi (8)

12. 16 - Brent Kollinger (7)

13. 16 - Scott Record (4)

14. 14 - Nick Catalfano (6)

15. 14 - Helen Croce (3)

16. 12 - Will Sturges (5)

17. 11 - Alycia Johnson (4)

18. 9 - Kevin Crowley (4)

19. 9 - Jordan Arnold (1)

19. 9 - Tyler DeForge (1)

21. 8 - Stephen Kwok Choon (7)

21. 8 - Glen Parker (7)

23. 8 - Ben Monge (4)

23. 8 - Ethan Pepmiller (4)

25. 7 - Krystal Lutz (4)

26. 7 - Greg Lovell (3)

27. 6 - Michael Carney (5)

28. 6 - Anna Hallahan (4)

29. 6 - Dan Hoekstra (3)

30. 5 - Matt Wills (4)

31. 5 - Andrew Capik (3)

31. 5 - Dane Newton (3)

33. 5 - Mike Mooty (2)

34. 4 - Noah Senzel (3)

35. 4 - Kevin Hoover (2)

36. 3 - Shawn Brabant (3)

36. 3 - Kareem Elashmawy (3)

36. 3 - Nikita Nikolayev (3)

39. 2 - David Chesnutt (2)

39. 2 - Jennifer Mori (2)

39. 2 - Steven Nelson (2)

42. 2 - John Chandler (1)

42. 2 - Aaron Macy (1)

44. 1 - Michael Cambata (1)

44. 1 - Thomas Fitch (1)

44. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

44. 1 - Bryan Lam (1)

44. 1 - Mike Sedivy (1)

44. 1 - Hannah Sharp (1)

44. 1 - Trish Vincent (1)

Next week will be a draft in some capacity, though it may be off-site (such as at a local Friday Night Magic event) because I may not be available to run an event the weekend. However, you will still be able to earn several league points if you do well (i.e. this isn't like getting one point for attending the pre-release; you can actually earn a legitimate total). It will be the last opportunity to earn League Points for the fall semester, so make sure you attend if you're still looking to make the top 8 or reach any other personal points goal. More details on this will be posted in the near future.

The top 8 event will be the weekend of November 20 and 21, and will feature both standard and draft side events for everyone else (assuming there is enough interest). I encourage everyone to attend, especially newer players, as it will give you a good chance to play against people with relatively similar skill and experience levels as well as watch the top players play some very meaningful matches and probably learn a lot from watching them. Check back for more info very soon and have a great weekend!

- Dom

EDH Results

We didn't have a huge turnout for EDH, but it was fun and we got to play a bunch of rounds. I'm a bit short on time right now, so I'm going with the short and sweet results today:

1. 4-1 Uril, the Miststalker by Hunter Garrett

2. 3-2 Intet, the Dreamer by Skye Kutner

3. 3-2 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund by Liz DiGangi

League Points Update:

Standings Through 14 Events:

1. 40 - Michael Smith (10)

2. 39 - Skye Kutner (9)

3. 32 - Emile Paul (12)

4. 29 - Joe Hammond (9)

5. 28 - Hunter Garrett (8)

6. 25 - John Kreinbring (12)

7. 25 - Haren Lalchand (10)

8. 21 - Bryant Benson (8)

9. 21 - Dan Hooghkirk (6)

10. 16 - Brent Kollinger (7)

11. 16 - Scott Record (4)

12. 15 - Liz DiGangi (7)

12. 15 - Michelle Karl (7)

14. 14 - Nick Catalfano (6)

15. 14 - Helen Croce (3)

16. 12 - Will Sturges (5)

17. 11 - Alycia Johnson (4)

18. 9 - Kevin Crowley (4)

19. 9 - Jordan Arnold (1)

19. 9 - Tyler DeForge (1)

21. 8 - Stephen Kwok Choon (7)

22. 8 - Ben Monge (4)

23. 7 - Glen Parker (6)

24. 7 - Krystal Lutz (4)

25. 7 - Greg Lovell (3)

26. 6 - Dan Hoekstra (2)

27. 5 - Michael Carney (4)

27. 5 - Matt Wills (4)

29. 5 - Andrew Capik (3)

30. 5 - Mike Mooty (2)

31. 4 - Ethan Pepmiller (3)

32. 4 - Anna Hallahan (2)

32. 4 - Kevin Hoover (2)

32. 4 - Dane Newton (2)

35. 3 - Shawn Brabant (3)

35. 3 - Kareem Elashmawy (3)

37. 3 - Nikita Nikolayev (3)

38. 2 - David Chesnutt (2)

38. 2 - Jennifer Mori (2)

38. 2 - Steven Nelson (2)

38. 2 - Noah Senzel (2)

42. 2 - John Chandler (1)

42. 2 - Aaron Macy (1)

44. 1 - Michael Cambata (1)

44. 1 - Thomas Fitch (1)

44. 1 - Max Kruger (1)

44. 1 - Bryan Lam (1)

44. 1 - Mike Sedivy (1)

44. 1 - Hannah Sharp (1)

44. 1 - Trish Vincent (1)

The Planeswalkers Against Cancer event will be Saturday at 1 PM. Please send me your planeswalker in JPEG or .mse-set format by Thursday evening. There will be free food thanks to the Homecoming Picnic, and part of the $7 entry fee will go to the FITSSFF Relay for Life team. Please make every effort to attend this event.

Also, 10th Edition is not legal in Extended anymore. I said that it was a couple weeks ago and just wanted to clarify that I was incorrect (thanks Hunter for pointing that out). If you need help making an Extended deck or a planeswalker, please let me know, as I have spares of both if you need them. Call or email me if you have any questions. The next planeswalker review meeting is Wednesday, so you should get feedback soon after that. Have a great week.

- Dom