Extended Event Recap - Swiss Rounds

FITSSFF Magic returned with a bang this weekend, with 25 players ready to do battle in the newly changed Extended format, featuring Lorwyn, Alara, Zendikar, and Scars blocks along with the two most recent core sets, M10 and M11. There were several familiar faces present, including 5 of last semester's top 8 players (Skye, Hunter, Joe, John, and Liz) along with the top 4 players in the spring standings, (Michael C., Jason, Chris, and Kevin H.). Also, to my great excitement, were several new and eager faces ready to cast spells in an organized event for the first time. Everyone was extra motivated by the opportunity to earn credits that can be turned into Mirrodin Besieged packs once the new set is released during the first week of February.

Due to the large number of players, 5 rounds of Swiss were played with a cut to the top 8. After the first two rounds, some early contenders emerged, each winning their first two matches 2-0. One of those players happened to be myself, sporting an old friend that I rode to victory in last semester's Extended event: Doran, the Siege Tower. Due to the loss of Tarmogoyf, the Doran Zoo strategy hasn't worked as well in this Extended format, so I elected to battle with a more midrange version of Doran that was more balanced. Despite starting 2-0, I wasn't even near the power level of Scott's deck, which hardcast Eldrazi Conscription twice in a row to take round two. His weapon of choice? None other than one of my old favorites, Mythic Conscription. Another undefeated was Jordan Arnold, playing the deck I almost played - Elementals - to resounding success, including a strong round 2 win over last semester's points leader, Skye.

Round 3 saw the rise of some familiar faces, in terms of both players and their cards. One of the perennial decks to play and beat is Elves, and both Joe and Jason used their prolific mana-producing abilities to move to the top of the standings - Jason with a more traditional mono-green Elf aggro build and Joe with a landfall-based variant that used Elves to power out Scapeshift and Genesis Wave to trigger Ob Nixilis and Avenger of Zendikar many times. Unlikely invitational winner Michael Carney also moved to 3-0 with his "Heavy Metal" artifact aggro deck, a deck which had also put the artifact connoisseur himself, Kevin Crowley, at 2-1 and well within striking distance of the top 8.

Three more familiar names from last semester's standings - John Kreinbring, Hunter Garrett, and Skye Kutner - overcame early losses to put themselves into position at 3-1 each after round 4, with John wielding a GW Ramp deck, Hunter playing an interesting mono-blue artifact ramp strategy, and Skye playing a slightly modified version of the red/blue/green aggro deck that put him into the finals of the Planeswalker tournament last semester. Many players also sat at 2-2, including newcomers Alex Kerns, Joe Kozlowski, and Will Siu, giving themselves a chance to crack the top 8 with a third win and some good tiebreakers. Also in this boat were Noah, who was the lone player in the field sporting Jund, Bryant with an aggressive UG ramp brew, and Liz with her latest version of poison control.

However, only one player made the jump from the middle of the pack to the top 8 in the fifth and final round of Swiss, and that was Dane Newton, who overcame early adversity in this event and a tough day at the Orlando PTQ on Saturday to take full advantage of being paired up in the final round. After winning a close match with his Esper-colored Master Transmuter deck, Dane pulled himself to the top of the 3-2 players, putting him into the playoff rounds. The fifth round also saw an incredibly exciting back-and-forth match between Hunter and Skye in a rematch of the finals of the Planeswalker event. Hunter pulled out the match at a precarious 2 life in game 3, but both players ended up advancing to the top 8, as Skye took 8th place from me by the slimmest of tiebreaker margins.

After 5 rounds of Swiss, the top 8 were decided, with Jordan, Jason, Hunter, John, Michael C., Joe H., Dane, and Skye making the cut, with me, Scott, Noah, and Kevin C. on the outside looking in. It was time for a dinner break, to be followed shortly afterwards by the top 8 playoff!