Previously on Yuta Takahashi’s Tournament Report
With a top 8 finish at Grand Prix Taipei, Yuta Takahashi had collected 34 points so far this season.
Now his goal was to make platinum. So he practiced a lot in preparation for Pro Tour: Eldritch Moon.
Eldritch Moon Release
Theory
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《Spell Queller》 is a card that is very strong, but shouldn’t be overestimated.
The stronger the spells you catch get, the more of a risk you must take when it gets removed.
Especially when playing against black that have 《Grasp of Darkness》, you pay 1 more mana than your opponent, and if you stop 《Languish》, you are always in fear of removal spells. 《Spell Queller》 should be used as a card that can catch a spell just for the moment. You want to catch spells that could keep your board safe when your Spell Queller gets removed.
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《Cryptbreaker》has a strengths similar to 《Pack Rat》. It has a great synergy with new cards like 《Dark Salvation》, and has a great matchup against decks with little removal like Bant Company.
Sacrificing zombies to play 《Elder Deep-Fiend》, 《Distended Mindbender》 might be a strong play.
No.1 U/B Zombies
With the theory stated above, I tried this new deck using Emerge Zombies on the release of Eldritch Moon at Hareruya’s FMN.
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10《Swamp》 2 《Island》 4 《Sunken Hollow》 4 《Choked Estuary》 2 《Submerged Boneyard》 3 《Sanctum of Ugin》 -Lands (25)- 4 《Cryptbreaker》 4 《Relentless Dead》 4 《Jace, Vryn's Prodigy》 4 《Diregraf Colossus》 4 《Prized Amalgam》 4 《Haunted Dead》 3 《Distended Mindbender》 2 《Elder Deep-Fiend》 -Creatures (29)- |
4 《Dark Salvation》 2 《Grasp of Darkness》 -Spells (6)- |
3 《Negate》 3 《Dead Weight》 2 《Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet》 2《Voldaren Pariah》 2 《Dragonlord Silumgar》 2 《Flaying Tendrils》 1 《Distended Mindbender》 -Sideboard (15)- |
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Zombies and Emerge work very well together!
Thoughts on 《Distended Mindbender》. This was a card that worked more towards control strategies, so drawing a second copy in the main deck was weak.
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With 《Sanctum of Ugin》, casting 《Elder Deep-Fiend》 was very powerful.
But, this deck relied on drawing 《Cryptbreaker》 and if we didn’t draw this card, we were stuck on a 2 mana 2/2 and a 3 mana 3/3 vanilla beat down strategy which is very weak. If no 《Cryptbreaker》 in hand, there was no chance of beating Bant Company, and so I discarded this deck.
No.2 G/B Zombies
When I used the U/B zombies deck, I was thinking about how not using standards most powerful card, 《Collected Company》 was a waste!
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On turn 1 《Cryptbreaker》, turn 2 use its ability, turn 3 《Nantuko Husk》 plus tapping 3 creatures and draw was my game plan with a nice mana curve so I started to build this deck.
《Dark Salvation》‘s removal with all the tokens in play seemed like the best combination and was feeling with great confidence in this strategy against Bant Company.
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8 《Swamp》 5 《Forest》 4 《Llanowar Wastes》 4 《Hissing Quagmire》 1 《Foul Orchard》 2 《Westvale Abbey》 -Lands (24)- 4 《Cryptbreaker》 4 《Zulaport Cutthroat》 4 《Elvish Visionary》 4 《Nantuko Husk》 4 《Fleshbag Marauder》 4 《Catacomb Sifter》 2 《Liliana, Heretical Healer》 2 《Nissa, Vastwood Seer》 -Creatures (28)- |
4 《Dark Salvation》 4 《Collected Company》 -Spells (8)- |
4 《Distended Mindbender》 4 《Grasp of Darkness》 3 《Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet》 2 《Minister of Pain》 2 《Duress》 -Sideboards (15)- |
With this deck, I attended the 【BIG MAGIC Open】 but didn’t stand a chance of winning against G/B Delirium.
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This decks had problems. Turn 3 《Liliana, the Last Hope》 was fatal. 《Nantuko Husk》 was just a mess when my opponent slams an 《Emrakul, the Promised End》 on the board.
Both of these cards were probably going to be seing lots of play at the Pro Tour and these two cards were just major problems to deal with. So I decided to go and find another deck.
At the end of the day, I settled with the deck that had the most power and the least weaknesses throughout the possible metagame which was Bant Company.
Pro Tour: Eldritch Moon
August 5th-August 7th
First Draft
First pick was 《Galvanic Bombardment》 and went on picking a mono-red deck. Later on I was able to pick some green werewolf’s so ended up to making a R/G deck.
I had three mana creatures but not many big mana spells so it was a little prone to getting mana flooded. If I was able to picｋ《Vildin-Pack Outcast》, 《Kessig Dire Swine》 it would’ve been much tighter deck.
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9 《Mountain》 8 《Forest》 -Lands (17)- 1 《Gnarlwood Dryad》 2 《Ulvenwald Captive》 1 《Deathcap Cultivator》 1 《Furyblade Vampire》 1 《Bloodmad Vampire》 1 《Ulrich's Kindred》 1 《Howlpack Wolf》 1 《Brazen Wolves》 1 《Convicted Killer》 1 《Geier Reach Bandit》 1 《Shrill Howler》 2 《Insatiable Gorgers》 1 《Swift Spinner》 1 《Smoldering Werewolf》 1 《Gatstaf Arsonists》 1 《Thornhide Wolves》 -Creatures (18)- |
1 《Galvanic Bombardment》 1 《Rabid Bite》 2 《Woodcutter's Grit》 1 《Grapple with the Past》 1 《Alchemist's Greeting》 -Spells (6)- |
| Round | Opposing Deck | Results |
| Round 1 | W/G | ×○○ |
| Round 2 | R/W | ×× |
| Round 3 | W/B | ×× |
Ended up going 1-2 in my draft round.
I pulled myself back together and headed toward the standard rounds.
First Day of Standard
I chose to use Bant Company at this Pro Tour.
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4 《Forest》 4 《Plains》 1 《Island》 3 《Canopy Vista》 3 《Prairie Stream》 4 《Evolving Wilds》 4 《Yavimaya Coast》 2 《Lumbering Falls》 -Lands (25)- 4 《Duskwatch Recruiter》 4 《Jace, Vryn's Prodigy》 4 《Sylvan Advocate》 4 《Reflector Mage》 4 《Spell Queller》 4 《Tireless Tracker》 2 《Nissa, Vastwood Seer》 -Creatures (26)- |
4 《Dromoka's Command》 4 《Collected Company》 1 《Ojutai's Command》 -Spells (9)- |
4 《Negate》 3 《Lambholt Pacifist》 2 《Lantern Scout》 2 《Hallowed Moonlight》 2 《Declaration in Stone》 1 《Caustic Caterpillar》 1 《Summary Dismissal》 -Sideboards (15)- |
Bant Company was predicted as the top of the metagame. So I made my deck strong that even if my opponent was prepared, I can win in the long run.
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《Selfless Spirit》 was weak against《Liliana, the Last Hope》 so instead I used four 《Tireless Tracker》, four 《Jace, Vryn's Prodigy》, and two 《Nissa, Vastwood Seer》 to gain as much advantage during my matches.
I was not able to make a satisfying zombie deck but I thought someone would be able to solve the problem and make it into a powerful zombie deck, so I had 《Hallowed Moonlight》 as a side board option. (One thing to keep in mind is that I don’t sideboard this card against Mirror matches since we would only play 《Collected Company》 in our main phase)
I also thought that Emerge strategy with 《Kozilek's Return》 would be popular, so 《Summary Dismissal》 would do a great job against them. Truth was, there were more Emerge based decks than I expected, and cutting a copy of 《Caustic Caterpillar》 and putting in another copy of 《Summary Dismissal》 would’ve been better.
| Round | Opposing Deck | Results |
| Round 4 | U/B Zombies | ×○○ |
| Round 5 | Mono-Blue Prism | ○○ |
| Round 6 | Temur Emerge | ○○ |
| Round 7 | W/B Control | ○×○ |
| Round 8 | R/G Ramp | ○×○ |
5-0！
I had a lot of luck with 《Collected Company》 throughout the day.
Finished 6-2 on day 1 and made it to day 2!
Second Draft
First pack was a little weak overall so I picked 《Thermo-Alchemist》, and started off picking a mono-red deck. 《Cryptolith Fragment》 went all around the table so I picked it up.
Guessing the first pack was weak on the red and nobody picked them up, I was lucky and able to pick two 《Galvanic Bombardment》, and three 《Geistblast》.
This allowed me to draft a powerful R/B control deck.
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8 《Mountain》 8 《Swamp》 -土地 (16)- 2 《Thermo-Alchemist》 2 《Kessig Forgemaster》 1 《Olivia's Dragoon》 1 《Ghoulcaller's Accomplice》 1 《Conduit of Storms》 1 《Brazen Wolves》 1 《Howlpack Wolf》 1 《Insatiable Gorgers》 1 《Gavony Unhallowed》 1 《Geist-Fueled Scarecrow》 1 《Twins of Maurer Estate》 1 《Midnight Scavengers》 -Creatures (14)- |
2 《Galvanic Bombardment》 1 《Fiery Temper》 3 《Geistblast》 1 《Oath of Liliana》 2 《Cryptolith Fragment》 -Spells (10)- |
| Round | Opposing Deck | Results |
| Round 9 | W/B | ×○○ |
| Round 10 | R/B | ○○ |
| Round 11 | Bant | ×○○ |
3-0！
And on to the Standard portion of Day 2.
Second Day of Standard
| Round | Opposing Deck | Results |
| Round 12 | G/B Delirium | ×× |
| Round 13 | R/G Ramp | ○○ |
| Round 14 | G/B Delirium | ○○ |
| Round 15 | R/G Ramp | ○×○ |
| Round 16 | ID |
3-1-1 and I made it into the Top 8!!
Quarterfinals
| Round | Opposing Deck | Results |
| Quarterfinals | Temur Emerge Coverage | ○××× |
Owen Turtenwald was STRONG!! There’s definitely a reason why everyone considers him No.1 right now.
Well, unfortunately I lost to him, but, I found a new goal for my career and I’m feeling great!
Making it into the Top8 finally earned me platinum! Yeeesss!!!
Play of the Day
You: (Bant Company) Life:16 Board:All Untapped 《Jace, Vryn's Prodigy》 《Sylvan Advocate》 《Sylvan Advocate》 《Island》 《Forest》 《Plains》 《Plains》 《Canopy Vista》 Hand:5 Cards 《Dromoka's Command》 《Dromoka's Command》 《Spell Queller》 《Collected Company》 《Yavimaya Coast》 Graveyard: 《Duskwatch Recruiter》 |
Opponent (G/B Delirium) Life:18 Board: 《Mindwrack Demon》(Tapped) 《Nissa, Vastwood Seer》 《Hissing Quagmire》 《Swamp》(Tapped) 《Swamp》(Tapped) 《Forest》(Tapped) 《Forest》(Tapped) Hand:5 Cards 《Languish》(On the Stack) |
This happened in round 14.
It is my opponents turn 6, he attacked with 《Mindwrack Demon》, and just played 《Languish》.
What do you think is the best play?
Think about it, and see ya next time!!
Yuta Takahashi
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Nickname: "An-chan"
He is a considerable force with numerous achievements to his name, such as teaming with Kentaro Yamamoto to finish runner-up at the Two-Headed Giant Pro Tour, winning two consecutive domestic Grand Prix on the wings of Faeries,and much, much more.
Adept at a variety of formats, he also deftly won Japan’s very first Legacy Grand Prix in 2015.
He has an earnest approach to Magic, but carefully reserves his passion within, earning him a reputation for "Indomitable Stoicism."
