| The Boss strikes again! Tom Ross had a hallmark year in 2014 with back-to-back Invitational wins, his development of format-defining decks like Boss Sligh in Standard and Infect in Legacy, and a fifth-place finish at the #SCGPC. Unfortunately, 2015 hasn't been as kind to Ross. We've seen a few Top 8s here and there, but nowhere near the level of dominance that we saw in 2014. That is, of course, until last weekend at #SCGSTL. When it's time for Legacy, Ross typically sleeves up some Infect creatures and #SCGSTL was no different. Glistener Elf, Blighted Agent, and Inkmoth Nexus were his weapons of choice, and they took him all the way to a much-needed championship. With the win, Ross earned $5,000, 25 Open Series points, and a place in our Season 4 Invitational. But of those three, the 25 Open Series points are particularly important, as Tom has now catapulted himself into the race for the StarCityGames.com Players' Championship. With big moves from not only Ross, but Eric Hawkins, Chris Andersen, Matthew Tickal, Chris VanMeter and Joe Lossett last weekend at #SCGSTL, #SCGDFW has become even more important in the Race to the Players' Championship. Modern is the format of choice at The Big D this weekend and I'm interested to see what our Open Series players will bring to the table. I'll be joined by Gerry Thompson, Nick Miller, and the rest of the @SCGLive crew to see all the action unfold in what might be Magic's most popular format. If you can't make it down to #SCGDFW, be sure to watch all the action at twitch.tv/scglive. If Dallas is anything like St. Louis was, you won't want to miss it! — Cedric Phillips, Online Content Coordinator | | |  |  | The Emergence Of G/R Eldrazi And Four-Color Rally Standard has been in flux, but after Grand Prix Quebec City, Jeskai Black seems the deck to beat. So why is Patrick Chapin writing about G/R Eldrazi and Four-Color Rally? According to The Innovator, these two decks might be the first step in knocking Mantis Rider and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy down a peg or two. |  | Three Of A Kind By now, we all know that if a card is really good, you play four copies. Siege Rhino? Four! Mantis Rider? Four! Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? Four! But what if you could only play three copies of a card instead of the traditional four? Danny West believes this would make Magic a better game and lays out a compelling case. |  | What I Would Play This Weekend Gerry Thompson is stuck with me in the booth this weekend at #SCGDFW, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been hard at work breaking formats. Curious about Abzan Red and Esper Midrange in Standard? How about Grixis Control and Abzan with Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in Modern? GerryT has the tech you need! | | | Tom Ross put on an Infect clinic to win the #SCGSTL Legacy Open this past weekend. Check out The Boss' quarterfinal matchup against Devin Koepke and Shardless Sultai for one of the most exciting matches of the tournament! |  | | Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's edition of "What I'd play at the Open Series!" Legacy has come and gone at #SCGSTL and now we have our sights set on Dallas and the Modern Open at #SCGDFW. To start off, Modern is just that … open! As some of you know, I have quite the affinity for Primeval Titan and friends, and while I wholeheartedly suggest Amulet Bloom to anyone who happens to already have some experience with the deck, I cannot say that I recommend it to anyone to pick up cold and go from there. Here is what I would play (and might possibly play) at the Open this weekend in Dallas. | | My good friend Joe Stierwalt picked this deck up cold from Patrick Sullivan last weekend and cruised his way into the Top 4 of the 5K Modern Premier IQ in St. Louis. I got the chance to play around with the deck a bit in between rounds, and after watching him play I can definitely say that this deck is extremely punishing … to your opponent! If you're on the play and get to lead Wild Nacatl into Eidolon of the Great Revel, the old G into RR (just like big daddy Garfield imagined), then there really isn't much your opponent can do. In addition to this, Kird Ape is just so big, Monastery Swiftspear is quite unfair, and oh yeah, this deck also plays Goblin Guide. How many decks have you played where it's not right to play Goblin Guide on the first turn? Kird Ape is the same damage but one less trigger, and Wild Nacatl is one more damage. Man, I'm glad that feline was unbanned. It was pretty funny watching Joe's opponents keep an unneeded land on top when they use their Vancouver mulligan scry only to just be facing down a Kird Ape or Wild Nacatl instead of the Goblin Guide they thought was coming. The rest of the deck is fleshed out as a burn deck, which is pretty convenient, except we really get to take advantage of the +1/+1 mode on Atarka's Command. More damage is exactly what we're in the market for with the powerful Dragons of Tarkir rare. The Phyrexian Mana spells Gut Shot and Mutagenic Growth seem like they might hurt us a bit with how painful our mana base is, but they sure are hurting our opponents more when we kill an Inkmoth Nexus for free or get to save a Wild Nacatl from a Lightning Bolt. Sometimes they even wait for their turn to try to kill our creature so we get the extra +2 on the power for even more damage. Say it with me. MORE DAMAGE! One-drop Zoo definitely has my seal of approval for the Open this weekend. Go beat 'em up folks! — <3 CVM, @Chris_VanMeter | | After a below-average performance at #SCGStates, Tom Ross knew he had ground to make up at the #SCGSTL Legacy Open. To the surprise of no one, The Boss sleeved up his trusty Infect deck and made the most of his trip, winning the whole thing to scoop up 25 Open Series points. The clutch win was just the push Tom needed in the Road to the Players' Championship as he now sits in prime position to fight for his slot in the year-end tournament. While Tom stole the spotlight this past weekend, his opponent in the finals deserves some credit as well. Eric Hawkins dominated the tournament and was able to get 20 points of his own, moving him into eighth place, just two points and one spot above Tom on the Season Four leaderboard. Eric has flown under the radar this year and his big finish at St. Louis with Storm helped put him on the map. Eric even had to beat his friend and fellow #SCGPC hopeful, Matthew Tickal, in the quarterfinals. There's no doubt when the year is over, this Top 8 will prove to be very important for Tom, Eric, and Matthew. Outside of the Top 8, Chris VanMeter and Chris Andersen made Top 16 and Joe Lossett made Top 32 to stay on pace with the competition. |  | | Meanwhile in the Northeast, Ross Merriam and Jonathan Morawski did their best to keep up, hitting three IQs this weekend. Ross made the Top 8 of all three to collect 10 points while Jonathan got eight of his own, winning one on Sunday. Danny Jessup grabbed 10 points by winning a Modern Premier IQ in Philadelphia. The Open Series now shifts its focus to Modern for an Open in Dallas this weekend and the Road to the Players' Championship will be on display once again. Many players hunting for a spot in the #SCGPC will be flying down to battle it out at #SCGDFW. And after the results from St. Louis, anything can happen with a win being all any player needs to shake things up or solidify their spot on the Season Four leaderboard. If you can't make it to Dallas, find an IQ near you to play for points and prizes! |  |  | | Friday, October 30 | | Invitational Qualifiers Newington, CT - Your Friendly Neighborhood Tabletop Shop Somerville, NJ - The Only Game in Town | Saturday, October 31 | | Invitational Qualifiers Augusta, GA - Cardboard Castle Games Charlotte, NC - Get Some Game Lynbrook, NY - A Store of Fire and dICE River Falls, WI - Game Quest Roanoke, VA - Star City Game Center PPTQ (IQ Prizes) Stroudsburg, PA - The Gamer's Edge GPT (IQ Prizes) Cockeysville, MD - Alternate Worlds | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports GPT (1K Super IQ Prizes) Jacksonville, FL - Happy Viking Games | Sunday, November 1 | | Invitational Qualifiers East Windsor, NJ - Gamer's Realm Hobby Granite Falls, NC - Warlords Games Shakopee, MN - Phantasy Hobbies York, PA - The Gamers Realm of York GPT (IQ Prizes) Cayce, SC - Ready to Play Trading Cards Toronto, ON - Hairy Tarantula North | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports Raleigh, NC - Event Horizon Games | Tuesday, November 3 | | Invitational Qualifiers Brooklyn, NY - Kings Games West Hartford, CT - Voltage Gaming | If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here. |
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