| It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the Holiday season. Though, in my world, that's basically what the Season Four Invitational in Las Vegas is. Don't get me wrong — every #SCGINVI is awesome because they qualify people for the #SCGPC. But the Season Four Invitational is the culmination of a lot of very hard work for many. Some will leave ecstatic at what they've accomplished. Others disappointed and wondering what could have been. But it's these types of emotions that make Magic one of the best games in the world. #SCGDEN was a very important weekend for many. With several #SCGPC slots available for the taking, many of the Open Series' finest made the trip to The Mile High City hoping to obtain some precious Open Series points before Las Vegas. And while the champion, Vikram Kudva, isn't in the #SCGPC race, his win with Esper Tokens will certainly have an effect on deck selection this coming weekend. Given Standard's ever-changing nature, Kudva's dominance with Esper Tokens at #SCGDEN certainly won't go unnoticed. So what should we expect for the last #SCGINVI of the year? If it is anything like last year's Season Four Invitational, quite a few exciting moments. Dylan Donegan's victory not only got him to the #SCGPC last year, but it took Stephen Mann in with him and kept Danny Jessup out. Will we see the same type of crazy action this year? I'll be joined by Patrick Sullivan, Matthias Hunt, Nick Miller, Ken Crocker, and the rest of the @SCGLive crew as we work our way through 18 rounds of Standard and Modern action to see which nine players will be the last to qualify for the #SCGPC. If you can't make it out to sunny Las Vegas, be sure to watch all the action at twitch.tv/scglive! — Cedric Phillips, Online Content Coordinator | | |  |  | What Will Be Banned In Modern? With Modern a format for the #SCGINVI and a Modern Pro Tour right around the corner, Shaun McLaren looks to the Modern banned list. Is Bloodbraid Elf safe to come back? Should Splinter Twin go? And what does the Stoneforge Mystic Grand Prix promo announcement mean? |  | The World's Longest Brainstorm Brainstorm. The best card in Legacy is hard to resolve and no one knows that better than Ross Merriam. At #SCGNJ, Merriam had an difficult Brainstorm decision while playing Storm in the semifinals against Tom Keating. Did Ross get it right? And why did it take so long? |  | Video: Mardu Green In Standard #MarduGuy is back! Gerry Thompson's fascination with Mardu knows no bounds, and this time he's splashing green. Siege Rhino, Abzan Charm, and Den Protector are powerful, but are they worth it? Watch and find out as GerryT takes his brew for a spin on Magic Online. | | | As the last Open Series event of the 2015 Season, #SCGDEN featured some big name players competing for precious Open Series points in hopes of qualifying for the Players' Championship. Two such players, Tom Ross and Todd Anderson, faced off in Round 13 of #SCGDEN. With points, prizes, and potential spots in the Players' Championship on the line, watch as these two titans of Magic battle it out! |  | | It's my favorite time of the year again. You go to sleep with visions dancing in your head, wake up super early, and hope that all your dreams come true! I'm talking about the #SCGINVI in Las Vegas this weekend, of course. What? You thought I was talking about some boring holiday? The end-of-the-year Invitational is always one of the biggest tournaments in Magic, and signifies the end of the road when it comes to the Player's Championship. Those looking to lock in those final precious spots will battle heroically with the both a Modern and Standard deck that they believe will give them the best chance to earn their qualification. This is the stuff dreams are made of, folks. In a dual format tournament, you're going to want to come as prepared as possible, so today I've got not one, but two decklists to help make sure you have the best chance to knock it out of the park in Sin City! For Standard, I wrote about Mardu Planeswalkers in my article on StarCityGames.com, so if you want a more in-depth look at it, be sure to check it out! | | I dominated a PPTQ with this list along with a few other local events. My online win percentage has been staggering as well! Without a doubt, I truly believe this is the most under-played deck in Standard. It preys on all the natural weaknesses of the format: slowness and big, powerful spells. Games usually play out with several hand disruption spells, followed by a healthy dose of creature removal, and then a Planeswalker to finish your opponent off. This deck has a bevy of options at its disposal to make your opponent miserable. Best of all, it boasts a fairly solid Abzan Aggro matchup, a deck that is sure to popular at the #SCGINVI. Furthermore, Mardu Planeswalkers is never too far behind even the worst of matchups, due to all the powerful cards within the deck. Because of this, it reminds me of the Abzan Control deck from the last Standard format. If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is! But what about Modern? Well, my endorsement should come as no surprise! | | After winning an RPTQ a few weeks back with Naya Zoo, it still feels like the format refuses to adapt to powerful burn strategies. After a few modifications to my RPTQ-winning list, this list feels like it is more tuned against the metagame. Four Path to Exile is the response to the two copies of Kor Firewalker many decks appear to be adopting, and the extra Lightning Helix has been fantastic against other aggressive decks, such as Burn and Affinity. The popularity/resurgence of Splinter Twin decks is another great reason to bring this deck to the tables, as the combination of removal and pressure can be faster than the combo they are trying to assemble. Overall, at an event as diverse as the #SCGINVI, I want as many "free" wins as I can get, and this deck provides them in spades. No matter what deck you choose for this weekend, make sure it's the best choice for you and that you're comfortable with it. Or just play my decks. In fact, just do that. You'll thank me. — Mark Nestico, @DynamoNestico | | This is it. One last stop on the Road to the Players' Championship. Qualify or go home. The #SCGINVI in Las Vegas is the culmination of a year long journey for many players hoping to qualify for our Players' Championship. For some, this weekend is do or die, as they are currently on the outside looking in. For others, a good finish here locks up a better spot in our year-end championship. But before getting to those who still have so much to fight for, let us first congratulate those who have already locked in a spot for the Players' Championship. These players are mathematically locked in, regardless of finish at the #SCGINVI, and we will be seeing them next weekend in Roanoke for the #SCGPC. Jonathan Morawski, Joe Lossett, and Ross Merriam will be joining Brad Nelson, Jacob Wilson, Jim Davis, Ali Aintrazi, Kevin Jones, Alex Bastecki, and Danny Jessup at the Players' Championship. However, those three players still have much to fight for at the #SCGINVI, as they are in the Top 3 spots to win the Season Four Points Leader, so they will still be battling it out in the Sin City. As of today, Tom Ross is the last player in, while Eric Hawkins is the last player out. However, only eight points separates the two, meaning the stakes are high at the #SCGINVI. Each player receives two Open Series points just for attending the #SCGINVI, so Eric has much some catching up to do if he is looking to catch Tom. Eric would need Tom to miss making Day 2 and finish with at least a Top 32 finish in order to tie Tom. Any better of a finish for Eric would get him a spot, as long as the other two contenders behind him finished poorly as well. Speaking of those other two contenders, they are Chris Andersen and Caleb Scherer. Chris Andersen kept himself in the race by winning the Modern Premier IQ at #SCGDEN, but still trails Tom Ross by sixteen points. Given this, Chris needs Tom to not make Day 2 and a Top 8 finish to surpass Tom, all the while hoping that Eric Hawkins doesn't do well either. Caleb Scherer's odds are even longer, as he would need to make the Finals of the #SCGINVI, but we've seen crazier things happen before. Of course, anyone could just win the #SCGINVI and make it easy on themselves. The winner of the Las Vegas Invitational will find themselves in the Players' Championship, regardless of how many Open Series points they have. Who will make it to the Players' Championship? Who will come up just short? And who will win the #SCGINVI and get the money, the fame, and (most importantly) the token? Find out at twitch.tv/scglive as we make our last stop on the Road to the Players' Championship! |  |  | | Tuesday, December 8 | | Invitational Qualifiers Brooklyn, NY - Kings Games | Friday, December 11 | | Invitational Qualifiers Somerville, NJ - The Only Game in Town | Saturday, December 12 | | 5K Premier Invitational Qualifiers Chicago, IL - Pastimes East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Athens, AL - Static Age Games | Invitational Qualifiers Athens, GA - Card Advantage Aurora, CO - All C's Gaming Arena Cayce, SC - Ready to Play Trading Cards Crestview, FL - GameMasters Guild Four Oaks, NC - Hobby Invasion Glen Burnie, MD - Games and Stuff Granite Falls, NC - Warlords Games Hatboro, PA - Stomping Grounds New Philadelphia, OH - MAD Bros Prairieville, LA - Gamers Paradise River Falls, WI - Game Quest Roanoke, VA - Star City Game Center San Antonio,TX - Dragon's Lair Comics and Fantasy Springfield, MO - Meta-Games Unlimited Temple, TX - The Card House Warner Robin, GA - Heroes and Villains GPT (IQ Prizes) Gatlinburg, TN - Gamers Link | Sunday, December 13 | | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Columbia, MO - Magelings Games East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports | Invitational Qualifiers Cary, NC - East Coast Gaming Dalton, GA - The Battlegrounds Games and Comics East Windsor, NJ - Gamer's Realm Hobby Falls Church, VA - Victory Comics Guatemala City, GT - Master Games Kingsport, TN - Mulligan's Gaming Lexington, KY - Legendary Games Lutherville/Timonium, MD - Titan Games and Hobbies New Holland, PA - Six Feet Under Games Roanoke, VA - Star City Game Center | Tuesday, December 15 | | Invitational Qualifiers Brooklyn, NY - Kings Games | Thursday, December 17 | | Invitational Qualifiers East Windsor, NJ - Gamer's Realm Hobby | If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here. |
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