Control Dominates Gold Rush Finals

A more in-depth look into what was MTG Gold Rush 2012 - the article includes a description of the atmosphere going into the Battle of 64 at Centris, presents the Top 8 decklists, provides a suggestive analysis of local player psychology towards the understanding of the Filipino metagame. Appeared on the Neutral Grounds website first (link to article).

Control Dominates Gold Rush Finals
MTG Gold Rush Top 8

By: Will Dizon

The Battle of 64 of MTG Gold Rush 2012 at Neutral Grounds Centris, Sunday, was six rounds of Swiss meant to sift-out eight premier players for the event finals from an already rich aggregate of players who rose above hundreds during Saturday’s eliminations at Glorietta.

Arriving into Centris Walk for the first time was refreshing given that the objective was MTG related – the usual atmosphere of mall walls and centralized air-conditioning usually automatic with tournaments gave way to the freshness of the metro-park that welcomes a leisurely mood that goes well with the idea of recreation and diversion – precisely what Magic: the Gathering is to many of us. It felt nothing but the weekend at Centris Walk that tells me that this place’s invitation for leisure wouldn’t be strictly complete if it was not home to the country’s standard-bearer for hobbies – Neutral Grounds.

Audwin Abellera and Jake Fianza of2600

Yet, the day was not going to be as dandy as I make it sound. At least not for 64 planeswalkers who enter the NG double doors as competitors for very high stakes. Human tension, certain studies show, causes the body function into defensive. Increase in temperature, overall awareness, hormonal and glandular secretion all manifest during times of tension even when people try to hide their symptoms. True enough, every finalist in the area sent these little earthquakes that I could sense, given that I was operating on a distinct frequency as observer. If anxiety showed like a halo, then Centris Walk was saints-and-angels central that Sunday morning.

L-R: Cantillana, Sembrano,
De Ramos, Maglantay

Enter NG Centris. Immediately, I introduce myself to Sir Freddie Tan. We exchange a few ideas and we start off the busy day ahead. The Neutral Grounds people are as helpful as they are in all of their branches and I am able to settle-in and setup with relative ease.

I was wondering how Neutral Grounds was going to house the 64 man event that demanded at least thirty two tables excluding ones to be used for miscellaneous stuff. I then realized that the area was big enough to accommodate perhaps as much as a hundred players.

The DCI Judge Team posts the initial pairings for the first round which soon sends everyone seeking their respective table assignments. After a few announcements (specifically about REL being in effect and about the important guidelines about triggered effects) players are signaled to start their matches. My direction was to observe the event, take as many good photos as I could, gather player profiles and see what there was to develop in the craft of MTG tournament coverage in the local setting at the given scale.

After six rounds, eight people emerge as tournament top seeds:

I purposefully kept Alfred Pascual’s name visible on the jpeg. Hopefully this will be some form of consolation. Still a good show, buddy. Nice one.
Let me now present their respective decklists in the order shown above.






Bayani Manansala’s Esper Control



 
Werick Pagtakhan’s Bant Control


 

Mike Batac’s Junk Reanimator
 

Mikko Rodas’s Esper Control


Gabo’s Naya Midrange



Sherwin Aquino’s UW Flash
 

Zax Ozaki’s Bant Control    




Mikhail Red’s UWR Midrange



One has to wonder what happened to all the RDWs and Zombies during the day. None of these decks made it. GW wasn’t supposed to make it in my opinion (even though one of them made a turn-three kill using a 10/10 Smiter with Double Strike), but RDW and Zombies were all over the tables and were theoretically well-positioned and their extinction from the top ranks of Gold Rush says something about the current Philippine metagame.

Batac vs. Ozaki

Four heavy control decks (Espers and Bants, two a piece), two tempo-control in the form of UW Flash and UWR midrange, a Naya midrange with a set of Bonfires and Mike Batac’s Junk Reanimator (who can tusk ‘round all day long) make up the MTG Gold Rush 2012 Top 8. All these decks have one thing in common: they have the tools for resilience against agro. The control decks have defensive strategies and those with green have Thragtusk. Gabo has his miracle board wipes (so did Mikhail Red, who packed in a pair himself).

My observation, which is likely to be challenged, is that the local meta coming into Gold Rush was one that wasn’t about to give agro a chance to survive to the finals. Control decks in the hands of experienced players was providing constant disadvantage to every player deciding to play agro. For fast beat-down game plans, every match-up with mirror was a virtual coin toss, while the chance of surviving a match with heavy control was of a lower expectancy – especially if they are able to stabilize as early as turn five.

Brothers Basilio

Also, the Filipino psychology hails the playing of control as the crowning jewel of a truly great player. This is another statement that might strike some people as something less than factual and I must admit to the lack of verifiable data to support such an assumption. But notice how we all like to huddle around after our matches to see control survive to triumph from its long games. No one is really there to see how agro manages to end a match before control catches on to stabilize. No one really listens to stories of agro players who execute all the right decisions that make their matches remarkable in their own lieu. I’m thinking that most of us believe that agro decisions are easy and obvious ones that we can all make ourselves given the same situation and therefore deserve less limelight, if at all.

In an important tournament such as Gold Rush, we all come out to bring the heaviest gun we can carry that we think will be predisposed to do well given the context. As much as we are affected by international tournament results, the Filipino local metagame is made of a richer myriad of factors that go beyond cards available in the format. We play MTG with a certain local psychology that is exclusive to our own. This provides the experienced with an edge over the uninitiated. It will always pay off to know your local metagame with consideration of player attitudes while researching card archives and event result searches.

My conclusion is that the normal path of the experienced Filipino player is to use control-based strategies. This is not to say that our top players have not and/or will not involve themselves to employ such archetypes. It is always true to say that good control players make good agro pilots given their knowledge of the general game handling of control. But with the psychological premium still allotted to control, the trend to lean towards is the current constant.

Congratulations to Mike Batac, the rest of the Top 8 and of course, Alfred Pascual.