It was a special weekend, you know why?

WEEKEND PTQ Dublin / WMCQ Paris

It was a special weekend, you know why? Because two important magic tournaments (PTQ Dublin and WMCQ) were held in the same place over two days to motivate players to come to Paris and forget about the distance. It feels similar to a GP weekend, but only for French players who came from all over the country, not only from Paris or its surroundings. Every player in the country can be interested in this weekend, maybe to the exception of Raphael Levy since the Hall of famer is already qualified for both the Pro Tour and the World Championships (leading the race by 6 Pro Points).

Presentation: famous players you could come across this weekend

Name: Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

Age: 31
Occupation: card player

Previous accomplishments: PT Yokohama winner; Worlds 2011 finalist

Deck choice: Esper

Why? It is the style of deck I like to play (who would have guessed!)

If you couldn’t play your deck this weekend, what deck would you play?
UWR Boros Reckoner is another deck I can play (Islands / Counterspells)

What deck would you choose last?
Naya Blitz, I prefer to have the illusion that I’m the master of my destiny

Who are your favorite players for this weekend?
Manuel LeMarec, Erwan Maisonneuve, Guillaume Matignon, Jérémy Dezani, Rémi Fortier

Who are your favorite players?
Tomoharu Saito; Guillaume Matignon, Yuuya Watanabe

Name: Pierre Dagen
Age: 25
Occupation: Slave Dealer / Business consultant

Previous accomplishments: Winning against Jeremy Dezani in cube draft one time. Top 8 GP Bochum. 3 GP Top 16

Deck choice: Kessig Bant

Why? Has good matchups against most decks. Esper is the only really bad one and I think nobody will play it.

If you can’t play your deck this weekend, what deck would you play?
Junk Reanimator. It is the best deck and doesn’t lose so much to graveyard hate, but the mirror match is random.

What deck you would choose last?
Human Reanimator. It loses very hard to graveyard hate, bad choice when people are prepared to play against junk.

Who are your favorite players for this weekend?
Elie Pichon, Guillaume Matignon, Jérémy Dezani, Kevin Chiche, Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

Who are your favorite players?
Josh Utter-Leyton; Samuele Estratti, Raphael Levy

Name: Yann Massicard
Age: 26
Occupation: Poker player

Previous accomplishments: GP Seattle winner; 2 GP top 16; 2 PT Top 16

Deck choice: Enchant control

Why? It is really fun

If you can’t play your deck this weekend, what deck would you play?
Jund. The deck is really good and has solutions for everything. I like The Aristocrats too

What deck you would choose last?
Human Reanimator, it is a worse version of Junk and loses to sideboards.

Who are your favorite players for this weekend?
Guillaume Matignon, Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and the Parisian team players.

Who are your favorite players?
Messi, Ronaldo and Zlatan

Name: Pierre Canali
Age: 30
Occupation: Professional Poker player

Previous accomplishments: PT Colombus winner; Top 8 GP Turin

Deck choice: Ramp of Revelation

why? It is the deck with the biggest Sphinx’s Revelation

If you can’t play your deck this weekend, what deck would you play?
UWR Boros Reckoner because this deck can win against anything if you play well.

What deck you would choose last?
Bant control, it is like my deck but a worse version

Who are your favorite players for this weekend?
Guillaume Matignon, Jérémy Dezani, Guillaume Bourdi, Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, Pierre Pinchon.

Who are your favorite players?
Paolo Vitor Da Rosa; Guillaume Wafo-Tapa; Kenji Tsumura

Name: Elie Pichon

Age: 25

Occupation: Entrepreneur

Previous accomplishments: PT Nagoya top 8; Top 8 GP Amsterdam, PP LV6 in 2012

Deck choice: Kessig Bant

Why? I saw Timothée Simonot play it one week ago and it feels like the right choice. Pierre Dagen told me to play it. I played with junk last weekend but I don’t like it.

If you can’t play your deck this weekend, what deck would you play?
The Aristocrats, it is a deck I like to play and players start to forget about it.

What deck you would choose last?
Naya Blitz, I have the impression you lose 1/3 games to your own deck.

Who are your favorite players for this weekend?
Guillaume Matignon, Jérémy Dezani, Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, Pierre Dagen.

Who are your favorite players?
Paolo Vitor Da Rosa ; S. Nakamura , R. Levy

Saturday 6th April: PTQ Dublin

This day, organizers and judges have a little surprise: they prepared chairs and tables for 200 players but in reality 238 players come to try and win the qualification for PT Dublin.
In these 238 players we can see 3 PT winners and 2 GP winners. This proves the weekend is not going to be easy.
We will play 9 rounds before Top 8.

My decklist : JUND MIDRANGE

25 LANDS

4 Blood Crypt

4 Overgrown Tomb

4 Stomping Ground

4 Woodland Cemetery

3 Dragonskull Summit

2 Rootbound Crag

2 Kessig Wolf Run

2 Forest

13 CREATURES

4 Huntmaster of the Fells

4 Thragtusk

3 Olivia Voldaren

2 Arbor Elf

22 SPELLS

4 Farseek

3 Bonfire of the Damned

2 Abrupt Decay

2 Rakdos’s Return

1 Dreadbore

1 Mizzium Mortars

1 Murder

2 Tragic Slip

3 Liliana of the Veil

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

1 Staff of Nin

SIDEBOARD

1 Bonfire of the Damned

1 Abrupt Decay

1 Rakdos’s Return

4 Deathrite Shaman

1 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Slaughter Games

2 Pillar of Flame

1 Acidic Slime

2 Duress

 

 

Here is the deck tech (In French):

DeckTech – Standard Innistrad-Gatecrash – Jund – Jeremy Dezani

Round 1 : Esper Control

I lose the die roll. I cast a Farseek turn two, he plays a Think Twice. Turn 3 I cast Olivia Voldaren which is destroyed by a Supreme Verdict. He is tapped out and Garruk, Primal Hunter comes next turn to win the game by himself. (1/0)

I play Liliana of the Veil on turn 3 which he counters with Dissipate. I play a Duress binning another counterspell and I play a Rakdos’s Return for 2. I cast another one next turn for 3.
He tries to come back with a flashbacked Think Twice but Garruk, Primal Hunter and Liliana of the Veil are both in play and ready for a double ultimate. (2/0)

1/0

Round 2: Kessig Bant

I start and play a Huntmaster of the Fells on turn 3 with the help of a Farseek. Same game one as round 1, my opponent chooses to play a Supreme Verdict and the next turn Garruk, Primal Hunter hits the table and wins the game. He played a Detention Sphere two turns later but I had mana open for Abrupt Decay
(1/0)

My opponent mulligans to 4 on the play and Liliana of the Veil enters the battlefield on my side on turn 3. To the surprise of no one, I win this game easily.
(2/0)

2/0

Round 3: Dark Naya

He wins the die roll and plays a Loxodon Smiter on turn 3. I cast Liliana of the Veil and he sacrifices the elephant. He plays another that gets Abrupt Decayed. I cast a Rakdos’s Return for all cards in his hands, at this moment my hand is Garruk, Primal Hunter, Staff of Nin, Thragtusk, and a Huntmaster of the Fells. I have 5 lands. He draws a Thragtusk, I do the same. He attacks me and we trade our 5/3’s for 3/3’s. He casts a Boros Reckoner, nice draw. I cast Garruk, Primal Hunter and put another 3/3 in play. He miracles a Bonfire of the Damned on Garruk, Primal Hunter and my creatures and attacks for 6. I cast a Huntmaster of the Fells but he plays another Bonfire of the Damned next turn. Very talented topdecks 
(0/1)

Next game starts with a turn 5 Assemble the Legion, Thragtusk and Loxodon Smiter on his side while I have Garruk, Primal HunterStaff of Nin and Huntmaster of the Fells. I play Olivia Voldaren which ends up winning the game since she flies and kills the tokens from the enchantment with the help of Staff of Nin
(1/1)

Game 3 I am stuck on 3 lands (from my initial hand) and I take a fast… Rakdos’s Return! after 2 Farseek. Pretty nice sideboard card in Naya.
(1/2)

2/1

Round 4: Junk no Reanimator splashing red for Kessig

A homebrew deck with Desecration Demon, Alms Beast and Loxodon Smiter
The problem is my removals aren’t powerful enough to kill these creatures. Abrupt decay and Mizzium Mortars only kill his Loxodon Smiter and Bonfire of the Damned kills nothing. Dreadbore, Murder and Tragic Slip are my only good removals for the 6/6 with the help of Liliana of the Veil. The demon does not care about Huntmaster of the Fells and Thragtusk, but Olivia Voldaren is once again very helpful during this round, since she becomes quickly bigger than the 6/6.
(2/1)

3/1

Round 5: UG delver

Once more a homebrew with Delver of Secrets and Quirion Dryad to kill and counterspells + Snapcaster mage to control the game and protect the small creatures. The counterspells are Syncopate and Dissipate but the best is Spell rupture. Each time he counters a spell, his Quirion Dryad becomes stronger; the deck feels like RUG Delver in Modern. The deck plays Thought Scour, Simic Charm and Unsummon. I lost one game when I cast 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, Garruk, Primal Hunter and Bonfire of the Damned that all got countered, powering his Quirion Dryad to 7/7 by the end. I win the other games because I play Abrupt Decay and he does not have Unsummon or Simic Charm to save his Delver of Secrets and Quirion Dryads.

4/1

Round 6 : Naya Blitz

I win the roll but little do I know at this moment that it will be so important to win the game.
In the 1st game, I play Farseek and Huntmaster of the Fells, but he has a great start with 2 one drops and Frontline Medic. I topdeck a Bonfire of the Damned but he sacrifices his Frontline Medic. He plays another Frontline Medic and attacks me. I draw a Bonfire of the Damned again, but if I play it he can sacrifice the Frontline Medic again and I die with the next attack. I decide to not miracle it and play a Thragtusk to buy some time. He attacks and I chump with the Thragtusk on his indestructible Frontline Medic. The next turn I hard cast my Bonfire of the Damned for 2 and he chooses to sacrifice his Frontline Medic. He now only has two humans that are 2/2 and I have a 3/3. He attacks me and I go down to 1 life. I cast a Huntmaster of the Fells to go back to 3, he plays an Experiment One. I topdeck a Thragtusk and win the game. I feel lucky to be alive.
(1/0)

He mulligans to 6 and does not have a crazy start so I can play Abrupt Decay, Thragtusk and Huntmaster of the Fells. The last one will flip to kill his creatures, and flip back for more wolves and life gain (twice).
(2/0)

5/1

Round 7: Junk Reanimator

I have a start with 3 tapped lands and a Farseek on turn 3. He has a much better start with Avacyn’s Pilgrim turn one, Centaur Healer turn 2 and 3 and Thragtusk turn 4. I play my own Thragtusk and a Garruk, Primal Hunter with a 3/3. In this situation he has no choice but to go all in to try and kill Garruk, Primal Hunter. This play leaves him with a single Arbor Elf and a 3/3. Olivia Voldaren comes in to finish the job.
(1/0)

He keeps his hand with 2 lands and an Avacyn’s Pilgrim. I kill it with an Abrupt Decay and he doesn’t see the 4th land. Olivia Voldaren is back again with Garruk, Primal Hunter to win the game.
(2/0)

6/1

Round 8: Gruul Aggro

This game is crucial for the Top 8 because I need only to intentional draw the last round if I win.
He wins the die roll and starts with 3 guys on turn 2 and a hasty Flinthoof Boar on turn 3. I kept a hand with Rakdos’s Return and other late game cards; there is nothing I can do to stop him.
(0/1)

In the second game I keep a hand with removals but he only plays Domri Rade on turn 3, which is immediately Abrupt Decayed. Two Huntmaster of the Fells and Thragtusks later, I win the game.
(1/1)

In the last game I have Garruk, Primal Hunter with 5 counters and he tries to attack it with a 4/4. I block it and he kills my 3 others beasts with Blasphemous Act. I put the 6th counter on Garruk, Primal Hunter, a 3/3 token and a land, he only has one card in hand and I have none. He casts a 3/3 Flinthoof Boar and attacks Garruk, Primal Hunter, I trade with my token to keep Garruk, Primal Hunter’s ultimate available. I draw a land again and sacrifice my planeswalker for 10 6/6 tokens. But the last card in his hand was… Blasphemous Act! I have 7 life and we have no cards in hand. I draw a Mizzium Mortars and pass the turn. He draws a land. Tragic Slip for me. He gets a Boros Reckoner. Another land for me, I play Mizzium Mortars on his Boros Reckoner and go down to 3 life. He draws a land. I topdeck a Thragtusk which deals 15 damage the next turn with Kessig wolf run. Lucky win, I’m in the Top 8.
(2/1)

7/1

Round 9: Junk Reanimator

ID 7/1/1

Top 8 decks:
1 Gruul Aggro
4 Junk Reanimator
1 Jund Midrange
1 Naya humans
1 Mono Red

¼ final: Junk Reanimator

QT Paris 6 Avril 2013 – Quart – Jeremy Dezani vs Damien Mole

Finals: Junk Reanimator

QT Paris 6 Avril 2013 – Finale – Franck Dubus vs Jeremy Dezani

Thank you guys for reading, hope you enjoyed this article.
Jérémy Dezani

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