GP Amsterdam!

[HokusSchmokus]

Hey folks, it's nearly time for showing the rest of the world that Europeans can play magic again.
Who is going there? Maybe we can blitz-plan a meet-up or something?
Also, where are you staying and are there spare rooms? (This one's kinda desperate)
I am looking forward to compete and bring The Source some top8 placings =)

[klaus]

I'll be there.

[Julian23]

We're staying with 8 people at the Ibis Airport hotel. We don't have any spare rooms anymore but you can rent your own double/twin room. If you stay for 3 days it's about less than 80€ per person for the whole stay, I believe.

[spirit of the wretch]

Will be there. Will be drinking heavily.

[HokusSchmokus]

Will be there. Will be drinking heavily.

Alright, so at least somebody I will be able to spot:P

[Tinefol]

Gonna be there. HEM Hotel

[Scordata]

Hai guiz

I'm from usa and will be in ur continent stealing ur gp top 8z

[HokusSchmokus]

Revenge act after we stole your spelling?

[Fl0do]

I will be there with 3 other guys, location: Hostellerie de Veenen

[JamieW89]

I'll be there. Just got a room in Amsterdam as well, but it'll be full with teammates.

[Julian23]

Just recalled, a friend of mine + me are still looking for a place to stay from Thursday to Friday. Anyone? :-)

[bruizar]

the venue is 2 minutes walk away from my house, of course I'm gonna be there....

[practical joke]

I'll be there...

suited up and shit (ah well top-half)


dunno where I'm staying, but it's on a boat!
Anyways, just ask dutchies where and who I am.

will be slacking off thanks to 3 byes and will see how the rest of the weekend goes.

[mort-]

We're staying with 8 people at the Ibis Airport hotel. We don't have any spare rooms anymore but you can rent your own double/twin room. If you stay for 3 days it's about less than 80€ per person for the whole stay, I believe.

Nice. We're able to meet again then. Staying at the same hotel with four people.
Also, the exact numbers are 79 Euro per room per night, including breakfast :)

[Julian23]

Nice. We're able to meet again then. Staying at the same hotel with four people.
Also, the exact numbers are 79 Euro per room per night, including breakfast :)

:-) From what I know, it's excluding breakfast. Although we just went to have it @ Milan and they didn't notice so we weren't charged for it, lol.

[Maxe]

I'll be there from Fr to Monday.
Still collecting ALL Cannibalize i can get.
Only got 453 till now. :(
Maybe i meet someone who bring some.

[Nidd]

the venue is 2 minutes walk away from my house, of course I'm gonna be there....
Are you up for some awesome couchsurfing?

[Smea.gol.lum]

At the moment, it looks like I'm the lonely German guy who stays at the Eupemia Hotel for 30 Euro per night sleeping together with 3 other random guys in a shared bedroom.

However, if some of you would like to join me, we could try to get into one room together:P.

[bruizar]

Sorry man, I already have a full-house :-)

For people that want to come here on the cheap, try the hostel Flying Pig. Also, next to the venue is the biggest hotel of the city with room for like 500 people.

[Shursh]

Gonna be there. HEM HotelSame.

[sdematt]

Anyone feel like picking up cards for me?

-MAtt

[Waikiki]

ill be there in the hotel across the venue!

[Julian23]

Ok, me and a friend are gonna be staying at the Flying Pig Uptown hostel from 20th to 21st, then Ibis Airport from 21st to 24th.

Cya guys!

[Nidd]

Ok, me and a friend are gonna be staying at the Flying Pig Uptown hostel from 20th to 21st, then Ibis Airport from 21st to 24th.

Cya guys!
May I ask how you're gonna get to Amsterdam? I'm still without a ride and going by train or by plane sounds sucky.

[Julian23]

We're flying from Munich with KLM for 87€. We booked like 1 month ago so don't expect to get such a good deal right now. I don't know of anyone who'll be driving there but you can check out the Deutsche Bahn Europaspecial Netherlands for (I believe) 2x39€ (to and from Amsterdam, thus 78€).

[jeanbathez]

I'll be there (from friday until sunday) and i hope i will finally be able to meet a lot of you guys !!!!

[Trentemoller]

Yes, I'm looking forward to the GP! :D I live 10 minutes away though, pretty lucky. And I have byes =) Anyone looking for specific cards? I'm still looking for 3 Vendilion Cliques, that's basically it.

[Julian23]

What are all of you gonna be playing? Maybe someone can edit the opening post to include it. Would be really interesting with regards to prediciting the metagame.

[x] Spiral Tide here

[jandax]

BUG of some sort here, Snapcaster or dark thresh.

Anyone else planning on grinding byes the Friday before?

[Julian23]

I've already got 3 Byes but I still plan on dreamcrushing in the GPTs on Friday, just for exercise ;-)

[DerFern]

Going to be there with three friends. We´ll be sleeping in a trailor park about 70minutes away from Amsterdam, pretty close to the german border. However, no need to spend money on a sloppy htel looks like the driving will be worth it.
Got 3 byes, so I have about 3 more hours to sleep (after players meeting)...

I´m really looking forward to meet some of you guys! I´m not going to tell what I´ll be playing since I have my nickname written on my playmat, but most of the german guys (and some from the netherlands) know either way...

[elof]

I'll be there, not sure what I'll play yet thou...

[PaRa]

I'll be there, just look out for this mat.

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv311/PaRalein/D.jpg

cya!

[Sea R Hill]

Yes, I'm looking forward to the GP! :D I live 10 minutes away though, pretty lucky. And I have byes =) Anyone looking for specific cards? I'm still looking for 3 Vendilion Cliques, that's basically it.

Can you tell us what is the metagame in holland?

I heard you guys are playing a lot of storm decks, is that right?

Thank you for your help!

PS: Like your pseudo BTW ;)

[practical joke]

Can you tell us what is the metagame in holland?

I heard you guys are playing a lot of storm decks, is that right?

Thank you for your help!

PS: Like your pseudo BTW ;)

honestly I can't say for sure.

yes there will be combo ( all variations), but it's not that high ammount as ppl think it is.
I expect the following to be seen a lot:

Combo (reanimate, tendrills, high tide)
Merfolk
The Rock ( and all of it's variations)
TT ( a few of it)
maybe some goblins
Stoneblade variants...and I expect a lot of these. (any color combinations)

but those are tournament regulars....and considering the ammount of ppl coming to GP Amsterdam, just expect everything.

so don't write off the maverick , BUGstill , zoo and whatnot match-ups since they will be there...

I just can't give any indication on % at all, since I've been slacking off at tournaments lately and only done one of the last GPT's for 3 byes.

[Dia_Bot]

Can you tell us what is the metagame in holland?

I heard you guys are playing a lot of storm decks, is that right?

Thank you for your help!

PS: Like your pseudo BTW ;)

It's a GP so it's impossible to metagame. Think of every good deck and expect them to be played a fair amount.
Actually what Practical_Joke just said :).

[Julian23]

This is the metagame of Ovinogeddon Six from 2 weeks ago:

36 maverick
29 Merfolk
25 zoo
24 Candian
23 Ant/Tes
21 Spiral Tide
19 NO RUG
13 reanimator
13 dredge
12 NLU
12 burn
11 Thopter Combo
11 Team America
9 Belcher
8 rock
8 MUD
8 Bant
7 URG Control
7 goblin
6 landeed
6 hive mind
6 affinity


Feel free to draw conclusions from THAT mess, lol.

[Nidd]

If I'll be there, I'm prolly either slinging Memnites and Etched Champions at people, or I'm gonna Jace some people out - not as if this couldn't be the same deck, right? ;)

[Julian23]

Anyone up for some MODO testing? I've got Time Spiral and a friend of mine's got Merfolk. Just hit me up, it's Julian23

[Sea R Hill]

Thing is that we can expect two types of player for this GP : foreigners and locals.

If it is relatively easy to predict what foreigners are going to play, I think it is very interesting to know about the decks that players from Holland like to play.

For example I don't expect people to travel by train or plane and play aggro decks like Zoo (because Zoo sucks and players that travel are usually good players so they are gonna be playing good decks that reward their skill - yes I'm talking about decks with blue). But if aggro deck is a heavily played archetype in the Netherlands, we should be prepared to face that kind of decks.

So that is my question: what decks are popular in Hollland?

[Jonathan Alexander]

Thing is that we can expect two types of player for this GP : foreigners and locals.

If it is relatively easy to predict what foreigners are going to play, I think it is very interesting to know about the decks that players from Holland like to play.

For example I don't expect people to travel by train or plane and play aggro decks like Zoo (because Zoo sucks and players that travel are usually good players so they are gonna be playing good decks that reward their skill - yes I'm talking about decks with blue). But if aggro deck is a heavily played archetype in the Netherlands, we should be prepared to face that kind of decks.

So that is my question: what decks are popular in Hollland?

Really, don't write off Maverick. That deck is criminally overplayed in Germany and you can expect a lot of German players playing either that or Canadian Thresh, which is also having quite the resurgence. Apart from that, it's the Netherlands so obviously there will be some storm. I'll see if I can finish another article before I take off to England this weekend. I only have like 30 hours left though, and I have an important test tomorrow.
If I won't make it in time, practical joke seems to be quite on spot. I wouldn't be surprised to see a new breakout combo deck including Past In Flames (not a hint or something).
See you all in Amsterdam!

[Julian23]

Some of the best players of Germany are gonna be playing GW Maverick. While I agree that most foreigners are not gonna be playing Tier3 decks, I consider your logic somewhat flawed when it comes to established non-blue decks.

[spirit of the wretch]

For example I don't expect people to travel by train or plane and play aggro decks like Zoo (because Zoo sucks and players that travel are usually good players so they are gonna be playing good decks that reward their skill - yes I'm talking about decks with blue). But if aggro deck is a heavily played archetype in the Netherlands, we should be prepared to face that kind of decks.


God, this makes me really want to bring out the Steppe Lynx again and slaughter the "good" decks that can't beat turn 5 Bolt into Fireblast!
Anyway, one of my team mates is playing Glissa and he is driving to Amsterdam, too.
Here a GW deck is hailed as the second coming. GW! I'm not even kidding. And a crap ton of german players will be piloting that. Not blue. Not even a little! (okay, a little if you count Hierarchs...)

Bottom line: It's still Legacy! People will play whatever cockamamy frigging deck is close to their heart... (Yeah, I really didn't mean to say cockamamy. Or frigging for that matter)

On to the important questions: What beer is good over there? I don't care too much for the weed, but the brew, I'm actually quite interested in! Hell this whole post wouldn't exists, if it wasn't for this delicious narcotic.

[practical joke]

Depends on your taste:

for dutch brands I like "Hertog Jan" and "Grolsch"

As for dutch popular decks...I can't say really, since I've been slacking a lot during GPT's.
I've seen a lot of toptier decks hopping around, jsut expect those from the decent dutch players as well.

What the rest is playing? dunno really.

[Crazy Eddie]

On to the important questions: What beer is good over there? I don't care too much for the weed, but the brew, I'm actually quite interested in! Hell this whole post wouldn't exists, if it wasn't for this delicious narcotic.

Finally a decent question! Well, since Holland's got quite a few good breweries, you can hardly go wrong. Heineken and Amstel are both originally from Amsterdam, and in the pubs still quite dominant. Personally, I prefer Hertog Jan (= Duke John), but that's quite hard to find. Also, it's autumn, so there are several good Bock's available besides lager. Otherwise, ask for something brewed by monks in a monastry, those are really good as well (yeah, really!). Since the number of beers available in any pub cab differ greatly, with most having several beers on the tap and lots more in bottle, I would ask the staff what they would recommend.

And on the practical side: In the Netherlands, beer is served either directly in a glass (obviously, since the regular lager is from the tap) or served with a glass. You don't drink your beer from a bottle. And unless you are purpously buying low-alcohol beer, the alcohol percentage starts around 5%, a lot of the more special beers are around 7-8 %, and 10-12% is nut uncommon. Stories about foreigners (especially from the UK) who are used to drinking huge volumes of beer with a low alcohol grade, and therefore get drunk really fast are quite common over here.

Hm... already looking forward to taking some of you guys into town friday and saturday!

[jandax]

On to the important questions: What beer is good over there? I don't care too much for the weed, but the brew, I'm actually quite interested in! Hell this whole post wouldn't exists, if it wasn't for this delicious narcotic.

Over the last few GPT's, mostly top tier decks were found in the top8. Deep into day 1 and day two you'll be playing against Storm combos, Stoneforge decks, and Tempo decks. There was a good point to be made about people traveling and bringing quality decks, consider that, and that the locals who run the top tables rarely shy from the Top tier decks one can find on this sub forum.

Regarding beer:

There's a couple breweries in town. The Heinekin Experience is a touristy thing to do. And on the way to the venue for the PT last fall, there is the Ij Brewery (situated in a windmill, can be seen from WoTC trophy photos from the event, fyi, they went there to take the top8/winner pics) I'm a beer geek myself, and I rarely make it to A'dam without stopping there. It's not a bar, but a Dutch phenominon called a Proeflocal, zoned for tasting and not proper Bar business. It's open from 3-8, and has a small variety of taps, including probably the best Weizen I've ever had.

There are also a variety of beer bars around. I'd spend a few minutes on google and create an itinerary.

[Maxe]

I'll be there, just look out for this mat.

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv311/PaRalein/D.jpg

cya!

Yeah nice idea!

If u see this, its me.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9875/p1030517s.jpg

[BWM]

Hail me, for I am awesome...

I took home all the decklists from all the tournaments I attended the last two months with the idea of making a metagame-breakdown before Amsterdam. Other people helped me too and I promised I'd write my first article about it if I would go over 500 decklists.

Ofcourse the counter stopped at 482 with one GPT I missed (with 18 players, yes, really!!)
The data are screwed because of the banning of Mental Misstep, but I don't really care about it.
The data also are mingled because these were GPT's that me or my team attended, we tend to play a lot of storm and tempo-decks, so their numbers are slightly overexaggerated.


Deck - # of times played:
Stormcombo (ANT; TES; Doomsday) - 49 (including 16 from our team)
UWx Stoneblade - 48
Merfolk - 41
BGW Variants (Junk; Rock; Maverick with Confidants; Maverick with Loam-sillyness) - 33
Dark Tempo - 21 (including 12 from our team, not counting Team America, since Tombstalker is a silly creature)
Burn - 20 (one of those PTQ-players played burn on the first GPT and won byes with it. He convinced some friends to play it)
Zoo - 20 (including Blue zoo, Big zoo, Confidant zoo and Steppe Lynx zoo)
Dredge - 19
Maverick - 18
Reanimate - 18
NO RUG - 13
BUG control - 13 (including Jacestill and the new deck from LSV//GerryT that Marske plays)
Elf Combo - 13
BW Discard - 12
Goblins - 11
Red Tempo - 11
Bant - 10
Affinity - 10
randomness - the rest

We had a lot of GPT's:
Groningen - 1 slot (Dredge)
Enschede - 4 slots (Merfolk; Burn; Reanimate; Bant)
Rotterdam - 2 slots (UW Stoneblade; Dark Tempo
Sprang-Capelle - 1 slot (Show & TellDrazi)
Amsterdam - 2 slots (RB Burn and ANT)
Haarlem - 1 slot (ANT)
Utrecht - 2 slots (UW Stoneblade; BW Discard)
Leiden - 1 slot (UB Merfolk (with confidant))
Nijmegen -2 slots (TES; Dark Tempo)
Den Haag - 1 slot (Doomsday ANT)
Zwolle - 1 slot (unknown)
Eindhoven - 4 slots (BUG Control//TA hybrid; Bant; Red Tempo; UWB Control)

I could make a similar list from belgium, but I'm too lazy, if somebody else is willing to do that (and PMs it to me), I'll edit it in... You can try to combine googletranslate with benelegacy.nl

Aside from that, some dutches went to steal byes in Belgium or in Germany. I have seen zero germans in our top8's, but than again, I have heard of teams who give a beer for every single german you kick out of the tournament... :-)

[Shursh]

2 locals: guys, is there any local mtg club, that planning legacy event at thursday, october 20?

[jandax]

^^They normally game on Mondays, Draft/Legacy. At least that was the last I heard of it

[Shursh]

^^They normally game on Mondays, Draft/Legacy. At least that was the last I heard of it
any chance to made legacy at thursday?
can you give adress?

[jandax]

I don't go, but I only know about it because the place where they game is a common tournament venue and I know some guys from the team. It's called 2 Klavieren Spellcafe, 136 (or 139) de Clerqstraat. Spelling is probably horrendous, but it's probably 10 minutes by tram from central station.

PM Skeggi here on these boards. That's who I talked to

[3eowulf]

Infos about weather/temperature? How cold is up there?

[Shursh]

Infos about weather/temperature? How cold is up there?I just become unbanned in google, and google revealed me +12 and some rain during GP weekend

[practical joke]

[--] this cold...

probably between 10-15 degrees during the day a few degrees positive at night.
can't say anything about rain yet, to lazy to find a proper forecast that goes that far.

[practical joke]

[--] this cold...

probably between 10-15 degrees during the day a few degrees positive at night.
can't say anything about rain yet, to lazy to find a proper forecast that goes that far.

[bruizar]

Lol, the weather here is entirely unpredictable. We had the hottest october ever with 28 degrees. Yesterday and the day before it was nice and sunny (although cold), people were drinking beers outside. It gets really chilly at night though. I expect the weather to get worst as november is closing in, but in this country, you simply never know.

[jandax]

"but in this country, you simply never know."

hah, that's the joke of the ages since I moved here.

[Smea.gol.lum]

Hey guys, do you know how long the tournament will last on Sunday?

I have difficulties booking a train cause I am not willing to exclude the unlikely case that I make it until the end :P

What about the last minute trials? Will they take place on Friday the whole day long?

Peace

[Julian23]

I believe the GP Trials on Friday only last until around 18:00 or 18:30. Top8 on Sunday depend heavily on the course of the tournament but expect the final to be played quite late. Correct me if I'm wrong on this but I think the GP Madrid final last year was taking place after 20:00.

[Bahamuth]

I believe the GP Trials on Friday only last until around 18:00 or 18:30. Top8 on Sunday depend heavily on the course of the tournament but expect the final to be played quite late. Correct me if I'm wrong on this but I think the GP Madrid final last year was taking place after 20:00.

In Madrid everything got screwed up because they didn't expect this many people though. I hope it's a little better here.

[Julian23]

In Madrid everything got screwed up because they didn't expect this many people though. I hope it's a little better here.

True. Haha, I remember people playing without chairs during the earily rounds. Thank God I had 3 Byes ;-).
Still, Day2 was a regular tournament day.

[Waikiki]

Hope it will be just as fun as I had in Madrid ;)

[sdematt]

It should be more fun, in theory, with the whole beer factories and legalized prostitution angle.

-Matt

[(nameless one)]

It should be more fun, in theory, with the whole beer factories and legalized prostitution angle.

-Matt

Not to mention the Coffee Shops.

[Rizso]

Wonder how many people this GP will have considering how close it is to countries where legacy is quite huge, spain, germany, itali, france with others.

[practical joke]

Wonder how many people this GP will have considering how close it is to countries where legacy is quite huge, spain, germany, itali, france with others.

I'm expecting 1900-2000 ppl...It won't be as big as Madrid, because the ammount of spanish ppl that came to that place that won't come to Amsterdam will be huge. then again in return we get more germans in return.


Madrid was a complete mess, had to fight myself out of an 0-2 standing, tossing my cards over a meter to the table since 2 fat ppl were occupying the space and I had to look straight into a 100kg+ fatass's hairy asscrack.
I had better tournaments, even though I made day 2 and screwed up my last 3 matches for moneystanding ><

[citanul]

Madrid was awful. Late start due to high attendance, bad organization and people playing standing. Lots of people had 1 or more bye's, during round1 you could easily go sit upstairs at the final tables and stay there for the remainder of the first 3 rounds. If the organization realised this they could've taken those chairs and brought them downstairs.

Besides the late start it also had long rounds. Round 4 started at 15.45, which is when some played their first card of the day. Not really interesting when you are there from 08.45. And an extremely late ending hour as well, I was at my hotel at 2. And had to get up at 6 to play day2. Not really a good thing but not their fault in the end I guess.

It seems to be an issue with southern countries in general though as Milaan had the same issue just a few weeks ago. Higher attendance than expected, starting at 10.30 instead of 9. Round4 started around 16.00. Organization was a bit better, ending around midnight this time.

They should close registration around 8.30 since people will still be queueing after this time and start around 9.30 which seems to be more realistic than ending registration at 9.00 and starting at 9.10.

I'm prepared with a pillow this time for the delay!

[baghdadbob]

What is the going rate for a prosty in Amsterdam anyways? Someones gotta know.

[sdematt]

Well, I figure it's probably the rate of a prostitute in the States, except a bit lower (I'm talking real prostitutes at real brothels in Nevada, not crack alley hookers, and since it's legal, it's not as exclusive, and therefore, less expensive).

I'm sure the Mustang Ranch must have a website, so then just increase or decrease for quality. You have to figure unrealistic top end of $2,000 an hour for the businessman price, though Eliot Spitzer would know :P. Obviously not realistic, but at least you have a top-end :P

-Matt

[Julian23]

The Source - your source for sex, drugs and Legacy.

[HokusSchmokus]

So finally got a room! Saying at the Amsterdam Janson Hostel.

[Frid]

No one worried about the vulcano in Iceland and the possibility of a massive flight cancellation?

[Julian23]

Julian23 casts Stone Rain targeting Volcanic Island.

To be honest, I don't think it's that much of a problem this time.

[jandax]

I guess it means ample seating?

[Nidd]

Bawww, due to my schedule for the next 2 weeks, I won't be able to attend the GP.

Dang, no Affinity madness for you guys.

[DerFern]

Any of the residents out there who could tell me something about parking spaces and fees? The homepage of the RIA is not thaaaaat helpful, except I could see that there is a parking ticket fpr 3 days for 46,00 EUR available. Do you guys know if this ticket can be bought at the site or do I need to preorder it somehow?

[Gheizen64]

What is the going rate for a prosty in Amsterdam anyways? Someones gotta know.

The fare is the same in all of europe i believe, 150 for a complete service (1h time), 500 for the night.

And beware for scams.

[sdematt]

What type of scams?

I'm not going, but always good to know about scams, just in case. Never know when you might need to bail out a friend.

-Matt

[gnat]

Why would you ever pay that much for something that doesn't feel nearly as good as playing magic? Also magic isn't as exhausting, takes longer and makes you less sleepy afterwards. Moreover magic is way more social and let's you get really close to the guys you care about.

All in all, they might say sex is magic; but to me magic is sex.

[sdematt]

Let us not confuse one with the other; they're two entirely different things. Point being, though, it's really about whether you'd spend the money on the trade floor or in a shop window, really. I honestly would be hard pressed to drop a Beta dual on it when it's attached with dating already, which already costs me enough money.

-Matt

[Mr Miagi]

Long time lurker, first time posting.

17 of Slovenian players are making the 1300km trip with 4 cars - it's going to be a real f roadtrip.

I think that GP Amsteradm's going to be quite huge, the Amsterdam itself is worth the visit, especially with its more exotic things it offers - we all know that GP is "just a sidevent" :wink:

Unless you are (hopefully under 15 years old)


Why would you ever pay that much for something that doesn't feel nearly as good as playing magic? Also magic isn't as exhausting, takes longer and makes you less sleepy afterwards. Moreover magic is way more social and let's you get really close to the guys you care about.

All in all, they might say sex is magic; but to me magic is sex.

and should take a nice long lapdance until you get it :cool:

[sandreline]

I think that GP Amsteradm's going to be quite huge, the Amsterdam itself is worth the visit, especially with its more exotic things it offers - we all know that GP is "just a sidevent" :wink:



That's why there will be a lot of french players too :tongue:
See you there :wink:

[sdematt]

Are the Europeans on here planning an MTGTheSource get together like we kind of did at GP Providence?

Have some food, meet up, trade, etc.?

-Matt

[Maxe]

Are the Europeans on here planning an MTGTheSource get together like we kind of did at GP Providence?

Have some food, meet up, trade, etc.?

-Matt

definitely, we only got 2 GP here in Europe. Time to rock the incoming weekend!

[jeanbathez]

Are the Europeans on here planning an MTGTheSource get together like we kind of did at GP Providence?

Have some food, meet up, trade, etc.?

-Matt

With a few "local" we plan to, but i don't know about the rest, i want to meet a lot of sourcers, so is there something considered ?

[practical joke]

considered lazy...

Probably there are quite the group of day 1 failers going out on saterday night.

Also I'll be hopping around fridays with a shirtprint that looks like me (beard, glasses etc).
always in for meeting new ppl and sourcers.

[bruizar]

Okay it rains like shit here so you better not expect sunshine

[jandax]

Gonna be around Friday as well, hope to run into some of you guys there!

[bruizar]

man... you just CAN'T predict the weather in this country. It's nice and sunny! (with some clouds)

[useL]

I will be wearing a pink t-shirt with pandas doing the nasty. If you see me, walk up to me and say hi! I'm also 195 cm so should be easy to find in a crowd =)

Edit: oh, btw, I'll also be the one going home with first price!

[(nameless one)]

Good luck to all the Sourcers going to the GP.

[Shimi]

Anyone know if there is a non-official coverage(video or not) about it? Or just that on WotC website?

Thx.

[sdematt]

If anyone wants to take pictures and post them, that'd be cool.

-Matt

[pandaman]

When someone finds the Wizards Event Coverage link for the GP can you post it here? My Googleninja skills are weak.

[Taurelin]

When someone finds the Wizards Event Coverage link for the GP can you post it here? My Googleninja skills are weak.

I think i found it:

http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpams11/welcome

[godryk]

1878 people, not bad, still a pretty decent crowd of Legacy nerds considering the economic situation. Let's see if we got to be surprised during the weekend. I'm hoping the GP isn't won by some stupid Stoneforge/Vendilion/Snapcaster deck and we see some crazy stuff.

[Occam]

Anyone knows if there is live unofficial coverage? Checked ggslive but didn't see anything there.

[kiblast]

Anyone knows if there is live unofficial coverage? Checked ggslive but didn't see anything there.

Yeah I'm kinda interested in it too as Wiz Coverage will suck as always.

[Shimi]

1878 people, not bad, still a pretty decent crowd of Legacy nerds considering the economic situation. Let's see if we got to be surprised during the weekend. I'm hoping the GP isn't won by some stupid Stoneforge/Vendilion/Snapcaster deck and we see some crazy stuff.

There is also GP Chile and SCG Event so players from North America have other big events to go.I'm hoping for a DDFT Top8 or anything that kills with Grapeshot, just for the lolz.

[Kage]

The "coverage" sucks hard. No stream, and not even some game reports yet. I am disappoint.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Casting a big storm spell

This is a format where just about all the 'ritual' effects around are legal, and card drawing is abundant and cheap. Consequently, there are quite a few decks which, one way or another, are looking to build up a hefty storm count, and then do something degenerate with it. For High Tide decks, this might be casting a hefty Brain Freeze. For Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT), it could be casting a whopping Tendrils of Agony to end the game. Goblin Charbelcher (Belcher) decks frequently find themselves casting a substantial Empty the Warrens to end things.

One of the key strengths of the storm mechanic is that it is inherently strong against one of the pillars of the format; Force of Will. A counterspell will only counter one copy of a storm spell, and will itself build the storm count, which can be a little dangerous. There is an answer though. Flusterstorm, a counterspell with storm printed in the Commander decks, can counter every storm copy on the stack, as well as frequently being at least a Spell Pierce against other things.

Something you should expect to see: Someone casting a Tendrils of Agony with a storm count of 10+.

Something you are unlikely to see: Someone casting Wing Shards with a storm count of 10+.

Something you won't see: Someone casting Mind's Desire. It is far, far too powerful not to be banned in Legacy.

Seeing this made me sad.

[dsck]

Seeing this made me sad.

Made me laugh, then sad.

Any REAL coverage anywhere!?

[bfeingersh]

Ruud Warmenhoven decided to try his luck, searching out three copies of Show and Tell with an Intuition – two copies went to the graveyard and one to the Dutchman's hand. It was the pair in the graveyard that was most important, however, as Bresse was waiting with a Surgical Extraction that threatened to exile all the Show and Tells from Warmenhoven's deck. It was something worth fighting for and Warmenhoven sallied to the defense of his key spell with a Flenserstorm, storming two copies of the spell to mean Bresse had to pay 3 extra with his two lands. Paying for two of the Flenserstorms, Bresse pitched a card to counter the third Flenserstorm with Force of Will, but Warmenhoven replied with a Force of Will of his own before Bresse trumped that with yet another Force of Will!

The gathered crowd murmured appreciatively as the Cranial Extraction resolved, removing the threat of Warmenhoven's Show and Tell, and revealing that the Dutchman was holding onto a Hive Mind as his big threat.

Uh what?

[Esper3k]

Good luck to all the Sourcers playing in this!

[Piceli89]

I predict Team America tearing apart the Gp with at least 3 top8ers. That deck is just too good and complete not to get until the end.

[caiomarcos]

What a lame coverage! I'm glad I only follow legacy, otherwise I'd suffer with such poor coverage every event!

"Feature Match" like it's 1995...

[majikal]

Coverage seems to indicate that Reanimator is absolutely everywhere.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Coverage seems to indicate that Reanimator is absolutely everywhere.

Saturday, 9:30 p.m. - A Snapshot of the Day 1 Metagame
by Tim Willoughby

Reanimator 8.50%
Ad Nauseam Tendrils 6.50%
Merfolk 6%
Maverick (GW beatdown/control with Aven Mindcensor) 5.50%
UW Stoneforge (two of them splashing red, two of them splashing black) 5.50%
Burn 5%
Canadian Threshold with Delver of Secrets 4.50%
Zoo 4.50%
Affinity 3.50%
UB Snapcaster Control 3.50%
BUG 3%
Junk 3%
Team America 3%
Sneak Attack 2.50%
Elves 2.50%
High Tide 2%
Dredge 2%
Bant 2%
Goblins 1.50%
Delver of Secrets UB 1.50%
Deadguy Ale 1%
Doomsday 1%
Enchantress 1%
Others 21

[majikal]

lol looks like Madrid all over again.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Hopes to a Reanimator vs ANT finals, where the combo doesn't fizzle.

[majikal]

God I hope not. The last thing we need is more fuel to power Tom Lapille's crazy train full-steam into another banning.

[dsck]

Saturday, 9:30 p.m. - A Snapshot of the Day 1 Metagame
by Tim Willoughby

Burn 5%

~90 burn players

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

This will set a dangerous precedent if it's true.

June 2011, Counterbalance and Sensei's Top banned, for being in Top 8.
September 2011, Lion's Eye Diamond banned for being colorless.
December 2011, Wild Nacatl banned for being too damn aggressive.
March 2012, Aether Vial banned for cheating at Magic.
June 2012, Brainstorm banned for drawing more than 1 card per turn.
September 2012, Ponder restricted for being the same mana cost as Brainstorm and looking at 3 cards.
December 20th, 2012 - End of the world.

You laugh now...

[Deviruchi]

DCI please do not change ban list because of the metagame. Don't touch Entomb and LED!

P.S. At least 1 DDFT in day2! ^_^

[Piceli89]

Are they supposed to provide a coverage on day2? I remember that GP Providence had one. Maybe it's just because it was in America and it was sponsored by Starcitygames on ggslive, if I can recall correctly.

[dahcmai]

I really hope they don't do another snap decision on banning things again based on the performance of the two hated archtypes again. OMG, Storm and Reanimator are winning! Obviously we need to ban something like Brainstorm and Ponder because that worked out great in Modern! :/

It sometimes worries me who the people are that are in control of that stuff now and their obvious position on those two decks.

[mythical1]

There is also GP Chile and SCG Event so players from North America have other big events to go.I'm hoping for a DDFT Top8 or anything that kills with Grapeshot, just for the lolz.

Spiel aka Essen is also this weekend so considering all this and the shit economy of Europe atm this event had an incredible turnout.

[Olesch]

Wizards are not up yet with day 2 on their coverage. Their coverage sucks hard.
Does anybody else know of a site which posts updates from the event?

[practical joke]

Wizards are not up yet with day 2 on their coverage. Their coverage sucks hard.
Does anybody else know of a site which posts updates from the event?

day 2 just started/ended round 10

[Gocho]

Spiel aka Essen is also this weekend so considering all this and the shit economy of Europe atm this event had an incredible turnout.

I know that all your newspapers says that Europe is almost broken, but seriously guys, we aren't so bad. Restaurants are full. New shops open every month. In Spain all the Hotels hangs the No Vacancy this summer thanks to the European tourists.

I pay my debts, almost everyone pays his debts and everyone I know that lose is job in Spain is because the construction bubble.

Greece and Portugal have an economy disaster (Portugal is going to up his VAT +10% next week), but Greece and Portugal are very small if you see the Europe size. We read the same from California some months ago and nobody thinks that USA is in trouble.

[Olesch]

day 2 just started/ended round 10

Yes, I got an Text from my friend at 09.00 saying he just won a round.

But I am eager to follow it!

[Einherjer]

When will day 2 finish? I wanna see how my fav decks finished :)

[kiblast]

Plenty of Burn, 5% of the meta is a lot. Probably a lot of players thought that given the combo-ish meta, Burn would have had cool matchups against people trying to resolve AdNauseam. Which obviously it's not true.

[Einherjer]

Metagamebreakdown :) YAY
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpams11/welcome#2

[Esper3k]

Yeah some interesting shifts in the Day 1 / Day 2 Metas, but not unexpected given how much combo was in Day 1.

[emidln]

815 Schmaltz Tziritas, Mat [CAN] 36 vs. Alsheimer, Christoph [DEU] 36

Christoph Alsheimer (nemevara) is on 4c DDFT and playing for top16/top32 at X-3.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

From the event coverage:

"Summoner's Pact, Pact of the Titan, Pact of the Titan, Slaughter Pact, Pact of Negation. Your turn"

Courtesy of Hive Mind, the Dutchman had played a copy of his own of each of those cards, but Kovacs was killing him with kindness – Melis now had to find 16UUUUGGRRB in his upkeep to avoid losing to the Pacts. Unsurprisingly, Bas Melis couldn't get together mana he needed, and Kovacs took the first game.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

For the Top 8 so far we have:

ANT (UBGR with Past in Flames and sideboard Xantid Swarm)
Hive Mind
Imperial Painter
New Horizons
Maverick (RGW with Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows)
*
*
*

[Philipp2293]

Add Maverick with Punishing Fire.

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Here's the official top 8:
Countertop
Canadian Thresh
New Horizons
ANT
Imperial Painter
Hive Mind
Maverick
Bant Aggro

[whienot]

Top 8 lists are up (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpams11/welcome#0)

[sco0ter]

Here's the official top 8:
Countertop
Canadian Thresh
New Horizons
ANT
Imperial Painter
Hive Mind
Maverick
Bant Aggro

New Horizons and Bant Aggro lists look pretty similar. Where are the differences, that define each archetype? I thought "Horizons" came from Horizon Canopy (which isnt played).

[dsck]

New Horizons and Bant Aggro lists look pretty similar. Where are the differences, that define each archetype? I thought "Horizons" came from Horizon Canopy (which isnt played).

Stifle, I quess.

[Adan]

Countertop. Unreal.

[(nameless one)]

Balls. I wanted Imperial Painter to take it all the way because of all the blue decks and guess what, it had to face the ANT player in the quarterfinals.

As for Horizons vs Bant, Bant looks more aggro-control whereas Horizons is tempo?

[caiomarcos]

So much blue... and not enough black. That saddens me.

[(nameless one)]

Personally I was hoping for Staxx in the top8 since its Europe

[Adan]

The top8 look like a mess at first sight, bit we have 2 Zenith decks, 2 decks with Stifle-Waste, one with Grove-Fires & Loam, a Countertop, a Show and
Tell deck, a Lion's Eye Diamond deck and a Painter-deck.

Seems healthy, all the important engines
of current Legacy gathered in the Top8. The only
engines missing are Aether Vial, Entomb and Natural Order.

However, this seems to be quite healthy. I'm just confused about the Countertop deck.

[atropos]

Yeah what the hell's with Countertop making Top 8?

[dahcmai]

Well, you guys did say that Storm was fairly prominent. That would explain how it would get so far if he hit a lot of them. Countertop is a wrecking ball to Storm if you get it early enough. That and people have to respect Spell Snares and Counterspells being flashbacked off Snappy. It's a back breaker to a lot of decks.

[Purgatory]

So happy to see one of my favorite decks of all time, Canadian Thresh, making the top 8. Here's hopng it takes the whole thing!

[Shax]

Since Imperial Painter got knocked out early, I am rooting for Hive Mind and ANT to win it all. Do you people seriously like seeing the same results all the time? ThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThresh win every tourney?( Or atleast, how it used too. Typical blue midrange control decks. :mad: )

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

Finals:
Stoneforge Mystic Bant vs Canadian Thresh

[Bahamuth]

I walked around plenty at the higher tables today. The decks that were doing best were Canadian Thresh (or Ugr generic aggro-control lists) and BUG (As Team America or more controlling strategies). Reanimator was also very prevalent.

[JamieW89]

I made 37th (12-4) with ANT. Every match I lost except for one I made big mistakes in though. The lack of sleep & food are definately to blame for this.
I also won a few games I shouldn't have; someone surgical extracted something irrelivant after I brainstormed into no outs at lethal and I topdecked Grim Tutor for the win. Someone else scooped in resp to infernal with Teeg in play (EoT CoV on Canonist, Mother gives prot, my turn chain my petals and his canonist, cantrip some, make mana and show the tutor and he scoops lol).
Against DDFT I should have lost G1 after keeping a terribad hand, but he didn't duress after wishing, so on my turn I can go Rit,IGG (He had several protection spells and business) to return Tutor,Chant,Cantrip and I eventually win the long game. In g3 in time I open a t1 kill after a mull to 6 :\
Loads of UGr Thresh, I played it 4 times. Didn't see any bant deck the entire weekend but apparantly a few of them did well. Too much reanimate as well really, although I only played it once, in the trial I 5-0'd.

My matchups:

Trial: 5-0
Goblins 2-0
Painter 2-1 (Activate Grindstone, I path the Painter, he activates Top into FoW, I silence. Untap Chant->Win)
Reanimate 2-1 (He was 1-0 up and had drawn 7 off Jin in g3 but I untapped and won with chant backup.)
The Rock 2-0
Natural Order (He scooped as he already had byes)

Day-1: 7-2
3 Byes
Painter 1-2 (Top-8 guy, 4 thorns > me)
2 Dredge (2-0, 2-1)
3 UGr Thresh (2-0, 0-2, 2-1 I think)

Day-2: 5-2
1 Bye (Yes, really)
2 Maverick (2-0, 2-1)
Elf Combo 2-0
DDFT 2-1 (Pure luck)
BUG 1-2 (I forgot FoW can also be cast for 5 mana /facepalm. He T16'd)
UGr Thresh 1-2 (Decided to gamble on the t1 in g3 on the play and he had the 40%. He's in the finals now)

[lolosoon]

French Player Pierre Sommen Wins the Final after beeing 1 game down, then 2 consecutives wins post-SB !

(With SFM Bant)

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

ANT player received a game loss in the semis for not desideboarding properly :(

[Zunam]

1) Only three decks without FoW in the Top 8
2) Several Combo-Decks in the Top 8

There is a lot of "whine" potential. Looking forward to the next days ;-)

[lordofthepit]

I wrote a script to calculate the number copies of each card played in the top 8:

24 Brainstorm
21 Misty Rainforest
20 Force of Will
16 Swords to Plowshares
14 Tropical Island
14 Ponder
13 Wasteland
12 Windswept Heath
12 Knight of the Reliquary
11 Noble Hierarch
10 Tarmogoyf
9 Spell Pierce
9 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
9 Island
9 Flooded Strand
8 Vendilion Clique
8 Tundra
8 Lightning Bolt
8 Green Sun's Zenith
8 Daze
7 Stifle
7 Spell Snare
7 Sensei's Divining Top
7 City of Traitors
7 Ancient Tomb
6 Wooded Foothills
6 Volcanic Island
6 Tormod's Crypt
6 Stoneforge Mystic
6 Red Elemental Blast
6 Qasali Pridemage
6 Pyroblast
6 Polluted Delta
5 Mountain
5 Flusterstorm
5 Engineered Explosives
4 Xantid Swarm
4 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Surgical Extraction
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Show and Tell
4 Savannah
4 Punishing Fire
4 Painter's Servant
4 Pact of the Titan
4 Pact of Negation
4 Mother of Runes
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Karakas
4 Intuition
4 Infernal Tutor
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Hive Mind
4 Grindstone
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Duress
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Dark Ritual
4 Counterbalance
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Blood Moon
3 Underground Sea
3 Thoughtseize
3 Submerge
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Slaughter Pact
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Nimble Mongoose
3 Meddling Mage
3 Magus of the Moon
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Grim Monolith
3 Great Furnace
3 Forest
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Divert
3 Dismember
3 Dark Confidant
3 Chrome Mox
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Wrath of God
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Taiga
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Pyroclasm
2 Plains
2 Pithing Needle
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Peacekeeper
2 Path to Exile
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Maze of Ith
2 Koth of the Hammer
2 Grim Tutor
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Firespout
2 Extirpate
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Enlightened Tutor
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Dryad Arbor
2 Choke
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Bojuka Bog
2 Batterskull
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Swamp
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Repeal
1 Plateau
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Past in Flames
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Nevermore
1 Misdirection
1 Manic Vandal
1 Life from the Loam
1 Krosan Grip
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Goblin Welder
1 Fire // Ice
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Echoing Truth
1 Crystal Vein
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Bayou
1 Ad Nauseam

Also, only two combo decks. The demise of Legacy is greatly exaggerated.

Edit: also, with 3 total copies in the top 32, Snapcaster Mage is hardly dominating the format. I mention this only because I saw a tweet yesterday saying that SCM was the most played card at GP Amsterdam. This seems highly unlikely to me, since there's no reason a deck would ever play fewer copies of SCM than Brainstorm, so maybe they meant most played Innistrad card. That's certainly likely (although Delver of Secrets saw 4 copies in this particular top 8).

[Malchar]

I mention this only because I saw a tweet yesterday saying that SCM was the most played card at GP Amsterdam. This seems highly unlikely to me, since there's no reason a deck would ever play fewer copies of SCM than Brainstorm, so maybe they meant most played Innistrad card.

It is possible that snappy was the most played card, but those decks obviously didn't make it to the top8 in great numbers. It would be interesting to see a list of how often a card was played in the whole event versus how often it was played in decks that made top8.

Thanks for your data. It actually looks really fairly balanced except for perhaps fow/brainstorm, but I always assume blue to make a larger showing than other colors.

[lordofthepit]

It is possible that snappy was the most played card, but those decks obviously didn't make it to the top8 in great numbers. It would be interesting to see a list of how often a card was played in the whole event versus how often it was played in decks that made top8.

I thought of that possibility, but seriously, even among decks that do play Snapcaster Mage, how many would run more copies of Snapcaster Mage than Brainstorm (which has almost always been a 4-of)? Brainstorm is the main reason to play SCM.

Then of course, there are the 60-75% of the decks that do run Brainstorm but don't run Snapcaster Mage at all.

[caiomarcos]

I wrote a script to calculate the number copies of each card played in the top 8:

--LIST--

Also, only two combo decks. The demise of Legacy is greatly exaggerated.

Edit: also, with 3 total copies in the top 32, Snapcaster Mage is hardly dominating the format. I mention this only because I saw a tweet yesterday saying that SCM was the most played card at GP Amsterdam. This seems highly unlikely to me, since there's no reason a deck would ever play fewer copies of SCM than Brainstorm, so maybe they meant most played Innistrad card. That's certainly likely (although Delver of Secrets saw 4 copies in this particular top 8).

Could you do a percentage of colors? X% is blue, Y% is green etc?

[lordofthepit]

Could you do a percentage of colors? X% is blue, Y% is green etc?

Unfortunately, I do not have a database of cards linking them to card type, colors, etc., and I don't want to manually go through 140 different cards.

They just posted top 32 information, so I crunched the numbers again:

96 Brainstorm
88 Force of Will
67 Wasteland
61 Misty Rainforest
58 Tarmogoyf
56 Swords to Plowshares
54 Island
47 Spell Pierce
46 Spell Snare
43 Ponder
42 Tropical Island
42 Flooded Strand
40 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
38 Lightning Bolt
37 Snapcaster Mage
36 Wooded Foothills
36 Knight of the Reliquary
35 Vendilion Clique
35 Surgical Extraction
35 Daze
34 Volcanic Island
34 Scalding Tarn
33 Windswept Heath
33 Stoneforge Mystic
32 Polluted Delta
30 Red Elemental Blast
28 Noble Hierarch
27 Green Sun's Zenith
26 Tundra
25 Underground Sea
25 Tormod's Crypt
25 Stifle
21 Flusterstorm
20 Path to Exile
20 Lotus Petal
20 Delver of Secrets
19 Submerge
19 Qasali Pridemage
16 Savannah
16 Grim Lavamancer
15 Thoughtseize
15 Forest
15 Ancient Tomb
14 Sensei's Divining Top
14 Punishing Fire
14 Mother of Runes
13 Pyroblast
13 Grove of the Burnwillows
12 Umezawa's Jitte
12 Taiga
12 Show and Tell
12 Plains
12 Lion's Eye Diamond
12 Karakas
12 Intuition
12 Gitaxian Probe
12 Fire // Ice
12 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
12 Dismember
12 Dark Ritual
12 Aven Mindcensor
11 Verdant Catacombs
11 Krosan Grip
11 Hymn to Tourach
11 Chain of Vapor
10 Nimble Mongoose
10 Mountain
10 Ghastly Demise
10 Gaddock Teeg
10 Ethersworn Canonist
10 Counterspell
10 Batterskull
9 Scavenging Ooze
9 Mutavault
9 Life from the Loam
9 Horizon Canopy
9 Duress
8 Xantid Swarm
8 Trinisphere
8 Sword of Feast and Famine
8 Sneak Attack
8 Liliana of the Veil
8 Kird Ape
8 Infernal Tutor
8 Faerie Macabre
8 Echoing Truth
8 Bayou
7 Purify the Grave
7 Pernicious Deed
7 Null Rod
7 Misdirection
7 Mindbreak Trap
7 Engineered Explosives
7 City of Traitors
7 Cabal Therapy
7 Burning Wish
7 Arid Mesa
7 Ancient Grudge
6 Progenitus
6 Plateau
6 Phyrexian Metamorph
6 Orim's Chant
6 Meddling Mage
6 Magus of the Moon
6 Enlightened Tutor
6 Empty the Warrens
6 Dryad Arbor
6 Chrome Mox
6 Choke
5 Riptide Laboratory
5 Relic of Progenitus
5 Nihil Spellbomb
5 Maze of Ith
5 Inquisition of Kozilek
5 Firespout
5 Extirpate
5 Divert
5 Diabolic Edict
5 Cunning Wish
5 Bojuka Bog
4 Wrath of God
4 Wirewood Symbiote
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Sylvan Library
4 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Silence
4 Rite of Flame
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Putrid Imp
4 Preordain
4 Painter's Servant
4 Pact of the Titan
4 Pact of Negation
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Narcomoeba
4 Mox Diamond
4 Mind Harness
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Ichorid
4 Hive Mind
4 Heritage Druid
4 Grindstone
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Forgotten Cave
4 Doomsday
4 Cursecatcher
4 Counterbalance
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Chain Lightning
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Careful Study
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Bridge from Below
4 Breakthrough
4 Blood Moon
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Aether Vial
3 Vengevine
3 Tendrils of Agony
3 Slaughter Pact
3 Scryb Ranger
3 Repeal
3 Perish
3 Mishra's Factory
3 Lightning Helix
3 Grim Monolith
3 Great Furnace
3 Gaea's Cradle
3 Fauna Shaman
3 Elvish Visionary
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Dread Return
3 Devastating Dreams
3 Dark Confidant
3 Creeping Tar Pit
3 City of Brass
3 Chord of Calling
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Absolute Law
2 Wing Shards
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Trygon Predator
2 Sylvan Safekeeper
2 Seismic Assault
2 Rushing River
2 Pyroclasm
2 Pithing Needle
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Peacekeeper
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Koth of the Hammer
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
2 Ill-Gotten Gains
2 Grim Tutor
2 Golgari Thug
2 Fyndhorn Elves
2 Fact or Fiction
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Time Spiral
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Swamp
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Shelldock Isle
1 Shattering Spree
1 Return to Dust
1 Regal Force
1 Pulverize
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Past in Flames
1 Opt
1 Nevermore
1 Mirror Entity
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Manic Vandal
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Grapeshot
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Goblin Welder
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Go for the Throat
1 Gilded Drake
1 Eternal Witness
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Disfigure
1 Disenchant
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Deathmark
1 Darkblast
1 Curfew
1 Crystal Vein
1 Crop Rotation
1 Children of Korlis
1 Chaos Warp
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Badlands
1 Angel of Despair

[Merrin]

12 Emrakuls in top 32decks. Erwin (16th) and Jan (15th) played same maindeck and ar responsible for eight of those Emrakuls. Had less luck myself, with the same 60: stumbled at 6-3

Go Team ADHD Sneak Attack!!

[Malchar]

Taking quantity of a card in top32 divided by total number of cards in top32 we have
Select cards as percentage of all cards appearing in top32:
4% Brainstorm
3.7% Force of Will
1.5% Snapcaster Mage

2.4% Tarmogoyf
1.5% Knight of the Reliquary

0.125% Ad Nauseam
0.167% Painter's Servant

2.167% Island
0.4167% Mountain

Taking quantity of a card in top8 divided by total number of cards in top8 we have
Select cards as percentage of all cards appearing in top8:
4% Brainstorm
3.3% Force of Will
0.5% Snapcaster Mage

1.7% Tarmogoyf
2% Knight of the Reliquary

0.17% Ad Nauseam
0.67% Painter's Servant

1.5% Island
0.8333% Mountain

Taking percent in top8 divded by percentage in top32 we have...
Relative likelihood of card surviving from top32 to top8:
100% Brainstorm
89% Force of Will
33% Snapcaster Mage

71% Tarmogoyf
133% Knight of the Reliquary

136% Ad Nauseam
400% Painter's Servant

70% Island
200% Mountain

This data, although somewhat skewed due to small raw numbers, implies that cards like Snapcaster Mage, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf, and Island are overhyped. They appeared as a large percentage of the field, but a smaller percentage advanced. In contrast, cards like Knight of the Reliquary, Ad Nauseam, Painter's Servant, and Mountain made up a larger percentage of the top8 than they did in the top32, which implies that these cards are underhyped.

[bfeingersh]

I like the list of 1-ofs in the top 32. Caller of the Claw, Children of Korlis, Manic Vandal, Curfew, Swamp.

[Esper3k]

I thought the coverage regarding SCM was saying it was the most played INN card?

[Purgatory]

I thought the coverage regarding SCM was saying it was the most played INN card?

Speaking of the coverage, was it just me or was it really, really... awful? Slow to update, links that lead to nowhere, or to the wrong place, images not working properly, writers forgetting to type in proper content (for example, one of the feature matches had the headline "HEALINE - SUB HEADLINE" or something along those lines), and I also read a tweet about a name wrong in the T8. I think WotC needs to stop letting interns do their coverage; I'm not asking for SCGlive-esque video coverage, but making sure that the standings, pairings and results are up quickly after a round has finished is very basic stuff.

Maybe it is true that SCM was the most played INN card, since UW Stoneforge was the fifth most popular archetype, after Reanimator, ANT, Merfolk and Maverick, neither of which plays many INN cards. The only other really popular INN card that I can think of is Delver of Secrets, and Canadian Thresh was a bit further down on the list of archetypes.

[Koby]

Speaking of the coverage, was it just me or was it really, really... awful? Slow to update, links that lead to nowhere, or to the wrong place, images not working properly, writers forgetting to type in proper content (for example, one of the feature matches had the headline "HEALINE - SUB HEADLINE" or something along those lines), and I also read a tweet about a name wrong in the T8. I think WotC needs to stop letting interns do their coverage; I'm not asking for SCGlive-esque video coverage, but making sure that the standings, pairings and results are up quickly after a round has finished is very basic stuff.

Maybe it is true that SCM was the most played INN card, since UW Stoneforge was the fifth most popular archetype, after Reanimator, ANT, Merfolk and Maverick, neither of which plays many INN cards. The only other really popular INN card that I can think of is Delver of Secrets, and Canadian Thresh was a bit further down on the list of archetypes.

I AM asking for better coverage. They are saving money by making Pro Tours into private events and closing the doors on the public, while at the same time failing to provide good live coverage of the event. Take a look for example, the coverage of Blizzcon this past weekend, and you can see how much better a job Wizards can do with promoting the game.

It's really sad that they still can't provide a basic real time coverage.

[KobeBryan]

the first black card that came on the list is 15 with thoughtseize. sure there is surgical extraction, but we all know it isn't being used in black

[lordofthepit]

Here are data for top 16 from SCG Baltimore. It's significantly "bluer" than Amsterdam.



56 Force of Will
52 Brainstorm
34 Island
32 Snapcaster Mage
31 Wasteland
29 Misty Rainforest
28 Spell Snare
25 Polluted Delta
24 Underground Sea
24 Tarmogoyf
24 Ponder
23 Daze
21 Spell Pierce
21 Scalding Tarn
20 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
17 Volcanic Island
17 Vendilion Clique
17 Careful Study
16 Tropical Island
16 Exhume
16 Entomb
15 Swords to Plowshares
15 Stoneforge Mystic
15 Flooded Strand
14 Thoughtseize
14 Stifle
14 Reanimate
14 Lightning Bolt
14 Dismember
13 Verdant Catacombs
13 Animate Dead
12 Tundra
12 Show and Tell
12 Red Elemental Blast
12 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
11 Surgical Extraction
11 Delver of Secrets
10 Pithing Needle
10 Grim Lavamancer
10 Echoing Truth
10 Duress
8 Swamp
8 Riptide Laboratory
8 Path to Exile
8 Leyline of the Void
8 Hymn to Tourach
8 Ancient Grudge
7 Mutavault
7 Mishra's Factory
7 Ghastly Demise
6 Umezawa's Jitte
6 Spellstutter Sprite
6 Relic of Progenitus
6 Nature's Claim
6 Darkslick Shores
6 Counterspell
5 Sylvan Library
5 Sensei's Divining Top
5 Pyroblast
5 Phantasmal Image
5 Iona, Shield of Emeria
5 Faerie Macabre
5 Bayou
4 Wrath of God
4 Windswept Heath
4 Submerge
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Savannah
4 Putrid Imp
4 Plains
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Narcomoeba
4 Mindbreak Trap
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Ichorid
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Golgari Thug
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Firestorm
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Cursecatcher
4 Counterbalance
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 City of Brass
4 Chain of Vapor
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bridge from Below
4 Breakthrough
4 Blazing Archon
4 Angel of Despair
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Aether Vial
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Purify the Grave
3 Mother of Runes
3 Marsh Flats
3 Life from the Loam
3 Karakas
3 Engineered Explosives
3 Empyrial Archangel
3 Choke
3 Blood Moon
3 Batterskull
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Unearth
2 Trinket Mage
2 Terastodon
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Mountain
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Memory's Journey
2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
2 Hydroblast
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Forest
2 Fire / Ice
2 Extirpate
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Dread Return
2 Dispel
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Deep Analysis
2 Chain Lightning
1 Wipe Away
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Temporal Spring
1 Taiga
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sundering Titan
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Silence
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Mayor of Avabruck
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Go for the Throat
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Deathmark
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury

[cdr]

I AM asking for better coverage. They are saving money by making Pro Tours into private events and closing the doors on the public, while at the same time failing to provide good live coverage of the event. Take a look for example, the coverage of Blizzcon this past weekend, and you can see how much better a job Wizards can do with promoting the game.

It's really sad that they still can't provide a basic real time coverage.

Amsterdam was a 2011 GP; they've promised improvements next season.

Their coverage process is indeed really broken though - they're basically still doing things the same way they did in 1998.

[sdematt]

Is the list of the decks in the Top 32 posted? If so, link?

-Matt

[(nameless one)]

Is the list of the decks in the Top 32 posted? If so, link?

-Matt

It can be found here:


Top 8 lists are up (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpams11/welcome#0)

[sdematt]

Maybe I'm blind, but I'm looking for:

1st place - Deck type
2nd place - deck type
.
.
.
.
.
16th place - Decktype
.
.
.
32nd place - Decktype

I didn't see that, or maybe I missed it. Where is it? I'm not looking for percentages of the total, I'm looking for placement.

-Matt

[Pippin]

am I the only one missing top 32 decklists? I swear I saw them yesterday on coverage, where did they disappear?

Horrendous coverage

[xfxf]

Nope, they are not up currently.

[Trentemoller]

I'll give you list number 15 and 16 :P

#15 (me)

2 Polluted Delta
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Volcanic Island
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
3 Daze
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ponder
4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Intuition
3 Misdirection
SB: 3 Trinisphere
SB: 2 Spell Pierce
SB: 2 Vendilion Clique
SB: 2 Firespout
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt

#16 (Erwin Sneek, my friend and partner in crime)

2 Polluted Delta
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Volcanic Island
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Progenitus
3 Daze
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ponder
4 Sneak Attack
4 Show and Tell
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Intuition
3 Misdirection
SB: 3 Trinisphere
SB: 3 Spell Pierce
SB: 3 Magus of the Moon
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction

I went from 5-2 (with 3 byes, very disappointing) to 13-2 and then lost the win-and-in against Paulo Pavesi with his Counterbalance deck who played extremely well and I got owned by Peacekeepers while being up 1-0 and mulling to 5 game 3. It sucked losing that last round after winning 8 straight matches on the bubble but very happy qualifying for the PT.

[Gocho]

Maybe I'm blind, but I'm looking for:

1st place - Deck type
2nd place - deck type
.
.
.
.
.
16th place - Decktype
.
.
.
32nd place - Decktype

I didn't see that, or maybe I missed it. Where is it? I'm not looking for percentages of the total, I'm looking for placement.

-Matt

Something like this?

http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7050

[Morte]

Something like this?

http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7050

Some errors here.

Sami Valkamaa's 9th position deck was a Maverick with Punishing Fire (not Zoo) very similar to Fabian Gorzgen's in 5th position.

[Julian23]

I placed at a disappointing 88th place (although out of almost 1.900 players) with GW Maverick. Went all up to 10-2 aiming for at least a big money finish. After 7-2 on Day1 I started Day2 with 3-0 just to lose three consecutive matches, the last one due to a big missplay on my part, barely finishing Day2 @ 4-3, 11-5 overall.

Working on a tournament report worthwile reading. Stay tuned ;-)

[citanul]

I placed at a disappointing 88th place (although out of almost 1.900 players) with GW Maverick. Went all up to 10-2 aiming for at least a big money finish. After 7-2 on Day1 I started Day2 with 3-0 just to lose three consecutive matches, the last one due to a big missplay on my part, barely finishing Day2 @ 4-3, 11-5 overall.

Working on a tournament report worthwile reading. Stay tuned ;-)

Same here. I played Stormcombo (UWB AnT, 7 chant). Went 7-2 day1 after a play error on my part in one of the matches. Started day2 with 4-0 only to be paired against the only Counterbalance player. Then lost the other 2 matches as well. I had the Counterbalance player defeated in game2 if he did not also have Flusterstorm in the sideboard.

Also, tournament report will follow during the week.

[Solar Ice]

Does anyone know what the prize structure was for this GP?

[Julian23]

Sadly, it's the same they use for every GP. 3.500$ for the winner, 1.500$ for semifinals and something like 800$ for Top16, 400$ for Top32 and 200$ for Top64.

[Trentemoller]

3500 dollar for the winner
2500 dollar for 2nd
1500 dollar for top 4
1000 dollar for top 8
600 dollar for 9-12
500 dollar for 13-16 (which I did)
400 dollar for top 32
200 dollar for top 64

[useL]

I ended up with 8-0-1 first day and second day I got to a total of 11-3-2. I am also the only one in the swiss that beat Kim with his Imperial Painter deck, that felt good =)

[PhanTom_lt]

I'll give you list number 15 and 16 :P

#15 (me)


I lost to you in the feature match area then. :/
I went 11-5 overall, rather disappointing after starting out 11-2.

[Trentemoller]

Sorry for starting your bad streak, I've had a lot of discussion with friends about our second game (since they were all watching) if I should have gone for SnT that early, I felt with the Misdirection and 3 mana open I should go for it, unfortunately you had a hard counter, a pierce and 2 dazes but even in that case you were putting yourself behind quite a lot too, allowing me to rebuild, I didn't find another enabler and lost. But like I told you, I don't think it's a very good matchup for you.

[Richard Cheese]

I think all these 10 and 11-x-x records are pretty damn respectable considering the variety of this format and just how many players were there. I can't even go 7 rounds at a SCG event without feeling like I've been hit by a truck, so props to you guys.

[Trentemoller]

Well most people had byes (on day 2) so I played only 6 rounds day 1 and 7 rounds day 2 (13-3) so it's just two of your days together ;)

[MSC]

I placed at a disappointing 88th place (although out of almost 1.900 players) with GW Maverick. Went all up to 10-2 aiming for at least a big money finish. After 7-2 on Day1 I started Day2 with 3-0 just to lose three consecutive matches, the last one due to a big missplay on my part, barely finishing Day2 @ 4-3, 11-5 overall.

Working on a tournament report worthwile reading. Stay tuned ;-)

I really wanna see it!


Team SPoD send theirn Captai to Day 2 and quite a few people recognized him.
Only one other from our team had chances for Day 2 till the last round of Day 1. The Rest, like a lot of the german Players from Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Speyer got flatted earlyer on.
Still, GP is always a lot of fun!

[Richard Cheese]

Well most people had byes (on day 2) so I played only 6 rounds day 1 and 7 rounds day 2 (13-3) so it's just two of your days together ;)

Right, and being Amsterdam there were probably plenty of substances to "relax" with.

[Julian23]

A friend of mine actually received a pseudo-bye on Day2 because his opponent didn't show up ;-)

[elof]

I manged to better my GP Madrid place (59) with a 42 place at Amsterdam (12-4).

I played NO wRUG, reaaaally greedy.

[Grymer]

i cant finde the top 8 foto... do any of you know where i can finde it? :)

[Shursh]

i cant finde the top 8 foto... do any of you know where i can finde it? :)
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpams11/welcome#0a

ok, its easier to ask it once again

[JamieW89]

A friend of mine actually received a pseudo-bye on Day2 because his opponent didn't show up ;-)

I got the uneven player bye in round-10 :p

[Tinefol]

Finished 36th with 12-4 record, played NO Bant. Aimed to do better :(

[Grymer]

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazin...s11/welcome#0a

ok, its easier to ask it once again

i dont see the top 8 foto.. with all the players in the same foto.. or am i just blind`?`?

[Julian23]

Hey guys, in case you missed it, I wrote a huge gigantic report about my 88th place finish with this deck at GP Amsterdam. I definitely recommend checking it out!

88th at GP Amsterdam (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22473-88th-at-GP-Amsterdam-A-lesson-in-choosing-your-deck-LOTS-of-content)