Day 2 Coverage Grand Prix Valencia

By Wizards of the Coast

EVENT COVERAGE

by Tobi Henke
Round 14 Feature Match
Mariano Cartechini vs. (18) Raphaël Lévy
by Tim Willoughby
Round 13 Feature Match
Valentin Mackl vs. Frederico Bastos
by Tobi Henke
Sunday, 5:00 p.m.
Drafting with (18) Raphaël Lévy
by Tim Willoughby
Sunday, 4:35 p.m.
Deck Tech - Red With Aggro
by Tobi Henke
Round 12 Feature Match
Florian Koch vs. Toni Ramis Pascual
by Tim Willoughby
Sunday, 2:40 p.m.
Drafting with Florian Koch
by Tim Willoughby
Round 11 Freature Match
Alexis Cortes vs. Feyyaz Melih Akcakaya
by Tim Willoughby
Round 10 Feature Match
Nico Bohny vs. Fabrizio Anteri
by Tim Willoughby
Day 1 Undefeated Decklists
by Event Coverage Staff
Info: Fact Sheet

Day 1 Undefeated Decklists

by Tim Willoughby

What does it take to go undefeated on day one of a Grand Prix with over a thousand players? Well, realistically it probably takes a little bit of good fortune, and a lot of skill. On top of that though, it needs a deck. Below you'll see the weapons that our winningest players were working with before switching to draft today.

You'll see the full pools that these players opened, sideboards and all. There are certainly a few final cuts that I'm not sure I'd have made the same way. Would you have built these pools like this? Have a look and make your mind up.

Frederico Bastos 9-0

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (17)

1 Burnished Hart 1 Artisan of Forms 1 Crackling Triton 1 Omenspeaker 1 Wavecrash Triton 2 Agent of Horizons 1 Anthousa, Setessan Hero 1 Arbor Colossus 1 Centaur Battlemaster 2 Nemesis of Mortals 1 Nylea's Disciple 1 Staunch-Hearted Warrior 1 Voyaging Satyr 1 Horizon Chimera 1 Polis Crusher

Instant (2)

1 Triton Tactics 1 Voyage's End

Enchantment (4)

1 Aqueous Form 1 Ordeal of Thassa 1 Feral Invocation 1 Nylea's Presence

Land (17)

9 Forest 6 Island 1 Mountain 1 Temple of Abandon

40 Cards

Sideboard (60)

1 Burnished Hart 1 Omenspeaker 1 Bronze Sable 1 Flamecast Wheel 1 Fleetfeather Sandals 1 Prowler's Helm 1 Cavalry Pegasus 2 Chosen by Heliod 1 Divine Verdict 1 Favored Hoplite 1 Glare of Heresy 2 Hopeful Eidolon 1 Leonin Snarecaster 1 Ray of Dissolution 2 Scholar of Athreos 1 Setessan Battle Priest 1 Wingsteed Rider 1 Breaching Hippocamp 1 Coastline Chimera 1 Lost in a Labyrinth 1 Mnemonic Wall 1 Stymied Hopes 1 Thassa's Bounty 1 Triton Shorethief 1 Boon of Erebos 1 Cavern Lampad 1 Cutthroat Maneuver 1 Dark Betrayal 1 Disciple of Phenax 1 Felhide Minotaur 1 Fleshmad Steed 1 Lash of the Whip 1 Returned Centaur 2 Scourgemark 1 Sip of Hemlock 1 Thoughtseize 2 Viper's Kiss 1 Akroan Crusader 1 Borderland Minotaur 1 Deathbellow Raider 2 Dragon Mantle 1 Ill-Tempered Cyclops 2 Spearpoint Oread 2 Commune with the Gods 2 Pheres-Band Centaurs 1 Satyr Piper 1 Shredding Winds 2 Kragma Warcaller 1 Shipwreck Singer 1 Spellheart Chimera

Deal Another Hand

Alexis Cortes 9-0

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (15)

1 Akroan Horse 1 Meletis Charlatan 1 Nimbus Naiad 1 Prescient Chimera 1 Shipbreaker Kraken 1 Thassa's Emissary 1 Blood-Toll Harpy 1 Cavern Lampad 1 Disciple of Phenax 1 Felhide Minotaur 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel 1 Mogis's Marauder 1 Returned Phalanx 1 Tormented Hero 1 Shipwreck Singer

Sorcery (4)

2 Sea God's Revenge 1 Read the Bones 1 Sip of Hemlock

Instant (2)

1 Stymied Hopes 1 Lash of the Whip

Enchantment (2)

2 Ordeal of Thassa

Land (18)

8 Island 9 Swamp 1 Temple of Deceit

41 Cards

Sideboard (59)

3 Satyr Rambler 1 Bronze Sable 1 Guardians of Meletis 1 Prowler's Helm 1 Traveler's Amulet 1 Battlewise Valor 2 Hopeful Eidolon 1 Lagonna-Band Elder 2 Last Breath 1 Observant Alseid 1 Ordeal of Heliod 1 Ray of Dissolution 1 Setessan Battle Priest 1 Silent Artisan 1 Traveling Philosopher 1 Yoked Ox 1 Crackling Triton 1 Fate Foretold 1 Lost in a Labyrinth 1 Mnemonic Wall 1 Thassa's Bounty 1 Triton Shorethief 1 Vaporkin 1 Returned Centaur 1 Borderland Minotaur 1 Demolish 1 Dragon Mantle 1 Fanatic of Mogis 1 Ill-Tempered Cyclops 1 Minotaur Skullcleaver 1 Ordeal of Purphoros 1 Portent of Betrayal 1 Priest of Iroas 1 Stoneshock Giant 1 Titan's Strength 1 Arbor Colossus 1 Artisan's Sorrow 2 Commune with the Gods 1 Defend the Hearth 1 Fade into Antiquity 1 Feral Invocation 2 Nylea's Disciple 1 Ordeal of Nylea 1 Pheres-Band Centaurs 1 Shredding Winds 1 Voyaging Satyr 2 Vulpine Goliath 1 Warriors' Lesson 1 Akroan Hoplite 1 Ashen Rider 1 Horizon Chimera 1 Pharika's Mender

Deal Another Hand

Alvaro Sanchez Lopez 9-0

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (16)

1 Satyr Rambler 1 Opaline Unicorn 1 Baleful Eidolon 1 Disciple of Phenax 2 Felhide Minotaur 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel 1 Arena Athlete 1 Borderland Minotaur 2 Ill-Tempered Cyclops 1 Minotaur Skullcleaver 1 Nessian Asp 1 Kragma Warcaller 1 Polis Crusher 1 Underworld Cerberus

Sorcery (3)

1 Read the Bones 1 Sip of Hemlock 1 Fade into Antiquity

Instant (3)

1 Hero's Downfall 1 Magma Jet 1 Savage Surge

Enchantment (1)

1 Feral Invocation

Land (17)

3 Forest 6 Mountain 7 Swamp 1 Unknown Shores

40 Cards

Sideboard (60)

1 Flamecast Wheel 1 Battlewise Valor 2 Decorated Griffin 1 Glare of Heresy 1 Heliod's Emissary 2 Hopeful Eidolon 1 Lagonna-Band Elder 1 Last Breath 1 Observant Alseid 1 Phalanx Leader 1 Silent Artisan 1 Soldier of the Pantheon 1 Traveling Philosopher 1 Wingsteed Rider 1 Annul 1 Benthic Giant 1 Fate Foretold 1 Lost in a Labyrinth 1 Mnemonic Wall 1 Nimbus Naiad 1 Prescient Chimera 1 Thassa's Bounty 1 Triton Fortune Hunter 1 Triton Shorethief 3 Vaporkin 1 Voyage's End 1 Cutthroat Maneuver 1 March of the Returned 1 Returned Centaur 1 Returned Phalanx 1 Scourgemark 1 Thoughtseize 2 Coordinated Assault 1 Demolish 1 Dragon Mantle 1 Messenger's Speed 2 Peak Eruption 1 Priest of Iroas 1 Two-Headed Cerberus 1 Artisan's Sorrow 2 Commune with the Gods 1 Leafcrown Dryad 1 Nemesis of Mortals 2 Nylea's Disciple 1 Pheres-Band Centaurs 2 Shredding Winds 2 Staunch-Hearted Warrior 1 Vulpine Goliath 1 Battlewise Hoplite 1 Fleecemane Lion

Deal Another Hand

Round 10 Feature Match – Nico Bohny vs. Fabrizio Anteri

by Tim Willoughby

Nico Bohny had been already firmly in blue/white heroic for his first draft of day two here at Grand Prix Valencia when he opened pack two. Anax and Cymede might be a little bit of a stretch on colours, but with such a powerful heroic effect, he just couldn't say no. Little did he know that the legend would be part of a rather unusual play to decide his first feature match of the day.

The first act of this three part story moved briskly enough. Setessan Battle Priest went through first an Ordeal of Heliod , and then one of Thassa, God of the Sea. Having grown through its hardships, it was plenty strong enough to take game one with little incident, leaving Fabrizio Anteri a stunned observer, his blue/black/green deck doing little more than giving him information for future games thanks to Disciple of Phenax . He saw Anax and Cymede and Sea God's Revenge in that game, but it would be later that these two powerful cards would be truly decisive.

Anteri's thumb is up for now - would it be by the end of the match?

Game two was a little more in favour of the Italian. Here his blue/black deck was able to apply enough pressure to force a defensive Sea God's Revenge from Bohny, delaying the inevitable. When a Disciple of Phenax sniped Mnemonic Wall from Bohny's hand, it meant that he was able to re-assemble his team of Sealock Monster flanked by two copies of Blood-Toll Harpy to square the match.

Game three looked in Anteri's favour early as he was the one with creatures aplenty, but this soon changed as Bohny worked on a voltron Triton Fortune Hunter , with both Chosen by Heliod and Ordeal of Thassa enchanting it. All those extra card draws found Bohny Master of Waves , the superstar mythic that dominated Pro Tour Theros. Anteri's draw was a good one. He found Shipwreck Singer , which would be a good answer to Master of Waves at least. He had a Gainsay to stop Sea God's Revenge , and with a Blood-Toll Harpy enchanted with Cavern Lampad , he was able to chunk in for consistent damage in spite of Bohny's now rather fuller board.

Nico Bohny wishes on a star to have a great starting hand.

A Prowler's Helm on Master of Waves looked like it wouldn't be good enough, but Bohny was just setting up for the following turn. He had Lagonna-Band Elder to stay alive through Anteri's attacks, and the following turn had a very nifty play. First Anax and Cymede came down, then Bohny cast Curse of the Swine on his own Anax and Cymede , as well as Anteri's Shipwreck Singer . Heroic triggered, making Bohny's team suddenly far bigger. The curse resolved, turning both the harpy and Bohny's own hero into pigs. Bohny didn't mind though. His hero had been part of bigger and better things, which allowed him to swing in with a lethal attack.

Nico Bohny defeats Fabrizio Anteri 2 games to 1

Round 11 Freature Match - Alexis Cortes vs. Feyyaz Melih Akcakaya

by Tim Willoughby

There are few starts as aggressive in Theros limited as Akroan Crusader on turn one, with Titan's Strength on turn two. That is what Alexis Cortes was working with though, and when Feyyaz Melih Akcakaya had his first play on turn five in a Sedge Scorpion that was hit by Lightning Strike , he really wasn't playing the same game at all. Before other matches had finished resolving all their mulligans, Alexis Cortes was already a game up.

Guardians of Meletis stood firm on defence for Akcakaya in game two, but gain Cortes was a relentless aggressor, with successive copies of Minotaur Skullcleaver following another early assault from Akroan Crusader . A Feral Invocation made the wall a fine blocker, and Lagonna-Band Elder gained Akcakaya some much needed life, but his deck had still not really shown a way of winning the game, as Cortes' blisteringly fast starts hadn't really given it a chance to.

Alexis Cortes

More copies of Guardian of Meletis meant that Cortes had to go big if he was going to prevail. He did so in Titan of Eternal Fire , with a human on board in Akroan Crusader . Now the question was, could Cortes gun down Akcakaya before a fresh Wingsteed Rider on the other side of the board squared things? Tymaret, the Murder King seemed to suggest that yes, he could. When Grey Merchant of Asphodel joined the party, the infernal machine that Cortes had been assembling looked almost complete. He just needed one more turn of burn to finish the match. However, that Wingsteed Rider had been attacking in each turn. Cortes was not so far off death himself. When Helios's Emissary came down bestowed on the rider, that was enough to force a rubber game.

The deciding game saw Tymaret, the Murder King again take command, but this time from far earlier in the game. Akcakaya had a little lifegain engine going, with Setessan Battle Priest becoming enchanted by Hopeful Eidolon . Lifegain is not the friend of the red/black deck, but it seemed that Cortes had the tools to fight back. Grey Merchant of Asphodel got to drain for a little bit, and Mogis's Marauder allowed for more unopposed swings. Having nickel and dimed for a few points here and there, Cortes dropped the hammer blow once he got to seven mana.

Feyyaz Melih Akcakaya

"End of turn, sacrifice Mogis's Marauder to Tymaret? Cast Journey into the Underworld sacrificing Grey Merchant of Asphodel to get back Mogis's Marauder ?"

That's two damage from Tymaret. Then when the creatures came back from the underworld, another four point life drain. Mogis's Marauder gave Cortes's team intimidate, allowing for attacks for six, and there was still mana available for Cortes to sacrifice his team again, taking the overall damage total up to 16 since the end of Akcakaya's turn. That is how red/black does it.

Alexis Cortes wins 2 – 1 over Feyyaz Melih Akcakaya

Sunday, 2:40 p.m. – Drafting with Florian Koch

by Tim Willoughby

Late on Saturday I was talking to Florian Koch, who was in fine form. "I hadn't really been winning all that much in Theros limited recently. Then last weekend I made the final of a PTQ, and this weekend I'm 8-1 at the Grand Prix."

The reason for this sudden shift of fortune was not so simple as one key strategy or card – were that so I'd be stuck in a difficult journalistic quandary of whether to take the scoop, or simply to start dominating Theros limited myself. It was a more gradual realisation as to the overall speed of the format (potentially quite fast, with the likes of Ordeals leading to some very aggressive starts) as well as a humble acknowledgement of those areas where taking particular lines of play was simply not working out.

Most decks in Theros draft have a habit of looking fairly good, as the overall card quality is quite high, but those that are able to go the extra distance tend to be those that have the best ability to build on synergies in the format. Koch wasn't about to say that he was forcing any type of deck going into the draft, but seemed confident that there were many options he'd be comfortable moving into.

The draft pod itself looked a tough one. To his right, Nico Bohny would not be giving him an easy ride, but at least the signals he passed would likely be quite clear. Elsewhere on the table, a variety of European Grand Prix regulars. There would be few free wins at this table.

The first pick of the draft for Koch was between Fabled Hero and Keepsake Gorgon . While the gorgon is very powerful, as a creature with a removal spell built in, Fabled Hero can end games before the gorgon can even hit play. Koch took the rare, hoping to do something heroic in Valencia. A Nessian Asp came second, and Favored Hoplite third, but by pick five green was simply not showing up in boosters at all, and white was looking a little thin. A switch was required, and Spearpoint Oread was the best of the bunch. Dragon Mantle came next, and while Koch had the option on a couple of copies of Akroan Crusader , Koch chose to take Leonin Snarecaster and Cavalry Pegasus over them.

Little did Koch know that to his immediate right, Nico Bohny was in blue/white heroic, and a seat further down was yet another white drafter. The bunfight over white was not doing any of the three any great favours, and Koch had to hope to do well out of pack two, as pack three might again prove shallow.

Somewhat surprisingly, pack two was stronger for Koch for red than white. He had an interesting choice in Anger of the Gods or Dragon Mantle second pick. The Dragon Mantle is a very solid addition, and would play nicely with heroic, while Anger of the Gods would likely kill off much of Koch's own team. Prudence pushed Koch to the enchantment rather than the mass removal – a pick which he would later come to question. Red kept on coming with Ember Swallower soon joining Koch's draft pile, along with Arena Athlete and Akroan Hoplite .

Bohny was, as had become traditional at this point, scuppering various plans that Koch might have had, having opened Anax and Cymede in pack two, which he took as a very reasonable card to splash. This didn't lead to his taking many more red cards, but was a coffin nail that Koch could have lived without.

By pack three the fix was in. While Koch snagged a first pick Lightning Strike , he soon found himself picking up cards like Borderland Minotaur in otherwise unexciting packs. When he came to describe his deck to me after the draft, the term 'too many four drops' summed it up very well. The prevailing wisdom at present on appropriate draft strategy for red white is that it needs to be hyper aggressive, and that tends to mean a curve where if something costs four or more, you are talking about bestow costs only. The quality of the four drops and above ( Ember Swallower excepted) is not typically high enough that having to play more lands is worth it.

Stuck in a position of having to go a little bigger/slower, Koch was a little disappointed in his deck. For the hyper aggressive red/white plan, we would have to look elsewhere.

Round 12 Feature Match - Florian Koch vs. Toni Ramis Pascual

by Tobi Henke

With records of 9-2 going into this round, both players would need at least three straight wins to clinch another Top 8 berth. It wouldn't be the first for either one of them though. Spain's Toni Ramis Pascual made the Top 8 this year at Grand Prix Verona as well as the finals of Grand Prix Barcelona two years ago; Florian Koch of Germany has a Top 8 at Grand Prix Madrid 2012 and a first-place finish at Grand Prix Lyon 2010 to his name.

Florian Koch

The draft rounds so far had went so-so for the players, with each boosting a 1-1 record. Koch had drafted a red and white deck, Ramis Pascual entered the fray with green and black cards. In this match-up, Ramis Pascual would clearly be playing defense to Koch's aggression, even though Koch's deck didn't turn out as focused on the early game as red-white often does, or as Koch put it, "... as it probably should. But there was nothing I could do about it during the draft."

The first game was a real monster. Both players cast a few creatures which were largely irrelevant and quickly got outclassed by the real stars of this show. Ramis Pascual had an Insatiable Harpy to begin the race, Koch had a Stoneshock Giant and bestowed upon it Hopeful Eidolon , then Observant Alseid , then turned it monstrous to bypass Ramis Pascual's freshly-summoned Keepsake Gorgon . Next, he bestowed Spearpoint Oread , again leaving the Gorgon unable to block and forcing Ramis Pascual to chumpblock.

When Ramis Pascual finally drew the mana to activate monstrosity on his Gorgon, he did so during Koch's upkeep to play around Gods Willing . Unfortunately for him, bestow works in such a way that all the auras-turned-creatures can immediately attack when their target dies. Ramis Pascual didn't realize that and took another hefty blow. He fell to 2, Koch went to 47.

But the game was far from over. An attack with Insatiable Harpy made that 45 to 4, a Gray Merchant of Asphodel turned it into 39 to 10, and when Ramis Pascual put a Sedge Scorpion next to his 3/6 Keepsake Gorgon , Koch was unable to attack for the first time in a very long time.

Over the next several turns, each player added further creatures to his board, but while Ramis Pascual's Insatiable Harpy continued to attack unimpeded and was soon joined by another one, none of Koch's creatures could really tangle with the opposing Keepsake Gorgon . Spearpoint Oread with Dragon Mantle was finally able to do that, but Ramis Pascual had Sip of Hemlock for that. Koch meanwhile had no answer to either Insatiable Harpy and the two slowly drained away all of his life.

Toni Ramis Pascual

After this ordeal the second game was a much more straightforward affair. Again Ramis Pascual had Insatiable Harpy , and this time he even had Ordeal of Erebos to really show how insatiable that Harpy can be. With ever-larger chunks of Koch's lifetotal transferred to Ramis Pascual's side, Koch's last hope was Fabled Hero . The Hero fought and killed blocking Pheres-Band Centaurs with the help of Battlewise Valor , but it was doubtful whether it'd be able to race the Harpy. Then Ramis Pascual had Sip of Hemlock and sealed the deal. The 5/5 Harpy took the game and match.

"The Harpies were simply too strong," Koch summed up the match. "In the first game, I drew a lot more land than he did, and he found his seventh mana for Keepsake Gorgon just in time, but in the end it really was all about the Harpies."

Florian Koch 0-2 Toni Ramis Pascual

Sunday, 4:35 p.m. – Deck Tech - Red With Aggro

by Tim Willoughby

All I was looking for going into the second draft of Grand Prix Valencia was the much fabled red/white aggro deck. Pioneered by Pro Tour storyteller and all around good man Gerard Fabaino, the red white deck has a hyper aggressive curve, and as a consequence a lower land count than just about any other in the format. Would anyone be drafting it at Grand Prix Valencia? I scoured the deck build tables to find out.

Ok, I lied slightly. The more efficient way that I scoured the tables was to scour the deck-check area, looking just at the top left corner of the list, for a low land count. Did I find one? Well, the following list has just 16 lands, and is certainly a step in the right direction.

Juli Caballero

Decklist Stats Sample Hand