Pat Chapin def. Mike Turian, 2-1 Kai Budde def. Dominic Crapuchettes, 2-1 Raphael Levy def. Darwin Kastle, 2-0 Alex Shvartsman def. Jamie Wakefield, 2-1
Alex Shvartsman (USA) vs. Jamie Wakefield (USA)
The "King of the Fatties," Jamie Wakefield, qualified for Pro Tour New York with his mono-green Secret Force-deck. Not surprisingly, he chose to play a fattie deck in the Pro Tour as well, but he had abandoned his beloved green and substituted it for red.That was probably for the best, because Alex Shvartsman, Grand Prix Barcelona runner-up and top 8 finisher in Grand Prix Taipei, was running a very green-hostile deck. It consisted of black removal, various creatures including Eastern Paladin, and a splash of red for cards like Viashino Heretic.
Shvartsman won the die roll, and he chose to play. After playing a Spawning Pool, he was somewhat surprised to see Wakefield play a Phyrexian Tower, but a second turn Duress showed that Wakefield was playing red.
Wakefield cast a Worn Powerstone, while Shvartsman cast an Eastern Paladin and started attacking with the Paladin and the Spawning Pool. In turn four, Wakefield's first creature entered play, an Avalanche Rider, or "Darwin Kastle". Darwin took out Shvartsman's Spawning Pool, and that turned out to be crucial for this game.
Shvartsman had his hand full of spells with double black in its casting cost, and thus he wasn't able to do much. Meanwhile, Wakefield summoned a Ticking Gnomes, and turn seven, he slapped down a Shivan Hellkite.
After a turn eight Wildfire, Shvartsman was left without a single permanent in play. He drew two consecutive Swamps, but too late.
Shvartsman 0 - Wakefield 1
Shvartsman opted to go first in the second game as well, but he had to mulligan as he didn't get any lands in his first opening hand. His second hand was pretty decent, though, and again, he played a turn one Spawning Pool.
Turn two, he cast a Skittering Skirge, and the Skirge started beating Wakefield down. Wakefield summoned a Molten Hydra, and then he tried to kill the Skirge by adding counters to the Hydra and removing them, but Shvartsman Expunged the Hydra in response.
The Skirge took Wakefield down to three, and he had to summon a lot of creatures to stall the game, as Shvartsman cast several Eastern Paladins and another Spawning Pool. A Pool took him down to two, though, and as he couldn't deal with Shvartsman's Viashino Heretic, he died when the Heretic ate his Worn Powerstone.
Shvartsman 1 - Wakefield 1
Wakefield went first in the third game after Shvartsman had mulliganed again. He cast two mountains, but then stalled on lands for three turns. By that time, Shvartsman had already started attacking with the Skirge and Spawning Pool, and by the time Wakefield drew his third mountain, the game was so to speak over.
Shvartsman 2 - Wakefield 1