Jund Jolts Jeremy to the Top

Grand Prix Lyon 2012

France, for the last couple of years, had Raphael Levy as its standalone bastion at the Grand Prix circuit. This weekend, he was flanked by his fellow Hall of Famers Gabriel Nassif and Olivier Ruel. For much of the day, it looked like both of these past masters of the game would make it to the final eight. In the end, Nassif was halted, but Ruel added a record 27th (!) Grand Prix Top 8 to his resume.

The rest of France also stepped up its game, with fully half of the Top 8 stocked with home talent. The final few matches were fought with tension and excitement, but in the end it was Jeremy Dezany who claimed the victory for France.

Modern proved to be a ton of fun and ultra-versatile, with enough archetypes running around the top tables to keep the most ardent deck tinkerer happy for weeks. Every color in Magic was there in the finals, but in the end the Black, Red and Green triumphed over the Blue and White.

Congratulations to Jeremy Dezany, our Grand Prix Lyon 2012 Champion!

top 8 bracket

Quaterfinals

(1) Peter Dun

(8) Jeremy Dezani

(4) Mathieu Hautot

(5) Clement Sarton

(2) Olivier Ruel

(7) Davide Colla

(3) Emanuel Sutor

(6) Jonas Köstler

Semi-finals

Jeremy Dezani, 2-0

Mathieu Hautot, 2-0

Davide Colla, 2-0

Emanuel Sutor, 2-1

Finals

Jeremy Dezani, 2-1

Emanuel Sutor, 2-1

Champion

Jeremy Dezani, 2-1

Day 2 Coverage Day 1 Coverage

EVENT COVERAGE

by Tobi Henke
Top 5 Cards of Grand Prix Lyon 2012
by Tobi Henke
Finals
Emanuel Sutor (Blue-White Angels) vs.
Jérémy Dezani (Jund)
by Frank Karsten
Feature
Decklists of the 9-16 Place Finishers
by Frank Karsten
Semifinals
Jeremy Dezani (Jund) vs.
Mathieu Hautot (BUG)
by Tobi Henke
Quarterfinals
Jonas Köstler (Birthing Pod) vs.
Emanuel Sutor (Blue-White)
by Tobi Henke
Top 8
Player Profiles
by Frank Karsten
Quarterfinals
Olivier Ruel (Storm) vs.
Davide Colla (Robots)
by Frank Karsten
Top 8
Decklists
by Frank Karsten
Saturday, 6:32 p.m.
Matchup Madness
by Event Coverage Staff
Day 2 Blog
by Event Coverage Staff
Day 1 Blog
by Event Coverage Staff
Info: Fact Sheet

INFORMATION


1. Jeremy Dezani	$3,500
2. Emanuel Sutor	$2,300
3. Mathieu Hautot	$1,500
4. Davide Colla	$1,500
5. Olivier Ruel	$1,000
6. Peter Dun	$1,000
7. Clement Sarton	$1,000
8. Jonas Köstler	$1,000

pairings, results, standings

Final

Pairings

15 14 13 12 11 10

Results

15 14 13 12 11 10

Standings

15 14 13 12 11 10

Green Bracket

Pairings

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Results

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Standings

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Blue Bracket

Pairings

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Results

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Standings

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Saturday, 6:32 p.m. - Matchup Madness

by Frank Karsten

Over 1000 matches of Modern have been played here in Lyon today. That provides a lot of raw data that an analytical crusader such as myself loves to sink his teeth in. On my flight to Lyon, I had prepared a spreadsheet that could automatically combine the metagame classification with the match results. (The metagame classification is a collection of rows stating "Gabriel Nassif: Affinity", "Olivier Ruel: Storm", etc., which I compiled this morning. A match result is, e.g., "Olivier Ruel defeats Gabriel Nassif in Round 13". By translating that to "Storm defeats Affinity" and adding up all of those Sunday match results, I could get an overview of how the various matchups panned out.)

Here are the matchup results I found between the five most popular decks today:

	Jund	Robots	Infect	UW Mid-range	Birthing Pod
Jund	XXX	17-23 (43%)	16-14 (53%)	13-4 (76%)	8-6 (57%)
Robots	21-17 (57%)	XXX	8-10 (44%)	11-4 (73%)	4-5 (44%)
Infect	14-16 (47%)	10-8 (56%)	XXX	4-7 (36%)	7-2 (78%)
UW Mid-range	4-13 (24%)	4-11 (27%)	7-4 (64%)	XXX	3-2 (60%)
Birthing Pod	6-8 (43%)	5-4 (56%)	2-7 (22%)	2-3 (40%)	XXX

So, Jund played Robots a grand total of 17+23=40 times today, and Robots won 23 of those encounters (i.e., Robots is a 43% favorite in the matchup).

Looking at these numbers, it would appear that UW Mid-range and Birthing Pod are somewhat ill-positioned in the current field.

Top 8 Decklists

by Frank Karsten

Peter Dun

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (14)

4 Grim Lavamancer 4 Pestermite 4 Deceiver Exarch 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Sorcery (11)

4 Serum Visions 4 Sleight of Hand 3 Inquisition of Kozilek

Instant (6)

3 Dispel 3 Spell Pierce

Enchantment (4)

4 Splinter Twin

Land (25)

4 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Arid Mesa 3 Steam Vents 1 Stomping Ground 1 Watery Grave 2 Sulfur Falls 2 Cascade Bluffs 3 Halimar Depths 3 Island 1 Mountain

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Dispel 2 Duress 3 Blood Moon 2 Cyclonic Rift 3 Ancient Grudge 3 Spellskite 1 Mizzium Skin

Deal Another Hand

Olivier Ruel

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (3)

3 Goblin Electromancer

Sorcery (18)

4 Sleight of Hand 4 Gitaxian Probe 4 Serum Visions 3 Grapeshot 3 Past in Flames

Instant (20)

4 Manamorphose 4 Seething Song 3 Desperate Ravings 4 Pyretic Ritual 4 Desperate Ritual 1 Increasing Vengeance

Enchantment (3)

3 Pyromancer Ascension

Land (16)

3 Shivan Reef 2 Steam Vents 3 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain 3 Island

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Grapeshot 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Empty the Warrens 2 Goblin Bushwhacker 2 Shatterstorm 3 Tormod's Crypt

Deal Another Hand

Emanuel Sutor

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (19)

1 Baneslayer Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage 3 Vendilion Clique 3 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Blade Splicer 2 Wall of Omens 4 Restoration Angel

Instant (16)

4 Spell Snare 4 Mana Leak 4 Path to Exile 2 Cryptic Command 2 Dismember

Land (25)

4 Celestial Colonnade 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Tectonic Edge 1 Plains 1 Eiganjo Castle 2 Scalding Tarn 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Arid Mesa 4 Island 2 Hallowed Fountain 1 Moorland Haunt

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Baneslayer Angel 1 Vendilion Clique 2 Aven Mindcensor 2 Celestial Purge 2 Negate 2 Rest in Peace 3 Stony Silence 2 Supreme Verdict

Deal Another Hand

Davide Colla

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (26)

3 Arcbound Ravager 3 Master of Etherium 4 Memnite 4 Ornithopter 4 Signal Pest 4 Steel Overseer 4 Vault Skirge

Sorcery (4)

4 Thoughtcast

Artifact (18)

4 Darksteel Citadel 4 Springleaf Drum 4 Cranial Plating 4 Mox Opal 2 Welding Jar

Land (12)

4 Blinkmoth Nexus 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Glimmervoid 1 Island

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

4 Etched Champion 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Thoughtseize 2 Rest in Peace 2 Ethersworn Canonist 3 Dismember

Deal Another Hand

Clement Sarton

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (26)

4 Vault Skirge 3 Steel Overseer 4 Signal Pest 4 Ornithopter 4 Memnite 4 Arcbound Ravager 3 Master of Etherium

Sorcery (4)

4 Thoughtcast

Artifact (18)

4 Darksteel Citadel 4 Springleaf Drum 4 Mox Opal 4 Cranial Plating 2 Welding Jar

Land (12)

4 Blinkmoth Nexus 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Glimmervoid 1 Island

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

4 Etched Champion 2 Spell Pierce 2 Relic of Progenitus 2 Dismember 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Torpor Orb 2 Whipflare

Deal Another Hand

Mathieu Hautot

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (2)

2 Liliana of the Veil

Creature (18)

4 Dark Confidant 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Vendilion Clique 3 Snapcaster Mage

Sorcery (6)

1 Thoughtseize 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Duress

Instant (11)

3 Disfigure 2 Doom Blade 3 Abrupt Decay 3 Mana Leak

Enchantment (1)

1 Threads of Disloyalty

Land (22)

1 Breeding Pool 1 Watery Grave 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Forest 1 Island 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Verdant Catacombs 3 Darkslick Shores 3 Creeping Tar Pit 2 Tectonic Edge 1 Scalding Tarn

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Tectonic Edge 2 Threads of Disloyalty 2 Deprive 3 Spreading Seas 2 Grafdigger's Cage 1 Creeping Corrosion 2 Hurkyl's Recall 1 Damping Matrix

Deal Another Hand

Jeremy Dezani

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (4)

4 Liliana of the Veil

Creature (16)

4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Dark Confidant 4 Bloodbraid Elf

Sorcery (9)

3 Thoughtseize 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Blightning 1 Maelstrom Pulse

Instant (7)

4 Lightning Bolt 2 Abrupt Decay 1 Terminate

Land (24)

4 Blackcleave Cliffs 4 Verdant Catacombs 4 Treetop Village 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Marsh Flats 1 Twilight Mire 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Stomping Ground 1 Blood Crypt 2 Swamp 1 Forest

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Thoughtseize 1 Flame Slash 2 Batterskull 2 Obstinate Baloth 2 Ancient Grudge 2 Creeping Corrosion 2 Rakdos Charm 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Spellskite 1 Darkblast

Deal Another Hand

Jonas Köstler

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (31)

4 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 4 Restoration Angel 3 Wall of Omens 3 Avacyn's Pilgrim 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Birds of Paradise 1 Zealous Conscripts 1 Glen Elendra Archmage 2 Deceiver Exarch 1 Kitchen Finks 1 Eternal Witness 1 Phantasmal Image 1 Spellskite 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Sorcery (2)

2 Commune with Nature

Artifact (4)

4 Birthing Pod

Land (23)

4 Misty Rainforest 3 Arid Mesa 1 Stomping Ground 1 Temple Garden 1 Steam Vents 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Sacred Foundry 4 Grove of the Burnwillows 3 Rugged Prairie 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Snow-Covered Plains 1 Snow-Covered Forest 1 Snow-Covered Island

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Path to Exile 2 Dispel 2 Ancient Grudge 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Harmonic Sliver 1 Tormod's Crypt 2 Ethersworn Canonist 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons 1 Oblivion Ring

Deal Another Hand

Quarterfinals - Olivier Ruel (Storm) vs. Davide Colla (Robots)

by Frank Karsten

This quarterfinals threw together Hall of Famer Olivier from France and Davide Colla from Italy, playing in his first Grand Prix Top 8.

Game 1

Olivier got to play first as a result of being the higher seed in the Swiss standings, but had to mulligan down to 6 in search of a keepable hand. He led off with Gitaxian Probe, which revealed 2 Inkmoth Nexus, Darksteel Citadel, Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer, Signal Pest, and Memnite. Not a bad hand from Colla; it represented a turn 4 kill, and Olivier knew he would have to try to win on his fourth turn.

A topdecked Mox Opal from Colla changed that equation, as it allowed him to equal Cranial Plating on his second turn already and attack Olivier down to 13 life.

Davide Colla rocking the Robots.

Could Olivier go off on turn 3? Well, since he only had Past in Flames, Seething Song, and Pyromancer Ascension, but no further card draw spells, the answer to that was no.

Olivier reluctantly passed the turn and, sure enough, a bunch of additional artifacts came down on the next turn. Davide managed to take the game with an impressive turn 3 kill.

Olivier Ruel 0 - Davide Colla 1

Game 2

Now it was time for Davide to take a mulligan down to 6. Gitaxian Probe from Olivier revealed Ethersworn Canonist, Arcbound Ravager, Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer, Inkmoth Nexus, Blinkmoth Nexus. Not the most explosive draw, and without a white source for the potentially devastating Ethersworn Canonist.

Olivier, however, failed to draw a second land, and had to discard his next two discard steps. In the meantime, Davide was building up his army of Robots, with double Steel Overseer turning them into respectable threats.

Olivier Ruel, hoping to draw an Empty the Warrens

Dead to an attack next turn, it was time for Olivier to draw a land. He slammed the top card of his deck on the table, and it was Misty Rainforest! This allowed him to go Pyretic Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Shatterstorm. Now Davide only had an Inkmoth Nexus and a Blinkmoth Nexus left.

Over the course of the next few turns, it looked like Olivier was actually playing a control deck.

Steel Overseer? Grapeshot.

Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating? Another Shatterstorm.

Memnite? Grapeshot.

Ethersworn Canonist? Lightning Bolt!

Rest in Peace came down for Davide, meaning that any Pyromancer Ascension or Past in Flames shenanigans from Olivier would be taken out. But Olivier was not planning to win the match with those graveyard-reliant cards. In fact, he had boarded most of them out in anticipation of graveyard hate. His game plan was to make a ton of Goblin tokens with Empty the Warrens.

But to succeed with that plan, you actually need to draw an Empty the Warrens, and Olivier mostly encountered a slew of land instead. By the time he had finally found an Empty the Warrens, multiple Inkmoth Nexus boosted by Master of Etherium had already poisoned him.

Olivier summed up the game nicely as follows: "That was the worst mana screw and mana flood of the entire tournament ... in the same game!" Disappointed but another Top 8 appearance richer, he extended his hand and wished his opponent good luck in the semifinals.

Olivier Ruel 0 - Davide Colla 2

Davide Colla advances to the semifinals!