Day 2 Coverage
2,471 challengers arrived in Chiba, but at the end of eighteen rounds, only one stood tall. Guillem Salvador Arnal not only earned himself a Grand Prix title in his first Grand Prix Top 8, but he also became the first Spanish player ever to win a Japanese Grand Prix! To make things even more impressive, he did so by going 6-0 in the Top 8, sweeping things up with a perfect record!
Ousting out the competition with his Red-White deck, he had to get past Chen Yang in the quarterfinals and Ryohei Kobayashi in the semifinals, before defeating three-time Grand Prix Top 8 competitor Keita Kawasaki in the finals to clinch the trophy.
Rounding off the Top 8 were semifinalist Zhi Yimin - playing in his third Top 8 - as well as quarterfinalists Genta Hagiwara, Kabuki Yashiro, and Naoya Nanba. Once again, hearty congratulations to Guillem Salvador Arnal for winning Grand Prix Chiba 2018 and making all of Spain very proud indeed!
Article
July 22 2018
Top 8 Decklists
by Chapman Sim
After fifteen rounds of Core Set 2019 Limited, the Top 8 players advanced to the playoffs. What did these players draft in the Top 8 of Grand Prix Chiba 2018? Let’s take a quick look at their...
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Article
July 22 2018
Top 8 Players
by Chapman Sim
After fifteen rounds of Swiss, who were the eight players who rose to the top?
Name: Naoya Nanba
City, Country: Gunma, Japan
Age: 20
Occupation: Engineer
Previous Magic...
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Day 1 Coverage
Today, 2,471 challengers converged in Chiba to also try their hand at Core Set 2019 Limited, their eyes set on the ultimate prize of a gleaming trophy for their mantle. Grand Prix Chiba also marked the final of five 25th Anniversary weekends, after circumnavigating the globe and making stops in Las Vegas, Singapore, São Paulo, and Barcelona.
After nine rounds of Core Set 2019 Sealed Deck, eight players secured the coveted 9-0 record, namely Naoya Nanba, Noriyuki Hagiwara, Kazuyuki Takimura, Yusuke Arai, Kazushige Shimamura, Hiroaki Mukai, Jun Takahashi, and Shozoburo Notake! Yoshiyuki Kuwashiro was the ninth undefeated, finishing Day 1 at 8-0-1.
Close behind were 13th-ranked Shota Yasooka, Pro Tour Hall of Famer Shuhei Nakamura, and three-time Grand Prix Champion Yuta Takahashi at 8-1, as well as Takuma Morofuji, Jérémy Dezani, Tomoharu Saito, Ryoichi Tamada, (9) Ken Yukuhiro, Lee Shi Tian, Petr Sochůrek, and Huang Hao-Shan who all made the cut with their 7-2 record.
Owing to the large tournament size, there was no margin for error if they wished to make the Top 8. Thanks for staying with us all day and we hope you’ll be back tomorrow as we crown a new Grand Prix champion!
