November 6 2016
Top 5 Moments by Event Coverage StaffThanks to Corbin Hosler and Marc Calderaro for their contributions to this article. 5. Phil Napoli & His Bestie Osyp Re-Qualify for the Tour in Back-to-Back...
Austinite Kevin Mackie takes down the largest-ever Texas Grand Prix with Skred Red, keeping Texas Magic's Mono-Red tradition alive!
TOP 8 COVERAGE
It was Kevin Mackie's weekend. Only a few weeks ago he started testing with a deck he'd thought of as nothing more than a joke. But that "joke" turned into love quicker than he imagined And the relationship blossomed into a Grand Prix win—defeating two blue-based control decks and the World Champion Brian Braun-Duin in the Top 8 to do so.
But that wasn't the only story here in Texas this weekend. Corey Burkhart scored his fourth Grand Prix Top 8, and made it to the finals with his pet Grixis Control deck. Along with MTGO standout, Alex Mitas piloting his traditional Wafo-Tapa–style Jeskai Control, there were eight copies of Cryptic Command in the Semifinals. In Modern! That really fast format!
And though Braun-Duin ensured that Dredge had some Top 8 representation, its presence was less felt than expected at the top tables. Perhaps people saw it coming. Watching Skred Red utterly dismantle Dredge in the quarterfinals made it clear that Mackie saw it a mile away.
From all of us here in Texas—the 2,019 Grand Prix main event players, all the judges, broadcasters,tournament staff,and everyone else who makes these things happen—have a great night! And extra special thanks to Mike Guptil at PES for his contributions to the Grand Prix scene throughout the years.
November 6 2016
Top 5 Moments by Event Coverage StaffThanks to Corbin Hosler and Marc Calderaro for their contributions to this article. 5. Phil Napoli & His Bestie Osyp Re-Qualify for the Tour in Back-to-Back...
November 6 2016
Finals: Corey Burkhart (Grixis Control) vs. Kevin Mackie (Skred Red) by Corbin HoslerCorey Burkhart has made his name in Modern piloting Grixis Control. Grand Prix Dallas-Fort Worth marked his third Top 8 appearance with the archetype in the last 12 months. More than that, he...
November 6 2016
TOP 8 DECKLISTS by Corbin HoslerWhen the dust settled on Day 2 of Grand Prix Dallas, only eight players remained to compete for the title and bragging rights in the largest Grand Prix in Texas history. Here are the decks the...
DAY 2 COVERAGE
More than 2,000 players came to Grand Prix Dallas-Fort Worth to compete in the largest Grand Prix Texas has ever seen. Entering Day 2, 590 of them returned to battle for a chance the chance to advance to the Top 8.
Of those 590, just seven finished Day 1 with an undefeated record. Zach Voss, Neal Oliver, Kyle Skelton, Jon Stern, Corey Burkhart, Brian Braun-Duin, and Michael Sellers sit at the top of the standings, but lurking just behind them are a number of notable players, including Craig Wescoe, Matt Sperling and third-ranked Owen Turtenwald, who are just a match back as the suns shines on a new day in Dallas.
Kaladesh has left an indelible mark on Modern, with its introduction of enemy-colored fast lands (Blooming Marsh and friends), Cathartic Reunion, Blossoming Defense, Inventors’ Fair and more making an immediate impact on Modern in their Grand Prix debut. Many of the top decks after Day 1 play at least one of those cards, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them still standing when the dust settles on the Top 8.
But first we have to get there. It’s going to be a wild ride in Dallas, and you can follow along for updates both here and at twitch.tv/channelfireball.
November 6 2016
Update on Infect and Phil Napoli by Marc CalderaroYou'd be forgiven if you perused the standings and missed the name "Phil Napoli." But it's a name that holds a lot of meaning to old-school East Coast Magicians. The best friendship between...
November 6 2016
Deck Tech: Bant Knightfall with Nathan Smith by Corbin HoslerWhen Battle for Zendikar released, a quirky cycle of enchantments was viewed as primarily Limited fodder, with the potential to break through in Standard. Not many people thought that Retreat to...
November 6 2016
Deck Tech: Grixis Control with Corey Burkhart by Corbin HoslerWith one sentence, Corey Burkhart managed to sum up Modern in a way that few have. “Grixis Control is my tried-and-true love, so that's what I played,” he said simply, moments before moving...
DAY 1 COVERAGE
Zach Voss, Neal Oliver, Kyle Skelton, Jon Stern, Corey Burkhart, Brian Braun-Duin, and Michael Sellers are at the top of the standings after the first day!
Blurb: It was a record-breaking first day in Dallas-Fort Worth. 2,019 people showed up for Modern making this the largest Grand Prix in Texas history!
Though that number is large, a more important number is “7.” That’s how many players left the arena with a perfect record. There are some familiar names in Jon Stern, Corey Burkhart, Neal Oliver, and the World Champion Brian Braun-Duin, and a few of the others might be unfamiliar. But Zach Voss, Kyle Skelton, and Michael Sellers are hanging with the cool kids tonight. And boy are they sitting pretty for tomorrow.
The inaugural day of the first Modern Grand Prix with Kaladesh has already shown some great adjustments to the format. Lantern Control has gotten even better, and so has Dredge. But, remember, this is Modern. It’s not like there have been cataclysmic shifts. Most players are still finding success with the decks they love. Just now you have more reason to love Lantern and Dredge. I mean, who doesn’t?
Tomorrow will be the largest Day 2 in Texas history, and we’ll be back slightly later than usual because it’s Daylight Saving Time. So get some rest everybody, and we’ll be back tomorrow, both here and a twitch.tv/channelfireball.
See you soon!
November 5 2016
The Undefeated by Corbin Hosler and Marc CalderaroMore than 2,000 players showed up to compete at Grand Prix Dallas, in the largest event Texas has ever seen. Of those 2,019, only seven contenders would finish unbeaten at the top of the standings...
November 5 2016
Kaladesh rolls into Modern by Corbin HoslerKaladesh has been revving up Standard, rolling out last month and taking over the format by storm as its array of vehicles transformed the Eldrazi-dominated Standard of Eldritch Moon into a bright...
November 5 2016
The World Magic Cup Team USA by Marc CalderaroThe annual World Magic Cup is only a few weeks away, where representatives from 73 countries from around the world will converge in Rotterdam to face off for global Magic supremacy. There have...
(1) Corey Burkhart, 2-0
(8) Phillip Napoli
(4) Zach Voss
(5) Michael Mei, 2-1
(3) Nicolas D'Ambrose
(6) Alex Mitas, 2-0
(2) Brian Braun-Duin
(7) Kevin Mackie, 2-0
(1) Corey Burkhart, 2-1
(5) Michael Mei
(6) Alex Mitas
(7) Kevin Mackie, 2-1
(1) Corey Burkhart
(7) Kevin Mackie, 2-0
Note: final standings reflect the number of players participating in the event, not the number of preregistered players.
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 6, 2016
by Event Coverage StaffThanks to Corbin Hosler and Marc Calderaro for their contributions to this article. 5. Phil Napoli & His Bestie Osyp Re-Qualify for the Tour in Back-to-Back...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 6, 2016
Finals: Corey Burkhart (Grixis Control) vs. Kevin Mackie (Skred Red)
by Corbin HoslerCorey Burkhart has made his name in Modern piloting Grixis Control. Grand Prix Dallas-Fort Worth marked his third Top 8 appearance with the archetype in the last 12 months. More than that, he...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
by Corbin HoslerWhen the dust settled on Day 2 of Grand Prix Dallas, only eight players remained to compete for the title and bragging rights in the largest Grand Prix in Texas history. Here are the decks the...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 6, 2016
by Corbin Hosler and Marc CalderaroModern is too awesome for just a Top 8's worth of decklists, right? Well, in that case, let's look at all the decks that finished 9th through 64th! ...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 201 November 6, 2016
by Corbin HoslerAfter more than 2,000 players competed in Grand Prix Dallas, only eight remained to play for the trophy. Congratulations to these players for advancing to the Top 8! Name: Phillip Napoli Age:...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
Update on Infect and Phil Napoli
by Marc CalderaroYou'd be forgiven if you perused the standings and missed the name "Phil Napoli." But it's a name that holds a lot of meaning to old-school East Coast Magicians. The best friendship between...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
Deck Tech: Bant Knightfall with Nathan Smith
by Corbin HoslerWhen Battle for Zendikar released, a quirky cycle of enchantments was viewed as primarily Limited fodder, with the potential to break through in Standard. Not many people thought that Retreat to...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
Deck Tech: Grixis Control with Corey Burkhart
by Corbin HoslerWith one sentence, Corey Burkhart managed to sum up Modern in a way that few have. “Grixis Control is my tried-and-true love, so that's what I played,” he said simply, moments before moving...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
by Marc CalderaroThere are some decks that we all remember exist in a format, but that doesn't mean we think the deck can do well. We saw that yesterday with Ari Lax's proud Restoring of Balance, and we see it now...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 6, 2016
by Marc CalderaroAs always, Modern always has a glut of good decks, or as Ari Lax said yesterday, “a scrum.” Out of the Top 100 finishing players from Saturday, there were 34 distinct archetypes. Now, that...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 5, 2016
by Corbin Hosler and Marc CalderaroMore than 2,000 players showed up to compete at Grand Prix Dallas, in the largest event Texas has ever seen. Of those 2,019, only seven contenders would finish unbeaten at the top of the standings...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 5, 2016
by Corbin HoslerKaladesh has been revving up Standard, rolling out last month and taking over the format by storm as its array of vehicles transformed the Eldrazi-dominated Standard of Eldritch Moon into a bright...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 5, 2016
by Marc CalderaroThe annual World Magic Cup is only a few weeks away, where representatives from 73 countries from around the world will converge in Rotterdam to face off for global Magic supremacy. There have...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS/FORT WORTH 2016 November 5, 2016
Deck Tech: Dredge with Frank Skarren
by Corbin HoslerWhen Modern was first created, cards from the powerful Dredge archetype littered the initial banlist: Dread Return and Golgari Grave-Troll were both deemed too strong for the fledgling format....
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 5, 2016
by Marc CalderaroAri Lax is one of the pros who ardently loves Modern, and loves tinkering with all its parts. “Modern has so much of what Legacy has to offer. It has all that ‘Weird Magic,' just not always as...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 5, 2016
by Corbin HoslerBefore the Grand Prix kicks off on Saturday, there's always the tournaments before the tournament. Here are the lists from players who won a Grand Prix Trial on Friday before the start of Grand...
article GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2016 November 5, 2016
by Marc CalderaroShowing up to a Modern Grand Prix certainly requires some guts. There are always enumerable decks to account for, and so many players invested in the format. If you don't believe me, just check...
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