TOP 8 COVERAGE
Here in Houston,The Pantheon continues to prove itself the team to beat. Though other teams took the Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatchspotlight, The Pantheon put three players into the Top 8, two into the finals, and one into the winner's circle. Brock Parker, Andrew Cuneo, and the eventual winner, already-first-ranked Owen Turtenwald represented The Pantheon with aplomb.
Coming into the tournament, the story was Owen and others saying 4-Color Rally was the best deck. But the appearance of Hardened Scales seemed to shake that foundation. Tons of players, including Team East-West Bowl's Mark Jacobson (with an impressive 14-1 in the Swiss), performed well with the deck most of the weekend, and surprised a lot of people.
But in the end, Turtenwald made good on his claim that 4-Color Rally was the best deck, even though he had to beat his teammate in the finals to do it.
The first Oath of the Gatewatch Standard Grand Prix has shown a great variety of decks, and decks that reward meticulous, considered play. You can see why the first-ranked player in the world might do pretty well.
DAY 2 COVERAGE
On this early Texas morning, 504 players have returned to battle for Oath of the GatewatchStandard! There are tons of distinct archetypes floating around the top tables and tons of pros looking to keep themselves in the running. Most of Houston is asleep, but these players are hardened, and sharpening their scales for battle.
After the first day, Team East-West Bowl's Mark Jacobson, along withTaylor Spain, Kyle Voege, Tim Huckeby, and Cody Lingelbach say atop the heap. But players like (5) Paul Rietzl, Andrew Cuneo, and (10) Eric Froehlich are just behind them. There are six more rounds to press through to make it to the Top 8.
Will this newfangled Hardened Scales deck take all its Saturday water-cooler talk and turn it into a Top 8? Will the Bant Collected Company deck—which has been more quietly dominating the Top 100 players—do the same?
Tune in to twitch.tv/magic all day long to find out! Oath of the Gatewatch Standard is in full swing!
DAY 1 COVERAGE
We thought the story for this weekend would be the 4-Color Rally deck. But instead, Hardened Scales has appeared in droves to shake up the expected field. Though only one 9-0 pilot is on the deck, Team East-West Bowl's Mark Jacobson, it's stalking many of the top tables.
Along with Jacobson,Taylor Spain, Kyle Voege, Tim Huckeby, and Cody Lingelbach round out the 9-0 with an assortment of decks—showcasing the variety in Oath of the Gatewatch Standard.
Plenty of people are waiting to knock the undefeated players off their pedestals, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if they can dethrone the kings of the hill.
Tune in to twitch.tv/magicat 9 am CST tomorrow to catch the entire second day of battle! See you then!
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