These eight stood a head above the rest here in Mexico City as your Top 8 players!
Name/Nombre: Felix GrezesAge: 30
Occupation: PhD student / College teacher
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Pauper Standard World Champion
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Dimir (splash Hypothesizzle) 7-2 (2 byes).
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
- splashing Red.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
Boros 3-0
Izzet Combo (Gravitic Punch, Sonic Assault, Wee Dragonauts, etc...) 2-1
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Lazav, the Multifarious (from good to great)
Gravitic Punch (from bad to build-around).
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
Making my first Pro Tour.
What's your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Gruul.
Age: 31
Occupation: Magic Pro
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
4 Pro Tour Top 8
30 Grand Prix Top 8
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Blue-Black splash green, 8-1.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
Whether to go Blue-Black splash green or Blue-Green splash black.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
Blue-Black, 1-2
Green-White, 3-0
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
I didn’t read the spoiler, so a lot of the cards surprised me.
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
4-8 Pro Points, 1500 – 1000 USD
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
... :)
Age: 26
Occupation: QA Analyst
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
12 Grand Prix Top 8
Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad Champion
2018 MOCS Finalist
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Abzan with Izoni, Thousand-Eyed & Trostani Discordant, 8-1
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
Whether to play two Citywatch Sphinx off a “free splash”
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
White-Red: 2-1
Green-White: 2-0-1
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Flower // Flourish. Won almost all of my Sealed games with it.
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
Happy to Top 8 my first Grand Prix this year
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Azorius
Name/Nombre: Jason “Amaz” Chan
Age: 27
Occupation: Streamer / YouTuber
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Brian Kibler follows me on Twitter
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Black-Green splashing blue, because two Mythics are great! 7-2.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
It wasn’t really hard, the Boros deck was unplayable.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
3-0 and 2-0-1. Izzet and Dimir. My decklists are on my Twitter
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Devious Cover-Up, super good in Sealed. As everyone else plays bombs in that format.
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
I’m happy :)
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Dimir, because they just get things done with being in your face. A hint of Azorius, but that’s not in this set ... yet!
Age: 28
Occupation: Hardware Engineer
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Two other Sealed Grand Prix Top 8s in the past year
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Record 6-1. Blue-Black splash red and green.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
I could have built my mian deck a bit greedier, adding another red card and another green card. I went with the conservative build knowing I would have good options post-board.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
Black-Green – 3-0
White-Green – 1-1, ID
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Necrotic Wound. It was a valuable removal spell in a color pair (Black-Green) that needed to protect the skies.
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
I think it locks me for Gold in the upcoming cycles.
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Izzet.
Name/Nombre: Francisco Sifuentes
Age: 26
Occupation: Chef
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Two Grand Prix Top 8s
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
I played Selesnya with a little black splash, 8-1.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
If I should not play Dimir (it worked).
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
Drafted Dimir for a 3-0 and Golgari for a 1-2 (I don’t like Golgari)
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Dimir Spybug, best first pick ever!!
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
Another Pro Tour and close to Gold!
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Dimir because I like conspiracies.
Age: 28
Occupation: Programmer
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Top 16 Grand Prix Costa Rica
Top 16 Grand Prix Richmond
Won my last pro point to become Costa Rica’s captain at Grand Prix Stockholm
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Boros, 8-1. Couldn’t build any other deck, not enough playables.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
2-3 fillers I had to put in the main deck.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
Draft 1 Izzet, 1-2
Draft 2 Boros, 3-0
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Cosmotronic Wave – Closed up games out of nowhere
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
This means a lot to me. First Grand Prix Top 8 ever, and I’ve been playing a lot since I came back after 3-4 years not playing (came back at Grand Prix Denver 2018).
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Boros? I don’t know? I end games quick.
Age: 30
Occupation: Magic
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Grand Prix Los Angeles winner < 2 months ago
What did you play in Sealed on Day 1? Why? What was your record?
Izzet because the best cards in my pool were Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Expansion//Explosion. 7-2 record.
What was your hardest choice building your Sealed deck?
Whether to splash black for two removal spells with Niv-Mizzet in my deck. I did not and ususally boarded in black.
What did you Draft on Day 2? Why? What were your records?
3-0 Izzet because I saw a Blue-Red Guildmage pick three and I had two red cards.
2-0-1 Boros because I opened Boros Challenger, Izoni, Thousand-Eyed, and Golgari Finebroker, so I took the standalone card and stuck to it.
What card(s) surprised you this weekend, and why?
Invert [Invert//Invent]. I attacked Vedalkan Mesmerist into Wishcoin Crab and inverted the crab and an 0/4 Crackling Drake.
What does making this Top 8 mean to you?
One step closer to Gold and the bigtime.
What’s your guild affiliation are you in real life, why? (Be honest)
Golgari. Thoughtseize, Goyf, Lily, gg.