GRAND PRIX PORTLAND 2016

Inland Empire's Robert Santana leverages Emrakul and Ishkanah in Jund Delirium to defeat Travis Woo and take the the Grand Prix Portland trophy!

GRAND PRIX PORTLAND 2016

TOP 8 COVERAGE

The Eldritch Moon Grand Prix season is off to a heart-pounding start here in Oregon. Southern California native Robert Santana—with Jund Delirium in tow—took the finals from three-time Grand Prix Top 8er Travis Woo and his White-Black Control. Like the Pro Tour before it, Emrakul, the Promised End and Ishkanah, Grafwidow made their squiggly and spindly presence known in a big way.

Though Bant Company's reemergence was swift and profound, it was the less-commonly played decks that stood out. Aside from Jund Delirium and White-Black Control, Temur Emerge, Black-Green Delirium, and Grixis Cat Pact made it to the Top 8 alongside the Bant decks (with a Green-Blue Crush finishing in ninth).

After each match in the Top 8, Robert Santana insisted he was in a dream. Robert, this is real, and you've just won your first Grand Prix of the 2016–2017 season. Eldritch Moon is off to a bang-up beginning, and we're just getting started.

And the World Championships is just around the corner. We've got plenty more Magic coming up.

From all of us in Portland, see you in Indianapolis!

Article

August 14 2016

TOP 5 MOMENTS by Meghan Wolff and Marc Calderaro

Thanks to Meghan Wolff and Marc Calderaro for their contributions to this article. 5. Max Mick Cements Magic's Next Generation Though there were two people younger than sixteen years old in...

Learn More

Article

August 14 2016

Finals: Robert Santana (Jund Delirium) vs. Travis Woo (White-Black Control) by Meghan Wolff

Players and spectators alike were palpably anxious as they waited for the final match of Grand Prix Portland to begin. They shifted from one foot to another, striking up quick conversations while...

Learn More

Article

August 15 2016

Top 8 Decklists by Meghan Wolff

Want to see which decks rose to the top of Grand Prix Portland? Take a look at the Top 8 competitors’ decklists, featured below! ...

Learn More

Aug 14 2016

Article

9-32 DECKLISTS

by Meghan Wolff and Marc Calderaro

We all know since Pro Tour Eldritch Moon you’re itching for some new decklists. I mean, the Top 8 is good and all, but it’s really only part of the story, now isn’t it? Don’t worry,...

Aug 14 2016

Article

Semifinals: Robert Santana (Jund Delirium) vs. Tanner von Difloe (Bant Company)

by Meghan Wolff

Four players remain, pacing the feature match area, awaiting the semifinals of Grand Prix Portland. A few feet away, friends and spectators stand pressed against the ropes separating them from the...

Aug 14 2016

Article

Semifinals: Travis Woo (W/B Control) vs. Max Mick (Bant Company)

by Marc Calderaro

“You look like you know what you're doing.” San Diegan Max Mick said to his opponent, two-time Grand Prix Top 8 finisher Travis Woo as they reviewed deck lists and shuffled up. “You...

Aug 14 2016

Article

TOP 8 PROFILES

by Meghan Wolff and Marc Calderaro

After many rounds of Swiss and some great games of Magic, the Top 8 of Grand Prix Portland is set! Learn more about Portland's Top 8 competitors, including their previous accomplishments and what...

DAY 2 COVERAGE

And we’re back! It’s time for the second day of action here in Portland, Oregon. It’s the first weekend of the 2016–2017 Grand Prix season—the first action after Pro Tour Eldritch Moon. Last weekend in Sydney brought some big changes to the format—thanks in part to Emrakul, the Promised End and Liliana, the Last Hope.

Sitting at the top so far are Michael Hantz, Xin Sui, Christian Keeth and Worlds-bound, Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch Jiachen Tao. They are all on unique builds, but below them are a ton of Bant Company. The expected boogeyman for the Pro Tour—which took a decidedly more diminutive role—are back in full swing. The deck took six Top 8 slots at Grand Prix Rimini, and is about one-third of the Top 100 decks here, and are looking to convert.

Will the Eldritch Moon change continue? Or will Bant Company redesign, rebuild, and reclaim? By the end of the day, we’ll have an answer.

Tune in for all the action at twitch.tv/magic—with Marshall Sutcliffe, Brian David-Marshall, Jacob Van Lunen, and No. 5–ranked Reid Duke bringing you all the action.

Article

August 14 2016

You Don’t Have to be Delirious to Play Abzan by Meghan Wolff

Hundreds, if not thousands, of deck ideas are dreamed up in the weeks before each Pro Tour, only to be discarded in favor of more competitive builds. Some of those ideas, however, merit picking...

Learn More

Article

August 14 2016

I’ve Got a Crush on You by Meghan Wolff

Cody Lingelbach decided he had little to lose and everything to gain when he found himself at the end of the season and a point away from hitting Silver. So he built a deck that harkens back to...

Learn More

Article

August 14 2016

Free Kittens, Take One! by Meghan Wolff

Chris Botelho has been running Demonic Pact ever since Oath of the Gatewatch. Back then, the deck focused on winning the game with damage, aided by a plethora of value from the Origins...

Learn More

Aug 14 2016

Article

A Meeting of Mages: Peeking into the Planeswalker Summit

by Meghan Wolff

This weekend marked an exciting first for the Magic community - the first ever Planeswalker Summit. A collection of cosplayers convened on Grand Prix Portland, bright blue body paint, lavish...

Aug 14 2016

Article

Day 1 Top 100 Player Archetypes

by Marc Calderaro

Remember that time, long ago, when Pro Tour Eldritch Moon was coming up? Many people were worried that the old Bant Company deck would dominate the top tables. That didn't happen, and the power of...

DAY 1 COVERAGE

It was a crazy first day of the inaugural 2016–2017 Grand Prix weekend. The World Championship–bound, Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch champion Jiachen “JC” Tao is the biggest name who finished 9-0, but right along with him are Grand Prix Top 8ers Christian Keeth and Xin Sui, and San Diego-ian Michael Hantz.

Though over at Grand Prix Rimini, it seems that Blue-Red Fevered Burn was the talk of the first day, here, more control and delirium hung around the top tables. The 9-0 players—battling with Jund Delirium, 4-Color-Amalgam, Abzan Planeswalkers, and Black-Green Delirium—aptly reflects this difference.

Will these four forge through and convert to Top 8 finishes? We’ll have to wait and see.

Tomorrow starts bright and early at 9am PDT at twitch.tv/magic. See you then!

Article

August 13 2016

Closing the First Day - The Undefeated Players by Meghan Wolff

Over 1,700 players showed up to Grand Prix Portland, itching to prove themselves and test the evolving metagame. At the close of Day 1, four players and four decks stood undefeated, poised to make...

Learn More

Article

August 13 2016

Flavors of Blue-Red Fevered Burn by Meghan Wolff

Pedro Carvalho's Blue-Red Fevered Burn deck from Pro Tour Eldritch Moon, which he piloted to a 9-1 finish in the constructed portion of the tournament, piqued the interest of the Magic...

Learn More

Article

August 13 2016

An Equal and Opposite Reaction by Meghan Wolff

Pro Tour Eldritch Moon showed us a suite of decks that used their graveyards to power explosive plays. From casting an early Emrakul to bringing back a host of Prized Amalgams, players found...

Learn More

Aug 13 2016

Article

Quick Questions: Liliana or Emrakul?

by Meghan Wolff

It's an issue on which we all must choose a side. Emrakul and zombies cannot peaceably cohabitate on Innistrad - well, nothing can peaceably cohabitate with Emrakul - and so we have to pick....

Aug 13 2016

Article

Heroes, Villains, and Dark Horses at Grand Prix Portland

by Meghan Wolff

It's the weekend after the Pro Tour, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll see decks full of the same heroes and villains that rose to the top in Sydney, or that an expected deck will emerge...

Aug 13 2016

Article

Grand Prix Trial Winning Decklists

by Meghan Wolff and Marc Calderaro

Friday brought a preview of the fierce competition to come at Grand Prix Portland as players queued up and battled for their last chance at two byes in this weekend's main event. The eleven...

Aug 03 2016

Article

FACT SHEET

by Wizards of the Coast

TOP 8 DECKLISTS

Select a Deck

Robert Santana's Jund Delirium

GRAND PRIX PORTLAND 2016

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (3)

3 Liliana, the Last Hope

Creature (12)

1 Emrakul, the Promised End 2 Distended Mindbender 1 Mindwrack Demon 3 Ishkanah, Grafwidow 2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer 3 Pilgrim's Eye

Sorcery (6)

3 Languish 3 Traverse the Ulvenwald

Instant (12)

2 To the Slaughter 3 Fiery Impulse 3 Kozilek's Return 4 Grapple with the Past

Enchantment (3)

3 Vessel of Nascency

Land (24)

6 Forest 4 Swamp 1 Mountain 4 Llanowar Wastes 4 Smoldering Marsh 1 Cinder Glade 4 Evolving Wilds

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Emrakul, the Promised End 1 Languish 1 Fiery Impulse 1 Duress 1 Dragonmaster Outcast 3 Transgress the Mind 1 Ultimate Price 2 Pick the Brain 2 Den Protector 2 Pulse of Murasa

Deal Another Hand

Travis Woo's White-Black Control