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!
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.
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!
SOCIAL MEDIA
TWITTER
The hashtag for Grand Prix Portland is #GPPortland. Join the conversation!
TWITTER: #GPPORTLAND