Day 2 Coverage
1960 players took part in this weekend’s Standard Grand Prix here in Shizuoka. In the end, it was Atsushi Nakashima who outlasted the competition to remain the final man standing!
Piloting Golgari Midrange to perfection, Nakashima used Doom Whisperer to find Find // Finality in the very final game of the weekend. His finals opponent Takuya Natsume was playing Selesnya Tokens and had an overwhelming board position. However, the army was entirely wiped out with Finality. All Nakashima had to do was to seal the deal with an 8/8 flying, trampling monstrosity which Natsume had no answer to.
The Top 8 consisted of seven first-timers, namely Atsushi Nakashima, Toshihiro Saida, Takuya Natsume, Hiroaki Nuruki, Ryota Shimazaki, Kazuya Yokota, Masayasu Tanahashi, and Yoshitsugu Aoki. The only player to boast any Top 8 experience was Pro Tour Kyoto 2009 Top 8 competitor, Masayasu Tanahashi, who also had three other Grand Prix Top 8s to his name.
Nonetheless, all the battles were hard-fought, and all the victories were well-deserved! Once again, congratulations to Atsushi Nakashima once again for winning Grand Prix Shizuoka (Standard) 2018!
Day 1 Coverage
Day 1 of Grand Prix Shizuoka (Standard) 2018 is done! A whopping 1960 hopefuls came to Shizuoka to battle it out in Standard Constructed. However, only 367 players will return tomorrow, including 13 undefeated 8-0 players!
The thirteen players with unblemished records were Kosuke Nakamoto, Toshiki Okai, Liu Xuan, Kazuhiro Noine, Masayasu Tanahashi, Ryosuke Urase, Uta Suzuki, Nobuaki Azuma, Taiga Tsujikawa, Syuusuke Yamada, Hiroaki Nuruki, Shimazu Yoshiko, and Takuya Natsume!
Close behind were Grand Prix Chiba 2016 Champion Kentaro Yamamoto, Pro Tour 25th Anniversary Champion Gregory Orange, reigning China National Champion Liu Yuchen, former Philippines National Champion Richmond Tan, former Japan National Champion Kenta Harane, as well as Pro Tour Hall of Famer Yuuya Watanabe, all at impressive 7-1 records!
Round-by-round standings, articles, and non-video coverage of Grand Prix Shizuoka 2018 will resume Sunday 9 a.m. local time. Due to time zones, that's Saturday at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET/12 a.m. UTC.
Be back tomorrow to catch all the updates as we crown a second Grand Prix Champion this weekend!
