The Gaming Stadium hosted its first ever Magic: The Gathering Arena tournament this Saturday. 27 players competed in a $1,000 prize pool to see whose deck reigned supreme. The tournament welcomed players of all skill levels to meet the community and try their hand against the abundance of other decks that have surfaced since the drop of the Core Set 2020 (M20). Some of the decks that were featured throughout the day included Jeskai (3), Vampires (2), Esper Midrange (3), and Scapeshift (4). Here is a breakdown of our top eight players of the night.
Winner
Jordan “Heisenb3rg” Cairns dominated the competition with his Jeksai Feathery Wizards set, securing first place. This deck is a homebrew red, white, and blue deck built to sustain against the higher-paced meta picks like the Vampire deck at the expense of a poor match-up into control decks like Esper Midrange—the same deck that he would be playing against in the finals. He was able to overcome his self-proclaimed “hardest match-up” for a 2-0 victory against our second-place finisher.
Jeskai Feathery Wizards
Finalist
Gavin “Hierarch17” Bennett placed second at the tournament, representing the Esper Midrange deck. He chose to play this deck in the competition because there are “so many decks out right now, and there aren’t any horrible match-ups.” He would end the swiss round with three wins, one tie, and one loss, and would go on to win his quarterfinal (2-1) and semifinal (2-0) match. In the final match between Hierarch17 and his opponent “Heisenb3rg”, Gavin seemed to have secured a lead in his draws alone but would be punished by Heisenb3rg for waiting too long to execute some of his higher value cards.
Esper Midrange
| Creatures (10) 4 Hero of Precinct One 4 Elite Guardmage 2 Deputy of Detention Spells (24) 4 Teferi, Time Raveler 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 2 Bolas’s Citadel 2 Noxious Grasp 3 Oath of Kaya 3 Tyrant’s Scorn 4 Thought Erasure 2 Dovin’s Veto Land (26) 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Isolated Chapel 4 Watery Grave 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Godless Shrine 1 Island 1 Swamp | Sideboard (14) 2 Despark 1 Devout Decree 2 Disfigure 2 Duress 1 Golden Demise 2 Kaya’s Wrath 2 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 The Elderspell 1 Time Wipe |  |
Top 4
Alastair “Allegations” Pickett was our fourth-place finisher, tied for first place with seventh place finisher Mr. Sparkle in the swiss round. He played a Temur Elementals deck, which he felt was very strong in dealing with the zombies in the ever-popular Zombie deck. He was able to use his deck to send him into semifinals on a 2-1 record but went 0-2 when facing the winning Jeskai Feather Wizards deck.
TEMUR
Anthony “Sisicat” Song was the only member of the top 8 that did not have a single loss throughout the swiss match. Sisicat won three games and tied two, securing his position at third place going into the quarterfinals. He chose to run a black/white Vampire deck because he believed that it was the best deck, noting that he climbed to top 200 and was invited to the Mythic invitation with that very deck. While he had a very impressive run, he would go 0-2 in the semifinals and would ultimately come up short; regardless, he holds his head high knowing that he will continue to find success with his deck.
Vampires pepeLaugh
| Creature (21) 3 Skymarcher Aspirant 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion 3 Vicious Conquistador 4 Adanto Vanguard 2 Sanctum Seeker 4 Champion of Dusk 1 Vona, Butcher of Magan Spells (17) 4 Legion’s Landing 4 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord 4 Legion Lieutenant 2 Legion’s End 2 Cast Down 1 Mortify Land (22) 7 Swamp 7 Plains 4 Godless Shrine 4 Isolated Chapel sideboard (15) 3 Gideon Blackblade 2 Devout Decree 3 Duress 2 Despark 3 Noxious Grasp 1 Legion’s End 1 Vona, Butcher of Magan | |
Top 8
Nick “Epk” Bideshi used a standard Scapeshift decks to secure his spot in the top eight, although admitted in an interview that he wishes he competed with the Vampire deck. Epk ended the swiss round with three wins, one tie, and one loss, and felt solid about his odds moving into the quarterfinals. He would put forth a solid effort in the quarterfinals but would ultimately go 1-2 in the best of three against Allegation’s Temur Elementals deck.
Scapeshift
Sebastian “Mr. Sparkle” Denno made his way into the top eight with an impressive four wins out of five in the swiss play. He used a black/white Vampire deck to secure his victories, noting to us during his mid-tournament interview that the success of the Vampire deck was held solely in the power of Sorin. His successful run would be cut short by the victory of second-place finisher Gavin Bennett with an Esper Midrange deck. While his Vampires had a slight advantage given the nature of their decks in addition to the play/draw order, he noted that he “was not shocked” at the result.
Vampires
| Creatures (27) 4 Skymarcher Aspirant 4 Legion Lieutenant 4 Vicious Conquistador 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion 4 Adanto Vanguard 3 Sanctum Seeker 4 Champion of Dusk Spells (11) 4 Legion’s Landing 4 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord 1 Legion’s End 1 Mortify 1 Cast Down Land (22) 7 Plains 7 Swamp 4 Godless Shrine 4 Isolated Chapel | Sideboard (15) 3 Duress 2 Despark 2 Noxious Grasp 2 Gideon Blackblade 2 Vona, Butcher of Magan 2 Legion’s End 2 Devout Decree | |
Throughout the tournament was Joey “Joeystorm” Tsoi to make his fellow “spikes” proud. Joeystorm played a Mono-red deck, which excels in its ability to life gain and keep up with the rapid pace of the current meta through cards such as Experimental Frenzy. While he would fall short to the champion in the quarterfinals, he promised that he would return to give Mono-red the victory and recognition it deserves.
Mono-Red
| Creatures (20) 4 Runaway Steam-Kin 4 Ghitu Lavarunner 4 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Fanatical Firebrand 4 Viashino Pyromancer Spells (20) 4 Shock 4 Lightning Strike 3 Wizard’s Lightning 4 Experimental Frenzy 4 Light Up the Stage 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan Land (20) 20 Mountain | Sideboard (15) 2 Alpine Moon 4 Lava Coil 3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator 3 Fry 2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame 1 Risk Factor | |
Thanh “Starch” Nguyen came into the top eight feeling great about his chances at victory with his Grixis Contol deck. He is a firm believer in following the meta “because it is statistically better to do so.” However, for this competition Starch was able to pick a deck that he genuinely enjoyed playing and that would hold its own against some of his top competitors. Although he fell short to a Vampire deck in the quarterfinals, he felt that the match was already in his opponent’s favor and was just happy to be competing.
Grixis Control
Given the size and success of the tournament, the Gaming Stadium plans to introduce monthly MTG Arena tournaments to its monthly calendar of events. You can expect our next tournament to land around late September to October. Don’t want to miss out on our next tournament? Make sure to follow us on Twitter at @GamingStadiumCS and join our Discord community.