Report from PTQ Nottingham

Hi all! We're going to be bringing some coverage to your today from the first English PTQ for San Juan and the Extended format, in Nottingham.

First of all, this was the first time Nottingham had been the host to a PTQ in some years. Dave Sisson, the TO, played host to a great turnout of 78 players. Everyone felt that the venue, in Nottingham Uni's student bar, was great and the event ran very smoothly.

Now, let's get on to some data!

First of all, here's a breakdown of the metagame by rough archetype:

Dark Depths 1 / T

Dredge 2 / T

Faeries 8

Hypergenesis 1

UW Tezz control 8 / TT

UG control 1

Scapeshift 8 / TT

Martyr 3

Zoo 16 / TT

Swath Shot 1

Living End 2

Hive Mind 1

Gifts Rock 3

Bant 4

Goblins 1

RDW/burn 6

Restore Balance 1

AIR 2

Rock 1

Misc 3

Those numbers are the total number represented in the field, and the Ts indicate how many of that archetype made Top 8.

Now, let's proceed to that Top 8!

The roster was:

Gavin Goh, playing Zoo

Stephen McIntosh, playing Dark Depths

Richard Bland, playing Scapeshift

James Corwood, playing Tezz / Thopters

Hari Mukautheran, playing Zoo

Rob Wagner, playing Tezz / Thopters

Bruno Panara, playing Scapeshift

Tom Harle, playing Dredge

The quarterfinals went like this:

Goh beats McIntosh 2-1

Bland beats Mura 2-0

Wagner beats Corwood 2-0

Panara beats Harle 2-1

And here are our quarterfinalist's decks:

Steven McIntosh's “Dark Depths”

4 Dark Confidant

4 Vampire Hexmage

3 Vendilion Clique

/11 creatures

4 Muddle the Mixture

4 Beseech the Queen

3 Chalice of the Void

2 Engineered Explosives

4 Thoughtseize

1 Duress

2 Repeal

1 Echoing Truth

4 Chrome Mox

/25 spells

4 Dark Depths

4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Swamp

4 Tolaria West

4 River of Tears

4 Sunken Ruins

2 Underground River

1 Ghost Quarter

/24 lands

//60 cards

SB:

1 Tormod's Crypt

3 Bitterblossom

1 Doom Blade

1 Chalice of the Void

1 Slaughter Pact

1 Yixlid Jailer

1 Pithing Needle

2 Cranial Extraction

2 Damnation

1 Thopter Foundry

1 Sword of the Meek

Hari Mukautheran's “Naya”

4 Baneslayer Angel

4 Wild Nacatl

4 Knight of the Reliquary

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Noble Hierarch

/20 creatures

1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

4 Punishing Fire

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Oblivion Ring

4 Path to Exile

/16 spells

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Treetop Village

4 Arid Mesa

3 Verdant Catacombs

4 Marsh Flats

4 Grove of the Burnwillows

2 Sacred Foundry

1 Temple Garden

1 Stomping Ground

1 Plains

1 Mountain

1 Forest

/24 lands

//60 cards

SB:

2 Ancient Grudge

2 Gaddock Teeg

3 Ravenous Trap

3 Yixlid Jailer

4 Kitchen Finks

1 Blood Crypt

James Corwood

1 Baneslayer Angel

2 Trinket Mage

/3 creatures

1 Ritual of Restoration

1 Day of Judgment

1 Wrath of God

1 Tormod's Crypt

3 Path to Exile

2 Engineered Explosives

2 Gifts Ungiven

4 Thirst for Knowledge

1 Time Sieve

2 Mana Leak

2 Cryptic Command

2 Muddle the Mixture

3 Spell Snare

1 Sword of the Meek

2 Thopter Foundry

1 Vedalken Shackles

2 Tezzeret the Seeker

1 Chrome Mox

/32 spells

1 Arid Mesa

1 Marsh Flats

2 Scalding Tarn

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Hallowed Fountain

2 Steam Vents

1 Watery Grave

1 Mystic Gate

1 Academy Ruins

1 Tolaria West

1 Vault of Whispers

1 Ancient Den

2 Seat of the Synod

1 Snow-Covered Swamp

1 Snow-Covered Plains

2 Snow-Covered Island

2 Island

1 Plains

/25 lands

//60 cards

SB:

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Path to Exile

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Chalice of the Void

1 Deathmark

3 Firespout

1 Flashfreeze

2 Pulse of the Fields

3 Extirpate

1 Baneslayer Angel

Tom Harle

4 Narcomoeba

4 Stinkweed Imp

1 Sphinx of Lost Truths

4 Hedron Crab

4 Golgari Grave-Troll

3 Bloodghast

4 Drowned Rusalka

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Flame-Kin Zealot

1 Dryad Arbor

/27 creatures

4 Bridge from Below

3 Dread Return

3 Ideas Unbound

1 Life from the Loam

4 Glimpse the Unthinkable

/15 spells

1 Steam Vents

2 Breeding Pool

3 Watery Grave

3 Verdant Catacombs

3 Scalding Tarn

4 Misty Rainforest

2 Island

/18 lands

//60 cards

SB:

1 Life from the Loam

2 Ancient Grudge

3 Thoughtseize

2 Darkblast

2 Echoing Truth

3 Leyline of the Void

1 Bloodghast

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

Moving on to the semifinals, the results were:

Bland beats Goh 2-0

Wagner beats Panara 2-1

And the semifinalists decks were:

Gavin Goh's “Eternal Zoo”

4 Noble Hierarch

4 Wild Nacatl

4 Knight of the Reliquary

4 Tarmogoyf

3 Baneslayer Angel

2 Gaddock Teeg

/21 creatures

4 Path to Exile

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Bant Charm

2 Lightning Helix

2 Umezawa's Jitte

/16 spells

1 Ghost Quarter

4 Arid Mesa

4 Misty Rainforest

3 Scalding Tarn

2 Stomping Ground

2 Temple Garden

1 Sacred Foundry

1 Steam Vents

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Forest

1 Island

1 Plains

1 Treetop Village

/23 lands

//60 cards

SB:

4 Negate

1 Gaddock Teeg

3 Meddling Mage

2 Ravenous Trap

1 Tormod's Crypt

3 Rhox War Monk

1 Baneslayer Angel

Bruno Panara

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Coiling Oracle

4 Wood Elves

/12 creatures

4 Scapeshift

4 Remand

4 Peer through Depths

3 Ponder

3 Cryptic Command

3 Repeal

3 Firespout

1 Gigadrowse

/25 spells

4 Steam Vents

4 Stomping Ground

2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

4 Forest

3 Island

1 Mountain

2 Misty Rainforest

1 Breeding Pool

2 Flooded Grove

/23 lands

//60 cards

SB:

4 Kitchen Finks

3 Negate

1 Gigadrowse

3 Ravenous Trap

1 Sudden Shock

1 Magma Jet

1 Rude Awakening

1 Cloudthresher

So finally it came down to Richard Bland versus Rob Wagner for the prize- a flight and slot at Pro Tour: San Juan. In the end, Wagner's Thopters put up too much pressure for Bland, and Rob took the match 2-1 - despite having a broken hand!

Congratulations to Rob, and good luck in San Juan!

Here's the finalist, Richard Bland's, deck:

Richard Bland's “Scapeshift”

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Coiling Oracle

4 Kitchen Finks

/12 creatures

4 Scapeshift

4 Condescend

3 Peer through Depths

3 Firespout

3 Remand

3 Into the Roil

2 Hunting Wilds

1 Ponder

/23 spells

4 Steam Vents

4 Stomping Ground

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Forest

3 Island

2 Mountain

2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

2 Breeding Pool

/25 lands

//60 cards

SB:

4 Ravenous Trap

3 Vendilion Clique

2 Tormod's Crypt

2 Engineered Explosives

2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

1 Into the Roil

1 Firespout

And the champion's:

Rob Wagner

2 Trinket Mage

/2 creatures

1 Tezzeret the Seeker

3 Chrome Mox

2 Engineered Explosives

1 Pithing Needle

2 Sword of the Meek

3 Thopter Foundry

1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Vedalken Shackles

2 Cryptic Command

1 Day of Judgment

2 Gifts Ungiven

3 Mana Leak

1 Muddle the Mixture

3 Path to Exile

4 Spell Snare

4 Thirst for Knowledge

1 Wrath of God

/35 spells

1 Academy Ruins

1 Ancient Den

1 Ghost Quarter

2 Hallowed Fountain

3 Island

3 Marsh Flats

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Mystic Gate

1 Plains

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Seat of the Synod

2 Snow-Covered Island

1 Snow-Covered Plains

1 Tolaria West

1 Watery Grave

/23 lands

//60 spells

SB:

1 Chalice of the Void

3 Cranial Extraction

1 Engineered Explosives

3 Kitchen Finks

2 Negate

2 Pulse of the Fields

1 Tormod's Crypt

2 Vendilion Clique

Thanks all and tune in next time for more coverage!