Pro Tour Amonkhet
Pro Tour Amonkhet is the third Pro Tour of the 2016–17 season. It takes place on 12–14 May 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
Structure and payout changes
The top 8 playoff system was reverted to traditional single-elimination starting with Pro Tour Amonkhet, as WotC deemed the bracket format used in Pro Tour Kaladesh and Pro Tour Aether Revolt to have little effect on reducing intentional draws among top players. However, as a purpose to favor high finishes in the Swiss portion of the event, the money and Pro Point payouts were slightly adjusted; players finishing in third- through eight-place receive payouts based on relative finish in the Swiss. Additionally, players who finished with 31-32 match points receive one fewer Pro Point than under the previous system.[1]
Format
The Standard format prior to the release of Amonkhet was dominated by Mardu Vehicles and Felidar Guardian/Saheeli Rai combo decks, and many commented that the Felidar Guardian decks in particular stifled innovation in what was considered one of the least diverse Standard formats of all time.[2] Felidar Guardian was not banned on the March 14th B&R update, but when Amonkhet did not prove to have the tools to fight the combo, it was widely expected to be banned on April 24th, prior to the Pro Tour. However, no changes were announced to the Standard format; instead, it was stated that WotC would re-evaluate the situation a few weeks after the Pro Tour.[3] But two days later, citing a stale Magic Online Standard format, WotC posted an addendum to the B&R announcement with the immediate banning of Felidar Guardian.[4]
Prior to the Pro Tour, there was a Star City Games Open event in Atlanta featuring Standard with Felidar Guardian banned. The top eight sported five Mardu Vehicles decks, not unlike the decks that were used to great success at Pro Tour Aether Revolt.[5] This led to the question of whether Mardu could be dethroned in Standard.[6]
Day one
The event kicked off with a triple Amonkhet Booster draft, with Martin Jůza, hot off of a top eight at Pro Tour Aether Revolt and the leader in the Draft Master race for the 2017 World Championship. Jůza drafted a Blue-Red spells deck that he described as "the best deck he ever had", though he still fell to Gabriel Nassif in the second round. Jůza finished 2–1, while Nassif got the 3–0 with his Red-Green deck. Other famous players to 3–0 their draft included Eric Froehlich, Shōta Yasooka, Owen Turtenwald, Yuuya Watanabe, Jelger Wiegersma, and Seth Manfield.