Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir
| Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 10–12 April 2015 | |||
| Location |
 Brussels, Belgium | |||
| Attendance | 407 | |||
| Format | Standard and Booster draft | |||
| Prize pool | $250,000 | |||
| Winner |
 Martin Dang | |||
| ||||
Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir was the third Pro Tour of the 2014–15 season. It took place on 10–12 April 2015 in Brussels, Belgium. 407 players participated, and the event featured Dragons of Tarkir Booster draft and Standard. The tournament was won by Danish player Martin Dang, who became the first Dane to win a Pro Tour by defeating Japan's Shota Yasooka in the final.
Day one
A Dragons of Tarkir Booster draft kicked off the event; players who started the Pro Tour by winning their draft pod included Paul Rietzl, Patrick Chapin, Brian Kibler, Shota Yasooka, Olivier Ruel, Antoine Ruel, Jelger Wiegersma, and Player of the Year-hopeful Eric Froehlich. In the Standard portion of the tournament, several decks proved successful, such as Abzan Control, Green Devotion, Red-Green Dragons, and Mono-Red Aggro. Many players also had considerable success with blue Control decks, including Team ChannelFireball, who played an Esper Dragons deck featuring Dragonlord Ojutai; others, such as Adrian Sullivan, played Blue-Black Control without the Dragons. One player emerged from day one with a perfect 8–0 record: Rick Lee of Malaysia, with Abzan Aggro. Two more players were still undefeated at 7–0–1: Shota Yasooka and Felipe Valdivia, both playing blue Control decks built around Dragons.
The top eight players after day one:
| Rank | Player | Points | Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rick Lee
|
24 | 5 |  Ivan Floch
|
21 |
| 2 |  Shota Yasooka
|
22 | 6 |  Stephen Madden
|
21 |
| 3 |  Felipe Valdivia
|
22 | 7 |  Adrian Sullivan
|
21 |
| 4 | Minh Nguyen
|
21 | 8 | Martin Dang
|
21 |
Day two
After the second Dragons of Tarkir draft, three players stood atop the field, with 10–1 records: Adrian Sullivan, Martin Dang, and Andrew Ohlschwager. Sullivan had been known as a writer and theorist of the game since the mid-90s, but had never posted a significant Pro Tour finish. However, a 2–1–2 record in the last Standard portion of the Swiss rounds was enough to secure him a spot in the top eight, which he described as a "relief".[1] Denmark's Martin Dang was the first to lock up a Sunday berth, though, as he was 12–1 after round 13. Eric Froehlich was close to making the top eight for the second straight Pro Tour; he needed to win one of the last two rounds, but lost both. Overnight leader Rick Lee had a difficult day, finishing the tournament 10–6 to end up in 49th-place.
Though the top eight didn't contain many players with past Pro Tour success, the top 16 did. Every player in 9th through 16th place had finished in the top eight of a Pro Tour previously. The 9th- to 16th-place finishers were, in order, Kyle Boggemes, Craig Wescoe, Josh Utter-Leyton, Sam Black, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Brad Nelson, Andrea Mengucci, and Seth Manfield.
Top 8
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Ondřej Stráský | 2 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Andrew Ohlschwager | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Ondřej Stráský | 1 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Shota Yasooka | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Jason Chung | 1 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Shota Yasooka | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Shota Yasooka | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Martin Dang | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Martin Dang | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Marco Cammilluzzi | 0 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Martin Dang | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Adrian Sullivan | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Adrian Sullivan | 2 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Thomas Hendriks | 1 | |||||||||||
Japanese player Shota Yasooka received much attention as the clear star of the top eight; although he only had one previous Sunday appearance, he had several top 16 finishes, and many thought he was among the best in the game, and felt his second top eight was overdue.[2] Young Czech player Ondřej Stráský posted his second Pro Tour top eight of the season, and had emerged as one of the new European stars, and was favored to take a spot at the 2015 World Championship. But it was Danish player and Atarka Red-wielding Martin Dang who would claim the top spot, defeating Yasooka and his Blue-Black Dragons deck in the final.
| Place | Player | Deck | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Dang
|
Atarka Red | $40,000 | 30 | First Dane to win a Pro Tour |
| 2 | Shota Yasooka
|
Blue-Black Dragons | $20,000 | 26 | Second Pro Tour Top 8 |
| 3 |  Ondřej Stráský
|
Green Devotion | $12,500 | 22 | Second Pro Tour Top 8 |
| 4 | Adrian Sullivan
|
Blue-Black Control | $12,500 | 22 | |
| 5 |  Jason Chung
|
Red-Green Dragons | $10,000 | 18 | First New Zealander in a Pro Tour Top 8 |
| 6 |  Marco Cammilluzzi
|
Abzan Control | $10,000 | 18 | |
| 7 |  Thomas Hendriks
|
Green Devotion | $10,000 | 18 | |
| 8 | Andrew Ohlschwager
|
Esper Dragons | $10,000 | 18 |
Player of the Year Race
Both Eric Froehlich and Sam Black made strong finishes at Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir, finishing 12th and 19th, respectively. Lee Shi Tian, the leader coming into the event, could only offer a modest 187th-place result, and had to see himself get passed by both Froehlich and Black.
| Player | Pro Points |
|---|---|
| Eric Froehlich
|
60 |
| Sam Black
|
57 |
 Lee Shi Tian
|
56 |
| Ari Lax
|
54 |
| Owen Turtenwald
|
53 |
Controversy
Patrick Chapin received a game loss in round six while on camera after forgetting to reveal a Tasigur, the Golden Fang that he found with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. The game loss resulted in Chapin losing the match, and was widely debated within the Magic community; many felt it was too harsh a penalty given the circumstances.[3]
Two players were disqualified from the event:
- Stephen Speck was disqualified for Manipulation of Game Materials. Speck had presented a 53-card deck, and had a plausible opening hand set to the side.[4] Speck was subsequently suspended from the game for three years.
- Jérémy Dezani was disqualified in Round 8 for misrepresenting the game state to judges.[5]
Notable performances
- Three players posted perfect 6–0 records in Booster draft: Steve Rubin, Kyle Boggemes, and Adrian Sullivan.[6]
- The best Standard performers were Brad Nelson (Abzan Aggro), Chester Swords (Abzan Control), and Josh Utter-Leyton (Esper Dragons). They each finished 9–1, though none of them made it to the top eight.
Trivia
- Dirk Baberowski made his first Pro Tour appearance since Pro Tour San Juan 2010. He finished 379th. Ben Rubin also made his first appearance since the 2010 season, having not showed up since PT Amsterdam 2010. Rubin finished 170th.
- Although Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa had made nine Pro Tour top eights previously, his 13th-place finish was his first top 16 finish where he didn't make the top eight.
- Bob Maher, Jr. went 11–5 to end up 34th. This was his first money finish at a Pro Tour since Pro Tour Seattle 2004.
External links
- Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir coverage
- Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir final standings
- 24-27 point Standard decklists
- 21-23 point Standard decklists
- 18-20 point Standard decklists
- Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir invitation list
- Video coverage playlist
References
- ↑ Adrian Sullivan (2015-04-17). "An Old School Tournament Report *4th*". StarCityGames. Retrieved on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Craig Jones (2015-04-12). "FINALS: MARTIN DANG (RED AGGRO) VS. SHOTA YASOOKA (BLUE-BLACK CONTROL)". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Cedric Phillips (2015-04-14). "On Patrick Chapin, Round Six, And The Importance Of First Impressions". StarCityGames. Retrieved on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ PLAYER DISQUALIFIED FROM PRO TOUR DRAGONS OF TARKIR. Wizards of the Coast (2015-04-11). Retrieved on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ PLAYER DISQUALIFIED FROM PRO TOUR DRAGONS OF TARKIR. Wizards of the Coast (2015-04-10). Retrieved on 2015-10-02.
- ↑ Craig Jones (2015-04-10). "THE 6-0 DRAFTERS". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-10-02.