The best Magic players in the world have gathered in Nashville, Tennessee for Pro Tour Amonkhet. Day 1 started with a rollercoaster draft from Martin Juza, who drafted a sweet UR spells deck, while most of the Pros expressed a clear preference for aggressive red strategies. After lunch, Standard was invaded by hordes of Zombie decks, the hot new deck for this PT, and we finished the day with Aetherworks Marvels pumping out Ulamog after Ulamog.
Draft #1: Martin Juza
After his Round 1 match, Martin Juza told his opponent, “I hate blue.” Well, we have bad news for you, Martin…
Draft #2: Lee Shi Tian
As Martin Juza was drafting a synergetic deck, Lee Shi Tian took the opposite tack: all two drops at the expense of anything else.
Round 1 (Draft): Martin Juza vs. Sebastian Pozzo
The first round of Pro Tour Amonkhet gave us the chance to watch Martin Juza’s awesome UR spells deck in action.
Round 2 (Draft): Shota Yasooka vs. Kenji Tsumura
Kenji Tsumura (and many Pros) seem to agree with Lee Shi Tian: the best decks in Amonkhet draft are red-based aggressive decks. Ho will his all-in red deck fare against Shota’s UB control deck?
Round 3 (Draft): Reid Duke vs. Pedro Carvalho
Surprise, surprise: more aggressive Amonkhet draft decks!
Round 4 (Standard): Martin Juza vs. Masashi Oiso
Oh là là—what a way to start the Standard rounds! Martin Juza brought a sweet new mono-black Zombies deck whose goal is to overrun its opponents with a relentless horde of Zombie creatures, whereas Masashi Oiso brought a sweet New Perspectives/cycling/Approach of the Second Sun combo deck.
Round 5 (Standard): Joel Larsson vs. Kentaro Yamamoto
I think Joel Larsson might have gotten confused and thought he was playing in Pro Tour Aether Revolt because he chose to play BG Winding Constrictor this weekend. Similarly, Kentaro Yamamoto brought one of the best decks of yore, playing Temur Aetherworks sans Emrakul.
Round 6 (Standard): Patrick Dickmann vs. Craig Wescoe
I’ll give you one guess as to what kind of deck Craig Wescoe brought to Pro Tour Amonkhet.
Round 7 (Standard): Chris Fennell vs. Marc Tobiasch
Round 7 saw what is likely to be the defining matchup of Pro Tour Amonkhet: Zombies vs Aetherworks Marvel.
Round 8 (Standard): Pierre Dagen vs. Oliver Oks
In a match that was pretty low on energy, given the fact that both players had been playing Magic for nearly 12 hours, Pierre Dagen and Oliver Oks brought two different Energy-based decks to the Pro Tour and were playing in the undefeated bracket at the end of Day 1.