Reid’s Pro Tour Final Fantasy Report as a Member of Team TCGplayer | Magic: The Gathering

Final Fantasy Fandom

Thinking back on my childhood, I believe my biggest passion was Magic: the Gathering. I believe my second-biggest was Final Fantasy.

Starting with Final Fantasy IV, Cecil, Kain, Rydia, and Rosa became some of the most important names of my younger years.

I played through Final Fantasy VI (my favorite game in the series) numerous times, seeking maxed-out characters who could attack for tens of thousands of damage at a time, thanks to the combo of Genji Glove and Offering. 

In college, the one possession my roommate and I had to our names was a broken television that could pretty much only support playing games on the NES. The one game I brought from home? The original Final Fantasy. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CsiwCAGaO9o 

Needless to say, the release of Magic the Gathering–Final Fantasy had me excited, and getting to compete in Pro Tour Final Fantasy was the experience of a lifetime. 

Team TCGplayer Process

As usual, I prepared with Team TCGplayer (formerly called Team CFB-Ultimate Guard) plus our amazing support network. From our various corners of the world, we flew to a rental house in Las Vegas the Saturday before the tournament for our “team house” bootcamp. Once there, we had a dozen world-class players jamming games from dawn until midnight each day.

The Standard format was straightforward, though definitely not “easy.” Izzet Prowess was a clear best deck, so much of our process was trying out ideas until they were inevitably crushed by Izzet. We tried everything we could to beat it, including maindeck copies of High Noon and Magebane Lizard. 

In the end, the bulk of the team settled on playing Izzet themselves.  Here’s a photo of the final “Izzet Prowess” team meeting.

https://melee.gg/Decklist/View/26eb4bc4-36bd-4991-9ba0-b2ff018102e7 

Four of the most stubborn amongst us–Seth Manfield, Gabriel Nassif, Edgar Magalhaes, and Yours Truly–decided to play Domain.

But more interesting than a Standard format with a dominant strategy was a brand new Limited format which seemed remarkably well-balanced across many colors and archetypes. The in-house drafts are probably the most fun parts of the process. However, they’re not without their stresses. The 3-0 drafter gets to keep the best card opened in the draft, and some of these Final Fantasy cards can be quite valuable!

I picked a Buster Sword the one time I 3-0ed with an Izzet Deck.

I think our biggest winner pulled a Rhystic Study.

Perhaps the biggest event of Pro Tour preparation is the Limited Meeting, which we hold on Wednesday right after we turn in our final Standard decklists. This time, we clocked in over six hours of discussing every single color, archetype, and individual card that you can open in a Final Fantasy play booster!
 

Collectively, our favorite archetypes were U/R spells; G/B graveyard; and U/G/x Towns. I always find the Limited Meeting to be the most helpful part of the process. In this case, it gave me the tools I needed to navigate some tricky spots that came up for me in the Pro Tour drafts. 

Brews that Almost Made it

There are always a few decks that you work hard on and fall in love with, but which don’t quite make the cut in the end. This was especially true this time around, as we were throwing everything but the kitchen sink against Izzet to see if we could find a favorable matchup. 

At one point, the whole team was really excited about Demons with the new Demon Wall. One particularly cool version played Jenova, Ancient Calamity to give an easy counter to Demon Wall, or to let us draw six cards off of Rot-Curse Rakshasa.

I was also liking Boros Mice, with the new addition of Cloud, Midgar Mercenary. I found it strange that Cori-Steel Cutter could be one the best cards in Standard, and yet the powerful new Stoneforge Mystic wasn’t seeing play. Mice is a particularly nice home because the equipment you find with Cloud can trigger valiant; and because most of the creatures in the deck are Soldiers, making Cavern of Souls into a powerful untapped dual land. 

What We Got Right

A few things that we got right as a team: Izzet being incredibly popular and successful. Monstrous Rage decks representing over half the field. That our maindecks should be geared against the red aggro decks. 

Some wisdom that you would overhear around the house was: “If you’re sideboarding this card against Izzet, it should just be in your maindeck.”

What we got wrong

On the other hand, something that we got wrong was underestimating Mono-Red, which proved to be one of the most successful decks of the tournament. You see, black and white midrange decks have historically had the best matchups against Mono-Red. We correctly identified that these decks were weak against Cori-Steel Cutter and Stock Up out of Izzet, and also weak against the Omniscience combo. However, we didn’t consider the second-order effect of Mono-Red having all favorable matchups in the “winner’s metagame” of decks that we believed would perform best at the Pro Tour. 

Domain Deck and SB Guide

Here’s the Standard Domain deck that I settled on. 

https://melee.gg/Decklist/View/215a9f15-a959-4169-ac0a-b30001301412 

Edgar and I registered the identical 75 cards, while Seth and Gab each had a bit of spice. Domain is not structurally favored against any of the top 3 decks–Izzet, Omniscience, or Mono-Red. However, we chose all of our cards with these matchups in mind, and fought to a point where we weren’t afraid to be paired against any of them.

We believed that Izzet was a slightly favorable matchup, in part due to the presence of four maindeck High Noons. Plus, Domain is one of the few decks in Standard that actually succeeds in going over the top and crushing Izzet in a long game. Whereas many other strategies struggle with their value plan of Stock Up and leveling Stormchaser’s Talent.

Mono-Red was slightly unfavorable, particularly when you lose the die roll. However, Authority of the Consuls is strong, particularly when paired with spot removal or a board sweeper. Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines and Change the Equation make for a nice, well-rounded plan against Sunspine Lynx. 

Omniscience was very scary in game 1, but became totally manageable after sideboarding. Heritage Reclamation is a subtle and effective weapon, while a smattering of one-ofs gives the Omniscience player a lot that they need to worry about. 

Honestly, one of the greatest appeals of choosing Domain is your “Other” matchup. In ten Standard rounds, you’re bound to get a couple of pairings against slower midrange or battlefield-focused decks that simply don’t have a good plan against you. Picking up a few freebies in a long tournament is always welcome. 

Sideboard Guide

Izzet

+1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
+1 Entity Tracker

-1 Ultima
-1 Overlord of the Mistmoors

Notes: I think you want a number of Ride’s Ends between 0 and 4. One for ones aren’t good against Izzet, but it’s nice to round things out with a little more cheap interaction and a little more instant-speed for the High Noon games. 

Mono-Red & Gruul Mice

+1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

+1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

+2 Change the Equation
+2 Ride’s End

-1 Ultima

-4 High Noon

-1 Overlord of the Mistmoors

Omniscience

+3 Heritage Reclamation
+2 Change the Equation
+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain
+1 Rest in Peace
+1 Voice of Victory
+1 Negate
+1 Disdainful Stroke
+1 Entity Tracker
+1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

-2 Authority of the Consuls

-1 High Noon

-1 Ultima

-2 Temporary Lockdown

-3 Zur, Eternal Schemer

-2 Ride’s End

-1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

Domain

+1 Negate

+3 Heritage Reclamation
+1 Disdainful Stroke
+2 Change the Equation

+1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain

+1 Entity Tracker

+1 Voice of Victory

-2 Temporary Lockdown

-1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

-2 Ride’s End

-2 Authority of the Consuls

-4 High Noon

Dimir Midrange

+1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

+1 Entity Tracker

+2 Ride’s End

+1 Voice of Victory
+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain

-4 High Noon

-2 Authority of the Consuls

Roots

+3 Heritage Reclamation

+2 Change the Equation

+1 Negate
+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain
+1 Rest in Peace
+1 Entity Tracker
+1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

-4 High Noon
-2 Ride’s End

-1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

-2 Authority of the Consuls

-1 Overlord of the Mistmoors

Control

+3 Heritage Reclamation

+2 Change the Equation

+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain
+1 Voice of Victory
+1 Negate
+1 Disdainful Stroke
+1 Entity Tracker

+1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

+1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines

-2 Authority of the Consuls

-4 High Noon

-2 Ride’s End

-2 Temporary Lockdown

-1 Ultima

-1 Zur, Eternal Schemer

Pixie

+1 Rakshasa’s Bargain

+2 Heritage Reclamation

+1 Negate

+2 Ride’s End

+1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

+1 Entity Tracker

-2 Temporary Lockdown

-2 Authority of the Consuls

-4 High Noon

Personal & Team Results

So how did things go when it was time to compete? I put up a solid 2-1 performance in each of the drafts. The first one went just according to the team script, with a nice U/R deck splashing Kuja.

My second draft was a powerful, if unconventional, W/G Legends deck. 

I also went 7-3 in the Standard rounds with Domain. I don’t think it was a stellar deck choice for the event, but it’s becoming a pet deck of mine that has served me well across numerous tournaments at this point.

Add all of those records together and I wound up with 11 wins and 5 losses, and a final placement of 26th. That’s right where I wanna be, and is a finish that I believe anyone should be proud of at a high level of competition. 

The team did pretty well, with lots of players in day 2 and a healthy distribution of final records. Particularly notable were Edgar Magalhaes (same Domain list as me) and Theo Jung (one of our Izzet players), who were both playing win-and-in matches for top 8 deep in the tournament. Edgar went 12-4 and heartbreakingly finished in 9th place. Theo actually would’ve made it in on tiebreakers, but lost the final round and wound up in 16th place instead. 

This Pro Tour happened to have a significant prize break at 32nd place, as the top 32 finishers each won an exclusive Pro Tour foil version of Cloud, Midgar Mercenary. Edgar, Theo, and I each took home one of these, and to say that these cards are shaping up to be desirable would be an understatement.

So while my childhood self would’ve loved to become the Pro Tour Final Fantasy champion, overall I’d say it was a great event and I have nothing to complain about. In merging these two passions, I got to be part of an exciting and memorable event. I even got to compete under Yuna’s feature match banner twice! It felt special to have the Grand Summoner watching over me while I played.