Live Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando

In one of the largest Legacy events in Florida history, the StarCityGames.com Open saw over 120 competitors squaring off to determine who would be crowned champion. The previous afternoon it had been former Pro Tour champion Charles Gindy taking the title, and he started the Legacy portion of the event off strongly at 3-0. But the wheels came off shortly thereafter.

A second player from Saturday’s Top 8 who performed well on the day was Taylor Raflowitz. The finalist from Saturday was in the hunt all of Sunday, but suffered the ignominy of a 9th place finish. Still, the extra Open points he picked up will help him in his quest to become Open Player of the Year. One previously successful player quietly making a run in Legacy? David Sharfman. The two-time Nationals Top 8er brought black-red Goblins to battle, and the tiny green creatures went to work for him. He ripped off enough wins to make the Top 8, and from there it was all David.

In the Quarterfinals he took down Lewis Laskin innovative Bant deck in three games. The Semifinals saw him favorably paired deckwise against Mike Brady’s Merfolk deck, but in all their matches against one another David had never defeated Brady. But it was his day, and he swept the match with ease. That left just Zack Wilson in the Finals, and his Aggro Loam deck just couldn’t keep up with David’s speed.

David Sharfman is your StarCityGames.com Legacy Open champion in Orlando!

9:14 – Legacy Rogues Gallery	By Bill Stark
One of the most exciting developments at any tournament are the rogue decks players bring to challenge the concept of what the metagame is.

Finals: David Sharfman vs. Zack Wilson	By Bill Stark
It was all down to one final match, between Zack Wilson’s Aggro Loam deck and David Sharfman’s Goblin build.

Semifinals: David Sharfman vs. Mike Brady	By Bill Stark
At the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Indianapolis, Goblins made a resurgence with a single presence in the Top 8. In Orlando, one stop later, David Sharfman repeated the red tribe’s success by making the Top 8 cut with yet another copy of the deck.

Quarterfinals: David Sharfman vs. Lewis Laskin	By Bill Stark
David Sharfman, a two-time Nationals Top 8er, entered the Top 8 in Orlando with a rogue red-black Goblin deck. His opponent in the Quarterfinals, Lewis Laskin, also had a somewhat Rogue deck in the form of Bant.

Quarterfinals: Mike Brady vs. John Cuvelier	By Bill Stark
“Losing the die roll is pretty bad for me. I do not want to be on the draw against Reanimator.” That’s how Mike Brady greeted his Quarterfinals opponent, John Cuvelier, as they sat down to their do-or-die match.

Legacy Open Top 8 Profiles	By Bill Stark
Meet the Top 8 competitors for the Legacy Open in Orlando.

Legacy Open Top 16 Decks	By Coverage Staff
The Top 16 Legacy Decks in the StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando!

Round 7: Zach Efland vs. Mike Brady	By Bill Stark
“Dice roll on the day? Seven and oh!” Zach Efland exclaimed, his larger than life personality already making its presence known in his Round 7 feature match against Mike Brady.

4:51 – Magic’s First Family of Judging	By Bill Stark
This weekend the head judges at the StarCityGames.com Open in Orlando were Peter Jahn and Ingrid Lind-Jahn.

Round 5: Julian De Los Santos vs. Vanessa Walden	By Bill Stark
Florida is home to many players both successful and up and coming. One of those up and comers is Julian De Los Santos, a member of the Megan and Kitt Holland crew that includes the likes of Charles Gindy, Ben Stark, and Zach Efland.

Deck Tech: Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)	By Coverage Staff
StarCityGames.com Standard Open winner and former Pro Tour champion Charlie Gindy walks us through how to play ANT (Ad Nauseam Tendrils) in Legacy.

Round 3: Charles Gindy vs. Vince Lanceford	By Bill Stark
Charles Gindy spent his Saturday adding a trophy to his extensive collection by taking down the Standard Open here in Orlando.

Boss for a Day	By Bill Stark
Former Pro Tour Champion, Charlie Gindy, playing his first large live event since the 2009 World Championships, had been given the choice between playing Naya and Jund by a friend. He opted to take the Boss Naya deck, and it paid off.

Finals: Charles Gindy vs. Taylor Raflowitz	By Bill Stark
The StarCityGames.com Standard Open was down to one final matchup: Charlie Gindy’s Naya deck against Taylor Raflowitz’s Jund deck.

Semifinals: Bryan Allen vs. Taylor Raflowitz	By Bill Stark
Taylor Raflowitz had survived a Quarterfinals Jund mirror, but once again found himself back battling black-green-red against black-green-red.

Quarterfinals: Trey McGinn vs. Taylor Raflowitz	By Bill Stark
Both players shuffled up silently for everyone’s favorite: the Jund mirror.

Quarterfinals: Bryan Allen vs. Seth Allison	By Bill Stark
Seth Allison had entered the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Orlando with Mythic, the Zvi Mowshowitz inspired Bant deck playing a host of powerful rares.

Standard Open Top 16 Decks	By Coverage Staff
The Top 16 Standard Decks in the StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando!

Standard Open Top 8 Profiles	By Bill Stark
Meet the Top 8 competitors for the Standard Open in Orlando.

Deck Tech: U/G Polymorph	By Coverage Staff
Looking for some of the more rogue strategies from the Standard portion of StarCityGames.com Open-Orlando? Isaiah Ley’s Polymorph combo deck is about as rogue as they get.

Round 10: Bryan Allen vs. John Dean	By Bill Stark
The way the points fell meant the two players with the lowest tie breakers at 24 Swiss points had to play. Those two souls? Bryan Allen and John Dean.

Round 9: Aadil Qadir vs. Jimmy Guo	By GGsLive
Archived footage from GGsLive’s Streaming Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando.

Deck Tech: Bant Allies	By Bill Stark
Doug Potts wasn’t afraid of facing Jund when he sat down to battle in Orlando for the StarCityGames.com Standard Open. His Bant Allies deck is capable of opening plays so powerful he can kill a player on the third turn.

Round 7: Charles Gindy vs. Joe Leigh	By Bill Stark
Charles Gindy is arguably the most successful player in Florida Magic’s history (though he has good company from the likes of Ben Stark and Antonino de Rosa).

Round 6: Todd Schreier vs. Doug Potts	By GGsLive
Archived footage from GGsLive’s Streaming Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando.

5:15 – Talking Travel and Standard with Willy Edel	By Bill Stark
Willy Edel has an envy-inducing professional Magic career. He has multiple Top 8s at the Pro Tour and Grand Prix levels, and the famous Brazilian player works with the best his home country has to offer for each big event.

Round 5: Sera Kelly vs. Rusty Kubis	By GGsLive
Archived footage from GGsLive’s Streaming Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando.

Round 5: James Lodge vs. Doug Potts	By Bill Stark
A famous pro from Brazil, having multiple Top 8s to his name, Willy Edel sat down to the third round of action at the StarCityGames.com Open-Orlando with his back against the wall.

Round 4: Lee Stehl vs. Charles Gindy	By GGsLive
Archived footage from GGsLive’s Streaming Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando.

2:22 – Chatting with Megan Holland	By Bill Stark
So what’s so special about Megan?Â She holds a unique position, along with her husband, as den parents, so to speak, of the biggest names in Florida Magic.

Round 3: Willy Edel vs. Aaron Webb	By Bill Stark
A famous pro from Brazil, having multiple Top 8s to his name, Willy Edel sat down to the third round of action at the StarCityGames.com Open-Orlando with his back against the wall.