Live Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Philadelphia

Another successful StarCityGames.com Open weekend has come and gone! Approximately 800 competitors battled it out over the two days of competition. Sunday was all about Legacy. Pro Tour champion Jacob Van Lunen made waves early with his Monoblue Control deck, lurking at the top tables. Chris Woltereck and company were in the house with a brand new version of 43 Lands, this one with Living Wish, but when teammate Ken Adams unintentionally drew himself out of the Top 8 in the last round, hopes of seeing a copy of their deck in the single elimination rounds were destroyed.

In a repeat of Saturday action, two players made their second Open Top 8s on Sunday: Jesse Hatfield and David Price. Both had their previous top performance in Legacy, and David Price was even using the same deck he had played then. They made it through the Quarterfinals, but had their hopes of a championship crushed by Jim Orr and Matt Elias.

That set up a Finals featuring two of the defining archetypes of the Legacy format: Elias’ Zoo deck and Jim’s Counterbalance deck. Orr’s quiet demeanor hinted at his preparedness for the event, but his deck simply couldn’t keep up with the Cats and burn of Matt Elias‘ Zoo list. A lucky Path to Exile to clear enough attackers to get through past a Progenitus meant Matt Elias was the official champion!

Legacy Open Top 8 Profiles	By Coverage Staff
Meet the Top 8 competitors at StarCityGames.com Legacy Open: Philadelphia!

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

Finals: Matt Elias vs. Jesse Hatfield	By Bill Stark
It was all down to one final match: would Matt Elias‘ Zoo deck take the top slot, or would it be Jim Orr’s Natural Order/Counterbalance?

Semifinals: Matt Elias vs. Jesse Hatfield	By Bill Stark
The Semifinals match between Matt Elias and Jesse Hatfield was one of the cornerstone battles of the format: Counterbalance against Zoo.

Quarterfinals: Matt Elias vs. Steve Nagy	By Bill Stark
A StarCityGames.com columnist, Matt Elias was happy to be making his first StarCityGames.com Open Top 8.

Quarterfinals: David Price vs. Eric Mason	By Bill Stark
David Price is on a roll in Legacy, earning his second Open Series Top 8 in the format this weekend.

Ask the Judge: Judge or Play?	By Bill Stark
So what’s the truth? Do they prefer to play Magic, or to judge it?

Round 9: Ken Adams vs. Anthony Avitollo	By Bill Stark
Ken Adams took a new revision of 43 Land against Anthony Avitollo with Goblins.

Deck Tech: Jacob Van Lunen Feeling Blue	By Bill Stark
Pro Tour: San Diego Champion Jacob Van Lunen represented the Sliver Kids in the Legacy portion of the StarCityGames.com Open Series in Philadelphia, piloting a mono blue homebrew.

Deck Tech: Lewis Laskin New Take on Landstill	By Bill Stark
Lewis Laskin is quickly making a name for himself as a deckbuilder on the StarCityGames.com Open Series. Check out the update to Landstill that he’s piloting in Philadelphia’s Legacy Open!

Round 6: Lewis Laskin vs. Matthew Elias	By Bill Stark
Lewis Laskin, of Super Friends fame, is battling with an updated Landstill deck at this weekend’s Legacy Open.

3:45PM – Legacy Photos	By Bill Stark
Another Sunday, another day of Legacy play at the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open!

Round 3: Jacob Van Lunen vs. Steve Carpenter	By Bill Stark
“I don’t know who you are, but you got a hard matchup for yourself in this round.” Steve Carpenter challenged his opponent, Jacob Van Lunen, as they began shuffling for their match.

In a Word? Mythic.	By Bill Stark
Five hundred twenty-one players have come, and five hundred twenty have gone. The StarCityGames.com Standard Open here in Philadelphia has come to a close!

Finals: Max Williams vs. Kenny Mayer	By Bill Stark
After a long day of play, it was down to just two players: Kenny Mayer and Max Williams. The two were battling in one of the marquee matchups in Standard, Kenny playing Jund and Max playing Mythic Bant.

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

Semifinals: Ben Wienburg vs. Kenny Mayer	By Bill Stark
The Semifinals between Ben Wienburg and Kenny Mayer was the dreaded Standard duel: Jund against Jund.

Quarterfinals: Ben Wienburg vs. Jason Cawley	By Bill Stark
One of two players in his second StarCityGames.com Open Series Top 8, Ben Wienburg sat down to his Quarterfinals match against Jason Cawley looking to stay alive and pad his Open points total.

Quarterfinals: Phil Li vs. Kenny Mayer	By Bill Stark
Can Phil Li keep the tempo with RDW against Kenny Mayer’s Jund deck?

Round 10: Ali Aintrazi vs. Eric Gosse	By Bill Stark
Ali Aintrazi already had one StarCityGames.com Open Top 8 under his belt. His innovative Turbo Land deck, an update to the Zendikar Block version that had seen play at Pro Tour-San Juan, had served him well on the weekend and drawn many a curious onlooker.

Deck Tech With Ken Adams	By Bill Stark
Ken Adams warps worlds beneath him on the back of an eight-mana sorcery… Warp World in Standard

Round 7: Jim Davis vs. Phil Li	By Bill Stark
Kargan Dragonlord was second at-bat for Phil, and that merited a pause from Jim. “Is that good?” He asked, craning his neck to see the card. “I guess. I killed some Naya player with it,” his opponent replied.

Deck Tech With Ali Aintrazi	By Bill Stark
Ali Aintrazi discusses his innovative Turbo Land deck.

Deck Tech With Alex Bertoncini	By Bill Stark
Alex Bertoncini brings us the latest news on the midrange deck we all love to hate… Jund.

Round 4: Osyp Lebedowicz vs. Chris Lachmann	By Bill Stark
“Do you want to just draw?” Chris Lachmann asked his opponent as they shuffled up for their Feature Match. The suggestion was ridiculous, but the match was the biggest in the room: both Pro Tour champions slugging it out to stay undefeated.

Round 3:Chris Lachmann vs. Ryan McKinney	By Bill Stark
The two players got underway with what would turn out to be a Super Friends mirror match.

11:59AM – Photos from Philly	By Bill Stark
Wondering who is here in Philadelphia for the StarCityGames.com Standard Open? We took a stroll this morning during the player’s meeting to see who was in the house!