Live Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Seattle

The StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Seattle has crowned a champion! The entire event was a massive success, with Seattle becoming the Open Series stop with the most players returning to play on Sunday. Counted amongst their numbers? Some of the Open Series’ best players. Luis Scott-Vargas, the Los Angeles Standard Open champion, was fresh off his Finals appearance during Saturday competition. StarCityGames.com columnist Cedric Phillips was also in the house, battling his trademark Goblin Charbelcher deck. And of course, Brad Nelson was here battling for the second day in a row.

The Top 8 was a combination of new faces and old standbys. Scott-Vargas was back again for the third time in the season, cementing him as the leader in the Open Series Player of the Year race. He was taken out early, however, by Kevin Ambler of Dallas, Texas. Kevin returned to his second Top 8 in as many days as well, but his Merfolk strategy wasn’t powerful enough to overtake Seattle hero Kyle Boddy in the Semifinals. That set up a showdown between Kyle’s “Boddy Horizons” list and Matt Smith’s Zoo build, the second week in a row a Zoo decklist had been in the Finals of a StarCityGames.com Legacy Open.

But Matt’s Prices of Progress, Fireblasts, and Lightning Bolts were no match for Kyle’s Knight of the Reliquaries and Terravores. Kyle Boddy is your StarCityGames.com Legacy Open Seattle champion!

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

Finals: Matt Smith vs. Kyle Boddy	By Bill Stark
It was all down to one final match: the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Seattle would be determined between Kyle Boddy and Matt Smith.

Semifinals: Kevin Ambler vs. Kyle Boddy	By Bill Stark
It was a battle of rogues for the Semifinals as former StarCityGames.com Open champion Luis Scott-Vargas sat down to play against James Nguyen.

Quarterfinals: John MacFadden vs. Stephen Ashcraft	By Bill Stark
John MacFadden was the highest ranked player after the Swiss standings were announced, with no losses and a single intentional draw in the very last round.

Quarterfinals: Matt Smith vs. Benjamin Jensen	By Bill Stark
An Iowan transplant, Seattle resident Matt Smith entered his first big Top 8 with tired eyes and a calm demeanor.

Round 8: Alex Kenny vs. Luis Scott-Vargas	By Bill Stark
Luis was just a single day removed from finishing 2nd at the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle, and whoever won, it was certainly going to be a battle.

Deck Tech: Thopter Sword	By Bill Stark
It dominated the world of Extended during the most recent Pro Tour Qualifier season, but the Sword of the Meek/Thopter Foundry combo remains a powerful part of Legacy as well.

On Camera: Legacy Sunday	By Evan Erwin
Day 2 highlights from the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open in Seattle!

Deck Tech: Enchantress	By Bill Stark
One archetype that seems to always be just outside the limelight is Enchantress.

Round 5: Kyle Boddy vs. Charles Gordon	By Bill Stark
Kyle Boddy, a former StarCityGames.com columnist, is known for Magic, physical training, and his love of baseball.

Deck Tech: 43 Land with Matt Gargiulo	By Eelco Van Ruth
A StarCityGames.com Open Series regular, and who is almost always playing the Lands archetype, is Matt “Googs” Gargiulo.

Round 2: Matt Gargiulo vs. Jeff Huang	By Bill Stark
Jeff Huang entered the second round of competition on the Legacy portion of the day 1-0, but his opponent, StarCityGames.com own Matt “Googs” Gargiulo was definitely no slouch in the Legacy department.

Jeremey vs. Goliath	By Bill Stark
Jund, in the hands of Jeremey Lochridge, managed to best Luis Scott-Vargas running the Turboland deck.

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

Finals: Luis Scott-Vargas vs. Jeremey Lochridge	By Bill Stark
After twelve rounds of competition, Luis Scott-Vargas found himself in the Finals of his second StarCityGames.com Standard Open, after winning the event held in Los Angeles

Semifinals: Luis Scott-Vargas vs. James Nguyen	By Bill Stark
It was a battle of rogues for the Semifinals as former StarCityGames.com Open champion Luis Scott-Vargas sat down to play against James Nguyen.

Quarterfinals: James Nguyen vs. Ian Kendall	By Bill Stark
Ian Kendall’s Red Deck Wins sat down to do battle against James Nguyen, but both players had to immediately mulligan their opening hands.

Quarterfinals: Brandon Chreptyk vs. Sean Collins	By Bill Stark
Sean Collins’ Brilliant Ultimatum deck was the talk of the town headed into the Top 8 of the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle.

Deck Tech: Brilliant Ultimatum	By Evan Erwin
We talk with James Nguyen and Sean Collins about their Brilliant Ultimatum deck, both of which made Top 8 at the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle!

Round 9: Ian Kendall vs. Ben Park	By Bill Stark
“Good luck man, one of us is in!” Ben Park said to his opponent as they sat down to the final match of Standard play on the first day of competition at the StarCityGames.com Open in Seattle.

On Camera: Quick Hits from Seattle	By Evan Erwin
Evan Erwin takes a quick look at the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle and talks to a few pros about the new Turboland deck.

Round 7: Brandon Chreptyk vs. Luis Scott-Vargas	By Bill Stark
Luis Scott-Vargas and Brandon Chreptyk sat down to the seventh round of competition in Seattle with unblemished records, one win away from double drawing into the Top 8.

5:55 – Going Rogue	By Eelco Van Ruth
At every tournament the “usual suspects” run into rogue decks. The StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle is no different, and we spent a round walking around the room to see what Next Level Bant, Super Friends, and U/W were up against.

4:56 – Catching Up With Jeff Cunningham	By Bill Stark
As it rounds its second decade of existence, Magic: The Gathering’s history, both Pro Tour and non, grows long in the tooth. One man who’s been there through almost everything is Canadian Jeff Cunningham.

Round 5: Jeff Cunningham vs. Brad Nelson	By Bill Stark
The fifth round feature match was a behemoth between two of the game’s titans: Jeff Cunningham representing the old school and Brad Nelson representing the new school.

On Camera: How Far Did You Travel?	By Bill Stark
Find out what it took for Brad Nelson, Rashad Miller, Steve Birklid, and many more to make it to the competition.

Round 2: James Eccles vs. Zechariah Maples	By Eelco Van Ruth
Zechariah Maples hailed from Tacoma, Washington and was known in the Pacific Northwest for singing quite a bit during each round he played.

Deck Tech: Turboland with Cedric Phillips	By Bill Stark
A tidal wave of blue-green decks washed up on the shores of Seattle, Washington, all thanks to Cedric Phillips singing the deck’s praise.

Round 1: Josh Silvestri vs. Jed Dolbeer	By Eelco Van Ruth
Josh, a former StarCityGames.com writer, was paired up with local Northwest player Jed Dolbeer in the first round of the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Seattle.