2004-12-05 Clichy, France (53 players)
1. Trinistax
2. Dragon
3. R/G Beats
4. Trinistax
5. Oath of Druids
6. Oath of Druids
7. Trinistax
8. Dragon
2004-12-05 Milan (91 players)
1. Trinistax
2. U/B/R/g Psychatog
3. Oath of Druids
4. Welder Mud
5. Workshop Slaver
6. Welder Mud
7. TPS
8. TPS
2004-12-12 Castricum (61 players)
1. Draco Explosion
2. Highlander Control
3. Transmute-Chi aka The Tinker Deck
4. 4C Control
5. Oath of Druids
6. Oath of Druids
7. Oath of Druids
8. KoboldClamp
2004-12-12 Padua (65 players)
1. TPS
2. Oath of Druids
3. U/B/R Psychatog
4. 7/10 Split
5. White Weenie
6. U/B/R/g Psychatog
7. TPS
8. Dragon
2004-12-19 Massa Carrera (151 players)
1. Welder MUD
2. U/B/R Psychatog
3. U/B/R/G Psychatog
4. U/B/R Psychatog
5. TPS
6. U/B/R Psychatog
7. Rector Tendrils
8. Welder MUD
2005-01-08 Quebec City (77 players)
1. Landstill
2. Salvagers
3. Landstill
4. Oath of Druids
5. TPS
6. Salvagers
7. Psychatog
8. Monobrown Stacker
2005-01-13 Aarhus (54 players)
1. 7/10 Split (with Transmute Artifact)
2. EBA
3. TPS
4. Trinistax
5. Doomsday
6. Trinistax
7. Oath of Druids
8. Food Chain Goblins
2005-01-15 Venice (63 players)
1. TPS (without Draw7s)
2. U/B/r Tog
3. TPS
4. U/R Fish
5. Dragon
6. U/B/r Tog
7. Control Slaver (no Mindslaver)
8. TPS (without Draw7s)
2005-01-15 Waterbury (200? players)
1. Control Slaver
2. Control Slaver
3. TPS
4. Meandeck Tendrils a.k.a. Abomination
5. Control Slaver
6. Control Slaver
7. Rector Trix
8. Mud (Staff-Metalworker combo)
2005-01-22 SCG IV Richmond (58 players)
1. Workshop Mask
2. Trinistax
3. Dragon
4. Oath of Druids
5. Food Chain Goblins
6. EBA
7. Control Slaver
8. Trinistax
10 tournaments totaled (53,54,58,61,63,65,77,91,151,200 = 87.3 average players)
11 TPS (1,1,3,3,3,5,5,7,7,8,8)
10 Psychatog (2,2,2,3,3,4,6,6,6,7)
10 Oath of Druids (2,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7)
8 Trinistax (1,1,2,4,4,6,7,8)
6 Control Slaver (1,2,5,6,7,7)
5 Dragon (2,3,5,8,8)
5 Mud / Welder Mud (1,4,6,8,8)
2 Landstill (1,3)
2 7/10 Split (1,4)
2 EBA (2,6)
2 Salvagers (2,6)
2 Food Chain Goblins (5,8)
2 Rector (7,7)
1 Draco Explosion (1)
1 Workshop Mask (1)
1 Highlander Control (2)
1 R/G Beats (3)
1 Transmute-Chi a.k.a. The Tinker Deck (3)
1 4C Control (4)
1 Fish (4)
1 Meandeck Tendrils aka Abomination (4)
1 Doomsday (5)
1 White Weenie (5)
1 Workshop Slaver (5)
1 KoboldClamp (8)
1 Stacker (8)
(1) State of the Metagame
Metagame Occurrence Percentages
(Archetypes under 0.5% average excluded.)
Mean% – Jun., Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J.
12.1% – _8.9, 11.1, 17.5, 14.1, _6.3, 13.8 Storm Combo
_8.5% – 19.6, _9.7, _7.5, 10.9, _1.6, _1.3 4C Control
_8.1% – 10.7, _8.3, _2.5, _9.4, _5.0, 12.5 Hulk Smash
_7.6% – _3.6, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, 10.0, 10.0 Stax
_6.7% – _7.2, _2.8, 12.5, _6.3, 10.0, _1.3 Stacker
_6.1% – _0.0, 13.9, _2.5, _6.3, _7.5, _6.3 MUD / wMUD
_6.0% – _1.8, _1.4, _7.5, _7.8, 10.0, _7.5 Control Slavery
_6.0% – _8.9, _5.6, _2.5, _6.3, _6.3, _6.3 Dragon
_4.4% – _0.0, _6.9, 10.0, _4.7, _3.8, _1.3 Fish
_4.2% – _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, 12.5, 12.5 Oath of Druids
_3.5% – _5.4, _6.9, _0.0, _4.7, _3.8, _0.0 Bazaar Madness (R/G, R/U/G)
_2.3% – _7.2, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.8, _2.5 FCG / Gobvantage
_2.1% – _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _6.3, _1.3, _2.5 Landstill
_2.1% – _3.6, _4.2, _2.5, _1.6, _0.0, _1.3 Workshop Slavery
_2.0% – _5.4, _1.4, _2.5, _0.0, _2.6, _0.0 Belcher
_1.9% – _5.4, _4.2, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0 Affinity
_1.9% – _0.0, _0.0, _5.0, _6.3, _0.0, _0.0 Mono-Blue
_1.8% – _5.4, _2.8, _2.5, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 GAT
_1.4% – _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5 7/10 Split
_1.0% – _1.8, _0.0, _2.5, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0 TnT
_0.7% – _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0 Kiodo CounterBurn
_0.6% – _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _2.5 EBA
_0.6% – _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.6, _1.3, _2.5 Salvagers
_0.5% – _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _3.1, _0.0, _0.0 Modular
_0.5% – _1.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _1.3, _0.0 Vengeur Masque
_0.5% – _0.0, _2.8, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0, _0.0 Zombie Infestation
Data Period – # unique archetypes (per T8) [number of archetypes in each Top 8] = [average]
—–Fifth Dawn legal
2004-Jul – 19 archetypes (2.1 / T8) 7,7,6,5,7,6,5,6,6 = 6.1
2004-Aug – 19 archetypes (3.8 / T8) 7,8,7,8,5 = 7.0
2004-Sep – 20 archetypes (2.5 / T8) 7,7,8,6,8,6,7,6 = 6.9
—–Champions of Kamigawa legal
2004-Oct/Nov – 27 archetypes (2.7 / T8) 6,7,7,8,3,6,7,5,6,6 = 6.1
2005-Dec/Jan – 26 archetypes (2.6 / T8) 4,6,6,6,4,6,7,5,5,7 = 5.6
So guess what? From an archetype balance standpoint, Type One looks pretty solid. Archetypes are phasing in and out of playability (unlike the phasing mechanic), and there are several decks sitting at the top, none of which is inordinately overwhelming the metagame. 4CC continued to be a token participant, because the players rightly are focusing on the two or three best Mana Drain decks. I think New England is suffering from some kind of post-Fish trauma syndrome, though, because they hardly play Tog anymore; the Standard-ruining creature appears almost singularly in Italy. Oath of Druids, though, appeared generously in Europe and hasn’t been doing as well back in America.
(2) Watch List
In terms of copies per Top 8:
Jul., Aug., Sep., O-N., D-J.
_3.1, _3.6, _3.4, _2.0, _3.6 – 36 Yawgmoth’s Will
_8.0, _8.6, 13.3, _9.5, 11.7 – 117 Mana Drain
_4.8, _6.4, _4.6, _3.9, _7.1 – 71 Dark Ritual
_9.8, 11.4, _7.5, _9.8, _7.1 – 71 Mishra’s Workshop
_8.4, _9.6, _6.8, _9.2, _6.6 – 66 Trinisphere
_4.6, _8.2, _7.3, _7.3, _5.6 – 56 Crucible of Worlds
_0.4, _1.8, _2.0, _2.2, _0.6 – 6 Elvish Spirit Guide
The top performing archetypes are Ritual, Drain, Drain, Workshop, Drain. You can see a definite record high of Ritual, but not of either of the other two ubercards. Trinisphere and Workshop are at their lowest points in quite some time. What I want to know is: what happens when the results say “okay”, but no one will stop whining, even a month before a restriction announcement?
Right now, the Type One (or Vintage, as the kids are calling it these days) metagame is defined for the most part by Mana Drain, Dark Ritual, and Mishra’s Workshop. The freaky thing is that my own results show the former doing the best overall, but it is obviously the others that earn indictments for foul play.
What’s really at issue are some of the fundamental questions of Magic. What is fair? What is fun? How do we measure these things? How do we compensate for the different definitions that a range of people will have in the same environment? Actually, as someone who has long followed politics, these sound to me a lot like questions that come up in running a government. You devise one solution that has to fit the concerns of almost everyone, and you have to do it with very imperfect knowledge.
The original expectation for Magic to evolve its own house rules in each small play group is actually a lot like anarchy. And just like real anarchy when human beings get ahold of it, some of the players break the system and make it less fun for the rest, who just want some consistent way to carry on. This justifies the existence of both government and the B&R lists. When you think of T1 as the most complicated policy problem of any TCG ever, it’s no shock that its upper echelons are saturated with lawyer-types and philosophy majors.
Resisting the impulse to explain why Magic is just a microcosm of real life, formats are the systemic response to different demands from different groups. No one format would work for everyone. In case you haven’t heard, within every format, there’s plenty of people who think it’s not quite good enough.* Onslaught Limited? Sparksmith is unbalancing! MirBC? Offensively monothematic! And so on.
* : Except Type Four, which only terrorists and necrophiliacs dislike.
Type One is famous for this, because it has the unique property of including every card. There are so many mistakes that every time a new deck rises, it is automatically made up almost entirely of cards otherwise believed to be design errors, such as Island. In each of these cases, some of the crowd is justified in complaining about the new deck, because it is indeed hideously unfair by the standards of the rest of Magic. I have heard it said that, in relative terms to the rest of the game, T1 has no tempo because everything happens at such a blinding pace.
Just a minute ago, I mentioned the key questions of defining what is fair and and what is fun. Wizards has already made clear what the answer to the former question is, and that’s why the Pro Tour doesn’t include Type One. T1 has nothing to do with being fair. It can’t even be relatively fair, because so much can happen on the first turn as long as there is zero-cost acceleration. So the real question for Type One policy is how to make an incredibly unfair game remain fun.
I decided when I started putting this article together that I don’t have a position on what B&R action should be taken for the three metagame-defining cards. My only steadfast positions right now are for the unrestriction of Voltaic Key and the legalization of Portal, because taking any other position would make me part of the real problem: whining.
You know how when a bunch of teenagers are playing videogames, there’s always one controller with buttons that stick, and one kid who’s used to playing on a console that has some kind of processing upgrade so he whines about it? Well I feel like the older sibling watching one of these groups, except that all of the kids are used to the more responsive console, and all of the controllers are sticky. This leads to having every round accompanied by a lot of “@*$& you only got me because this *#&$ controller sucks”, and so on. It would be just as pointless for the older sibling to tell the kids to play on the other console as for me to say “restrict everything and play Legacy.”
I actually cringe when I open most discussion threads now, because any casual comment can incite pages of unrelated restricted-list babbling. A recent article on Stax is a great example. Instead of discussing the deckbuilding advice, everyone leapt onto the last couple of paragraphs about restrictions. And of course, the existence of those paragraphs is symptomatic of the ridiculous ubiquity of the discussion.
In my view, this paralysis of normal debate is a bigger problem than whatever metagame distortion exists. My November/December results went up shortly after the December 1st announcement, with a statement beseeching the audience to just give up the issue until it was closer to March 1st, when more data would be available. But so many people have ignored that plea that I can’t help but think the issue will survive any period of waiting. It’s not a problem that will evaporate when the next new deck shows up, because no one cared in the slightest that four Control Slavers were in the Waterbury Top 8, but they totally freaked out at three Workshop decks in SCG IV.
Whatever action is taken, it should be attempting to solve the perception of unfun from such a large audience as much as it should be attempting to form a “fair” unfair format. I’m not sure how the DCI could solve the fun problem without getting rid of the unfun cards, but I’m sure that they’re smarter than me, so I’ll let them try whatever they want.
(3) Type One Pro Points
Full listings of the T8 players are at the very end of the article. (* denotes multiple wins wherever the point total didn’t make it obvious)
Northern Europe
6 Damien Blum
6 Kaare S Ettrup
6 Rudy van Soest a.k.a. rvs
5 Frédéric Courtois
5 Hero ‘t Mannetje a.k.a. Pyromaniac
5 Rasmus Nielsen
4 Arvid Kastermans
4 Jon Haugaard Meineche
4 Lellouche MickaÔl
4 Matthieu Durand a.k.a. Toad
4 Rasmus Sibast
4 Steffen vd Veen
3 Andreas Petersen
3 Camille Poquet
3 Daniel Kitachewsky
3 Erik Hoekstra
3 Hans van Schie
3 Leon Kusters a.k.a. Limbo
3 Martin Schultz-Nielsen
3 Matias Pedersen
3 Paul I
3 Peter Gottlieb
3 Thomas Bucourt
3 Willem Helder
Southern Europe
9 Filippo Grigatti
8 Lorenzo Fedeli
*6 David Besso
*6 Nicholas Baxter
6 Albert Natta
6 Andrea Garella
6 Andrea Giorgini
6 Giuseppe De Luca
5 Marco Ardoino
5 Mario Larcher
4 Alessandro Oppo
4 Davide Foresti
4 Marco Leoni
4 Marco Marotta
4 Marco Monchiero
4 Samuele Mazzucco
4 Simone Olivi
3 Alessandro Fava
3 Danilo Longo
3 David Beduzzi
3 Enrico Dumas
3 Frasson Michele
3 Luca Casagrande
3 Luca Lo Bianco
3 Mattia Storti
3 Michele Frasson
3 Paolo Zanatto
3 Pietro Cavalletti
North America
6 Eric Miller
6 Jean-Philippe Keable
6 Jeffrey Tussi
5 Jay Coffman
5 John Blake a.k.a. Ultima
5 Lany Chabot Laroche
4 Ben Kowal
4 Guillaume Ouimet
4 Guillaume Ranville
4 Justin Bransfield
4 Justin Walters a.k.a. Saucemaster
4 Rocky McCumbee
3 Brian Phelon a.k.a. hulk3rules
3 Chris Marchand
3 Chris McDaniel
3 Cody Vinci
3 Eric Dupuis
3 Guillaume Baril
3 Justin Timoney
3 Luc Tremblay
3 Martin Bonneville
3 Mike Gumbinger
3 Simon Cliche-Lamoureux
3 Travis LaPlante
(4) Card Counts from Jeek
168 Island
39 Mountain
34 Swamp
22 Plains
6 Forest
189 Polluted Delta
92 Flooded Strand
17 Bloodstained Mire
9 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
152 Underground Sea
93 Volcanic Island
34 Tropical Island
25 Tundra
10 Taiga
2 Bayou
2 Scrubland[/author]“][author name="Scrubland"]Scrubland[/author]
1 Badlands
75 Black Lotus
72 Mox Sapphire
66 Ancestral Recall
66 Mox Emerald
66 Mox Jet
65 Mox Ruby
62 Sol Ring
60 Time Walk
59 Mox Pearl
49 Mana Crypt
48 Demonic Tutor
43 Strip Mine
38 Mystical Tutor
36 Fact or Fiction
36 Tolarian Academy
36 Yawgmoth’s Will
33 Mana Vault
31 Tinker
29 Lotus Petal
29 Vampiric Tutor
21 Timetwister
17 Necropotence
15 Library of Alexandria
15 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
14 Mind’s Desire
13 Mind Twist
11 Wheel of Fortune
9 Gush
8 Balance
7 Frantic Search
5 Crop Rotation
5 Time Spiral
5 Windfall
4 Entomb
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
3 Chrome Mox
3 Enlightened Tutor
2 Grim Monolith
1 Black Vise
1 Burning Wish
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Fastbond
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Mox Diamond
1 Regrowth
1 Voltaic Key
233 Force of Will
198 Brainstorm
136 Duress
126 Wasteland
117 Mana Drain
84 Accumulated Knowledge
83 Intuition
83 Rack and Ruin
75 Cunning Wish
74 Goblin Welder
72 Chalice of the Void
71 Dark Ritual
71 Mishra’s Workshop
69 Tormod’s Crypt
66 Trinisphere
61 Red Elemental Blast
58 Stifle
56 Crucible of Worlds
55 Blue Elemental Blast
54 Misdirection
53 Thirst for Knowledge
52 Smokestack
49 Hurkyl’s Recall
46 Energy Flux
44 Engineered Explosives
42 Deep Analysis
42 Forbidden Orchard
42 Tangle Wire
40 Oath of Druids
40 Swords to Plowshares
36 Fire / Ice
36 Tendrils of Agony
35 Triskelion
34 Mana Leak
30 Rebuild
28 City of Brass
28 Sundering Titan
27 Gemstone Mine
27 Null Rod
26 Pyrostatic Pillar
25 Chain of Vapor
24 Bazaar of Baghdad
24 Memory Jar
24 Metalworker
24 Rushing River
24 Squee, Goblin Nabob
23 Duplicant
23 Karn, Silver Golem
22 Arcane Laboratory
21 Impulse
20 Darksteel Colossus
20 Echoing Truth
20 Worldgorger Dragon
19 Animate Dead
19 Mishra’s Factory
18 Psychatog
17 Daze
16 Ground Seal
16 Meddling Mage
16 Pyroblast
16 Skeletal Scrying
16 Standstill
15 Brain Freeze
15 Necromancy
15 Platinum Angel
14 Gifts Ungiven
14 Shattering Pulse
14 Verdant Force
13 Annul
13 Coffin Purge
12 Ancient Tomb
12 Claws of Gix
12 Exalted Angel
12 Naturalize
11 Back to Basics
11 Firestorm
11 Grim Lavamancer
11 Maze of Ith
11 Seal of Cleansing
11 Snuff Out
11 Æther Spellbomb
10 Defense Grid
10 Disenchant
10 Juggernaut
9 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
9 Blood Moon
9 Cabal Therapy
9 Counterspell
9 Gaea’s Blessing
9 Hydroblast
9 Shivan Reef
8 Artifact Mutation
8 Auriok Salvagers
8 Cloud of Faeries
8 Control Magic
8 Curiosity
8 Food Chain
8 Gilded Lotus
8 Goblin Lackey
8 Goblin Piledriver
8 Goblin Recruiter
8 Goblin Ringleader
8 Goblin Warchief
8 Lim-Dul’s Vault
8 Pernicious Deed
8 Pristine Angel
8 Sacred Ground
8 Skirk Prospector
8 Skullclamp
8 Spawning Pit
8 Spiketail Hatchling
7 Engineered Plague
7 Faerie Conclave
7 Gorilla Shaman
7 Mindslaver
7 Spirit of the Night
7 Xantid Swarm
6 Berserk
6 Chromatic Sphere
6 Compulsion
6 Elvish Spirit Guide
6 Fling
6 Goblin Matron
6 Nevinyrral’s Disk
6 Sarcatog
6 Sphere of Resistance
6 Transmute Artifact
5 Ambassador Laquatus
5 Cabal Ritual
5 Caller of the Claw
5 City of Traitors
5 Ebony Charm
5 Gempalm Incinerator
5 Gilded Drake
5 Lava Dart
5 Pentavus
5 Plagiarize
5 Pulse of the Grid
5 Serenity
5 Su-Chi
5 Underground River
4 Academy Rector
4 Chains of Mephistopheles
4 Chill
4 Crimson Kobolds
4 Crookshank Kobolds
4 Darkwater Egg
4 Doomsday
4 Eon Hub
4 Erratic Explosion
4 Icatian Javelineers
4 Illusionary Mask
4 Jester’s Cap
4 Kird Ape
4 Kobolds of Kher Keep
4 Land Grant
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Memnarch
4 Night’s Whisper
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Pyroclasm
4 Rancor
4 Repulse
4 River Boa
4 Rule of Law
4 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
4 Savannah Lions
4 Shadowmage Infiltrator
4 Silver Knight
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Soltari Priest
4 Spoils of the Vault
4 Stroke of Genius
4 Trinket Mage
4 Tsabo’s Web
4 Unmask
4 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Woodripper
4 Æther Vial
3 Abolish
3 Aura of Silence
3 Auriok Steelshaper
3 Cranial Extraction
3 Death-Mask Duplicant
3 Draco
3 Echoing Decay
3 Extract
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Glimmervoid
3 Hanna’s Custody
3 Iridescent Angel
3 Lightning Greaves
3 Morphling
3 Night of Souls’ Betrayal
3 Oxidize
3 Phyrexian Furnace
3 Phyrexian Negator
3 Ray of Revelation
3 Scrivener
3 Scroll Rack
3 Siege-Gang Commander
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Teferi’s Response
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Welding Jar
2 Ancestor’s Chosen – WTF of the Month
2 Clockwork Dragon
2 Crystal Vein
2 Dance of the Dead
2 Darksteel Ingot
2 Fabricate
2 Gaea’s Cradle
2 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Incinerate
2 Merchant Scroll
2 Overload
2 Phyrexian Colossus
2 Planar Void
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Razormane Masticore
2 Staff of Domination
2 Synod Centurion
2 Willbender
1 Aura Fracture
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Beacon of Destruction
1 Choke
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Decree of Justice
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Eternal Witness
1 Goblin Trenches
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Ivory Mask
1 Meditate
1 Meltdown
1 Mind’s Eye
1 Mirari
1 Orim’s Chant
1 Phantom Nishoba
1 Plated Slagwurm
1 Quirion Dryad
1 Root Maze
1 Rorix Bladewing
1 Scrying Glass
1 Shallow Grave
1 Smother
1 The Abyss
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Underworld Dreams
1 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Wheel of Torture
1 Wrath of God
1 Zuran Orb
Full T8 Player Placement
2004-12-05 Clichy, France (http://subarumv.free.fr/?page=7&id=7)(53 players)
1. Damien Blum
2. Frédéric Courtois
3. Lellouche MickaÔl
4. Matthieu Durand
5. Camille Poquet
6. Daniel Kitachewsky
7. Thomas Bucourt
8. Paul I
2004-12-05 Milan (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=222)(91 players)
1. Andrea Garella
2. Lorenzo Fedeli
3. Marco Monchiero
4. Marco Marotta
5. David Beduzzi
6. David Besso
7. Danilo Longo
8. Mattia Storti
2004-12-12 Castricum (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21060)(61 players)
1. Rudy van Soest aka rvs
2. Hero ‘t Mannetje aka Pyromaniac
3. Arvid Kastermans
4. Steffen vd Veen
5. Hans van Schie
6. Willem Helder
7. Erik Hoekstra
8. Leon Kusters aka Limbo
2004-12-12 Aarhus (http://www.manapool.dk/nyheder.asp?id=376)(59 players)
1. TPS
2. Trinistax
3. TPS
4. U/W Fish
5. Trinistax
6. Stacker
7. Oath of Druids
8. TPS
2004-12-12 Padua (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=229)(65 players)
1. Andrea Giorgini
2. Mario Larcher
3. Alessandro Oppo
4. Marco Leoni
5. Paolo Zanatto
6. Nicholas Baxter
7. Luca Lo Bianco
8. Michele Frasson
2004-12-19 Massa Carrera (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=224)(151 players)
1. Albert Natta
2. Marco Ardoino
3. Davide Foresti
4. Filippo Grigatti
5. Pietro Cavalletti
6. Lorenzo Fedeli
7. Luca Casagrande
8. David Besso
2005-01-08 Quebec City (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21341)(77 players)
1. Jean-Philippe Keable
2. Lany Chabot Laroche
3. Guillaume Ouimet
4. Guillaume Ranville
5. Luc Tremblay
6. Martin Bonneville
7. Guillaume Baril
8. Simon Cliche-Lamoureux
2005-01-09 Aarhus (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=235)(54 players)
1. Kaare S Ettrup
2. Rasmus Nielsen
3. Rasmus Sibast
4. Jon Haugaard Meineche
5. Andreas Petersen
6. Peter Gottlieb
7. Martin Schultz-Nielsen
8. Matias Pedersen
2005-01-16 Venice (http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=237)(63 players)
1. Giuseppe De Luca
2. Filippo Grigatti
3. Simone Olivi
4. Samuele Mazzucco
5. Frasson Michele
6. Nicholas Baxter
7. Enrico Dumas
8. Alessandro Fava
2005-01-15 Waterbury (http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21512)(200? players)
1. Jeffrey Tussi
2. John Blake aka Ultima
3. Justin Bransfield
4. Justin Walters aka Saucemaster
5. Justin Timoney
6. Eric Dupuis
7. Brian Phelon aka hulk3rules
8. Travis LaPlante
2005-01-22 SCG IV Richmond (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandnews.php?Article=8777)(58 players)
1. Eric Miller
2. Jay Coffman
3. Ben Kowal
4. Rocky McCumbee
5. Mike Gumbinger
6. Cody Vinci
7. Chris McDaniel
8. Chris Marchand