Continuing our two-week long Extended blow out, today we bring you Gadiel Szleifer, “Magic’s latest teenage bad boy.” Who better to guide you through the ins and outs of Reanimator for the upcoming PTQ season than the kid who took it to the Pro Tour Top 8?
When a fifteen-year-old is carried by his older teammates on Day 1 of a Grand Prix as he stinks up the joint, most of us would consider that par for the course. Except when that fifteen-year-old happens to have a Pro Tour Top 8 to his name and is a member of the gravy train. In his victorious tournament report, Gadiel explains why U/G is horrible in Team Sealed, riffs on friends and opponents alike, and even competes for the title of “Biggest Magic Jerk” against Michael Clair, only on StarCityGames.com!
StarCityGames.com’s own precocious fifteen-year-old takes you through all of his Day 2 and Top 8 action. If Worlds and Pro Tour Columbus are any indicators, the kids are starting to take over the game, and Gadiel is one of the best of them.
Did you ever wonder what it’s like to make your first Pro Tour Top 8 when you’re fifteen years old? Gadiel’s here to tell you, as he gives a blow-by-blow account of this past weekend’s tournament, including how he ended up playing Reanimator and his exchanges of pleasantries with the fine Wizards of the Coast staff.
We opened our first sealed decks and found a rather weak card pool in front of us. I actually had a good affinity deck, but JP’s deck was lacking except in the Sword of Fire and Ice department. Tim’s deck made me want to vomit, featuring hits like Big Drossodile and Neurok Hoversail. We also had two Viridian Longbows that almost got into my deck (both), but then we decided that it’d be too greedy, since I had a Trinket Mage to boot.
Last time we published an article by Gadiel, our forums erupted like someone had lit them on fire (though it was mostly with hatemail.) Well, he’s back again to tell you how he finished in the money in San Diego. Yeah, it’s late, but we all know that you want to keep up with the continuing adventures of the most precocious (yes, there are other descriptions one could use) fifteen-year-old on the Pro Tour.
When I got my email from Wizards telling me that I had qualified for Pro Tour: New Orleans on rating, I had a decision to make. If I tried my hand at the Pro Tour, I’d be throwing away two more years of Free Money Championships – most people call them the JSS champs, but I prefer Free Money. I won’t lie; playing eight rounds against kids and getting $1,000 to show for it is nice, but it was getting pretty boring. Since many of my friends were also qualified, I chose to go to New Orleans and play for the glory.
