Espinosa, Elves, Wins Nerd Rage Gaming Series Championship

Ivan Espinosa won the NRG Series Championship on Saturday with Elves in Legacy and Four-Color Blink (Yorion) in Modern.

Elves

Ivan Espinosa

1st Place at NRG Series Championship on 01-08-2022

Legacy

Creatures (25)

• 4 Wirewood Symbiote
• 2 Birchlore Rangers
• 2 Heritage Druid
• 4 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Archon of Valor's Reach
• 4 Elvish Reclaimer
• 4 Allosaurus Shepherd
• 3 Endurance

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 Grist, the Hunger Tide

Lands (20)

• 2 Wooded Foothills
• 4 Gaea's Cradle
• 1 Savannah
• 2 Bayou
• 2 Windswept Heath
• 2 Snow-Covered Forest
• 2 Dryad Arbor
• 2 Misty Rainforest
• 2 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Bojuka Bog

Spells (14)

• 4 Glimpse of Nature
• 3 Natural Order
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 3 Once Upon a Time

Sideboard

• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Karakas
• 1 Crop Rotation
• 3 Leyline of the Void
• 1 Progenitus
• 4 Assassin's Trophy
• 2 Run Afoul
• 1 Grist, the Hunger Tide
• 1 Endurance

Four-Color Blink (Yorion)

Ivan Espinosa

1st Place at NRG Series Championship on 01-08-2022

Modern

Creatures (18)

• 3 Eternal Witness
• 4 Ice-Fang Coatl
• 4 Omnath, Locus of Creation
• 4 Solitude
• 3 Fury

Planeswalkers (8)

• 4 Teferi, Time Raveler
• 4 Wrenn and Six

Lands (29)

• 4 Wooded Foothills
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 1 Snow-Covered Plains
• 1 Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1 Snow-Covered Island
• 2 Snow-Covered Forest
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Ketria Triome
• 1 Raugrin Triome

Spells (25)

• 2 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Time Warp
• 2 Eladamri's Call
• 4 Spreading Seas
• 4 Abundant Growth
• 4 Ephemerate
• 4 Expressive Iteration
• 4 Prismatic Ending

Sideboard

• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1 Knight of Autumn
• 4 Force of Vigor
• 2 Aether Gust
• 1 Veil of Summer
• 1 Yorion, Sky Nomad
• 4 Endurance

Espinosa made the Top 8 of the 16-person and three-format championship, capping the year of play on the NRG Series in 2021, with a record of 7-2. Espinosa rattled off a 3-0 with a Golgari Innistrad: Crimson Vow draft deck, then went 1-1 in Legacy and Modern to reach the elimination rounds.

The Top 8 used Modern and Legacy, with the first player in each match to reach three wins advancing. Espinosa made his way to the finals with wins over Bill Comminos and Joe Bernal, while Tommy Tomsovic defeated Mack Endress and Robert Hayes.

Selesnya Reclaimer

Tommy Tomsovic

2nd Place at NRG Series Championship on 01-08-2022

Legacy

Creatures (12)

• 1 Sylvan Safekeeper
• 4 Knight of the Reliquary
• 1 Ramunap Excavator
• 1 Knight of Autumn
• 4 Elvish Reclaimer
• 1 Endurance

Lands (29)

• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 3 Wasteland
• 3 Savannah
• 1 Karakas
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 3 Dark Depths
• 2 Flagstones of Trokair
• 1 Dryad Arbor
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 2 Sejiri Steppe
• 3 Thespian's Stage
• 3 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Spells (19)

• 4 Swords to Plowshares
• 3 Sylvan Library
• 4 Crop Rotation
• 3 Mox Diamond
• 4 Green Sun's Zenith
• 1 Prismatic Ending

Sideboard

• 2 Choke
• 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
• 1 Sylvan Safekeeper
• 1 Gaddock Teeg
• 2 Torpor Orb
• 2 Force of Vigor
• 1 Collector Ouphe
• 2 Prismatic Ending
• 3 Endurance

Hardened Scales (Lurrus)

Tommy Tomsovic

2nd Place at NRG Series Championship on 01-08-2022

Modern

Creatures (24)

• 4 Arcbound Ravager
• 1 Arcbound Worker
• 3 Steel Overseer
• 4 Memnite
• 4 Hangarback Walker
• 4 Walking Ballista
• 4 Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp

Lands (22)

• 1 Pendelhaven
• 4 Brushland
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Spire of Industry
• 3 Branchloft Pathway
• 4 Urza's Saga

Spells (14)

• 2 Welding Jar
• 4 Springleaf Drum
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 4 Hardened Scales
• 3 The Ozolith

Sideboard

• 2 Seal of Cleansing
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Relic of Progenitus
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Nature's Claim
• 2 Dispatch
• 2 Torpor Orb
• 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1 Prismatic Ending
• 1 Void Mirror
• 1 Blacksmith's Skill

The finals started out with Espinosa taking Game 1 of Modern with Four-Color Blink (Yorion) over Tomsovic’s Hardened Scales (Lurrus). They swapped to Legacy for Game 2 where Tomsovic secured a Turn-4 kill with Selesnya Reclaimer against Elves thanks to a Marit Lage receiving protection from green via Sejiri Steppe. Game 3 didn’t last long either as they continued with Legacy and this time Espinosa won on Turn 3 thanks to an explosive start with multiple copies of Gaea’s Cradle and a Natural Order for Craterhoof Behemoth.

Legacy was the format of choice for the fourth game and Tomsovic was able to slow down Espinosa with The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, but it wasn’t enough as Espinosa worked through it by chaining through his deck until he found a Natural Order to take the match 3-1.

Espinosa earned $2,500, an invite to next year’s NRG Series Championship, and qualified for the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Set Championship with his victory.

Check out all 16 Modern and Legacy decklists from the event.