Joel Larsson
This past weekend marked the start of the 2020 Players Tour. The field of Players Tour Brussels saw 384 elite players, including Magic Pro League (MPL) members Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa and Piotr Głogowski.
The Top 8
Despite representing a large share of the metagame, only one copy of Mono-Black Aggro and Dimir Inverter made Top 8, surprising many. Even more surprising, it was Larsson’s innovative take on a Delirium strategy, dubbed “Swedish Sultai”, that took home the trophy.
Creatures (19)
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 2 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
- 1 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
- 1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 1 Walking Ballista
- 1 Murderous Rider
- 4 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (23)
Spells (15)
Larsson entered the Top 8 as the #8 seed, which paired him against the #1 seed Mattia Rizzi (Bant Spirits). Larsson managed to overcome Rizzi 2-1, before moving on to face the #4 seed Brent Vos in the semifinals.
In a battle of unique decks, Larsson’s “Swedish Sultai” easily dispatched Vos (Lotus Breach) 2-0, advancing him to the finals against Mythic Championship VII winner and MPL member Piotr “Kanister” Glogowski.
Glogowski had opted to play the wildly popular Dimir Inverter deck, which had been quickly gaining ground as the new Tier 1 combo deck in Pioneer.
Game 1, Glogowski utilized an unanswered Jace, Wielder of Mysteries to quickly out-value Larsson and pull ahead 1-0.
Larsson quickly bounced back in Game 2, finding his sideboarded copy of Leyline of the Void, effectively shutting off Dimir Inverter’s namesake card, Inverter of Truths, as well as the powerful enabler Dig Through Time.
In Game 3, Larsson was able to pick apart Glogowski’s hand with several copies of Thoughtseize, forcing him to pivot from milling himself to milling Larsson instead.
Ultimately, Glogowski’s Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Thief of Sanity couldn’t outrace Larsson’s Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and Tireless Tracker, making Larsson the winner of Players Tour Brussels.
Read the original article from Wizards of the Coast.