War Torn Front: The " Global" Edition

Welcome readers to another edition of the unofficial War Torn Front Blog. These last two weeks have brought us some of the most exciting things to come to Manteca, since, well, War Torn Front opened. This edition will tackle Jason Gulevich's rise to the World Stage, Ben Lopez's win at Red Sky, Matt Woods win at the GPT for Oakland, and Finally Placido Galvin and Eric Avila's Top 2 and 4 finish in the TCGPlayer 2k. Then we will speak a little about Theros, and wrap up with another EDH play by play. You with me? Lets get started!

Chronologically speaking, I will start from last weekend. Two weeks ago, Saturday July 27th, War Torn Front held a Grand Prix Trial for Oakland. The format was sealed M14 to get practice for the Grand Prix with. 9 players showed up to duke it out, and Matt Woods walked away, defeating Lukas Bradshaw for the 2 byes to Oakland and $50 bucks. Pretty good for a few hours of Magic, if I do say so myself. While War Torn Front will not be hosting any more GPTs they do look forward to seeing many of you players there. Moving onto the next day, Red Sky held a TCG Player Invitational. With a pretty good turnout, Ben Lopez took down the event, defeating Jason Reed in the finals. His prize, $100 cash, an invite to the TCGPlayer 2k that next weekend, a playmat, and 20 Maxpoints.

Things were off to a good start and only got better as we started Magic World Championship week. While most people were glued to the Top 4 of the World Championships, War Torn Front got to see their own Jason Gulevich representing Team USA during the Team Cup. Jason tore it up and defeated several pros and teams before ultimately meeting their end at the hands of Team Israel. Still a great show and great heart from the WMCQ champion of the West Coast. Jason's results guaranteed him some cash payout and Pro points as well. I hope to interview sir Jason about his experience is the next few weeks. In the meantime, War Torn Front can proudly say we have had two players jump to the Pro level. Who else can claim that in Manteca!

Finally, Stockton-Con reared it's head and it was time for the TCGPlayer 2k event. Many of the shop regulars and MTGNorcal players showed up to battle in Red Sky's 2K with Byes for the GP in Oakland on the line. 112 players came to battle, and 7 rounds were had. Tears and blood were shed, and some people may have sore butts, but at the end of the day, Dylan Curtis took the event down. However War Torn Front did get Placido Galvin and Eric Avila into the Top 2 and Top 4 respectfully. Placido walked away with $400 cash, a TCGPlayer Top 8 mat, 40 Maxpoints, and a two round bye to the TCGPlayer big event. Eric walked away with $200 cash, a TCGPlayer Top 8 mat, and 30 Maxpoints. Chia Lee, Tyler Clary, and Anthony Heffernan rounded out the individuals that walked away with prizes, which were TCGPlayer mats and Maxpoints. Great Job to War Torn Front! War Torn Front, the only place to play in Manteca!

Moving onto shop news, War Torn Front is wondering, Is it time to bring back EDH? Many players in the shop have lists and love the format Maybe it is time we revived the EDH league or construct a new one? Give your thoughts or ideas to War Torn Front, rather in store, on the Facebook, or Twitter. I think it is high time we showed some love to more of our casual players and show them how amazing War Torn Front is.

Finally, Theros. At this point, many of you readers have seen what Theros may be bringing to the table. If not, here is a quick rundown of what to expect from the set. First, Theros will be a Greek inspired block focused on Enchantments mattering. The number of legends in Theros will be higher than a normal expansion set, but still lower than Kamigawa's sets. The set has a distinct theme split up into three groups of creatures: Heroes, Monsters, and Gods. Each of these groups will have some mechanic attached to them to make them unique. On the topic of Gods, There will be a total of 5 God cards: One for each color on Mana. These cards will have unique borders to differentiate themselves. In addition, 2 other mechanics will be joining the set, including an old mechanic that needed to be reworked because R&D felt it was too weak before. In addition, the prerelease for this set will be featuring a unique take on Heroes in the from of "vanguard"esque cards. I will dive more into that as we reach the prerelease. However, if you are curious, please follow this link for the full information

With that, Here is your EDH Play-by- Play

Bryan- Kaalia of the Vast                                                                    Joe- Chainer, Dementia Master
Matt- Sen Triplets                                                                               Me(Brandon)-Borborygmos Enraged

Turn 1: Bryan 40, Matt 40, Joe 40, Me 40. Bryan won the die roll and started with Graven Cairns. Matt plays a Swamp and plays Sensei's Divining Top. Joe plays a Terramorphic Expanse and cracks it for a Swamp. I play a Tranquil Thicket.

Turn 2: Bryan 40, Matt 40, Joe 40, Me 40. Bryan plays a Plains and plays Rakdos Signet. Matt uses his Top on his upkeep, then plays Dromar's Cavern returning the Swamp. Joe plays a Swamp and casts Reassembling Skeleton. I play a Mountain and pass.

Turn 3: Bryan 40, Matt 40, Joe 40, Me 40. Bryan plays a Swamp and casta Kaalia of the Vast. Matt plays a Swamp and casts Dimir Signet. Joe plays a Swamp and casts Nezumi Graverobber. I play a Forest and cast Yavimaya Elder.

Turn 4: Bryan 40, Matt 40, Joe 40, Me 40.  Bryan plays a Vault of the Archangel and attacks with Kaalia into Matt, dropping Master of Cruelties for Kaalia's trigger. The master's trigger puts Matt to 1, and Matt dies to the Kaalia hit. Bryan finishes the turn by casting Increasing Ambition. Joe plays a Swamp and uses Nezumi Graverobber to exile Increasing Ambition out of Bryan's yard. I play Glacial Chasm, sacrificing Tranquil Thicket and pass the turn.

Turn 5: Bryan 40, Matt -1, Joe 40, Me 40. Bryan plays a Grand Coliseum and sends Kaalia into Joe. Kaalia's trigger brings Avacyn, Angel of Hope into play attacking Joe. Joe takes 10 from the hit. Joe takes his turn and plays a Swamp, he then casts Undercity Informer. Joe sacrifices Reassembling Skeleton, Nezumi Graverobber, and the Undercity Informer to mill 6 cards off of Bryan. At the end of turn I sacrifice Yavimaya Elder to find a Forest and Mountain and draw a card. On my upkeep I take 2 for Glacial Chasm. I play a Forest and cast Azusa, Lost but Seeking. With my two extra land drops I play a Mountain and a Maze of Ith.

Turn 6: Bryan 40, Matt -1, Joe 30, Me 38. Bryan starts his turn by playing Command Tower and sends Kaalia and Avacyn into Joe. I Maze Avacyn. Bryan then uses Kaalia's trigger to sneak Angel of Despair into play blowing up my Glacial Chasm. He then proceeds to cast Wrath of God. Joe plays Massacre Wurm, which kills Kaalia and makes Bryan lose 2 life. I play a Mountain and cast Kodama's Reach, putting a Forest into play tapped, and a Mountain into my hand.

Turn 7: Bryan 38, Matt -1, Joe 28, Me 38. Bryan plays a Sword of Feast and Famine and equips it to Angel of Despair. Angel of Despair and Avacyn bash into me, but I Maze Angel. I take 8 from Avacyn. Joe plays a Swamp and plays Necropotence. He pays 5 life and ends his turn. I cast Restock getting Azusa, Lost but Seeking and Glacial Chasm back. I play Glacial Chasm sacrificing a Mountain.

Turn 8: Bryan 38, Matt -1, Joe 23, Me 30.  Bryan plays Rocky Tar Pit, then casts Debtor's Knell. He sends Avacyn and Angel of Despair into Joe. I Maze the Angel and Joe takes 8. Joe plays Volrath's Stronghold and casts Sorin Markov. He uses Sorin's downtick to put Bryan to 10. On my upkeep I take 2 for Glacial Chasm. I cast Azusa, Lost but Seeking and play 2 Forests and a Kessig Wolf-Run. At the end of turn, Bryan casts Entomb putting Sire of Insanity into the yard.

Turn 9: Bryan 10, Matt -1, Joe 15, Me 28. Bryan's upkeep returns Sire of Insanity to the battlefield. Bryan then casts Sun Titan returning Battlefield Forge to the battlefield. He then cracks Rocky Tar Pits, grabbing a Swamp. Angel of Despair and Avacyn are sent into Joe. I Maze the Angel, and Joe takes 8 from Avacyn. Joe draws and decides to use Necropotence to kill himself paying 7 life. On my upkeep I take 4 damage from Glacial Chasm and pass the turn.

Turn 10: Bryan 10, Matt -1, Joe 0, Me 24. Bryan sends his team into me, dealing no damage due to Glacial Chasm. Sun Titan's trigger returns Rocky Tar Pit to the battlefield. On my upkeep I take 6 damage from Glacial Chasm and pass my turn.

Turn 11; Bryan 10, Matt -1, Joe 0, Me 18. Bryan casts Lord of the Void and plays Volrath's Stronghold. He attacks with Sun Titan dealing 0 to me and returning Cavern of Souls on Angel. On my upkeep, I take 8 damage from Glacial Chasm and pass the turn.

Turn 12: Bryan 10, Matt -1, Joe 0, Me 10. Bryan plays a Demonic Tutor and cracks Rocky Tar Pits and passes. I am forced to sacrifice Glacial Chasm and attempt to attack with my team and fail. I scoop them up.

Final result: Bryan wins on Turn 13.

Well guys, that is another heaping helping of the Unofficial War Torn Front Blog. COme back in the next few weeks as we will get some insight from our War Torn Front Players and talk Theros.