Its been only a few days since the WMCQ but the image of the final moments of the match between teammate Chin Wei Han vs new-comer Tiaw Wen Zhou, was still fresh as ever. Deep into game two, Wei Han had only a 3/2 Den Protector and a Tasigur, the Golden Fang but facing down a tapped Silumgar, Drifting Death and a freshly top-decked Dragonlord Ojutai, and him sitting on just 4 life while Wen Zhou was on a healthy 16 life. Wei Han had access to 9 mana, an Elspeth, a Courser of Kruphix and potentially a game-breaker Gaea’s Revenge in hand. Problem was, next turn was a lethal attack. Despite being hell-bent and down a game in the match, Wen Zhou sat comfortably waiting for Wei Han to make his move.
The options:
1. Attack with both creatures, faking an Abzan Charm and entice the Dragonlord to “not-block”, then follow up with a Courser and Elspeth (-3 to kill both Ojutai and Tasigur). But if Wen Zhou didn’t fall for this trick and decides to block, Wei Han would lose his Den Protector for nothing, then forced to trade his Tasigur for Ojutai and left with a lone Courser with opponent on 12 life and faced lethal yet again with no answers.
2. Outwit Wen Zhou.
Wei Han chose the latter. He taps his Tasigur alone into the red-zone. Wen Zhou started to feel uncomfortable. Thoughts started to form through his mind.
His next turn was lethal if he didn’t block.
If Wei Han had Crux of Fate, he would have cast it pre-combat.
But why didn’t Wei Han attack with his Den Protector if he had a sweeper or even an Ugin?
So only possible sweeper could be Elspeth. So if it was Elspeth, should he block?
But if he blocked and he wouldn’t have lethal next turn, and Wei Han could follow up with a Siege Rhino that would push the clock by a full turn. A Rhino now wouldn’t do any good if Dragonlord Ojutai was still in play.
No blocks. Down to 12.
Wei Han played his Courser and Elspeth (-3) and killed both Tasigur and the Dragonlord. Wen Zhou peeled his next card. Played a Dismal Backwater to go up to 13 life with five power on Wei Han’s side.
Swing with Silumgar.
I took a step back from the feature table, fist pump in silence and whispered to Shawn.
“He did it!!”
Shawn looked back down at the board and did the math. He turned around to face me, grabbed and shooked my shoulders like a madman and yelled:
“Wei Han is going with you to Barcelonaaaaaaaa!!!!!!”
Wei Han calmly untapped and played his Gaea’s Revenge to attack for lethal.
The dream became real. It was an incredible finish to the match. To the season. If Raymond Tan’s smile was big at the end of WMCQ #2, his smile was beaming to the roof after Wei Han shook Wen Zhou’s hands.
Stunning.
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I will cover Malaysian crew for the WMC in another article. But here’s a sneak peak behind the scenes and a recap the incredible amount of work Team Decards has put in for this WMCQ campaign, across all three WMCQs.
Flashback June 2015 – GP Singapore
Team Decards scorecard:
- 7 different decks across 8 players
- Excluding byes, record for 8 players: 29 wins, 2 draws, 27 losses (50% match win rate)
- Zero Day 2 competitors
- Korean Fried Chicken as consolation
This was THE wake-up call. Nobody faulted anyone for lack of success during the GP. We weren’t gunning for multiple Top 8’s or high money finishes for everyone. But this was disastrous. Outright embarrassing. We were like those tasty chickens we had for supper at Tanjung Pagar. Deep Fried.
So changes needed to be made. We changed the way we approached testing. We tracked performances. We coached. We share. But above all we were still a crazy bunch of dudes who enjoyed Magic the Gathering.
Oh yeah, a brand new shirt too. New tagline.
Game On.
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So 2015 WMCQ season started off with a brainstorming session involving three pieces of cardboard labeled – Abzan, GR Devotion, Red Aggro. Our decks all revolved around beating these decks consistently while at the same time have a decent shot against the rest of the field. Raymond’s pet deck, Jeskai Heroic, was our first choice. Heck we even “imported” multiple playsets of Hero of Iroas from overseas so nobody could catch on what cards were buying and to guess what the team was playing.
Then something happened. Wei Han took a shower.
Similar to Thomas Edison, Wei Han hit the jackpot. Mardu Dragons with Chained to the Rocks. Ironically for the mainboard, version 1 didn’t go much further than version 2 as his original list was tight. So tight that Jeffrey most unexpectedly piloted and won multiple 8-mans and Daily Events on MTGO during his “free time” in the office. Boss life!
The Mardu Dragons entered the gauntlet on paper testing. It soared above the Rhinos, Cracking Doom-ed Jeskai and Ojutais. Rabblemaster was still a force and still managed to randomly win games against Sphinx’s Tutelage. Deck was great. But we had one small problem.
We needed:
- 28 Stormbreath Dragons
- 28 Goblin Rabblemasters
- 28 Thunderbreak Regents
- 21 Soulfire Grandmasters
- 21 Hangarback Walkers
- 28 Cracking Dooms
So after pooling our cards together, we were still a great number short. That’s when the amazing props to our team manager Jeffrey to scour round KL city, shop by shop and pooling up all the cards by the Saturday before the tournament. An amazing feat.
The Mardu Dragons sliced through the WMCQ #1 field like butter. We got three players in the top 8 and Nicholas “Obama” James almost took it home against Syed Joyicho. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the damage was dealt and the mark had been stamped. Team Decards was back.
WMCQ #1 Scorecard:
- 1 deck across 7 players (at least 70/75 cards identical)
- Excluding IDs - 34 match wins, 15 losses (69% match win rate)
- 3 top 8s
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I covered WMCQ #2 in my article HERE.
WMCQ #2 Scorecard:
- 4 decks across 6 players
- Excluding IDs and bye – 27 match wins, 1 draw, 11 losses (69% match win rate)
- 2 top 8s, 1 win
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WMCQ #3 campaign started out all Jeskai midrage with four Ojutai’s Command. The deck initially performed well, giving fits to Abzan, GR Devotion and also Mardu Dragons. Esper Dragons was a big issue. The Jeskai was a poorer control deck and not a very aggressive deck. It didn’t had real answers to Ashiok and Ugin. That’s when we started to fall apart.
Each of us went back to our original root deck – Abzan , GR devotion, Control etc. But no one aside from Shawn Khoo was set on what they were playing, even with only a few days left to WMCQ #3. The lack of focus really hurt the campaign finale as the team tried to over-think the metagame. Pressure was on indeed. Raymond and myself tried to help wherever we could. We didn’t want anyone to play a deck that they didn’t feel confident of for the final WMCQ.
Game Day – WMCQ 3
The venue was lovely and grand. The calming sounds of the nearby water fountain were drowned by the excitement of the hundred odd players attending. It was everyone’s last chance to claim a slot in this year’s national squad. The team was visibly nervous as well as plenty was on the line. We huddled and I spoke.
“You guys nervous? Its okay.”
“But you should know that everyone out there is more nervous than you. “
“Why?”
“Because there are scared. They know that if they want to win the WMCQ and be in the national team, they must beat at least one of you!”
A ray of confidence fired across their eyes. They had hope. And my final words of advice was:
“Play with confidence. Take risks if you have to and don’t hold anything back. Trust your instincts.”
Seven rounds of swiss and two elimination matches later, Wei Han sits across in game two, up a game, with a 3/2 Den Protector and a Tasigur, the Golden Fang but facing down a tapped Silumgar, Drifting Death and a freshly top-decked Dragonlord Ojutai. Facing a potential decider or the title, he followed his instinct and tapped his Tasigur alone.
Wen Zhou was now on the spot to make a choice. He chose incorrectly.
Seconds later, Shawn was gripping and wildly shaking my shoulders.
We did it again. Absolutely stunning.
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