As the Eldraine Split comes to a close, the final group of fixtures took place featuring the Emerald Division. Four different records made it through to the Top 4 playoff: Congratulations to Carlos Romão (6-1), Brad Nelson (5-2), Mike Sigrist (4-3), and Márcio Carvalho (3-4). In a tight week, just missing out were Seth Manfield and Ben Stark (both 3-4), and Lee Shi Tian and Christian Hauck (both 2-5). Let's see how our assorted quartet made it to the weekend playoff.
Carlos Romão—Brazil (6-1) Sultai Sacrifice
I'm not sure how much time Romão spent listening to Newsdesk Expert Eduardo Sajgalik this past weekend at Mythic Championship VI but, if he did pay attention, he would have arrived at this Sultai Sacrifice deck that Sajgalik had championed as the Food-killer. With the trio of Cauldron Familiar, Witch's Oven, and Trail of Crumbs, Romão dominated weekly play.
He went 3-1 against Sultai Food (losing only to Ben Stark) and completed a most pleasing week with wins over both Gruul Adventure lists (Seth Manfield and Brad Nelson), and the Bant Food list of Lee Shi Tian. He enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, and there's every reason to suppose that he can claim the division title and bye to Day Two at Mythic Championship VII next month.
Brad Nelson—USA (5-2) Gruul Adventure
Working with teammate Seth Manfield, Nelson settled on Gruul Adventure. Nelson was coming off a real "game of two halves' at Mythic Championship VI, opening 8-0 on day one, before a disappointing Day Two saw him finish at 10-6. Things didn't start off well in Emerald Division round robin play either, with a 1-2 record. That was Nelson's last defeat, however. Whether you decide to "Believe the 'Cleave" or "Remember the Ember" there's no doubt that Embercleave is a rather powerful Magic card.
Seth Manfield is pretty vocal on social media about his total inability to beat Brad, like, ever, but at some point a comedy schtick is going to bleed into match play. Nelson "inevitably" took that match to knock Manfield out, and make it through as the No. 2 seed.
So after 6 rounds each the Gruul deck that @fffreakmtg and I registered has an astounding 58.33% win rate versus food. (less than the MC). Unfortunately I'm not going to make top 4 though because I would need to beat Brad in my last round, which is literally impossible.
— Seth Manfield (@SethManfield) November 13, 2019
5-2 in my MPL Split with Gruul AMA!
— Brad Nelson (@fffreakmtg) November 13, 2019
Mike Sigrist—USA (4-3) Sultai Food
Twice Sigrist had the best record in Emerald Division round robin play. He opened up 2-0 with wins over Lee Shi Tian and Seth Manfield, then reached 3-1 after losing to Ben Stark and defeating Brad Nelson. That's when things got tricky. Both Carlos Romão and Márcio Carvalho (incidentally, both in the Top 4 playoff this week) took the match off Sigrist, leaving him in urgent need of a last round victory over Christian Hauck. He took game one with a punishing Casualties of War, and leveraged the power of Food in the decider to reach 4-3, and the third spot in the Top 4.
Rougher day at the office today going 1-2 but I finished 4-3 in my split (just like the other 2) so I'll be playing in the playoffs. Luck pls.
— Michael Sigrist (@MSigrist83) November 13, 2019
Márcio Carvalho—Portugal (3-4) Sultai Food
It's entirely possible to watch Carvalho's matches this week and imagine that he went 6-1. It's also possible to envision 1-6. Both results required very little to go differently than actual reality, which featured some very close matches and a 3-4 record that just barely got him into the playoffs.
Guess the gods are on my side and with this i Top 4 my Eldraine split 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 #Hareruyapros
— Márcio A Carvalho (@KbolMagic) November 13, 2019
At no point was Carvalho ever ahead of the curve. He fought back from 0-2 with wins against Seth Manfield and Ben Stark. Then his third win (over Mike Sigrist) reclaimed his 50% win rate, having lost to Brad Nelson. And then, like Sigrist before him, he needed a last round victory over Christian Hauck, which he didn't get. But with a cluster of 3-4 records around him, it turned out that win over Sigrist had broken the tie and advanced the Portuguese superstar to the Top 4.
The Road to Worlds
The Emerald division has had to wait for their chance to ascend the leaderboard. Although only getting three wins, this was huge for Márcio Carvalho, who finds himself in a seat for the 2019 Magic World Championship with only Mythic Championship VII's Mythic Points to come. Keeping pace is Seth Manfield, whose six points takes him to third in the MPL standings, again with a provisional seat at the World Championship. Lee Shi Tian missed an opportunity with only two match wins, making his task slightly harder in Long Beach next month.
The Road to Rivals League and MPL
Now that Eldraine Split is finishing, we can start to see clearly which members of the MPL are in trouble. Remember, at the conclusion of Mythic Championship VII, 21st through 32nd will fall into the newly-formed Rivals League for next season. That means Carlos Romão's 12 points this week was an enormous deal, taking him to 21st place and the brink of safety. Mike Sigrist also did himself no harm, pulling himself up to 24th. Ben Stark, though, is in 27th and is a long way behind the 87 Mythic Points held by Alexander Hayne at 20th. He definitely needs an epic finish in Long Beach.
Metagame Then, and Now
Since you're reading this, I'll assume you have at least a passing interest in professional Magic, and will therefore do you the courtesy of presuming that you're aware of a card called Oko, Thief of Crowns (which achieved truly historic levels of dominance at Mythic Championship VI). That led to a field of four Sultai Food, one Bant Food, two Gruul Adventure (a deck with one of the highest win rates at Mythic Championship VI), and one very-successful-against-a-known-metagame-thanks-very-much Sultai Sacrifice deck, piloted to 6-1 by Carlos Romão.
While the field has been cut from eight to four, it's still similar heading into the playoffs. Romão's Sultai Sacrifice is joined by two of the four Sultai Food lists (Sigrist and Carvalho), and one of the two Gruul Adventure decks (Nelson).
The Saturday Showdown
Rather disappointingly for Romão, he opens proceedings against the non-Food deck. He would prefer to, well, feast on one of his Sultai Food opponents. That mirror match opens things in the bottom half of the bracket, with Mike Sigrist taking on Márcio Carvalho in a match that Carvalho won first time around. Whether Romão beats Nelson or not, he has to feel good about the shape of the week and the weekend to come: Sultai Sacrifice looks to be the place to be right now.
To see if Romão can convert his No. 1 seed into a Day One bye for Mythic Championship VII, join the team on twitch.tv/magic at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. UTC. See you there!