One of the most prominent teams on the Pro Circuit is easily recognized by the red dragon emblem emblazoned on their chests and backs. It’s the Your Move Games team, who mainly hail from the New England (primarily Boston) area. Lead by storeowner Rob Dougherty, they were able to get all six of their members into the second day, and they are still doing great. As of the end of the fifteenth round, they had a terrific record of fifty-nine wins and thirty-one losses—an average of nearly ten wins per player. Eric Hunter is leading the way with eleven wins; and Anthony Shaheen, Jacob Rabinowitz, Craig Edwards, and Nick Cuenca are at ten wins. Rob is unfortunately languishing a little at eight wins, but he’s more than happy to see his boys excel.  

All but Craig chose to play the “Good Guys” JLA / JLI ally deck yesterday. Craig chose the path less taken with a Checkmate / League of Assassins toolbox deck. It’s very possible that one of the Red Dragons will make the Top 8, and five of them are still in contention. It’s always good to see these guys at the Pro Circuit, as they know not just how to play well, but also how to have a good time!

Dean Sohnle has always been considered an eccentric deckbuilder, but his most recent Draft deck goes against one of the most sacred cows of Sealed Pack deckbuilding: playing more than the minimum thirty cards. And he didn’t add just one extra one—Dean is playing with an amazing thirty-three cards! Also, every one of his cards is so amazing that he can actually afford to put such gems as SNIKT! and Kidney Punch into his unplayed pile.

With his thirty-three cards, he is only playing eighteen characters—quite a low number to start with, but even lower when you consider that there are fifteen plot twists and locations in his deck. He expects to filter through his deck with X-Corp: Paris and to take advantage of his Jean Grey, Red. Right now, Dean is sitting pretty at 11-4 (and is 2-0 in the second pod), so he can still make the Top 8 if he wins out (and he has a slight chance of making it with one more loss).

For those budding The X-Men drafters out there, here are the winning decks from each pod from the first round of drafting. The big winners seem to be the Morlocks decks, which have a depth of powerful plot twists that encompass the team. Returning champion Vidi Wijaya is powering away; he mauled all comers with his very unusual Blackbird Blue four-team deck, which was held together by a few Team-Ups and three copies of Turnabout. What’s even more surprising is the fact that he ran the Turnabouts with only four X-Men characters! The luck is certainly with Vidi today as he seeks to be the first double Pro Circuit Champ! 

The Pro Circuit isn’t the only thing happening at San Francisco this weekend. Also being held in the same hall is the Yu-Gi-Oh! National championships, where over 355 players from all over the country have arrived to duel for four spots at the World Championships in Japan. The winners also receive Xbox 360s, as well! I think I may go over and play . . .

Also as usual is the $10K event, which features the premier level Sealed Pack debut of the Infinite Crisis set. Most of the players that didn’t make it yesterday are playing in this event, with such luminaries as Dave Spears, Nick Little, and Donnie Noland battling it out with over 200 other competitors. For just playing the $10K, you get the new hotness that is an Extended Art Reign of Terror, and if you’re good enough, a Sebastian Shaw is waiting to join your collection. 

Also, the Pro Circuit competitors received an Extended Art War of Attrition and the long awaited (and mildly disturbing) Varnae. 

Neil Reeves is known as one of the tightest players on the tour, but unfortunately, sometimes even the best make a few errors. Playing a Hellfire Club deck with four (!) copies of Army of One, Neil had been doing well with his board of Emma Frost, Friend or Foe and Donald Pierce, White Bishop. On turn 7, he had planned to move his Emma Frost, Friend or Foe to the hidden area . . . with his Emma Frost, White Queen. After he played it, his opponent Michael Barnes pointed out that the new Emma Frost would KO the other one due to uniqueness.  

Neil looked sheepishly at me and then asked, “Why didn’t you tell me I had a power-up?!” 

After putting himself in a rough position, he managed to claw his way back into the game—to the point where both he and Michael were at 0 endurance. The problem for Neil was that Michael had an evaded Electric Eve that was ready to put Neil to -1 and thus snatch a victory away from the native son of Arkansas. But Neil had a trick up his sleeve: he moved his Piper to the visible area, snagging Michael’s own Electric Eve and recovering it. In the end, it was Michael who was defeated . . . by his own Electric Eve!

Today’s Draft dynamic is made a little different by the presence of Jamie Tachiyama, a blind player playing in today’s action. His table was made separate from the main area so that they could draft at a pace that would allow a judge to read him his picks. 

The top tables are littered with stars. Scott Hunstad, Gabe Walls, Tim Batow, Pro Circuit Atlanta Champion Vidi Wijaya, and Kim Caton are on table 1. Table 2, featuring PC: LA Champion Karl Horn, Michael Dalton, PC: New York Champion Adam Bernstein, triple $10K Winner Doug Tice, and double $10K winner Adam Prosak is equally brutal. 

Will Vidi be able to repeat? He has shunned the traditional return champion curse and is looking to add yet another Top 8 to his resume. But there many accomplished players within striking distance, and they are hungry, as well.

Read the Friday Pro Circuit Blog here.