We did it! The Draft portion of the Pro Circuit has come and gone and, as usual, destroyed many players in its wake. Some players, though, came through the fires reborn. Vidi Wijaya had posted an above-average 8–2 record during the Marvel Modern Age portion of the tournament and proceeded to rack up a blazing 8–1 record during the Draft portion to take the number one seed for tomorrow’s event. The Top 8 is rounded out by a number of other faces that have been around the game for a while, including Metagame.com writer Anand Khare. Anand showed us yesterday that he could play Marvel Modern Age with the big boys, and his Draft-day performance guarantees him a “big boy” status of his very own.

Many decks emerged today and made their presence felt. The willpower/Fat Dudes deck owned the first pod, and Living Planets were seen attacking those much smaller than themselves for the first three rounds of the Draft. Then it was time for the JLI/Injustice Gang concealed deck to go on a tear. This was perhaps the most influential German-influenced design since the Volkswagen. For the third pod, things seemed to even out as the competition got higher. Many big-name players lost close matches, putting them out of contention, and many more were left without the tiebreakers necessary to make Sunday.

It’s time now for the eight players who managed to reach the Sunday stage to get some much-deserved rest before putting it all on the line tomorrow in the pursuit of the big payday.