For those of you who think that X-Men are unplayable, Quang Nguyen has 2,500 reasons why you’re wrong. Defying convention, Nguyen decided to supplement the immensely popular Brotherhood strategy with X-Men’s most powerful characters, such as Wolverine, Logan; Colossus; and Nightcrawler, Fuzzy Elf. This helped out his curve immensely, and gave his opponents headaches all weekend as they stared down Wolverine and Sabertooth on turn 4. Nguyen is a newcomer to tournament play, but that didn’t prevent him from coming out of yesterday’s Swiss rounds as the top seed, and then continuing that momentum throughout the Top 8. Without a doubt, he will be a player to watch at next month’s Pro Circuit event, and it’ll be interesting to see what deck he comes up with when DC Origins becomes legal.

Even with Nguyen’s success with a unique archetype, it’s hard to ignore Brotherhood’s impact on the weekend. It was the most played team and placed five players into the Top 8. The interesting “Wild Vomit” Sentinel deck didn’t help any players reach Sunday, and the same can be said for the hyped Turbo Gamma Bomb strategy. Doom did manage to get two players into the Top 8, although in the form of Doom/Fantastic Four decks.

Now that the final major Constructed tournament to feature only Marvel Origins has passed, we look ahead to GenCon Indy, and the first Pro Circuit event. With a whole new set of DC Origins cards ready to influence the metagame, we’ll see what changes are made to the existing decks and what new creations emerge. Judging by Nguyen’s weekend, any strategy is viable, and any team can win.

Standings and Prize Payout:

1. Quang Nguyen                  $2,500
2. Joseph Yoo                      $1,500
3. Adam Prosak                    $1,200
4. Alex Elzel                           $800
5. Joshua Wiitanen                  $400
6. Matt Maclachlan                  $400
7. Jerry Balentuangin               $400
8. Niles Rowland                      $400