Draft day has a way of bringing out some cool interactions between cards that usually wouldn’t get played in most Constructed formats. I was walking around, and I saw some cool interactions with the Skrull Team-Up, Act of Defiance. The key thing that most people forget is that you can choose an affiliation your opponent controls as well!

If Matt Oldaker had a keyword at this Pro Circuit, it would certainly be “invulnerability.” After running the tables on Day 1, he has gone on to sweep his first Draft pod, putting him in the record books with the longest winning game streak in Pro Circuit history. The only other player ever to go undefeated on Day 1, Aaron Weil, did so last year at this event before ignominiously losing every round on the Draft day. Matt has already dodged that bullet, and it looks like it would take a freight train to derail him from a Sunday appearance. 

Matt is no stranger to the bright lights of Sunday; he was able to make Day 3 at Pro Circuit Atlanta, and by his own admission, his skills are much improved since then. I wouldn’t get in his way.

Thirteen matches? Thirteen wins. Thank you very much.

The first draft is done and it’s clear that the Kree have invaded! The Kree won more than 50% of the draft pods and were the only really prominent team to be mono-team. The Inhumans have appeared quite frequently in the winning decks, paired with Heralds or in some Extended Family–powered Skrull decks. 

Only time will tell whether the invasion can be fought off. The Heralds decks are not equipped well for a devastating turn 6 press turn, especially one that is powered by The Lunatic Legion, which every Kree player always seems to have. 

Matt Oldaker solidified his position to make the Final 8 with a commanding 3-0 performance, and he looks almost impossible to dislodge from a Sunday berth. Notable winners include the mad doctor himself, Jason Hager, Anthony Justice (fresh from his Top 8 in Indy), Patrick Yapjoco, and Anand Khare. 

There are still six rounds to go, so anything can happen! Stay tuned.

Those individuals who are playing in today’s $10K event also have the chance to get a card that was definitely saw much use yesterday—Reign of Terror. Doom’s guards never looked so good. 

And for any player who participated in three or more side events, a Dagger, Child of Light was there to make sure that Midnight Sons was always on time. 

Of the 107 players to reach Day 2, exactly 50 had three or fewer losses. The decks they played were as varied as the players themselves; each of the major teams came up with different ways to approach the format. The TDC stall deck performed excellently—nearly all of their members went 7-3 or better, and PC Top 8 player Matt Oldaker had a completely unblemished record. FTN brought a tuned Doom Crisis deck that was also extremely successful, catapulting their stars Vidi Wijaya and Ryan Jones to terrific 8-2 records. Finally, Adam Prosak and friends (he would call them “barns”) took an innovative Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth / The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero / Devil’s Due contraption to great success. 

But whatever they played on Friday is now in the past, and it’s up to their skills in Heralds of Galactus Booster Draft to determine who will play on Sunday. The prevailing wisdom is that Kree is the premier affiliation to draft, but there are rumblings that the shapeshifting Skrulls might be the way to go. With three drafts to go, its time for the theory to be put aside and the combat to commence on the playing field.

Check out the Day 1 blog coverage here!