Ryan Jones, TCG player extraordinaire, has returned to the scene of his previous triumph in order to recapture his crown. Ryan hoisted the trophy at PC: LA in 2004, but couldn’t bring the title back in 2005. Ryan, like most of the players at his table, has 10 wins, with Jason Hager at 11-2 and Matt Oldaker at a perfect 13-0. Ryan needs four wins in the next six rounds to have a chance to make the Top 8, and five wins would make it a guarantee.
1.1 Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan over Lieutenant Kona Lor; The Lunatic Legion; Crystal, Elementelle
1.2 Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation over Tyrant, The Original Herald; Drax the Destroyer; Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Harbinger of Death
1.3 Extended Family over Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc; Dewoz; Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage
1.4 Mind Gem over Thing, Rockhead; Morg, Slayer; Moondragon
1.5 Drax the Destroyer over Moondragon; Dr. Doom, Sorcerous Savant
1.6 Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways over Plasma
1.7 Morg, Harbinger of Extinction over Morg, Corrupt Destroyer; Carnage, Symbiote Surfer
1.8 The Power Cosmic Unleashed
1.9 Cosmic Order
1.10 Tyrant, The Original Herald
1.11 Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc
1.12 Moondragon
1.13 Moondragon
1.14 Ultimate Nullifier
Ryan’s first pick immediately announced his intentions. Given the choice between three archetypes (Heralds stall, Inhumans concealed, Kree press), he settled himself into Heralds immediately and never looked back. He left open a chance to splash into Inhumans if necessary, but the packs gave him no reason to. Once his first few packs started to lap the table, he snatched up card after card he had almost taken eight picks earlier. According to Ryan, “It’s nice after your first pack to have fourteen playables.”
I asked him why he had decided on Heralds instead of Kree with that first pick. “I’ve never had much luck with Kree. I get average decks, but never a great deck. Plus, I went aggro with my last draft, so I wanted to throw off anyone who might have been metagaming me. I’ve not drafted the stall deck too much, but once that Tyrant wheeled the table I knew I could do it.”
2.1 Elemental Battle over Power Gem; The Fallen One; Blue Area of the Moon
2.2 Silver Surfer, Harbinger of Oblivion over Extended Family; Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair; Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Soul Searcher
2.3 Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair over Galactus, Devourer of Worlds; Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation
2.4 The Uni-Power over Stardust; Extended Family; Firelord, Pyreus Kril
2.5 Cosmic Necessity over Galactus, Devourer of Worlds; The Herald Ordeal; Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Harbinger of Death
2.6 Morg, Slayer over Mind Gem; I Must Obey
2.7 Moondragon over Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Harbinger of Death
2.8 Mephisto, Lord of Hell
2.9 Nahrees over The Fallen One; Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage
2.10 Power Gem over Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair; Morg, Harbinger of Extinction
2.11 Pacification
2.12 Stardust over Dr. Doom, Latverian Monarch
2.13 Dr. Strange, Illuminati
2.14 Invisible Woman, Baroness Von Doom
Pack two started off rather weak, but things moved along smoothly if not wonderfully. Ryan came out of pack 2 with a stack of solid cards for his deck, but no real standouts. The most interesting pick was Cosmic Necessity over The Herald Ordeal in pack 5, but Ryan much prefers Cosmic Necessity. “The Herald Ordeal has never impressed me. With Cosmic Necessity, I get the five endurance, or occasionally two or maybe three cards because of Moondragon.”
3.1 Worldeater Apparatus over Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
3.2 Elemental Converters over The Power Cosmic Unleashed; Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair
3.3 Plasma over Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation; Drax the Destroyer; Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth
3.4 Soul World over Elemental Battle
3.5 Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Soul Searcher over The Herald Ordeal
3.6 Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation over Creation of a Herald
3.7 Starforce Strike over Morg, Corrupt Destroyer; Carnage, Symbiote Surfer
3.8 Alien Insurrection over The Punishers
3.9 The Punishers
3.10 Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair over The Power Cosmic Unleashed
3.11 Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation over Tyrant, The Original Herald
3.12 Elemental Battle
3.13 Waking the Ancestors
3.14 Mask of Doom
Pack three had the locations Ryan was looking for. He was short on 3-drops, so he had to take Plasma over Frankie Raye in pack 3, but overall he was happy with where he ended up. “It was pretty obvious even in pack 1 that I was the only Heralds stall drafter. I just took the cards that came to me. I’m really happy with the amount of power-ups, plus I’ve got Soul World to abuse them. I was disappointed that I saw none of the bomb rares like Taa II; Absorba Shield; and Inspiring Demise; but this deck should get me at least 2 wins.”
As of this writing, Ryan just finished taking down Doug Tice in the feature match area, bringing his record to 11-3. Looking at his deck, it looks very much like he’ll pick up two more.
Characters:
1 Morg, Slayer
1 Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
1 Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
1 Plasma
1 Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Soul Searcher
3 Moondragon
1 Stardust
2 Air-Walker, Harbinger of Despair
1 Drax the Destroyer
3 Destroyer, Harbinger of Devastation
1 Silver Surfer, Harbinger of Oblivion
1 Tyrant, The Original Herald
Plot Twists:
2 Elemental Battle
1 Pacification
1 Cosmic Necessity
1 The Power Cosmic Unleashed
1 The Uni-Power
1 Extended Family
Equipment:
1 Mind Gem
1 Power Gem
1 Ultimate Nullifier
Locations:
1 Worldeater Apparatus
1 Elemental Converters
1 Soul World