Ten rounds, eleven hours, and 117 players are gone, and only eight competitors remain. Curve Sentinels is the deck of the day, placing four players in the Top 8—amongst them first place finisher, Brian Gates. The local hero, Gates cruised through the Swiss, ending the tournament as the only 9-1 player. Vidi Wijaya, Jack Garrett, and Ceasar de Leon also rode into Sunday play on the backs of machines.
Joining those four in the Top 8 are 8-2 finishers Adam Prosak playing Teen Titans, Tim Batow with My Beloved, and Jeremy Borchardt. Borchardt began 7-0 and then dropped to 7-2 before pulling out his final match for advancement. The final member of the Top 8 is Josh Wiitanen, whose Brave and the Bold deck carried him to a 7-3 record and slightly better tiebreakers than team mate John Rich.
Tomorrow should be a great day. With the butting of heads beginning at 10 a.m., the competitors will have just enough time to play this thing out and get a good seat for the Superbowl. Be sure to check in and keep hitting that refresh button—that’s the only way to find out who, and what, will win cash and glory in the desert.