Okay, this is it. Who’s going to move on to the Top 8?

Table 1: Dexter Dalit (5 wins) vs. Calvin Tsang (6 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 2: Dale Bellido (5 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Marcus Spanier (5 wins)

Table 3: Phillippe Asselin (5 wins) vs. Stephen Chin (5 wins)

Table 4: Matt Bishop (5 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Chris Pittao (5 wins)

Table 5: Shawn Chauvin (5 wins) vs. Hernan Roman (5 wins)

Table 6: Matthew Abrams (5 wins) vs. Richard Piper (5 wins)

Table 7: Darren Jette (4 wins) vs. Wren Kozakevich (4 wins)

Table 8: Kyle Duncan (4 wins) vs. Shane Morris (4 wins)

Looks like Dexter might be making a bid for yet another National Championship, but Calvin remains undefeated. Three competitors remain at the top, it looks like we’re guaranteed at least one winner of the Scrub Brush Challenge for this event. The Top 8 will be determined shortly, as there’s a little over ten minutes remaining in the round.

3:40 PM: How To Tell If You’re In Canada

Here’s a handy guide you can use, if you ever wake up in an unfamiliar place, and wonder if it might be Canada.

In Canada, they say “washroom.” Not “bathroom” or “restroom.” Look for the signs that say “washroom.” Canadians are helpful and label them thoroughly.

In Canada, they eat a lot of ketchup. The mustard and relish and other things come in little packets, but ketchup comes in a big bowl, so you can dive right in. They eat it with all kinds of things. When Jason comes to visit me and we go someplace that serves ketchup, he always gets about a dozen packets. I think that’s way too much ketchup, but that’s just how he rolls.

In Canada, you can get gravy on your French fries! They call it “poutine.” It’s got cheese, as well. It looks kind of weird in the picture, but it’s really good. One time, Ken Jackson (today’s head judge) came to visit me, and we went to KFC and he tried to order gravy on his fries. The way they looked at him, you’d have think he asked for motor oil. I explained we don’t have gravy as a fry topping in the US. But we should.

In Canada, the money is all different colors. It’s really pretty. It also has shiny holograms on it. And it’s worth more than it used to be!

In Canada, things come in English and French. You can learn a second language pretty much for free, just by reading stuff. Plus, your juice seems a lot fancier if you turn the French side of the label towards you. It also seems like they put pomegranate in a lot of things.

In Canada, they put maple leaves on lots of things. It is the national symbol of Canada, after all, and it’s a lot easier to draw than an eagle.

In Canada, they have donuts with raisins in them. They’re called Dutchies, and you get them at Tim Hortons. And no one brought me any.

3:15 PM: Who’s At The Top Table? Round 6

Well, it’s the next to last round. There’s a great deal of anxiety among the players at this point…let’s have a look at Tables 1-8.

Table 1: Hernan Roman (5 wins) vs. Calvin Tsang (5 wins) [SBC Competitor] This round’s feature match!

Table 2: Matthew Abrams (5 wins) vs. Dale Bellido (4 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 3: Chris Pittao (4 wins) vs. Nik Ristoski (4 wins)

Table 4: Lazaro Bellido (4 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Richard Piper (4 wins)

Table 5: Corey Abbot (4 wins) vs. Stephen Chin (4 wins)

Table 6: Dexter Dalit (4 wins) vs. Jonathan Ross (4 wins)

Table 7: Phillippe Asselin (4 wins) vs. Michael Jun (4 wins)

Table 8: Matt Bishop (4 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Christian Fedun (4 wins)

Wow, we’ve got three guys still at the top in the next-to-the-last round of the day. Calvin looks like a guaranteed in, with Dale and Matt on the bubble. Can you stand the tension? Only one more round to go!

2:41 PM: No One Brought Me Anything

You know, I’ve been saying for weeks that I expected Tim Horton’s Dutchies, Coffee Crisp bars, and maple syrup. And players said they would bring them! Yet I sit here typing my little fingers off, with no delicious raisin donuts, no light and crispy candy bars, and no real maple syrup. I do have some poutine, but still. I really, really, really, really, really, really, wanted a Dutchie. This is not cool!

2:25 PM: Who’s At The Top Table? Round 5

There’s two rounds left in the main event! Get serious, everyone!

Table 1: Christian Fedun (4 wins) vs. Calvin Tsang (4 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 2: Hernan Roman (4 wins) vs. Marcus Spanier (4 wins)

Table 3: Matthew Abrams (4 wins) vs. Kyle Duncan (4 wins)

Table 4: Phillipe Asselin (4 wins) vs. Dexter Dalit (3 wins)

Table 5: Michael Jun (3 wins) vs. Justin Blair Patrick (3 wins)

Table 6: Dale Bellido [SBC Competitor] (3 wins) vs. Shane Morris (3 wins)

Table 7: John David Redbird [SBC Competitor] (3 wins) vs. Jonathan Ross (3 wins)

Table 8: Matt Bishop (3 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Jim Kapetaneas (3 wins)

Well, the Scrub Brush Challenge competitors are holding strong, as we’ve got Calvin, Dale, John, and Matt at the top table. There’s not much wiggle room as Nationals draws to an end, so these guys are going to have to fight to stay on top.

I know what you’ve been wondering…you’ve been wondering “Wow, I wonder what the breakdown of attendence per province is at Canadian Nationals today.” Wonder no more, I’ve got that information for you right here!

By the way, I can name (and spell) all of the provinces. Jason thinks I’m cool.

New Brunswick: 2 players are here, or 1.8% of the tournament.

Quebec: 19 players are here, or 17.6% of the tournament.

Manitoba: 9 players are here, or 8.3% of the tournament.

Ontario: the big dog, with 70 players here, 64.8% of the tournament.

Nova Scotia: 4 players are here, or 3.7% of the tournament.

Saskatchewan: 2 players are here, or 1.8% of the tournament.

Alberta: 2 players are here, or 1.8% of the tournament.

Not represented here today are British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, or any of the Territories.

1:20 PM: Who’s At The Top Tables? Round 4

We’re more than halfway through the Swiss portion of the event, so let’s see who we’ve got in the lead…

Table 1: Phillipe Asselin (3 wins) vs. Eric Carter (3 wins)

Table 2: Chris Pittao (3 wins) vs. Hernan Roman (3 wins) [he faced Jason in the LCR yesterday]

Table 3: Matthew Abrams (3 wins) vs. Shane Morris (3 wins)

Table 4: John David Redbird (3 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Calvin Tsang [SBC Competitor]

Table 5: Matt Bishop (3 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Marcus Spanier (3 wins)

Table 6: Christian Fedun (3 wins) vs. Richard Piper (3 wins)

Table 7: Kyle Duncan (3 wins) vs. Adil Shaikh (2 wins)

Table 8: Justin Blair Patrick (2 wins) vs. Shane Theriault (2 wins)

Eric Carter has been spending a lot of time at the top tables, hasn’t he? We’ve also got three Scrub Brush Challenge competitors sitting up high, and although two of them had to play each other, it’s still looking good for some winners here today.

1:00 PM: There’s Some Crazy Feature Matches Here Today

If you’ve been following along, you’ll have seen Dale Bellido play against his teammate Chris Simoes in Round 3. It’s too bad, since they were both on the bubble with1 loss each—it’s no fun to go to Nats and have to knock out one of your own teammates. Matt Peddle faced off against last year’s champion, Dexter Dalit, in round 2. And all of these guys are playing so fast that it’s hard for Jason to keep up with what’s going on, so he’s down for Round 4 to tidy up his coverage and get it ready to post. He really regretted passing up on the John Redbird vs. Calvin Tsang matchup, too.

12:40 PM: Who’s At The Top Tables? Round 3!

We are just flying through this event. Here’s a look at the top tables for Round 3 . . .

Table 1: Eric Carter (2 wins) vs. Chan Yeung Or (2 wins)

Table 2: Mark Henry (2 wins) vs. John David Redbird (2 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 3: Matthew Abrams (2 wins) vs. Karim Ahamjik (2 wins)

Table 4: Wren Kozakevich (2 wins) vs. Marcus Spanier (2 wins)

Table 5: Christian Fedun (2 wins) vs. Matt Peddle (2 wins) [SBC Competitor]

Table 6: Walter Chan (2 wins) vs. Kyle Duncan (2 wins)

Table 7: Meliton Hinayo (2 wins) vs. Richard Piper (2 wins)

Table 8: Matt Bishop (2 wins) [SBC Competitor] vs. Mark Ramos (2 wins)

11:49 AM: Jason’s Great LCQ Adventure

Jason and I came in to Hamilton early, so we were here yesterday as well. I did a bit of advance prep for today, and Jason decided to enter the final Last Chance Qualifier. There’s been a bit of talk online lately that centers around the lack of Regionals Top 8 finishes among some of the Metagame.com staff as a detriment to our ability to write, which more or less ignores the fact that most of us are either reporting, working, or judging on our weekends. It also ignores the fact that playing doesn’t give you the ability to write, but that’s a whole different discussion.

Anyways, with his honor as a player at stake, Jason decided to enter. He played his Cat’s Pajamas deck (one of the only non Chaos Return decks I saw at the LCQs), and I bet you’re wondering how he did.

Read on!

There were 34 competitors in the event, so most of them got a bye in Round 1, Jason included. He faced Mike Marchant in round 2, and went 2-0. Some Team Xtreme and Superfriends members wandered by. “What’s Jason doing playing in the LCQ? Isn’t he going to report tomorrow?!” I said that he was still going to be reporting. “So he’s just crushing dreams and breaking hearts by knocking people out of the LCQS?!”

Now, Jason fully intended to scoop in the last round if he made it that far—he wasn’t going to actually take an invite that he couldn’t use. After all, there are degrees of breaking hearts and crushing dreams. It would be hard on the people he did knock out, but that’s the pain of single elimination. Mike Marchant took the loss with good grace, and shook hands.

Round 3 got under way, and it was hard to see what was going on as a crowd clustered around to watch. Jason’s deck is unusual, and everyone wanted to see him pull off the winning combo. He was facing Bryan Samlal, and again won 2-0.

Most people still left in the LCQ at this time were now really hoping to face Jason in the final round, since they all knew he was going to scoop. Jason’s lucky opponent turned out to be Hernan Roman. At the beginning of the round, Jason discussed a prize split (correctly, I might add, in full witness of a judge) and Hernan agreed. Judge Jason Luckhardt made them play it out before he’d give them their prizes, though. They agreed, and proceeded to play the most relaxed, haphazard match ever seen in a Last Chance Regional. Hernan won the first duel, Jason the second, and then Jason scooped in the third, emerging as victorious as he had intended to be, and happy with his new nickname: Jason “Heartbreaker” Grabher-Meyer.

If you’ve never heard of Jason’s Cat’s Pajamas deck, I’ll just go ahead and list the deck right here!

Monsters: 18

1 Rescue Cat

3 Giant Rat

3 Nimble Momonga

3 Gyaku Gire Panda

1 Pitch-Black Warwolf

1 Injection Fairy Lily

1 Exiled Force

2 Magician of Faith

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Sangan

1 Morphing Jar

Spells: 23

1 Graceful Charity

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Book of Moon

1 Snatch Steal

1 Premature Burial

1 United We Stand

1 Pot of Avarice

1 Scapegoat

2 Nobleman of Crossout

2 Smashing Ground

1 Giant Trunade

Traps: 8

3 Ojama Trio

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Mirror Force

1 Magic Cylinder

1 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Horn of Heaven

Jason just loves this deck because it switches gears very easily between a really strange Beatdown / Control and the Ojama Lock OTK. (I refuse to play him if he’s running Ojama Trio, because it drives me up the wall.) In all of his matches, he won the first game with an Ojama lock and then played it straight Beatdown in game two. He won all of the second games, despite having massive card disadvantage, which is pretty common for the deck. This deck was the result of a joint effort to explore beast decks with Jorge Fabian Piña Lizarraga (resulting in several playable decks, actually), and recent input from Overdose’s Kris Perovic.

The Scapegoat and Horn of Heaven were a last-minute addition. The Horn counters all of the deck’s biggest problems: Zaborg, Sorcerer, and Jinzo. (And I’d like to point out that he wouldn’t have the Horn Of Heaven if it wasn’t for me, since I had one in my trade binder.) Pitch-Black is a remnant of when the deck had a heavier Beast theme, and he may decide to drop it later. 

11:35 AM: Who’s At The Top Tables? Round 2

Table 1: Eric Carter (1 win) vs. Jordan Denk (1 win)

Table 2: Stephen Chin (1 win) vs. Angelo Pirosz (1 win)

Table 3: Mathew Abrams (1 win) vs. Wesley Roussel (1 win)

Table 4: Lazaro Bellido (1 win) [SBC Competitor] vs. Jim Kapteneas (1 win)

Table 5: Mark Ramos (1 win) vs. Chris Simoes (1 win) [SBC Competitor]

Table 6: Jorge Losorata (1 win) vs. Chris Pittao (1 win)

Table 7: Dexter Dalit (1 win) vs. Matt Peddle (1 win) [SBC Competitor]

Table 8: Charles Barsikhian (1 win) vs. Richard Piper (1 win)

Well, we’ve got three Scrub Brush Challenge competitors at the top table in round 2. Not bad!

10:40 AM: Who’s At the Top Tables?

Round 1 has begun, right on time. This should be a quick and efficient day. Let’s see who’s starting the day at the top tables . . .

Table 1 – Meliton Hinayo vs. Samuel Rustenburg

Table 2 – Matthieu Guillemette vs. Wren Kozakevich

Table 3 – Gregory Pantazis vs. Hernan Roman

Table 4 – Michael Chin vs. Brian Higgins

Table 5 – Ray O’Keefe vs. Nik Ristoski

Table 6 – Mile Balen vs. Charles Barsikhian

Table 7 – Karim Aham vs. Mark Talbot

Table 8 – Nam Dang vs. Colin Teo Cashman

Six more rounds to go, until we cut to the Top 8.

10:15 AM: The Players Are Ready!

The players are being seated, ready for the meeting. It’s a fantastic turnout. There are 108 people here, more than half of all those who qualified. Nice! The crowd is full of familiar faces and players eager to break in. We’re looking at seven action-packed rounds, as we whittle 108 down to eight—then choose the one player to represent Canada in Tokyo this summer.

9:30 AM: The Judges Are Ready!

Look at this fine assortment of judges here, ready to face the challenges of the day. Ken Jackson is Head Judge, and he is ably assisted by Jeff, Sandy, Stephan, Andrew, Michael, Natalie, Jason, and Victor. He’ll be losing some of these guys to the Regionals that will be running alongside the main event, but it looks like a good staff that is up to the challenges of the day.