Mike Turian vs. Pat Chapin

For the third time in a row, these two CMU teammates got matched against one another in the first round of a major tourney. Chapin, playing in his first major tournament as a member of CMU, has won their last two meetings.

In game one, Turian, playing his 'www.potato.com' deck, started out fast with a Soul Warden, which was followed by a bevy of fast white creatures. On the other side of the table, Chapin, who had decided to keep a one land draw, was forced to discard three times before drawing a second Island and casting a Howling Mine. Turian had a Disenchant ready, and quickly finished Pat off with one final onslaught.

In game two, Pat, playing first, was able to drop two Sapphire Medallions in his first three turns, after which he cast Time Warp twice, followed by a Proseperity for three when he finally found a fourth Island. With one Island left open, Pat cast Exhaustion, limiting Mike's moves.

Turian then tried to mount an offense, but to no avail. With Pat hitting Mike repeatedly with Exhaustion and Turnabout, Mike's weenies weren't able to hit for enough, and Pat eventually got of enough Time Warps to make Mike, who helped Chapin build Turbo Time Warp concede.

Game three went to Turian when Chapin, who kept an opening hand with 4 Islands, continued to draw land when he needed just about anything else. Pat tried to slow Mike's creature development down with a Capsize, but Mother of Runes put an end to that.

Mike chose to play White Weenie because of the recent ruling that if Waylay is cast after the cleanup phase (i.e. during end phase), the tokens will stay around until your next clean up phase, creating a Ball Lightning effect. In the 4 feature matches, seven different decks were played, suggesting that this may be the most level playing field seen in years.