When introducing the Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad edition of Team Face to Face Games, we kept talking about how the team was able to consistently show up with an innovative deck that dominated the Constructed portion of Pro Tours.
While Bant Company was the most popular archetype, Steve Rubin won the entire tournament with the team’s blend of GW Tokens. GW Tokens would then proceed to become the boogeyman of the Standard PPTQ season. It seems likely that the team will once again come up with something to solve the current Bant Company infestation.
Most of the core remain intact with one notable and exciting addition. The team added current Rookie of the Year leader Oliver Tiu who has been on an absolute tear. He has two T16 Pro Tour finishes under his belt along with three Grand Prix top 8s. He helped popularized Grixis Control in Standard, so his ability to deviate from the norm will certainly make him a valuable asset.
As always, this is one of the teams to watch!
Team Face to Face Games
Braun-Duin
Damo Da Rosa
Floch
Hayne
Nakamura
Pardee
Rubin
Sigrist
Stern
Strasky
Tiu
Wilson
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Player Name: Brian Braun-Duin
Hometown: Winchester, VA
Current Residence: Roanoke, VA
Age: 30
Occupation: Writer at ChannelFireball.com
Twitter Handle: @braunduinit
Magic Online Account: BBD
Invitation Source: Gold
Pro Level: Gold
Lifetime Pro Points: 134
Current Pro Points: 37
Notable Finishes: 7 GP top 8s (2 wins)
Favorite Magic Card: Foil Squire
Favorite Format (and why): Legacy. Small decisions matter so much and there is so much play to it.
Most Memorable Moment: Beating Jon Stern in the finals of GP Louisville.
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Player Name: Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
Hometown: Porto Alegre
Current Residence: Porto Alegre
Age: 28
Occupation: Magic player
Twitter Handle: @pvddr
Magic Online Account: N/A
Invitation Source: Hall of Fame
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 528
Current Pro Points: 54
Notable Finishes: 10 Pro Tour top 8s
Favorite Magic Card: Vendilion Clique
Favorite Format (and why): Block Constructed, because cards that would normally be bad become good due to a more constrained card pool. But I also like Sealed/Draft a lot, Legacy and some Standard formats.
Most Memorable Moment: My first PT top 8 in Charleston
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Player Name: Ivan Floch
Hometown: Bratislava, Slovakia
Current Residence: Bratislava, Slovakia
Age: 30
Occupation: Professional tourist
Twitter Handle: @IvanFloch19
Invitation Source: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 295
Current Pro Points: 48
Notable Finishes: PT Magic 2015 winner, GP Lisbon winner, Team Champion Worlds Chiba 2010
Favorite Magic Card: Upheaval
Favorite Format (and why): draft right now, I like the new format and synergies between cards
Most Memorable Moment: Winning Team Worlds in Chiba 2010, it was a big thing back then when a small country like Slovakia could beat every magic power-houses. Since then other small countries have made their mark too, but World Magic Cup makes it easier now. We won it before WMC has been introduced. It was also my first big victory – a proof I can do it.
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Player Name: Alexander Hayne
Hometown: Montreal, QC, Canada
Current Residence: Westmount, QC, Canada
Age: 27
Occupation: International Man of Mystery
Twitter Handle: @insaynehayne
Invitation Source: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 267
Current Pro Points: 53
Notable Finishes:
– PT AVR Champion
– GP Prague 2016 (4th)
– GP Krakow 2015 Champion
– GP Atlantic City 2015 (2nd)
– GP Vancouver 2015 (4th)
– GP Vancouver 2014 Champion
– GP Calgary 2013 Champion
– GP Kyoto 2013 Champion
– GP Strasbourg 2013 (3rd)
– GP Montreal 2011 (2nd)
– 2012 Rookie of the Year
– 2015 Canadian National Team
– 2014 Canadian National Team
– 2012 Canadian National Team (Captain)
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Brainstorm, it gives you so many options but is challenging to play correctly
Favourite Format (and why): Cube – It never gets boring
Most memorable Magic moment: Winning PT Avacyn Restored
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Player Name: Shuhei Nakamura
Hometown: Somewhere in Japan
Age: 34
Occupation: Pro Magic Player
Magic Online Account: astarisk
Twitter Handle: @nakashu_
Invitation Source: Hall of Fame, Gold
Pro Level: Gold
Lifetime Pro Points: 647
Current Pro Points: 43
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Favourite Format (and why): Generally draft
Most Memorable Magic Moment: Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch. It was time to say goodbye for me, but Magic never lets me.
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Player Name: Sam Pardee
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Current Residence: Berkeley, CA
Age: 27
Occupation: Web Designer
Magic Online Account: Smdster
Twitter Handle: @Smdster
Invitation Source: Gold
Pro Level: Gold
Lifetime Pro Points: 148
Current Pro Points: 41
Notable Finishes:
– GP Detroit 2015 (1st)
– GP Krakow 2015 (T8)
– GP Charlotte 2015 (T8)
– GP Denver 2015 (3rd)
– GP Portland 2013 (1st)
– GP Albuquerque 2013 (2nd)
– GP Toronto 2012 (2nd)
– GP Madison (T8)
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Gavony Township, makes your bad creatures great
Favourite Format (and why): Modern, the games are very interactive and it feels easiest to get an edge
Most memorable Magic moment: Going 12-0 in Toronto after punting my win-and-in in Chicago the week before.
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Player Name: Steve Rubin
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Current Residence: Pittsburgh, PA
Age: 24
Occupation: High School Boys Varsity Ultimate Frisbee Coach, Part-time Student, Magic Player
Twitter Handle: @RubinZoo
Magic Online Account: Sturvedog
Invitation Souce: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 151
Current Pro Points: 60
Notable Finishes: Pro Tour Madrid Champion, 4 GP top 8s
Favorite Magic Card: Ingot Chewer
Favorite Format (and why): Team Draft, because that’s how I got into playing Magic.
Most Memorable Moment: Climbing Oahu’s Diamond Head Summit Trail with teammates and friends after PT Hawaii.
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Player Name: Mike Sigrist
Hometown: Weymouth MA
Current Residence: Mansfield MA
Age: 32
Occupation: Student
Magic Online Account: CHRISTIAN LAETTNER
Twitter Handle: @MSigrist83
Invitation Source: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 191
Current Pro Points: 48
Notable Finishes:
– GP Charlotte 2016 (4th)
– GP New York City 2016 (5th)
– PT Magic Origins (2nd)
– Player of the Year 2015
– Team USA 2015 (Captain)
– GP Montreal 2015 Champion
– PT Khans of Tarkir (T4)
– PT Portland 2014 (26th)
– GP Washington DC 2014 (1st)
– GP Richmond 2014 (3rd)
– PT Boston 2008 (7th)
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Living Death, played my first constructed tournament
Favourite Format (and why): Limited (draft), the games and decks are always fresh.
Most memorable Magic moment: Winning Grand Prix Washington D.C.
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Player Name: Jon Stern
Hometown: Montreal
Current Residence: Montreal
Age: 38
Occupation: Magic Player & Writer
Twitter Handle: @JonSternMTL
Invitation Source: Gold, GP Toronto
Pro Level: Gold
Lifetime Pro Points: 179
Current Pro Points: 33
Notable Finishes:
GP Toronto 2016 – 2nd
GP Atlanta 2014 – 1st
GP Atlantic City 2013 – 1st
GP Louisville 2013 – 2nd
GP Vancouver 2014 – Top 4
GP Toronto 2012 – Top 8
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Aquamoeba. Some tides need no moon.
Favourite Format (and why): Rochester Draft – rewards planning ahead and adjusting on the fly
Most Memorable Magic Moment: Winning GP Atlantic City
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Player Name: Ondrej Strasky
Hometown: Ceske Budejovice
Current Residence: Prague
Age: 21
Occupation: Magic player
Twitter Handle: @ondrejstrasky
Magic Online Account: straca3
Invitation Source: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 120
Current Pro Points: 50
Notable Finishes: 2 PT top 8s
Favorite Magic Card: Daze
Favorite Format (and why): changes every week
Most Memorable Moment: winnning a match vs Thiago Saporito
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Player Name: Oliver Tiu
Current Residence: Cambridge, MA
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Twitter Handle: @TheTiuTangClan
Magic Online: TiuTangClan
Invitation Source: Top 16 Last Pro Tour
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 56
Current Pro Points: 51
Notable Finishes: 2 PT top 16s, 3 GP top 8s
Favorite Magic Card: Deathmist Raptor
Favorite Format (and why): Standard, I enjoy metagames that are constantly changing week to week and having to adapt accordingly.
Most Memorable Moment: Top 8ing my first Grand Prix, thus qualifying me for my first PT.
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Player Name: Jacob Wilson
Hometown: San Francisco
Current Residence: Vancouver
Age: 21
Occupation: Magic Player
Magic Online Account: feefyfohfum
Twitter Handle: @JacobWilson95
Invitation Source: Platinum
Pro Level: Platinum
Lifetime Pro Points: 190
Current Pro Points: 39
Notable Finishes:
– 2 Pro Tour top 8s
– 6 Gp top 8s including 2 team wins
Favourite Magic Card (and why): Oracle of Mul Daya, my first constructed deck was RUG in standard.
Favourite Format (and why): Legacy, Daze is so much fun! Every deck is very consistent and powerful
Most Memorable Magic Moment: 2nd Place at PT Born of the Gods
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