Learn more about five players who put up a great weekend through a high finish, interesting deck, or memorable moment.
5. Brad Carpenter
Brad Carpenter
Brad Carpenter might have had a rough run of things in the Modern Open, but that didn’t stop him from getting back in the game and playing the Standard Classic on Sunday. Carpenter sleeved up Four-Color Vehicles and won his second Classic in three events, and fourth in two years. While his MGG teammate, Andrew Jessup, was battling in the Modern Open Top 8, Carpenter secured 15 SCG points to stay behind Dredge or five, and was ready to bring his favorite Modern deck to battle at #SCGCHAR. Merriam picked up an early loss on Day 1, but didn’t look back, locking up a Top 8 berth in Round 15 with an intentional draw. Merriam entered the Top 8 as the No. 5 seed and took down Mark Stanton, on Grixis Death’s Shadow, in two quick games. Merriam then faced Chris Castro-Rappl on Living+End in the semis – a matchup Merriam wanted and was considered the favorite. Main deck copies of Faerie+Macabre did heavy lifting in Game 1 for Castro-Rappl, paired with a double mulligan in Game 2 for Merriam, leading to a swift exit for the Dredger in the semis. Check out Merriam’s Dredge decklist here.
3. Andrew Jessup
Andrew Jessup
Team MGG has been riding Andrew Jessup and Ben Friedman lately, with Jessup making his third Top 8 in four Opens, including a win in Atlanta in April. Jessup, often a player of the “best” deck in a format, came to Charlotte with Grixis Death’s Shadow. While Jessup got his third loss early on Day 2, it didn’t stop him from rattling off enough wins to make the Top 8, coming in as the No. 7 seed. Once in the elimination rounds, Jessup took down Evan Whitehouse in a Grixis Death’s Shadow mirror, setting up his semifinals match against Todd Stevens on Eldrazi Tron. Jessup took the first game of the semis, but couldn’t dig up another win – leaving him in fourth-place on the weekend. Jessup’s play as of late will make him a player to look out for at the Invitational at the end of the month. Check out Jessup’s Grixis Death’s Shadow decklist here.
2. Chris Castro-Rappl
Chris Castro-Rappl
Only one player made Day 2 at #SCGCHAR with Living+End, and that player was Chris Castro-Rappl. A day 2 appearance wasn’t good enough for Castro-Rappl, however, as he managed to make the Top 8 as the No. 8 seed by winning his Round 15 match against Caden Kreppein on Jeskai Control. Once in the Top 8, Castro-Rappl took down Greg Gentile on Eldrazi Tron in the quarters before sending Ross+Merriam and his Dredge deck home in the semis. Castro-Rappl was one match away from giving Living+End a title, but Todd Stevens and Eldrazi Tron had all the answers in two games. Check out Castro-Rappl’s Living+End decklist Todd+Stevens
Few players have put more work into a singular deck than Todd+Stevens on Eldrazi Tron. Stevens has been putting up strong results with the deck over the past couple weeks and finally found the right build to fight Death’s Shadow decks along with the rest of the field. Stevens ID’d into the Top 8 as the No. 3 seed and broke his run of falling in the quarterfinals by defeating Travis Speth on Grixis Death’s Shadow in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Stevens got past Andrew Jessup, also on Grixis Death’s Shadow, in three nail-biters, setting up his finals match against Chris Castro-Rappl on Living+End. Stevens went to five in Game 1, but had all the answers – leading with a Tron land, Chalice+of+the+Void on zero, and a Relic+of+Progenitus. Game 1 ended quickly, leading to Game 2 where Stevens had two copies of Surgical+Extraction and plenty of gas to fight on the board in combat. In the end, an All is Dust cleared the way for his tournament-winning attack. For Stevens, #SCGCHAR is his first Open win in nine Top 8s, and boosts him into the lead in the SCG Tour® rankings for the season. Check out Stevens’ Eldrazi Tron decklist here.
