The Pro Tour Hour of Devastation Top 8 was absolutely dominated by Red. There were six aggressive Red decks (five mono-Red, one Red splashing Black), one GB Constrictor, and one Mono-Black Zombies.But the story of the Top 8, like the story of the tournament, was the dominance of mono-Red, resulting in the first three quarterfinals being red mirrors.
You can find our Pro Tour Hour of Devastation Day 1 recap here and our Day 2 recap here.
Quarterfinals #1: Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa vs. Seth Manfield
Brace yourselves, this is one for the storybooks. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (Ramunap Red) is trying to get to the finals to claim Player of the Year, while Seth Manfield (also Ramunap Red)has the team race in mind. Oh, and also winning a Pro Tour. There’s also that.
Quarterfinals #2: Yam Ying Chun vs. Shintaro Kurata
The parade of red decks continues as Yam Wing Chun runs his Ramunap Red deck headfirst into Shintaro Kurata’s Black-Red Aggro deck, designed with beating Ramunap in mind. Will his plan work out? Will Kurata get the home-country bump? Will Hazoret show up to destroy everything? Will there be more rhetorical questions? You’ll have to watch to find out!
Quarterfinals #3: Samuel Black vs. Felix Leong
Two red decks? In the Top 8 of the Pro Tour? This must be a wild coincidence! (Checks Top 8 lists) Or it was clearly the best deck at the tournament. Watch as Sam Black and Felix Leong try to burn each other out at Pro Tour Hour of Devastation.
Quarterfinals #4: Sam Pardee vs. Yusuke Sasabe
Meanwhile, in the part of the bracket with no red decks…
Sam Pardee’s on Black-Green Constrictor while Yusuke Sasabe has a Zombie horde at his back. Is it Pardee time? Will the commentators use that pun more than three times?
Semifinals #1: Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa vs. Yam Wing Chun
You aren’t ready for how this one ends. You just aren’t. Prepare yourself.
Semifinals #2: Samuel Black vs. Samuel Pardee
It’s a battle of the Samuels as Black brings his red deck against Pardee and his black (and green) deck. It’s all very confusing, but worth watching.
Finals: Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa vs. Samuel Pardee
There’s a ton on the line in the finals of Pro Tour Hour of Devastation: Thousands of dollars, a place in history, the Player of the Year title, a ton of “Pardee time” puns–and it’s worth the price of admission. Bring a seat, though you’ll only need the edge.
Videos courtesy of Wizards’ Twitch channel.