The all-Hall of Fame Top 4 of the Magic Pro League’s Emerald Division faced off on Saturday with former World Champion Seth Manfield winning it all and earning himself a bye to Day 2 of Mythic Championship V. He defeated Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 2-0 in the finals.
Manfield went 5-2 in the round robin portion with Esper Control allowing him to begin the Top 4 as the number one seed and in the upper bracket finals of the double-elimination bracket. He elected to switch to Orzhov Vampires for the Top 4.
In first match in the Upper Finals, Manfield and his Orzhov Vampires faced Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa, who playing Simic Nexus. Damo da Rosa had also gone 5-2 during the round robin portion, where he played Mono-Red.
The Emerald Division Top 4 bracket of the Magic Pro League’s Core Split.
Vampires seemed to be favored against Simic Nexus despite Manfield losing Game 1. In Games 2 and 3, Manfield came out of the gates aggressively and Damo da Rosa couldn’t keep up. Manfield took the match 2-1 and moved on to the Grand Finals, while Damo da Rosa dropped to the Lower Finals, where he awaited the winner of Martin Jůza and Shota Yasooka.
Jůza was also playing Simic Nexus and made his way to the Lower Finals after defeating Yasooka on Esper Control in three games. So it was a Simic Nexus mirror to decide who got to face off against Manfield in the finals, which Damo da Rosa won in three games, earning himself a rematch against Vampires.
The Finals
In Game 1, Manfield had an aggressive start with Knight of the Ebon Legion and Adanto Vanguard, activating his Adanto Vanguard to give it indestructible—despite it having summoning sickness and not attacking—but more importantly to lose four life and put a counter on his Knight. He then played a Turn 3 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and immediately minused to put a Champion of Dusk into play and draw three cards.
On the other side of the table, Damo da Rosa was still trying to establish a board presence but, given Manfield’s incredibly fast start, was put in the position of needing to cast Root Snare just to survive. The Vampires kept coming, with a Legion Lieutenant, Skymarcher Aspirant, and Vicious Conquistador. Manfield sacrificed the Skymarcher to Sorin’s +1 ability and dealt three damage to Damo da Rosa’s face, who couldn’t find another Root Snare to stay alive, allowing Manfield to take Game 1.
Manfield kept a slower hand to start Game 2, which gave Damo da Rosa enough time to play a Search for Azcanta. Manfield drew and cast a Duress, which Damo da Rosa was able to counter with Veil of Summer to protect the Wilderness Reclamation in his hand.
Manfield was still able to get attacks in, though, and a second Duress took Damo da Rosa’s second Search for Azcanta, and his Mortify dealt with the Search for Azcanta in play.
With his board and hand decimated, Damo da Rosa could only play a second Wilderness Reclamation and put a counter on Blast Zone. Manfield played a Sanctum Seeker, forcing Damo da Rosa to activate Blast Zone to slow the bleeding. But Blast Zone was only able to destroy a Legion Lieutenant, as Manfield’s Adanto Vanguard lived after being made indestructible.
Damo da Rosa was left at four life with a Root Snare and Forest in hand. The Root Snare was able to keep him alive for another turn but the fog effect couldn’t stop Sanctum Seeker triggers, so he fell to two life. With no more outs for Damo da Rosa, Manfield won the Emerald Division Grand Finals 2-0 to become the division champion.
The Top 4 of the Emerald Division in the Magic Pro League’s Core Split
With the conclusion of the Emerald Division, the Magic Pro League’s Core Split is now half over. Carlos Romão, winner of the Pearl Division last week, and Seth Manfield have both earned the bye to Day 2 of Mythic Championship V in October, with two more MPL division winner slots still to be decided.
The Sapphire Division is up next after a two week break and the Top 4 will be shown on September 7. The Ruby Division will be wrap up the Core Split the week after with the Top 4 matches will be featured September 14. Both Top 4 brackets can be watched on twitch.tv/magic at 3 PM Eastern and all previous matches can be seen at magic.gg.
Emerald Division Finals Decklists
Seth Manfield's Standard Orzhov Vampires
| Creatures (26) 4 Adanto Vanguard 4 Champion of Dusk 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion 4 Legion Lieutenant 3 Sanctum Seeker 3 Skymarcher Aspirant 4 Vicious Conquistador Spells (4) 2 Legion’s End 2 Mortify Enchantments (3) 3 Legion’s Landing Planeswalkers (4) 4 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord | Lands (23) 7 Plains 8 Swamp 4 Godless Shrine 4 Isolated Chapel Sideboard (15) 1 Legion’s End 1 Despark 3 Noxious Grasp 1 Plague Mare 2 Gideon Blackblade 4 Duress 1 Vona, Butcher of Magan 2 Devout Decree |
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa's Standard Simic Nexus
| Spells (21) 2 Blink of an Eye 4 Chemister’s Insight 4 Growth Spiral 4 Nexus of Fate 4 Opt 3 Root Snare Enchantments (7) 3 Search for Azcanta 4 Wilderness Reclamation Planeswalkers (6) 4 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer | Lands (26) 3 Blast Zone 4 Breeding Pool 4 Forest 4 Hinterland Harbor 5 Island 2 Memorial to Genius 4 Temple of Mystery Sideboard (15) 1 Root Snare 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Cerulean Drake 1 Negate 4 Shifting Ceratops 4 Veil of Summer 1 Pause for Reflection |