Elias Watsfeldt won Players Tour Online 1 this afternoon, defeating Dominik Goertzen in a Temur Reclamation mirror match in the finals two games to one.
The first Players Tour to be played on MTG Arena came two weeks after both Fires of Invention and Agent of Treachery were banned in Standard. With the most powerful mana doubler banned, players turned to the second most powerful, Wilderness Reclamation, resulting in over 40% of the field at Players Tour Online 1 being made up of Temur Reclamation decks.
Watsfeldt was one of the 79 players that brought Temur Reclamation and stocked his maindeck with cards for the inevitable mirrors: four copies of Aether Gust and three of Mystical Dispute. Watsfeldt said that he chose to play additional copies of Aether Gust, rather than the more-commonly played Scorching Dragonfire that got left in the sideboard, because it “was a way of adding additional cards for the mirror, without losing answers to Mayhem Devil and such.”
Standard Temur Reclamation by Elias Watsfeldt (1st Place)
| Creatures (3) 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Spells (21) 4 Aether Gust 4 Expansion // Explosion 4 Growth Spiral 3 Mystical Dispute 3 Opt 2 Negate 1 Thassa’s Intervention Enchantments (8) 4 Shark Typhoon 4 Wilderness Reclamation | Lands (28) 4 Breeding Pool 4 Fabled Passage 4 Ketria Triome 3 Steam Vents 3 Stomping Ground 2 Blast Zone 2 Castle Vantress 2 Forest 2 Island 1 Mountain 1 Temple of Mystery Sideboard (15) 1 Ashiok’s Erasure 2 Brazen Borrower 2 Chemister’s Insight 1 Commence the Endgame 1 Negate 3 Nightpack Ambusher 2 Scorching Dragonfire 3 Shock |
Watsfeldt’s bet paid of handsomely at Players Tour Online 1, where he played six Temur Reclamation mirror matches on Day 1. He finished with an 11-4 record and in fourth place at the end of the swiss rounds, putting him into the Top 8 with five other Temur Reclamation decks and two Bant Ramp decks—meaning every deck in the Top 8 was a Blue/Green-based ramp deck. Previously, there had never had 32 copies of a single card (four copies in all eight decks) in a Pro Tour, Mythic Championship, or Players Tour Top 8, but today saw two cards with 32 copies: Growth Spiral and Breeding Pool, with Fabled Passage just missing out at 31 copies.
The Top 8 bracket of Players Tour Online 1.
Continuing the theme from the rest of the tournament, Watsfeldt faced two more Temur Reclamation mirrors in the quarter and semifinals to advance to the finals, where he met Dominik Görtzen for his third mirror match of the Top 8.
In Game 1 of the finals, Görtzen was the first player to land a Wilderness Reclamation and overpowered Watsfeldt with tons of mana, but Görtzen’s deck didn’t cooperate in Game 2, allowing Watsfeldt to beat down with an unanswered Wolfpack Ambusher. In the decisive Game 3, Watsfeldt snuck another Wolfpack Ambusher through Görtzen’s hand full of counterspells, which proceeded to generate a 3/3 token every turn while Görtzen struggled—and failed—to find an answer.
Players Tour Online 1 was Watsfeldt’s first top finish and his first high-level tournament win. He had come close multiple times before, having Top 8’d five Grand Prix from 2011-2018. His victory earns him $8,000 and an invite to the Players Tour Finals Online in August.
The Players Tour Online concludes next weekend with the Players Tour Online 3 and 4 events.