Taipei hosted the largest Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix tournament the city has ever seen this weekend and Kim Seok Hyun won the $35,000 prize pool with a Bant Ramp deck.
With over a 1,000 MTG players showing up to MagicFest in Taipei and competing in the $35,000 Grand Prix Standard tournament, Hyun edged out the competition and the most popular archetype deck brought to the event. Playing a Bant Ramp deck, Hyun relied on Hydroid Krasis to overpower Atsuki Kihara’s Esper Superfriends Control deck.
Gruul Midrange dominated the archetype popularity contest, but not a single player who brought it to the Grand Prix in Taipei ended up in the top eight.
Here are the top eight finishers and their deck archetypes at the Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix in Taipei.
- First place: Hyun playing Bant Ramp
- Second place: Kihara playing Esper Superfriends Control
- Third place: Teruya Kakumae playing Boros Feather
- Fourth place: Shota Takano playing Jund Warriors
- Fifth place: Ruey Jer Yeh playing Grixis Bolas
- Sixth place: Kazuki Yada playing Simic Nexus
- Seventh place: Yuya Sugiyama playing Bant Ramp
- Eighth place: Du Xuetong playing Grixis Bolas
Of all the archetypes in the top eight, Boros Feather is the most surprising. Kakumae and his unique Feather build could revive a deck many thought would never evolve past tier-two status.
Here’s Kakumae’s Boros Feather deck:
Main deck
- Four Adanto Vanguard
- Four Tenth District Legionnaire
- Four Dreadhorde Arcanist
- Three Legion Warboss
- Four Feather, the Redeemed
- Dire Fleet Daredevil
- Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
- Three Sheltering Light
- Four Shock
- Four Reckless Rage
- Two Gideon Blackblade
- Four Defiant Strike
Sideboard
- Three Prison Realm
- Two of Ixalan’s Binding
- Three Tocatli Honor Guard
- Two Dire Fleet Daredevil
- Two Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
- Two Lava Coil
- Demystify
As for the champion of the MTG Taipei Grand Prix, here’s Hyun’s winning Bant Ramp deck:
Main deck
- Four Llanowar Elves
- Four Paradise Druid
- Four Incubation Druid
- Three Hydroid Krasis
- Two Frilled Mystic
- Two Shalai, Voice of Plenty
- Four Teferi, Time Raveler
- Four Nissa, Who Shakes the World
- Three Mass Manipulation
- Two Entrancing Melody
- Finale of Glory
- The Immortal Sun
- Time Wipe
Sideboard
- Two Entrancing Melody
- Two Negate
- Two Trostani Discordant
- Two Ripjaw Raptor
- Two Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
- Two of Ixalan’s Binding
- The Immortal Sun
- Thrashing Brontodon
The next Magic: The Gathering MagicFest and Grand Prix tournaments are in Copenhagen and Washington D.C. from June 14 to 16. Both Grand Prix events will be played in the Limited format.
