After some weeks with fierce battles, screws, floods, topdecks and priority bugs, the following 8 are ready to conquer the title of Champion! Good luck to all of y´all!


Divinevert
Name, Age, Nationality:
John, 32, Chicago Illinois USA

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
Esper Draw-Go, 4-1
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... d68c5785e4

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
My worst matchup is probably Simic Ramp that tops out with Gaea's Revenge or mono white humans. I didn't really play either, but I lost to a version of Simic Ramp.

How’d you prepare for the Fight Club tournament?
I played online a ton. Built Mardu Control and got ready to take it to the tourney and then tested it vs. Superfriends and got beat up alot because it just felt like my version was too heavily tuned to stopping aggro. I made a meta call that the specter of Superfriends would drive down the number of aggro matches so I just said "screw it" and went really counter-heavy. I played it online and loved how it played, so I went with it. I didn't test it with anyone because I thought I might be the only one running it and didn't want to tip off others to counter-deck me.

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
-2 Horribly Awry
-1 Spell Shrivel
+2 Broken Concentration
+1 Grasp of Darkness

What was your best card?
I'll say Confirm Suspicions. It's the card that when it revolves, almost even more than planeswalkers, basically just seals games. Otherwise, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is the obvious one.

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
I got into Magic during Alpha when a free deck was given to my brother when he was getting some other card game. It was pretty fun but then we quit playing until Kamigawa. Fell back out after Lorwyn. Then my brother, me, and two of my good friends got into drafting. We would buy huge stacks of old cards at garage sales, assemble a 2,000 or so draft pile, and just shuffle and play those. The pure joy of deckbuilding is why I still play this game.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
Shoutout to Sosuke's Summons. You got me back into Magic.

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
Seemed to go (is going) great. I'll know after playing the sideboarding tournament if that option is better. But I've had a blast.




Immortal Reborn
Name, Age, Nationality:
Josh Jones 35 American

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
4c PWs 3-2
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... b42bdd112f

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
Esper Control. I went 2-1. If they hadn't drawn all their counters I could have won.

How’d you prepare for the Fight Club tournament?
-

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
I built my deck assuming the meta would be heavy on humans and I was the only person to beat the human deck, but that is not what the meta turned out to be.

What was your best card?
Chandra, Flamecaller

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
No, I played the first time when I was 13. So 22 years ago.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
Infamous Gemeni helped me test my deck extensively against my opponents deck. He was a good coach!

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
-




DJ0045
Name, Age, Nationality:
DJ 0045, 38, American

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
9-2 with Humans/Eldrazi
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... e05d612da0

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
My worst matchup is tokens, and I haven't faced it thus far. Unfortunately, Peepy's deck is a form of tokens, and it could be very difficult for my deck to beat.

How’d you prepare for the Fight Club tournament?
I just played with a few concepts I had in mind, and then flipped a coin to choose which deck would be used for iOS and which would be used for Xbox. (iOS got the Selesnya version)

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
No major changes (possibly a slight adjustment to the mana base, but I doubt it), and I'd play this deck every single time over all other options.

What was your best card?
My best card has probably been Kytheon's Irregulars for the tournament. I don't care to speculate on the actual best card in the deck. There are so many good options, it would be very hard to chose.

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
I bought my first magic cards right at the turn from beta to revised, so my first ever mtg pack was actually a beta pack. I own one alpha card though, and it's the only card I have in a protected sleeve.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
-

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
I think Double Elimination might be better next time. Some participants's chances got badly hurt by people quitting in the tournament. I think double elimination does a better job of avoiding those situations, because a bye in a round does no damage to the person receiving the bye.




Steely Danno/repentantblacksmith
Name, Age, Nationality:
Dan, 34, USA

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
4c Eldrazi Superfriends (HyperPals)
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 2b565a2d4a

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
Esper Control is a terribly difficult matchup, I think I'm in the top 8 by virtue of only having had to play it once--my only loss in the swiss. Even with the best of draws, I think I still need some bad misfortunes on the part of my opponent to win.

How’d you prepare for the Fight Club tournament?
I prepared for Fight Club by doing horribly in the Hakumite last year, where I played a glacially slow control deck with a few ineffective win conditions. Learning from my mistakes, I wanted to do something proactive and strong, and ramping into PWs and Eldrazi seemed like a good plan. Planeswalkers seemed like a pretty popular choice among skilled players, so I made several card choices with an eye towards breaking the mirror match.

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
I might have made some different choices to give me a bit more of a chance against Esper and other blue-based control, like Gaea's Revenge or something like that. I think Esper was the best choice to play in the current meta, and I expect it to win the tournament, but all the same I'm happy with my deck choice because, as I said above, I wanted to do something proactive.

What was your best card?
Hard to single one out, but in the two midrange matchups I had, Kozilek, the Great Distortion made the biggest difference.

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
I don't have too many accolades in paper magic because I try weird suboptimal ideas too often, but I've put up one or two top 8s in Modern IQs and such with Cruel Ultimatum decks. I like trying outlandish brews in Legacy, I spent last month finding a way to resolve the aforementioned seven-mana sorcery in that format (finally succeeded against Miracles). Right now I'm trying to update ProsBloom for 2016, it's a lot of fun. But not very good.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
Shoutout to Kryder for running this thing, shoutout to BATMAN for doing these profiles and making me feel cool, shootoot to Hakeem for hearing my anguished screaming on the mothership's forum and bringing me here. HAILGRIXIS

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
I would love to try one with sideboards, but I've enjoyed this one just fine. Kryder's done a great job!




Black Barney
Name, Age, Nationality:
Black Barney, 40, Canadian

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
Hakeem's Azorius fliers. 3-2 in Swiss.
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 02ae75ed7b

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
Anything with limited creatures is a bad match since I have lots of interaction. I ended up playing against 4 such decks and went 2-2 against them.

How’d you prepare for the Steam Showdown?
You mean Fight Club ? Intense masterbation.
Yes, I mean Fight Club, accidentally copy/pasted the Steam Showdown questionnaire to you ladies, BATMAN.

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
I made top eight and am still in it, so I can't regret anything. No idea what deck I should have played instead but maybe Selesnya drazi? I dunno. I was missing too many cards when this tournament started.

What was your best card?
Not the clue bird. Expose Evil has been allowing me to dig to my miracle top decks so it's hard for me to hate on it. Avacyn or the threat of Avacyn has been really key I think. Flash has been important for me.

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
Started with revised and stopped after Ice Age until Duels came out in 2009. Now I only draft in real life with friends.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
DJ for all the great play analysis during my matches. Mortivore for always showing up. Hakeem for the deck and starting these tournaments in the first place.

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
Kryder has been doing an outstanding job. There's been zero drama which means the event has all the screws tightened.




PureSynesthia
Name, Age, Nationality:
PureSynesthesia, 31, TN, USA

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
Esper control, 4-1
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 52f324351a

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
Not a particular matchup, but manlands hurt.

How’d you prepare for the Steam Showdown?
I played naya ramp for three weeks. I decided esper was a better choice and built it from scratch at the last moment.

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
It feels like the right deck, but it's basically a rough draft. Definitely needs 2 celestial flare and 2-3 grasp of darkness. Broken concentration somewhere as well.

What was your best card?
Confirm suspicions

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
I played during urza block, and then zendikar through return to ravnica.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
Kryder for taking the time.

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
I would of liked a draw in round 5, obviously. It's just part of Swiss to me. Not a big deal, though. It's been a great tournament.




PeepySqueeps/TibalTown 95
Name, Age, Nationality:
Name: TibaltTown95 Nationality: USA USA USA

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
I played Blondie ( Zombie Tides ) and went 4-1
My worst match ups are aggro decks when i cant kill creatures and control decks when they have planeswalkers and counter my spells.
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... be83e38eff

How’d you prepare for the Steam Showdown?
i prepared by rigorously masturbating and listening to old music. The tide is high and my shore is all but dry

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
this deck **** sucks but its sweet. brain in the jar is a bad card but the spice is real. its like sporty spice from the spice girls spice. im just trying to prove i could play garbage

What was your best card?
island

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
in real life iv won states once. made top 8 more than a handful of times. made top 8 in a few pptqs as well as Iqs. im also a L1 judge in real life. tons of experience i suppose

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
shout out to blondie for making some sick beats back in her drug induced days

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
ban chaing and infamous and the world will continue to turn in peace




Donachaid
Name, Age, Nationality:
Donachaid, 35, UK

What deck did you play and what was your record after the swiss rounds?
Flayer UG ramp, 3-2
Decklist: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 95642ec5d0

What do you feel is your worst match up? How’d you do against it in the swiss?
Mono red aggro? A fast WW deck? I think I'd need to play more games to be sure. I lost 0-2 to DJ's white humans.

How’d you prepare for the Steam Showdown?
I practiced Abzan midrange mostly but happened to see Flayer's stream playing his UG ramp deck a couple days before deck submission deadline. It seemed powerful and fun to play, with many possible lines to choose from at each turn. So I made a few changes from Flayer's version to suit my preferences and submitted my list.

In hindsight are there any changes that you would've made to your list, or what deck would you have rather have played?
I'd find room for another From Beyond, it's been great every time it resolved.

What was your best card?
Part the Waterveil, it wins games out of nowhere.

Do you have any experience with real life Magic or achievements in Magic you want to share?
I played Magic from Unlimited to Mirage / Urza block I think, it was a long time ago and I can't remember precisely. I played in lots of paper tournaments at the time.

Shoutouts to anyone/anything?
Flayer for providing the initial decklist, Gemini for practicing matchups and Kryder for the organisation of the tournament.

Suggestions for improving the overall Magic Duels Fight Club experience?
Kryder has it under control.

Cool thread; can't wait to see the rest!

Good idea, Batman I'm eager to read more

Good lord are these ever snoozers. No matter how hard I try, I know I won't have a more interesting one than Peepy. I'm looking forward to Danno's the most

I refuse to lost one if he doesn't use every single word

Yeah I submitted mine but I'm worried our Dutch friend will censor my answers, especially how I prepared for the tournament. Lest he remember it was Canada that freed Holland...

In Holland you can say anything so I don't have a filter. Added your uncut and raw material.

Bonus shootoot to Barney for being such an all-around great human.

Wow, I was going to complain about only making the B-side of your thank you roll, but that's just too hella nice. Thanks xo

*blushing*

Added PeepySqueeps/TibalTown 95's questionnaire.

The boy knows how to prepare

Added the last top 8 competator's questionnaire, all 8 profiles complete!

Happy birthday Batman! We miss you

Great write up. Really helped people to learn about how great I am.

Happy birthday Batman! Miss you and this thread