GP Copenhagen (Sideboard Text)

5. Wafo-tapa, Guillaume $1,500

This is the best tournament there's been in a while.


Quick' n Toast
by Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
5th place at GP Copenhagen

4 Rune Snag
4 Cryptic Command
2 Pact of Negation

2 Condemn
2 Pyroclasm
2 Firespout
2 Slaughter Pact

3 Mulldrifter
3 Careful Consideration
2 Mystical Teachings

2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Cloudthresher
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
1 Platinum Angel

1 Coalition Relic
4 Wall of Roots

1 Tolaria West
1 Urza's Factory
2 Dreadship Reef
1 Fungal Reaches
4 Mystic Gate
3 Yavimaya Coast
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Meadow

SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 3 Runed Halo
SB: 2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
SB: 1 Squall Line
SB: 2 Archon of Justice
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 1 Haunting Hymn
SB: 1 Imp's Mischief
SB: 1 Mind Shatter
SB: 1 Pact of Negation

This list is very advanced; it has no Kitchen Finks and no Runed Halo in the maindeck. Teferi and Mystical Teachings had already been seen from Olivier Ruel at French Nationals, but something no one else would have figured out is the 2/2/2/2 removal kit. Vivid Meadow instead of Grove is pretty cool; the deck has a lot more room to breathe without all those Cloudthreshers.

In the sideboard, Haunting Hymn over the second Mind Shatter is a nice bit of tech from block constructed. I can't figure out when Archon of Justice comes in, but Guillaume Wafo-Tapa knows a lot of things I don't.

round 4 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Nis Berthelsen (DNK)
round 5 - W, 2-1-0, vs. David Christensen (DNK)
round 6 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Peter Steinaa (DNK)
round 7 - L, 0-2-0, vs. David Larsson (SWE)
round 8 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Cyryl Kociecki (POL)
round 9 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Liking Saiyasely (FRA)

round 10 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Gabriel Nassif (FRA)
round 11 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Robin Lehmann (DEU)
round 12 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Oskar Sköld (SWE)
round 13 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Dominik Piatkowski (POL)
round 14 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Shuhei Nakamura (JPN)
round 15 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Tomoharu Saito (JPN)

quarterfinal - L, 0-2-0, vs. Shuhei Nakamura (JPN)

total matches: 10-3-0
total games: 21-9-0

Here are some games won/lost records for other top players in Copenhagen:

David Larsson: 27-9-0
Tomoharu Saito: 26-9-0
Shuhei Nakamura: 23-9-0

I hoped those statistics would prove that Wafo-Tapa was the best player in the tournament. But instead they just proved that he played fewer rounds than the other players.

In general, games won/lost seems like a really good statistic to measure a player's success in some detail. Maybe it would make for better tiebreaks than opponent win percentage?

Round 14 versus Shuhei Nakamura
covered by Daniel Ullenius

Guillaume misses a land drop turn four or five, but he has Wall of Roots and Condemn to handle the green creatures. He has counters for everything big, but Shuhei gets in some damage with Treetop Villages. Then Guillaume has Teferi into Oona and the game is over.

In game two Guillaume mulligans and his Wall of Roots gets Thoughtseized. He can't draw Firespount but he can draw three Cryptic Commands to get three Fog effects. Shuhei keeps playing threats and just wins the game.



In game three Guillaume opens on Coalition Relic; Shuhei has man-lands but not much early pressure. Shuhei has Garruk, Guillaume has Teferi, and then Shuhei resolves a big Profane Command to kill Teferi and get back a Tarmogoyf. Guillaume is drawing cards and gets three Wall of Roots, but he falls to six. Runed Halo on Treetop Village means Guillaume has enough blockers for now.

Guillaume starts chaining Mystical Teachings, getting down Teferi and a Cryptic Command to Fog. Shuhei keeps playing creatures. Guillaume falls to one but still has blockers; he gets Runed Halo on Tarmogoyf and tutors up Oona. When he activates and makes five tokens Shuhei scoops. Wafo-Tapa makes top eight at one life.

(We got to see some end step Careful Considerations in this match. I have not always known when to cast those.)


Quarterfinal versus Shuhei Nakamura
covered by Tim Willoughby

Shuhei dumps creatures and Guillaume builds mana. Eyeblight's Ending kills Wall of Roots to get a Colossus through, but on the next turn Guillaume has Condemn. Mutavault and Murderous Redcap get Guillaume to five; Firespout is not very effective. Guillaume keeps drawing cards but doesn't find a win.

In game two Guillaume is short on lands, Shuhei starts pointing removal at Wall of Roots, and Guillaume has to counter. Shuhei gets Bitterblossom and Guillaume draws cards to look for mana.

Guillaume gets his sixth mana for Oona, but he is already down to 4. Guillaume taps out to make blockers so Shuhei gets to Profane Command for the last four damage.


In the top 8 profiles, Wafo-Tapa says that his best card in the tournament was Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. He also says that he doesn't care about sports much.


Here are the pro point standings after GP Copenhagen:

46 Shuuhei Nakamura
36 Olivier Ruel
31 Guillaume Wafo-tapa
31 Jan Ruess
31 Raphael Levy
30 Yong Han Choo
29 Mario Pascoli
29 Robert van Medevoort
28 Jon Finkel
28 Yuuta Takahashi

Wafo-Tapa is now tied for third with two other players. He will be in first place by ten points after he wins Pro Tour Berlin.


I've also found out that Wafo-Tapa writes articles for a French website called Lotus Noir. Unfortunately, their articles are only visible if you've paid thirty Euros for an account.

Since this is an entire blog about Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, I can only assume he reads it. Guillaume, if you are there, I have an offer -- switch over and start writing articles for the Wafo-Tapa Blog! We cannot pay you anything, but you would be able to reach millions of fans with your writing voice, instead of just a few paid subscribers.

If you are interested, my email address is verdant4ce@hotmail.com .

They had some boring tournaments in Madrid, Kobe, and Denver, nothing to report except that Wafo-Tapa would have won if he'd shown up. There were also some nationals tournaments this past few months, but Wafo-Tapa wasn't even allowed to play in those.

The one highlight in Magic this summer was French Nationals, and even that one is tainted by the fact that Christophe Peyronnel was the winner. Mono-red decks are boring. What the world needs is Mystical Teachings decks.



Noir Bleu Control
by Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

4 Remove Soul
4 Rune Snag
4 Cryptic Command
2 Pact of Negation

3 Terror
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Damnation

4 Ancestral Vision
3 Mystical Teachings

2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Oona, Queen of the Fae
1 Platinum Angel

3 Desert
4 Dreadship Reef
3 Secluded Glen
3 Underground River
3 Sunken Ruins
2 Reflecting Pool
8 Island

SB: 4 Consign to Dream
SB: 2 Flashfreeze
SB: 1 Damnation
SB: 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
SB: 1 Eyeblight's Ending

SB: 1 Mind Shatter
SB: 2 Vendilion Clique
SB: 1 Extirpate
SB: 1 Haunting Hymn
SB: 1 Pact of Negation

The deck and the picture are from this article, which can be seen here in English. The most important thing it says is to warn people that Mono-Red is a bad match-up.

Also I have noticed recently a lot of bad Quick 'n Toast decks circulating on the Internet. I have some changes that I recommend for everyone who might play one of these decks.


Fixing Olivier Ruel's deck from GP Buenos Aires:

+ 1 Kitchen Finks
+ 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
+ 1 Crpytic Command
+ 1 Makeshift Mannequin
+ 1 Mystic Gate

- 1 Platinum Angel
- 2 Mind Shatter
- 2 Pact of Negation
- 1 Dreadship Reef

+ SB: 2 Mind Shatter
+ SB: 1 Detritivore
+ SB: 1 Murderous Redcap
+ SB: 3 Wispmare
+ SB: 2 Primal Command
+ SB: 1 Shriekmaw
+ SB: 1 Teferi's Moat

- SB: 2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
- SB: 3 Faerie Macabre
- SB: 2 Damnation
- SB: 1 Firespout
- SB: 1 Pact of Negation
- SB: 1 Platinum Angel
- SB: 1 Slaughter Pact


Fixing Mark Herberholz's deck from US Nationals:

+ 1 Kitchen Finks
+ 1 Mulldrifter
+ 1 Makeshift Mannequin
+ 1 Slaughter Pact
+ 1 Careful Consideration

- 1 Nucklavee
- 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
- 1 Murderous Redcap
- 1 Firespout
- 1 Damnation

+ 2 Fungal Reaches
+ 4 Yavimaya Coast
+ 2 Mystic Gate

- 1 Adarkar Wastes
- 4 Flooded Grove
- 2 Grove of the Burnwillows
- 1 Dreadship Reef

+ SB: 2 Teferi's Moat
+ SB: 2 Primal Command
+ SB: 1 Wispmare
+ SB: 1 Murderous Redcap
+ SB: 1 Detritivore
+ SB: 3 Mind Shatter
+ SB: 1 Shriekmaw

- SB: 4 Condemn
- SB: 1 Damnation
- SB: 3 Extirpate
- SB: 1 Slaughter Pact
- SB: 1 Pact of Negation
- SB: 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir


Fixing Olivier Ruel's deck from French Nationals:

+ 1 Kitchen Finks
+ 2 Mulldrifter
+ 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
+ 1 Cryptic Command
+ 3 Makeshift Mannequin

- 1 Platinum Angel
- 1 Coalition Relic
- 2 Condemn
- 1 Firespout
- 1 Mystical Teachings
- 2 Pact of the Negation

+ 1 Dreadship Reef
+ 1 Mystic Gate
+ 1 Yavimaya Coast
+ 2 Sunken Ruins

- 2 Calciform Pools
- 2 Flooded Grove
- 1 Tolaria West
- 1 Urza's Factory

+ SB: 1 Detritivore
+ SB: 1 Mind Shatter
+ SB: 1 Murderous Redcap
+ SB: 2 Primal Command
+ SB: 1 Shriekmaw
+ SB: 3 Teferi's Moat
+ SB: 3 Wispmare

- SB: 1 Arbiter of Knollridge
- SB: 1 Condemn
- SB: 2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
- SB: 2 Extirpate
- SB: 2 Luminesce
- SB: 1 Mystical Teachings
- SB: 1 Pact of Negation
- SB: 2 Wrath of God


Fixing Gerry Thompson's deck from GP Denver:

+ 1 Plumeveil
+ 1 Broken Ambitions
+ 1 Makeshift Mannequin
+ 3 Mind Spring

- 2 Archon of Justice
- 1 Firespout
- 2 Runed Halo
- 1 Oona's Grace

+ 1 Fire-lit Thicket
+ 2 Forest
+ 2 Sunken Ruins
+ 1 Vivid Grove
+ 1 Wooded Bastion

- 1 Cascade Bluffs
- 3 Flooded Grove
- 1 Mystic Gates
- 2 Vivid Meadow

+ SB: 1 Firespout
+ SB: 3 Jace Beleren
+ SB: 2 Mind Shatter
+ SB: 1 Plumeveil
+ SB: 2 Primal Command
+ SB: 2 Twilight Shepherd

- SB: 3 Chameleon Colossus
- SB: 2 Hallowed Burial
- SB: 2 Runed Halo
- SB: 4 Wispmare


Grand Prix Copenhagen is next week. Assuming Wafo-Tapa wins, it will give him ten pro points, which will tie him for first in the Player of the Year race.

Indianapolis and Buenos Aires

142 Wafo-Tapa, Guillaume * [FRA]
151 Wafo-tapa, Guillaume

Lame. I would say something about tiebreaks except he actually missed out on points instead of tiebreaks. Probably the tournament organizers are at fault.

Indianapolis

round 4 - L, 0-2-0, vs. John Gapinski
round 5 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Kyle Olson
round 6 - W, 2-0-0, vs. James Aracich
round 7 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Jasper Johnson-Epstein
round 8 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Trey Dismukes
round 9 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Zack Wolff

total matches: 3-3-0
total games: 6-8-0

The only mention of Wafo-Tapa in coverage is when Rich Hagon picks him for a fantasy Pro Tour team.


Buenos Aires

round 4 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Damian Llorente [ARG] (R/G Mana Ramp)
round 5 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Fra(nco?) Sabella Barciella [BRA]
round 6 - L, 1-2-0, vs. F(rancisco?) Montini D'Oliveira [BRA]
round 7 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Nicolas Righetti [URY]
round 8 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Nicolas de Nicola [ARG] (Doran)

total matches: 2-3-0
total games: 5-6-0



This tournament was a little better because Wafo-Tapa was at least in the coverage. We know he played Quick'n Toast but we don't know what list.

First, Nate Price says that the French players stopped in Iguazú to hang out and play soccer between GPs, and that they're also seeing Uruguay before they leave.

Then he gets a feature match against Damian Llorente. In game one Llorente gets early beats and kills the Wall of Roots, so Guillaume goes to five. He climbs to nine with Finks but Llorente has too many creatures.

Game two they both mulligan and Magus of the Moon locks Wafo-Tapa out.



Then Wafo-Tapa is included in a pro poll, on a poll team with Olivier Ruel. Together they decide that there should be more PTs in Japan.



That is seriously all the Wafo-Tapa coverage from those two GPs, unless there was coverage on a Brazilian site I don't know about.

PT Hollywood (Podcast Coverage)

All seven podcasts found here.

Podcast 1, Pre-production
[starting after 14 minutes]

RH: Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, good morning to you.

GWT: Good morning.

RH: Are you well?

GWT: I'm okay.

RH: "I'm okay." Okay, how about the deck? Is that in good shape?

GWT: I think the deck is very good.

[Someone walks by a squeals.]

RH: Yes, it is Guillaume Wafo-Tapa. You're right, my friend. Someone's very excited to be here. So tell us a bit about it. I know you were testing a while ago in Brussels with Remi Fortier. He was sort of playing a bit with you, and at that point, he said to us, Look, we're really struggling and we can't find a control deck that we really like, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly exciting out there. Do you think you've got a winner this time?

GWT: I think we've got a winner. It's pretty hard to handle Faeries when you're playing control, but I think the deck is fine.

RH: Okay, and is it a control deck?

GWT: Yeah.

RH: Wow, can't wait to see that. Ladies and gentlemen Guillaume Wafo-Tapa in the house. Thank you very much indeed. Best of luck, Guillaume.

Podcast 2 and 3, L.A. 3.0
[starts in podcast 2 after 16 minutes]

Wafo-Tapa is playing Mandee Peralta (Faeries).
Wafo-Tapa is playing slowly but Rich says that this can be expected.
Wafo-Tapa's deck is all foil.
Peralta counters a Firespout.
Peralta has Visions suspended and two Bitterblossoms.
Wafo-Tapa has been saving up storage mana.
He resolves Chameleon Colossus and a Makeshift Cloudthresher.
He passes with two cards in hand.
He kills Peralta with Cloudthresher.
1-0, Wafo-Tapa.

Peralta Thoughtseizes.
Wafo-Tapa is holding Wispmare, Cloudthresher, and other spells.
Wafo-Tapa builds mana.
Peralta resolves Ancestral Visions.
Someone casts Thoughtseize.
Wafo-Tapa has a lot of mana.
Peralta has 5 power of Faeries and a Visions at four counters.
Peralta wins.
1-1.

Peralta plays Spellstutter Sprite with no targets.
Peralta gets Mistbind Clique
Wafo-Tapa gets a Makeshift Mulldrifter.
Wafo-Tapa wins somehow.
2-1.

Post-game interview with Mandee Peralta:
- He was comfortable playing against Wafo-Tapa.
- "You have to play to get better."
- He Thoughtseized Wafo-Tapa game three and got scared then.
- He dealt with a lot of Wafo-Tapa's threats.
- But then he lost to Oona off the top.

Podcast 4, The Colour of Magic
[starts after 24 minutes]

Rich Hagon and Ted Knutson do some math about how good Wafo-Tapa is. They say he wins two matches out of three in a Constructed Pro Tour, which is as good a rate as Jon Finkel usually gets. Then, based on an 8-0 day one record, they give him 40-1 odds of sweeping the Pro Tour.

Podcast 6, And the Clock Strikes Thirteen

1:20 - Rich points out that Wafo-Tapa made a winning streak of nineteen "non-Finkel" Pro Tour matches between Kuala Lumpur and Hollywood.

24:00 - Rich asks Marijn Lybaert if he expects to make top 8. Marijn says there are too many good players, and that a pro can only expect to make top 8 in every tenth or twentieth PT.

Marijn: I don't think -- if you top eight one every year, that's just like ... Guillaume Wafo-Tacos is the only one that can do that.

Rich: I saw what you did there. He's a pretty exceptional Magic player, and you obviously get to be near him quite a lot, because you're on the top tables with him quite a lot. Is he one of the best we've seen?

Marijn: I think he is, but it's mainly because he plays so much. He doesn't do anything else but play ten hours a day. Anyone who does that can be really good; I think that makes the difference. When I was in school last year I played very much, so at the end of the season I was doing good. But now I've got work; I've got a lot of things to do. Without so much testing, you're not prepared for everything and things you don't expect happen.

Rich: And he does seem pretty prepared for everything.

Marijn: Yeah, he knows everything. He will tell you, "You've got five cards in your hand? That's that, that, that, that, and that." He'll know that.


Marijn makes excuses, tries to insult Wafo-Tapa, but won't just admit that he is not as good. Other people have played Magic ten hours a day before, but none of those players are the best player. Wafo-Tapa is the best player and is also psychic.


Podcast 7, The Final Cut

3:00 - Wafo-Tapa is playing Aaron Nicastri. Guillaume kills Llanowar Elves and Wren's Run Vanquisher, then evokes Mulldrifter. Nicastri gets Tarmogoyf and man-lands.

4:40 - Nicastri attacks with Tarmogoyf and Mutavault. Guillaume gets a Makeshift Mulldrifter to block. Nicastri scoops.

9:30 - Nicastri Thoughtseizes out a Mannequin.

15:20 - Guillaume has Oona. Nicastri attacks with smaller creatures guys, loses Shriekmaw but gets him to ten. Nicastri is out of gas. Nicastri keeps trying to force damage but Guillaume just makes tokens and outlasts him.

The Oona endgame was drawn out for ten minutes in the coverage, which means it took ten minutes in real life, which gives a sense of just how slowly Wafo-Tapa plays Magic. It's also revealed that Nicastri tried boarding in Damnation against Quick'n Toast.

31:00 - Rich talks to Zvi Mowshowitz about his expectations.

Zvi: You can't realistically expect to, a regular basis, finish with three losses, unless you're Wafo-Tapa, at this point.

Rich: Is he the best player currently playing regularly? (I chose that phrase pretty carefully.)

Zvi: He is by far, as far as I can tell, the best player currently playing. I would take Wafo-Tapa, at this point, over anybody. Finkel is obviously a special case, and he's gonna be an amazing player, but the sheer amount of work Wafo-Tapa does at this point, and the sheer amount of knowledge he has and the expertise he has ... It's possible that he is as good as anyone's ever been right now.

Rich: It's pretty exciting to be around that, really. Certainly from a player who hasn't got Hall of Fame pretensions, to see someone at their peak. Because I never saw you at the absolute peak of your powers, or Jon. I see you now, coming in, going "Yeah, I haven't done a lot of preparation but I'm still going to annhialate almost everyone." So Wafo-Tapa is the modern day version of that, where he appears not to break sweat -- that's the scary bit.

Zvi: He's got the Ferguson act going on. He doesn't have the cowboy hat, but he's just sitting there, doesn't have any expressions. And that's a huge advantage, but at the same time I like to play a different style.


There. I just listened to all seven podcasts and wrote down the Wafo-Tapa highlights. As of writing, he's missed day two at a couple of Grand Prixes; I will put up what I find about those.

If you see or hear anything about Wafo-Tapa's Magic that slips by this blog, please leave a comment and I will probably add it in.

GP Birmingham (Sideboard Text)

22 Wafo-tapa, Guillaume * [FRA] $400 2

Wafo-Tapa always wins money.


round 4 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Sean M. Fitzgerald (IRL)
round 5 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Guy Southcott (ENG)
round 6 - W, ?-?-?, vs. Joel Calafell (ESP)
round 7 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Remi Fortier (FRA)
round 8 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Carlos Santiago (ESP)

round 9 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Cormac Smith (IRL)
round 10 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Raphael Levy (FRA)
round 11 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Michael Duke (ENG)
round 12 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Raul Porojan (DEU)
round 13 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Joaq Tejero Hernandez (ESP)
round 14 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Shuhei Nakamura (JPN)

total matches: 7-4-0
total games: 15-9-0

(The games record would probably be better if the Joel Calafell match was posted.)


This was a kind of boring tournament. Wafo-Tapa got only one coverage match, and he played another lame Manuel Bucher deck. Probably if he'd played one of his own decks, he would have come in first.

(Maybe it will be better in podcasts.)


Round 4 versus Sean Fitzgerald
covered by Tobias Henke



In game one it looks like Fitzgerald is winning the Mulldrifter wars, but Guillaume has card advantage spells (Cryptic Command, Makeshift Mannequin) where Fitzgerald just has regular spells (Smokebraider, Incandescent Soulstoke). Guillaume wins with Cloudthresher.

In game two, Fitzgerald mulligans into a slow start. He evens up the board but then Guillaume gets Mind Spring for six and just takes over.

Also, Manuel Bucher did a deck tech with Tobias Henke. The best part is when he explains the choice of Plumeveil (best card in Shadowmoor) and when he talks about adds Twilight Shepherd (great in B/W Sealed decks).


8 Commandments
Manuel Bucher & Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

3 Shriekmaw
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
3 Cloudthresher
3 Makeshift Mannequin

4 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command

3 Firespout
1 Plumeveil
2 Austere Command

3 Mind Spring

1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Wooded Bastion
3 Mystic Gate
2 Sunken Ruins
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Grove
2 Vivid Meadow

SB: 1 Cloudthresher
SB: 1 Shriekmaw
SB: 1 Firespout
SB: 3 Plumeveil
SB: 2 Primal Command
SB: 2 Mind Shatter
SB: 3 Jace Beleren
SB: 2 Twilight Shepherd

Bucher has learned his lesson from Hollywood, and now they have four Cryptic Command maindeck.

With a 22nd place finish, Wafo-Tapa is at 26 pro points -- a lock for level six next year (old level four). He is eight points out of the lead in Player of the Year; everyone ahead of him is either a Pro Tour finalist or Shuhei Nakamura.

Wafo-Tapa is still the best player.

PT Hollywood (Sideboard Text)

13 Wafo-tapa, Guillaume [FRA] $5,000 8

He deserved top eight, but still.
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa shows again that he is the best.

round 1 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Eric Neilson
round 2 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Shougo Sunada
round 3 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Mandee Peralta
round 4 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Martin Juza (Doran)
round 5 - W, 2-0-0, vs. David Felske (GW Big Mana)
round 6 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Yuuya Watanabe (UW Reveillark)
round 7 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (Faeries)
round 8 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Kenny Oberg (Faeries)

round 9 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Stan van der Velden (Faeries)
round 10 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Shuuhei Nakamura (Elves)
round 11 - D, 1-1-0, vs. Thomas Enevoldsen (Faeries)
round 12 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Nicolay Potovin (Faeries)
round 13 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Jan Ruess (Merfolk)
round 14 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Yong Han Choo (UWr Reveillark)
round 15 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Aaron Nicastri (Elves)
round 16 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Nico Bohny (Doran)

total matches: 10-4-1
total games: 24-16-0

I am pleased with Wafo-Tapa's day one finish.
His day two finish seems alright but a little suspicious.

The DCI must keep a closer watch on Shuuhei Nakamura, Jan Ruess, Yong Han Choo, and Nico Bohny. It is a good thing Charles Gindy kept them all from winning the Pro Tour.

Also Thomas Enevoldsen should be watched for stalling.



[All pictures in this post stolen from the Sideboard.]

Quick'n Toast
by Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

4 Wall of Roots
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
3 Firespout
4 Careful Consideration
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae

2 Slaughter Pact
4 Rune Snag
4 Cryptic Command
3 Cloudthresher
3 Makeshift Mannequin

1 Dreadship Reef
2 Fungal Reaches
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Mystic Gate
2 Sunken Ruins
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Grove

SB: 3 Mind Shatter
SB: 1 Detritivore
SB: 3 Wispmare
SB: 1 Cloudthresher
SB: 3 Teferi's Moat
SB: 2 Primal Command
SB: 1 Shriekmaw
SB: 1 Murderous Redcap

This link lets you draw sample hands.
This link shows most of his opponents' decks.

I would talk a lot about this deck except Manuel Bucher made it so it is kind of boring. What is more interesting is the changes between ManuelB's list and Wafo-Tapa's:

- 1 Slaughter Pact
+ 1 Cryptic Command

- SB: 2 Riftsweeper
+ SB: 1 Cloudthresher
+ SB: 1 Murderous Redcap

These changes clearly made $1500 of difference. Wafo-Tapa wet 4-0-1 against Faeries; he doesn't need Riftsweeper. He needs Cryptic Command of course. ManuelB might have made a nice 72-card decklist, but only Guillaume knew how to make it sing.

Round 7 versus PV
covered by Nate Price



In game one Wafo-Tapa falls to eight early. He stabilizes with Cloudthresher but PV has Terror. Wafo-Tapa draws Oona the Queen on the last possible turn and PV runs out of gas.

The coverage makes him sound really lucky, but he probably would have won if he'd drawn Cloudthresher or Mulldrifter or Makeshift Mannequin.



In game two both players get slow starts and PV plays Spellstutter Sprite as a Bog Imp for some reason. Wafo-Tapa makes a nice play of Careful Consideration into Slaughter Pact to kill Mutavault to fizzle Spellstutter #2. Then he gets Oona for the kill again.

Ancestral Visions is good, but not as good as Wafo-Tapa.

Round 9 versus Stan Van Der Velden
coverage by Ted Knutson



Ted Knutson starts the coverage by pointing out that Wafo-Tapa has probably just set a record, for best constructed rating ever. That sounds only fair.

In game one Van Der Velden gets a fast draw, but Guillaume has Wrath-untap-Wrath to get past the counters. Van Der Velden keeps getting Bitterblossom tokens so Guillaume has to Slaughter Pact a Mistbind Clique. He plays Careful Consideration but doesn't find any black mana so he has to die.

The coverage has an excellent paragraph about why Guillaume was making the right play, even though the play came back to kill him.

In game two the luck evens out and Van Der Velden draws no lands. Hooray!



Game three is weird for luck. Van Der Velden mulligans to four but gets Ancestral and Bitterblossom on the first turns. Cryptic Command and Cloudthresher are more powerful spells than Bitterblossom and Scion of Oona.

There are a few interesting things about this game. First is that Van Der Velden drew dead Rune Snags in the late game, when Wafo-Tapa had all kinds of mana. That might be because storage lands are so insane.

Second is that Van Der Velden was frustrated by Wafo-Tapa drawing Cryptic Commands. Maybe this is a sign that Guillaume Wafo-Tapa is a lucksack, but more likely it shows that he is a genius to put four Cryptic Commands in the deck. Manuel Bucher would not have won this match, but Guillaume did.

Round 15 versus Aaron Nicastri
covered by Tom LaPille



In game one Guillaume uses Firespout to kill all of Nicastri's mana. Nicastri plays Tarmogoyf, Guillaume plays a good card, and Nicastri scoops.

Game two they both get Kitchen Finks which means a long game which means Guillaume wins. Nicastri's deck had a lot of small creatures.

Round 16 versus Nico Bohny
coverage by Nate Price



In game one Guillaume got flooded and Bohny just played creatures and won.

In game two Bohny had a fast draw with Doran and spare Doran. Wafo-Tapa stabilized and Bohny resolved Bitterblossom and Profane Command.

It's kind of nice that by now everyone agrees that Wafo-Tapa is the best player. He's been the best player for a long time now, but up until this Pro Tour the reporters just said, oh, he's almost as good as Kenji.

148 Finkel, Jon [USA] 3
74 Tsumura, Kenji [JPN] 4
13 Wafo-tapa, Guillaume [FRA] $5,000 8

I'm writing this during GP Birmingham the next weekend, and Wafo-Tapa is 11th after day one. What a good player.

Brussels Podcast Highlights

Ben Coleman Interview Guillaume Wafo-Tapa during round three
[Around 14:00 of Episode II]

BC: I've caught up with Guillaume Wafo-Tapa. How are you today, and how is your sealed deck?

GWT: I'm fine. Thank you. My sealed is pretty good, I think. I have two bombs -- the angel, 5/5 flier, vigilance, persist, and Incremental Blight.

BC: Yeah, both very very strong. Black/white, I've seen a few people go for that colour combination. Is it strong generally or is it strong generally, or is it just the way your pool turned out?

GWT: It's just the way my sealed is. My good cards are white and black. It's the best way I can maximize the pool I have, so it's just a coincidence.

BC: Okay. Have you had much practice building sealed pools for Shadowmoor? Is it something you think is quite straight-forward as a set?

GWT: I've only done two previews, so two sealeds, and I think it's not too difficult if you -- you just have to realize you can play hybrid cards with only one colour. Then it's just a sealed deck.

BC: Yeah. So straight-forward, then.

GWT: Yeah. I would say that.

BC: Okay. What about the format as -- how does it play out, once the deck's put together? Is it a quick format, are we looking for lots of really swift games, or is it a much slower format?

GWT: I think it's much slower. So it's probably better to draw first, and maybe play eighteen lands.

BC: Okay. What makes you think that about the format? What is it about Shadowmoor that makes you think, yeah, this is kind of slow.

GWT: I'm not sure. This is ...

BC: Just more of a general feeling from the set.

GWT: Yeah, a general feeling. The creatures cost more, the good ones. But it's just a feeling. I have not done much sealed deck, so ...

BC: Excellent, excellent. Obviously you had an exceptionally good year last year. In today's Grand Prix are you looking to repeat last year's success? Obviously everyone wants to win it, but what are you hoping for? What are you expecting to get out of the weekend?

GWT: I just hope to get pro points. Two would be great.

BC: Okay. But top eight a possibly, and fingers crossed. You are known, obviously, as a more constructed specialist. I was talking to Manuel Bucher earlier who said he's going to be testing with you for Pro Tour Hollywood, coming up. Have you got something in the pipeline for that? Have you looked at Shadowmoor standard at all?

GWT: I've looked. But I've not found something yet that I like, so we'll see.

BC: Knowing you it's likely to be blue and slow. Are there any cards in Shadowmoor that have popped out at you, anything where you thought, ooh, that's quite interesting?

GWT: I would say Plumeveil.

BC: The 4/4 flash flying wall.

GWT: Yeah. I like it.

BC: Nice surprise in limited and constructed. What about the combo decks that have been floating around on the Internet, the Swans of Bryn Argoll deck with Seismic Assault, or the Enchanted Evening / Patrician's Scorn? Either of those tempted you at all?

GWT: No. I think both are really bad -- but maybe I'm wrong. I have not tested yet. But it looked bad, in my opinion, because you -- in this format there are Faeries and Merfolk, two blue aggressive decks that play countermagic. So it seems hard to have a combo deck like those.

BC: Okay, excellent. Good luck this weekend, and hopefully we'll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.

GWT: Thank you.


Rich Hagon interview Guillaume Wafo-Tapa after round ten
[from 30:00 of The 39 Steps]

RH: It's a very good Sunday morning to Guillaume Wafo-Tapa of France. Guillaume, tell us about your day yesterday.

GWT: It was good. I opened a good Sealed deck with two bombs.

RH: What were they?

GWT: The angel -- 5/5 flier --

RH: Twilight Shepherd.

GWT: Yeah. And the black removal -- the uncommon. Six counters: three, two, and one.

RH: Yeah, Incremental Blight.

GWT: Yeah. It's incredible.

RH: It's how you teach people about three-for-ones.

GWT: Yeah, that's it.

RH: So 5 and 1 there, for yesterday. Who did you lose to?

GWT: I lost to Davy Loeb.

RH: Of Poland?

GWT: Yeah.

RH: So you're starting to get a little good at this limited thing, aren't you? Really, it's like Kuala Lumpur, top eight, only Jonny Magic takes you out there. Here we are, another limited GP, on we go. You're kind of the all-around -- right up there. Are we looking at player of the year this year?

GWT: Oh. I'll try. We'll see.

RH: Alright. Now I understand that you've been testing with Remy Fortier a little for Hollywood so far, but no big answers yet?

GWT: No. I have nothing yet.

RH: Well, there's still two weeks.

GWT: Three.

RH: Oh, of course, three weeks. Two weeks before we all go out there and then start probably testing. And then of course, four weeks from now, you'll be attempting to win Grand Prix Birmingham, presumably.

GWT: Sure.

RH: How difficult is it, truthfully, how hard is it, to deal with two different constructed formats back-to-back?

GWT: The Pro Tour is much more important than the GP, and the GP is after the Pro Tour, so we're not doing any testing for the GP before the Pro Tour.

RH: So you fly home, and then you play Magic for three days, and then you come with a deck.

GWT: Exactly.

RH: Tell us about the draft today, then. What have you drafted?

GWT: I drafted red/green. The draft didn't go very well for me. I have a lot of little creatures. I would have preferred to play mono-red, but I just didn't have enough red cards, so I'm red/green. I have just two removals and the Runes of the Deus.

RH: On the plus side, though, playing red and green means that Runes of the Deus, which you've got two of, is just incredible.

GWT: Yeah, but it's just as good in mono-red.

RH: It's the double strike that's key.

GWT: Yeah, but with red/green hybrid creatures -- you can cast them if you play mono-red.

RH: So it's the same benefit, yeah.

GWT: So I'm not too happy, but I won my first round, so I hope I can make 2-1 with this.

RH: There was a nice little trick there that didn't cost you the game, but going in -- at the end there -- it's good to know that you can learn even at the highest levels of the game. You're going in with your two Runes of the Deus 4/4 that's a 5/5 if you have a green creature. And he blocks your other green creature, puts first strike damage on, kills your other green creature. That loses the +1/+1 bonus and you get to deal 5, rather than the six that would have killed him. You get to kill him next turn anyway, but it's just another little thing that you storage away for another time, like, "Hmm... Yeah, I must make sure my green guy doesn't die if I need it not to."

GWT: Yeah, I made a lot of mistakes yesterday, too.

RH: But that's the way that the best are the best. When bad players make mistakes they just lose, and when average players make mistakes, most of the time they lose. And when good players make mistakes, sometimes they get away with it.

GWT: Yeah, maybe.

RH: It's something that Gab Nassif frequently talks about when he talks to us on the show. He says, you know, no one plays Magic properly -- nobody plays it actually perfectly. So, you know, it is a game of error.

GWT: Yeah, that's true.

RH: And this one didn't cost you, so that's fantastic. 9 and 1, many congratulations. Now, coming into the weekend, were you just looking for a money finish, or did you just have your sights on, for example, a top eight berth.

GWT: No, I was hoping just to score some pro points, and I'm in day two, so --

RH: We're on the way.

GWT: Yeah, we're on the way.

RH: Okay, many thanks, Guillaume.

GWT: Thank you.


Wafo-Tapa's second draft
[from Twenty-Four Boosters]

to his left: blue/black
to his right: Gaetan Lefevbre in lots of colours

1-1 Wicker Warcrawler over River's Grasp and Sickle Ripper
1-2 Tower Above over Scuttlemutt
1-3 Grief Tyrant
1-4 Scar
1-5 Crabapple Cohort
1-6 Sootwalkers
1-7 Gleeful Sabotage
1-8 Mystic Gate
1-9 Manamorphose
1-10 Wooded Bastion
1-11 Rattlblaze Scarecrow
1-12 Crimson Wisps
1-13 Inescapable Brute
1-14 Blistering Dieflyn

2-1 Jaws of Stone over Burn Trail
2-2 Cultbrand Cinder over nothing
2-3 Murderous Redcap over Burn Trail
2-4 Farhaven Elf
2-5 Farhaven Elf
2-6 Gloomlance
2-7 Raven's Run Dragoon
2-8 Foxfire Oak
2-9 Loamdragger Giant
2-10 Cinderhaze Wretch
2-11 Presence of Gond

3-1 Biting Tether over Crabapple Cohort
3-2 Power of Fire
3-3 Farhaven Elf over Heartmender
3-4 Crabapple Cohort
3-5 Wildslayer Elves
3-6 Foxfire Oak
3-11 Pili-Pala


Wafo-Tapa's mana curve in his deck

1 mana - nothing
2 mana - Pili-Pala
3 mana - 3 Farhaven Elf

"Talking to him off-camera, as it were, he was saying that he felt possibly that the format wasn't that slow, and although it wasn't lightning quick, he didn't really feel that you had games where there were lot of creatures on the board. He felt that the format was relatively creature-light, in terms of sticking around on the table, turning sideways and so on. But the deck that he's got there is absolutely about, 'Please don't run me over, Mr. Turn Two / Turn Three Here's My [inaudible] Turn Four and Five. Let's game to some kind of late game.' And it's not even like he's got fliers at the top end or evasion. It's just, 'Here's a 5/5, here's a 7/6, here's another 5/5. What are you doing?'
- Rich Hagon

Ben Coleman's Summary of Wafo-Tapa vs. Nassif (round 13)
[still from Twenty Four Boosters]

Wafo-Tapa mulligans.
Nassif gets Briarberry Cohort.
Wafo-Tapa gets Pili-Pala.
Nassif gets Gravegill Duo and attacks.
Wafo-Tapa gets Presence of Gond on Pili-Pala.
Nassif gets Faerie Swarm.
Wafo-Tapa attacks with some Gond tokens.
Nassif flashes Plumeveil to block.
Nassif attacks with fliers.
Wafo-Tapa builds up to eight tokens.
Nassif wins the fliers versus tokens race.

Nassif mulligans.
Nassif gets Cemetery Puca.
Wafo-Tapa gets Wildslayer Elves.
Nassif gets Briarberry Cohort.
Wafo-Tapa tries Murderous Redcap.
Nassif counters with Spell Siphon.
Wafo-Tapa gets Foxfire Oak.
Wafo-Tapa takes the lead 12-11 on life.
Nassif starts chump-blocking Foxfire Oak.
Nassif keeps attacking in the air.
Nassif wins the race.


"One awesome play, though, from Guillaume Wafo-Tapa in defeat, the kind of thing that, really, we could all learn a lot from. He gets to two mana, and he has Manamorphose to generate two mana of any colour, and he uses it simply to draw a card because he wants to try and get to a third land. He sees a land off the top, great, he lays his land. He has in his hand Gleeful Sabotage. Ritzka has in play a 2/1 Tatterkite. Guillaume Wafo-Tapa burns for two, decides not to kill the Tatterkite. Why? Because three turns later, a Scuttlemutt's on the board. You think, is he going to kill that? No. Three turns later, Reaper King comes down. 'Thanks, I'll kill that.' Well worth two extra life.

"When you're on twenty life, right up against a mulligan to four, to then deliberately take two mana burn you don't have to -- that's forethought under pressure."

-Rich Hagon


One other thing that came up sometimes in podcasts was Wafo-Tapa's testing group for PT Hollywood. It contained Remi Fortier before GP Brussels, and and it contains Manuel Bucher and the Ruel brothers after the GP. Plumeveil might go well in the Olivier Ruel Turbo-Dandan deck.

Brussels Day Two

Day two of Brussels, Wafo-Tapa made 11-1 but hit a bad draft.
He ended up 36th for $200 and 1 pro point.

round 10 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Jan Ruess [DEU]
round 11 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Jakob De Sio [CZE]
round 12 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Peter Dun [ENG]
round 13 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Gabriel Nassif [FRA]
round 14 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Simon Ritzka [DEU]
round 15 - L, 0-2-0, vs. Nikolay Michnev [DEU]

day two matches: 3-3-0
day two games: 6-6-0

total matches: 8-4-0
total games: 17-11-0


[Image stolen from Sideboard.com]

The round 14 match with Simon Ritzka was covered by Huy Dinh on the Wizards site. Unfortunately it was kind of boring, a mulligan and then a triple-mulligan mean Guillaume just gets run over.

Cards from Guillaume Wafo-Tapa's second draft deck:
- Farhaven Elf
- Wicker Warcrawler
- Manamorphose
- Murderous Redcap
- Gleeful Sabotage
- Crabapple Cohort

If Guillaume Wafo-Tapa lost six straight games with these cards, then imagine how badly you or I would lose with them. Murderous Redcap should not be played in decks again.

Another thing is that the decklist from Guillaume's first draft was posted on PlanetMTG. Here it is.

3 Intimidator Initiate
3 Mudbrawler Cohort
1 Devoted Druid
1 Safehold Elite
2 Hungry Spriggan
1 Boartusk Liege
3 Mudbrawler Raiders
1 Crabapple Cohort
2 Foxfire Oak

1 Scar
1 Viridescent Wisps
1 Crimson Wisps
1 Puncture Bolt
1 Firespout
2 Runes of the Deus

8 Forest
8 Mountain

This deck went 6-0 in games and it is a very good template to build something super-aggressive in triple Shadowmoor. Wafo-Tapa is the best aggro player!

The extra pro point ties Wafo-Tapa for fourth in the Player of the Year race, right next to the semi-finalists and finally ahead of the Grand Prix winners. Only Finkel, Pascoli, and Joel Calafell still need to be passed.

GP Vienna Update

Guillaume Wafo-Tapa lost round five of GP Vienna. This was unusual. His opponent Christian Mauhart explained in the StarCity forums how it happened:

Then he missed his manadrops and I was able to Vindicate his lone Island. Then 2nd Vinidcate on the Island he dropped on his last turn. He dropped another land and I made 3rd Vinidcate + Lavamancer. Then I drew a 4th Vindicate. After having destroyed 4 Islands with 4 Vindicate and having 2 Fanatics and a Lavamancer on the board he conceded. My apologies Guillaume.

Don't worry, Christian Mauhart, insane luck is a legimate part of Magic. But the next time you play Wafo-Tapa, you should concede to him, just to even things out.

Brussels Day One

Grand Prix Brussels is this weekend. Wafo-Tapa is at 8-1 going into day two.

Guillaume's record:

round 4 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Dmitry L Olenin [RUS]
round 5 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Jan Doise [BEL]
round 6 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Olaf M Koster [NLD]
round 7 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Davy Loeb [POL]
round 8 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Márcio Carvalho [PRT]
round 9 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Lukas Tajak [DEU]

total matches: 5-1-0
total games: 11-5-0

Excellent job by Guillaume, X-1 in a new format proves he is still the greatest. Thumbs down to Davy Loeb, who probably cheats.

The round seven match with Márcio Carvalho was covered by André Coimbra. Here is what it looks like:


[Image stolen from Sideboard.com]

Game one Márcio gets quick fliers and Biting Tether.
Game two Guillaume gets Incremental Blight and Twilight Shepherd.
Game three Guillaume gets Murderous Redcap and Incremental Blight.

The slow good cards are clearly superior to the fast blue/white deck. Wafo-Tapa defeats Carvalho.

André Coimbra writes good coverage and he points out Wafo-Tapa chose to play first instead of drawing first in Sealed. This isn't what I would have chosen, but Wafo-Tapa is a genius and he is probably right. From now on I will always choose to play first.

Some quotes:

Guillaume Wafo-tapa drew a card from Elsewhere Flask, which works as a "mana fixer" and a "cantrip", helping him to play his color intensive spells, as well as increasing the chances of drawing the best cards of the deck.

Márcio played Kinscaer harpoonist, which got tapped at his end of the turn by Niveous Wisps, showing once again how highly the French player values "cantrips" in the Sealed Deck format.

This makes perfect sense. I was never sure about cantrips in Sealed, because of potential mana-flood, but now they seem like a really good idea. Wafo-Tapa played cantrips early and then he drew all his good cards in time for the late game. Also it helped his three-colour mana base a lot.

Cards from Wafo-Tapa's sealed deck:
- Prison Term
- Wanderbrine Rootcutters
- Safehold Elite
- Steel of the Godhead
- Mistmeadow Skulk
- Incremental Blight
- Twilight Shepherd
- Elsewhere Flask
- Niveous Wisps
- Murderous Redcap
- Corrupt

Finally got around to hearing Rich Hagon's coverage of GP Vienna. Only two real mentions of Wafo-Tapa.

- In 128/6 = 8, starting in minute 33, Ben Coleman gives a rundown of Wafo-Tapa's loss to Robert Darnhofer. From the sound of it all games were quick. Game one Guillaume drew no defense, game two Darnhoffer had just a Lavamancer, and game three Darnhoffer got enough creatures through early. Nothing huge.

- In X-10 Dead, startomg in minute 8, Marijn Lybaert talks about Guillaume's match against Jan Doise. He says mostly things Tobias Henke reported, plus he sort of stressed how bad the Faeries matchup is for TEPS.


Wafo-Tapa also got talked about on Starcity (premium) lately.

- Mike Flores writes about Wafo-Tapa's Heartbeat deck from Valencia, specifically about playing it at GP Philadelphia. His main thing about the deck is that three-drops are hard to counter, but he took out some Search for Tomorrows and Wish targets to put in extra Brain Freeze. Hopefully this deck shows up at more PTQs; it seems at least like a better budget choice than Affinity.

- Pat Chapin posted a Faeries list that uses some of the tech from Wafo-Tapa's build (Oona's Blackguard, Rune Snag, Peppersmoke). But he also threatens Wafo-Tapa Faeries by posting a deck with Pyrohemia sideboard and Cloudthresher main.


Three decks that probably just came from Wafo-Tapa’s evil Magic Technology Factory in the South of France (as all good Magic Technology does)…
-Chapin's description of his own article

I bet Wafo-Tapa doesn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff…
-- Chapin's punchline to a story about girl problems

Grand Prix Vienna was this weekend. Wafo-Tapa made 23rd playing a mono-blue Faerie deck.

Vienna Faeries
by Guillaume Wafo-Tapa

4 Mutavault
2 Riptide Laboratory
1 Tolaria West
2 Snow-Covered Island
15 Island

4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
2 Mistbind Clique

4 Counterspell
4 Cryptic Command
2 Force Spike
4 Spell Snare

2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Ancestral Vision
2 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Vedalken Shackles

SB: 3 Annul
SB: 2 Deep Analysis
SB: 1 Venser, Shaper Savant
SB: 4 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Threads of Disloyalty


Jakub Bakule (CZE/92nd), Gunnar Radzom (DEU/53rd), and Hendrik Brotzmann (DEU/128th) also played Faeries decks to day two. Their versions were not as good.


Here is Wafo-Tapa's round-by-round performance:

round 4 - D, 1-1-1, vs. Gunnar Radzom (Faeries)
round 5 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Christian Mauhart (Zoo)
round 6 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Thomas Schmalfeld
round 7 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Petar Milic
round 8 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Zbigniew Wichlacz
round 9 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Andras Suveges

round 10 - W, 2-1-0, vs. Helmut Summersberger (Zoo)
round 11 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Jan Ruess (TEPS)
round 12 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Robert Darnhofer (Tarmogoyf Red)
round 13 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Jan Doise (TEPS)
round 14 - L, 1-2-0, vs. Selim Creiche (Counterbalance)
round 15 - W, 2-0-0, vs. Joel Calafell (Ideal)

total matches: 8-3-1
total games: 20-9-1


The match against Jan Doise with TEPS was covered by Tobias Henke.

Both games, Wafo-Tapa hit with Vendillion Clique and Doise was left with a lot of Rituals stranded in his hand. In game two he played it in response to Seething Song and made Doise take five mana burn.

Another trick was to use Cryptic Command to bounce Sulfur Vents and Lotus Blooms.


The round 11 match versus Jan Ruess was covered by Timm Gerber at PlanetMTG.de .


[Jan Ruess and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa. Image stolen from PlanetMTG.de.]

"January wins the cube throw and wants accordingly to begin."
-- Timm Gerber via BabelFish

Ruess got a slow start game one, and Wafo-Tapa got the Riptide Laboratory / Spellstutter Sprite combo up and running. Then he won game two with a Vendillion Clique in response to a Ritual. What a fun card.

For his ingenius deck-building and play skills, Wafo-Tapa gets $400 and two pro points. This bring him to 15 pro points, which locks down level three for 2009 - level four if he attends all the pro tours.

Rich Hagon said some nice things about Wafo-Tapa in his article today:

It's tempting to label players for ease of explanation, and when you've built plenty of world-renowned decks and have a Constructed Pro Tour win under your belt in the last year, it's understandable that people might call Guillaume Wafo-Tapa a Constructed Specialist. The simple truth is that Wafo-Tapa may be the best all-round Magic player currently playing. I accept that there are other candidates, but his relentless consistency is starting to achieve juggernaut proportions. Perhaps I should be careful using that word, since I don't intend to evoke memories of Kai Budde, the original Juggernaut, but with a small 'j' it's hard to argue with the Wafo-Tapa bandwagon. I'm pretty certain that nobody in Pro Magic tests more for events, and, in a shocking turn of events, it shows.

Had Wafo-Tapa won in Kuala Lumpur, with two dedicated Constructed Pro Tours ahead in Hollywood and then Berlin, it would have been a bold prediction to see anyone wresting Player of the Year from him. There are plenty of big names with their eyes on the prize who will have been very relieved to see GW-T bite the dust at the first hurdle.

To be fair, the Draft went pretty badly for him, with Ming Xu in particular taking key cards away from his chosen archetype. Finkel's Kithkin deck didn't really deliver in the quarter-final, and still managed a sweep over the Frenchman. With $11,000 and 12 Points in the bank, Wafo-Tapa confirmed his status as a premier contender for end of year glory.

I had to divide this into paragraphs myself -- Rich Hagon could write a whole essay about what it means to make fifth place. But I like the part where he says Wafo-Tapa is the best player. Between this and what Pat Chapin said last week, Wafo-Tapa should be a lock for the next Invitational.

Ben Peebles-Mundy put in a word for Wafo-Tapa Faeries on the premium side of StarCity:

Yuuta’s sideboard isn’t really built with the mirror match in mind, I feel. Many of the cards in it are obviously meant for other matchups (like Deathmark), or simply just don’t do what you want in this one. The only card I think that I would want to draw is Razormane Masticore, but that wouldn’t be too amazing.... If you’re looking for good cards to board in the mirror, then I suggest looking at Olivier Ruel’s sideboard. There you will find Peppersmoke, which is an extremely cheap, instant-speed, answer to most of the Faerie deck. The beauty is that it’s a two-for-one, which is relatively rare in this matchup.

My Bitterblossoms have gone up in value a lot this week. Thanks Guillaume!

Olivier Ruel was the only foreign pro at GP Shizuoka; he played a Faerie deck he got from Guillaume Wafo-Tapa. He came second but he kept saying the deck was weak. Tim Willoughby did coverage.


Wafo-Tapa Faeries
played by Oliver Ruel
2nd place at GP Shizuoka

4 Mistbind Clique
4 Oona's Blackguard
4 Pestermite
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellstutter Sprite

4 Bitterblossom
3 Cryptic Command
2 Notorious Throng
4 Rune Snag
2 Unsummon

4 Faerie Conclave
1 Island
2 Mutavault
2 Pendelhaven
4 River of Tears
4 Secluded Glen
4 Snow-Covered Island
4 Underground River

SB: 2 Deathmark
SB: 4 Flashfreeze
SB: 2 Peppersmoke
SB: 3 Sower of Temptation
SB: 4 Thoughtseize

Link to draw sample hands.


From a round five feature match against Ryuichi Arita:

Olivier Ruel has been declaring all day that he is very lucky. On being undefeated after seven rounds he said "If I keep being as lucky as I have been so far, then I will win this whole GP. But then karma will probably mean that my plane will crash on the way home."

In preparation for the GP, Olivier had done some last minute testing of his deck in the trials on Friday in Shizuoka. There he had come to the conclusion that he was highly favoured against Reveillark decks, because, in his own words "You start the Game 2 turns before they do."

"Message for Guillaume – play at least 26 lands in your deck... oh, and thanks for the deck."

So he lost in his amazing match-up, but he had mana-screw and mana-flood in the two lost games. Maybe there should be more man-lands?


From a round twelve feature match against Kenji Tsumura:

There was an Unsummon to get rid of the Cloudskate

Kenji tried to replay the Riftwing Cloudskate, only to see Rune Snag. He had a Rune Snag of his own, but when Olivier showed a second, Tsumura scooped it up.

Ruel wins the match 2-0 by always having a counter when he needs one. Unsummon seems like a tech card from Wafo-Tapa, and it even worked this time against a deck of 187 creatures.


From a quarter-final match against Akira Asahara:

All weekend Olivier has been talking about how good his matchup against Reveillark is. This top eight is a great place for him if he is correct. With the possibility of a Reveillark matchup every round, his faeries seemed a sound metagame call. Against Akira Asahara's build of Reveillark, which doesn't have Wrath of God until after sideboarding, he felt the matchup was even better than normal.

Having won the roll, Olivier kept and started things off with Oona's Blackguard, one of the cards he says he would remove from the deck if he were making adjustments.

Olivier won 2-0. Game one Notorious Throng was Prowled out but didn't really do much. Game two, Notorious Throng for the win got countered, but Olivier just won with regular Faeries.


From the finals against Yuuta Takahashi:

Unfortunately for Ruel, his opponent, Yuuta Takahashi, who beat Kenji Tsumura in the semi-finals, has already beaten Olivier once in the tournament. Also playing faeries, in the Frenchman's opinion Yuuta's build is better, especially in the mirror match.

An Unsummon on Sower was Olivier's response, and the Sower was then dealt with for good by a pair of Rune Snags.

Olivier is harsh on his deck, but the tech cards like Unsummon and Notorious Throng still work for him. If nothing else, Wafo-Tapa's deck got him second place this weekend.

Takahashi wins 2-0. Sower of Temptation does a lot of the work.


Updates from Zvi Faeries to Wafo-Tapa Faeries:

- 4 Cloud Sprite
- 4 Nightshade Stinger
- 4 Oona's Prowler
+ 4 Oona's Blackguard
+ 4 Pestermite
+ 4 Bitterblossom

- 4 Familiar's Ruse
+ 4 Rune Snag

- 1 Cryptic Command
- 3 Terror
+ 2 Notorious Throng
+ 2 Unsummon

- 2 Swamp
+ 2 Mutavault

- SB: 1 Pendelhaven
+ SB: 1 Sower of Temptation


Changes from Wafo-Tapa Faeries to Takahashi Faeries:

- 4 Oona's Blackguard
+ 3 Sower of Temptation

- 4 Rune Snag
- 2 Unsummon
- 2 Notorious Throng
+ 4 Ancestral Vision
+ 4 Nameless Inversion
+ 1 Cryptic Command

- 1 Faerie Conclave
- 1 Island
- 2 Pendelhaven
+ 2 Mutavault
+ 2 Swamp

- SB: 2 Peppersmoke
- SB: 4 Flashfreeze
+ SB: 4 Bottle Gnomes
+ SB: 2 Deathmark

- SB: 1 Thoughtseize
- SB: 3 Sower of Temptation
+ SB: 2 Razormane Masticore
+ SB: 2 Familiar's Ruse

Obviously Takahashi got these changes wrong and Wafo-Tapa Faeries is the best deck. Who plays the Faerie deck with 0 Pendelhaven?