Round 7 Top Table Update: Infernoids?!?
As a Swiss tournament plays out Round by Round, the Duelists with the best records and most Match Points are sorted toward the top tables. Undefeated Duelists play undefeated Duelists, single-draw Duelists play single-draw Duelists and so on, with everyone surrounded by competitors that have similar records.
Taking a look at the strategies that are sitting at the top tables can give you a quick impression of which Decks are doing the best, and the overall shape of the tournament. With that in mind we took a look at the twenty Duelists sitting at the Top 10 tables here in Round 7. The results were surprising.
Table 1
Juan Carlos Coronel with Qliphorts
Versus
Carlos Jesus Mercado Ramirez with Shaddolls
Table 2
Ismael Campos Altamirano with Nekroz
Versus
Ricardo Martinez Becerril with Qliphorts
Table 3
Martin Alejandro Gonzalez Moreno with Qliphorts
Versus
Galileo Mauricio De Obaldia Soza with Nekroz
Table 4
Adrian Madriz Espinoza with Nekroz
Versus
Jesus Avalos Hernandez with Burning Abyss
Table 5
Hector Luitin Troncoso with Nekroz
Versus
Oldair Garcia Enciso with Infernoids
Table 6
Ricardo Ruiz Mendoza with Nekroz
Versus
Jonathan Alexis Arreguin Monreal with Shaddolls
Table 7
Jose Andres Aranda Barboza with Nekroz
Versus
Leonel Andres Gomez Jimenez with Qliphorts
Table 8
Erick Laurentino Ramirez Rodriguez with Nekroz
Versus
Cesar Alberto Salinas Magana with Qliphorts
Table 9
Eduard Von Paulus Breiling Ramos with Qliphorts
Versus
Dario Avalos Rodriguez with Infernoids
Table 10
Kevin Ricardo Urquilla Cortez with Shaddolls
Versus
Rigoberto German Gamez Cuellar with Nekroz
Here’s the breakdown of the Top 20 Duelists thus far:
Nekroz: 8
Qliphorts: 6
Shaddolls: 3
Infernoids: 2
Burning Abyss: 1
There are some obvious surprises here. Nekroz taking 40% of the field isn’t shocking, though many would have expected the field to be even more Nekroz-heavy. The two bigger stories is the strong positioning of Qliphorts versus the weak showing from Burning Abyss; over the past four weeks of Regional Qualifiers, Burning Abyss was largely perceived as being a stronger strategy than Qliphorts, which have made a huge impact here at the WCQ.
But the real surprise is the fact that not one, but two Infernoid Decks are sitting at the top tables! While neither Infernoid Duelist is undefeated with 18 Match Points, one has 16 Points – one draw – and the other has 15 Points, likely a 5-1 record. Stay tuned, because one of those Duelists will be our Feature Match for Round 8, coming up shortly!