Taisuke Ishii Wins Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix Kitakyushu

Taisuke Ishii went undefeated during day one's swiss portion of Magic: the Gathering Grand Prix Kitakyushu in a field of 501 of Asia's finest Magic: the Gathering players.

He managed to continue his winning streak through day two's draft portion and make the top 8.

After day two, the remaining 128 competitors boiled down to just eight remaining players:

Yuuya Watanabe
Ken Yukuhiro
Masashi Oiso
Katsuhiro Mori
Jun'ya Iyanaga
Hironobu Sugaya
Taisuke Ishii
Takeshi Takagi

Taisuke Ishii won against Takeshi Takagi in the quarterfinals, and Jun'ya Iyanaga in the semifinals. Taisuke Ishii was then paired up against the only other undefeated finalist Masashi Oiso in what would be the final match to see who would be the 2009 Magic: the Gathering Grand Prix Kitakyushu Champion.

In game one of the last match, Taisuke Ishii was against Massashi Oiso. Taisuke Ishii had drafted a red and white deck featuring Steppe Lynx and Plated Geopede for early beats. When Massashi Oiso played a Turntimber Basilisk it was burned by a Burst Lightning. Oiso continued to clog the board until he could draw more answers and threats with a Moss Shambler and River Boas being able to turn the tide in his favor. That he played a Gigantiform with kicker for a second Gigantiform that he was lucky to draft, sealed the game.

In the second game, Taisuke Ishii and Massashi Oiso traded early threats with neither player gaining board control for long. The game continued to go back and forth until Ishii managed to win with two Geopedes on the table both triggered by landfall.

In the final game, Oiso and Ishii both mulliganed down to six cards in hand. Osio put out early threats, and Ishii took them out with removal. However Oiso was mana screwed with only three Forests on the board and no Mountains. When he finally drew a Mountain he was able to play removal in the form of Inferno Trap on Ishii's Kazandu Blademaster. Both players continued to play removal cards and exchange creatures in combat until Ishii was able to top deck a Mark of Mutiny for the win.

Taisuke Ishii manged to beat Masashi Oiso and claim the title as th 2009 Grand Prix Kitakyushu Champion!

Source:

Wizards of the Coast. "Taisuke Ishii Steppes All Over the Competition" Daily MTG Magic: the Gathering. November 1st, 2009. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpkit09/welcome