2017 Fort Wayne Regionals

Dates: September 2-3, 2017
Location: Grand Wayne Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Attendance: 816 Masters
Format: Expanded BLW-BSH

The first US Regional of the 2017-18 season was also the largest-ever Regional (worldwide) up to that point; it was surpassed by others later in the season. 33 Masters advanced to Day 2, and 6 rounds of Day 2 Swiss were played.

Statistics

Day 2 CP share

Day 2 placements
Day 2 Swiss performance
Andrew Mondak created this chart, which shows the win and tie rates of all decks in Day 2. We can see that Night March (which ended up winning the Regional under Michael Pramawat) had the best win rate (89%), while Trevenant BREAK had the worst (11%). Mondak also notes that "Darkrai had pretty even matchups across the board...potentially a solid conservative deck choice for [this event]."

Day 2 final standings
  1. Michael Pramawat, Night March
  2. Sam Chen, Turbo Turtonator-GX
  3. Chris Siakala, Turbo Darkrai
  4. Christopher Venier, Night March
  5. Gibson Archer-Tang, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor 
  6. Zach Zamora, Golisopod-GX/Tapu Koko/Octillery
  7. Jac Carter, Gardevoir-GX
  8. Israel Sosa, Dark Patch Toolbox (SosaTal)
  9. Jordan Nelle, Drampa-GX/Garbodor
  10. Cody Walinski, Seismitoad-EX/Golisopod-GX
  11. Ryan Sabelhaus, Turbo Turtonator-GX
  12. Kyle Lesniewicz, Sylveon-GX
  13. Alex Mullen, Espeon-GX/Garbodor
  14. Zach Lesage, Turbo Darkrai
  15. Will Jenkins, Garbodor Toolbox
  16. Igor Costa, Sableye/Garbodor
  17. Brandon Salazar, Turbo Darkrai
  18. Dalen Dockery, Espeon-GX/Garbodor
  19. Travion Tiller, Turbo Darkrai
  20. Michael Long, Archie's Blastoise
  21. Phinnegan Lynch, Garbodor Toolbox
  22. Enrique Avila, Seismitoad-EX/Golisopod-GX
  23. Pablo Meza, Golisopod-GX/Garbodor
  24. Benjamin Sauk, Water Toolbox
  25. Bryan Hunter, Turbo Turtonator-GX
  26. Oscar Soto, Turbo Darkrai
  27. Nick Chimento, Turbo Darkrai
  28. Grant Manley, Landorus-EX/Zygarde-EX/Lycanroc-GX GRI/Carbink BREAK
  29. Brad Curcio, Garbodor Toolbox
  30. Isaiah Williams, Garbodor Toolbox
  31. Austin Ellis, Trevenant BREAK
  32. Jimmy Pendarvis, Sableye/Garbodor
  33. Michael Bergerac, Trevenant BREAK

Notes
  • A stream for this event was provided by MetaPodcast. However, due to a Twitch error, no VODs were able to be saved or posted. (Read MetaPodcast's statement here.)
  • This event marked the first time a Sylveon-GX deck advanced to Day 2 of a Regional. (The card had been seen previously in Day 2 of major events as part of Gardevoir-GX decks.)
  • Michael Pramawat's win made him the first North American player to win six Regionals in their career. Combined with the fact that Fort Wayne was, at the time, the game's largest-ever Regional, Pramawat's win cemented his position as a top contender for the game's GOAT. Pramawat memorably made his deck choice the night before the tournament:
  • Israel Sosa, who entered the event co-holding (with Pramawat) the five-Regional-win record, had a chance to be the first to six, but his effort was cut short in Top 8 by Chris Siakala. The fact that both reigning record-holders made it into Top 8 at an 816-player tournament and had a chance to meet in Top 4 or the finals is still remarkable, however.  
  • Finalist Sam Chen had played zero games with his Turtonator-GX deck prior to the event. He was convinced to play the deck by Rahul Reddy and Ryan Sabelhaus the morning of the tournament, and hastily assembled it before registration. 
  • John Roberts II made Top 64 with VikaBulu despite the fact that a decklist error resulted in him being issued a match loss and forced to replace his three Grubbin with Grass Energy. Since the deck also played Rare Candy, but no Charjabug, this meant that Roberts reached Top 64 at an 816-player Regional despite having a match loss and seven unplayable cards in his deck. 

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