The One - Highlander Series

[Maqi]

Let's continue with the OG of our contestants:

Name:  Gerry Stahl

Age: 41

Favorite Highlander Decks:
Dimir Aggro-Control, Reanimator-Oath, UW Skies, UGb Time Walk

Favorite Highlander Cards:
Mental Misstep, Birds of Paradise, Back to Basics

Highlander achievements:
One top-8 and some top-16s at Highlander GP's/Cups.
Winner of HL Online League Season III back in 2008.
The only player who has participated at every HL GP / Cup in Germany since the very first one in Dortmund 2005

Other MtG achievements:
Lost 1:2 to Kai Budde at last German Nationals in 2011
Limited GP Vienna 2014 money finish
German Nationals 2011 price finish

How do you prepare for the finals:
"Create a bracket with eight possible deck-choices for The One and some test-games"

Gerry is in my opinion not a mere Highlander player anymore. But rather a general law of nature. I think it is safe to say that no active player has done more for the format than him.

The Council member will be a fearsome competitor in the finals since his level of format entrenchment is just through the roof.

My only critique here is: How can you favorite the lovely Birds of Paradise together with the ugly and infamous b2b? That's just mean!

[Vazdru]

Thank you for the introduction Maqi.

Two minor additions:

A smiley got lost somehow, which helps to understand the meaning of following statement a bit better imo:
"winner of HL Online League Season III back in 2008  "

The message was originally:
You have to go long way back in history and have to take the most unimportant tournaments to find one I have ever won so far.

My affinity to Back to Basics emerged in the time when 5c Aggro and 5c Control were dominating archetypes. My approach has always been not to play the best deck but to find any which can beat em ... which has never worked that well. Back to Basics (eg. in UW Skies and UB Aggro-Control) has given me some bright moments while greedy 4- and 5-color builts have given me nightmares.

This bond hasn't even bursted after I travelled to Berlin just to lose to Tabris' and Daniel's Back to Basics in MGM #7 miserably. I felt like it was the rightful punishment for playing that greedy manabase myself nowadays.

[Maqi]

Here's the next competitor!

Name: Alexander Vey

Age: 27

Favorite Highlnderdeck: Abzan Midrange

Favorite Highlander cards:
Fact or Fiction, Survival of the Fittest, Brainstorm

Highlander achievements: Qualification for the ,,The One" Finals

Other MtG achievements: Participated at German Nationals and Pro Tour

How do you prepare for the finals?
Probably not at all.

Alex is the dark horse of our finalists. He did only play in a handful of local Highlander tournaments before bursting into the finals of the first The One qualifier with a brave double-Armageddon Abzan list.

Coming, as it seems, from a prolonged Magic hiatus, he since rehoned his skills by jamming limited weeklies. It's always a good idea to keep your fundamentals strong!

[Maqi]

Aaaand the next one:

Name: Philip Ehrle

Age: 34

Favorite Highlander decks: RDW, Jeskai

Favorite Highlander cards:
Zealous Conscripts, Pygmy Hippo, Bull Hippo (Portal Version)

Highlander achievements: Nothing worth to mention

Other MtG achievements: Several GP money finishes

How do you prepare for the finals:
I'm focusing on predicting what the others might play in order to adjust my possible decks to it.

Philip is a well respected and strong Highlander player. He might not have a title on his resume yet, but that doesn't mean anything.

Philip always plays strong decks and good cards, no trickery there. Also, his strategic intuition and his technical in-game operations are top notch.

His opponents better be aware of his prowess. It might very well be that "The One" will be his long due breakout performance.

[Maqi]

Name: Kai T.

Age: 31

Favorite Highlander Decks: 5c Wonder, Izzet, 4c Blood

Favorite Highlander cards: Opposition, Recurring Nightmare, Sylvan Library

Highlander Achievements:
The One summer qualification winner

Other MtG Achievements:
Miscellaneous top 8's

How do you prepare for the finals:
I analyse the opponents' cardpools and their pet decks. I then create a metagamed deck which also fits my playstyle and test with it.

Kai is a veteran Highlander player with a competitive spirit. He knows everything one must know about the format.

He showed his expertise at the first qualifier where he demolished the competition with a fierce double-red blast Izzet build, crushing every blue playing opponent on his way to victory.

Now that the "UR-Knall" deck is out of the bag, will he switch it up or stay true to it? We will soon find out...

[Maqi]

The next competitor:

Name: Sebastian Nötzel

Age: 29

Favorite Highlander decks: Scapeshift, UW Control

Favorite Highlander cards: Island, Snapcaster Mage, Sorrow's Path

Highlander achievements: nothing

Other MtG achievements: some GP money finishes

How do prepare for the finals? Play some rounds.

Sebastian finally found his souldeck it seems. After some 4c DarkBant-ing here and Azorius Controlling there, he seems to have settled into 4c Scapeshift, a deck of which he may rightfully claim mastership by now.

Sebastian is a methodical and calculating player, he is hard to read, mentally strong and knows his deck and the matchups inside-out.

The combination of all this makes him a serious contender for becoming "The One".

[Maqi]

Written bei Kai T.:

And here we go for our last finalist: Thomas Stier!

Thomas' accomplishments and victories speak for him - he is by far one of Germany's best HL players. He is a veteran in the HL business and member of the HL council. He is crazy (!) about foils, it HAS TO BE the first edition in foil !

Thomas is well known and respected in the HL community due to his high level play. His strength is to accurately analyse game situations, gaining the edge by exploiting marginal advantages and then translating these into victory. His active and creative input when designing new decks and the remastering of established deckideas is legendary. For the "The One" Finals he is one of the major favorites.

Name: Thomas Stier
Age: 35
Favorite Highlander decks: 4c Reanimator, 4c Blood, 4c PatternRector
Favorite Highlander cards: Loxodon Smiter, Cruel Ultimatum, Liliana the Last Hope
Highlander achievements:
Highlander Cup Champion (GP XV), 3rd place at "The One Summer",
Top8 at MKM Series Frankfurt 2016, 2nd place at MGM4 Berlin, HL Cup Top8 (GP XIV), Winner MKM Berlin 2013, HL Cup Top8 (GP XII), HL Cup Top8 (GP VIII)

Other MtG achievements:
PTQ t4 (journey to nyx)

How do you prepare for the finals?
Trying to guess the meta, then construct some decks geared towards beating that meta and test extensively with them, then probably last minute audible to a completely untested brew