Continuing on the qualifier season for cEDH UK, Darlington had a qualifier hosted by Gathering Point Games! 32 entries over 4 rounds of Swiss, then a cut to Top 10.
It’s amazing to see the consistency in numbers attending qualifiers this year, with this year on track to double the number of players and nearly double the number of events!
What’s the next qualifier you’re most looking forward to?
Our winner in Darlington was Sam/TheInfiniteStack, and as always, we’re going to have an interview below.
What’s your history and experience with cEDH?
I’ve been playing for ~3 years now, starting on Sidisi Doomsday and some other short lived fringe lists before I settled on Inalla in May 2023, which has been my main deck ever since. My early experience was powering up my list with my local playgroup, and I started attending cEDH events in Feb 2024, so it’s been a little over a year since I’ve been a tournament goer!
What deck and why did you pick for the qualifiers?
I picked Inalla because it’s the deck I’m most comfortable on, and have the most time invested in. I had tried other decks briefly but there’s just no substitute for experience and deck knowledge, so I stuck with what I knew.
How did your games go?
All the games were enjoyable. It’s helped when the event is local and you known a lot of players there, it’s going to be a good time. On the other hand, everyone knew I’d be on Inalla, so I was interacted with a lot and had to pivot my gameplan every time, but that’s all part of the fun! The final was certainly a hard fought one. Playing into Blood Pod, Blue Farm, and Tivit certainly didn’t look to be in my favour, but thankfully everyone respected each others deck as well as my own, so I was able to remain a threat after my turn 2 win attempt and look for new windows.
Are you planning to go to Munich for the championship?
Absolutely! I’ll be going for an extra few days to make a small holiday of it, but I’ll mainly be focussed on improving on my performance at last year’s championship.
Any advice for people taking part in following qualifiers?
Knowing your deck well is the most important thing I’d say, but outside of that I think it’s important to be enjoyable to play against. We’re meant to be playing optimally in cEDH regardless of any out-of-game factors, but we’re still human, so if you’re perceived as an unpleasant player then you’re going to attract more hate than your game deserves and your performance will suffer.
Are you going to any more qualifiers?
I’m planning on going to as many as I can, so long as I can travel there and back on the same day! It’s good experience as the winners are players you may come up against in Munich, and being part of the cEDH UK community means there are people you’ll only really get to see at these events, and they’re worth travelling for.