Indianapolis, IN, USA - The GenCon gaming convention played host this year to the US Nationals tournament. The event spread across three days of the convention, running Friday and Saturday, with the top 8 battling on Sunday. When all was said and done, Ali Aintrazi and his Blue/Black control deck defeated all comers, sometimes struggling back from a nearly lost position in the course of his matches.

The Top 8 was quite an impressive crew including Luis Scott-Vargas, David Ochoa, Owen Turtenwald and Ali Aintrazi; along with four more unknown or lesser known competitors: Brandon Nelson, Haibing Hu, Noah Koessel and James McLeod. LSV and Turtenwald were defeated in the quarterfinals, while Ochoa and Aintrazi continued onto the Semis to face Brandon Nelson and Haibing Hu respectively.

The World championships will take place this November in San Francisco, CA, USA. It will be the first time the United States have played host to the tournament sense it was held in Memphis, TN, in 2008. It will be the second time San Francisco has hosted the tournament, having been won by Julien Nujiten in 2004 when it was last in the city.

Be sure to read the full coverage of the US Nationals tournament on Wizards' website.

Decklists

"1st. Ali Aintrazi - UB Control"

• Lands (26)
• 4 Creeping Tar Pit
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Island
• 1 Mystifying Maze
• 5 Swamp
• 4 Tectonic Edge

• Creatures (7)
• 2 Consecrated Sphinx
• 2 Grave Titan
• 3 Solemn Simulacrum

• Spells (27)
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Consume the Meek
• 1 Despise
• 1 Dismember
• 3 Doom Blade
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1 Into the Roil
• 4 Jace Beleren
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Liliana Vess
• 4 Mana Leak
• 4 Preordain

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Despise
• 2 Disfigure
• 2 Duress
• 3 Flashfreeze
• 1 Memoricide
• 1 Peace Strider
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Surgical Extraction
• 1 Volition Reins
• 1 Wurmcoil Engine

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