He came to chew bubblegum and Top 8, and he was all out of bubblegum. Caleb Vanvacter was a dedicated member of my college Magic group which regularly met to play Magic twice weekly sometimes until the wee hours of 3 or 4am. In the weeks leading up to the tournament Caleb gave me constructive advice regarding deck choices and match ups as well as just generally talking about mundane things such as school. His advice that playing Bitterblossom and Cryptic Command in my rogue deck gave me the idea that if I am playing those cards I may as well have been playing fairies. I tell you this just to give you context on how good of a player Caleb is, while my friend and I were floundering around going unspectacular 0-4 and 1-3 respectively I witnessed Caleb going 4-0 before my friend and I left wishing him luck and the sincere hope he would Top 8.

In a spectacular Cinderella-esque fashion he did Top 8 with a Green and Red Valakut deck and the entire Top 8 of this Pro Tour Qualifier can be found here and the deck list is as follows. http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/events.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/nagoya11ptq/0326desmoines .

Caleb VanVacter
6th Place - Iowa - Des Moines - 3/26

Main Deck

60 cards

3 Evolving Wilds
5 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
11 Mountain
3 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

27 lands

4 Primeval Titan

4 creatures
2 Cultivate
4 Explore
2 Harrow
4 Khalni Heart Expedition
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Primal Command
3 Prismatic Omen
4 Rampant Growth
4 Scapeshift
2 Volcanic Fallout

29 other spells

Sideboard

2 Inferno Titan
4 Nature's Claim
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Primal Command
3 Vexing Shusher
2 Volcanic Fallout

15 sideboard cards

Caleb Vanvacter name appears halfway down the screen as well as his deck list, while I have no idea how to analyze this deck I thought my column would be the perfect opportunity to give my friend credit for performing near flawlessly while I highlighted earlier this week my ineptitude at making simple plays regarding the game of Magic. Where I played a great deck and performed terribly, Caleb played a great deck and performed wonderfully. I want to take this brief column and highlight his victory for my rag tag group of Magic buddies and to forever cement his victory on the canvas known as the internet in stark contrast to my poor and embarrassing performance. There is a lot to learn from our defeats and others victories. So here's to you Caleb a magnificent player and an even better friend.

Any praise for Caleb and myself can be sent to PlatinumFUBU5@hotmail.com