I am afraid that I have been a little overzealous in my description of my first major Top 8, and I ran over the blog word limit. Here is the...ahem...exciting conclusion!
Top 8 Quarter vs. Brian Schneider with TEPS I have a ridiculous matchup against TEPS, so I am supremely confident of my ability to defeat Brian. I just have to play smarter, and put the last match behind me.
I lose the die roll, and I worry karma is about to kick me in the head.
Game 1 I meet Brian’s Turn 1 tapped Sulfur Vents with a Turn 1 Birds of Paradise. Instead of going for the Empty the Warrens’ Plan on turn 2, Brian calmly Burning Wishes for something, I really can’t remember since it simply did not matter. My Turn 2 Vindicate on Sulfur Vents ended the game effectively when he could not find any more land, and I played a Doran on turn 3. Three swings later, and we shuffled up for Game 2.
Sideboarding Plan: +4 Extirpate, +1 Duress, +1 Putrefy
-3 Loxodon Hierarch, -2 Profane Command, -1 Doran, the Siege Tower
I know that I am going to win at least Game 2 or 3, since my sideboard is simply so much better against his deck. He really has very few ways to stop the disruption I pack in the deck.
Game 2 Turn 1 Brian suspends Lotus Bloom with no land in sight. On my turn 1, Duress reveals an Empty the Warrens, Tendrils of Agony, 3x Cabal Ritual, and Desperate Ritual. I steal the Empty the Warrens, and force him to try to combo off without land. My turn 2 Goyf is relatively weak, but Goyf is powered up by my Putrefy on his Lotus Bloom off suspend. Undaunted, Brian suspended a second Lotus Bloom with an Invasion sac land in play. I ripped Tendrils of Agony from his hand with Cabal Therapy, played a Treetop Village and a Dark Confidant, and passed the turn with Extirpate in my hand and lethal on the board. He attempted to go off with just a Tinder Farm since he was staring down lethal, but Extirpate on Cabal Ritual left him without sufficient mana to either find or play any gas.
Results: 2-0 Win! On to the Semis!
I made it to the semifinals in about 20 minutes. My hands are shaking, and I am thrilled to be in this position, where it looked so bleak such a short time ago.
Semifinals vs. Brad Taulbee with Goblins Ah, my nemesis rears its ugly head again. Brad defeated Ken Adams’ UR Suspend deck in the quarters, and I was disappointed to not get a second crack at his interesting list. Plus, I knew my deck’s weakness against Goblins, and I shuffled up a little resigned to my fate.
Brad won the draw, and elected to kick off the semifinals with…
Game 1 …my old friend Mogg Fanatic. Fortunately, I came out of the gates strong with Doran Turn 2 off Chrome Mox (imprinting Birds of Paradise, the irony), and turn 3 Loxodon Hierarch. Unfortunately, Brad stalled the board with Goblins, and played a devastating Goblin Ringleader for 4! Goblins. I could not come back from the Ringleader’s card advantage, and Brad used Sparksmith and Gempalm Incinerator to remove my fatties, and swing for the win. He dealt most of his damage to himself with Sparksmith.
Sideboarding Plan: +3 Pernicious Deed, +2 Extirpate, +2 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Putrefy
-2 Duress, -4 Dark Confidant, -1 Cabal Therapy, -1 Eternal Witness
After a careful discussion with my playtesting team, we agreed that Mystic Enforcer still pretty much sucked in this matchup. Extirpate on some of his key cards along with discard was my only real option to remove some of his threats. I still don’t think that Extirpate helped, and I would probably put the Cabal Therapy and Eternal Witness back in play OR add the Mystic Enforcers for heavier fat if I had another chance to play it out.
Game 2 On the play, turn 2 Doran with Chrome Mox (imprinting Extirpate) went the distance, and I shredded his hand with Cabal Therapy. It didn’t hurt that I was able to Cabal Therapy away double Blood Moon AND that he only had 2 mana in play on turn 5 with Goblin Warchief, Siege-Gang Commander, and the aforementioned Blood Moons in his hand.
I began hoping I could pull it out, but it is much harder to win on the draw against Goblins.
Game 3 Brad led off with Turn 2 Blood Moon, Turn 3 Goblin Ringleader for double Goblin Warchief, but then he ran out of gas a little bit. I had a great draw negated by the Blood Moon, and if I was on the play, I could easily have played a turn 2 Doran of my own. Fortunately, a Chrome Mox (imprinting Doran) and double Tarmogoyf gave me a glimmer of hope. Tarmogoyf only totaled a 1/2 due to my inability to put my lands into the ‘yard, which allowed his Ringleader and Warchiefs to come in unimpeded. When Brad drew and played a Sparksmith, I knew it was over, since the Vindicate staring at me could not clear its removal off the board. I did find a Forest to play a Loxodon Hierarch, and attempt to stem the bleeding, but my Swamp came too late to Vindicate the Sparksmith, and he cleared my board of creatures to swing for the win.
Results: 1-2 Loss. Overall Top 3-4 position.
Analysis and Conclusion
n My mana base worked all day long. Aside from game 1 of the semifinals, Chrome Mox never once let me down (I had two in my opening hand, but I refused to pitch it due to turn 2 Doran). I always had the correct mana available at the correct time.
n Putrefy over Smother was HUGE! The absolute best decision in the entire list.
n My sideboard plan of Mystic Enforcer in the mirror won me the mirror match, and gave me a significant advantage against Death Cloud. Definitely a solid addition, although I missed Armadillo Cloak against Goblins.
n I need a better sideboard plan against Goblins. Offalsnout is cute, and I like having it around, but I did not utilize it effectively.
n The 4th Putrefy in the board should either be Krosan Grip, Mortify, or Armadillo Cloak. I don’t think it helped me appreciably. 3x Putrefy and 4x Vindicate is quite a lot of removal, plus I bring in Deed against the mirror.
n I am supremely happy I played the best deck I could for the tournament, and did not give in to my fear of the mirror match, and make a poor deck choice.
n I need to scout more between matches to see what other players are doing more frequently.
n I still have a long way to go.
n What else can I say about my first major Top 8?
Overall, an epic day of Magic ended in a personal best finish, a colossal misplay to almost deny me my first Top 8, a box of Morningtide, a Top 8 pin, and a wealth of memories good and bad.
Although I did not “get there,” and qualify for the Pro Tour, I definitely hope this result launches me into a different level. I am going to play my best (which is not always that great, admittedly) to get back to the Top 8 in my next PTQ, and finish the Dream. Unfortunately, my dreams will not be met in California, since my PTQ season ended on Saturday.
I can’t justify leaving my 16-month old son for two whole Saturdays in one month, so I will not be able to attend GP: Philadelphia either. I know somewhere, Bennie Smith (and many of you!) understands.
Thanks for reading, and sound off about my first Top 8 in the forums! I know that I am going to receive some decidedly mixed reactions to these results, and I look forward to the discussion.
As always,
Thomas M. Trovato
Falkor in the Forums
Props and Slops:
Props Williamsburg Crew for coming up to actually play in a Magic tournament (well, except you Kevin, but someone has to drive)
Ian Bennett, I can’t thank you enough
All of my opponents for being class acts throughout the entire tournament
Ken Adams, for creating interesting, competitive decks, and then playing them to solid finishes in big tournaments
Sandwiches and food packed for a long day of Magic
Slops My horrific, horrific misplay
Being scooped into the Top 8, and not being able to play out the final game to determine a true winner (barring a second colossal mistake, I think the smart money was on me)
Joey for not showing up to promote his new store – epic fail
That’s all I’ve got, my word count is almost up to 6800, definitely large enough for Risky’s head to explode.
As the morning dawned on March 1, 2008, I had no idea what to expect from my 4th Pro Tour qualifier experience. I tend to think poorly about my own Magic skills, but thankfully this tournament took place in Richmond, VA, about 15-20 minutes from my house. Key factors to help performance:
- A good night’s sleep. Check.
- A good breakfast. Totally skipped it as I got ready for the tournament. Oops.
I was able to pack a big time lunch with a couple of sandwiches, plenty of fruit, and enough energy to last a full day (I hoped).
- Plenty of support. At my last two PTQs in Roanoke, VA, I had exactly one friend travel with me to the tournament. I am extremely pleased that my playtesting group traveled up from Williamsburg to both play in the tournament, and cheer me on.
Over 80+ players showed up at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. A bit of a light showing, but somewhat expected considering the PTQ in New York City this past weekend, and the presence of GP: Philadelphia looming over the tournament scene.
For those of you interested in a solid discussion of my list and card choices, here you go. I highly recommend you read the pre-tournament report I put together before the tournament began.
Dream of Californication by Flea and Anthony Keidis
(might as well continue the theme)
Creatures 4x Birds of Paradise
4x Dark Confidant
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Eternal Witness
3x Loxodon Hierarch
4x Doran, the Siege Tower
Spells 4x Cabal Therapy
2x Duress
4x Vindicate
3x Putrefy
2x Profane Command
2x Chrome Mox
Land 4x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
2x Polluted Delta
3x Treetop Village
1x Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Godless Shrine
1x Temple Garden
2x Forest
2x Swamp
1x Plains
Sideboard 4x Extirpate
2x Offalsnout
1x Duress
1x Putrefy
2x Umezawa’s Jitte
2x Mystic Enforcer
3x Pernicious Deed
Before the tournament began, my playtesting group showed up around 9:30 am to complete my deck, since I do not own Extirpates or Pernicious Deeds. After loaning out my Burning Wishes and Solitary Confinements to the Ideal player in our group, and a set of Barbarian Rings, some Tormod’s Crypts and a couple of Spark Elementals to Mono-Red burn, I felt confident writing down my list. A quick survey of the room revealed a tremendous amount of combo decks, and less aggro than I have seen in other PTQ formats. To me, that meant I did not need to audible into the Treefolk Harbinger version of the deck that I posted in my pre-tournament report. Of course, after the players’ meeting, and first pairings are posted, I sat down across from my first opponent for seven rounds of Swiss and a cut to the top 8. Winning my first couple of matches would be key to overall success.
Round 1 vs. Jeffrey Lynch with Goblins
Crap.
My worst matchup.
I can’t lose, or I will pretty much have to win out the rest of the day.
He wins the die roll, even better. Thankfully, Jeff seemed somewhat unsure of his plays throughout the day, and I benefited from his inexperience. Playing against a skilled Goblins player = sure loss for my deck without some major Pernicious Deed help in Games 2-3.
Game 1 We both kick off the tournament without a mulligan, and my opener looks strong with 2x Birds of Paradise, Chrome Mox, Doran, the Siege Tower and one land. Of course, his first turn Mogg Fanatic puts a definite change in my plans, and I start with a Windswept Heath à Overgrown Tomb à Birds of Paradise to clear out his Mogg Fanatic. He makes the correct play, attacks for one with the Fanatic, and burns out the Bird. Fortunately, turn 2 Chrome Mox imprinting the second Birds of Paradise allows for Doran, the Beatstick to hit the table on turn 2. I can’t ask for a better opening on turn 2. Unfortunately, Doran can’t beat through a series of Goblin tokens made by double Mogg War Marshal and friends. When he misses his third land drop, I name Goblin Warchief with Cabal Therapy, whiff, and see a hand full of 2x Goblin Ringleader, Goblin Matron, and Goblin Piledriver. So, I decided to Vindicate his land to hopefully slow him down from hitting the Matron and Ringleaders.
He finds land, plays out a ton of Goblins while I can’t find anything to beat through his wall of tokens. He plays Goblin Ringleader, which finds him 3 more Goblins, and I can’t really keep up with the beats at that point. My second Cabal Therapy takes out 2 more Ringleaders in his hand (thank God!), but I see a Siege-Gang Commander. On my attack, a Tarmogoyf and Treetop Village take him down to 11 (finally, some damage). I should have flashed back my Cabal Therapy to take the Siege-Gang Commander out of his hand, but failed to do so. He plays Siege-Gang Commander, Skirk Prospector, and a bunch of Goblins. Fortunately, he chose to burn out the Goyf in play rather than hit my meager life total when I Putrefy the Siege-Gang Commander during his turn. I now have a couple of turns to find answers as his army of Goblins dwindled to find him mana and sacrificial victims to throw at the Goyf. He beats me down to one life with tokens, but finally my two creatures equal his two creatures on the board.
So, he decided to top deck Patriarch’s Bidding for the win. Good game.
Sideboarding Plan: +3 Pernicious Deed, +1 Putrefy, +2 Umezawa’s Jitte, +2 Mystic Enforcer
-4 Dark Confidant, -2 Duress, -1 Cabal Therapy, -1 Profane Command
Game 2 After some serious slow play from both of us, we have about 13 minutes left in the round. Maybe I should have conceded when he had a dominating board position, but I almost fought back to take the win. Now, I needed to win quickly in order to preserve a draw.
Turn 1 Cabal Therapy naming Goblin Piledriver whiffs, but reveals 2x Ringleader, Skirk Prospector, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (really?), Siege-Gang Commander, and a couple of lands. Turn 2 Tarmogoyf, Turn 3 Doran, Turn 4 Umezawa’s Jitte + equip means that he needs to find answers quickly. Unfortunately, he runs out an army of creatures again, and I have to clear away his blockers with Jitte to beat for the win. He draws into a ton of Goblins with Ringleader, and as burns through his entire deck to kill Doran equipped with Jitte, a couple of key removal spells runs him out of gas. I use Jitte to good effect, and clear his entire board, then beat for the win. After the match finished, I heard from onlookers that he definitely had the win on the board, and just misplayed. I am thankful for a relatively unearned tie.
Results: 1-1 Draw. Overall: 0-0-1
While I am not thrilled with an opening draw, I understand that Goblins is by far my worst matchup. I hope that I will not find too many more Goblins matchups in the draw bracket. I know that I have to win out the next couple of matches to give myself a chance.
Match 2 vs. Nick Stevens with RG Aggro I could not have asked for a better matchup in round 2. When Nick mentioned that Tarmogoyf was overrated, so he decided not to include them in his deck, this matchup favored me.
Game 1 He mulliganed on the play, but his turn 1 opener of Mogg Fanatic made the Birds of Paradise in my opening hand look foolish once more. Doh! (hey, what do you want, I am watching The Simpsons)
Fortunately, he stalled on one Karplusan Forest and 2x Mogg Fanatic for the first couple of turns, while I played out Tarmogoyf, Doran, the Beatstick, and best of all, double Loxodon Hierarch. Although he Char’d Goyf, he chumped the rest of my creatures with small beats until he ran out of creatures. I have no idea why he refused to equip any of those small creatures with the Sword of Fire and Ice he had in play since the early game. Shrug. I’ll take it.
Sideboarding Plan: I decided not to sideboard at all, since I was actually helping him to make decisions in the course of the match. I probably shouldn’t do this at the PTQ level, but Nick was a really nice guy.
Game 2 Hey, what do you know? He kicked off the second game with a mulligan and a Mogg Fanatic. An early Cabal Therapy naming Tarmogoyf earned me the quote mentioned in the intro, and I saw a Giant Solifuge and Char left in his hand. I flashed back the Cabal Therapy after he finally got to 3 mana, and managed to nail not one, but two Giant Solifuges! Although he used Char twice on my life total, my own double Treetop Village took the game in a few turns.
Results: 2-0 Win! Overall 1-0-1.
I am happy for the win, and I wish Nick best of luck in his future matches. He was a really nice guy, but he just needed a stronger deck to compete at the PTQ level. I am actually happier to go eat a sandwich, and refuel for the next match.
Match 3 vs. Daniel Sampson with Doran Rock Oh, great, the mirror. I hate the mirror, but I know that I have a sideboard to win the mirror. After I finished my sandwich, I had wandered over to Daniel’s previous match against Sean Vandover, where amazing Sensei’s Divining Tops and Smothers allowed Sean to draw out a match he probably should have lost. We both know that the loser of this match is going to have to win out to make top 8, so the stakes are pretty high.
Game 1 A combination of Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Duress shred both of our hands, but his Thoughtseize and Cabal Therapy is a lot more devastating than my Duress and Cabal Therapy. For one, I had to lead with a blind Cabal Therapy, and my Tarmogoyf call whiffed. After seeing his hand of double Birds of Paradise, Vindicate, Cabal Therapy, and Thoughtseize, I imprinted my own Doran under Chrome Mox, played a Birds of Paradise of my own, and flashed back Cabal Therapy to waste his Birds. I probably should have called the Thoughtseize with the flashback, leaving him blind to my own cards for his follow-up Therapy, but I knew that I could then Vindicate a land (he would never call Vindicate), and leave him without a significant amount of mana to play on. I should have been favored in the top deck war to come. My plan works, and I take down his land, but he draws not only land, but Dark Confidant to find more land. He also probably saw the freshly-drawn Putrefy from me flashing the card with my other card in hand, and his blind Cabal Therapy saves his Bob, and wins him the game. I can’t recover from his card advantage, when my own Bob is Vindicated before it can draw me any extra cards.
Could I have played this game differently? My gut tells me I made a wrong play in here somewhere to lose me the game, but I am not sure how I can get out from under his superior draw. For the rest of the match, I stop shuffling the cards in my hand, and leave them face down on the table.
Sideboarding Plan: -3 Loxodon Hierarch, -2 Duress, -2 Cabal Therapy
+2 Mystic Enforcer, +2 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Putrefy, +2 Pernicious Deed
While I realize this sideboarding strategy differs from my previous plan I put together in my tournament report, I noticed that he definitely overextended into Sean Vandover’s Pernicious Deed in the previous match, and I decided that I could perhaps take advantage of his tendency to commit too many creatures to the board.
Game 2 Finally, I claim tempo advantage on the play, and I kick off game 2 with one of the two Cabal Therapies remaining in my deck on turn 1. I hit a Tarmogoyf blind, and I am sitting pretty since he has a Therapy, Bob, Profane Command, and Doran of his own in his hand. My Bob dies to Profane Command; his Bob and Doran die to removal, and I use a fat Tarmogoyf to clean up the mess before he can find removal to stop it. After the game, he laments the early Profane Command on my Dark Confidant, but I still think it is the right play.
Game 3 A noticeable tension filled the air as we shuffle up for the next game, and a crowd gathers to watch the end of the match. Fortunately, Bennie Smith is a couple of seats over about to go up 3-0 in his PTQ, so most of the crowd surrounds him. I love talking with Bennie about anything and everything. He truly is a great ambassador of the sport, and he loves Momentary Blink! What else can anyone ask for in a Magic player?
Back to the action, neither of us have any significant discard effects in the third and deciding game, so it comes down to a battle of creature advantage. Although I am able to kill his Turn 2 Dark Confidant, he drops not one, but two significant Tarmogoyfs on turn 4, and things do not look good at all. I drop a Doran, which he kills with his own Doran, and both Tarmogoyfs knock me down to 9 life. I can feel the game slipping out of reach, but I have a removal spell, Tarmogoyf, and…Mystic Enforcer with Threshold to keep his attackers at bay. On successive turns, we both draw removal to rid ourselves of the opposing Goyfs, but he drops a second Doran, the Beatstick.
On the next turn he drops a Loxodon Hierarch, while all I can find is land. When the Hierarch enters play, it boosts his life total up to 15, and I am staring down a Doran, Loxodon Hierarch, and Treetop Village at 9 life (still).
I peel my card, and a lovely Profane Command stares back at me to change my fortune in the match. I kill the Hierarch, recur my own Doran to kill his Doran, and attack him down to 9 with Mystic Enforcer. We trade attacks again on the next turn to put both players at 3 life. He draws and plays a Birds of Paradise, who threatens to stall the match until I can find a removal spell, or he can find a creature. My freshly-drawn Dark Confidant stares at me mockingly, since there is no chance I will play Bob to kill myself in my own upkeep. He draws a card, and slowly plays…a land. Whew!
Next turn, I draw and play a Birds of Paradise to hopefully deny his Treetop Village from going lethal, but I choose not to attack as a subsequent removal spell would deny me the game. This is probably the wrong play, but I do not want to lose off of a top deck with my tournament dreams on the line. He draws and plays a second land, and I breathe a second sigh of relief.
Next turn, my second Doran shows up at the top of my library, and I hastily put him into play. I attack with Mystic Enforcer, who takes down his Birds of Paradise to clear my way to victory next turn, as long as he doesn’t draw a removal spell or a blocker on his turn. He draws his card, and coyly puts it into his hand. I can’t get a read of the card, but I know that I have to send in Doran and Mystic Enforcer on my next turn. When he flips up his remaining card, his third land in a row sealed his fate, and sent me through to a 2-0-1 record. The dream is alive.
Results: 2-1 Win! Overall: 2-0-1
I am absolutely drained after this win, and I know that a third win would put me in strong contention for a top 8 position. It’s always nice to escape the first three rounds of a major tournament without a loss, but I just hope that my opening draw won’t kill my chances of making top 8. Jeff is still going strong, and I think he opened on 1-1-1, so that definitely helps.
Match 4 vs. Ken Adams with UR Suspend I really wish that I had the opportunity to be paired up against the only other 2-0-1 player in the field, but an odd number of players put Ian Bennett and his Heartbeat deck paired up against a 3-0 player, and I was paired down against the 2-1 Ken Adams. More to come about Ian Bennett later in this report.
I have a ton of respect for Ken Adams. I met him briefly at the PT: Hollywood qualifier on January 5th, but I did not really get a chance to introduce myself. At the tournament, he played a crazy Balancing Act/Greater Gargadon Balancing Tings build that just looked like a blast to play. I put him on something similar for this tournament, although he told me the Tings build remained a little too inconsistent for regular tournament action. If you know you can beat the player across from you with a basic stock list, but your deck fails to perform for you, it’s time to find a different deck. Again, Ken plays really interesting, home-grown lists, and I definitely admire his deck-building skills and different card choices.
Ken scouted the entire event in between matches, and as I watched him go from table to table, I realized that just chilling out with my friends between matches is probably the wrong thing to do at a major tournament. I vowed right then and there to take better care of my ability to scout opponents before my own match began. Calling Cabal Therapy with knowledge of your opponent’s deck is a lot better than calling it blind. I was very tired of calling it blind.
Ken won the die roll, and elected to play first.
Game 1 My notes have failed me a little bit from this game, since I am a little tired from the previous match, but I know that my deck is not very strong against UR Suspend. Epochrasite, Sower of Temptation, Countryside Crusher, and Greater Gargadon are difficult enough to defeat without having to fight through a wall of Force Spike, Remand, and Venser, Shaper Savant. I look forward to more discussion about his list when it is posted on magicthegathering.com (he top 8’d of course).
All told, he Force Spiked my turn 1 Birds of Paradise, then played out double Countryside Crusher with Gargadon backup. As if that did not hurt enough, Sower of Temptation stole my Dark Confidant, and drew him extra gas. My Doran hit him down to 11, and my Bob took him down to 8 (frown), but I lose in spectacular fashion.
Sideboarding Plan: No idea, but I think I put in +1 Putrefy, +1 Duress, +3 Pernicious Deed
I have no idea why I put in the Deeds, and I have no idea what I took out, because it didn’t really work.
Game 2 My opening hand consists of Birds of Paradise, 3x Vindicate and enough lands to use all 3 Vindicates. I smash his lands, but his Mogg War Marshal Goblin tokens block my creatures until Treetop Village can reduce his life total to 0. I played around 2x Threads of Disloyalty, Remand, and Epochrasite with Cabal Therapy. He can’t recover from the early land loss to play the Threads.
Game 3 Nothing goes right in game 3. He comes out guns blazing with Epochrasite and double Greater Gargadon and plenty of lands. I concede before it gets too ugly. Despite 4 Putrefy and 4 Vindicate, there isn’t much you can do if you can’t draw into something to keep off of Greater Gargadon. At least I subbed out Pernicious Deed in this matchup for Extirpate, on the off chance I could put Greater Gargadon into the graveyard, then Extirpate his remaining copies.
Meh.
Results: 1-2 Loss. Overall: 2-1-1
Now, I know that I have to win out to make top 8. Fortunately, if I do win out, I know that I am guaranteed to hit top 8, since I am in good position with good tiebreaks due to Ken Adams going 6-1 in the Swiss.
Match 5 vs. Justin Bartlett with UG Tron I have a very strong matchup against UG Tron, especially after board. I simply have too much discard and graveyard hate for his recursion engine to come online after board.
Game 1 My Dark Confidant on turn 2 is strong, but his turn 4 Gifts Ungiven and completed Tron allows him to play Sundering Titan, wreck my board, and go in for the kill. He did manage to top deck the Gifts through my wall of discard, but he had too big a lead for my creature advantage to really make
Sideboarding Plan: +4 Extirpate, +2 Offalsnout, +1 Putrefy, +1 Duress
-3 Loxodon Hierarch, -2 Profane Command, -2 Doran, the Siege Tower, -1 Eternal Witness
Game 2 Justin’s deck did not cooperate with him in this game, since he mulliganed to 6, then produced one land. Dark Confidant found me enough gas to win in short order. Justin looked visibly frustrated at his deck’s lack of performance. I shredded his entire hand, and Extirpated Mindslaver to prevent ‘Slaver lock.
Game 3 Again, Justin was forced to mulligan, and he opened without any colored land sources. Only Urza’s Mine and double Urza’s Power Plant threatened my deck. I shredded some of his hand again, but I left him with a Sower of Temptation and Triskelion in his hand. I made a horrible misplay with an Eternal Witness that would have allowed Justin to get back in the game. He found 2 blue mana sources, and I neglected to remember that Duress could not take either Triskelion or Sower of Temptation against my double Tarmogoyfs. I had a Putrefy in the graveyard that I stared at for a couple of seconds before I took Duress back to my hand. What a mistake, since he can Sower one of my Tarmogoyfs, and block my second Tarmogoyf all day long. Eternal Witness could continue to get in for two, but he was at 6 life, and 3 turns is an awful long period of time for the UG Tron player to find answers.
Fortunately for me, he decided to take Eternal Witness with Sower. Why? I have no clue, but I attacked two times for the win. I simply think he became so frustrated with his deck that he made the wrong play.
It would not be my last major mistake of the day.
Results: 2-1 Win! Overall 3-1-1
Match 6 vs. Sean Vandover with Death Cloud After watching Daniel Sampson’s match against Sean in Round 2, I knew exactly what deck Sean played. That is a huge advantage for me in this matchup, since my discard has to count.
Game 1 Sean won the die roll, and kicked things off with a turn 1 Sensei’s Divining Top. I shredded his hand with Duress and Cabal Therapy. I wondered in my head how he could pull Garruk Wildspeaker, then Death Cloud for 5 in subsequent turns, but hey, that’s exactly why the Top is the key to Death Cloud. Doran only had a chance to hit him once before Smother took care of it, and that’s all she wrote.
Sideboarding Plan: +3 Extirpate, +1 Duress, +2 Mystic Enforcer
-3 Loxodon Hierarch, -2 Profane Command, -1 Doran, the Siege Tower
This is definitely not the best plan against Death Cloud, but I had to plan on the fly since I never tested against Death Cloud. Oops.
Game 2
No turn 1 Sensei’s Divining Top for Sean, but he did draw triple Ravenous Baloth. I desperately prayed for a Cabal Therapy off the top of my library, but to no avail. Fortunately, I did have Tarmogoyf, Doran, and double Putrefy to hit him for 10 life a turn. He played Baloth; I Putrefy Baloth and swing for 10. Twice. I activate a Treetop Village and swing for the win through the third Baloth. Even the life gain doesn’t help.
Game 3 Turn 1 Sensei’s Divining Top for Sean on the play is bad news once again, but sometimes, even the Top can’t help you find the right card.&nbs
