Week 5

Matthew Gottshall 2 - 0 Sean Ottaway

Matthew Gottshall: Game One my Delver pretty much went the distance, then a Pyromancer cleaned up. Game Two he wasted my turn one Volc putting me behind for a while but he didn’t draw much and I eventually went broken, including stealing a Sapphire and Seat of the Synod from him to Hardcast an Ingot Chewer to beat, Pyromancer also closed out this game as well.

I was actually not looking forward to the match given his list had Grove and Punishing Fire and 4 Sudden Shock in the board.

MaximumCDawg 0 - 2 Wappla

Wappla: Dragonlord Ojutai performed excellently against an outspoken critic. Ojutai’s pilot also drew pretty insane against a deck without countermagic, and that helps the cause.

I tested this matchup a lot in the past couple days and found it to be very bad for me. I needed a significant developmental advantage to have a chance, but the number of flying threats and edicts my opponent was running meant that even into the lategame I was far from secure if I was without countermagic. My plan for the matchup was to fight fire with fire and resolve Ojutai as early and, if removed, as often as possible. I’m not running four to play him only after I’m assured of victory.

I lost the die-roll

G1 My hand was Mox Sapphire, Mox Emerald, Sol Ring, Gush, Gush, Ancestral Recall, Dragonlord Ojutai. I kept. I can’t afford to play a slow game, so mulliganing into a hand of 6 with 3 lands would likely be a losing proposition. If MaximumCDawg does not have turn one discard spells, I am in very good shape. He didn’t, having kept a hand of Wasteland, Wasteland, Swamp, Liliana, Abyssal Persecutor, Gatekeeper of Malakir. He plays Swamp and passes. I topdeck Flooded Strand, drop my moxen, Ancestral into Duress, Duress taking Liliana, the only non-land, non-creature. He wastes me but I draw Tundra and resolve Dragonlord Ojutai. He plays Bitterblossom, threatening to tie up the board with chump blockers while he can develop his other threats. I topdeck Jace and swing with Ojutai. Ojutai sees a second Jace, a third Gush and a Jet. I take the Jet and play the Jace I had. Even this simple interaction of filtering my next two draw phases is very valuable. I avoid drawing two cards that would have been blanks. I fateseal and tell him to keep Stoneforge Mystic, as he has no white mana source. Without a second black, he can’t play anything in his hand and passes. I draw Brainstorm, Jace bounces the Faerie token, and I Gush into Time Walk. I Brainstorm into Dig and Mana Drain, sealing the game. I have two more attack phases before he draws again, which will put him to 4 life, and then I can counter whatever his next spell is.

I sideboard in two Swords to Plowshares and Thoughtseize, taking out my Moats.

G2 I win a topdeck war. My opener is insane again. Jet, two lands, Ancestral, Duress, Gush, Preordain. Again he has no T1 play, just a land. I Duress, seeing double Hymn to Tourach and taking one, then Ancestral. His subsequent Hymn strips Gush and Ruby. A midgame fight over my Liliana carries out over several turns. At the end of it he has Vampire Nighthawk in play, Batterskull in hand, and I have plenty of mana but only Misstep and Flusterstorm in hand. I topdeck one of the four Dragonlords and play him. Although Nighthawk would theoretically win the race on damage, he can’t afford to let me Ponder every turn, so neither of us attack. He resolves his Batterskull. I topdeck Dig Through Time. I see Jace, Gush, Treasure Cruise. I take Gush and Cruise. Cruise finds Sol Ring, a second Ojutai and Demonic Tutor. I DT for Swords, remove his Nighthawk and swing with Ojutai. Ojutai finds my second Swords! Now I feel very good. He is hellbent and I have removal for at least one threat. I Gush into Force, and over the four turns it takes to close out the game, Ojutai makes sure I have enough countermagic to prevent anything from hitting the board. He’s a planeswalker with five power. My redundant Ojutai’s are pitched to Force of Will.

Tom Dixon 1 - 2 Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly: Game 1, I mulled to 5 and got Dredged. Game 2, I had two hate pieces and Oath of Druids, and Mental Mistep for his Chain of Vapor. Oathed up Auriok and all his toys. Game 3 was a long convoluted affair. I had no hard Dredge hate, but had Library, Orchard, Mox, Oath of Druids, Yawgmoth’s Will and goodstuff. Oath of Druids the card is soft Dredge hate so I was satisfied. He led w. Bazaar and Ingot Chewered my Ruby. I had a fast Jace and though there was still no Dredge hate, my counterspells were stopping the Cabal Therapies and Dread Returns so I only took a nominal amount of damage each turn. The turn before he threatened lethal, Jace found the Time Walk to go along with the impending Yawgmoth’s Will. 3 turns and 2 Ancestrals later, we Oathed up Auriok and destroyed his board with EE 0 and Pyrite on the Bloodghast, followed by Crypt activation. There was unlimited access to Tormod’s and Nihil Spellbomb at that point. The following turn, I Demonic Tutored for Lion’s Eye Diamond.

Dave Kaplan 2 - 0 White Lotus

Dave Kaplan: It was tough to see both games being conceded multiple turns prior to a win, but I guess my opponent wasn’t feeling it. Shattering Spree and Ingot Chewer did serious work game 2. Game 1 I countered artifacts which killed his Glimmervoids. It was pretty brutal.

James Saltsman 2 - 1 Stormanimagus

James Saltsman: Game 1: I win the die roll and decide to play. My hand comprises of Hellkite, Sol Ring, Golem, Factory, Ruby, Thorn, and another Factory. Storm’s hand consists of Crucible, Chalice, Wurmcoil, Tomb, Emerald, Ravager, and Waste. I decide to keep as does my opponent. I lead with Ruby, Sol Ring, Thorn, play Factory and pass. Storm draws a Buried Ruin and plays it to cast Emerald. Then casts Chalice set to zero. I draw a Tomb and play it on my turn casting Golem and floating a colorless mana to attack with Factory to strike first. Storm draws into another land, a Waste this time. He plays Waste and casts a Ravager and wastes my Tomb. I draw a Forgemaster. I attack with Golem and Storm sacs his Emerald and Chalice to Ravager and we exchange creatures. For the second main phase I play Factor number two and cast my Forgemaster. Storm draws strong with a Revoker naming my Forgemaster while keeping his Tomb in hand. I draw a Revoker of my own for my turn. I decide to Animate my Factories and attack with Forgemaster and Factories and he takes all damage. Storm’s life total is at 11 at this point. He draws a second Revoker and plays Tomb for turn. He casts his Revoker naming my Sol Ring. I draw a Waste for my turn and decide to attack with my Factory and Forgemaster (no blocks from Storm) and pump Factory. I decide to use my Waste on his Tomb and he draws into an unplayable Golem. GG. I lead 1-0.

Game 2: For Game 2, since I am on the draw I board out Chalices, Trinisphere, and Thorns. I bring in post board 3 Crucibles, 1 Duplicant, 1 Wurmcoil, 1 Triselion, 2 Dismembers, and 1 Batterskull. Storms hand is Mana Crypt, Tolarian Academy, Crucible, Wire, Strip, Revoker, and Ruby. My 7 card hand is Golem, Factory, Ruby, Dup, Waste, Factory, and Tomb. Storm keeps and I decide to take a mulligan. My 6 is now Dismember, Ruby, 2 Shops, Tomb, and a Forgemaster and I decide to keep. Storm leads with Crypt, Ruby, and Academy, playing Revoker and naming Lotus, while being able to cast Crucible off Academy for a very strong start. I draw Sundering Titan and play Ruby, Tomb, and pass turn. Storm rolls for Crypt on upkeep and takes his 3 damage. He casts Wire and Portal off Academy and attacks with Revoker bringing me to 18. Storm holds his Strip in hand. I draw into Tomb number two and pass turn. Storm takes another 3 damage from Crypt (18-14 in my favor now). He taps his Cruci, Wire, and Portal to his Wire at 3 fade counters. With card advantage and Cruci out for Storm, my only chance is that is dies to his Crypt this game. Highlight/quote of the match was delivered from Storm: “I HAVE A BILLION WAYS TO SAC ARTIFACTS IN THIS DECK and I draw 2 cards a turn c’mon magic.” His draw off Portal is Waste, but his draw for turn was Smokestack (this is key because he is able to sacrifice his Crypt now). He attacks for 2 with Revoker and casts Smokestack. I continue to play game 2 even though Storm has me in Waste/Crucible lock with Wire/Smoke as well, not to mention his card drawing advantage with Coercive Portal. I got 99 problems but a Karn ain’t one I was thinking to myself. He draws and casts Karn for turn making matters even worse for me. I resign and we go onto the third and deciding game 3. GG. It is now even at 1-1.

Game 3: Since I am on the play I decide to bring back in Chalices. My sideboard for the deciding game/match consists of 3 Cages, 2 Ratchet Bombs, 1 Witchbane Orb, 4 Thorns, 1 Trinisphere, 3 Spheres, and 1 Sundering Titan. I draw solidly with a hand of Crypt, Golem, Pearl, Shop, Revoker, Sol Ring, and Academy. I decide to keep. Storm draws a weak 7 of a pair of Revokers and Golems, a Smokestack, Jet, and a Wurm. Storm mulls to 6. His 6 is much better with Academy, Emerald, Sol Ring, Ravager, Revoker, and Buried Ruin. He keeps. I lead with Pearl casting Sol Ring and play Shop/land for turn thereby playing Golem. I decide to keep Crypt in hand being that I have an Academy in hand and pass the turn. Storm draws a Waste and Wastes my Shop. He continues to play Emerald for Sol Ring and casting Revoker naming my Pearl. I draw a Tomb and attack with Golem, no blocks. I cast my Revoker during second main phase and name Sol Ring and play Tomb. Storm draws Portal for his turn. Storm plays Academy and casts Portal ending the turn. I draw a Triskelion for my turn. I play Academy and cast Trisk thereby destroying his Revoker and attack with Revoker and Golem with no creatures on his field. Life totals are currently 18 to 8 in my favor. He draws Wire off Portal and Waste for turn. Storm plays Waste/land for turn and is able to cast Wire and Ravager for his turn. I tap down Sol Ring, Pearl, Tomb, and Trisk for Storm’s Wire. I draw and cast Black Lotus. I attack with my my Revoker and Golem and before Storm blocks he sacrifices Sol Ring and Wire thereby making his Ravager a 3/3 and blocks my Golem. He is now at 6 life with zero creatures on board. He draws Ghost Quarter from Portal and a second Portal for his draw for turn. He play Buried Ruin and sacs it for Revoker and plays Revoker naming my Trisk. I draw a Factory for turn. I alpha strike with Revoker and Trisk. He chump blocks my Revoker and he goes to 3 life. I play Factory/land for turn. Storm draw a Wurm off Portal and a Razormane Masticore for draw for turn. He plays Quarter and taps out to play Razormane and ends the turn. Regardless of what I draw it is game at this point. I do draw a Waste though for the record. I remove a Trisk counter bringing Storm to 2 life and animate and attack with a 2/2 Trisk and Factory for the win.

In sum, winning the die roll and being able to go first game 1 is an advantage in the mirror MU. Also, deciding to board in a second Trisk got me there. GGs Noah!