This is part two of Battle of the Sets Groups 3 & 4! The first part you can find here, which details Group 3. If you have no idea what the heck this even is, click on the link and you'll find all of the matches to date, and an explanation on how the tournament works.

I would also like to thank Nazdakka (the other, more shadowy member of the Battle of the Sets crew) for writing a bang-up Saviors versus Antiquities match. Great job.

Group Four has two feature matches, and two, er. . . less than feature matches to sate your BotS-hungry appetites. First on the bill is Guildpact versus Visions, which is a very exciting match, filled with as many twists as you can fit into a round of Magical cards. Enjoy!

WARNING: If you haven't read any of these before, I would recommend reading how each deck works and what cards are involved in the two introduction articles located here and here. In particular, Visions has an extremely complicated lock deck, but if you click on the first introduction link and click the spoiler button below the Visions decklist, it gives a very nice summary of how the deck works.

Feature Match:

Guildpact vs. Visions

This is a very interesting matchup, because it's a lock deck against an aggro deck that features relevant disruption. Guildpact has Castigate, Mortify, and, to a lesser extent, Shrieking Grotesque in its arsenal, which means that it can throw a few monkey wrenches into the gears of Visions' lock/combo deck while applying beatdown for the win. Visions, on the other hand, needs to use countermeasures like Coercion, Wand of Denial, and Peace Talks to buy turns in order to set up the perfect scenario, where it can lock down the board and keep

Guildpact from topdecking the win. Even things like Vision Charm can buy a turn of not being Castigated by changing Swamps or Plains to Mountains during Guildpact's upkeep. It's a tricky matchup, but should be a blast to watch!

Game 1:
Game one began with Visions going first and Guildpact taking a mulligan. Visions started the action by playing a Wand of Denial and activating it, finding nothing of use and passing. Guildpact drew the card, played another tapped Godless Shrine and passed it back Visions continued the proactive disruption by casting a Coercion on Guildpact, revealing a hand of two Pillory of the Sleepless, two Shrieking Grotesques and a Swamp. Visions chose a Grotesque, activated the Wand, which found a Swamp and passed the turn. Guildpact followed this active turn with a Shrieking Grotesque, which chomped on a Forbidden Ritual. However, with the Wand now in place, and thoroughly confident that Guildpact had nothing relevant in its hand, Visions decided to go for the knockout blow the next turn casting a Vampiric Tutor on Guildpact's end step. It followed the Equipoise with another Vampiric Tutor for the Sands of Time lock. Now, with its draws being chosen for it, and nothing valuable in its hand, Guildpact played a few turns, and conceded when Visions uncorked the Forbidden Ritual it needed to seal the game.

Game 2:
Guildpact was getting nervous. The prior game was a complete blowout. It wasn't even close by any stretch of the imagination. However, it lacked either of the two cards that could have made a difference disruption-wise, which of course are Castigate and Mortify. It looked to

rebound strongly in this second match, and began the match by playing two lands and an Orzhov Signet. Visions began tutoring on the second turn after Guildpact cast a Shrieking Grotesque, by casting Impulse. It then forayed this gain by ensuring that it would be left alone on the next turn by casting a Peace Talks and adding another land. Guildpact, rather frustrated with the Talks, had no choice other than casting a second Shrieking Grotesque, which of course had no effect due to the Peace Talks, and passed it back. Visions on its next turn cleverly bought another turn of no attacking by casting the lock piece Sands of Time, which would tap the untapped Grotesques at the beginning of Guildpact's upkeep. Guildpact, however, decided to get nasty as well by Castigating Visions on its turn, taking an important Equipoise. Visions was obviously thrown off by the powerful discard spell because it had no play on the following turn, and passed the turn back to Guildpact, which was now ready to capitalize on the stunned and stalled Visions.

Guildpact attacked with both Grotesques, but had no follow-up play. Vision again used Guildpact's end-step

to Impulse for a card. Sands of Time robbed Visions the ability to untap two of its lands that turn, and Visions was forced again to pass the turn back to Guildpact. Guildpact continued to rough up Visions, attacking the lock deck down to 12 life. Almost like a record skipping, Visions again used Guildpact's end step to Impulse for another card; could this be the one to break the spell deadlock? Visions, because it was able to use Impulse, was allowed by Sands to untap all of its lands. Visions used this opportunity to cast Equipoise as well as a Wand of Denial. But because Equipoise only phases out things at the beginning of Visions' upkeep, Guildpact still had another turn with which to remove the pesky permanent. Wand of Denial was activated, finding nothing, and Visions passed. However, the fiendish Guildpact already had a Mortify waiting in its hand for just such an occasion! It blasted the potent permanent, and lowered Visions down to 8 life, then cast a third Grotesque! Visions ditched an Island and untapped. Visions, now knowing there was one less Mortify in Guildpact's hand, cast a second Equipoise, activated Wand of Denial, finding nothing and passed, hoping against hope that this one would stay in play, but lo-and-behold Guildpact was waiting with an EOT Mortify on the Equipoise! Guildpact untapped and attacked with 2 of the Grotesques (one being tapped due to Sands of Time) and played another Signet. Visions, now at 4 life needed to topdeck two things in a row in order to stay alive in this game: Peace Talks followed by an Equipoise. At the beginning of its own turn, Visions activated the Wand targeting itself, finding a Vampiric Tutor, Visions, because it wanted to be able to use the Wand's ability a second time, used Vision Charm to mill the top 4 cards of its library into the grave, one of which was Peace Talks! Visions, kicking itself, though there was nothing it could have done otherwise (it wasn't the second card) drew a land and conceded the game.

Game 3:

A tough win for Guildpact was a tough loss for Visions. Having the combo twice, and with Wand of Denial in play stopping topdecks to boot was

simply not enough to get past a Guildpact deck that had two Mortifies already in its hand. Hoping for a bit of better luck this game, Visions started, while Guildpact double mulliganed, signaling that a bounce-back win might be in the cards for Visions. Guildpact started off, but the surprising thing was that Guildpact was unable to play anything on its first turn, which was certainly a good sign for Visions. Guildpact did manage however, to find the all-important first land on its next turn, which turned out to be the best kind: Godless Shrine. Visions followed Guildpact's turn with an Impulse, which turned into Equipoise on the following turn. Guildpact, showed why it had kept the "landless" hand by playing out a Orzhov Basilica, returning the Godless Shrine. Provided that Guildpact had some sort of disruption coming up on the next couple of turns, perhaps the mulligans hadn't been so bad after all?

Visions, now wanting to strengthen its board position against potential Mortifies and Castigates, cast a second

Equipoise, and added a fourth land. This was a smart move by Visions, because by putting both in play, Castigate and Mortify couldn't attack the same piece of the lock. Guildpact responded, casting the disruption/threat piece Shrieking Grotesque which cost Visions a Plains. Almost comically, on Visions' next turn, it managed to cast ANOTHER Equipose! With three Equipoises in play, Visions was now almost immune to Guildpact's Mortifies, unless it somehow managed to draw three of them! However, it alluded to a more serious problem: Visions didn't have a Sands of Time. Guildpact, wanting to get a head start on the damage race, attacked with Shrieking Grotesque, and followed that up with a Ghost Council of Orzhova! Visions was now on a serious 3 turn clock, and needed to make some headway into getting Sands of Time into play. Unfortunately for Visions, on its next turn, it drew a land, which, as you probably know, isn't the Sands of Time that Visions needed to draw in order to complete the lock.

Guildpact continued to beat down with Grotesque and the spooooooooky Ghost Council, which brought Visions down to 11 life. Guildpact also used its turn to Castigate Visions, which revealed a pathetic hand of lands, a Vision Charm and a Forbidden Ritual. Guildpact chose Forbidden Ritual, and passed the turn. Visions crossed its fingers again, and drew ANOTHER LAND, which it played to make topdecking Impulse for Sands of Time an option. Guildpact attacked again, and added a Skeletal Vampire for good measure. With one more turn to live Visions untapped, drew a card, and hung its head in shame. Visions feebly revealed a Forbidden Ritual as its last drawn card, and shrunk back, awaiting game four down two games to one against Guildpact, the heavy underdog in this matchup.

Game 4:
Visions was absolutely sick from the terrible luck it faced in the previous two games, especially with Guildpact mulliganing TWICE, and even failing to make its first land drop.

As a result of its two poor performances Visions was on the verge of being eliminated by Guildpact. What it needed was one of the incredible draws that it was able to get in the first game, and just power the game on to a deciding game five. With this in mind, Visions started first and added an Island. Guildpact started its first turn with some instant aggression, playing a Plagued Rusalka and passing back. Visions played a second land and passed the turn back, but during Guildpact's upkeep, Visions changed Swamps into Mountains with a Vision Charm, in order to prevent a second turn Castigate from Guildpact. Guildpact used the turn to cast a Signet, attacked, and passed. Visions, after stalling for a turn, Coercioned Guildpact, which revealed a hand of Castigate, Godless Shrine, Pillory of the Sleepless, and a Blind Hunter. Castigate was obviously chosen, and Visions was rewarded for its tricky play on Guildpact's second turn.

Guildpact continued to attack with the Rusalka, and added the Blind Hunter, bringing Visions' life total to 16. Visions added Equipoise to the table, as well as another land and passed. Blind Hunter and the Rusalka flew in on the next turn, dropping Visions to 13.

A second Rusalka came into play following the attack phase. Visions added a second Equipoise to the board. Could this be another horrible rehash of game 3 all over again? Guildpact attacked on the next turn putting Visions at 9, but a quick thinking Visions phased out an Orzhov Signet during the upkeep step to prevent any extra shenanigans from Guildpact. Visions was now entering the "highway to the danger zone" because it was getting very close to just being clobbered to death by Guildpact's motley crew of goons. Visions drew, pondered and passed the turn in frustration.

Guildpact gleefully entered the attack phase, putting Visions at a wobbly 5 life, and looked to seal the deal with a Ghost Council! Guildpact now had the ability to win on the next turn should Visions be able to drop the Sands of Time or not, by removing the Ghost Council at the end of its turn, so that it would come back into play at the end of Visions', ready to attack the next turn. However, Guildpact made a grave error by passing the turn without activating the Ghost Council's ability! Visions, breathing a huge sigh of relief, phased out Guildpact's army, and dropped Sands of Time onto the board! The lock had been completed thanks to a boneheaded error on the part of Guildpact! Guildpact, still within striking distance, needed to make some very smart plays to make up for the error it committed, and on the next turn made a significant stride towards that goal when it managed to Mortify one of Visions' Equipoises.

Visions, however, looked to close the game out completely when at the end of Guildpact's turn it Vampiric Tutored for Forbidden Ritual to lock the game up completely! On its turn, Visions used Forbidden Ritual to sacrifice all of its lands, with Guildpact taking the life loss. With one more turn to get things done, Guildpact had to draw into a Blind Hunter to close the series out. Unfortunately, Guildpact only managed to draw a Ghost Council, which put Visions at 1 life; not enough to prevent all of its permanents being phased out until the game ended. Game Over.

Game 5:
With the series now stretched to an unnecessary game 5, Guildpact now had one more chance to redeem itself for its

costly error in game 4. Starting first, Guildpact made the first step in towards success when it cast a turn 2 Castigate targeting Visions revealing a hand with all of the necessary pieces, but only a single land. Sands of Time was removed from the game, and Visions responded on its turn by casting and activating a Wand of Denial, allowing Guildpact to draw that card. Shrieking Grotesque swooped in on the following turn costing Visions a potentially game-saving Peace Talks. On its next turn, Visions Impulsed to find land, but was unable to! Frustrated at the luck it was getting in this final game, it activated the Wand, but declined to pay any life. Guildpact, if it was going to have any hope of winning this game whatsoever needed to capitalize on the landless Visions quickly, before it was able to recover. Attacking with the Grotesque and adding a Blind Hunter to the mix was a good way of kick-starting the damage race, and with Visions at 16, it passed the turn. Visions, still looking for its third land, declined to use the Wand of Denial on itself for the second turn, and instead drew a card, which of course wasn't a land. Wand of Denial found nothing too threatening to the lock on top of Guildpact's library so Visions passed the turn.

Visions needed to slow Guildpact down so that it would be able to recover. By Vision Charming Swamps into Mountains on Guildpact's turn, it hoped to slow the black and white monstrosity down. However, Guildpact cast a Orzhov Signet and used that to cast a Plagued Rusalka, taking the irrelevant mana burn. Visions thanked all of its lucky stars on the following turn when it finally drew into a Swamp, which allowed it to cast Equipoise. Wand of Denial continued to fish the top of Guildpact's library, but found nothing. Guildpact, now rolling with 6 mana decided to play a Skeletal Vampire that Visions allowed to slip through the cracks, and clobbered Visions down to a life-threatening 7 life. Guildpact knew that its bat tokens were going to go the way of the buggy-whip due to Equipoise, sacrificed the Blind Hunter with Skeletal Vampire's ability, haunting a bat, which it then sacrificed to drop Visions to 5 life. Visions, looking at its hand of Vision Charm, Sands of Time, Equipoise and Forbidden Ritual now needed to draw one of two things: a land, or a Peace Talks to stay alive.

Visions activated the Wand of Denial to clear away any non-Peace Talks/land cards. It swept away an Impulse with 2 life and drew. . . .
. . .

. . .

. . .

A PLAINS!!! Visions windmill slammed the Plains onto the board, followed by the Sands of Time, completing the lock! Away went

Guildpact's army and extra lands to a purgatory of phasy-ness, and Visions now looked to be in complete control of the match. Guildpact added an Orzhov Basilica, which added more mana without passing the 4-land mark that would phase one of its lands out permanently, and passed. On Visions' turn, without the necessary 2 Swamps with which to cast the Forbidden Ritual, instead used a Vision Charm to permanently phase out an Orzhov Signet, and added a second Equipoise. Visions used the Wand of Denial on Guildpact, which revealed a Castigate. Visions, now at 3 life pondered the ramifications of allowing Guildpact to draw the Castigate, which would certainly take the Forbidden Ritual out of its hand, or whether to pay the two life and open itself up for Ghost Council ending the game. Now wishing that it had not so hastily used the Vision Charm, which could mill Guildpact for 4, it decided to throw caution to the wind and pay the two life to get rid of the Castigate. On Guildpact's turn, it drew, looked at the board AND CAST A GHOST COUNCIL OF ORZHOVA!!!! GAME OVER!!!! Visions slumped back in its chair, knowing that it had made the final and most important error of the match by not saving that Vision Charm. Guildpact was relieved that the error that cost it Game 4 did not cost it the entire match.

The match was decided by incredible back-to-back topdecks, and Guildpact seizing victory out of the jaws of defeat. Guildpact now must go back to its Godless Shine and pray for the same sort of luck in the second round, when it must face the winner of the Dissension versus Arabian Nights matchup. It looks like that could develop into a very interesting match, so keep your eyes open for that one next time!

3-2 Guildpact

Dissension vs. Arabian Nights

The Second newest deck in the Battle of the Sets tournament versus the first stand-alone set ever could have made for some good pulp literature; however, the real series was far less exciting. Dissension, buoyed by its highly synergistic, lightning quick deck was able to topple Nights' slower, bigger, and most importantly, self-damaging deck. The last point proved to be the biggest factor in this matchup, as potential powerhouses Juzam Djinn and Serendib Efreet were liabilities against the highly aggressive Dissension, which has the capability of piling damage on at a frenetic pace, and as you can probably imagine, neither these creatures nor the effects of Erg Raiders or Unstable Mutation make for particularly effective blockers. Compounding the self-damaging nature of Arabian Nights was Dissension's burn (Seal of Fire and Demonfire) and Lyzolda, the Blood Witch, which made life particularly difficult for Arabian Nights. Magic's first set goes down in a total rout.

3-0 Dissension

Scourge vs. Exodus

This match could be seen as completed before it was even started. Exodus, fielding a lock deck that seeks to eliminate the attack phase by recurring Spike Weaver with Oath of Ghouls or Recurring Nightmare and other creatures. Other than Wipe Clean on Oath of Ghouls, Scourge has no answer to Spike Weaver coming back repeatedly, or being fetched with Survival of the Fittest multiple times. Recurring Nightmare in combination with Thopter Squadron and Spike Weaver is a combination that Scourge cannot stop at all. Because Survival can fetch both Thopter Squadron and Spike Weaver, it's essentially just a matter of time before the clamp comes down. Because Scourge's clock is so slow, and its fastest threat, Silver Knight, can be blocked by the plethora of chump blockers at Exodus' disposal, there isn't much chance of Scourge racing the lock either. A few quick games transpired, and Scourge was far, far, far too slow to ever come close in any of them. A sad turn of events for Scourge.

3-0 Exodus


Antiquities vs. Saviors of Kamigawa

Antiquities comes into this matchup as a clear favorite on paper. It is one of BoTS's elite decks, and has competed in the last two finals, splitting them 1-1 with bitter rival Torment. Saviors of Kamigawa, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer, with only one tournament's worth of experience under its belt. A relatively straightforward 3-1 defeat at the hands of Fifth Dawn was not the debut SoK was looking for, and so Saviors is coming into this tournament with a point to prove. The form books suggest that this is not the time to prove that point -- the first round is traditionally a fairly comfortable warm-up for the first seeds as they crunch their way over underpowered foes, and Antiquities is not known for letting weak opponents through its guard. But there is one card which gives doubt to the conventional wisdom. One card which could make Antiquities have to earn its fat appearance fee in blood and sweat. One of the few cards in Magic that keeps the mighty Antiquities war machine up at night...

/. . . Kataki . . . /

Kataki can force Antiquities to pay the full wage of its artifact war machine. Kataki can reduce a loaded Antiquities board to a few artifacts that require constant maintenance, unable to be supported by fickle Mishra's Workshop. Kataki has the potential to make a BoTS champion scrabble around for a removal spell to avoid quick defeat. Will it be enough, or will Antiquities come out all guns blazing in the face of its nemesis? Read on to find out. . . .


Game 1:
As the commentary joined game 1, the game was already in full swing at about turn 5 and Antiquities

had the upper hand in a dangerous midgame situation. Antiquities was on 20 life with a strong board, featuring a Mishra's Workshop, 3 other lands, Candelabra of Tawnos, and a horde of artifact monsters including a Tetravus, Onulet, Clockwork Avian, and a Tawnos's Coffin imprisoning a Descendant of Kiyomaro. On the other side of the table, Saviors was on 15 life and was aided by a quartet of Spirit tokens and a Pithing Needle naming Tawnos's Coffin. Antiquities took the decision in its upkeep to split the Tetravus into its component parts, for a powerful four-pronged assault on Saviors' life total. It then drew and swung to take another 5-point chunk out of Saviors’ life total, following up with another Onulet and a 2/2 Primal Clay. Saviors winced at the assault, and responded by dropping Eiganjo Free-Riders to buy some time out of the line of fire. On Antiquities' turn, the metallic monster simply drew its card and passed the turn, unable to see a way past Saviors' defense. On Saviors' turn, the Free-Riders went back home and then on the draw came the bane of Antiquities . . . Kataki! Saviors slammed the Legend onto the table, followed by the Free-Riders, and Antiquities shrank back into its seat. Maybe this wouldn't

be the cakewalk it was hoping for.

Antiquities had some hard decisions to make next upkeep. It could only pay the Wage for 4 artifacts, but which to save was not an easy decision. After some thought, it chose to save the Tetravus mothership, the Primal Clay, Tawnos's Coffin and the Avian. Then, on the draw came the solution it was looking for - a Rocket Launcher! It played the Launcher, and passed the turn, unable to attack due to the Free-Riders opposite. Saviors bounced then replayed Kataki, and then it was back to Antiquities, which used its Rocket Launcher to deal the one damage to Kataki that was necessary to kill it. However, that cost two precious non-Workshop mana and so it was forced to also lose Tawnos's Coffin and the 1/1 Tetravus. For Saviors part, it wasn't too broken up about the loss of Kataki - he had done his worst damage by simply making Antiquities endure one upkeep's worth of Wages, plus it got to generate another four 1/1 spirit tokens from Promise of Bunrei.

With no further action after its painful upkeep, Antiquities passed the turn, but Saviors' draw step yielded a wicked grin from the underdog. It attacked with all 8 tokens and then suddenly, brutally, the game was over as Charge Across the Araba hit the table and Antiquities took fatal pounding from the 8 tokens, pumped to huge 6/6s.

Antiquities looked at the massive charge with a stunned expression, and then silently started shuffling up for game 2. It would have to avoid overcommitment at all costs in the next game, as Saviors had shown the ability to wreck the most impressive of board positions.

Game 2:
Game 2 opened with Antiquities on the play, but things continued to go wrong for the artifact behemoth - a triple mulligan! With a chastened expression it played a Workshop and passed the turn. Saviors played a land and passed, while Antiquities simply drew and passed the turn, hoping for a miracle. A Hand of Honor was Saviors' first play, while a Candelabra of Tawnos on the other side threatened to help churn out a huge monster should Antiquities find another land. Saviors' next turn simply piled on the pain, as Kataki hit the table together with an attack from the Hand. Antiquities couldn't pay for its Candelabra, and so to the graveyard it went. A solitary Mishra's Factory was small comfort, but then Saviors continued its assault with a four point attack and Descendant of Kiyomaro. A Rocket Launcher pointed towards a possible way out, but Saviors was relentless in its assault and killed Antiquities 2 turns later, before any more help could arrive.

Now Antiquities' back was truly against the wall. Comebacks from 2 game deficits are as rare in BoTS as they are elsewhere, but Antiquities still held out hope - it had faced this situation before and prevailed. It simply had to play its best game and hope that it would be good enough.

Game 3:
Antiquities opening hand in game 3 was a tough decision in every way. It fanned out Mishra's Work

shop, Candelabra of Tawnos, Primal Clay, Rocket Launcher, Tetravus, Clockwork Avian and Triskelion. That's a potentially explosive hand, because if another land came in the first draw step Antiquities would be able to play a stream of 6-mana monsters and have a proactive answer to Kataki in the form of Triskelion. However, should a land not be forthcoming, Antiquities would be dead in the water, unable to play any relevant spells and vulnerable to being overrun by a horde of angry white dudes. Antiquities sat, processing the odds in its metallic skull for several minutes before eventually declaring that it would keep its hand. Saviors kept, and we were off. Antiquities opening of Workshop, Candelabra, burn for 2, go, was met with a Pithing Needle naming the potentially devastating Triskelion.

Antiquities approached the next turn with some trepidation. If a land was forthcoming, then it would be in great shape to win this game. If not, then its deck would be dead in the water, giving Saviors time to build a board position and find Kataki. It slid the card off the top of its deck and then slowly moved it upwards. The gods of Magic were smiling on the artifact deck - the card was Urza's Mine! Antiquities suppressed a smile and played the Mine, using it and the Candelabra to power out a turn 2 Tetravus. Saviors didn't look as concerned as it might have at this display of raw power, and sure enough on its turn down came Kataki. Antiquities untapped, sacrificed its Candelabra, drew for the turn, smashed for 4 damage and then shipped the turn back.

Saviors was looking worried at this point. Kataki was certainly hampering Antiquities, but given that th

e 4/4 flier could be sustained forever, another answer would be required to put the game away. The Ghost-Lit Redeemer it played would help, but more would be required to win the race. Kataki swung in and the life totals were 16 to 18. Antiquities paid once more, swung for four, and then dropped a Strip Mine, which would be used to pay the wages of a 2/2 flying Primal Clay. Descendant of Kiyomaro from Saviors on its next turn would again only delay the bleeding, not staunch it completely. Another Antiquities attack step saw Saviors on 6 life, in the critical zone where one more swing could end the matter and start a possible comeback. Saviors was able to knock its foe down to 12 life with the Descendant and Kataki, while it used Ghost-Lit Redeemer to put itself outside critical range. Antiquities drew and relentlessly swung in again, reducing Saviors to a precarious 2 life. Saviors was hoping for a... well . . . Saviour from the top of its deck, but nothing was forthcoming and Antiquities had reduced the deficit to a single game.

A game win brought renewed hope to Antiquities’ cold metal heart, and not just because of the improved score. It had found a way to beat the dread Kataki - by not overcommitting threats to the board it could aim to win by dropping a few huge monsters and riding them home. Kataki is not a precision weapon, and perhaps that was the chink in Saviors' armor. For Saviors part, it was trying not to think about the tales that are told of Antiquities. It was so close to one of the biggest upsets in BoTS history, just one more game win and it would prove all its detractors wrong in the most spectacular possible fashion. Game 3 had given it a glimpse of what the artifact deck is truly capable of, and if that form could be replicated then Saviors knew it would be hard pressed. It had to hope for the malfunctioning monster of game 2.

Game 4:

Saviors took the play for the fourth game, and opened proceedings by dropping a Pithing Needle naming Antiquities' most dangerous weapon, the three-armed monster that is Triskelion. Antiquities opened with Urza's Tower into Candelabra of Tawnos, an apparently innocuous opening which, as we have seen, can turn very dangerous if Antiquities had drawn a Workshop. A Hand of Honor was Saviors' turn 2 play, and Antiquities did indeed have the Workshop. A Triskelion was the product of all that hard work, still a huge threat at 4/4 even if it could not machine-gun Saviors' creatures.

Saviors' next turn saw a Descendant of Kiyomaro hit the table, with no attack. Antiquities then, interestingly, chose to attack and traded the Trike for a 2/3 Descendant. The reason for this soon became clear as the Workshop/Candles combo was used to deploy 2 more threats -- Su-Chi and Onulet. The Descendant would have been 3/5 for some time, given the speed at which Antiquities was emptying its hand. Eiganjo Free-Riders joined Saviors' army, and with that the turn went back to Antiquities. Into the red zone went Su-Chi, taking a 4-point bite out of Saviors' life total, and then a second Su-Chi joined the fray, along with a 2/2 flying Primal Clay. On upkeep, Hand of Honor went back to Saviors' hand thanks to the Riders, and by the time Saviors played a land it had found a compatriot.

Would Saviors' brave defense would be enough? Things didn't look good as Antiquities added Tawnos's Coffin precombat and then sent in both of its marauding Su-Chis. Saviors would have loved to block, but the threat of losing a creature into the coffin mid-combat was too much and it chose to lose half its life total, going down to 8. Saviors' next turn was uneventful, with the bounced Hand returning to play. On the end step Antiquities chose to imprison the Eiganjo Free-Riders, and then simply committed its entire army to an assault on the beleaguered Saviors. It was enough to the job, and Antiquities had, through two superb draws, pulled the match back to equality and forced a deciding game!

Game 5:
The warmup to the final game was loaded with tension. Antiquities stared directly across the table at Saviors as it shuffled, but the brave White deck refused to be cowed by the attempt at intimidation. It ignored its rival and simply shuffled up as if this wasn't about to be the most important game of its short BoTS career. It would do its talking with the cards.

So much hinged on Antiquities' opening draw. It had been lucky and seen Mishra's Workshop in its opening hand in every game so far, and outrageously fast Workshop-powered openings are a huge part of its success. Without Workshop, Antiquities is nothing like the behemoth that it is otherwise. Without Workshop, Triskelion & Co arrive on their appointed turns as Richard Garfield intended. Without Workshop, Antiquities just isn't special. And so Antiquities was more than delighted to see the mighty Workshop in its opener for the fifth successive game, and it went straight onto the table after Saviors started with a standard Plains, Ghost-Lit Redeemer.

Turn 2 saw Saviors drop Pithing Needle naming Triskelion, as usual, and then it chose to gain 2 life with Ghost-Lit Redeemer and then deploy another! 22-20. Antiquities responded in typical fashion by plonking down a 4/4 Su-Chi on turn 2, and it was back to the white deck. Next turn Saviors really applied the pressure -- Kataki! Antiquities untapped, paid for the Su-Chi, played a land and then swung in for 4 damage. A Redeemer activation saw the scores back at 20 all. Saviors didn't have much to respond with on its turn and simply swung for 2 damage with Kataki. 20-18. Antiquities repeated its previous turn, with a Su-Chi swing being met by 2 points of lifegain. 18-18. Saviors appeared not to be finding what it needed, as another turn went by with a simple swing from Kataki. 18-16.

Antiquities was cursing Kataki by this point, as the powerful hoser was crippling its ability to deploy monsters. However, it had hatched a plan and tapped mana this turn to drop Tawnos's Coffin. Saviors looked puzzled at this development, as the Coffin couldn't be activated because of the need to pay Kataki's wages for both it and the Su-Chi. Still, it took 4 and then gained it all back with the Redeemers. Kataki took another 2 point bite as Saviors continued not to play many spells. 18-14. On Antiquities upkeep it put its plan into practice. Kataki's ability works by granting the ability to all artifacts, and so the ability is controlled by the owner of the artifact. That meant that Antiquities was able to stack the upkeep abilities to suit its purposes, and that's what it did as it chose to sacrifice the Su-Chi instead of paying 1 mana, which

in turn added 4 mana to its mana pool. That mana was used to pay the Coffin's upkeep and then plunge Kataki into the grey netherworld of the phased-out. Antiquities followed up the finesse by drawing Mishra's Workshop and playing out a pair of Clockwork Avians. 8 points of power just itching to take a chunk out of Saviors' life total. Undeterred, the Redeemers gained Saviors 4 more life on Antiquities' end step. 22-14.

All Saviors could muster in response to the impending aerial assault was a Descendant of Kiyomaro, weighing in at 3/5 thanks to Antiquities' deployment of threats. That didn't deter Antiquities from sending in its air force, making the scores 14-14. Strip Mine on a Plains forced Saviors to use its Redeemer (16-14), and then another Workshop hit the table. Out came yet another Clockwork Avian, along with a rather insignificant-looking Onulet. On its turn Saviors sent with the Descendant, which Antiquities chose to block with both its fresh creatures. Onulet and the Descendant traded and after all the various lifegain the scores lay at 23-16 in Saviors' favour. On its turn, Antiquities didn't see the need for any subtlety. It simply continued the assault by dealing 6 with the rampant Avians, and then piled on the pressure by using Strip Mine to destroy one of Saviors' Plains and playing a Triskelion!

Impeded by its lack of mana, Saviors was able to do nothing to protect itself on its turn, and

so Antiquities was at liberty to rumble in for another 10 point smash, and then follow up with a second Triskelion! Saviors now faced three 1/4 Clockwork Avians and two 4/4 Triskelions, restrained from using their counters by Saviors’ turn 2 Pithing Needle. A Kitsune Loreweaver from Saviors didn't make the situation look much better, and when Antiquities chose to wind up one of its Clockwork Avians during the upkeep it was clear that no mercy was to be given. Another robotic assault saw Saviors clinging on to life, with only 2 points remaining. The underdog had one final draw step to find what it needed. Another Plains was forthcoming, and while Saviors was now able to cast a Descendant of Kiyomaro, it could see that the Descendant would be inadequate. Instead it threw its Ghost-Lit Redeemers in front of the oncoming Triskelions and gained 4 life to compensate for the Avian hit, praying to whatever gods that were listening that its Redeemer's sacrifice would not be in vain. Kataki #2 was forthcoming on the draw step, but all could see that even Antiquities' nightmare hoser would be inadequate for this job. Antiquities could simply pay for the charged Avians and swing for the win! With that, Saviors graciously conceded, and there ended one of the greatest comeback performances in BoTS history. Even when down by two games, Antiquities never gave up, and its gritty determination was rewarded with an amazing set of three games.

Both competitors deserve every bit of credit for match, Saviors for a fantastic underdog performance and Antiquities for its simple refusal to accept defeat, and its willingness to take big risks even when it had been having by far the worst luck in the previous games -- look at that hand in game 3; if no land had turned up, Antiquities would have been swept 3-0 by a 4th seed, a humiliation which it would never, ever lived down for as long as it lived.

3-2 Antiquities


Deck Creation Competition Results!

As some of you may know, in the last BotS installment, there was a skill-testing deck creation competition that challenged you, the readers of Battle of the Sets to come up with a new deck for the success-starved Odyssey set. There were a lot of interesting and good ideas thrown around, but in the end it came down to two very interesting and powerful combo decks. The runner-up for this competition was Xandercoon with this decklist:

Odd Izzy
Critters 4 Confessor 4 Beloved Chaplain Spells 4 Nefarious Lich 4 Zombie Infestation 4 Diabolic Tutor 4 Tainted Pact 4 Skeletal Scrying 4 Innocent Blood 4 Kirtar's Desire Mana 4 Bog Wreckage 4 Abandoned Outpost 4 Tarnished Citadel 12 Swamp

Though it is a deck with plenty of draw, and the ability to go off quickly in the face of aggro, Nazdakka and I felt that it was too prone to removal on its combo pieces, and if an opponent had any way of removing Nefarious Lich, the game would be over instantaneously.

The winning concept was submitted by Onderzeeboot, who submitted this decklist:

Odyssey Landdrop
Creatures 4 Diligent Farmhand 4 Werebear 2 Nantuko Elder 4 Iridescent Angel Spells 3 Mirari 3 Roar of the Wurm 4 New Frontiers 4 Deep Reconnaissance 4 Moment's Peace 4 Time Stretch 3 Recoup Land 2 Plains 2 Mountain 4 Island 1 Skycloud Expanse 12 Forest

A land acceleration deck that abused large mana cost effects! It was a great idea, and could abuse a good deal of the expensive effects within Odyssey, even though there were a few mistakes (Crush of Wurms is in Judgment, not Odyssey). However, much like Wizards of the Coast edits a card designed by the winner of the pro-tour before putting it in a set, we too decided to fiddle around with the list a bit to tailor it to the metagame and make it a bit more focused.

Odyssey’s new deck!
//Land 5 Island 1 Plains 1 Skycloud Expanse 12 Forest 1 Cephalid Coliseum //Creatures 4 Werebear 4 Diligent Farmhand 2 Iridescent Angel //Combo Enablers 3 Words of Wisdom 4 Holistic Wisdom 4 Moment's Peace 4 Concentrate 4 Deep Reconnaissance 4 New Frontiers 4 Time Stretch 2 Mirari 1 Ray of Distortion

Nazdakka and I decided to try and make this deck a lot more focused on Time Stretch, and see if we could make the deck into a Turboland deck of sorts. We ditched Recoup for the superior Holistic Wisdom so that a player could continuously re-use Concentrate and Time Stretch to draw more cards and take more turns. The win conditions were scaled back from 4 Iridescent Angels to only 2, because ones that are countered can easily be brought back via Holistic Wisdom, and the chances of them being killed in play are slim. Mirari is the coup-de-grace that basically ensures that you are going to win the game. The single Ray of Distortion gives you an out to a troublesome permanent that could not be removed otherwise.

This deck should beat all but the fastest and most disruptive aggro decks, and most control decks that do not have access to countermagic. That makes it a much more powerful deck in the current metagame than the previous deck, because it has a much broader section of decks that it has the ability to beat consistently.

Deck Creation Competition #2

As you might have realized by now, Time Spiral and Planar Chaos (as well as the upcoming Future Sight) require decks to march forward into the Battle of the Sets tournament! So put on those thinking caps, and we'll discuss how those decks should be built in the comment section of the report. If you have an idea, bring it to the comment section, and me and Nazdakka will help you refine your idea into something workable!

Round Two:

Tune in next time for the second round of the Battle of the Sets bracket!

Group 1:
1) Torment v. Nemesis - Torment moves on

2) Champions v. Urza's Legacy - Champions moves on

3) Mirrodin v. Legends - Mirrodin moves on

4) Fifth Dawn v. Ravnica - Fifth Dawn moves on

Second Round: 1) vs 4) and 2) vs 3)

Group 2:
1) Urza's Saga v. Mirage - Urza's Saga moves on

2) Odyssey v. Coldsnap - Coldsnap moves on

3) Tempest v. Planeshift - Tempest moves on

4) Onslaught v. Judgement - Onslaught moves on

Second Round: 1) vs 4) and 2) vs 3)


Group 3:
1) Apocalypse v. Ice Age - Ice Age moves on

2) Masques v. Betrayers - Masques moves on

3) Darksteel v. Alliances - Darksteel moves on

4) Urza's Destiny v. Invasion - Urza's Destiny moves on

Second Round: 1) vs 4) and 2) vs 3)


Group 4:
1) Visions v. Guildpact - Guildpact moves on

2) Exodus v. Scourge - Exodus moves on

3) Antiquities v. Saviors - Antiquities moves on

4) Dissension v. Arabian Nights - Dissension moves on

Second Round: 1) vs 4) and 2) vs 3)

Be sure to post who you think is moving on to Round 3 of BotS. Predict any upsets? Tell us in the comment area!