First, I would like to thank my playing partner Nazdakka for helping me play all of the matches in the tournament so far! Thanks dude! Also, I would like to thank the fine editing staff at MTGSalvation.com for editing like, a crap-load of stuff. I also apologize for the tardiness of this article, but it was a lot of stuff, and I was going through a few things in my personal life that required a little bit of time. Thanks for the patience!
If you don't know what Battle of the Sets is, or want to know a bit more about the decks that are competing in the Play-In Division, check out Battle of the Sets Introduction Part I and Part II. That will fill you in about what this fine tournament is all about. The Play-In Division, however, is an unusual part of the Tournament, which is not unlike countries in soccer that need to earn their way into the World Cup, because they aren't good enough to qualify based on their past performance. Basically, all of the worst decks and sets in Magic history are fighting for the opportunity to make it into the main tournament, and only the victor of the 8 man mini-tournament will be able to take that final remaining spot in Battle of the Sets. Who will it be this time? Read on to find out!
Feature Match:
Planeshift vs. Fallen Empires
The first match of the tournament is an interesting one, with Planeshift fielding a new 3 color deck, and Fallen Empires using its traditional monoblack build. In this match up, Planeshift is the control deck, due to the large amount of creature removal that it has available to it, as well as huge monsters like Shivan Wurm and Phyrexian Scuta. Fallen Empires is thus forced into the aggro role, where it can use Hymn to Tourach and possibly Mindstab Thrull to buy time for the rest of its motley horde to go to work.
Planeshift, like a stolid gunslinger, simply played another land and passed the turn, watching closely for Empires to make a move before reacting. Empires drew, and played Order of the Ebon Hand. Before passing the turn, Empires attempted to cast Thrull Retainer on the Order. Bad move. Planeshift roasted the Order with Retainer on the stack, again making Empires pay for attempting to enchant a creature. Empires served up a Necrite next, and it too was burnt to a crisp via a Darigaaz's Charm. Thrull Champion? Meet Magma Burst. Finally, Empires cast another Thrull Champion that was determined not to be removed. Planeshift drew and passed. Thrull Champion thumped Planeshift to 17, then to 14. Planeshift was having trouble doing much of anything due to the fact that its hand was packed with 7/7 Gating creatures, and no outlet for their usually useful bounce ability. But the next draw revealed a Phyrexian Scuta, and the Thrull Champion was suddenly outmatched, at the price of 3 life.
While the following draw revealed nothing of use for Empires, Planeshift drew its third Darigaaz's Charm, and scorched the Champ, allowing the giant zombie to rumble in for 5 damage. Attempting to stem the tide, Empires played an Order of the Ebon hand, which the following turn would be able to stop the Scuta. However, Planeshift's deck just kept on serving up removal, showing it Magma Burst, which it kicked to clear a path for Scuta, as well as drop Empires to 7. Empires, now in topdeck mode, needed miracle draws to stave off the Phyrexian death machine, but all Empires' deck managed to cough up was an Aeolipile and a measly Swamp. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, as Planeshift managed to draw ANOTHER Terminate, its third of the match.
1-0 Planeshift
1-1 Tie
Game 3: Empires, for all intents and purposes, drew the absolute perfect hand in the previous game, with an unheard of triple Hymn draw. Could it recreate the magic one more time to move past the more powerful Planeshift? In the last game, Planeshift was like Chumbawumba's road manager, in that it was forced to listen to the same terrible song over and over again. Determined not to let this happen again, Planeshift opened aggressively by playing Thornscape Familiar and then passing the turn tentatively. Empires played its second Swamp, and revealed another Hymn to Tourach. Out went a Thornscape Familiar as well as a Thunderscape Battlemage. Frustrated, but still defiant, Planeshift swung in with Thornscape. Even though it didn't manage to hit a third land drop, Empires wasn't quite done singing, and out came yet another Hymn to Tourach, and this time, Planeshift discarded two Flametongue Kavus. Furious over its opponent's luck, Planeshift struck again with Thornscape, determined to shut the one-hit wonder up for good.
Though the match started out quite strongly for Fallen Empires, the match was quickly slipping out of reach, due in part to FE's mana problems, as well as FE failing to end the game quickly, allowing Planeshift to draw its way out of the disruption that Empires threw at it. The next few turns were particularly brutal, and when Fallen Empires summoned a Mindstab Thrull for defence, Planeshift again used a Charm to return FTK, and managed to cast it in the same turn. Facing down the spectre of Thornscape Familiar and Flametongue Kavu, Fallen Empires shrunk back into the shadows, defeated.
2-1 Planeshift
Homelands vs. Prophecy
On the same side of the play-in tournament bracket, Homelands went down two games to nil to a much more powerful Prophecy deck. The first game wasn't even close, with Prophecy taking the early life lead with two Citadel of Pain, followed by two Troublesome Spirits. Homelands tried to stay in it, but with no mana sink, the Citadels quickly ate up its life total, and an all-out suicide attack dropped Homelands to 1. A few turns later Rhystic Lightning appeared to make it 1-0 Prophecy. The second game was ridiculous, and was probably one of the longest games ever played in BotS history. This game, Homelands was able to sink mana into Ribbon Snake to avoid Citadel, and creatures started building up on both sides. The game lasted until there were only 9 cards in each player's library, each knowing full well that if they attacked full force, their army would be blocked and the resulting counterattack would be sufficient to end the game. However, Prophecy drew the necessary 3 Rhystic Lightnings to close out the game when Homelands was tapped out.
2-0 Prophecy
The Dark vs. Legions
This was another slow, yet inevitable match, where Legions was able to overwhelm The Dark's struggling defence. Though Tracker was able to force 2-for-1s and eliminate many of Legions' smaller guys, Legions just had way too many Goblins. Compounding this fact was that Preacher, which is one of the only ways The Dark could conceivably win, kept on being removed by Gempalm Incinerator. Through chump blocking and Barl's Cage, The Dark was able to make it competitive, but the reality was that Legions slowly steamrolled The Dark under a tide of smelly, ugly little mutants and insects.
2-0 Legions
Feature Match:
Weatherlight vs. Stronghold
The Weatherlight/Stronghold match up is essentially the age-old Control versus Aggro match up, where Weatherlight will attempt to end the game as quickly as possible, before Stronghold gets Dream Halls online and starts to crank out big effects. What helps Weatherlight in this match up is the fact that it has essentially the best first turn play ever against the Tempest block deck - Straw Golem. Golem is unshockable (except multiple Shocks) and cannot be removed until turn 5 (turn 4 with Mox Diamond), and in the meantime can add up damage quickly. The best card for Stronghold in this match up is probably Flame Wave, which acts as a one-sided Wrath of God, plus a Lightning Blast to the head, yet cannot take down the menacing Gallowbraid. This match is shaping up to be quite a barnburner, so strap yourselves in, the match is underway!
passed the turn. Overjoyed, Weatherlight untapped, drew and cast Barrow Ghoul, and then reduced Stronghold to a razor-thin two life. Unfortunately for Weatherlight, (cue the music) this was the time that Stronghold had chosen to mount a stunning comeback! Stronghold played another land and used Flowstone Mauler as its big bad wolf, blowing both Straw Golems into the Graveyard, and stopping Barrow Ghoul from ending the game on the next attack. Weatherlight, stunned by the reversal in fortune that the Mauler provided, yet still motivated by its opponent's tenuous grasp on life decided to keep the Ghoul around for another turn, which munched a Straw Golem for sustenance. WL drew into another Barrow Ghoul, which it wisely decided to keep back, so as not to fall prey to the probable Flame Wave lurking in Stronghold's hand. Stronghold also took the slowdown in hostilities as a slight breather, drawing another card and choosing to pass the turn.
Weatherlight however recouped the loss of its first Morinfen by revealing that it had another waiting to swoop out of its hand! This really put Stronghold on the hot seat, knowing that if it did not find another land with which to use Flame Wave, or find Shard Phoenix to block, the game would be over, and there weren't any tricks that could save it this time. Stronghold grasped tightly to its lucky rabbit's foot, said a solemn prayer to the topdecking gods, and drew. A LAND! Stronghold gleefully uncorked the Flame Wave that it had been hanging on to for so long, eradicating Morinfen, and dropping Weatherlight down to 16 life. Weatherlight though had been stockpiling creatures in its hand, waiting until a Flame Wave had come and gone to let them loose, like a paranoid waiting in his bomb shelter for the atomic bomb to drop. As soon as Stronghold passed the turn, Weatherlight grinned devilishly, drew a card and plopped Barrow Ghoul and two Circling Vultures into play, knowing full well that Flame Wave was the only card that had the ability to save Stronghold from being overrun. Stronghold, hoping that its seemingly limitless luck would not run out, crossed its fingers yet again and drew off the top, to find...
...
...
...
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Another land! Weatherlight's brutish black and tan army had successfully scaled the walls of the Stronghold in the first game, but could it repeat this feat a single time more to advance further into Battle of the Sets than it ever has before?
1-0 Weatherlight
The straw that broke the camel's back came on the turn when Razortooth Rats attacked Stronghold down to 4, when Weatherlight managed to resolve a freshly drawn Gallowbraid, which for all intents and purposes is immune to even the fiery might of Flame Wave. Stronghold needed to find a Sliver Queen on its next draw phase, or it was going to get mercilessly stomped by the stonehearted Legend. Stronghold held its breath and drew... absolutely nothing! A desperation Flame Wave was attempted, however, it was just a stylish way of conceding the game. Weatherlight wins its first ever series, booting the overmatched Stronghold in the minimum two games, and goes on to face Legions in the play-in semi-finals!
2-0 Weatherlight
Weatherlight vs. Legions
The only question after two absolute thrashings on the part of Legions, is who's next? After two straight two-nothing victories, either Planeshift or Prophecy is going to feel the brunt of an all-out goblin offensive (and yes, they truly are).
2-0 Legions
Feature Match:
Prophecy vs. Planeshift
What a potent match up! Planeshift and Prophecy are arguably the best decks in the whole play-in tournament, and one could say that this is even the fight for the whole play-in division. Legions would have something to say about that, which would probably be some sort of grunt, or half-formed word like "glok" BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Ahem. In terms of the match up itself Flametongue Kavu should be golden, as it has the ability to kill any creature, sans a pumped up Scoria Cat or un-animated Chimeric Idol, and Shivan Wurm is just plain bigger than anything that Prophecy has to offer, and can trample over the smaller creatures. Prophecy on the other hand has Citadel of Pain, which should be great in this match up, and only removable by Thunderscape Battlemage, it also has evasive creatures to end the game before Prophecy can stabilize. Prophecy, because its creatures are smaller, and because it runs less removal, is decidedly the aggro deck in this match up, and will try to win the game as quickly as possible. Planeshift on the other hand will attempt to keep its life total high, so that when the late game rolls around, its fat creatures, removal and card advantageous creatures will carry the day. Without further ado, let's get this game underway!
Spiketail Hatchling continued to peck Planeshift's noggin, and very quickly, Planeshift was at 15 life. Planeshift, eager to slow the damage from Citadel, as well as kill that pesky Spiketail, blasted it with a Magma Burst. However, seeing as Planeshift had only 4 lands in play, this allowed Branded Brawler to clobber Planeshift down to 13 life, and Prophecy continued the barrage with a Scoria Cat! Now very much in trouble, Planeshift casted Flametongue Kavu, targeting the Brawlers, and passed. Scoria Cat attacked, and Planeshift didn't block because it was hoping to cast a Shivan Wurm on the following turn. This however, resulted in a huge loss of life, because Prophecy was holding a Rhystic Lightning, which knocked Planeshift from its seemingly safe life total of 13 to a teetering 3 life. And though a Shivan Wurm was summoned on the next turn, a second Scoria Cat sealed the deal, and put Prophecy up one game to nothing!
1-0 Prophecy
1-1 Draw
Game 3: If the previous game seemed a little unfair for Prophecy, the last game in this series was a complete blowout. Prophecy managed to play only three lands over the course of this very short game, and the game essentially ended on the fourth turn, when Planeshift resolved a cheap Shivan Wurm, which is probably the most broken thing the deck can manage, and something that Prophecy has virtually no answer to.
2-1 Planeshift
Planeshift, after losing the first game of the series, battled back to claim the second and third games from a struggling Prophecy. Prophecy showed what it was capable of in the first game, with a quick win, but this was a little misleading, because Planeshift was mana flooded. The exact opposite was true in the second game, where Prophecy suffered from mana screw. The most telling game in the match was probably the third, which showed how quickly and decisively Planeshift could defeat another deck. Though it was true that Prophecy was mana screwed again in this match, it most likely would not have mattered, as a fourth turn Shivan Wurm is game-over for most decks in the Play-In division. And now the Planeshift must face another worthy opponent on the other side of the bracket: the bloodthirsty Legions horde.
Feature Match:
Planeshift vs. Legions
And here we have it folks! The final match of the Play-In division! These two competitors are battle-hardened, though both had different paths through to the Finals of the Play-In division. Planeshift was tested by its first two opponents, each one threatening to knock it off by pushing the series to the full 3 games of the best of 3 series. On the flip-side, Legions ploughed through its first two opponents, losing a total of zero games, and no single game was even close. However, these wins were against opponents that were arguably less potent than Planeshift's opponents. Who will manage to make it into the regular tournament, and truly be known as the best of the bad decks? Like in all of its previous match ups, Planeshift wants to extend the game as long as possible, so that its bigger creatures, and more degenerate plays will win the game. Legions on the other hand wants to inflict as much damage as possible early in the game, so that its modest reach elements like Skirk Marauder and Unstable Hulk are able to finish off a wounded Planeshift. Legions also has the potential to simply overwhelm Planeshift's defences with card advantageous creatures like Skirk Drill Sergeant, Warbreak Trumpeter and Gempalm Incinerator. It should be a very interesting match up, so enough with the talk, and on to the game!
Up to this point, the game had been a see-saw battle, with both decks managing to resolve and remove threats. Planeshift was doing its best to hang on, even in the absence of Flametongue Kavu, which is probably the best card against the mono-red Goblins deck. Legions had the upper hand in life totals, while Planeshift had reached the point where it has enough mana to cast everything it wanted to. Illustrating both these points was a Phyrexian Scuta, which Planeshift cast unkickered, due to its low life total. Legions, relieved to have something to finally cast, played a morphed creature which on the following turn was flipped to reveal Skirk Marauder, and it combined with a cycled Gempalm Incinerator to whack the Scuta. The Marauder then came in to drop Planeshift to 4 life, and Goblin Grappler was added to hasten Planeshift's demise. It was now do or die for Planeshift. It needed to find something and quick to stop the Marauder and Grappler from dealing those final points of damage. Planeshift cast its second kicked Thunderscape Battlemage of the match and this one cost Legions the last two cards in its hand: a Gempalm Incinerator and Goblin Lookout, which would surely have come in handy clearing a path for its motley assortment of miscreants. In the next attack phase, Goblin Grappler gave its life to the cause, distracting the Battlemage to allow its higher power brother in for the hit, leaving Planeshift at two life, and a second, freshly drawn Goblin Grappler was cast, which could end the game on next turn unless Planeshift could draw itself out of the mess that it created. Planeshift, in a fit of hastiness and relief, made a grave error on the next turn by using a Darigaaz's Charm as soon as it was drawn, instead of waiting for the Grappler and Marauder to attack, which stopped the Grappler from attacking into the Thornscape Battlemage.
Legions added its third Grappler of the match, and passed. Then it happened: Planeshift drew its first Flametongue Kavu of the match, and used it to pop a Goblin Grappler! Planeshift, though wary of a Clickslither/Goblin Grappler combo ending the game, it was even more worried that at some point, a Skirk Marauder would be drawn, and unmorphed to deal the coup de grace. With that in mind, Planeshift attacked with the Battlemage, which lowered Legions down to 12. A facedown creature came into play for Legions, but more importantly a Shivan Wurm entered play for Planeshift, returning Flametongue Kavu! Things were getting way, way too interesting for Legions, and with only 2 life left to get rid of before it could win the game, things were starting to slip away. All of the card advantage and tempo gained by the arrival of Thunderscape Battlemage, Flametongue Kavu and Shivan Wurm was starting to add up, and Planeshift was coming very close to completing one of the most compelling come from behind victories in Battle of the Sets history.
Legions tapped its ingrown nail on the top of its deck, like any experienced magic player would do in such a situation and flipped the card over for all spectators to see... a Goblin Goon! What a spectacular, insane comeback! Planeshift, hanging on to two life for what seemed like an eternity, managed to draw the exact cards needed to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat, finally putting down what seemed to be an unstoppable goblin horde. It won in a fashion that has proved to be Planeshift's method of choice so far this tournament, via a gigantic, furious creature named Shivan Wurm. Like a game of musical chairs, Legions was now sitting in the hot seat, a seat which Planeshift was occupying for most of the prior match. Man, what a game!
1-0 Planeshift
A kickered Scuta popped by to encourage his Flametongue buddies into the red zone, one of which traded with a Drill Sergeant, which milled a Mountain into the grave. Drill Sergeant had been extremely unlucky with Sergeant activations, pitching a shutout, even though Legions is made predominantly of goblins. Legions, now down to 4 life, needed to cast a Warbreak Trumpeter or a Skirk Marauder on its next turn, or it would be swept out the door by a Planeshift deck that seemed to be drawing all of its biggest bombs. A morph was cast on Legions' turn, which was a positive sign, but on Planeshift's next turn, a loud, nay, deafening sound seemed to be rumbling underfoot. The sound was the sound of Legions losing the game. The rumbling came to a crescendo as a furious Shivan Wurm burst forth from the ground, essentially sealing the deal for Planeshift. Legions, now understanding that it had been defeated, extended its boil marked hand and congratulated Planeshift for a match well fought. Planeshift had done it! After being pushed to the brink on a number of occasions, it was able to stand tall, knowing that it had rightly earned a place in the prestigious Battle of the Sets. But what fate shall await Planeshift after earning its way into the main tournament? Why don't we take a look!
2-0 Planeshift
Play-In Results
Pairings for Battle of the Sets VIII
Most of you will probably need to see the decklists again, which are located here and here.
For the match ups in Battle of the Sets, things will be organized as a bracketed tournament. The tournament will be organized into 4 Groups, with each group having 4 match ups numbered 1 to 4. The winner of match up 1 will play the winner of match up 4, and the winner of match up 2 will play the winner of match up 3, and the winners of those will play each other to determine the winner of the group. Then the groups will be paired against one another 1 versus 4, and 2 versus 3. The final round will occur when those matches have been settled, where the two winners will vie to be the Champion of Battle of the Sets VIII. Here are the match ups:
Group 1:
1) Torment v. Nemesis
2) Champions v. Urza's Legacy
3) Mirrodin v. Legends
4) Fifth Dawn v. Ravnica
Group 2:
1) Urza's Saga v. Mirage
2) Odyssey v. Coldsnap
3) Tempest v. Planeshift
4) Onslaught v. Judgement
Group 3:
1) Apocalypse v. Ice Age
2) Masques v. Betrayers
3) Darksteel v. Alliances
4) Urza's Destiny v. Invasion
Group 4:
1) Visions v. Guildpact
2) Exodus v. Scourge
3) Antiquities v. Saviours
4) Dissension v. Arabian Nights
And there we have it! The match ups for the eighth instalment of Battle of the Sets! I find that one of the most entertaining aspects of BotS is to make predictions about the tournament i.e. who you think is favoured to win a match up or a group, who will win the whole thing, etc. Another fun thing to do is to predict upsets. Which fourth seeded deck will knock off a first seeded deck? Are there any unusual match ups? Speculate away in our forums for the discussion of Battle of the Sets. Nazdakka and I will be there to field any questions, comments or whatever about the Play-In matches or the upcoming tournament that you may have. Please be a part of the discussion!
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