So, I checked out Timespiral's games, and my mistake on Prismatic Lens didn't really seem to matter much. Still, I replayed one of the games, and Timespiral ended up winning again (got to say, really impressed by how the deck is performing). Anyway, here we go:
Timespiral vs Ravnica
The silver bullet Timespiral faces off with the removal-heavy Ravnica in an interesting showdown. Let's see how it turned out!
Game 1
Timespiral wins the roll to begin and starts on turn two with a suspended Riftwing Cloudskate. On the other side, Ravnica plays a Watchwolf and passes. Timespiral draws, plays a Calciform Pools and passes. Ravnica attacks with the Watchwolf, but the animal is quickly neutralized by a Temporal Isolation. Ravnica then plays a Selesnya Guildmage and passes. Timespiral plays a morphed down creature, suspends an Ancestral Vision and then passes.
Timespiral has a problem: a Dark Confidant in hand, and no black mana sources to play it. For now, the best it can do is attacking with the Guildmage (Timespiral takes the damage).
The Cloudskate enters the battlefield and bounces back the Guildmage, that responds by creating a Saproling token. The Cloudskate and the morphed creature are turned to attack for four damage, then Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens and passes. Still no black mana for Ravnica, that plays the Guildmage again and passes. End of turn, one counter goes on the Pools.
Timespiral draws, plays an Avalanche Riders to destroy a Temple Garden, then turns the Rider itself and the Cloudskate to attack. Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then decides to chumpblock the Rider with the token. Still no black mana for Ravnica, that just draws and passes. Timespiral pays the Echo cost for the Riders, then attacks again with the same two creatures. This time, the Guildmage trades for the Riders, and a Devouring Light flies to remove the Cloudskate from the battlefield once and for all. Before the spell can resolve, though, the morphed creature is turned face up to reveal (not surprisingly) a Vesuvan Shapeshifter, turning into the Cloudskate. Then Timespiral passes.
Still no black mana for Ravnica. It's forced to pass again, shaking its head.On Timespiral's side, the Ancestral Vision resolves, allowing it to draw three. Timespiral attacks for two with the Shapeshifter... that is removed by a second Devouring Light! Timespiral shrugs, then plays a Mangara of Corondor, suspends another Ancestral Vision, and puts another counter on the Pools.
Ravnica draws... a Putrefy. Three Putrefy, one Dark Confidant... and zero black mana sources. What a game for Ravnica. Once again, the ball goes back to Timespiral.
To make things worse for Ravnica, Timespiral is about to get serious, throwing into the fray its best creature: a Lightning Angel. Three more damage for Ravnica, that falls down to 11. Timespiral then passes. And finally, finally... a Swamp! Ravnica has to deal with the Angel first, and the big question is: has Timespiral drawn a Momentary Blink? Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then decides to wait before casting the spell. So, it just passes.
But end of turn... Mangara is tapped to remove the Swamp! Annoying bastard, thinks Ravnica, that is forced to immediately play the Putrefy towards the Angel. Timespiral responds by playing the Momentary Blink on the Angel, safeguarding it. On its turn, Timespiral attacks and brings its opponent down to 8.
Ravnica draws and plays... a Selesnya Guilmage. Probably won't be enough. Still, nothing more to do, and it has to pass. Timespiral attacks for three more, then plays a Prismatic Lens, and passes. Ravnica draws a Faith's Fetters, that with the Momentary Blink waiting in the graveyard, won't really help much. Still, it's the only available play right now, and Ravnica takes it. As predicted, the Blink is flashbacked, and the Aura goes to the graveyard.
Comes the following turn and the Vision is resolved, allowing Timespiral to refill its hand. Two Avalanche Riders are played this turn, and immediately turned to attack. Ravnica can only block one with the Guildmage, and that makes 3 damage from the angel... plus 2 from a Rider... for a total of five. Game over. Timespiral wins game one!
Game 2
This time Ravnica can start the way it prefers: a turn two Dark Confidant. Timespiral answers by suspending a Riftwing Cloudskate. Ravnica reveals and draws a Putrefy, then takes two more damage with an untapped Temple Garden that is used to play a Watchwolf. The ball goes back to Timespiral, that draws and passes. Ravnica is unfortunately taking some serious damage, as it reveals a Vigor Mortis and falls down to 11! Luck is really not on Ravnica's side today. Ravnica grimaces and attacks with both its creatures, but the Watchwolf is neutralized by a Temporal Isolation. Then, a Selesnya Guildmage is played, and finally Ravnica passes. Timespiral plays a morphed down creature and passes.
The Confidant reveals a second Selesnya Guildmage, that Ravnica immediately plays. A Vitu-Ghazi, City Tree also enters the battlefield this turn. The other Guildmage is turned to attack along with the Confidant, and Timespiral decides to take the damage. Ravnica is now at 9 life points, while Timespiral is at 12.
The Cloudskate enters the battlefield this turn, bouncing one of the Guildmage, and then is turned to attack. A Last Gasp is revealed by Ravnica, and Timespiral apparently has no Momentary Blink to answer, so there goes the flying creature. Timespiral then plays a Calciform Pools and passes.
The Confidant finally reveals a Forest, meaning no damage for Ravnica! A Putrefy is played to remove the morphed Shapeshifter, and Ravnica attacks again with the Confidant and the Guildmage. A Temporal Isolation flies towards the Confidant, and Timespiral takes two damage, falling to ten. Ravnica plays again the other Guildmage, and passes (end of turn, a counter on the Calciform Pools).
Timespiral draws and plays a morphed Vesuvan Shapeshifter, then passes. The Confidant reveals a Last Gasp, that is immediately played to remove the morphed creature, allowing the Guildmage to attack and activate their ability for a +1/+1... six damage to Timespiral, that falls down to 4. End of turn, one more counter on the Pools. Timespiral draws and passes.
Game over? Ravnica reveals a land with the Confidant, then turns its creatures to attack. Timespiral smiles, taps all its lands, removes the counters from the Pools... and plays a Bogardan Hellkite! Since Ravnica has eight mana available, and can activate the Guildmage's ability twice, Timespiral puts four damage on the Guildmage, and one on Ravnica itself. Then, Timespiral waits for Ravnica to play something. Does it have a Putrefy, or anything else? Ravnica shakes its head, while watching its hand (two Vigor Mortis and three lands). Then the Dragons blocks and kills the other Guildmage, that creates two Saproling tokens in its last moments of life.
Timespiral draws and plays an Avalanche Riders (destroying Vitu Ghazi), then turns its creatures to attack. Ravnica takes five more damage and falls down to one, while the two tokens trade for the Riders. Timespiral passes.
Ravnica reveals with trembling hand the card on top of its deck... a Selesnya Guildmage! Two damage, and Ravnica is dead. Timespiral wins game two and seems set for another surprising victory. Can Ravnica make a comeback?
Game 3
Luck seems to be turning as Timespiral is forced to mulligan, and then accept a hand with only one land. Ravnica, on the other side, starts with a turn two Watchwolf. On its second turn, Timespiral still has drawn no land, and is forced to pass. Ravnica attacks for three and plays a Selesnya Guildmage. Timespiral finally draws its second land, and uses it to play a Prismatic Lens. Ravnica laughs like an evil tyrant as it shows a Putrefy to remove the Lens, and attacks with both its creatures to take its opponent down to 12.
Timespiral draws another land, but lacks the white mana it would need for a Temporal Isolation. So, it can only suspend a Riftwing Cloudskate, knowing that most likely will never make it in time. Ravnica attacks for five more, plays another Guildmage, and passes.
Timespirals draws and plays another land, then an Avalanche Riders to destroy the enemy's Swamp... but Ravnica answers with a Last Gasp to kill the creature. With Timespiral at 7 life points, and no creatures on Timespiral's side of the board, it's clear that the game will be over in the following turn, so Timespiral simply concedes, and the two decks move on to game 4.
Game 4
Timespiral opens up the game with a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch an Island, while Ravnica starts with a tapped Overgrown Tomb. During the second turn, Timespiral suspends an Ancestral Vision, while Ravnica plays a Dark Confidant. Timespiral draws, thinks for a few seconds, then throws a Disintegrate at the Dark Confidant to solve the problem. Ravnica is not particularly happy with the sudden development, but hasn't got much choice, so it plays a Selesnya Guildmage and passes. Timespiral draws and plays a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch a second Plains, then passes.
Ravnica attacks for two with the Guildmage, but the creature only meets a Temporal Isolation. On its turn, Timespiral plays a Calciform Pools and passes (end of turn, a Saproling token is created). Ravnica draws, attacks with the token, then passes (end of turn, a counter is added on the Pools). Finally, Timespiral resolves the Vision and refills its hand. Once again, the inertia of the game seems to be moving in favor of Timespiral, that decides to play an Avalanche Riders to destroy one Overgrown Tomb, and immediately attacks with the creature. Ravnica sees two open lands on Timespiral's side of the board, and doesn't really like the idea of wasting a removal spell, but Timespiral might blink it anyway, and it's better to get that damn spell out of the way. So, a Devouring Light is played by Ravnica, but as it feared... Timespiral reveals a Momentary Blink! A second Overgrown Tomb is destroyed, and Ravnica is now out of black mana sources!
Luckily, it has two Swamps in hand, and draws a Putrefy, quickly removing the Riders before it could further impact on Ravnica's manabase. Ravnica then attacks with the token and passes.
But Timespiral's onslaught is far from over. A Lightning Angel is played and immediately turned to attack, and Ravnica has no choice but to take three. On its turn, Ravnica draws and passes. Timespiral draws and attacks again, and Ravnica reveals a Devouring Light, but Timespiral flashbacks the Blink to save the creature. Timespiral then plays a Mangara of Corondor and passes.
Ravnica draws a Putrefy and throws it at the Angel to finally kill it... but Timespiral shows a second Momentary Blink from its hand! Ravnica starts to feel a sense of doom as its opponent manages to endure its stream of removal spells – but Ravnica will fight until the end. For now, though, it has to pass. On its turn, Timespiral attacks for three more and passes. Ravnica again draws and passes – and end of turn, disaster: Timespiral plays a Bogardan Hellkite! Ravnica falls at 9 life points, and the outlook on survival is suddenly very grim.
Timespiral draws and attacks with both creatures. The best Ravnica can do is force Timespiral to remove the Hellkite from combat (otherwise, with five combat damage and five damage from Blink, it would be game over). So, a Devouring Light is played to force a Blink on the Hellkite, and Ravnica takes “only” eight damage, falling down to 1 life point. Timespiral then suspends an Ancestral Vision and passes.
Ravnica draws a Loxodon Hierarch and has a Faith's Fetters in hand. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the mana to play both. A Faith's Fetters on the Hellkite would be enough to survive one turn... but unfortunately Timespiral has Mangara of Corondor to remove it! There's not much that Ravnica can do at this point, really. Nothing to survive. Timespiral confirms itself the true surprise of this BOTS as it wins the quarterfinals and advances to the group A semifinals. Will it be able to overcome the fearsome Urza's Saga, too? Only time will tell. For the moment, the underdog takes the stage and the glory.
Timespiral 3 - Ravnica 1
Also, we start out with Group B's Quarterfinals. Enjoy!
Apocalypse vs Champions of Kamigawa
One of the clash of titans in this round of BOTS, Apocalypse and Champions are two decks no one would like to find in its way, especially so soon. On paper, Champions should be able to win this matchup, as Apocalypse is not particularly fast and has very few ways of winning after its opponent enforces the Hazelock. On the other hand, Apocalypse is one of the most resilient decks in the format, so... who knows? The key cards in this matchup for Apocalypse will be Gerrard's Verdict, Vindicate and Death Grasp - this last one being Apocalypse's only way of winning after the lock is enforced.
Game One
Champions starts the game and begins its game with a turn two Sakura-Tribe Elder. Nothing from Apocalypse yet, so Champions attacks with the Elder and plays an Eerie Procession to fetch a Cranial Extraction – Champions is aiming at removing the opponent's threats immediately!
Apocalypse plays a Caves of Koilos and then a Phyrexian Arena (losing a life point to the double land). Champions attacks again with the Elder, then plays the Cranial Extraction targeting Death Grasp. Apocalypse luckily has none in hand – which is composed of 2 Spiritmonger, a Penumbra Wurm, a Gerrard's Verdict and two lands. Still, losing Death Graps is really bad for Apocalypse, as it was one of the key cards for this matchup.
On its turn, Apocalypse draws two, plays the Gerrard's Verdict (Champions discards a Soulless Revival and a land), then a Spectral Lynx, and passes. End of turn, Champions sacrifices the Elder. On its turn, Champions draws and passes. Apocalypse attacks with the Lynx, then shows a Vindicate to remove the opponent's only Forest. Champions is at four lands like now, and Apocalypse has no idea how close it is to completing its combo. Apocalypse must race against time, and it knows that.
Champions draws, plays an Eerie Procession to fetch a Kodama's Reach, then passes. Still four lands for Champions. Apocalypse draws two, attacks again, then plays a Spiritmonger and passes. Champions draws... a Forest! The combo deck smiles as it plays the land and then a Kodama's Reach, putting a second Forest in play and fetching a third for its hand. Then it passes. Champions is at 16 life points, Apocalypse at 14.
Apocalypse attacks for eight damage with the Spiritmonger and the Lynx, then plays a Penumbra Wurm and passes. Champions plays its seventh land, then a Kokusho, the Evening Star, and passes.
Apocalypse knows the game is approaching its conclusion. It draws two and plays a Vindicate, targeting the opponent's only Plains... and Champions shows an Ethereal Haze! For this turn it's safe, but will it be able to recycle the Arcane to survive one more turn? For now, Apolypse also adds a Pernicious Deed to the board and passes.
Champions draws... a Plains! Incredible! But unfortunately, no Hana Kami in sight so far. Still, with a Rend Flesh in hand and a Kokusho on the board, it can surely survive some longer – the game it's not over yet. For now, Champions passes.
Apocalypse draws two (and falls at 12 life points), then declares an all-out attack. Kokusho blocks the Spiritmonger, while the Rend Flesh flies off to kill the Wurm (and a Soulless Revival is splashed into to recover the only creature in the graveyard, the Sakura-Tribe Elder). Champions gains five and loses two. Then Apocalypse plays another Penumbra Wurm and passes.
Luck keeps smiling on Champions as it draws and plays a Gifts Ungiven, selecting a Hana Kami, an Ethereal Haze, a Rend Flesh and a Plains (Champions now knows Apocalypse's land destruction tactics). Apocalypse puts the Rend Flesh and the land in Champion's hand.
Now, Champions has four mana out of seven tapped. It only has Sakura-Tribe Elder to chump-block, and the Rend Flesh – but that's also the only Arcane to splice the Soulless Revival into. Against Champions, Apocalypse's horde of fatties – two Wurms (one “real” and one token), the Spiritmonger and a Lynx. Champions needs to keep the Soulless Revival in hand, since the other one is already in the graveyard and Champions could not - at the moment and for a few turns - recover any of them.
Apocalypse draws two and falls to seven – a Plains and a Necravolver. Not exactly what it wanted, but it will have to do. Apocalypse turns its creatures to attack. Unfortunately, Champions is forced to use the Rend Flesh, or die. The Elder chump-blocks the Spiritmonger (and then sacrifices for a land), the Wurm token is killed, and Champions takes 8 damage, falling to 3. Then Apocalypse plays the fully kicked Necravolver and passes.
It's all left to topdecking now. Another Gifts Ungiven! Champions thinks desperately – is there some combination of cards that can save the day? No, there isn't. Champions falls just short of closing the loop, and Apocalypse wins game one!
Game Two
Champions has to take a mulligan, and starts the game with a Shizo, Death's Storehouse on turn one, followed by a Forest and a Sakura-Tribe Elder on turn two. Nothing for Apocalypse yet, so Champions can attack with the Elder and play a Kodama's Reach to fetch two Plains – one in play and one in hand. Apocalypse draws, plays a Spectral Lynx and passes. Champions draws, plays another Forest, then passes.
Apocalypse draws, plays a land and attacks with the Lynx for two damage. Then, it starts undermining the opponent's mana base, using a Vindicate to target the Shizo – currently Champions's only source of black mana (Apocalypse takes one damage from tapping a dual land). Apocalypse then passes.
Champions is not really worried about the mana base right now, as the Elder can easily fix it, but rather is having troubles drawing the combo pieces. For now, it attacks again with the Elder and passes. Apocalypse draws, and finds itself stuck at four mana, and with only one black mana source. After attacking with the Lynx and thinking for a few seconds, Apocalypse decides to play a Necravolver as a 3/3 Lifelink. Apocalypse knows that it mush dish in damage as quickly as possible, and maybe gain some life points in the process. End of turn, the Elder is sacrificed to fetch a Swamp. Champions is now facing mana flood troubles, but it can use the Swamp it just fetched to play a Rend Flesh and remove the Necravolver. Then, it passes.
Apocalypse draws its fifth mana and immediately plays a Vindicate to remove the Swamp. Then, the Lynx attacks for two more, and Apocalypse passes. Champions is now at 14 life points, Apocalypse at 15. Champions draws and passes. Apocalypse draws, attacks with the Lynx, then plays a Spiritmonger and passes. Champions, again, draws and passes.
Apocalypse turns its two creatures to attack, and Champions shows the first Ethereal Haze of the game. Nothing to do, then, but Apocalypse adds a second Spiritmonger to the board and passes.
Champions draws and passes.
Apocalypse draws a Swamp, and finally gets the second black mana it needs to play a Phyrexian Arena. Then it turns all its creatures to attack – only to meet a second Ethereal Haze. Then, end of turn, Champions also plays a Gifts Ungiven. After selecting a Swamp, a Soulless Revival, a Kodama's Reach and an Eerie Procession, the ball goes back to Apocalypse, that takes a few seconds to think. First of all, Apocalypse notices that there's no Hana Kami in the group, so Champions must already have it in hand. Plus, Apocalypse knows that it must keep its opponent to get any black mana source. So, the Swamp and the Kodama's Reach go to the graveyard, and Champions gets the Eerie Procession and the Soulless Revival. Champions now has all the combo pieces – but no black mana. Apocalypse must close the game quickly.
Champions draws, plays and sacrifices a Hana Kami to get back the Haze, then plays the Eerie Procession to get a Kodama's Reach, and passes. Apocalypse draws two, attacks with all its creatures (obviously meeting the Ethereal Haze), then plays a fully kicked Necravolver, and passes.
Champions draws a Sensei's Divining Top. Champions absolutely needs an Ethereal Haze to survive. It has no Hana Kami, and to recover one with the Soulless Revival, it needs a Swamp. But Champions has not enough mana to play the Kodama's Reach, then the Soulless Revival, then the Hana Kami to recover the Haze – and finally play it on Apocalypse's turn. It's like a puzzle Champions can't hope to solve.
So, the only hope is playing the Top and hoping to find something good in the first three cards. Champions goes for it... and finds an Etehreal Haze, right on top! Incredible! Champions bursts out laughing as it activates the Top's second ability to get the Haze, then plays the Kodama's Reach to get two Swamps... except there's only one! Only one Swamp left in the deck. Champions is astounded, but there's no denying the truth. So Champions put an Island in play, then a Swamp in hand - and plays it. Now Champions has three lands untapped – exactly what is needed to play the Haze and Splice the Soulless Revival into it! What a turnaround!
But you don't become one of the most feared deck of the tournament for nothing. Apocalypse starts chuckling like an evil kid as it shows another Vindicate – targeting Champions's one and only Swamp! And there it goes. While Champions manages to survive one turn longer, the game is set – no protection for Champions anymore. Apocalypse wins game two.
Game Three
Game three starts really slow, so much so that the first play is a turn 4 Sensei's Divining Top from Champions. Apocalypse responds with a 3/3 Lifelink Necravolver on turn 4 – but that is killed at instant speed with a Rend Flesh from Champions. On its upkeep, Champions activates the Top and places a Sakura-Tribe Elder on top of its deck, drawing and playing it (the target is fecthing a Plains, that Champions is currently missing).
Apocalypse wants to start applying some pressure, and plays a Spiritmonger before passing. End of turn, Champions sacrifices the Elder, then activates the Top and places a Forest followed by a Soulless Revival on top of the deck – with the Ethereal Haze and Hana Kami in hand, Champions now has the complete combo and the mana needed to play it. So, it just draws and passes.
Apocalypse attacks with the Spiritmonger. Champions activates the Top's ability to draw the Soulless Revival, then plays the Haze (with the Revival Spliced to get back the Elder from the graveyard). Apocalypse shrugs, plays a Phyrexian Arena, then a Spectral Lynx, and finally passes.
Champions feels in control for the first time in the match, and plays the Hana Kami to get back the Haze, before passing.
Apocalypse attacks again, and again the Haze is played with the Revival, fetching back the Kami. The loop is complete, but Apocalypse is ready to enforce its rule again: a Vindicate is played to destroy the Plains. No fear, though, as Champions has got it covered: the Sakura-Tribe Elder previously recovered with the Revival is played, along with the Sensei's Divining Top. Then, Champions passes.
Apocalypse again attacks. The Elder blocks the Spiritmonger, then sacrifices itelf to fetch another Plains (plus, Champions takes two damage from the Lynx). And then it happens: Apocalypse nonchalantly shows another Vindicate to remove the second Plains! What incredible relentlessness! Champions is shocked, but it knows it has to fight back. And since it risks running out of Plains, there's one card it must absolutely find: a Cranial Extraction, to remove the Vindicates from Apocalypse's deck once and for all. So, end of turn, the Top is activated, putting a Kodama's Reach on top of Champions's deck.
Champions draws and plays the Kodama's Reach, looking into its deck to assess the situation. Champions is not wrong: there are only two Plains in Champions's deck, and two Vindicates in Apocalypse's. They must be protected. Champions fetches a Forest in play and a Swamp in hand, then plays the Swamp and passes.
Apoclaypse draws two and turns its creatures to attack. Champions shows a Rend Flesh to kill the Spiritmonger, and while the Beast is regenerated, Champions succesfully prevented 6 damage for this turn. The Lynx deals two and Champions falls down to 16. Apocalypse then plays a fully kicked Necravolver and passes.
Champions plays a Kokusho, the Evening Star, and passes. Apocalypse draws two and falls at 14. Again, all its creatures are turned to attack. Kokusho trades for the Necravolver, while the Spiritmonger and the Lynx are free to deal damage. Champions loses eight and gain five, falling down to thirteen. Apocalypse loses five and gains five, remaining at 14. Another fully kicked Necravolver is played, then Apocalypse passes. End of turn, Champions activates the Top to get a Sakura-Tribe Elder on top of the deck. While it would like to avoid losing any more Plains, the truth is – it needs one, or it's going to die soon.
Champions draws and gets ready to chump-block some creatures with a Hana Kami and a Sakura-Tribe Elder, then passes. Apocalypse, as usual, has other plans. Chuckling, it plays a Pernicious Deed and activates it for two. Champions is again shocked by the sudden development, and has no choice except sacrificing its two creatures to get a Plains in play and a Rend Flesh in hand. Problem is – the Plains is tapped and there's not enough mana to cast the Rend Flesh. Luckily, the Lynx is tapped after regenerating, and Apocalypse can deal only 11 damage – not enough to kill. Champions falls down to 2 and survives another turn.
Champions has also activated the Top before it gets destroyed... and seen a Cranial Extraction. On Champions's turn, the powerful sorcery is drawn and immediately played. Champions thinks. Sure, the Vindicate is the public enemy number one, but Champions is down at only 2 life points. Now, Apocalypse's mana is almost all tapped this turn (only three untapped), but if it has a Death's Grasp in hand... next turn, that would be game over. Champions cannot risk. Death Grasp is named... and Apoclaypse shows one in hand with a bitter smile.
Now, Champions has an Haze in hand, with a Plains in play. It can hold on to the game, for now. And it passes. Apocalypse draws and attacks. Champions shows an Ethereal Haze with a Soulless Revival to fetch back a Hana Kami. Apocalypse then plays a second Phyrexian Arena – it must find another Vindicate before Champions can remove those, too.
Champions fetches back the Haze, and considers the situation. Considering the mana needed to fuel the Hazelock, it doesn't actually have much more left. Champions passes. Apocalypse draws three... another Phyrexian Arena... a Pernicious Deed... and a Vindicate. The double Arena strategy worked out! The Vindicate is immediately played to remove the Plains, then Apocalypse also adds a Penumbra Wurm to the board. The Ethereal Haze was obviously played along with the Revival to fetch back the Hana Kami, but now Champions is once again without white mana sources.
On its turn, Champions draws a Sakura-Tribe Elder. With that, it can get another Plains in play, but it will be tapped. Champions considers its options. Right now, it has seven lands in play. It could play an Eerie Procession to fetch a Kodama's Reach, get a Plains in hand and then play it, but then it would lack the mana to both recover the Haze from the graveyard and play it. Not good. Champions could play two Hana Kami and a Sakura-Tribe Elder to chump-block, and also a Rend Flesh to remove one more creature. Theoretically, it could stop all four Apocalypse's creatures this way... except the Lynx has Protection from Green and is a Spirit! And Champions is exactly at two life points. Champions keeps thinking, and finally realizes it's over. There's nothing it can do to survive one more turn. Apocalypse's ruthless land disruption tactics were able to shut off Champions's Hazelock, and the combo deck couldn't keep up with the card advantage from Phyrexian Arend, always one step behind its opponent. Apocalypse wins and advances to the Group B semifinals!
Apocalypse 3 - Champions of Kamigawa 0
Darksteel vs Gatecrash
The army of machines is moving forward as expected, and now faces Gatecrash's control deck to reach the quarterfinals. While Darksteel is the clear favorite here, Gaetcrash hopes to achieve an unexpected victory exploiting Merciless Eviction that could act as a one-sided Final Judgment (and maybe even remove one land or two in the process). Will it be enough?
Game One
Gatecrash starts, but the first play is from Darksteel with a turn one Skullclamp. Gatecrash responds with a High Priest of Penance, while Darksteel on its second turn puts an Arcbound Stinger in play and passes. Gatecrash considers the situation and decides to attack with the High Priest, then plays a Basilica Guards and passes. Darksteel draws and plays an Arcbound Worker, then equips the Skullclamp to kill it and draw two. Then, the now 2/2 Stinger attacks for two and finally Darksteel passes.
Gatecrash wants to prevent the Flying creature from attacking, and plays a One Thousand Lashes on it. Then, it attacks again with the Priest and passes. Darksteel plays a Blinkmoth Nexus, then a Arcbound Ravager and an Arcbound Worker. Finally, it equips the Skullclamp to the Stinger and sacrifices it with the Ravager's ability. Darksteel is picking up steam.
Gatecrash plays a Truefire Paladin and activates the Extort ability from the Guards before passing. Darksteel first activates the Skullclamp to kill the Worker and draw two. Then, the Blinkmoth Nexus is activated and the Ravager sacrifices itself to move 5 +1/+1 counters on the flying animated land. Darksteel can now attack for 6 and bring Gatecrash down to 13. Finally, Darksteel plays another Ravager and passes.
There's not much that Gatecrash can do now except attack with the Paladin and the Priest. Darksteel decides to take the damage, and Gatecrash boosts the Paladin to 4/2 for a total of 5 damage. Darksteel falls down at 11 and Gatecrash plays a second High Priest before passing (activating Extort again).
Darkstell attacks again for 6 damage, then plays an Arcbound Crusher and passes. While Darksteel seems to be slowly stacking up an advantage, the game is more close than it could originally seem. Darksteel has a Merciless Eviction and a Spark Trooper in hand. Both these cards could be very effective at the moment, but Gatecrash has only five lands and a single red mana source in play. So, much is left to the topdecking... and it's a Godless Shrine.
Gatecrash is at 8 life points, would fall to 6 and be killed by the Blinkmoth Nexus in the following turn by playing the Shrine untapped. On the other hand, Darksteel can move at least two more counters on the Blinkmoth Nexus by sacrificing the Crusher and the Ravager – and that would be game over as well. The numbers don't lie.
Gatecrash shakes its head. Still, it attacks with all its creatures to deal 6 more damage and bring Darksteel down to 4. Then, it's over. On its following turn, Darksteel wins game one!
Game Two
Another great start from Darksteel, with a turn one Æther Vial followed by a turn two Blinkmoth Nexus and Arcbound Stinger. Gatecrash finally gets something in play, showing a High Priest of Penance, then passes. Darksteel attacks with the Stinger, then plays a Sword of Fire and Ice, and finally passes – the game is starting to look bad for Gatecrash.
Gatecrash considers the situation, then plays a Gideon, Champion of Justice, activates its +1 ability, and passes. End of turn, an Arcbound Ravager is played with the Vial. Then, the Sword is equipped to the Stinger and the flying creatures charges in to kill the opponent's planeswalker. Finally, Darksteel plays a Skullclamp and passes. Gatecrash just draws and passes, and Darksteel end of turn dishes in an Arcbound Slith. Darksteel plays an Arcbound Worker and equips the Skullclamp to it. Then, the Ravager starts growing by killing the Slith, and sacrifices itself to turn the Stinger into a 6/6. Then, the Stinger attacks, and suddenly Gatecrash is left with only one turn to live.
But this time, things are going to work out differently. Gatecrash puts the sixth land into play and shows a Merciless Eviction, exiling all the artifacts! Darksteel still has the clear advantage – but Gatecrash might just be setting up for a comeback.
Darksteel, though, is not about to just let the game slip through its fingers. On its turn, it plays an Arcbound Slith and then a Sword of Fire and Ice, before passing. Gatecrash shows an Obzedat, Ghost Council, gaining some much needed life points. The Ghost Council is also removed from game at the end of turn, with Gatecrash confiding on the Priest to keep the Slith at bay for now.
Still, Darksteel can count on the Blinkmoth Nexus, too. The land is animated and equipped with the Sword to deal five more damage to Gatecrash, that falls down at 3 life points! Then, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Ravager and passes.
The Ghost Council comes back and Gatecrash is again at 5 life points – but that won't be enough. Gatecrash needs at least one more life point to survive. It draws a Basilica Guards... but with seven lands and a One Thousand Lashes plus an Assemble the Legion in hand, it just won't be able to activate the Extort ability. Again, Gatecrash can't stabilize the game, and Darksteel gets ahead on 2-0.
Game Three
Again, the first play is from Darksteel with an Æther Vial, while Gatecrash responds the following turn with a Truefire Paladin. Then, Darksteel remains stuck with one land. It will still be able to play creatures with the Vial, but at a much more slowed down pace. Gatecrash attacks for two, then plays a second Truefire Paladin. Darksteel gets a second land in play along with a second counter on the Vial, then plays a Genesis Chamber and passes.
Gatecrash gets a fourth land in play and attacks with both creatures. Darksteel puts an Arcbound Stinger in play at instand speed and uses the Myr token to chump-block one of the two Paladins. The other one, though, is boosted at 6/2 and Darksteel falls down to 12. Then, Gatecrash passes.
Darksteel plays a second Genesis Chamber, attacks with the Stinger and passes.
Gatecrash now knows that its creatures can easily be chump-blocked, so it plays a Spark Trooper (also creating two Myr tokens) and attacks with all three.
This time, an Arcbound Ravager is played at instant speed, and two tokens created. Since Gatecrash is all tapped out, Darksteel decides to block one of the Paladins with both the tokens, killing it. The downside is that Darksteel takes 8 damage and falls down to 4. Gatecrash sees the first victory of the match – but it's not done yet.
Darksteel surprisingly adds another counter to the vial, then plays a second Ravager and passes.
Gatecrash has two problems right now: only four lands right now, and no black mana available. Still, it's not the time to fall back on the defensive. Gatecrash declares an all-out attack with all its creatures!
Darksteel sacrifices the two Chambers, two Darksteel Citadels and the Stinger to boost up the two Ravagers! One its a 3/3, the other one a 5/5. The two block the Paladins. Gatecrash thinks for a second, then decides to turn one of them into a 4/2 with First Strike and kill the 3/3. Plus, Darksteel takes two more damage from the tokens and falls down to two.
Darksteel draws and plays a Blinkmoth Nexus, then adds a fourth counter on the Vial and passes. Gatecrash still can't draw a single Swamp, and decides to keep the defensive, this time. End of turn, the Vial is tapped to put an Arcbound Crusher in play. Then, Darksteel draws and passes. Gatecrash still can't draw a Swamp and is forced to pass. A second Arcbound Crusher is put in play with the Vial. Darkstell then plays an Arcbound Stinger and watches the two Crusher growing – soon, Darksteel will be ready to move on the offensive. And when it will strike, it will strike hard.
Gaetcrash draws a Plains.... better than nothing, it can put an Assemble the Legion into play, but then it's forced to pass again. Darksteel plays another Ravager and checks the situation: it can't yet kill the opponent in a single turn, but it will be able to soon enough. For now, it attacks with the Stinger and passes. Standing at two life points, Darksteel can't afford to take risks.
Gatecrash still can't draw a Swamp, unfortunately. Darksteel has enough creatures untapped to keep Gatecrash's attack at bay, and the control deck is forced to pass again. Darksteel can't play anything this turn, and does some math. The artifact deck has an available damage output of 23 damage this turn... and Gatecrash is at 24! Not yet, then. Darksteel passes, but it knows that it will have to act quickly – soon, an army of soldiers will come charging at Darksteel, that it's still sitting at 2 life points.
A single Swamp would be enough for Gatecrash to cast a Merciless Eviction and win the game... but it just draws another Truefire Paladin. The Paladin is played, then Gatecrash considers the situation. Six creatures can attack for Gatecrash, six blockers available for Darkstell. But next turn... with three more soldier tokens available. Gatecrash passes and hopes to survive.
And then it happens. Darksteel draws and plays a Skullclamp... and the Crushers grow again! The Ravager starts devouring everything on Darksteel's side of the board, and finally moves all the tokens on the Stinger, that flies over to kill Gatecrash! A crushing 3-0 victory for Darksteel, against an opponent that would certainly have deserved to win at least a game. Gatecrash leaves the tournament, and Darksteel moves on to face Apocalypse in a cataclysmic match in the semifinals!
One suggestion about the reporting:
When a player casts a spell, instead of saying "reveals" or "shows" can you say something like "casts" or "plays"? I could understand if you were trying to spice up the commentary with varied word choice and flavorful verbs here and there, but "reveals" doesn't add much and you use it very often anyway. It was confusing in one game when there was a Dark Confidant on the table! I had to really analyze the changes in board state and life totals to figure out if a card was being drawn off Confidant or cast. That kind of ambiguity could arise in other board states too. Many Magic cards require you to "reveal" a card from some zone.
If you don't want to restrict yourself to "casts" and "plays", here are a few alternate suggestions that do not have rules ambiguity the way "reveals"/"shows" does:
-"responds with"
-"has the answer again with <card>"
-"protects <creature> with <instant>"
-"blinks <creature>"
-"drops <creature> on the field"
-"crushes <player>'s dreams with <card>"
-"destroys <creature> with <removal spell>"
-"exiles <creature> with <exile removal spell>"
-"shrinks <creature> with <-X/-X removal spell>"
-"topdecks <powerful permanent> and windmill slams it on the field"
One suggestion about the reporting:
When a player casts a spell, instead of saying "reveals" or "shows" can you say something like "casts" or "plays"? I could understand if you were trying to spice up the commentary with varied word choice and flavorful verbs here and there, but "reveals" doesn't add much and you use it very often anyway. It was confusing in one game when there was a Dark Confidant on the table! I had to really analyze the changes in board state and life totals to figure out if a card was being drawn off Confidant or cast. That kind of ambiguity could arise in other board states too. Many Magic cards require you to "reveal" a card from some zone.
If you don't want to restrict yourself to "casts" and "plays", here are a few alternate suggestions that do not have rules ambiguity the way "reveals"/"shows" does:
-"responds with"
-"has the answer again with <card>"
-"protects <creature> with <instant>"
-"blinks <creature>"
-"drops <creature> on the field"
-"crushes <player>'s dreams with <card>"
-"destroys <creature> with <removal spell>"
-"exiles <creature> with <exile removal spell>"
-"shrinks <creature> with <-X/-X removal spell>"
-"topdecks <powerful permanent> and windmill slams it on the field"
Thank you for the feedback. I see that my choice of words might be confusing in some situations
Two matchups that you would struggle to define "subtle" to close up Group B's quarterfinals!
Dragon's Maze vs Oath of the Gatewatch
Two brutal midrange decks built to maximize the impact of the best cards in their set. It's hard to guess who will come on top, but Oath of the Gatewatch is probably more flexible and should be able to attack its opponent from different directions thanks to card like Thought-Knot Seer and Spatial Contortion. Dragon's Maze packs more sheer power with cards like Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and Savageborn Hydra.
Game One
Dragon's Maze wins the roll and starts with a tapped Stomping Ground. Oath of the Gatewatch plays a Crumbling Vestige followed by a Reaver Drone. Dragon's Maze plays a Spike Jester and turns it sideways to attack. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then decides to block with the Reaver and the two creatures go to the graveyard.
Not much happens on the following turn, as Oath plays a Mirrorpool and passes, while Dragon's Maze plays a second tapped Stomping Ground and passes as well.
Oath plays a Swamp followed by a Matter Reshaper, then passes – but end of turn, a Skylasher flash-ily enters the battlefield on Dragon's Maze side of the board. It's now Dragon's Maze turn, that plays its fourth land and considers the situation. In hand, it has two Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and one Savageborn Hydra. The Hydra could be played only as a 2/2 at the moment, and while it would grow quickly, it's a bit of a risk considering the opponent might just kill it with a Spatial Contortion. On the other hand, the more it waits, the more there's a chance Oath might just play a Thought-Knot Seer and simply exile it. In the end, Dragon's Maze decides to take a risk and plays the Hydra – if it just can survive this turn, the next one will grow into a 4/4 and from there might soon win the game for Dragon's Maze.
But that's not meant to be, unfortunately. After playing another tapped Mirrorpool, Oath casts exactly the card Dragon's Maze had feared... the Spatial Contortion. The powerful Hydra disappears into a hole to nowhere, and the Matter Reshaper is turned to attack. The Skylasher block and the two creatures kill each other. A Bearer of Silence is revealed from the top of Oath's deck, and from there goes directly to its hand. Finally, Oath also plays a Reaver Drone before passing.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays a Spike Jester, and like it happened on turn two, the Reaver Drone and the Jester kill themselves in open field. Then, Dragon's Maze passes.
Oath plays a third Mirrorpool (!) then casts a Thought-Knot Seer. At the moment, Dragon's Maze hand is composed only of the two Ruric Thar, so the choice is simple for Oath. The ball goes back to Dragon's Maze, that really needs to draw something good... a Rot Farm Skeleton. Not exactly what it was expecting. Still, with only five lands in play (and the Bearer of Silence in Oath's hand), it's the only creature Dragon's Maze can hope to cast right now. And that it does. Then, it passes.
Oath plays another land, then sacrifices a Mirrorpool to copy the Seer and remove the second Ruric Thar from Dragon's Maze hand. Finally, it attacks for four damage. Unless Dragon's Maze can draw something really good really quickly, the game looks like it'll be over very soon.
Dragon's Maze, unfortunately, draws a land, with nothing left to play. Still, it attacks with the Skeleton (Oath takes the damage) before passing. Oath draws, attacks with its two creatures (Dragon's Maze is now at 8), then passes.
Dragon's Maze draws a Putrefy. End of turn, Oath could create another Seer with the Mirrorpool, and then win on the following turn (even with one of the Seers killed by Putrefy). So, the best option is definitely to play it immediately and maybe draw something good to survive one more turn. the Putrefy is then played to kill one Seer. And there it comes... a Varolz, the Scar-Striped. Exactly what Dragon's Maze hoped. After it passes, Oath end of turn activates another Mirrorpool to put another Seer into play.
On its turn, the Eldrazi's deck is ready to shatter its opponent hopes. After playing a Swamp to go back up to six lands, Oath plays a Spatial Contortion to kill Skeleton, then the kicked Bearer of Silence to remove Varolz... and open the way to the two Seer. That's exactly 8 damage, and game one goes to the Eldrazi deck!
Game Two
Dragon's Maze starts, but it's Oath to make the first play with a turn two Eldrazi Mimic. End of turn, though, Dragon's Maze restores the balance with a Skylasher. On the coming turn, the green creature is turned to attack for two (Oath takes the damage). Dragon's Maze then plays a Varolz, the Scar-Striped and passes. Oath immediately spends a Spatial Contortion to get rid of the dangerous troll, then attacks with the Mimic and finally plays a Reaver Drone.
Dragon's Maze draws and then smiles as it casts a second Varolz, and passes the turn. But Oath is definitely not falling behind, as it plays a Thought-Knot Seer to reveal a hand of two lands and one Rot Farm Skeleton (this one is obviously exiled). Then, the now 4/4 Mimic and the Drone are turned to attack- Dragon's Maze takes the damage from the Mimic and trades the Drone with the Skylasher. Dragon's Maze draws another land, and then scavenges both creature in the graveyard to turn Varolz into a dangerous 6/6. But it's clearly not Dragon's Maze lucky day, as Oath draws an Oblivion Strike and exile it immediately – opening the way for six more damage to hit the target! Dragon's Maze would really need some luck now, but it draws another land! And from then, it's quickly over. Oath wins game two and seems to have its hands on the match!
Game Three
Dragon's Maze is forced to take a mulligan, while Oath seems satisfied and starts quick with a turn one Reaver Drone. Dragon's Maze makes its first play on turn two with a Zhur-Taa Druid. Oath draws, plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then attacks with the Drone (Dragon's Maze takes the damage). Then Oath plays a Slaughter Drone and passes. Dragon's Maze plays a land and passes.
Oath draws and attacks with both creatures. Dragon's Maze taps the Druid and a land to put a Skylasher into play, and assigns it to block the Slaughter Drone. Oath casts a Spatial Contortion, though, and immediately solves the issue. The Eldrazi deck then passes. Dragon's Maze is definitely not having its best game, and again just draws and passes.
Oath draws and attacks. Dragon's Maze casts a Putrefy to remove the Slaughter Drone, and takes two damage from the Reaver to fall down to 14. The good news for Dragon's Maze is that Oath is stuck at three lands. The bad news is that it can play another Slaughter Drone and another Reaver Drone from its hand – and looking at the board now, this army of small creatures could very well be enough to close the game. Dragon's Maze needs an answer, quickly.
But for now, it just draws and passes. Oath gets its fourth land in play and then a Thought-Knot Seer. Dragon's Maze has five lands in play (plus the Druid) and two Putrefy in hand, so it decides to act immediately: it taps out all to destroy both the newly entered Seer and one of the Slaughter Drones. The Seer is killed before its come-into-play ability is resolved, and the death triggers its second ability. Luckily for Dragon's Maze, it only draws an Overgrown Tomb from the Seer's second ability, and that's the only one that can be removed. Not a satisfying turn of events for Oath, all in all, but it can still attack for four damage with its remaining creatures. Dragon's Maze falls down at 10.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays a second Zhur-Taa Druid, then passes. Oath attacks again with both Reaver Drones, and Dragon's Maze blocks with one of the Druids, trading (the second one is kept aside as Dragon's Maze wants to have six mana available). Oath then adds another Slaughter Drone to the board and passes. Dragon's Maze draws... a Forest! The mana flood continues, and Dragon's Maze is forced to pass. Oath attacks again with both creatures, and the remaining Druid trades for the Drone. Then, a Matter Reshaper is played, and Oath passes.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays an Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch, obviously without activating the Unleash, then passes. But then Oath draws... and starts chuckling. The fifth land... all it needed to cast a Reality Smasher from its hand! And with that, it's game over. Oath of the Gatewatch shows its brutal strength and tramples over a more than worthy opponent. The Eldrazi move on to conquer the worl- ehm, Group B!
Dragon's Maze 0 - Oath of the Gatewatch 3
Dark Ascension vs Arabian Nights
On paper, Dark Ascension's midrange deck is superior to its opponent, but Arabian Nights is quick and, more importantly, Dark Ascension lacks the capability to block the opponent's flyers. The midrange deck will have to deal as much damage as possible, counting on the suicide aggro nature of its opponent, before Arabian Nights flying creature can inflict the killing blow.
Game One
Dark Ascension gets fist turn, but has to take a mulligan and doesn't look fully satisfied even with the new hand. It isn't surprising, then, that the first play of the game is a Flying Men from Arabian Nights, but at least Dark Ascension is able to answer readily with a turn two Strangleroot Geist, immediately turned to attack (Arabian Nights take the damage). Arabian Nights attacks with the Flying Men, then plays a second one, and passes. Dark Ascension attacks and passes.
Then, Arabian Nights is ready to break the balance of power in its favor with a Serendib Efreet. How will Dark Ascension answer? With an Huntmaster of the Fells! None of the decks want to leave an advantage to its opponent. Dark Ascension then considers the situation and passes.
Arabian Nights, though, keeps stacking up large creatures with a Juzám Djinn, then launches an all out attack with its flyers – nothing Dark Ascension can do to stop those. Dark Ascension is now at 14 life points, while Arabian Nights is at 15.
Dark Ascension draws and passes, allowing the Huntmaster to transform and deal two damage to the opponent, and also to kill one of the annoying Flying Men. Also, Arabian Nights takes two damage from its creatures, falling down at 11. Still, it's very lucky on the draw, getting an Unstable Mutation that is immediately played on the Serendib Efreet to double its damage output. Arabian Nighs then attacks with all its creatures. The Juzam Djinn is chump-blocked by the Geist, that comes back with a +1/+1 counter on itself, while Dark Ascension takes 7 damage and falls down to 7. Finally, Arabian Nights plays a second Juzam Djinn and passes.
The Ravager of the Fells transforms back into the Huntmaster, netting two useful life points and another wolf token. Dark Ascension would seriously need another land, but unfortunately it remains stuck at four. So, it plays a Predator Ooze and declares an attack with one token, the Huntmaster and the Geist – Dark Ascension now needs to dish in as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible (but it keeps two blockers available for the two Djinns). Arabian Nights is at 11 life points, and it's taking 3 damage per turn from its creatures. Only one blocker is available - the newly cast Juzam Djinn. Since Arabian Nights won't be able to win in the coming turn, it must at all costs avoid falling down to six, or it will just suicide itself. So, the 3/2 Geist must be blocked. Arabian Nights takes four damage and falls down to seven.
Arabian Nights would need an Oubliette to win the game... but it isn't lucky. It attacks with its flyers, bringing its opponent down to 3, then plays a Serendib Djinn and passes. But then it's over: Dark Ascension doesn't play anything and passes, the Huntmaster transforms and, along with the self-inflicted damage, that's enough to kill Arabian Nights! Unfortunately, there was nothing to do for Arabian Nights – it was just a matter of choosing how to die.
Game Two
Arabian Nights starts, and what a start: turn one Library of Alexandria! On the other side, Dark Ascension plays a Wolfbitten Captive and passes. Arabian Nights draws, activates the Library, then plays a Swamp and passes. The Captive transforms, allowing Dark Ascension to attack for two, then a Dawntreader Elk is also played, and finally it's Arabian Nights's turn again.
The Library is activated again, as Arabian Nights desperately needs to find an Island, and finally manages to. The land is played along with a Flying Men, then Arabian Nights passes. Dark Ascension wants to press its advantage as much as possible, and attacks with both creatures to deal 4 damage, before passing. Then it's finally Arabian Nights's moment to shine, as a Serendib Efreet is finally played, and also an Unstable Mutation is played on the Flying Men, allowing them to attack for four (this turn, the Library is not activated). The Krallenhorde Killer transforms back into the Wolfbitten Captive, but Dark Ascension has great plans for the meek 1/1 – an Increasing Savagery is played to turn it into a brutal 6/6, and it rampages its way across the battlefield towards Arabian Nights. The aggro deck thinks for a second, then decides to safeguard the Efreet, and takes the full impact of the 6 damage. Arabian Nights is now at 8 (and 7 on its own upkeep), while Dark Ascension at 16.
Arabian Nights attacks with its flyers for six damage, then plays an Oubliette to remove the 6/6 Captive, and passes. Dark Ascension attacks with the Elk for two, then plays a Vorapede and passes. Arabian Nights needs something to deal with the Vorapede, and luckily a Juzám Djinn is exactly the right man... well, the right djinn... for the job. Arabian Nights also attacks for five and passes.
But that's it. Dark Ascension shows a Fling, pointing at the Vorapede... and game over again for Arabian Nights!
Game Three
Bad luck for Arabian Nights, that has to take a mulligan. No play on turn one, while Dark Ascension gets a Wolfbitten Captive in play. Still no play on turn two, and Dark Ascension can flip the Captive over and attacks for two, before passing. Arabian Nights, on its third turn, gets a Serendib Efreet in play and passes. A Predator Ooze joins the battle for Dark Ascension, and the ball goes back to Arabian Nights.
Arabian Nights attacks for three, then plays a Juzám Djinn and passes. Dark Ascension is smiling now, as it boosts the Ooze with an Increasing Savagery, turning it into an indestructible 6/6.... and 7/7 after turning to attack! Arabian Nights despairs, but then decides to block it with the Djinn, sacrificing the creature and turning the Ooze into an 8/8.
It's all or nothing now for Arabian Nights, that plays an Unstable Mutation on the Efreet, attacking for six to take its opponent down at 11. Then, a Flying Men is also played, to chump-block the Ooze (and turn the Krallenhorde Killer back into the Captive).
But, at this point, Dark Ascension wants the victory. After attacking with its creatures (the Ooze is obviously chump-blocked), a Vorapede is also played, and then it's Arabian Nights's turn again. The Efreet attacks for five damage (Dark Ascension is now at six), then an Erg Raiders is played to keep chump-blocking the mastodontic Ooze.
A Fling would be enough to finish the game for Dark Ascension, but unfortunately it won't be that easy. After playing a Strangleroot Geist, an all-out attack is declared. The Ooze is once again chump-blocked, but this time Dark Ascension also dishes in ten damage, and Arabian Nights is down to five.
Only one card can make the miracle now: another Unstable Mutation. Arabian Nights draws... another Serendib Efreet! Game over, again. Dark Ascension takes the game by storm and moves on to the group's semifinals, where it will face Oath of the Gatewatch in a blasting game of power and endurance.
Turn 4 - Exava gets chumped by Matter Reshaper. EOT Druid taps for 1 to cast Putrefy / Skylasher (not reported in your log but must have happened to generate 5 mana). Oath @ 14.
Turn 5 - Exava swings for 4. Oath @ 10. EOT Druid taps for 1 damage. Oath @ 9.
Turn 6 - Exava is chumped by another Matter Reshaper. Did Druid remember to ping at EOT? Not reported.
After Oath's attack you say "Both decks are now at 12 life points."
Unless there was unstated lifegain, that can't be true. If Dragon Maze forgot to ping EOT on turn 6, Oath would be at 9 life. If the ping happened, Oath would be at 8 life. Not 12.
Turn 7 - Exava swings for 4. Another Druid. Oath @ 4.
On Oaths attack, one of the Druids chump blocks. With Oath at 4 life, I would keep both Druids alive because they are suddenly huge threats. Anyway, if one chumps and one taps, Oath @ 3.
Turn 8 -
"Dragon's Maze draws a land, then attacks with Exava. Oath takes again the damage, and falls down to three life points."
This is not possible. Oath was already at 3. Another attack would kill him. If Oath's life total was correct, these turns would have played out completely differently (Oath would have to leave some defense up and chump block), and double Druid might have just pinged him to death. Oath probably would have lost this game, or at the very least several turns would have played out completely differently. Perhaps Dragon Maze could have advanced to the next round??
------------------
EDIT: In Arabian Nights vs Dark Ascension Game 1, this is not an error, but Arabian Nights misplayed the turn it cast Unstable Mutation. Flipping Huntmaster back is dangerous. It gives the opponent a free +4 life swing (he can easily flip it back to Ravager by not playing anything), a free 2/2 token, and a chance to ping the other Flying Men.
Ostensibly, casting Unstable Mutation helps Arabian race, but if he does the math it actually makes it impossible for him to outrace as long as Dark plays any creature or removal spell at all on his turn!! As long as Dark doesn't completely punt, he is guaranteed to win. So there's no reason to play Unstable. If Arabian just swings for 4 in the air and passes without flipping Ravager, Arabian is very favored to win in the next 1-2 turns unless Dark makes some sort of amazing play.
Another option would be to play the Unstable but not attack with Juzam. Leave 2 Juzams to roadblock the ground. Then Serendib and Flying Men can beatdown in the air. Whether or not he attacks with Juzam, he's threatening to win in 3 attacks. By leaving both Juzams to block, he's increasing his chance of actually living that long.
I don't think you need to change the game. Arabian screwed up and lost. His loss. Just a shame, because the game was very winnable with that dominating board state, and I like to see the old sets advance
There is clearly no lifegain going on, as I think Oath has no lifegain sources. There was probably a mistakes in recording the life points, or perhaps Oath chump-blocked one attack more and the report is incorrect. I'll try to clarify the issue, and in case have a rematch.
Regarding Arabian Nights, suboptimal plays might happen from time to time - we are not machines, nor pro players
Also, keep in mind that for most of the time, Arabian Nights was a Fling away from losing, so he probably felt rushed to win quickly.
Overall, Dark Ascension is the superior deck and it showed that, so I think that's a fair result
I had a rematch for Oath vs Dragon's Maze, since there was some mistake in game one. In the end, though, Oath is simply superior to its opponent, or at least it's a favorable matchup for the Eldrazi deck, and it ended just like the other one. Oath of the Gatewatch wins 3-0 and heads to the Semifinals.
The first two quarterfinals games for group C. Aiming to close the whole tournament by Christmas. Enjoy the matches
Alara Reborn vs Magic 2011
Magic 2011 is a surprise for me. I came up with the Destructive Force-based deck for this BOTS, and it seems to be a really promising concept. After eliminating the powerful Shadowmoor in the previous round, Alara Reborn looks like an easy matchup. Alara Reborn, on the other hand, has already done more than most people were expecting, and dreams an unlikely qualification to the semifinals. On to the match!
Game 1
Alara Reborn wins the roll to start, but has to take a mulligan. Opening the game is a turn two Qasali Pridemage from Alara Reborn. Magic 2011 only draws and passes, and this allows Alara Reborn to draw first blood with the Pridemage, before playing a Behemoth Sledge. Magic 2011 again draws and passes. Alara Reborn taps three to equip the Sledge to the Pridemage, but Magic 2011 is quick to answer with a Lightning Bolt to kill the opponent's creature. So, Alara Reborn is forced to pass. Magic 2011 then plays a Cultivate and passes.
Alara Reborn is not in a good situation right now, having only one land, another Behemoth Sledge and a Lord of Extinction in hand. The Lord of Extinction would only be a 3/3 if played now, and too easily killed. So, Alara Reborn decides to pass for the moment. But Magic 2011 is just about ready to start its game: an Inferno Titan is played, and suddenly Alara Reborn is under a lot of pressure.
Alara Reborn draws... a Knight of New Alara. Not really what it was looking for.
Both the Lord of Extinction and the Knight of New Alara are going to be killed by the Titan as soon as it taps to attack, and between the two creature, Alara Rebon would rather lose the Knight. So, the Knight is played, and then Alara Reborn passes.
Alara Reborn's choice, it turns out, was rather unimportant. As Magic 2011 plays a Destructive Force, wiping the board clean except for the titan, the game is going to quickly reach a conclusion. Magic 2011 wins game one.
Game Two
Alara Reborn starts, but it's Magic 2011 to make the first play with a turn one Birds of Paradise. Alara Reborn answers with a Grizzled Leotau, then Magic 2011 keeps ramping mana with a Cultivate. Alara Reborn attacks for one damage, then plays a Trace of Abundance followed by a Qasali Pridemage. Magic 2011 plays a land and passes. Alara Reborn attacks with both its creatures, but the Pridemage is quickly removed by a Lightning Bolt, allowing Magic 2011 to only take one damage. Alara Reborn then plays a Marisi's Twinclaws and passes.
But just when things seem to be getting good for Alara Reborn, it's Magic 2011's moment to shine, as the ramp deck casts a Primeval Titan, shifting the balance of power. Still, Alara Reborn is determined on fighting back, and plays a Mycoid Shepherd. It won't be much help, unfortunately, as Magic 2011 crashes its opponent's hopes with a Destructive Force! And from there, again, the game is quickly over. Can Alara Reborn find an answer to the opponent's mass land destruction, or will the game end with a landslide win?
Game Three
Magic 2011 again plays first with a turn one Birds of Paradise. On the other side, Alara Reborn ramps some mana, too, with Trace of Abundance. Magic 2011 plays a second Birds of Paradise and passes. Alara Reborn taps for three plus the mana from Trace of Abundance to play a Mycoid Shepherd. Magic 2011 plays a Mystifying Maze, then an Obstinate Baloth, and passes. The game is definitely balanced for now – but how long does Alara Reborn have until a Destructive Force comes to shatter its hopes?
For now, Alara Reborn plays a Behemoth Sledge and passes. Magic 2011 attacks with the Baloth (Alara Reborn takes the damage), then plays an Inferno Titan and passes. Magic 2011 is now at 24 life points, while Alara Reborn sits at 13. But things are about to change. Alara Reborn taps all its mana to play a Maelstrom Pulse and destroy the Titan, then equips the Sledge to the Shepherd and attacks! Alara Reborn jumps back to 20, while Magic 2011 falls down to 17.
Magic 2011 plays another Birds of Paradise, then attacks for 4 with the Baloth, and finally passes. Alara Reborn sees that Magic 2011 has the mana open to activate the Maze, so keeps the Shepherd on the defensive, plays a Knight of New Alara, and passes. Magic 2011 draws and decides that is time to go its usual extreme measure: a Destructive Force. Also, to make sure the Shepherd is killed, a Lightning Bolt is played on the creature for a total of eight damage. Again, the board is wiped clean, except for a single land on Magic 2011's side.
The game slows down and practically stops for a few turns, until Magic 2011 can play a Cultivate followed by an Obstinate Baloth. On the following turn, Alara Reborn draws and plays a land, getting to two, and plays a Trace of Abundance. Magic 2011 attacks for four, then plays two Sylvan Ranger. Alara Reborn draws, plays a Maelstrom Pulse to remove the Baloth, and passes.
But things are about to become a whole lot worse for Alara Reborn, as Magic 2011 draws and plays a Primeval Titan! Alara Reborn is on the edge of precipice, then draws... another Maelstrom Pulse! Incredible! The Titan is killed, and Alara Reborn can hope again.
Then, in what might very well be the most cruel turn of events in this Battle of the Sets, Magic 2011 draws and plays a second Primeval Titan! Alara Reborn can only play a Qasali Pridemage in defense. And on the following turn Magic 2011 can use all the mana ramped with the Titans to throw at its opponent a 10-damage Fireball – and that, along with the creatures's attack, it's enough to close the game. Magic 2011 again shows the power of its Destructive Force and dominates the game, advancing to the group semifinals!
Alara Reborn 0 - Magic 2011 3
Theros vs Exodus
Exodus's RecSur deck is a troublesome client for almost any deck in BOTS, and Theros is no exception. This is going to be a tough game for the midrange deck, but Theros packs a lot of quality cards and can definitely aim for the victory, especially should Exodus have trouble closing the lock.
Game One
Theros wins the roll to start and makes the first play with a turn two Voyaging Satyr, answered by a Keeper of the Dead from Exodus. Theros is determined on being aggressive quickly, before its opponent can enforce its lock, and adds a Polis Crusher to the battlefield on the following turn. Exodus doesn't seem too worried, for now, and plays an Oath of Ghouls before passing.
Theros reinforces its position on the board with a Xenagos, the Reveler, creating a Satyr token and turning it to attack along with the Polis Crusher. Exodus chump blocks with the Keeper of the Dead and takes four damage. On its upkeep, the lock deck takes the Keeper back up from the graveyard, then passes.
Theros turns the Crusher into a monstruosity, then creates a second Satyr token, and turns them to attack. Exodus, though, as an ace up its sleeve: a Slaughter is played to destroy the fearsome Crusher – but still, Exodus takes four more damage and falls down to 12. Pressure is building up for Exodus, that manages to draw a Survival of the Fittest! After getting its fifth land into play, the lock deck plays its signature enchantment, then discards a Dauthi Jackal to fetch a Spike Weaver, while also re-playing the Keeper of the Dead as a blocker. Then, Exodus passes.
Theros creates another Satyr token, then attacks with the three tokens for four damage (one is blocked by the Keeper). Then, Theros casts a Destructive Revelry to remove Survival of the Fitness – and deal two more damage to its opponent, that is now at 6 life points.
Exodus recovers the Keeper, then plays its sixth land. Now it can play the Spike Weaver and activate its ability – survival is guaranteed, for now. Theros is locked down, and can only play an Elspeth, Sun's Champion to keep adding more tokens to the board. Still, Xenagos starts activating its +1 ability, aiming at its -6 final one.
One creature in each graveyard, so nothing to recover for Exodus this time. The lock deck plays a second Oath of the Ghouls, then again the Keeper of the Dead, and passes. Theros keeps attacking and another counter from the Weaver is removed. Exodus draws, plays and sacrifices a Thrull Surgeon, revealing a hand of two Xenagos, the Reveler, and one Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Exodus shrugs and chooses to discard one of the Xenagos. Theros draws, activates the abilities from its planeswalkers, then attacks. The Weaver removes its last token, then goes to the graveyard. On its following upkeep, Exodus recovers it along with the Thrull Surgeon thanks to the two Oath of Ghouls, then plays the Weaver and passes.
Theros activates the final ability from Xenagos, revealing... five lands (!), one Sylvan Caryatid, and one Elspeth. Theros shakes its head, attacks, then plays another Xenagos, activates its +1 ability and uses the mana to play a Polukranos, World Eater, another Sylvan Caryatid, and finally passes.
Now, Polukranos is huge trouble for Exodus, as it can easily kill the Weaver with its Monstrous ability and leave Exodus completely unprotected. To get back the Weaver with Oath of Ghouls, Polukranos must die before Exodus's upkeep. The only answer available to Exodus right now would be the Keeper of the Dead, but Exodus only has two creatures in the graveyard against Theros's single Polis Crusher, so Exodus cannot activate the creature's ability. What could save Exodus, then? Drawing a second Spike Weaver, maybe, but Exodus only manages to draw a Pigmy Troll. As Polukranos is turned Monstrous and the Weaver is brutally destroyed, Theros happily turns its army of monsters and tokens to deal the last remaining damage to Exodus. Theros wins game one!
Game Two
Exodus starts the game with a turn two Oath of Ghouls, while on the other side Theros answers with a Sylvan Caryatid. On its third turn Exodus plays a Dauthi Jackal and passes. On the other side, Theros puts a tapped Temple of Abandon into play (moving an Arbor Colossus to the bottom of the library), then plays a Fleecemane Lion and passes. Exodus attacks for two damage and passes. Theros remains stuck at three lands, but with the mana from the Caryatid, it can still make four. So, after attacking with the Lion, it's time to get serious: a Polis Crusher joins the battlefield with thundering steps. Exodus, though, attacks again and passes.
Theros attacks with both the Lion and the Crusher, but the latter is instantly killed with a Slaughter. Theros shrugs and plays a second Polis Crusher from its hand, before passing. Exodus, again, simply attacks and passes. Theros's turn again, and as the previous one, the Lion and thr Crusher attacks Exodus... and again, a Slaughter remove the Crusher! Exodus is managing to keep the situation under control, but the Lion is slowly chipping away at its life points – now, Exodus is at 11. Theros then plays another Fleecemane Lion and another Sylvan Caryatid, then passes.
Exodus is unfortunately stuck without neither a Survival of the Fittest nor a Spike Weaver, and it can only play a Keeper of the Dead and a Recurring Nightmare before passing.
Theros attacks with the two Lions – one is chumplocked by the Keeper, the other one strikes in for three more damage. Then, Theros plays another Polis Crusher and passes. Exodus unfortunately only draws a land, after having recovered the Keeper from the graveyard. Not much to do for the lock deck, and after seeing Theros playing a Xenagos, the Reveler, Exodus knows that it's over. An attacking army of two Lions, one Crusher and one Satyr token is more than enough to deal the remaining 8 points of damage to Exodus. Theros wins game two and starts to savour the semifinals!
Game Three
A better start this time for Exodus, with a turn two Suvival of the Fittest, while Theros gets in play a turn two Fleecemane Lion. On the following turn, Exodus discards a Pygmy Troll to fetch a Spike Weaver, then plays an Oath of Ghouls and passes. Theros attacks for three, then plays another Fleecemane Lion and passes. Exodus gets the Troll back from the graveyard, then plays the Spike Weaver and passes. Theros knows this is probably the last time it will be able to easily deal some damage to its opponent, and attacks with both lions for six damage. Then, it plays a Sylvan Caryatid and passes.
Exodus attacks for three damage with the Weaver, then plays a Thrull Surgeon and discards a Pygmy Troll to fetch a second Spike Weaker. And now, Theros begins its long game of wait, hoping to somehow deal the remaining 11 damage. For now, it plays a Stormbreath Dragon, hoping to quickly get it monstrous – that would definitely help. Then, Theros attacks and passes. Exodus considers the situation and decides to leave the Troll in the graveyard – better not to have too many cards in hand, at the moment. Still stuck at four mana, Exodus plays a Keeper of the Dead and passes.
Theros plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, activates its +1 ability, then gets a second Stormbreath Dragon in play, attacks and passes. Next turn, one of the two will turn Monstruous. So, the best Exodus can do is reduce the damage. It sacrifices the Thrull Surgeon to make its opponent discard an Elspeth, Sun's Champion, then activates the Keeper of the Dead's ability to kill one of the two dragons. Then, Exodus passes.
Theros activates Xenagos's +1 ability, then turns the Dragon monstrous, dealing 5 damage to Exodus – that is now at 6. Then, Theros plays a second Sylvan Caryatid, attacks and passes (the first Spike Weaver spends its last counter this turn).
Exodus draws, gets its sixth land in play and casts a Spike Weaver. Then, Survival of the Fittest is activated to discard a Pygmy Troll and fetch a Dauthi Jackal. Theros activates Xenagos's ability, plays a Polis Crusher, attacks and passes. Exodus draws, plays the Dauthi Jackal and passes.
On Theros's turn, Xenagos removes all its six counters to activate its final ability. Theros is not particularly lucky, and it gets two lands, two Arbor Colossus, one Polis Crusher and one Fleecemane Lion. Theros then attacks again and passes.
Exodus plays another Spike Weaver from its hand, then pattacks for two with the Jackal and passes. Theros draws and plays a Voyaging Satyr, then also plays its last card: another Xenagos, the Reveler, and activates its +1 ability. Finally, it passes. At this point, the game slows down for a few turns, with the Jackal attacking both Theros itself and Xenagos in turn, to keep the planeswalker at bay. The Spike Weavers are cycled through Recurring Nightmare, and Exodus keeps its hand blocked at a size of two (the Recurring Nightmare, plus a drawn Slaughter) to minimize the Stormbreath Dragon risk. A Destructive Revelry from Theros in the meantime reduces Exodus's life points to four.
A few turns later, Theros draws and plays a Polukranos, World Eater. Knowing full well that this could be game over, Exodus casts end-of-turn the Sluaghter. Theros activates the hydra's ability in response, killing every creature on Exodus's side of the board.
Exodus gets a Spike Weaver back with Oath of Ghouls, plays it and passes. On the following turn, the Dauthi Jackal is recovered in the same way. The lock continues, and the games goes on for about 20 more turns, until finally Exodus can kill its opponent with the Jackal. Theros was slowly strangled by its opponent this time, and Exodus can finally hope for a comeback.
Game Four
Theros starts, but the first play is a turn two Thrull Surgeon from Exodus. On its third turn, Theros draws and plays a Sylvan Caryatid, then passes. Exodus remains stuck at two mana, so it just activates the Surgeon's ability, revaling a hand of three lands, one Polis Crusher, one Elspeth, Sun's Champion. The Crusher seems most dangerous at the moment, and is discarded. Luckily for Theros, it draws a Xenagos, the Reveler, and immediately plays it, creating a Satyr token and dealing the first two damage of the game.
Exodus draws and plays a third land, then casts a Plaguebearer – at the moment it only has one black mana and it's tapped, but starting from next turn, it will be able to at least keep Xenagos under control. Unfortunately, though, a second Planeswalker is about to join the field: Elspeth, Sun's Champion, that immediately begins assmbling its army of soldiers. Plus, a second Satyr token is created, and both are turned to attack for 4 damage.
Still stuck at 3 mana, Exodus casts a Pygmy Troll and passes. Theros creates another Satyr, that is immediately destroyed by the Plaguebearer, then attacks with the two remaining Satyr token and the three Soldiers for seven damage. Things are looking really bad for Exodus right now. Theros then creates three more soldiers and passes. Exodus draws a Pit Spawn, and knows there is nothing it can do to survive longer. Theros wins game four and advances to the group semifinals, where it will meet the surprising land-destruction deck of Magic 2011.
It's been an infernal couple of weeks, sorry for no update. Here we go to close the Group C quarterfinals
Magic 2013 vs Tempest
Battle of the lock decks! Both M13 and Tempest are heavily anti-aggro decks featuring a lock (hard lock for Tempest, soft-lock for M13) to completely shut down combat damage. Also, both decks win by milling the opponent. It will be interesting to see which one will better adapt to the opponent - will it be Tempest, with its superior countermagic power? Or will be M13, relying on the faster milling speed of its planeswalker? Let's find out!
Game One
As predictable, the game is a slow one, with Tempest opening with an Intuition to fetch Orim's Prayer, answered by a Ranger's Path on the following turn by Magic 2013. On the coming turn Tempest, that only has three Island and one Reflecting Pool in play, is forced to pass. Magic 2013 plays a Sphinx of Uthuun and reveals three lands, one Farseek and one Naturalize. Tempest only fears this last one, and puts it alone, with the other four cards on a pile. Magic 2013, surprisingly, takes the larger pile and passes. End of turn, Tempest casts another Intuition to fetch its missing land – a Plains. Then, on its turn, Tempest plays an Orim's Prayer and passes, keeping two mana open to bluff a Counterspell (that unfortunately Tempest doesn't have in hand, but can surely threaten).
Magic 2013 attacks for four damage, then plays an Archaeomancer to get back the Naturalize, and passes. Tempest draws and passes. Magic 2013 again attacks for four more damage, then plays a Jace, Memory Adept. This is the moment Magic 2013 has been carefully building up to, waiting to reach nine lands to cover the planeswalker with a Rewind. It turns out, though, that such caution was unnecessary, as Tempest doesn't hold a single counterspell in hand. The planeswalker resolves and can start milling Tempest's deck. End of turn, Tempest Capsizes the planeswalker back to Magic 2013's hand, paying the buyback cost.
Still, Tempest is not drawing any countermagic. Plus, Magic 2013 has a Naturalize in hand, and completing the lock won't do Tempest any good. So, Tempest is forced to pass again. Four more damage and ten more cards on the graveyard this turn, then end of turn Jace is capsized again.
Tempest draws a second Humility, and now has two copy of each combo piece. At this point, though, it won't do much good. In a game like this one, gaining an early advantage makes it very hard for the opponent to recover, and that's exactly what happened this time around. Moreover, Tempest wasn't able to draw any countermagic. Tempest concedes and Magic 2013 wins game one!
Game Two
The game starts with a quick Whispers of the Muse from Tempest, followed by a Lotus Petal plus Orim's Prayer on turn two. Magic 2013 can only watch and play lands, for now. After that, the game slows down for a few turns, until Magic 2013 plays a turn five Ranger's Path, getting its sixth and seventh land in play and possibly preparing for a Sphinx of Uthuun play in the coming turn. But end of turn, Tempest casts an Intuition to fetch a Humility and play it in the coming turn, completing the lock.
Tempest has now no mana open and looks anxiously at its opponent: will it show a Naturalize? Magic 2013 draws... and passes! Tempest is safe for now. Only Jace can pose a threat, but Tempest has countermagic available. It just needs a Grindstone to march towards a quick and easy victory. And so, end of Magic 2013's following turn, a second Intuition is played to fetch the artifact! Tempest then plays it and passes.
More turns come and go, and Tempest starts milling its opponent's deck, until it finally puts the nasty Naturalize in the graveyard. Magic 2013 has a Revive in hand, but that's not enough, as Tempest surely has countermagic in hand at this point of the game. So Magic 2013 needs at least something else to break through the opponent's defenses: more Revive, or a Rewind. But unfortunately all of them are slowly getting milled. Finally, out of desperation, Magic 2013 tries to cast the Revive and then the Naturalize, but that won't be enough – Tempest has a Dismiss ready. Magic 2013 gets slowly choked by its opponent, and Tempest wind game two!
Game Three
Magic 2013 starts, but the first play is a turn one Grindstone from Tempest. Magic 2013 plays a Farseek on turn two, then a Divination on turn three. But it's on the following turn that big things start to happen: Tempest gets its third land in play, then a Lotus Petal, and finally a Humility! All the precious comes-into-play creatures from Magic 2013 are instantly neutralized!
But it's Magic 2013 that will laugh last, as it gets a Jace, Memory Adept into play, immediately milling its opponent for 10! Tempest needs to find an answer, and quickly. Still, there's nothing Tempest can do at the moment – it has a Capsize in hand to bounce the planeswalker, but no counterspell to follow. So, for now it just passes. Magic 2013 plays two Divination, mills for ten more, and passes. End of turn, Tempest Capsize-s Jace and crosses its fingers: it needs to draw a counterspell now, or the game will be lost.
But it's just a Lotus Petal! And from there, it's quickly over. Magic 2013 readies itself for the match point on game 4!
Game Four
Both decks have to mulligan at the beginning of this crucial game. Tempest starts with a turn one Whispers of the Muse, then has to play a turn three Intuition to fetch a second Plains. Magic 2013, in the meanwhile, is only playing lands – only Islands! Tempest gets an Humility into play and passes. Still nothing from Magic 2013, so in the following turn Tempest can play an Orim's Prayer to close the lock. Magic 2013 answers quickly with a Rewind, but Tempest is quick to cast a Counterspell to make sure its enchantment hits the board. Now, Magic 2013 is in the same situation as game two: only Jace or a Naturalize can reopen the game.
And actually, Magic 2013 draw a Jace, Memory Adept right away! Now would be the perfect time to cast it, as Tempest is fully tapped out... but Magic 2013 has only four lands in play, and none in hand! What incredible bad luck! So, Magic 2013 has to pass, and when it draws another Island (the fifth!) in the following turn and plays Jace, Tempest is ready to asnwer with a Counterspell.
The game slows down for a few turns after that, until Tempest can finally play a Grindstone and activate it – and what a debut for the artifact: two Jace, Memory Adept are immediately milled away! On the following turn, the single Naturalize is also milled, and this makes things much worse for Magic 2013, as it has no Revive in hand and the Archaeomancers are useless with Humility in play.
All seems lost, but then it happens: Magic 2013 draws a Jace, Memory Adept, cross its fingers and plays it... Tempest starts sweating and plays a Whispers of the Muse to draw one more card... and has no counterspell to answer it! The game looked solidly in Tempest's pocket, and now it is reopened!
Actually, more than reopened. As Tempest again has only a Capsize available to bounce the planeswalker, it needs a counterspell to counter it and prevent it from being just played again. But no counterspell is coming to help Tempest! Jace quickly outpaces the Grindstone in the milling race and Magic 2013 wins the game and the match, advancing to the semifinals! The war of the lock deck ends in a victory for the more versatile of the two decks, and another one of the favorites to final victory has to leave the competition!
Magic 2013 3 - Tempest 1
Urza's Destiny vs Antiquities
A true clash of titans this time around. Both decks would surely have preferred to meet an easier opponent so early in the tournament, but there's no backing down now. While both decks plan on accelerating mana early on and casts big creatures to rush the opponent, Antiquities looks on paper the superior and more versatile deck. Destiny, on the other hand, packs bigger creatures and could quickly overrun its opponent - provided that it can get an early Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary in play. Definitely a game to follow with interest.
Game One
Antiquities wins the roll to start, while Destiny is forced to take a mulligan. A Mishra's Factory finds its way on Antiquities's side of the board, followed on turn two by a second one, while the first one animates to draw first blood. But Destiny is just about to get serious, as it plays a turn two Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary – and suddenly, all the pressure is on Antiquities. Still, the artifact deck can't do much more than add a third Factory to the board (!) and strike for three more damage. Then, it passes and prepares for the worst.
Destiny was looking at the Masticore and Ancient Silverback in its hand, but then it draws a Plow Under... and an evil smile forms on its lips. The powerful sorcery is immediately played, and suddenly Antiquities is in deep troubles. On the following turn, it can only draw one Factory and play it, attacking for two more. But the inertia of the game is solidly in Destiny's hands, that plays a Masticore and passes. Antiquities draws and plays the third Factory, and is forced to pass.
Destiny attacks with the Masticore, plays an Ancient Silverback, then passes. The offensive is starting, and Antiquities is completely defenseless. On the following turn, it gets an Urza's Power Plant in play, followed by a 1/6 Primal Clay, then passes again.
Destiny attacks with its creatures, dealing 6 damage with the Silverback. The Masticore is blocked by the Primal Clay, and kills it by tapping four mana to deal the necessary 2 additional damage. Then it's Antiquities's turn again, that finds a temporary lifeline by drawing and playing an Onulet, but as Destiny plays a second Ancient Silverback, it's clear that this game is over. Destiny wins game one!
Game Two
This time around, Antiquities gets to start with its favorite card: Mishra's Workshop (along with a Candelabra of Tawnos). On its following turn, the artifact deck plays a Mishra's Factory followed by a Clockwork Avian (thanks to the Candelabra). On the other side, Destiny is just playing lands for now. Antiquities plays an Urza's Tower, then attacks with the Avian and the animated Factory. Finally, it plays an Onulet and passes.
Finally, Lady Luck shines on Destiny, that draws and plays a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary! Will it be enough, or is it a turn too late? Luckily for Destiny, Antiquities is only stacking up mana, getting an Urza's Power Plant in play along with a second Candelabra of Tawnos... and no more threats. Still, seven more damage are dealt this turn to Destiny, that falls down to seven. Can it make a comeback?
The first step is a Thorn Elemental – that will at least block the land offensive, leaving only the Avian to worry about. Destiny passes and Antiquities completes the Tron, unfortunately having drawn only a Su-Chi to play with it. For this turn, the artifact deck only refills the Avian up to 4 counters and passes – Destiny has two turns left to live, now.
Or not – as it draws and plays a Masticore! It does not have enough mana to kill the Avian right away, but next turn it will. The match looked sealed for Antiquities, but could we be looking at a comeback? For now, Destiny also adds a Yavimaya Elder to the board and passes.
But Antiquies is about to show why it's become one of the most feared decks in the tournament, as it draws and casts a Rocket Launcher! With the Tron in play and two Candelabra, that's enough mana to almost kill a player at full life points, but Destiny is about to fall down to three this turn, with the Avian attacking for four. Then, Antiquities passes.
Destiny has 11 mana available and needs 8 to kill the Avian. With 5 more, it could have played a Plow Under and break the Tron, gaining one more turn of life, and maybe, just maybe, pulling out a surprise win. But that was not meant to be, as Destiny lacks the required amount of mana. Antiquities wins game two!
Game Three
Antiquities is forced to mulligan, then accepts the new hand without looking too satisfied. Destiny starts the game, but the first play is from Antiquities with an Urza's Mine fueling a Candelabra of Tawnos. Nothing much happens in the following turns, with Antiquities stuck at two lands, while Destiny needs to wait turn 4 to finally draw a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. The elf is immediately played, and now things start to look troublesome for Antiquities, that still can't manage to draw any lands.
After Destiny has played an Ancient Silverback and an Emperor Crocodile in the same turn, Antiquitis finally gets its third land and a lonely Onulet in play. As Destiny adds a Thorn Elemental to its growing army of monsters, it's clear to everyone that this game is over. Destiny is now up 2-1 and only one game away from the group semifinals!
Game Four
Antiquities opens the game with an Urza's Tower, followed by an Urza's Power Plant. On the other side, Destiny plays a Heart Warden and passes. Turn three, and Antiquities smiles as it plays the Urza's Mine needed to complete the Tron! A 2/2 flying Primal Clay is the only thing it can play, unfortunately. So, the first big play of the game goes again to Destiny: a Masticore! This is not good news for Antiquities - but the artifact deck is far from being defeated. On the following turn, it plays a second Primal Clay, this time as a 1/6 wall. Then, it also plays a Rocket Launcher. Finally, after having attacked for two damage, it passes.
Now, the Masticore could easily get ride of the flying creature, or the wall (after a block on the Masticore), but then Antiquities could activate the Rocket Launcher to kill the Masticore – without mana open to regenerate. That was Antiquities's reasoning, at least. But Destiny is ready to change the situation dramatically. The following spell it plays, in fact, is... a Plow Under! The power of nature against civilization! The Tron is broken, and now Antiquities is forced to face a desperate situation. Still, at least for this turn, the Masticore can't kill anything, and can't deal any damage to Antiquities itself. The artifact deck needs to recover quickly and draw something good to bounce back and achieve victory.
Antiquities draws and plays one of the two lands, then attacks for two more damage and passes. Now Destiny reaches the six mana target – meaning it can activate the Masticore for two damage and still regenerate it. And that's exactly what it will do. After the Masticore is blocked by the 1/6 Primal Clay, two more damage are done to it and the wall is destroyed. Now, the road to Destiny is open.
Desperate measures for desperate times. Antiquities attacks for two more damage, then activates the Rocket Launcher for only one damage to the Heart Warden. Destiny looks puzzled, but Antiquities's plan becomes clear when it casts a second Rocket Launcher from its hand. Finally, it also sacrifices a Strip Mine to destroy one more land. Antiquities needs time to recover and draw something good, and this should slow down its opponent.
Destiny thinks for a second, then decides to leave the opponent's Primal Clay alive, keeping mana open for regeneration. It only attacks for four damage, then, before passing. One more surprise is in store, though: Antiquities draws and plays a Tawnos's Coffin! Destiny can only tap four mana to kill the opponent's creature before the Masticore is removed from the game. To make things worse, Antiquities plays another Strip Mine to destroy one more land.
At the end of this crazy couple of turns, both decks have three lands in play (Antiquities with a clear advantage having the complete Tron in play), and no creature alive. Antiquities still has a Rocket Launcher and obviously the Coffin.
Now it's up to the draw. And things get good for Antiquities as it draws and plays a Su-Chi on the following turn. Destiny, on the other side, draws and plays a Yavimaya Elder. Antiquities doesn't want its opponent to chump block, so it activates the Rocket Launcher to deal one damage to the Elder, and two more damage to Destiny. The road is now open to for the Su-Chi to strike for 4 more. Destiny is now at 6 life points.
And then Destiny draws and plays a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary! It would be great news, usually, but considering the situation, it's probably too late for the powerful elf to make an appearance, especially as a Tetravus makes an appearance on Antiquities's following turn. With the Su-Chi attacking and dealing four damage, there's not much Destiny can do to avoid death one turn later. Having drawn an Emperor Crocodile, the best Destiny can do is playing an Ancient Silverback and the Crocodile itself, but none of them can block the Tetravus, and it's game over. Antiquities goes 2-2, and the two decks move on to the decisive fifth game.
Game Five
Antiquities is forced to mulligan, but Lady Luck smiles on it as the second hand features all that's needed for a lightning start: a Mishra's Workshop + Candelabra of Tawnos. With Destiny still stacking up lands, Antiquities can get a Triskelion in play on the second turn, and things seem to be getting good right away. On turn three, Destiny draws and plays a Heart Warden and passes.
Antiquities attacks for four damage, then removes a counter from the Triskelion to kill the Warden. Then it plays a Strip Mine to destroy one of the opponent's lands, and finally adds a Clockwork Avian to the board! And here it is, one of those fearsome Antiquities starts that no deck in BOTS can hope to match!
Only two turns left to live for Destiny from that point, and as it also misses a land drop, there's no hope for the green deck to resist the opponent's onslaught. After having gone close to defeat, Antiquities shows the pride of the champion and annihilates the opponent in a very one-sided fifth game to gain access to the semifinals, where it will meet the clunky yet deadly lock deck from Magic 2013!
1. I'm a big fan and I think it is great what you are doing.
2. Legacy still gets two basic lands when the elder dies. The text suggests a misplay:
Antiquities doesn't want its opponent to refill its hand of lands, so it activates the Rocket Launcher to deal one damage to the Elder, and two more damage to Destiny. Having only four lands in play, Destiny can't activate the Yavimaya Elder's ability (since three lands were tapped to cast it), and is forced to put it to the graveyard without any gain.
Getting two lands of a 1-1 trade with rocket launcher is a gain, not?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
1. I'm a big fan and I think it is great what you are doing.
2. Legacy still gets two basic lands when the elder dies. The text suggests a misplay:
Antiquities doesn't want its opponent to refill its hand of lands, so it activates the Rocket Launcher to deal one damage to the Elder, and two more damage to Destiny. Having only four lands in play, Destiny can't activate the Yavimaya Elder's ability (since three lands were tapped to cast it), and is forced to put it to the graveyard without any gain.
Getting two lands of a 1-1 trade with rocket launcher is a gain, not?
Thank you!
You are right, but I checked and I think we got it right in the game, I just made a mistake while writing the report. The Elder was killed to open the way for the attack with the Su-Chi, as Antiquities was closing in for the killing and didn't want Destiny to chump-block.
Thank you for pointing that out, I'll correct the report. Glad you're enjoying BOTS
Group C quarterfinals were fun. I'm impressed by how well the M11 Destructive Force deck is doing! I'm rooting for it!!
I was disappointed to see Exodus lose to Theros. I think it was because Theros is an easier (less skill-intensive) deck to pilot, not because it's a better set. I'm not going to go into detail tearing apart every play decision, but Exodus makes at least one significant misplay in each of the first three games, sometimes many small ones that add up to the difference between a win and a loss. The entire match was winnable. From the decisions made, I get the impression that the Exodus pilot didn't really understand RecSur-Oath decks. The deck is a lot more than just a Spike Weaver lock deck. It was sad to see Exodus lose to complexity / skill instead of being beaten by a better set.
In Tempest vs M13, it seemed like the Tempest player was playing on "assemble Voltron" autopilot instead of playing like a control deck. M13 is control, not aggro. Tempest was devoting way too many resources into assembling the "lock", something that had very little impact on the game, when the focus should have been on stopping M13's big spells and winning the control game. Why not Intuition for Counterspell or Dismiss or card draw? Or hold mana open to bluff counters more often? Or Capsize lands and use Humility to stop ETB effects? Or milk Whispers for card advantage?
First two games from the Group D quarterfinals, I'll try to post the other two tomorrow. Enjoy
New Phyrexia vs M12
New Phyrexia pulled off a surprising victory in the previous round against Visions, but it's unlikely that it will manage to repeat itself, as it faces one of the best and most solid anti-aggro deck in the tournament. M12 is a high-quality rock deck that's specifically built to destroy decks like New Phyrexia. Still, never say never. Let's see how this match turned out.
Game One
New Phyrexia wins the roll to start while M12 has to take a mulligan – best possible scenario for the aggro deck. New Phyrexia starts with a turn two Spined Thopter, while on the other side M12 plays a Rampant Growth and passes. New Phyrexia adds a second Thopter to the board, attacks with the first one for two damage, and passes. Things start to get heated on New Phyrexia's following turn, as the aggro deck, after having attacked with the two Thopters, plays a Phyrexian Obliterator! M12 needs an answer, and fast. And with incredible luck, M12 draws just one: a Skinshifter! With its ability to turn into a 0/8 Plant, it can keep the Obliterator there all day. M12 then passes.
But things are about to get a whole lot worse for M12, as New Phyrexia plays a second Obliterator! And while the first one can easily get blocked by the Skinshifter, the two Thopter are still chipping away at M12 life points, that now sits at 10. M12 draws a Gideon Jura, that could actually turn the game around... if only M12 had two Plains! But with only one in play, the best it can do is playing a Timely Reinforcements to buy some time (going up at 16 life points and getting three soldier tokens).
New Phyrexia shows its worst smile as it plays an Act of Aggression to take control of the Skinshifter before turning all its creatures to attack. What a disaster for M12, that can't do much more than falling down at 2 life points. Game over? Maybe not. As M12 draws a Sunpetal Grove, a plan starts to form in M12's head. First of all, it turns the Skinshifter into a 4/4 creature, and turns it to attack along with the three soldier tokens it got from the Timely Reinforcements. New Phyrexia is surprised to notice that it's now sitting at only 5 life points – you are not called a suicide aggro for nothing. But there's no problem, right? The game it's going to end next turn... that's what New Phyrexia is thinking. But Magic 2012 is ready to shows its trump card... that's right, the Gideon Jura! The +2 ability is activated, and suddenly New Phyrexia is facing impending doom. New Phyrexia wouls now need something to remove the Skinshifter from the game... but it only draws a land! As the noble planeswalker sacrifices itself to block the army of New Phyerexia's creatures, the small task force from M12 reaches undisturbed the opponent's main base and deal a lethal strike! M12 shows the power of a true contender to final victory and wins game one!
Game Two
New Phyrexia starts again, but this time it's a much slower start, and as a matter of fact the first play of the game is a Rampant Growth from Magic 2012. On the following turn, New Phyrexia finally makes its first move with a Sword of War and Peace. M12 doesn't look particularly worried at the moment and just plays two Skinshifter before passing. And finally New Phyrexia is ready to begin its offensive: a Moltensteel Dragon makes its entrance on the battlefield with a thundering roar!
But you can't give that much time to a deck like M12! The rock deck simply plays an Oblivion Ring to remove the dangerous dragon from the battlefield, then turns the two Skinshifters into 4/4 and attacks for 8 damage – and New Phyrexia is once again on the verge of annihilation. To gain one turn, the aggro deck plays a Geth's Verdict to kill one of the Skinshifters, but being an aggro deck on the defensive, with your opponent sitting at 19 life points, it's clearly not a good situation to be in. On its turn, M12 plays a Rampant Growth, attacks for 4 more damage, and passes.
New Phyrexia finally draws and plays a Vault Skirge, equipping it immediately with the Sword. Then, it passes. M12 draws, then turns the Skinshifter into a 4/4 and attacks. Being at 4 life points, New Phyrexia is forced to block and sacrifice the Skirge, gaining three life in the process and reaching the still shaky number of 7. But things are about to get a lot more worse for New Phyrexia, as M12 plays a Grave Titan! How can the aggro deck survive now?
The answer is easy: with a Phyrexian Metamorph targeted at the Grave Titan! And after the Metamorph is equipped with the Sword of War and Peace, New Phyrexia's Titan is bigger than the opponent's – forcing M12 to keep it on the defensive and preventing it from spawning more Zombie token. Still, as the Skinshifter can gain Flying, M12 can immediately deal two more damage and bring its opponent to 3. Then, New Phyrexia's nemesis is played again: a Gideon Jura, with its +2 ability activated again.
On its following turn, New Phyrexia is forced to declare an all-out attack on Gideon Jura. The Metamorph is chump-blocked by a Zombie token, while one of the two tokens on New Phyrexia's side crashed into the Grave Titan (dying), and the remaining one chips off two counters from Gideon. Not really a satisfactory round of combat for New Phyrexia, but with the two damage dealt to the Grave Titan, it can cast a Dismember to send it... to the grave (sorry for the pun). Will it be enough? Unlikely.
M12 turns again the Skinshifter into a 2/2 with Flying, reducing New Phyrexia's life points to one. Then, Gideon Jura activates its +2 ability again, and finally M12 plays a Timely Reinforcements, before passing. New Phyrexia needs now to draw something to deal with the Skinshifter... but it's only a Porcelain Legionnaire! The aggro deck can only concede, and starts to feel that it will never be able to break through M12's sturdy defence.
Game Three
Things start better for New Phyrexia this time around, with a turn two Spined Thopter joining the battlefield. On the other side, M12 plays a Rampant Growth and passes. New Phyrexia draws... and realizes that it's stuck with two mana! What bad luck! With two Sword of War and Peace and a Phyrexian Obliterator, New Phyrexia was sure to pose a large threat in the upcoming turns... but without mana, there's nothing it can do except attack for two and pass. The inertia of the game once again seems to move in M12's favor, that plays a Solemn Simulacrum and passes.
Still no land drawn from New Phyrexia, that attacks for two and passes. M12 attacks with the Simulacrum, then plays a Garruk, Primal Hunter and activates its +1 ability to create a Beast token. Things start to look real grim for New Phyrexia, but the aggro deck at least manages to draw a land! After thinking for a second, New Phyrexia decides to attack Garruk, then plays a Sword of War and Peace and passes. M12 attacks for five more damage (New Phyrexia is at 13), then creates another Beast token and plays an Oblivion Ring to remove the Sword! More bad news for New Phyrexia, that needs to decide quick how to counteract. Luckily it draws its fourth land, and the plan is quickly decided: the ground offensive from M12 must be blocked, or all will be lost. So, after dealing two more damage to Garruk, New Phyrexia plays a Phyrexian Obliterator and passes.
M12 thinks for a second, then plays an end of turn Doom Blade to remove the Thopter. On its turn, the rock deck plays another Solemn Simulacrum, creates another Beast token (the third), and finally passes. M12 now has a damage potential of 13, and New Phyrexia can only block one of the opponent's creatures... so a second Obliterator is added to the board! Now M12, with an all out attack, could deal 7 damage to its opponent... but with the Obliterators blocking two 3/3 tokens, would have to sacrifice six permanents! New Phyrexia would like to stall its opponent and try to regain the initiative... except again M12 draws and plays a Gideon Jura! New Phyrexia curses the name of its archnemesis, as M12 activates its +2 ability, along with a +1 ability from Garruk to create another token. And there it ends – as Gideon once again sacrifices himself to stop the Phyrexian onslaught, M12's army of creatures is free to rush in and deal the killing blow. M12 wins the quarterfinals with an overbearing performance and advances to the group semifinals!
New Phyrexia 0 - Magic 2012 3
Morningtide vs Mirrodin
Again, a matchup that seems very one-sided. While Morningtide is a worthy deck, Affinity on a good day is probably in the top 5 of BOTS. The only hope for Morningtide, then, is its opponent having a bad day. If the game goes on long enough, Morningtide might be able to turn the tables on its opponent and win.
Game One
Morningtide wins the roll to start and begins the game with a turn one Mudbutton Clanger. On the other side, Mirrodin plays a Disciple of the Vault and passes. Morningtide reveals a Taurean Mauler, turning the Clanger into a 2/2, and turns it to attack, with Mirrodin taking the damage. Then Morningtide plays a Mutavault and passes. Mirrodin draws, plays an Atog and an Ornithopter, and passes. With the Atog + Disciple combo ready on the board, things looks troublesome for Morningtide, but for now, the situation is still under control. A Chameleon Colossus is revelaed to turn the Clanger into a 2/2, and two more damage are dealt to Mirrodin. Then, Morningtide plays the Taurean Mauler and passes.
Mirrodin is now ready to show why it can be the fastest deck in Battle of the Sets. After playing another land, Mirrodin adds a second Disciple of the Vault to the board, then a Chromatic Sphere and a Pyrite Spellbomb. The Mauler is now a 5/5, but as the Atog turns to attack, it's easy to do the math: Mirrodin can already deal a killing blow. So, the Atog must be blocked by the Mauler. Mirrodin sacrifices the Ornithopter and a land to boost the Atog up to a 5/6, while Morningtide loses 4 life points to the two Disciples. Mirrodin then adds a Frogmite to the board and passes.
Morningtide realizes that the situation is growing dire, and decides to keep the Clanger on the defensive. For now, it plays the Chameleon Colossus and passes. Mirrodin draws and plays another Ornithopter, sacrifices the Pyrite Spellbomb to kill the Clanger (and two more life points lost for Morningtide), then turns the Atog to attack again along with the Frogmite. Again Morningtide is forced to block the Atog with the Colossus, and again Mirrodin sacrifices a land and the Sphere to kill it. Morningtide takes two more damage from the Frogmite, and four from the sacrificed artifacts, falling down to 8. The clock is ticking.
Morningtide plays another Taurean Mauler and a second Mutavault, and this means the tribal deck will be able to field two blockers in the upcoming combat phase. Fow now, it's a matter of survival for Morningtide. Mirrodin draws and plays a land, then turns all its creatures to attack, including the Disciples! Obviously, the Atog must be blocked. Apart from that, it's a matter of math. If Morningtide block the Frogmite, it will take two damage from the Disciples, falling down to 6, then three artifacts sacrificed by the Atog will make the rest. If it blocks a Disciple, Mirrodin will immediately sacrifice the two lands to deal 4 damage, then two more from the Frogmite, one from the remaining Disciple, and one last by sacrificing the Frogmite. Any way you look at it, it's game over! Mirrodin wins game one!
Game Two
Morningtide begins with a turn one Mutavault followed by a turn two Bramblewood Paragon. On the other side, Mirrodin's first play is a turn two Frogmite. Morningtide plays its third land, but it's stuck without red mana. So for now just plays a second Bramblewood Paragon before attacking with the other one (Mirrodin decides to take the damage). It's Mirrodin's turn again, that plays a Myr Enforcer before passing. The Affinity deck is starting to accelerate.
But this time around, Morningtide is not falling behind: as it hits the four mana mark, a Chameleon Colossus is played... and it enter the battlefield as a 6/6 thanks to the Paragons! The inertia of the game moves in favor of Morningtide, but for now the tribal deck just passes. Things can change quickly when you're facing a deck like Mirrodin, though. On the following turn, the Affinity deck plays a Somber Hoverguard and an Atog, balancing the odds.
Still, the Chameleon Colossus is ready to become a fearsome 12/12 with Trample... and as Morningtide turns it to attack, what will Mirrodin do? For now, it decides to simply take the damage. Surprisingly, though, Morningtide does not activate the ability, and is happy enough with dealing just 6 damage. The reason becomes soon clear as Morningtide taps again four mana to play a second Chameleon Colossus! The tribal deck board situation continues to improve, and Mirrodin needs to find some answers quickly. For now, the Atog and the Hoverguard are turned to attack. Morningtide decides to block the Atog with the 2/2 Paragon, while the Hoverguard strikes home for three damage. Then, Mirrodin plays another Myr Enforcer and passes.
At this point, Morningtide has to make a choice: going all-out, trying to kill its opponent as quickly as possible, or keep a more safe approach. Morningtide has a damage potential of 18 damage from the two Colossus (considering one doubling ability gets activated), and considering that Mirrodin sits at 12 life points, the Affinity deck will surely have to sacrifice the two Enforcers to block (as both the Colossus have Trample thanks to the Paragon). At this point, Morningtide should be out of reach from Mirrodin, at least for one more turn, and then be able to deliver the killing blow on its next turn. Morningtide is then ready to declare its strategy: the two Colossus will attack, while the Paragon will remain behind to cover the Atog's attack.
Mirrodin declares its blockers: a Myr Enforcer on the first Colossus... and a Frogmite on the second! Morningtide smiles... perhaps its opponent has made a mistake? The tribal deck activates the Colossus's ability to turn it into a 12/12... and with Trample, that's 12 damage straight at Mirrodin!
But the Affinity deck has one more ace up its sleeve! After the ability is activated, Mirrodin taps two and casts a Shrapnel Blast, targeting the Paragon! The creature is killed, and no combat damage reaches Mirrodin! A really bad turn of events for Morningtide, that now find itself completely open to Mirrodin's offensive!
Mirrodin draws and plays another artifact land, and prepares to attack. It could deal 4 damage from the Enforcer, 3 from the Hoverguard, and... 9 from the Atog (1 + 8 from the 4 artifact lands it can sacrifice). That's 16 damage... and Morningtide sits at 17! It's not enough! Mirrodin thinks frantically, but there's nothing it can do! And on the coming turn, it will have to block both Colossus or die. After thinking for a few second, Mirrodin decides to pass without attacking.
Morningtide draws and plays its sixth land, and goes on the offensive again. Both Colossus are turned to attack, and Mirrodin sacrifices the Hoverguard and the Enforcer to block them. Morningtide then passes.
Mirrodin would need a miracle right now. It draws... a Thoughtcast. The spell is immediately played, allowing Mirrodin to draw a Disciple of the Vault and a Chromatic Sphere. Morningtide has a Mutavault untapped ready to animate and chump-block the Atog, and Mirrodin would need to find an answer to that, otherwise it's simply game over. The Sphere is sacrificed to draw one... another land! And that's it, Mirrodin can't kill Morningtide, and can't block both Colossus on the coming turn. Morningtide wins game two!
Game Three
Mirrodin starts the game with a turn one Bonesplitter followed by a turn two Atog. On the other side, Morningtide begins assembling its army of warrior with a turn two Brighthearth Banneret. Mirrodin equips the Bonesplitter to the Atog, attacks for three damage, then plays a Thoughtcast and passes. Morningtide plays a Taurean Mauler and passes.
Mirrodin thinks for a second, then turns the Atog to attack. Morningtide decides to chump-block with the Banneret. Mirrodin considers the situation, then decides that it cannot let the Mauler blocks its game plan. First of all, it plays a second Thoughtcast, hoping to draw a Shrapnel Blast... but it's just another Thoughtcast and a Chromatic Sphere. The third Thoughtcast is played, providing an Ornithopter and a land. The Ornithopter is played, too, along with a Disciple of the Vault and the Chromatic Sphere. Mirrodin then passes.
Morningtide plays a Chameleon Colossus to block the Atog, then attacks with the 7/7 Mauler, that gets blocked by the Ornithopter. Then, Mirrodin decides to TRULY go all out. A Myr Enforcer, a second Bonesplitter, and a second Atog (!) all find their way on the board in this turn. Then, the first Atog is turned to attack. Morningtide is forced to block it or die, and Mirrodin sacrifices the Sphere and a land to make sure the Colossus is killed and the Atog survives. Then, the free Bonesplitter is equipped to the untapped Atog, and Mirrodin passes.
Morningtide needs two blockers for the two Atogs, and plays a Game-Trail Changeling, keeping the Mauler on the defensive, before passing again. Mirrodin draws, plays another land, and turns both the Atogs and the Enforcer to attack, along with the Disciple. Morningtide has no chocie but to block both Atogs or die, and does so. Mirrodin sacrifices four artifact land and one Bonesplitter to give +10/+10 to the Atog being blocked by the Mauler, that gets killed (while the Atog survives). The second Atog crashes on the Game-Trail Changeling and gets killed. Mornigntide takes five combat damage, plus a five life points loss from the Disciple, and falls down to four. The game is still open, but just barely.
Morningtide draws, plays a Mutavault, then a Vengeful Firebrand, and passes. Mirrodin draws, plays a land, and considers the situation. There are three artifacts in play it can sacrifice, and that would make for a loss of three life points. Not quite enough yet, as Morningtide sits at four. Moreover, the Tribal deck has three blockers at disposal: the Changeling, the Firebrand and an animated Mutavault. Mirrodin considers the situation and decides to pass for now. Morningtide plays a second Game-Trail Changeling and passes.
And then Mirrodin draws another artifact land. With four artifacts now in play, it's game over! Mirrodin wins game three and it's only one step away from the semifinals!
Game Four
Morningtide starts the game with a Mutavault, while on the other side Mirrodin plays a turn one Ornithopter. On turn two, Morningtide plays a Brighthearth Banneret and passes. Mirrodin plays a second artifact land, then a Frogmite and a Thoughtcast. Morningtide plays a Taurean Mauler and passes. This is extremely annoying for Mirrodin, that for the moment attacks with the Frogmite (Morningtide takes the damage) and then passes. Morningtide attacks with the Mauler and the Banneret for three damage, then plays a Vengeful Firebrand and passes.
Mirrodin plays another land and then goes all-out: an Atog, a Frogmite and two Myr Enforcers join the battlefield in a single turn! Morningtide looks at the army on the other side of the board and decides to remain on the defensive, playing a second Vengeful Firebrand before passing. Mirrodin plays a second Atog and considers the situation, then turns the first Atog to attack. The Atog would already be able to deal the killing blow to its opponent (as there are five artifact lands and five artifact creatures on the board), so Morningtide decides to chump block with the Banneret. Then Mirrodin passes. Morningtide plays another Brighthearth Banneret then passes.
Mirrodin adds another artifact land to the board, then attacks with the all its creatures except the Ornithopter. One Atog is again chump-blocked by the Banneret, and Morningtide decides to block the other one with one of the Vengeful Firebrands. Then one of the Myr Enforcers is blocked by the Taurean Mauler, while the rest of Mirrodin's creatures strike home for 8 damage. Mirrodin sacrifices the blocked Enforcer and a land to give +4/+4 to the Atog blocked by the Vengeful Firebrand, and since Morningtide's only Mountain is tapped from having played the Banneret, the Elemental is killed while the Atog survives. The situation is getting tough for Morningtide.
Things might get better as Morningtide draws and plays a Bramblewood Paragon followed by a Mudbutton Clanger. The Mauler is then turned to attack and, considering that has Trample thanks to the Paragon, Mirrodin decides not to block it with the Ornithopter and keep the creature as fodder for the Atog. Mirrodin then takes seven damage and falls down to 10.
Mirrodin draws and plays a Bonesplitter (the Mauler is now 8/8), then equips it to the Ornithopter. Then all creatures on Mirrodin's side except for one Frogmite are turned to attack. The Clanger and the remaining Firebrand sacrifices themselves to block the Atogs, while the Ornithopter can't be blocked and will surely inflict two damage. Since Morningtide is at eight life points, this means that the other six damage from the Enforcer and the Frogmite would be lethal. Morningtide thinks for a few seconds, then decides to let the Enforcer slip in and trades the Bramblewood Paragon for the Frogmite. Three lands are sacrificed to keep the Atogs alive, and Morningtide is now at 2 life points. The tribal deck looks at the single card in Mirrodin's hand, fearing a Shrapnel Blast, but Mirrodin just passes.
Morningtide draws... another Bramblewood Paragon. The Mauler can now attack with Trample and dish in 6 damage, plus two damage from the animated Mutavault... but that won't be enough, as Mirrodin is still at 10 life points. Morningtide went close to the 2-2, but in the end couldn't resist Mirrodin's ferocious onslaught. Mirrodin wins and advances to the semifinals!
Happy new year everyone! Closing up the group quarterfinals today, enjoy the reports
Magic 2010 vs Magic Origins
A matchup where it's quite easy to identify a favorite, as Magic Origins can take advantage of any deck slow enough to let it build an army of Thopters, and without mass removal to deal with it once it's assembled. The best Magic 2010 is keep up with its usual strategy: remove the opponent's key pieces with discard and removal, and close the game with an early Nightmare. Will it work this time, though?
Game One
Magic 2010 wins the roll to start and begins its game with a turn two Black Knight. Nothing on the other side yet, so Magic 2010 can attack for two and play a Sign in Blood. On turn three, Magic Origins finally gets its engine going with a Thopter Engineer, immediately turning the newly-created token to attack. Then Magic Origins passes. At this point, the Black Knight could easily be blocked by the Engineer, but Magic 2010 has other plans. M10 plays a Gorgon Flail and equips it to the knight, attacking for three damage – Magic Origins decides to take the damage.
On the other side, Magic Origins is about to get serious, playing a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. The thoper army increases in numbers, and in the coming combat phase Magic 2010 is forced to take 4 damage and fall down to 13. On its following turn, the Monoblack deck that immeditaly throws a Doom Blade at the dangerous legendary creature, before playing a Mind Rot (Magic Origins discards a Clash of Wills and a Turn to Frog) and passing.
On its turn, Magic Origins plays a Chief of the Foundry and again turns its Thopters to attack for six damage! Magic 2010 falls down to 7 and feels the game slipping through its fingers. Only two cards in M10's hand: a Liliana Vess and a Sign in Blood. As things stand now, M10 is dead on the following turn. Nothing the Planeswalker can do to help, then. The only hope is playing Sign in Blood and hoping to draw something to remove the Chief, possibily a Tendrils of Corruption. No other choice. M10 taps two and draws two... a Mind Rot... and a Doom Blade! Better than nothing. The spell flies towards the Chief and kills it, then M10 also plays the Mind Rot (one more Turn to Frog and a Thopter Engineer discarded) and passes.
And then Magic Origins simply plays another Chief of the Foundry! Game over for Magic 2010! Magic Origins wins game one.
Game Two
Magic 2010 starts with a turn one Duress, revealing a hand of a Thopter Engineer, a Shivan Reef, an Island, a Clash of Wills, a Foundry of the Consuls, a Hangarback Walker and a Chief of the Foundry. The choice is forced – the Clash of Wills – but M10 is not happy about what it saw on the opponent's hand. On its turn, Magic Origins plays a land and passes. M10 plays a Gorgon Flail and passes. Magic Origins plays another land and then the Hangarback Walker with one counter on it. M10 would like to get rid of it as quickly as possible, but the moment it just can't, and is forced to pass. Magic Origins draws and passes.
M10 reaches the four lands mark and can now cast a Tendrils of Corruption on the Walker. Magic Origins is quick to tap the creature to get one more counter on it, and gets at least two Thopter tokens out of the dead creature. M10 is then forced to pass.
On its turn, Magic Origins plays a Thopter Spy Network and attacks with its two tokens, drawing one. M10 is horrified at the card advantage its opponent is about to get, but can't unfortunately do much about it. On its turn, the monoblack deck is forced to just play a land and pass again. Magic Origins gets another Thopter token for free, then plays a Chief of the Foundry and attacks with two Thopters. The Chief is immediately removed by a Tendrils of Corruption, but Magic Origins gets to draw one more card, and things get more and more complicated for M10.
M10 gets a Nightmare into play, but as the swarming army of Thopters fly over the poor monoblack deck, and a Turn to Frog is ready to dispatch the Nightmare, it's clear to everyone that game two is over, and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Nothing happens on turn one, while on turn two M10 draws and plays a Duress, revealing a hand of Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Clash of Wills, 2 Turn to Frog, Shivan Reef, Foundry of the Consuls and Thopter Spy Network. Without thinking twice, M10 decides to remove the dangerous enchantment. Magic Origins draws and passes. M10, too, draws and passes. Magic Origins draws and plays a Chief of the Foundry. On its following turn, M10 plays a Mind Rot, and Magic Origins discards two Turn to Frog.
Magic Origins is stuck at three lands, and taps two foe a Hangarback Walker, then attacks for two with the Chief and passes. M10 plays a Black Knight and a Duress, revealing another Turn to Frog, a Clash of Wills and a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. M10 thinks for a few seconds, then decides to remove the counterspell. Magic Origins draws and plays a Thopter Engineer, then turns the Thopter token to attack along with the Chief of the Foundry – M10 doesn't have much choice and takes the damage, falling down to 14.
M10 draws, thinks for a few seconds, then plays a Liliana Vess and activates its +1 ability, forcing Magic Origins to discard the last Turn to Frog. Then M10 passes, and Magic Origins again attacks with the Chief and the Thopter token, this time aiming at the opponent's planeswalker, that falls down to 2 loyalty counters. Magic Origins is still stuck with three lands, and decides to pass.
M10 activates again the +1 ability from Liliana, forcing Magic Origins to discard the fourth (!) Turn to Frog, then plays a second Black Knight and decides to pass. End of turn, Magic Origins adds a second counter on top of the Walker, and M10 answers by playing a Doom Blade on the artifact creature. Still no lands for Magic Origins, but this turn it can kill Liliana with its Thopter tokens, before passing.
And finally the game seems to turn on M10's favor, as it draws and plays a Nightmare. Now M10 has superiority on sky and ground, and its opponent is still stuck with three lands. Can Magic Origins make a comeback? Maybe it can, as finally draws its fourth land and it's finally able to play the Pia and Kiran Nalaar it kept in hand since turn one! Magic Origins now passes, and M10 hopes to draw a removal to take care of the dangerous creature – but it's just another Swamp. M10 thinks for a few seconds, then decides to pass.
Magic Origins draws and plays another Thopter Engineer and turns its army of tokens to attack – one is killed by the Nightmare, but the others hit home and M10 falls down to 6 life points. At this point, M10 would need a Tendrils of Corruption to survive, and it draws... a Gorgon Flail! And that's it. Magic Origins annihilates its opponent and advances to the Group's semifinals!
Magic 2010 0 - Magic Origins 3
Conflux vs Return to Ravnica
An interesting matchup that sees one of the few pure control deck in BOTS (no locks, no combos, just simple creature removal, draw and counterspells) face one of the strangest decks around, the five-colour hybrid midrange-control that is Conflux. It's hard to see who could get the edge this time, but Return to Ravnica should be more easily able to gain card advantage, and if it can keep its opponent from resolving a Conflux, it should definitely be able to win this matchup. Let's see how things turned out.
Game One
Conflux wins the roll to start, but it's Return to Ravnica to make the first move, with a Frostburn Weird. On the other side, Conflux draws and plays a Cylian Sunsinger, then passes. Return to Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then throws an Izzet Charm at the Sunsinger, opening the way to the Weird to attack for two. Conflux shrugs as it plays a Wall of Reverence, and the ball goes back to Return to Ravnica.
Return to Ravnica, for the moment, plays a Chromatic Lantern and passes. Conflux adds another Sunsinger to the board and passes as well (having regained all the lost life points in the meanwhile). Return to Ravnica plays a Sphinx's Revelation for three cards and three life points, then passes as well. The two decks are studying each other, waiting for the first one to make a big move. Conflux, unfortunately, is stuck at 4 mana, so for now it can at best attack with the Sunsinger, keeping the mana open to boost it. Return to Ravnica doesn't want to lose the Weird yet, and decides to take the damage. Conflux then passes, its life points increasing steadily.
Return to Ravnica considers the situation, then feels ready to break the balance: a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius makes its entrance on the battlefield! Does Conflux have an answer? Apparently not, as it just attacks with the Cylian Sunsinger, this time meeting the opposition of the Frostburn Weird. The Sunsinger gets boosted up to 5/5, killing the Weird and surviving the encounter, but then Conflux passes without addressing the Niv-Mizzet problem on the other side of the board – and being still stuck at four lands.
Return to Ravnica throws two damage to the Sunsinger to kill it, then plays a tapped Steam Vents, and passes. Conflux draws... a Path to Exile! Finally. The problem is that Return to Ravnica kept exactly three mana open, and that might mean a Counterflux. Now, it might be a bluff, but Return to Ravnica could have attacked with the Niv-Mizzet to force a block from the Wall, and then kill it with one additional damage. It's hard to believe Return to Ravnica would let that chance slip just to bluff a Counterflux. So, Conflux decides to pass – it absolutely can't risk to lose the Path to Exile, and it's faithful an opening will come.
Return to Ravnica draws, then attacks with the Niv-Mizzet, and Conflux decides to take the damage. Return to Ravnica then passes. End of turn, Conflux throws a Filigree Fracture at the Chromatic Lantern, trying to force a counter out of its opponent, but Return to Ravnica just puts the artifact into the graveyard. Conflux finally draws its fifth land, and plays a Thornling. Return to Ravnica lets it resolve, then end of turn pings Conflux for two damage, drawing two cards. On its turn, the control deck plays a Detention Sphere to remove the Thornling, then attacks for five with Niv-Mizzet (Conflux again takes the damage), and passes.
Conflux plays another Thornling and passes. Thanks to the Wall of Reverence, Conflux so far has managed to keep its life points above twenty, so it can still hope to drag the game long enough to make a comeback. End of turn, Return to Ravnica pings for one with Niv-Mizzet, then decides that it's had enough. After playing an untapped Steam Vents as its tenth land, it taps seven mana to play an Angel of Serenity and clear Conflux's side of the board! Then, it attacks for five damage with the Niv-Mizzet and passes. Conflux feels that it's losing the game, and decides for a desperate move. The Path to Exile is played, targeted at the Angel... and it's met with a Counterflux!
And then, ironically, Conflux draws a Martial Coup... with only six lands in play! Lady Luck is surely smiling on Return to Ravnica this game, but Conflux doesn't want to give up yet, so it plays yet another Thornling and passes. Return to Ravnic attacks for 10 damage, then plays a Sphinx's Revelation for four, and passes. Conflux draws... an Inkwell Leviathan! The game is set, then. On the coming turn, Return to Ravnica will attack for ten more, and ping with Niv-Mizzet for the rest (Conflux is sitting at 16 right now). Conflux could have made it with some more luck, but game one goes to Return to Ravnica.
Game Two
Luck is still not shining on Conflux, as it has to mulligan twice, while on the other side Return to Ravnica is perfectly happy with its hand and starts with a turn two Frostburn Weird. Still nothing to do for Conflux, and Return to Ravnica takes the chance to attack for three damage with the Weird. Finally, on the following tun, Conflux enters the game with a Wall of Reverence. At least, this should keep Return to Ravnica at bay for now. Return to Ravnica is confident it can control the game in the long run, though, and doesn't look particularly worried as it draws and passes.
Conflux gets its fifth land in play and casts a Thornling, but Return to Ravnica is ready to neutralize it with a Syncopate. On its turn, Return to Ravnica again draws and passes. Same goes for Conflux, and end of turn Return to Ravnica plays an Izzet Charm to draw two (and discard two). It's just two lands though, but at least the control deck is happy to remove two dead draws. Still, nothing to do for Return to Ravnica, that again draws and passes. Definitely a slow game this time around.
Conflux draws and plays a second Thornling, with no counterspell from Return to Ravnica this time. Still, Return to Ravnica already has a countermeasure ready: an Angel of Serenity. After wiping the board clean, Return to Ravnica attacks for one damage with the Weird, then passes.
Now, this is the decisive moment of the game. Conflux has seven lands in play and a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in hand. It needs to draw a land, and more precisely, a Swamp, as it lacks the double black mana. Since Return to Ravnica is all tapped out, resolving the planeswalker would lead to Conflux snatching the angel away from its opponent, and possibly gaining a game-winning advantage. So Conflux draws... a Forest! Not good enough, unfortunately. Yet again, Conflux gets very close, so very close, but can't make that last step. Return to Ravnica wins game two!
Game Three
Things seem to start better for Conflux this time around, with a turn one Noble Hierarch followed by a turn two Knight of the Reliquiary. Fingers crossed for Conflux, but Return to Ravnica doesn't seem to have an answer, at least for now, and just plays a tapped Izzet Guildgate before passing. Conflux plays a Rupture Spire, tapping the Forest, then sacrifices said forest with the Knight, then plays a Kaleidostone and attacks for one with the Hierarch, before finally passing. Return to Ravnica again draws and passes.
Conflux taps for five mana and plays a Thornling, but this time Return to Ravnica is ready to answer with a Syncopate. Conflux thinks for a few seconda, then decides to dish in as much damage as possible now that its opponent is open, and attacks for 4 with the Knight, before passing. Return to Ravnica again draws and passes. Conflux draws a Conflux, and ntoices it's only one mana away from casting it (consdiering also the Knight's ability). Apart from that, it holds a Wall of Reverence and a Path to Exile in hand. None of them are useful right now, so Conflux decides to attack for four more and pass. End of turn, Return to Ravica throws a Cyclonic Rift at the Knight, clearing the board of the enemy's worst threat – at least for now. The control deck is at 11 life points now, and knows it must be careful. Still, for now, it just draws and passes.
Conflux considers the situation and, after having attacked with the Hierarch, plays again the Knight of Reliquiary, but Return to Ravnica is ready to meet him with a Counterflux. Conflux then taps two more and plays a Cylian Sunsinger. Just two turns of attack it's what Conflux needs right now. But Return to Ravnica has other plans, and while its opponent is all tapped out, throws an Izzet Charm at the Sunsinger, removing her right away.
Not much to do for Conflux, as it draws a Filigree Fracture, so it just attacks for one more damage and passes. Return to Ravnica, too, draws and passes. The two decks are now studying each other, but it's Return to Ravnica that must act now, as the Hierarch is slowly but surely chipping away its life points. Luckily for the control deck, a Sphinx's Revelation comes to the rescue, not only with five precious life points, but also with five cards drawn!
Conflux is getting quite angry right now, as it's still stuck at five mana, and not drawing anything useful. A second Hierarch is drawn and played, allowing Conflux to attack for two, but that's not going to be enough. On the other side, in fact, Return to Ravnica plays a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius, and passes. For now, Conflux can remove it with an end-of-turn Path to Exile, but how long will Conflux's defenses last?
As it finally has seven mana available (five lands plus two Hierarchs), Conflux decides to try moving on the offensive, playing a Magister Sphinx. Return to Ravnica allows it to resolve... no counterspell, maybe? Or more simply, as it becomes clear on the following turn, has an Angel of Serenity read to clear Conflux's board! Again, Return to Ravnica shows to be always one step ahead of its opponent. On its turn, Conflux can only answer by playing a Wall of Reverence and passing, as the game once again slips through its fingers.
Return to Ravnica attacks with the Angel, then after the Wall is declared as blocker, casts an Izzet Charm for two damage to remove it. Now, nothing stands on Return to Ravnica's way. Return to Ravnica keeps attacking with the Angel, and a few turns later, when Conflux gathers up the mana to cast a Conflux, is ready to counter it with a Syncopate. And when on the following turn a second Conflux is again met with a Syncopate, Conflux's remaining hopes are crushed. Time has run out, and Return to Ravnica wins, advancing to the group finals!
The updated situation as we move into the group semifinals. Will start posting some results by tomorrow or the day after.
Those of you that are following and sometimes posting... who do you think will win each group? Who do you think is favorite for final victory? Who might be the dark horse?
I'm excited to see results for group A. Zendikar is probably the best aggro deck, facing Invasion with very strong anti-aggro control tools. Time Spiral is quite strong too, and it's fun to watch Urza's Saga go off. If Zendikar can win against Invasion then it should win group A.
Group B had a lot of bad decks so far. The winners succeeded against weak competition. No predictions yet.
In group C, I think M13 is too slow and durdly to stop the powerhouse of Antiquities if it gets a fast opener. M13 has very very few answers to Rocket Launcher + mana. I think M11 would be favored against Theros if it gets Destructive Force early. Force kills all the midrange creatures before they get monstrous and denies mana to activate monstrosity or rebuild a board presence. Both Titans answer planeswalkers well (Trample and burn). But if Theros can establish a big board presence before M11 gets Destructive Force, then the planeswalkers should make it too hard for M11 to recover. I think Antiquities could win all of group C because the remaining decks are all slow.
Important for the matchup: Remind your players that Monstrosity is TWO separate abilities: an activated ability that adds +1/+1 counters and makes it "monstrous", then a triggered ability that triggers only once it becomes monstrous. You can "counter" the damage from Polukranos or Stormbreath by using instant speed removal on the creature in response to the activated ability. Then it will never "become monstrous" and the triggered ability will never go on the stack. I noticed your Exodus player didn't know this and took unnecessary grief from Polukranos and Stormbreath. It makes a huge difference in the match. If any future opponents of Theros have instant speed removal, that's the best way to keep monstrosity in check.
In group D, I think Mirrodin is the best deck in a vaccuum but it has a terrible matchup coming up aganst M12. Dedicated control should stop Affinity unless enough Disciple tricks can seal the deal. R2R control also poses a serious challenge. I'm picking R2R to win, since its counterspells and card draw give it a better anti-control matchup (favored to win over M12) while M12's tool are more limited to beating aggro.
I'm excited to see results for group A. Zendikar is probably the best aggro deck, facing Invasion with very strong anti-aggro control tools. Time Spiral is quite strong too, and it's fun to watch Urza's Saga go off. If Zendikar can win against Invasion then it should win group A.
Group B had a lot of bad decks so far. The winners succeeded against weak competition. No predictions yet.
In group C, I think M13 is too slow and durdly to stop the powerhouse of Antiquities if it gets a fast opener. M13 has very very few answers to Rocket Launcher + mana. I think M11 would be favored against Theros if it gets Destructive Force early. Force kills all the midrange creatures before they get monstrous and denies mana to activate monstrosity or rebuild a board presence. Both Titans answer planeswalkers well (Trample and burn). But if Theros can establish a big board presence before M11 gets Destructive Force, then the planeswalkers should make it too hard for M11 to recover. I think Antiquities could win all of group C because the remaining decks are all slow.
Important for the matchup: Remind your players that Monstrosity is TWO separate abilities: an activated ability that adds +1/+1 counters and makes it "monstrous", then a triggered ability that triggers only once it becomes monstrous. You can "counter" the damage from Polukranos or Stormbreath by using instant speed removal on the creature in response to the activated ability. Then it will never "become monstrous" and the triggered ability will never go on the stack. I noticed your Exodus player didn't know this and took unnecessary grief from Polukranos and Stormbreath. It makes a huge difference in the match. If any future opponents of Theros have instant speed removal, that's the best way to keep monstrosity in check.
In group D, I think Mirrodin is the best deck in a vaccuum but it has a terrible matchup coming up aganst M12. Dedicated control should stop Affinity unless enough Disciple tricks can seal the deal. R2R control also poses a serious challenge. I'm picking R2R to win, since its counterspells and card draw give it a better anti-control matchup (favored to win over M12) while M12's tool are more limited to beating aggro.
Great analysis! I think the winner of Group B will come out of the Apocalypse/Darksteel matchup, as both decks are, if not tier 1, at least tier 1.5 in BOTS. Oath and Dark Ascension, while good decks (they made group semifinals after all), are probably one step behind.
I wouldn't be so sure about Antiquities and M13. It's true that Antiquities can close the game with Rocket Launcher even while being soft-locked, it needs to gather up the Tron to generate that amount of mana, and with no card draw and no possibility to fetch into the deck, it's not exactly something that happens every game. Plus, M13 can close the game quickly once Jace is played. I'd say 60% Antiquities, 40% M13.
One of the most awaited matchups of the semifinals, pitching one against the other one of the best aggro in the tournament (if not the best) and one of the surprises of this edition. For Zendikar, this is probably the last challenge to group victory, while for Invasion is a sort of final exam: if you beat Zendikar, you're not the underdog anymore. Let's get it started!
Game One
Invasion wins the roll to start, but as could be easily predicted, the first move is from Zendikar: a turn one Steppe Lynx. Invasion plays a second land and an Elfhame Sanctuary, then passes. Zendikar plays a basic land instead of a fetch, attacks for two with the Lynx, then adds a Plated Geopede to the board. Invasion fetches a Mountain with the Elfhame Sanctuary, then plays it to cast a Tribal Flames targeted at the Geopede. Then, it passes. Zendikar plays an Adventuring Gear and equips it on the Lynx. Invasion prepares for the worst, but again Zendikar seems to have no fetchlands avilable, and only plays a basic land to attack for four, before passing. On its side, Invasion is unfortunately facing mana flood issues, and it can only play a land followed by an Harrow. The domain is now complete... but Invasion has nothing to do with it!
Zendikar plays another land, then a Goblin Guide and attacks for six damage. Invasion falls down to 8 and reveals a Forest from the top of its deck. Another land draw would have been deadly for Invasion, but as it draws another Elfhame Sanctuary on the following turn, Invasion realizes luck wasn't really on its side this time. On the following turn, an all-out attack by Zendikar followed by a Burst Lightning is enough to close the first game.
Game Two
This time around, Lady Luck seems to be smiling on Invasion, as Zendikar is forced to take a mulligan, and its start is definitely not one of the best, with a turn two Kor Skyfisher to bounce back one of its own lands. Even worse, Invasion gets its third land in play and casts a Tribal Flames to remove the Skyfisher, leaving Zendikar with only one land on the board. Not an unforgettable game for Zendikar, that has nothing better to do than cast a second Kor Skyfisher, again bouncing back a land. And then, it's hard for Invasion not to smile as it plays its fourth land and then a Collective Restraint. Now, Zendikar is in deep, deep trouble.
Still, Zendikar has the pride of the champion, and won't just give up. On its turn, it casts two Adventuring Gear and passes. It may take some time before it can strike a blow, but when it does, it will be a strong one. Invasion, for the moment, just draws and passes. One more land from Zendikar, that equips the Adventuring Gear and passes. Again, Invasion draws and passes. Again, one land drop from Zendikar, that it's now at four, and needs only one to start attacking with the Skyfisher.
And then Invasion strikes again, casting a Global Ruin! Zendikar is now back at two lands, and need to climb its way back up again! One more land for Zendikar, and a Steppe Lynx, before passing. Invasion plays a kicked Probe, forcing its opponent to discard two cards (a land and a Burst Lightning) and remain with only a single one in hand. Zendikar draws a Kor Hookmaster, then plays its last remaining land and passes.
And again, a Global Ruin from Zendikar! Invasion has kicked its opponent down again and again, and it's clearly enjoying it. Zendikar is now utterly powerless, and has no more lands to play. As Invasion casts an Ordered Migration, and then a second one on the following turn, the game quickly reaches a conclusion, and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
The game starts off better for Zendikar this time, as it gets a turn one Steppe Lynx in play, followed by a turn two Goblin Guide to attack for six damage (the Goblin Guide reveals a Global Ruin on top of Invasion's deck). Zendikar then plays an Adventuring Gear and passes. Invasion plays an Elfhame Sanctuary and passes, getting ready for the upcoming slaughter. Luckily for Invasion, Zendikar has no fetchland to play, and after having equipped the Adventuring Gear to the Goblin Guide, attacks for six damage to bring its opponent down to eight (and revealing a second Elfhame Sanctuary on top of Invasion's deck). Instead of drawing, Invasion fetches a Mountain with the Palace in play, then casts a Tribal Flames to remove the Lynx, and passes.
Zendikar plays a Plains and attacks for four damage (this time Invasion gets to draw a Forest for the Guide), then adds a Kor Hookmaster to the board and passes. Invasion fetches an Island, then plays a Collective Restraint, and crosses its fingers. Zendikar has no lands to play, in fact, but it shows a Punishing Fire and a Burst Lightning, and that's game over for Invasion! An incredibly ruthless performance from Zendikar to secure game three, and only one more game to win for the aggro deck to secure the group finals. Can Invasion make a comeback?
Game Four
Invasion starts, but Zendikar immediatly puts its opponent under pressure with a turn one Goblin Guide, attacking for two (but allowing its opponent to draw a Forest). Invasion just plays another land and passes. Zendikar's start turns out to be somewhat less good than what it seemes, as in its second turn can only play a Kor Skyfisher, bouncing back one of its lands. Two more damage are dished in from the Guide, revealing an Island to draw for Invasion, that falls to 16. On its turn, Invasion plays a Probe, incredibly drawing three more lands, and discarding two. Invasion hopes that some good draws are on their way, or things will get ugly quickly.
Zendikar plays a second Skyfisher, attacking for four damage to bring its opponent to 12 (and again Invasion gets to draw a Forest on top of its deck!). Invasion finally draws an Ordered Migration, but it will have to wait one more turn. For now, it plays its fourth land and a Ghitu Fire to remove one of the Skyfisher. Zendikar hasn't much to play this time around, so it just adds a land and attacks for four more (this time the Guide reveals an Ordered Migration on top of Invasion's deck). Invasion draws, completes the Domain and plays its first Ordered Migration. Zendikar draws and plays a Punishing Fire, bringing Invasion down to 6 life points, then passes without attacking.
Invasion draws and plays a kicked Probe, forcing its opponent to discard two Kor Hookmaster, while Invasion discards a land and a Harrow. Invasion then passes, keeping the birds to block and trade with the opponent's creatures. Zendikar draws, plays one more Punishing Fire to bring its opponent down to 4, and again passes without attacking. Now, Invasion fears that its opponent plans on closing the game with a Burst Lightning – and Zendikar only needs one more land for that. The aggro deck only has two cards in hand, but Invasion doesn't have any more Probe in hand, not even a Global Ruin to remove some lands. So, it can only cross its fingers, and try to end the game as quickly as possible. For now, then, it attacks with the five Bird tokens (one is blocked by the Skyfisher, and Zendikar takes four damage), then casts another Ordered Migration to add five more tokens to the board. Finally, it passes.
Zendikar draws... a Steppe Lynx! In hand it has a Goblin Guide and a Burst Lightning, as Invasion feared, but it lacks the fifth land needed to win. Furthermore, Zendikar doesn't want to attack, as the Guide's ability could remove land draws for its opponent and maybe help Invasion draw a Probe or worse a Global Ruin (plus Invasion can chump-block as much as it wants). For now, then, Zendikar passes.
Invasion draws a Tribal Flames. After this turn's Bird onslaught, Zendikar takes 8 more damage and falls down to 6, just out of reach for the Flames. Invasion is not happy with the situation, but it plays another Ordered Migration and passes.
It's all in this draw, then. Zendikar draws... a Plated Geopede! On the following turn, the huge army of Birds falls down on Zendikar, slaughtering any opposition. Invasion wins game four, and the two decks move on to the decisive game.
Game Five
Zendikar starts, and again it's a good start, with a turn one Goblin Guide (revealing a Fact or Fiction on top of its opponent's deck). Invasion draws, plays a land and passes. Zendikar continues to do what it does best: attacking. After dealing two more damage with the Guide (this time Invasion gets a Mountain from it), the aggro deck plays a Plated Geopede and passes. Invasion draws and quickly removes the dangerous Geopede with a Tribal Flames, before passing. Zendikar attacks for two more, then skips the land drop and simply plays a second Plated Geopede before passing. Invasion draws a Plains to the Guide and falls down to 14.
Invasion draws, plays an Harrow (sacrificing a Mountain) to get another Mountain and an Island, then smiles as it casts a second Tribal Flames to remove the Geopede! This is definitely bad news for Zendikar, as Invasion seems to have the game under control, and it's still sitting in a safe position when it comes to its life points. Zendikar attacks for two more with the Guide (revealing a Ghitu Fire), then plays a Kor Hookmaster and passes.
Invasion gets its fifth land in play, unfortunately without completing its Domain as it lacks a Swamp. After thinking for a few second, weighing three cards in its mind (Collective Restraint, Ordered Migration and Fact or Fiction), decides to go first with the Collective Restraint, and then passes. Zendikar gets its fourth land in play, then turns the Hookmaster to attack for two, and passes. Invasion is now at 10 life points.
Invasion draws, then plays an Ordered Migration to create four Bird tokens, and finally passes. Zendikar draws a Journey to Nowhere, and consider its possibilities. On hand, Zendikar has two fetchlands (that will keep for fear of a Global Ruin), the Journey to Nowhere and a Burst Lightning. Zendikar knows Invasion still has a Ghitu Fire in hand, meaning that on the coming turn it will be easily able to kill one of Zendikar's creatures. Even by using the Journey to Nowhere and the Burst Lightning to remove two Bird tokens, the remaining two can still trade for one of Zendikar's creatures, and with the other one removed by the Ghitu Fire, Zendikar's offensive potential would suddenly drop to zero. Still, as Invasion will never play any creature more dangerous than a Bird token, Zendikar decides to play the Journey to Nowhere to remove one token, and passes.
Invasion draws, plays its sixth land, attacks with its three tokens (safe in knowing a Tangle sits in its hand), then passes. Zendikar draws a second Burst Lightning, then considers the situation. Invasion has no blockers available. The aggro deck is convinced that such an opening left by Invasion is clearly a trap, so instead of wasting mana on the Collective Restraint, decided to get a fifth land in play and then casts a kicked Burst Lightning for four damage. Now Invasion is at six. The second Burst Lightning would bring it down to 2... and then anything can happen. Zendikar passes, and Invasion casts an end-of-turn Fact or Fiction.
And all Zendikar's worst fear become true: among the five cards, a Global Ruin! Zendikar puts it on a pile alone, while the other pile consists of an Elfhame Sanctuary, another Fact or Fiction, a Plains and a Probe. Without thinking twice, Invasion picks up the Global Ruin. The powerful sorcery is immediately played on the following turn, and Invasion's dreadful domain lock is in place. Things, now, look really bad for Invasion. After having attacked with its three Bird tokens, Invasion passes.
Zendikar now would need some incredible good luck to grasp victory, and considering the Ghitu Fire on its opponent's hand, and the Bird tokens in play, it's also on a clock. After drawing a Kor Skyfisher, it decides to play it to at least have a blocker for the tokens, bouncing back the Journey to Nowhere. Invasion draws, then considers the situation. With its opponent sitting at 11 life points, and the three Ghitu Fire on Invasion's hand, the road to victory seems clear. Invasion plays a Ghitu Fire four four damage and passes.
Zendikar has only a Teetering Peaks to play as land, then it casts again the Journey to Nowhere to remove another Bird token, and passes. Invasion draws, plays another Ghitu Fire for four damage, and passes. Zendikar is now at three.
Zendikar draws and plays a Plains, and can now cast the Burst Lightning for four damage, and bring Invasion to two. But that's it. No more lands open for Zendikar to attack, and on the following turn, Invasion's third Ghitu Fire is ready to kill Zendikar! At the end of an incredibly close match, Zendikar must accept its defeat, and BOTS salutes another contender to final victory. All the glory is for Invasion, that advances to the group's finals!
Great match between Invasion and Zendikar! Very close.
I wonder if this set of plays in game 4 determined the match
Invasion draws, completes the Domain and plays its first Ordered Migration. Zendikar draws and plays a Punishing Fire, bringing Invasion down to 6 life points, then passes without attacking.
Invasion draws and plays a kicked Probe, forcing its opponent to discard two Kor Hookmaster, while Invasion discards a land and a Harrow. Invasion then passes, keeping the birds to block and trade with the opponent's creatures.
I think doing nothing and hoping to burn the opponent out is a losing strategy. Every Lava Spike does nothing until the last one brings him to 0. If you don't know for sure that you have enough damage to end the game, spending mana and cards to burn the face might accomplish nothing. Just waiting for more burn or lands doesn't work either. The longer you stall, the more likely Invasion is to draw into Collective Restraint (to negate creatures) or Global Ruin (stopping Burst Lightning mana) or another Ordered Migration, sealing the game. Invasion will draw its cards before Zendikar can draw its needed cards, since Invasion has powerful draw spells to dig.
Aggro needs to apply pressure. Casting Kor Hookmaster instead adds a 2/2 body to the board and taps out a bird. The remaining four bird tokens cannot kill both Goblin Guide and Kor Skyfisher, only one of them! So Zendikar can attack. Invasion will probably use 3 birds to kill the Skyfisher. Then he can either chump Guide with the other bird (losing a bird for nothing) or take 2 damage from Guide. If he takes 2 damage from Guide, he drops to 6 and it'll be easier to burn him out with your spells (instead of from 8). If not, he has even fewer birds left. In the end, he'll only have 1-2 untapped birds left to block your next attack, so his birds cannot handle both your remaining 2/2s (or the 2nd Hookmaster in hand).
I think that play sets Zendikar up in a better position to win either with creatures or with burn. Invasion won't be able to spend a turn durdling with game-advancing stuff like kicked Probe or Fact or Fiction or even Global Ruin. He'd have to play something defensive that deals with the imminent threat of creatures. Then Zendikar would have more time to win with burn, because Invasion will be slowed down in its own plan. Applying pressure make it harder for the control deck to stabilize, constrains their resources so they can't both defend against you and advance their own gameplan.
It's possible Invasion still would have won, but I felt like Zendikar just layed down and gave up the turn it stopped attacking and starting playing burn at the face at sorcery speed.
Great analysis! I think the winner of Group B will come out of the Apocalypse/Darksteel matchup, as both decks are, if not tier 1, at least tier 1.5 in BOTS. Oath and Dark Ascension, while good decks (they made group semifinals after all), are probably one step behind.
I hadn't looked at the group B decklists that carefully since the group B matches so far have had many weaker decks (now eliminated). Now looking at the lists, I pick Apocalypse to win against Darksteel and to win group B overall. Darksteel is powerful but is slow enough that I think it won't be able to apply enough pressure before The Rock takes over. Pernicious Deed, if drawn, shuts down the deck's usual resiliency to removal (modular). Vindicate and Gerrard's Verdict do a lot of work early. However, the deck does have a lot of high cost cards. The player will have to mulligan appropriately so the opener isn't too top-heavy and has removal. Also, mana screw is a real concern with so many basics.
Zendikar was sure he could kill its opponent with burn, as Invasion was at 8 and Zendikar had two Punishing Fire and a Burst Lightning. Attacking with the Guide could have removed land draws to Invasion, helping it draw something dangerous. Zendikar's pilot made a choice and in the end it didn't pay off because he couldn't draw the fifth land, but I think it was a fair choice on his side
Zendikar was sure he could kill its opponent with burn.... he couldn't draw the fifth land
So no, he was not sure. He only hoped. There's a difference. At the time the burn in his hand only represented 6 damage. He needed to draw a 5th land or another Burst Lightning / Punishing Fire to add up to 8 damage. He had to hope on future draws.
That's the kind of situation I was talking about. When you don't have the resources in hand to burn for lethal, you shouldn't just give up on creatures and fling burn at the face at sorcery speed. He still had 2 bodies in play and 2 bodies in hand that could deal damage or kill many birds! All he needs is one of those 2/Xs to hit for 2 more damage to make the burn in his hand guaranteed to be lethal.
Remember that he only had 3 lands in play that turn (otherwise he would have cast both Punishing Fires). Even if the 4th land was in hand, we're talking about "burning him out" over at least 3 turns, probably longer if he doesn't draw the 5th land immediately. That's a lot of turns to not be attacking and let Invasion do whatever he wants.
If Zendikar has the burn kill eventually, why is waiting a few turns bad? Because he's giving Invasion a free Time Walk + Time Stretch to get back in the game with card draw, disruption, or his own clock. The longer Zendikar waits, the more likely it is Invasion casts kicked Probes to knock the burn out of his hand, or that Invasion casts Global Ruin to deny him 5 mana. Opponents interact. They're not goldfish. Meanwhile Invasion is already sitting at 5 power in flying on the board... If he just waits, Invasion can eventually outrace him with birds. And that's exactly what happened!
Invasion was only able to do things like cast kicked Probe (strong value) and amass a larger bird army to attack because Zendikar stopped interacting with him and gave him free turns. If Zendikar was attacking, Invasion would have been forced on the defensive. He could not tap out to cast draw spells like Probe or Fact or Fiction. He would be forced to play another Ordered Migration to have more birds to block with (or play removal or Tangle or something) and then lose those birds to blocking. In the end, even if Zendikar did not get any damage through with his creatures, he would have killed a bunch of birds and forced Invasion to make different plays. That would have slowed down Invasion's clock a lot, buying Zendikar more time to draw creatures or burn or the 5th land to burn him out. It's possible Invasion still would have won, but by using his creatures Zendikar would increase his odds and buy himself more time until he is sure he can burn for lethal. Unless there is lethal burn in hand, when opponent is that low in life aggro decks should keep attacking even if it's just killing tokens.
Attacking with the Guide could have removed land draws to Invasion, helping it draw something dangerous.
By this logic, why ever attack with Guide?
It's only a problem when the top two cards are land-nonland. But the probability is much higher that they are nonland-nonland or nonland-land. On the other hand, by doing nothing and giving opponent free turns, he can tap out for Probe or Fact or Fiction... which are actually going to draw him into dangerous cards. That's how control decks get ahead, and that's why aggro decks can't afford to give them too much time.
Zendikar was sure he could kill its opponent with burn.... he couldn't draw the fifth land
So no, he was not sure. He only hoped. There's a difference. At the time the burn in his hand only represented 6 damage. He needed to draw a 5th land or another Burst Lightning / Punishing Fire to add up to 8 damage. He had to hope on future draws.
That's the kind of situation I was talking about. When you don't have the resources in hand to burn for lethal, you shouldn't just give up on creatures and fling burn at the face at sorcery speed. He still had 2 bodies in play and 2 bodies in hand that could deal damage or kill many birds! All he needs is one of those 2/Xs to hit for 2 more damage to make the burn in his hand guaranteed to be lethal.
Remember that he only had 3 lands in play that turn (otherwise he would have cast both Punishing Fires). Even if the 4th land was in hand, we're talking about "burning him out" over at least 3 turns, probably longer if he doesn't draw the 5th land immediately. That's a lot of turns to not be attacking and let Invasion do whatever he wants.
If Zendikar has the burn kill eventually, why is waiting a few turns bad? Because he's giving Invasion a free Time Walk + Time Stretch to get back in the game with card draw, disruption, or his own clock. The longer Zendikar waits, the more likely it is Invasion casts kicked Probes to knock the burn out of his hand, or that Invasion casts Global Ruin to deny him 5 mana. Opponents interact. They're not goldfish. Meanwhile Invasion is already sitting at 5 power in flying on the board... If he just waits, Invasion can eventually outrace him with birds. And that's exactly what happened!
Invasion was only able to do things like cast kicked Probe (strong value) and amass a larger bird army to attack because Zendikar stopped interacting with him and gave him free turns. If Zendikar was attacking, Invasion would have been forced on the defensive. He could not tap out to cast draw spells like Probe or Fact or Fiction. He would be forced to play another Ordered Migration to have more birds to block with (or play removal or Tangle or something) and then lose those birds to blocking. In the end, even if Zendikar did not get any damage through with his creatures, he would have killed a bunch of birds and forced Invasion to make different plays. That would have slowed down Invasion's clock a lot, buying Zendikar more time to draw creatures or burn or the 5th land to burn him out. It's possible Invasion still would have won, but by using his creatures Zendikar would increase his odds and buy himself more time until he is sure he can burn for lethal. Unless there is lethal burn in hand, when opponent is that low in life aggro decks should keep attacking even if it's just killing tokens.
Attacking with the Guide could have removed land draws to Invasion, helping it draw something dangerous.
By this logic, why ever attack with Guide?
It's only a problem when the top two cards are land-nonland. But the probability is much higher that they are nonland-nonland or nonland-land. On the other hand, by doing nothing and giving opponent free turns, he can tap out for Probe or Fact or Fiction... which are actually going to draw him into dangerous cards. That's how control decks get ahead, and that's why aggro decks can't afford to give them too much time.
I think he had the fourth land to play, and two or three turns to draw a fifth. Or he could have drawn another Burst Lightning or Punishing Fire. Those are decent odds I think.
That said, I understand your reasoning, and I'm not saying it's wrong, but it probably wouldn't have made much difference.
If Zendikar hadn't played the Punishing Fire, but rather a Hookmaster, he would have had to discard a burn spell to the kicked Probe, and that would have pushed him further away from winning.
Now, he didn't know that he was going to discard two, of course, he only chose a gambling strategy (win with burn) rather than a strategy requiring to apply constant pressure but deal no damage. In fact, playing the Hookmaster would have resulted most likely in a dead Skyfisher and a chump-blocked Guide. With the possibility of helping Zendikar removing a land draw. And he wouldn't have had a chance to play a burn spell along with the Hookmaster that turn.
Again, I think it would have made no difference in this specific case (as Invasion had two more Ordered Migration and a Tribal Fires coming) but from a theoretical point of view, I don't think that was a wrong choice - personal opinion, obviously.
Been very busy these past couple of weeks, so things are progressing slowly, but I have one more game to close up group semifinals. Enjoy
Urza's Saga vs Timespiral
After Invasion's surprising victory in the first Group A semifinals, can Timespiral also snatch a victory against the crazy-clunky combo deck of Urza's Saga? Let's find out!
Game One
Timespiral wins the roll to start, but the first play of the game is from Urza's Saga with a turn one Thran Turbine + Claws of Gix. On the following turn, Timespiral suspends a Riftwing Cloudskate and passes. Timespiral might not even have three turns, in fact, as Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy followed by a Worn Powerstone. It might not be the fastest start ever for the combo deck, but it seems to be setting up its combo just fine.
On the other side, Timespiral gets a third land into play, then two Prismatic Lens, and passes. Urza's Saga is stuck at two lands, although that's arguably not a huge trouble when one of those lands it's a Tolarian Academy. This turn, the combo deck adds two Fluctuators to the board, and passes. Timespiral plays a Gemstone Mine followed by a Riftwing Cloudskate to bounce the Worn Powerstone. Timespiral's attrition game has begun. Will it be effective?
Surely it's annoying, but Urza's Saga plan proceeds: it taps the Academy for four mana, then the Island for five, a Turnabout to untap all the lands, and then tap them again to reach six mana and play a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga plays a second Island, then a Temporal Aperture, and taps the Academy for five more mana to play a Turnabout. Tapping again all lands, Urza's Saga reaches eight mana available and plays a Windfall. After the spell resolves, Urza's Saga casts a Worn Powerstone, a Voltaic Key, a Thran Turbine and a Claws of Gix. Things are shaping up well, and Urza's Saga passes.
Timespiral is ready to do its best this turn: the suspended Riftwing Cloudskate enters the battlefield to bounce the Worn Powerstone, while an Avalanche Riders destroys the Tolarian Academy, then all its creatures turn to attack for six damage. Timespiral now passes, hoping that its oponent won't be able to recover.
But Urza's Saga has a second (and, in fact, also a third) Tolarian Academy in hand, and it's ready to get its engine going again. Lands are tapped for 11 mana to fuel the Worn Powerstone and a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga draws seven and isn't exactly satisfied by what it sees, but there are three lands that can be cycled, allowing the combo deck to look at a hand composed of a Tolarian Academy, one Island, two Temporal Aperture, one Worn Powerstone, one Voltaic Key and, more importantly, a Windfall. First of all, Urza's Saga use the two remaining mana in its mana pool to play one Temporal Aperture. Then, its lands are tapped again to generate 12 mana, and play a Voltaic Key, then the second Temporal Aperture, and finally a Windfall (keeping six mana in Urza's Saga mana pool).
At this point, though, Timespiral smiles and raises its hand to block the opponent: tapping two mana, a Momentary Blink is played on the Avalanche Riders! There's nothing Urza's Saga can do at the moment, and as the spell resolves and the Riders come back into play, the Academy is destroyed! Now, Urza's Saga surely won't be able to combo this turn... and the combo deck feels a shiver of fear down its back. What if the surprising Timespiral deck... will be able to pull out another surprise win? The combo deck shakes its head to clear it of bad omens, and focus on the game at hand.
Urza's Saga plays a Thran Turbine and another Voltaic Key, then a second Windfall, finally another Thran Turbine and passes. Timespiral doesn't pay the Echo for the Riders, but rather casts another one from its hand, destroying one Island, then attacks again for six damage and passes (Urza's Saga is now at 8). Now, Urza's Saga hasn't drawn any Tolarian Academy, and that's a problem. Furthermore, it has no Windfall, or Turnabout, or Time Spiral in hand, and can at most produce 6 mana with the single Island in play plus the Worn Powerstone and the Voltaic Keys. So, it's gonna gambe it all on a Stroke of Genius to draw three cards. Urza's Saga draws... a Turnabout, a Claws of Gix... and a Time Spiral. Come next turn, Urza's Saga will be able to get its engine going again, but not now. For now, it can only play an Island, then a Claws of Gix, and pass.
But time's out for Urza's Saga, as a Bogardan Hellkite is ready to make its grand entrance on the battlefield, and incinerate the poor combo deck. Timespiral once again shows the power of its versatility, and its capability to destroy a Tolarian Academy at instant speed might actually be extremely troublesome for Urza's Saga. The match is definitely open: who will grasp the victory?
Game Two
Urza's Saga starts with an Island followed by two Claws of Gix, while on the other side Timespiral plays a Mountain and passes. Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy and then a Windfall to refresh its hand. Timespiral plays and sacrifices a Terramorphic Expanse, then passes. Urza's Saga plays a land, then two Voltaic Key, then taps the Academy for mana and casts a Fluctuator, cycling a Remote Isle before casting a Thran Turbine and passing. Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens, then suspends a Riftwing Cloudskate, and finally passes.
Urza's Saga taps all its lands, then plays a Stroke of Genius to draw six, then a Claws of Gix and another Voltaic Key. The combo deck would need a Time Spiral to really get the engine going, but so far is not drawing any. And things are about to get more complicated, as Timespiral draws and plays an Avalance Riders to destroy the Tolarian Academy! Definitely bad news for Urza's Saga. Luckily, the combo deck draws and plays a Worn Powerstone, that in combo with the Voltaic Keys should grant some mana. The artifact is immediataly untapped to play a Temporal Aperture, then Urza's Saga passes.
On Timespiral's upkeep, a Momentary Blink is played on the Riders, destroying one more land and allowing it to attack for two more damage, bringing Urza's Saga down to 16. Timespiral then passes. And then Urza's Saga gets lucky, as it finally draws a Time Spiral! The spell is immediately played, and Urza's Saga hopes to draw a Tolarian Academy. Unfortunatel, there's no trace of it... but the combo deck can play a Claws of Gix and then a Windfall. Urza's Saga draws seven more cards... and again, no Tolarian Academy! Incredible! Urza's Saga can't do much more now, than playing another Worn Powerstone and pass.
Timespiral doesn't play the Echo cost for the Avalanche Riders, and gets the Cloudskate coming into play to bounce a Worn Powerstone. Another Avalanche Riders is then played, and both creatures are turned to attack for four damage. Timespiral then passes.
Urza's Saga considers the situation briefly, then taps the Powerstone and three Voltaic Keys to activate the Temporal Aperture... revealing a Blasted Landscape. Definitely not Urza's Saga lucky game, and the control deck passes.
Timespiral again Momentary Blink-s the Riders during its upkeep, while Urza's Saga answers by tapping its four Islands for mana to cast a Turnabout and tap its opponent's creatures – the plan is now buying some time to get a Tolarian Academy in play, or at least a Time Spiral. Timespiral can't attack this turn, so it suspends another Cloudskate and passes.
Urza's Saga again activates the Temporal Aperture, this time to reveal... a Remote Isle. Urza's Saga curses its bad luck, then plays a Worn Powerstone, a Voltaic Key, and passes. Timespiral flashbacks a Momentary Blink on the Riders, then attacks. Urza's Saga falls down to 8, and Timespiral passes.
Urza's Saga draws and cycles the Remote Isle to draw... an island. Not good. The Temporal Aperture is again activated, to reveal an Island. The control deck plays it, then taps all its remaining mana to play a second Temporal Aperture and activate it... and there it is, finally, the Tolarian Academy! Too bad Urza's Saga can't play it now, but in the coming turn, it shall finally be able to get the powerful engine going, and hopefully combo out... or else it will be game over.
Timespiral unfotunately has only five lands in play, plus the Prismatic Lens (also no source of white mana), meaning that it won't be able to both pay the echo for the Riders and then have enough mana to blink it. For now, it just lets the Riders die and casts a Riftwing Cloudskate from its hand to bounce a Worn Powerstone, then attacks for two and passes.
Now, Urza's Saga needs to combo out this turn. Will it be able to? Let's see. As the Tolarian Academy hits the board, the mana is not a problem anymore, but the combo deck needs to find a Time Spiral to really get things going, or at least a Turnabout to gain one more turn. So it activates the first Temporal Aperture... and gets a Remote Isle. Not good. Here goes the second Temporal Aperture... a Windfall. Good. Urza's Saga discards its hand and draws five, finally getting the desired Time Spiral! The engine has now started, and as Urza's Saga draws a hand with 2 Turnabout and a Time Spiral, it's clear that it's not going to stop. After shuffling around and drawing cards for a couple of minutes, Urza's Saga finishes off its opponent and gets the match back 1-1. Timespiral has lost this game, but has learned from its mistakes: it should have paid earlier the Echo for the Riders, so as to have mana to blink it and destroy the Tolarian Academy at instant speed. It won't happen again. The two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
The game starts off slow for both decks, with Urza's Saga making the first move on turn two: a Fluctuator, then a cycled Remote Isle. Timespiral is still playing lands, and has got nothing to do on turn three either (except charging up a Calciform Pools). On its following turn, Urza's Saga is ready to get serious, playing two Thran Turbine, then a Tolarian Academy, and a Temporal Aperture. But it's also Timespiral's moment to get serious, with a Lightning Angel to begin the offensive with three damage on Urza's Saga.
Things don't look good for the combo deck, as it has no spells available to draw some cards, and must therefore rely on the Temporal Aperture to get something good. First, it plays another Fluctuator, then taps the Academy for five to activate the Aperture... and gets a Remote Isle. Urza's Saga feels a deja-vu, then plays the land to remove it from the top of the deck, and passes.
Timespiral draws, attacks for three, then plays a Riftwing Cloudskate to bounce back the Temporal Aperture, and passes. Urza's Saga plays it again, then also plays a Thran Turbine, and finally activates the Aperture again. A Voltaic Key is shown, and Urza's Saga plays it before passing.
Timespiral attacks for five damage (Urza's Saga is now at 9), then passes.
Urza's Saga gets lucky this time, as it draws a Windfall. First of all, it taps all its lands for mana (for a total of 9), then casts a Turnabout to untap them, then a Temporal Aperture and the Windfall. At this point, Timespiral taps two mana and casts a Momentary Blink on the Cloudskate to bounce back the Academy. Both decks draw three, and Urza's Saga gets a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga plays again the Tolarian Academy (as it played no lands so far this turn), then considers the situation. Timespiral still has four mana open to bounce the Cloudskate and remove the Academy for the second time, effectively preventing Urza's Saga from comboing out this turn. Still, the combo deck would like to see one Momentary Blink removed from the game, and also it needs to refresh its hand. So, after having played a Claws of Gix for zero, Urza's Saga taps the Academy and casts the Time Spiral. Timespiral flashbacks the Blink and bounces the legendary land, that gets shuffled in Urza's Saga's deck.
Luckily, Urza's Saga draws another Tolarian Academy one in its hand. The combo deck got eight mana from the Academy, and six got spent on the Time Spiral. Urza's Saga still has three lands on the battlefield: two Island and a Remote Isle. As it just drew two Turnabout, it would like to use one to tap the opponent's creatures on Timespiral's turn, but as things stand right now, it won't be able to. With the two mana on pool, plus one from one of its lands, Urza's Saga casts a Worn Powerstone. At this point, it could untap it with a Voltaic Key, but then it would only have one blue mana available and couldn't cast the Turnabout anyway. So, it just adds another Voltaic Key to the board and passes.
Timespiral attacks for five more, then considers the situation. Urza's Saga is at 4 life points, and with one land, two Voltaic Key, and a tapped Worn Powerstone, it has a total of three lands available. Timespiral smiles as it taps all its lands, also removing two counters from the Calciform Pools, to cast a Disintegrate for 7 damage. With three mana available, Urza's Saga can sacrifice three permanents to gain three life... and still fall down to zero! Timespiral gets game three by storm, and the two decks move on to game four.
Game Four
Urza's Saga starts the game with a turn one Voltaic Key followed by a turn two Temporal Aperture. Still nothing on Timespiral's side, and Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy followed by a Windfall to refill its hand. Then it plays a Thran Turbine and finally passes. Still nothing for Timespiral, that plays a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch an Island and passes.
Now, Urza's Saga could theoretically try to combo out this turn, even though it's not guaranteed to succeed and might just end up wasting resources. And at the moment, Timespiral couldn't interfere in any way. Better yet, though, there's a way for Urza's Saga to strengthen its board position and gain one turn. So, for now it taps the Tolarian Academy to play a Worn Powerstone and passes.
On Timespiral's upkeep, Urza's Saga untaps the Powerstone and then taps out all its mana to cast a Turnabout and tap all the opponent's lands. There's not much Timespiral can do right now, so it just plays another Terramorphic Expanse and passes.
Urza's Saga draws and plays a Claws of Gix, then taps its lands for eight mana and plays a Temporal Aperture and a Time Spiral: game's on! After shuffling its deck and drawing seven, Urza's Saga plays another Claws of Gix, then a Thran Turbine, and finally taps out all its lands to cast a Stroke of Genius for seven. Then it plays a second Tolarian Academy, sacrificing the first one and tapping it for eight more mana, to fuel a Fluctuator and another Time Spiral.
After that, Urza's Saga plays a Voltaic Key, a Temporal Aperture, then taps the Academy for 11 mana and plays a Windfall. As the new hand reveals a Turnabout and another Windfall, Urza's Saga picks up the pace and doesn't stop: the combo is succesfully completed, and Urza's Saga wins game four! On to the decisive fifth game!
Game Five
Both decks have to mulligan this time, but all in all, this might be a good news for Timespiral rather than Urza's Saga. Timespiral only plays a land and passes on its first turn, while Urza's Saga plays a land, a Claws of Gix, and passes. Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens and passes. Urza's Saga plays a Fluctuator and passes. Timespiral plays a face-down creature, surely a Vesuvan Shapeshifter, and passes.
This turn Urza's Saga plays a Thran Turbine and a Temporal Aperture, but it lacks the mana to activate it, and doesn't have anything to even remotely get the combo going. Still, for now there's time. Timespiral attacks for two, then suspends a freshly drawn Ancestral Vision, and passes. Urza's Saga plays its fourth land, then a second Fluctuator and Temporal Aperture, emptying its hand. Now, it's all luck of the draw. Timespiral attacks for two more and passes.
Urza's Saga draws... a Turnabout. Can't do much with it at the moment, so the combo deck just passes. Timespiral attacks for two more and passes. Urza's Saga draws a Time Spiral! Not bad, but it doesn't have the mana to cast it. A Tolarian Academy at this point would be enough to get the combo going, probably, but without that, Urza's Saga is not going anywhere. Again, the combo deck passes.
Timespiral attacks for two more, then considers that the Ancestral Vision is coming in next turn, and hopefully it will draw something good. So, it also casts a Disintegrate for six and passes. Urza's Saga is now at six, and should the Vision bring to Timespiral a second Disintegrate, it could very well turn out to be Urza's Saga's demise.
Urza's Saga draws... a Windfall! But Timespiral has two cards in hand, and Urza's Saga three, including the Windfall itself, so there wouldn't be much to draw with it. On the other hand, Timespiral it's just about to get three cards from the Ancestral Vision. Urza's Saga considers the situation, and decides to wait one more turn to play the Windfall.
Timespiral refills its hand, then casts an Avalanche Riders and attacks for four, bringing Urza's Saga down to 2. Then, Timespiral passes. It's all or nothing for Urza's Saga now, that plays the Windfall. Timespiral looks at the three Momentary Blink in its hand and considers the situation. Timespiral doesn't have four lands to flashback it from the graveyard, and it's unlikely that it will draw another one. So, it would be better to play one now, as it would also reduce the number of cards drawn by Urza's Saga. Timespiral decides to do so: Urza's Saga loses one more land, and Timespiral now has only four cards in hand.
Urza's Saga would need to draw both a Time Spiral and a Tolarian Academy to have any hope to recover this game, but it draws none of them. Just two Island, a Voltaic Key and a Thran Turbine. And that's it. Game five is over, Timespiral continues its incredible performance in BOTS, and advances to the group finals!
Two heavyweights of BOTS face off in the first semifinal of Group B. Darksteel builds on the Modular ability and its two powerhouse cards: Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp. Apocalypse was, back in the day, one of the most broken sets ever printed, featuring cards like Spiritmonger (in an age of underpowerec creatures), Phyrexian Arena, Vindicate and Pernicious Deed. Exactly this last one is gonna be crucial, as it can clear the board of all Darksteel's creatures, this way closing the Modular chain. On to the actual game!
Game One
Apocalypse wins the roll to start, but as could be easily foreseen, it's Darksteel to make the first move with a turn one Aether Vial. On the other side, Apocalypse plays a Spectral Lynx and passes. Darksteel adds a counter on the vial, then plays a Genesis Chamber and passes. Apocalypse draws and passes. End of turn, Darksteel gets an Arcbound Worker in play with the Vial.
On its turn, Darksteel attacks with both creatures, and Apocalypse blocks the Myr token with the Lynx, regenerating it but losing one life point to a dual land. Considering the one damage from the unblocked Worker, Apocalypse is now at 18. Then, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Slith and passes. Apocalypse again draws and passes. End of turn, Darksteel gets another Arcbound Slith in play with the Vial.
Now, Darksteel is forcing the offensive, turning all its creatures to attack. Apocalypse takes all the damage this time, falling down to 13. On its turn, Apocalypse is ready to start the comeback: first, it attacks for two damage with the Lynx, then it plays a Pernicious Deed – and wipes the board clean!
Now, Darksteel is in great trouble. It has three lands in play, but only one Forest, and in hand, a Viridian Zealot, two Arcbound Crusher and a Skullclamp. For now, the artifact deck is forced to pass – and things don't look good. Especially so, as Apocalypse plays a Spiritmonger on its turn!
Darksteel draws... another Skullclamp! Still nothing to do. Apocalypse adds a Phyrexian Arena to the board, and starts attacking with the Spiritmonger. Darksteel draws and plays an Arcbound Ravager, but Apocalypse simply kills it with a Vindicate, and Darksteel realizes there's no comeback possible. Apocalypse wins game one!
Game Two
Darksteel begins, and its first play is a turn two Genesis Chamber. On the other side, Apocalypse starts with a turn two Spectral Lynx. Darksteel plays an Arcbound Stinger and passes. Apocalypse attacks with the Spectral Lynx (Darksteel takes the damage), then plays a Gerrard's Verdict, forcing Darksteel to discard an Arcbound crusher and an Arcbound Slith. Apocalypse then passes, and Darksteel begins its offensive by attacking with the Stinger. Then it plays an Arcbound Ravager and passes.
Apocalypse decides to remove the Stinger, as it is the only creatures that it cannot block, and plays a Vindicate. Darksteel obviously answers by sacrificing the Stinger to boost up the Ravager. Apocalypse then passes. On its turn, Darksteel attacks with the now 3/3 Ravager and the two Myr tokens. Darksteel blocks the Ravager with both the Lynx and the Myr token, forcing Darksteel to sacrifice one token to boost the Ravager up to 4/4. The Lynx is regenerated and Apocalypse falls down to 16 life points from combat damage (and also some life lost to dua lands). Darksteel then plays an Arcbound Worker and a Sword of Fire and Ice.
Darksteel now has an empty hand, and Apocalypse needs to resist until it can get rid of the Ravager, possibly with a Pernicious Deed to wipe the board completely. For now, it plays a second Spectral Lynx and passes. Darksteel draws and plays a Darksteel Citadel, then equips the Sword to the Worker and attacks with all its creatures. Apocalypse blocks the Ravager with a Lynx, then the Worker with a Lynx and a Myr token, and trades one more token for an opponent token. One Myr token from Darksteel slips in to deal one damage, and Apocalypse loses one more life points from dual lands to regenerate both Lynxes. Darksteel now passes. The artifact deck could have pushed in some more damage by moving in all the counters on the Myr token that was unblocked, but that wouldn't have killed Apocalypse and then a single Vindicate would have meant game over for Darksteel. Also, there would be no Ravager anymore to move around the tokens. Darksteel needs a creature with Flying now, and for the moment can only pass.
Apocalypse draws and passes. Darksteel draws... a Blinkmoth Nexus! Exactly what it needed. Darksteel plays the land and passes, knowing that soon it will be able to strike. Apoclaypse needs to gain as much time as possible, so it casts a Death Grasp for four damage to Darksteel, keeping a single land open to regenerate a Lynx. Then, Apocalypse passes.
Darksteel draws and plays a land. After considering the situation, Darksteel decides to go all in: the Blinkmoth Nexus is animated, the Sword id equipped to it, and all the artifacts sacrificed to move as much counter on it as possible. The Nexus is now a roaring 9/9 beast, and along with the Sword that's 13 damage straight at Apocalypse! The rock deck is now at 5 life points, and everything stands on this last drawn card. Apocalypse picks it up with trembling hands... a Swamp! Nothing to do, then. Apocalypse concedes and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Apocalypse starts, but the first move is by Darksteel with a turn one Aether Vial, followed by a turn two Genesis Chamber. Apocalypse draws and passes, for the moment. Darksteel throws in a second Genesis Chamber, and passes. Apocalypse again draws and passes, and end of turn Darksteel plays an Arcbound Slith with the Vial. On its turn, Darksteel turns its creatures to attack for three damage, then plays a Sword of Fire and Ice and passes. On the other side, Apoclaypse plays a Spiritmonger and passes.
Now, things are somewhat troublesome for Darksteel. The Spiritmonger can easily stall Darksteel's offensive, at least until the artifact deck draws some creature with Flying or a Ravager. On the other hand, there's a risk in overextending, as a Pernicious Deed could simply wipe the board clean. Still, Darksteel is forced to invest more resources ot just hand over the game to its opponent, so after equipping the Sword to the Slith, it plays a second Slith before passing.
And then it happens: Apocalypse plays a Pernicious Deed and activates it for three mana, wiping the board clean... except for the Spiritmonger, of course, that attacks for six damage! Then, Apocalypse passes. Darksteel fears it won't be able to recover in time, and for now can only play an Arcbound Slith and pass. Apocalypse plays a Vindicate to kill the Slith, and attacks for six more, then also adds a Spectral Lynx to the board. Darksteel can't do much more than playing an Arcbound Worker and a Sword of Fire and Ice, but that's not likely to stop Apocalypse, that attacks with its two creatures (the Worker chumpblocks the Spiritmonger), then adds a fully kicked Necravolver to its growing army. Darksteel realizes it's over and concedes.
Game Four
Darksteel starts with a turn one Arcbound Worker, followed by a turn two Genesis Chamber, while Apocalypse is still busy playing lands. On its third turn, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Stinger and passes. On the other side, Apocalypse lacks white mana, but can play a Pernicious Deed and pass. Darksteel attacks for three more damage, then considers the situation. The Pernicious Deed is a gun aimed at Darksteel's heart, but on the other hand, Darksteel probably hasn't got enough resources on the board to kill Apocalypse as it is. Something more must be added, while keeping a reasonable reserve force in hand. So, Darksteel plays a second Arcbound Worker and an Aether Vial before passing. Apocalypse plays a Necravolver and passes.
Darksteel turns all its creatures to attack. The two Myr tokens are blocked and killed by Apoclaypse's creatures (that also loses its Myr token), while the remaining deal three more damage and bring Apocalypse down to ten. Darksteel then considers the situation and passes.
Apocalypse is finally ready to pull the trigger, and activates the Pernicious Deed to clean the board before attacking for two damage with the Necravolver. Darksteel, that is unfortunately still stuck with two lands, plays another Æther Vial and passes. Apocalypse gets a Spiritmonger in play, attacks for two more damage, and passes.
Darksteel finally gets its third land in play, then plays an Arcbound Slith and passes. Apocalypse attacks with its two creatures to bring its opponent down to 8... then, smiling maliciously, picks up a Plains from its hand and puts it into play! The card has been there for a couple of turns, but Apocalypse wanted Darksteel to think that it didn't have white mana available. A Death Grasp is immediately casted for four damage, and Darksteel is now at 4! And as Apocalyopse reveals a second Death Graps in its hand, Darksteel realizes that its defeat is complete. Apocalypse wins the game, and advances to the group finals!
Apocalypse 3 - Darksteel 1
Oath of the Gatewatch vs Dark Ascension
Battle of the midrange decks! Both these decks are tuned to give their best after the first few turns have passed, and while Oath can also build up a decent aggro-like offensive in the early turns with its Eldrazi (and particularly the Eldrazi Mimic can be deadly), Dark Ascension plans is clearly to slowly build up its Undying creature and stack up +1/+1 counters until a deadly Fling can kill off the opponent - or they're simply too big to stop. Two different philosophies, for a game that will definitely be interesting to follow.
Game One
Oath of the Gatewatch wins the roll to start and begins with a tapped Mirrorpool. On the other side, Dark Ascension plays a Forst and passes. Oath, too, plays a land and passes. Dark Ascension plays a second Forest and then casts a Strangleroot Geist, beginning the offensive. Oath loses two life points, and still can only play one land and pass. Dark Ascension keeps increasing the early pressure, playing a second Strangleroot Geist and attacking for four.
Now it's finally Oath's time to shine, though, as it casts a Though-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of a Predator Ooze, a Fling, a Huntmaster of the Fells, a Hunger of the Howlpack, and a land. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then remove the Fling and passes. Dark Ascension attacks with its two Geists, one being killed by the Seer, the second dealing two more damage to bring its opponent down to 12. Dark Ascension then plays a Huntmaster of the Fells and passes. Oath plays an Oblivion Strike to remove the Huntmaster from the game, then passes again.
Now, Dark Ascension is stuck at four lands, two Mountains and two Forests. For now, it decides to attack with all its creatures. Oath decides to block and definitively kill the 3/2 Geist, and takes 4 damage to fall down to 8. Then, Dark Ascension plays the Hunger of the Howlpack to turn its Wolf token into a 5/5 creature. Finally, it passes.
Oath plays a kicked Bearer of Silence, and Dark Ascension sacrifices the Geist, that comes back as a 3/2. Oath then passes. Dark Ascension is slowly yet surely killing its opponent, and even though Oath seems to be slowly stabilizing the situation, it has to gain the upper hand quickly, or will end up simply losing to a Fling. For now, Dark Ascension attacks with both its creatures – the Wolf kills the Bearer, the Seer kills the Geist. Then Dark Ascension plays a Dawntreader Elk and passes.
Oath plays a Reality Smasher and passes. End of turn, Dark Ascension sacrifices the Elk to fetch a third Forest, then on its turn plays a Vorapede and passes. Oath plays a Slaughter Drone, then a Thought-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of Strangleroot Geist and Predator Ooze (the Ooze is removed). Oath then passes. Dark Ascension draws another Predator Ooze, and declares to attack with the Vorapede and the 5/5 Wolf. The Drone blocks the Wolf, activating its Deathtouch ability to kill it. The Vorapede is killed by a the Reality Smasher, and comes back with Undying. Dark Ascension then plays the Predator Ooze and passes.
Oath draws, plays a Spatial Contortion to kill the Ooze, then casts an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Strangleroot Geist, then attacks with the Vorapede – Oatk blocks with a Seer and the Mimic, losing one life point but killing the opponent's creature. Dark Ascension then plays a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Geist into a 5/4, and finally passes. Oath draws and plays another Seer, exiling a single Forest in Dark Ascension's hand. And now, both decks have empty hands.
Dark Ascension draws a Predator Ooze, and attacks with the Geist. Fearing a Fling, Oath can't let any damage in and blocks the Geist, trading it with one of the Seers – unfortunately Dark Ascension only draws a Forest from the kill. The Ooze is then played, and Dark Ascension passes. Oath sacrifices the Mirrorpool to copy a Seer, checks the opponent's hand... and discovers that it has just exiled another Forest. Oh well, at least it now has two Seers on the board, against the opponent's single Ooze – the main problem being of course that the Ooze is indestructible, and could grow to a very large size.
Dark Ascension draws and plays an Huntmaster of the Fells, then turns the Ooze to attack (easily blocked), and finally passes. Oath plays a Reaver Drone and a Slaughter Drone, then attacks with one of the Seers, and Dark Ascension decides to take the damage. On its turn, Dark Ascension draws a Flayer of the Hatebound. Not bad, but Dark Ascension prefers to not play anything and flip the Huntmaster. So, after having attacked with the Ooze (again blocked by a Seer), Dark Ascension simply passes, and the Huntmaster turns into the Ravager to kill the Slaughter Drone and bring Oath down to 5.
Oath draws and plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then activates it to draw another Slaughter Drone, that is immediately played. Then Oath turns the two Seers to attack. Dark Ascension takes 4 damage from one (and is now at 16), and trades the Ravager for the other one, drawing a Dawntreader Elk. Oath then passes.
Dark Ascension plays the Flayer of the Hatebound, then attacks with both the Ooze and the Wolf token. The Reaver Drone chump-blocks the Ooze, that is now a 5/5, while the Slaughter Drone trades for the Wolf. The game is most likely over by now, unless Oath draws an Oblivion Strike... but it's just another Thought-Knot Seer. Oath considers the situation and decides to concede – the two decks move on to game two.
Game Two
Dark Ascension has to take a mulligan. Oath starts with a tapped Mirrorpool, while Dark Ascension plays an Evolving Wilds to fetch a Forest and passes. Oath plays an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Wolfbitten Captive, then another Evolving Wilds, and passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper, then attacks with the now 3/2 Mimic (Dark Ascension takes the damage), and passes. Dark Ascension plays its third land, then a Strangleroot Geist, and passes.
Oath plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then a second Matter Reshaper, and attacks with the other Reshaper and the Mimic. Dark Ascension blocks and kills the Mimic with the Geist, taking three more damage and falling down to 14.
Dark Ascension is unfortunately stuck at three mana, so it plays a second Wolfbitten Captive and passes. Oath presses on with the offensive, playing a Reality Smasher and attacking with all its creatures. Dark Ascension blocks the Smasher with one Captive (boosted to 3/3) and the Geist, trading two for one but killing the dangerous Eldrazi in the process. The Reshapers hits for 6 damage, and Dark Ascension is now at 8.
Dark Ascension is still stuck with three lands, and again forced to pass. Oath draws and plays a Spatial Contortion to kill the Captive, then attacks for six more and plays an Eldrazi Mimic. And as Dark Ascension only draws a Dawntreader Elk in the coming turn, that's game over. Moving on to game three.
Game Three
Dark Ascension starts, but the first play is a turn one Reaver Drone from Oath. Dark Ascension gets a turn two Dawntreader Elk in play and passes. Oath takes one damage from the Reaver, then attacks for two (Dark Ascension takes the damage), then plays an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension draws, plays a land and passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper, then attacks with its other two creatures. Dark Ascension plays a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Elk into a 3/3 and kills the Drone, taking three damage from the Mimic and falling down to 15 life points. Oath then passes.
Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery on the Elk, turning it into a huge 8/8 beast and attacking Oath to bring it down to 11 life points. Now, the Eldrazi has to worry about defense, too. Luckily, it has an Oblivion Strike in hand, but only two Mirrorpool as lands, so it won't be able to play it this turn. Instead, after playing a land, it casts a Reaver Drone to chump block, and attacks for five damage (Dark Ascension is now at 10).
Dark Ascension attacks again with the Elk (Oath obviously chump blocks), then plays a Vorapede and passes. Oath draws, considers the situation, then plays a land and an Oblivion Strike to remove the Vorapede and attacks for two with the Mimic. Then, the Eldrazi deck passes. Dark Ascension attacks again, and Oath chumpblocks with the Matter Reshaper, luckily revealing another Eldrazi Mimic.
But Dark Ascension had a cruel plain in mind. After the Reshaper is dead, it casts a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Elk into a 11/11... and then a Fling to kill its opponent. Oath remains shocked for a couple of seconds, then reluctantly shuffles the deck to prepare for game four.
Game Four
Oath starts with a turn one Reaver Drone, while on the other side Dark Ascension starts with a turn one Wolfbitten Captive. Oath takes one damage from the Reaver, attacks for two (Dark Ascension takes the damage), then plays a Bearer of Silence and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Strangleroot Geist and attacks with both its creatures for three damage (Oath decides not to block).
Oath now attacks for four more (Dark Ascension is at 14), then plays a Matter Reshaper and passes.
Dark Ascension now attacks with the Geist, and Oath decides to block with the Reshaper, revealing... another Matter Reshaper, that joins the battle immediately! Then Dark Ascension plays a Predator Ooze and passes.
Oath decides this turn to attack only with the Bearer for two damage, then plays a an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery on the Wolfbitten Captive, and turns it to attack with the Ooze (now a 2/2), keeping the Geist on the defensive. Oath takes two damage from the Ooze, chumpblocking the Captive with the Reaver Drone. Dark Ascension then passes.
Then Oath plays a Reality Smasher, turning the Mimic into a fearsome 5/5, and considers the situation. An all out attack would not kill Dark Ascension, as the Geist can chumpblock the Mimic. Then, if Dark Ascension has a Fling in hand, it can close the game on the comign turn. So, Oath decides to keep the Reshaper on the defensive and attacks with the remaining creatures. The Mimic is chumpblocked by the geist, and Dark Ascension takes five damage, falling down to 5. Then Oath passes.
Dark Ascension plays a Vorapede and, after considering the situation, is forced to keep its creature on the defensive, or most likely die in the coming turn. Still, Dark Ascension can't block the Bearer of Silence, and at best has only two turns left. Still, for now it passes. Oath plays another Matter Reshaper, then attacks with the Bearer (Dark Ascension is now at three), and finally passes.
Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery to turn the Vorapede into a 10/9 with Trample, then turns it to attack. Now, Oath can't take more than four damage from it, or risk losing to a Fling. So, it decides to block it with a Reality Smasher and the two Matter Reshaper – this way, it will kill it and solve the matter entirely. The two Reshapers reveal an Oblivion Strike and a Slaughter Drone, that joins the battle.
And then it's over. Oath can play the Oblivion Strike to remove one blocker, then attack with the Bearer, the Slaughter Drone and the Mimic – with Dark Ascension having only one blocker available, that's game over. The two decks move on the the final game.
Game Five
Dark Ascension starts with a turn two Dawntreader Elk, while Oath seems off to a slow start, and has nothing to play on the first two turns. Dark Ascension, unfortunately, is stuck with two lands, and for now just passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper and passes – end of turn, Dark Ascension sacrifices the Elk to fetch one more land. Still, as it fails to draw anymore lands, it's again forced to pass.
Oath attacks for three, then plays a Thought-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of Fling, Increasing Savagery, Hunger of the Howlpack, Huntmaster of the Fells, Vorapede and two Predator Ooze. Really a bountiful hand, but Dark Ascension lacks the mana to play any. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then remove the Fling and passes. Still no lands for Dark Ascension, that starts to fear the worst and passes. And the worst materializes as Oath plays a Reality Smasher and attacks for 12 damage!
Not much can save Dark Ascension now, that at least draws the fourth land and can play the Huntmaster of the Fells, jumping up at seven and maybe, just maybe, surviving one more turn. But then Oath plays a Spatial Contortion and kills the Huntmaster, turning its army of horrors to attack. The math is cruelly simple: Dark Ascension is dead. The match was very much evenly balanced, and with some more luck on the last game, maybe Dark Ascension could have pulled it off, but that wasn't meant to be. Oath wins, and advances to the Group B finals!
M11 came into this BOTS with a completely revamped deck based around Destructive Force. The idea intrigued me, but I didn't really think the deck would perform *this* well. Now, M11 stands only one step away from the group finals, and it's ready to grab victory, and glory. Theros stands in its way, with its solid Monstrosity deck. Theros is not a fast deck, and might fall prey to M11's simple yet effective strategy. On the other hand, its planeswalkers are quality and once its creatures turn Monstrous, they might very well be out of reach of M11's signature spell. Let's see how the game turned out!
Game One
Magic 2011 wins the roll to start and starts the game with a turn two Sylvan Ranger. On the other side, Theros answers with a turn two Fleecemane Lion. M11 dispatches the Lion with a Lightning Bolt, then attacks for one and plays a second Sylvan Ranger. Theros plays another land and passes. M11 is not ramping much, unfortunately, and apart from attacking for two can only play a Mystifying Maze and pass. On its turn, Theros plays a Polis Crusher and passes. M11 keeps the mana open to activate the Maze and passes. Theros plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, creates a Satyr token, then passes.
Then, M11 finally gets serious with a Primeval Titan. On the other side, the Polis Crusher turns Monstruous and a second Satyr token is spawned, then Theros passes. The two giants face off across the battlefield, while the two decks decide on their next moves. But as in previous games, M11's strategy is clear: Destructive Force! Then, the Primeval Titan is immediately turned to attack the opponent's planeswalker. Now, Theros has a choice to face: it can either trade the 7/7 Crusher for the Titan, and save the Planeswalker, or allow the Titan to kill Xenagos, and keep the Crusher, that in the coming turn will be out of reach for the Titan. In the end, Theros considers that its opponent already has six lands in play, and another Titan might very well be on its way. In that case, having the Crusher available could make the difference. So, Xenagos is killed, and M11 passes.
Theros is lucky to draw a land and can immediately play a Voyaging Satyr – perhaps Theros wil be able to recover quickly than expected. On its turn, M11 plays a Birds of Paradise and a second Primeval Titan, before passing. Theros plays another Voyaging Satyr and passes. M11 plays its third Primeval Titan (!) and passes. Theros gets its third land in play and plays a Polukranos, World Eater, and again passes.
And just when it seems Theros had actually recovered... M11 plays a second Destructive Force, and then turns all its Titans to attack! Apart from refilling its side of the board of lands, M11 also forces Theros to block and trade, but at this point, it doesn't really matter. M11 clearly has an overwhelming advantage, and proceeds to win game one!
Game Two
Game two doesn't start well for Theros, that is forced to mulligan twice. M11 makes the first play of the game with a turn two Sylvan Ranger, while Theros starts on its third turn with a Voyaging Satyr. M11 then plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros is unfortunately stii stuck with two lands, but at least draws and plays a Fleecemane Lion. Another Cultivate for M11, that is slowly yet increasingly ramping up mana. Still no lands for Theros, that attacks for three damage and passes.
And then M11 has reached the critical mass and casts an Inferno Titan, along with a Lightning Bolt to kill both the opponent's creature. Thing don't look good for Theros even as it draws and plays its third land, especially as M11 adds a Primeval Titan to the board. Theros thinks for a couple of seconds, then decides to simply concede – such a disadvantage it's impossible to recover. The two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Theros starts, but it's M11 to open the game with a turn one Birds of Paradise. Theros then plays a turn two Voyaging Satyr, while on the other side M11 casts a Cultivate. Both decks are ramping up mana, but the first to get serious is Theros, playing a Polukranos, World Eater on its third turn. M11 only plays a Mystifying Maze and passes. Theros draws and considers the situation. M11 has the mana to activate the maze and protects itself from Polukranos. Plus, it would hit six mana on the coming turn, and that could easily mean a Titan. So, Polukranos's ability is activated for one to kill the Birds of Paradise, and then the creature is turned to attack. Finally, the Satyr is tapped to fuel a Fleecemane Lion.
M11 is on the defensive now, but it plays another land to be able to activate the Maze, and passes. Theros draws and plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, creates a Satyr token, then attacks with all its creatures – that would be a total of 12 damage! M11 activates the Maze to remove Polukranos and only takes 6 damage, falling down to 8. Now Polukranos is back to being a 5/5, but it can activate its ability again.
And finally it's time for M11 to get serious as well, playing an Inferno Titan to kill the opponent's Xenagos. What M11 doesn't know is that Theros has a second Xenagos, the Reveler in hand! At this point, Theros has in play a Satyr token, a Polukranos, a Voyaging Satyr and a Fleecemane Lion. Considering that M11 is going to block the Polukranos with the Titan, that's already 6 damage for M11... just two missing... exactly the damage a Satyr token could do! Theros plays the Xenagos and activates its +0 ability, then turns its creatures to attack for the kill. Theros wins game three!
Game Four
M11 starts and it's eager to dispatch its opponent quickly and grab that pass for the finals. Its first move is a Birds of Paradise, then on the second turn a Sylvan Ranger is played. Theros answers by playing a Sylvan Caryatid and passes. Then M11 is ready to show some muscles, and plays an Obstinate Baloth, before passing again. But when it comes to beasts, not many decks can match Theros, that simply casts a Polukranos, World Eater and passes.
M11 is stilll ready to attack, though, and turns the Baloth sideways. Theros blocks, and M11 casts a Lightning Bolt to kill Polukranos. M11 passes, and Theros plays a Stormbreath Dragon, immediately turning it to attacks for four damage. But M11 simply plays a second Baloth, returning back to 24 life points. Theros attacks again for four damage, then plays a Xenagos, the Reveler and creates a Satyr token before passing.
At this point, luck finally smiles on M11 that draws and plays its first Titan of the game, a Primeval Titan, before passing. But it's still Theros to steal the spotlight, by turning the Dragon into a Monstros 7/7 and attacking to bring its opponent down to 12 life points. This is somewhat troublesome for M11, as the Dragon can now survive a Destructive Force – on the other hand, luckily, M11 still has a Mystifying Maze in play. For now, then, M11 simply declares an all-out attack on Xenagos, to be 100% sure to kill it. Theros kills the Sylvan Ranger by blocking it with a Satyr token, then puts the planeswalker in its graveyard. M11 passes, and Theros turns its creatures to attack. As expected, M11 activates the Maze to exile the dragon, taking four damage from the Satyrs.
And then Theros shows its secret card... an Elspeth, Sun's Champion! Now that the Dragon is out of play, it can safely activate its -3 ability to destroy both the Baloth and the Titan! Theros then passes, knowing that this turn it had hurt its rival badly, practically without losing any resource on its side.
But M11 is not defeated. It luckily draws a Fireball, and counts its mana... exactly 9! So it plays the Fireball for one to kill Elspeth, and then a Destructive Force to clean the board! An incredible comeback from an apparently desperate situation! M11 passes, and Theros plays a Voyaging Satyr before passing as well. M11 plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros plays a second Voyaging Satyr and attacks with the other one, bringing M11 down to 7 life points. M11 draws and plays a Forest, then passes. Theros has nothing to play at the moment, so it just attacks with the two Satyrs. One is exiled by the Maze, the other one strikes for one more damage to M11.
And then M11 gets lucky, as it draws and plays an Inferno Titan! One Satyr is immediately incinerated, and things seem to be taking a turn for the worse for Theros. In fact, theros has nothing to do on the following turn, and can only pass. M11 smiles as it turns the Titan sideways to kill the remaining Satyr and hit Theros's life points brutally – Theros is now at 8 life points, only one step away from death. M11 then plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros draws and plays a Fleecemane Lion, gaining one more turn of life, but it's only a matter of time now, especially as M11 plays a Primeval Titan in the coming turn. Game over for Theros. At the end of an incredible fourth game, M11 wins and gains access to the finals!
Magic 2011 3 - Theros 1
Magic 2013 vs Antiquities
Another surprise of the tournament, M13, faces off a long-standing champion of the arena, Antiquities. The old faces the new, two radically different philosophies clash in an interesting battle. Who will win?
Game One
Antiquities wins the roll to start and opens the game with a Mishra's Factory, activating it on the following turn to attack for two. M13 is only playing lands for now, and on its third turn Antiquities gets lucky and draws a Mishra's Workshop. The land can immediately fuel a Su-Chi, then Antiquities passes. Things are going to get hard for M13 now, but all in all things could have been much worse. M13 plays a Divination and passes. Antiquities attacks for 4, then plays a Clockwork Avian and a Strip Mine, that is immediately activated to destroy the opponent's only Island. Then Antiquities passes.
Unfortunately, M13 has no Fog, but only a Sleep, and the land destruction is hurting it badly. So it just plays another land and passes. Antiquities attacks, then plays a second Clockwork Avian and another Strip Mine to destroy another land! Now things look very bad for M13, that only has one turn to live and must at all costs draw a Fog right away.
And incredibly, M13 draws exactly that! M13 is still in a bad situation, but can at least hold on some time more. So it passes. Antiquities turns all its cretures to attack, and M13 plays the Fog to survive. Antiquities shrugs and plays a Rocket Launcher.
Things keep getting worse and worse for M13, but it's not over yet. M13 plays a Revive to get back the Fog, and passes. Antiquities plays a Candelabra of Tawnos, uses it to fuel a Triskelion and activates its ability to deal three damage to M13, that is now at 3 life points. The clock is ticking. As usual, the Fog is played to prevent the combat damage, and Antiquities's turn is over. M13 then plays another Revive and passes.
Antiquities can't yet kill its opponent, so it just attacks to force the Fog use and then passes. And then it's suddenly over. M13 lacks the double blue mana to play an Archaeomancer or a Sleep and keep staying alive. Antiquities wins game one with a crushing victory, and the two decks move on to game two.
Game Two
M13 starts, but it's Antiquities to open the game with a turn one Mishra's Factory plus Candelabra of Tawnos. M13 just plays a Farseek and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Mine and attacks for two, then passes. M13 casts a second Farseek and passes as well. Then, Antiquities gets lucky again, drawing a Mishra's Workshop, that is obviously immediately played and it's followed right away by a Su-Chi. M13 only plays a Reliquary Tower and passes.
Antiquities attacks for six with the animated Factory and the Su-Chi, then plays an Urza's Tower and along with the Candelabra and the Workshop that's enough to cast a Clockwork Avian. Antiquities then passes.
Things seem to be going differently from the previous game, though, as M13 casts a Sphinx of Uthuun. The five cards are divided in two piles, one consisting of Jace, Memory Adept and a Forest, the other one of two Revive and a Divination. M13 picks this second one and passes. Antiquities considers the situation, then attacks with all its creatures. M13 blocks and kills the animated Mishra's Factory, taking 8 damage and falling down to 4 life points. Antiquities then plays a second Clockwork Avian and a Primal Clay as a 2/2 Flying creature, then passes.
But surprisingly, it's now M13 that looks ready to start the offensive. After having played a Sleep, it attacks for five damage. Then it casts a Divination and passes. Antiquities draws a Mishra's Workshop and has now a *****load of mana available, but nothing to do with it! And with the Sphinx attacking and the Sleep being recycled, well, things can get ugly real fast. Antiquities is for now forced to pass. M13 attacks for five more, then plays a Sleep from its hand, a Revive to fetch back a Farseek that is immediately played to get a fourth Island in play. M13 then passes. Antiquities draws and plays an Onulet, then passes.
M13 attacks for five more, and it's now only one turn away from winning the game. It plays an Archaeomancer to get back the Sleep and casts it, then it passes. It's all in this draw from Antiquities, that picks up the card... and it's an Urza's Mine! M13 wins game two and shows that it can fight even against a mighty opponent like Antiquities. Anything can happen.
Game Three
Antiquities has to mulligan, and begins the game with a Mishra's Factory. On the other side, M13 fetches an Island with a Terramorphic Expanse and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Power Plant, then animates the Factory and attacks for two. M13 plays a Farseek and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Mine and an Onulet, and passes. M13 just plays a land and passes. Antiquities plays a Strip Mine to destroy one of the opponent's Islands, then attacks for four damage. M13 takes the damage. On its turn, M13 draws and plays a Farseek, then also plays a Reliquary Tower and passes.
Finally Antiquities draws and plays a Mishra's Workshop, immediately followed by a Clockwork Avian. Then, it attacks with the Onulet for two damage, and finally passes. M13 is now at 12 life points.
On its turn, M13 draws and passes, remaining stuck at 5 lands. Antiquities plays a second Mishra's Factory, then animates the first one and attack with all its creatures – M13 casts a Fog to prevent the damage. Then, a second Clockwork Avian is played, and Antiquities passes. On its turn, M13 draws a Divination, but at the moment must play a Sleep or risk dying. On its side, Antiquities plays a Rocket Launcher, then animates a Mishra's Factory, boosts it to 3/3, and attacks for 3 damage. M13 is now at 9 life points.
Luckily, M13 draws a Fog, that gives it the room to cast the Divination, drawing a Ranger's Path and a Jace, Memory Adept. Then, it passes. Antiquities attacks with all its creatures, again countered by the Fog, then plays a Tetravus and passes. Again M13 is now drawing lands, so it plays a Sleep and passes. Antiquities plays a Candelabra of Tawnos, then attacks with the two Mishra's Factory, and passes. The clock is ticking for M13, that it's still not drawing lands, and finally decides to concede. The two decks move on to game four.
Game Four
Antiquities is again forced to mulligan, but at least can start the game with a Mishra's Workshop and Candelabra of Tawnos. And while M13 is still busy playing lands, Antiquities plays a Mishra's Factory and uses the Candelabra to fuel a Tetravus. Things are looking good for Antiquities. M13 is still playing lands, so Antiquities attacks for four damage and then play a second Tetravus. M13 finally gets its fourth land in play and casts a Sleep before passing. But Antiquities is relentlessly building an army of metallic monsters, and adds a Triskelion to the board before passing.
And M13 finds itself out of defenses and forced to pass. The game seems set to be a quick bloodbath, as Antiquities attacks for 12 damage and plays a Rocket Launcher. M13 draws and plays a Sleep, and as Antiquities is still stuck with two lands (unbelievable, considering the amount of stuff in play), it's unable to yet deal the killing blow. So it plays an Onulet and passes.
But it's only a matter of time now. M13 draws a Jace, Memory Adept and again it's defenseless – but this time, it's game over. Antiquities tramples over M13 and reaches the group Finals.
Magic 2013 1 - Antiquities 3
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The silver bullet Timespiral faces off with the removal-heavy Ravnica in an interesting showdown. Let's see how it turned out!
Game 1
Timespiral wins the roll to begin and starts on turn two with a suspended Riftwing Cloudskate. On the other side, Ravnica plays a Watchwolf and passes. Timespiral draws, plays a Calciform Pools and passes. Ravnica attacks with the Watchwolf, but the animal is quickly neutralized by a Temporal Isolation. Ravnica then plays a Selesnya Guildmage and passes. Timespiral plays a morphed down creature, suspends an Ancestral Vision and then passes.
Timespiral has a problem: a Dark Confidant in hand, and no black mana sources to play it. For now, the best it can do is attacking with the Guildmage (Timespiral takes the damage).
The Cloudskate enters the battlefield and bounces back the Guildmage, that responds by creating a Saproling token. The Cloudskate and the morphed creature are turned to attack for four damage, then Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens and passes. Still no black mana for Ravnica, that plays the Guildmage again and passes. End of turn, one counter goes on the Pools.
Timespiral draws, plays an Avalanche Riders to destroy a Temple Garden, then turns the Rider itself and the Cloudskate to attack. Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then decides to chumpblock the Rider with the token. Still no black mana for Ravnica, that just draws and passes. Timespiral pays the Echo cost for the Riders, then attacks again with the same two creatures. This time, the Guildmage trades for the Riders, and a Devouring Light flies to remove the Cloudskate from the battlefield once and for all. Before the spell can resolve, though, the morphed creature is turned face up to reveal (not surprisingly) a Vesuvan Shapeshifter, turning into the Cloudskate. Then Timespiral passes.
Still no black mana for Ravnica. It's forced to pass again, shaking its head.On Timespiral's side, the Ancestral Vision resolves, allowing it to draw three. Timespiral attacks for two with the Shapeshifter... that is removed by a second Devouring Light! Timespiral shrugs, then plays a Mangara of Corondor, suspends another Ancestral Vision, and puts another counter on the Pools.
Ravnica draws... a Putrefy. Three Putrefy, one Dark Confidant... and zero black mana sources. What a game for Ravnica. Once again, the ball goes back to Timespiral.
To make things worse for Ravnica, Timespiral is about to get serious, throwing into the fray its best creature: a Lightning Angel. Three more damage for Ravnica, that falls down to 11. Timespiral then passes. And finally, finally... a Swamp! Ravnica has to deal with the Angel first, and the big question is: has Timespiral drawn a Momentary Blink? Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then decides to wait before casting the spell. So, it just passes.
But end of turn... Mangara is tapped to remove the Swamp! Annoying bastard, thinks Ravnica, that is forced to immediately play the Putrefy towards the Angel. Timespiral responds by playing the Momentary Blink on the Angel, safeguarding it. On its turn, Timespiral attacks and brings its opponent down to 8.
Ravnica draws and plays... a Selesnya Guilmage. Probably won't be enough. Still, nothing more to do, and it has to pass. Timespiral attacks for three more, then plays a Prismatic Lens, and passes. Ravnica draws a Faith's Fetters, that with the Momentary Blink waiting in the graveyard, won't really help much. Still, it's the only available play right now, and Ravnica takes it. As predicted, the Blink is flashbacked, and the Aura goes to the graveyard.
Comes the following turn and the Vision is resolved, allowing Timespiral to refill its hand. Two Avalanche Riders are played this turn, and immediately turned to attack. Ravnica can only block one with the Guildmage, and that makes 3 damage from the angel... plus 2 from a Rider... for a total of five. Game over. Timespiral wins game one!
Game 2
This time Ravnica can start the way it prefers: a turn two Dark Confidant. Timespiral answers by suspending a Riftwing Cloudskate. Ravnica reveals and draws a Putrefy, then takes two more damage with an untapped Temple Garden that is used to play a Watchwolf. The ball goes back to Timespiral, that draws and passes. Ravnica is unfortunately taking some serious damage, as it reveals a Vigor Mortis and falls down to 11! Luck is really not on Ravnica's side today. Ravnica grimaces and attacks with both its creatures, but the Watchwolf is neutralized by a Temporal Isolation. Then, a Selesnya Guildmage is played, and finally Ravnica passes. Timespiral plays a morphed down creature and passes.
The Confidant reveals a second Selesnya Guildmage, that Ravnica immediately plays. A Vitu-Ghazi, City Tree also enters the battlefield this turn. The other Guildmage is turned to attack along with the Confidant, and Timespiral decides to take the damage. Ravnica is now at 9 life points, while Timespiral is at 12.
The Cloudskate enters the battlefield this turn, bouncing one of the Guildmage, and then is turned to attack. A Last Gasp is revealed by Ravnica, and Timespiral apparently has no Momentary Blink to answer, so there goes the flying creature. Timespiral then plays a Calciform Pools and passes.
The Confidant finally reveals a Forest, meaning no damage for Ravnica! A Putrefy is played to remove the morphed Shapeshifter, and Ravnica attacks again with the Confidant and the Guildmage. A Temporal Isolation flies towards the Confidant, and Timespiral takes two damage, falling to ten. Ravnica plays again the other Guildmage, and passes (end of turn, a counter on the Calciform Pools).
Timespiral draws and plays a morphed Vesuvan Shapeshifter, then passes. The Confidant reveals a Last Gasp, that is immediately played to remove the morphed creature, allowing the Guildmage to attack and activate their ability for a +1/+1... six damage to Timespiral, that falls down to 4. End of turn, one more counter on the Pools. Timespiral draws and passes.
Game over? Ravnica reveals a land with the Confidant, then turns its creatures to attack. Timespiral smiles, taps all its lands, removes the counters from the Pools... and plays a Bogardan Hellkite! Since Ravnica has eight mana available, and can activate the Guildmage's ability twice, Timespiral puts four damage on the Guildmage, and one on Ravnica itself. Then, Timespiral waits for Ravnica to play something. Does it have a Putrefy, or anything else? Ravnica shakes its head, while watching its hand (two Vigor Mortis and three lands). Then the Dragons blocks and kills the other Guildmage, that creates two Saproling tokens in its last moments of life.
Timespiral draws and plays an Avalanche Riders (destroying Vitu Ghazi), then turns its creatures to attack. Ravnica takes five more damage and falls down to one, while the two tokens trade for the Riders. Timespiral passes.
Ravnica reveals with trembling hand the card on top of its deck... a Selesnya Guildmage! Two damage, and Ravnica is dead. Timespiral wins game two and seems set for another surprising victory. Can Ravnica make a comeback?
Game 3
Luck seems to be turning as Timespiral is forced to mulligan, and then accept a hand with only one land. Ravnica, on the other side, starts with a turn two Watchwolf. On its second turn, Timespiral still has drawn no land, and is forced to pass. Ravnica attacks for three and plays a Selesnya Guildmage. Timespiral finally draws its second land, and uses it to play a Prismatic Lens. Ravnica laughs like an evil tyrant as it shows a Putrefy to remove the Lens, and attacks with both its creatures to take its opponent down to 12.
Timespiral draws another land, but lacks the white mana it would need for a Temporal Isolation. So, it can only suspend a Riftwing Cloudskate, knowing that most likely will never make it in time. Ravnica attacks for five more, plays another Guildmage, and passes.
Timespirals draws and plays another land, then an Avalanche Riders to destroy the enemy's Swamp... but Ravnica answers with a Last Gasp to kill the creature. With Timespiral at 7 life points, and no creatures on Timespiral's side of the board, it's clear that the game will be over in the following turn, so Timespiral simply concedes, and the two decks move on to game 4.
Game 4
Timespiral opens up the game with a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch an Island, while Ravnica starts with a tapped Overgrown Tomb. During the second turn, Timespiral suspends an Ancestral Vision, while Ravnica plays a Dark Confidant. Timespiral draws, thinks for a few seconds, then throws a Disintegrate at the Dark Confidant to solve the problem. Ravnica is not particularly happy with the sudden development, but hasn't got much choice, so it plays a Selesnya Guildmage and passes. Timespiral draws and plays a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch a second Plains, then passes.
Ravnica attacks for two with the Guildmage, but the creature only meets a Temporal Isolation. On its turn, Timespiral plays a Calciform Pools and passes (end of turn, a Saproling token is created). Ravnica draws, attacks with the token, then passes (end of turn, a counter is added on the Pools). Finally, Timespiral resolves the Vision and refills its hand. Once again, the inertia of the game seems to be moving in favor of Timespiral, that decides to play an Avalanche Riders to destroy one Overgrown Tomb, and immediately attacks with the creature. Ravnica sees two open lands on Timespiral's side of the board, and doesn't really like the idea of wasting a removal spell, but Timespiral might blink it anyway, and it's better to get that damn spell out of the way. So, a Devouring Light is played by Ravnica, but as it feared... Timespiral reveals a Momentary Blink! A second Overgrown Tomb is destroyed, and Ravnica is now out of black mana sources!
Luckily, it has two Swamps in hand, and draws a Putrefy, quickly removing the Riders before it could further impact on Ravnica's manabase. Ravnica then attacks with the token and passes.
But Timespiral's onslaught is far from over. A Lightning Angel is played and immediately turned to attack, and Ravnica has no choice but to take three. On its turn, Ravnica draws and passes. Timespiral draws and attacks again, and Ravnica reveals a Devouring Light, but Timespiral flashbacks the Blink to save the creature. Timespiral then plays a Mangara of Corondor and passes.
Ravnica draws a Putrefy and throws it at the Angel to finally kill it... but Timespiral shows a second Momentary Blink from its hand! Ravnica starts to feel a sense of doom as its opponent manages to endure its stream of removal spells – but Ravnica will fight until the end. For now, though, it has to pass. On its turn, Timespiral attacks for three more and passes. Ravnica again draws and passes – and end of turn, disaster: Timespiral plays a Bogardan Hellkite! Ravnica falls at 9 life points, and the outlook on survival is suddenly very grim.
Timespiral draws and attacks with both creatures. The best Ravnica can do is force Timespiral to remove the Hellkite from combat (otherwise, with five combat damage and five damage from Blink, it would be game over). So, a Devouring Light is played to force a Blink on the Hellkite, and Ravnica takes “only” eight damage, falling down to 1 life point. Timespiral then suspends an Ancestral Vision and passes.
Ravnica draws a Loxodon Hierarch and has a Faith's Fetters in hand. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the mana to play both. A Faith's Fetters on the Hellkite would be enough to survive one turn... but unfortunately Timespiral has Mangara of Corondor to remove it! There's not much that Ravnica can do at this point, really. Nothing to survive. Timespiral confirms itself the true surprise of this BOTS as it wins the quarterfinals and advances to the group A semifinals. Will it be able to overcome the fearsome Urza's Saga, too? Only time will tell. For the moment, the underdog takes the stage and the glory.
Timespiral 3 - Ravnica 1
Also, we start out with Group B's Quarterfinals. Enjoy!
One of the clash of titans in this round of BOTS, Apocalypse and Champions are two decks no one would like to find in its way, especially so soon. On paper, Champions should be able to win this matchup, as Apocalypse is not particularly fast and has very few ways of winning after its opponent enforces the Hazelock. On the other hand, Apocalypse is one of the most resilient decks in the format, so... who knows? The key cards in this matchup for Apocalypse will be Gerrard's Verdict, Vindicate and Death Grasp - this last one being Apocalypse's only way of winning after the lock is enforced.
Game One
Champions starts the game and begins its game with a turn two Sakura-Tribe Elder. Nothing from Apocalypse yet, so Champions attacks with the Elder and plays an Eerie Procession to fetch a Cranial Extraction – Champions is aiming at removing the opponent's threats immediately!
Apocalypse plays a Caves of Koilos and then a Phyrexian Arena (losing a life point to the double land). Champions attacks again with the Elder, then plays the Cranial Extraction targeting Death Grasp. Apocalypse luckily has none in hand – which is composed of 2 Spiritmonger, a Penumbra Wurm, a Gerrard's Verdict and two lands. Still, losing Death Graps is really bad for Apocalypse, as it was one of the key cards for this matchup.
On its turn, Apocalypse draws two, plays the Gerrard's Verdict (Champions discards a Soulless Revival and a land), then a Spectral Lynx, and passes. End of turn, Champions sacrifices the Elder. On its turn, Champions draws and passes. Apocalypse attacks with the Lynx, then shows a Vindicate to remove the opponent's only Forest. Champions is at four lands like now, and Apocalypse has no idea how close it is to completing its combo. Apocalypse must race against time, and it knows that.
Champions draws, plays an Eerie Procession to fetch a Kodama's Reach, then passes. Still four lands for Champions. Apocalypse draws two, attacks again, then plays a Spiritmonger and passes. Champions draws... a Forest! The combo deck smiles as it plays the land and then a Kodama's Reach, putting a second Forest in play and fetching a third for its hand. Then it passes. Champions is at 16 life points, Apocalypse at 14.
Apocalypse attacks for eight damage with the Spiritmonger and the Lynx, then plays a Penumbra Wurm and passes. Champions plays its seventh land, then a Kokusho, the Evening Star, and passes.
Apocalypse knows the game is approaching its conclusion. It draws two and plays a Vindicate, targeting the opponent's only Plains... and Champions shows an Ethereal Haze! For this turn it's safe, but will it be able to recycle the Arcane to survive one more turn? For now, Apolypse also adds a Pernicious Deed to the board and passes.
Champions draws... a Plains! Incredible! But unfortunately, no Hana Kami in sight so far. Still, with a Rend Flesh in hand and a Kokusho on the board, it can surely survive some longer – the game it's not over yet. For now, Champions passes.
Apocalypse draws two (and falls at 12 life points), then declares an all-out attack. Kokusho blocks the Spiritmonger, while the Rend Flesh flies off to kill the Wurm (and a Soulless Revival is splashed into to recover the only creature in the graveyard, the Sakura-Tribe Elder). Champions gains five and loses two. Then Apocalypse plays another Penumbra Wurm and passes.
Luck keeps smiling on Champions as it draws and plays a Gifts Ungiven, selecting a Hana Kami, an Ethereal Haze, a Rend Flesh and a Plains (Champions now knows Apocalypse's land destruction tactics). Apocalypse puts the Rend Flesh and the land in Champion's hand.
Now, Champions has four mana out of seven tapped. It only has Sakura-Tribe Elder to chump-block, and the Rend Flesh – but that's also the only Arcane to splice the Soulless Revival into. Against Champions, Apocalypse's horde of fatties – two Wurms (one “real” and one token), the Spiritmonger and a Lynx. Champions needs to keep the Soulless Revival in hand, since the other one is already in the graveyard and Champions could not - at the moment and for a few turns - recover any of them.
Apocalypse draws two and falls to seven – a Plains and a Necravolver. Not exactly what it wanted, but it will have to do. Apocalypse turns its creatures to attack. Unfortunately, Champions is forced to use the Rend Flesh, or die. The Elder chump-blocks the Spiritmonger (and then sacrifices for a land), the Wurm token is killed, and Champions takes 8 damage, falling to 3. Then Apocalypse plays the fully kicked Necravolver and passes.
It's all left to topdecking now. Another Gifts Ungiven! Champions thinks desperately – is there some combination of cards that can save the day? No, there isn't. Champions falls just short of closing the loop, and Apocalypse wins game one!
Game Two
Champions has to take a mulligan, and starts the game with a Shizo, Death's Storehouse on turn one, followed by a Forest and a Sakura-Tribe Elder on turn two. Nothing for Apocalypse yet, so Champions can attack with the Elder and play a Kodama's Reach to fetch two Plains – one in play and one in hand. Apocalypse draws, plays a Spectral Lynx and passes. Champions draws, plays another Forest, then passes.
Apocalypse draws, plays a land and attacks with the Lynx for two damage. Then, it starts undermining the opponent's mana base, using a Vindicate to target the Shizo – currently Champions's only source of black mana (Apocalypse takes one damage from tapping a dual land). Apocalypse then passes.
Champions is not really worried about the mana base right now, as the Elder can easily fix it, but rather is having troubles drawing the combo pieces. For now, it attacks again with the Elder and passes. Apocalypse draws, and finds itself stuck at four mana, and with only one black mana source. After attacking with the Lynx and thinking for a few seconds, Apocalypse decides to play a Necravolver as a 3/3 Lifelink. Apocalypse knows that it mush dish in damage as quickly as possible, and maybe gain some life points in the process. End of turn, the Elder is sacrificed to fetch a Swamp. Champions is now facing mana flood troubles, but it can use the Swamp it just fetched to play a Rend Flesh and remove the Necravolver. Then, it passes.
Apocalypse draws its fifth mana and immediately plays a Vindicate to remove the Swamp. Then, the Lynx attacks for two more, and Apocalypse passes. Champions is now at 14 life points, Apocalypse at 15. Champions draws and passes. Apocalypse draws, attacks with the Lynx, then plays a Spiritmonger and passes. Champions, again, draws and passes.
Apocalypse turns its two creatures to attack, and Champions shows the first Ethereal Haze of the game. Nothing to do, then, but Apocalypse adds a second Spiritmonger to the board and passes.
Champions draws and passes.
Apocalypse draws a Swamp, and finally gets the second black mana it needs to play a Phyrexian Arena. Then it turns all its creatures to attack – only to meet a second Ethereal Haze. Then, end of turn, Champions also plays a Gifts Ungiven. After selecting a Swamp, a Soulless Revival, a Kodama's Reach and an Eerie Procession, the ball goes back to Apocalypse, that takes a few seconds to think. First of all, Apocalypse notices that there's no Hana Kami in the group, so Champions must already have it in hand. Plus, Apocalypse knows that it must keep its opponent to get any black mana source. So, the Swamp and the Kodama's Reach go to the graveyard, and Champions gets the Eerie Procession and the Soulless Revival. Champions now has all the combo pieces – but no black mana. Apocalypse must close the game quickly.
Champions draws, plays and sacrifices a Hana Kami to get back the Haze, then plays the Eerie Procession to get a Kodama's Reach, and passes. Apocalypse draws two, attacks with all its creatures (obviously meeting the Ethereal Haze), then plays a fully kicked Necravolver, and passes.
Champions draws a Sensei's Divining Top. Champions absolutely needs an Ethereal Haze to survive. It has no Hana Kami, and to recover one with the Soulless Revival, it needs a Swamp. But Champions has not enough mana to play the Kodama's Reach, then the Soulless Revival, then the Hana Kami to recover the Haze – and finally play it on Apocalypse's turn. It's like a puzzle Champions can't hope to solve.
So, the only hope is playing the Top and hoping to find something good in the first three cards. Champions goes for it... and finds an Etehreal Haze, right on top! Incredible! Champions bursts out laughing as it activates the Top's second ability to get the Haze, then plays the Kodama's Reach to get two Swamps... except there's only one! Only one Swamp left in the deck. Champions is astounded, but there's no denying the truth. So Champions put an Island in play, then a Swamp in hand - and plays it. Now Champions has three lands untapped – exactly what is needed to play the Haze and Splice the Soulless Revival into it! What a turnaround!
But you don't become one of the most feared deck of the tournament for nothing. Apocalypse starts chuckling like an evil kid as it shows another Vindicate – targeting Champions's one and only Swamp! And there it goes. While Champions manages to survive one turn longer, the game is set – no protection for Champions anymore. Apocalypse wins game two.
Game Three
Game three starts really slow, so much so that the first play is a turn 4 Sensei's Divining Top from Champions. Apocalypse responds with a 3/3 Lifelink Necravolver on turn 4 – but that is killed at instant speed with a Rend Flesh from Champions. On its upkeep, Champions activates the Top and places a Sakura-Tribe Elder on top of its deck, drawing and playing it (the target is fecthing a Plains, that Champions is currently missing).
Apocalypse wants to start applying some pressure, and plays a Spiritmonger before passing. End of turn, Champions sacrifices the Elder, then activates the Top and places a Forest followed by a Soulless Revival on top of the deck – with the Ethereal Haze and Hana Kami in hand, Champions now has the complete combo and the mana needed to play it. So, it just draws and passes.
Apocalypse attacks with the Spiritmonger. Champions activates the Top's ability to draw the Soulless Revival, then plays the Haze (with the Revival Spliced to get back the Elder from the graveyard). Apocalypse shrugs, plays a Phyrexian Arena, then a Spectral Lynx, and finally passes.
Champions feels in control for the first time in the match, and plays the Hana Kami to get back the Haze, before passing.
Apocalypse attacks again, and again the Haze is played with the Revival, fetching back the Kami. The loop is complete, but Apocalypse is ready to enforce its rule again: a Vindicate is played to destroy the Plains. No fear, though, as Champions has got it covered: the Sakura-Tribe Elder previously recovered with the Revival is played, along with the Sensei's Divining Top. Then, Champions passes.
Apocalypse again attacks. The Elder blocks the Spiritmonger, then sacrifices itelf to fetch another Plains (plus, Champions takes two damage from the Lynx). And then it happens: Apocalypse nonchalantly shows another Vindicate to remove the second Plains! What incredible relentlessness! Champions is shocked, but it knows it has to fight back. And since it risks running out of Plains, there's one card it must absolutely find: a Cranial Extraction, to remove the Vindicates from Apocalypse's deck once and for all. So, end of turn, the Top is activated, putting a Kodama's Reach on top of Champions's deck.
Champions draws and plays the Kodama's Reach, looking into its deck to assess the situation. Champions is not wrong: there are only two Plains in Champions's deck, and two Vindicates in Apocalypse's. They must be protected. Champions fetches a Forest in play and a Swamp in hand, then plays the Swamp and passes.
Apoclaypse draws two and turns its creatures to attack. Champions shows a Rend Flesh to kill the Spiritmonger, and while the Beast is regenerated, Champions succesfully prevented 6 damage for this turn. The Lynx deals two and Champions falls down to 16. Apocalypse then plays a fully kicked Necravolver and passes.
Champions plays a Kokusho, the Evening Star, and passes. Apocalypse draws two and falls at 14. Again, all its creatures are turned to attack. Kokusho trades for the Necravolver, while the Spiritmonger and the Lynx are free to deal damage. Champions loses eight and gain five, falling down to thirteen. Apocalypse loses five and gains five, remaining at 14. Another fully kicked Necravolver is played, then Apocalypse passes. End of turn, Champions activates the Top to get a Sakura-Tribe Elder on top of the deck. While it would like to avoid losing any more Plains, the truth is – it needs one, or it's going to die soon.
Champions draws and gets ready to chump-block some creatures with a Hana Kami and a Sakura-Tribe Elder, then passes. Apocalypse, as usual, has other plans. Chuckling, it plays a Pernicious Deed and activates it for two. Champions is again shocked by the sudden development, and has no choice except sacrificing its two creatures to get a Plains in play and a Rend Flesh in hand. Problem is – the Plains is tapped and there's not enough mana to cast the Rend Flesh. Luckily, the Lynx is tapped after regenerating, and Apocalypse can deal only 11 damage – not enough to kill. Champions falls down to 2 and survives another turn.
Champions has also activated the Top before it gets destroyed... and seen a Cranial Extraction. On Champions's turn, the powerful sorcery is drawn and immediately played. Champions thinks. Sure, the Vindicate is the public enemy number one, but Champions is down at only 2 life points. Now, Apocalypse's mana is almost all tapped this turn (only three untapped), but if it has a Death's Grasp in hand... next turn, that would be game over. Champions cannot risk. Death Grasp is named... and Apoclaypse shows one in hand with a bitter smile.
Now, Champions has an Haze in hand, with a Plains in play. It can hold on to the game, for now. And it passes. Apocalypse draws and attacks. Champions shows an Ethereal Haze with a Soulless Revival to fetch back a Hana Kami. Apocalypse then plays a second Phyrexian Arena – it must find another Vindicate before Champions can remove those, too.
Champions fetches back the Haze, and considers the situation. Considering the mana needed to fuel the Hazelock, it doesn't actually have much more left. Champions passes. Apocalypse draws three... another Phyrexian Arena... a Pernicious Deed... and a Vindicate. The double Arena strategy worked out! The Vindicate is immediately played to remove the Plains, then Apocalypse also adds a Penumbra Wurm to the board. The Ethereal Haze was obviously played along with the Revival to fetch back the Hana Kami, but now Champions is once again without white mana sources.
On its turn, Champions draws a Sakura-Tribe Elder. With that, it can get another Plains in play, but it will be tapped. Champions considers its options. Right now, it has seven lands in play. It could play an Eerie Procession to fetch a Kodama's Reach, get a Plains in hand and then play it, but then it would lack the mana to both recover the Haze from the graveyard and play it. Not good. Champions could play two Hana Kami and a Sakura-Tribe Elder to chump-block, and also a Rend Flesh to remove one more creature. Theoretically, it could stop all four Apocalypse's creatures this way... except the Lynx has Protection from Green and is a Spirit! And Champions is exactly at two life points. Champions keeps thinking, and finally realizes it's over. There's nothing it can do to survive one more turn. Apocalypse's ruthless land disruption tactics were able to shut off Champions's Hazelock, and the combo deck couldn't keep up with the card advantage from Phyrexian Arend, always one step behind its opponent. Apocalypse wins and advances to the Group B semifinals!
Apocalypse 3 - Champions of Kamigawa 0
Darksteel vs Gatecrash
The army of machines is moving forward as expected, and now faces Gatecrash's control deck to reach the quarterfinals. While Darksteel is the clear favorite here, Gaetcrash hopes to achieve an unexpected victory exploiting Merciless Eviction that could act as a one-sided Final Judgment (and maybe even remove one land or two in the process). Will it be enough?
Game One
Gatecrash starts, but the first play is from Darksteel with a turn one Skullclamp. Gatecrash responds with a High Priest of Penance, while Darksteel on its second turn puts an Arcbound Stinger in play and passes. Gatecrash considers the situation and decides to attack with the High Priest, then plays a Basilica Guards and passes. Darksteel draws and plays an Arcbound Worker, then equips the Skullclamp to kill it and draw two. Then, the now 2/2 Stinger attacks for two and finally Darksteel passes.
Gatecrash wants to prevent the Flying creature from attacking, and plays a One Thousand Lashes on it. Then, it attacks again with the Priest and passes. Darksteel plays a Blinkmoth Nexus, then a Arcbound Ravager and an Arcbound Worker. Finally, it equips the Skullclamp to the Stinger and sacrifices it with the Ravager's ability. Darksteel is picking up steam.
Gatecrash plays a Truefire Paladin and activates the Extort ability from the Guards before passing. Darksteel first activates the Skullclamp to kill the Worker and draw two. Then, the Blinkmoth Nexus is activated and the Ravager sacrifices itself to move 5 +1/+1 counters on the flying animated land. Darksteel can now attack for 6 and bring Gatecrash down to 13. Finally, Darksteel plays another Ravager and passes.
There's not much that Gatecrash can do now except attack with the Paladin and the Priest. Darksteel decides to take the damage, and Gatecrash boosts the Paladin to 4/2 for a total of 5 damage. Darksteel falls down at 11 and Gatecrash plays a second High Priest before passing (activating Extort again).
Darkstell attacks again for 6 damage, then plays an Arcbound Crusher and passes. While Darksteel seems to be slowly stacking up an advantage, the game is more close than it could originally seem. Darksteel has a Merciless Eviction and a Spark Trooper in hand. Both these cards could be very effective at the moment, but Gatecrash has only five lands and a single red mana source in play. So, much is left to the topdecking... and it's a Godless Shrine.
Gatecrash is at 8 life points, would fall to 6 and be killed by the Blinkmoth Nexus in the following turn by playing the Shrine untapped. On the other hand, Darksteel can move at least two more counters on the Blinkmoth Nexus by sacrificing the Crusher and the Ravager – and that would be game over as well. The numbers don't lie.
Gatecrash shakes its head. Still, it attacks with all its creatures to deal 6 more damage and bring Darksteel down to 4. Then, it's over. On its following turn, Darksteel wins game one!
Game Two
Another great start from Darksteel, with a turn one Æther Vial followed by a turn two Blinkmoth Nexus and Arcbound Stinger. Gatecrash finally gets something in play, showing a High Priest of Penance, then passes. Darksteel attacks with the Stinger, then plays a Sword of Fire and Ice, and finally passes – the game is starting to look bad for Gatecrash.
Gatecrash considers the situation, then plays a Gideon, Champion of Justice, activates its +1 ability, and passes. End of turn, an Arcbound Ravager is played with the Vial. Then, the Sword is equipped to the Stinger and the flying creatures charges in to kill the opponent's planeswalker. Finally, Darksteel plays a Skullclamp and passes. Gatecrash just draws and passes, and Darksteel end of turn dishes in an Arcbound Slith. Darksteel plays an Arcbound Worker and equips the Skullclamp to it. Then, the Ravager starts growing by killing the Slith, and sacrifices itself to turn the Stinger into a 6/6. Then, the Stinger attacks, and suddenly Gatecrash is left with only one turn to live.
But this time, things are going to work out differently. Gatecrash puts the sixth land into play and shows a Merciless Eviction, exiling all the artifacts! Darksteel still has the clear advantage – but Gatecrash might just be setting up for a comeback.
Darksteel, though, is not about to just let the game slip through its fingers. On its turn, it plays an Arcbound Slith and then a Sword of Fire and Ice, before passing. Gatecrash shows an Obzedat, Ghost Council, gaining some much needed life points. The Ghost Council is also removed from game at the end of turn, with Gatecrash confiding on the Priest to keep the Slith at bay for now.
Still, Darksteel can count on the Blinkmoth Nexus, too. The land is animated and equipped with the Sword to deal five more damage to Gatecrash, that falls down at 3 life points! Then, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Ravager and passes.
The Ghost Council comes back and Gatecrash is again at 5 life points – but that won't be enough. Gatecrash needs at least one more life point to survive. It draws a Basilica Guards... but with seven lands and a One Thousand Lashes plus an Assemble the Legion in hand, it just won't be able to activate the Extort ability. Again, Gatecrash can't stabilize the game, and Darksteel gets ahead on 2-0.
Game Three
Again, the first play is from Darksteel with an Æther Vial, while Gatecrash responds the following turn with a Truefire Paladin. Then, Darksteel remains stuck with one land. It will still be able to play creatures with the Vial, but at a much more slowed down pace. Gatecrash attacks for two, then plays a second Truefire Paladin. Darksteel gets a second land in play along with a second counter on the Vial, then plays a Genesis Chamber and passes.
Gatecrash gets a fourth land in play and attacks with both creatures. Darksteel puts an Arcbound Stinger in play at instand speed and uses the Myr token to chump-block one of the two Paladins. The other one, though, is boosted at 6/2 and Darksteel falls down to 12. Then, Gatecrash passes.
Darksteel plays a second Genesis Chamber, attacks with the Stinger and passes.
Gatecrash now knows that its creatures can easily be chump-blocked, so it plays a Spark Trooper (also creating two Myr tokens) and attacks with all three.
This time, an Arcbound Ravager is played at instant speed, and two tokens created. Since Gatecrash is all tapped out, Darksteel decides to block one of the Paladins with both the tokens, killing it. The downside is that Darksteel takes 8 damage and falls down to 4. Gatecrash sees the first victory of the match – but it's not done yet.
Darksteel surprisingly adds another counter to the vial, then plays a second Ravager and passes.
Gatecrash has two problems right now: only four lands right now, and no black mana available. Still, it's not the time to fall back on the defensive. Gatecrash declares an all-out attack with all its creatures!
Darksteel sacrifices the two Chambers, two Darksteel Citadels and the Stinger to boost up the two Ravagers! One its a 3/3, the other one a 5/5. The two block the Paladins. Gatecrash thinks for a second, then decides to turn one of them into a 4/2 with First Strike and kill the 3/3. Plus, Darksteel takes two more damage from the tokens and falls down to two.
Darksteel draws and plays a Blinkmoth Nexus, then adds a fourth counter on the Vial and passes. Gatecrash still can't draw a single Swamp, and decides to keep the defensive, this time. End of turn, the Vial is tapped to put an Arcbound Crusher in play. Then, Darksteel draws and passes. Gatecrash still can't draw a Swamp and is forced to pass. A second Arcbound Crusher is put in play with the Vial. Darkstell then plays an Arcbound Stinger and watches the two Crusher growing – soon, Darksteel will be ready to move on the offensive. And when it will strike, it will strike hard.
Gaetcrash draws a Plains.... better than nothing, it can put an Assemble the Legion into play, but then it's forced to pass again. Darksteel plays another Ravager and checks the situation: it can't yet kill the opponent in a single turn, but it will be able to soon enough. For now, it attacks with the Stinger and passes. Standing at two life points, Darksteel can't afford to take risks.
Gatecrash still can't draw a Swamp, unfortunately. Darksteel has enough creatures untapped to keep Gatecrash's attack at bay, and the control deck is forced to pass again. Darksteel can't play anything this turn, and does some math. The artifact deck has an available damage output of 23 damage this turn... and Gatecrash is at 24! Not yet, then. Darksteel passes, but it knows that it will have to act quickly – soon, an army of soldiers will come charging at Darksteel, that it's still sitting at 2 life points.
A single Swamp would be enough for Gatecrash to cast a Merciless Eviction and win the game... but it just draws another Truefire Paladin. The Paladin is played, then Gatecrash considers the situation. Six creatures can attack for Gatecrash, six blockers available for Darkstell. But next turn... with three more soldier tokens available. Gatecrash passes and hopes to survive.
And then it happens. Darksteel draws and plays a Skullclamp... and the Crushers grow again! The Ravager starts devouring everything on Darksteel's side of the board, and finally moves all the tokens on the Stinger, that flies over to kill Gatecrash! A crushing 3-0 victory for Darksteel, against an opponent that would certainly have deserved to win at least a game. Gatecrash leaves the tournament, and Darksteel moves on to face Apocalypse in a cataclysmic match in the semifinals!
Darksteel 3 - Gatecrash 0
One suggestion about the reporting:
When a player casts a spell, instead of saying "reveals" or "shows" can you say something like "casts" or "plays"? I could understand if you were trying to spice up the commentary with varied word choice and flavorful verbs here and there, but "reveals" doesn't add much and you use it very often anyway. It was confusing in one game when there was a Dark Confidant on the table! I had to really analyze the changes in board state and life totals to figure out if a card was being drawn off Confidant or cast. That kind of ambiguity could arise in other board states too. Many Magic cards require you to "reveal" a card from some zone.
If you don't want to restrict yourself to "casts" and "plays", here are a few alternate suggestions that do not have rules ambiguity the way "reveals"/"shows" does:
-"responds with"
-"has the answer again with <card>"
-"protects <creature> with <instant>"
-"blinks <creature>"
-"drops <creature> on the field"
-"crushes <player>'s dreams with <card>"
-"destroys <creature> with <removal spell>"
-"exiles <creature> with <exile removal spell>"
-"shrinks <creature> with <-X/-X removal spell>"
-"topdecks <powerful permanent> and windmill slams it on the field"
Thank you for the feedback. I see that my choice of words might be confusing in some situations
Dragon's Maze vs Oath of the Gatewatch
Two brutal midrange decks built to maximize the impact of the best cards in their set. It's hard to guess who will come on top, but Oath of the Gatewatch is probably more flexible and should be able to attack its opponent from different directions thanks to card like Thought-Knot Seer and Spatial Contortion. Dragon's Maze packs more sheer power with cards like Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and Savageborn Hydra.
Game One
Dragon's Maze wins the roll and starts with a tapped Stomping Ground. Oath of the Gatewatch plays a Crumbling Vestige followed by a Reaver Drone. Dragon's Maze plays a Spike Jester and turns it sideways to attack. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then decides to block with the Reaver and the two creatures go to the graveyard.
Not much happens on the following turn, as Oath plays a Mirrorpool and passes, while Dragon's Maze plays a second tapped Stomping Ground and passes as well.
Oath plays a Swamp followed by a Matter Reshaper, then passes – but end of turn, a Skylasher flash-ily enters the battlefield on Dragon's Maze side of the board. It's now Dragon's Maze turn, that plays its fourth land and considers the situation. In hand, it has two Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and one Savageborn Hydra. The Hydra could be played only as a 2/2 at the moment, and while it would grow quickly, it's a bit of a risk considering the opponent might just kill it with a Spatial Contortion. On the other hand, the more it waits, the more there's a chance Oath might just play a Thought-Knot Seer and simply exile it. In the end, Dragon's Maze decides to take a risk and plays the Hydra – if it just can survive this turn, the next one will grow into a 4/4 and from there might soon win the game for Dragon's Maze.
But that's not meant to be, unfortunately. After playing another tapped Mirrorpool, Oath casts exactly the card Dragon's Maze had feared... the Spatial Contortion. The powerful Hydra disappears into a hole to nowhere, and the Matter Reshaper is turned to attack. The Skylasher block and the two creatures kill each other. A Bearer of Silence is revealed from the top of Oath's deck, and from there goes directly to its hand. Finally, Oath also plays a Reaver Drone before passing.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays a Spike Jester, and like it happened on turn two, the Reaver Drone and the Jester kill themselves in open field. Then, Dragon's Maze passes.
Oath plays a third Mirrorpool (!) then casts a Thought-Knot Seer. At the moment, Dragon's Maze hand is composed only of the two Ruric Thar, so the choice is simple for Oath. The ball goes back to Dragon's Maze, that really needs to draw something good... a Rot Farm Skeleton. Not exactly what it was expecting. Still, with only five lands in play (and the Bearer of Silence in Oath's hand), it's the only creature Dragon's Maze can hope to cast right now. And that it does. Then, it passes.
Oath plays another land, then sacrifices a Mirrorpool to copy the Seer and remove the second Ruric Thar from Dragon's Maze hand. Finally, it attacks for four damage. Unless Dragon's Maze can draw something really good really quickly, the game looks like it'll be over very soon.
Dragon's Maze, unfortunately, draws a land, with nothing left to play. Still, it attacks with the Skeleton (Oath takes the damage) before passing. Oath draws, attacks with its two creatures (Dragon's Maze is now at 8), then passes.
Dragon's Maze draws a Putrefy. End of turn, Oath could create another Seer with the Mirrorpool, and then win on the following turn (even with one of the Seers killed by Putrefy). So, the best option is definitely to play it immediately and maybe draw something good to survive one more turn. the Putrefy is then played to kill one Seer. And there it comes... a Varolz, the Scar-Striped. Exactly what Dragon's Maze hoped. After it passes, Oath end of turn activates another Mirrorpool to put another Seer into play.
On its turn, the Eldrazi's deck is ready to shatter its opponent hopes. After playing a Swamp to go back up to six lands, Oath plays a Spatial Contortion to kill Skeleton, then the kicked Bearer of Silence to remove Varolz... and open the way to the two Seer. That's exactly 8 damage, and game one goes to the Eldrazi deck!
Game Two
Dragon's Maze starts, but it's Oath to make the first play with a turn two Eldrazi Mimic. End of turn, though, Dragon's Maze restores the balance with a Skylasher. On the coming turn, the green creature is turned to attack for two (Oath takes the damage). Dragon's Maze then plays a Varolz, the Scar-Striped and passes. Oath immediately spends a Spatial Contortion to get rid of the dangerous troll, then attacks with the Mimic and finally plays a Reaver Drone.
Dragon's Maze draws and then smiles as it casts a second Varolz, and passes the turn. But Oath is definitely not falling behind, as it plays a Thought-Knot Seer to reveal a hand of two lands and one Rot Farm Skeleton (this one is obviously exiled). Then, the now 4/4 Mimic and the Drone are turned to attack- Dragon's Maze takes the damage from the Mimic and trades the Drone with the Skylasher. Dragon's Maze draws another land, and then scavenges both creature in the graveyard to turn Varolz into a dangerous 6/6. But it's clearly not Dragon's Maze lucky day, as Oath draws an Oblivion Strike and exile it immediately – opening the way for six more damage to hit the target! Dragon's Maze would really need some luck now, but it draws another land! And from then, it's quickly over. Oath wins game two and seems to have its hands on the match!
Game Three
Dragon's Maze is forced to take a mulligan, while Oath seems satisfied and starts quick with a turn one Reaver Drone. Dragon's Maze makes its first play on turn two with a Zhur-Taa Druid. Oath draws, plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then attacks with the Drone (Dragon's Maze takes the damage). Then Oath plays a Slaughter Drone and passes. Dragon's Maze plays a land and passes.
Oath draws and attacks with both creatures. Dragon's Maze taps the Druid and a land to put a Skylasher into play, and assigns it to block the Slaughter Drone. Oath casts a Spatial Contortion, though, and immediately solves the issue. The Eldrazi deck then passes. Dragon's Maze is definitely not having its best game, and again just draws and passes.
Oath draws and attacks. Dragon's Maze casts a Putrefy to remove the Slaughter Drone, and takes two damage from the Reaver to fall down to 14. The good news for Dragon's Maze is that Oath is stuck at three lands. The bad news is that it can play another Slaughter Drone and another Reaver Drone from its hand – and looking at the board now, this army of small creatures could very well be enough to close the game. Dragon's Maze needs an answer, quickly.
But for now, it just draws and passes. Oath gets its fourth land in play and then a Thought-Knot Seer. Dragon's Maze has five lands in play (plus the Druid) and two Putrefy in hand, so it decides to act immediately: it taps out all to destroy both the newly entered Seer and one of the Slaughter Drones. The Seer is killed before its come-into-play ability is resolved, and the death triggers its second ability. Luckily for Dragon's Maze, it only draws an Overgrown Tomb from the Seer's second ability, and that's the only one that can be removed. Not a satisfying turn of events for Oath, all in all, but it can still attack for four damage with its remaining creatures. Dragon's Maze falls down at 10.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays a second Zhur-Taa Druid, then passes. Oath attacks again with both Reaver Drones, and Dragon's Maze blocks with one of the Druids, trading (the second one is kept aside as Dragon's Maze wants to have six mana available). Oath then adds another Slaughter Drone to the board and passes. Dragon's Maze draws... a Forest! The mana flood continues, and Dragon's Maze is forced to pass. Oath attacks again with both creatures, and the remaining Druid trades for the Drone. Then, a Matter Reshaper is played, and Oath passes.
Dragon's Maze draws and plays an Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch, obviously without activating the Unleash, then passes. But then Oath draws... and starts chuckling. The fifth land... all it needed to cast a Reality Smasher from its hand! And with that, it's game over. Oath of the Gatewatch shows its brutal strength and tramples over a more than worthy opponent. The Eldrazi move on to conquer the worl- ehm, Group B!
Dragon's Maze 0 - Oath of the Gatewatch 3
Dark Ascension vs Arabian Nights
On paper, Dark Ascension's midrange deck is superior to its opponent, but Arabian Nights is quick and, more importantly, Dark Ascension lacks the capability to block the opponent's flyers. The midrange deck will have to deal as much damage as possible, counting on the suicide aggro nature of its opponent, before Arabian Nights flying creature can inflict the killing blow.
Game One
Dark Ascension gets fist turn, but has to take a mulligan and doesn't look fully satisfied even with the new hand. It isn't surprising, then, that the first play of the game is a Flying Men from Arabian Nights, but at least Dark Ascension is able to answer readily with a turn two Strangleroot Geist, immediately turned to attack (Arabian Nights take the damage). Arabian Nights attacks with the Flying Men, then plays a second one, and passes. Dark Ascension attacks and passes.
Then, Arabian Nights is ready to break the balance of power in its favor with a Serendib Efreet. How will Dark Ascension answer? With an Huntmaster of the Fells! None of the decks want to leave an advantage to its opponent. Dark Ascension then considers the situation and passes.
Arabian Nights, though, keeps stacking up large creatures with a Juzám Djinn, then launches an all out attack with its flyers – nothing Dark Ascension can do to stop those. Dark Ascension is now at 14 life points, while Arabian Nights is at 15.
Dark Ascension draws and passes, allowing the Huntmaster to transform and deal two damage to the opponent, and also to kill one of the annoying Flying Men. Also, Arabian Nights takes two damage from its creatures, falling down at 11. Still, it's very lucky on the draw, getting an Unstable Mutation that is immediately played on the Serendib Efreet to double its damage output. Arabian Nighs then attacks with all its creatures. The Juzam Djinn is chump-blocked by the Geist, that comes back with a +1/+1 counter on itself, while Dark Ascension takes 7 damage and falls down to 7. Finally, Arabian Nights plays a second Juzam Djinn and passes.
The Ravager of the Fells transforms back into the Huntmaster, netting two useful life points and another wolf token. Dark Ascension would seriously need another land, but unfortunately it remains stuck at four. So, it plays a Predator Ooze and declares an attack with one token, the Huntmaster and the Geist – Dark Ascension now needs to dish in as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible (but it keeps two blockers available for the two Djinns). Arabian Nights is at 11 life points, and it's taking 3 damage per turn from its creatures. Only one blocker is available - the newly cast Juzam Djinn. Since Arabian Nights won't be able to win in the coming turn, it must at all costs avoid falling down to six, or it will just suicide itself. So, the 3/2 Geist must be blocked. Arabian Nights takes four damage and falls down to seven.
Arabian Nights would need an Oubliette to win the game... but it isn't lucky. It attacks with its flyers, bringing its opponent down to 3, then plays a Serendib Djinn and passes. But then it's over: Dark Ascension doesn't play anything and passes, the Huntmaster transforms and, along with the self-inflicted damage, that's enough to kill Arabian Nights! Unfortunately, there was nothing to do for Arabian Nights – it was just a matter of choosing how to die.
Game Two
Arabian Nights starts, and what a start: turn one Library of Alexandria! On the other side, Dark Ascension plays a Wolfbitten Captive and passes. Arabian Nights draws, activates the Library, then plays a Swamp and passes. The Captive transforms, allowing Dark Ascension to attack for two, then a Dawntreader Elk is also played, and finally it's Arabian Nights's turn again.
The Library is activated again, as Arabian Nights desperately needs to find an Island, and finally manages to. The land is played along with a Flying Men, then Arabian Nights passes. Dark Ascension wants to press its advantage as much as possible, and attacks with both creatures to deal 4 damage, before passing. Then it's finally Arabian Nights's moment to shine, as a Serendib Efreet is finally played, and also an Unstable Mutation is played on the Flying Men, allowing them to attack for four (this turn, the Library is not activated). The Krallenhorde Killer transforms back into the Wolfbitten Captive, but Dark Ascension has great plans for the meek 1/1 – an Increasing Savagery is played to turn it into a brutal 6/6, and it rampages its way across the battlefield towards Arabian Nights. The aggro deck thinks for a second, then decides to safeguard the Efreet, and takes the full impact of the 6 damage. Arabian Nights is now at 8 (and 7 on its own upkeep), while Dark Ascension at 16.
Arabian Nights attacks with its flyers for six damage, then plays an Oubliette to remove the 6/6 Captive, and passes. Dark Ascension attacks with the Elk for two, then plays a Vorapede and passes. Arabian Nights needs something to deal with the Vorapede, and luckily a Juzám Djinn is exactly the right man... well, the right djinn... for the job. Arabian Nights also attacks for five and passes.
But that's it. Dark Ascension shows a Fling, pointing at the Vorapede... and game over again for Arabian Nights!
Game Three
Bad luck for Arabian Nights, that has to take a mulligan. No play on turn one, while Dark Ascension gets a Wolfbitten Captive in play. Still no play on turn two, and Dark Ascension can flip the Captive over and attacks for two, before passing. Arabian Nights, on its third turn, gets a Serendib Efreet in play and passes. A Predator Ooze joins the battle for Dark Ascension, and the ball goes back to Arabian Nights.
Arabian Nights attacks for three, then plays a Juzám Djinn and passes. Dark Ascension is smiling now, as it boosts the Ooze with an Increasing Savagery, turning it into an indestructible 6/6.... and 7/7 after turning to attack! Arabian Nights despairs, but then decides to block it with the Djinn, sacrificing the creature and turning the Ooze into an 8/8.
It's all or nothing now for Arabian Nights, that plays an Unstable Mutation on the Efreet, attacking for six to take its opponent down at 11. Then, a Flying Men is also played, to chump-block the Ooze (and turn the Krallenhorde Killer back into the Captive).
But, at this point, Dark Ascension wants the victory. After attacking with its creatures (the Ooze is obviously chump-blocked), a Vorapede is also played, and then it's Arabian Nights's turn again. The Efreet attacks for five damage (Dark Ascension is now at six), then an Erg Raiders is played to keep chump-blocking the mastodontic Ooze.
A Fling would be enough to finish the game for Dark Ascension, but unfortunately it won't be that easy. After playing a Strangleroot Geist, an all-out attack is declared. The Ooze is once again chump-blocked, but this time Dark Ascension also dishes in ten damage, and Arabian Nights is down to five.
Only one card can make the miracle now: another Unstable Mutation. Arabian Nights draws... another Serendib Efreet! Game over, again. Dark Ascension takes the game by storm and moves on to the group's semifinals, where it will face Oath of the Gatewatch in a blasting game of power and endurance.
Dark Ascension 3 - Arabian Nights 0
Dragon Maze's Turn 3 - Druid deals 1, Exava deals 4. Oath @ 15 life.
Turn 4 - Exava gets chumped by Matter Reshaper. EOT Druid taps for 1 to cast Putrefy / Skylasher (not reported in your log but must have happened to generate 5 mana). Oath @ 14.
Turn 5 - Exava swings for 4. Oath @ 10. EOT Druid taps for 1 damage. Oath @ 9.
Turn 6 - Exava is chumped by another Matter Reshaper. Did Druid remember to ping at EOT? Not reported.
After Oath's attack you say "Both decks are now at 12 life points."
Unless there was unstated lifegain, that can't be true. If Dragon Maze forgot to ping EOT on turn 6, Oath would be at 9 life. If the ping happened, Oath would be at 8 life. Not 12.
Turn 7 - Exava swings for 4. Another Druid. Oath @ 4.
On Oaths attack, one of the Druids chump blocks. With Oath at 4 life, I would keep both Druids alive because they are suddenly huge threats. Anyway, if one chumps and one taps, Oath @ 3.
Turn 8 -
"Dragon's Maze draws a land, then attacks with Exava. Oath takes again the damage, and falls down to three life points."
This is not possible. Oath was already at 3. Another attack would kill him. If Oath's life total was correct, these turns would have played out completely differently (Oath would have to leave some defense up and chump block), and double Druid might have just pinged him to death. Oath probably would have lost this game, or at the very least several turns would have played out completely differently. Perhaps Dragon Maze could have advanced to the next round??
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EDIT: In Arabian Nights vs Dark Ascension Game 1, this is not an error, but Arabian Nights misplayed the turn it cast Unstable Mutation. Flipping Huntmaster back is dangerous. It gives the opponent a free +4 life swing (he can easily flip it back to Ravager by not playing anything), a free 2/2 token, and a chance to ping the other Flying Men.
Ostensibly, casting Unstable Mutation helps Arabian race, but if he does the math it actually makes it impossible for him to outrace as long as Dark plays any creature or removal spell at all on his turn!! As long as Dark doesn't completely punt, he is guaranteed to win. So there's no reason to play Unstable. If Arabian just swings for 4 in the air and passes without flipping Ravager, Arabian is very favored to win in the next 1-2 turns unless Dark makes some sort of amazing play.
Another option would be to play the Unstable but not attack with Juzam. Leave 2 Juzams to roadblock the ground. Then Serendib and Flying Men can beatdown in the air. Whether or not he attacks with Juzam, he's threatening to win in 3 attacks. By leaving both Juzams to block, he's increasing his chance of actually living that long.
I don't think you need to change the game. Arabian screwed up and lost. His loss. Just a shame, because the game was very winnable with that dominating board state, and I like to see the old sets advance
Regarding Arabian Nights, suboptimal plays might happen from time to time - we are not machines, nor pro players
Also, keep in mind that for most of the time, Arabian Nights was a Fling away from losing, so he probably felt rushed to win quickly.
Overall, Dark Ascension is the superior deck and it showed that, so I think that's a fair result
I had a rematch for Oath vs Dragon's Maze, since there was some mistake in game one. In the end, though, Oath is simply superior to its opponent, or at least it's a favorable matchup for the Eldrazi deck, and it ended just like the other one. Oath of the Gatewatch wins 3-0 and heads to the Semifinals.
Magic 2011 is a surprise for me. I came up with the Destructive Force-based deck for this BOTS, and it seems to be a really promising concept. After eliminating the powerful Shadowmoor in the previous round, Alara Reborn looks like an easy matchup. Alara Reborn, on the other hand, has already done more than most people were expecting, and dreams an unlikely qualification to the semifinals. On to the match!
Game 1
Alara Reborn wins the roll to start, but has to take a mulligan. Opening the game is a turn two Qasali Pridemage from Alara Reborn. Magic 2011 only draws and passes, and this allows Alara Reborn to draw first blood with the Pridemage, before playing a Behemoth Sledge. Magic 2011 again draws and passes. Alara Reborn taps three to equip the Sledge to the Pridemage, but Magic 2011 is quick to answer with a Lightning Bolt to kill the opponent's creature. So, Alara Reborn is forced to pass. Magic 2011 then plays a Cultivate and passes.
Alara Reborn is not in a good situation right now, having only one land, another Behemoth Sledge and a Lord of Extinction in hand. The Lord of Extinction would only be a 3/3 if played now, and too easily killed. So, Alara Reborn decides to pass for the moment. But Magic 2011 is just about ready to start its game: an Inferno Titan is played, and suddenly Alara Reborn is under a lot of pressure.
Alara Reborn draws... a Knight of New Alara. Not really what it was looking for.
Both the Lord of Extinction and the Knight of New Alara are going to be killed by the Titan as soon as it taps to attack, and between the two creature, Alara Rebon would rather lose the Knight. So, the Knight is played, and then Alara Reborn passes.
Alara Reborn's choice, it turns out, was rather unimportant. As Magic 2011 plays a Destructive Force, wiping the board clean except for the titan, the game is going to quickly reach a conclusion. Magic 2011 wins game one.
Game Two
Alara Reborn starts, but it's Magic 2011 to make the first play with a turn one Birds of Paradise. Alara Reborn answers with a Grizzled Leotau, then Magic 2011 keeps ramping mana with a Cultivate. Alara Reborn attacks for one damage, then plays a Trace of Abundance followed by a Qasali Pridemage. Magic 2011 plays a land and passes. Alara Reborn attacks with both its creatures, but the Pridemage is quickly removed by a Lightning Bolt, allowing Magic 2011 to only take one damage. Alara Reborn then plays a Marisi's Twinclaws and passes.
But just when things seem to be getting good for Alara Reborn, it's Magic 2011's moment to shine, as the ramp deck casts a Primeval Titan, shifting the balance of power. Still, Alara Reborn is determined on fighting back, and plays a Mycoid Shepherd. It won't be much help, unfortunately, as Magic 2011 crashes its opponent's hopes with a Destructive Force! And from there, again, the game is quickly over. Can Alara Reborn find an answer to the opponent's mass land destruction, or will the game end with a landslide win?
Game Three
Magic 2011 again plays first with a turn one Birds of Paradise. On the other side, Alara Reborn ramps some mana, too, with Trace of Abundance. Magic 2011 plays a second Birds of Paradise and passes. Alara Reborn taps for three plus the mana from Trace of Abundance to play a Mycoid Shepherd. Magic 2011 plays a Mystifying Maze, then an Obstinate Baloth, and passes. The game is definitely balanced for now – but how long does Alara Reborn have until a Destructive Force comes to shatter its hopes?
For now, Alara Reborn plays a Behemoth Sledge and passes. Magic 2011 attacks with the Baloth (Alara Reborn takes the damage), then plays an Inferno Titan and passes. Magic 2011 is now at 24 life points, while Alara Reborn sits at 13. But things are about to change. Alara Reborn taps all its mana to play a Maelstrom Pulse and destroy the Titan, then equips the Sledge to the Shepherd and attacks! Alara Reborn jumps back to 20, while Magic 2011 falls down to 17.
Magic 2011 plays another Birds of Paradise, then attacks for 4 with the Baloth, and finally passes. Alara Reborn sees that Magic 2011 has the mana open to activate the Maze, so keeps the Shepherd on the defensive, plays a Knight of New Alara, and passes. Magic 2011 draws and decides that is time to go its usual extreme measure: a Destructive Force. Also, to make sure the Shepherd is killed, a Lightning Bolt is played on the creature for a total of eight damage. Again, the board is wiped clean, except for a single land on Magic 2011's side.
The game slows down and practically stops for a few turns, until Magic 2011 can play a Cultivate followed by an Obstinate Baloth. On the following turn, Alara Reborn draws and plays a land, getting to two, and plays a Trace of Abundance. Magic 2011 attacks for four, then plays two Sylvan Ranger. Alara Reborn draws, plays a Maelstrom Pulse to remove the Baloth, and passes.
But things are about to become a whole lot worse for Alara Reborn, as Magic 2011 draws and plays a Primeval Titan! Alara Reborn is on the edge of precipice, then draws... another Maelstrom Pulse! Incredible! The Titan is killed, and Alara Reborn can hope again.
Then, in what might very well be the most cruel turn of events in this Battle of the Sets, Magic 2011 draws and plays a second Primeval Titan! Alara Reborn can only play a Qasali Pridemage in defense. And on the following turn Magic 2011 can use all the mana ramped with the Titans to throw at its opponent a 10-damage Fireball – and that, along with the creatures's attack, it's enough to close the game. Magic 2011 again shows the power of its Destructive Force and dominates the game, advancing to the group semifinals!
Alara Reborn 0 - Magic 2011 3
Theros vs Exodus
Exodus's RecSur deck is a troublesome client for almost any deck in BOTS, and Theros is no exception. This is going to be a tough game for the midrange deck, but Theros packs a lot of quality cards and can definitely aim for the victory, especially should Exodus have trouble closing the lock.
Game One
Theros wins the roll to start and makes the first play with a turn two Voyaging Satyr, answered by a Keeper of the Dead from Exodus. Theros is determined on being aggressive quickly, before its opponent can enforce its lock, and adds a Polis Crusher to the battlefield on the following turn. Exodus doesn't seem too worried, for now, and plays an Oath of Ghouls before passing.
Theros reinforces its position on the board with a Xenagos, the Reveler, creating a Satyr token and turning it to attack along with the Polis Crusher. Exodus chump blocks with the Keeper of the Dead and takes four damage. On its upkeep, the lock deck takes the Keeper back up from the graveyard, then passes.
Theros turns the Crusher into a monstruosity, then creates a second Satyr token, and turns them to attack. Exodus, though, as an ace up its sleeve: a Slaughter is played to destroy the fearsome Crusher – but still, Exodus takes four more damage and falls down to 12. Pressure is building up for Exodus, that manages to draw a Survival of the Fittest! After getting its fifth land into play, the lock deck plays its signature enchantment, then discards a Dauthi Jackal to fetch a Spike Weaver, while also re-playing the Keeper of the Dead as a blocker. Then, Exodus passes.
Theros creates another Satyr token, then attacks with the three tokens for four damage (one is blocked by the Keeper). Then, Theros casts a Destructive Revelry to remove Survival of the Fitness – and deal two more damage to its opponent, that is now at 6 life points.
Exodus recovers the Keeper, then plays its sixth land. Now it can play the Spike Weaver and activate its ability – survival is guaranteed, for now. Theros is locked down, and can only play an Elspeth, Sun's Champion to keep adding more tokens to the board. Still, Xenagos starts activating its +1 ability, aiming at its -6 final one.
One creature in each graveyard, so nothing to recover for Exodus this time. The lock deck plays a second Oath of the Ghouls, then again the Keeper of the Dead, and passes. Theros keeps attacking and another counter from the Weaver is removed. Exodus draws, plays and sacrifices a Thrull Surgeon, revealing a hand of two Xenagos, the Reveler, and one Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Exodus shrugs and chooses to discard one of the Xenagos. Theros draws, activates the abilities from its planeswalkers, then attacks. The Weaver removes its last token, then goes to the graveyard. On its following upkeep, Exodus recovers it along with the Thrull Surgeon thanks to the two Oath of Ghouls, then plays the Weaver and passes.
Theros activates the final ability from Xenagos, revealing... five lands (!), one Sylvan Caryatid, and one Elspeth. Theros shakes its head, attacks, then plays another Xenagos, activates its +1 ability and uses the mana to play a Polukranos, World Eater, another Sylvan Caryatid, and finally passes.
Now, Polukranos is huge trouble for Exodus, as it can easily kill the Weaver with its Monstrous ability and leave Exodus completely unprotected. To get back the Weaver with Oath of Ghouls, Polukranos must die before Exodus's upkeep. The only answer available to Exodus right now would be the Keeper of the Dead, but Exodus only has two creatures in the graveyard against Theros's single Polis Crusher, so Exodus cannot activate the creature's ability. What could save Exodus, then? Drawing a second Spike Weaver, maybe, but Exodus only manages to draw a Pigmy Troll. As Polukranos is turned Monstrous and the Weaver is brutally destroyed, Theros happily turns its army of monsters and tokens to deal the last remaining damage to Exodus. Theros wins game one!
Game Two
Exodus starts the game with a turn two Oath of Ghouls, while on the other side Theros answers with a Sylvan Caryatid. On its third turn Exodus plays a Dauthi Jackal and passes. On the other side, Theros puts a tapped Temple of Abandon into play (moving an Arbor Colossus to the bottom of the library), then plays a Fleecemane Lion and passes. Exodus attacks for two damage and passes. Theros remains stuck at three lands, but with the mana from the Caryatid, it can still make four. So, after attacking with the Lion, it's time to get serious: a Polis Crusher joins the battlefield with thundering steps. Exodus, though, attacks again and passes.
Theros attacks with both the Lion and the Crusher, but the latter is instantly killed with a Slaughter. Theros shrugs and plays a second Polis Crusher from its hand, before passing. Exodus, again, simply attacks and passes. Theros's turn again, and as the previous one, the Lion and thr Crusher attacks Exodus... and again, a Slaughter remove the Crusher! Exodus is managing to keep the situation under control, but the Lion is slowly chipping away at its life points – now, Exodus is at 11. Theros then plays another Fleecemane Lion and another Sylvan Caryatid, then passes.
Exodus is unfortunately stuck without neither a Survival of the Fittest nor a Spike Weaver, and it can only play a Keeper of the Dead and a Recurring Nightmare before passing.
Theros attacks with the two Lions – one is chumplocked by the Keeper, the other one strikes in for three more damage. Then, Theros plays another Polis Crusher and passes. Exodus unfortunately only draws a land, after having recovered the Keeper from the graveyard. Not much to do for the lock deck, and after seeing Theros playing a Xenagos, the Reveler, Exodus knows that it's over. An attacking army of two Lions, one Crusher and one Satyr token is more than enough to deal the remaining 8 points of damage to Exodus. Theros wins game two and starts to savour the semifinals!
Game Three
A better start this time for Exodus, with a turn two Suvival of the Fittest, while Theros gets in play a turn two Fleecemane Lion. On the following turn, Exodus discards a Pygmy Troll to fetch a Spike Weaver, then plays an Oath of Ghouls and passes. Theros attacks for three, then plays another Fleecemane Lion and passes. Exodus gets the Troll back from the graveyard, then plays the Spike Weaver and passes. Theros knows this is probably the last time it will be able to easily deal some damage to its opponent, and attacks with both lions for six damage. Then, it plays a Sylvan Caryatid and passes.
Exodus attacks for three damage with the Weaver, then plays a Thrull Surgeon and discards a Pygmy Troll to fetch a second Spike Weaker. And now, Theros begins its long game of wait, hoping to somehow deal the remaining 11 damage. For now, it plays a Stormbreath Dragon, hoping to quickly get it monstrous – that would definitely help. Then, Theros attacks and passes. Exodus considers the situation and decides to leave the Troll in the graveyard – better not to have too many cards in hand, at the moment. Still stuck at four mana, Exodus plays a Keeper of the Dead and passes.
Theros plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, activates its +1 ability, then gets a second Stormbreath Dragon in play, attacks and passes. Next turn, one of the two will turn Monstruous. So, the best Exodus can do is reduce the damage. It sacrifices the Thrull Surgeon to make its opponent discard an Elspeth, Sun's Champion, then activates the Keeper of the Dead's ability to kill one of the two dragons. Then, Exodus passes.
Theros activates Xenagos's +1 ability, then turns the Dragon monstrous, dealing 5 damage to Exodus – that is now at 6. Then, Theros plays a second Sylvan Caryatid, attacks and passes (the first Spike Weaver spends its last counter this turn).
Exodus draws, gets its sixth land in play and casts a Spike Weaver. Then, Survival of the Fittest is activated to discard a Pygmy Troll and fetch a Dauthi Jackal. Theros activates Xenagos's ability, plays a Polis Crusher, attacks and passes. Exodus draws, plays the Dauthi Jackal and passes.
On Theros's turn, Xenagos removes all its six counters to activate its final ability. Theros is not particularly lucky, and it gets two lands, two Arbor Colossus, one Polis Crusher and one Fleecemane Lion. Theros then attacks again and passes.
Exodus plays another Spike Weaver from its hand, then pattacks for two with the Jackal and passes. Theros draws and plays a Voyaging Satyr, then also plays its last card: another Xenagos, the Reveler, and activates its +1 ability. Finally, it passes. At this point, the game slows down for a few turns, with the Jackal attacking both Theros itself and Xenagos in turn, to keep the planeswalker at bay. The Spike Weavers are cycled through Recurring Nightmare, and Exodus keeps its hand blocked at a size of two (the Recurring Nightmare, plus a drawn Slaughter) to minimize the Stormbreath Dragon risk. A Destructive Revelry from Theros in the meantime reduces Exodus's life points to four.
A few turns later, Theros draws and plays a Polukranos, World Eater. Knowing full well that this could be game over, Exodus casts end-of-turn the Sluaghter. Theros activates the hydra's ability in response, killing every creature on Exodus's side of the board.
Exodus gets a Spike Weaver back with Oath of Ghouls, plays it and passes. On the following turn, the Dauthi Jackal is recovered in the same way. The lock continues, and the games goes on for about 20 more turns, until finally Exodus can kill its opponent with the Jackal. Theros was slowly strangled by its opponent this time, and Exodus can finally hope for a comeback.
Game Four
Theros starts, but the first play is a turn two Thrull Surgeon from Exodus. On its third turn, Theros draws and plays a Sylvan Caryatid, then passes. Exodus remains stuck at two mana, so it just activates the Surgeon's ability, revaling a hand of three lands, one Polis Crusher, one Elspeth, Sun's Champion. The Crusher seems most dangerous at the moment, and is discarded. Luckily for Theros, it draws a Xenagos, the Reveler, and immediately plays it, creating a Satyr token and dealing the first two damage of the game.
Exodus draws and plays a third land, then casts a Plaguebearer – at the moment it only has one black mana and it's tapped, but starting from next turn, it will be able to at least keep Xenagos under control. Unfortunately, though, a second Planeswalker is about to join the field: Elspeth, Sun's Champion, that immediately begins assmbling its army of soldiers. Plus, a second Satyr token is created, and both are turned to attack for 4 damage.
Still stuck at 3 mana, Exodus casts a Pygmy Troll and passes. Theros creates another Satyr, that is immediately destroyed by the Plaguebearer, then attacks with the two remaining Satyr token and the three Soldiers for seven damage. Things are looking really bad for Exodus right now. Theros then creates three more soldiers and passes. Exodus draws a Pit Spawn, and knows there is nothing it can do to survive longer. Theros wins game four and advances to the group semifinals, where it will meet the surprising land-destruction deck of Magic 2011.
Theros 3 - Exodus 1
Battle of the lock decks! Both M13 and Tempest are heavily anti-aggro decks featuring a lock (hard lock for Tempest, soft-lock for M13) to completely shut down combat damage. Also, both decks win by milling the opponent. It will be interesting to see which one will better adapt to the opponent - will it be Tempest, with its superior countermagic power? Or will be M13, relying on the faster milling speed of its planeswalker? Let's find out!
Game One
As predictable, the game is a slow one, with Tempest opening with an Intuition to fetch Orim's Prayer, answered by a Ranger's Path on the following turn by Magic 2013. On the coming turn Tempest, that only has three Island and one Reflecting Pool in play, is forced to pass. Magic 2013 plays a Sphinx of Uthuun and reveals three lands, one Farseek and one Naturalize. Tempest only fears this last one, and puts it alone, with the other four cards on a pile. Magic 2013, surprisingly, takes the larger pile and passes. End of turn, Tempest casts another Intuition to fetch its missing land – a Plains. Then, on its turn, Tempest plays an Orim's Prayer and passes, keeping two mana open to bluff a Counterspell (that unfortunately Tempest doesn't have in hand, but can surely threaten).
Magic 2013 attacks for four damage, then plays an Archaeomancer to get back the Naturalize, and passes. Tempest draws and passes. Magic 2013 again attacks for four more damage, then plays a Jace, Memory Adept. This is the moment Magic 2013 has been carefully building up to, waiting to reach nine lands to cover the planeswalker with a Rewind. It turns out, though, that such caution was unnecessary, as Tempest doesn't hold a single counterspell in hand. The planeswalker resolves and can start milling Tempest's deck. End of turn, Tempest Capsizes the planeswalker back to Magic 2013's hand, paying the buyback cost.
Still, Tempest is not drawing any countermagic. Plus, Magic 2013 has a Naturalize in hand, and completing the lock won't do Tempest any good. So, Tempest is forced to pass again. Four more damage and ten more cards on the graveyard this turn, then end of turn Jace is capsized again.
Tempest draws a second Humility, and now has two copy of each combo piece. At this point, though, it won't do much good. In a game like this one, gaining an early advantage makes it very hard for the opponent to recover, and that's exactly what happened this time around. Moreover, Tempest wasn't able to draw any countermagic. Tempest concedes and Magic 2013 wins game one!
Game Two
The game starts with a quick Whispers of the Muse from Tempest, followed by a Lotus Petal plus Orim's Prayer on turn two. Magic 2013 can only watch and play lands, for now. After that, the game slows down for a few turns, until Magic 2013 plays a turn five Ranger's Path, getting its sixth and seventh land in play and possibly preparing for a Sphinx of Uthuun play in the coming turn. But end of turn, Tempest casts an Intuition to fetch a Humility and play it in the coming turn, completing the lock.
Tempest has now no mana open and looks anxiously at its opponent: will it show a Naturalize? Magic 2013 draws... and passes! Tempest is safe for now. Only Jace can pose a threat, but Tempest has countermagic available. It just needs a Grindstone to march towards a quick and easy victory. And so, end of Magic 2013's following turn, a second Intuition is played to fetch the artifact! Tempest then plays it and passes.
More turns come and go, and Tempest starts milling its opponent's deck, until it finally puts the nasty Naturalize in the graveyard. Magic 2013 has a Revive in hand, but that's not enough, as Tempest surely has countermagic in hand at this point of the game. So Magic 2013 needs at least something else to break through the opponent's defenses: more Revive, or a Rewind. But unfortunately all of them are slowly getting milled. Finally, out of desperation, Magic 2013 tries to cast the Revive and then the Naturalize, but that won't be enough – Tempest has a Dismiss ready. Magic 2013 gets slowly choked by its opponent, and Tempest wind game two!
Game Three
Magic 2013 starts, but the first play is a turn one Grindstone from Tempest. Magic 2013 plays a Farseek on turn two, then a Divination on turn three. But it's on the following turn that big things start to happen: Tempest gets its third land in play, then a Lotus Petal, and finally a Humility! All the precious comes-into-play creatures from Magic 2013 are instantly neutralized!
But it's Magic 2013 that will laugh last, as it gets a Jace, Memory Adept into play, immediately milling its opponent for 10! Tempest needs to find an answer, and quickly. Still, there's nothing Tempest can do at the moment – it has a Capsize in hand to bounce the planeswalker, but no counterspell to follow. So, for now it just passes. Magic 2013 plays two Divination, mills for ten more, and passes. End of turn, Tempest Capsize-s Jace and crosses its fingers: it needs to draw a counterspell now, or the game will be lost.
But it's just a Lotus Petal! And from there, it's quickly over. Magic 2013 readies itself for the match point on game 4!
Game Four
Both decks have to mulligan at the beginning of this crucial game. Tempest starts with a turn one Whispers of the Muse, then has to play a turn three Intuition to fetch a second Plains. Magic 2013, in the meanwhile, is only playing lands – only Islands! Tempest gets an Humility into play and passes. Still nothing from Magic 2013, so in the following turn Tempest can play an Orim's Prayer to close the lock. Magic 2013 answers quickly with a Rewind, but Tempest is quick to cast a Counterspell to make sure its enchantment hits the board. Now, Magic 2013 is in the same situation as game two: only Jace or a Naturalize can reopen the game.
And actually, Magic 2013 draw a Jace, Memory Adept right away! Now would be the perfect time to cast it, as Tempest is fully tapped out... but Magic 2013 has only four lands in play, and none in hand! What incredible bad luck! So, Magic 2013 has to pass, and when it draws another Island (the fifth!) in the following turn and plays Jace, Tempest is ready to asnwer with a Counterspell.
The game slows down for a few turns after that, until Tempest can finally play a Grindstone and activate it – and what a debut for the artifact: two Jace, Memory Adept are immediately milled away! On the following turn, the single Naturalize is also milled, and this makes things much worse for Magic 2013, as it has no Revive in hand and the Archaeomancers are useless with Humility in play.
All seems lost, but then it happens: Magic 2013 draws a Jace, Memory Adept, cross its fingers and plays it... Tempest starts sweating and plays a Whispers of the Muse to draw one more card... and has no counterspell to answer it! The game looked solidly in Tempest's pocket, and now it is reopened!
Actually, more than reopened. As Tempest again has only a Capsize available to bounce the planeswalker, it needs a counterspell to counter it and prevent it from being just played again. But no counterspell is coming to help Tempest! Jace quickly outpaces the Grindstone in the milling race and Magic 2013 wins the game and the match, advancing to the semifinals! The war of the lock deck ends in a victory for the more versatile of the two decks, and another one of the favorites to final victory has to leave the competition!
Magic 2013 3 - Tempest 1
Urza's Destiny vs Antiquities
A true clash of titans this time around. Both decks would surely have preferred to meet an easier opponent so early in the tournament, but there's no backing down now. While both decks plan on accelerating mana early on and casts big creatures to rush the opponent, Antiquities looks on paper the superior and more versatile deck. Destiny, on the other hand, packs bigger creatures and could quickly overrun its opponent - provided that it can get an early Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary in play. Definitely a game to follow with interest.
Game One
Antiquities wins the roll to start, while Destiny is forced to take a mulligan. A Mishra's Factory finds its way on Antiquities's side of the board, followed on turn two by a second one, while the first one animates to draw first blood. But Destiny is just about to get serious, as it plays a turn two Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary – and suddenly, all the pressure is on Antiquities. Still, the artifact deck can't do much more than add a third Factory to the board (!) and strike for three more damage. Then, it passes and prepares for the worst.
Destiny was looking at the Masticore and Ancient Silverback in its hand, but then it draws a Plow Under... and an evil smile forms on its lips. The powerful sorcery is immediately played, and suddenly Antiquities is in deep troubles. On the following turn, it can only draw one Factory and play it, attacking for two more. But the inertia of the game is solidly in Destiny's hands, that plays a Masticore and passes. Antiquities draws and plays the third Factory, and is forced to pass.
Destiny attacks with the Masticore, plays an Ancient Silverback, then passes. The offensive is starting, and Antiquities is completely defenseless. On the following turn, it gets an Urza's Power Plant in play, followed by a 1/6 Primal Clay, then passes again.
Destiny attacks with its creatures, dealing 6 damage with the Silverback. The Masticore is blocked by the Primal Clay, and kills it by tapping four mana to deal the necessary 2 additional damage. Then it's Antiquities's turn again, that finds a temporary lifeline by drawing and playing an Onulet, but as Destiny plays a second Ancient Silverback, it's clear that this game is over. Destiny wins game one!
Game Two
This time around, Antiquities gets to start with its favorite card: Mishra's Workshop (along with a Candelabra of Tawnos). On its following turn, the artifact deck plays a Mishra's Factory followed by a Clockwork Avian (thanks to the Candelabra). On the other side, Destiny is just playing lands for now. Antiquities plays an Urza's Tower, then attacks with the Avian and the animated Factory. Finally, it plays an Onulet and passes.
Finally, Lady Luck shines on Destiny, that draws and plays a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary! Will it be enough, or is it a turn too late? Luckily for Destiny, Antiquities is only stacking up mana, getting an Urza's Power Plant in play along with a second Candelabra of Tawnos... and no more threats. Still, seven more damage are dealt this turn to Destiny, that falls down to seven. Can it make a comeback?
The first step is a Thorn Elemental – that will at least block the land offensive, leaving only the Avian to worry about. Destiny passes and Antiquities completes the Tron, unfortunately having drawn only a Su-Chi to play with it. For this turn, the artifact deck only refills the Avian up to 4 counters and passes – Destiny has two turns left to live, now.
Or not – as it draws and plays a Masticore! It does not have enough mana to kill the Avian right away, but next turn it will. The match looked sealed for Antiquities, but could we be looking at a comeback? For now, Destiny also adds a Yavimaya Elder to the board and passes.
But Antiquies is about to show why it's become one of the most feared decks in the tournament, as it draws and casts a Rocket Launcher! With the Tron in play and two Candelabra, that's enough mana to almost kill a player at full life points, but Destiny is about to fall down to three this turn, with the Avian attacking for four. Then, Antiquities passes.
Destiny has 11 mana available and needs 8 to kill the Avian. With 5 more, it could have played a Plow Under and break the Tron, gaining one more turn of life, and maybe, just maybe, pulling out a surprise win. But that was not meant to be, as Destiny lacks the required amount of mana. Antiquities wins game two!
Game Three
Antiquities is forced to mulligan, then accepts the new hand without looking too satisfied. Destiny starts the game, but the first play is from Antiquities with an Urza's Mine fueling a Candelabra of Tawnos. Nothing much happens in the following turns, with Antiquities stuck at two lands, while Destiny needs to wait turn 4 to finally draw a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. The elf is immediately played, and now things start to look troublesome for Antiquities, that still can't manage to draw any lands.
After Destiny has played an Ancient Silverback and an Emperor Crocodile in the same turn, Antiquitis finally gets its third land and a lonely Onulet in play. As Destiny adds a Thorn Elemental to its growing army of monsters, it's clear to everyone that this game is over. Destiny is now up 2-1 and only one game away from the group semifinals!
Game Four
Antiquities opens the game with an Urza's Tower, followed by an Urza's Power Plant. On the other side, Destiny plays a Heart Warden and passes. Turn three, and Antiquities smiles as it plays the Urza's Mine needed to complete the Tron! A 2/2 flying Primal Clay is the only thing it can play, unfortunately. So, the first big play of the game goes again to Destiny: a Masticore! This is not good news for Antiquities - but the artifact deck is far from being defeated. On the following turn, it plays a second Primal Clay, this time as a 1/6 wall. Then, it also plays a Rocket Launcher. Finally, after having attacked for two damage, it passes.
Now, the Masticore could easily get ride of the flying creature, or the wall (after a block on the Masticore), but then Antiquities could activate the Rocket Launcher to kill the Masticore – without mana open to regenerate. That was Antiquities's reasoning, at least. But Destiny is ready to change the situation dramatically. The following spell it plays, in fact, is... a Plow Under! The power of nature against civilization! The Tron is broken, and now Antiquities is forced to face a desperate situation. Still, at least for this turn, the Masticore can't kill anything, and can't deal any damage to Antiquities itself. The artifact deck needs to recover quickly and draw something good to bounce back and achieve victory.
Antiquities draws and plays one of the two lands, then attacks for two more damage and passes. Now Destiny reaches the six mana target – meaning it can activate the Masticore for two damage and still regenerate it. And that's exactly what it will do. After the Masticore is blocked by the 1/6 Primal Clay, two more damage are done to it and the wall is destroyed. Now, the road to Destiny is open.
Desperate measures for desperate times. Antiquities attacks for two more damage, then activates the Rocket Launcher for only one damage to the Heart Warden. Destiny looks puzzled, but Antiquities's plan becomes clear when it casts a second Rocket Launcher from its hand. Finally, it also sacrifices a Strip Mine to destroy one more land. Antiquities needs time to recover and draw something good, and this should slow down its opponent.
Destiny thinks for a second, then decides to leave the opponent's Primal Clay alive, keeping mana open for regeneration. It only attacks for four damage, then, before passing. One more surprise is in store, though: Antiquities draws and plays a Tawnos's Coffin! Destiny can only tap four mana to kill the opponent's creature before the Masticore is removed from the game. To make things worse, Antiquities plays another Strip Mine to destroy one more land.
At the end of this crazy couple of turns, both decks have three lands in play (Antiquities with a clear advantage having the complete Tron in play), and no creature alive. Antiquities still has a Rocket Launcher and obviously the Coffin.
Now it's up to the draw. And things get good for Antiquities as it draws and plays a Su-Chi on the following turn. Destiny, on the other side, draws and plays a Yavimaya Elder. Antiquities doesn't want its opponent to chump block, so it activates the Rocket Launcher to deal one damage to the Elder, and two more damage to Destiny. The road is now open to for the Su-Chi to strike for 4 more. Destiny is now at 6 life points.
And then Destiny draws and plays a Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary! It would be great news, usually, but considering the situation, it's probably too late for the powerful elf to make an appearance, especially as a Tetravus makes an appearance on Antiquities's following turn. With the Su-Chi attacking and dealing four damage, there's not much Destiny can do to avoid death one turn later. Having drawn an Emperor Crocodile, the best Destiny can do is playing an Ancient Silverback and the Crocodile itself, but none of them can block the Tetravus, and it's game over. Antiquities goes 2-2, and the two decks move on to the decisive fifth game.
Game Five
Antiquities is forced to mulligan, but Lady Luck smiles on it as the second hand features all that's needed for a lightning start: a Mishra's Workshop + Candelabra of Tawnos. With Destiny still stacking up lands, Antiquities can get a Triskelion in play on the second turn, and things seem to be getting good right away. On turn three, Destiny draws and plays a Heart Warden and passes.
Antiquities attacks for four damage, then removes a counter from the Triskelion to kill the Warden. Then it plays a Strip Mine to destroy one of the opponent's lands, and finally adds a Clockwork Avian to the board! And here it is, one of those fearsome Antiquities starts that no deck in BOTS can hope to match!
Only two turns left to live for Destiny from that point, and as it also misses a land drop, there's no hope for the green deck to resist the opponent's onslaught. After having gone close to defeat, Antiquities shows the pride of the champion and annihilates the opponent in a very one-sided fifth game to gain access to the semifinals, where it will meet the clunky yet deadly lock deck from Magic 2013!
Urza's Destiny 2 - Antiquities 3
1. I'm a big fan and I think it is great what you are doing.
2. Legacy still gets two basic lands when the elder dies. The text suggests a misplay:
Getting two lands of a 1-1 trade with rocket launcher is a gain, not?
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
Thank you!
You are right, but I checked and I think we got it right in the game, I just made a mistake while writing the report. The Elder was killed to open the way for the attack with the Su-Chi, as Antiquities was closing in for the killing and didn't want Destiny to chump-block.
Thank you for pointing that out, I'll correct the report. Glad you're enjoying BOTS
I was disappointed to see Exodus lose to Theros. I think it was because Theros is an easier (less skill-intensive) deck to pilot, not because it's a better set. I'm not going to go into detail tearing apart every play decision, but Exodus makes at least one significant misplay in each of the first three games, sometimes many small ones that add up to the difference between a win and a loss. The entire match was winnable. From the decisions made, I get the impression that the Exodus pilot didn't really understand RecSur-Oath decks. The deck is a lot more than just a Spike Weaver lock deck. It was sad to see Exodus lose to complexity / skill instead of being beaten by a better set.
In Tempest vs M13, it seemed like the Tempest player was playing on "assemble Voltron" autopilot instead of playing like a control deck. M13 is control, not aggro. Tempest was devoting way too many resources into assembling the "lock", something that had very little impact on the game, when the focus should have been on stopping M13's big spells and winning the control game. Why not Intuition for Counterspell or Dismiss or card draw? Or hold mana open to bluff counters more often? Or Capsize lands and use Humility to stop ETB effects? Or milk Whispers for card advantage?
New Phyrexia pulled off a surprising victory in the previous round against Visions, but it's unlikely that it will manage to repeat itself, as it faces one of the best and most solid anti-aggro deck in the tournament. M12 is a high-quality rock deck that's specifically built to destroy decks like New Phyrexia. Still, never say never. Let's see how this match turned out.
Game One
New Phyrexia wins the roll to start while M12 has to take a mulligan – best possible scenario for the aggro deck. New Phyrexia starts with a turn two Spined Thopter, while on the other side M12 plays a Rampant Growth and passes. New Phyrexia adds a second Thopter to the board, attacks with the first one for two damage, and passes. Things start to get heated on New Phyrexia's following turn, as the aggro deck, after having attacked with the two Thopters, plays a Phyrexian Obliterator! M12 needs an answer, and fast. And with incredible luck, M12 draws just one: a Skinshifter! With its ability to turn into a 0/8 Plant, it can keep the Obliterator there all day. M12 then passes.
But things are about to get a whole lot worse for M12, as New Phyrexia plays a second Obliterator! And while the first one can easily get blocked by the Skinshifter, the two Thopter are still chipping away at M12 life points, that now sits at 10. M12 draws a Gideon Jura, that could actually turn the game around... if only M12 had two Plains! But with only one in play, the best it can do is playing a Timely Reinforcements to buy some time (going up at 16 life points and getting three soldier tokens).
New Phyrexia shows its worst smile as it plays an Act of Aggression to take control of the Skinshifter before turning all its creatures to attack. What a disaster for M12, that can't do much more than falling down at 2 life points. Game over? Maybe not. As M12 draws a Sunpetal Grove, a plan starts to form in M12's head. First of all, it turns the Skinshifter into a 4/4 creature, and turns it to attack along with the three soldier tokens it got from the Timely Reinforcements. New Phyrexia is surprised to notice that it's now sitting at only 5 life points – you are not called a suicide aggro for nothing. But there's no problem, right? The game it's going to end next turn... that's what New Phyrexia is thinking. But Magic 2012 is ready to shows its trump card... that's right, the Gideon Jura! The +2 ability is activated, and suddenly New Phyrexia is facing impending doom. New Phyrexia wouls now need something to remove the Skinshifter from the game... but it only draws a land! As the noble planeswalker sacrifices itself to block the army of New Phyerexia's creatures, the small task force from M12 reaches undisturbed the opponent's main base and deal a lethal strike! M12 shows the power of a true contender to final victory and wins game one!
Game Two
New Phyrexia starts again, but this time it's a much slower start, and as a matter of fact the first play of the game is a Rampant Growth from Magic 2012. On the following turn, New Phyrexia finally makes its first move with a Sword of War and Peace. M12 doesn't look particularly worried at the moment and just plays two Skinshifter before passing. And finally New Phyrexia is ready to begin its offensive: a Moltensteel Dragon makes its entrance on the battlefield with a thundering roar!
But you can't give that much time to a deck like M12! The rock deck simply plays an Oblivion Ring to remove the dangerous dragon from the battlefield, then turns the two Skinshifters into 4/4 and attacks for 8 damage – and New Phyrexia is once again on the verge of annihilation. To gain one turn, the aggro deck plays a Geth's Verdict to kill one of the Skinshifters, but being an aggro deck on the defensive, with your opponent sitting at 19 life points, it's clearly not a good situation to be in. On its turn, M12 plays a Rampant Growth, attacks for 4 more damage, and passes.
New Phyrexia finally draws and plays a Vault Skirge, equipping it immediately with the Sword. Then, it passes. M12 draws, then turns the Skinshifter into a 4/4 and attacks. Being at 4 life points, New Phyrexia is forced to block and sacrifice the Skirge, gaining three life in the process and reaching the still shaky number of 7. But things are about to get a lot more worse for New Phyrexia, as M12 plays a Grave Titan! How can the aggro deck survive now?
The answer is easy: with a Phyrexian Metamorph targeted at the Grave Titan! And after the Metamorph is equipped with the Sword of War and Peace, New Phyrexia's Titan is bigger than the opponent's – forcing M12 to keep it on the defensive and preventing it from spawning more Zombie token. Still, as the Skinshifter can gain Flying, M12 can immediately deal two more damage and bring its opponent to 3. Then, New Phyrexia's nemesis is played again: a Gideon Jura, with its +2 ability activated again.
On its following turn, New Phyrexia is forced to declare an all-out attack on Gideon Jura. The Metamorph is chump-blocked by a Zombie token, while one of the two tokens on New Phyrexia's side crashed into the Grave Titan (dying), and the remaining one chips off two counters from Gideon. Not really a satisfactory round of combat for New Phyrexia, but with the two damage dealt to the Grave Titan, it can cast a Dismember to send it... to the grave (sorry for the pun). Will it be enough? Unlikely.
M12 turns again the Skinshifter into a 2/2 with Flying, reducing New Phyrexia's life points to one. Then, Gideon Jura activates its +2 ability again, and finally M12 plays a Timely Reinforcements, before passing. New Phyrexia needs now to draw something to deal with the Skinshifter... but it's only a Porcelain Legionnaire! The aggro deck can only concede, and starts to feel that it will never be able to break through M12's sturdy defence.
Game Three
Things start better for New Phyrexia this time around, with a turn two Spined Thopter joining the battlefield. On the other side, M12 plays a Rampant Growth and passes. New Phyrexia draws... and realizes that it's stuck with two mana! What bad luck! With two Sword of War and Peace and a Phyrexian Obliterator, New Phyrexia was sure to pose a large threat in the upcoming turns... but without mana, there's nothing it can do except attack for two and pass. The inertia of the game once again seems to move in M12's favor, that plays a Solemn Simulacrum and passes.
Still no land drawn from New Phyrexia, that attacks for two and passes. M12 attacks with the Simulacrum, then plays a Garruk, Primal Hunter and activates its +1 ability to create a Beast token. Things start to look real grim for New Phyrexia, but the aggro deck at least manages to draw a land! After thinking for a second, New Phyrexia decides to attack Garruk, then plays a Sword of War and Peace and passes. M12 attacks for five more damage (New Phyrexia is at 13), then creates another Beast token and plays an Oblivion Ring to remove the Sword! More bad news for New Phyrexia, that needs to decide quick how to counteract. Luckily it draws its fourth land, and the plan is quickly decided: the ground offensive from M12 must be blocked, or all will be lost. So, after dealing two more damage to Garruk, New Phyrexia plays a Phyrexian Obliterator and passes.
M12 thinks for a second, then plays an end of turn Doom Blade to remove the Thopter. On its turn, the rock deck plays another Solemn Simulacrum, creates another Beast token (the third), and finally passes. M12 now has a damage potential of 13, and New Phyrexia can only block one of the opponent's creatures... so a second Obliterator is added to the board! Now M12, with an all out attack, could deal 7 damage to its opponent... but with the Obliterators blocking two 3/3 tokens, would have to sacrifice six permanents! New Phyrexia would like to stall its opponent and try to regain the initiative... except again M12 draws and plays a Gideon Jura! New Phyrexia curses the name of its archnemesis, as M12 activates its +2 ability, along with a +1 ability from Garruk to create another token. And there it ends – as Gideon once again sacrifices himself to stop the Phyrexian onslaught, M12's army of creatures is free to rush in and deal the killing blow. M12 wins the quarterfinals with an overbearing performance and advances to the group semifinals!
New Phyrexia 0 - Magic 2012 3
Morningtide vs Mirrodin
Again, a matchup that seems very one-sided. While Morningtide is a worthy deck, Affinity on a good day is probably in the top 5 of BOTS. The only hope for Morningtide, then, is its opponent having a bad day. If the game goes on long enough, Morningtide might be able to turn the tables on its opponent and win.
Game One
Morningtide wins the roll to start and begins the game with a turn one Mudbutton Clanger. On the other side, Mirrodin plays a Disciple of the Vault and passes. Morningtide reveals a Taurean Mauler, turning the Clanger into a 2/2, and turns it to attack, with Mirrodin taking the damage. Then Morningtide plays a Mutavault and passes. Mirrodin draws, plays an Atog and an Ornithopter, and passes. With the Atog + Disciple combo ready on the board, things looks troublesome for Morningtide, but for now, the situation is still under control. A Chameleon Colossus is revelaed to turn the Clanger into a 2/2, and two more damage are dealt to Mirrodin. Then, Morningtide plays the Taurean Mauler and passes.
Mirrodin is now ready to show why it can be the fastest deck in Battle of the Sets. After playing another land, Mirrodin adds a second Disciple of the Vault to the board, then a Chromatic Sphere and a Pyrite Spellbomb. The Mauler is now a 5/5, but as the Atog turns to attack, it's easy to do the math: Mirrodin can already deal a killing blow. So, the Atog must be blocked by the Mauler. Mirrodin sacrifices the Ornithopter and a land to boost the Atog up to a 5/6, while Morningtide loses 4 life points to the two Disciples. Mirrodin then adds a Frogmite to the board and passes.
Morningtide realizes that the situation is growing dire, and decides to keep the Clanger on the defensive. For now, it plays the Chameleon Colossus and passes. Mirrodin draws and plays another Ornithopter, sacrifices the Pyrite Spellbomb to kill the Clanger (and two more life points lost for Morningtide), then turns the Atog to attack again along with the Frogmite. Again Morningtide is forced to block the Atog with the Colossus, and again Mirrodin sacrifices a land and the Sphere to kill it. Morningtide takes two more damage from the Frogmite, and four from the sacrificed artifacts, falling down to 8. The clock is ticking.
Morningtide plays another Taurean Mauler and a second Mutavault, and this means the tribal deck will be able to field two blockers in the upcoming combat phase. Fow now, it's a matter of survival for Morningtide. Mirrodin draws and plays a land, then turns all its creatures to attack, including the Disciples! Obviously, the Atog must be blocked. Apart from that, it's a matter of math. If Morningtide block the Frogmite, it will take two damage from the Disciples, falling down to 6, then three artifacts sacrificed by the Atog will make the rest. If it blocks a Disciple, Mirrodin will immediately sacrifice the two lands to deal 4 damage, then two more from the Frogmite, one from the remaining Disciple, and one last by sacrificing the Frogmite. Any way you look at it, it's game over! Mirrodin wins game one!
Game Two
Morningtide begins with a turn one Mutavault followed by a turn two Bramblewood Paragon. On the other side, Mirrodin's first play is a turn two Frogmite. Morningtide plays its third land, but it's stuck without red mana. So for now just plays a second Bramblewood Paragon before attacking with the other one (Mirrodin decides to take the damage). It's Mirrodin's turn again, that plays a Myr Enforcer before passing. The Affinity deck is starting to accelerate.
But this time around, Morningtide is not falling behind: as it hits the four mana mark, a Chameleon Colossus is played... and it enter the battlefield as a 6/6 thanks to the Paragons! The inertia of the game moves in favor of Morningtide, but for now the tribal deck just passes. Things can change quickly when you're facing a deck like Mirrodin, though. On the following turn, the Affinity deck plays a Somber Hoverguard and an Atog, balancing the odds.
Still, the Chameleon Colossus is ready to become a fearsome 12/12 with Trample... and as Morningtide turns it to attack, what will Mirrodin do? For now, it decides to simply take the damage. Surprisingly, though, Morningtide does not activate the ability, and is happy enough with dealing just 6 damage. The reason becomes soon clear as Morningtide taps again four mana to play a second Chameleon Colossus! The tribal deck board situation continues to improve, and Mirrodin needs to find some answers quickly. For now, the Atog and the Hoverguard are turned to attack. Morningtide decides to block the Atog with the 2/2 Paragon, while the Hoverguard strikes home for three damage. Then, Mirrodin plays another Myr Enforcer and passes.
At this point, Morningtide has to make a choice: going all-out, trying to kill its opponent as quickly as possible, or keep a more safe approach. Morningtide has a damage potential of 18 damage from the two Colossus (considering one doubling ability gets activated), and considering that Mirrodin sits at 12 life points, the Affinity deck will surely have to sacrifice the two Enforcers to block (as both the Colossus have Trample thanks to the Paragon). At this point, Morningtide should be out of reach from Mirrodin, at least for one more turn, and then be able to deliver the killing blow on its next turn. Morningtide is then ready to declare its strategy: the two Colossus will attack, while the Paragon will remain behind to cover the Atog's attack.
Mirrodin declares its blockers: a Myr Enforcer on the first Colossus... and a Frogmite on the second! Morningtide smiles... perhaps its opponent has made a mistake? The tribal deck activates the Colossus's ability to turn it into a 12/12... and with Trample, that's 12 damage straight at Mirrodin!
But the Affinity deck has one more ace up its sleeve! After the ability is activated, Mirrodin taps two and casts a Shrapnel Blast, targeting the Paragon! The creature is killed, and no combat damage reaches Mirrodin! A really bad turn of events for Morningtide, that now find itself completely open to Mirrodin's offensive!
Mirrodin draws and plays another artifact land, and prepares to attack. It could deal 4 damage from the Enforcer, 3 from the Hoverguard, and... 9 from the Atog (1 + 8 from the 4 artifact lands it can sacrifice). That's 16 damage... and Morningtide sits at 17! It's not enough! Mirrodin thinks frantically, but there's nothing it can do! And on the coming turn, it will have to block both Colossus or die. After thinking for a few second, Mirrodin decides to pass without attacking.
Morningtide draws and plays its sixth land, and goes on the offensive again. Both Colossus are turned to attack, and Mirrodin sacrifices the Hoverguard and the Enforcer to block them. Morningtide then passes.
Mirrodin would need a miracle right now. It draws... a Thoughtcast. The spell is immediately played, allowing Mirrodin to draw a Disciple of the Vault and a Chromatic Sphere. Morningtide has a Mutavault untapped ready to animate and chump-block the Atog, and Mirrodin would need to find an answer to that, otherwise it's simply game over. The Sphere is sacrificed to draw one... another land! And that's it, Mirrodin can't kill Morningtide, and can't block both Colossus on the coming turn. Morningtide wins game two!
Game Three
Mirrodin starts the game with a turn one Bonesplitter followed by a turn two Atog. On the other side, Morningtide begins assembling its army of warrior with a turn two Brighthearth Banneret. Mirrodin equips the Bonesplitter to the Atog, attacks for three damage, then plays a Thoughtcast and passes. Morningtide plays a Taurean Mauler and passes.
Mirrodin thinks for a second, then turns the Atog to attack. Morningtide decides to chump-block with the Banneret. Mirrodin considers the situation, then decides that it cannot let the Mauler blocks its game plan. First of all, it plays a second Thoughtcast, hoping to draw a Shrapnel Blast... but it's just another Thoughtcast and a Chromatic Sphere. The third Thoughtcast is played, providing an Ornithopter and a land. The Ornithopter is played, too, along with a Disciple of the Vault and the Chromatic Sphere. Mirrodin then passes.
Morningtide plays a Chameleon Colossus to block the Atog, then attacks with the 7/7 Mauler, that gets blocked by the Ornithopter. Then, Mirrodin decides to TRULY go all out. A Myr Enforcer, a second Bonesplitter, and a second Atog (!) all find their way on the board in this turn. Then, the first Atog is turned to attack. Morningtide is forced to block it or die, and Mirrodin sacrifices the Sphere and a land to make sure the Colossus is killed and the Atog survives. Then, the free Bonesplitter is equipped to the untapped Atog, and Mirrodin passes.
Morningtide needs two blockers for the two Atogs, and plays a Game-Trail Changeling, keeping the Mauler on the defensive, before passing again. Mirrodin draws, plays another land, and turns both the Atogs and the Enforcer to attack, along with the Disciple. Morningtide has no chocie but to block both Atogs or die, and does so. Mirrodin sacrifices four artifact land and one Bonesplitter to give +10/+10 to the Atog being blocked by the Mauler, that gets killed (while the Atog survives). The second Atog crashes on the Game-Trail Changeling and gets killed. Mornigntide takes five combat damage, plus a five life points loss from the Disciple, and falls down to four. The game is still open, but just barely.
Morningtide draws, plays a Mutavault, then a Vengeful Firebrand, and passes. Mirrodin draws, plays a land, and considers the situation. There are three artifacts in play it can sacrifice, and that would make for a loss of three life points. Not quite enough yet, as Morningtide sits at four. Moreover, the Tribal deck has three blockers at disposal: the Changeling, the Firebrand and an animated Mutavault. Mirrodin considers the situation and decides to pass for now. Morningtide plays a second Game-Trail Changeling and passes.
And then Mirrodin draws another artifact land. With four artifacts now in play, it's game over! Mirrodin wins game three and it's only one step away from the semifinals!
Game Four
Morningtide starts the game with a Mutavault, while on the other side Mirrodin plays a turn one Ornithopter. On turn two, Morningtide plays a Brighthearth Banneret and passes. Mirrodin plays a second artifact land, then a Frogmite and a Thoughtcast. Morningtide plays a Taurean Mauler and passes. This is extremely annoying for Mirrodin, that for the moment attacks with the Frogmite (Morningtide takes the damage) and then passes. Morningtide attacks with the Mauler and the Banneret for three damage, then plays a Vengeful Firebrand and passes.
Mirrodin plays another land and then goes all-out: an Atog, a Frogmite and two Myr Enforcers join the battlefield in a single turn! Morningtide looks at the army on the other side of the board and decides to remain on the defensive, playing a second Vengeful Firebrand before passing. Mirrodin plays a second Atog and considers the situation, then turns the first Atog to attack. The Atog would already be able to deal the killing blow to its opponent (as there are five artifact lands and five artifact creatures on the board), so Morningtide decides to chump block with the Banneret. Then Mirrodin passes. Morningtide plays another Brighthearth Banneret then passes.
Mirrodin adds another artifact land to the board, then attacks with the all its creatures except the Ornithopter. One Atog is again chump-blocked by the Banneret, and Morningtide decides to block the other one with one of the Vengeful Firebrands. Then one of the Myr Enforcers is blocked by the Taurean Mauler, while the rest of Mirrodin's creatures strike home for 8 damage. Mirrodin sacrifices the blocked Enforcer and a land to give +4/+4 to the Atog blocked by the Vengeful Firebrand, and since Morningtide's only Mountain is tapped from having played the Banneret, the Elemental is killed while the Atog survives. The situation is getting tough for Morningtide.
Things might get better as Morningtide draws and plays a Bramblewood Paragon followed by a Mudbutton Clanger. The Mauler is then turned to attack and, considering that has Trample thanks to the Paragon, Mirrodin decides not to block it with the Ornithopter and keep the creature as fodder for the Atog. Mirrodin then takes seven damage and falls down to 10.
Mirrodin draws and plays a Bonesplitter (the Mauler is now 8/8), then equips it to the Ornithopter. Then all creatures on Mirrodin's side except for one Frogmite are turned to attack. The Clanger and the remaining Firebrand sacrifices themselves to block the Atogs, while the Ornithopter can't be blocked and will surely inflict two damage. Since Morningtide is at eight life points, this means that the other six damage from the Enforcer and the Frogmite would be lethal. Morningtide thinks for a few seconds, then decides to let the Enforcer slip in and trades the Bramblewood Paragon for the Frogmite. Three lands are sacrificed to keep the Atogs alive, and Morningtide is now at 2 life points. The tribal deck looks at the single card in Mirrodin's hand, fearing a Shrapnel Blast, but Mirrodin just passes.
Morningtide draws... another Bramblewood Paragon. The Mauler can now attack with Trample and dish in 6 damage, plus two damage from the animated Mutavault... but that won't be enough, as Mirrodin is still at 10 life points. Morningtide went close to the 2-2, but in the end couldn't resist Mirrodin's ferocious onslaught. Mirrodin wins and advances to the semifinals!
Morningtide 1 - Mirrodin 3
Magic 2010 vs Magic Origins
A matchup where it's quite easy to identify a favorite, as Magic Origins can take advantage of any deck slow enough to let it build an army of Thopters, and without mass removal to deal with it once it's assembled. The best Magic 2010 is keep up with its usual strategy: remove the opponent's key pieces with discard and removal, and close the game with an early Nightmare. Will it work this time, though?
Game One
Magic 2010 wins the roll to start and begins its game with a turn two Black Knight. Nothing on the other side yet, so Magic 2010 can attack for two and play a Sign in Blood. On turn three, Magic Origins finally gets its engine going with a Thopter Engineer, immediately turning the newly-created token to attack. Then Magic Origins passes. At this point, the Black Knight could easily be blocked by the Engineer, but Magic 2010 has other plans. M10 plays a Gorgon Flail and equips it to the knight, attacking for three damage – Magic Origins decides to take the damage.
On the other side, Magic Origins is about to get serious, playing a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. The thoper army increases in numbers, and in the coming combat phase Magic 2010 is forced to take 4 damage and fall down to 13. On its following turn, the Monoblack deck that immeditaly throws a Doom Blade at the dangerous legendary creature, before playing a Mind Rot (Magic Origins discards a Clash of Wills and a Turn to Frog) and passing.
On its turn, Magic Origins plays a Chief of the Foundry and again turns its Thopters to attack for six damage! Magic 2010 falls down to 7 and feels the game slipping through its fingers. Only two cards in M10's hand: a Liliana Vess and a Sign in Blood. As things stand now, M10 is dead on the following turn. Nothing the Planeswalker can do to help, then. The only hope is playing Sign in Blood and hoping to draw something to remove the Chief, possibily a Tendrils of Corruption. No other choice. M10 taps two and draws two... a Mind Rot... and a Doom Blade! Better than nothing. The spell flies towards the Chief and kills it, then M10 also plays the Mind Rot (one more Turn to Frog and a Thopter Engineer discarded) and passes.
And then Magic Origins simply plays another Chief of the Foundry! Game over for Magic 2010! Magic Origins wins game one.
Game Two
Magic 2010 starts with a turn one Duress, revealing a hand of a Thopter Engineer, a Shivan Reef, an Island, a Clash of Wills, a Foundry of the Consuls, a Hangarback Walker and a Chief of the Foundry. The choice is forced – the Clash of Wills – but M10 is not happy about what it saw on the opponent's hand. On its turn, Magic Origins plays a land and passes. M10 plays a Gorgon Flail and passes. Magic Origins plays another land and then the Hangarback Walker with one counter on it. M10 would like to get rid of it as quickly as possible, but the moment it just can't, and is forced to pass. Magic Origins draws and passes.
M10 reaches the four lands mark and can now cast a Tendrils of Corruption on the Walker. Magic Origins is quick to tap the creature to get one more counter on it, and gets at least two Thopter tokens out of the dead creature. M10 is then forced to pass.
On its turn, Magic Origins plays a Thopter Spy Network and attacks with its two tokens, drawing one. M10 is horrified at the card advantage its opponent is about to get, but can't unfortunately do much about it. On its turn, the monoblack deck is forced to just play a land and pass again. Magic Origins gets another Thopter token for free, then plays a Chief of the Foundry and attacks with two Thopters. The Chief is immediately removed by a Tendrils of Corruption, but Magic Origins gets to draw one more card, and things get more and more complicated for M10.
M10 gets a Nightmare into play, but as the swarming army of Thopters fly over the poor monoblack deck, and a Turn to Frog is ready to dispatch the Nightmare, it's clear to everyone that game two is over, and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Nothing happens on turn one, while on turn two M10 draws and plays a Duress, revealing a hand of Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Clash of Wills, 2 Turn to Frog, Shivan Reef, Foundry of the Consuls and Thopter Spy Network. Without thinking twice, M10 decides to remove the dangerous enchantment. Magic Origins draws and passes. M10, too, draws and passes. Magic Origins draws and plays a Chief of the Foundry. On its following turn, M10 plays a Mind Rot, and Magic Origins discards two Turn to Frog.
Magic Origins is stuck at three lands, and taps two foe a Hangarback Walker, then attacks for two with the Chief and passes. M10 plays a Black Knight and a Duress, revealing another Turn to Frog, a Clash of Wills and a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. M10 thinks for a few seconds, then decides to remove the counterspell. Magic Origins draws and plays a Thopter Engineer, then turns the Thopter token to attack along with the Chief of the Foundry – M10 doesn't have much choice and takes the damage, falling down to 14.
M10 draws, thinks for a few seconds, then plays a Liliana Vess and activates its +1 ability, forcing Magic Origins to discard the last Turn to Frog. Then M10 passes, and Magic Origins again attacks with the Chief and the Thopter token, this time aiming at the opponent's planeswalker, that falls down to 2 loyalty counters. Magic Origins is still stuck with three lands, and decides to pass.
M10 activates again the +1 ability from Liliana, forcing Magic Origins to discard the fourth (!) Turn to Frog, then plays a second Black Knight and decides to pass. End of turn, Magic Origins adds a second counter on top of the Walker, and M10 answers by playing a Doom Blade on the artifact creature. Still no lands for Magic Origins, but this turn it can kill Liliana with its Thopter tokens, before passing.
And finally the game seems to turn on M10's favor, as it draws and plays a Nightmare. Now M10 has superiority on sky and ground, and its opponent is still stuck with three lands. Can Magic Origins make a comeback? Maybe it can, as finally draws its fourth land and it's finally able to play the Pia and Kiran Nalaar it kept in hand since turn one! Magic Origins now passes, and M10 hopes to draw a removal to take care of the dangerous creature – but it's just another Swamp. M10 thinks for a few seconds, then decides to pass.
Magic Origins draws and plays another Thopter Engineer and turns its army of tokens to attack – one is killed by the Nightmare, but the others hit home and M10 falls down to 6 life points. At this point, M10 would need a Tendrils of Corruption to survive, and it draws... a Gorgon Flail! And that's it. Magic Origins annihilates its opponent and advances to the Group's semifinals!
Magic 2010 0 - Magic Origins 3
Conflux vs Return to Ravnica
An interesting matchup that sees one of the few pure control deck in BOTS (no locks, no combos, just simple creature removal, draw and counterspells) face one of the strangest decks around, the five-colour hybrid midrange-control that is Conflux. It's hard to see who could get the edge this time, but Return to Ravnica should be more easily able to gain card advantage, and if it can keep its opponent from resolving a Conflux, it should definitely be able to win this matchup. Let's see how things turned out.
Game One
Conflux wins the roll to start, but it's Return to Ravnica to make the first move, with a Frostburn Weird. On the other side, Conflux draws and plays a Cylian Sunsinger, then passes. Return to Ravnica thinks for a few seconds, then throws an Izzet Charm at the Sunsinger, opening the way to the Weird to attack for two. Conflux shrugs as it plays a Wall of Reverence, and the ball goes back to Return to Ravnica.
Return to Ravnica, for the moment, plays a Chromatic Lantern and passes. Conflux adds another Sunsinger to the board and passes as well (having regained all the lost life points in the meanwhile). Return to Ravnica plays a Sphinx's Revelation for three cards and three life points, then passes as well. The two decks are studying each other, waiting for the first one to make a big move. Conflux, unfortunately, is stuck at 4 mana, so for now it can at best attack with the Sunsinger, keeping the mana open to boost it. Return to Ravnica doesn't want to lose the Weird yet, and decides to take the damage. Conflux then passes, its life points increasing steadily.
Return to Ravnica considers the situation, then feels ready to break the balance: a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius makes its entrance on the battlefield! Does Conflux have an answer? Apparently not, as it just attacks with the Cylian Sunsinger, this time meeting the opposition of the Frostburn Weird. The Sunsinger gets boosted up to 5/5, killing the Weird and surviving the encounter, but then Conflux passes without addressing the Niv-Mizzet problem on the other side of the board – and being still stuck at four lands.
Return to Ravnica throws two damage to the Sunsinger to kill it, then plays a tapped Steam Vents, and passes. Conflux draws... a Path to Exile! Finally. The problem is that Return to Ravnica kept exactly three mana open, and that might mean a Counterflux. Now, it might be a bluff, but Return to Ravnica could have attacked with the Niv-Mizzet to force a block from the Wall, and then kill it with one additional damage. It's hard to believe Return to Ravnica would let that chance slip just to bluff a Counterflux. So, Conflux decides to pass – it absolutely can't risk to lose the Path to Exile, and it's faithful an opening will come.
Return to Ravnica draws, then attacks with the Niv-Mizzet, and Conflux decides to take the damage. Return to Ravnica then passes. End of turn, Conflux throws a Filigree Fracture at the Chromatic Lantern, trying to force a counter out of its opponent, but Return to Ravnica just puts the artifact into the graveyard. Conflux finally draws its fifth land, and plays a Thornling. Return to Ravnica lets it resolve, then end of turn pings Conflux for two damage, drawing two cards. On its turn, the control deck plays a Detention Sphere to remove the Thornling, then attacks for five with Niv-Mizzet (Conflux again takes the damage), and passes.
Conflux plays another Thornling and passes. Thanks to the Wall of Reverence, Conflux so far has managed to keep its life points above twenty, so it can still hope to drag the game long enough to make a comeback. End of turn, Return to Ravnica pings for one with Niv-Mizzet, then decides that it's had enough. After playing an untapped Steam Vents as its tenth land, it taps seven mana to play an Angel of Serenity and clear Conflux's side of the board! Then, it attacks for five damage with the Niv-Mizzet and passes. Conflux feels that it's losing the game, and decides for a desperate move. The Path to Exile is played, targeted at the Angel... and it's met with a Counterflux!
And then, ironically, Conflux draws a Martial Coup... with only six lands in play! Lady Luck is surely smiling on Return to Ravnica this game, but Conflux doesn't want to give up yet, so it plays yet another Thornling and passes. Return to Ravnic attacks for 10 damage, then plays a Sphinx's Revelation for four, and passes. Conflux draws... an Inkwell Leviathan! The game is set, then. On the coming turn, Return to Ravnica will attack for ten more, and ping with Niv-Mizzet for the rest (Conflux is sitting at 16 right now). Conflux could have made it with some more luck, but game one goes to Return to Ravnica.
Game Two
Luck is still not shining on Conflux, as it has to mulligan twice, while on the other side Return to Ravnica is perfectly happy with its hand and starts with a turn two Frostburn Weird. Still nothing to do for Conflux, and Return to Ravnica takes the chance to attack for three damage with the Weird. Finally, on the following tun, Conflux enters the game with a Wall of Reverence. At least, this should keep Return to Ravnica at bay for now. Return to Ravnica is confident it can control the game in the long run, though, and doesn't look particularly worried as it draws and passes.
Conflux gets its fifth land in play and casts a Thornling, but Return to Ravnica is ready to neutralize it with a Syncopate. On its turn, Return to Ravnica again draws and passes. Same goes for Conflux, and end of turn Return to Ravnica plays an Izzet Charm to draw two (and discard two). It's just two lands though, but at least the control deck is happy to remove two dead draws. Still, nothing to do for Return to Ravnica, that again draws and passes. Definitely a slow game this time around.
Conflux draws and plays a second Thornling, with no counterspell from Return to Ravnica this time. Still, Return to Ravnica already has a countermeasure ready: an Angel of Serenity. After wiping the board clean, Return to Ravnica attacks for one damage with the Weird, then passes.
Now, this is the decisive moment of the game. Conflux has seven lands in play and a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in hand. It needs to draw a land, and more precisely, a Swamp, as it lacks the double black mana. Since Return to Ravnica is all tapped out, resolving the planeswalker would lead to Conflux snatching the angel away from its opponent, and possibly gaining a game-winning advantage. So Conflux draws... a Forest! Not good enough, unfortunately. Yet again, Conflux gets very close, so very close, but can't make that last step. Return to Ravnica wins game two!
Game Three
Things seem to start better for Conflux this time around, with a turn one Noble Hierarch followed by a turn two Knight of the Reliquiary. Fingers crossed for Conflux, but Return to Ravnica doesn't seem to have an answer, at least for now, and just plays a tapped Izzet Guildgate before passing. Conflux plays a Rupture Spire, tapping the Forest, then sacrifices said forest with the Knight, then plays a Kaleidostone and attacks for one with the Hierarch, before finally passing. Return to Ravnica again draws and passes.
Conflux taps for five mana and plays a Thornling, but this time Return to Ravnica is ready to answer with a Syncopate. Conflux thinks for a few seconda, then decides to dish in as much damage as possible now that its opponent is open, and attacks for 4 with the Knight, before passing. Return to Ravnica again draws and passes. Conflux draws a Conflux, and ntoices it's only one mana away from casting it (consdiering also the Knight's ability). Apart from that, it holds a Wall of Reverence and a Path to Exile in hand. None of them are useful right now, so Conflux decides to attack for four more and pass. End of turn, Return to Ravica throws a Cyclonic Rift at the Knight, clearing the board of the enemy's worst threat – at least for now. The control deck is at 11 life points now, and knows it must be careful. Still, for now, it just draws and passes.
Conflux considers the situation and, after having attacked with the Hierarch, plays again the Knight of Reliquiary, but Return to Ravnica is ready to meet him with a Counterflux. Conflux then taps two more and plays a Cylian Sunsinger. Just two turns of attack it's what Conflux needs right now. But Return to Ravnica has other plans, and while its opponent is all tapped out, throws an Izzet Charm at the Sunsinger, removing her right away.
Not much to do for Conflux, as it draws a Filigree Fracture, so it just attacks for one more damage and passes. Return to Ravnica, too, draws and passes. The two decks are now studying each other, but it's Return to Ravnica that must act now, as the Hierarch is slowly but surely chipping away its life points. Luckily for the control deck, a Sphinx's Revelation comes to the rescue, not only with five precious life points, but also with five cards drawn!
Conflux is getting quite angry right now, as it's still stuck at five mana, and not drawing anything useful. A second Hierarch is drawn and played, allowing Conflux to attack for two, but that's not going to be enough. On the other side, in fact, Return to Ravnica plays a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius, and passes. For now, Conflux can remove it with an end-of-turn Path to Exile, but how long will Conflux's defenses last?
As it finally has seven mana available (five lands plus two Hierarchs), Conflux decides to try moving on the offensive, playing a Magister Sphinx. Return to Ravnica allows it to resolve... no counterspell, maybe? Or more simply, as it becomes clear on the following turn, has an Angel of Serenity read to clear Conflux's board! Again, Return to Ravnica shows to be always one step ahead of its opponent. On its turn, Conflux can only answer by playing a Wall of Reverence and passing, as the game once again slips through its fingers.
Return to Ravnica attacks with the Angel, then after the Wall is declared as blocker, casts an Izzet Charm for two damage to remove it. Now, nothing stands on Return to Ravnica's way. Return to Ravnica keeps attacking with the Angel, and a few turns later, when Conflux gathers up the mana to cast a Conflux, is ready to counter it with a Syncopate. And when on the following turn a second Conflux is again met with a Syncopate, Conflux's remaining hopes are crushed. Time has run out, and Return to Ravnica wins, advancing to the group finals!
Conflux 0 - Return to Ravnica 3
Those of you that are following and sometimes posting... who do you think will win each group? Who do you think is favorite for final victory? Who might be the dark horse?
Group B had a lot of bad decks so far. The winners succeeded against weak competition. No predictions yet.
In group C, I think M13 is too slow and durdly to stop the powerhouse of Antiquities if it gets a fast opener. M13 has very very few answers to Rocket Launcher + mana. I think M11 would be favored against Theros if it gets Destructive Force early. Force kills all the midrange creatures before they get monstrous and denies mana to activate monstrosity or rebuild a board presence. Both Titans answer planeswalkers well (Trample and burn). But if Theros can establish a big board presence before M11 gets Destructive Force, then the planeswalkers should make it too hard for M11 to recover. I think Antiquities could win all of group C because the remaining decks are all slow.
Important for the matchup: Remind your players that Monstrosity is TWO separate abilities: an activated ability that adds +1/+1 counters and makes it "monstrous", then a triggered ability that triggers only once it becomes monstrous. You can "counter" the damage from Polukranos or Stormbreath by using instant speed removal on the creature in response to the activated ability. Then it will never "become monstrous" and the triggered ability will never go on the stack. I noticed your Exodus player didn't know this and took unnecessary grief from Polukranos and Stormbreath. It makes a huge difference in the match. If any future opponents of Theros have instant speed removal, that's the best way to keep monstrosity in check.
In group D, I think Mirrodin is the best deck in a vaccuum but it has a terrible matchup coming up aganst M12. Dedicated control should stop Affinity unless enough Disciple tricks can seal the deal. R2R control also poses a serious challenge. I'm picking R2R to win, since its counterspells and card draw give it a better anti-control matchup (favored to win over M12) while M12's tool are more limited to beating aggro.
Great analysis! I think the winner of Group B will come out of the Apocalypse/Darksteel matchup, as both decks are, if not tier 1, at least tier 1.5 in BOTS. Oath and Dark Ascension, while good decks (they made group semifinals after all), are probably one step behind.
I wouldn't be so sure about Antiquities and M13. It's true that Antiquities can close the game with Rocket Launcher even while being soft-locked, it needs to gather up the Tron to generate that amount of mana, and with no card draw and no possibility to fetch into the deck, it's not exactly something that happens every game. Plus, M13 can close the game quickly once Jace is played. I'd say 60% Antiquities, 40% M13.
One of the most awaited matchups of the semifinals, pitching one against the other one of the best aggro in the tournament (if not the best) and one of the surprises of this edition. For Zendikar, this is probably the last challenge to group victory, while for Invasion is a sort of final exam: if you beat Zendikar, you're not the underdog anymore. Let's get it started!
Game One
Invasion wins the roll to start, but as could be easily predicted, the first move is from Zendikar: a turn one Steppe Lynx. Invasion plays a second land and an Elfhame Sanctuary, then passes. Zendikar plays a basic land instead of a fetch, attacks for two with the Lynx, then adds a Plated Geopede to the board. Invasion fetches a Mountain with the Elfhame Sanctuary, then plays it to cast a Tribal Flames targeted at the Geopede. Then, it passes. Zendikar plays an Adventuring Gear and equips it on the Lynx. Invasion prepares for the worst, but again Zendikar seems to have no fetchlands avilable, and only plays a basic land to attack for four, before passing. On its side, Invasion is unfortunately facing mana flood issues, and it can only play a land followed by an Harrow. The domain is now complete... but Invasion has nothing to do with it!
Zendikar plays another land, then a Goblin Guide and attacks for six damage. Invasion falls down to 8 and reveals a Forest from the top of its deck. Another land draw would have been deadly for Invasion, but as it draws another Elfhame Sanctuary on the following turn, Invasion realizes luck wasn't really on its side this time. On the following turn, an all-out attack by Zendikar followed by a Burst Lightning is enough to close the first game.
Game Two
This time around, Lady Luck seems to be smiling on Invasion, as Zendikar is forced to take a mulligan, and its start is definitely not one of the best, with a turn two Kor Skyfisher to bounce back one of its own lands. Even worse, Invasion gets its third land in play and casts a Tribal Flames to remove the Skyfisher, leaving Zendikar with only one land on the board. Not an unforgettable game for Zendikar, that has nothing better to do than cast a second Kor Skyfisher, again bouncing back a land. And then, it's hard for Invasion not to smile as it plays its fourth land and then a Collective Restraint. Now, Zendikar is in deep, deep trouble.
Still, Zendikar has the pride of the champion, and won't just give up. On its turn, it casts two Adventuring Gear and passes. It may take some time before it can strike a blow, but when it does, it will be a strong one. Invasion, for the moment, just draws and passes. One more land from Zendikar, that equips the Adventuring Gear and passes. Again, Invasion draws and passes. Again, one land drop from Zendikar, that it's now at four, and needs only one to start attacking with the Skyfisher.
And then Invasion strikes again, casting a Global Ruin! Zendikar is now back at two lands, and need to climb its way back up again! One more land for Zendikar, and a Steppe Lynx, before passing. Invasion plays a kicked Probe, forcing its opponent to discard two cards (a land and a Burst Lightning) and remain with only a single one in hand. Zendikar draws a Kor Hookmaster, then plays its last remaining land and passes.
And again, a Global Ruin from Zendikar! Invasion has kicked its opponent down again and again, and it's clearly enjoying it. Zendikar is now utterly powerless, and has no more lands to play. As Invasion casts an Ordered Migration, and then a second one on the following turn, the game quickly reaches a conclusion, and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
The game starts off better for Zendikar this time, as it gets a turn one Steppe Lynx in play, followed by a turn two Goblin Guide to attack for six damage (the Goblin Guide reveals a Global Ruin on top of Invasion's deck). Zendikar then plays an Adventuring Gear and passes. Invasion plays an Elfhame Sanctuary and passes, getting ready for the upcoming slaughter. Luckily for Invasion, Zendikar has no fetchland to play, and after having equipped the Adventuring Gear to the Goblin Guide, attacks for six damage to bring its opponent down to eight (and revealing a second Elfhame Sanctuary on top of Invasion's deck). Instead of drawing, Invasion fetches a Mountain with the Palace in play, then casts a Tribal Flames to remove the Lynx, and passes.
Zendikar plays a Plains and attacks for four damage (this time Invasion gets to draw a Forest for the Guide), then adds a Kor Hookmaster to the board and passes. Invasion fetches an Island, then plays a Collective Restraint, and crosses its fingers. Zendikar has no lands to play, in fact, but it shows a Punishing Fire and a Burst Lightning, and that's game over for Invasion! An incredibly ruthless performance from Zendikar to secure game three, and only one more game to win for the aggro deck to secure the group finals. Can Invasion make a comeback?
Game Four
Invasion starts, but Zendikar immediatly puts its opponent under pressure with a turn one Goblin Guide, attacking for two (but allowing its opponent to draw a Forest). Invasion just plays another land and passes. Zendikar's start turns out to be somewhat less good than what it seemes, as in its second turn can only play a Kor Skyfisher, bouncing back one of its lands. Two more damage are dished in from the Guide, revealing an Island to draw for Invasion, that falls to 16. On its turn, Invasion plays a Probe, incredibly drawing three more lands, and discarding two. Invasion hopes that some good draws are on their way, or things will get ugly quickly.
Zendikar plays a second Skyfisher, attacking for four damage to bring its opponent to 12 (and again Invasion gets to draw a Forest on top of its deck!). Invasion finally draws an Ordered Migration, but it will have to wait one more turn. For now, it plays its fourth land and a Ghitu Fire to remove one of the Skyfisher. Zendikar hasn't much to play this time around, so it just adds a land and attacks for four more (this time the Guide reveals an Ordered Migration on top of Invasion's deck). Invasion draws, completes the Domain and plays its first Ordered Migration. Zendikar draws and plays a Punishing Fire, bringing Invasion down to 6 life points, then passes without attacking.
Invasion draws and plays a kicked Probe, forcing its opponent to discard two Kor Hookmaster, while Invasion discards a land and a Harrow. Invasion then passes, keeping the birds to block and trade with the opponent's creatures. Zendikar draws, plays one more Punishing Fire to bring its opponent down to 4, and again passes without attacking. Now, Invasion fears that its opponent plans on closing the game with a Burst Lightning – and Zendikar only needs one more land for that. The aggro deck only has two cards in hand, but Invasion doesn't have any more Probe in hand, not even a Global Ruin to remove some lands. So, it can only cross its fingers, and try to end the game as quickly as possible. For now, then, it attacks with the five Bird tokens (one is blocked by the Skyfisher, and Zendikar takes four damage), then casts another Ordered Migration to add five more tokens to the board. Finally, it passes.
Zendikar draws... a Steppe Lynx! In hand it has a Goblin Guide and a Burst Lightning, as Invasion feared, but it lacks the fifth land needed to win. Furthermore, Zendikar doesn't want to attack, as the Guide's ability could remove land draws for its opponent and maybe help Invasion draw a Probe or worse a Global Ruin (plus Invasion can chump-block as much as it wants). For now, then, Zendikar passes.
Invasion draws a Tribal Flames. After this turn's Bird onslaught, Zendikar takes 8 more damage and falls down to 6, just out of reach for the Flames. Invasion is not happy with the situation, but it plays another Ordered Migration and passes.
It's all in this draw, then. Zendikar draws... a Plated Geopede! On the following turn, the huge army of Birds falls down on Zendikar, slaughtering any opposition. Invasion wins game four, and the two decks move on to the decisive game.
Game Five
Zendikar starts, and again it's a good start, with a turn one Goblin Guide (revealing a Fact or Fiction on top of its opponent's deck). Invasion draws, plays a land and passes. Zendikar continues to do what it does best: attacking. After dealing two more damage with the Guide (this time Invasion gets a Mountain from it), the aggro deck plays a Plated Geopede and passes. Invasion draws and quickly removes the dangerous Geopede with a Tribal Flames, before passing. Zendikar attacks for two more, then skips the land drop and simply plays a second Plated Geopede before passing. Invasion draws a Plains to the Guide and falls down to 14.
Invasion draws, plays an Harrow (sacrificing a Mountain) to get another Mountain and an Island, then smiles as it casts a second Tribal Flames to remove the Geopede! This is definitely bad news for Zendikar, as Invasion seems to have the game under control, and it's still sitting in a safe position when it comes to its life points. Zendikar attacks for two more with the Guide (revealing a Ghitu Fire), then plays a Kor Hookmaster and passes.
Invasion gets its fifth land in play, unfortunately without completing its Domain as it lacks a Swamp. After thinking for a few second, weighing three cards in its mind (Collective Restraint, Ordered Migration and Fact or Fiction), decides to go first with the Collective Restraint, and then passes. Zendikar gets its fourth land in play, then turns the Hookmaster to attack for two, and passes. Invasion is now at 10 life points.
Invasion draws, then plays an Ordered Migration to create four Bird tokens, and finally passes. Zendikar draws a Journey to Nowhere, and consider its possibilities. On hand, Zendikar has two fetchlands (that will keep for fear of a Global Ruin), the Journey to Nowhere and a Burst Lightning. Zendikar knows Invasion still has a Ghitu Fire in hand, meaning that on the coming turn it will be easily able to kill one of Zendikar's creatures. Even by using the Journey to Nowhere and the Burst Lightning to remove two Bird tokens, the remaining two can still trade for one of Zendikar's creatures, and with the other one removed by the Ghitu Fire, Zendikar's offensive potential would suddenly drop to zero. Still, as Invasion will never play any creature more dangerous than a Bird token, Zendikar decides to play the Journey to Nowhere to remove one token, and passes.
Invasion draws, plays its sixth land, attacks with its three tokens (safe in knowing a Tangle sits in its hand), then passes. Zendikar draws a second Burst Lightning, then considers the situation. Invasion has no blockers available. The aggro deck is convinced that such an opening left by Invasion is clearly a trap, so instead of wasting mana on the Collective Restraint, decided to get a fifth land in play and then casts a kicked Burst Lightning for four damage. Now Invasion is at six. The second Burst Lightning would bring it down to 2... and then anything can happen. Zendikar passes, and Invasion casts an end-of-turn Fact or Fiction.
And all Zendikar's worst fear become true: among the five cards, a Global Ruin! Zendikar puts it on a pile alone, while the other pile consists of an Elfhame Sanctuary, another Fact or Fiction, a Plains and a Probe. Without thinking twice, Invasion picks up the Global Ruin. The powerful sorcery is immediately played on the following turn, and Invasion's dreadful domain lock is in place. Things, now, look really bad for Invasion. After having attacked with its three Bird tokens, Invasion passes.
Zendikar now would need some incredible good luck to grasp victory, and considering the Ghitu Fire on its opponent's hand, and the Bird tokens in play, it's also on a clock. After drawing a Kor Skyfisher, it decides to play it to at least have a blocker for the tokens, bouncing back the Journey to Nowhere. Invasion draws, then considers the situation. With its opponent sitting at 11 life points, and the three Ghitu Fire on Invasion's hand, the road to victory seems clear. Invasion plays a Ghitu Fire four four damage and passes.
Zendikar has only a Teetering Peaks to play as land, then it casts again the Journey to Nowhere to remove another Bird token, and passes. Invasion draws, plays another Ghitu Fire for four damage, and passes. Zendikar is now at three.
Zendikar draws and plays a Plains, and can now cast the Burst Lightning for four damage, and bring Invasion to two. But that's it. No more lands open for Zendikar to attack, and on the following turn, Invasion's third Ghitu Fire is ready to kill Zendikar! At the end of an incredibly close match, Zendikar must accept its defeat, and BOTS salutes another contender to final victory. All the glory is for Invasion, that advances to the group's finals!
Invasion 3 - Zendikar 2
I wonder if this set of plays in game 4 determined the match
Zendikar had a Goblin Guide and Kor Skyfisher on the board.
I think doing nothing and hoping to burn the opponent out is a losing strategy. Every Lava Spike does nothing until the last one brings him to 0. If you don't know for sure that you have enough damage to end the game, spending mana and cards to burn the face might accomplish nothing. Just waiting for more burn or lands doesn't work either. The longer you stall, the more likely Invasion is to draw into Collective Restraint (to negate creatures) or Global Ruin (stopping Burst Lightning mana) or another Ordered Migration, sealing the game. Invasion will draw its cards before Zendikar can draw its needed cards, since Invasion has powerful draw spells to dig.
Aggro needs to apply pressure. Casting Kor Hookmaster instead adds a 2/2 body to the board and taps out a bird. The remaining four bird tokens cannot kill both Goblin Guide and Kor Skyfisher, only one of them! So Zendikar can attack. Invasion will probably use 3 birds to kill the Skyfisher. Then he can either chump Guide with the other bird (losing a bird for nothing) or take 2 damage from Guide. If he takes 2 damage from Guide, he drops to 6 and it'll be easier to burn him out with your spells (instead of from 8). If not, he has even fewer birds left. In the end, he'll only have 1-2 untapped birds left to block your next attack, so his birds cannot handle both your remaining 2/2s (or the 2nd Hookmaster in hand).
I think that play sets Zendikar up in a better position to win either with creatures or with burn. Invasion won't be able to spend a turn durdling with game-advancing stuff like kicked Probe or Fact or Fiction or even Global Ruin. He'd have to play something defensive that deals with the imminent threat of creatures. Then Zendikar would have more time to win with burn, because Invasion will be slowed down in its own plan. Applying pressure make it harder for the control deck to stabilize, constrains their resources so they can't both defend against you and advance their own gameplan.
It's possible Invasion still would have won, but I felt like Zendikar just layed down and gave up the turn it stopped attacking and starting playing burn at the face at sorcery speed.
I hadn't looked at the group B decklists that carefully since the group B matches so far have had many weaker decks (now eliminated). Now looking at the lists, I pick Apocalypse to win against Darksteel and to win group B overall. Darksteel is powerful but is slow enough that I think it won't be able to apply enough pressure before The Rock takes over. Pernicious Deed, if drawn, shuts down the deck's usual resiliency to removal (modular). Vindicate and Gerrard's Verdict do a lot of work early. However, the deck does have a lot of high cost cards. The player will have to mulligan appropriately so the opener isn't too top-heavy and has removal. Also, mana screw is a real concern with so many basics.
So no, he was not sure. He only hoped. There's a difference. At the time the burn in his hand only represented 6 damage. He needed to draw a 5th land or another Burst Lightning / Punishing Fire to add up to 8 damage. He had to hope on future draws.
That's the kind of situation I was talking about. When you don't have the resources in hand to burn for lethal, you shouldn't just give up on creatures and fling burn at the face at sorcery speed. He still had 2 bodies in play and 2 bodies in hand that could deal damage or kill many birds! All he needs is one of those 2/Xs to hit for 2 more damage to make the burn in his hand guaranteed to be lethal.
Remember that he only had 3 lands in play that turn (otherwise he would have cast both Punishing Fires). Even if the 4th land was in hand, we're talking about "burning him out" over at least 3 turns, probably longer if he doesn't draw the 5th land immediately. That's a lot of turns to not be attacking and let Invasion do whatever he wants.
If Zendikar has the burn kill eventually, why is waiting a few turns bad? Because he's giving Invasion a free Time Walk + Time Stretch to get back in the game with card draw, disruption, or his own clock. The longer Zendikar waits, the more likely it is Invasion casts kicked Probes to knock the burn out of his hand, or that Invasion casts Global Ruin to deny him 5 mana. Opponents interact. They're not goldfish. Meanwhile Invasion is already sitting at 5 power in flying on the board... If he just waits, Invasion can eventually outrace him with birds. And that's exactly what happened!
Invasion was only able to do things like cast kicked Probe (strong value) and amass a larger bird army to attack because Zendikar stopped interacting with him and gave him free turns. If Zendikar was attacking, Invasion would have been forced on the defensive. He could not tap out to cast draw spells like Probe or Fact or Fiction. He would be forced to play another Ordered Migration to have more birds to block with (or play removal or Tangle or something) and then lose those birds to blocking. In the end, even if Zendikar did not get any damage through with his creatures, he would have killed a bunch of birds and forced Invasion to make different plays. That would have slowed down Invasion's clock a lot, buying Zendikar more time to draw creatures or burn or the 5th land to burn him out. It's possible Invasion still would have won, but by using his creatures Zendikar would increase his odds and buy himself more time until he is sure he can burn for lethal. Unless there is lethal burn in hand, when opponent is that low in life aggro decks should keep attacking even if it's just killing tokens.
By this logic, why ever attack with Guide?
It's only a problem when the top two cards are land-nonland. But the probability is much higher that they are nonland-nonland or nonland-land. On the other hand, by doing nothing and giving opponent free turns, he can tap out for Probe or Fact or Fiction... which are actually going to draw him into dangerous cards. That's how control decks get ahead, and that's why aggro decks can't afford to give them too much time.
I think he had the fourth land to play, and two or three turns to draw a fifth. Or he could have drawn another Burst Lightning or Punishing Fire. Those are decent odds I think.
That said, I understand your reasoning, and I'm not saying it's wrong, but it probably wouldn't have made much difference.
If Zendikar hadn't played the Punishing Fire, but rather a Hookmaster, he would have had to discard a burn spell to the kicked Probe, and that would have pushed him further away from winning.
Now, he didn't know that he was going to discard two, of course, he only chose a gambling strategy (win with burn) rather than a strategy requiring to apply constant pressure but deal no damage. In fact, playing the Hookmaster would have resulted most likely in a dead Skyfisher and a chump-blocked Guide. With the possibility of helping Zendikar removing a land draw. And he wouldn't have had a chance to play a burn spell along with the Hookmaster that turn.
Again, I think it would have made no difference in this specific case (as Invasion had two more Ordered Migration and a Tribal Fires coming) but from a theoretical point of view, I don't think that was a wrong choice - personal opinion, obviously.
Urza's Saga vs Timespiral
After Invasion's surprising victory in the first Group A semifinals, can Timespiral also snatch a victory against the crazy-clunky combo deck of Urza's Saga? Let's find out!
Game One
Timespiral wins the roll to start, but the first play of the game is from Urza's Saga with a turn one Thran Turbine + Claws of Gix. On the following turn, Timespiral suspends a Riftwing Cloudskate and passes. Timespiral might not even have three turns, in fact, as Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy followed by a Worn Powerstone. It might not be the fastest start ever for the combo deck, but it seems to be setting up its combo just fine.
On the other side, Timespiral gets a third land into play, then two Prismatic Lens, and passes. Urza's Saga is stuck at two lands, although that's arguably not a huge trouble when one of those lands it's a Tolarian Academy. This turn, the combo deck adds two Fluctuators to the board, and passes. Timespiral plays a Gemstone Mine followed by a Riftwing Cloudskate to bounce the Worn Powerstone. Timespiral's attrition game has begun. Will it be effective?
Surely it's annoying, but Urza's Saga plan proceeds: it taps the Academy for four mana, then the Island for five, a Turnabout to untap all the lands, and then tap them again to reach six mana and play a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga plays a second Island, then a Temporal Aperture, and taps the Academy for five more mana to play a Turnabout. Tapping again all lands, Urza's Saga reaches eight mana available and plays a Windfall. After the spell resolves, Urza's Saga casts a Worn Powerstone, a Voltaic Key, a Thran Turbine and a Claws of Gix. Things are shaping up well, and Urza's Saga passes.
Timespiral is ready to do its best this turn: the suspended Riftwing Cloudskate enters the battlefield to bounce the Worn Powerstone, while an Avalanche Riders destroys the Tolarian Academy, then all its creatures turn to attack for six damage. Timespiral now passes, hoping that its oponent won't be able to recover.
But Urza's Saga has a second (and, in fact, also a third) Tolarian Academy in hand, and it's ready to get its engine going again. Lands are tapped for 11 mana to fuel the Worn Powerstone and a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga draws seven and isn't exactly satisfied by what it sees, but there are three lands that can be cycled, allowing the combo deck to look at a hand composed of a Tolarian Academy, one Island, two Temporal Aperture, one Worn Powerstone, one Voltaic Key and, more importantly, a Windfall. First of all, Urza's Saga use the two remaining mana in its mana pool to play one Temporal Aperture. Then, its lands are tapped again to generate 12 mana, and play a Voltaic Key, then the second Temporal Aperture, and finally a Windfall (keeping six mana in Urza's Saga mana pool).
At this point, though, Timespiral smiles and raises its hand to block the opponent: tapping two mana, a Momentary Blink is played on the Avalanche Riders! There's nothing Urza's Saga can do at the moment, and as the spell resolves and the Riders come back into play, the Academy is destroyed! Now, Urza's Saga surely won't be able to combo this turn... and the combo deck feels a shiver of fear down its back. What if the surprising Timespiral deck... will be able to pull out another surprise win? The combo deck shakes its head to clear it of bad omens, and focus on the game at hand.
Urza's Saga plays a Thran Turbine and another Voltaic Key, then a second Windfall, finally another Thran Turbine and passes. Timespiral doesn't pay the Echo for the Riders, but rather casts another one from its hand, destroying one Island, then attacks again for six damage and passes (Urza's Saga is now at 8). Now, Urza's Saga hasn't drawn any Tolarian Academy, and that's a problem. Furthermore, it has no Windfall, or Turnabout, or Time Spiral in hand, and can at most produce 6 mana with the single Island in play plus the Worn Powerstone and the Voltaic Keys. So, it's gonna gambe it all on a Stroke of Genius to draw three cards. Urza's Saga draws... a Turnabout, a Claws of Gix... and a Time Spiral. Come next turn, Urza's Saga will be able to get its engine going again, but not now. For now, it can only play an Island, then a Claws of Gix, and pass.
But time's out for Urza's Saga, as a Bogardan Hellkite is ready to make its grand entrance on the battlefield, and incinerate the poor combo deck. Timespiral once again shows the power of its versatility, and its capability to destroy a Tolarian Academy at instant speed might actually be extremely troublesome for Urza's Saga. The match is definitely open: who will grasp the victory?
Game Two
Urza's Saga starts with an Island followed by two Claws of Gix, while on the other side Timespiral plays a Mountain and passes. Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy and then a Windfall to refresh its hand. Timespiral plays and sacrifices a Terramorphic Expanse, then passes. Urza's Saga plays a land, then two Voltaic Key, then taps the Academy for mana and casts a Fluctuator, cycling a Remote Isle before casting a Thran Turbine and passing. Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens, then suspends a Riftwing Cloudskate, and finally passes.
Urza's Saga taps all its lands, then plays a Stroke of Genius to draw six, then a Claws of Gix and another Voltaic Key. The combo deck would need a Time Spiral to really get the engine going, but so far is not drawing any. And things are about to get more complicated, as Timespiral draws and plays an Avalance Riders to destroy the Tolarian Academy! Definitely bad news for Urza's Saga. Luckily, the combo deck draws and plays a Worn Powerstone, that in combo with the Voltaic Keys should grant some mana. The artifact is immediataly untapped to play a Temporal Aperture, then Urza's Saga passes.
On Timespiral's upkeep, a Momentary Blink is played on the Riders, destroying one more land and allowing it to attack for two more damage, bringing Urza's Saga down to 16. Timespiral then passes. And then Urza's Saga gets lucky, as it finally draws a Time Spiral! The spell is immediately played, and Urza's Saga hopes to draw a Tolarian Academy. Unfortunatel, there's no trace of it... but the combo deck can play a Claws of Gix and then a Windfall. Urza's Saga draws seven more cards... and again, no Tolarian Academy! Incredible! Urza's Saga can't do much more now, than playing another Worn Powerstone and pass.
Timespiral doesn't play the Echo cost for the Avalanche Riders, and gets the Cloudskate coming into play to bounce a Worn Powerstone. Another Avalanche Riders is then played, and both creatures are turned to attack for four damage. Timespiral then passes.
Urza's Saga considers the situation briefly, then taps the Powerstone and three Voltaic Keys to activate the Temporal Aperture... revealing a Blasted Landscape. Definitely not Urza's Saga lucky game, and the control deck passes.
Timespiral again Momentary Blink-s the Riders during its upkeep, while Urza's Saga answers by tapping its four Islands for mana to cast a Turnabout and tap its opponent's creatures – the plan is now buying some time to get a Tolarian Academy in play, or at least a Time Spiral. Timespiral can't attack this turn, so it suspends another Cloudskate and passes.
Urza's Saga again activates the Temporal Aperture, this time to reveal... a Remote Isle. Urza's Saga curses its bad luck, then plays a Worn Powerstone, a Voltaic Key, and passes. Timespiral flashbacks a Momentary Blink on the Riders, then attacks. Urza's Saga falls down to 8, and Timespiral passes.
Urza's Saga draws and cycles the Remote Isle to draw... an island. Not good. The Temporal Aperture is again activated, to reveal an Island. The control deck plays it, then taps all its remaining mana to play a second Temporal Aperture and activate it... and there it is, finally, the Tolarian Academy! Too bad Urza's Saga can't play it now, but in the coming turn, it shall finally be able to get the powerful engine going, and hopefully combo out... or else it will be game over.
Timespiral unfotunately has only five lands in play, plus the Prismatic Lens (also no source of white mana), meaning that it won't be able to both pay the echo for the Riders and then have enough mana to blink it. For now, it just lets the Riders die and casts a Riftwing Cloudskate from its hand to bounce a Worn Powerstone, then attacks for two and passes.
Now, Urza's Saga needs to combo out this turn. Will it be able to? Let's see. As the Tolarian Academy hits the board, the mana is not a problem anymore, but the combo deck needs to find a Time Spiral to really get things going, or at least a Turnabout to gain one more turn. So it activates the first Temporal Aperture... and gets a Remote Isle. Not good. Here goes the second Temporal Aperture... a Windfall. Good. Urza's Saga discards its hand and draws five, finally getting the desired Time Spiral! The engine has now started, and as Urza's Saga draws a hand with 2 Turnabout and a Time Spiral, it's clear that it's not going to stop. After shuffling around and drawing cards for a couple of minutes, Urza's Saga finishes off its opponent and gets the match back 1-1. Timespiral has lost this game, but has learned from its mistakes: it should have paid earlier the Echo for the Riders, so as to have mana to blink it and destroy the Tolarian Academy at instant speed. It won't happen again. The two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
The game starts off slow for both decks, with Urza's Saga making the first move on turn two: a Fluctuator, then a cycled Remote Isle. Timespiral is still playing lands, and has got nothing to do on turn three either (except charging up a Calciform Pools). On its following turn, Urza's Saga is ready to get serious, playing two Thran Turbine, then a Tolarian Academy, and a Temporal Aperture. But it's also Timespiral's moment to get serious, with a Lightning Angel to begin the offensive with three damage on Urza's Saga.
Things don't look good for the combo deck, as it has no spells available to draw some cards, and must therefore rely on the Temporal Aperture to get something good. First, it plays another Fluctuator, then taps the Academy for five to activate the Aperture... and gets a Remote Isle. Urza's Saga feels a deja-vu, then plays the land to remove it from the top of the deck, and passes.
Timespiral draws, attacks for three, then plays a Riftwing Cloudskate to bounce back the Temporal Aperture, and passes. Urza's Saga plays it again, then also plays a Thran Turbine, and finally activates the Aperture again. A Voltaic Key is shown, and Urza's Saga plays it before passing.
Timespiral attacks for five damage (Urza's Saga is now at 9), then passes.
Urza's Saga gets lucky this time, as it draws a Windfall. First of all, it taps all its lands for mana (for a total of 9), then casts a Turnabout to untap them, then a Temporal Aperture and the Windfall. At this point, Timespiral taps two mana and casts a Momentary Blink on the Cloudskate to bounce back the Academy. Both decks draw three, and Urza's Saga gets a Time Spiral. Urza's Saga plays again the Tolarian Academy (as it played no lands so far this turn), then considers the situation. Timespiral still has four mana open to bounce the Cloudskate and remove the Academy for the second time, effectively preventing Urza's Saga from comboing out this turn. Still, the combo deck would like to see one Momentary Blink removed from the game, and also it needs to refresh its hand. So, after having played a Claws of Gix for zero, Urza's Saga taps the Academy and casts the Time Spiral. Timespiral flashbacks the Blink and bounces the legendary land, that gets shuffled in Urza's Saga's deck.
Luckily, Urza's Saga draws another Tolarian Academy one in its hand. The combo deck got eight mana from the Academy, and six got spent on the Time Spiral. Urza's Saga still has three lands on the battlefield: two Island and a Remote Isle. As it just drew two Turnabout, it would like to use one to tap the opponent's creatures on Timespiral's turn, but as things stand right now, it won't be able to. With the two mana on pool, plus one from one of its lands, Urza's Saga casts a Worn Powerstone. At this point, it could untap it with a Voltaic Key, but then it would only have one blue mana available and couldn't cast the Turnabout anyway. So, it just adds another Voltaic Key to the board and passes.
Timespiral attacks for five more, then considers the situation. Urza's Saga is at 4 life points, and with one land, two Voltaic Key, and a tapped Worn Powerstone, it has a total of three lands available. Timespiral smiles as it taps all its lands, also removing two counters from the Calciform Pools, to cast a Disintegrate for 7 damage. With three mana available, Urza's Saga can sacrifice three permanents to gain three life... and still fall down to zero! Timespiral gets game three by storm, and the two decks move on to game four.
Game Four
Urza's Saga starts the game with a turn one Voltaic Key followed by a turn two Temporal Aperture. Still nothing on Timespiral's side, and Urza's Saga plays a Tolarian Academy followed by a Windfall to refill its hand. Then it plays a Thran Turbine and finally passes. Still nothing for Timespiral, that plays a Terramorphic Expanse to fetch an Island and passes.
Now, Urza's Saga could theoretically try to combo out this turn, even though it's not guaranteed to succeed and might just end up wasting resources. And at the moment, Timespiral couldn't interfere in any way. Better yet, though, there's a way for Urza's Saga to strengthen its board position and gain one turn. So, for now it taps the Tolarian Academy to play a Worn Powerstone and passes.
On Timespiral's upkeep, Urza's Saga untaps the Powerstone and then taps out all its mana to cast a Turnabout and tap all the opponent's lands. There's not much Timespiral can do right now, so it just plays another Terramorphic Expanse and passes.
Urza's Saga draws and plays a Claws of Gix, then taps its lands for eight mana and plays a Temporal Aperture and a Time Spiral: game's on! After shuffling its deck and drawing seven, Urza's Saga plays another Claws of Gix, then a Thran Turbine, and finally taps out all its lands to cast a Stroke of Genius for seven. Then it plays a second Tolarian Academy, sacrificing the first one and tapping it for eight more mana, to fuel a Fluctuator and another Time Spiral.
After that, Urza's Saga plays a Voltaic Key, a Temporal Aperture, then taps the Academy for 11 mana and plays a Windfall. As the new hand reveals a Turnabout and another Windfall, Urza's Saga picks up the pace and doesn't stop: the combo is succesfully completed, and Urza's Saga wins game four! On to the decisive fifth game!
Game Five
Both decks have to mulligan this time, but all in all, this might be a good news for Timespiral rather than Urza's Saga. Timespiral only plays a land and passes on its first turn, while Urza's Saga plays a land, a Claws of Gix, and passes. Timespiral plays a Prismatic Lens and passes. Urza's Saga plays a Fluctuator and passes. Timespiral plays a face-down creature, surely a Vesuvan Shapeshifter, and passes.
This turn Urza's Saga plays a Thran Turbine and a Temporal Aperture, but it lacks the mana to activate it, and doesn't have anything to even remotely get the combo going. Still, for now there's time. Timespiral attacks for two, then suspends a freshly drawn Ancestral Vision, and passes. Urza's Saga plays its fourth land, then a second Fluctuator and Temporal Aperture, emptying its hand. Now, it's all luck of the draw. Timespiral attacks for two more and passes.
Urza's Saga draws... a Turnabout. Can't do much with it at the moment, so the combo deck just passes. Timespiral attacks for two more and passes. Urza's Saga draws a Time Spiral! Not bad, but it doesn't have the mana to cast it. A Tolarian Academy at this point would be enough to get the combo going, probably, but without that, Urza's Saga is not going anywhere. Again, the combo deck passes.
Timespiral attacks for two more, then considers that the Ancestral Vision is coming in next turn, and hopefully it will draw something good. So, it also casts a Disintegrate for six and passes. Urza's Saga is now at six, and should the Vision bring to Timespiral a second Disintegrate, it could very well turn out to be Urza's Saga's demise.
Urza's Saga draws... a Windfall! But Timespiral has two cards in hand, and Urza's Saga three, including the Windfall itself, so there wouldn't be much to draw with it. On the other hand, Timespiral it's just about to get three cards from the Ancestral Vision. Urza's Saga considers the situation, and decides to wait one more turn to play the Windfall.
Timespiral refills its hand, then casts an Avalanche Riders and attacks for four, bringing Urza's Saga down to 2. Then, Timespiral passes. It's all or nothing for Urza's Saga now, that plays the Windfall. Timespiral looks at the three Momentary Blink in its hand and considers the situation. Timespiral doesn't have four lands to flashback it from the graveyard, and it's unlikely that it will draw another one. So, it would be better to play one now, as it would also reduce the number of cards drawn by Urza's Saga. Timespiral decides to do so: Urza's Saga loses one more land, and Timespiral now has only four cards in hand.
Urza's Saga would need to draw both a Time Spiral and a Tolarian Academy to have any hope to recover this game, but it draws none of them. Just two Island, a Voltaic Key and a Thran Turbine. And that's it. Game five is over, Timespiral continues its incredible performance in BOTS, and advances to the group finals!
Urza's Saga 2 - Timespiral 3
Apocalypse vs Darksteel
Two heavyweights of BOTS face off in the first semifinal of Group B. Darksteel builds on the Modular ability and its two powerhouse cards: Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp. Apocalypse was, back in the day, one of the most broken sets ever printed, featuring cards like Spiritmonger (in an age of underpowerec creatures), Phyrexian Arena, Vindicate and Pernicious Deed. Exactly this last one is gonna be crucial, as it can clear the board of all Darksteel's creatures, this way closing the Modular chain. On to the actual game!
Game One
Apocalypse wins the roll to start, but as could be easily foreseen, it's Darksteel to make the first move with a turn one Aether Vial. On the other side, Apocalypse plays a Spectral Lynx and passes. Darksteel adds a counter on the vial, then plays a Genesis Chamber and passes. Apocalypse draws and passes. End of turn, Darksteel gets an Arcbound Worker in play with the Vial.
On its turn, Darksteel attacks with both creatures, and Apocalypse blocks the Myr token with the Lynx, regenerating it but losing one life point to a dual land. Considering the one damage from the unblocked Worker, Apocalypse is now at 18. Then, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Slith and passes. Apocalypse again draws and passes. End of turn, Darksteel gets another Arcbound Slith in play with the Vial.
Now, Darksteel is forcing the offensive, turning all its creatures to attack. Apocalypse takes all the damage this time, falling down to 13. On its turn, Apocalypse is ready to start the comeback: first, it attacks for two damage with the Lynx, then it plays a Pernicious Deed – and wipes the board clean!
Now, Darksteel is in great trouble. It has three lands in play, but only one Forest, and in hand, a Viridian Zealot, two Arcbound Crusher and a Skullclamp. For now, the artifact deck is forced to pass – and things don't look good. Especially so, as Apocalypse plays a Spiritmonger on its turn!
Darksteel draws... another Skullclamp! Still nothing to do. Apocalypse adds a Phyrexian Arena to the board, and starts attacking with the Spiritmonger. Darksteel draws and plays an Arcbound Ravager, but Apocalypse simply kills it with a Vindicate, and Darksteel realizes there's no comeback possible. Apocalypse wins game one!
Game Two
Darksteel begins, and its first play is a turn two Genesis Chamber. On the other side, Apocalypse starts with a turn two Spectral Lynx. Darksteel plays an Arcbound Stinger and passes. Apocalypse attacks with the Spectral Lynx (Darksteel takes the damage), then plays a Gerrard's Verdict, forcing Darksteel to discard an Arcbound crusher and an Arcbound Slith. Apocalypse then passes, and Darksteel begins its offensive by attacking with the Stinger. Then it plays an Arcbound Ravager and passes.
Apocalypse decides to remove the Stinger, as it is the only creatures that it cannot block, and plays a Vindicate. Darksteel obviously answers by sacrificing the Stinger to boost up the Ravager. Apocalypse then passes. On its turn, Darksteel attacks with the now 3/3 Ravager and the two Myr tokens. Darksteel blocks the Ravager with both the Lynx and the Myr token, forcing Darksteel to sacrifice one token to boost the Ravager up to 4/4. The Lynx is regenerated and Apocalypse falls down to 16 life points from combat damage (and also some life lost to dua lands). Darksteel then plays an Arcbound Worker and a Sword of Fire and Ice.
Darksteel now has an empty hand, and Apocalypse needs to resist until it can get rid of the Ravager, possibly with a Pernicious Deed to wipe the board completely. For now, it plays a second Spectral Lynx and passes. Darksteel draws and plays a Darksteel Citadel, then equips the Sword to the Worker and attacks with all its creatures. Apocalypse blocks the Ravager with a Lynx, then the Worker with a Lynx and a Myr token, and trades one more token for an opponent token. One Myr token from Darksteel slips in to deal one damage, and Apocalypse loses one more life points from dual lands to regenerate both Lynxes. Darksteel now passes. The artifact deck could have pushed in some more damage by moving in all the counters on the Myr token that was unblocked, but that wouldn't have killed Apocalypse and then a single Vindicate would have meant game over for Darksteel. Also, there would be no Ravager anymore to move around the tokens. Darksteel needs a creature with Flying now, and for the moment can only pass.
Apocalypse draws and passes. Darksteel draws... a Blinkmoth Nexus! Exactly what it needed. Darksteel plays the land and passes, knowing that soon it will be able to strike. Apoclaypse needs to gain as much time as possible, so it casts a Death Grasp for four damage to Darksteel, keeping a single land open to regenerate a Lynx. Then, Apocalypse passes.
Darksteel draws and plays a land. After considering the situation, Darksteel decides to go all in: the Blinkmoth Nexus is animated, the Sword id equipped to it, and all the artifacts sacrificed to move as much counter on it as possible. The Nexus is now a roaring 9/9 beast, and along with the Sword that's 13 damage straight at Apocalypse! The rock deck is now at 5 life points, and everything stands on this last drawn card. Apocalypse picks it up with trembling hands... a Swamp! Nothing to do, then. Apocalypse concedes and the two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Apocalypse starts, but the first move is by Darksteel with a turn one Aether Vial, followed by a turn two Genesis Chamber. Apocalypse draws and passes, for the moment. Darksteel throws in a second Genesis Chamber, and passes. Apocalypse again draws and passes, and end of turn Darksteel plays an Arcbound Slith with the Vial. On its turn, Darksteel turns its creatures to attack for three damage, then plays a Sword of Fire and Ice and passes. On the other side, Apoclaypse plays a Spiritmonger and passes.
Now, things are somewhat troublesome for Darksteel. The Spiritmonger can easily stall Darksteel's offensive, at least until the artifact deck draws some creature with Flying or a Ravager. On the other hand, there's a risk in overextending, as a Pernicious Deed could simply wipe the board clean. Still, Darksteel is forced to invest more resources ot just hand over the game to its opponent, so after equipping the Sword to the Slith, it plays a second Slith before passing.
And then it happens: Apocalypse plays a Pernicious Deed and activates it for three mana, wiping the board clean... except for the Spiritmonger, of course, that attacks for six damage! Then, Apocalypse passes. Darksteel fears it won't be able to recover in time, and for now can only play an Arcbound Slith and pass. Apocalypse plays a Vindicate to kill the Slith, and attacks for six more, then also adds a Spectral Lynx to the board. Darksteel can't do much more than playing an Arcbound Worker and a Sword of Fire and Ice, but that's not likely to stop Apocalypse, that attacks with its two creatures (the Worker chumpblocks the Spiritmonger), then adds a fully kicked Necravolver to its growing army. Darksteel realizes it's over and concedes.
Game Four
Darksteel starts with a turn one Arcbound Worker, followed by a turn two Genesis Chamber, while Apocalypse is still busy playing lands. On its third turn, Darksteel plays an Arcbound Stinger and passes. On the other side, Apocalypse lacks white mana, but can play a Pernicious Deed and pass. Darksteel attacks for three more damage, then considers the situation. The Pernicious Deed is a gun aimed at Darksteel's heart, but on the other hand, Darksteel probably hasn't got enough resources on the board to kill Apocalypse as it is. Something more must be added, while keeping a reasonable reserve force in hand. So, Darksteel plays a second Arcbound Worker and an Aether Vial before passing. Apocalypse plays a Necravolver and passes.
Darksteel turns all its creatures to attack. The two Myr tokens are blocked and killed by Apoclaypse's creatures (that also loses its Myr token), while the remaining deal three more damage and bring Apocalypse down to ten. Darksteel then considers the situation and passes.
Apocalypse is finally ready to pull the trigger, and activates the Pernicious Deed to clean the board before attacking for two damage with the Necravolver. Darksteel, that is unfortunately still stuck with two lands, plays another Æther Vial and passes. Apocalypse gets a Spiritmonger in play, attacks for two more damage, and passes.
Darksteel finally gets its third land in play, then plays an Arcbound Slith and passes. Apocalypse attacks with its two creatures to bring its opponent down to 8... then, smiling maliciously, picks up a Plains from its hand and puts it into play! The card has been there for a couple of turns, but Apocalypse wanted Darksteel to think that it didn't have white mana available. A Death Grasp is immediately casted for four damage, and Darksteel is now at 4! And as Apocalyopse reveals a second Death Graps in its hand, Darksteel realizes that its defeat is complete. Apocalypse wins the game, and advances to the group finals!
Apocalypse 3 - Darksteel 1
Oath of the Gatewatch vs Dark Ascension
Battle of the midrange decks! Both these decks are tuned to give their best after the first few turns have passed, and while Oath can also build up a decent aggro-like offensive in the early turns with its Eldrazi (and particularly the Eldrazi Mimic can be deadly), Dark Ascension plans is clearly to slowly build up its Undying creature and stack up +1/+1 counters until a deadly Fling can kill off the opponent - or they're simply too big to stop. Two different philosophies, for a game that will definitely be interesting to follow.
Game One
Oath of the Gatewatch wins the roll to start and begins with a tapped Mirrorpool. On the other side, Dark Ascension plays a Forst and passes. Oath, too, plays a land and passes. Dark Ascension plays a second Forest and then casts a Strangleroot Geist, beginning the offensive. Oath loses two life points, and still can only play one land and pass. Dark Ascension keeps increasing the early pressure, playing a second Strangleroot Geist and attacking for four.
Now it's finally Oath's time to shine, though, as it casts a Though-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of a Predator Ooze, a Fling, a Huntmaster of the Fells, a Hunger of the Howlpack, and a land. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then remove the Fling and passes. Dark Ascension attacks with its two Geists, one being killed by the Seer, the second dealing two more damage to bring its opponent down to 12. Dark Ascension then plays a Huntmaster of the Fells and passes. Oath plays an Oblivion Strike to remove the Huntmaster from the game, then passes again.
Now, Dark Ascension is stuck at four lands, two Mountains and two Forests. For now, it decides to attack with all its creatures. Oath decides to block and definitively kill the 3/2 Geist, and takes 4 damage to fall down to 8. Then, Dark Ascension plays the Hunger of the Howlpack to turn its Wolf token into a 5/5 creature. Finally, it passes.
Oath plays a kicked Bearer of Silence, and Dark Ascension sacrifices the Geist, that comes back as a 3/2. Oath then passes. Dark Ascension is slowly yet surely killing its opponent, and even though Oath seems to be slowly stabilizing the situation, it has to gain the upper hand quickly, or will end up simply losing to a Fling. For now, Dark Ascension attacks with both its creatures – the Wolf kills the Bearer, the Seer kills the Geist. Then Dark Ascension plays a Dawntreader Elk and passes.
Oath plays a Reality Smasher and passes. End of turn, Dark Ascension sacrifices the Elk to fetch a third Forest, then on its turn plays a Vorapede and passes. Oath plays a Slaughter Drone, then a Thought-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of Strangleroot Geist and Predator Ooze (the Ooze is removed). Oath then passes. Dark Ascension draws another Predator Ooze, and declares to attack with the Vorapede and the 5/5 Wolf. The Drone blocks the Wolf, activating its Deathtouch ability to kill it. The Vorapede is killed by a the Reality Smasher, and comes back with Undying. Dark Ascension then plays the Predator Ooze and passes.
Oath draws, plays a Spatial Contortion to kill the Ooze, then casts an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Strangleroot Geist, then attacks with the Vorapede – Oatk blocks with a Seer and the Mimic, losing one life point but killing the opponent's creature. Dark Ascension then plays a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Geist into a 5/4, and finally passes. Oath draws and plays another Seer, exiling a single Forest in Dark Ascension's hand. And now, both decks have empty hands.
Dark Ascension draws a Predator Ooze, and attacks with the Geist. Fearing a Fling, Oath can't let any damage in and blocks the Geist, trading it with one of the Seers – unfortunately Dark Ascension only draws a Forest from the kill. The Ooze is then played, and Dark Ascension passes. Oath sacrifices the Mirrorpool to copy a Seer, checks the opponent's hand... and discovers that it has just exiled another Forest. Oh well, at least it now has two Seers on the board, against the opponent's single Ooze – the main problem being of course that the Ooze is indestructible, and could grow to a very large size.
Dark Ascension draws and plays an Huntmaster of the Fells, then turns the Ooze to attack (easily blocked), and finally passes. Oath plays a Reaver Drone and a Slaughter Drone, then attacks with one of the Seers, and Dark Ascension decides to take the damage. On its turn, Dark Ascension draws a Flayer of the Hatebound. Not bad, but Dark Ascension prefers to not play anything and flip the Huntmaster. So, after having attacked with the Ooze (again blocked by a Seer), Dark Ascension simply passes, and the Huntmaster turns into the Ravager to kill the Slaughter Drone and bring Oath down to 5.
Oath draws and plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then activates it to draw another Slaughter Drone, that is immediately played. Then Oath turns the two Seers to attack. Dark Ascension takes 4 damage from one (and is now at 16), and trades the Ravager for the other one, drawing a Dawntreader Elk. Oath then passes.
Dark Ascension plays the Flayer of the Hatebound, then attacks with both the Ooze and the Wolf token. The Reaver Drone chump-blocks the Ooze, that is now a 5/5, while the Slaughter Drone trades for the Wolf. The game is most likely over by now, unless Oath draws an Oblivion Strike... but it's just another Thought-Knot Seer. Oath considers the situation and decides to concede – the two decks move on to game two.
Game Two
Dark Ascension has to take a mulligan. Oath starts with a tapped Mirrorpool, while Dark Ascension plays an Evolving Wilds to fetch a Forest and passes. Oath plays an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Wolfbitten Captive, then another Evolving Wilds, and passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper, then attacks with the now 3/2 Mimic (Dark Ascension takes the damage), and passes. Dark Ascension plays its third land, then a Strangleroot Geist, and passes.
Oath plays a Sea Gate Wreckage, then a second Matter Reshaper, and attacks with the other Reshaper and the Mimic. Dark Ascension blocks and kills the Mimic with the Geist, taking three more damage and falling down to 14.
Dark Ascension is unfortunately stuck at three mana, so it plays a second Wolfbitten Captive and passes. Oath presses on with the offensive, playing a Reality Smasher and attacking with all its creatures. Dark Ascension blocks the Smasher with one Captive (boosted to 3/3) and the Geist, trading two for one but killing the dangerous Eldrazi in the process. The Reshapers hits for 6 damage, and Dark Ascension is now at 8.
Dark Ascension is still stuck with three lands, and again forced to pass. Oath draws and plays a Spatial Contortion to kill the Captive, then attacks for six more and plays an Eldrazi Mimic. And as Dark Ascension only draws a Dawntreader Elk in the coming turn, that's game over. Moving on to game three.
Game Three
Dark Ascension starts, but the first play is a turn one Reaver Drone from Oath. Dark Ascension gets a turn two Dawntreader Elk in play and passes. Oath takes one damage from the Reaver, then attacks for two (Dark Ascension takes the damage), then plays an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension draws, plays a land and passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper, then attacks with its other two creatures. Dark Ascension plays a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Elk into a 3/3 and kills the Drone, taking three damage from the Mimic and falling down to 15 life points. Oath then passes.
Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery on the Elk, turning it into a huge 8/8 beast and attacking Oath to bring it down to 11 life points. Now, the Eldrazi has to worry about defense, too. Luckily, it has an Oblivion Strike in hand, but only two Mirrorpool as lands, so it won't be able to play it this turn. Instead, after playing a land, it casts a Reaver Drone to chump block, and attacks for five damage (Dark Ascension is now at 10).
Dark Ascension attacks again with the Elk (Oath obviously chump blocks), then plays a Vorapede and passes. Oath draws, considers the situation, then plays a land and an Oblivion Strike to remove the Vorapede and attacks for two with the Mimic. Then, the Eldrazi deck passes. Dark Ascension attacks again, and Oath chumpblocks with the Matter Reshaper, luckily revealing another Eldrazi Mimic.
But Dark Ascension had a cruel plain in mind. After the Reshaper is dead, it casts a Hunger of the Howlpack to turn the Elk into a 11/11... and then a Fling to kill its opponent. Oath remains shocked for a couple of seconds, then reluctantly shuffles the deck to prepare for game four.
Game Four
Oath starts with a turn one Reaver Drone, while on the other side Dark Ascension starts with a turn one Wolfbitten Captive. Oath takes one damage from the Reaver, attacks for two (Dark Ascension takes the damage), then plays a Bearer of Silence and passes. Dark Ascension plays a Strangleroot Geist and attacks with both its creatures for three damage (Oath decides not to block).
Oath now attacks for four more (Dark Ascension is at 14), then plays a Matter Reshaper and passes.
Dark Ascension now attacks with the Geist, and Oath decides to block with the Reshaper, revealing... another Matter Reshaper, that joins the battle immediately! Then Dark Ascension plays a Predator Ooze and passes.
Oath decides this turn to attack only with the Bearer for two damage, then plays a an Eldrazi Mimic and passes. Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery on the Wolfbitten Captive, and turns it to attack with the Ooze (now a 2/2), keeping the Geist on the defensive. Oath takes two damage from the Ooze, chumpblocking the Captive with the Reaver Drone. Dark Ascension then passes.
Then Oath plays a Reality Smasher, turning the Mimic into a fearsome 5/5, and considers the situation. An all out attack would not kill Dark Ascension, as the Geist can chumpblock the Mimic. Then, if Dark Ascension has a Fling in hand, it can close the game on the comign turn. So, Oath decides to keep the Reshaper on the defensive and attacks with the remaining creatures. The Mimic is chumpblocked by the geist, and Dark Ascension takes five damage, falling down to 5. Then Oath passes.
Dark Ascension plays a Vorapede and, after considering the situation, is forced to keep its creature on the defensive, or most likely die in the coming turn. Still, Dark Ascension can't block the Bearer of Silence, and at best has only two turns left. Still, for now it passes. Oath plays another Matter Reshaper, then attacks with the Bearer (Dark Ascension is now at three), and finally passes.
Dark Ascension plays an Increasing Savagery to turn the Vorapede into a 10/9 with Trample, then turns it to attack. Now, Oath can't take more than four damage from it, or risk losing to a Fling. So, it decides to block it with a Reality Smasher and the two Matter Reshaper – this way, it will kill it and solve the matter entirely. The two Reshapers reveal an Oblivion Strike and a Slaughter Drone, that joins the battle.
And then it's over. Oath can play the Oblivion Strike to remove one blocker, then attack with the Bearer, the Slaughter Drone and the Mimic – with Dark Ascension having only one blocker available, that's game over. The two decks move on the the final game.
Game Five
Dark Ascension starts with a turn two Dawntreader Elk, while Oath seems off to a slow start, and has nothing to play on the first two turns. Dark Ascension, unfortunately, is stuck with two lands, and for now just passes. Oath plays a Matter Reshaper and passes – end of turn, Dark Ascension sacrifices the Elk to fetch one more land. Still, as it fails to draw anymore lands, it's again forced to pass.
Oath attacks for three, then plays a Thought-Knot Seer, revealing a hand of Fling, Increasing Savagery, Hunger of the Howlpack, Huntmaster of the Fells, Vorapede and two Predator Ooze. Really a bountiful hand, but Dark Ascension lacks the mana to play any. Oath thinks for a few seconds, then remove the Fling and passes. Still no lands for Dark Ascension, that starts to fear the worst and passes. And the worst materializes as Oath plays a Reality Smasher and attacks for 12 damage!
Not much can save Dark Ascension now, that at least draws the fourth land and can play the Huntmaster of the Fells, jumping up at seven and maybe, just maybe, surviving one more turn. But then Oath plays a Spatial Contortion and kills the Huntmaster, turning its army of horrors to attack. The math is cruelly simple: Dark Ascension is dead. The match was very much evenly balanced, and with some more luck on the last game, maybe Dark Ascension could have pulled it off, but that wasn't meant to be. Oath wins, and advances to the Group B finals!
Oath of the Gatewatch 3 - Dark Ascension 2
Magic 2011 vs Theros
M11 came into this BOTS with a completely revamped deck based around Destructive Force. The idea intrigued me, but I didn't really think the deck would perform *this* well. Now, M11 stands only one step away from the group finals, and it's ready to grab victory, and glory. Theros stands in its way, with its solid Monstrosity deck. Theros is not a fast deck, and might fall prey to M11's simple yet effective strategy. On the other hand, its planeswalkers are quality and once its creatures turn Monstrous, they might very well be out of reach of M11's signature spell. Let's see how the game turned out!
Game One
Magic 2011 wins the roll to start and starts the game with a turn two Sylvan Ranger. On the other side, Theros answers with a turn two Fleecemane Lion. M11 dispatches the Lion with a Lightning Bolt, then attacks for one and plays a second Sylvan Ranger. Theros plays another land and passes. M11 is not ramping much, unfortunately, and apart from attacking for two can only play a Mystifying Maze and pass. On its turn, Theros plays a Polis Crusher and passes. M11 keeps the mana open to activate the Maze and passes. Theros plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, creates a Satyr token, then passes.
Then, M11 finally gets serious with a Primeval Titan. On the other side, the Polis Crusher turns Monstruous and a second Satyr token is spawned, then Theros passes. The two giants face off across the battlefield, while the two decks decide on their next moves. But as in previous games, M11's strategy is clear: Destructive Force! Then, the Primeval Titan is immediately turned to attack the opponent's planeswalker. Now, Theros has a choice to face: it can either trade the 7/7 Crusher for the Titan, and save the Planeswalker, or allow the Titan to kill Xenagos, and keep the Crusher, that in the coming turn will be out of reach for the Titan. In the end, Theros considers that its opponent already has six lands in play, and another Titan might very well be on its way. In that case, having the Crusher available could make the difference. So, Xenagos is killed, and M11 passes.
Theros is lucky to draw a land and can immediately play a Voyaging Satyr – perhaps Theros wil be able to recover quickly than expected. On its turn, M11 plays a Birds of Paradise and a second Primeval Titan, before passing. Theros plays another Voyaging Satyr and passes. M11 plays its third Primeval Titan (!) and passes. Theros gets its third land in play and plays a Polukranos, World Eater, and again passes.
And just when it seems Theros had actually recovered... M11 plays a second Destructive Force, and then turns all its Titans to attack! Apart from refilling its side of the board of lands, M11 also forces Theros to block and trade, but at this point, it doesn't really matter. M11 clearly has an overwhelming advantage, and proceeds to win game one!
Game Two
Game two doesn't start well for Theros, that is forced to mulligan twice. M11 makes the first play of the game with a turn two Sylvan Ranger, while Theros starts on its third turn with a Voyaging Satyr. M11 then plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros is unfortunately stii stuck with two lands, but at least draws and plays a Fleecemane Lion. Another Cultivate for M11, that is slowly yet increasingly ramping up mana. Still no lands for Theros, that attacks for three damage and passes.
And then M11 has reached the critical mass and casts an Inferno Titan, along with a Lightning Bolt to kill both the opponent's creature. Thing don't look good for Theros even as it draws and plays its third land, especially as M11 adds a Primeval Titan to the board. Theros thinks for a couple of seconds, then decides to simply concede – such a disadvantage it's impossible to recover. The two decks move on to game three.
Game Three
Theros starts, but it's M11 to open the game with a turn one Birds of Paradise. Theros then plays a turn two Voyaging Satyr, while on the other side M11 casts a Cultivate. Both decks are ramping up mana, but the first to get serious is Theros, playing a Polukranos, World Eater on its third turn. M11 only plays a Mystifying Maze and passes. Theros draws and considers the situation. M11 has the mana to activate the maze and protects itself from Polukranos. Plus, it would hit six mana on the coming turn, and that could easily mean a Titan. So, Polukranos's ability is activated for one to kill the Birds of Paradise, and then the creature is turned to attack. Finally, the Satyr is tapped to fuel a Fleecemane Lion.
M11 is on the defensive now, but it plays another land to be able to activate the Maze, and passes. Theros draws and plays a Xenagos, the Reveler, creates a Satyr token, then attacks with all its creatures – that would be a total of 12 damage! M11 activates the Maze to remove Polukranos and only takes 6 damage, falling down to 8. Now Polukranos is back to being a 5/5, but it can activate its ability again.
And finally it's time for M11 to get serious as well, playing an Inferno Titan to kill the opponent's Xenagos. What M11 doesn't know is that Theros has a second Xenagos, the Reveler in hand! At this point, Theros has in play a Satyr token, a Polukranos, a Voyaging Satyr and a Fleecemane Lion. Considering that M11 is going to block the Polukranos with the Titan, that's already 6 damage for M11... just two missing... exactly the damage a Satyr token could do! Theros plays the Xenagos and activates its +0 ability, then turns its creatures to attack for the kill. Theros wins game three!
Game Four
M11 starts and it's eager to dispatch its opponent quickly and grab that pass for the finals. Its first move is a Birds of Paradise, then on the second turn a Sylvan Ranger is played. Theros answers by playing a Sylvan Caryatid and passes. Then M11 is ready to show some muscles, and plays an Obstinate Baloth, before passing again. But when it comes to beasts, not many decks can match Theros, that simply casts a Polukranos, World Eater and passes.
M11 is stilll ready to attack, though, and turns the Baloth sideways. Theros blocks, and M11 casts a Lightning Bolt to kill Polukranos. M11 passes, and Theros plays a Stormbreath Dragon, immediately turning it to attacks for four damage. But M11 simply plays a second Baloth, returning back to 24 life points. Theros attacks again for four damage, then plays a Xenagos, the Reveler and creates a Satyr token before passing.
At this point, luck finally smiles on M11 that draws and plays its first Titan of the game, a Primeval Titan, before passing. But it's still Theros to steal the spotlight, by turning the Dragon into a Monstros 7/7 and attacking to bring its opponent down to 12 life points. This is somewhat troublesome for M11, as the Dragon can now survive a Destructive Force – on the other hand, luckily, M11 still has a Mystifying Maze in play. For now, then, M11 simply declares an all-out attack on Xenagos, to be 100% sure to kill it. Theros kills the Sylvan Ranger by blocking it with a Satyr token, then puts the planeswalker in its graveyard. M11 passes, and Theros turns its creatures to attack. As expected, M11 activates the Maze to exile the dragon, taking four damage from the Satyrs.
And then Theros shows its secret card... an Elspeth, Sun's Champion! Now that the Dragon is out of play, it can safely activate its -3 ability to destroy both the Baloth and the Titan! Theros then passes, knowing that this turn it had hurt its rival badly, practically without losing any resource on its side.
But M11 is not defeated. It luckily draws a Fireball, and counts its mana... exactly 9! So it plays the Fireball for one to kill Elspeth, and then a Destructive Force to clean the board! An incredible comeback from an apparently desperate situation! M11 passes, and Theros plays a Voyaging Satyr before passing as well. M11 plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros plays a second Voyaging Satyr and attacks with the other one, bringing M11 down to 7 life points. M11 draws and plays a Forest, then passes. Theros has nothing to play at the moment, so it just attacks with the two Satyrs. One is exiled by the Maze, the other one strikes for one more damage to M11.
And then M11 gets lucky, as it draws and plays an Inferno Titan! One Satyr is immediately incinerated, and things seem to be taking a turn for the worse for Theros. In fact, theros has nothing to do on the following turn, and can only pass. M11 smiles as it turns the Titan sideways to kill the remaining Satyr and hit Theros's life points brutally – Theros is now at 8 life points, only one step away from death. M11 then plays a Cultivate and passes. Theros draws and plays a Fleecemane Lion, gaining one more turn of life, but it's only a matter of time now, especially as M11 plays a Primeval Titan in the coming turn. Game over for Theros. At the end of an incredible fourth game, M11 wins and gains access to the finals!
Magic 2011 3 - Theros 1
Magic 2013 vs Antiquities
Another surprise of the tournament, M13, faces off a long-standing champion of the arena, Antiquities. The old faces the new, two radically different philosophies clash in an interesting battle. Who will win?
Game One
Antiquities wins the roll to start and opens the game with a Mishra's Factory, activating it on the following turn to attack for two. M13 is only playing lands for now, and on its third turn Antiquities gets lucky and draws a Mishra's Workshop. The land can immediately fuel a Su-Chi, then Antiquities passes. Things are going to get hard for M13 now, but all in all things could have been much worse. M13 plays a Divination and passes. Antiquities attacks for 4, then plays a Clockwork Avian and a Strip Mine, that is immediately activated to destroy the opponent's only Island. Then Antiquities passes.
Unfortunately, M13 has no Fog, but only a Sleep, and the land destruction is hurting it badly. So it just plays another land and passes. Antiquities attacks, then plays a second Clockwork Avian and another Strip Mine to destroy another land! Now things look very bad for M13, that only has one turn to live and must at all costs draw a Fog right away.
And incredibly, M13 draws exactly that! M13 is still in a bad situation, but can at least hold on some time more. So it passes. Antiquities turns all its cretures to attack, and M13 plays the Fog to survive. Antiquities shrugs and plays a Rocket Launcher.
Things keep getting worse and worse for M13, but it's not over yet. M13 plays a Revive to get back the Fog, and passes. Antiquities plays a Candelabra of Tawnos, uses it to fuel a Triskelion and activates its ability to deal three damage to M13, that is now at 3 life points. The clock is ticking. As usual, the Fog is played to prevent the combat damage, and Antiquities's turn is over. M13 then plays another Revive and passes.
Antiquities can't yet kill its opponent, so it just attacks to force the Fog use and then passes. And then it's suddenly over. M13 lacks the double blue mana to play an Archaeomancer or a Sleep and keep staying alive. Antiquities wins game one with a crushing victory, and the two decks move on to game two.
Game Two
M13 starts, but it's Antiquities to open the game with a turn one Mishra's Factory plus Candelabra of Tawnos. M13 just plays a Farseek and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Mine and attacks for two, then passes. M13 casts a second Farseek and passes as well. Then, Antiquities gets lucky again, drawing a Mishra's Workshop, that is obviously immediately played and it's followed right away by a Su-Chi. M13 only plays a Reliquary Tower and passes.
Antiquities attacks for six with the animated Factory and the Su-Chi, then plays an Urza's Tower and along with the Candelabra and the Workshop that's enough to cast a Clockwork Avian. Antiquities then passes.
Things seem to be going differently from the previous game, though, as M13 casts a Sphinx of Uthuun. The five cards are divided in two piles, one consisting of Jace, Memory Adept and a Forest, the other one of two Revive and a Divination. M13 picks this second one and passes. Antiquities considers the situation, then attacks with all its creatures. M13 blocks and kills the animated Mishra's Factory, taking 8 damage and falling down to 4 life points. Antiquities then plays a second Clockwork Avian and a Primal Clay as a 2/2 Flying creature, then passes.
But surprisingly, it's now M13 that looks ready to start the offensive. After having played a Sleep, it attacks for five damage. Then it casts a Divination and passes. Antiquities draws a Mishra's Workshop and has now a *****load of mana available, but nothing to do with it! And with the Sphinx attacking and the Sleep being recycled, well, things can get ugly real fast. Antiquities is for now forced to pass. M13 attacks for five more, then plays a Sleep from its hand, a Revive to fetch back a Farseek that is immediately played to get a fourth Island in play. M13 then passes. Antiquities draws and plays an Onulet, then passes.
M13 attacks for five more, and it's now only one turn away from winning the game. It plays an Archaeomancer to get back the Sleep and casts it, then it passes. It's all in this draw from Antiquities, that picks up the card... and it's an Urza's Mine! M13 wins game two and shows that it can fight even against a mighty opponent like Antiquities. Anything can happen.
Game Three
Antiquities has to mulligan, and begins the game with a Mishra's Factory. On the other side, M13 fetches an Island with a Terramorphic Expanse and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Power Plant, then animates the Factory and attacks for two. M13 plays a Farseek and passes. Antiquities plays an Urza's Mine and an Onulet, and passes. M13 just plays a land and passes. Antiquities plays a Strip Mine to destroy one of the opponent's Islands, then attacks for four damage. M13 takes the damage. On its turn, M13 draws and plays a Farseek, then also plays a Reliquary Tower and passes.
Finally Antiquities draws and plays a Mishra's Workshop, immediately followed by a Clockwork Avian. Then, it attacks with the Onulet for two damage, and finally passes. M13 is now at 12 life points.
On its turn, M13 draws and passes, remaining stuck at 5 lands. Antiquities plays a second Mishra's Factory, then animates the first one and attack with all its creatures – M13 casts a Fog to prevent the damage. Then, a second Clockwork Avian is played, and Antiquities passes. On its turn, M13 draws a Divination, but at the moment must play a Sleep or risk dying. On its side, Antiquities plays a Rocket Launcher, then animates a Mishra's Factory, boosts it to 3/3, and attacks for 3 damage. M13 is now at 9 life points.
Luckily, M13 draws a Fog, that gives it the room to cast the Divination, drawing a Ranger's Path and a Jace, Memory Adept. Then, it passes. Antiquities attacks with all its creatures, again countered by the Fog, then plays a Tetravus and passes. Again M13 is now drawing lands, so it plays a Sleep and passes. Antiquities plays a Candelabra of Tawnos, then attacks with the two Mishra's Factory, and passes. The clock is ticking for M13, that it's still not drawing lands, and finally decides to concede. The two decks move on to game four.
Game Four
Antiquities is again forced to mulligan, but at least can start the game with a Mishra's Workshop and Candelabra of Tawnos. And while M13 is still busy playing lands, Antiquities plays a Mishra's Factory and uses the Candelabra to fuel a Tetravus. Things are looking good for Antiquities. M13 is still playing lands, so Antiquities attacks for four damage and then play a second Tetravus. M13 finally gets its fourth land in play and casts a Sleep before passing. But Antiquities is relentlessly building an army of metallic monsters, and adds a Triskelion to the board before passing.
And M13 finds itself out of defenses and forced to pass. The game seems set to be a quick bloodbath, as Antiquities attacks for 12 damage and plays a Rocket Launcher. M13 draws and plays a Sleep, and as Antiquities is still stuck with two lands (unbelievable, considering the amount of stuff in play), it's unable to yet deal the killing blow. So it plays an Onulet and passes.
But it's only a matter of time now. M13 draws a Jace, Memory Adept and again it's defenseless – but this time, it's game over. Antiquities tramples over M13 and reaches the group Finals.
Magic 2013 1 - Antiquities 3