MWS EDH Tournament Report

I was playing Braids, Cabal Minion, partly because I wanted to see if it really was banworthy in 1v1 and partly because I didn't have time to get my Vorosh, The Hunter deck where I wanted it. Of course, I didn't have time to get Braids optimized and miss-evaluated some things.

I totally forgot Helm of Possession. Big lapse on my part :p (Hell, I almost forgot Sinkhole and Sensei's Divining Top...) I completely misjudged how important graveyard hate would be, as Crucible of Worlds was banned. Both matches I lost (two the same person :p ) were to graveyard interactions and there was 1 other game I had no right winning because of a Regrowth. I needed at least a Relic of Progenitus. I hate Lake of the Dead in this deck. There was a surprising number of times where I was mildly color-screwed.

Round 1 vs Mayael the Anima
Game 1:
He opens with Sacred Foundry. I had a land-heavy hand so I turn 1 popped Wasteland. He was off red for the rest of the game which at the very least kept him from playing his general to maintain position for a turn. He did get turn 2 Hunting Grounds but Nezumi Graverobber kept him off of Threshold and Nether Void locked him out of any potential topdeck.

Game 2:
I had a slow hand this game as well, but he couldn't find white in a timely manner (even with Divining Top). He had a turn 2 Bloom Tender, so if he had drawn color he would've had a lot of mana available.

Round 2 vs Vhati il-Dal
His deck was a transcription of his offline deck and seemed very geared for multiplayer.

Game 1:
I Imperial Seal for Entomb to get Nether Spirit. However, I didn't have turn 3 Braids, and he had turn 3 Coalition Relic. He made an odd choice in saccing Coalition Relic instead of a land, but then he plays Solemn Simulacrum. At this point I figure I've lost. He has 6 mana, and does nothing. Next turn he plays Regrowth on Simulacrum, plays it the following turn, but then doesn't do anything else as his board presence is slowly eaten away. He could've played his general on two consecutive turns to maintain 6 mana, and Simulacrum could've gotten him to seven.

Game 2:
I have turn 2 Dark Ritual Braids. I didn't have token generation in hand, but I had the cards to maintain 4 mana for about 5 turns (2 drop and Grim Discovery). He concedes.

Round 3 vs Iname, Death Aspect
This was disastrous and really showed the weaknesses I had in my deck.

Game 1:
I have Swamp, tutor for Ancient Tomb, turn 2 Bitterblossom, and don't draw a third land for the rest of the game. He basically goldfishes, but he had a slow enough hand that drawing a timely mana source would've likely won me the game.

Game 2:
He gets turn 2 Bloodghast and a Library of Alexandria soon after. I do not have an amazing hand and lose to the Bloodghast.

Round 4 vs Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Game 1:
I win the roll, and go turn 2 Dark Ritual Braids, Chrome Mox (imprinting nothing, just to hold mana for a turn), turn 3 Nether Spirit. He doesn't recover.

Game 2:
He has an awkward hand, but I have a slow one as well. He plays Wickerbough Elder locking me out of the Chrome Mox in my hand (and any token generation really). I lose to my own Lake of the Dead. The actual kill card he has is Umbral Mantle.

Game 3:
On the play I go Swamp, Chrome Mox, Entomb Nether Spirit, Vampiric Tutor for Ancient Tomb. Turn 2 Braids maintained by Nether Spirit. My actual kill card was Phyrexian Processor.

Round 5 vs Gaddock Teeg
I know going in he has a good amount of token generation, which worries me. Combined with a CMC 2 general (gets him a jump on mana) I'd probably need good starts to win. I win the roll. Like the Rofellos matchup, I this was probably a big deciding factor in the matches outcome.

Game 1:
He's actually color screwed with Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree and Nantuko Monastery, but he does have a 2 drop artifact. I have turn 3 Braids followed by Bitterblossom. To help his decline, I Demonic Tutor for same-turn Sinkhole. Next turn I play Liliana Vess and tutor for Nether Void (which was on top of my library anyway...).

Game 2:
I open with Mana Vault for a turn 2 Braids, but he played turn 2 Teeg and gets his 3 mana for Mobilization. I need to rip a Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Sinkhole to keep him off activation mana, and don't. We both spend a few turns spending all our mana on token generation, and I figure I'll switch to aggro and play Kokusho, the Evening Star. He drops Survival of the Fittest and Heartbeat of Spring, which allows me to entwine Promise of Power for an 8/8. Sadly, the turn before I'd beat him he infinite combos my board out with Acidic Slime and Duplicant.

Game 3:
He opens with Krosan Verge, which is awesome but keeps him off Teeg mana. I get turn 2 Nether Traitor and rip an Ancient Tomb like a champ for a turn 3 Braids before he could get play Teeg or activate Krosan Verge. When he does play Teeg the following turn I have Chainer's Edict to keep his mana in decline. I don't have sustainable creature generation for several turns (when I draw Breeding Pit), but he doesn't get anything relevant in that time. He missed that Pit triggered at EoT (not upkeep) and that enchants couldn't be fed to Braids, but ultimately I don't think either mattered.

Top 8 Round 1 vs Iname, Death Aspect.
Grrrr. My only match loss in the swiss is my first pairing in Top 8. I do win the roll though, which gives me an outside chance.

Game 1:
I Imperial Seal for Bitterblossom. Turn 2 I play Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox, and Braids. He never hits 2 mana, and I Grim Tutor for Nether Void.

Game 2:
Soldevi Adnate and Nether Traitor scare me into what's likely a missplay with an early Damnation (he missed the trick that would leave him with Nether Traitor in play though). He had Phyrexian Arena though, which I was pretty much buried under. Dark Ritual and Songs of the Damned gave him combo mana while his Null Rod set me back several turns (including stopping my Divining Top).

Game 3:
On the play I'm looking a Swamp, Voltaic Key, Grim Monolith, Gilded Lotus, Coalition Relic, Breeding Pit, Decree of Pain. I've basically got a 51% chance of topdecking ridiculous for turn 2 (77% chance by turn 3). The only mana souce I draw for 7 turns was an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (to mirror my opponents that was already in play), but a Hymn to Tourach and a Persecute had already ruined any chance of recovery. In retrospect, I probably should have shipped the whole, but I figured I needed a nutty hand to win either way.

Final verdict? Braids is definitely a competitive 1v1 general, but anything from StP to Arcane Denial can wreck it's plan completely.
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therestless

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