vs. Jund/Blightning
Don't necessarily remember what happened the first game other than it wasn't too hard. There were Blightnings and Sedraxis Scepters and Sprouting Thrinaxes aimed at my face but it wasn't too hard to defeat with the evasive creatures I had. Second game was amusing; had a hand with two Noble Hierarch and a Behemoth Sledge and like no other creatures for a few turns, but i was still able to beat his face in with a Noble Hierarch/Behemoth Sledge.
1 - 0
vs. Boros Bushwacker
First game, Rhox War Monk straight up saved my ass. The lifegain on the war monk was too much for that deck to handle. Sided out Negates and a Brave the Elements, boarded in Flashfreezes. Second game I got steamrolled though, and didn't have any precious lifelink to save me. Sided out the Flashfreezes because they weren't doing much good and decided to throw in Celestial Purge, and that pretty much put a good halt to that deck.
2 - 0
vs. Vampire Aggro (mono black)
First game ended with a flying 11/11 Rafiq of the Many that couldn't be targeted by opponent's spells or abilities. My opponent attempted to make me sacrifice some of my creatures, but Elspeth tokens were good fodder. Sided out Jhessian Infiltrator, 3 Negate, 1 Brave the Elements for 4 Great Sable Stag and 4 Celestial Purge. Second game, he kept a hand with 5 1 drops and proceeded to do 3 damage to himself every turn staring down a Sable Stag and a Kor Skyfisher. Rafiq swing ftw.
3 - 0
vs. Jund Aggro
My opponent straight up told me he was expecting the Vampires dude to face him in the last match. I then proceeded in the first game to show him a Jhessian Infiltrator chipping away at his life eventually being equipped with a Behemoth Sledge and a 5/5 Jenara being very wally against his Broodmate Dragon/token. Sided out Jhessian Infiltrator, 3 Negate, 1 Brave the Elements for 4 Great Sable Stag and 4 Celestial Purge. Unfortunately, I was forced to make some pretty hard decisions in game 2/3, and ended up not getting there, and continued onto the finals.
3 - 1
--- Finals and stuff ---
vs. GW Soldiers and stuff
My opponent was the type that basically farmed FNM games for cards. Unfortunately for him, his secret weakness - Rafiq of the Many.
1 - 0
vs Jund Aggro
The rematch. He had a rough time controlling me in game 1, but eventually he overran me with a bunch of crap. Since he had a habit at this point of Maelstrom Pulsing my Behemoth Sledges on sight, I figured I'd side it out at that point. Enter 4x Great Sable Stag, 2x Flashfreeze, and 4x Celestial Purge over Behemoth Sledges, Negates, and Infiltrators. Things were different that game, for sure. Rhox War Monks swinging into his face helped quite a bit, and Sable Stag was quite annoying for him seeing as he could only use Lightning Bolt to kill it basically. I won the second game, and at the end of the third game, I swung for 16 and put his life total down to 2 third game. He managed to get a Lightning Bolt off on Sable Stag, destroy Rafiq, and nail Elspeth in the same turn, leaving me with a bird and a hierarch. Next turn, I played the Elspeth sitting in my hand, and it was game over for him.
2 - 0
A random note: if you're not running Vines of Vastwood in Bant Aggro, you're crazy. This card saved my Rafiq swings so many times, and as a bonus gave the creature +4/+4 if I needed it.
but I mostly love it.
4x Rafiq of the Many
Creatures:
2x Birds of Paradise
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Jhessian Infiltrator
4x Kor Skyfisher
2x Jenara, Asura of War
3x Rhox War Monk
4x Vines of the Vastwood
4x Brave the Elements
3x Negate
Artifacts:
2x Behemoth Sledge
Planeswalkers:
3x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Land:
3x Sunpetal Grove
3x Glacial Fortress
4x Misty Rainforest
3x Island
3x Plains
5x Forest
4x Celestial Purge
4x Flashfreeze
3x Dauntless Escort
vs. Jund/Blightning
Don't necessarily remember what happened the first game other than it wasn't too hard. There were Blightnings and Sedraxis Scepters and Sprouting Thrinaxes aimed at my face but it wasn't too hard to defeat with the evasive creatures I had. Second game was amusing; had a hand with two Noble Hierarch and a Behemoth Sledge and like no other creatures for a few turns, but i was still able to beat his face in with a Noble Hierarch/Behemoth Sledge.
1 - 0
vs. Boros Bushwacker
First game, Rhox War Monk straight up saved my ass. The lifegain on the war monk was too much for that deck to handle. Sided out Negates and a Brave the Elements, boarded in Flashfreezes. Second game I got steamrolled though, and didn't have any precious lifelink to save me. Sided out the Flashfreezes because they weren't doing much good and decided to throw in Celestial Purge, and that pretty much put a good halt to that deck.
2 - 0
vs. Vampire Aggro (mono black)
First game ended with a flying 11/11 Rafiq of the Many that couldn't be targeted by opponent's spells or abilities. My opponent attempted to make me sacrifice some of my creatures, but Elspeth tokens were good fodder. Sided out Jhessian Infiltrator, 3 Negate, 1 Brave the Elements for 4 Great Sable Stag and 4 Celestial Purge. Second game, he kept a hand with 5 1 drops and proceeded to do 3 damage to himself every turn staring down a Sable Stag and a Kor Skyfisher. Rafiq swing ftw.
3 - 0
vs. Jund Aggro
My opponent straight up told me he was expecting the Vampires dude to face him in the last match. I then proceeded in the first game to show him a Jhessian Infiltrator chipping away at his life eventually being equipped with a Behemoth Sledge and a 5/5 Jenara being very wally against his Broodmate Dragon/token. Sided out Jhessian Infiltrator, 3 Negate, 1 Brave the Elements for 4 Great Sable Stag and 4 Celestial Purge. Unfortunately, I was forced to make some pretty hard decisions in game 2/3, and ended up not getting there, and continued onto the finals.
3 - 1
--- Finals and stuff ---
vs. GW Soldiers and stuff
My opponent was the type that basically farmed FNM games for cards. Unfortunately for him, his secret weakness - Rafiq of the Many.
1 - 0
vs Jund Aggro
The rematch. He had a rough time controlling me in game 1, but eventually he overran me with a bunch of crap. Since he had a habit at this point of Maelstrom Pulsing my Behemoth Sledges on sight, I figured I'd side it out at that point. Enter 4x Great Sable Stag, 2x Flashfreeze, and 4x Celestial Purge over Behemoth Sledges, Negates, and Infiltrators. Things were different that game, for sure. Rhox War Monks swinging into his face helped quite a bit, and Sable Stag was quite annoying for him seeing as he could only use Lightning Bolt to kill it basically. I won the second game, and at the end of the third game, I swung for 16 and put his life total down to 2 third game. He managed to get a Lightning Bolt off on Sable Stag, destroy Rafiq, and nail Elspeth in the same turn, leaving me with a bird and a hierarch. Next turn, I played the Elspeth sitting in my hand, and it was game over for him.
2 - 0
A random note: if you're not running Vines of Vastwood in Bant Aggro, you're crazy. This card saved my Rafiq swings so many times, and as a bonus gave the creature +4/+4 if I needed it.