So, we're back after the bans and we switched from sultai back to Green/Black. After losing rogue refiner and Attune with Aether, I think that dropping blue is okay. A good idea even. I said to myself (and anyone who would listen) that I added blue basically for rogue refiner because of how good it is. The Scarab God and other sideboard options were just a small benefit compared to that card, and it wasn't hard to get that island we needed when we had attune. Now that it's gone, I'm off it.
So what did we gain from Rivals? Jadelight ranger, so far. I'm not sure what else should go into the deck, if it should get off most of it's energy creatures or not. But for now Jadelight ranger is the card. (Until I get 3-4 copies, i'm currently using 2 extra Rishkar's and 2x Rhonas.)
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Match 1 vs Blue green Merfolk 2-1
Right before going into match one, I told Tony "I don't think anyone had enough time to build Merfolk, so I didn't add my Yahenni's Expertise" And low and behold, my first match is against merfolk.
Game 1 was pretty close, she eventually just had a few unblockable creatures that were dealing 6 or 8 damage a turn and I eventually died! I also got a tad bit mana screwed and couldn't get black mana.
Game 2 She mulled to 6 and didn't have a great hand. I had Snake into Rishkar and killed her on turn 5.She had to block with her merfolk before she got a massive amount that mattered.
Game 3 was a pretty lengthy game and I only got there through some big hits with a couple huge hydras.
Match 2 vs Naya Dinos 2-1
I'm not 100% sure what happened here but this guy lost 0-2 but his opponent gave him the win because he wanted to draft or something. So, he was playing a pretty decent version of Naya dinos except it didn't have any removal (that I saw). If i got snake into Rishkar it was pretty much over
Game 1 I did the above and got Snake into rishkar and won after hitting him for 8 a turn for 3 turns.
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Game 2 He managed to get out a few ramp creatures and my hand was bad enough that it took me until turn 4 to land something substantial. Well he eventually got to 8 mana and landed a gishath. I had to 3 for 1 myself to kill it, which basically led to me dying to the 8 remaining damage the next turn.
Game 3 I had a decent hand with 3 two drop creatures. Two cubs and Glintsleeve siphoner. I drew into a fatal push and a couple hydras and he eventually just had to chump block my 4/4 cub to not drop to 12 life on turn 4. None of the games were that close, but it was fun to see how the dinos have changed a bit since Rivals.
Match 3 vs Jund monsters 2-0
Game 1 WOW. This game was the most epic of the night. We both played quite a few creatures, basically holding each other back. We were doing damage to each other slightly over multiple turns. I had a glint sleeve that got in, for 3 turns and he got
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two big hits in with a ripjaw raptor. I held a blossoming defense and waited for him to play a removal spell....but he played a glorybringer. Brought me from 8 to 4. I knew i was going to die the next turn, so i just turned all my stuff sideways. It ended up being 12 exact damage, (after 2 pumps with Rhonas and the aforementioned blossoming defense) His life was at 12. Feelsgoodman.
Game 2 Badish starting hand for him, nothing to do until turn 3 meant that even tho I was on the draw, i got the first creature out. He spent the next turn top decking a magma spray and killing it. I dropped the second and it got fairly big. It got killed by a vraska's contempt. Glint sleeve siphoner + Rhonas were next on the list of threats. He played a scorpion god. Interesting. I swung in with Rhonas, because contrary to the lore, Rhonas does indeed kill the Scorpion God without dying. And if all he does is replay the scorpion god, I'm okay with that. Eventually I got a snake into a gearhulk and all my creatures became wayy bigger than his, so I alpha struck twice for the win. I was at 18 health so i could afford the crack back.
Match 4 vs Black white tokens 2-0
Game 1 He mulled to 5 and i proceeded to draw decently and win with a hydra, siphoner and a cub. Not very exciting.
Game 2 He had trouble stabalizing through the whole game, he spent a few turns doing nothing (casting anointed procession,
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radiant destiny etc) he was a turn away from playing a Angel of invention and having 4x 2/2 servos to defend himself with. Luckily I had a Rhonas a hydra and a decently sized cub. They got there.
So, it was a fun night, and I was on the correct side of the RNG this time. My hands were good most of the time, I didn't misplay a whole lot (missed a couple triggers etc). And games broke in my favor. I've said this tons of times before, but pretty much every week this SEEMS to be the case. This time I went 4-0!
