I'm not pleased to report I went 3-2 with this deck this FNM, Finishing 7th place and receiving 3 packs, from which I pulled Anthousa, Setessan Hero Soldier of the Pantheon, and Bow of Nylea
Round 1 vs U/W Azorius Control. I lost 0-2, I felt like I was playing my own control deck. I had no way to protect my creatures from Essence Scatter and Celestial Flare, and in game 1 I made the mistake of playing 2 Favored Hoplite and got them both sucked into a Detention Sphere. I didn't draw very good hands either time, vs control is a race against the clock for this deck. The only thing my Gods Willing and Mizzium Skin saved me from was Azorius Charm
Round 2 vs Gruul aggro. I get my creatures and buffs going way too fast for him to get out his big creatures, he has no choice but to block with his mana dorks or die, Sylvan Caryatid tries to block a 1/2 Favored Hoplite, Swift Justice dropped on the hoplite makes him 3/3, from there it was downhill for him very quickly. 2-0
Round 3 vs RUW American Control. He gets off a Syncopate here and a Dissolve there, gets out a Jace, Architect of Thought one game, but both games I hit him so hard and fast that he couldn't get it going. His attempted removals were Azorius Charm and Anger of the Gods, both of which I survived with Mizzium Skin and Gods Willing, won both games within 6 turns. 2-0
Round 4 vs Mono Black devotion. Pack Rat, Underworld Connections, and Crypt Ghast were all that ever hit the board for this opponent. Both games I won within 7 turns, both games his Doom Blade and Ultimate Price removals got countered, I sideboarded in +2 Mizzium Skin in place of 2 Triton Tactics and easily countered all attempts to remove my creatures, which was rad. 2-0
Round 5 vs Mono red with a splash of green. A re-match of last FNM finals, I seem to always meet this guy in game 5 when I'm on a winning streak. He's a good player who always brings a sick deck. This is the match I'm still kicking myself about to this moment. I had it in my hands, I made 2 mistakes, game 1 I played Azorius Guildgate turn 3 and should have played it turn 2, so that on turn 3 it'd be available and I could do my usual move of summoning a 2cmc creature and leaving 1 mana available to protect it. When it hit the board I immediately wanted to take it back but this guy is a stickler for the rules so I had to leave it down. It slowed my entire game down and he burned me too fast. Game 2 I brought it to him with furious speed and won very quickly, I sideboarded in 2 Ordeal of Heliod for 2 Ordeal of Thassa because he was able to burn through my life very quickly each game. Game 3 was my bigger mistake. I had him, I had 23 life, he had 7, I knew if I survived his turn, I would win. I had 2 cards in hand, Dauntless Onslaught and Swift Justice, which made me complacent to spend all my mana previous turn because I usually only save it for protection spells, and his Stormbreath Dragon was unblockable by my white creatures anyways so I figured I'd just survive the swing and win soon after.
Nope. This guy blew my mind with what he did. He had a Frostburn Weird, Boros Reckoner, and Stormbreath Dragon on the field. He swings all 3, I have 2 potential blockers, both of which would have been in range of a Mizzium Mortars to kill if they blocked and I couldn't afford to lose either, so I let all 3 of his creatures hit me for 9 dmg. Ok, down to 14 life, no problem. He has 4 lands with 1 being a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. He taps all his lands and activates the shrine, then he plays another Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, sacrificng the tapped one. He uses 2 of the mana in his pool to activate that shrine, and now he's got a ton of mana. He plays Domri Rade first, then he plays Fanatic of Mogis. The Fanatic hits me for 8. I'm now at 8 life.
Then he negs his Domri Rade to make his tapped Boros Reckoner fight my Battlewise Hoplite that has 6 +1/+1 counters on it, reflects the damage onto me with the reckoner, and finishes me off from 23 life to 0 in one turn.
What kills me is I had the card in hand to save myself, If I left 1 mana free, I could have Swift Justice my Battlewise Hoplite to net zero the reflect with lifelink. If I had, the next turn I swing for the win, even if he reflected onto the hoplite to kill it, I had a Wingsteed Rider with 2 +1 counters on it, I would have swung with it and Dauntless Onslaught for the win, but nope! I broke my own rule and didn't save any mana to play defensive shenanigans, and I lose an epic game 3. He wins, 2-1, He places #3, I place #7, with an incredible play to remove 23 of my life in one turn. OUCH!
I still have very high confidence in this deck, it could place top 5 every week when played well. Major props to my opponent for finding a way to win on his last turn to survive against my 23 life.
Next week I will likely play a different deck for some variety, but this one will make an appearance again in the next month.
