Seeing Red

Standard* Wabbbit

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FNM History —Aug. 2, 2015

3-1 @ FNM 8/1/15

So! My first FNM with this deck, and my first FNM since Innistrad playing my Mono-White Humans deck!

Round 1: 2-1 win over B/G Elves

Game 1: Pretty typical RDW win. Fast early drops will beat his dorks every time. Searing Blood is amazing in this matchup as well.

Game 2: I kept a slower hand which let him build up board presence. He played a Courser of Kruphix which I didn't expect in an elf deck, so I didn't properly sideboard for it. He stabilized and won with Shaman of the Pack, Whisperwood Elemental and a horde of elves.

Game 3: This game was ridiculous.Had an amazing start, burned all his two drops with Searing Blood, clearing the way for my Heelcutter Goblin and Monastery Swiftspear. I quickly aggro'd and burned him down to a single life, with no cards in hand. I proceeded to draw something like five straight non burn spells. I believe I drew Hordeling Outburst, three lands and a Abbot of Keral Keep which revealed another Hordeling Outburst. Meanwhile he's pumping out elves while he sits at a SINGLE FRIGGIN LIFE. But inevitably, the burn spell came the form of Searing Blood on one of his creatures for the win. I was so relieved.

Round 2: 1-2 loss to Mono-Red Aggro

Game 1: Ah the mono-red mirror where you're playing budget and he's not. Okay, not making any excuses though. As expected, this just came down to draws. Not much to see in game one or the whole matchup. He got better cards, so he won game one.

Game 2: He got mana-screwed heavy which let me build up a big board presence. Closed it out with burn.

Game 3: I drew something like six lands, and Goblin Rabblemaster demands attention. Any spell that goes towards killing a creature instead of to the players face is an advantage for the other red deck. He won in a close one.

Round 3: 2-1 win over U/B Defender Mill

Game 1: This guy was not happy with the deck he was playing. It wasn't his, he was just using a friends deck. He came into playing me 0-2, and I blew him out game one really quick. His deck didn't run a single counterspell, and I didn't even really see much of his deck game one, so it was difficult to sideboard against.

Game 2: Wall of Frost is NOT a fun card to go against on mono-red. Especially when you keep a slower hand. He was able to stop most of the creature damage with that single wall, which let him set up his Phenax, God of Deception + Triton Tactics combo. He milled me for forty with those two, Wall of Frost, and Ashiok. I was impressed.

Game 3: It's hard to beat a red deck on control when you don't run much removal or counterspells. This one was a blowout, as he didn't play anything until turn three, and I kept a fast enough hand that by the time he set up any kind of resistance, I had the burn to finish the game off.

Round 4: 2-1 win over Abzan Whip

Game 1: I can't even begin to explain how good Searing Blood is. Cleared all his dorks which really slowed him down, and that three damage is just brutal. He quickly scooped this game.

Game 2: Erebos's Whip is nasty. Even more so with a Courser of Kruphix on the field that went uncontested due to my lack of Roast draws. I got him down to like three life and just needed the top deck, but it wasn't there. He then started gaining all the life back, which we all know is a killer to RDW. Game would have gone longer, but it would have ended at like 40 life to 0, so I scooped.

Game 3: Best hand I've ever drawn with the heck. 3x Monastery Swiftspear, 1x Searing Blood, 1x Lightning Strike, 2x Mountain. Won on turn four. It was so awesome.

Recap:

Out of 18 players I ended up in a four way tie for second place, and got some store credit, which was nice. I'm suuuper happy with the deck, especially for the price I payed for it. One game away from 4-0. Really good experience for my first FNM in a long time. MVP is totally Searing Blood. I only ran two main board, but sideboarded in the last two every single game. It's just so good in the meta right now. It kills everything, and then Lightning Bolts them. Goblin Heelcutter was probably my next best performer. So good against removal based decks, and getting around the big butt of Courser of Kruphix or Wall of Frost. Under performing card? Not really. Maybe Scouring Sands, as I didn't find much use in the sideboard for it, but we'll see about it. All in all, really happy with the deck haha. Hoping to get in plenty more matches with it!

1-2 @ FNM (or 2-1, depending on how you look at it) 8/2/15

Second FNM with the deck! Only eleven people playing, so we only did three rounds.

Round 1: 2-1 win over Mono-Black Devotion

Game 1: Was cool to see Mono-Black brought back. He ran Liliana, Despoiler of Souls, Erebos's Titan, Blood-Soaked Champion, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. This game was close but he Languished a bit too early, which let me continue to play more creatures. Had he waited a turn he would have probably gotten my full hand of creatures. But his swept the board, including his own creatures, and I had followup and he didn't. It's also tough playing a bunch of creatures that can't block against mono-red. Searing Blood dealt nicely with his high power low toughness creatures, and I didn't see that nasty Erebos's Titan.

Game 2: He sided in Erebos's Whip, which has proven to be a death sentence against me. If you can't kill all his creatures you lose, but while you're killing his creatures you're using the burn that you need to finish off the game. It's a lose-lose situation. Now 0-2 whenever that card hits the field.

Game 3: He flooded heavily and didn't really have much to do with the mana he had. Closed it out fast because of his lack of threats. Again no titan, which was awesome for me.

Round 2: 0-2 loss to U/W Heroic

Game 1: Yuck. After the matchup he told me he pre-boards cards to beat RDW. Ordeal of Heliod is almost an auto scoop, and Gods Willing is extremely strong against me.

Game 2: I flooded really badly, and he played his entire hand from two mana. Strong deck, can't wait till it rotates haha.

Round 3: 1-2 loss to U/B Thopter Control (got the win anyway)

Game 1: Before we started playing my opponent said he'd give me the win. He was coming in 0-1-1, and with me at 1-1, there was a chance I could win something, but no chance of him winning anything, We played the matchup for fun anyway. His deck has really good matchup cards for us. Tomb of the Spirit Dragon with Thopter Spy Network and Hangarback Walker is really tough to beat. His two wins were games I just scooped because his life was going to get out of range.

Game 2: Heelcutter Goblin really shown in this game. dashing away from his board wipes, and forcing a counterspell. Was able to get damage through and win the game.

Game 3: Tomb of the Spirit Dragon, Orbs of Warding, 2x Thopter Spy Network and a Hangarback Walker was way to much for my deck to handle. Was a fun three games, and even though he won, he gave me the match, and I got more store credit! Woo!

3-1 @ Origins Game Day 8/9/15

First tests of the new list are in, and on Game Day no less!

Round 1: 2-0 win over B/W Warriors

Game 1: Gosh I love my matchup against Warriors. All his creatures have toughness two or less, prime Searing Blood, Wild Slash or Fiery Impulse targets. A few Searings along with my one drops got the job done.

Game 2: Lame game. We both kept risky hands, but he ended up only drawing a single land. I think he discarded like three cards from going over seven. I apoligized after for the lame game, but I'll take any wins I can get.

Round 2: 1-2 loss to Mono-Red Aggro

Game 1: More fun Mono-Red mirrors. Not much to see in these games, as you would expect.

Game 2: Got a win.

Game 3: Close match, but he was able to pull it out.

Round 3: 2-0 win over Mono-Red Aggro

Game 1: So yeah, there were four people running RDW including myself, and I got to play two of them. Lucky me! This guys list was actually basically my old list, running Foundry, Outburst and Fodder. He went a bit bigger as well, as he played Thunderbreak Regent. Goblin Rabblemaster is a nice card, but I was able to deal with it.

Game 2: Was able to Exquisite Firecraft his Regent, which helped a lot. Didn't see a Rabblemaster, and Abbot of Keral Keep did some work, revealing a Searing Blood to kill a one drop of his.

Round 4: 2-1 win over Jeskai Mentor/Tokens

Game 1: I really liked his deck. Basically just played Raise the Alarm, Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, Monastery Mentor, Jeskai Ascendancy, and some burn. I drew a hand that was basically completely burn, and got him down to one pretty fast. Buuuut Monastery Mentor + multiple prowess creatures + Jeskai Charms lifelink effect got him back up to 11, and at that point I was down to top decking so I scooped.

Game 2: He exiled the one Monastery Mentor he saw with Abbot of Keral Keep, and Scab-Clan Berserker put in some work from the sideboard for the first time. So many noncreature spells in his deck for the prowess triggers, it was tough for him to play around it. Jeskai Charm was not an impact card, which basically sealed this game.

Game 3: He didn't draw much this game. Basically just a few tokens and burn, but none of his really seal the deal cards, so I was able to push through and get him down to three. Oh, and 3x Searing Blood in the opener helps too. I got him down to three with burn and Goblin Heelcutter. My next draw I get ANOTHER Searing Blood (yes that's all four copies for those of you who are counting). I had to show him that I had drawn four, so he knew I had it. Having three life and knowing your opponent has a Searing Blood in hand and ALSO knowing that all the creatures in your deck have toughness two or less is rather awkward.I then proceeded to dash in Goblin Heelcutter, leaving two mana untapped to stop him from casting any creatures because of Searing Blood. He met it with a Jeskai Charm. Next turn, I do the same. Guess what. Yup, another Jeskai Charm. Next turn he top decks another one (I assumed this from his gasps) and basically said screw this and cast Stoke the Flames to his face, hoping for no Negate. No Negate was played, and on I went to the top eight!

Top 8 quarters: 2-0 over Abzan Control

Game 1: Okay, I didn't REALLY 2-0. The guy I was supposed to play said it was to late for him and gave me the win so he could go home. This gave me the chance to look around the top eight and see what decks were represented in it. I saw this: 3x Mono-Red aggro 2x Abzan Midrange 1x Abzan Control 1x G/R Devotion 1x B/W Warriors. I watched as the player I beat 2-0 in the RDW mirror match beat one of the Abzan Midrange decks. On to the final four!

Final four: 1-2 loss to Mono-Red Aggro

Game 1: Close game against the guy I actually BEAT 2-0 earlier. Goblin Rabblemaster was the difference in the game, and the series.

Game 2: Had great draws, what can I say. Arc Lightning for the tokens was huge.

Game 3: Super, super close. I just got behind early, being on the play helped him a lot. Foundry Street Denizen, Eidolon of the Great Revel and goblin tokens put me in a tough spot. I was able to stay alive to the point of him having zero cards in hand and me having four. but he top decked the Lightning Strike he needed for the final three points of damage.

Recap:

Really liking how the new list is performing! I mean seriously, 3-1 with a top four appearance, and third overall with two other Mono-Red decks taking first and second? Not much to complain about. I got the promo Languish and $20 in store credit. Really happy with the deck. MVP again, my love Searing Blood.

1-3 @ FNM 8/22/15

First time not placing in the store credit :(. Was not a good day.

Round 1: 1-2 loss to U/W Control

Game 1: Had a very good starting hand that turned into....not a good hand. The only creatures I got all game were the two in my opener, which did not put up much pressure after the End Hostilities ended....their hostilities. He dropped an Elspeth, Sun's Champion on the following turn, and I was stuck with a hand full of land and burn. I COULD have killed Elspeth on my following turn using Exquisite Firecraft and Lightning Strike, but I took the gamble of trying to burn him down before he could ult Elspeth. It would have worked except he had an Ojutai's Command to gain him out of the red zone. I ended up getting him to two before he ulted Elspeth for the win.

Game 2: Had a good starter this time, and he missed multiple land drops, which is obviously awful for control. I played my whole hand off of two mana and burned him for the win.

Game 3: He countered/killed all my early drops, and then went turn five Orbs of Warding into turn six Elspeth, Sun's Champion. I would have actually kept the game going if my hand was literally anything else, but it was 2x Searing Blood, 1x Stoke the Flames, 1x Exquisite Firecraft and a Mountain. A lot of good that hand does against turn five Orb.

Round 2: 1-2 loss to R/W Heroic

Game 1: Heroic is honestly probably the worst matchup for my deck. It mainboards multiple ways to prevent red spell damage from creatures, while making them bigger at the same time to get out of burn spell range. I basically have to kill every single on of his creatures immediately before he can get them out of range, but when he then just plays Gods Willing or has a Battlewise Hoplite, there's not much I can do. All that being said, I actually won game one because he got stuck with two pain lands as his only two sources of mana, which basically lost him the game.

Game 2: Turn three he gained ten life from Ordeal of Heliod, and got a Satyr Hoplite to something like a 8/8. I folded quickly.

Game 3: I have never made such obvious misplays before. For some reason I had it in my brain that when he protected Battlewise Hoplite or used Gods Willing on a creature, that it prevented damage from only that source once. So after he said "protection from red" I would be like okay, move to combat, swing with my red creature. He then, of course, insta blocks. I really don't know what I was thinking. As it turns out, it really didn't matter. He gave his one creature pro red twice to dodge burn spells, then got him to a 10/10 and played Temur Battle Rage for the win. Ouch. As if this matchup wasn't already awful, I made it worse by misplaying! Woo!

Round 3: BYE

Was kinda bummed actually. Sure I get a win, but I wasn't gonna place anyway, so I just wanted to play. Oh well.

Round 4: 0-2 loss to Hangarback Abzan

Game 1: Yup, I get matched up with the GP winning decklist that is really well positioned against red. He didn't even sideboard in the whole matchup. Hangarback Walker into Anafenza, the Foremost into Siege Rhino isn't fun, especially when you don't have any Roast mainboard.

Game 2: He was actually playing a partially different list, as he ran Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip. He was able to gain a bunch of life from her lifelink, especially since she has a counter from Dromoka's Command (another fun card for us). He then played a Siege Rhino that I have no Roast for. Quick, decisive, 0-2 loss.

Recap:

Woof! That was a rough one. Partially because the deck isn't as well positioned as it used to be because of all the hate coming out and the new popularity of Dromoka's Command, partially because of some misplays, but also just the matchups. I can't see this build beating ANY heroic variant, be it U/W, R/W, or Bant. The deck just has too many mainboard cards that are perfect against red, along with Ordeal of Heliod and other spells to board in. The U/W Control matchup was a close one that could have been 2-0 in my favor if it wasn't for a last minute Ojutai's Command and a turn five Orbs of Warding. I'm considering adding more Smash to Smithereens to the sideboard for that card. Hangarback Abzan is another very strong deck in general, that takes advantage of the power of Dromoka's Command against RDW. All in all, two bad matchups and a close loss add up to a poor night, but hey, I'll be back next week. A lot of players are abandoning Mono-Red because of the amounts of hate that is coming out against it, but I'm budgeted into it so there is no switching, although my brother did just buy me a U/R Tutelage deck that I could take for a spin, but I think at least for next week I want to redeem myself and the deck with a good performance. I am considering a sizeable build update though, Atarka's Command and/or Thunderbreak Regent may make an appearance.

3-1 @ FNM 8/29/15

I have avenged my bad day last week!

Round 1: 2-1 win over W/G Hardened Scales

Game 1: Was able to burn his early threats while swinging in with my little creatures. He was able to stabilize with an insane board state of 2x Hardened Scales, 1x Citadel Siege, 1x Hangarback Walker, 1x Avatar of the Resolute and some other outlast creature. He got the Walker to an 11/11, and his two other creatures to an 8/8 and 9/9. The only problem was he had just played the other two creatures, so he could only swing at me for 11 with the Walker. I took it and went down to nine, only to burn him for the win next turn.

Game 2: Managorger Hydra is NOT a fun card with 2x Hardened Scales on the field. He got it to a 4/4 the turn it came out, and I had 2x Roast and 1x Magma Spray in hand, but with only three mana. I couldn't Roast and Magma Spray it as that left me one damage short, and I didn't have mana for the double Roast. I had to pass the turn with no play, and it got out of hand after that. The hydra ended up being a 11/11 trampler.

Game 3: My opener was 2x Monastery Swiftspear, 1x Lightning Strike and 4x Mountain. I kept the risky hand, hoping not to flood out. He kept a risky one as well. I was on the play and quickly started beating face with my two Swiftspears. He played a turn one and two Hardened Scales, and didn't draw another land the rest of the albeit short game. On my turn three I got in Abbot of Keral Keep who chained into ANOTHER Monastery Swiftspear. He didn't have a play with only two lands on his third turn and on turn four I cast a Lightning Strike and swung for a total of 12 to win.

Round 2: 1-2 loss to Abzan Control

Game 1: Was a good first game for me, as his early plays of Thoughtseize, fetchlands and pain lands put him in a rough spot against me, with all the life loss. He couldn't stabilize and he got a tad bit mana screwed. I finished the game off with Exquisite Firecraft and Lightning Strike, which unexpectedly did not get Dromoka's Commanded.

Game 2: Had an opener with 3x Lightning Berserker. I then proceeded to draw nine lands. I was able to hang around for a bit because Lightning Berserker is the perfect card in that situation, but Siege Rhinos and Courser of Kruphix closed the game out after he eliminated my only three threats.

Game 3: Similar to game two, except I drew seven lands instead of nine. Didn't stand a chance when all my draws are worthless and he could Dromokas's Command all my burn.

Round 3: 2-0 win over Narset Jeskai

Game 1: Weird deck. He knew I was on RDW and told me the matchup would probably be over in under six minutes. It pretty much was. I don't think he cast more then one spell the entirety of game one. Didn't matter if I had a good hand or not, he simply didn't play anything.

Game 2: He apparently boarded in more generic jeskai staples: Ojuitai's Command, Mantis Rider, Seeker of the Way. But again, those were literally his only spell casts. I had the burn to get past his only threats then just swung free as all he played was lands after that. Quick and easy 2-0 win.

Round 4: 2-0 win over W/R Heroic

Game 1: This was the same guy who pulverized me last tournament. I knew what he was playing and I basically admitted in my head that I wasn't getting any store credit on this day. But somehow, in a matchup I had dubbed the "unwinnable matchup", I pulled off a 2-0 win. One play method I realized I needed to take advantage of was that instead of worrying about his early drops (aside from the REALLY early drops, like turn one and two) I just needed to burn him to the face. He has no way of protecting himself, just his creatures. So for the most part I just tried to cast all my burn targeting him, aside from the easy turn one plays of Wild Slashing his Battlewise Hoplite and attack with all my creatures as if he had no blockers. It payed off in game one, and also his pain lands were helpful. He runs Mana Confluence which is honestly prettttty awful against Mono-Red.

Game 2: He got behind early. I killed his little drops and drew 3x Lightning Strike for direct damage to him. I quickly whittled him down to a single point of life, and passed the turn. What did he topdeck? The hated Ordeal of Heliod. He cast it on his 0/4 heroic creature I can't remember the name of and was able to gain the ten life and go back up to 11, while swinging and bringing me down to eight. On my turn I cast Exquisite Firecraft and Lightning Strike on him to take him to 4. I passed the turn and he drew a land, and did not attack me. I topdecked a Stoke the Flames for the win.

Recap:

There was much discouragement after my 1-3 finish a week earlier, but what I learned from this performance is this: the matchups can go any way, the draws can go any way, and that will determine how well you do. I could take the same deck and go 4-0 and 0-4 on consecutive weeks, especially with the volatility of Mono-Red in the meta, and as a deck in general. The deck either gets amazing draws and crushes or gets hated on so hard in particular matchups that it just dies. Another thing is that just because the pros are doing, DOESN'T mean you should be doing it. The meta the pros play in is very much its own thing, whereas who knows what your meta will look like. For example, the two "Mono-Red" archetypes played by the pros in the world championship were Atarka red, which reverted back to the token deck pre-Origins, from the post-Origins Joel Larsson deck. I was understandably a little put off by this as I had just recently made the "big switch" and gone away from the token package. Coming off of a 1-3 performance only added to my second guessing of the list. So before the tournament today I was very close to putting the token package back in, although not the Atarka Red cards exactly as I can't afford the G/R mana producers. I then proceeded to go 3-1 and learn that just because the pros are putting tokens back in because of the upswing of lifegain related hate and downswing of wrath hate (Drown in Sorrow, Virulent Plague doesn't mean that that will happen in my meta. I had Drown in Sorrow boarded in against me once, and I was super glad I did not go back to tokens. I now also know to never NEVER take out Searing Blood. I knew how amazing the card was, but as the meta starts moving away from smaller creatures (supposedly) it would get worse. But again, in my meta, that is not the case. Searing Blood is still every bit as broken as it has always been. So. No deck changes for now. Atarka Red costs too much $ (although that new G/R dual laaaannndddddd) and the tokens are NOT coming back in until I KNOW there isn't a single copy of Drown in Sorrow within a mile of the shop. The deck just runs to so well without it anyway. Thunderbreak Regent is still under consideration, but I think I will wait until we have seen the full Battle for Zendikar spoiler. Unfortunately this is my last (or POSSIBLY second to last) Saturday tournament for the foreseeable future, as my schedule will not allow it. I will hopefully still be able to attend the Sunday standard tournaments, but those are usually smaller, so it's still a bummer. Until next tourny, keep tapping those mountains.

3-0 @ FNM 10/11/15

First BFZ tournament for RDW.

Round 1: 2-0 win over Esper Walkers

Game 1: I only got to see various Battle lands and a turn four Languish on his side of the board. He couldn't stabilize quick enough and I closed out the game with various dashers that he didn't have the instant speed removal to deal with.

Game 2: Scab-Clan Berserker is an amazing card in this matchup. I forced him to lose five life to Void Snare my Thunderbreak Regent, which was a big turning point in the game. He was able to gain life back with his Shambling Vent and Arashin Cleric, but I topdecked an Exquisite Firecraft with another in hand and cast both to the dome for lethal.

Round 2: 2-0 win over Bant Fogwalkers

Game 1: This was an interesting deck. Fog effects plus a plethora of planeswalkers, along with Deathmist Raptor and Den Protector. Game one he flooded out hard, even though I mulliganned to five cards.

Game 2: This was a great game. He was able to stabilize against me after getting down to five life by using Deathmist Raptor and multiple Dromoka's Commands. I domed him for four to get him down to one. I had a Zurgo Bellstriker and a Goblin Heelcutter on the field. I was at four and he played a second deathmist. He made a misplay by not realizing that heelcutter made one of his creatures unable to block, and I just swung in with both for the win. Should have lost, but I'll take the misplays.

Round 3: 2-0 win over Esper Dragons

Game 1: Titan's Strength is so strong in a meta with very few good instant speed removal cards. I killed him on turn four with an Abbot of Keral Keep, Monastery Swiftspear, 2x Titan's Strength and 2x Wild Slash. He has nothing to respond to my combat plays.

Game 2: He was on the play so he was able to stabilize, but only after I did a substantial amount of damage with my early plays and dropped him to nine. My board state was 1x Abbot of Keral Keep, 1x Monastery Swiftspear and 1x Scab-Clan Berserker. He tapped out for a Dragonlord Silumgar and took my Scab-Clan Berserker. My next turn I topdecked a Titan's Strength. I played the Titan's Strength targeting his Silumgar, then cast Aligned Hedron Network (also a noncreature) to exile his now 6-5 Silumgar, getting my Berserker back. That made my Abbot a 4/3 and my Swiftspear a 3/4. I then swung for exactly lethal as he was at nine life.

Recap:

Deck played amazingly well, as it always seems to. It certainly helps that I played in essence three control decks. The lack of solid instant speed removal is just huge for mono-red. As one of my opponents said, "Mono-Red gained by other decks losing." This statement is all too true. Did mono-red really get anything from BFZ? No. But with all the slow four to five color mana bases, a quick efficient and surprisingly explosive red deck can excel.

2-2 @ Battle For Zendikar Game Day 10/25/15

Second BFZ testings!

Round 1: 0-2 to Naya Dragons

Game 1: Kept a one land hand and payed for it. It turned out that one land was the only one I would see all game. He quickly blew me out with Thunderbreak Regents.

Game 2: Quite the opposite of game one, I got off to a decent start, but then flooded out into 7 lands. He was able to keep pace in the early stages with Scaleguard Sentinels and Thunderbreak Regent, and then I flooded out and he finished the game off with a Dragonlord Dromoka.

Round 2: BYE

Again like my last tournament with a bye, I was kinda bummed that I then had to wait around while others played. I did get a free win, so it wasn't all bad.

Round 3: 2-0 win over 4c Midrange

Game 1: This was a strange deck, that seemed to have no real direction. It played Woodland Wanderer, Siege Rhino, Dragonmaster Outcast, Crackling Doom among others. He got mana screwed at three lands, and I was able to Wild Slash and Fiery Impulse his morphed Den Protectors, which were his only blockers. Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  ^Flip pinged him for the win with Exquisite Firecraft and Wild Slash.

Game 2: He again got stuck at three lands with a Siege Rhino in hand, and I was able to swing away unhindered. Heelcutter Goblin comes in the clutch again to move aside his only blockers. Quick, decisive victory's.

Round 4: 0-2 loss to Atarka Red

Game 1: Extremely close game. He got the upper hand early with Hordeling Outburst and the better turn one play of Zurgo Bellstriker to my Lightning Berserker. But it seemed luck was on my side, as I stabilized at 8 life and was able to slowly wittle him down with a dashed Heelcutter Goblin and Lightning Berserker, while killing his remaining blockers. He was also flooding pretty hard, and had 7 or 8 lands. I swung in with the team, leaving nothing back to get him to one. He had no cards in hand and an Abbot of Keral Keep in play. What did he topdeck? His only out, of course, a Lightning Berserker that got pumped to a 6/1 and alongside his Abbot dealt exactly lethal. What can you do.

Game 2: Kept two lander, and proceeded to draw three Thunderbreak Regents, while only having those two lonely mountains. He was able to deal tons of damage early with Titan's Strength + Monastery Swiftspear, and cleared away my goblins with Boiling Earth. I couldn't play anything and he swung in for the win.

Recap:

All in all, not too disappointed. I got 10th out of 18, which isn't awful, and 2-2 which isn't bad either. I was just a few good draws away from 4-0, honestly. But I've learned this will always happen in Magic. If in round 4 my opponent hadn't topdecked a Lightning Berserker for the win, could I have won that series? For sure. If I didn't draw only a single land in game one of round one, and seven in game two, could I have won that round as well? Most definitely. But, when there's only four rounds, that's what you can expect. Just a few draws away from top eight. Oh well. I'll take my Void Snare promo and go home happy, I'm still confident I can place well in the future. There is one decklist change that will be coming, and that is the removal of the one Zada, Hedron Grinder. My bias for him has warn off, and he's just a dead card 99% of the time. Not sure what will be in for him, but something will. I should be able to do at least one tournament in the next three weeks, so that should be when the next results are in.

1-2 @ FNM 7/9/16

First playtesting of the deck since the release of SOI!

Round 1: 0-2 loss to Mardu Midrange

Game 1: Lost the die roll, which always hurts. Whole matchups can be turned for mono-red by the opening roll. I was able to get some decent damage through early with goblin tokens and Village Messenger  ^Flip before he stabilized with Thought-Knot Seer and Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip. His deck was kind of weird, but strong. Basically a mix of eldrazi and a typical Declaration in Stone removal package. He was at three life with a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, an Avacyn and a Seer, swinging for lethal next turn. I had one draw to topdeck burn, and I drew a mountain. Game 2 it is.

Game 2: I made a mistake in this game, and didn't keep an explosive enough hand for my game on the play. No one drop meant doom for me, and I couldn't get enough damage through in the early turns to be able to finish off with burn in the later stages. Reality Smasher and Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip quickly closed the door. This matchup easily could have been won if I had either one the die roll or topdecked burn in game 1, OR if I had mulligan-ed and kept a faster game game 2.

Round 2: 2-1 win over Naya Ramp Goggles

Game 1: Interesting deck. Basically naya ramp (Explosive Vegetation, Chandra, Flamecaller, World Breaker) but it played Pyromancer's Goggles to copy the burn spells it played for removal (Kozilek's Return, Fiery Impulse). I lost the roll AGAIN. Early on he was able to kill all my one drops with Fiery Impulse, and goblins tokens are just bad against Return. He eventually ramped up dropped a bomb that signaled the end of the game.

Game 2: I like my matchup against him a LOT better post-sideboard. I can bring in Goldnight Castigator and Scab-Clan Berserker and go for a more midrange-y strategy against him, since all my early plays just get pinged for the most part. Since all his removal is targeted burn he had a hard time dealing with Thunderbreak Regent and when I dropped a Castigator it was geegee.

Game 3: Scab-Clan Berserker is also amazing in this matchup, he doesn't cast any creatures until around turn 7. I drew a pretty sweet hand that curved into Thunderbreak, but it turned out I didn't need him as I finished him off with a topdecked Exquisite Firecraft a turn before he was going to drop an Ulamog.

Round 3: 1-2 loss to Mono-Blue Prism

Game 1: So yeaaaaahh this deck. I'd heard of it before hand, and even played against it on Cockatrice, so I knew a bit of what to expect. Once again I lost the roll (if I had won all three die rolls I bet I would have 3-0'd, no joke), which hurts the most against his type of deck. Even with a handfull of burn, I just couldn't even bother casting it once he stabilized with his two Prism Rings and Jace's Sanctum he reset the game a few times with Day's Undoing and I just ended up scooping with 2 life left from his awakened Part the Waterveil lands.

Game 2: Once again, post-sideboard my matchup improves dramatically. Out come the Dragon Fodders that are just straight terrible against Engulf the Shore and in comes Goldnight Castigator and Scab-Clan Berserker, both amazing cards in the matchup. He needs 9 Island to bounce my Castigator, and Scab-Clan negates any lifegain from his Prism Rings. I was able to drop double Goldnight Castigator that he just couldn't deal with, and Exquisite Firecraft closed the game out.

Game 3: Even with sideboards in play, I don't like my chances against him on the draw. I gambled on a 1 land hand that had the chance of being ridiculously good. It turned out okay, as in I didn't just not draw any lands at all and I couldn't do anything, but I didn't pull three lands right off the top, which would have been the best case scenario, and I probably would have won if I had. Those missed lands drops put me just enough behind, even though I was able to play half my hand from that one land. I couldn't drop my Goldnight Castigator in time before he stabilized and kept resetting his lifetotal. There was a point after he cast I think his second Day's Undoing that we were both at 7 cards in hand, and 20 life each. We actually ended up going to turn in this one, but he was able to actually get a 9th island and bounce my Castigators. He then essentially went off and killed me with two straight double awakened land attacks on his extra turns. Oh well.

2-0-1 @ FNM 7/30/16

Round 1: 2-0 win over G/B Control

Round 2: 2-1 win over Mardu Midrange

Round 3: Purposeful draw for a share of first place.

3-1-1 (or 2-1) @ Eldritch Moon Game Day 8/13/16

Okay, so maybe technically 2-1. Ended being only thirteen players in attendance for Game Day, so we only played three rounds. After two rounds I was 2-0, and there were only four players with 2-0 records, so we just drew into the top 4. Then two of the top 4 players dropped for increase store credit, which put me and one other guy in the finals. So I won a match I didn't play to get to the finals and drew a match I didn't play to get into the top 4, thus 3-1-1 after I lost the finals 1-2. Here's a breakdown.

Round 1: 2-0 win over Temurge

Game 1: So this was an exact replica of the deck Owen Turtenwald recently piloted to a second place finish at Pro Tour Eldritch Moon. I won the roll and was on the play, which is always huge. Turn one Village Messenger  ^Flip that ended up flipping on my second upkeep got the ball rolling early while he cracked Vessel of Nascencys, and filled up his yard with Gather the Pack and Grapple with the Past. He was able to stabilize with an Elder Deep-Fiend, tapping three of my lands and my Abbot of Keral Keep. He was sitting at two life, and I was relying on topdecks. It came the next turn in the form of Collective Defiance.

Game 2: He got mana screwed, I flooded out. But I had the early aggressive creatures while he was still trying to come up with his fourth land, so I was able to once again get him down to two, and after whiffing a few times with topdecked mountains, find a burn spell only a few turns before he would have cast an Emrakul, the Promised End.

A bit lucky for me on the draws, but I also have a pretty good matchup against him, as long as I don't overextend and get blown out by a Return of Kozilek, which he cast a few times on me during the matches, but I was able to bounce back with creatures I had held back in my hand.

Round 2: 2-1 win over B/W Angel Control

Game 1: Tough games, but Collective Defiance is just so good when he taps out for something like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Just puts him so far behind. All his removal is targeted as well, so Thunderbreak Regent also came in big. I was able to dodge around his lifegain in the form of Kalitas, Shambling Vent, and Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld (which he didn't draw game one), and finish him off with Exquisite Firecraft and Incendiary Flow to the face for game.

Game 2: Had to go down to six and kept a slow hand on the play. Was still able to get him down fairly low, but then Gisela and Sorin came down in consecutive turns, and there was no way I would have been able to fight through that amount of lifegain.

Game 3: My boarded in Scab-Clan Berserkers came in huge once again. I'm telling you, that card is nuts in the right matchups. Ended up drawing into two of them, and they demand attention. They're mini Thunderbreak Regents with haste, how can you go wrong. Dealing with those opened the door for my Lightning Berserkers and other creatures, and I finished him off with more burn.

Round 3: Purposefully drew to auto qualify for the top 4 (not enough people for top 8).

As I stated above, we knew if all four of us drew we'd get in to the top 4.

Semifinals: Opponent dropped for more store credit and me and my opponent played out the finals for the playmat, with the loser getting $25 in credit.

Finals: 1-2 loss to G/W Tokens

Game 1: He curved Oath of Nissa into Sylvan Advocate turn two, into Nissa, Voice of Zendikar turn three, into a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar turn four. I mean, that's how you draw it up for G/W Tokens. Not much I can do to win that unless I'm on the play, which I wasn't. Even then it would be hard.

Game 2: Was on the play which was huge obviously. He didn't really play any Planeswalkers, and I was able to Incendiary Flow his Hangarback Walker to prevent him from getting the tokens. Got him down to four and killed him with Exquisite Firecraft.

Game 3: He just blew me out with an Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip that I for some unknown reason attacked into. Maybe I was debating in my head whether it would be better if I just lost anyway to get the $25 in credit instead of the playmat. Ah, the world will never know.