The Predator of Predators
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 364 | 113 COMMENTS | 42243 VIEWS | IN 173 FOLDERS
Game Report: 14 October - Game Haven, MD —Oct. 18, 2018
14 Oct 2018 - Game Haven, MD
I played in a pod with Niv-Mizzet, Parun, Tuvasa the Sunlit and Kess, Dissident Mage. During that game, I learned that this deck is very weak against blue control magic - specifically Counterspell and other spells of it's ilk. The experience of having the Parun player counter my precious Etali, Primal Storm really stung. Worse yet, they also countered my first attempt at casting Zacama. The Tuvasa player then took the opportunity to blow up my Lightning Greaves on the field to keep me slowed down for good measure. After that game I went straight to ebay for a good deal on a Cavern of Souls. I ended up losing when the Parun player cast Jaya's Immolating Inferno for choosing me as all three targets. To be fair, I did have Zacama on the field with a Mirari's Wake. The Parun player was just at 8 life as Tuvasa was just wrecking his house most of the game. Tuvasa ended up winning that one.
In Game 2 one player switched decks, and another tagged out. Now I was facing Tatyova, Benthic Druid (was previously the Parun player), Emmara, Soul of the Accord (the new player), and again, Kess, Dissident Mage. This game went differently - I didn't get countered so hard, however I did make a mistake, and misplayed Forerunner of the Empire - with the Polyraptor + Forerunner of the Empire + Rite of Passage combo online and with both Zacama and Ghatla Primal Hunger on the field (and not sick from summoning). I created 1,000,000 Polyraptors but forgot that Forerunner of the Empire not only deals 1 damage to creatures I control, but to all creatures on the battlefield. I completely misread it's 2nd ability, and am still kicking myself for it. The Tatyova and Emmara players had pretty gross boardstates. The Kess player in response to my combo Mystical Tutored a Rakdos Charm to kill me on their upcoming turn as I had 1,000,000+ Polyraptors on my board. I went to combat, and sent Zacama at Kess and Ghalta at the Tatyova, Benthic Druid player. Both of my creatures had +1,000,000 power and toughness due to Rite of Passage. Additionally, I was still pretty salty from the last game where the Tatyova player (who was previously piloting Niv-Mizzet, Parun) countered my big plays. Tatyova had no answers and died, while Kess used a Terminate to stop Zacama. :( Unfortunately, I was eliminated on Kess' turn.
What left me salty was that Kess wasn't really doing much of anything the whole game, and conveniently had the perfect card to eliminate me, and the means to tutor for it on my turn. I was mentally debating on swinging both Zacama and Ghalta at Kess, but decided to go for the greedy play. If I played Forerunner of the Empire properly, I think I would've sent both at Kess knowing that I was in imminent danger. After my defeat, the Kess player was instantly killed by Emmara - as he had hardly any cards in hand or threats on the board. In fact, he just kind of gave up after I died. I felt like I was just beaten by a lucky cheap shot.
Oh well, that's the beauty of Magic - no matter how good you think you are, there is always something to learn from every game. Be it from the cards you play, the decks and people you find yourself up against, or yourself. Despite my salt, I wished my opponents a GG - I lost fair and square. I feel like I definitely could have won the game, but the problem was the Pilot - not the deck. Also, I broke down and bought a Cavern of Souls - counter magic sucks to play against.
And P.S. - I just realized that the Forerunner of the Empire that was in play also could have swung for lethal - and I could have also sent that in along with Zacama to kill the Kess player. Now i'm just annoyed with myself. I screwed that up.