This was the last shop that I normally play at that hadn't seen my new zombie deck, and this place tends to not exactly be a cesspool of competitiveness. Actually, most people that play here tend to have no idea what they're doing. Luckily, four of the ten competitors at this FNM were me and my friends, so there was at least a little bit of talent added to the normally disappointing talent level. At the start of the night, I still hadn't seen a reason to use Lotleth Troll, since he hadn't proven himself as a good creature to have, but I figured I would leave it in.
Round 1 vs. Red Deck Wins
Just like last week, in the first round, I played against a shoddy, unsleeved, mono-red deck that someone just threw together. This guy had been talking up being a very good player, but having most of his favorite cards rotate out, but I'm not sure about it. In game 1, he came out quickly with Goblin Arsonist, to which I summoned Gravecrawler and just attacked and let him die. All through this series he would make plays like using Pillar of Flame on me, which left me very skeptical, considering there were many better targets on the board. He didn't get much mana game 1, so my zombie swarm just ran him over. In game 2, it went the other way for him, and he got lots of mana, but not much else. I used my regular shenanigans with my zombies coming out quick, using 2 Gravecrawlers and Rancor to hit him hard even quicker. He decided that a topdeck Bonfire of the Damned for 0 was worth it, which left me shaking my head. Before he could think, he was already dead. Sad.
Result: 2-0 Win
Round 2 vs. Selesnya Midrange
This deck type seems to be the achilles heel for my deck, but luckily I had seen this guy beat one of my friends last round, due to the fact that my friend was playing a fun tribal dragons deck, and he had to deal with Silklash Spider mainboard. Not an easy task. So here I was, in game 1, he took an opening hand that was risky, to which he said he hoped he wasn't playing against anything aggro, and my blue sleeves were misleading. I had an amazing opening hand, coming out with Gravecrawler turn 1, followed by Gravecrawler, Rancor turn 2, followed by Geralf's Messenger. Meanwhile, he was struggling, sitting on 2 white mana, and no spells to cast, after winning that game, he told me he took a hand with 2 white mana and an Avacyn's Pilgrim, believing he would draw a Forest. It didn't work out. In game 2, I sideboarded out my Lotleth Trolls for Highborn Ghoul and Pillar of Flame, due to the fact that I didn't trust Lotleth Troll enough at the time. I made a mistake, taking a hand with 1 mana, which was a Dragonskull Summit, which left me playing a one drop a turn for awhile, because I didn't get much else. He was going much faster, getting a Centaur Healer turn 2, as well as a Selesnya Keyrune. By the time I had some mana, I played a few Gravecrawlers and company. He came out with lots of Oblivion Rings and Fiend Hunters, which left me reeling. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, he played Thragtusk and eventually used him to swing lethal, due to the fact that I was sitting on 3 mana. We went on to game 3, where we both came out quickly, me with my zombies, and him with his Fiend Hunters to get rid of them. Luckily, my sideboarded Highborn Ghoul and combination of two Gravecrawlers and a Rancor was hitting hard, while I sat at 20 life. He had a Healer of the Pride out, but kept missing the trigger, so that was a huge misplay on his part. Eventually, I was able to get him to 1 life, then play Geralf's Messenger to win.
Result: 2-1 Win
Round 3 vs. Grixis Control
Now that I was 2-0, I would have to begin playing my friends, who were helping me dominate the regular competition at the shop. I had helped my friend out with his build of Grixis Control, and I was looking forward to playing it, especially since I needed to redeem myself from him beating me last time we played casually. In game 1, I was able to play a few zombies quickly, with Gravecrawler, Diregraf Ghoul and Geralf's Messenger all swinging early. Unluckily for him, he wasn't getting any of the cards he needed, not even Pillar of Flame to stop my swarm, and I won game 1 quickly, on the pins and needles I decided to put myself on after an over-confident loss in the previous round. In game 2, he had about 9 cards he sideboarded in just for my deck, I didn't have much to put in, so we started it up. I came out with a similar start as game 1, he quickly used Rolling Temblor in back to back turns, to slow me down, but luckily, the undead Geralf's Messenger lived through the second wave, since he had 3 toughness. After some stalling, I brought back a Gravecrawler and he was able to play a [Tamiyo, Moon Sage]] to help stop me from swinging lethal by keeping my Geralf's Messenger tapped. With one Abrupt Decay in hand and not much to do about the planeswalker on board, I topdecked a Dreadbore, which I laughed about, considering I did not deserve what I got. In the next turn, I was able to swing lethal.
Result: 2-0 Win
Round 4 vs. America Control
This was the last round of the night, with both of us at 3-0. He had beaten my brother in the previous round, due to the fact that my brother had gotten mana-screwed, which happens, and is pretty sad. My opponent offered to split the prize with me, but I decided that I pretty much never want to do that, and I needed to avenge my brother. We started off, and I realized how consistent my openings of games are, coming out with 3 one-drop zombies in two turns. He was able to slow me down with Feeling of Dread, which he flashed back in the next turn. Even though he had at least 8 board wipes, he wasn't getting any at the time, and I kept bashing him in the skull. I soon played Falkenrath Aristocrat and smashed him down to 7. He played Supreme Verdict, and I kept my heavy hitter alive by making her indestructible. After that play, he scooped, even though I couldn't swing lethal next turn, but I looked at the next card, and it was Geralf's Messenger, so I could have won next turn anyway. Lots of sideboarding was done on his end, and I decided to sit with what I had. We started game 2, and I quickly played Gravecrawler and Lotleth Troll. I remained ever-cognizant of board wipes, leaving a mana open to regenerate the troll many times. He eventually used Pillar of Flames on Lotleth Troll, so I discarded two creatures to keep him alive, at 4/3, which was the play of the night. After that, I kept swinging, and the only answer he had was an Entreat the Angels for 1, which I shut down with a Dreadbore. I can only assume it was a disappointing game for him, and I came out with another easy win.
Result: 2-0 Win
Final Result: 4-0 in rounds, 8-1 in games. 1st place
