Domri Rade, King of the Monsters (M15)

Standard* Kamotz

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GPT 2nd Place —March 8, 2014

Tournament Report : Grand Prix Trial - Cincinnati 2014

The Stadium // Bay City, MI

Record: 5-0-3

2nd Place

Saturday was the GPT for Cincinnati. I knew I wasn't going to make it to the GP due to personal reasons and being insanely busy. So I decided I'd go out, play some Magic, and do as well as I can without screwing my friends out of top spots. I figured that if I played against my friends, I'd give them the win and let them advance further in points. Because I'm a good guy like that.

As it happened, regardless of my plans, I didn't end up playing my and of my friends until the last round. So despite not really intending on doing all that well, I took second place.

Round 1 vs. Jason B. (Minotaur Tribal): 2-0

This match was essentially a freebie. Minotaurs are, generally speaking, not a viable Standard archetype. Certainly not when compared to Jund Monsters. To be fair, I did struggle a bit with drawing the right creatures game 1, so he hit me down to 10. But once I got Reaper of the Wilds and Polukranos online, he was done. The same thing happened game 2. Except I was up to 24 off Ooze and Courser.

Sideboard Summary

In: 3x Mizzium Mortars; 1x Putrefy; 1x Whip of Erebos; 2x Ultimate Price

Out: 1x Xenagos, the Reveler; 1x Xenagos, God of Revels; 3x Domri Rade; 2x Stormbreath Dragon

Round 2 vs. Jameson P. (BW Control): 2-0

The first game felt sweet. He hit my Turn 1 Elf with Bile Blight, but I landed a Caryatid and a Turn 4 Stormbreath to knock him to 16. I landed a 2nd dragon the next turn and sacrificed the Caryatid to punch through another 8 damage. I had a Mutavault out, he took 1 damage from Underworld Connections to draw. Found nothing for removal, and we went to the next game. Game 2 was much more back and forth. I was stuck on mono-green mana for the first few turns so I could avoid taking damage and get a Courser of Kruphix out. That still let him put a Pack Rat down uncontested for a few turns. He dropped Lifebane, but I had no green creatures in hand so he whiffed. My Courser got me a few points of life throughout, but he swung in for big damage with a pair of rats and a zombie, forcing me to block the rats. He then discarded his last two cards to make the rats 4/4s and kill my Courser. All the same, I had revealed a Mizzium Mortars off the top of my library, and got to overload it the next turn. He had a single Mutavault, though I was at 8 life. I dropped my Stormbreath Dragon and hit him to 10 and was hit to 6 in return. He was just drawing lands. I finally got to drop the Whip of Erebos, and started gaining my life back. There was nothing he could do to stop me.

Sideboard Summary

In: 1x Whip of Erebos; 1x Chandra, Pyromaster; 1x Xenagos, the Reveler; 1x Putrefy; 2x Ultimate Price; 2x Mizzium Mortars

Out: 1x Stormbreath Dragon; 2x Scavenging Ooze; 1x Domri Rade; 2x Abrupt Decay; 2x Ghor-Clan Rampager

Round 3 vs. Jake C. (Jund Monsters): 2-0

These were a couple of very easy wins. A lot of the Jund mirror depends on your draws. I guess I drew better, or maybe I just out-played him. Dreadbore and Ultimate Price worked overtime, getting rid of his creatures and allowing mine to bash his Planeswalkers. Not much to report.

Sideboard Summary

In: 2x Ultimate Price; 2x Mizzium Mortars; 1x Whip of Erebos; 2x Rakdos's Return; 1x Putrefy

Out: 1x Domri Rade; 2x Abrupt Decay; 3x Courser of Kruphix; 2x Scavenging Ooze

Round 4 vs. Jeff K. (UW Control): Draw

We were locked for Top 8 as long as we drew the next two rounds. So we decided to draw.

Round 5 vs. Ben D. (Mono Black): Draw

We were locked for Top 8 as long as we drew the next round. So we decided to draw.

Top 8 vs. Eric C. (GR Monsters): 2-0

This was very much like the Jund match, except even more lopsidedly in my favor. He had some aggression in Game 1, knocking me down to 9 with cards like Ghor-Clan Rampager. But my removal was just too much. Game 2 I didn't take a single point of damage. I managed to get a Domri emblem, and he didn't have anything to do against me. When we were packing up I saw him holding Fated Conflagration in the deck. The difference between that card and something like Ultimate Price in the mirror is astronomical.

Sideboard Summary

In: 2x Ultimate Price; 1x Putrefy; 2x Mizzium Mortars; 2x Rakdos's Return; 1x Whip of Erebos

Out: 1x Domri Rade; 2x Abrupt Decay; 3x Courser of Kruphix; 2x Scavenging Ooze

Top 4 vs. Scott R. (Mono Blue): 2-1

This was GR's hardest matchup. And Jund makes the match a little better, but it's still probably one of the worst for me. Game 1 showed it. He managed to rip all 4 of his Tidebinder Mages to tap down my creatures, and kept bashing in with Thassa. It took me too long to get my footing, and he ran me over. Games 2 and 3 were the exact opposite. I kept hands of mono-removal, which meant his field consisted solely of Thassa. And that's it. I ended Game 2 at 18 life after going up to 23. Game 3 he put my Domri (at 6) under a Pithing Needle. But I had an Abrupt Decay in hand, which allowed me to put Domri to 7 and then Ultimate. With my hexproof and doublestriking creatures, I hit him from 20 to 6 in one hit, and then finished him off next turn.

Sideboard Summary

In: 1x Putrefy; 2x Ultimate Price; 2x Golgari Charm; 3x Mizzium Mortars

Out: 2x Scavenging Ooze; 2x Stormbreath Dragon; 1x Xenagos, the Reveler; 1x Xenagos, God of Revels; 2x Domri Rade;

Finals/Top 2 vs. Jeff K. (UW Control): Intentional Drop

I dropped intentionally to give Jeff the win. He's a friend, and he's actually GOING to the Grand Prix in Cincinnati, so I thought that was the better thing to do. We ended up splitting the prize packs almost in reverse. He got 16 packs instead of 24 and I got 20 packs instead of 12.

Final Thoughts:

I had a blast. I only lost a single game all night, and that was to my admittedly worst matchup. I went with 8 other friends. Of the 9 of us, 4 of us went to the Top 8, and 3 of us managed to Top 4. We crushed.

And I ended up opening about $80 in value from my Prize Packs just from a Kiora, Mogis, foil Spirit of the Labyrinth, and Temple of Enlightenment. And a bunch of bulk rares and a few 2-5$ ones. Not bad for a day's work and $10 entry fee!