So I went 5-0-1 at The Game Academy in Orlando as I mentioned in the description. The deck performed amazingly. I couldn't believe it to be honest. I hadn't top8'd in 5 months and it was such a breath of fresh air to be first on the list (Esper was pretty bad for a bit before Theros emerged due to America Control being the superior control archetype). Here is the round-by-round:
Round 1 : Won 2-0 : Opponent: New Player with a G/R deck. It had a Stormbreath Dragon, a lot of 1 and 2 drops, and a Domri Rade. Not enough to beat a constructed deck with an experienced player at the helm. Easy win.
Round 2 : Won 2-1 : Opponent: Red Aggro with Heroic synergy and Young Pyromancer.
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Hand 1 : Loss : I mulliganed down to 5 cards and was forced to keep a 1lander. I drew a couple lands and missed a couple drops. Got a really good Supreme Verdict off for a good creature yield. However, he kept card advantage on me all game. Got me down to 1 life and attacked for 2. I Sphinxed for 2 to stay alive and blew up his board again on my turn with a Merciless Eviction. Then we both topdecked for a bit and I counterspelled a Magma Jet and a Shock before finally running out of gas and dying to another Shock.
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Hand 2 : Win : Perfect hand. Every answer and then some. AEtherling ftw.
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Hand 3 : Win : Once again, great hand. Got Blood Baron of Vizkopa out there to sustain me before sending out an AEtherling to close it out again. He was nice and wrote me a 2-0.
Round 3 : Won 2-1 : Opponent: Finkle's U/W Master of Waves/Thassa Pro Tour decklist.
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Hand 1 : Win : It dragged on a bit as you could imagine a control vs psuedo control might. I kept the Master's elementals off the board and Thassa a non-creature for pretty much the whole game. I played a Jace, Memory Adept (was in there that night, but now is not) to bait an attack from Thassa the one time she could swing. AEtherling wins, as is tradition in Controlnada (MTG/ South Park reference? Yep).
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Hand 2 : Loss : He got me. I misplayed and forgot Aetherling could be blocked by Thassa on a turn and had to blink and then counter a spell with the 3 mana I left open. He then used Rapid Hybridization on his turn to kill my AEtherling :'( I went on to get smashed by 8 billion elemental tokens.
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Hand 3 : Win : Got him so good! I got in there and smashed with a Blood Baron, an Aetherling, and an Obzedat all at once when he was at 6 life. Scoop ;)
Round 4 : Won 2-0 : Opponent: Same as Round 3...Master of Waves/Thassa. Beat it up again. Both myself and my opponents agreed that the Master of Waves deck is very weak versus Esper Control. However it is a great deck and stomps the majority of the meta at the moment. Master went up 14 dollars overnight due to MTG Pro Tour Hall of Famer John Finkle using it, so I can't downplay these wins. Esper did work.
Round 5 : Won 2-0 : Opponent: Selesnya (G/W) Aggro with Scavenging Ooze, Loxodon Smiter, Mistcutter Hydra, Witchstalker and Unflinching Courage as main win conditions. He was 3-1 so I was paired down and forced to play. Sounds scary right?
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Hand 1 : Win : He got land screwed and I was able to sit around with all the answers waiting.
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Hand 2 : Win : Same result almost. Except that I was slowed by land starvation as well. Almost more-so. I honestly don't think it would matter how much land or ramp he got. The deck is extremely weak versus control (especially Esper with Far / Away). Went to 5-0.
Round 6 : Drew into Top8 and split prizes after. Good night had by all. Got a foil Soldier of the Pantheon, a foil Prognostic Sphinx, a Steam Augury, and a Whip of Erebos as my noteworthy rares in the 6 packs I got from the prizes. The FNM is free btw, and you have the option to pay 5 dollars prior in order to potentially win double prizes at the end. So my buddy got 12 and I was jelly :)
