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FNM 12.26.14 Recap: 4-1-1 Record —Dec. 29, 2014

Match 1: VS Golgari Delver (0-0)

I dominated both games 1 and 2. I initially thought the deck was Golgari Monsters, until he told me he was running Sidisi and the deck was based on delving. Sidisi never hit the board.

Match 2: VS U/W Heroic (1-0)

This build was without Heliod's Pilgrim. I don't know if he was running Fabled Hero. Game 1 was another domination. He never even got to swing in for damage. Game 2 was closer. He'd taken an early lead and worked me down to 11 health before I resolved an Obelisk of Urd, stabilized the board and swung for 16 and the win.

We had a nice conversation about different U/W Heroic builds after the match.

Match 3: Abzan Reanimator (2-0)

I mulliganed to 5 in Game 1 and never hit a stride. He curved out with Sylvan Caryatid, Courser of Kruphix and 2 Siege Rhino. I pecked him down to 17 before he played Whip of Erebos and proceeded to take over the match.

Game 2 was a little better. I sided in 2 Devouring Light, 2 Glare of Heresy and 2 Suspension Field. I only drew one Devouring the whole game. What I should have done was brought in Enchantment hate, because the Whip of Erebos did me in. I had him down to 11 health before he played a Whip and turned the tide. He proceeded to whip in a Hornet Queen and 2 Siege Rhino. I could have won this game had I resolved an Obelisk, but I didn't draw into one.

This match has led me to make major sideboard modifications that I will discuss later.

Match 4: Sidisi Whip (2-1)

We decided to draw to lock in 3rd (him) and 4th (me) place in the top 8.

One of the top 8 decided that he/she wanted play it out and not split the prize pool, which made a few of the top 8 winners unhappy. If you dropped, you'd get the 8th place prize, which was $10 in store credit or 4 packs of Kahns. Three people dropped. I decided to stick around and play some more Magic.

Match 5, quarterfinals: Temur Aggro (2-1-1)

Game 1 was a little drawn out. I did not resolve an Obelisk until after turn 7, at which point he had a Savage Knuckleblade in play. He had me down to 8 life before I stabilized and took over the board. He was clearly surprised and a little annoyed to have been beaten by my deck.

Game 2 went to him; he curved out well and I did not get a good creature draw. I sided in Devouring Light and Suspension Field for game 3, but didn't need them. I resolved an Obelisk early, stabilized at 11 life and got the win. After the match, he mentioned removing all of his blue removal to combat my onslaught; it just didn't work out for him. Him removing his removal surprised me, quite frankly.

He also mentioned that this was his sixth week playing Temur Aggro. He said he was getting frustrated with it's inconsistency and was going to drop it for something else going forward. I think our match solidified that for him.

Match 6, semifinals: U/W Heroic (3-1-1)

Prior to our match, my opponent apparently made some kind of snarky comment after winning his last match that really pissed off his opponent. I didn't catch what it was, but I heard that it was kind of inappropriate and obnoxious. I think he was feeling a little cocky after winning a lot that night with U/W Heroics and dissed his opponent's deck.

Before our match, we checked to see if we could draw and split the second place prize, but were informed that we could not. It was 11:30PM at this point and we were both tired. Neither of us would drop, so we decided to play it out.

The guy was a little nervous and sloppy, both in his play and with how he organized his cards on the battlefield. Lands were strewn about and Auras were attached awkwardly. He complained about making misplays. It seemed to me that he was in a little over his head being this deep into an FNM, which was probably fueling his anxiety. I kept my cool.

This was another U/W Heroic build without Heliod's Pilgrim. Game 1 was a race, with a lot of Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance countering each other. We were both at 17 life when I resolved an Obelisk. We got each other to 11, he then got me down to 8. I played Raise the Alarm during his end step, providing 6 more damage he hadn't accounted for. Next turn, I swung in for lethal. He was surprised and slightly agitated over the loss. It seemed he wasn't expecting anyone to deal out the same explosive damage that his deck could.

I feel my deck has a strong matchup against U/W Heroic, so I did not side anything in for game 2. I resolved an Obelisk early, but he built up a Hero of Iroas very quickly. He had me down to 14 life and then resolved a Fabled Hero. He was at 13. I played an Abzan Falconer, flew over his blockers and got him down to 1 life. It was a risky play, but I didn't think he could push through 14 with the Falconer blocking. He could. He played Feat of Resistance on his Fabled Hero and in conjunction with other creatures swung through for 14.

Game 3 was yet another race. I sided in three Ordeal of Heliod, but none saw play. We went from 19/18 (me/him) , 17/17, to 13/13. On his turn, my creatures were tapped out, and he appeared to be able to swing for 14 and win. I had two Plains open. He entered combat and swung in with everyone for lethal. IN RESPONSE, I played Raise the Alarm and double-blocked his 2/2 Hero of Iroas with two 3/3 Soldier tokens (ALL THE GLORY TO URD!). I double-blocked just to be sure to kill the Hero and not just block it. It worked. He had one Plains and one Island open, but had no response. He had gotten me down to 1 life, but all of his blockers were tapped out. I swung for lethal the next turn.

Dude was a little salty after the loss, but I played it cool. We had a brief conversation about what we'd sided out after the match.

It was during this match that a spectator on my side of the board commented "The deck kind of hangs around, and then it curb stomps you." That sums it up. If I get an optimal opening, it's a tidal wave. If not, and I can stabilize, it can become a tsunami.

Match 7, finals: Abzan Reanimator (again) (4-1-1)

It turns out that the person that wanted to play out the top 8 was the guy I'd lost to that night. First place nets you $72 in store credit or the equivalent in Khans packs and your name on the winner board in the store. Second place nets you $37 in credit or packs.

I knew I had a shot at beating his Abzan Reanimator deck if I sideboarded well and got a good draw, but I decided to drop and take second place. He really wanted his name on the board. I want to stay under the radar. And, it was 12:45AM by this time. The shopkeeper, me and the first place guy were the only ones left in the store at this point. I was very happy to walk away with a second place finish.

Overall, I won 8 matches, lost 4, and drew once. I am very happy with how my deck performed.

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Sideboard changes

I am going to make the following changes.

The biggest weakness is Whip decks, especially with Hornet Queen. I am going to up Erase to 4 and add in 3 Hushwing Gryff.

I've found that I don't really need to remove creatures, since mine tend to be the biggest on the block. Therefore, I have removed sideboard removal. This does leave me open to Planeswalker trouble without Glare of Heresy, but this deck is going for the ground (and sometimes sky) and pound, and deviating from that waters down the core principle.

“It’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”

Also, Ordeal of Heliod is a little too slow for me. There are times when I will hold back on attacking, which makes gaining the counters and the 10 life take longer. I've thought it over, and Mortal's Ardor will provide close to if not more than 10 with an Obelisk out.

Removed:

• -2 Devouring Light
• -2 Glare of Heresy
• -1 Mortal Obstinacy
• -3 Ordeal of Heliod
• -3 Suspension Field

Added:

• +2 Erase
• +2 Feat of Resistance
• +4 Mortal's Ardor
• +3 Hushwing Gryff

For sideboarding plans, please see the

Sideboarding

guide in the description above.

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Again, a big

THANK YOU

to the tappedout community for helping me brew this deck. I know that repeated wins at multiple FNMs truly displays whether or not a deck is the real thing, but taking second place at my super competitive LGS' FNM with this deck makes me very proud. Regardless of future results, this deck's creation process and FNM performance have been very gratifying.