Introduction
For this tournament, since the field would be bigger than the league weekly splits, we decided to join forces with more people.
From the beginning of this season our testing squad was: Sebastian Pozzo, Matias Leveratto, Chris Kvartek, Piotr Glogowski and me. This time, we joined forces with Autumn Burchett, Emma Handy, Montse Ayensa, Jan-Moritz Merkel and Matt Sperling.
We ended up being pretty convinced with the deck choices and we ended up having two players in the top 8 and Matt, Sebastian and me 1 step short to top 8.
My Decklist
My decks for the tournament:
4 《Mountain》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Cragcrown Pathway》
-Land (20)- 4 《Edgewall Innkeeper》
4 《Brushfire Elemental》
3 《Embereth Shieldbreaker》
2 《Scavenging Ooze》
4 《Bonecrusher Giant》
4 《Kazandu Mammoth》
4 《Lovestruck Beast》
4 《Questing Beast》
-Creature (29)-
2 《Ox of Agonas》
2 《Fire Prophecy》
2 《Wilt》
2 《Soul Sear》
2 《The Akroan War》
2 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》
1 《Garruk, Unleashed》
-Sideboard (15)-
2 《Forest》
1 《Plains》
1 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Indatha Triome》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Breeding Pool》
2 《Watery Grave》
1 《Overgrown Tomb》
1 《Temple Garden》
1 《Drowned Catacomb》
1 《Glacial Fortress》
-Land (28)- 2 《Hydroid Krasis》
4 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》
2 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》
-Creature (8)-
4 《Thoughtseize》
4 《Growth Spiral》
2 《Aether Gust》
1 《Eliminate》
1 《Essence Scatter》
1 《Mythos of Nethroi》
1 《Extinction Event》
1 《Languish》
4 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》
1 《Teferi, Hero of Dominaria》
-Spell (24)-
2 《Negate》
2 《Witch’s Vengeance》
2 《Shark Typhoon》
2 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
1 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》
1 《Essence Scatter》
1 《Tale’s End》
1 《Mythos of Nethroi》
1 《Extinction Event》
-Sideboard (15)-
I ended up in 16th position, and earned 2 valuable points for the Rivals League and I’m very motivated to keep earning points to ascend to MPL again!
This is the resume of my rounds, 3 of my losses were against players who did top 8!
Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|
Round 1 | Jan-Moritz Merkel (Sultai Midrange) |
1-2 |
Round 2 | Thomas Ashton (Jund Sacrifice) |
2-0 |
Round 3 | Ben Stark (Dimir Rogues) |
2-1 |
Round 4 | Jakub Toth (Naya Winota) |
0-2 |
Round 5 | Yuma Koizumi (Gruul Adventures) |
2-1 |
Round 6 | Asfandyar Rashid (Dimir Rogues) |
2-0 |
Round 7 | William Jensen (Esper Doom Foretold) |
2-1 |
Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|
Round 8 | Allen Wu (Jund Sacrifice) |
2-0 |
Round 9 | Gary Patrick (4C Midrange) |
2-0 |
Round 10 | Corey Burkhart (Sultai Midrange) |
1-2 |
Round 11 | Bernardo Torres (Goblins) |
2-0 |
Round 12 | Gabriel Nassif (Mono-Green Food) |
0-2 |
Round 13 | Ivan Floch (Dimir Rogues) |
2-1 |
Round 14 | Aaron Gertler (Dimir Control) |
2-0 |
Round 15 | Andrea Mengucci (Esper Doom Foretold) |
1-2 |
As you can see, I moved to day 2 with a 5-2 score, and the final score was 10-5, losing the last one against Andrea, who made the cut in 8th place.
You can all player’s decklists from here.
Tournament Report
Day 1: Historic
Round 1: Jan-Moritz Merkel – Sultai Midrange
2 《Swamp》
2 《Island》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Breeding Pool》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
1 《Fetid Pools》
3 《Drowned Catacomb》
1 《Castle Locthwain》
-Land (28)- 4 《Hydroid Krasis》
1 《Scavenging Ooze》
4 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》
-Creature (9)-
3 《Growth Spiral》
2 《Aether Gust》
1 《Tale’s End》
1 《Maelstrom Pulse》
1 《Languish》
1 《Vraska, Golgari Queen》
4 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》
-Spell (17)-
Jan-Moritz is a very skilled player, and since he decided not to play white, he had an edge in the mirror, his manabase was better and the full x4 《Hydroid Krasis》 did a lot of work. We played 3 long games and except those one-sided games, it tends to take a lot of turns and you see most of your spells, and besides the 2 《Narset, Parter of Veils》es, it ends in this way…
I’ll share with you my opener in game 1 since it was very interesting. Keep or mulligan?
This was my sideboard plan for game 2 and game 3.
vs. Sultai Midrange
Round 2: Thomas Ashton – Jund Sacrifice
4 《Blood Crypt》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
4 《Stomping Ground》
4 《Cragcrown Pathway》
3 《Blooming Marsh》
2 《Dragonskull Summit》
2 《Phyrexian Tower》
-Land (25)- 4 《Cauldron Familiar》
4 《Gilded Goose》
2 《Llanowar Elves》
4 《Mayhem Devil》
4 《Woe Strider》
4 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》
-Creature (22)-
1 《Heartless Act》
1 《Maelstrom Pulse》
4 《Trail of Crumbs》
4 《Witch’s Oven》
-Spell (13)-
3 《Noxious Grasp》
3 《Abrade》
3 《Witch’s Vengeance》
1 《Maelstrom Pulse》
1 《Jegantha, the Wellspring》
-Sideboard (15)-
Thomas decided to play 4 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》 and no 《Collected Company》, and this change makes the matchup even better for us. 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》 shuts off most of the deck, and since they only have 2 cards to kill it game 1, it is pretty easy to cast it and win the game instantly, since you only need to handle the big dragon.
After sideboard they have 4 more removals, but since without Company the deck is much slower, I decided to use a few 《Thoughtseize》 after sideboard to protect the pig and also to hit 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》 or 《Claim the Firstborn》. It worked perfectly and I had no problems to win the round. (I forgot to record the match)
Round 3: Ben Stark – Dimir Rogues
3 《Swamp》
4 《Watery Grave》
2 《Fetid Pools》
4 《Drowned Catacomb》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
2 《Castle Locthwain》
-Land (24)- 4 《Thieves’ Guild Enforcer》
4 《Merfolk Windrobber》
4 《Soaring Thought-Thief》
4 《Brazen Borrower》
2 《Zareth San, the Trickster》
-Creature (18)-
4 《Thoughtseize》
3 《Cling to Dust》
4 《Drown in the Loch》
3 《Into the Story》
-Spell (18)-
3 《Negate》
3 《Grafdigger’s Cage》
2 《Murderous Rider》
2 《Witch’s Vengeance》
2 《Arguel’s Blood Fast》
-Sideboard (15)-
I never played against Rogues in all my Historic testing process, but I felt that the match was good for me since multiple 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》s for free + cheap and efficient cards are a lethal combination…
However, Ben is a very good player and he had a lot of good cards as well, so I lost game 1, and this is how I sideboarded for game 2:
vs. Dimir Rogues
He had some mana problems on game 2, and I decided to switch the 《Eliminate》 with a 《Witch’s Vengeance》 for game 3, and again he missed the 2nd landrop (from a 7card hand) so I realized after the turn 2 that his hand was full of good and cheap spells, otherwise he would mulligan. And it was the case, because he started with 《Thoughtseize》, had 《Grafdigger’s Cage》, and 《Zareth San, the Trickster》 with more rogues, luckily for me the missed landrop cost him the game probably.
This is the moment after he put a 《Shark Typhoon》 from my side in play but it was late and 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》 + 《Hydroid Krasis》 and 《Negate》 finished the game.
Day 1: Standard
Round 4: Jakub Toth – Naya Winota
2 《Forest》
1 《Mountain》
4 《Fabled Passage》
1 《Evolving Wilds》
4 《Branchloft Pathway》
4 《Cragcrown Pathway》
4 《Needleverge Pathway》
-Land (22)- 4 《Edgewall Innkeeper》
4 《Giant Killer》
4 《Selfless Savior》
4 《Lotus Cobra》
4 《Bonecrusher Giant》
4 《Kazandu Mammoth》
4 《Lovestruck Beast》
4 《Basri’s Lieutenant》
4 《Winota, Joiner of Forces》
-Creature (36)-
4 《Ox of Agonas》
2 《Chainweb Aracnir》
2 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》
1 《Mountain》
1 《Scorching Dragonfire》
1 《The Great Henge》
-Sideboard (15)-
Time for some Standard! Jakub played Naya Winota, but since most of the deck is the adventure pack, game 1 looked like a mirror, where he did the famous turn-4 《The Great Henge》 and win the game since I couldn’t remove it until the previous turn alive.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Naya Winota
I started with a 6 card good opener, but my opponent had the nuts (《Selfless Savior》, 《Lotus Cobra》, 《Winota, Joiner of Forces》) and I couldn’t even play my 《The Great Henge》 turn 4, otherwise I could have a shot.
Round 5: Yuma Koizumi – Gruul Adventures
4 《Mountain》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Cragcrown Pathway》
1 《Temple of Abandon》
-Land (22)- 4 《Edgewall Innkeeper》
4 《Brushfire Elemental》
3 《Scavenging Ooze》
4 《Bonecrusher Giant》
4 《Kazandu Mammoth》
4 《Lovestruck Beast》
-Creature (23)-
1 《Fire Prophecy》
1 《Shredded Sails》
1 《The Akroan War》
2 《Embercleave》
3 《The Great Henge》
3 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》
-Spell (15)-
3 《Ox of Agonas》
2 《Klothys, God of Destiny》
2 《Soul Sear》
2 《The Akroan War》
2 《Garruk, Unleashed》
1 《Fire Prophecy》
-Sideboard (15)-
First mirror match! His list had 3 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》, 3 《The Great Henge》, but only 2 《Embercleave》. I drew pretty well on game 1 and won without any problem.
This was my plan for game 2
vs. Gruul Adventures
This game was crazy, I drew a 《Mountain》 and the 2nd 《The Great Henge》 and couldn’t play it, and that made the game goes longer and we ended up in topdeck mode and he drew Vivien and won from then.
I took the 2 《Phoenix of Ash》 out since on the play I can handle opponent’s vivien better and brought back the 3rd Cleave and the 《Garruk, Unleashed》.
I had a good opener, with a turn 5 《Embercleave》 attack, after that his life total was 3 and Garruk ended up winning the game thanks to his +1 ability.
Round 6: Asfandyar Rashid – Dimir Rogues
5 《Island》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
4 《Temple of Deceit》
1 《Castle Locthwain》
1 《Castle Vantress》
-Land (24)- 4 《Thieves’ Guild Enforcer》
4 《Soaring Thought-Thief》
2 《Brazen Borrower》
1 《Zareth San, the Trickster》
-Creature (11)-
1 《Cling to Dust》
4 《Drown in the Loch》
3 《Heartless Act》
1 《Eliminate》
1 《Jwari Disruption》
1 《Negate》
2 《Didn’t Say Please》
1 《Agadeem’s Awakening》
4 《Into the Story》
4 《Shark Typhoon》
-Spell (24)-
3 《Mystical Dispute》
3 《Extinction Event》
2 《Lullmage’s Domination》
1 《Bloodchief’s Thirst》
1 《Cling to Dust》
1 《Soul-Guide Lantern》
1 《Ashiok, Nightmare Muse》
-Sideboard (15)-
Rogues was the match up that I was more confident to play, since the games post boards are pretty good, and sometimes you can even win game 1 as well. I had a good opener and he did not, so I won the game really fast.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Dimir Rogues
Game 2 I had a 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》 and when I run out of threats I remember an advice from my friend Damian Buckley: Rogues can’t really afford to play many 《Negate》 and dies against creatures, so I casted the vivien into 4 open mana, she resolved and I won a few turns after that.
Round 7: William Jensen – Esper Doom Foretold
3 《Island》
2 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Brightclimb Pathway》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
4 《Temple of Enlightenment》
4 《Temple of Deceit》
1 《Temple of Silence》
1 《Castle Vantress》
-Land (31)- 3 《Skyclave Apparition》
3 《Yorion, Sky Nomad》
-Creature (6)-
2 《Negate》
3 《Heartless Act》
2 《Mystical Dispute》
3 《Extinction Event》
4 《Emeria’s Call》
4 《Omen of the Sea》
4 《Elspeth’s Nightmare》
2 《Treacherous Blessing》
4 《Doom Foretold》
4 《Elspeth Conquers Death》
2 《Shark Typhoon》
4 《Glass Casket》
2 《Mazemind Tome》
1 《Golden Egg》
-Spell (43)-
2 《Duress》
2 《Negate》
2 《Shark Typhoon》
1 《Baneslayer Angel》
1 《Bloodchief’s Thirst》
1 《Cling to Dust》
1 《Mystical Dispute》
1 《Heliod’s Intervention》
1 《Ugin, the Spirit Dragon》
1 《Yorion, Sky Nomad》
-Sideboard (15)-
I lost game 1 and won game 2 without nothing to do from both sides. But game 3, as you may know, being on the play is a huge difference, besides obvious reasons, on the draw is very hard to catch up the card 《Doom Foretold》, but luckily for me he didn’t draw any 《Doom Foretold》 in the early game. I kept a normal hand and we started to trade resources, and this was a key turn in which I killed the 《Archon of Sun’s Grace》 and won some turns after that.
Day 2: Historic
Round 8: Allen Wu – Jund Sacrifice
4 《Blood Crypt》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
4 《Stomping Ground》
4 《Cragcrown Pathway》
3 《Blooming Marsh》
2 《Dragonskull Summit》
2 《Phyrexian Tower》
-Land (25)- 4 《Cauldron Familiar》
4 《Gilded Goose》
2 《Llanowar Elves》
4 《Mayhem Devil》
4 《Woe Strider》
4 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》
-Creature (22)-
1 《Heartless Act》
1 《Maelstrom Pulse》
4 《Trail of Crumbs》
4 《Witch’s Oven》
-Spell (13)-
3 《Abrade》
3 《Noxious Grasp》
3 《Witch’s Vengeance》
1 《Maelstrom Pulse》
1 《Jegantha, the Wellspring》
-Sideboard (15)-
Allen only had 1 《Maelstrom Pulse》 game 1, and didn’t drew it. Game two he played with 3 lands all the game thanks to 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》.
The way to go in the sideboard is 《Negate》 against 《Collected Company》, and 《Thoughtseize》 against 《Korvold, Fae-Cursed King》. 《Fatal Push》es are better against Company and 《Essence Scatter》 against Korvold.
Round 9: Gary Patrick – 4C Midrange
2 《Forest》
1 《Plains》
1 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
3 《Indatha Triome》
4 《Breeding Pool》
2 《Temple Garden》
2 《Watery Grave》
1 《Overgrown Tomb》
1 《Drowned Catacomb》
1 《Glacial Fortress》
-Land (28)- 3 《Hydroid Krasis》
4 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》
2 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》
-Creature (9)-
4 《Thoughtseize》
4 《Growth Spiral》
2 《Aether Gust》
2 《Eliminate》
2 《Extinction Event》
1 《Yahenni’s Expertise》
4 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》
-Spell (23)-
2 《Scavenging Ooze》
2 《Elder Gargaroth》
2 《Essence Scatter》
2 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
1 《Yasharn, Implacable Earth》
1 《Disdainful Stroke》
1 《Negate》
1 《Mythos of Nethroi》
-Sideboard (15)-
Game 1 we drew almost the same cards, besides 《Aether Gust》, which gave me the game.
vs. 4C Midrange
This was my plan for game 2 and it worked pretty well this game but still not full convinced about how to sideboard in the mirror.
Round 10: Corey Burkhart – Sultai Midrange
2 《Swamp》
2 《Forest》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Breeding Pool》
4 《Overgrown Tomb》
2 《Fetid Pools》
2 《Drowned Catacomb》
1 《Castle Locthwain》
1 《Hinterland Harbor》
-Land (28)- 3 《Hydroid Krasis》
4 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》
-Creature (7)-
3 《Fatal Push》
4 《Growth Spiral》
2 《Aether Gust》
1 《Eliminate》
1 《Thought Erasure》
2 《Maelstrom Pulse》
3 《Extinction Event》
4 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》
1 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
-Spell (25)-
3 《Shark Typhoon》
2 《Aether Gust》
2 《Heartless Act》
2 《Negate》
2 《Narset, Parter of Veils》
1 《Tale’s End》
-Sideboard (15)-
This was a featured match(Link to the video)
I’ll share with you some images to show respect to 《Narset, Parter of Veils》, one of the best Planeswalkers ever made:
Corey is a very skilled player and his list was better in the mirror, in the same way as Jan-Moritz Merkel, he had 1 more 《Hydroid Krasis》, 1 more 《Narset, Parter of Veils》, 1 more discard spell and 1 《Castle Locthwain》, thanks to playing straight sultai.
Round 11: Bernardo Torres – Goblins
2 《Castle Embereth》
2 《Phyrexian Tower》
-Land (23)- 4 《Skirk Prospector》
4 《Conspicuous Snoop》
4 《Wily Goblin》
4 《Goblin Chieftain》
4 《Goblin Matron》
4 《Goblin Warchief》
4 《Krenko, Mob Boss》
4 《Muxus, Goblin Grandee》
-Creature (32)-
3 《Magma Spray》
3 《Abrade》
3 《Herald’s Horn》
1 《Gempalm Incinerator》
1 《Goblin Chainwhirler》
1 《Goblin Trashmaster》
-Sideboard (15)-
Game 1 was easy, since he mulliganed and kept a onelander, missing two land drops, so I had enough time to prepare my board and ended up dealing with all his threats and won the game with 《Nissa, Worldwaker》 + 《Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath》.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Goblins
On game 2, Bernardo was super unlucky with his first 《Muxus, Goblin Grandee》, hitting only 《Goblin Matron》, and I topdecked to stop the second one.
I won some turns, Nissa never got hitted, and after some trades and triggering Revolt with the -8 from Nissa. I won game 2 that I should have lost most of the time.
Day 2: Standard
Round 12: Gabriel Nassif – Mono-Green Food
4 《Castle Garenbrig》
2 《Bonders’ Enclave》
2 《Crawling Barrens》
-Land (23)- 4 《Gilded Goose》
4 《Tangled Florahedron》
1 《Ilysian Caryatid》
4 《Kazandu Mammoth》
4 《Lovestruck Beast》
1 《Thrashing Brontodon》
4 《Wicked Wolf》
4 《Feasting Troll King》
2 《Kogla, the Titan Ape》
-Creature (28)-
2 《Chainweb Aracnir》
2 《Scavenging Ooze》
2 《Sorcerous Spyglass》
1 《Thrashing Brontodon》
1 《Primal Might》
1 《Ram Through》
1 《Wilt》
1 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》
1 《Ugin, the Spirit Dragon》
-Sideboard (15)-
Back to standard, mono-G is a natural predator for my deck, Gruul, so I needed some good draws to beat a player like Gab, but it was the opposite.
T3 《Wicked Wolf》, T4 《Kogla, the Titan Ape》, T5 《Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate》 on the play against a normal opener from my side.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Mono-Green Food
I kept this hand.
I drew my 3rd land off the 《Wilt》‘s Cycling on turn 3 while Gab went 《Lovestruck Beast》 on 3, 《Wicked Wolf》 on 4, 《The Great Henge》 + 《Witch’s Oven》 on 5 and I couldn’t recover from that.
Round 13: Ivan Floch – Dimir Rogues
3 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
2 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
4 《Temple of Deceit》
-Land (22)- 4 《Merfolk Windrobber》
4 《Ruin Crab》
4 《Thieves’ Guild Enforcer》
4 《Soaring Thought-Thief》
-Creature (16)-
4 《Drown in the Loch》
1 《Eliminate》
1 《Heartless Act》
4 《Of One Mind》
3 《Agadeem’s Awakening》
3 《Lullmage’s Domination》
4 《Into the Story》
-Spell (22)-
3 《Negate》
3 《Mystical Dispute》
2 《Cling to Dust》
1 《Bloodchief’s Thirst》
1 《Essence Scatter》
1 《Lurrus of the Dream-Den》
-Sideboard (15)-
Ivan kept a hand with a Temple + Passage 7 card hand, but drew the 3rd land (tapped) on turn 4, while I cast spells all my turns from turn 2 and the pressure was good enough to take the game before he could cast the rest of his spells.
I had a really interesting spot, knowing that he missed 2 landrops (I missed 1). What’s the play?
I will write my line of play after finish this match.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Dimir Rogues
In this game I had access to plenty of cards but only two 《Mountain》s, while Ivan developed his board and hand without any problem and won the game in all ways.
I forgot to take out the 《Embereth Shieldbreaker》s so I switched them for 2 《Questing Beast》 and 1 《Garruk, Unleashed》, and since he took out 《Ruin Crab》s I switched 《Primal Might》 with 《Embercleave》.
I had an insane opener and a copy of 《Phoenix of Ash》 arrived for free being the perfect card to put even more pressure. Again taplands didn’t help him since I was attacking for 16 on turn 4 while he just cast two 2 drops.
My play on game 1 against Ivan
I tried to make Ivan tap that mana, so I casted 《Brushfire Elemental》, it resolved, I played the land untapped, casted 《Embereth Shieldbreaker》 and resolved… Since Ivan didn’t tap out, I attacked with everything and he played another 《Soaring Thought-Thief》, which I killed post combat, and he conceded the turn after that (with this play I avoided a 《Lullmage’s Domination》 from his side since he never reached 8 cards.
Round 14: Aaron Gertler – Dimir Control
7 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
4 《Zagoth Triome》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
4 《Temple of Deceit》
3 《Crawling Barrens》
-Land (33)- 3 《Solemn Simulacrum》
-Creature (3)-
4 《Heartless Act》
4 《Jwari Disruption》
2 《Eliminate》
2 《Essence Scatter》
2 《Negate》
1 《Thassa’s Intervention》
4 《Neutralize》
4 《Extinction Event》
2 《Sublime Epiphany》
4 《Omen of the Sea》
4 《Shark Typhoon》
4 《Mazemind Tome》
2 《Midnight Clock》
2 《Ashiok, Nightmare Muse》
1 《Ugin, the Spirit Dragon》
-Spell (44)-
3 《Mystical Dispute》
2 《Bloodchief’s Thirst》
1 《Essence Scatter》
1 《Negate》
1 《Soul Shatter》
1 《Shadows’ Verdict》
1 《Ugin, the Spirit Dragon》
1 《Yorion, Sky Nomad》
-Sideboard (15)-
I was super scared about this match, since the deck is very good against Gruul Adventures, and Aaron showed how good he is at playing Standard, so I couldn’t expect any mistakes or easy gameplans from his side.
Game 1 was pretty back and forth, I was holding my 《Questing Beast》 waiting for his 《Ashiok, Nightmare Muse》, and when Ashiok arrived I could manage to kill it while still pressure his life according to my plan to win after the 《Extinction Event》, since that single card potentially handle both beasts and he played 4 copies so it was certainly soon. Lucky for me it worked because it is pretty hard to connect a hit with 《Embercleave》 against Dimir Control, so it was fantastic to win game 1.
This was my plan for game 2:
vs. Dimir Control
On game 2 he has some problems with the hand because didn’t interact with me during the very first 4 turns, and couldn’t come back from that and I won with the second wave of threats.
Round 15: Andrea Mengucci – Esper Doom Foretold
4 《Island》
3 《Swamp》
4 《Fabled Passage》
1 《Raugrin Triome》
4 《Brightclimb Pathway》
4 《Clearwater Pathway》
4 《Temple of Enlightenment》
2 《Temple of Deceit》
2 《Temple of Silence》
-Land (32)- 4 《Skyclave Apparition》
3 《Yorion, Sky Nomad》
-Creature (7)-
2 《Eliminate》
2 《Negate》
2 《Dance of the Manse》
4 《Extinction Event》
4 《Emeria’s Call》
4 《Omen of the Sea》
4 《Elspeth’s Nightmare》
3 《Treacherous Blessing》
2 《Omen of the Sun》
4 《Doom Foretold》
4 《Elspeth Conquers Death》
3 《Golden Egg》
-Spell (41)-
3 《Archon of Sun’s Grace》
2 《Cling to Dust》
2 《Negate》
2 《Heliod’s Intervention》
1 《Heartless Act》
1《Yorion, Sky Nomad》
-Sideboard (15)-
I went to 6 and Andrea had a good opener and by turn 5 I didn’t have any chance to win.
This was my plan for game 2
vs. Esper Doom Foretold
Game 2 I won thanks to the extra 3 cards that I drew with 《Ox of Agonas》, and I kill him exactly with an 《Scavenging Ooze》 + 《Embercleave》.
I decided to bring at least 1 copy of 《Soul Sear》 because he had 3 copies of 《Archon of Sun’s Grace》. This was my plan for game 3:
vs. Esper Doom Foretold
He started with turn-3 《Elspeth’s Nightmare》 killing my 《Brushfire Elemental》, and I drew the 《Garruk, Unleashed》 exactly on that turn, otherwise I could have a shot, but he followed with 《Doom Foretold》, and then using all his cards to kill me a few turns after.
Some Thoughts
I’m very happy with the result, I won some games that were super close and this motivates me even more to keep practicing to reach (and maintain) my best magic!
I want to thank all the people who worked with me for this tournament, specially Sebastian Pozzo and Matt Sperling.
Sebastian is a longtime friend and a very good (magic and life) adviser, so thanks!! I keep learning from you and with you! (to be fair, he was the one who teached me how to speak English.. haha)
Matt Sperling astonished me with his commitment with the preparation, he was super active on discord and always willing to help and share his thoughts with anybody that was in need. (I don’t even know how you have that much energy with a regular job, but thanks!!)
Next step is in January, and I’ll try my best to earn more points and try to get closer to the top!
Thanks for reading!