-or, return of shitty decks
Sorry for the wait, y'all. The holidays were quite a season for me, with Wednesdays usually being my only day off. Plus we were getting ready for Denver, which meant a lot of storming. Not wanting to slowroll my opponents as I was spelling them out, I figured it best to wait until after the GP.
(The GP went poorly for me, if you didn't know already.)
So, anyway, now we're back and ready to have to look up cards as we're casting them!
This week, Sean gave me a reasonable Bant deck with Brainstorm and Tarmogoyfs. I almost didn't believe it. I was too flabbergasted to get the list as well. We're sorry.
Plus, this is a free blog!
Round 1: Esper-blade w/ Brian "The Brain" Eason
Having lent Brian cards right before the tournament, I knew he was playing a real deck with real cards.
I kept an opener with two guys and a Jitte, which Brian made me discard via an Inquisition of Kozilek. My Tarmogoyf on turn 2 went farming. I played a Sylvan Library on turn 4, and he raised me with a Mind Sculptor. Seeing an opportunity, I cast a Stoneforge Mystic which found a Sword of Fire and Ice. On his turn, he flashed back his Inquistion via a Snapcaster Mage. Fortunately, I was ready with a Spellstutter Sprite, but he had another Swords to fizzle my faerie's ability. I was done drawing creatures by then, and the combination of Lingering Souls and Jace put me under.
For game 2, I led with a Qasali Pridemage and a Noble Hierarch to put a clock on him. My follow-up of Stoneforge Mystic got Counterspelled (literal counterspell), and he landed a Vendilion Clique to further disrupt my aggressive start. He found a Lingering Souls to keep stalling, though I burned a Detention Sphere to clear the way for my Pridemage. At 4 life, he ran out a Jace with some mana up. Naturally, I cast a Spellstutter Sprite and Enlightened Tutor in his end step, finding a Sword of Fire and Ice. When I attacked with the equipped Sprite, he showed me a Disenchant.
Then he played a Batterskull, then a Jitte, then attacked me and gained some life and I remember him having Engineered Explosives to kill my 3 Hierarchs and Pithing Needle and I think I lost.
Round 2: Jund w/ Andrew
My perennial driver was playing a boring old Jund deck.
He Bolted my turn 1 Hierarch and Thoughtseized my Vendilion Clique, then dropped a Tarmogoyf on turn 3. A Bloodbraid Elf cascaded into Grim Lavamancer, and that was basically it.
In game 2, I learned that Geist of Saint Traft gets the exalted bonus, even if you remember to summon the Angel token! What a fine card. Andrew's life total went down by sevens, starting on turn 3, until he died.
On the play, he had Deathrite Shaman into Wasteland + Jitte. I had started with a Noble Hierarch into Sylvan Library, but the Jitte got equipped to a Tarmogoyf a few turns later. Though I found a Swords to deal with that particular creature, a Dark Confidant came down and buried me soon after.
Round 3: Bye
Here I realized that maybe it was best to wrap it up for the night.
♣
Looking back, this Noble Hierarch + Geist of Saint Traft thing was pretty slick. Maybe there's a deck there?
Until next time, remember that something's better than nothing!
