After the cool response last week, I figured I could give Sean another shot at putting a horse into the money. And did he ever have a nice one..
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| not typing out decklists any more |
Andrew and I showed up early and did a Winston draft with the pauper cube, and then we got burritos with Sean and Yido. I think we talked about racial slurs- their etymologies, literal meanings, etc- for the duration. Maybe there was a discussion on sweet tea.
Since the SCG Invitational is this weekend, there were some ringer-types at the shop "testing", which I (correctly) assumed meant that I'd be explaining what most of my cards did for most of the rounds. Though, thinking back on it, that isn't- well, that always happens with these decks.
[Aside: Sean is nigh-on-fanatical about never using English cards that aren't Beta. Some of the shop's regulars feel strongly about this particular quirk, especially when they let Feld der Unterdrückung resolve with two fetchlands in play. Personally, I kind of like it. Given the option between Brainstorm or Gedankenwirbel..]
Round 1: RUG Delver w/ Lauren
My opponent was an amicable out-of-towner that I didn't know personally. We chatted for a bit about the invitational, the local shop, nice stuff- but it got a bit awkward about here.
"So, how'd you qualify for the Invitational? Points-"
"I won the last one."
"Oh. Um."
I kept Exploration, 2 land, Argothian Enchantress, 2 Presence, Heartbeat on the draw. Topdecking a land on turn 2 wasn't enough, as he stuck a Tarmogoyf on his 3 or 4 and countered the next five spells I cast. I died with three lands and an Exploration in play.
Since some of the singletons seemed to be a bit slow and clunky, I brought in Blood Moon, Ground Seal, and City of Solitude for Moat, Oblivion Ring, and the Copy Artifact.
It didn't really matter, though- I kept another two-lander and got Wastelanded twice. I drew out of it, but by then Lauren had generated five power's worth of humans and insects with nary an Elephant Grass or removal spell in my deck. Even though I drew the combo (Candelabra + Serra's Sanctum), it's not at it's best on an an otherwise empty board.
Meanwhile, my neighbor at table 8 had his opponent show up five minutes late and concede- and then immediately ask Sean for a deck. And I had to play this match? Against this guy?*
Round 2: Merfolk
My opponent in the loser bracket had actually signed up late, having just gotten in from Pensacola. (I forgot your name, buddy. Sorry. Well, you'll probably never read this. Yeah.)
I lost the roll, snake eyes to boxcars. Inauspicious. His start off a double mulligan was foil Unhinged Island, pass, ask what Exploration did. When he cast a Vial the next turn, I wasn't surprised, nor was I when any of my Enchantress effects didn't resolve. Soon I was at 12, facing 11 power worth of fish, with had an opportunity to set up a Heartbeat into Moat next turn to stay alive. Unfortunately, my opponent knew what that card did and used the extra mana to level up his Coralhelm Commander and kill me.
Looking back, I suppose the Coralhelm Commander was going to kill me either way. That guy flies! How embarassing.
I brought in the extra City of Solitude and the Replenish for the Energy Field and the Wheel of Sun and Moon.
In the second game, my opponent's draw was significantly faster, Vial into Adept into Master with Wasteland backup. I did stick a City of Solitude (after I ran a Presence into a Force), but the City does not offer much protection from things which attack. My note sheet says I took 3, then 9, and I'm pretty sure there was roughly 16 damage on the board when I conceded.
When discussing the next iteration, I brought up the topic of Elephant Grass or Solitary Confinement as a way to die slower. Sean's counterargument was concise:
"Casey, the deck is called Value Enchantress. Not Internet Enchantress, not Good Enchantress. The purpose of this deck is not to win, it is to commit as many dollars worth of cards to the table as is possible.
Also, I fucking hate Elephant Grass, as it is a card for pussies."
Round 3: Devin
Devin's a local player, and a generally cool guy. He was playing his standard deck.
In game 1, I drew Emrakul relatively early and also cast it relatively early.
Game 2 was a bit more difficult- I saw him bring about ten cards in. I got double Duressed, my Heartbeat got Ringed (after I had tapped out for it, too), but he couldn't put enough pressure on before I amassed a critical amount of
Round 3.5: JT and the DQ
JT and I cut out to get Blizzards after this match. I ended up paying.
See, JT and I like to gamble with each other. Before this particular trip, we had done all kinds of things to decide who pays- flip a coin, odd or even, etc.- but the previous time we had been feeling clever, and decided to use the cashier's birth month to help us decide. JT had asked, "were you born in the first half of the year or the second half?". JT's (obvious) (vocal) disappointment at "the first half" led us to explain the bet, and the cashier's response was to think for a moment then say, "Oh, hm.. actually it's in July.."
So we decided to be cleverer this time, and to just ask for the information, and we'd decide for ourselves.
"Before I pay you, what's your first name?" (I had "starts with a N-Z")
"What?"
"What's your name?"
"Joe!"
<my barely contained irritation, JT's celebratory dance>
<JT explains the bet>
"Oh, okay, it's actually Samir"
ಠ.ಠ
Round 4: Maverick w/ Andrew
Andrew is the guy I drove with, and is a rad guy. He's been playing Maverick since I can remember him. Luckily, creature decks tend to be relatively straightforward for Enchantress decks.
My notes aren't clear from this match, to be honest- though I do remember untapping with 5 Candelabras, discarding thirty cards, and generally putting many permanents into play.
I had to talk him into playing the second game at all, but it was way more interesting- until I naturally drew the singleton Wheel of Sun and Moon and its soulmate, Energy Field. He eventually was able to tutor for a Qasali Pridemage, but by then it had been a million turns, I had a few candlesticks, and I was able to tap Serra's Sanctum for 6, 10, and "a lot". Words of War shot a Thalia, then his face. ♣
Looking back, I would make some changes to the starting 60, and probably cutting the red out for Words of Wind and Elephant Grasses. Unfortunately, that would reduce the overall value contained in the deck, so that's out. After all, the plan is to have a decklist that just can't be copied by Timmy Q. Internetguy- says Sean.
Next week, I have a Doomsday thing planned out.
Until then, just flip a coin. It's easier. ∎
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