Tournament Report from TheTrystero on ETS Weekly for January 13th, 2018, or “How I learned to stop worrying about Aregenport”
Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Eternal tournament report for NumotGaming! First of all I want to give a big shout out to RNG Eternal and their work with the ETS tournaments. I have played a lot of paper and digital card games and the ETS is one of the best run, most organized, fun tournaments I’ve ever encountered. Well done to Rekenner, Neon, LightsOut and the whole team over there.
Now, on to my glory! Like so many people I was really looking forward to this particular ETS because it would be the first serious competition with the new Dusk Road meta and I really wanted to see what people would bring. As with every new meta, I knew there would be a handful of old “good stuff” decks that would be slightly modified, i.e. Argenport Midrange, Armory, Feln and the like. Alongside those I expected a good amount of aggro like Stonescar and Skycrag, and then once beyond all this, is where the unexpected might happen.
During my ladder grind leading up to the event the only new deck I was impressed with was Grenadins; the deck sets up a scary engine of never-ending threats and card draw, backed up with one of the most backbreaking removal plays: Madness into Combust. It’s a great deck and I probably would have played it if I had any experience with the deck. I did think about playing Temporal Control for awhile but ultimately decided it was just too slow, too clunky, and in general just a worse version of Chalice. Temporal Control does have a harder “lock” on the late game, and it’s pretty sweet casting New Tomorrow on your opponent’s turn, but those huge plays often come too late and are too little. The final deck I really considered was a Hooru Unseen Commando deck because Unseen Commando is an amazing threat and my thought was if I can draw cards with Primal while going deep on the Hooru ability to get Aegis, that has to be broken, right? Turns out it wasn’t.
Ultimately, here is the deck I played: (Mouse over any card in a deck to view it)
Deck
4 Initiate of the Sands (Set1 #74)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
2 Friendly Wisp (Set1 #82)
2 Purify (Set2 #176)
4 Temple Scribe (Set1 #502)
2 Xenan Initiation (Set2 #44)
4 Amber Acolyte (Set1 #93)
4 Dawnwalker (Set1 #86)
2 Devoted Theurge (Set1002 #6)
3 Praxis Displacer (Set1 #100)
4 Sandstorm Titan (Set1 #99)
2 Obliterate (Set1 #48)
4 Worldbearer Behemoth (Set3 #87)
4 Heart of the Vault (Set2 #183)
2 Predatory Carnosaur (Set1 #118)
3 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
2 Granite Waystone (Set3 #1)
3 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)
4 Amber Monument (Set1 #420)
4 Amber Waystone (Set3 #51)
4 Crest of Impulse (Set3 #251)
4 Praxis Banner (Set2 #171)
4 Seat of Impulse (Set0 #54)
Sideboard
3 Ruin (Set1 #15)
3 Ruincrawler Yeti (Set3 #22)
2 Devoted Theurge (Set1002 #6)
1 Praxis Displacer (Set1 #100)
4 Mystic Ascendant (Set1 #116)
2 Predatory Carnosaur (Set1 #118)
I cannot take any credit for the main 75 of this list. I stole…uh, borrowed…it almost card-for-card from lllserbill, as this is the deck he played week one for the ETS team series. I really like the emphasis on card draw and cycling, running a full set of Amber Acolytes, as well as full sets of Amber Monuments and Waystones. Praxis has two main weaknesses; lack of card draw, and vulnerability to sweepers, more specifically, Harsh Rule. Being able to turn excess mana into a 5/5, a 1/1, or even just extra life, really helps the deck stretch it’s curve out beyond the units in your hand and I definitely won a bunch of games because of this fact. I also wanted to play a Dawnwalker deck as desert marshal, and combrei in general, was nowhere to be seen on ladder the week before the tournament. Dawnwalker is an absolute nightmare for decks that rely on 1-for-1 removal spells and relic weapons and I expected a lot of Slay, Annihilates, Torch, and Runehammers, all of which Dawnwalker can beat single handedly.
The few changes I did make to the original list was to cut the curve down (lllserbill curved all the way to Kiln Titan) and focus on turn 4 more. Praxis has the best turns 5-7, when you start playing World Behemoth’s and Heart of the Vaults that are buying back Dawnwalkers. Turns 1-3 aren’t bad for Praxis either as Temple Scribe and Torch are pretty solid early plays. Turn 4 however, is where the deck tends to live or die because if you can’t stabilize while behind, or if you give your opponent a chance to stabilize, you are going to have a tough time winning since you have very little card draw or impactful spell late. Sometimes you’ll be behind all game then warp in a Heart and draw torch but I didn’t want to rely on big swingy plays, and instead really wanted to make sure I hit strong on turn 4 as consistently as possible, and that’s why I emphasized Praxis Displacer and Devoted Theurge over Mystic Ascendant and Kiln Titan. Going forward I would probably cut the Devoted Theurge for Xenan Obelisk as there were more than a few times I had a board of 1/1’s and 2/1’s that would have been real threats if I could pump them. Praxis Displacer though, is a must-include as it’s the best answer to most midrange threats but especially Tavrod.
The sideboard was all me and it was geared heavily to beat Argenport and Feln control. Overall the deck is strong enough against aggro that I didn’t want to spend too many slots on that match-up, and the same is true of non-Feln control, so 2 extra Theurges and 4 Ascendants were all I decided I needed and I was right. For Argenport, I wanted to attack their mana and make sure post-board I could really stay ahead on cost-answer/threat-ratio, and that’s where Ruin and Ruincrawler came in. If I could spend 1 mana to kill their 3/4/6 mana weapon, then even though it’s just a 1-for-1 trade in cards, having the extra mana available meant I could jam more threats or play bigger units because I was using less mana to interact. Same with Ruincrawler, which would be a great 2-for-1 against their relic weapons or it could just be another cheap threat to pair with Ruin or Torch. For Feln, it’s all about Predatory Carnosaur and Mystic Ascendant. Predatory Carnosaur is the perfect answer to Champion of Cunning and even Vara but the main thing is that it’s a 2-for-1, and so is Mystic Asscendant, so unless my Feln opponents hit some really good Withering Witch/Vara turns, they would have a hard time keeping up with all of this on top of Dawnwalkers and Heart of the Vaults.
Overall the deck performed exactly as I wanted and I ended up going 8-0, 16-1, in the swiss. I only lost one game over the entire day and just cruised to the top 8. I admit I got very lucky in the match-ups as they were all favorable except for one, and I dodged anything that would have made my sideboard look embarrassing until the top 8 but we’ll talk about that later. On to the swiss!
Round 1 vs: Dirigible FJT Armory (2-0)
Deck
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
4 Wanted Poster (Set3 #106)
4 Disjunction (Set3 #63)
4 Purify (Set2 #176)
4 Rakano Artisan (Set1 #312)
4 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
4 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
1 Reforge (Set2 #23)
2 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
4 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
2 Molten Fist (Set3 #41)
1 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
2 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
1 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)
4 Crest of Impulse (Set3 #251)
4 Emerald Waystone (Set3 #101)
2 Rakano Banner (Set1 #427)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
4 Seat of Progress (Set0 #58)
Pretty much the exact match-up I wanted, and since he was almost straight Rakano it was even better for me as he had no card draw spells like Wisdom, Quarry, or Smuggler’s Stash. Both games I was able to slowly play out my big guys that his weapons weren’t great against, which made it easy for me not to over-extend into Harsh Rule. His deck also didn’t run any kind of silence so Dawnwalker was an absolute beating. The highlight play of this game was when he emptied his hand to play a Wanted Poster/Vanquish on Sandstorm Titan but I used Ruin to get rid of the poster, leaving him with nothing but the top of his deck.
Sideboard Plan: Out: 2x Purify, 3x Displacer, 2x Devoted Theurge,
In: 2x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 2x Mystic Ascendant,
I just went for high value cards, taking out low-impact interactions like Purify and Displacer. Devoted Theurge isn’t that bad vs Armory as it can prevent you dying to a topdecked Daisho but it’s not what you really want against a deck with 4 Vanquish and 4 Runehammer.
Round 2 vs: FrostieHS (2-0) Armory
Deck
3 Sabotage (Set1 #252)
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
4 Quarry (Set1001 #15)
3 Rakano Artisan (Set1 #312)
2 Rolant’s Favor (Set0 #18)
2 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
3 Slay (Set2 #236)
4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
4 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
2 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
3 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
2 Smuggler’s Stash (Set1 #396)
2 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
2 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)
5 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
1 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
1 Crest of Chaos (Set3 #268)
2 Crest of Vengeance (Set3 #264)
3 Emerald Waystone (Set3 #101)
3 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
4 Seat of Vengeance (Set0 #55)
Frostie! One of my favorite streamers, go check him out! Luckily this match wasn’t streamed though because he had a rough draw both games and couldn’t keep up with my threats. He struggled with mana and never found Harsh Rule late in both of our games, meaning my boards of Titan, Behemoth and Heart had to be dealt with one at a time and that’s just not a winning strategy against Praxis. One sweet value play I got away with was using the Grenadin from Waystone to force a trade with Runehammer. When you get a 4-for-1 mana trade in your favor, it’s hard to lose from there.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Purify, 3x Displacer, 2x Devoted Theurge, 2x Initiate
In: 2x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 4x Mystic Ascendant,
Similar to the last match and pretty much what I did all day against armory. But Frostie had draw spells so I brought in Mystic Ascendants to make sure I had a chance to keep up with him later in the game.
Round 3 vs: ThePlatypusKing (2-0) Argenport Control
Deck
4 Sabotage (Set1 #252)
4 Wanted Poster (Set3 #106)
2 Annihilate (Set1 #269)
3 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)
4 Extract (Set2 #155)
2 Privilege of Rank (Set1 #157)
4 Slay (Set2 #236)
4 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
4 Devastating Setback (Set3 #226)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
4 Tavrod, Auric Broker (Set1002 #18)
4 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
3 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)
5 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
4 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
4 Crest of Cunning (Set3 #267)
4 Crest of Vengeance (Set3 #264)
4 Emerald Waystone (Set3 #101)
4 Seat of Vengeance (Set0 #55)
Praxis Displacer was the MVP this match as both games it got rid of multiple Tavrods and kept him off-tempo while I easily kept attacking. I did get hit with a pretty Devasting Setback when all I had on the board was a bunch of low drops, which made me wish I had Obelisk in my deck. But ultimately, his deck also didn’t run a lot of straight card draw so I focused on running him out of cards with Dawnwalkers, Hearts, even Temple Scribes and Acolytes. This game especially, but in other games as well, before the first Harsh Rule (because they always have two, don’t they?) I tried to set up boards of Temple Scribe, Acolyte, Dawnwalker, Displacer, even the Waystone Grenadin, because all of those cards get value if they never attack and cycle themselves into other cards, making a Harsh pretty much card-neutral even if it sweeps my board. This would prove to be a key strategy all day, as I could let a Harsh Rule wipe my early game and still have the card drawn from Scribe, the sigil from Acolyte, and a non-silenced Dawnwalker in the void, along with a lot of action still in hand in the form my big units.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Devoted Theurge, 4x Initiate of the Sands, 2x Wisp, 2x Torch
In: 2x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 4x Mystic Ascendant, 1 Praxis Displacer
Because of Vara’s Favor and Devastating Setback I really wanted to limit how much I could be hurt by those cards and just went for high value again. Generally I’m not a fan of cutting Torch but in this match his deck didn’t have any good targets for Torch and just doing 3 damage means very little against a deck with 4 Vara’s Favor and 4 Extracts.
Round 4 vs: Trumpets (2-0) Icaria Blue
Deck
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
2 Kaleb’s Choice (Set2 #188)
4 Lightning Storm (Set1 #206)
4 Strategize (Set3 #165)
4 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
2 Eilyn’s Choice (Set2 #220)
4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)
3 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
4 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
2 Staff of Stories (Set1 #234)
3 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
2 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
2 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)
1 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)
2 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
3 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
2 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
3 Cobalt Waystone (Set3 #151)
4 Crest of Fury (Set3 #266)
2 Emerald Waystone (Set3 #101)
1 Rakano Banner (Set1 #427)
1 Seat of Fury (Set0 #53)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
4 Seat of Order (Set0 #51)
I focused on making his removal awkward, just like I did in my last matches against Armory-type strategies but this time it was a little harder due to Lightning Storm being a cheap way to kill my early game guys. However I was still feeling psychic as there was no silence to be seen in his deck so I mulliganed aggressively for Dawnwalker and won largely because of it. After game one he did hit me with Rain of Frogs when my hand was Mystic Ascendant, Ruincrawler, Predatory Carnosaur and I think Sandstorm Titan. That right there is why I chose to play Praxis, as really any one of those cards is amazing and can snowball into victory. Ultimately he chose Mystic Ascendant and I think I won before hitting 6 mana, with the damage from the frog mattering.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Devoted Theurge, 2x Purify, 2x Obliterate, 3x Praxis Displacer
In: 2x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 3x Mystic Ascendant, 1 Predatory Carnosaur
His deck had access to face Aegis, so Obliterate wouldn’t be good, but I really went heavy on the relic hate so I could quickly answer a Staff of Stories. Notice that I never brought in the full six anti-relic cards, because frankly, that would be overkill and going forward I would just run the five “ruin” cards, or just four Ruincrawler.
Round 5 vs: Marius (2-0) Icaria Blue
Deck
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
2 Eilyn’s Favor (Set0 #24)
4 Kothon, the Far-Watcher (Set2 #218)
4 Strategize (Set3 #165)
4 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
2 Eilyn’s Choice (Set2 #220)
2 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
1 Whirling Duo (Set3 #254)
4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)
3 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
4 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
3 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
1 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
1 Eilyn, Clan Mother (Set3 #263)
2 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)
1 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)
2 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
3 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
4 Crest of Fury (Set3 #266)
2 Hooru Banner (Set2 #216)
2 Seat of Fury (Set0 #53)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
4 Seat of Order (Set0 #51)
Pretty anti-climatic match since he had rough draws. Rather than listen to me go into detail, I’ll let you watch the match as we were featured.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Devoted Theurge, 2x Purify, 1x Obliterate, 1x Praxis Displacer, 1x Wisp
In: 1x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 3x Mystic Ascendant,
Without Staff of Stories and only 2 Sword of Icaria in his deck I didn’t feel I needed an extra Ruin, so I went for maximum threat density that could also get me value, but I kept in two Displacers as outs for Eilyn, Clan Mother.
Round 6 vs: SecondBlue (2-1) Grenadins
Deck
4 Combust (Set1 #392)
4 Grenadin Drone (Set1 #5)
3 Sabotage (Set1 #252)
3 Torch (Set1 #8)
3 Combustion Cell (Set3 #7)
4 Devour (Set1 #261)
4 Quarry (Set1001 #15)
4 Spark Hatcher (Set3 #12)
4 Assembly Line (Set1 #29)
3 Madness (Set1 #267)
1 Torrent of Spiders (Set1 #272)
4 Scraptank (Set1 #391)
3 Stonescar Scrapper (Set3 #236)
2 Flamestoker (Set2 #32)
4 Gearcruncher (Set3 #46)
6 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
3 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
2 Amethyst Waystone (Set3 #201)
3 Crest of Chaos (Set3 #268)
4 Granite Waystone (Set3 #1)
3 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)
4 Stonescar Banner (Set1 #419)
This was a match-up I was afraid of. Praxis doesn’t have access to board wipes so any deck that goes wide is tough. Game one I was fast to the board and got in a lot of chip damage while he set up, and right before he had the game locked down I got lucky and hit exact lethal with Obliterate. Game two though it was all him. We both traded early units but I couldn’t kill a Stonescar Scrapper and pretty soon he had drawn like ten cards. Funny thing, I drew all four of my Heart of the Vaults, but they were no match for his three Gearcrunchers. If there was any doubt about which deck has the more powerful late-game, trust me, it’s Grenadins. Game three was tight, as I drew no interaction but never ran out of units to play to the board. I kept attacking and attacking, daring him to trade off and slaughter me with a gearcruncher, but he flooded a bit in the mid-game and I took the match just a turn or two after Flamestoker came down. It was a tough match but the combination of aggressive play and luck got me there.
Sideboard: Out: 3x Praxis Displacer, 1x Xenan Initiation, 2x Obliterate
In: 3x Ruincrawler, 1x Predatory Carnosaur, 2x Devoted Theurge
None of my sideboard cards are particularly good against Grenadins so I just went for as many relevant threats as I could. Praxis Displacer is not good against ANY of his units so they went out, and Obliterate, while a potential finisher, would not be as strong as just playing a unit turn 3 or 4, and Xenan Initiation just felt too low-impact against a deck that could spew out a whole board in one fell swoop. I kept one in just in case I could use it to kill a Scraptank or Scrapper.
Round 7 vs: Unearthly (2-0) Argenport Midrange
Deck
2 Protect (Set1 #132)
4 Sabotage (Set1 #252)
2 Annihilate (Set1 #269)
4 Argenport Instigator (Set1 #268)
4 Tinker Overseer (Set1 #138)
2 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)
4 Bloodletter (Set2 #235)
4 Slay (Set2 #236)
4 Unseen Commando (Set3 #122)
4 Valkyrie Enforcer (Set1 #151)
3 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
4 Impending Doom (Set1 #286)
4 Tavrod, Auric Broker (Set1002 #18)
7 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
6 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
4 Argenport Banner (Set2 #231)
4 Crest of Vengeance (Set3 #264)
1 Emerald Monument (Set1 #422)
4 Seat of Vengeance (Set0 #55)
Ah! Back to the match-up I wanted! I remember this match mainly for two reasons: I curved out perfectly both games, and in game 2 he attacked with Tavrod twice and both times Tavrod whiffed. As intended, the curve of Scribe into Acolyte into Dawnwalker into turn 4 play was really strong against his removal and on top of that he never found Harsh Rule in either game. Overall a great, straightforward win after a tough match last round.
Sideboard: Out: 1x Obliterate, 4x Initiate of the Sands, 2x Devoted Theurge
In: 2x Ruincrawler, 1x Displacer, 3x Mystic Ascendant, 1x Predatory Carnosaur
More threat density, like always, but I finally just took out Initiate entirely as ramping didn’t matter as much as curving out with decent bodies, plus he was running the full 4 Vara’s Favor. I kept in one Obliterate for Impending Doom, but really I just wanted to hit Praxis Displacer and my bigger guys.
Round 8 vs: GingersAteMySoul (2-0) Rakano Armory
Deck
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
4 Wanted Poster (Set3 #106)
4 Miner’s Musket (Set3 #10)
4 Rakano Artisan (Set1 #312)
2 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
4 Valkyrie Enforcer (Set1 #151)
4 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
2 Reforge (Set2 #23)
2 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
4 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
2 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
2 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)
4 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
5 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
4 Emerald Waystone (Set3 #101)
4 Granite Waystone (Set3 #1)
4 Rakano Banner (Set1 #427)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
Kind of neat that my last match was against a deck very similar to what I played in game one. How serendipitous. Also, it’s a great match-up so starting strong and finishing strong was awesome. Once again I used his lack of card draw to grind through his removal while having the last units on board to finish the game. One thing I noted, was just how weak his sideboard was against me, so I really played aggressive and made sure I always had at least one unit on the board, even if it was just the Grenadin. I’m not saying a 1/1 is going to win the game, but always having a roadblock for his weapons and/or something to chip away at his life total, absolutely mattered.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Purify, 3x Displacer, 2x Devoted Theurge,
In: 2x Ruin, 3x Ruincrawler, 2x Mystic Ascendant
All day long it was basically the same sideboard plan: High value interaction and threats. And it worked all day long. Not much more to say at this point.
Finishing 8-0, with just one loss over 17 games, felt pretty amazing. Luck played a factor of course but I did plan on seeing a bunch of Argenport and Armory strategies and I faced seven out of eight decks that could fall into one or both of those categories. So even though I’ll be the first to admit that the pairings broke my way, I planned well and had a strong strategy However there was one strategy I did not plan for…
Quarterfinals vs: MissingToez (1-3) Feln Midrange Reanimator
Deck
2 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
2 Annihilate (Set1 #269)
4 Haunting Scream (Set1 #374)
2 Herald’s Song (Set1 #196)
4 Sporefolk (Set1 #262)
4 Strategize (Set3 #165)
3 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)
3 Direwood Beastcaller (Set1 #271)
4 Gorgon Fanatic (Set1 #375)
4 Nocturnal Observer (Set3 #173)
2 Feeding Time (Set1 #381)
4 Rindra, the Duskblade (Set3 #277)
4 Grasping at Shadows (Set1 #292)
2 Black-Sky Harbinger (Set1 #385)
2 Snowcrush Animist (Set1 #384)
4 Vara, Fate-Touched (Set1 #307)
4 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
5 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
4 Amethyst Waystone (Set3 #201)
2 Cobalt Waystone (Set3 #151)
4 Crest of Cunning (Set3 #267)
4 Feln Banner (Set1 #417)
2 Seat of Cunning (Set0 #62)
I was completely un-prepared for this type of strategy and it showed. All three of the games I lost were not close and I was completely wrecked by the void interactions that I had no answer for. The only game I won was due to him being power screwed, as well as influenced screwed, so he literally played nothing. This re-animator deck has so many angles of attack, from the card drawing of Gorgon to the board flooding of Beastcaller to the re-animation of Vara, that it made my linear strategy of just “play big guys” impossible to compete. Rindra and Nocturnal Observer were huge for him, as they made sure he was never in danger of running out of cards or falling behind in life and even if I stabilized the board, eventually Observer would find Vara and that would be it. When you’re stalling the board and all you can do is draw cards with Heart of the Vault while staring down a Venomspine Hydra…you’re not gonna win. And I didn’t. Sweet match though, really nice to play against something new(ish) and powerful. No regrets or salt here, just mad props to MissingToez and his team for designing something sweet.
Sideboard: Out: 2x Amber Acolyte, 2x Wisp, 2x Devoted Theurge
In: 2x Mystic Ascendant, 2x Predatory Carnosaur, 1x Displacer
I mean…I didn’t have anything that was going to help much, but I went for more late-game power and the full four Carnosaurs so I had a better chance of answering Rindra.
That’s it! Thanks for reading this and staying with me all the way until the end. Congratulations to Alarmadillo for the win and for making big Time dudes took it all down, even if it they weren’t my big Time dudes! Thanks again to RNG for a great event. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year as I try to qualify for Invitationals and Worlds! Good luck next week to everyone, and I’ll see you on the ladder!
Later,
TheTrystero.
