I won the prize ^______________^I was playing my Blue/White "Fish" deck (with no actual fish cards included ^_^;; ) for the second time. It follows the basic premise of Fish - get lots of blue weenies out, draw lots more weenies with Standstill and Curiosity, but with the added removal of Swords to Plowshares, and the bomb with Exalted Angels. Meddling Mages also normally feature in the game, but for some reason, I almost never drew them. Luckily, they were never really needed except as extra beats.
1st round - FLY MY PRETTIES vs Keeper/LandstillCameron had apparently put his deck together that morning, but he seemed awake enough, so I didn't really know what was in store.
The first game was pretty much a wash out - I saw a couple of lands and a Crucible of the Worlds. I cast a few faeries, had a couple of Mishra's Factories, and eventually morphed Angel. Cameron helped me along by bringing back his sac lands with Crucible, prompting me to ask if he was playing Suicide Keeper instead.
I don't think I sided in anything at all, to tell the truth.
Second game was a bit more involved - he managed to get Zuran Orb out while my armies of Dhoom were thumping him, but I top decked 2 Null Rods in a row.
I did eventually find out how Cameron's deck was supposed to win: gain infinite life with Crucible-Zuran Orb-Fastbond while beating down with 2 Morphling, but... I didn't want to tell him that it seems rather iffy to me. I think he made the best plays he could - but with a bad deck. Just don't ask ME how I'd improve it...
2nd round - FLY MY PRETTIES vs Highlander StompyMikey brought his "Highlander" deck for a bit of fun - apparently he had 2 Eternal Witnesses in, so technically it wasn't Highlander at all.
First game was a bit of a shock. He got about 4 creatures out - including River Boa, in about the 5th turn, and was just short of lethal damage... until he top-decked Overrun.
Oh well.
Second game, I sided out the Null Rods and Misdirections for Maze of Ith and Damping Matrix. Didn't see the Mazes, but Damping Matrix was the win. My armies of Dhoom came, saw, and conquered.
Third game, Damping Matrix and 3 Curiousities on the table ensured another victory. I think his creatures all packed up and were huddling at the bottom of his library, too.
3rd round - FLY MY PRETTIES vs BazaarThe last time I played Glen, I had NO IDEA what his deck did, and kept casting Standstill. I also had no idea that Bazaar WASN'T restricted. *sigh*
THIS time, I was a little more prepared. I knew the first game was already a loss, but I made Glen play it out. His first two games had all gone into extra time, and the more stressed he was, the more likely he'd make a stacking mistake. His Ashen Ghouls and Nether Shadows had me for lunch.
Also, I cast a Null Rod when I was on 5 life. It didn't do anything - didn't stall him for a turn, didn't stuff up his mana base too much at all, BUT...
He usually used his Mox Jet to pay to bring back Death Spark, but when he did it this time, I held my hand over his cards and said "Tap something else." I didn't cast Null Rod for any other reason - except to simply stress him out.
I sided out the Standstills and Misdirections... and something else... for Tormod's Crypt, Maze of Ith and the extra Swords.
Second game saw me drawing all the Wastelands I needed to get rid of the Bazaars. Glen doesn't have much to shuffle his deck, so without his draw engines, he just couldn't find his third Bazaar. Tormod's Crypt also drew out his only two counterspells (remove Force of Will for Force of Will. Now THAT'S tech
), and also got me style points for the following exchange:
G: (sees one Tundra, and a tapped Faerie Conclave on my side) How did you pay for the Crypt?
D: (pointing to Mox Sapphire and Jet) It's a zero casting cost artifact. You've got a couple on your side, too.
Another win for the armies of Dhoom!
Third game was a fair bit harder. We both had Mazes out, but again, my top decking skills brought the Wastes I needed. 2nd turn Strip Mine on his only Bazaar got a few laughs, but all I had to do was stall him until extra time ran out.
4th round - FLY MY PRETTIES vs StompyThis was playing for top spot, as Chris was on 9, I was on 7, and everyone else was on 6 or lower.
First game, second turn, he got a double Rancored 2/3 (fading) beastie, and used Bounty of the Hunt to deal me 10 damage. I Swordsed it third turn, gaining him about 6 life, but there wasn't much else I could do at the time. Luckily, the next turn, and top decked my second White mana to morph Angel for the win.
What is it with me and top decking? SERIOUSLY. Chris drew nothing else except land for the rest of that game, too. I sided out the Misdirections and Null Rods for... guess what? Maze of Ith and Swords.
Second round, I mulliganed down to 5 cards, since I couldn't draw any coloured mana at all. I gave up when I drew both Mazes, a Mishra's Factory, a Cloud of Faeries and a Stifle. STILL no coloured mana?
As it was, I top decked a Tundra in my first turn XD, then dropped Maze. Chris never got out a second beastie, so my armies of Dhoom simply flew in and won the prize
So now, we now own a copy of Expanded Psionics, a new miniature for Elaurel, and a couple of Myr Incubators.
They look an AWFUL lot like the Borg to me ^_^;;
-Diana
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Editor's notes:I felt like playing a silly deck so I took reaplace (Jacob_Orlove.dec) along... having never even played it against a human! I bombed out terribly. However, it was clever tech to let Diana use the Tundras and Swords and Angels, so she could win. The metagame was surprisingly scrubbish compared to the t1 tournament a couple of weeks ago. Since I was feeling vague, I should have played something like U/G Madness, which would have been quite a good call.
Here's her decklist:
// Fly My Pretties// Creatures (15)
4 Flying Men
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Meddling Mage
3 Exalted Angel
// Control (13)
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
3 Null Rod
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Stifle
// Draw (8)
4 Standstill
4 Curiosity
// Mana (24)
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Faerie Conclave
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
3 Island
1 Plains
// Sideboard (15)
2 Maze of Ith
2 Misdirection
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Damping Matrix
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Disenchant
2 Blue Elemental Blast
