2-0 BR Zombies
Quickly won the first match. On the draw, took out 2 Stromkirk Noble and added 2 Annihilating Fire to keep Zombies nice and exiled. Should have subbed out Hellion Crucible and subbed in Mountain to keep the pressure on.
0-2 5 Color Mid-range
Got close the first game before the Huntmaster of the Falls fell and he started gaining life, then followed by Thragtusk and Restoration Angel, which turned it into a blowout for him. Subbed out Stromkirk, Pillars, Cackler. Subbed in Mortars, Traitorous Blood, Thunderbolt. (Perhaps I should have kept Pillars in for the Huntmaster?) Was slightly mana-screwed the 2nd match because I kept a greedy hand. Mortars worked well blowing up big stuff, but then I ran into my great enemy of the night, Drogskol Reaver. I can't kill a 5 toughness flier without multiple cards. The lifegain destroys this deck and the card draw is just icing on the cake. I added Thunderbolt to help against fliers, but I felt helpless against this guy. Drawing a Traitorous Blood could have turned things around, or having a Thundermaw Hellkite or two, but after dumping my hand in aggro, there was little I could do to get back into the game.
2-0 UWG Control (I think?)
I think my deck plays extremely well against 2 types of decks: RB Zombies and UWG control. The first game I had a speedy hand and simply outran her. In the second match, she got very unlucky and mulliganed down to 5. It was still a good matchup. I saw Hellion Crucible for the first and only time in that matchup, and it paid dividends. The extra pressure and avoidance of board-wipe made the control deck very sad.
1-2 UWr Flash
I ran off with the first game due to a great hand and my opponent only drawing 2 land. Wasn't sure what to sideboard for the 2nd game because I wasn't sure what his deck did. Found out it was a Flash deck heavy on Izzet Staticasters, Snapcaster Mage, Restoration Angel, Augur of Bolas, Pillar of Flame and all that stuff. The third game was good until Drakskull Reaver hit the table and it was pretty much over. I didn't board in my Traitorous Blood because I didn't see any huge beaters the first few matchups, but I should have expected it at this point. The player was surprised when I Thunderbolted his Restoration Angel. Thunderbolt worked extremely well in the SB, perhaps I should move it to the MB due to the meta game.
1-2 UWr Flash
This deck again! It was getting late, but I ran off with the first game again. I didn't see any Izzet Staticasters in the deck, but I sideboarded out all my anti-Zombies tools (Pillar, etc] and in all my anti-flier, anti-beefcake tools (Thunderbolt, Traitorous Blood, Mizzim Mortars). Did not remember a lot about this match because it was late and I was tired, but the Runechanter's Pike was doing well enough that I wanted to run anti-artifact cards in my sideboard. Games are usually decided against me when a Sphinx's Revelation comes into play. Lifegain + card advantage = dead RDW player.
Final result: 2-3 matches, 6-6 in games. I think I posed more of a threat than last time, but I feel like I have a ways to go to have a chance to win FNM.
Deck all stars:
Ash Zealot - Hardest working girl in RDW. I kept forgetting her graveyard trigger to deal extra damage. I doubt it would have turned any of the games around, but I need to remember lest I throw away games in the future.
Deck let-downs:
Mizzium Mortars - I actually feel like this doesn't work well in a RDW situation because it can't damage the opponent. Perhaps sideboarding out Pillars for it was the wrong play because it prevented me from finishing. I actually preferred drawing Thunderbolt to it because of the bolt's instant speed and ability to damage the opponent. I never got to enough lands (or enough opposition) where the overloaded version came into play.
For next time:
Brimstone Volley - Perhaps this is better than I thought in dealing with various threats (especially the stupid Drakskull Reaver) with its morbid state. It is an instant, it can target the opponent, and it can sometimes cope with super-sized fliers.
Anyways, I was hoping to place in the cards this week, but failed to do so. I need to prep my deck for next time, but I'm not sure exactly what to do.
