Standard Pauper Challenge: Rounds 4, 5, 6

Deck Challenges

zandl

26 July 2013

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Round 4, 5, & 6 are finished!

Go!

Lo, and the good zandl spake, “Be not hasty in your attempts to dismiss thine Zandl. He doth deliver thine goods.”

Here are this article’s decklists and entrants, by Guild colors.

Orzhov Syndicate

Nobilior’s [Put Clever/Corny Name Here]
Azure124’s the enchanting pauper
Wike900’s Death and Extortion

Gruul Clans

D=

Selesnya Conclave

RussischerZar’s Pauperproof

Boros Legion

carpediem’s so-common-its-pauper
grizzell’s Poor Us Boros

Simic Combine

D=

Rakdos Cult

Zerix’s Pauper Dark Burn
kevinbasham’s Standard Pauper Rakdos

Azorius Senate

D=

House Dimir

Slycne’s Impoverished Delver
zaddos’s Dime Store Dimir

Golgari Swarm

D=

Izzet Legaue

TristanTaylorsVoice’s Another Goddamn Delver Deck (ZPC 2013)

Completed round 4 results:

winning player (games won) vs. losing player (games won)

zaddos (2) vs. RussischerZar (0)

Game 1: RussischerZar’s deck needs to get some sort of Tron strategy up and going by turn-5 or, without removal, it just can’t keep up with whatever the opponent is doing. zaddos landed a Cloudfin Raptor, evolved it the next turn with a Butcher Ghoul, and slapped a Dark Favor on it the following turn. RussischerZar was now staring at a fairly aggressive clock and was drawing too many lands and little creatures to put up a fight.
Game 2: A Young Wolf found two copies of Call To Serve and an Ethereal Armor, but zaddos followed up with a Daggerdrome Imp with a Dark Favor. While essentially only dealing zaddos 2 damage each turn, RussischerZar had to fall back on the defensive and then Doorkeeper with an Ogre Jailbreaker came out. Over a handful of turns, zaddos slowly ground the gears and milled out RussischerZar with an army of evolved Cloudfin Raptors, enchanted Daggerdrome Imps, and Butcher Ghouls to block any threat.

TristanTaylorsVoice (2) vs. Zerix (1)

Game 1: TristanTaylorsVoice’s deck is packed with X/2 Flyers, which are a huge problem for a deck that can really only block on the ground and use Geistflame as its removal. TTV slammed down Nephalia Seakite (a very underrated creature) and then a Mist Raven to bounce a Corpse Blockade, and simply beat down Zerix in the air until victory.
Game 2: Zerix was going to die to lethal damage after one more turn of top-decking, but drew a Bump in the Night. With exactly 12 lands out, he cast it, flashed it back, flashed back a Geistflame, and cast a Pillar of Flame from his hand for the perfect 9 damage to the dome to win the game. Sometimes, the stars just align.
Game 3: Zerix got stuck on 2 copies of Wall of Fire while TTV loaded up his board with Nephalia Seakite, Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, and Mist Raven. Zerix couldn’t really deal with the flying assault and lost to a healthy amount of burn spells.

KevinBasham (2) vs. Wike900 (0)

Game 1: KevinBasham’s creatures were just too threatening to keep on the board, especially when you pair unblockable and Madcap Skills for massive damage. Wike900 had a bit of trouble finding enough removal and got a bit land-screwed. By the time both players were top-decking lands, KevinBasham was a handful of life points ahead and won the race.
Game 2: After seemingly taking over the game within the first 5 turns with Basilica Screecher, Extortion, and a handful of Pacifism, Wike900 began drawing land after land. An unfortunate side-effect of drawing lots of land is that you’re not drawing spells. KevinBasham was drawing into a steady stream of little beat-sticks and they eventually became too much to handle.

grizzell (2) vs. carpediem (1)

Game 1: Carpediem started strong with a Trained Caracal on turn-1, a Daring Skyjek on turn-2, and a Skyknight Legionnaire on turn-3. After needing to tap out to cast an Attended Knight (which would stop the Trained Caracal and, thus, the Daring Skyjek without Battalion), Carpediem retaliated with Furor of the Bitten and Ethereal Armor on the Cat. It didn’t take long at all for grizzell to run out of blockers and burn.
Game 2: Carpediem’s Wojek Halberdiers received a pair of Furor of the Bitten and started going to town. On the second attack, however, grizzell had a Doomed Traveler to block with and a Brimstone Volley to finish it off. With only Bonds of Faith in-hand and drawing nothing but little, irrelevant blockers, Carpediem could do nothing but watch his life total Plummet rapidly.
Game 3: Daring Skyjek came down on turn-2 for Carpediem and got buffed by Ethereal Armor on the following turn to help it get through grizzell’s War Falcon. After taking 4 to dome, grizzell untapped and coolly ignited the Skyjek with a Pillar of Flame before casting a freshly drawn Syndic of Tithes. With Carpediem only possessing a lone Skyknight Legionnaire for defense and without burn, grizzell’s increasingly enlarging board eventually had five creatures on it, a slew of Battalion triggers, and Extort to gain back what was lost.

Azure124 (2) vs. Slycne (0)

Game 1: Azure124 had to fight through some rather annoying instances of Devour Flesh but ultimately won the game because of Slycne’s lack of Blue sources. With just a Dimir Guildgate and a number of Swamps, Slycne couldn’t land Mist Raven to bounce azure’s Basilica Screecher, which was enchanted with Mark of the Vampire, Ethereal Armor, and Predator's Gambit. By gaining 8 life per turn (before any Extortion), Slycne couldn’t even race with two flipped Delver of Secrets  ^Flip.
Game 2: Slycne’s Delver of Secrets  ^Flip flipped over turn-2 on the play and Devour Flesh got rid of the Tormented Soul receiving some Aura love. Just when it started looking promising, though, Azure124 retaliated with a Basilica Screecher buffed by Ethereal Armor. Needing removal and not having it, Slycne had to sit on defense. This gave Azure124 all the time needed to build up the board and present an insurmountable challenge for Slycne. Another Basilica Screecher found a Predator's Gambit and a Seraph of Dawn just sat with her big butt in the air. The onslaught began and Slycne was powerless to stop it.

Round 4 complete!

Congratulations to the winners of this round! You will not be receiving your prize of Feature Tokens, however, until you’re out of the challenge (for simplicity’s sake). Rest assured! I’m keeping tabs on who’s got prizes and you won’t be forgotten. In the meantime, let’s check out the next round’s pairings and jump right into the swing of things!

(5) Azure124 - (2) TristanTaylorsVoice
(4) grizzell - (3) KevinBasham
(1) zaddos - (6) Nobilior

Let’s brush up on how our Guilds are being represented this time around...

Orzhov Syndicate

Nobilior’s [Put Clever/Corny Name Here]
Azure124’s the enchanting pauper

Gruul Clans

D=

Selesnya Conclave

D=

Boros Legion

grizzell’s Poor Us Boros

Simic Combine

D=

Rakdos Cult

kevinbasham’s Standard Pauper Rakdos

Azorius Senate

D=

House Dimir

zaddos’s Dime Store Dimir

Golgari Swarm

D=

Izzet Legaue

TristanTaylorsVoice’s Another Goddamn Delver Deck (ZPC 2013)

Completed round 5 results:

winning player (games won) vs. losing player (games won)

TristanTaylorsVoice (2) vs. Azure124 (0)

Game 1: TristanTaylorsVoice was stuck on just Blue lands (lacking Red for Searing Spear and Brimstone Volley, but it wound not being an issue. Azure124’s deck has no Hexproof in it (hard to come to by in Pauper, unfortunately), so Aura-Tron strategies fall short against tempo decks. A pair of Mist Ravens were more than enough to trip up Azure124 and keep his 1/1 and 1/2 creatures from staying any larger.
Game 2: Each card in TristanTaylorsVoice’s deck either kills you or clears the path for the first group to kill you. When your main strategy is Aura-Tron, enemy number #1 is Unsummon or any sort of consistent removal. Frostburn Weird and its fatness landed on the board and Azure124’s Basilica Screecher got bounced when it tried to attack, dropping Mark of the Vampire and Predator's Gambit. When a Searing Spear hit it on the next turn after replaying it, Azure124 was done.

grizzell (2) vs. KevinBasham (0)

Game 1: Both players found themselves mid-game with handfuls of burn spells and not much else. Every creature that hit the board was immediately torched. After about 10 turns of nothing happening, grizzell began drawing creatures and kevinbasham couldn’t block as he only had a Mogg Flunkies on the board. A pair of Wojek Halberdiers cleaned up the game with most of both decks’ burn spells gone.
Game 2: Mogg Flunkies is too easy to control when your deck possesses a large amount of burn and removal. A Grim Roustabout from KevinBasham received a Madcap Skills upgrade, but grizzell had the capability to burn it each turn and cause it to tap through Regeneration, so Mogg Flunkies couldn’t block or attack on the following turn. That, and War Falcon is really good against a deck with no Flying creatures.

Nobilior (2) vs. zaddos (0)

Game 1: zaddos began the game with a Cloudfin Raptor into a Butcher Ghoul and an Altar's Reap to refresh his hand, but Nobilior was too busy outfitting his Daggerdrome Imp with Ethereal Armor and Dark Favor. By the time zaddos drew Murder, there were already two other Flying beat-sticks with Auras on them and the game was over. Sadly, zaddos would’ve had an extra turn to try and figure something out, but Nobilior top-decked Sign in Blood while zaddos was at 2 life.
Game 2: zaddos successfully cast a pair of Headless Skaabs relatively early in the game whilst Evolving a Cloudfin Raptor, but, again, Nobilior didn’t care. Most of ppNobilior]]’s beat-sticks have Flying and you need a lot of removal when each creature gets its own Aura. Without a way to stop un-enchanted creatures in the air, zaddos died slowly without being able to race due to a Seraph of Dawn and a Daggerdrome Imp.

Round 5 complete!

Well, here we are. We have 3 combatants remaining, which means someone will receive a free ride to the final match on a bye while the other 2 must clamor and claw for their trip to the top. Since Nobilior has already received a bye in this challenge, he becomes ineligible to receive one now. Using a random number generator, who receives the golden ticket to the finals?

Round 6 GO!

Nobilior’s [Put Clever/Corny Name Here]
vs.
TristanTaylorsVoice’s Another Goddamn Delver Deck (ZPC 2013)

Game 1: Nobilior wins the D20-roll, 12-1, and plays first. Nobilior keeps a hand of 2x Seraph of Dawn, Basilica Screecher, Ethereal Armor, Plains, Swamp, and Evolving Wilds. TTV keeps a hand of Frostburn Weird, Cancel, Brimstone Volley, 2x Hands of Binding, Island, and Mountain, on the draw.

N, turn 1: Play Evolving Wilds, crack, fetch for Plains. Pass.
T, turn 1: Draw Izzet Guildgate, play it. Pass.
N, turn 2: Draw Swamp, play it, cast Basilica Screecher. Pass.
T, turn 2: Draw Mist Raven, play Mountain, cast Frostburn Weird. Pass.
N, turn 3: Draw Swamp, play Plains, cast Ethereal Armor on Basilica Screecher with Extort (N 21, T 19), attack for 2 Flying (T 17). Pass.
T, turn 3: Draw Izzet Guildgate, play it, cast Hands of Binding targeting Basilica Screecher and Encoding onto Frostburn Weird, attack for 1 (N 20). Pass.
N, turn 4: Draw Stab Wound, play Swamp, cast Stab Wound on Frostburn Weird, making it a -1/2 (incapable of pumping for damage to Cipher without dying). Pass.
T, turn 4: Loses 2 life from Stab Wound (T 15), draw Izzet Guildgate, play Island, cast Mist Raven returning Frostburn Weird to hand. Pass.
N, turn 5: Draw Basilica Screecher, play Swamp, attack with Basilica Screecher (2/3 First-Strike), T takes 2 (T 13), cast Seraph of Dawn with Extort (N 21, T 12). Pass.
T, turn 5: Draw Nephalia Seakite, play Izzet Guildgate, cast Hands of Binding targeting Seraph of Dawn, attack for 2 Flying (N19), Cipher Hands of Binding on Basilica Screecher, cast Frostburn Weird. Pass.
N, turn 6: Draw Trained Caracal, cast Seraph of Dawn with Extort (N20, T 11). Pass.
T, turn 6: Draw Island, play it, attack with Frostburn Weird, no blocks (N19). Pass.
N, turn 7: Draw Stab Wound, cast it on Frostburn Weird with Extort (N20, T 10), T counters Stab Wound with Cancel, attack with Basilica Screecher w/ Ethereal Armor and 2x Seraph of Dawn. Block with Mist Raven on Basilica Screecher, first-strike damage kills Mist Raven, T casts morbid Brimstone Volley on Seraph of Dawn before normal damage step, other Seraph hits (N22, T 8). Cast Trained Caracal. Pass.
T, turn 7: Draw Hands of Binding, cast it targeting Trained Caracal Encoding on Frostburn Weird, attack for 1 (N21), Cipher Hands of Binding on Seraph of Dawn. Pass.
N, turn 8: Draw Daggerdrome Imp, attack with Basilica Screecher w/ Ethereal Armor, T flashes in Nephalia Seakite, blocks, N cast Basilica Screecher with Extort (N 22, T 8). Pass.
T, turn 8: Draw Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, attack with Frostburn Weird, N blocks with 1/2 Basilica Screecher, give Weird +1/-1 (2/3), kill Screecher, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass.
N, turn 9: Draw Tragic Slip, attack with 2/3 Basilica Screecher and Seraph of Dawn, T blocks Seraph with Nephalia Seakite, before damage N casts Tragic Slip with Extort on Nephalia Seakite (N 23, T 6), Seakite dies in combat (N 25, T 4), cast Daggerdrome Imp with Extort (N 26, T 3). Pass.
T, turn 9: Delver triggers reveals Think Twice, Delver of Secrets  ^Flip transforms into Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, draw Think Twice, cast Think Twice and draw Haunted Fengraf, play it, flashback Think Twice and draw Mist Raven with 2 mana open. T concedes.

Game 2: T plays first and keeps a hand of Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, Nephalia Seakite, Hands of Binding, Unsummon, Island, Mountain, and Izzet Guildgate. N kees a hand of Basilica Screecher, Daggerdrome Imp, Stab Wound, 2x Plains, Swamp, and Orzhov Guildgate, on the draw.

T, turn 1: Play Island, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass.
N, turn 1: Draw Daggerdrome Imp, play Orzhov Guildgate. Pass.
T, turn 2: Delver trigger reveals Brimstone Volley, Delver of Secrets  ^Flip transforms into Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, draw Brimstone Volley, play Izzet Guildgate, attack for 3 (N 17). Pass.
N, turn 2: Draw Keening Apparition, play Swamp, cast Basilica Screecher. Pass.
T, turn 3: Draw Unsummon, play Mountain, attack with Insectile Aberration  ^Flip (N 14). Pass.
N, turn 3: Draw Seraph of Dawn, play Plains, cast Stab Wound on Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, T casts Unsummon on it in response and returns it to his hand, N attack for 1 (T 19). Pass.
T, turn 4: Draw Island, play it, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass.
N, turn 4: Draw Ethereal Armor, play Plains, attack for 1 (T 18), cast Seraph of Dawn. Pass.
T, turn 5: Delver trigger whiffs, draw Mist Raven, cast Hands of Binding targeting Seraph of Dawn and Encoding on Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, attack for 1 (N 13), Cipher Hands of Binding on Basilica Screecher. Pass.
N, turn 5: Draw Swamp, play it, cast Daggerdrome Imp with Extort (N 14, T 17), cast Ethereal Armor with Extort on Daggerdrome Imp (N 15, T 16). Pass.
T, turn 6: Delver trigger reveals Searing Spear, Delver of Secrets  ^Flip transforms into Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, draw Searing Spear, cast Mist Raven targeting Daggerdrome Imp, it returns to N’s hand and Ethereal Armor drops off, attack for 3 (N 12), Cipher Hands of Binding on Seraph of Dawn. Pass.
N, turn 6: Draw Orzhov Guildgate, play it, cast Keening Apparition with Extort (N 13, T 15), cast Daggerdrome Imp. Pass.
T, turn 7: Draw Nephalia Seakite, cast Searing Spear on Basilica Screecher and it dies, cast Unsummon on Daggerdrome Imp and it gets returned, attack for 5 Flying (N 8), Cipher Hands of Binding on Seraph of Dawn. Pass.
N, turn 7: Draw Murder, cast it on Insectile Aberration  ^Flip and it dies, attack for 2 (T 13), cast Daggerdrome Imp. Pass.
T, turn 8: Draw Haunted Fengraf, play it. Pass.
N, turn 8: Draw Plains, attack with Keening Apparition and Seraph of Dawn, T flashes in Nephalia Seakite, double-block Seraph of Dawn, N kills Mist Raven while Keening Apparition connects (N 10, T 11). Pass.
T, turn 9: Draw Island, play it. Pass.
N, turn 9: Draw Swamp. Pass. End of turn, T flashes in a second Nephalia Seakite.
T, turn 10: Draw Essence Scatter. Pass.
N, turn 10: Draw Ethereal Armor, cast it on Seraph of Dawn (3/5), attack with Seraph of Dawn, block with Nephalia Seakite, it dies (N 13). Pass. End of turn, T casts morbid Brimstone Volley on Seraph of Dawn and it dies.
T, turn 11: Draw Frostburn Weird, attack with Nephalia Seakite, no blocks from N (N 11), cast Frostburn Weird. Pass.
N, turn 11: Draw Plains, attack with Daggerdrome Imp (N 12, T 10), play Plains. Pass. End of turn, T activates and sacrifices Haunted Fengraf and randomly chooses Mist Raven.
T, turn 12: Draw Island, play it, attack with Nephalia Seakite and Frostburn Weird, no blocks (N 7) (Weird is not pumped in order to keep mana for Essence Scatter open; a Seraph of Dawn here would be particularly troublesome and T’s clock would not change by pumping), cast Mist Raven targeting Keening Apparition and it gets returned. Pass.
N, turn 12: Draw Swamp, play it, cast Keening Apparition. Pass.
T, turn 13: Draw Mist Raven, cast it targeting Daggerdrome Imp, attack with Nephalia Seakite, Frostburn Weird, and other Mist Raven, N declares no blocks (N 4). Pass.
N, turn 13: Draw Swamp, cast Daggerdrome Imp, T counters it with Essence Scatter, N concedes.

Game 3: N plays first and takes a mulligan from no lands to Tragic Slip, Ethereal Armor, Stab Wound, 2x Plains, and Swamp. T keeps a hand of Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, Nephalia Seakite, Mist Raven, Think Twice, 3x Island.

N, turn 1: Play Swamp. Pass.
T, turn 1: Draw Essence Scatter, play Island, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass. EoT, N casts Tragic Slip on Delver and it dies.
N, turn 2: Draw Trained Caracal, play Plains, cast Trained Caracal. Pass.
T, turn 2: Draw Searing Spear, play Island. Pass.
N, turn 3: Draw Tragic Slip, play Plains, cast Ethereal Armor on Trained Caracal (2/2), attack for 2 (N 22, T 18). Pass. EoT, T casts Think Twice and draws Haunted Fengraf.
T, turn 3: Draw Island, play it. Pass.
N, turn 4: Draw Basilica Screecher, attack with Trained Caracal w/ Ethereal Armor (N 24, T 16), cast Basilica Screecher, T counters it with Essence Scatter. Pass.
T, turn 4: Draw Brimstone Volley, play Haunted Fengraf, cast Mist Raven targeting Trained Caracal, it gets returned and Ethereal Armor falls off. Pass.
N, turn 5: Draw Stab Wound, cast Trained Caracal. Pass.
T, turn 5: Draw Mist Raven, attack for 2 (N 22), play Island. Pass.
N, turn 6: Draw Dark Favor, cast it on Trained Caracal and it resolves (N 21). Attack with Trained Caracal (2/4), T flashes in Nephalia Seakite and blocks, both creatures die (N 25). Pass.
T, turn 6: Draw Frostburn Weird, attack with Mist Raven (N 23), cast Frostburn Weird. Pass.
N, turn 7: Draw Dark Favor, cast Stab Wound on Frostburn Weird (-1/2). Pass. EoT, T casts Think Twice from graveyard, drawing Island. (One might argue that pumping the Weird twice to kill it EoT so that Stab Wound wouldn’t hurt might have been the better play. With N stuck on 3 lands and with only 3 cards left in-hand, though, trying to dig further for a Red-producing land to open up T’s burn would alleviate our need to preserve our life total so adamantly. That, and there’s another Mist Raven in T’s hand...)
T, turn 7: Stab Wound triggers (T 14), draw Island, play it, attack with Mist Raven (N 21). Pass. (Without drawing a Red source by now, the Mist Raven in Ts hand can’t be simply used to recycle the Frostburn Weird and get rid of Stab Wound; we need to keep some type of removal open in case N is sitting on some Auras and just needs a creature. N is still ahead by a fair amount of life - and Frostburn Weird can be just go suicide anyways.)
N, turn 8: Draw Dark Favor, cast Stab Wound on Mist Raven and it dies. Pass. EoT, T activates and sacrifices Haunted Fengraf, randomly choosing Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. T pumps Frostburn Weird to 1/0 and it dies. (I could’ve killed off the Weird first and tried to get it back, but if the dead Mist Raven could be returned to T’s hand, there would be two copies and one could safely be used on the Weird while saving the other for N’s potential creatures. Alas, the Delver was returned and the Weird would just be hurting us at this point.)
T, turn 8: Draw Unsummon, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass.
N, turn 9: Draw Ethereal Armor, cast Tragic Slip on Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, T casts Unsummon on Delver in response and it gets returned. Pass.
T, turn 9: Draw Nephalia Seakite, cast Delver of Secrets  ^Flip. Pass.
N, turn 10: Draw Trained Caracal, cast it, cast Dark Favor targeting Caracal and it resolves (N 20). Pass. EoT, T flashes in Nephalia Seakite.
T, turn 10: Delver trigger reveals Unsummon, it transforms into Insectile Aberration  ^Flip, draw Unsummon, attack with Insectile Aberration  ^Flip and Nephalia Seakite (N 15), cast Mist Raven targeting Trained Caracal, it gets returned and Dark Favor falls off. Pass.
N, turn 11: Draw Seraph of Dawn, cast Trained Caracal, cast Ethereal Armor on Caracal. Pass. (There is quite clearly an Unsummon in T’s hand, but it’s not possible to race without the power of Auras anymore; current score is (N 15, T 14), yet T has 7 Flying damage each turn and a fair deal of N’s removal is gone already. Also, N can’t just sit this turn and do nothing and with so few lands; hoping to spring a combination of spells on T and gain the upper hand with 3 lands isn’t possible anymore. And if T draws a Red source and gets Searing Spear and Brimstone Volley online, none of it matters anyways. So we may as well put out Ethereal Armor, the less buffing of the two Auras at our disposal and the one that doesn’t drop us to 14 life, making us dead in two turns. Unfortunately for N, Ethereal Armor doesn’t immediately affect the board-state, meaning that Unsummon doesn’t have to be cast until the enchanted creature would be involved in combat and only if the clock of the game would change for T.)
T, turn 11: Draw Brimstone Volley, attack for 7 Flying (N 8). Pass.
N, turn 12: Draw Ethereal Armor, attack for 2, no blocks or responses (N 10, T 12). Pass. (There were 4 options for N this turn and I believe playing the turn like this gives N the best chance for survival:)

1. Do nothing and lose hard.
2. Put Dark Favor on now, go to 7, get hit by Unsummon, take 7 in the air, and die.
3. Attack with the Caracal without enchanting it with anything else and T would likely just take the damage, making N’s life 10. That wouldn’t change how quickly T’s attackers would kill N the following turn or even the one after, meaning an Unsummon is highly unlikely. However, N would fall to 3 on the very next turn and be within burn range (if T draws a Red source). Even if N could draw a basic land, attack with the Cat and get through (and be at 5), THEN play Seraph of Dawn, THAT would get hit by Unsummon and N would take lethal damage in the air. Any other scenario down this road and T still has the Unsummon for the Cat.
4. Enchant the Caracal with a second copy of Ethereal Armor and it would extend the clock of the game on the second would-be lethal attack, meaning T would surely just use Unsummon on it upon the declaration of THIS combat step, to keep N within burn range. If this happens, we can still re-cast the Caracal in the same turn. However, following the next attack, N would be at 1 life and Dark Favor resolving would kill us before any Lifelink could happen. There is nothing in N’s deck that would save him beyond this point, so, theoretically, the game is already over at this point.

T, turn 12: Draw Mountain, play it, attack for 7 (N 3), cast Searing Spear at N (N 0).

So with Nobilior out of the challenge, we’ve narrowed it down to 2 combatants from our original number of 81. Be on the lookout for the next and final article, featuring the final match’s details (in this play-by-play fashion), a look at some of my personal favorite decks from the challenge, a breakdown of who gets what prizes, and more!