Daily Dose 50 - Standard (Epic Five Match Edition)

Daily Dose of Standard

KrazyCaley

30 March 2013

2070 views

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EPIC Edition

In honor of the 50th Daily Dose, and because it's a great way to catch up on the ones I've fallen behind on, here's an episode of Daily Dose with Bolas taking on five challengers in a row. All non-Bolas decks were played by Elaine, whose comments are in bold.

Caley's deck is, of course:

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Match 1

vs.

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Game 1

Elaine wins the toss and plays first.

Elaine keeps a hand of Drowned Catacomb, Hinterland Harbor, Snapcaster Mage, Tribute to Hunger, Thragtusk, Bloodgift Demon, Victim of Night

Slow, but whatever.

Caley keeps a hand of Sulfur Falls, Swamp, Dreadbore, Think Twice, Barter in Blood, Devour Flesh, Counterflux

One land and this is my JAM.

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E plays Hinterland Harbor tapped and passes.

Unless it's a crazy rogue deck, it's BUG or Evolve/Simic, and not too many of the latter around these days.

C draws Mountain, plays Sulfur Falls, and passes.

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E draws Tribute to Hunger, plays Drowned Catacomb tapped, and passes.

C draws Watery Grave. He plays Swamp and passes.

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E draws Thragtusk.

And I lose.

E does nothing and passes. End step, C casts Think Twice, drawing Staff of Nin.

C draws Murder. He plays Mountain and passes. End step, E flashes in Snapcaster Mage, but it gets Devour Flesh'd. (E 21, C 20).

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E draws Negate

Well, there's that.

E does nothing and passes.

C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

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E draws Farseek and casts it, retrieving a Swamp. She passes. End step, C flashes back Think Twice, drawing Dragonskull Summit.

C draws Swamp. He plays Dragonskull Summit and passes.

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E draws Overgrown Tomb. She plays it tapped and passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays it and passes.

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E draws Overgrown Tomb. She plays it untapped (C 20, E 19) and casts Thragtusk, but it gets Counterfluxed. E passes.

C draws Gilded Lotus. He plays Swamp and casts Staff of Nin, then passes.

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E draws Dissipate. She casts Thragtusk and passes. (E 24, C 20).

C draws Chromatic Lantern and Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He casts Gilded Lotus, then casts Dreadbore on the Thragtusk, then Murder on the ensuring token.

Best to do this now against a deck with blue in it, rather than wait for the opposing turn.

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E draws Dissipate. She casts Bloodgift Demon and passes.

C draws Counterflux and Mountain. He plays Mountain. Then he casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, who steals Bloodgift Demon. C passes.

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E draws and plays Woodland Cemetery. She casts Victim of Night on Bloodgift Demon, then passes.

C draws Barter in Blood and Devour Flesh. He casts Chromatic Lantern. Then Bolas blows up Drowned Catacomb and he passes.

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E draws Overgrown Tomb, plays it, and passes.

C draws Murder and Devour Flesh. Bolas blows up Hinterland Harbor and C passes.

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E draws Farseek and concedes.

Sideboarding

C boards in 3x Slaughter Games and 2x Dissipate. He boards out 3x Mystic Retrieval, 1x Devour Flesh, and 1x Think Twice.

E boards out 2x Devour Flesh, 1x Murder, 3x Tribute to Hunger, 1x Victim of Night, and 2x Evil Twin. She boards in 2x Augur of Bolas, 4x Lotleth Troll, 2x Prime Speaker Zegana, and 1x Mystic Genesis.

Nice sideboard here. Feel much better.

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Game 2

E mulls to six on Breeding Pool, Grafdigger's Cage, Lotleth Troll, 2x Dissipate, Negate, Bloodgift Demon.

C mulls to six on Swamp, Devour Flesh, [[Barter in Blood], Chromatic Lantern, 2x Counterflux, Murder.

E keeps a 6 hand of Breeding Pool, Woodland Cemetery, Drowned Catacomb, Overgrown Tomb, Mystic Genesis, Lotleth Troll.

C keeps a hand of Swamp, Nephalia Drownyard, Barter in Blood, Counterflux, Staff of Nin, Slaughter Games.

Not great.

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E plays Breeding Pool tapped and passes.

C draws Think Twice. He plays Swamp and passes.

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E draws Bloodgift Demon. She plays Overgrown Tomb tapped and passes.

Need to have regenerate.

C draws Murder. He plays Nephalia Drownyard and passes.

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E draws Augur of Bolas. She casts it and sees Negate, Lotleth Troll, and Overgrown Tomb. She reveals and keeps Negate, and puts everything else on the bottom. She passes after playing Drowned Catacomb.

C draws Nephalia Drownyard. He plays it and passes.

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E draws Thragtusk. She plays Woodland Cemetery and casts Lotleth Troll. Augur attacks and hits. (E 20, C 19). E passes.

C draws Barter in Blood. He does nothing and passes.

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E draws Swamp and plays it. She casts Thragtusk. She attacks with her other creatures and hits. (E 25, C 16). She passes.

C draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Barter in Blood. E sacs Thragtusk and Augur of Bolas. She gets a token. C passes.

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E draws Snapcaster Mage. She attacks with her creatures and hits. (E 25, C 11). She passes.

C draws Slaughter Games. He casts Barter in Blood, but it runs into Mystic Genesis. C concedes.

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Sideboarding

Neither side makes changes.

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Game 3

C plays first and keeps an opener of Watery Grave, Sulfur Falls, Swamp, Think Twice, Slaughter Games, and 2x Barter in Blood.

E keeps an opener of 2x Nephalia Drownyard, Swamp, Augur of Bolas, Thragtusk, Farseek, Mystic Genesis.

With him keeping, I'm going to gamble that I get a green mana.

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C plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

E draws Breeding Pool, plays it tapped and passes.

Bingo.

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C draws Slaughter Games. He plays Sulfur Falls and passes.

E draws Overgrown Tomb. She plays Swamp and casts Farseek for an Island, then passes. End step C casts Think Twice, drawing Counterflux.

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C draws Mountain.

Ah, needed that big time.

C plays Mountain and passes.

E draws Woodland Cemetery. She plays Overgrown Tomb tapped. She casts Augur of Bolas, but it runs into Counterflux.

Weird play. Usually he saves his counters for stuff that has undying or makes tokens like Thragtusk or whatever.

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C draws Devour Flesh. He plays Swamp and casts Slaughter Games naming Thragtusk, exiling one from the hand and three from the library. C passes.

Well I guess now I know.

E draws Overgrown Tomb. She plays Nephalia Drownyard and passes.

He knows I have the Genesis, so let's see what happens here.

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C draws Mountain and plays it. He casts Slaughter Games naming Mystic Genesis, exiling one from the hand and one from the library. He passes. End step, E mills Slaughter Games, Watery Grave, Dissipate.

Annoying, but Drownyard time now.

E draws Deathrite Shaman. She casts it, plays Nephalia Drownyard, and passes.

Those drownyards are looking dangerous. I'll need to pull a win condition in fairly short order here.

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C draws Staff of Nin. He flashes back Think Twice to draw Counterflux, then casts Devour Flesh to kill the Shaman. (E 22, C 20). He passes and gets milled for Gilded Lotus, Chromatic Lantern, Murder.

E draws Hinterland Harbor. She plays it and passes.

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C draws Swamp. He plays it and casts Staff of Nin. Then he passes and gets milled for Murder, Chromatic Lantern, Swamp.

E draws Woodland Cemetery. She plays it and passes. Staff pings her for one. (E 21, C 20).

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C draws Dragonskull Summit and Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He plays the Summit and passes. He gets milled for Dreadbore, Barter in Blood, and four non-Drownyard lands.

E draws Haunted Fengraf. She uses it immediately and returns Deathrite Shaman at random. She casts the Shaman and passes. Staff pings her down to 20.

Ugh, really wanted the Augur there.

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C draws Devour Flesh and Drowned Catacomb. He plays the Catacomb and casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Bolas blows up a Drownyard but it activates in response, milling a Drownyard, Think Twice, and Dreadbore. C passes.

E draws Drowned Catacomb. She attacks Bolas with the Shaman and hits; Bolas to 7. She passes. Staff pings her. (C 20, E 19)

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C draws Counterflux and Devour Flesh. Bolas blows up a Drownyard and it activates, milling Watery Grave, Counterflux, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. C casts Devour Flesh to kill the Shaman and passes.

E draws Negate. She plays Overgrown Tomb tapped and passes. Staff pings her. (C 20, E 18)

Even if he does Bolas' ultimate, he still is drawing two a turn with the Staff and he doesn't have too many cards left.

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C draws two Islands. He plays one. Bolas blows up Staff of Nin, pings E in response (C 20, E 17) and Bolas goes to 13. C passes.

Yep, he figured that one out. Probably sitting on a billion counterspells too now.

E draws Lotleth Troll. She casts it, but it gets a Counterflux. She passes after playing Woodland Cemetery.

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C draws Drowned Catacomb and plays Island. Bolas' ultimate goes off. E discards Negate and sacrifices everything except Breeding Pool and Overgrown Tomb. (C 20, E 10). C passes.

He still has to kill me before he runs out of cards.

E draws Overgrown Tomb, plays it tapped, and passes.

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C draws Desolate Lighthouse and plays it. Bolas blows up Breeding Pool, goes to 7, and C passes.

E draws Dissipate, does nothing, and passes.

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C draws Chromatic Lantern. He plays Drowned Catacomb and casts the Lantern. Bolas blows up Overgrown Tomb and goes to 10. C passes.

E draws Lotleth Troll. She does nothing and passes.

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C draws Dreadbore. He uses Bolas' ultimate and everything E has goes to the trash. E concedes. Caley wins the match 2-1.

He has 12 cards left, and that's enough.

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Thoughts

Feel like you had a good deck, it just had kind of a sucky run. Slaughter Games didn't help.

Nephalia Drownyard almost won the game by itself. Another turn of that nonsense before shutting it down and I might have lost that game.

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Match 2

vs.

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Game 1

Elaine wins the toss and plays first. She keeps an opener of Cavern of Souls, Plains, Evolving Wilds, Mountain, Champion of the Parish, Oblivion Ring, and Fiend Hunter.

Caley keeps an opener of Watery Grave, Nephalia Drownyard, 2x Murder, Think Twice, Devour Flesh, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

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E plays Cavern of Souls naming Human, casts Champion of the Parish, and passes.

C draws Mountain. He plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

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E draws Boros Elite. She plays Evolving Wilds, sacs it for a mountain, and casts Boros Elite, making Champion a 2/2. She attacks with it and hits. (E 20, C 18). She passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays it and casts Devour Flesh. E sacs Boros Elite. (E 21, C 18). C passes.

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E draws Cavern of Souls. She plays Plains and casts Fiend Hunter exiling nothing, Champion becomes 3/3. She attacks with it and passes. (E 21, C 15).

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He plays Mountain and casts Murder on Champion of the Parish, then passes.

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E draws Plains. She plays it. She attacks with Fiend Hunter and passes. (E 21, C 14).

C draws Watery Grave. He plays it tapped and passes.

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E draws Boros Elite and plays Mountain. She attacks with Fiend Hunter, but it gets Murdered. E casts Boros Elite and passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays it and casts Chromatic Lantern, then passes.

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E draws Clifftop Retreat. She plays it. Then she attacks with Boros Elite and passes. (E 21, C 13). End step, C casts Think Twice, drawing Barter in Blood.

C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Nephalia Drownyard and passes.

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E draws Evolving Wilds. She plays it and sacs it for a Plains, then attacks with Boros Elite and passes. (E 21, C 12). End step, C flashes back Think Twice drawing Nephalia Drownyard. He activates the existing drownyard, milling Plains, Mountain, Fiend Hunter.

C draws Counterflux. He plays Nephalia Drownyard then casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, who blows up Cavern of Souls. C passes.

Always save your Oblivion Ring for when you really need it, children.

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E draws Sunhome Guildmage. She casts Oblivion Ring on Bolas. Then she attacks with the Elite. (E 21, C 11). She passes.

Next turn I'll be golden if the Guildmage lives, which is probably not likely. But at least no more Bolas.

C draws Mystic Retrieval. He casts Barter in Blood to kill all the creatures. He passes.

I really hate that spell.

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E draws Aurelia's Fury. She plays Cavern of Souls naming Angel. She passes.

Ooh, the plot thickens.

End step, C Drownyards, milling Lightning Mauler, Champion of the Parish, Oblivion Ring

All gold.

C draws Drowned Catacomb. He plays it and passes.

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E draws Wojek Halberdiers. She casts Aurelia's Fury to the dome for 5 at C, but it gets Counterfluxed. She casts the Halberdiers and passes. End step, she gets milled for Lightning Mauler, Frontline Medic, Wojek Halberdiers.

Nooooo.

C draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Mystic Retrieval for Devour Flesh, then casts the Devour Flesh to kill the Halberdiers. (E 23, C 11). He passes.

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E draws Fiend Hunter. She casts it and passes. End step, she gets milled for Boros Elite, Evolving Wilds, Clifftop Retreat.

C draws Watery Grave and plays it tapped. He flashes back Mystic Retrieval for Devour Flesh and uses it to kill Fiend Hunter. Then he passes. (E 26, C 11).

Doesn't this deck ever run out of creatures?

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E draws Plains. She does nothing and passes. End step, she gets milled for Fiend Hunter, Sunhome Guildmage, Plains.

C draws Gilded Lotus. He casts it and passes.

He only has one card left! Just need some DUDES.

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E draws Wojek Halberdiers. She casts it and passes. End step, she gets milled for six: Sunhome Guildmage, Oblivion Ring, Champion of the Parish, and three land.

C draws Dreadbore.

Perfect!

C casts Dreadbore on Wojek Halberdiers and passes.

I'm sorry, you poor brave Boros troops, I'm just pouring you guys into the meat grinder right now.

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E draws Aurelia's Fury. She plays Plains and casts the Fury all to the face for six. (E 26, C 5). She passes. End step she gets milled for Wojek Halberdiers, Aurelia, the Warleader, Angel of Glory's Rise, Frontline Medic, Boros Charm, Oblivion Ring.

Oop, getting into the danger zone here, but now she only has 11 cards. Need her to draw one thing that won't kill me immediately and I'll be ok. Me drawing a counterspell would also work. Or Mystic Retrieval.

C draws Chromatic Lantern. He does nothing and passes.

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E draws Sunhome Guildmage. She casts it. She makes a token and attacks with it. (E 26, C 4). She passes. End step she gets milled for six and concedes.

Just needed one more turn....

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Sideboarding

E boards in 2x Pithing Needle, 2x Assemble the Legion, 2x Witchbane Orb. She boards out 4x Boros Charm, 2x Aurelia's Fury.

C boards in 2x Illness in the Ranks. He boards out 2x Gilded Lotus.

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E plays first. She keeps a hand of Champion of the Parish, Lightning Mauler, Oblivion Ring, Clifftop Retreat, Boros Elite, Wojek Halberdiers, Sunhome Guildmage.

This might be stupid, but one land makes this so killer.

C keeps an opener of Sulfur Falls, Nephalia Drownyard, Dragonskull Summit, Dreadbore, Staff of Nin, Mystic Retrieval, Murder.

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E plays Clifftop Retreat and passes.

C draws Barter in Blood, plays Dragonskull Summit, and passes.

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E draws Champion of the Parish. She casts it and passes.

Still ok.

Unwise mulligan decision.

C draws Think Twice, plays [[Sulfur Falls] tapped, and passes.

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E draws Frontline Medic. She casts Champion of the Parish, making the other one a 2/2. She attacks with the 2/2 and hits. (E 20, C 18). She passes.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He casts Dreadbore on the 2/2 Champion, plays Nephalia Drownyard, and passes.

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E draws Sunhome Guildmage.

Come on, this is ridiculous.

E casts Boros Elite, making the Champion 2/2. She attacks with the Champion and hits. (E 20, C 16).

C draws Sulfur Falls. He plays it tapped and passes.

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E draws Fiend Hunter.

Laaaaaaaaame. Doesn't look like he has Barter in Blood mana though.

E attacks with Elite and Champion and hits. (E 20, C 13). She passes. End step C casts Think Twice drawing Staff of Nin.

C draws Devour Flesh. He casts it. E sacs Boros Elite. C passes.

Well he's kind of stuck. I just need one mana to ruin his world.

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E draws Pithing Needle. She casts it naming Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. She attacks with the Champion and hits. (E 20, C 11)

Laaaaand. I would have won this game like right now if I had drawn a land early.

C draws Think Twice and casts it. He draws Drowned Catacomb and plays it tapped. He passes.

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E draws Evolving Wilds. She plays it and sacs it for a Plains. She attacks with the Champion and hits. (E 20, C 9).

Next turn, baby.

C draws Watery Grave. He plays it tapped and passes.

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E draws Mountain and plays it.

Oh, now you want to give me land, you little whore of a deck.

E casts Lightning Mauler. In response, C casts Murder on Champion of the Parish. Mauler resolves, E passes.

C draws Watery Grave and plays it tapped. He casts Staff of Nin, which he uses to blow up the Mauler. He passes.

That sucks.

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E draws Assemble the Legion. She casts Oblivion Ring on Staff of Nin and passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit and plays it. He casts Staff of Nin and passes.

Fuuuuuu

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E draws Evolving Wilds. She plays it and sacs it for a Mountain. She casts Fiend Hunter and passes.

C draws Mountain and Chromatic Lantern. He casts Mystic Retrieval on Devour Flesh and casts Devour, killing the Hunter. Then he passes.

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E draws Aurelia, the Warleader.

LAAAAANNNNND.

E casts Frontline Medic and passes. End step, C flashes back Think Twice drawing Counterflux.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Drowned Catacomb. He plays Catacomb. He casts Chromatic Lantern, then flashes back Mystic Retrieval on Devour Flesh and casts it, killing Medic. He passes.

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E draws Plains. She plays it and casts Assemble the Legion, but it runs into Counterflux. E passes.

C draws Barter in Blood and Swamp. He plays the Swamp and passes.

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E draws Plains and plays it. She casts Aurelia, the Warleader. In response C flashes back Think Twice drawing Drowned Catacomb. E attacks with Aurelia and hits. (E 20, C 6). Then she does so again. (E 20, C 3). She passes, but gets milled for 3 in the end step, all lands.

I'm kind of surprised he doesn't have any answers for that.

C draws Chromatic Lantern and Counterflux. He casts Barter in Blood, then Chromatic Lantern. He plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

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E draws Clifftop Retreat and plays it. She casts two Sunhome Guildmage and Wojek Halberdiers. One of the Sunhome Guildmage eats Counterflux. She passes, and gets milled for Fiend Hunter, Boros Elite, Plains.

Need that other Pithing Needle.

C draws Illness in the Ranks, Counterflux. He casts Illness in the Ranks and then casts Barter in Blood to wipe the board. He passes.

Regretting removing all the direct damage right now.

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E draws Plains. She does nothing and passes. End step, she gets milled for Champion of the Parish and two lands.

C draws Counterflux, Devour Flesh. He does nothing and passes.

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E draws Sunhome Guildmage. She casts it, but it gets Counterfluxed. She passes and gets milled for two lands and Wojek Halberdiers.

Seriously, where are my sideboard cards.

C draws Swamp and Mountain and plays Swamp. He passes.

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E draws Evolving Wilds. She plays it and sacs it for a Plains. She passes and gets milled for Champion of the Parish and 2x Oblivion Ring.

C draws Murder and Desolate Lighthouse. He plays the Lighthouse and passes.

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E draws Fiend Hunter and casts it. She passes. End step, the Hunter dies to Devour Flesh and E mills away 3 and concedes. Caley wins the match 2-0.

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Thoughts

Worst draws ever in that second game.

I concur, after reviewing the opposing decklist and E's sideboarding choices. Although, I think she would have been well-advised to remove Fiend Hunter and add in Nevermore and another Witchbane Orb.

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Match 3

vs.

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Game 1

Elaine wins the toss and plays first. She keeps an opener of Temple Garden, Cavern of Souls, Champion of the Parish, Lightning Mauler, Thunderous Wrath, Thatcher Revolt, Ghor-Clan Rampager.

Caley keeps an opener of Watery Grave, Mountain, Think Twice, 2x Counterflux, 2x Barter in Blood.

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E plays Cavern of Souls naming human. She casts Champion of the Parish and passes.

You again?

C draws Swamp, plays Watery Grave tapped, and passes.

Need some faster kill pretty quick with a Champion out.

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E draws Sunpetal Grove. She plays Temple Garden untapped. (C 20, E 18). She casts Lightning Mauler bonded to Champion, which becomes 2/2, and attacks with both. (E 18, C 16). She passes.

C draws Murder. He plays Swamp and passes.

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E draws Sacred Foundry.

Sweet!

E plays Sacred Foundry untapped. (C 16, E 16). She casts Thatcher Revolt and attacks with the tokens, Mauler, and the now 5/5 Champion, and hits. (E 16, C 6). She passes. End step C casts Think Twice drawing Swamp.

C draws Devour Flesh. He plays Swamp and passes.

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E draws Silverblade Paladin. She attacks with both her creatures. C casts Murder on Champion of the Parish. E uses bloodrush from Ghor-Clan Rampager on Lightning Mauler and hits C for lethal damage.

Smooth as silk.

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Sideboarding

E removes 3x Bonds of Faith for 3x Searing Spear.

C removes 3x Mystic Retrieval and 2x Gilded Lotus for 3x Essence Scatter and 2x Dissipate.

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Game 2

C plays first and mulligans a one-land hand.

E keeps an opener of Temple Garden, Sacred Foundry, Boros Elite, 2x Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip, Lightning Mauler, Ghor-Clan Rampager.

C mulligans a six hand of four lands, Chromatic Lantern, and Staff of Nin.

That would be asking for death.

C keeps a five hand of Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, Island, Essence Scatter, Barter in Blood.

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C plays Dragonskull Summit and passes.

E draws Temple Garden, plays it, casts Boros Elite, and passes.

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C draws Staff of Nin, plays Island, and passes.

E draws Boros Charm. She plays Sacred Foundry untapped (C 20, E 18). She casts Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip, but it gets Essence Scattered.

That's fine, that's fine, more where that came from.

E attacks with the Elite and hits. (C 19, E 18). She passes.

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C draws Murder. He plays Swamp and passes.

Come on, baby, keep it rolling, hold together.

E draws Ghor-Clan Rampager. She plays Temple Garden tapped. She casts Lightning Mauler, but it gets Murdered. She attacks with Elite and hits. (C 18, E 18). She passes.

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C draws Devour Flesh. He does nothing and passes.

E draws Lightning Mauler. She casts it. In response C casts Devour Flesh and E sacs the elite. E passes.

Need one more land for the ol' Barter.

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C draws Essence Scatter. He passes.

E plays Cavern of Souls naming human. She casts Ghor-Clan Rampager but it runs into Essence Scatter.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I guess I thought he wouldn't have one right NOW.

E attacks with the Mauler and hits. (E 18, C 16). She passes.

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C draws Counterflux. He does nothing and passes.

E draws Boros Elite. She casts it and Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip, bonding Elite to Mauler. She attacks with Elite and Mauler and hits. (E 18, C 15). She passes.

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C draws Drowned Catacomb.

Nick of time.

C casts Barter in Blood. E sacs Elite and Mauler. C passes.

E draws Searing Spear. She casts Ghor-Clan Rampager and attacks with the Mayor. (E 18, C 14). She passes.

He better not have another Barter.

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C draws Counterflux and concedes. Elaine wins the match 2-0.

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Thoughts

That's an aggro deck, all right, buddy. Nice job.

Needed some slightly better draws in game 2, but this kind of matchup is among the weakest for Bolas.

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Match 4

vs.

deck-large:bug-midrange-competitive

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Game 1

Caley wins the toss and plays first. He keeps an opener of Drowned Catacomb, Sulfur Falls, Dragonskull Summit, Desolate Lighthouse, Devour Flesh, Dreadbore, Gilded Lotus.

Elaine mulligans a one-land hand, then mulligans a zero-land hand, then keeps a hand of Overgrown Tomb, Drowned Catacomb, Woodland Cemetery, Snapcaster Mage, and Farseek.

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C plays Drowned Catacomb tapped and passes.

E draws Hinterland Harbor. She plays Overgrown Tomb tapped and passes.

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C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays it tapped and passes.

E draws Overgrown Tomb. She plays Woodland Cemetery, casts Farseek for a Breeding Pool, then passes.

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C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Sulfur Falls tapped and passes.

E draws Vampire Nighthawk. She plays Hinterland Harbor. Then she casts Snapcaster Mage targeting Farseek. She flashes back Farseek for another Breeding Pool, then passes. End step C casts Devour Flesh to kill the Snapcaster.

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C draws Staff of Nin. He plays Dragonskull Summit tapped and passes.

E draws Woodland Cemetery. She plays Overgrown Tomb tapped and casts Vampire Nighthawk, then passes.

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C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He plays Desolate Lighthouse and casts Dreadbore on the Nighthawk, then passes.

E draws Tribute to Hunger. She plays Woodland Cemetery and passes.

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C draws Mystic Retrieval. He casts Gilded Lotus and passes.

E draws Abrupt Decay. She plays Drowned Catacomb and passes.

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C draws Sulfur Falls. He plays it tapped. He casts Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Bolas blows up Hinterland Harbor and C passes.

E draws Master Biomancer. She casts it and passes.

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C draws Think Twice. He casts Mystic Retrieval on Devour Flesh and casts it to kill the Biomancer. Bolas blows up Drowned Catacomb and C passes.

E draws Deathrite Shaman and concedes.

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Sideboarding

E boards out 2x Tragic Slip, 2x Tribute to Hunger, 3x Ultimate Price, and boards in 4x Dreg Mangler, 2x Snapcaster Mage, and 1x Deathrite Shaman.

C boards out 1x Think Twice, 1x Staff of Nin, 1x Mystic Retrieval for 3x Slaughter Games.

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E plays first and keeps an opener of Breeding Pool, Watery Grave, Thragtusk, Deathrite Shaman, Snapcaster Mage, Golgari Charm, Vampire Nighthawk.

C keeps [[Watery Grave], 2x Drowned Catacomb, Island, Barter in Blood, Dreadbore, Slaughter Games.

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E plays Breeding Pool for Deathrite Shaman and passes. (C 20, E 18).

C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Watery Grave tapped and passes.

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E draws Snapcaster Mage. She plays Watery Grave untapped. (C 20, E 16). She attacks with the Shaman and hits. (C 19, E 16). She passes.

C draws Staff of Nin. He plays Drowned Catacomb and passes. End step E flashes down Snapcaster Mage.

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E draws Dreg Mangler. She attacks with her creatures and hits. (C 16, E 16). She passes.

C draws Dragonskull Summit and plays it. He casts Dreadbore on Snapcaster. Then he passes. End step, E flashes down another Snapcaster.

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E draws Overgrown Tomb and plays it untapped. (C 16, E 14). She casts Dreg Mangler and attacks with everything. (E 14, C 10). She passes.

Incorrect use of Deathrite Shaman; you get an extra damage out of its activated ability.

C draws Drowned Catacomb and plays it. He casts Barter in Blood. E sacs Snapcaster and Shaman. C passes.

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E draws Snapcaster Mage. She casts Vampire Nighthawk. Then she attacks with the Mangler and hits. (E 14, C 7). She passes.

C draws Murder. He plays Island and casts Barter in Blood to wipe the board. Then he passes.

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E draws Simic Charm. She does nothing and passes.

C draws Counterflux.] He plays Drowned Catacomb and passes. End step, C flashes down Snapcaster Mage. C Murders it.

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E draws Overgrown Tomb and plays it tapped, then passes.

C draws Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. He casts Slaughter Games naming Thragtusk, exiling one from the hand and three from the library.

Slaughter Games protip - if the deck has green in it and isn't a super-speedy Gruul deck with Burning-Tree Shaman and what not, then always name Thragtusk.

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E draws Master Biomancer and casts it.

Sucks to cast it without protection, but not much choice.

C draws Devour Flesh. He casts it to kill the Biomancer, then he passes.

Man, I couldn't even have stopped that except to pull it back to hand.

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E draws Master Biomancer and casts it, then passes.

Keep them coming!

C draws Murder. He casts Murder on the Biomancer and passes.

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E draws Abrupt Decay. She does nothing and passes.

C draws Mystic Retrieval. He casts Staff of Nin and passes.

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E draws Master Biomancer. She casts it and passes.

Meat grinder again.

C draws Dreadbore and Sulfur Falls. He casts Dreadbore on the Biomancer and plays Sulfur Falls, then E concedes. Caley wins the match 2-0.

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Thoughts

Bad matchup.

I didn't think the matchup was particularly bad, I just thought the second game had some pretty inefficient curving for the other deck; it got slightly mana-screwed.

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Match 5

vs.

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Caley wins the toss and plays first. He keeps an opener of 2x Mountain, Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, Sulfur Falls, Murder, Devour Flesh.

Elaine mulligans a one-land hand.

God, I'm sorry everyone, you've all been cursed by my terrible drawing ability.

Elaine keeps a hand of Island, Hallowed Fountain, Hinterland Harbor, Detention Sphere, Think Twice, Sphinx's Revelation.

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C plays Mountain and passes.

E draws Garruk, Primal Hunter, plays Hallowed Fountain tapped, and passes.

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C draws Think Twice, plays Sulfur Falls, and passes.

E draws Restoration Angel, plays Hinterland Harbor, and passes. End step C casts Think Twice drawing Murder.

I have no idea what this is.

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C draws Barter in Blood. He plays Swamp and passes. End step, E casts Think Twice, drawing Restoration Angel.

E draws Farseek. She plays Island. She casts Farseek for Breeding Pool and passes.

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C draws Staff of Nin. He plays Dragonskull Summit and passes.

So this is probably a control deck if it hasn't cast anything yet, or at least not an aggro deck.

E draws Master Biomancer. She does nothing and passes.

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C draws Dreadbore. He plays Mountain and passes. End step E flashes down Restoration Angel. C Murders it.

Augh, give me a second, would you?

E draws Negate. She does nothing and passes.

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C draws Chromatic Lantern. He casts it and passes. End step E flashes down Restoration Angel, but C Murders it.

Caley, be sure to put in a link to a meat grinder video when you write this up.

E draws Glacial Fortress and plays it. She casts Detention Sphere on Chromatic Lantern and passes.

Ok, so here I need to protect Master Biomancer with Negate, but I am one mana short. Sphere on the Lantern slows him down and lets me wait. I don't want to cast Garruk yet because I want to run him out of answers like counterspells and dreadbore.

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C draws Dreadbore. He does nothing and passes.

Usually I'm happy to pull an O-Ring or a Sphere onto a Chromatic Lantern, but that one is hurting a little.

E draws Staff of Nin. She casts Master Biomancer and passes.

Change of plans.

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C draws Dreadbore. He casts Dreadbore at the Biomancer and passes.

E draws Forest and plays it. She casts Staff of Nin and passes.

Well that's not good.

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C draws Island and plays it. He casts Staff of Nin and passes. He gets pinged for 1. (E 20, C 19).

So THERE.

E draws Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Breeding Pool. She plays the Pool untapped (C 19, E 18). She casts Tamiyo. She taps Staff of Nin, which deals 1 to her in response; she stays at 4. She passes.

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C draws Mystic Retrieval, Counterflux. He casts Dreadbore on Tamiyo. E responds with Negate, and C responds with Counterflux on the Negate. Tamiyo dies. C passes and gets pinged. (C 18, E 18).

E draws Thragtusk, Restoration Angel.

So many choices!

She casts Thragtusk. (E 23, C 18). She passes and gets pinged. (E 22, C 18).

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C draws Dreadbore and Dragonskull Summit. He casts Mystic Retrieval to get back Counterflux and passes after playing the Summit. He gets pinged. (E 22, C 17).

E draws Dissipate and Temple Garden. She attacks with Thragtusk. C casts Devour Flesh, but it gets Dissipated. Thragtusk hits. (E 22, C 12). E passes after playing the Garden tapped and gets pinged. (E 21, C 12).

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C draws Think Twice and Chromatic Lantern. He casts Dreadbore on Thragtusk. E responds with Restoration Angel, but C Counterfluxes it. Thragtusk dies and makes a token. C passes and gets pinged. (E 21, C 11).

E draws Sphinx's Revelation and Sunpetal Grove. She casts Garruk, Primal Hunter and draws 3 cards with him, 2x Gavony Township and Hallowed Fountain.

Really, that's it?

E plays Gavony Township. She attacks with the Thrag token and hits. (E 21, C 8). She passes and gets pinged. (E 20, C 8). End step C casts Think Twice drawing Gilded Lotus.

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C draws Staff of Nin and Watery Grave. He plays Watery Grave tapped. Then he casts Chromatic Lantern, then Dreadbore on the Thrag token. Then he passes. He gets pinged. (E 20, C 7).

E draws Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. She plays Gavony Township and passes. She gets pinged. (E 19, C 7). C flashes back Think Twice for Watery Grave.

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C draws Drowned Catacomb and Chromatic Lantern. He plays Watery Grave tapped. He casts Gilded Lotus, then Staff of Nin. He passes and gets pinged. (E 19, C 6). End step, E casts Sphinx's Revelation for seven, drawing Thragtusk, Dissipate, 2x Island. Sunpetal Grove, Hallowed Fountain.

E draws Alchemist's Refuge and Think Twice. She plays Island and casts Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. Tamiyo taps down Gilded Lotus. Then E casts Thragtusk. Then she passes. End step, C hits Tamiyo twice with Staff of Nin, and she goes to 3. E discards 2x Hallowed Fountain and a Temple Garden.

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C draws Swamp, Drowned Catacomb, Murder. He plays Drowned Catacomb, then flashes back Mystic Retrieval for Counterflux and passes. He gets pinged. (E 19, C 5).

E draws Master Biomancer and Staff of Nin. She attacks with Thragtusk, but he gets Murdered. E tries to Dissipate Murder, but the Dissipate gets Counterfluxed. E plays Island and casts Staff of Nin. Tamiyo taps down Gilded Lotus. E passes. Tamiyo gets pinged to 2 with the Staffs.

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C draws Sulfur Falls, Mystic Retreival, Devour Flesh. He casts Devour Flesh to kill the Thrag token and Mystic Retrieval on Counterflux. He plays Sulfur Falls. He uses his two Staff of Nin to kill Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. He passes and gets pinged twice. (E 19, C 3). E casts Think Twice drawing Sunpetal Grove.

E draws Detention Sphere, Drogskol Reaver, Glacial Fortress. She flashes back Think Twice drawing Think Twice. She casts Drogskol Reaver. She passes.

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C draws Desolate Lighthouse, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, and Sulfur Falls and concedes.

Too late. She takes me to one this turn, then to zero on her turn.

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Sideboarding

E boards out 3x Master Biomancer and boards in 3x Nevermore.

C boards out 4x Barter in Blood and 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and boards in 3x Slaughter Games and 2x Dissipate.

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Game 2

C plays first. He mulligans a one-land hand.

E keeps an opener of Glacial Fortress, Hinterland Harbor, Sunpetal Grove, Dissipate, Sphinx's Revelation, Nevermore, Restoration Angel.

C keeps a hand of Dragonskull Summit, Swamp, Nephalia Drownyard, Think Twice, Counterflux, Chromatic Lantern.

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C plays Dragonskull Summit tapped and passes.

E draws Island, plays it, and passes.

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C draws Watery Grave, plays it untapped, and passes. (E 20, C 18).

He never does that. He doesn't have two-cost counterspells, right?

E draws Restoration Angel. She plays Sunpetal Grove and passes. End step, C casts Think Twice drawing Mountain.

Oh.

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C draws Drowned Catacomb. He plays it and passes.

E draws Garruk, Primal Hunter. She plays Glacial Fortress and casts Nevermore, but it gets Counterfluxed. E passes.

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C draws Sulfur Falls and plays it, then passes.

E draws Island, plays Hinterland Harbor, then passes. End step C flashes back Think Twice, drawing Dreadbore.

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C draws Dragonskull Summit. He plays it and casts Chromatic Lantern, then passes. End step, E flashes down Restoration Angel.

E draws Think Twice and plays Island. She casts Garruk, Primal Hunter, who makes a beast. She attacks with Restoration Angel and hits. (E 20, C 17). She passes.

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C draws Island. He plays Swamp and casts Dreadbore on Garruk, then passes.

Ever-so-slight flood here.

E draws Gavony Township and plays it. She attacks with her creatures and hits, then passes. (E 20, C 11).

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C draws Mystic Retrieval. He casts it targeting Dreadbore, but E Dissipates the Retrieval. C passes. End step, E casts Think Twice drawing Hallowed Fountain.

E draws Dissipate. She attacks with everything and hits. (E 20, C 5). She plays Hallowed Fountain tapped and passes.

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C draws Murder. He does nothing and passes.

E draws Detention Sphere. She attacks with everything. C tries to Murder the token, but E casts Dissipate and C concedes.

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Thoughts

Wow, a powerful performance from that deck. Basically everything that's frightening in the late game in those colors plus a bunch of protection for it. This deck is even further along on the "kill control but weak to aggro" spectrum than Bolas is, and it certainly had no problems here.

Garruk is a boss.

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