Pattern Recognition #254 - Brawl 2022 Reports

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

8 September 2022

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Good day everyone! My name is berryjon, and I welcome you all to Pattern Recognition, TappedOut's longest running article series. I am something of an Old Fogey and a definite Smart Ass, and I have been around the block quite a few times. My experience is quite broad and deep, and so I use this series to try and bring some of that to you. Be it deck design, card construction, mechanics or in-universe characters and the history of the game. Or whatever happens to catch my attention each week. Which happens far more often than I care to admit. Please, feel free to talk about my subject matter in the comments at the bottom of the page, add suggestions or just plain correct me.

And welcome back! Last week, I built a Brawl deck using Queza, Augur of Agonies with the intention of taking those 60 Standard legal cards (and Command Tower and Arcane Signet, which are Brawl Legal), and building them up into a Commander deck with an additional 40 cards.

But first, I need to see how this deck works in its intended environment and see if I need to tweak it there before adding more cards. After all, practice makes perfect, and this deck isn't my normal fare at all so I'm pretty sure it can be improved.

In addition, I'm not showing off all my games. I've been playing a lot over the past few days, and these were just the games I made an effort to record. I've already made a few decisions, and will implement them after I've written these reports up.

GAME 1 vs Mao1978, Toxrill, the Corrosive

I'm not a big fan of this guy, as despite his casting cost, my deck doesn't move fast enough to undercut him. While I have options to keep his Commander down, I need to balance that against other threats he might have and trying to win at the same time. Not looking good for me.

My opening hand is Raffine's Tower, Swamp, Destroy Evil, Academy Loremaster, Cut of the Profits and Obscura Charm. I mulligan as there's nothing here I can play except Destroy Evil, which is very reactive. And I can't depend on drawing into what I want or need. I'm going second.

Second hand consists of Plaza of Heroes, 2 Island, a Swamp, Arcane Signet, Behold the Unspeakable  ^Flip and Cut of the Profits. Yeah, this works. Let's get this show on the road.

He plays a Swamp, I go for Plaza, drawing a third Island. Turn 2, he plays an Island, and casts Corrupt Court Official, forcing me to discard a card. I toss the just-drawn Island. On my turn, I draw and play a Plains, casting Arcane Signet, putting me a mana ahead, and able to cast my Commander on Turn 3.

Turn 3, he misses his land drop, which is good for me, and casts Life of Toshiro Umezawa  ^Flip, and chooses to give his creature +2/+2 until the end of the turn, and swings. I'm at 22. Then, in his second main phase, he drops an Evolving Wilds and cracks that for a second Swamp.

I draw Aether Channeler, play an Island, and cast my Commander. This is a gamble, as I don't have any mana for a response, but from my experience against this same Commander over the past year, it's a very mid- to late- game deck, so I'm hoping to untap. That he went for the big hit to start with tells me he was trying to gain an advantage early, so how he acts this turn will tell me more about how his hand is shaping up.

Turn 4, his Saga gives him 2 life, and that tells me that his hand doesn't have a good response to my Commander. He isn't sure he can kill her, and is shifting to the defensive, hoping to draw the game out. It's a bold move, Cotton. Let's see how that works out for him. He plays a second Island, and I'm watching carefully for any acceleration. More likely in Historic Brawl, but, hey, I cast Signet already. Instead, he drops Kaito Shizuki, and Champion of the Perished. He upticks Kaito, discarding Tenacious Underdog.

Hrm, Blitz does show up in . It might be worth seeing if any of those cards work out in this deck. He holds back, and passes the turn. I draw my second of two Plains in the deck and remember, every time I draw a card, I gain 1 life and he loses 1. It's 26-23 for him right now. Play a second Island and drop Behold the Unspeakable  ^Flip, knocking down his creatures to "I don't deal damage" levels of power. I swing with my Commander, as he has no mana up either, and I'm figuring he isn't going to chump-block with either creature. Even though he should with the Corrupt Court Official as he has better attackers coming online.

He lets it through, and his Saga flips over into Memory of Toshiro  ^Flip, but has summoning sickness. Turn 5, and he Blitzes his Underdog, which I let through - 21 to 20 life in his favor. Kaito upticks, he play Shipwreck Marsh, and casts Concealing Curtains  ^Flip before ending the turn and sacrificing his Underdog and drawing a card. My turn rolls around, and Behold only lets me Scry 2, Draw 2. I see a Depopulate and an Island, so I move the land to the bottom. I draw my own Shipwreck Marsh, Depopulate and Love Song of Night and Day. I throw out the Marsh, and cast the Love Song at , drawing 2 more cards for the both of us.

I get Fake Your Own Death and Even the Score, filling my hand, and putting me up at 25-16 life. I then get greedy, and throw my Commander at him, expecting him to block with his 4 toughness Curtains. He does, and I fake my Commander's death to a 0 power creature to put it down. Maybe I should have left it up?

Turn 6, he plays an Island, and casts Sorin the Mirthless, making a Vampire token in the process, but otherwise holding back. He can cast his Commander next turn, which means I need to watch what I'm doing. My only removal right now is Depopulate and Aether Channeler, which can bounce his Commander back to his hand. I draw and play a Command Tower, while my Sagas trigger, giving me a Bird and Vision of the Unspeakable  ^Flip. Vision is a 6/6 right now, but can fly. He's a threat on the board. But I don't have an option right now, so I cast Aether Channeler to draw a card and get ... Destroy Evil. There's my response to Toxrill.

Turn 7, he plays a Swamp and casts his Commander. I have 4 mana up, and he... he downticks Sorin again, killing him but making a second flying Vampire. OK...? But that gives me priority, so while his Sorin misplay is on the stack, I destroy Toxrill, meaning he's not back for two more turns at least.

Kaito upticks to 7, and he tosses Persistent Specimen, but otherwise does nothing. I'm not sure what's going on over there, but if I had to guess, he's desperate for his Commander to save his bacon. Too bad I'm Canadian. I eat bacon for breakfast. Sometimes. On my turn, Lovesong finishes singing, and I put the +1/+1 counters on Queza and Vision, and I draw Wash Away. It's 27-13 now. I cast Cut of the Profits for =5, leaving me with Command Tower untapped - I want my Counterspell for anything out of the Graveyard. That gets me Blood Pact, Sigarda's Splendor, Shore Up, Path of Peril and an Island.

The Path is good, because if I cast it for its base cost, it leaves me with my Commander and the Vision intact, while taking out his board. Now, Vision is a 10/10 right now, and he's at 8. But, if I attack him, he can double-block with his Vampires, taking 4 and gaining 4 life while losing the tokens. On the other hand, Kaito only has 7 and while a double-block would save him, no matter what, he's down for the count. So I swing the Vision at the Planeswalker, and he blocks with only one Vampire, putting his life total to 10 and losing both Kaito and a Vampire.

Based on how my Vision lit up afterward, I don't think he realized that Vision has TRAMPLE until after the fact. I can tell, by how my cards and his light up that he's panicking now. I don't think he drew a land, and when he casts Foul Play on my Aether Channeler, I respond with Shore Up, I know I have it in the bag. He casts Biting-Palm Ninja, brings his Persistent Specimen back into play, and then concedes in his combat step.

Review: Deck worked great. Slow start against an even slower start. That Toxrill could have been a problem if I had to depend on Depopulate to remove it, forcing me to reset my board as well. My opponent's deck seemed a little all-over the place in terms of what it was doing, with Champion of the Perished being Zombie tribal in a deck where I didn't see any other Zombies. I think my deck was just more focused than theirs, and once I built up a full hand, that was that. The MVP was definitely Unspeakable.

GAME 2 vs Sarevon, Zur, Eternal Schemer

Hey, a Dominaria United Commander! Esper vs Esper, FIGHT!

I go first, and my opening hand is Plains, Island, Swamp, Boon of Safety, Aether Channeler, Even the Score and Foul Play. I keep, because it's pretty solid, and I just need one more Land for my Commander. He keeps 7 as well.

First turns go by quickly. I play Island, he plays Plains. I draw Shore Up and play a Swamp. He plays Otawara, Soaring City, and casts Dorothea, Vengeful Victim  ^Flip. Interesting. Turn 3, I draw Obscura Interceptor and play the Channeler to draw a card. Shattered Sanctum Good, I can cast my Commander next turn.

On his turn 3, he plays a Swamp, and casts The Restoration of Eiganjo  ^Flip, getting his Plains and passing the turn. I draw the other Plains in my deck, play the Sanctum, and cast my Commander.

His turn 4, I'm expecting the typical Discard Plains, put Plains from Graveyard onto Battlefield tactic, but rather, he pitches and returns the Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom. He follows that up by casing Zur, making his Shrine Hexproof, Deathtouch and Lifelink. That's... awkward. But I still have Foul Play, let's see how this rolls.

Turn 5, I draw Skybridge Towers and play my Plains. I look at things, and decide to probe his defenses, so I keep all five lands up, and swing with both creatures. He blocks the Channeler with Zur, and my Commander with Dorothea. Just as Planned. I Boon of Safety the Channeler, scrying and keeping Phyrexian Rager while my Queza gets a Shore Up to take out Dorothea. I then add insult to injury, and accuse Zur of Foul Play, and he goes back to the Command Zone in shame.

On his turn, his Saga flips, he plays a Swamp, and recasts his Commander. Now his two other creatures have Hexproof.

Turn 6, I cast and draw my Rager, playing the Towers. This nets me Command Tower, which, if I wasn't in a rush, could have played instead of the Towers, but this way I'll have both available next turn. I hold back. On his turn, a third Plains, and a Radiant Grace on his Architect of Restoration  ^Flip. I crack the Clue and get Arcane Signet. He then casts Sky-Blessed Samurai, and swings with his Architect. I decide to trade the Rager and the Channeler for it, and he responds with Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, meaning I lose both and he loses nothing. Ouch.

Turn 7. I draw Fake Your Own Death. Play the Command Tower, cast Arcane Signet. I have enough Mana for both the Interceptor and the Fake, while being able to draw 3 from Even the Score if nothing else happens. I pass.

He casts Prayer of Binding on my Commander, so I throw down the Obscura Interceptor, drawing Ertai's Scorn. I have a decision to make, and I realize that if he things that I was reduced to the Interceptor, and I just drew a counter-spell, there's a good chance he'll try a second spell this turn, meaning that the Scorn is better than the Odds. So I toss the Odds.

He then does exactly what I expected, and casts Dorothea's Retribution  ^Flip from the graveyard, which earns Ertai's Scorn. He swings with Zur, the Samurai and the Architect. I block the latter with my Interceptor, trading the two of them, getting hit with Radiant Restraints  ^Flip for my trouble. Not trouble. I'm playing the slow roll control deck here.

Turn 8, I draw Syphon Essence, and hold back. I'm definitely on the back foot here. He then casts and animates Rabble Rousing, which could be trouble. He hits me again, putting us at 31 to 25 in his favor. On his end step, he mills me with the Shrine, and I take a chance and crack the Skybridge Towers to draw a card first, then mill, rather than mill and draw.

It's Depopulate.

Turn 9, Academy Loremaster. I then slam down Depopulate, protecting my Commander with Fake Your Own Death. BWAHAHAHAHA! I then cast the Loremaster onto the empty board.

He retaliates with a recasting of Prayer of Binding, tossing my Commander to the Command Zone, and then Borrowed Time onto my Loremaster. Shit.

Turn 10, I draw and cast Sigarda's Splendor. I'm wary of putting my Commander down now, and I'm saving mana for the Syphon Essence in case he goes for Zur. On his turn, he does exactly that, and he passes.

Turn 11. I draw Extinguish the Light and Destroy Evil. Leaving me with two mana open, I recast my Commander. On his turn, he taps out to cast Zur - 9 Mana!, and I take my time, leaving Zur up for now.

Turn 12, I draw Haughty Djinn, and cast it hard. Power 8! I then cast the slightly cheaper Extinguish the Light to take out Zur again, and then Destroy Evil on the Borrowed time to get the Loremaster back. I swing across an empty board, and between draws and Splendor, Life totals are now 35-25 in my favor. His turn, he casts Inventive Iteration  ^Flip, knocking my Djinn back to hand. Considering it's 10 power and the moment, I don't doubt that one bit.

Turn 13, I choose to draw an extra card with the Loremaster, and get an Island and Consuming Tide. I cast the Djinn again and swing for 5. 38-17. On his turn, he draws two cards, and casts The Meathook Massacre for 4. That wipes my board.

Turn 14, I draw Slip Out the Back and Spell Pierce, and his saga flips into Living Breakthrough  ^Flip. Uh oh. Wedding Invitation goes down, and he has enough mana to pay for Spell Pierce. He then casts Mirrorhall Mimic  ^Flip on my Commander - double Uh Oh. He overcommits with Wiretapping which is then Pierced. At least one thing went right for me this turn.

Turn 15, I draw Take Up the Shield and Adarkar Wastes and swing with my Commander, a deperation move if I didn't have full mana and that card I just drew. I screw up the ordering on damage and only take out his Soldier token. On his turn, he casts Brilliant Restoration, returning all his Enchantments to the Battlefield. He tries to Borrowed Time my Commander, but she will Slip Out the Back instead. He hits me for 6.

No longer double-drawing, I draw a Swamp, and cast Consuming Tide. I do a dumb thing, and bounce Sigarda's Splendor, while he keeps Living Breakthrough. And because of the Breakthrough, I can't recast the Splendor.

2 turns later, he's rebuilt his board state, and, well, see for yourself.

Right, so I have more games recorded, but the first against a Jodah deck saw me with All The Removal(tm) and he couldn't get his feet under him before I won, and another game against a different Jodah deck where I didn't have All The Removal(tm), and got out-valued to death. You win some, you lose some, but they were quick games, and this is a long article as it is.

I recognize that this deck could stand to lose a single Island for a Plains. In unrecorded games, I kept coming up short on sources. Maybe take out the Skybridge Towers or the Waterfront District instead? In addition, I could use a couple more pieces of mass removal, as being blown out by large numbers of creatures is bad for my health. Not sure what to remove for that at this point, I'll let you know.

But, this also gives me guidelines for how to advance with the +40 for Commander. After all, hitting 3 people with 40 life is far more daunting than 1 person with 25. I'll see you next week when I make that upgrade!

Until then please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job, but more income is always better. I still have plans to do a audio Pattern Recognition at some point, or perhaps a Twitch stream. And you can bribe your way to the front of the line to have your questions, comments and observations answered!