Pattern Recognition #359 - Slow Grow 6, Weeks 3 and 4

Features Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

13 March 2025

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Hello Everyone! My name is berryjon, and I welcome you all to Pattern Recognition, TappedOut.Net's longest running article series. Also the only one. I am a well deserved Old Fogey having started the game back in 1996. My experience in both Magic and Gaming is quite extensive, and I use this series to try and bring some of that to you. I dabble in deck construction, mechanics design, Magic's story and characters, as well as more abstract concepts. Or whatever happens to catch my fancy that week. Please, feel free to talk about each week's subject in the comments section at the bottom of the page, from corrections to suggested improvements or your own anecdotes. I won't bite. :) Now, on with the show!

And welcome back! So this week will recount Weeks 3 and 4 of my Slow Grow Tournament, and I might as well get into it!

WEEK 3

IN: Coat of Arms, Cathars' Crusade, Intangible Virtue, Hour of Reckoning, Survivors' Encampment
OUT: Requisition Raid, Omnath, Locus of Rage, Swiftfoot Boots, Perpetual Timepiece, Mountain

So, some interesting choices here. The Coat and the Cathar's are both there to make my Warriors far more powerful than they should be, as each of them synergizes well with the amount of creatures I put into play. And I checked the meta. There's only two other Kindred decks in the tournament, both of which are Merfolk, which depend on going tall, not wide, so I will get more benefit out of this than anyone else. But something I have to point out (perhaps again), is that Sand and Warrior are two distinct creature types. In fact, the token Sand Warrior is the only creature to natively have Sand as a creature type.

Yes, I know Mistform Ultimus Exists.

(Spoiler Alert, I misread the decklists, and there are two of the Esper Zombie decks from Aetherdrift in the tournament.)

Intangible Virtue is a good backup, much cheaper than the other two cards to make my creatures huge. And Vigilance is always good. Hour of Reckoning is in because I promised last week, and I knew that my mass of tokens would make it more than useful. A piece of foreknowledge that would work out well for me. And the Encampment is my second-to-last Desert insert. Last one will be next week.

Taking out a Mountain, which is the last colored mana source. No more. I promise. And the Encampment can tap a creature to make mana. Which happens when I play it to make Sand Warriors! Omnath is for a different deck entirely. The Boots don't actually help because mass removal is the name of the game, not targeted removal. And Haste? No thanks. The Timepiece is good for when Yuma is Commander, but not for me, and losing Requisition Raid was because I just didn't feel it in the deck. Yes, the +1/+1 counters were good, but not like this. There are better ways to go about doing it now.

But that's enough of that. You're here for the games, right? I know I am!

Round 7 - FIGHT!

Morska, Undersea Sleuth is first, Winter, Cynical Opportunist is second, I am third, and Hakbal of the Surging Soul is fourth. Morska has the fewest points as the missed Week 2, which will be annoying.

I have a hand full of basics Turn 1, but draw a Desert on turn 3. The lack of early game options in this deck is really starting to annoy me, but at the same time, I have to respect the fact that this is a Mid-range deck, and it needs time to get the ball rolling. Hazezon drops on curve, and I play my desert on turn 4. And then I don't draw any more.

Morska puts Security Bypass on their Commander, and hits me for 7. This is followed up by Winter opening Polluted Cistern, which means that Heckball and I (yes, I checked, he's Heckball, not Hackball) are in a very precarious position of trying to balance the two treats.

Then I catch a break! I've had other lands, just not Deserts, but then I get Ramunap Ruins as my second desert! Or rather, I have it in hand, and I realize that I can do something really stupid.

I play Cathars' Crusade after playing the Desert. People start to worry about it. Next turn, I'm in danger, so I decided to crack the Ruins, dealing the only damage I do all game, and then play it from my Graveyard, triggering Crusade off the two Warriors.

I then discover a problem. When and If I start chaining the Sand Warriors with Cathars' Crusade out, then I will have to keep track of which Sand Warriors have how many +1/+1 counters. This ... might be a problem.

Then Morska backhands me for lethal Commander Damage, and Winter combos out, killing everyone else. Hey, at least we finished before time!

Last place for me.

Round 8 - FIGHT!

I'm at the bottom table with the father and son team of Aminatou, Veil Piercer, and Zimone, Mystery Unraveler. Zimone is first, I am second, and Aminatou is third. They missed last week. I have the highest points, and Zimone has the lowest. I wind up milling down to 5, showing the top 35 cards in my deck to reveal a grand total of 5 lands. One of which was a Desert. Serious shuffling later... Anyway, everyone gets their Commander out on Turn 3 (some rocks are in play for the others), but on Turn 4, I play a Desert, and then Wreck and Rebuild to grab a second Desert. 4 Sand Warriors, I can get first blood, the game has ben that slow!

Aminatou then Miracles out Doomwake Giant, which wipes a good chunk of my board.

But on turn 5, it's Zimone who gets First Blood on me with Thunderfoot Baloth and a Morph.

In response to that, I drop a Desert on my turn 5, and Convoke out Hour of Reckoning. Because it needed to happen. But, I put Hazezon into my yard, and not the Command Zone. Why? Angel of Indemnity is my next turn, gets my Commander back, and I'm good to go and I just drew Oracle of Mul Daya. Zimone counters an attempt at Archetype of Imagination, which would be a problem for my Flying Angel, but they're worried about all of Aminatou's stuff flying.

On my turn, I cast Boros Charm to make my stuff Indestructible, then Catalytic Prospecting for 5, getting 4 Treasures from the mana used.

At that point, the Angel and recycling Hashep Oasis each turn means my 8/8 Flying Lifelinker and 2 chump blockers keeps my life total above everyone else when time is called, and I win!

Wooo! Go me!

Round 9 - FIGHT!

I'm at the bottom table with the father and son team of Aminatou, Veil Piercer, and Zimone, Mystery Unraveler. Zimone is first, I am second, and Aminatou is third. They missed last week. I have the highest points, and Aminatou has the lowest.

No, this isn't a joke. The person running the tournament, who is just the person running the event because the actual person quit as I mentioned last time, didn't bother to check rankings, and just assigned people by their final tournament scores, rather than doing due diligence. There's a reason why my proposed rules set assigned tables as they did, to avoid just this!

The poor guy winds up needing a few minutes to rebuild half the tables, and even then, well....

First in turn order is Temmet, Naktamun's Will, second is Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, Zimone from last table is third, and I'm fourth.

You remember how I mentioned that I had misread the decks? Well, I completely missed that there were two ZOMBIE decks in this tournament. And now they're both at my table. Here's hoping that I don't draw Coat of Arms.

I also do a dumb thing, and keep a hand that's perfectly servicable, but has no source of in it.

I lose First Blood when Hashaton hits me with a Gravecrawler on turn 2. Fortunately, I draw a source, which gives me my T3 Hazezon.

We're all building, and I realize that the single most useless line of text in this tournament - Hazezon's Desertwalk isn't so useless, as the two Zombie decks have the Amonkhet Cycling deserts in them for discarding and drawing. Assuming they actually play them that is. Which then leads into the question of why Accursed Duneyard isn't a Desert?!?!

I Escape into the Wilds for an extra land, and find Doubling Season, my beloved OG printing from when I cracked my box of Ravnica: City of Guilds. I get to play it and double my Sand Warriors! WOOOO!

Then Archfiend of Ifnir gets cloned by Hashaton going into the Graveyard, then gets brought back as a regular creature.

Did you know that OG Doubling Season doesn't care where the counters that are placed on my creatures comes from? It was printed in a set with just +1/+1 counters, and the idea of multiplayer wasn't a concern when it was printed?

I'm locked out of the game by my own Doubling Season as every time Hastaton cycles, I get FOUR -1/-1 COUNTERS on all my creatures.

I'm locked out of the game at this point, pending a boardwipe, which never arrives.

Hilariously though, Temmet had put Zombie Master into their deck, and I had to point out that it was symmetrical, meaning that both Zombie decks had Swampwalk through the opponent's Swamps.

I lose on life totals,

Well, that was a week. 7 points total, and I'm still hanging out at the bottom of the rankings. Here's hoping next week will turn things around for me.

WEEK 4

IN: Desert, Parallel Lives, Heroic Intervention, Naya Charm, Jetmir, Nexus of Revels
OUT: Evolving Wilds, Marshal's Anthem, Nantuko Cultivator, Skullwinder, Kirri, Talented Sprout

Last land switch out, I promise! Anyway, Desert itself is me scraping the bottom of the barrel, but having 18 Deserts at this point is as good as I'm going to get. Parallel Lives is the last token doubler I can afford to put in without a total deck rebuild. Heroic Intervention is late, but never unwelcome in a deck, Naya Charm has its uses - including stopping blockers, while Jetmir is there to take advantage of my token army, and to draw removal. After all, he doesn't have to swing.

Heading out, The Wilds is a better fit for a deck that wants lands in the graveyard, like Yuma. The Anthem ... just isn't going to cut it, and I haven't see it after 12 games either. And a mere +1/+1 for that cost can be done better by pretty much anything else as I'm not in a position to recur creatures either. Nantuko Cultivator is in the same boat as plenty of other cuts - it belongs in a different deck. Like Kirri, who has well overstayed their welcome. Lastly, the Skullwinder will never give me an advantage, so it's gone. I can get lands back easy, and this, again, belongs in a different deck than this one.

That's what's in and what's out, so let's get to the games, shall we?

Round 10 - FIGHT!

sings Hello Winter, Cynical Opportunist, my old friend! It's good to see you once again! With apologies to Simon and Garfunkle. Second in turn order is Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin, a Commander replacement for the Eternal Punishment deck from Duskmourne. It played pretty well from what I saw. They're also fighting for second/third place overall in the tournament. I'm third, then Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal Attendant is in last.

Turn 1, Ob dashes out Ragavan, and grabs First Blood on Frodo/Sam, if only to start chipping at their life total. They get something mostly irrelevant. Winter then casts Buried Alive for Phyrexian Devourer, Grist, the Hunger Tide, and Skola Grovedancer for the Delirium triggers. And then he does something to self-mill a Golgari Grave-Troll, at which point I'm raising all sorts of alarm bells because ohshite, that's DREDGE 6. In a Winter deck. That's not good news at all.

I drop a Scute Swarm on turn 3, with no plans to go geometric. Or the ability to. It doesn't make a full rotation as Frodo casts Feed the Swarm on it, using their second lunch to offset the life lost to that spell.

I build, with Hazezon, but I'm also watching Ob. I realize that he's playing for top spot right now, and so I commit to a deal before offering it to him. I'll feed him first place and he carries me to second. He gets more points, and my Sand Warriors can swarm a target to give his Commander more +1/+1 counters to make a Commander kill more likely.

They agree, and play Kaervek the Merciless.

I follow up with Ancient Greenwarden, and six damage to kill Frodo is something to respect, and to seal our deal. Winter realizes this is bad, and Frodo/Sam are a little slow on the uptake. They only realize the danger they're in when they foolishly block my Greenwarden on a later turn with Enduring Tenacity, return it as an Enchantment, and then I hit it with Decimate. They didn't expect that, at all!

Winter needs to cast Culling Ritual to get the mana to cast their Commander for the third time, but it's not enough as Ob and Karevek keep them down.

I close out the game with 8 Warriors and a Coat of Arms to punch down at Winter and Frodo/Sam, leaving Ob in first, and myself in second.

Deal made, deal kept. And they get a chance to close on first.

Round 11 - FIGHT!

Gandalf, Westward Voyager is first, Dogmeat, Ever Loyal is second, and I am third at a table of three. Gandalf and I are at 25 points, and Dogmeat has 28. They complain that they can't kill either of us without losing any points. Which is a problem that I've talked about before, the way rankings and tables are being handled. Neither I nor Gandalf can take the other out without losing a point either!

I keep a bad opening hand, but draw into the mana I need to cast Hazezon. Dogmeat has some Equipment, and Gandalf starts to get off the ground. I have tokens to block, but then I cast Coat of Arms again, and whack Dogmeat in the face with a few tokens.

They don't like it, but Gandalf does Gandalf things, and we see the top cards of everyone's Library.

I have Cathars' Crusade coming up next.

I slap that down, then play a Desert, making all my tokens than much bigger. Bigger than Dogmeat! But I hold back because I have plans.

Gandalf looks at me worried, Dogmeat's visibly annoyed at not being allowed to win (and not being in a position to do so either), and when it's my turn again, I play and crack Shefet Dunes, then Explore for an additional land drop, which is the Dunes right out of the Graveyard.

4 more Sand Warriors, and I get Magical Golden Christmas land with my creatures as I take Dogmeat out of the game.

Then I look at Gandalf and I lay things out. We can play out time and look to life totals for the winner, or we cna each roll a d6, and the lower person concedes and we all, including Dogmeat, get the bonus point for coming under time.

They agree without reservation, and they roll a 4. I roll a 6. I win! 5 points is great for me! 8 total on the night so far! I'm ahead of the curve!

Round 12 - FIGHT!

I'm first, then Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, who promises not to use the Archfiend if I have Doubling Season out, followed up by Winter again, then Zimone again. But not the young man whose father is playing Aminatou. This is the other Zimone. I'm in last place at this table.

Sadly, it's the Winter Show as while they get early mana-screwed, I can't close out the game on anyone before Winter combos off with Phyrexian Devourer, Walking Ballista, and Necrotic Ooze. I come in second as Winter winds up killing the other two, and then I gracefully conceed. Hey, we get points on time too!

And after this week, I have 32 points, with the probably winner being at 58. Oh well. I ain't winning, but I'm trying not to be in last place either. The guy I fed points to in Round 11 is sitting at 54, so that wasn't a total loss.

Two more weeks to go, here's hoping.

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you next week when I talk about ... something. I'm not sure yet. but it will be here, I assure you!

Until then, please consider donating to my Pattern Recognition Patreon. Yeah, I have a job (now), but more income is always better, and I can use it to buy cards! 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!