UW Heroic Tempo

Standard harrison5371

SCORE: 9 | 7 COMMENTS | 2581 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS

SCG RICH —Nov. 22, 2014

Took the deck to SCG RICH this last weekend, which happened to be my first more competitive event in a couple years (more to come in the near future! I'm looking at you SCG COL).

Round 1, Sultai Control

Game 1, I took handedly without seeing much of his deck. He took game 2 on the back of Villainous Wealth. Game 3 put me on the play and I kept a land heavy hand and proceeded to flood out. Moral of the story: When in doubt, mulligan out!

0-1

Round 2, Jeskai Aggro

On the draw, took game 1 with my Lagonna-Band Trailblazer quickly overpowering his Mantis Rider.

Game 2, he won the race off 2 Mantis Riders and a Goblin Rabblemaster.

It quickly became apparent he was running an unsual amount of creatures so I prepared for a straight race, which I won in game 3.

1-1

Round 3, Jeskai Aggro

Had a good natured match in a more casual setting, and after 2 close matches, game 3 was leading to a race. With any burn, he had lethal in 2, and I need to race quickly. A turn later he was at 8, and on the back of Defiant Strike and Gods Willing I put him to 1 and passed with just 1 life to spare after he attacked on the board.

Luckily for me, all his red mana sources were pain lands, and I locked him out of a Jeskai Charm and Lightning Strike.

2-1

Round 4, GB Whip

As we were shuffling I overheard him talking to a judge who was making jokes about his lose in the tournament after a PT Honolulu invite.

I took game 1 easily on the play on the back of a Battle Mastery to which he replied, "That's a thing". Game 2 put us both in top deck mode, with both of his Whip of Erebos in the graveyard. He had developed a board a board presence with Polukranos, World Eater and a Hornet Queen I had an Ordeal of Thassa on a Battlewise Hoplite and cast Defiant Strike going into combat. I scryed away the card drew one, then drew 2 off of Ordeal of Thassa and couldn't find the Gods Willing I needed to close out the game. My opponent agreed after the match it was the right play, but I came up short.

Game 3 proceeded like game 1, without having to worry much about removal and getting my damage in on the back of Aqueous Form.

3-1

Round 5, Mardu Midrange

Mardu midrange is not a nice matchup for me. It seemed he always had 1 more copy of cackling doom than I had protection spell. There's not much to speak about this game, as he easily put me away 2-0 in games that were fairly unremarkable.

3-2

Round 6, Temur Midrange

He seemed to know his deck well enough. However, luck wasn't on his side and he couldn't drop an early Savage Knuckleblade to race me. Fair unremarkable games, and I took it down 2-0 in quick fashion for the first time of the day.

4-2

Round 7, Abzan Midrange

I followed up where I left off in the previous round, racing him down to a quick 2-0. He had disruption, but I had enough protection to shove damage through before he could set up. This match reinforced what I learned in match 1 about mulliganing, as I aggressively mulliganed both games.

5-2

At this point, I was out of top 8 contention, but I needed to win 2 of my last 3 to top 64 and at least get my money back. After my last 2 wins, I was felling pretty good about my odds, but fatigue was starting to set in.

Round 8, Mardu Midrange

It was clear to me he was the better player and his deck of choice was not making the matchup any easier. Game 1, I could have won with a top decked Gods Willing which never came, and game 2 was a thrashing as I watched him overpower the board and wipe my threat away with cackling doom

5-3

All is good, 2 wins and in

Round 9, Naya Chord

I won the dice roll and opted to play beating him through a Hornet Queen thanks to an Aqueous Form off the back of Heliod's Pilgrim. It should be noted I only saw GR this game as apparently he was mana screwed for the match. He made a solid play with a Chord of Calling for a Reclamation Sage to destroy my Ordeal of Thassa before I could swing for the trigger.

Game 2 and 3, showcased the ingenuity of the deck as he used both Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Sorin, Solemn Visitor to beat me and knock me out of contention.

5-4 and drop after I fell out of contention. There are a few things I would fix about the deck after the event, mainly Spectra Ward doing almost nothing for me out of the sideboard. Also to note, Battle Mastery over preformed.

I went 5-4, but I felt like I did a lot better than the record stated. The deck was fun, and the matchups seemed pretty consistent until the end. I had fun even though I have things to work on, and I recommend the shell of this list.