This event was crazy; a diverse array of decks made it (mostly) a blast to compete in.
Rounds:
R1: vs Mono-Red
It's matches like this where I've never felt at a disadvantage, especially post-sideboard. Anger of the Gods is just too good, and going from 7 to 12 while maintaining board presence feels sooooo good.
1-0.
R2: vs Jeskai Aggro
Normally, this feels like an okay matchup as well, as long as I can stay at the other guy's pace without falling too far behind on life or cards. These games, though, involved a mulligan to 6 game 1 and a mulligan to 5 game 2. The 2nd game also involved me casting a Thoughtseize and seeing Rabbblemaster, Rider, Rider, Strike, Jet, and 2 lands. Felt pretty bad, man,
1-1.
R3: vs Ascendancy Combo
I'd never played against this deck until Game Day, and now I understand why everyone hates it - it's just no fun to play against. We both went on a mulligan to four, except his keep turned out to be 2 lands, a Dig Through Time, and a Commune. Game 2 involved my opponent drawing the actual best possible hand and killing me on 3. Needless to say, I didn't really get to play Magic that round.
1-2.
[This was the part of the event where I realized I had to win my next 2 rounds to even have a chance of making it in, and I was honestly still a little bitter about losing to the combo deck.]
R4: vs Sultai Reanimator
This is probably the only matchup that I just have no idea what to do against it. Game 1 went: Scry land, leave a land for Rabble on 3, pass. Turn 2 involved a Thoughtseize taking his only action card (Yissan), and 3-4 involved Rabblemaster taking the game over until my opponent scooped. Game 2 was similar.
2-2
R5: vs Sultai Control
This round started with a quick loss to double Prognostic Sphinxes on a mulligan to 5. Games 2 and 3 were grindy, but Stormbreath and burn spells let me get through. We stalled game 3 to the point where he had 2 Prognogs and I had 2 Dragons. I alpha swung unto his blockers, dropping him to 3, knowing he had a Negate. My hand was a Lightning Strike and 2 Jets, so that worked out in my favor.
3-2
[Top 8]
vs Junk Aggro
I held an Urborg the entire first game to keep him off of his removal, and then won with Butchers.
Game two was probably the most in-control I've felt against a non-Red aggro deck. Thoughtseize, Jet a Deathdealer, Crackling Doom, Rabble, Butcher was all it took, thanks to a 3 scry land keep lol.
[Top 4]
vs U/B Control
I'd like to point out that this was the deck I'd lost to in the finals the Friday before Game Day. It's honestly the most monotonous thing to play against, and almost completely blanks every removal spell in my deck. I added Stokes and Stain the Minds to the side to keep the damage coming and remove his win conditions (2 Pearl Lake Ancient). Got him 2-0.
Finals
vs Junk Midrange
This round was against one of my favorite new players in the shop, and a good friend of mine. We decided to play for the mat, and split 22-21 for packs, with the winner getting the extra. I had enough removal and early pressure game 1 that his turn 5 Seige Rhino just got killed to let me untap with a Brimaz and a token. Butcher came down and cleaned things up. Game 2 started with removal and burn, then ended with two back-to-back Wingmate Rocs and a Stormbreath.
Overall, I finished 12-5 for games and played some good players and great friends. It was a good day.
