Finally built this deck, then took it to its 1st Standard Tournament (28 contestants). Swept first 2 matches then lost 2 to end with 2-2. Here's the breakdown:
Round 1: Esper Control, won 2-0
Game 1 was a bit slow with him using Detention Sphere on my Predator Oozes, but he was never able to get his win con which was Obzedat, Ghost Council. Eventually I killed him with an army of Rancored creatures while still at 20 life.
Game 2 I sideboarded Acidic Slime, Ground Seal, and Bioshift to deal with his control. He used Detention Sphere on my Oozes again and kept killing my Arbor Elfs so it actually took a while for me to get 5 mana to cast Acidic Slime, but once I did I killed the Sphere, got both Oozes back, and killed him, again while at 20 life.
Round 2: Bant Midrange, won 2-0
Game 1 started off strong, I played a Young Wolf and 2 Rancors on it to swing with 5 on turn 2. Then he used Detenion Sphere on my Rancors which sucked but freed me up to play Predator Ooze. He was able to stabilize with Abrupt Decay on my Primordial Hydra and two Thragtusks but eventually I got over them with a 17/15 Rancored Ooze that I had played Increasing Savagery on to win it.
Game 2 I sideboarded one more each of Increasing Savagery and Revenge of the Hunted. I used Burst of Strength on Arbor Elf and then Prey Upon to kill his Avacyn's Pilgrim, then did similar shenanigans later on to keep him mana-screwed. As a result he was never able to play the two Thragtusks in his hand and I killed him easily with Vorapede.
It felt good sweeping a $500 deck with my $90 one.
Round 3: Junk Midrange-Reanimator, lost 1-2
Game 1 he mulliganed to 5 and I destroyed him.
Game 2 I mulliganed to 4 and he destroyed me.
Game 3 was our only real game; unfortunately I didn't have the best hand and he used Farseek to get out Obzedat, Ghost Council pretty quickly. I didn't have a good way to deal with it and quickly lost. He went on to tie for the championship
Round 4: America Aggro, lost 1-2
Game 1 he used Detention Sphere to take away one Predator Ooze but I quickly got a second out. Then he played Lyev Skyknight and started swinging every turn. Despite having a decent army I didn't draw any Prey Upon and couldn't kill it. Eventually he got me to 3 while he was at 8 and I would have won next turn with Increasing Savagery but he cast Boros Charm for the kill.
Game 2 I sideboarded in 1 Pit Fight, 2 Ground Seal, and 2 Acidic Slime. I started off strong with 2 Strangleroot Geist, and using Prey Upon with one to kill his Champion of the Parish. He was at 13 on his turn 3 and was forced to use Detention Sphere on the Geists, but I played a 3rd and later got out Garruk, Primal Hunter to easily win it, although he did actually make a scary comeback at the end using Silverblade Paladin to drop me to 2.
Game 3 he soulbonded a Silverblade Paladin with a Lightning Mauler to hit me for 8 before I could even get anything out. Then I cast a Predator Ooze but misplayed by putting Rancor on it instead of using Prey Upon on his Mauler. I was still able to block and kill the Paladin, but once I was at 8 he burned me to death with 2 Boros Charms in a row. I was annoyed because it felt like a cheap win, but it was fair.
I will go back next week and try my luck again, in the meantime I'd love to get any advice on how to make the deck better, or how I could have played / sideboarded better!
