What to say about Indianapolis? The deck performed spectacularly.
Round 1 I started off beating Merfolk in three very uninteractive games.
1-0
Round 2 I followed up with heartbreaking loss to Ad Naseum in game three, on the draw, when he comboed off on turn three as I held a Slaughter Games in hand.
1-1
Round 3 I saw how very real Grim Flayer is and got stomped by Junk.
1-2
Round 4 was a lucky break as I am paired against Abzan humans. I beat face with three Guides game one, and decimated his board with a well timed Kozilek's Return game two.
2-2
Round 5 I sit down to a pimped out UWR Nahiri and win in two. Second game he keeps a six of four lands, Serum Visions, and Mana Leak. Inquisition rips away the second Visions he finds off the first. Tarmogoyf beats from there.
3-2
Round 6 I get a very Jund vibe from the kid across from me and prepare for the worst. Surprisingly, I face Suicide Zoo and stomp him in two.
4-2
Round 7 the wheels begin to fall off. I'm paired against Channel Fireball pro Matt Nass and his Amulet Titan deck. We trade game one and two. Game three, I have a line of play for lethal even taking the Primetime he is about to drop. That is until he lays down the Radiant Fountain and the game slips away.
4-3
Round 8 and my back is against the wall. My nerves are on edge as I sit down to the match and feel the lack of any real food since last night's dinner for the first time. I am ready for the most important match of the day as I settle into the match up I've been dreading: Bant Eldrazi. He takes game one, and I come back with game two. Game three, he's at 9, I'm at 12. I have a Kitchen Finks in play and he has a Birds of Paradise and three lands in play. I have a Swiftspear and a Terminate in hand. I know his hand and the only thing that can come down is Thought-knot. My line is play Swiftspear, Terminate the Bird, swing in for 5, and rumble for lethal the next turn. I play the Swiftspear, go for the Terminate... and the mana isn't there. Anticipating a race, I had planned my fetches to edge him out. But I'm staring at 2 Blood Crypts and 2 Forests and a Swiftspear that is on the battlefield, already cast. The Terminate never gets cast and my mistake from many turns earlier snowballs to take me out of the tournament. My Realities were smashed and I lost the match.
4-4
Round 9 is nothing to write home about. Grixis Delver player who didn't care anymore. I beat him game one and he shoves his whole board in and offers cuts. I keep a bad hand but he durdles so long that I come back to beat him in two. Over the course of game two, he cast Tasigur no few than six times. I finish the tournament 5-4.
I think that that is all for this deck. I'm going to put it aside for now. It's performed beyond what I ever expected from it. I really think it has tier-2 potential with a little more tuning and high level practice. I really couldn't have foreseen that ever happening.
So what does that mean for this deck? It will remain public and on my mind. Please feel free to comment and help me improve it. I want to see it become the best that it can be and I will never give up on it. Thank you for checking it out.
