I took the deck to FNM on 8.8.14 and went 2-3 with a round record of 7-8. I came away from every match with a win, which I am happy about.
Match 1: Gruul Aggro, 1-0-0
This match was against a guy I've played before. Really cool guy that has been playing a long time and enjoys being helpful and assisting a new player (such as me) as needed.
The first hand was a nut draw, which this deck kind of needs. Obelisk of Urd was down on turn 3 and I won on turn 5. In response, my opponent sided in all of his low cost creatures. I mulliganed poorly the next two rounds and just couldn't answer his Ash Zealot onslaught.
Match 2: Orzhov Midrange, 0-1-0
This match featured more tough draws in round 1 and 3. In round three, my opponent played an aura that I didn't recognize. I asked to read it, and found that it was Skeletal Grimace. She was a new player and didn't realize that card wasn't legal in Standard. I could have called over a judge and forced a win, but we agreed that she could just remove the card from the game and we'd continue. I ended up losing the match, but I figured it might give me some good karma if I screwed up later. So much for that. More on that later.
Match 3: Dimir Control/Mill, 1-0-1
My opponent in this match was a 15 year Magic vet, and was very serious. I tried to make some friendly conversation during the match, which he clearly was annoyed by, so I toned down the conversation.
The first match was quick and lethal. The second was a long battle of a attrition; the Obelisk took a while to appear, and once it did he already had enough threats on the board to kill me. The third battle reached time and was brought to a 5-turn ending, managed by a judge. I won on the second-to-last turn with a lethal strike, the highlight being me having three Obelisks on the board.
Match 4: Mono-Green Devotion, 0-1-1
Green is always a favorable matchup for me. The first match was torpedoed by terrible mulligans, but the next two hands were nut draws. The highlights of this match were me killing Nissa in both round 2 and 3, and the wide-eyed look in my opponents face on turn 3 of round 2 facing 11 damage on turn 4.
Match 5: Azorius Control, 1-0-0
Control, yeesh. I had a nut draw round one and killed him quick, but rounds 2 and 3 were terrible. I conceded game 3 after the second Supreme Verdict.
Remember I mentioned hoping for good karma earlier by not forcing a game loss due to an illegal card? Well, I didn't get it. In round two of this match, I made three mistakes. The first mistake was ending my turn before attacking, and quickly asking to retract so that I could attack. While I was asking to retract, my opponent drew his card and said "sorry, I already drew my card." That was annoying, but it was my fault. The next mistake was not playing Raise the Alarm on his end step. Again, my fault, but my opponents attitude annoyed me. I did the Raise the Alarm mistake a second time, which I attribute to feeling rushed by my opponent and being tired (it was 11:45pm at this point). Round three, as mentioned, was a combination of terrible mulligans and two board wipes.
Overall, I'm happy with how the deck performed. The main change I've made is removing Fortify because it is just too expensive to be useful and adding a Leonin Snarecaster. Also, I've removed 3 Mortal's Ardor from the sideboard in favor of Gift of Orzhova.
I won't be bringing this deck back to FNM before rotation. I will be bringing a version that splashes red, as I believe it to be a more aggressive and offers more tools. I'll revisit this deck after rotation.
Resetting comments. Thanks to everyone that helped me refine the deck.
