This was my first visit to this shop and it won't be the last. Small group, small shop, laid back setting etc. etc. etc. Fortunately it is pretty close to where I live so I'll be playing here more often.
First Match: Jund Midrange (1-2 Loss) - This guy was good and it was also my first ever Jund matchup. He played Nissa, Worldwaker and Xenagos, the Reveler and with a Polukranos, World Eater on the board, I was at a loss. I put up a good fight, though. I could have walked away from this one if he didn't Thoughtseize me the first two turns, taking away my Stoke the Flames and Sorinn, Solemn Visitor. Match two I beat him in a few turns. Removed everything he tried to play and pursued to beat him down with Thunderbreak Regent and Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker. Match three was going in my favor until I was stuck drawing for lands. Great matchup and probably the most exciting of the night.
Second Match: G/W Devotion (2-0 win) - Both matches were entirely in my favor. First match I managed to bring him down in about 5-6 turns with another removal/Thunderbreak/Sarkhan beating. Actually finished off the match with a double dose of Draconic Roar followed by an immediate Stoke the Flames while he was tapped out. Second match, things got interesting. I sideboarded out Hordeling Outburst and 1 Kolaghan's Command to try and throw him off. I threw in Hero's Downfall and Anger of the Gods. He started out strong with his mana-ramp creatures but Anger fixed that. He played Mastery of the Unseen and began his manifest to protect from my goblins produced from Goblin Rabblemaster. Somehow, my rabblemaster lasted the entire game. I then played 2x Soulfire Grand Master and he then morphed his Dragonlord Dromoka. He was at 12 health when I drew Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury. Dashed Kolaghan with his only blocker being Dromoka. Took me 2 minutes or so to figure out that math on this one. Swinging with Rabblemaster, 3 goblin tokens, 2 Soulfire Grandmasters while he blocked Kolaghan equalled out to a total of 18 damage where he would have been at 17 damage with the Dromoka block. This was by far the most ideal finish I've had with this deck to date. I'm not sure I would have made it another few turns if it hadn't been for good ol' Kolaghan.
Match 3: Temur Aggro (2-0)- First match was a beating. I managed to take him out fairly quickly but I began getting nervous when I saw he had about 5 creatures on the field. Mostly Elvish Mystic Rattleclaw Mystic and Heir of the Wilds but I knew he had stronger cards. I managed to fly overhead and win the match. Second match, though, went a little rougher. He got me down to 9 health before I did any damage to him. I brought back my Goblin Rabblemaster twice thanks to Kolaghan's Command and managed to fight to stay alive until he ran out of cards. I Angered the board, and finished him off with a second Goblin Rabblemaster I drew. Rabblemaster was the only creature I drew this game. Oh and lets not forget, he used 2x Reclamation Sage to destroy BOTH my Outpost Siege before I could even use it. We both ended up basically out of cards and stuck drawing.
I've noticed several differences in the deck with last night. It's not too often an enchantment gets destroyed in my opinion but the fact that Outpost Siege was destroyed twice in the same game last night opened my eyes a bit. I should have lost that game. He just lacked strong enough creatures. He did play Mistcutter Hydra and Thunderbreak Regent but my Crackling Doom and Hero's Downfall took care of it before he ever had a chance to attack.
Running out of fuel seems to be a common occurence with this deck. Though I include 2x Outpost Siege, I should maybe sideboard in something else to help with draws as I move along. I thought maybe 4-5 Scry lands would help with this problem, but they only do so much.
Playing against the Temur deck, I remembered back to the many times I've played Jeskai Tokens/Control. Even the times I've played Abazan Control, I found myself out of gas at some point which is the ESSENCE of control decks. Don't let me do shit until I don't have shit. I need to take this into consideration but I don't know exactly how.
Any advice, as always, is appreciated and accepted.
