I played RB and went 2-2 with a round one bye. I had fun and liked the deck, but it was excruciating to leave out some of the cards in my pool. RB seemed to have the largest amount of power-cards and removal, but I was sad to leave out Angel of Sanctions and Glyph Keeper, two of the most powerful cards in the set. I contemplated splashing, but I only had one Evolving Wilds and both those cards required two of their respective colors. I figured a more consistent mana base was worth leaving those cards out.

MATCH 1: bye

MATCH 2 against RB (2-0)

Game 1 was very close. I had to take a lot of damage before stabilizing, but was able to win via Glorybringer. My opponent actually could have killed me with a Cut / Ribbons in his graveyard, but forgot about it.

Game 2 was a blowout. I was able to cast Plague Belcher and dump the -1/-1 counters on another creature. The I used Cartouche of Ambition to kill a creature and give the Belcher +1/+1 and lifelink, which ended the game quickly. I learned after that the aura put the Belcher just out of range of my opponent's burn spells.

MATCH 3 against UWB (1-2)

Game 1 was unsatisfying. I got stuck on too few lands despite cycling a few cards and lost. A land or two a few turns earlier would have made this more competitive.

Game 2 was fairly close. My Glorybringer got nullified by Gideon's Intervention, but I was able to squeeze out a win anyway.

Game 3 was also close. The bad mana-curve of my deck was evident this time, I was able to deal a some damage, but got slowed down. My opponent's deck was packing a lot of removal and he was able to get 3 brick counters on Oracle's Vault and the card/mana advantage was too much to overcome. My opponent was at a low life total, but I couldn't find a Glorybringer or heart-piercer manitcore to close things out.

MATCH 4 against GUb (1-2)

Game 1 was tough. He got stuck on three lands early on but I was not able to press my advantage and I eventually drew 4 lands in 5 cards after I already had 5 lands in play. At one point he put a Illusory Wrappings on my Glorybringer and could have attacked and Exerted my Glorybringer to kill off his only creature, an Ornery Kudu, but I missed that line and instead just chump-blocked the Ornery Kudu instead. I'm not sure, but that might have cost me the game. The sad part was that I did already attack and Exert Glorybringer earlier while it was a 0/2. I'm used to effects like Lignify which remove abilities, and I think I must have switched over to that mindset with Illusory Wrappings.

Game 2 was a long battle. I was getting smashed for a lot, but I was eventually able to barely stabilize and stall the board. I think had my opponent stayed aggressive I likely would have died. But I was eventually about to cast Glorybringer when he was at 5 life with no fliers and NOT Exert the dragon. That was important because I needed Glorybringer to attack again the next turn.

Game 3 was more of a blowout. I didn't have many early plays and my opponent was able to Commit / Memory my Pitiless Vizier and then bounce it later with Angler Drake, which he then followed up with Glyph Keeper. I was able to stall out a bit longer, but then lost to the Glyph Keeper

THOUGHTS

Glorybringer is amazing and I'm fortunate that I was able to draw it and cast it so many times. I think I was a little too trigger-happy with Exert. I think many times, if they don't have any fliers or much pressure you should just attack each turn. I played a match against Zach, and I was able to kill a Gideon of the Trials and a 4/4 the same turn with my Glorybringer, it really is a powerful card.

Ahn-Crop Crasher was really nice, it can quickly skew the game in your favor.

heart-piercer manitcore was sweet as well. I frequently found myself wishing I would draw this card so that I could close out the game. In the match against Zach, this card was able to close one of the games out for me.

Liliana's Mastery was very nice. I just does so much for 5 mana, it can catch you up, or just close the game out. I really liked it.

Plague Belcher was incredible. I loved being able to dump it's -1/-1 counters on a Dune Beetle and start smashing with my 5/4 Menace. This card contributed to a few of my wins.

Horror of the Broken Lands was so-so. I though this card would be very good, but I must not have had enough enablers.

I was not very happy about the mana-curve of this deck. I felt like I was crowded at 4 and 5 mana slot. I wish I had had some aggressive two-drops in these colors that I could have included.