I went 6-3 in Sealed on Day 1 and 2-4 in Draft on Day 2 at GP Sacramento. It was my first GP and it was a great experience. I’ll break this into 3 parts so that I can put the sealed list as well as both of the draft lists. My sealed pool seemed pretty good. I realized that I like aggressive strategies, so I was pleased to see that there was that potential with my pool. I was bracing myself for a grindy deck and grindy matches, so it was cool to see a way where I could just try and get people dead as quickly as possible. I played RB and my best cards were Banefire, Sigiled Sword of Valeron, Isareth the Awakener, I also had Liliana's Contract for good measure. I had a decent amount of 2 CMC or less creatures as well as nice finishers and ways to grind out the game with value or recursion. Isareth the Awakener and 2x Gravedigger kept creatures on board for me and Sigiled Sword of Valeron and Banefire helped shut the door on opponents. I kept Hostile Minotaur in the sideboard and was lamenting including Vampire Neonate in the main deck over it, but I think it turned out all right. I did side out Vampire Neonate for Hostile Minotaur in every match though. Also, I probably should have played Hostile Minotaur in the main deck over Trumpet Blast.

Part 2

Part 3

MATCH 1 vs RGB (2-1) Overall 1-0

I won game 1 by aggroing out with Lightning Mare and Isareth the Awakener. I made a mistake and forgot to activate Isareth the Awakener one turn, but a Gravedigger helped save me and luckily that mistake did not cost me the game and reminded me to be more careful. Thud sacrificing Lightning Mare dealt the final damage.

I lost game 2 to an early Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire and I was a light on lands. Sigiled Sword of Valeron was the first victim to Vaevitis and then my lands came next. Died soon to the dragon’s damage.

I started out game 3 aggressive with T2 Goblin Instigator into T3 Onakke Ogre tranding some creatures off but Gravediggering them back. Eventually swarmed with enough creatures for the win.

MATCH 2 vs UWB (2-0) Overall 2-0

An early devoted chaplain was holding back my goblins, but soon Isareth the Awakener came out to play. Onakke Ogre got countered and we both assembled small armies. I attacked with everything and he lined up blocks to kill a lot of my guys and few of his (including a newly cast Regal Bloodlord, but I cast Trumpet Blast to kill all of his creatures with an Isareth the Awakener still in play and he conceded.

This time it was Lightning Mare trading off with leonine vanguard, but I equipped a Goblin Instigator with Marauder's Axe and began to beat down. Onakke Ogre got countered again, but I was able to cast and equip Sigiled Sword of Valeron to maintain the beatdown and generate knight tokens. Opponent was having trouble finding lands and got swarmed by knight tokens.

MATCH 3 vs UR (2-0) Overall 3-0

Early on it was my Lightning Mare attacking him and his Enigma Drake threatening me. He already put a ton of spells in the graveyard with Crash Through and Tormenting Voice, but I was able to fortunately Electrify the Enigma Drake before it got out of hand. I think he cast another Enigma Drake later because he used Switcheroo to take my Isareth the Awakener and give me Enigma Drake (I had no instants or sorceries in my graveyard). I was able to kill Isareth the Awakener with a goblin token pumped by Abnormal Endurance and trade off some attackers for the last of his blockers and swarm him for the win.

I cast Viashino Pyromancer (probably my favorite T2 play, Lightning Mare is close though]]) and began smashing in for damage. Isareth joined the fun and then Enigma Drake came down to defend. Enigma Drake blocked Viashino Pyromancer, but I cast Abnormal Endurance on it, so not only did my pyromancer kill his drake, but it dealt another 2 damage upon reentry. It wasn’t much longer until the opponent conceded.

MATCH 4 vs UWB (2-0) Overall 4-0

Game 1 I just aggro-ed him out with T2 Lightning Mare followed by sigiled sword. Lots of my stuff got countered, but my tokens swarmed him.

This game was crazy. I kept a hand with 5 lands, Doomed Dissenter and Hostile Minotaur (maybe not the best choice, but I figured I’d draw some stuff eventually). Doomed Dissenter got a couple of attacks in, but Hostile Minotaur got killed and then my opponent reanimated it with Rise from the Grave. Now I was the one under pressure. I attacked with Doomed Dissenter, Goblin Instigator and his friend]] as the minotaur continued beating me down, and I was behind in the damage race. Eventually I stopped attacking and used Doomed Dissenter to block Hostile Minotaur (this was important because I eventually stabilized at only 2 life). Shield Mare gained my opponent some life and their Plague Mare killed off my Viashino Pyromancer. I was running out of time and drew a clutch Liliana's Contract. Luckily I preserved a bit of life to actually cast it and I drew Sigiled Sword of Valeron and Thud. Angel of the Dawn came down for my opponent so I faced more attacks and was running out of creatures. I Thudded the angel with a Sigil-equipped creature, but he saved it with Abnormal Endurance and prevented my Sigil attack. Fortunately I was able to use Sigiled Sword of Valeron and Abnormal Endurance to kill off all blockers and swarm in for the win at only 2 life. Crazy close game.

MATCH 5 vs RB (0-2) Overall 4-1

Game 1 was grindy. A goblin token killed my Lightning Mare and it took me way too long to draw a swamp to cast Isareth the Awakener. A Volley Veteran killed one of my guys and Guttersnipe began chipping away at me off removal spells like Electrify and Lich's Caress. Vampire Neonate’s drain ability kept me in the game for a lot longer and just as I was about to untap and finally cast Banefire for lethal, my opponent cast another Lich's Caress to put him out of reach and I lost shortly after.

Game 2 was also rough. It was Goblin Instigator and friend on each side and then my opponent cast another. I cast Sigiled Sword of Valeron and went for the equip on the next turn. I did notice my opponent had 1 red source untapped for a potential Shock, but couldn’t resist the upside of generating knight tokens so I tried to equip my goblin and the opponent Shocked it, putting me way behind them. Goblins and Brawl-Bash Ogre dispatched me quickly. What hurt with that play was that there was a much safer line of play where instead of going for the equip I could have cast doomed dissentor and Viashino Pyromancer. This would have helped halt my opponent’s assault and I could have used Sigiled Sword of Valeron later to take over the game.

MATCH 6 vs RWB (2-0) Overall 5-1

Game 1 I swarmed early with goblin tokens, but eventually the board stalled. Eventually I was able to just end the game off a large Banefire, but it was close. Opponent had better creatures. My first play of game 2 was Onakke Ogre, which got killed, but then Isareth the Awakener brought back the ogre which she traded with a Skeleton Archer. I then used Gravedigger to get Isareth the Awakener and was able to hold up 2 mana to block a Siegebreaker Giant with Viashino Pyromancer after casting Unnatural Endurance on it. So I killed the Giant and did the trick where I kept my creature around and dealt another 2 damage. I kept on attacking with everything and each time fell spector is blocking and killing off my smaller creatures, but eventually I cast Ravenous Harpy and it goes unblocked so I sacrifice 4 creatures to it before damage for the kill. (Doomed Dissenter and Goblin Instigator made that possible)

MATCH 7 vs URW (2-1) Overall 6-1

Game 1 was a grind. He blunted my early assault, but I had some random stuff and was able to pump my Ravenous Harpy a bit but he shut it down with Dwindle. After a bit of a stall my opponent cast horizon sphinx and then cast Mirror Image to make another horizon sphinx and beat me down with huge fliers.

Game 2 was also a grind, I tried to attack early on but my opponent stopped me again. I started attacking again but all my stuff was getting killed until I was left with a Luminous Bonds-bound Ravenous Harpy and a Gravedigger or something versus a Volcanic Dragon, Tolarian Scholar, and an Omenspeaker. I had Thud in my hand for a while and finally picked up Banefire, but I still didn’t have quite enough burn to finish the job. I was running out of action and time and I finally drew Two-Headed Zombie which I immediately Thuded at my opponent. They smacked me again with Volcanic Dragon and the I untapped and cast Banefire for lethal. Crazy game.

Game 3 started a bit slower for me, but I got a Lightning Mare out versus all blue blockers, so it was smashing in for lots of damage. Soon I attacked and my opponent lined up some favorable blocks (for them) like a 3/2 blocking a goblin token and Omenspeaker and a 1/1 blocking a 2/2 plus a Mirror Image-turned Omenspeaker blocking something else, but I wrecked those blocks with Trumpet Blast. I then cast Viashino Pyromancer (dinged them for 2) and opponent cast horizon sphinx, but I Electrifyed it, attacked for 5 down to 4 life and they conceded. It was at this point that I qualified for Day 2. It felt pretty good to accomplish that at my first GP.

MATCH 8 vs RW (0-2) Overall 6-2

I kept a slow hand with Ravenous Harpy as my only creature. I got punished by T2 Ajani's Pridemate, T3 Sigiled Sword of Valeron, T4 equip and smash. I died very soon after. Thud couldn’t kill the Pridemate with my one power Ravenous Harpy, not that I would have lasted long against Sigiled Sword of Valeron. Now I knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that beast.

I kept a somewhat sketchy hand: 5 lands, Doomed Dissenter and Liliana's Contract. I figured that Doomed Dissenter blocking would buy me some time to draw cards with Liliana's Contract. T2 ajain’s pridemate for the opponent again, but this time followed up with T4 Heroic Reinforcements. I took a ton of damage and soon Sigiled Sword of Valeron came down on my opponent’s side to wreck me again. I stalled and traded and even chipped in some damage, but things were already out of control. I began to stabilize a bit with my Sparktongue Dragon’s ETB trigger killing the Pridemate and my own Sigiled Sword of Valeron coming down, but my opponent had removal in response to my equip and I died.

MATCH 9 vs GR aggro (Ben Stark) (1-2) Overall 6-3

Game 1 my opponent had T2 Thorn Lieutenant into T3 Runic Armasaur and I just had a Marauder's Axe and a no-value Gravedigger so I died pretty abruptly.

Game 2 I cast T2 Marauder's Axe, T3 Isareth the Awakener, vs T4 Chaos Wand. I then cast Sigiled Sword of Valeron, went to equip Isareth the Awakener and my opponent activated Chaos Wand in response. I knew I had some removal that could kill her, but fortunately for me my opponent hit my Banefire so Isareth began smashing in and creating knight tokens. I cast Viashino Pyromancer and my opponent tried again to Chaos Wand me but hit Unnatural Endurance and he died soon after.

Game 3 it was my Viashino Pyromancer vs his Runic Armasaur. I Gravediggered back Viashino Pyromancer and chipped in some damage but was facing Sarkhan's Unsealing. I attacked with Hostile Minotaur but next turn my opponent cast Thornhide Wolves triggering Sarkhan's Unsealing to kill my Minotaur. Now the creatures I was facing were too big to get by and I died while trying to set up for Banefire in my hand. It was a great match though.

THOUGHTS

Sigiled Sword of Valeron is absolutely insane. This card won me so many games. It just generates so much value, and if they kill you creature, you just simply reequip it. Amazing card that I’d love to have in pretty much any deck.

isarath, the awakener is also insane. Being able to reanimate with every attack is just crazy and really hard to beat. Not only that, but they’re always losing creatures when they block her because of Deathtouch. I think she was even better for me because of my 2x Gravedigger. I never had to hold back with her and even if she died, I’d just [[gravedigger] her back. Not only that, but it gets filthy when she reanimates a Gravedigger.

Banefire was a great ace in the hole. I could just whittle their life down as best I could and Banefire would clean up the rest. Great card.

Abnormal Endurance really impressed me. It’s a great combat trick because you will often cause a little creature to trade up without dying. It gets even more insane with ETB abilities like on Gravedigger and Viashino Pyromancer. I really like this card.

2x Goblin Instigator is great for swarming and because it provides extra bodies to carry equipment.

2x Lightning Mare is sort of hit or miss, but can really punish people if they keep a slow hand. Also, is a nice finisher in conjunction with Thud.

Liliana's Contract is nice. If you’re not already dead, drawing that many cards should win you the game in most cases.

Marauder's Axe isn’t flashy, but it does some great work. It gives you something productive to do with your mana in the late game and turns lame attackers like Goblin Instigator into real threats.

2x Gravedigger were very important to this deck. Helped give the deck reach and allow me to recover from unfavorable trades. Great creatures for any black deck.

Thud was surprisingly great. It definitely killed an annoying creature or two and provided me with another way to close out the game. I’m not sure I’d play more than one of these in the main in most decks though.

Viashino Pyromancer is really cool and I wish that I could have played more of them. The direct damage really matters and these get even better when backed up by Abnormal Endurance, Gravedigger, and Isareth the Awakener.

Ravenous Harpy carries equipment very nicely and puts dying creatures to good use.

Cinder Barrens also helped me out. T1 Cinder Barrens allows T2 Lightning Mare into T3 Isareth the Awakener. The little bit of extra help with colors was pretty nice.

Part 2

Part 3