5/24/14 Top deck heroes (Journey to Nyx Game Day bleagh, 1-3 drop)

I went over to Gamescape North for Game Day, hoping I could win another tournament in a row.  It was not meant to be.

This is the deck I played:

26 LANDS
11 Swamp
4 Temple of Silence
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mutavault
2 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Plains

13 CREATURES
4 Pack Rat
3 Desecration Demon
4 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council

16 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
4 Bile Blight
3 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price

6 OTHER SPELLS
4 Underworld Connections
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

SIDEBOARD
4 Duress
2 Deicide
3 Lifebane Zombie
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council

3 Doom Blade

2 Drown in Sorrow

I lent someone from the store Jund Monsters.

Match 1:   Selesnya Hexproof (2-0)

Game 1:

My opponent played a Eidolon of Countless Battles.  Next turn he plays an Unflinching Courage into Ethereal Armor to gain 8 life.  It doesn't matter anyways, because I have Heroes's Dowfall for it, and win with Pack Rat.

Game 2:

Another Pack Rat victory.  Opponent doesn't seem to have creatures to stop this.

Match 2:  Mono-black aggro  (0-2)

Game 1:

Mulled to 5, opponent had turn 1 Thoughtseize.  I eventually run out of answers for all his threats, and he top decks Pack Rat to kill me.

Game 2:

I kept 6, had turn 1 Thoughtseize, discarded my opponent's Erebos, God of the Dead.  Turn 2 I Duressed his Far//Away.  He had Lifebane Zombie, but discarded it to a topdeck Pack Rat, and I used Bile Blight to get rid of them both.

Still, I end up losing, because my opponent has Brain Maggot for my Blood Baron of Vizkopa (the turn right before I cast it) and I don't have any removal.  He goes Spiteful Returned into Herald of Torment.   I topdeck Orzhov Guildgate with 2 life left.  I could have played Elspeth but it wouldn't have mattered, since I would have died to the Herald of Torment anyways.

Match 3:  Brave Naya  (0-2)

Game 1:

I played a Blood Baron of Vizkopa, but didn't attack, in order to play around Advent of the Wurm.

Lost to triple  Boros Charm.

Game 2:

My opponent beats me down with Fiendslayer Paladin and double Ghor-Clan Rampager bloodrush.  I play a Blood Baron of Vizkopa to try and stabilize.  He has topdeck Mizzium Mortars to kill my Blood Baron and swing for the win.

Match 4:   RW burn  (0-2)

Game 1:

Lost to Chandra's Phoenix into Guttersnipe into Lightning Strike for lethal.  Geez.

Game 2:

Lost to topdeck Chained to the Rocks for my Desecration Demon, and Boros Charm, again.

Ironically, the person I lent Jund Monsters to ended up going to the finals.  I left the event before it finished.

Top 4 decks were:

1.  Jund Monsters
2.  Selesnya Karametra deck
3.  Selesnya Hexproof (the guy I beat first round)
4.  Brave Naya (not the guy I played against, but someone else)

It just wasn't my day, today.   Went 1-3 in matches, 2-6 in games.

I thought about going to Anime Imports to draft today but it was already 4:15 p.m. when I left, so it was too late.

I could go to Game Day at D20 games tomorrow at 10 a.m. but I would have to leave house at 9 am which is rough.  There is Game Day at Anime Imports tomorrow at 4 p.m. but I'm pretty sure it would be full of people from Versus Games.  So maybe it's best I took a break from Standard constructed.

Next couple of weeks will be interesting.  There's a 1k Standard tournament at Versus Games on Saturday 11 a.m., and a 1k Legacy tournament at Versus Games on Sunday 11 a.m.

On 6/7 there's a Modern 1k at Versus Games which is probably I would play at.   Of course, it's also Conspiracy weekend so my ability to play constructed (or Theros block drafts) will be affected by that.

5/23/14 Always a bridesmaid, never a bride (Theros Block Draft) 2-0-1

This was the first time I had gone to Gamescape since the mana-screw incident back on 4/11/14.

There were a total of 35 people.  I ended up in the draft pod with 10 people.

P1P1:   Rare was Deicide.  I took Banishing Light.

I took a Felhide Petrifier over Nightmarish End, and a War-Wing Siren over Feast of Dreams.   I ended up mostly white in this pack.

I got a sixth pick Reprisal.  Most colors seemed super cut for some reason, so I didn't know what second color to go into, though if I could pick black I would for sure, since I had Underworld Coinsmith, Pharika;s Chosen, and Felhide Petrifier.

P2P1:    Rare was Fated Infatuation and foil Rare Felhide Spiritbinder.  I wasn't really locked into a second color yet, so I took the Felhide Spiritbinder over an Oreskos Sun-Guide.

Had to pass a Hunter's Prowess and two Akroan Conscriptors.  The pain.

P3P1:   Rare was Arbor Colossus, which I ended up taking over Wavecrash Triton/Traveling Philosopher.  If I was passing Hopeful Eidolon or Thassa's Emissary I would not have done that.

I got passed a Bident of Thassa, which won me three games with it.

Guy on my right was black/red, and guy on my left was black/white.   Apparently only three people were in green.

The guy on my right-right was white/blue, which explains the low number of blue cards in pack 1, and the low number of white cards in my pack 3.

DECK:

WHITE:  14
1 Nyxborn Shieldmate
1 Loyal Pegasus
1 Leonin Snarecaster
1 Traveling Philosopher
1 Stonewise Fortifier
2 Oreskos Swiftclaw
1 Observant Alseid
1 Akroan Phalanx
1 Skyspear Cavalry
1 Ajani's Presence
1 Reprisal
1 Banishing Light
1 Excoriate

BLUE:   9
1 War-Wing Siren
1 Nyxborn Triton
1 Coastline Chimera
1 Chorus of the Tides
1 Siren of the Fanged Coast
1 Horizon Scholar
1 Retraction Helix
1 Divination
1 Bident of Thassa

LANDS:  17
9 Plains
8 Island

I put in 8 Islands because I had a bunch of double blue mana costs in my deck.

SIDEBOARD:

BLACK:
1 Pharika's Chosen
1 Felhide Petrifier
1 Forsaken Drifters
1 Dreadbringer Lampads

BLUE:
1 Crackling Triton
2 Nullify

GREEN:
1 Agent of Horizons
1 Arbor Colossus

RED:
1 Felhide Spiritbinder
1 Wild Celebrants

WHITE:
1 Ephara's Warden
1 Mortal Obstinacy
1 Oppressive Rays
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Last Breath

MULTICOLOR:
1 Underworld Coinsmith
1 Siren of the Silent Song

ARTIFACT:
1 Traveler's Amulet

Match 1:  UR (2-1)

Game 1:

I had counted out my plains and islands before the draft, and shuffled my deck.  Apparently I somehow forgot to put my islands in my deck.  That was a quick loss.

Game 2:

This is sort of a grindy match, but I end up winning.

Game 3:

Apparently my opponent got screwed on blue mana, so this was a quick win for me.

Match 2:   Mono-green (w/b splash)

Game 1:

I kept a 2 lander on the play, and had to discard Horizon Scholar.  I lost to Strength of the Fallen into double Nyxborn Wolf into Centaur Battlemaster.  Geez.

Game 2:

This game was very close, but I managed to win (barely) because of Bident of Thassa forcing her team to attack.

Game 3:

Opponent played a Bassara Tower Archer (5/2) bestowed with Nyxborn Wolf, and a Graverobber Spider with a +1/+1 counter from Satyr Grovedancer.  That basically shut down my team.   She also had Golden Hind, Nyxborn Wolf (unbestowed), and a Satyr Wayfinder.

I didn't attack in, fearing a trick, and not able to get through 3/5 flyer anyways.

I had:
Loyal Pegasus (2/1)
Skyspear Cavalry (4/5) bestow with Nyxborn Triton and Mortal Obstinacy
Horizon Scholar (4/4)
War-Wing Siren (1/3)
Chorus of the Tides (3/2)

On turn 1 of time, I topdeck a Ajani's Presence but don't feel like attacking, even though I have 9 mana to make three of my guys indestructable.

On turn 5 of time, I topdeck a Banishing Light but it's too late now to swing in and do enough damage to win.

I think I drew this game due to being too cautious, honestly.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have sided out Retraction Helix in that game.   That might have given me an opening to attack through the Graverobber Spider.

Match 3:  WB (2-0)

Game 1:

I get out a turn 1 Loyal Pegasus into turn 2 Leonin Snarecaster.  My opponent plays turn 1 Oppressive Rays on my Loyal Pegasus and a turn 2 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer and turn 3 Eagle of the Watch.  Geez.  Fortunately, I get a turn 4 Bident of Thassa.   He has Viper's Kiss for my Coastline Chimera, and enchants his Trailblazer with his Hopeful Eidolon, making a 2/6 lifelink.   He also plays a Setessan Battle-Priest into Ephara's Radiance.  Of course, I have him on a clock with my Loyal Pegasus and 5/5 Chorus of the Tides (bestowed with Nyxborn Triton).   Bident of Thassa ends up drawing me a bunch of cards, too.

Game 2:

In comes the Mortal Obstinacy and the Glare of Heresy.

My opponent stacks up Nyx Infusion and Chosen by Heliod on a Hopeful Eidolon, making a 3/5 lifelinker.  I use my Banishing Light on it.  Of course, my opponent has Dictate of Erebos in hand.

I cast my Bident of Thassa again, but my opponent has Pyxis of Pandemonium to punish me, threatening to cause me to mill out.

I attack with my Swiftclaw into his 1/1 Asphodel Wanderer while he's tapped out, since he didn't cast Dictate of Erebos yet.    Then next turn he casts Dictate of Erebos.  That's ok, I have no plans to interact with his creatures at all.   He exiles his Asphodel Wanderer with Ritual of the Returned, making a vanilla 1/1.

I manage to make a 6/7 Skyspear Cavalry with Vigilance, attack with a 3/1 Swiftclaw and a 1/3 War-Wing Siren while he's at 16 life.  Before blocks, I cast Retraction Helix on my Skyspear Cavalry, and bounce his token out of the way.  That's GAAAME.

Result:  2-0-1.  4th place out of all the drafters.  In fact, I think I was top in my draft pod of 10 people, but since I didn't go 3-0 I didn't get the promo card (which I don't want anyways).

Two drafts in a row, 2-0-1, unable to make it a 3-0, but it was ok.

5/19/14 An Enchanted Evening (Theros Block draft) 2-0-1

I was feeling kinda sleepy, but I decided to go to Versus Games for a Theros block draft.   Traffic was super light today, so I got there around 6:35 p.m.

P1P1:  Daring Thief.

I got PASSED an Eidolon of Blossoms pick 2.  Geez.

Got a 6th pick Golden Hind, which makes me think nobody was in green.

P2P1:   Scourge of Skola Vale over Aerie Worshippers.

I passed a couple of Karametra's Favor and a Stratus Walk.  It would have been a neat combo with the Eidolon of Blossoms and the Triton Cavalry but I felt like it wasn't really necessary to draft cards specifically to make Eidolon of Blossoms better.

P3P1:   Voyage's End over Artisan of Forms.

I passed a couple of Aqueous Forms, which would have been nice on my Daring Thief/Aerie Worshippers, but not super necessary.

Got a 7th pick Nessian Asp.

Got a LAST pick Scholar of Athreos.  Really?

DECK:

GREEN:  14

2 Sedge Scorpion
1 Golden Hind
1 Scourge of Skola Vale
1 Noble Quarry
1 Oakheart Dryads
1 Agent of Horizons
1 Graverobber Spider
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Nessian Asp
1 Nessian Game Warden
1 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Time to Feed
1 Feral Invocation

BLUE:  9
1 Daring Thief
1 Cloaked Siren
2 Aerie Worshippers
1 Triton Tactics
1 Stratus Walk
1 Voyage's End
1 Griptide
1 Sudden Storm

LANDS:
9 Forest
8 Island

SIDEBOARD:

2 Deepwater Hypnotist
1 Riptide Chimera
1 Triton Cavalry
1 Godhunter Octopus
2 Divination
1 Forsaken Drifters
1 Rescue from the Underworld
1 Flamespeaker's Will
1 Riddle of Lightning
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Satyr Grovedancer
1 Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
1 Consign to Dust
2 Scholar of Athreos
1 Shipwreck Singer
1 Reap What is Sown

Ended up with 5 total enchantments (including Eidolon of Blossoms).  I thought about adding the Riptide Chimera but I felt like I needed more enchantments to want to play that, specifically, more cantrip enchantments.  I only had one cantrip enchantment (the Stratus Walk).

Match 1:  BR (1-1 draw)

Game 1:

I mull to 6, play a turn 5 Nessian Game Warden.

Opponent got Whip of Erebos out, turn 8.  I lost to a 5/5 Pharagax Giant enchanted with Grisly Transformation, and I had no bounce for it.

Possible waste:  I used Time to Feed + Triton Tactics on my Sedge Scorpion to kill a 3/3 Satyr Hoplite.  Probably not actually necessary, but I figured I needed to kill it sooner or later.

Game 2:

I boarded into Consign to Dust.

Turn 4 Whip of Erebos again.  This game ends up super grindy, with my opponent gaining 30+ life, but I pull off the Eidolon of Blossoms + Aerie Worshippers enchanted with Stratus Walk + Oakheart Dryads combo, putting an enchantment bird token into play, drawing a card, and giving a creature +1/+1 until end of turn.

I kinda punt, when he goes for the 5/5 Pharagax Giant into Grisly Transformation combo, I don't bounce his guy in response with Voyage's End.  So he gets to draw a card and draw the game out.

Game 3:

Game went to time (sigh).

Match 2:   UG (2-0)

Game 1:

I got out a 5/5 Mistcutter Hydra enchanted with Noble Quarry, and my opponent had no way of dealing with it.

I had to tell my opponent about ordering blockers before casting buffs to keep his creatures alive.  He had a 2/2 Kiora's Follower and a 1/3 enchantment Spider.  He cast Aerial Formation on his Follower before I had assigned damage.  It didn't really matter in this case, since I wanted the Kiora's Follower dead, anyways.

I missed an Eidolon of Blossoms trigger but it didn't matter.

Game 2:

Again, I got out a 4/4 Mistcutter Hydra.  He had nothing that could possibly kill it (?).

Match 3:  Monowhite (2-1)

Game 1:

My opponent mulled to 5, goes turn 2 Vanguard of Brimaz into turn 3 Ordeal of Heliod.

I took 4 unecessary damage from a Vanguard of Brimaz enchanted with Ordeal of Heliod, because I played a forest instead of an island (so I could play Voyage's End).

I had to tell my opponent how Armament of Nyx worked.  He thought it gave all creatures double strike.  I told him it only gave enchantment creatures double strike.  Otherwise, it prevents all damage from non-enchantment creatures.

Ended up dropping to 1 life because of all his aggression.

I had Consign to Dust, and ended up playing it for 2 to destroy Armanent of Nyx on my Daring Thief, and his Eidolon of Rhetoric.  I probably could have waited until he played a third enchantment, as I had nine mana up, but I just wanted to use it EOT.

My opponent had topdeck Hopeful Eidolon on Decorated Griffin, Spirit of the Labyrinth, and Akroan Mastiff.  I had Nessian Asp, a Nessian Game Warden enchanted with Stratus Walk,  and a Daring Thief.  I beat the game thanks to topdeck Sudden Storm.

Game 2:

I mull to 5, but end up not nearly as lucky as my opponent did first game.

He had Akroan Mastiff and Loyal Pegasus with Ordeal of Heliod (again) to mess me up.  I had Sudden Storm to slow down his aggro a bit, and managed to double block his Pegasus with two Bird Tokens from my Aerie Worshippers.  I had scryed my other Aerie Worshippers to the bottom and proceeded to draw straight lands.

Game 3:

I mull to 6, keep a 2 lander, but it was a fairly decent hand with Satyr Grovedancer, Agent of Horizons, Nessian Game Warden, and Feral Invocation.   I play Satyr Grovedancer into Agent of Horizons into Feral Invocaton.  My opponent plays a Hopeful Eidolon enchanted with Armament of Nyx and a Vanguard of Brimaz.  I attack with my Grovedancer and my 5/4 Agent, he double blocks with the Eidolon and Vanguard.  Griptide on the Vanguard is a 2 for 1.   Then he plays a Loyal Pegasus and the Vanguard of Brimaz.  I attack again, he double blocks my agent, and I cast Triton Tactics, giving both my guys +0/+3.  So yet another 2 for 1.  I beat him for another 7 damage next turn, and play an Eidolon of Blossoms.  Then he plays an Oreskos Sun Guide.  I make my Agent unblockable, and attack with all 3 guys, he blocks my Eidolon of Blossoms with his Sun Guide, and plays Battlewise Valor.  He's down to 4 life now.  He basically has no plays, and concedes.

Result:  2-0-1, three packs of M14.  Got an Imposing Sovereign, Dismiss into Dream, and

5/18/14 "Failure to comply, will result in offensive action" Standard tournament 2-2

I wanted to get in some Standard practice before Game Day at Gamescape on Saturday.   So I drove 40 minutes over to D20 games.  It was pretty quiet, and the tournament didn't start until 11:41 a.m.

DECK:
26 LANDS
11 Swamp
4 Mutavault
4 Godless Shrine
4 Temple of Silence
2 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Plains

12 CREATURES
4 Pack Rat
3 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
3 Desecration Demon
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council

17 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
3 Bile Blight
3 Devour Flesh
2 Duress
1 Ultimate Price

5 OTHER SPELLS
3 Underworld Connections
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

SIDEBOARD
1 Underworld Connections
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
3 Lifebane Zombie
1 Deicide
1 Revoke Existence (this should have been a Deicide but I couldn't find one in time)
2 Doom Blade
2 Last Breath
1 Drown in Sorrow
2 Duress

Match 1:  Hoogland Junk (2-0)

Game 1:

My opponent mulled to 5.

He had Abrupt Decay for my Underworld Connections.

He couldn't deal with double Desecration Demon, though.

Game 2:

Timely usage of Thoughtseize, Duress, and removal spells allowed me to take total control of the game.

Opponent apparently got flooded out, and raged a bit.  I walked away from the table.

Match 2:  Junk Reanimator (2-1)

Game 1:

I got my Blood Baron to be a 10/10 flying FTW.

Game 2:

I mulled to 5, and lost to my opponent's Blood Baron + double Angel of Serenity.  Awkward.

Game 3:

I had Thoughtseize for his Blood Baron, Lifebane Zombie for one of his Sylvan Primordials.  He never got the mana for his second Sylvan Primordial or his Angel of Serenity.

Match 3:  RDW (2-1)

Game 1:

He gets me down to 5 life, but double desecration demon wins.

Game 2:

I banked on Pack Rat activations, rather than trying to play my 5 drops.  It didn't pay off, and my opponent ended up at 25 life (Devour Flesh and Last Breath).

Game 3:

I got him down to 8 life between two Pack Rats and Mutavault, but lost to Burning Earth (hit me for 3 total), Skullcrack, and topdeck Magma Jet.

Match 4:  UW heroic (0-2)

This match was for "fun".

Game 1:

Got flooded out to hell, died to weenie beat down.

Game 2:

Lost to mono-precinct Captain and me without my Drown in Sorrows or Bile Blight.

I would like to fit in a second copy of Drown in Sorrow and another Doom Blade.  Perhaps I should cut both of the Last Breaths, though I like having Last Breath for removing Chandra's Phoenix from the game.

Result:  Got 1 pack for my effort.  Not the best, but I did play some Standard matches for practice for another 90 minutes after the tournament, which made it worth my while.

Apparently I didn't play against the "good" standard players, whose names were on the wall.   That's kinda scary.  I thought the matches I played were pretty even (except for the last one).

I've seen some versions of the deck that run 4 Desecration Demo, or 2 Sin Collector, or 3 Dark Betrayal, or 2 Ultimate Price, or 4 Bile Blight.   I wonder which cards I would take out, though.

5/17/14 Modern Love (Modern tournament, 3-0)

I went over to Anime Imports today, for the Saturday Modern tournament.  When I got there, there were only two people there, which worried me.   I played some Standard to pass the time, and eventually some people showed up around 2:20 p.m. and the tournament started with 7 people.

Match 1:  Mono-G devotion (2-0)

Game 1:

This game gets kinda grindy.  I remand a Primeval Titan twice, then I double bolt it after it resolved.  I win off Tarmogoyf bashing.

Game 2:

Opponent plays a Torpor Orb and a Blood Moon.   Crap, since I didn't search up any basic island or basic forest.

I manage to draw basic island to let me stay in the game, with my Snapcaster Mage, Pestermite, and Tarmogoyf (cast before the Blood Moon).

Match 2:  Goblin deck (2-1)

Game 1:

Resolved Deceiver Exarch into Splinter Twin.

Game 2:

I played way too cautiously.  He burned one of my Pestermite with Lightning Bolt, and then I played a second one.  I had Splinter Twin in hand but I wanted to play around a second burn spell.   I wipe a bunch of creatures away with Anger of the Gods.

Unfortunately, my opponent never tapped out, so I died to his creatures/burn.

I foolishly mistap my mana during one turn so I can't use Cryptic Command.  Geez.

Game 3:

Double Tarmogoyf beatdown wins.  I have Anger of the Gods backup as well.  I block one of his guys with Spellskite (not necessary) and he bolts it.  I knew he had Lightning Bolt in his hand, too.   He had tried to bolt my 2/3 Tarmogoyf when there were no instants in the graveyard.  Since this was a casual tournament I let him take it back.

Match 3:  Mono-U Tron (2-1)

I hadn't played this matchup before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I knew they ran the scry 2 counterspell and the bounce spell.

Game 1:

Made a couple of mistakes here.  I let my opponent skip through to begin combat so I couldn't play my Pestermite to tap down his Wurmcoil Engine, so I took 6 damage/gave my opponent 6 life for free.

I also made a mistake by Remanding an EOT Into the Roil on my Tarmogoyf, when I had Pestermite in play.  He then played the Mindslaver I knew he had.  I should have saved the Remand for the Mindslaver, but it's entirely possible he would have a counter for it, or a bounce for my Pestermite.  I ended up drawing Splinter Twin off the Remand, so that's why I thought I punted.

Game 2:

Triple Tarmogoyf is apparently enough to beat him down.

Game 3:

I keep a hand with double Cryptic Command and Counterflux.  He burns a couple counters on Deceiver Exarch and a Pestermite.   Between my Cryptic Commands, my Dispel, my Negate, my Counterflux, and Snapcaster Mage Counterflux I have a lot of control going on.  I counter two of his Treasure Mage and a Platinum Angel.   Perhaps I should have just let him resolve the Treasure Mages and countered the artifacts he cast, but what if he top decked an Academy Ruins?   Meh.   I end up winning from double Tarmogoyf beat down.

Result:  3-0, got 20 dollars in store credit, for a low entry fee of 5 dollars.  Not bad.    I can save that store credit towards buying a Badlands or Bayou.

I also met some cool folks who are store regulars.   I don't think I could really manage going there every Sunday/Tuesday/Friday/Saturday, but I'm content going there on Saturdays to practice Modern.  I might go there on a Sunday to practice Standard, instead of going to Versus Games to draft, since I actually hate Theros block drafts.

5/16/14 Must be nice (to have it all) (Theros Block Draft 1-0-1)

I spent an hour driving to Versus Games tonight.  I was in a foul mood when I got there, and my tournament wasn't going to be much better.

P1P1:  Rare was Dawnbringer Charioteers.

I got passed a P2 Spawn of Thraxes.  I should have gone into red, but instead I took Sightless Brawler over foil Bloodcrazed Hoplite and Satyr Hoplite.  

I should have worried that I wasn't seeing any Supply-Line Cranes/Ajani's Presence/Oreskos Swiftclaw in the packs.   I passed an Armament of Nyx and two Oppressive Rays.    No Golden Hind or Oakheart Dryads.  

P2P1:   Rare was Hero of Iroas.  

I got passed a P2 Eidolon of Countless Battles.  It turned out the person on my left opened Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.  Yet he passes Eidolon of Countless Battles.  WTF.  

I see a Bolt of Keranos, and a couple Kragma Butchers.   No Fall of the Hammer though.  

P3P1:   Rare was Colossus of Akros.  I took Time to Feed.

I took a Favored Hoplite over Cavalry Pegasus.  That was wrong because I didn't have enough targeted effects to make Favored Hoplite worthwhile. 

If I had gone red instead of green I could have had double Satyr Hoplite and double Bladetusk Boar.  My deck would have looked different, for sure.

DECK (main):
GREEN:
1 Nessian Courser
2 Raveous Leucrocruta
1 Nessian Asp
1 Karametra's Favor
2 Time to Feed
1 Colossal Heroics
1 Reviving Melody

WHITE:
2 Stonewise Fortifier
1 Sightless Brawler
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Hero of Iroas
1 Elite Skirmisher
1 Eagle of the Watch
1 Eidolon of Countless Battles
1 Dawnbringer Charioteers
1 Mortal's Ardor
1 Divine Verdict

GREEN/WHITE:
1 Chronicler of Heroes
1 Reap What is Sown

ARTIFACT:
1 Gold-Forged Sentinel

LANDS:
9 Plains
8 Forest

Sideboard:
1 War-Wing Siren
1 Nullify
2 Humbler of Mortals
1 Aspect of Hydra
1 Hunt the Hunter
1 Commune with the Gods
1 Shredding Winds
1 Kragma Butcher
1 Thunderous Might
1 Lightning Volley
1 Yoked Ox
1 Favored Hoplite
1 Ephara's Radiance
1 Font of Vigor
1 Last Breath
1 Revoke Existence
1 Vanquish the Foul

15 creatures
8 noncreature spell

Three bomb rares, but not much support cards.   Divine Verdict and double Time to Feed seems good, but I didn't have many big green bodies to take advantage of the Time to Feeds, nor any green heroic guys to get big off the Time to Feed.

Lack of Voyaging Satyr/Golden Hind, and bestow guys, and combat tricks.  Ajani's Presence or a Battlewise Valor would have been great.  But basically my combat tricks were:

Reap What is Sown (very good)
Colossal Heroics (very good)
Mortal's Ardor (bleh)

Colors:
(left)  blue/green/white
(me)  White/green
(right)  Red/green (?)
Red/black
White/black
Blue/green
Red/black
White/blue

So green was really cut, and so was white.

Round 1:  UG (2-0)

Game 1:

My opponent mulls to 5.  I miss two onboard kills with Hero of Iroas/Elite Skirmisher/Spirit of the Labyrinth and Eidolon of  Countless Battles (mainly I miss that I can bestow for 3 because of Hero of Iroas).   He draws a bunch of cards off Nyxborn Triton bestowed with Oracle's Insight and Nimbus Naiad.   However I end up winning off Dawnbringer Charioteers into a trick on my Elite Skirmisher to tap down his flying blocker.  Geez.  

Game 2:

He plays a turn 5 Arbor Colossus (must be nice) and I have Divine Verdict for it when he attacks on turn 6.  He has Retraction Helix to save it.  He replays it that turn.  Next turn I draw a land and I use Vanquish the Foul on it.  Begone Giant.  

I end up having to kill his Sigiled Starfish with my Hero of Iroas and Time to Feed.   He plays a Triton Shorestalker, eventually bestowing it with Nylea's Emissary.  Instead of bestowing his Pheres-Band Thunderhoof.  Ok.

I force a block by attacking with my 2/2 Stonewise Fortifier and 6/5 Hero of Iroas. (bestowed with Sightless Brawler).  He blocks the Fortifier with his Thunderhoof, I have Reap What is Sown and Mortal's Ardor to kill his 3/4 Pheres-Band Thunderhoof.    (what).  

I miss a kill because I decide to save mana for Shredding Winds during his turn, instead of playing Nessian Courser.  He plays a Chorus of the Tides and I pop it off, but now I can't swing for lethal.   It ultimately didn't matter because he didn't draw any answers for my guys.  

He complained a lot about how I had insane rare cards.

Round 2:   WB (1-1 draw)

Game 1:

Opponent plays Gorgon's Head into Soldier of the Pantheon into bestow Sightless Brawler into Evangel of Heliod.  Crap.   Now he has a ton of deathtouch 1/1's.    He gets me down to 6 life, but I play a Dawnbringer Charioteers and get it up to a 5/7 with Eidolon of Countless Battles.  

He has Excoriate for my Dawnbringer Charioteers.   I end up trading my 2/2 Eidolon for a 1/1 deathtouch soldier token, because it looked like I was just drawing lands.  Eventually I get a Stonewise Fortifier which can block his deathtouch guy, but he has a 1/4 deathtouch Wavecrash Triton and a 0/4 Mnemonic Wall.   So attacking won't do much for me.

I lose to stall/mill (mainly Countermand, Mindreaver, Wavecrash Triton, Gorgon's Head, and Mnemonic Wall).  

Game 2:

I had Revoke Existence for his Gorgon's Head this time.   I block with Soldier of the Pantheon with my Sightless Brawler, then he plays an Oreskos Swiftclaw into Hopeful Eidolon bestow.  I Time to Feed his Oreskos Swiftclaw with my Nessian Asp while he's tapped out.   I have Last Breath for his Akroan Mastiff, but I wait until he's mostly tapped down, since he showed me double Battlewise Valor last game.   It was probably unnecessary for me to Time to Feed, but I didn't know when I would draw 7 mana, and I wanted to turn off Battlewise Valor as an out to my Asp.  

Eventually, an 8/9 Nessian Asp and 4/4 Gold Forged Sentinel win the game for me.  

Game 3:

I get double Ravenous Leocrucota.   My opponent attacks me with Akroan Mastiff twice, I sense Battlewise Valor, so I don't block.   When he taps out for Godhunter Octopus, I kill the Akroan Mastiff with Time to Feed.

Then time gets called.  I play a Gold Forged Sentinel on turn 2 of extra turns. But I am unable to kill him before turns end.   I have double Leocrucota, Hero of Iros, and Gold Forged Sentinel.  The game ends with Eidolon of Countless Battles and Sightless Brawler in my hand, and my opponent having Godhunter Octopus and Wavecrash Triton in play.  

I can't believe I lost a game to Countermand/Gorgon's Head/Mindreaver.  

Round 3:   BGw Ajani (0-2)

Game 1:

I play a turn 2 Sightless Brawler, my opponent has a bunch of bounce spells so I can never attack with it.  

Opponent plays a Sealock Monster, I have to 3-1 myself to kill it (I attack with Nessian Courser, Sightless Brawler, he blocks Courser, I cast Time to Feed on Sightless Brawler and Nessian Courser).   Of course, next turn he plays Ajani, finds an Aerie Worshippers off it.  He attacks me with the Aerie Worshippers.  I try to kill Ajani with my Eagle of the Watch and Nessian Asp but he has Colossal Heroics to blow me out, making a bird token and blocking my Nessian Asp with the Aerie Worshippers.  Geez.   I use Reviving Melody on Sightless Brawler and Spirit of the Labyrinth to try and get back into the game, but he has Hubris to bounce one of my guys, and then TOPDECKS Seagod's Revenge to bounce my board and swing for lethal.   Must be nice.  

Earlier in the match, he Griptides one of my guys, but doesn't say what spell he's playing, just says he's bouncing my guy, so I put in my hand, and then he says I need to put in my library, so I put in on my library, and then he checks my library because he says the card touched my hand.  Does he need to be a douchebag at FNM?  Geez.  

Game 2:

Same thing, I get a turn 2 Sightless Brawler, and have him down to 7 life, but end up losing to turn 4 Aerie Worshippers with turn 5 Raised by Wolves on it.  Plus Hubris/Aerial Formation/Unravel the Aether (for my Sightless Brawler when I cast Time to Feed) to blow me out.  Does this guy have to have EVERYTHING?   

Result:  1-0-1 

5/9/14 Death and Taxes (Theros block draft 3-1)

I left for Two Cats Comics around 4:55 p.m.  Due to traffic and difficulty in finding parking, I barely got in the front door by 6 p.m.   

The draft ended up not starting until 6:20 p.m.  or so, because of people who were showing up late.  They had 20 people to draft tonight, instead of 10 people like last time.   There was an eight pod and two six pods.  I ended up in the eight pod, but it didn't matter a lot since there were cross-pod pairings.  

P1P1:  Rare was Extinguish All Hope.  I took Forgeborn Oreads over Tethmos High Priest.  Maybe this was wrong.

I ended up getting two midpack Supply-Line Cranes, which made me think white was kinda open.  No Ajani's Presence or Oreskos Swiftclaw, though.  

P2P1:  Rare was Fated Infatuation.  I took an Elite Skirmisher.

Green/blue was super open from this direction apparently.  I was seeing late Setessan Oathsworn and Sudden Storm from this side.   Also a 9th pick Aerie Worshippers (wth).

No Asphyxiates in this pack, sadly.  

P3P1:  Rare was Ashen Rider.  I took it over Returned Phalanx.  (Basically no other white/black playables in the pack).  

I took a Wingsteed Rider over Observant Alseid,  Probably a mistake.  There was also a Medomai the Ageless in the pack but I decided against splashing since I didn't have any mana fixing.

I took a Favored Hoplite over Ray of Dissolution.  This was definitely a mistake.

Took first Scholar of Athreos over Sentry of the Underworld.

Wheeled a second Scholar of Athreos and the Sentry of the Underworld. 

DECK:

BLACK   9

2 Pharika's Chosen

2 Servant of Tymaret

1 Blood-Toll Harpy

1 Insatiable Harpy

1 Feast of Dreams

1 Font of Return

1 Necrobite

WHITE  12

1 Vanguard of Brimaz

2 Scholar of Athreos

1 Wingsteed Rider

1 Heliod's Emissary

2 Supply-Line Cranes

1 Mortal's Obstinacy

1 Mortal's Ardor

1 Acolyte's Reward

1 Reprisal

1 Excoriate

MULTICOLOR  2

1 Sentry of the Underworld

1 Ashen Rider

LAND:

9 Plains

8 Swamp

SIDEBOARD:

GREEN

1 Swordwise Centaur

RED

1 Reckless Reveler

1 Forgeborn Oreads

1 Blinding Flare

1 Magma Spray

WHITE

1 Favored Hoplite

1 Elite Skirmisher

1 Font of Vigor

BLACK

1 Asphodel Wanderer

1 Bloodcrazed Hoplite

1 Fleshmad Steed

1 Felhide Brawler

2 Returned Phalanx

1 Ashiok's Adept

1 Forsaken Drifters

1 Eye Gouge

1 Cast Into Darkness

MULTICOLOR

1 Battlewise Hoplite

Right:  Red/green

Me:  White/black

Left:  Blue/black (King Macar)

White/red

White/red

White/blue

Blue/red

Green/Black

So blue/green WERE pretty open at the table apparently.  I still felt like my white/black cards were reasonably synergistic.

The Vanguard of Brimaz was mainly to give two white devotion for Acolyte's Reward.  

MATCH 1:  WB Mirror (1-2)

This guy was in a different pod.  His deck was pretty insane with Silence the Believers, Agent of Fates, double Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and one Scholar of Athreos.

Game 1:

Agent of Fates + Silence the Believers for 2 packed a wallop.

Game 2:

I played Ashen Rider and he scooped.

Game 3:

Again, he got Silence the Believers for 2.   He made a voltron of Grim Guardian + Gnarled Scarhide + Nyxborn Eidolon.   I blocked with my 3/5 Supply Line Cranes, went Mortal's Ardor into Acolyte's Reward, he responded with Battlewise Valor on his guy, I responded with Reprisal, making a 2 for 3 (I used 3 of my cards to get his 2).  Not so good.  

I played Ashen Rider again but he did not scoop.  

I lost to double Gray Merchant of Asphodel into Scholar of Athreos.  

Match 2:  UW flyer (2-1)

He was in my draft pod. 

Game 1:

Mulled to 6, kept a 1 lander on the draw.   I lost to Griptide + Archetype of Imagination.

Game 2:

I had Wingsteed Rider, Insatiable Harpy, Vanguard of Brimaz, and Blood-Toll Harpy.  Heliod's Emissary bestow on Insatiable Harpy seals the deal.

Kind of a weird play:  I attack with Vanguard of Brimaz, my opponent blocks with a 3/3 Battlewise Hoplite. I play Acolyte's Reward (devotion 4) on my Vanguard of Brimaz, redirecting damage to the Battlewise Hoplite.  He plays Crypsis on his Battlewise Hoplite, making it a 4/4 that doesn't take damage from my creatures.  But Acolyte's Reward still deals 4 damage to his Hoplite.  So that's still a 2 for 1?  Weird.  

Game 3:

Opponent got blue mana screwed.   Sorry to end his tournament that way.  

Match 3:   Boros beats (2-0)

This guy was not in my pod.

Game 1:

Opponent got white mana screwed.  He played a Kragma Butcher into Ordeal of Purphoros.  I took 3, then Excoriated it.   He played a Wildfire Cerberus but it was not enough to stop my 2 power creature beatdowns.

Game 2:

This game was super close, he got me down to 3 life (I gained 3 life off Mortal's Ardor on a Blood-Toll Harpy blocking his Loyal Pegasus).  After that, I top decked a Excoriate and exiled his Kragma Butcher.  He drew straight lands.  Insatiable Harpy + Supply Line Cranes got me back into the game.

Match 4:   BG Pharika (2-1)

This guy was in my pod.  I saw earlier that he had Pharika, God of Affliction in his deck.  

Game 1:

This was a little weird.  He played a Noble Quarry (unbestowed) and a Swordwise Centaur.  I had a Vanguard of Brimaz, a Scholar of Athreos, and a Pharika's Chosen.  He chose to attack with the Noble Quarry and Swordwise Centaur.  I could have used Feast of Dreams to kill his Noble Quarry before attacks, but I decided to wait for value.  I have to block with my team, he trades off Noble Quarry with Pharika's Chosen.  Then he plays Chariot of Victory equip to Swordwise Centaur, into Snake of the Golden Grove.  

Next turn I block his Swordwise Centaur with Scholar of Athreos, he has Aspect of Hydra to punish me. 

I topdeck a Reprisal but he has Mortal's Resolve to save his Snake of the Golden Grove.   

Game 2:

He plays Necrobite + Noble Quarry to try and kill my creatures but I have Feast of Dreams to respond.  He  doesn't have the Mortal's Resolve this time.  Not that Necrobite on a 1 power creature is really that big of a deal.  

He casts Drown in Sorrow to kill my Wingsteed Rider + Insatiable Harpy and his Swordwise Centaur + Brain Maggot.  I pop Font of Return to get my Wingsteed Rider and Insatiable Harpy back.  

Insatiable Harpy + Heliod's Emissary bestow is too stronk.  

Game 3:

He plays a Keepsake Gorgon (eww) and a Snake of the Golden Grove.  I let the Snake become a 7/7, destroy it with Reprisal.   He attacks with Keepsake Gorgon, I double block with Returned Phalanx.  He wonders why I made that trade but I figured that card was gonna two for one me at some point, why not now?

This game ended up going to turns.   I have Scholar of Athreos, Heliod's Emissary (unbestowed), Insatiable Harpy, Scholar of Athreos, and Sentry of the Underworld, a Servant of Tymaret, and a Font of Return.  He's got a Oakheart Dryads, Sedge Scorpion, Leafcrown Dryad (unbestowed), Karametra's Acolyte, a Swordwise Centaur, and a Brain Maggot (hiding my Necrobite).  

Starting with turn 0, I went for the "drain him to death with Scholar of Athreos" plan.  I could have played Supply-Line Cranes to buff my Insatiable Harpy to 3/3, and attack with my Sentry of the Underworld and Insatiable Harpy into his Leafcrown Dryad.  However, I wanted to save mana for draining with Scholar of Athreos.  He blocks the Insatiable Harpy with Leafcrown Dryad, and they trade off.   He never ends up finding a Time to Feed or a Nylea's Disciple, and I win the off Sentry of the Underworld and Scholar of Athreos drains for 2 a turn.  It turns out he had Necrobite in hand and just didn't want to play it (?)

Result:  3-1 in matches, 8-4 in games.  Got 15 dollars in store credit.  

I've gone 4-0 twice at Two Cats Comics.  Once with red/green in Gatecrash, and once with green/blue in Triple Theros.   To be fair, the second time, I got a first round bye, which helped a lot.

Unfortunately, next week they are doing Standard, so I think I will have to go to Versus Games or Anime Imports.  I could also try driving an hour in traffic to go to D20 Games, but I don't know if that's worth it.  

5/4/14 Gettin' dunked (Theros block draft 1-2, 0-2 drop)

My family is visiting next weekend which is pretty annoying, since this means I need to clean up my apartment in preparation for that.   I cleaned for most of yesterday.  Today, I took a break from my cleaning to go to Versus Games for a couple of Theros block drafts.  Considering how I did in these drafts, I should have re-considered that choice.

P1P1:  Silence the Believers.  Passed a Spiteful Blow and a Feast of Dreams.    White seemed kinda open this pack, with all the Stonewise Fortifiers, and Supply-Line Cranes a man could want.

I also passed an Extinguish All Hope, which brought the person on my left into black for some reason.   He opened Ornitharch so he was solidly white because of that.   Apparently he picked up a TON of white cards because only  two people were in white that draft.

P2P1:  Took Forlorn Pseudamma over Astral Cornucopia.  Red seemed kinda open this pack with multiple Bolt of Keranos and Fall of the Hammer, but nothing super insane.

P3P1:  Stormbreath Dragon.  Took the money.

Had to pass a 3rd pick Celestial Archon.  Ugh I wish I had been in white.

(left) white/black
me - blue/black
(right) - red/green
red/green
blue/green/black
blue/white
red/blue
black/green
red/blue/green

DECK (main)

BLACK:
1 Gnarled Scarhide
1 Nyxborn Eidolon
1 Baleful Eidolon
1 Felhide Petrifier
1 Rotted Hulk
1 Erebos's Emissary
1 Nyx Infusion
1 Asphyxiate
1 Silence the Believers

BLUE:
1 Deepwater Hypnotist
1 War-Wing Siren
1 Nyxborn Triton
2 Chorus of the Tides
1 Cloaked Siren
1 Prescient Chimera
1 Sealock Monster
1 Horizon Scholar
1 Voyage's End
2 Nullify
1 Dissolve

Sideboard:
1 Forlorn Pseudamma
1 Viper's Kiss
1 Eye Gouge
1 Dark Betrayal
1 Font of Return
1 March of the Returned
1 Godhunter Octopus
1 Aerial Formation
1 Font of Fortunes
1 Stratus Walk
1 Fate Foretold
1 Rise of Eagles
1 Mortal's Resolve
1 Hopeful Eidolon
1 Leonin Snarecaster
1 Elite Skirmisher
1 Desperate Stand

Match 1:  UR rares (0-2)

Game 1:

Lost to Scourge of Fleets + Purphoros, God of the Forge.  He also had Felhide Spiritbinder which I immediately killed off.  

Opponent gives me the GG after the win.  Nice.   It also didn't help that he played Triton Shorethief both games.  

Game 2:

He drew a card before declaring untap trigger from Felhide Spiritbinder, but I let it pass.  It was still pretty annoying.  

Lost to Scourge of the Fleets + Purphoros, God of the Forge + Felhide Spiritbinder (again).  

Match 2:  GB (2-0)

Game 1:

I play turn 3 Felhide Petrifier, my opponent has Cast into Darkness.  Agh. I flood out a bit, and my opponent plays Pharika, God of Affliction and a Gray Merchant of Asphodel for 3.  

I got down to 1 life, but managed to win off a 7/9 War-Wing Siren (Erebos' Emissary and Baleful Eidolon).  

Game 2:

Opponent got color screwed (only forests) for most of the early game.  He played a Ravenous Leucrocrota which I enchanted with Pin to Earth.  Then he played a Gray Merchant of Asphodel for 2, but it wasn't enough to let him survive my Cloaked Siren bestowed with Erebos' Emissary.

Match 3:  RUG gods (1-2)

Game 1:

Opponent played a Borderland Minotaur.  When he bestowed it with Ordeal of Purphoros, I countered the Ordeal with Nullify.   Instead, I could have used Silence the Believers to remove the creature and the ordeal.  What was I thinking?  Then I countered his Pensive Minotaur with my other Nullify.  Of course, my oppponent plays Xenagos, God of Revels, and bashes my face in with a Pheres-Band Thunderhoof.  

Game 2:

I beat down with War-Wing Siren and Cloaked Siren.  

Game 3:

I end up kinda color screwed, with no islands until turn 5 or so.  

My opponent gets out Xenagos, God of Revels and Keranos, God of Storms out at the same time.  I end up dying to a Pheres-Band Thunderhoof enchanted with Ordeal of Purphoros + Xenagos trigger.  Gah.

Ended that game around 3:55 p.m, so I didn't have time to go eat something before the next draft.

P1P1:  Rare was Skybind.  Ugh.  I took Nightmarish End.

I passed THREE Ajani's Presence.  Also there was a 5th pick Magma Spray.   I see why the person on my left ended up white/red.

My picks ended up all over the place, as I had a few red cards, a couple white cards, a couple black cards. I was going to stay open in pack 2.

There was a Felhide Petrifier that I passed, which I kinda wish I hadn't passed now.

P2P1:  Rare was Forgestoker Dragon.  Snap-pick.

P3P1:  Rare was Anax and Cymede.  I took Erebos' Emissary.

I ended up getting all the red cards in Journey/Theros, no red cards in Born.   I ended up getting all the black cards in Born, none in Journey or Theros.   Thus, a recipe for disaster.

I realized I passed two Squelching Leeches, which may have sent some people into black, but I feel like it would have been a 4 mana 3/3 or 4/4 in my deck, which isn't all that great.

(left) white/red
me - black/red
(right) - green/blue
white/green
black/blue
black/blue
red/green
white/green

DECK (main):
BLACK: 12
2 Felhide Brawler
1 Bloodcrazed Hoplite
1 Nyxborn Eidolon
1 Spiteful Returned
1 Servant of Tymaret
1 Erebos's Emissary
1 Scourgemark
1 Ordeal of Erebos
1 Necrobite
1 Nightmarish End
1 Asphyxiate

RED:  11
1 Satyr Hoplite
1 Deathbellow Raider
1 Ill-Tempered Cyclops
1 Forgestoker Dragon
1 Rouse the Mob
1 Dragon Mantle
1 Twinflame
1 Fearsome Temper
1 Flurry of Horns
1 Rage of Puprhoros
1 Starfall

LANDS:
9 Swamp
8 Mountain

Sideboard:
BLACK:
1 Odunos River Trawler
1 Ashiok's Adept
1 Warchanter of Mogis
1 March of the Returned
1 Weight of the Underworld

BLUE:
1 War-Wing Siren

GREEN:
1 Spirespine (2nd pick)

RED:
2 Priest of Iroas
1 Impetuous Sunchaser
1 Wild Celebrants
1 Gluttonous Cyclops
1 Spark Jolt
2 Font of Ire
1 Starfall

WHITE:
1 Hopeful Eidolon
1 Oreskos Swiftclaw
1 Leonin Iconoclast

LANDS:
1 Temple of Triumph (needed that 4 dollars yo)

Match 4:  UB (0-2)

Game 1:

I mull to 5.  

Opponent had a deck of big-butts and I cannot lie.  He played a Chorus of the Tides, then I used Nightmareish End on it.  He played a Keepsake Gorgon and I used Asphyxiate on it.   

He has Stymied Hopes for my Nyxborn Eidolon bestow.  

Then he wipes my board with Scourge of Fleets, and I die.  I might have been able to kill him if he didn't play Chorus of the Tides to block.  I could have played Twinflame on two of my creatures to hit him for 9.  Geez.  

Game 2:

Grim Guardian + Aspect of Gorgon means I can't attack with my creatures anymore, then he plays Keepsake Gorgon into Voyage's End my bestowed Ill-Tempered Cyclops (bestowed with Nyxborn Eidolon) then Drown in Sorrow to 2 for 1 me.  Sea-God's Revenge bounces my 2/3 Minotaur tokens, and my Servant of Tyrmaret.  

I get pretty close with Deathbellow Raider with Erebos Emissary and Spiteful Returned, but he has Sudden Storm to lock me down for the win.  

Match 5:  GW (0-2)

Game 1:

Mull to 6, ended up on the draw.

Lost to Dawnbringer Charioteers bestowed with Noble Quarry and targeted by Nature's Panoply.  The sad part if that I was on the play I could have killed the damn thing with Rage of Purphoros before he untapped.

He has Armament of Nyx to keep me from racing too.  Geez.  

Game 2:

Mull to 6 again.

I Rage of Purphoros his Archetype of Courage.  

I had my opponent down to 5 life and then he topdecked Ordeal of Heliod and used double Mortal's Ardor to wipe my team (2/2 Satyr Hoplite and 2/1 Bloodcrazed Hoplite).  Gah.   I play a Forgestoker Dragon to try and finish him off, but he has Armanent of Nyx (ugh).  I die to a 4/4 Noble Quarry and Loyal Pegasus/Wingsteed Rider.

Result:   1-4 in matches, 3-11 in games.

My magic record is currently as low as Brian Dunkelman's career.  Ugh.

I think I should stick to drafting at Gamescape North/Two Cats Comics/D20 Games until I learn how to draft better.  Unfortunately, they only have drafts on Fridays.  Technically D20 games does a draft on Sundays but I don't think it fills.

5/2/14 Revisiting the past (Theros block draft 3-1)

I stayed up super late last night, playing Amazing Spiderman 2 on Xbox 360.   I stayed up until 3 am last night and woke up around 9 am.  I wanted to sleep more than just six hours, especially since I was already feeling tired.

I still want to finish these games someday:
Deus Ex:  Human Revolution
Dishonored
Splinter Cell:  Blacklist
Xenoblade Chronicles

They had sealed over at Gamescape North, but I wanted to avoid the Gamescape North scene for a bit.

 So I went over to Two Cats Comics instead.   I remember having to leave at 4:30 p.m. to make it to Two Cats in time for their 5 p.m. draft.  (I showed up late for two drafts and got turned away).  I wasn't terribly fond of the crowd at Two Cats (too many high schoolers for my tastes) but I was willing to give it another try.

I got there at 5:20 p.m. and it looked prettty deserted.   Apparently the draft started at 6 p.m., not 5:30 p.m. like it used to be.  So I got to the tournament 40 minutes early for no raisin.  :P  10 people showed up in total.  Also the draft price got cut from 15 dollars to 9 dollars, which was nice.

P1P1:  Rare was Bearer of the Heavens.  I took Reprisal over Golden Hind.

I took Phalanx Formation over Stonewise Fortifier.

P2P1:  Rare was Fate Unraveler.  I took this over Oreskos Sun Guide.

I took a Ghostblade Eidolon over Bile Blight.  Good thing, since black was clearly cut in BNG.  I didn't see any Asphyxiate or Servant of Tymaret.

P3P1:  Rare was Anger of the Gods (foil) and Fleecemane Lion.  I took Ill-Tempered Cyclops.

I took Ordeal of Purphoros over Hopeful Eidolon.  This was a tough choice, since Hopeful Eidolon is more useful all around, but Ordeals can result in a "broken" start.

Turned out person on my right was white/green, with triple Reap What is Sown.  Person on my left was red/green (challenge).

Someone walked away with:
Mana Confluence
Xenagos, The Reveler
Temple of Abandon
Karametra God of Harvests (3 dollars, lol)

Another person got Brimaz.

DECK (main)
1 Nyxborn Rollicker
1 Sigiled Skink
4 Kragma Butcher
2 Ill-Tempered Cyclops
1 Fanatic of Mogis
1 Labyrinth Champion
1 Pharagax Giant
1 Dragon Mantle
1 Ordeal of Purphoros
1 Magma Jet

1 Nyxborn Shieldmate
1 Oreskos Sun Guide
1 Oreskos Swiftclaw
1 Ghostblade Eidolon
1 Akroan Mastiff
1 Reprisal
1 Phalanx Formation
1 Excoriate

Sideboard:
1 Pharika's Chosen
1 Bloodcrazed Hoplite
1 Felhide Brawler
1 Grim Guardian
1 Fate Unraveler
1 Cavern Lampad
1 Disciple of Phenax
1 Archetype of Finality
1 Font of Return
1 Pin to the Earth
1 Reviving Melody
1 Culling Mark
1 Market Festival
1 Wild Celebrants
1 Rouse the Mob
1 Demolish
1 Rage of Purphoros
1 Starfall
1 Ray of Dissolution

I tried to draft a durdly white/black control deck, but ended up white/red because I saw so many good red cards in pack 2.  I possibly could have tried to audible into black/red, though I saw NO playable black cards in BNG besides Archetype of Finality and the Fate Unraveler I opened.  The white cards I had weren't terribly good.   I think the only white card I had from Theros was Ray of Dissolution.

Technically 16 creatures, though really Nyxborn Shieldmate + Nyxborn Rollicker + Ghostblade Eidolon should almost always be played as buffs.

Match 1:  UW (2-0)

Game 1:
Opponent kept a 5 lander, only played 2 spells.  Fun magic.

Game 2:
This was a longer game, but between Kragma Butcher army, Phalanx Formation and Dauntless Onslaught I grind him out.

Match 2:   UW (1-0)

Game 1:
I played Labyrinth Champion and killed a Dawbringer Charioteers with it, using Phalanx Formation on it.  Of course, my opponent was tapped out, or I wouldn't have gone for it.

It gets grindy with my opponent playing Silent Sentinel and Supply-Line Cranes.   Eventually I manage to get him when I attack with 2 creatures, he doesn't block, and I use Dauntless Onslaught to kill him. 

Game 2:

Opponent mulls to 6, then drops from the tournament to go watch Amazing Spiderman 2.  Value.  

Match 3:  UG (1-2)
Game 1:
I mull to 6, win off turn 1 Nyxborn Rollicker into turn 2 Ordeal, then turn 3 Kragma Butcher and turn 4 Ill-Tempered Cyclops.

Game 2:
Lose this game to Gold-forged Sentinel and Sealock Monster.

Game 3:
Lose this game to Pheres-Band Centaur into Leafcrown Dryad bestowed Omenspeaker, then played Vaporkin into Hour of Need for 3.

Opponent apparently had three Sudden Storm and Hydra Broodmaster in his deck.

Match 4:  BW (2-0)
Game 1:
My opponent plays a turn 1 Gnarled Scarhide, and turn 3 Mogis's Marauder for an aggro-ish start.  Also he's playing Traveler's Amulet but doesn't seem to be playing any other colors besides white/black.

This game gets grindy with my opponent playing Gorgon's Head and Returned Centaur and Rescue from the Underworld.

My opponent gets a bit mad when he uses Boon of Erebos on his Returned Centaur, thinking it would kill my  Kragma Butcher (inspire buff) bestowed with Ghostblade Eidolon.  He thought it meant his guy kills mine, but he didn't realize his Centaur actually dies then leaves combat due to regen during first strike damage.

I play THREE of my Kragma Butchers in this game.  He plays a 7/7 Nighthowler when he's at 3 life, but I have 3 attackers with 3+ power.   So that's the end of the game.

Game 2:
I keep a slow hand, but I have Reprisal.  My opponent plays turn 3 Master of Feasts, I snap Reprisal that.

My opponent never seems to draw his white mana, with a grip of white cards.

Result:  3-1, got 15 dollars store credit with a pile of cards with no bombs.