Pact seems better because grid just makes slows them down, but the games will go longer anyway. It also makes it tough to be able to tax their counterspells with splicing threat cards on their end step.
Can someone please explain why people are packing lab maniac nowadays? If have the ability to draw your whole deck, 3 mana and a manamorphose available, isn't borborygmos enough in the exact same scenarios?
Bant Eldrazi has been popping up a lot in my meta lately (faced it twice last week). I'm going to a PPTQ tomorrow. Are there are any tips or strategies to help this matchup? I also expect there to be a pretty grindy meta as I know a few people on Jund will also be there. Any tips on maximizing game 1 and SB against these match ups? I am running a list very similar to Owen's list.
Thanks
Eldrazi Displacer is big game against our deck, so dismembers must come in. It also deals with Drowner. Twisted image kills their dorks and skite. It's always risky blowing it on a dork, but it sets them very far behind in the early turns, and if you have an extra out to Spellskite, it's a no brainer.
I recently did well at a tournament with this build. However, I'm thinking of going back to having two twisted image main and perhaps cutting a skite for another Kitchen Finks. One deck which I had problems with was bushwacker zoo. It's not in my local meta much and I struggled against it. I recall taking out git probe and one mutagenic for finks, skite and pulse which didn't feel like the right call afterwords. Does anyone have any advice on how to take on that deck?
I wouldn't cut growth in that matchup. People seem to forget that mutagenic growth is just a ridiculous combat trick. The blowout potential is worth taking damage for. Even against burn I keep that card. Turn 1 Noble, then they turn 1 Goblin Guide and attack. I get a free shot at a land, and get to kill your guy in combat. I was going to take 2 damage anyway. Card's great. Plus, it enables kills out of nowhere in a matchup where you need to race.
If you read Owen Turtenwald's article, he talks about the corrupter, dismember, spell pierce and 2 twisted images in the main serving as 5 additional sideboard cards that are stuffed into the main, allowing for effectively a 20 card sideboard. What this does is give you 10 outs for spellskite in your 75, all of which having crossover in different matchups. It lets you customize which outs to the card you have in your deck by selecting the one that will be most useful to you in the matchup. Dismember and twist against abzan coco, twist against URx control decks, natures claim and twist against tron, etc. to do this you have to put five of them in the main, he chose to have one of each in the main, due to the detriment of drawing duplicates. Twisted image gets a pass because it cycles. It's not about how useful it is in game 1. It's about it facilitating the 20 card sideboard without being a complete brick ever. Also the card is absurdly flexible, and it should be used pretty liberally in game 1. Once I attacked an exalted infecter into a clique, and he blocked with it, so I twisted his clique to save my guy, and his clique died the next turn. It was gas. Also don't forget about twisting a guy you have used pendelhaven on.
Certainly risky, but I don't think you can mull decent 7 with an infecter. You definitely will be slow so if the matchup requires speed I would ship that hand.
What is the rationale behind finks against Jund? I don't think the value game is a one we can expect to win against Jund, so why bother? Why not just maximize on combo density and protection, trimming some of the air?
How do we beat the "shooting gallery" decks with tons of spot removal? I was having a good run last night until Grixis happened. I play Grixis often and it seems like even a mediocre hand is great against infect.
It's all about how you play the matchup really. You want to lean on the info that probe affords you to determine whether their hand is clunky with expensive stuff or lean with lots of removal. If the former, you need to just jam. If the latt you need to be patient and build up a mass of mana and protection for your threats before you deploy them.
What's general consensus about the number of Become Immense? I thought about playing 3 since I have feeling that I won't be able to fill the gy fast enough to be able to use more than one per game and when you cast one you win the game anyway unless opponent has some kind of answer to it. I've seen plenty of lists including Andrew Jessup's playing 4. When you take a look from the other side this makes sense since metagame is quite heavy on interactive deck (Jund, Jeskai) and you don't want to play long game against them but kill them fast and Become Immense helps with that so playing more will increase your chances of drawing it. So what do you think about it? Is it better to play 3 or 4?
Become immense is the best card in the deck. Less than 4 seems wrong. It's just so good at killing fast, and in attrition matchups it's so easy to cast multiple times in a game.
I'm fairly new to Infect. This was actually the second day I had taken it out to play in a sanctioned event with the deck. I have done lots of research on the deck and watched a lot of games played by the pros to get a good feel for it. I feel like I have a solid understanding of the deck, but still have much to learn. I learned a lot from this event. Without any further ado, let's get to the list:
Now that we have the list I was working with out of the way, let's get into the day. I got up early and was headed down to the IQ with a few friends. I volunteered to drive because I had just gotten a brand new car the day prior and was eager to take it out. I was on a bit of a high from this, and decided to get a little dressed up for the event as well. There's something to be said showing up to an event looking dapper, sitting down across from your opponents being a perfect gentleman, and then killing them on turn 2.
The event in question was a Super IQ, which started off well enough for me. Round 1 I got paired against Storm and I killed him on turn 3 in game 1, and turn 2 in game 2. The next round is where things started falling through the cracks. I mull to 5 in game 1 keeping what would be considered a good 5, but overall, it was still a 5. I'm on the draw, and quickly figure out my opponent is on Suicide Zoo. This matchup is very hard, especially game 1. I ended up conceding to a Probe, because my hand was not situated to beat that deck, and I wanted to hide what I was on. I still went on to lose the match, but I think it was correct to do so. The next round, I sat across from Bushwhacker Zoo, and also lost. There was a regular IQ being held after round 3 of the main event, with discounted entry if you played in the Super IQ, so I tried my hand again. At the time of writing this, it has been three days since the tournament, and I have no notes, this is all from memory (luckily I have a mind for details), but some of the matches are kind of foggy to me.
Round 1 - Eldrazi Tron (I think?)
I keep a sketchy seven. Something along the lines of Probe, Probe, Inkmoth, Elf, Mutagenic, Agent, Might. I kick it off with a Probe and I see Tron cards plus Thought Knot Seer and Kozilek's Return. Weird. I draw a fetchland, go to 15 and cast my Elf. He makes an irrelevant play, I untap, draw a Become Immense for the turn, Probe into another fetch, and kill him on the second turn with Might, Mutagenic Growth, and Become Immense.
Game 2, I keep a 1 land hand with a forest and a Noble Hierarch and a Blighted Agent and some other stuff. Uninterrupted I can kill on turn 3. He plays Tron land, map. I play Noble and pass. I brick on a land, and play Agent, pass, and he cracks map. He assembles Tron, and plays Spellskite, and sphere. I untap, cast an image on his Spellskite, might on my agent, attack for 6. He untaps, plays Ugin, and wraths me. His next turn, he cast Worldbreaker on my one land and we go to the third game.
Game 3, I'm on the play, and we have a relatively uneventful game where I kill him turn 3.
1-0
Round 2 - UG Infect
Ahh yes, the mirror. Fun times. I sat next to this guy in the Super IQ and knew what he was on. I don't get the impression he knew what I was on. Fun fact: I had never played the mirror before, but I had a general sense as to how it plays out: Be as annoying as possible to your opponent, getting in chip shots where you can, until you can assemble a quick kill out of nowhere.
I lose the die roll, and already have a grave feeling about the match. I keep a marginally good 7. If I remember right it was 2 lands, Noble, Agent, Vines, Might, Probe. It's alright, but I know very well that being on the draw, I might just get run over with this hand. We both started on Nobles, and then agents, but he broke the symmetry with a Spellskite. I immediately know I'm a dog in this game. A few turns later he goes for a kill, I have 2 Vines in hand. He casts a might on his guy, I Vines it, and he redirects to Spellskite. I throw another Vines on his guy, and he just shrugs and says sure. He attacks for 2. This is important because it tells me this guy doesn't fully understand the text on Vines. He could have just redirected again and killed me with the might and become immense I knew he had in his hand. This information tells me I can mess with his head in games 2 and 3. This game was already a lost cause. I die on his next turn.
Game 2 I keep a similar hand, with a Twisted Image as Spellskite insurance. I lead on Noble. He does plays a fetchland. I play Probe, seeing a very dangerous hand across from me, Inkmoth as a land, cast Agent, leaving up mana and pass. He plays agent, and I get the feeling that if I give him another turn I die. My hand at this point has a Mutagenic Growth in it. If I cycle Twisted Image here I will have enough mana to cast Become Immense on my creature, so I go for it. I draw from Image, and it's a Become Immense. I draw for turn and it's another Become Immense. I crack a fetch, Growth my guy, and he becomes immense enough to smack my opponent across the face for lethal.
Game 3 is foggy for me up until a point, and I remember everything from then on clearly. The game has gone very long. My opponent's board is Breeding Pool, Inkmoth, Inkmoth, Blighted Agent. His hand is Nature's Claim x2, Might of Old Krosa, Become Immense, and 1 unknown. I have 2 Breeding Pool, Inkmoth, Forest, and Glistener Elf in play. In hand I have Nature's Claim, Twisted Image, and a Spell Pierce in hand. I am on 2 and he is on 1 poison and it is his turn. He knows my hand from a Probe a turn earlier. He plays Might on his Agent. I look at his graveyard and count his cards. 3. If I let it resolve, and he is sandbagging a fetch, he can then cast Become Immense leaving his two Inkmoths to pay for my Pierce. I cast the Pierce on his might, he pays for it, and attacks me putting me to 7. I know I'm dead next turn. I need to draw some pump spells, and so I cycle my Twisted Image. I draw a Become Immense. Awesome. Any other pump spell wins me the game. I untap and draw a Probe. I cast it, and draw a Noble. UGH, I'm 1 damage shy of a win. I sit there and tank for a second. I start to remember that this guy seems somewhat inexperienced and so I try something I've never tried before. I stop, let out a little chuckle, and then jam my hand as fast as I can and give him a look like 'Can you believe it?' in hopes that he might concede before he counts. He's just about to do so but then he starts counting, and then I sigh inside. I pass the turn knowing I am dead to rights. All he has to do is cast the Become Immense, and attack for the win. Except he opts to play a Noble with his green source, and then attack me to 9 poison. I am so confused, but never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I quickly untap, man up Inkmoth, and attack. He activates his, and I Nature's Claim it before blocks.
After the slip is signed I asked him why he didn't just Become Immense for the win. Apparently my theatrics had put him so off balance that he forgot about the offensive, and felt like he had to turtle up. He had forgotten all about the pump spell in his hand. I can tell he's pissed at himself, but he's a good sport and compliments my play and then we exchange sideboarding advice for the mirror.
2-0
Round 3 - Grixis Control
I have a very slow hand including fetch, forest, Pendelhaven, Agent x2, Vines, and Probe. I make the joke in head my that this hand would be well suited to fight a control deck. I'm on the play and kick it off with a probe and what do you know? I find a Serum Visions, a couple Mana Leaks, a Kolaghan's Command and some lands. This hand is highly beatable. I play a fetch and pass. He plays Visions, I get a Breeding Pool, untap play Inkmoth, Agent, pass. He casts a discard spell, takes my other agent, and passes with Mana Leak up. I untap and draw a second Vines, attack for 1, play Pendelhaven and pass. He picks up Pendelhaven to read it, sets it down and then taps out for a Kolaghan's Command on my guy. Weird. I Pendelhaven my guy, and then he looks at it again, and then lets out a heavy sigh. I untap and double Vines my guy for lethal.
Sideboarding: -1 Distortion Strike -2 Mutagenic Growth -1 Might of Old Krosa -1 Dismember
+2 Spell Pierce +1 Sylvan Scrying +1 Pulse of Murasa +1 Twisted Image
Game 2 I draw a very threat heavy hand with mostly protection spells. I don't remember specifics very much. All I remember is trading resources and aggressively using phyrexian mana spells because I drew the Pulse of Murasa. It allowed me to get more out of my turns by leveraging mana efficiency, and then recoup some life with the Pulse. Eventually we were both in top deck mode and I ripped a Blighted Agent after drawing several protection and pump spells with my draw steps, and get in there for lethal poison.
3-0
The next 2 rounds were ID's and I make it into top 8 as the 4th seed.
3-0-2
I get some food and chat with my friends. We talk about what decks are in the top 8. There was a string of great matchups for Infect and I start to get the feeling I'm gonna win the tournament.
Quarterfinals - Abzan Tokens
I don't remember the specifics other than I lucked out with a Twisted Image in my opener. I play a fetch and pass, twist his Bird on end step, play an Agent. He passes with mana up and I'm not sure what that means at this point in time. I've put him on Abzan Comany at this time. I crash in for 6 Poison and pass. He plays Raise the Alarm on my end step and I have a sigh of relief. He taps out for lingering souls or something silly like that and I kill him.
We have a bit of a longer game this time. I have an Agent in play and he clutters the board with tokens. I start to fear for an anthem effect, and I decide that it's never going to get better for me, so I go for the kill and he has a removal spell, but I have the Vines.
4-0-2
Semifinals - RG Titanshift
I saw this guy playing right next to me. My match finished way before his so I got to watch what his deck did, and he didn't get to see what I was on.
I'm on the play again. I'm feeling great. I find a serviceable 7, with 3 lands, a Noble, an Elf, a Probe and a pump spell. I play Elf on 1, attack for 6 on turn 2, and don't see anything other than a land for the rest of the game until after he puts up a blocker. I soon die to a Primeval Titan.
Game 2 sadly went about the same as game 1. I mulliganed a 6 land hand, and found one with 3 lands again, but had a decent mix of threats and pump/protection. I ended up getting him to 9 poison. I missed a point of damage by not using Pendelhaven because I was playing around Pyroclasm. I'm still not sure if I was right or wrong to play around that card. It's probably wrong, because Anger of the Gods is the more likely choice.
4-1-2
I do feel like I got some bad beats in the Semi's, but I also drew like a savage at other points in the tournament, and you can't win them all. Regardless of suboptimal choices in the Semi's, I learned a lot about the deck, and can't wait to play it again. The list felt great. At times I wish there were 1 more Distortion Strike in the main. I'm not sure what gets cut, or if it's even right in the first place.
Upkeep is the technically correct time crack fetches. In modern it's typically end step because of shock lands. In dual land formats however, most people do it on their upkeep. It's because you don't have to let your guard down with lands being tapped.
The thing is, people are complaining that the control matchups are nigh unwinnable, which I don't believe. However, that is the complaint. Seige makes it almost impossible to interact profitably. Wild defiance doesn't fix any of the issues this deck has with terminate, discard, path, decay etc. Yes, it's slow. Playing against control decks, you generally have to be patient anyway and pick a good spot to move in anyway. Blindly going in pump spells blazing is a great way to get blown out and lose. Infect doesn't have to be a deck that kills in the first 3 turns.
Eldrazi Displacer is big game against our deck, so dismembers must come in. It also deals with Drowner. Twisted image kills their dorks and skite. It's always risky blowing it on a dork, but it sets them very far behind in the early turns, and if you have an extra out to Spellskite, it's a no brainer.
I wouldn't cut growth in that matchup. People seem to forget that mutagenic growth is just a ridiculous combat trick. The blowout potential is worth taking damage for. Even against burn I keep that card. Turn 1 Noble, then they turn 1 Goblin Guide and attack. I get a free shot at a land, and get to kill your guy in combat. I was going to take 2 damage anyway. Card's great. Plus, it enables kills out of nowhere in a matchup where you need to race.
It's all about how you play the matchup really. You want to lean on the info that probe affords you to determine whether their hand is clunky with expensive stuff or lean with lots of removal. If the former, you need to just jam. If the latt you need to be patient and build up a mass of mana and protection for your threats before you deploy them.
Become immense is the best card in the deck. Less than 4 seems wrong. It's just so good at killing fast, and in attrition matchups it's so easy to cast multiple times in a game.
I'm fairly new to Infect. This was actually the second day I had taken it out to play in a sanctioned event with the deck. I have done lots of research on the deck and watched a lot of games played by the pros to get a good feel for it. I feel like I have a solid understanding of the deck, but still have much to learn. I learned a lot from this event. Without any further ado, let's get to the list:
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Glistener Elf
4x Blighted Agent
1x Viridian Corrupter
Instants/Sorceries - 27
4x Become Immense
4x Mutagenic Growth
4x Might of Old Krosa
4x Vines of Vastwood
2x Apostle's Blessing
1x Distortion Strike
1x Twisted Image
2x Dismember
1x Spell Pierce
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Misty Rainforest
3x Windswept Heath
2x Breeding Pool
2x Forest
2x Pendelhaven
4x Inkmoth Nexus
2x Nature's Claim
1x Unravel the Aether
2x Twisted Image
1x Dismember
2x Spell Pierce
3x Kitchen Finks
1x Pulse of Murasa
1x Sylvan Scrying
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Dryad Arbor
Now that we have the list I was working with out of the way, let's get into the day. I got up early and was headed down to the IQ with a few friends. I volunteered to drive because I had just gotten a brand new car the day prior and was eager to take it out. I was on a bit of a high from this, and decided to get a little dressed up for the event as well. There's something to be said showing up to an event looking dapper, sitting down across from your opponents being a perfect gentleman, and then killing them on turn 2.
The event in question was a Super IQ, which started off well enough for me. Round 1 I got paired against Storm and I killed him on turn 3 in game 1, and turn 2 in game 2. The next round is where things started falling through the cracks. I mull to 5 in game 1 keeping what would be considered a good 5, but overall, it was still a 5. I'm on the draw, and quickly figure out my opponent is on Suicide Zoo. This matchup is very hard, especially game 1. I ended up conceding to a Probe, because my hand was not situated to beat that deck, and I wanted to hide what I was on. I still went on to lose the match, but I think it was correct to do so. The next round, I sat across from Bushwhacker Zoo, and also lost. There was a regular IQ being held after round 3 of the main event, with discounted entry if you played in the Super IQ, so I tried my hand again. At the time of writing this, it has been three days since the tournament, and I have no notes, this is all from memory (luckily I have a mind for details), but some of the matches are kind of foggy to me.
Round 1 - Eldrazi Tron (I think?)
I keep a sketchy seven. Something along the lines of Probe, Probe, Inkmoth, Elf, Mutagenic, Agent, Might. I kick it off with a Probe and I see Tron cards plus Thought Knot Seer and Kozilek's Return. Weird. I draw a fetchland, go to 15 and cast my Elf. He makes an irrelevant play, I untap, draw a Become Immense for the turn, Probe into another fetch, and kill him on the second turn with Might, Mutagenic Growth, and Become Immense.
Sideboarding:
-2 Dismember -1 Distortion Strike -1 Gitaxian Probe
+2 Twisted Image +2 Spell Pierce
Game 2, I keep a 1 land hand with a forest and a Noble Hierarch and a Blighted Agent and some other stuff. Uninterrupted I can kill on turn 3. He plays Tron land, map. I play Noble and pass. I brick on a land, and play Agent, pass, and he cracks map. He assembles Tron, and plays Spellskite, and sphere. I untap, cast an image on his Spellskite, might on my agent, attack for 6. He untaps, plays Ugin, and wraths me. His next turn, he cast Worldbreaker on my one land and we go to the third game.
Game 3, I'm on the play, and we have a relatively uneventful game where I kill him turn 3.
1-0
Round 2 - UG Infect
Ahh yes, the mirror. Fun times. I sat next to this guy in the Super IQ and knew what he was on. I don't get the impression he knew what I was on. Fun fact: I had never played the mirror before, but I had a general sense as to how it plays out: Be as annoying as possible to your opponent, getting in chip shots where you can, until you can assemble a quick kill out of nowhere.
I lose the die roll, and already have a grave feeling about the match. I keep a marginally good 7. If I remember right it was 2 lands, Noble, Agent, Vines, Might, Probe. It's alright, but I know very well that being on the draw, I might just get run over with this hand. We both started on Nobles, and then agents, but he broke the symmetry with a Spellskite. I immediately know I'm a dog in this game. A few turns later he goes for a kill, I have 2 Vines in hand. He casts a might on his guy, I Vines it, and he redirects to Spellskite. I throw another Vines on his guy, and he just shrugs and says sure. He attacks for 2. This is important because it tells me this guy doesn't fully understand the text on Vines. He could have just redirected again and killed me with the might and become immense I knew he had in his hand. This information tells me I can mess with his head in games 2 and 3. This game was already a lost cause. I die on his next turn.
Sideboarding:
-1 Become Immense -1 Mutagenic Growth -1 Might of Old Krosa -2 Apostle's Blessing -1 Glistener Elf -1 Wooded Foothills
+2 Twisted Image +2 Nature's Claim +2 Spell Pierce +1 Dryad Arbor
Game 2 I keep a similar hand, with a Twisted Image as Spellskite insurance. I lead on Noble. He does plays a fetchland. I play Probe, seeing a very dangerous hand across from me, Inkmoth as a land, cast Agent, leaving up mana and pass. He plays agent, and I get the feeling that if I give him another turn I die. My hand at this point has a Mutagenic Growth in it. If I cycle Twisted Image here I will have enough mana to cast Become Immense on my creature, so I go for it. I draw from Image, and it's a Become Immense. I draw for turn and it's another Become Immense. I crack a fetch, Growth my guy, and he becomes immense enough to smack my opponent across the face for lethal.
Game 3 is foggy for me up until a point, and I remember everything from then on clearly. The game has gone very long. My opponent's board is Breeding Pool, Inkmoth, Inkmoth, Blighted Agent. His hand is Nature's Claim x2, Might of Old Krosa, Become Immense, and 1 unknown. I have 2 Breeding Pool, Inkmoth, Forest, and Glistener Elf in play. In hand I have Nature's Claim, Twisted Image, and a Spell Pierce in hand. I am on 2 and he is on 1 poison and it is his turn. He knows my hand from a Probe a turn earlier. He plays Might on his Agent. I look at his graveyard and count his cards. 3. If I let it resolve, and he is sandbagging a fetch, he can then cast Become Immense leaving his two Inkmoths to pay for my Pierce. I cast the Pierce on his might, he pays for it, and attacks me putting me to 7. I know I'm dead next turn. I need to draw some pump spells, and so I cycle my Twisted Image. I draw a Become Immense. Awesome. Any other pump spell wins me the game. I untap and draw a Probe. I cast it, and draw a Noble. UGH, I'm 1 damage shy of a win. I sit there and tank for a second. I start to remember that this guy seems somewhat inexperienced and so I try something I've never tried before. I stop, let out a little chuckle, and then jam my hand as fast as I can and give him a look like 'Can you believe it?' in hopes that he might concede before he counts. He's just about to do so but then he starts counting, and then I sigh inside. I pass the turn knowing I am dead to rights. All he has to do is cast the Become Immense, and attack for the win. Except he opts to play a Noble with his green source, and then attack me to 9 poison. I am so confused, but never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I quickly untap, man up Inkmoth, and attack. He activates his, and I Nature's Claim it before blocks.
After the slip is signed I asked him why he didn't just Become Immense for the win. Apparently my theatrics had put him so off balance that he forgot about the offensive, and felt like he had to turtle up. He had forgotten all about the pump spell in his hand. I can tell he's pissed at himself, but he's a good sport and compliments my play and then we exchange sideboarding advice for the mirror.
2-0
Round 3 - Grixis Control
I have a very slow hand including fetch, forest, Pendelhaven, Agent x2, Vines, and Probe. I make the joke in head my that this hand would be well suited to fight a control deck. I'm on the play and kick it off with a probe and what do you know? I find a Serum Visions, a couple Mana Leaks, a Kolaghan's Command and some lands. This hand is highly beatable. I play a fetch and pass. He plays Visions, I get a Breeding Pool, untap play Inkmoth, Agent, pass. He casts a discard spell, takes my other agent, and passes with Mana Leak up. I untap and draw a second Vines, attack for 1, play Pendelhaven and pass. He picks up Pendelhaven to read it, sets it down and then taps out for a Kolaghan's Command on my guy. Weird. I Pendelhaven my guy, and then he looks at it again, and then lets out a heavy sigh. I untap and double Vines my guy for lethal.
Sideboarding:
-1 Distortion Strike -2 Mutagenic Growth -1 Might of Old Krosa -1 Dismember
+2 Spell Pierce +1 Sylvan Scrying +1 Pulse of Murasa +1 Twisted Image
Game 2 I draw a very threat heavy hand with mostly protection spells. I don't remember specifics very much. All I remember is trading resources and aggressively using phyrexian mana spells because I drew the Pulse of Murasa. It allowed me to get more out of my turns by leveraging mana efficiency, and then recoup some life with the Pulse. Eventually we were both in top deck mode and I ripped a Blighted Agent after drawing several protection and pump spells with my draw steps, and get in there for lethal poison.
3-0
The next 2 rounds were ID's and I make it into top 8 as the 4th seed.
3-0-2
I get some food and chat with my friends. We talk about what decks are in the top 8. There was a string of great matchups for Infect and I start to get the feeling I'm gonna win the tournament.
Quarterfinals - Abzan Tokens
I don't remember the specifics other than I lucked out with a Twisted Image in my opener. I play a fetch and pass, twist his Bird on end step, play an Agent. He passes with mana up and I'm not sure what that means at this point in time. I've put him on Abzan Comany at this time. I crash in for 6 Poison and pass. He plays Raise the Alarm on my end step and I have a sigh of relief. He taps out for lingering souls or something silly like that and I kill him.
Sideboarding:
-2 Dismember -2 Mutagenic Growth -1 Wooded Foothills
+2 Twisted Image +2 Spell Pierce +1 Dryad Arbor
We have a bit of a longer game this time. I have an Agent in play and he clutters the board with tokens. I start to fear for an anthem effect, and I decide that it's never going to get better for me, so I go for the kill and he has a removal spell, but I have the Vines.
4-0-2
Semifinals - RG Titanshift
I saw this guy playing right next to me. My match finished way before his so I got to watch what his deck did, and he didn't get to see what I was on.
I'm on the play again. I'm feeling great. I find a serviceable 7, with 3 lands, a Noble, an Elf, a Probe and a pump spell. I play Elf on 1, attack for 6 on turn 2, and don't see anything other than a land for the rest of the game until after he puts up a blocker. I soon die to a Primeval Titan.
Sideboarding:
-2 Dismember, -1 Viridian Corrupter -1 Mutagenic Growth
+2 Spell Pierce +2 Twisted Image
Game 2 sadly went about the same as game 1. I mulliganed a 6 land hand, and found one with 3 lands again, but had a decent mix of threats and pump/protection. I ended up getting him to 9 poison. I missed a point of damage by not using Pendelhaven because I was playing around Pyroclasm. I'm still not sure if I was right or wrong to play around that card. It's probably wrong, because Anger of the Gods is the more likely choice.
4-1-2
I do feel like I got some bad beats in the Semi's, but I also drew like a savage at other points in the tournament, and you can't win them all. Regardless of suboptimal choices in the Semi's, I learned a lot about the deck, and can't wait to play it again. The list felt great. At times I wish there were 1 more Distortion Strike in the main. I'm not sure what gets cut, or if it's even right in the first place.