Hello. I'm the guy that played the Bant Bogles deck at the IQ. The region I played in was rather infamous for a large number of Tron players and a few Storm players. I wanted the Stubborn Denials as it seemed the best answer really for Ugins and Karns from Tron. Of course, this time around, I saw no Tron whatsoever... Also, the deck was built to be a bit more budget friendly. I had been gathering pieces for over a year, and couldn't afford some things like Horizon Canopies and some other things that probably should be in the deck. Here's a slight Tournament report, as best as I can remember, and hopefully it will give some insight into the deck. Granted this tournament was about... 3 weeks or so ago now.
Round 1 vs Red-White Enchantments W 2-0
I know the guy playing this homebrew deck, he's a good friend. I had helped him test the deck a few weeks before the tournament. It was RW that wanted to establish the Solemnity and Phyrexian Unlife lock and then kill you with Enduring Ideal fetching up things like Form of the Dragon. Game 1 I killed him on turn 3. I sided out the Path of Exiles and Spirit Mantles for Spell Pierces and Natural States since I know he's playing no creatures. Game 2 was slower than game one, thanks to his Porphyry Nodes, I had to let a Bogle die, let the Nodes kill itself and then work to suit up a Scout and then one on turn 6, iirc.
Round 2 vs GW Bogles W 2-1
Game 1 was incredibly close. My opponent went first and we traded blows with Spirit Mantled creatures, Stubborn Denial came up huge, countering a Rancor to prevent him from having the last point of damage to kill me and I killed him on my crackback swing on turn 4. I sided out both Path of Exiles for the Natural States. Game 2 was a rout, he suited up a bogle early. I hoped to put a spirit mantle on my own bogle to stop the bleeding, but then he topdecked his own mantle for lethal. Game 3 showed the power of Kor Spiritdancer, with both of us siding out our removal, I was free to suit up the Spiritdancer, her ability making her much larger than his Bogle. With Coronet and a couple other enchants on her, I was healing for more damage than he could deal and won the race.
Round 3 vs Bant Spirits L 1-2
Game 1 I feel like I misplayed. He played a Drogskol Captain turn two with the aid of a turn one Heirarch and I focused on suiting up a bogle instead of killing the Captain with my Path. He then played a Phantasmal Image and a bunch of other spirits and I was swarmed after that. I needed to see a Coronet to have a chance to stabilize, but it never happened. I sided out three Stubborn Denials in favor of a third Path and the Natural States (for Aether Vial). Game 2 Bogles did their thing. I got off to a hot start with Scout into Rancor plus Ethereal armor, and he couldn't play enough guys to recover fast enough. Game 3, he got to go first, I managed to kill a Captain before he could copy it, but he still had a ton of other lords, again I found myself needing a Coronet to stabilize and never found it.
Round 4 vs Jeskai Control W 2-0
This was the matchup that Stubborn Denial was MVP. In game 1 it countered a Settle the Wreckage as I was swinging in for lethal with a souped up Bogle, Also of note, the 4 basic lands came in handy as he Path of Exiled two Spiritdancers and then tried to Field of Ruin a Hallowed Fountain to knock me off of blue, luckily I had that basic Island to fetch up. I sided out the two Paths for the Spell Pierces. Game 2, my hand was light on enchantments, holding only a Curious Obsession and an Ethereal Armor along with a Bogle. Luckily that's all I needed as I spell pierced a Cryptic command, Denialed another one, and then Denialed a Settle the Wreckage over three consecutive turns to lock up the win.
Round 5 vs Dredge W 2-0
I don't think this is a matchup that the deck can lose, to be honest. He did all the stuff that his deck was supposed to do, but I literally didn't care. He summoned all the Bloodghasts and stuff he wanted, even hit me twice with Creeping Chills in game 1 and he was still dead on 5. I sideboarded out 3 Denials for 1 Path and 2 Rest in Peace, and in game 2, he got stuck on 2 while a suited up bogle ran him over.
Round 6 Intentional Draw
At this point, I got paired up against one of the two 4-0-1 players and could ID into the Top 8, so I did.
Top 8 Scoop
After a discussion with the judge, the top 8 decided to split the money and play only for the invites. My opponent apparently didn't care about the invite and so he scooped to me to give me a free pass into the top 4.
Top 4 vs Humans W 2-1
Game one felt like standard Bogle stuff, I came out strong and swinging fast and managed to hit a Spirit Mantle so he couldn't chump block my guy and the game was over on 4. I sided out three denials for a Path and two States (again for the Aether Vials). Game 2, my back was broken when he landed a turn two Meddling Mage naming Daybreak Coronet while I held two in hand. I tried suiting up what I could, but that plus sideboarded Knights of Autumn left me with little to work with and I got ran over by Mantis Riders. Game 3, my opponent again named Coronet with a Meddling mage, but luckily, this time I didn't have one in hand. I got to suiting up. I had a Curious Obsession nuked by a Knight of Autumn, but on my turn 5, my opponent was at 12, and I managed to play enough enchantments, that even though he flashed in another knight of Autumn to blow up an Ethereal armor, I still had exactly enough damage to kill him on that swing before he killed me the next turn.
Finals Scoop
With both of us getting an invitation regardless of outcome. I wanted to play the game just for bragging rights, however my opponent had a two hour drive home and wanted to get on the road, so he scooped to me.
Round 1 vs Red-White Enchantments W 2-0
I know the guy playing this homebrew deck, he's a good friend. I had helped him test the deck a few weeks before the tournament. It was RW that wanted to establish the Solemnity and Phyrexian Unlife lock and then kill you with Enduring Ideal fetching up things like Form of the Dragon. Game 1 I killed him on turn 3. I sided out the Path of Exiles and Spirit Mantles for Spell Pierces and Natural States since I know he's playing no creatures. Game 2 was slower than game one, thanks to his Porphyry Nodes, I had to let a Bogle die, let the Nodes kill itself and then work to suit up a Scout and then one on turn 6, iirc.
Round 2 vs GW Bogles W 2-1
Game 1 was incredibly close. My opponent went first and we traded blows with Spirit Mantled creatures, Stubborn Denial came up huge, countering a Rancor to prevent him from having the last point of damage to kill me and I killed him on my crackback swing on turn 4. I sided out both Path of Exiles for the Natural States. Game 2 was a rout, he suited up a bogle early. I hoped to put a spirit mantle on my own bogle to stop the bleeding, but then he topdecked his own mantle for lethal. Game 3 showed the power of Kor Spiritdancer, with both of us siding out our removal, I was free to suit up the Spiritdancer, her ability making her much larger than his Bogle. With Coronet and a couple other enchants on her, I was healing for more damage than he could deal and won the race.
Round 3 vs Bant Spirits L 1-2
Game 1 I feel like I misplayed. He played a Drogskol Captain turn two with the aid of a turn one Heirarch and I focused on suiting up a bogle instead of killing the Captain with my Path. He then played a Phantasmal Image and a bunch of other spirits and I was swarmed after that. I needed to see a Coronet to have a chance to stabilize, but it never happened. I sided out three Stubborn Denials in favor of a third Path and the Natural States (for Aether Vial). Game 2 Bogles did their thing. I got off to a hot start with Scout into Rancor plus Ethereal armor, and he couldn't play enough guys to recover fast enough. Game 3, he got to go first, I managed to kill a Captain before he could copy it, but he still had a ton of other lords, again I found myself needing a Coronet to stabilize and never found it.
Round 4 vs Jeskai Control W 2-0
This was the matchup that Stubborn Denial was MVP. In game 1 it countered a Settle the Wreckage as I was swinging in for lethal with a souped up Bogle, Also of note, the 4 basic lands came in handy as he Path of Exiled two Spiritdancers and then tried to Field of Ruin a Hallowed Fountain to knock me off of blue, luckily I had that basic Island to fetch up. I sided out the two Paths for the Spell Pierces. Game 2, my hand was light on enchantments, holding only a Curious Obsession and an Ethereal Armor along with a Bogle. Luckily that's all I needed as I spell pierced a Cryptic command, Denialed another one, and then Denialed a Settle the Wreckage over three consecutive turns to lock up the win.
Round 5 vs Dredge W 2-0
I don't think this is a matchup that the deck can lose, to be honest. He did all the stuff that his deck was supposed to do, but I literally didn't care. He summoned all the Bloodghasts and stuff he wanted, even hit me twice with Creeping Chills in game 1 and he was still dead on 5. I sideboarded out 3 Denials for 1 Path and 2 Rest in Peace, and in game 2, he got stuck on 2 while a suited up bogle ran him over.
Round 6 Intentional Draw
At this point, I got paired up against one of the two 4-0-1 players and could ID into the Top 8, so I did.
Top 8 Scoop
After a discussion with the judge, the top 8 decided to split the money and play only for the invites. My opponent apparently didn't care about the invite and so he scooped to me to give me a free pass into the top 4.
Top 4 vs Humans W 2-1
Game one felt like standard Bogle stuff, I came out strong and swinging fast and managed to hit a Spirit Mantle so he couldn't chump block my guy and the game was over on 4. I sided out three denials for a Path and two States (again for the Aether Vials). Game 2, my back was broken when he landed a turn two Meddling Mage naming Daybreak Coronet while I held two in hand. I tried suiting up what I could, but that plus sideboarded Knights of Autumn left me with little to work with and I got ran over by Mantis Riders. Game 3, my opponent again named Coronet with a Meddling mage, but luckily, this time I didn't have one in hand. I got to suiting up. I had a Curious Obsession nuked by a Knight of Autumn, but on my turn 5, my opponent was at 12, and I managed to play enough enchantments, that even though he flashed in another knight of Autumn to blow up an Ethereal armor, I still had exactly enough damage to kill him on that swing before he killed me the next turn.
Finals Scoop
With both of us getting an invitation regardless of outcome. I wanted to play the game just for bragging rights, however my opponent had a two hour drive home and wanted to get on the road, so he scooped to me.