Deck Choice
It is the final gameday and I need a comeback. Top7 is well out of reach, but a trophy could keep the dream alive, let me play the qualifier. The last weeks I have been looking for a deck, that could accomplish what I could not before: to push me beyond a 3-2 score. Caw Gates and Dimir Terror were tested again and discarded. I have played them already and they did not seem to spike the events. Even Jund came to mind, decently positioned right now, but along with Caw Gates, you just cannot accept draws on the way to a trophy. That is how I picked up Blue Terror. A straight forward, very powerful deck, that can contest about any other strategy.
If you look at the day 7 meta there are obstacles to this pick: 6 Elves, 4 Weenies, 4 Jund, 2 Gardens, 2 Gates were played among others. That is roughly 1/3 hostile matchups. But if you look at the top 16 only, there were 4 red decks (the good stuff). So I set out to dodge Elves, beat Burn and fight it out on par with the rest of the field. If I get lucky, people bring even more combo & aggro to fight Elves and Burn.
Card Choices
I play 4 Delver and 2 Mystic (1 Main, 1 Side) to increase threats in grindy matchups. I have 2 Envelop over the 7th & 8th Blue Blast to gain a little edge vs green decks. The rest is fairly stock.
Round 1 Altar Tron 0-1
As soon as the first Power Plant is played, my muscle memory kicks in: I have to present a clock, prevent the first Expedition Map, after that prevent Golem Foundry, Ashnods Altar, Myr Retriever in that order of priority. We are playing constructed after all.
Game 1 I have a turn 3 or 4 Serpent, a Delver flips the next turn, some 1 or 2 interaction. They start blocking the ground with Eldrazi and Myr. Golem Foundry slips through, I don’t have anything for the Altar - dead 0-1
Game 2 I have two early Delver and flip them one by one. At that point I remeber purpousfully milling a Serpent and a Mystic after Brainstorming, just to get Interaction and ride home that agression - it converts 1-1
Game 3 I have a slow but interactive hand on the draw so I keep it. I grind it with 2 Counterspell and 1 Annul, but get impatient when they put the second Spellbomb on the stack. I have 2 Terror in hand - what could happen. I counter the Spellbomb, untap to play the Terrors, they untap, kill me on the spot 1-2
Round 2 Jund Wildfire 1-1
Muscle memory: get a clock, prevent Spellbomb, Chrysalis, Refurb, Blood Fountain.
Game 1 I find an early Delver and follow it up with 1 or 2 Snakes. In between I check the stack and only allow a Krark that I can beat. The Delver connects 4 times before the game is conceded 1-0
Game 2 I have an early board of Terrors and overextend because only Krark + Toxin can beat me. They don’t find it 2-0
Round 3 White Weenies 2-1
Against Weenies I know that only fast board-presence matters. After turn 5 it all comes down to whether my hand & board can attack into their board & Strands / Pledge.
Game 1 I have a Delver followed by a Serpent. They get stuck on land heavily so it converts quickly 1-0
Game 2 they start things off with a plus 15 life of the show-your-hand-creature. It gives me time to deploy Delver into Terror + Serpent and I put them back to 12 life. Their development is slowed down and I can beat one 1 Pledge midgame luckily with a 2 mana - Brainstorm into Dispel sequence. I slow roll 2 Mystics and use Sleep of the Dead first, just to enable attacks and slowly draw out all their 4 activations of Prismatic Strands. The fourth one I counter and hit for lethal in the air 2-0
Round 4 Elves 2-2
The rough one. I decided last night to keep in my 2 Gut Shots to remain able to fight this matchup, and I am glad I did, as it got really close.
Game 1 They “have it all” and I die to Initiative, a Generous Ent and a Timberwatch with Quirion, backed up by Priest of Titania all at once 0-1
Game 2 First negative-matchball for my Trophy-Run, but I know what to do. I present a turn 1 Delver clock and their turn 1 Quirion Ranger Start gives me just enough time to counter all relevant spells 1-1
Game 3 They mull to 5 - can we do it?! They have Quirion turn 1 and only a Birchlore Ranger on turn 2. Turn 3 I counter a Timberwatch. Turn 4 I play two Terrors and have Envelop open against their 1 remaining card in hand - which is another Timberwatch. Sh*t. Timberwatch + Quirion and another Elf locks my board with +6/+6 on both defense and offense. I don’t have board interaction, I am Blue Terror after all. Snakes suffice, Snakes are superior, usually. Not here. I have to survive and find one of my 2 Deem Inferior. I survive 3 turns and make sure to put them low enough on life as well. The turn before I die I finally find Gut Shot - but too late as my well prepared opponent, does not let me trick-shot their Quirion 1-2
Round 5 UW Familiars 2-3
My opponent and me were joking over a coffee prior to the game how Familiars players are always afraid of this matchup. As Blue Terror you have to push and create a turn-5-scenario where all the value lines of Fams are disabled just because they have to invest their mana to survive.
Game 1 on the play they have a Pharao against my Delver and we fight out the early game over their setup. Around turn 5 I Brainstorm-Mental Note away a Deep Analysis and a Lorien just to cut my late game and put down another Terror and a Serpent. This turn, or the next one, I don’t remeber, I tap out, as there is no interaction left in my hand, and I see it as a “now or never” turn. The aggresion puts them to 3 life but they untap to resolve a Mystic. Along with the Pharao they wiggle out of it “fams-style” - very well played, I have to admit 0-1
Game 2 I board just 2 Annul vs their cringe Circle of Protection and I even take out the Mystics, as I just want to tempo them and don’t go for mid/late games. I contest their early game, present two early Delvers, set up my graveyard and Annul a turn 2 or 3 Circle of Protection. Clutch! With only one card in hand I play a third Delver, which is pretty good against them, but they untap and play the second and only Circle left in their deck. I untap and topdeck my second and last Annul (lol). I go play Chess next. For the following like 10 turns, I basically draw one card per turn, play another Snake every third turn, can’t find Deem Inferior or chain more card draw. They activate their Circle every turn for 5 mana, so it takes another 5 turns before they can develop into anything else. Then, you know, they do “the Fams” again, really well played again 0-2
Take Away
It was a lovely lovely second Lega Season. I can’t believe what kind of local and over-regional community and level of competition we have drawn upon in the consistently. To me it is unheared of, and I would not have pictured this in my wildest and ambituous dreams. Thank you all for been part of this and having all of us share these saturdays together!
As for my deck-choice, I have been very happy throughout the day with Blue Terror, although the result of course does not show it. I am happy that I beat Jund and Weenies and piloted it as close as possible against Elves. I did not convert the good chances that I had against Tron and Fams. Maybe I overextended too heavily into game-states where pressure with a bit of open mana would have given me better chances than going all in. Who knows. I am challenging myself to learn to navigate these board states better, as these two matches marked todays difference between a 2-3 and a 4-1.
To all of you who like this kind of decision-heavy tension, where cards in hand are limited and 3 open mana could be spent to either see more cards, to play another 5/5, to keep open a key interaction - or sometimes to do all at once when the stars align - I think this deck is a great choice. After all I have been playing it over Sneaky Snacker, so that tells the whole story from my perspective.
Looking forward to follow the knock out stage, and hope to see you all again soon.