Elfvalley Cup #3
These events seem to become a thing now, so here we are again with the third AB4k event hosted by me. Tolaria was once again the place of battle as it's very easy for me to keep track on that platform. There was a different rule-set this time, where we tried to power down the format a bit, this is what I came up with this time:
In the deck + sideboard you're allowed:
2 Restricted Rares
6 Rares
2 Restricted Unc
15 Unc
50 commons incl Basics
Rares that count as Commons:
Animate Wall
Aspect of Wolf
Blaze of Glory
Blessing
The Laces
Clockwork Beast
Farmstead
Gaea's Liege
Helm of Chatzuk
Jade Monolith
Kudzu
Lich
Magical Hack
Personal Incarnation
Pirate Ship
Power Surge
Raging River
Righteousness
Sleight of Mind
Sunglasses of Urza
Web
Rares that count as Uncommons:
Cockatrice
Cyclopean Tomb
Dingus Egg
Elvish Archers
Fungusaur
Goblin King
Graninte Gargoyle
Illusionary Mask
Island Sanctuary
Kormus Bell
Living Artifact
Living Lands
Mana Barbs
Natural Selection
Nether Shadow
Pirate Ship
Reverse Damage
Roc of Kher Ridges
Smoke
Timber Wolves
Veteran Bodyguard
Warp Artifact
The goal was to make the playing field a bit more even, and make people opt for lesser played cards to build a deck. More on how I think it played out later.
This is the deck I chose to play:
For once, I tried to build a deck without black cards, and this deck seem to be pretty good and interesting to play. It lacks an Earthquake or two, but with the current restriction it seemed like a good choice. The deck was harder to play than what I thought on beforehand, and each game I won seemed to be really close, while the ones I lost I just couldn't do anything. In hindsight I should have played more creatures, or Jade Staues, but the deck seemed more powerful without. Here's what I played against:
Match 1 vs BR Midrange: 0-2 Loss
Match 2 vs RG Ramp/Prison: 2-1 Win
Match 3 vs MonoBlack: 2-1 Win
Match 4 vs UR Aggro: 2-1 Win
Match 5 vs RG Ramp: 2-1 Win
Total: 4-1 (8-6)
I eeked out 4 matchwins through a myriad of mulligans, think I had 2 double and 8 single mulligans in 14 games. But I had good draws and apparantly made good mulligan-decisions so it worked out fine and I managed to win my group. On to the semis!
Semifinal vs UB Venom
The semis were played against Bjørnar and his sweet brew with Psychic Venoms, Glooms and Sleight of Mind. Always great to see those kind of spicy decks doing well. My Jade Statues really shone in this matchup, as he had no real answers for them. Red Elemental Blast, and his mana-starving, were the nail in the coffin in game 2.
2-0 Win
Final vs BR Midrange/Flare
In the finals I met Audun which was on a sweet black&red brew with the usual suspects and a Mana Flare/Fork surprise. We actually tested a bit against each other before the tournament, so it's kinda funny that we would end up in the finals together. From testing I knew that this matchup would be very even, so the finals should be a good match.
Game 1 started with us both playing just lands for the 3-4 first turns, and I remember drawing alot of burn and no counterspells. I got too afraid of a potential Mind Twist, so I started playing burn to the face. This turned out to be a mistake as he managed to land a Hyppie that I chose to not remove, then Drain Lifed me to get out of reach while the Hyppie emptied my hand and another Drain Life finished me off.
Game 2 was a mulligan fest, as I took one and he two. I managed to control the first turns and stole a Hyppie of his after a small counter-war. The Hyppie, alongside Jade Statue sealed the win for me.
Game 3 was probably my best game the entire tournament, I drew everything I needed to prevent him from doing something relevant, and both my Jade Statues landed on the battlefield while his Shatters stayed in his library.
2-1 Win
Yay, my first OS tournament win is a fact! Guess it was a great idea to organize my own tournament so that I could actually win one, haha. Kidding aside, the deck felt really clunky at times, but really grew on me. Some games were really exciting, and lots of different lines had to be drawn. MVP of the tournament was by far Jade Statue, these guys won me so many games.
Once again I would like to thank Slanfan for creating Tolaria, the platform gets better every month, and makes it really easy to organize tournaments. Huge thanks to the players as well, it's a blast to play against each and every one of you. Until the next one, cheers!