The Monday Mulligan #6: Championship, From The Losers Bracket

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I will post the Gatherling entry for the event (which I will have edited to include at least all decknames and colors), so you can browse the meta yourselves. The play-offs and metagame paragraphs will list the archetypes that were played (aggro, control, etc.) and how many. A deck that played in the finals will appear in the quarter-, semi- and finals part as well as the metagame part.

Gatherling Metagame Breakdown

Play-offs:
Finals - Control (1), Aggro-Control (1)
Semi-Finals - Control (2), Aggro-Control (2)
Quarter-Finals - Control (3), Aggro-Control (3), Aggro (2)

Metagame:
Aggro - 5
Control: - 7 (two with a possible combo finish)
Aggro-Control: - 5
Mid-range: - 0

Discussion:
So you know know kehmesis took it home, but how? On this road to fame (but not fortune, turning down the prizes), he beat ZeroFusion with Illusions in the quarter-finals, icarodx with again Illusions in the semi's and lastly kaityson36 with Blinkdrifter (!) in the finals. The other finalist, kaityson, fought his way through joekewwl with G(r)imdrifter in the quarter- and Kingritz with Kingdrifter in the semi-finals before falling to the mercy of the storm. Rounding out the play-off set are two WW decks, played by Toshiro_Umezawa and JMason, beaten by Kingritz and icarodx respectively. Expecially the Toshi vs. King match was fantastic to watch, I'll look (and you can too) at this match further ahead.

First a meta overview; we can see that everyone took an established archetype to the season finale. These archetypes include four WW decks and a RDW list as the aggro decks of choice. Two of the four mono-white beatdown decks made play-offs, proving the little buggers are still the premier aggro deck in standard. The RDW deck lost it's first round and dropped right after that. Both WW top8 attendees lost in the first round of play-offs, one to Kingdrifter, the other to Illusions. Icarodx remarked he was suprised at beating WW with Illusions, his opponent Jmason replied that that was a result of icarodx' tight play, o.a. never getting Tithed. This match is included in the feature matches section below.

Blinkdrifter made a triumphant return to the scene, breaking through Kingdrifter twice, RDW and G(r)imdrifter before losing to Storm in the finals. Expessially the sideboard had some nice tech, such as a lot of heavy suspend creatures and a Mountain and four Hurly/Shambler to beat Storm. The other four aggro-control decks included three Illusions decks, one made top4, one top8, and Faerie Teachings, which didn't made a splash.

The control decks were topped by Storm Control, which out of the two placed only the winner into play-offs. The other five control decks were two versions of Grimdrifter, two Kingdrifter and Burnt Nemo. Out of the two Grimdrifter decks, one dropped before the end of the swiss, while the other stranded in top8. Kingdrifter did better, by placing one in the top4, while the other (me!) didn't know how to play the Illusions matchup, twice. Burnt Nemo was doubly outclassed by Grimdrifter.

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The finals video coverage is posted on YouTube, but I'll have to find another way to post the videos of the other games, because 'Tube doesn't accept the long videos, makes the videos very ugly and takes extremely long to upload.

Quarter-Finals - icarodx (Illusions) vs. JMason (WW)

Icarodx began with a mulligan to five on the draw, keeping a hand with three quick answers and two land. JMason began the onslaught rapidly by suspending an Ivory Giant, playing a two drop and an Avian Changeling on consecutive turns, then more two drops before getting land flooded. Icarodx recovered from the initial beatdown quite well before suspending an EE. When the Giant made his way into play, Icarodx tried to Skred it for four, but it was met with a Surge of Thoughtweft, saving it. This gave JMason the opportunity to drop his opponent to six life, but then stalled on his flood. Alongside his freshly unsuspended EE, icarodx dropped a Mist, which was pumped by an enemy Avian Changeling, and rode both flyers to the win.

1-0 for icarodx

icarodx only managed 4 land all game, but used them well. JMason started the onslaught and had a board of one Avian Changeling and two slivers by turn six, with an Ivory Giant resolving. The responding Skred for four on the Gaint got answer by a Surge once again, giving him acces to fifteen power worth of attackers, but this wasn't enough to push through for the win. Two turns later icarodx managed to control a Stalker, an EE and triple 6/6 Mists, all done on 2 Xmas Mountains and 2 Canadian Islands. Turn nine and ten he countered a Knights of Sursi and Amrou Scout, which prompted a concession from JMason. Ica proceded to reveal 3 burn spells and Mulldrifter as he headed for the Top 4.

2-0 for icarodx

Quarter-Finals - Kingritz (Kingdrifter) vs. Toshiro_Umezawa (WW)

While on the play, Toshi started the aggresion with turn one suspend Ivory Giant, turn two suspend Kinght of Sursi and Shade and a turn three Amrou Seekers, which prompted a "nice hand" from King, knowing immenent death was in suspend country. Kingritz own plays were a turn two Rats, turn three double Prismatic Lens. One of his two fourth turn Pit Keepers was taxed by Mana Tithe. The turn after Toshi unsuspended Knight and Shade, attacking and casting Fortify with his three lands before blockers were declared, which gave Kingritz the opputunity to block and kill the shade. On Kings turn, he couldn't find an Island to Teachings up and play Skred to kill the Giant. After dropping to three, King Skredded the Knight (only three lands, so Giant was a no-no). He commited suicide with Rager while on one life.

1-0 for Toshiro_Umezawa

Both players kept their opening hands and Kingritz proceded to play four consecutive lands, while Toshi opened with Shade into Harrier, skipping his second land drop for two turns. He played a Sinew Sliver on turn four. Next turn Kingritz played a Subterranean Shambler to kill the Harrier and hold down the fort.

Two turns and a suspended Knight and an Amrou Scout later, Kingritz Blinks his Shambler to kill both Scout and Sliver, while Shade gets pumped. Shade attacks and is blocked by the Shambler, mutual destruction follows. Another Scout is played, while Kingritz Teachings for a Grim Harvest, to recurse the Shambler and kill the Kithkin. An unsuspended Knight gets in for two (dropping King to 14) and a Amrou Seekers joins the fray.

The following turns have Toshi play multiple creatures, while Kingritz kills them with Blinks on Shamblers and Soots. Teachings into Teachings into Soot spells CA overload for Toshi. With the ground under control, Kings Rager go in for the kill. Accompanied by a brother and a Riftwatcher, Toshi is soon to be dead.

1-1 All tied up

Sadly, the video of this game failed. All I have is twenty-two minutes of non-moving picture, with a turn one suspended Giant. From seeing this myself and my fail-proof (ahum) memory, the third game went very much like the second, with Kingritz taking a few early hits before stabilizing to do Shambler/Blink and other forms of removal and CA tricks. The game was decided by multiple 2/2 creature beatdown, courtesy of King.

1-2 for Kingritz

Semi-Finals - icarodx (Illusions) vs. kehmesis (Storm Control)

On to the game itself. Icarodx, on the play, started with a turn three morph, which kehmesis Rift Bolted, revealing a Fathom Seer. Another morph hits play from the Illusion side, while kehmesis suspends double EE. Icarodx suspends an EE of his own before unmorphing another Seer and attacking for one. He then sees his fault of not attacking morphed, shouting "Focus. Focus". Kehm suspends a third EE before passing and taking another one from Seer. A morphed Shaper Parasite is Remove Souled. Kehm passes the turn back after dropping a land. A fourth morph hits the board and Kehm drops only a land again. After falling to fourteen life, two of his EE's unsuspend, one gets Trickyed. The EE goes in for four.

A Martyr activation for two and a Grapeshot send both opposing creatures to the bin. Next turn, icarodx' EE resolves, which gets Skreded. A Gossamer Phantasm to the resue! Kehm's third EE gets Remove souled after unsuspending. Multiple empty turns follow, where both players don't attack nor play relevant threats. When icarodx double Incinerates Kehm's last EE and attacks for three with Mist and Stalker, the race is back on. Kehm is at eleven, with two cards in hand and creaturless, icarodx has two creatures and two cards on hand, but has only four life left. A gamebreaking Mulldrifter from icarodx is Remove Souled and when Kehm breeds four Goblins and another four the turn after, the game is over.

1-0 for kehmesis

In the second game, icarodx can't find his second land untill turn four. He makes the remark that he could play multiple spells with only one extra land. With his second land, he suspends an EE. Kehmesis keeps dropping lands each turn and aswers all of icarodx threats, which include Phantasm and Mist. The unsuspending EE is the cause of a small counter war, with icarodx biting the dust. An Foresee for kehm brings him back into business spells.

Icarodx goes for Phantasm and Mist, which get Grapeshoted, but the one targeting Mist bites a counterspell. Over the course of the next few turns kehms EE gets protected from removal with counters and drops ica to thirteen before getting stuck under an avalanche (AKA Skred). Nothing happens again for a few turns, during which time counters slowly crumble from another one of kehms EE's. Multiple threats demand multiple counters from kehm, which allows icarodx to play a Grapeshot of his own for four, targeting the lone EE. Sadly one of the storm copies gets countered and kehm can deal the last four points of damage while being on a solid fourteen life, taking his finals spot.

2-0 for kehmesis

Finals, Game 1 - kaityson36 (Blinkdrifter) vs. kehmesis (Storm Control)

First the lists:
kaityson36, piloting new age Blinkdrifter
kehmesis, piloting Storm Control

Both players start with a first turn Ponder, while kaityson follows this up with a suspended EE, kehmesis goes for back-to-back Martyrs for beatdown. Turn four, kehmesis suspends two Rift Bolts, resulting in six angry Goblins staring down an empty board. While he fights to stay alive by blocking, the warren of 1/1s couldn't be overcome.

Finals, Game 2 - kaityson36 (Blinkdrifter) vs. kehmesis (Storm Control)

Both players mirror eachother again, suspending EE turn two. Kaityson goes for Infiltrator Il-Kor the next turn, while kehmesis misses a land drop. A Knight of Sursi joins the fray and kehm drops a third land and suspends Rift Bolt. Knight and Infiltrator get in for five, before the Bolt kills the Knight. Kehmesis misses another land drop, but can Trickery the unsuspending EE. Kehm resolves his own EE and the Infiltrator gets in another three damage before falling to Skred. Courtesy of a Ponder, four Goblins get squeezed out of a Warren the following turn. Kaityson concedes and reveales his hand of four sweepers, but no red source.

And hereby kehmesis is the MPDC Season One Champion! Congratulations!

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CardName: Brighthearth Banneret
Cost: 1R
Type: Creature - Elemental Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 1/1
Rules Text: Elemental spells and Warrior spells you play cost 1 less to play. Reinforce 1-1R (1R, Discard this card: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.)

Just like all four other Bannerets, this is very playable. It enables both Elemental and Warrior shenanigans and boosts one of your critters when you don't need the 1/1 discounting body anymore. Being both a cost reducer and a combat trick makes this a really nice package. Read on for more Elemental and Warrior goodness.

CardName: Fire Juggler
Cost: 2R
Type: Creature - Goblin Shaman
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Whenever Fire Juggler becomes blocked, clash with an opponent. If you win, Fire Juggler deals 4 damage to each creature blocking it. (Each clashing player reveals the top card of his or her library, then puts that card on the top or bottom. A player wins if his or her card had a higher converted mana cost.)

A 2 powered beater for isn't something to write home about. The damage trigger is an unsofisticated way of saying "Deathtouch when attacking and dying" (no, actually that is way less ellegant), but only if you can win the clash. This potential upside isn't enough to play Goblin Hero.

CardName: Hostile Realm
Cost: 2R
Type: Enchantment - Aura
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Enchant land Enchanted land has "T Target creature can't block this turn."

The other card that can do something like this is Goldmeadow Harrier. Both cards have an activation cost of , but the Harrier only costs one mana to play, this three, and it can tap attackers. I can go on like this, but I won't. This is a bad common.

CardName: Kindled Fury
Cost: R
Type: Instant
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.

The white version of this card actually cantrips, which makes it a somewhat nice combat trick. I'd rather play mass pump (Fortify etc.) or burn than something like this in my aggro decks.

CardName: Lunk Errant
Cost: 5R
Type: Creature - Giant Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 4/4
Rules Text: Whenever Lunk Errant attacks alone, it gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn.

As a solitairy finisher, this is a 5/5 Trample for , not bad. It isn't that good either. If you want fat, try the Herd, which generates CA and attacks alongside your other beaters.

CardName: Mudbutton Clanger
Cost: R
Type: Creature - Goblin Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 1/1
Rules Text: Kinship - At the beginning of your upkeep, you may look at the top card of your library. If it shares a creature type with Mudbutton Clanger, you may reveal it. If you do, Mudbutton Clanger gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

A solid adition to the Goblin tribe. It isn't "Serra Kithkin", but this "Goblin of Konda" could get in some nice early hits in a dedicated () Goblin or () Warrior deck. Alongside other quality hitters like the entire Gobvantage deck or the likes of Adder-Staff Boggart, Battlewand Oak, Boreal Centaur, Gathan Raiders or Winnower Patrol you could possibly make a nice Gruul Warriors list that tries to go turn 1 2/2, turn two 3/2, turn three growing 3/2. Theoretically very nice .


CardName: Roar of the Crowd
Cost: 3R
Type: Sorcery
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: Choose a creature type. Roar of the Crowd deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of permanents you control of the chosen type.

So Coordinated Barrage must cost more and be a sorcery before it can hit both players and creatures? A bit overcosted for it's effect, I think it could be played for r: in Goblin decks.

CardName: Seething Pathblazer
Cost: 2R
Type: Creature - Elemental Warrior
Pow/Tgh: 2/2
Rules Text: Sacrifice an Elemental: Seething Pathblazer gets +2/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn.

I initially overlooked this little wannabee Elemental Husk. Because it doesn't get +2/+2 it is slightly less valuable than the Husk, which could dodge burn. On the other hand it does gain First Strike, meaning you will (usually) have to sacrifice one less creature to it to kill and survive combat. This and Sunflare Shaman will spawn at least some lower tier Elemental aggro decks, instead of the Elemental Storm lists that popped up now and then.

CardName: Shard Volley
Cost: R
Type: Instant
Pow/Tgh: /
Rules Text: As an additional cost to play Shard Volley, sacrifice a land. Shard Volley deals 3 damage to target creature or player.

The discount you get on something like Incinerate doesn't negate it's drawback. Sacrificing a land is a really stiff drawback. The closest comparison is off course Fireblast. But unlike that classic staple, Volley actually costs mana on top of the sacrifice and it deals one less. It could be a nice finisher in RDW/Burn.dec, but as long as people blink and rebel up Riftwatchers or reveal 5 white cards for Martyr of Sands, Burn.dec won't be viable and RDW only if people forget about it (Go go Boin in last weeks SPDC Championships!).

CardName: Stingmoggie
Cost: 3R
Type: Creature - Elemental
Pow/Tgh: 0/0
Rules Text: Stingmoggie comes into play with two +1/+1 counters on it. 3R, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Stingmoggie: Destroy target artifact or land.

Too expensive, even for Sticks. If Paupers Mana Ramp/LD deck thinks you cost too much, you cost way too much.

CardName: Sunflare Shaman
Cost: 1R
Type: Creature - Elemental Shaman
Pow/Tgh: 2/1
Rules Text: 1R, T Sunflare Shaman deals X damage to target creature or player and X damage to itself, where X is the number of Elemental cards in your graveyard.

Anyone watch the Pro Tour three weeks ago? This bugger played some pretty big roles in the finals and other matches by Mario Pascoli. This is the all in one package: a respectable 2/1 for , the ability to off a random irritating creature, threatening a two-for-one on defence and being able to "reach out and torch someone" for the win. His immenent death when using his ability isn't even part of the cost, meaning you can activate him and Blink/Pathblazer/etc. the body. You can't get much better than this.

CardName: War-Spike Changeling
Cost: 3R
Type: Creature - Shapeshifter
Pow/Tgh: 3/3
Rules Text: Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.) R: War-Spike Changeling gains first strike until end of turn.

A very respectable changeling. 3/3's for four aren't exactly awesome, but it can give itself First Strike. This means it can fight and survive almost every creature in standard as long as you keep up. It isn't format defining, but decks that wan't to abuse multiple tribal synergies will employ the War-Spike thankfully.

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With the arrival of Morningtide and the crowning of the Champion, this is the conclusion of the Lorwyn Standard season. I'm actually quite excited by Morningtide and hope it can create multiple new archetypes, with my favorites being Kithkin, Pathblazer/Sunflare aggro and the idea of GB Harvest/Fertiled decks. But Merfolk (with a green splash for Sprout Swarm to tap your Merfolk) and Sticks type decks are on my mind too. I hope to see everyone next week at the new, MOR enhanced, Standard season.