2019-03-31 Iron Buffalo RNAx3 3-0-1

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1773207#paper

Draft:

• So the draft was 10 players, with some of them looking a little green (experience wise). This affected my decision making in that 1) I can't necessarily trust signals, 2) I can't expect cards to wheel because there are 10 people, and 3) it's possible for totally playable cards to wheel because they evaluate cards differently than I do
• Rares opened (in order): Simic split Stifle//Clone (Repudiate//Replicate), Angel of Grace, Bedeck//Bedazzle
• Pack 1 pick 1: rare is garbage, nothing special in commons or uncommons... but oh wait there's a Gatebreaker Ram
• Pack 1 pick 2: really nothing special, but I took Ram so I might as well stay open and take this Simic Guildgate
• Pack 1 pick 3: simultaneously stayed open AND money drafted a Breeding Pool
• Rest of pack 1: got passed two Gateway Sneaks, one Gates Ablaze, and a late Archway Angel. Gates is obviously open and with 5 payoffs I just need to draft a bunch of gates and some support spells.
• Pack 2 pick 1: The great thing about being in gates is that you can grab good rares and not care about sending/receiving signals. So I take the Angel of Grace, though I never draft it ever.
• Rest of pack 2: I'm in base Simic, but grab almost every Gate I see. Halfway through the pack I realize that Azorius is pretty open, and I've picked up some random blue playables. I pass alone a pack with both High Alert and Azorius Knight-Arbiter, then take the High Alert from the next pack.
• Pack 3: more gates, prioritize some high toughness creatures. Simic is pretty open too from what I could tell - P3P14 Skatewing Spy WHAT.

Round 1 vs Liam on Rakdos (2-0, 1-0)
He's got a few good rares (Theater of Horrors, Rix Maadi Reveler), but they just can't beat a huge Gatebreaker Ram. His deck is only okay, which I'll get to in the post-match discussion.
Game 2 I don't find Ram, but I found High Alert and some big butts which works just as well.

Round 2 vs John R on Gruul (2-0, 2-0)
Game 1 he gets me pretty low, but then I drop some random blockers. After stalling out the board with High Alert + butts, Gates Ablaze sends him back to the stone age and I play out Gatebreaker Ram for lethal.
Game 2 he has a much slower start. I play out a Gatebreaker Ram but he gets multiple blockers out so I hold off on attacking with it. So the game stalls out again, then I swing my 8/8 Ram into his board of 5 creatures. He triple blocks with a total of 8/9, then Applied Biomancy for +1/+1 & bounce another guy makes the game unwinnable for him.

Round 3 vs ??? dropped (N/A, 3-0)
Got the pair down because it's 10 people. He was a newbie and thought he needed to play 60 cards... so he was playing some kind of Simic-based 5 color 60 card deck. After round 2, he'd had enough and unofficially dropped from the tournament, only officially dropping now... so I was 2-0 and got a bye huh

Round 4 vs Michael N. (ID, 3-0-1)
Mutually agreed, went home.

Thoughts:

• Managed to draft all the gate payoffs early (IN PACK ONE), which made the draft super easy mode.
• Recognized that if I had to, I could easily pivot into either Simic or Azorius, which looked pretty open, since I was drafting a lot of blue cards.
• Breakdown of what I saw from the draft pod: 2 players on Orzhov, 1 Orzhov splashing U/Azorius, 2 Rakdos, 2 on Gruul, and 1 on UGwbr???, me on Gates, 1 unknown
• Black was super overdrafted at the table, and as a result I only picked up a single Dead Revels, passing a few decent cards (ex. Get the Point) for gates/blue playables. Pack 2 signaled to me that the High Alert deck was open, and I picked some support creatures up for that before & after (I think 8 of my creatures work well with it?)
• Nice side benefit of drafting most of the gates is that it screws with everyone else's mana, making their deck weaker & unable to splash good cards.
• Definitely felt like I had the best deck in the pod. After all, I was only playing ONE BASIC

2019-03-29 Collector's Inn 3-1 with Sultai Wilderness Reclamation Teachings

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1774456#paper

Introduction:

• Switched out the garbage SB Teferi for a Noxious Revival to hedge vs discard (on USZ) and Surgical Extraction

Round 1 vs Jamie V on UR Living End (2-0, 1-0)
Turn 1 he exposes his game plan with a cycled Desert Cerodon. He counters several of my spells, but I only care about a couple of his. Maindeck Spell Snare an Electrodominance while swinging Snapcasters in for a bunch of damage.
Game 2 he gets off a turn 2? Living End for 2 5/5 hexproof serpents, but I have a Growth Spiral into chaining a bajillion Cryptic Commands to stabilize. Beyond that initial play though, he cycles and cycles and on his final turn suspends the last three cards in his hand: all Ancestral Visions.

Round 2 vs Jamie F on mono R Bushwhacker (0-2, 1-1)
Game 1 she Bushwhacked a bunch of little dudes and I had no removal.
Game 2 is the game where I did misplay: First I didn't fetch around a potential Blood Moon, secondly I fetched incorrectly vs a Blood Moon, and third I didn't flash in Snapcaster Mage in response to the Blood Moon as a chump blocker because I didn't recognize that I was in the danger zone.

Round 3 vs Curt on RB Skred Dragons (2-0, 2-1)
Game 1 I Remanded a ton of spells, recognized that he was on Blood Moon, and was able to preempt it. Sarkhan, Fireblood was a bit scary but I eventually took care of him and comboed off woohoo.
Game 2 he applied a lot more pressure but again I eventually stabilize and combo off.

Round 4 vs Alex S on UR Phoenix (2-0, 3-1)
He has no idea what I'm doing, which is a weakness of those who get into modern with their deck and think/hope that they can totally ignore what I'm doing.
Game 1 he flips a Thing but I'm able to remove it. He throws some burn spells at my face but eventually I start swinging with Snapcaster + Creeping Tar Pit for lethal while holding up counterspells.
Game 2 I'm able to gain enough life to stabilize again (bringing in all the lifegain cards vs Phoenix) and again chain attacks for lethal.

Thoughts:

• Managed to draw Growth Spirals and Wilderness Reclamations at opportune times this week
• Match 2 I really should have seen the Blood Moon coming / given more respect. Typically, mono R players are budget but she showed a Cavern of Souls in game 2 which should have hinted that the deck is non-budget enough to play Blood Moon to wreck people like me.

2019-03-21 Iron Buffalo 2-2 with Mardu Pyromancer

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1774451#paper

Introduction:

• Went back to the deck I grinded through Summer 2018 with
• Only changed some cards in the sideboard, since I acquired a couple artifact pieces

Round 1 vs Marc on UW Control (2-0, 1-0)
Game 1 was pretty quick. Early discard to take his Search for Azcanta, see him low on land count. Drop a turn 3 Blood Moon and he concedes.
Game 2 I dismantle his hand and get some Spirit tokens going for the win.

Round 2 vs Ken on Eldrazi Tron (0-2, 1-1)
Both games I manage to discard his Chalice of the Void, but the card I really should have been going for is Blood Moon. Game 1 I had it but then he turn 3 TKS'd it.

Round 3 vs Reshad on GDS (2-0, 2-1)
I know what he's on from checking out the room. In game 1 I keep a sketchy two lander with Mountain, Sacred Foundry, Blood Moon, and some other cards. He Thoughtseizes me three times? and leaves me with Blood Moon, which I never cast because I topdeck a Blackcleave Cliffs and it would actually have screwed me while fixing his mana because he fetched for basics after seeing it.
Game 2 I find both Blood Moon and an Ensnaring Bridge, amass a token army behind the Bridge and alpha strike him.

Round 4 vs Matt D. on Mono G Tron (0-2, 2-2)
Another Tron matchup where I didn't prioritize Blood Moon enough. By which I mean that I didn't have it.
In game 2 specifically, I was on the play and he mulliganed to 5 cards. I Inquisition an Ancient Stirrings out of the hand, then turns 2 and 3 hit him again with a couple discard spells. Of course, I win the game (check game record for verification).

Thoughts:

• Fuck Tron
• Meta needs more Blood Moons