It's the most wonderful time of the
year week. Here's some cards I ended up taking to a respectable 2-1:
Opened rares were Harbinger of the Tides, Infinite Obliteration (Kappa), and Hixus Prison Warden. First pick was Thopter Engineer
I tried to not be in Boros, I really did. The original plan was to force atrifacts (hence the first pick), but I didn't find any other support for it, and white kept throwing value at me as usual, so I just kind of fell into it. Oh well, I suppose in terms of archetypes I keep getting "stuck" playing, I could do a lot worse. At least it's something I enjoy and know how to play, you know (looking at you, blue spells).
Anyways...
Round 1 - SwagbatsAs much as I still highly enjoy the opportunities to face Adam when they come up, I've also started to realise that the matches themselves tend to have similar results. Still, it's about the journey, not the destination, right? Game 1 was easily my best showing of the round - I had creatures coming out early and often enough to present a real threat. They didn't get much opportunity to attack though, as Adam's field was populated just as quickly with troops easily equal in quality... perhaps slightly better. A Somberwald Alpha in his ranks gave him an opening, and reinforcements made it look grim. Luckily, my next draw was Chandra's Ignition, which was cast with much haste on a Cobblebrute to cleanse the world in flames. With little opposition, the lone survivor was free to secure victory.
Game 2 was solidly in his favour from the outset, with Hangarback Walker putting the pressure on early, and some bounce spells and creatures ensuring that my side of things was difficult to maintain. Still, I held out long enough to get thoroughly ruined by some Rhox Maulers, so that was fun. Finally, the last game played to a similar script as the second, with Hangarback showing up in the first couple of turns. This time however, I had it put down before it could get too massive. However, there was much less I could do against the *other* creatures in his deck, which came at me in force.
Round 2 - MagynHad a slow start in the first game... can't remember the exact hand I ended up settling on, but there probably wasn't anything cheaper than 3 mana to play with. As a result, it took a few rounds of violence before I could start to regain the lost ground. And even then, I had to rely on removal and trickery to really make a difference. Salvation came in the form of Hixus Prison Warden, who managed to put a knife through both of Chandra's parents as well as confiscating their little toy flying machines. With the match turned in my favour, victory swiftly followed.
There wasn't really much of a game 2... I stalled at 3 lands and couldn't get anything decent out for too many turns. Thankfully, game 3 went a lot more smoothly, despite in incredibly greedy opening hand which really should have been mulligan'd, had a sane person been playing. Luckily, I had the land draws to make it work, pulling out Consul's Lieutenant and other not quite as interesting friends out as scheduled. The Lieutenant's boosts were key to keeping my dudes just out of harms way, although sadly, after doing so much good work, he was forced to lay down his life in order for comrades Ampyran Tactician and Boggart Brute to seal it.
Round 3 - KarnasisI got of to a sprinting start in the first game, with Consul's Lieutenant (again) doing a fantastic job from turn 2 onwards. My opponent did seem to have a bit of trouble shifting in to gear however, only managing to field a few robots which were quickly overrun. Game 2 was far more even... at least to start with. I had some good attacking options on the ground and in the air, but the latter was quickly locked out by wave after wave of thopters. I couldn't do much against them directly, although I did manage to draw Hixus early enough to potentially put a damper on the air raids. Unfortunately, his attempt to do so was denied by a counterspell, and the thopters were allowed free reign directly over the heads of my helpless troops.
And so it all came down to this - game 3, in which I rather stupidly decided that 4 plains, a mountain, and a Subterranean Scout somehow constituted a hand that was in any way worth holding on to. Miraculously though, I caught a small break with Kytheon's Irregulars drawing out nice and early. Granted, they now had to face a steadily growing air force by themselves, a task made much easier by the otherwise "useless" extra lands allowing them to tap down 2 (and later 3) attackers per turn. With the pressure somewhat relieved, I was afforded the time to slowly build up an actual army, starring 2 Prickleboars and assorted others. Finally, once the guards were (figuratively) asleep at their posts thanks to the Irregulars, it was simply a matter of cleaning up.
So yeah, it probably couldn't have gone too much better for me this week, though it almost certainly could/should have been much much worse. Here's to doing it all again next week!