TNM 3/28/13

I went to Beyond Comics on Thursday 3/28/13 to play some Standard.  I took Bant-Blinking-Idiots, which I augmented by removing an Avacyn's Pilgrim and a Somberwald Sage and putting in two copies of Sigarda, Host of Herons.  Sixteen players showed up, so we played four rounds.

Round 1: Alex Geck with Bant Midrange
Alex and I have very similar decks, except for the fact that he has a lower mana curve and less late game presence.  The matchup is not good for him in the current incarnation of his deck. In game one, I was able to start destroying Shocklands and establish a board presence.  In game two, I managed to get two Master Biomancers in play and start making 8/8 Wolf Tokens with Garruk Relentless.  (After the event, Alex tuned his deck up and we played, he performed much better after some small changes)

2-0

Round 2: Matt with Mono-Black Zombies/Aristocrats
Matt's deck used Skirsdag High Priest, Blood Artist, Gravecrawler and Sac outlets to quickly accumulate a strong board presence.  In game one, I kept a questionable opener where I managed to play one spell all game; I was quickly overwhelmed with Diregraf Ghouls.  In game two I managed to begin attacking Matt's land, but my deck was a bit slow and he was able to create some flying 5/5 demons.  I destroyed all of his land, but he still had enough creatures to sac them to dual Blood Artists to hit me for 25 in one turn.

0-2

Round 3: Gabe with Saito Naya
Gabe was very aggressive on mulligans and sometimes it payed off for him.  I this is a good match up for me as long as I do not let Domri Rade get out of control.  In game one I destroyed all of his lands and established great board control.  In game two, I stabilized with a Thragtusk that got hit with Pacifism and I lost that one.  In game three, I destroyed most of his land and creatures as we were both doing a bit of a mid-range race.  Angel of Serenity sealed it for me.

2-1

Round 4: Scott with Selesnya "Big butts".
We nicknamed Scott's deck "Big-Butts" for this slew of T5 creatures (Rhox Faithmender, Trostani, Armada Wurm) and copious lifegain.  I watched him get up to around 45 the previous round against Naya Blitz.  In game one I destroyed all of his land on the back of an Acidic Slime paired with Deadeye Navigator.  In game two, I was a bit slower and had to battle through some life gain.  I got Restoration Angel paired with Deadeye and then got Thragtusk and Fiend Hunter going.  I exiled all of his creatures (Rhox Faithmender, Trostani, and two Thragtusks) before dropping the Acidic Slime the following turn.  He conceded to the Acidic Slime at 58 life.

2-0

I went 2-0, 0-2, 2-1, 2-0 for a combined 6-3 going 3-1.  Sigarda really did not show up in many games,
I am considering trading her out for two Angel of Jubilation (which actually shuts down a couple of reanimator strategies).

I think I will trek off to FNM tonight to see how I fare.

Until next time.