Legacy at Axion's Mega Weekend Birmingham: Speculating that Positive Life EV

Preface

On the weekend just gone (9th and 10th of April 2022) Axion hosted their second CompREL Mega Weekend since the whole COVID thing started. This included a massive Modern event, a unified Modern trios event and the return of one of their infamous Mega Legacy events too. Once again François's (the lovely owner) team pulled out all the stops putting up duals for the entire top 8 plus a Diamond top 8 for 9th to 16th, a Platinum top 8 for 17th to 24th, Chocolate top 8 for 25th to 32nd and a Raspberry Muffin top 8 for 33rd to 40th all of which had various goodies up for grabs.

With 106 players for the event which sold out in under 3 hours it was going to be a good day. I wasn't actually sure I was going to be able to make it and thought I had missed getting a ticket but a friend who had bought one decided to give me theirs and jump into the Modern trios event instead which meant I could aim for the repeat!

This time the event was hosted at the University of Birmingham's Great Hall which is a really nice venue. With some nice weather and the campus ground at your disposal (and free parking to boot) it made for a super pleasant between-round setting (especially when your rounds are nice and quick). So as I mentioned 106 players, 7 rounds of swiss and a tonne of top 8 potential, it was gonna be a long day!

Alas this time around I am not sure if I can get proper metagame information so if it can be acquired, I will look to get it out in some form, maybe not on this platform. As a result this article will focus mostly on my day, list and thoughts of the event so apologies anyone looking for an article with more of an open theme to it xxxx

Axion have posted the top 8 decklists but alas no full metagame data is available :(

Decklist and Event Preparation

Decklist:

List wise we had made one change since last time going down to 3 Force of Negation in the side and adding a second Flusterstorm. I was happy with the list and any further changes would feel a little too arbitrary. I had been debating maybe looking to drop the splash because I find it rarely used but better to stick with what I trusted in. I did actually do a small extra bit of prep in mapping my sideboard plan for 8-Cast, which will become very relevant later, as I realised I did something different every time and suspected the deck to be popular (spoiler, it was).

As practice/training for the event I spent a day playing Mahjong, ran two proper leagues with my list and streamed one league with 4 copies of Battle of Wits and 3 copies of Yorion, Sky Nomad in (so they can be found with Intuition) in the side.

Optimising Yorion Doomsday VOD

In all honesty I didn't really prep for the event in terms of gameplay. I am now at a point where I feel confident in my play and be able to form at least some plan for most matchups (super rogue brews aside). As I trust in my mechanics and judgement the main thing I decided to focus on for this event was my mental. Now I am someone who can stress out easily especially when I perceive something as important which can lead to early mistakes, getting flustered over them and then it cascading into a full blown 0-3 drop scenario with high potential for inward-facing frustration. Because I am very much aware I am like this, I wanted to get myself in as good a position as I could to avoid it (and avoid the high fatigue, feeling awful state I was in for the last event).

So I went to bed early, made sure to pack a lunch, had some healthy fruit snacks, my trusty water canteen, made sure to spend a lot of time between rounds in the sun outside, conversed with lots of the lovely legacy community and saved a special dark chocolate bar for the end. I travelled up with 3 friends who were competing in the Modern trios (go team Experimental Friend-zy!) and had prepped a fun and heavy playlist for the journey up. We got to the venue early, enjoyed a fruit smoothie in the campus cafe before the event and it very much all helped. I generally felt brilliant all day even when the performance decline happened! All in all good mental was achieved throughout with 120% success!

Main Report

As stated we drove up as a group (kudos for driver Seb!) to the dulcit sounds of Metalcore, Skindred and Lil' Jon and got to the venue. We had an explore around, found the venue and got drinks (coffee for the boiz, smoothie for me). My event started first so I slunk away and got seated already seeing a lot of familiar faces from the previous event and other known community members, some not seen since pre-pandemic! Once the player meeting had finished up and with thunderous applause to the re-introduction potential of team trios (Pioneer, Modern and Legacy) for future events our head judge, the almight Winter (Bristol local) kicked everything off!

Round 1 vs. Simone on Oracle Lash Combo

We had been seated prior to the player meeting and so Simone and I had already had a chance to chat and joke about. He is a lovely player and his deck choice is fucking sweet.

I managed to win the dice roll and we both keep seven. I do some cantrip type things and maybe Personal Tutor for a Doomsday to which he makes comment on. He lead on just Island which then returned to his hand as I attempted to hit him with a Thoughtseize. The Island was then replaced with a Shelldock Isle to which I suddenly knew something funny was afoot! I untapped on my turn 3 with a tricky decision to make. Now I know Shelldock is a symmetrical check. Assuming my opponent is aware too then I had to cast Doomsday and pass the turn. If I do and there is something nasty like an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn under there then I am well and truly fucked. But, waiting means more time for them to do whatever they are doing or finding disruption. As a result I decided to risk jamming and seeing what happened.

I build something using Ideas Unbound and pass. They drop the know Island and pass back. I go for it and they try to Force of Will from under their Shelldock. I fight over it and drop Thassa's Oracle getting the day off to a good start.

Sideboard wise I brought in Duress and some REB effects. Shaved some Street Wraith, Preordain and the Watery Grave for the Volcanic Island. I honestly had no real idea what Simone was on other than maybe it involved Doomsday, Thought Lash or maybe Show and Tell???

Game 2 was really fun. I start 6, opponent 7. They lead on Island into Preordain. I tutor for Doomsday on turn 1 and get prepped for going off with protection turn 2 (either Thoughtseize or Flusterstorm). They cantrip some more, drop a Saprazzan Skerry and pass. I go to Thoughtseize them and it meets Force of Negation pitching Thought Lash (the jig is up!). With a Fluster in hand I decide to try and force the discard spell through but they have a Daze for the Thoughtseize anyways. No matter, I am still ready to go for a combo on turn 3 however my plans are scuppered when they drop a Malevolent Hermit. Now Hermit is a sweet card that has been seeing more and more play in Doomsday, ANT and other combo decks. In this scenario it was perfect as it provided a clock and a perfect counter to me only having one mana source in play (having used a Lotus Petal for Fluster earlier.

I shit you not after Hermit landed I proceeded to draw nothing but Forces and other stack based interaction when all I really wanted was a cantrip or land. As a result I was stranded with Dark Ritual and Doomsday in hand but no way to beat the onboard beater. Over the course of 7 turns it whittled me down until I could wait no more. I tried to follow my one out of finding enough land and a second Ritual to pay through it and win the same turn but alas it was not to be. It was funny as fuck and I am happy to have lost that way >.<!

Hermit dishing out the beats

Game 3 I keep 7, opponent 5 and I lead on a Thoughtseize that sees Paradigm Shift, Surgical Extraction, Narset, Parter of Veils, Force of Will and Island. I take Force and they play Shelldock for their turn. I untap, drop fetch, petal and Doomsday building something with double Oracle, lands, Cavern of Souls and cyclers. The main thing to make sure of is to not risk an Oracle to getting surgicalled at any point. The opponent does use their surgical on Doomsday eventually snagging another from my hand but ultimately they cannot find anything of use (Daze comes out from under Shelldock) and I manage to get the win!

Dice Rolls: 1-0
Match: 2-1
Matches: 1-0
Games: 2-1

Round 2 vs. Dylan on Food Chain

Just before the match I bump into Greg aka Dredge Greg aka THE_DADDY on MTGO! He's an ex-Bristol/Wales local who I hadn't seen since pre-covid. It was lovely to catch up and we talked about how he had crushed me online at the EW Bayou event last year. (Memory's Journey too strong). Anyways, onto the actual round!

Dylan was also super nice (let's be honest, I didn't have a bad opponent all day) and we both shuffled up with me getting the die roll again. Game 1 is over on turn 3 where I jam a same turn Ideas pile (without needing Lion's Eye Diamond) knowing his hand from an earlier discard spell and having seen a Misthollow Griffin I knew what was up.

Boarding wise I mostly prepped for Endurance by bringing in the second Oracle and added Chain of Vapor and Massacre in case of random permanent stuff. I think I also brought in maybe the Duress, I forget.

I go to 6 whilst Dylan keeps seven. I Duress him turn 1 with only one valid target in Mystical Dispute and the rest of his hand being Endurance, Ice-Fang Coatl, Griffin and some lands. I disrespect Endurance by just jamming turn 2 and setting up a pile with double Oracle in and countermagic for the first Endurance if needed. In the end I just need one Oracle to get the job done.

It's definately a tough matchup for Food Chain and I am happy I read the boarding right as Dylan did reveal a cheeky Torpor Orb in the list.

Dice Rolls: 2-0
Match: 2-0
Matches: 2-0
Games: 4-1

This was where we enjoyed the first half of our sandwhich and a banana. Nom nom.

Round 3 vs. Stu on Grixis Control

I had been joking about with one of the Legacy Breakfast Stus during the previous round as they were sat near me and lamenting not playing what I was. Strangely enough I then got paired against the other one the next round. I had been talking to one of their mates earlier and knew they were all on control variants of some sort but no idea exactly what.

I keep 6 whilst Stu retains 7. I think I tutor or cantrip to start with whilst he just drops basic Island. Turn 2 I Doomsdy which just resolves and I build a PTT pile with Cavern and the ability to fight over Endurance (making sure it also survived Day's Undoing in case it was Jeskai. I pass and he drops fetch into get Badlands.

"This is a combination I have not seen in a very long time" I remark. As only ANT and Grixis Control play that sort of manabase and I knew he wasn't on combo I had an idea what was happening. I pass a number of turns going down to 6 life thanks to cycling and fetching. Oracle comes down and he goes to Lightning Bolt me which is fine, go to 3 life. He then fetches and goes to Bolt me again. I Force (2 life), he Forces, I Pact of Negation having prepped it in case of Endurance. Pact resolves and I get the win.

This is where I have to extol Stu's virtues! As soon as he reaches for his sideboard he utters "Fuck" and calls a judge. It turns out he forgot to de-side after his last match. I was scared that he was going to lose the match by default thanks to this but thankfully because it was between games, he had noticed and called it upon himself and none of the cards had come up at all in game 1 it was a non-issue with a verbal wrist-slap which was good as it meant we could enjoy the rest of the match properly!

Boarding wise I was most scared of Thoughtseize from them over anything. Second Oracle, Flusters and Duress came in. I left the REBs out for the time being but was worried on Narset potential and Dress Down being an issue. Chain of Vapor came in for those!

We both keep 7s for game 2. I get in an early discard spell and see Baleful Strix. Narset, Bolt, Day's Undoing, Ponder and Jace, the Mind Sculptor with some lands. I had a think and decided to take the Narset. Turn 3 I jam and make a PTT pile with double Oracle and Cavern in making sure to stack it in such a way I cannot get punished by a Thoughtseize into Surgical on the fish. Stu draws blank and goes for the natural Day's Undoing. I do some quick maths with a hand of Forces, Chain of Vapor, and a cycler. My pile had a Ponder and an Ideas Unbound in. I had 11 cards across my hand, graveyard and library and could guarantee hitting an Oracle and getting to at least 2 cards left thereafter so I let it resolve, He finds nothing and I resolve Oracle off Cavern with a silly amount of interaction available.

What would you have taken here?

Dice Rolls: 3-0
Match: 2-0
Matches: 3-0
Games: 6-1

Round 4 vs. Stuart on Yorion Death and Taxes

Poor Stu had a bad day with me. He had worked out what I was on and knew it was going to be tough but he was a super great lad and gave me the details on the Northern legacy scene which sounded really fun (weekly Legacy events average 9 players with 7/8 of them on combo, sounds great to me!). This was an intense match and was very close!

I managed to win yet another die roll (this was getting silly now) and keep a decen if slow-ish 7 whilst he went to 6. I manage to snag a Stoneforge Mystic with a Thoughtseize leaving some Rishadan Ports in hand along with a Mother of Runes and Flickerwisp. It's a little late but I resolve Doomsday turn 4 and make a PTT pile that can beat double Port and Wasteland. Now he had been chipping me down with Mom so life total was looking okay and the wisp hadn't appeared at all. Even despite a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben coming down Based on my calculations I was going to end the game with an empty library at 1 life. Now the element I did not account for was Urza's Saga. Even with this out I was like "it's fine there is nothing that can punish me plan other than maybe a Pithing Needle on one of my fetchlands combined with a swords to prevent me winning with an empty library. As a result when it came to the 3rd counter trigger I sacrificed both lands in response ready and safe in the knowledge that nothing he could do could hurt me. Then he tutored up a Shadowspear. I'd forgotten about that card.

Bugger.

So he takes game 1 and we go to boarding. This is easy, bring in Chain, Massacre, Force of Negations and second fish and take out a smattering of other bits, discard, Cavern etc.

Game 2 both have 7, I jam turn 1 Doomsday with Daze backup and win. Not much to say.

Game 3 I go to 6, opponent keeps 7. This game goes quite long and there is a strong argument for me maybe needing to have mulliganed more aggressively for a faster hand but I was confident in what I had (I think I was just missing a Ritual for maximum speed). I stop some sort of hatebear effect but he managed to land a Stoneforge which finds Kaldra Compleat. Well now I am under the gun. I can make a yolo PTT pile that can take one Kaldra hit alongside the Mystic and survive but I lose if I get double taxed on mana (they had Port online and a Thalia out too). I basically just built Ideas into land, Oracle with an emergency Edge of Autumn in case of removal. So I lose to second Port, Wasteland, Ethersworn Canonist, Sanction Prelate on 2 and Spirit of the Labyrinth to name but a few. He gets a Shadowspear down, knocks me to 1 life and has to pass where I manage to cast Ideas, draw Oracle and win. That was intense!

Dice Rolls: 4-0
Match: 2-1
Matches: 4-0
Games: 8-2

This is where we had to refill the ol' water canteen. Stay hydrated yo!

Round 5 vs. Autumn on 8-Cast

So yeah, this is the part where the day breaks down.

I check the standings and spy a familiar name joining me on table 1. Autumn used to be a Bristol local but moved away to bigger and better things including the small deal of smashing it on the pro circuit. We had both learnt to play Legacy from the same person and were brought up jamming my Manaless Dredge list vs their Stax deck. Good clean fun. Now I know they are a very good player and are likely on a tier deck so expected it to be a tricky fight. We sit down and have a lovely chat reconnecting and joking about how the Doomsday community went from 5 players to 1000 almost overnight when Oracle was printed. Our chat was nice and long as we had a deck check before we started (I had forgotten how nervous those things make me!) so we kicked off 10 minutes into the round.

Game 1 I continue my streak of bossing die rolls and take the play with a decent 7. I tutor up a Doomsday and pass. Autumn drops some baubles and cracks them taking a look and their own library then passes. I have the option to deploy a naked turn 2 Doomsday here thanks to Petal but as 8-Cast run Forces and Autumn had a basically full grip I elected to fire off a Duress this turn to check the coast was clear. It seemed to be with the hand comprising of Thoughtcast, Kappa Cannoneer and some lands. Obviously I have to take the cast and they draw and pass. I slam the Doomsday (didn't find another mana source so used the Petal) and disaster strikes as they Force pitching the known turtle. I cry internally. From that point onwards the game slips away from me with the 8-Cast engine online whilst I struggle to find what I need and I have to pick it up.

Boarding I go with my planned setup. Flusters come in, Force of Negation comes in. Oracle comes in. Chain comes in. Discard, a Daze or two, some Preordain etc all go out.

We both keep 6 and I am ready with a protected turn 2 Doomsday. No Chalice is forthcoming so I jam. Force of Negation meets Doomsday. Force meets Force. Force of Negation 2 meets Force. Curses! Emry, Lurker of the Loch generates an obscene amount of advantage but I still have a lot of time as no threats are found however eventualy Chalice of the Void x2 drop and a Saga starts to crank up and the perfect run attempt is ended. Big oofs but well deserved to Autumn who got to and split the finals so congrats to them!

Dice Rolls: 5-0
Match: 0-2
Matches: 4-1
Games: 8-4

Second half of the sandwich and satsuma eaten! Keep up the glucose!#

Round 6 vs. Andy on 8-Cast

I had someone do the maths and worked out that the 5th win would have allowed me to double ID and lock in top-8. As I was now on a loss I had to get one more win before the free round could be mine. So now relegated to table 5 we went at it again.

So I sit opposite Andy who seemed to know exactly who I was and what my agenda was citing he should probably pack up now. As a result I assumed he was on 12-Post or something having seen it floating around the top tables a fair bit. We shuffle up and I keep a 6 my opponent a 5. Now I 100% throw this first game. I have the option for a turn 2 naked Doomsday or a turn 3 Doomsday with maybe Force backup (blind draw a blue card allowing) and I should have waited. The opponent had dropped 4 baubles and no lands so must have been holding something to make the hand keepable but I guess I must have just been a bit off from the missed game 1 that could have worked last match or something. Needless to say I throw Doomsday away and opponent gets the engine going. I think this is the first real mistake I make all day (despite the Shadowspear forgetfulness) so that's not too bad!

I board exactly the same as last match.

Game 2 I cast Doomsday turn 2 with a PTT pile and win. My opponent has nothing to really stop me.

Game 3 is a close one. I forget all the details but I know at one point I have to burn one of my two Forces to stop a Hullbreacher that tries to snag a Brainstorm of mine which then means I am unable to fully defend my Doomsday when I do manage to go for it. I finally end up in a scenario where my land is limited and I have a hand of Ritual, Personal Tutor and Preordain. I try and do the maths on my life total vs their construct token and find it lacking but try to grab a Doomsday anyways. A final hardcast Force on that puts an end to any sense of being able to ID the last round and I get sent to the shadow realm.

This match felt like game 2 and 3 results would have switched if I had waited game 1. I think the role of play vs draw is very important when looking at the decks together. Post board 8-Cast bring Chalice, 8 Forces and Flusters and Disputes in which gives them an obscene amount of potential interaction so being able to get under them before they can deploy the Chalice or Mana for interaction is really important. I had said going into the event that Delver, 8-Cast and DnT were my decks to beat and it looks like I was right with I think 5/6 of the top 8 in the end being made up of robotic turtles.

Dice Rolls: 6-0
Match: 1-2
Matches: 4-2
Games: 9-6

Round 7 vs. Alex on Moon Stompy

Righty, despite the double walloping I was still feeing really good and had a small chance to eke in to the top thanks to great breakers if I could smash this one out. My opponent snap keeps a 7 and I get a little scared as I have to go down to 5. But what a 5 it was! (And yes, of course I was on the play again).

Absolutely perfect, I jam a turn 1 Doomsday and make a resilient PTT pile with Cavern and Island in that could speed up if it needed to. Opponent slams a 4/3 with Haste I have to read and can ignore and I get the win.

Boarding is Forces and Chain. Discard comes out. Cavern must stay in!

Game 2 I think maybe I should have mulliganed more aggressively but this matchup can really be decided on opening hand roulette with any hand on the draw having to contend with one of any number of things like Chalice, Trinisphere, or Blood Moon. I kept a hand that could defend a bit and go off turn 3 unless I were to find acceleration. I cannot contend with things and get walloped by Goblins.

Game 3 again was a case of should mulligan more aggressively. I think I want a turn 1 Doomsday wherever possible to then build a pile with Island, Cavern, Petal and some speed power. My 7 was perfectly fine but not fast enough for sure. They slam a Goblin Rabblemaster and I have to do some maths. If I can find a Dark Ritual the next turn then I can ignore it and go for the win. If I don't then I have to fight over it. I follow the odds and Force it. The next turn I see a lot of cards and finally managed to find Ritual but with no mana left I have to pass. I am able to get a same turn win next turn assuming no Chalice or Moon effect and even with Chalice or Sphere I can still make a PTT pile however it's Blood Moon that slams down followed by a second one! Fuck. On the Moon I knew I was done for but played in case I could find exactly a Petal to try and get through but some threats arrived and I could not find the Petal and thus had to extend the fist bump.

Dice Rolls: 7-0
Match: 1-2
Matches: 4-3
Games: 10-8

I would've probably felt quite bad about the certainty of not being able to enter any top spots but Alex is actually a fucking legend and gave me no time to be sad as he whipped out two deck boxes and challenged me to a game of OG Kamigawa Block Constructed. "Two mana planeswalker or durdle beyblade?" he asked. "Fucking beyblade let's goooooo".

Bonus Round: BUG Legend Gifts Control vs. Alex on Mono White Aggro

Alex managed to turbo out some serious threats in the form of some Lantern Kami and Samurai of the Pale Curtain. I make some land drops but can't get anything going as the board fills up with angry 1/1 and 2/2 threats. Eventually I can cast a Kokusho, the Evening Star but it is not enough.

Game 2 went a lot better. I was able to get a lot of mana out and start the sweet Gifts Ungiven loop of Hana-Kami, Goryo's Vengeance, Death Denied and Kagemaro, First to Suffer going however the whole time I had a Manriki-Gusari boosted Hand of Honor beating me down which I could not get rid of! I finally had gotten everything ready for a big take down when what would have been a game ending Hokori, Dust Drinker threatened to ruin everything and so I had to commit to taking it down leaving me low on resources. I finally got Kokusho in attack mode but alas some well timed removal and a big ol' Patron of the Kitsune brought it to a close.

That was fucking sweet and was just what I needed! Thank-you for all the games Alex x x x !

Legacy results:
Dice Rolls: 7-0
Match: 1-2
Matches: 4-3
Games: 10-8

Kamigawa Block Constructed results:
Dice Rolls: 1-0
Match: 0-2
Matches: 0-1
Games: 0-2

So I found the guys, had a chill out and waited for the announcements. Obviously top 8 was out and second top 8 was likely no go but I had potential for one of 3rd or 4th top 8's and lo' and behold I managed to sneak into the chocolate top 8 at 28th place in the swiss to fight to win a load of MH2 boosters. Not bad!

Chocolate Quarters vs. Stuart on Yorion Death and Taxes

As I said before, poor Stuart. Yes our lovable round 4 opponent had returned and he was not happy to see us! I was also one place higher in the standings so got to take the play again.

Game 1 ended in a matter of minutes. We both have 7 and I had turn 1 Doomsday. He had no time against the standard DnT pile and couldn't get there.

Same boarding as round 4.

Game 2 my notes are bad but as I recall it was another turn 2 or 3 Doomsday having mulled to 6 with the ability to pass and chill or the ability to just win the next turn. He had dropped an Aether Vial on turn 1 so I was weary for a Spirit coming down on my Brainstorm. I baited Spirit with a Wraith cycle and given that was ignored I committed the Brainstorm and won the turn immediately after Doomsday had resolved. Stu bless him had tried his best but it is very difficult for DnT for sure!

Legacy results:
Dice Rolls: 7-0
Match: 2-0
Matches: 5-3
Games: 12-8

Kamigawa Block Constructed results:
Dice Rolls: 1-0
Match: 0-2
Matches: 0-1
Games: 0-2

In all the top 8's for the event the prizes were split (so Underground Sea for first and second!) so recognising my opponent and them being on Delver (not to mention really wanting a curry) I waited for his round to finish and made the offer to split giving us 6 packs each and the ability to leave at a reasonable time. He accepted under one key condition, that we play a game 1.

Chocolate Semi Game 1 for Pride vs. David on UR Delver

Now then this may seem familiar to those who read the last report and yes! This is the very same David I had to fight (and somehow managed to best) twice last time! It seems despite my insistence that this was favourable for him I had instilled a bit of a complex and he was determined to beat his Doomsday oppressor! As a result we played a game 1 for fun with him taking the play as per standings.

I kept a 7 and he a 6. There was an early Delver of Secrets landing which put the pressure on revealing a Daze to the flip. After some careful cantripping and a well timed discard spell I was able to jam turn 3 with a PTT pile that only lost to Bolt. I had the Ideas in hand and was able to throw a lot of other cantrips in in case I had to manually dig through it if the Ideas got countered. Poor David went through something like 12 looks with cantrips but was not able to find the Bolt and I felt bad as this seemed to only reinforce his bias!

But like the lovely chap he is we did split the prize pot (and I split my chocolate bar with him as it only seemed fair) and thus ended the event itself!

Final results:

Legacy results:
Dice Rolls: 7-0
Match: 1-0
Matches: 5.5-3
Games: 13-8

Kamigawa Block Constructed results:
Dice Rolls: 1-0
Match: 0-2
Matches: 0-1
Games: 0-2

I was well chuffed with the results and made the entry back on MHII gacha packs. Everyone I played with or near was super chill and it was just a great day out. But it wasn't over yet!

Post Event Curry

Now if there is one thing to get food wise in Birmingham it is an Indian meal (yes yes, jokes about British food etc). One of the boiz found us a sweet place to check out and we went for food and event decompression. Mango Mojito cocktails refreshed us super well and we ordered a load of stuff to share including a large naan bread. Holy shit it was huge! It was all very tasty so if you find yourself in the UK/Birmingham give Royal Watan a try. It's Kashmari style which means a decent amount of heat and spice nom nom nom.

We finally headed back (again big love to Seb) to the tunes of Die Antwoord, yet more Metalcore and Reggae Drum and Bass with me finally collapsing in bed (after a quick play session with one of the cats) around midnight. Holy shit I slept well!

Amazing day and event 10/10 would go again.

Post Event Thoughts

So now I need to assess what went wrong around the three lost matches. I think the first one was pretty unavoidable with the topdeck counter in game 1 and the double Force pitch in game 2 . The second match obviously included the rushed Doomsday which should not have happened but the game 3 was an interesting scenario. In part that may just be the approach needing to be taken for the matchup with more aggressive mulligans to be sought. The Moon Stompy match I think was fine with mulligan decisions more than list issues being the main cause of issue.

I think I am happy with the decklist and boarding choices but if I were to be the knee-jerk type I would maybe suggest adding one extra bounce spell to the side, perhaps Echoing Truth or Hurkyl's Recall if I really wanted to target one specific deck. Of the cards in the list the main I like a lot and it will take a significant reason for me to adjust those numbers for the time being. The side I think the weakest element is the splash. Now REB is a very powerful tool but honestly I seem to never need them with discard often proving more effective. I have brought them in plenty of times but they do not seem to appear that frequently and sometimes the need to find Volcanic Island can really hamper progression towards a slower gamestate. I'm not going to change anything for now but the number of REB effects (3) would be my first potential cut if anything with maybe a mind to remove the splash entirely.

I do want to play around a little with ABCD (always be casting Doomsday) Doomsday having a go with taking out Daze, adding in Cabal Ritual and getting some Misdirection action going but not for any serious event until I have tried it locally / casually first. I am not going to try any of the Tempo variants because creature combat is not for me.

Closing Thoughts

And that is it. Once again I want to thank François and Axion for putting on a great event, Winter and her team for judging and keeping everything nice and organised, all my opponents for being lovely people, everyone I chatted with between rounds or during rounds, basically everyone.

But of course the biggest thanks go to THE BOIZ Seb, Ish and Ben who were the best event/travel/meal companions one could hope for and despite having only an okay performance themselves they also stayed strong with positive spirits! Bristol as a whole did great again across both events and I think we can look forward to even more this year. (Looking at this rumoured giga-event).

Feeling good after the event

Big ol' naan bread

The sound and smells of the grill were amazing

Thanks for reading and remember that even if your performance is not amazing, you can still have a great time with good company if you make sure to look after yourself!

x x x

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