We left off last time in the middle of a 4-3-2-2 draft. I learned an important lesson about Regress and Domestication. For reference, here is the Decklist and Sideboard from the U/B levelers deck I drafted.
Match 2, Game 1
opponent: twoduckcubed
I win the die roll and choose to play last. I'm happy with this decision as I see a pretty fantastic opener. The only thing I would have changed is a second Island over a Swamp. This photo below is with my freshly drawn Skywatcher Adept from my first turn which made it even better.
T1
He starts out with a Forest. (d: Skywatcher Adept from above photo) I play out an Island and the Adept.
He plays a land and an Aura Gnarlid, (d: Swamp) while I play Swamp and pass telegraphing Last Kiss mana.
T4
He plays a Kozilek's Predator as I kiss the Aura Gnarlid goodbye (m22). (d: Island) I play an Island, level my Adept and start swinging (e18).
T5
He has a Forest, puts a Spider Umbra on his Nest Invader and swings for 6 (m16). (d: Island), I double level my Wavewatch while leaving up Vendetta mana and swing with my Adept (e16).
T6
He swings with both of his 3/3s, and I block 1 with my 0/6 Wavewatch (m13). He has no other action. (d: Sea Gate Oracle) I play a Swamp, level up my Wavewatch to 6/6 Islandwalk and swing in for 8 (e8) which puts him on a 1 turn clock.
T7
He taps out for a Crusher. I Vendetta his Reached Nest Invader to get rid of the Spider Umbra and am able to swing in for lethal.
Sideboard saw a couple of Zulaport Enforcers boarded out for some Perish the Thought.
Game 2
He chooses to play first. As for my hand, there isn't much going on here. I could have probably gotten a better six. Hopefully it is enough to stall until a leveler comes along or something else worth playing like a Sphinx.
T1
He leads with a Plains. Maybe he was mana-screwed last game or sided out a color. (d: Island) I play an Island.
T2
He plays a Forest and a Kazandu Tuskcaller (yikes), (d: Escaped Null) I play a Swamp and an unimpressive Champion's Drake.
T3
He plays a Swamp. I'm thinking he's either 4-color now or sided out his blue so he could block my Wavewatch. He levels his Tuskcaller once as I (d: Island) play an Island, swing for 1 (e19) and pass leaving Regress mana up for his Tuskcaller.
T4
He plays a Plains, swings for 1 (m19) and then drops a Joraga Treespeaker. At end of turn I Regress the Tuskcaller. (d: Halimar Wavewatch) I swing for 1 (e18), drop the Wavewatch and level up (siding out Islands looks like a good plan at the moment).
T5
He plays a Swamp and levels up his Treespeaker, then uses it to play his Tuskcaller while leveling it once. (d: Island) I play Island, double level my Wavewatch and swing with my Air Elemental - err Champion's Drake (e14).
T6
He has another Swamp, levels the Tuskcaller to 3 and casts Consuming Vapors :(. If I sac the Wavewatch, the drake becomes useless. I decide I will sac the drake (e18) and then cast and sac the Escaped Null to keep the Wavewatch. Or, if I draw a Swamp, I can sac my Cadaver Imp after
retrieving my Champion's Drake. (d: Island) I play Island and continue with the Escaped Null plan. I level up my Wavewatch to 4, while he puts a beast into play at EOT.
T7
He rebounds his Vapors and I sac the Null (e20). He gets a second Forest and levels up his Tuskcaller to 2x beasts zone. It's not looking good as he Snake Umbras his Tuskcaller. (d: Sea Gate Oracle) I play SGO and see a second SGO and an Induce Despair. Perfect! I take the Induce Despair and kill his Tuskcaller as he drops 2x foil beasts from his dead foil Tuskcaller. I play a 6th Island and pass the turn with my Cadaver Imp in hand and only 1 Swamp in play.
T8
He swings with 3 beasts. I'm able to block 1 and take 6 (m13). His Totem Guide Heartbeast fethces up a Hyena Umbra and he drops a Kozilek's Predator. (d: Skywatcher Adept), I play an Island and Adept, level up my Wavewatch to a 6/6 blocker and the Adept to a 2/2 flier.
T9
He casts his freshly fetched Hyena Umbra on his Heartbeast and now has 5, three power crits to beat in with. The Kozilek's Predator, Heartbeast and his Beasts from his Tuskcaller. My Wavewatch eats one, yum! My SGO and Adept eat another (losing the Adept) and I take 9 (m4). He levels his Treespeaker and passes. Of course, of the top I rip a (d: Last Kiss) beast-killing-life-gaining machine. And pass.
T10
With me at 4, he swings in with 3, three powered guys and the Treespeaker. Maybe he should have swung with his Treespeaker last turn for an extra point of damage. I block one with the Oracle and use Last Kiss before First strike damage (m6). I block the other non-umbra guy with my Wavewatch (if I block the Umbra guy, he only loses 1 power of attack and still can get through with multiple guys the following turn. I take 4 (m2). (d: Swamp) Like a champ I play my Swamp, Cadaver Imp and Champion's Drake (4/4)!
T11
He draws and passes with 2 cards in hand. (d: Inquisition of Kozilek), I cast Inquisition revelaing Guard Duty and Spider Umbra. My entire team is on Guard Duty at the moment so I take the relevant Spider Umbra. It was about this time that he had some comments about "runner, runner, perfect". While I had been getting exactly what I needed the last 4 draws, I did start the game with 6 Islands and 1 Swamp, so I wouldn't say Runner, Runner, Perfect. It's not like I had a Sphinx of Magosi to go with all of my Islands. I swing in with my Imp for 1 (e19) putting him on a 19 turn clock.
T12
He plays another Heartbeast and fetches a Spider Umbra, which based on its power level and effect on the current state I would imagine is one of his last Umbras in his deck. He passes and I (d: Runner, Runner Perfect Sphinx of Magosi) play my Sphinx! I use his +1/+1 ability (d: Skywatcher Adept) providing blockers and invevitability.
T13
Spider Umbra drops down onto a Spawn. (d: Frostwind Invoker) for turn, (d: Swamp) off sphinx (8/8), swing with Drake (e15), play Invoker and Adept
T14
He has a Plains and Ulamog's Crusher with Guard Duty for my Sphinx. (d: Swamp, Frostwind Invoker, See Beyond) (10/10) swing with Invoker and Drake (e8) and play my second Invoker.
T15
Heartbeast number 3 goes and gets Luminous Wake which goes on an Invoker. His Crusher eats an Island and a Swamp, before my Sphinx has Brunch. (d: Island #7). I have lethal with an Invoker ability on the stack as he concedes.
I'm not sure if you can tell by the recap, but it was a close and very exciting game.
Match 3
This was an anti-climatic 10 minutes as my opponent didn't show. I gain a QP +4 packs and have a new found love for Sphinx of Magosi.
While I can't bring you my 2 sealed reports from M11, I will say I enjoy the set, yes it is bomby like M10, but there is nothing like Drafting and Sealed in a core set. It brings the nostalgia of Revised all over again. See you next time for another ROE draft. Until then, keep it Basic.
