Bringing Brews to GP – Part 2

Hello everyone,

Let’s continue with rounds 5 through 8 with my brew below.

Round 5 – vs. BW Knights (1-1-1)

• Game 1, I almost lost this game when the opponent had main board Ixalan’s Binding and placed it on top of my Mirari Conjecture but thankfully I drew my single copy of Blink of an Eye and bounced it at end of my opponent’s turn to get it back with the first Saga upon ETB, then fetched the second Approach on the second Saga and won the turn after.
• Game 2, I forgot to put one Approach in the sideboard and got Lost Legacied and got completely blown out with almost zero win condition except for Torment which was sitting in the sideboard and I have already used my Mastermind’s Acquisition early on. The opponent took time to kill me because his knights kept dying from my recurring sweepers so we were left with 7 minutes as we shuffle for round 3.
• Game 3, we eventually went to time with me at 8 life after back to back History. One got Invoke the Divine to bring me back to 12 but with 3 knights in the battlefield, I needed answer if we went on but I had Fumigate on 5. It all boils down if he has a Duress to strip that away to win if he had 2 more turns.

Round 6 – vs. Naya Goodstuff

• Game 1, the deck came in as a surprise. Llanowar Elf into Rhonas, then a History of Benalia came in, Glorybringer then Carnage Tyrant. This deck’s power level was through the roof but unfortunately it was a bad match-up against a deck that can effectively cast Settle and Fumigate multiple times. With no ways to interact with Approach, game 1 came down to inevitability.
• Game 2, I sided in Invoke and Negate for Walkers which I think he also brought in (which he did). Ajani, Chandra and Nissa all got Negated or Contempt, while Invoke dealt with Lifecrafter’s Bestiary. My opponent was thrilled to see me cast Torment for 54.

Round 7 – vs. RB Chainwhirler (1-2)

• Game 1, my opponent played 3 Soul-Scar Mages which alone dealt 9 damage thanks to Shock on turn 3. Chandra on turn 4 got through after I Settled the Mages. Soon Glorybringer came crashing down and he took Game 1 before I could cast Approach.
• Game 2, I decided to main board two of my Oketra’s Last Mercy and remembered to side out 1 of the Approach in case my opponent had Lost Legacy. Farm//Market did an excellent job at playing around him playing around my Settle. Whenever my opponent would attack with just one creature, a spot removal was always handy at killing it. Once he decided to swing with everything, Settle would wipe his board clean. However, I won this match with a Torment for 42 only after going back to 20 from 3 life after casting Oketra’s Last Mercy. My opponent read the card three times, smiled and congratulated my tech against his deck.
• Game 3, I didn’t draw the right answers for the right threat. Negates missed his Chandra, Essence Scatters missed Hazoret. The deck just didn’t cooperate so I lost.

Round 8 – vs. Mono Red (2-0)

• Game 1, my opponent kept a slow hand and suffered after I kept a hand full of early removal. Mirari Conjecture kept my hands full and Approach help me take the game long enough to cast the second one.
• Game 2, my opponent managed to bring me don to 2 life and had a Scrapheap Scrounger in the graveyard and 1 card in hand, no board presence. I cast my Oketra’s Last Mercy only to be surprised he responded with Glorious End to end the turn and prevent me from going back to 20. I read the card twice (so this is how it feels to be janked out), and responded with my 4 remaining mana to Contempt his Scrapheap, going up to 4 life. The turn ends and he drew Ahn-Crop Crasher to deal 3 damage, putting me to 1 life and lost after failing to win that turn.

The overall experience of the deck was really good. It had the lines to go for the long game and the only pitfall of the deck is when it misses land drops. The sideboard is also quite loose and would prefer maybe 2 more removal spells like 1 more Settle and 1 more Reproach, swap out 1 Negate for 1 more Invoke the Divine.

To further the deck’s concept, I’m studying how to use Precognition Field instead to extend my hand to the top of the library and keep my spells a bit safe against Duress. More on this on the next deck tech!

Cheers,

Vanson