Finnish Highlander Champions - *11th*

[Nastaboi]

I have written longer report in Finnish, but most of it is just about travelling the tournament and inside jokes, so I just translated the game parts.

Before tournament I tested all kinds of juicy piles as Grixis good stuff including all wildfires, Death Cloud, Ultimatum, Nicol Bolas the PW and lots of stones. When playing against myself on a kitchen table and I won no game against my Fishy Monoblue control. I was stunned as I realized that whenever I have borrowed the deck to any person, it has made it into prizes or at least top 8. I replaces some fishes with real cards, but some unorthodox cards were still left. List:

Fishy Mono Blue

//Lands (33)

20 Island FOIL
1 Scalding Tarn FOIL
1 Misty Rainforest FOIL
1 Polluted Delta FOIL
1 Flooded Strand FOIL
1 Wasteland
1 Rishadan Port
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Dust Bowl // Did not use once
1 Karakas// Was relevant in one MU
1 the Riptide Laboratory FOIL// Used maybe once
1 Faerie Conclave FOIL
1 Mutavault
1 Mishra's factory fbb

//Creatures (23)

1 Sygg, Calain Cuningas FOIL // Drew 0 cards, is going to get cut
1 Spiketail Hatchling FOIL
1 Looter il-Kor FOIL
1 Fathom Seer FOIL // Nuts
1 Coralhelm Commander // Nutsi

1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner FOIL
1 Vendilion Clique FOIL
1 Sower of Temptation  fbb
1 Aether Adept FOIL
1 Man-o-War FOIL
1 Cold-Eyed Selkie FOIL
1 Wake Thrasher
1 Calcite Snapper FOIL // Why do people keep dissing this? Awesome creature.
1 Sea Gate Oracle fbb
1 Plumeveil FOIL

1 Venser, Shaper Savant fbb
1 Masticore
1 Glen Elendra Archmage FOIL

1 Riftwing Cloudskate FOIL
1 Mulldrifter FOIL
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Razormane Masticore FOIL
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror FOIL


//Counters (22)

1 Stifle FOIL
1 Spell Snare
1 Force Spike FOIL
1 Disrupt FOIL
1 Spell Pierce FOIL

1 Remand FOIL
1 Daze FOIL
1 Memory Lapse FOIL
1 Mana Drain
1 Counterspell FOIL
1 Negate FOIL
1 Mana Leak FOIL
1 Miscalculation
1 Deprive
1 Logic Knot // UU counter target spell, not bad

1 Cryptic Command FOIL
1 Thwart fbb
1 Foil FOIL

1 Misdirection
1 Force of Will
1 Commandeer
1 Pact of Negation

//Other (22)

1 Chrome Mox

1 Ancestral Vision
1 Sensei's Divining Top FOIL

1 Mind Stone FOIL
1 Guardian Idol // EBF tapped sometimes heavy
1 Talisman of dominance FOIL
1 Talisman of Progress FOIL
1 Into the Roil FOIL
1 Sapphire Medallion // not convinced me yet

1 Psionic Blast FOIL
1 Sword of Fire and Ice FOIL
1 Vedalken Shackles FOIL
1 Back to Basics
1 Repulse
1 Jace Beleren FOIL
1 Threads of Disloyalty // Was against aggro but did nothing

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Control Magic fbb
1 Fact or Fiction FOIL
1 Gifts Ungiven FOIL

1 Gush
1 Treachery

The deck wins with a good percentage against everything except fast aggros. You have to rely on single bombs against them, though just racing is an option with so many tempo cards. The counters in the deck cost 0-2 manas, so against anything slower you can play our own game with UU up all the time. Currently I’m looking for more cards to help aggro matchup, have been considering Merchant Scroll, Domestication, Rushing River, Consign to Dream, Phyrexian Ironfoot, Godhead of Awe and Gravitational Shift. Suggestions welcome.


1. Antti Lyytinen Reanimator

In the first game my deck did what it does: I countered some spells, got Sword to stick and swung for the win. Antti claimed that he would have had Akroman animated, but it had been no use because of my Karakas. The second game was Magic at its best. Antti was forced Hermit Druidin into the battlefield, only to see me topdeck Psionic Blast. For this on to the very end of the game I drew nothing but Islands and an occasional counter to keep in game. Antti was forced to Zombizy Druid as he needed an outlet. Immediately after this, he drew his last basic as one particular enchantment had made him fetch them already. Druid turned into beatdown mode making a total at least 12 damage, because I drew no men and my Conclave could not block because of his Darkblast. At three life, Antti finished my struggle by Natural Order with a Force backup.

Time was running out, and I had to mull to six with some fast beaters but no counter. Thrasher was extraordinary fast getting Darkblast immediately, but Snapper hit him down to five before trading with Hermit Druid. I had nothing so I tapped out for Sea Gate Oracle though he’d be able to dredge Darkblast. I had to choose between Mana Leak and Karakas, and I took Karakas after seen that many creatures with shroud. Antti thanked by somehow animating Iona. With few outs left I drew the Sword, which got Force of Will. WTF? The pro I am, my next draw was Razormane which I happily slammed down. He was forced to chump with Iona but got Oath, which gave him enough blockers so neither of us could win.

1-1-1 (0-0-1)

2. Miikka Niemi Stax (paired down)

Miikka is familiar buddy from Helsinki and I had an idea what he might play. I Snared his turn 2 talisman off Workshop, which was then kept in check by Rishadan Port. He ritualed out Nether Void which bite himself back as he didn’t draw that much mana and I kept porting and swinging with Conclave. Finally Miikka got Welder and got to use Mindslaver once by discarding it on cleanup, but it was already too late.

I kept Sygg, Clique, lands for the second game only to see Miikka lay down second turn Humility. It was followed by Intuition to Crucible, Ravages of War, Tabernacle and Propaganda. I countered Crucible though, and was paying 3 manas a turn for the joy of attacking with 1/1. Talismans being his only sources did their part too. Psionic Blast ended his struggle.

2-0 (1-0-1)

3. Aarne Halén UGr Heartbeat Combo

Aarne wasn’t originally going to play in the tournament, but was lend an unpolished deck to boost player count. Fortunately, he had played Heartbeat in Standard before. I had Commandeer in my opening and formed a plan immediately. When Aarne begun with second turn Rampant Growth, I tapped out hoping to lure him play something big for my Commandeer. My dream came true as Aarne had kept just Gifts and filler. I got a couple kilometers lead from his Gifts and won handily.

Second game was more of a battle. At some point I had four lands with two untapped and Deprive, when Aarne tried Heartbeat. I let it resolve opting to bounce it with End Step Cryptic Command instead. Aarne got Careful Consideration in response, but was dazed from my sneaky play and I got a little upper hand. Some turns later I got Turnabout for my lands on my Upkeep, but had just drew Pact and let it resolve, fishing some big spell with the Pact. Facing lethal, Aarne had only three cards, two of which were known, and as I flashed a counter he extended his hand.

2-0 (2-0-1)

4. Antti Kontio BR Goblins (paired down)

Antti has had a little break from the game and needed a deck to go, so he was given Goblins. Would have been nice to win and in this round, but well constructed Goblin deck is among the worst matchups. I won critical roll as we both played two-drops and Swords one after another, but I got mine active first and three swings later he was dead. In the second one we both played some unimpressive creatures, he got something to boost them and had Terminate ready for my Razormane. We both had mediocre draws, which was enough for his deck.

I started with Visions only to see Antti had Vial and to draw Spell Pierce after that. Thoughtseize made sure that Recruiter resolved, which would have been game even though I hadn’t missed an opportunity to bounce his Vial while keeping counter mana up.

1-2 (2-1-1)

5. Miro Ahvenainen UW control (paired down)

The third down pairing meant I had no business for top eight even with otherwise nice 3-1-1 record. It is impossible to lose the matchup, and I won two games triumphant-style. Miro resolved only Elspeth in the first one, who was run over by Glen Elendra and Razormane. In the end my hand consisted of seven cards, all pure gas. In the second game I think my morphed creature got Path in response to equip, revealing to be Fathom Seer. Card Advantage much? Wall of Denial did so little against the Sword.

2-0 (3-1-1)

And in the end, there were like eight players tied in ten points, from 4th to 11th in standings. I was the eleventh and buddies I drove with were 8th and 9th. That didn’t matter in the end, because the trip itself was so awesome. Thanks to my buddies and grats to the new champion.

[Tiggupiru]

Thank you for congratulations, and good job at the tournament and with this report.

Currently I’m looking for more cards to help aggro matchup, have been considering Merchant Scroll, Domestication, Rushing River, Consign to Dream, Phyrexian Ironfoot, Godhead of Awe and Gravitational Shift. Suggestions welcome.

Spire Golem could be good enough here, maybe? Only other card I could think of from the top of my head is Dream Stalker, which probably has too few targets to be playable, but is a solid wall that can abuse ETBs and swing for huge amounts of damage.

Domestication seems worse than Threads of Disloyalty, which I think is a decent card in a control deck. Probably too weak here. The bounce spells don't impress me that much. They are good only when you get a decent start yourself, or you hit the nuts with Consign to Dream.

Probably the most efficient way to improve your aggro MU is to splash something. It messes up your Back to Basics, but at least you have the control over when to drop it, and you don't have tutor for it so you don't draw it very often. Unless you have mad shuffling skillz. You could play Drift of Phantasms as a tutor for B2B and stuff like SoFI. It's quite a decent blocker if you find yourself against fast clock, too. Anything other than light splash also makes the Commandeer unplayable, which is a shame as the card is one of my favorite cards of all time and a real powerhouse. I have no idea how the splash would change the control MUs, so this might make the deck worse without actually improving anything.

[Nastaboi]

I don't want to make a splash for personal reasons. Drift have been considered but transmute cost is just too high. Not enough synergy for Dream Stalker. Don't like Domestication either. Spire Golem I has to test, I always have at least one nonbasic among my first 4-5 lands but it could do.