Waiting for Godot: ACR #4 – Swiss – Rd 1

R1G1

I lose the roll, Villain goes to six, and I look at my seven:

Slow as expected, but one land away from my turn-five five-land Nayatron requirement, and his mulligan makes it even more likely that I’ll meet the “double-digit life total” requirement as well.

I hit the fifth land on my first draw—a little earlier than I’d hoped—while he drops a T2 (Esper Stormblade) off an Island and a Swamp. I gulp, visions of double-digit life on turn five fading, but they snap back into focus when I rip (Vithian Renegades) on turn two.

He plays a second Island, swings with an unbuffed stormblade, and taps out for an (Obelisk of Bant). I untap, draw (Marisi’s Twinclaws) and play a third land. What’s the play, here?

He didn’t play a multicolored creature so he didn’t have that play available, and he dropped a second Island so he might not have a Plains, either. The (Obelisk of Bant) provides two colors not on board, and he mulliganed. My sense from his turn three is that the obelisk is more important to his chances of victory than the (Esper Stormblade), so I take it out with the (Vithian Renegades). Agree or disagree?

He untaps and immediately plays a Plains. Maybe he drew it, maybe he had it and I hit the wrong target. In any case, he passes without a play or attack, and I draw a Forest. Swing away?

It’s unlikely that he has nothing, and the blowout play from him here is (Ethersworn Shieldmage). Is it likely enough to be worth playing around, here? It probably is. (Agony Warp), (Drag Down), (Celestial Purge), and (Path to Exile) are all spells Villain would have used to clear the way for an attack on his turn if he would use them at all.

If he is sitting on countermagic, bounce, or (Esper Charm), why wouldn’t he have offered a trade or set up the damage-on bounce and swung in? It could be (Resounding Silence), but really, everything about Villain’s actions scream (Ethersworn Shieldmage).

I utterly fail to anticipate the (Ethersworn Shieldmage) play at the time, though. Overconfidence? After a dozen or so triiple-reborn drafts and  I played out the (Hissing Iguanar), thinking that I would bait countermagic or removal with my lesser creature, or it would stick and I’d deal 2 damage out of the exchange. I swing into the (Ethersworn Shieldmage) trap, and I take away this bright side: the play was such a kick in the crotch, I know I will never again fail to consider (Ethersworn Shieldmage) when staring at an open 1WU across the way.

In the meantime, things could be worse; I still have some nice plays in hand and a solid life cushion heading into the upper end of my deck.

He attacks with both his creatures, and I elect to block with the iguanar. I need trades to keep me alive until my fatties show up, and if he’s out of multicolored permanents, it will ground his blade. He is not out of them, though, dropping a (Tower Gargoyle) in his second main to put me on a three-turn clock.

I untap and rip (Where Ancients Tread). I have my first shot at abusing this enchantment, but will it be too late? I’m going to have to take 7 while I spend a turn casting it, highlighting a big downside of the card: it has no impact the turn it hits. He drops an Island, drops me to 8, and adds a (Frontline Sage) to his side, which is about as innocuous a turn as I could hope for as I scramble to stabilize. I draw (Drumhunter), play (Rakeclaw Gargantuan) number one and knock his (Tower Gargoyle) out of the sky, and the (Esper Stormblade) is grounded in the process. That felt good, I must say.

He loots away a (Captured Sunlight), and swings in with (Esper Stormblade), and I’m a bit perplexed. Block? What’s going on here?

Believe me, I'm fully aware of (Ethersworn Shieldmage) at this point. Does it matter, though? Even if I know he has it, I feel I have to block anyway. It would be his last card, and I’d still be in great shape with my follow-up rakeclaw. I shrug, block, make a 5/3 first striker, and prepare for the trick.

It doesn’t come. Villain appears to have forgotten that his blade no longer flies, and he simply loses his man, and passes the turn. Given that he looted a spell, he has to have something, but it doesn’t change the plan of playing the second (Rakeclaw Gargantuan). The question is, do I go to the face or the (Frontline Sage) with the damage?

The (Frontline Sage) will eventually chump to prevent five anyway if I let it live, and in the meantime I don't want to give him additional draws to an out, so the clear play is to take it out now. I hit for five and pass the turn, with no response from Villain. I’m baffled. Why did he loot the (Captured Sunlight) and keep a card he couldn't or wouldn't play? Not sure.

He plays a land and passes, I draw into (Naya Sojourners) and that seals the deal after a ten-point attack.

(Where Ancients Tread) turns a loss into a win for a powerful first appearance.

R1G2

I bring in (Naturalize) and (Sunseed Nurturer), and I take a look at seven on the draw:

Monochromatic land options in your opener is a pretty grim site in Alara-block draft. The (Magma Spray) isn’t nearly enough to make this keepable. Let’s try six.

On the draw I certainly have to go with this. If I can draw just one land, I have T2 sphere, T3 crack sphere with (Path to Exile) mana up, T4 (Drumhunter), T5 (Enlisted Wurm) (with any land draw). That is about as godly as it gets for my deck. Sure, I could draw no land in the first few turns and just lose, but it’s certainly worth the risk. I win a huge percentage of the time I pull any of my 17 basic lands in the first two turns.

I rip three straight Forests, which isn’t exactly fantastic, but all I asked for was a land in my first two, and I got it. He gets a great start with (Esper Stormblade) into (Vedalken Outlander) into a T4 (Angelic Benediction) while I fix mana. He falls in love with exalted, though, mistakenly swinging with just the (Esper Stormblade). Path or take it?

This is an absolute showcase for the power of one-mana, instant-speed removal. Thanks to his mistake, I’m effectively preventing five damage while taking out a creature that can outrace my amazing draw. Any other removal in hand besides (Magma Spray), and I have to take this attack on the chin, then choose between removal and board building in my upcoming turns.

Instead, this game becomes a blowout. (Path to Exile) is incredible, and plays like this are why. This is also why few cards will be pickable over (Lightning Bolt) in M10 drafting. He even gets out his (Tower Gargoyle), but it can’t compete with this fifth turn:

He even manages a (Filigree Angel), but I’m drawing two cards a turn and have a (Bloodpyre Elemental) for it, and he succumbs.