Actually, there's more than that. Before I started working, I had ample time to playtest with friends to prepare for tourneys. That's the time when you see lengthy tourney reports with metagame analysis and preparation. Now that I'm paying taxes, deck choices are limited.
I've done well previously piloting Merfolk and Enchantress, so the natural choice was between one of them. Merfolk is a deck that's more suited for an open meta, as it is equipped with a fast clock with arguably the most effective disruption. Plus, it (generally) kills blue decks. However, it can be hated out by decks with ample removal, such as Rock, which performed excellently last tourney. I mentioned before that the tendency is for players to follow trends, thus I expect to face a few Rocks along the way.
Enchantress posts a better matchup against Rock, with Elephant Grass locking out the combat phase of Nighthawk and the rest of the black creatures. The remaining Tarmogoyf and what not can be dealt with by Journey to Nowhere and Oblivion Ring, and discard is laughable once Enchantress's Presence comes online.
In addition to Rock, Madness/Ooze Survival is sure to make more than a splash given its stellar performance at the SCG Open Series. Needless to say, Madness Survival is a tough matchup for both when it draws it's god hand of Survival + mana (add Force of Will into the picture against blue decks). The critical thing is whether your deck can handle it. Merfolk does that by racing, which might not work well when your opponent plays Intuition or Necrotic Ooze. On the other hand Enchantress can still win through an online Survival, as you will see later.
The next target on my mind is combo, in particular Belcher and Show and Tell. I've mentioned previously that Singapore is Belcher city, and I expect Ryan and Raymond to bring Show and Tell decks to the tourney.
Merfolk definitely has a better matchup against these decks, especially versions with Spell Pierce main. The reason why I chose Enchantress is that it has a slight edge over Merfolk vs Rock and Survival, and I will be armed with at least 8 sideboard cards against the 2 combo decks mentioned above (like, what else do I need to sideboard against?).
Here's what I took:
Enchantress
Mana (20 + 8)4 Windswept Heath
1 Savannah
2 Serra’s Sanctum
3 Plains
10 Forest
4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
Disruption (20)
3 Elephant Grass
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Runed Halo
4 Sterling Grove
1 Moat
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Solitary Confinement
Threats (2)
2 Sigil of the Empty Throne
Others (10)
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress’s Presence
2 Replenish
Sideboard (15)
1 Elephant Grass
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Karmic Justice
1 Solitary Confinement
2 Null Rod
2 Silence
2 Humility
2 Leyline of Sanctity
Much of my time is spent thinking about how to deal with combo. If I load up on a full playset of Leyline of Sanctity, additional Solitary Confinement and/or Rule of Law, a Burning Wish for Reverent Silence will blow me out of the water. After some thinking, I recalled that hate must be diversified to place your opponent in a situation that's hard to get out.
For example, what can Belcher do when you have a Null Rod in play together with a Silence/Mindbreak Trap in hand? The time you buy for him to draw both a Ingot Chewer and a Burning Wish (for Duress) should be ample enough for you to at least set up a Solitary Confinement/Runed Halo/Leyline of Sanctity to further Choke your opponent.
Then your opponent will need another Burning Wish for Reverent Silence.
As for Show and Tell, the Emrakul landed via the sorcery can be dealt with by Journey to Nowhere or Oblivion Ring while Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Angel of Despair, and Progenitus can be halted by a puny Elephant Grass or Runed Halo. The scarier scenario is an EoT Hypergenesis or a hasty Sneak Attack. In this scenario, Enchantress still has a chance to win if it has multiple permanents in play and a removal in hand. Humility comes in to give the off chance of landing it on the Hypergenesis turn.
So, how well did I predict the meta this time round?
There were 6 Survival lists, 3 Rocks, and 2 Belchers, making up half of the meta. Importantly, Kaiser, Eugene, Yong Xin, Anugs, Albert, and Derek stuck with their previous deck choices. You can find almost all decklists here.
Enough of the deck and meta description, onto the matches!
Round 1 vs Ronald with Zoo
Ronald played Merfolk last tourney and is now disillusioned with the fishes. He's now on the redder side of Magic.I lost the dice roll.
Game 1
Ronald opened with a Grim-Lucky-I'm-Not-Playing-Merfolk-Lavamancer and I opened up with an Utopia Sprawl. He turn 2 dealing 5 to me, 3 via Lightning Helix and 2 via Lavamancer, while I landed an Argothian Enchantress. His turn 3 Qasali Pridemage was Ring-ed while he's stuck on 2 mana. When I targeted Lavamancer with my 2nd Ring on turn 4, it went on a Path to Exile. Knight of the Reliquary landed on turn 5, but my Elephant Grass, Sterling Grove, and Solitary Confinement soon gave me a win via concession.It was awkward asking Ronald to concede as I didn't want to appear rude. But I might have been too polite this time. Still, Ronald's a cool guy and didn't mind all that. Props to him!
Sb: +2 Leyline of Sanctity, -1 Sigil of the Empty Throne, -1 Elephant Grass, I think. No notes + recovering from flu = lack of details in tourney report.
Game 2
This game, I remembered getting cocky and keeping a hand with a Sterling Grove, Utopia Sprawl, Sigil of the Empty Throne and lands. I mistakenly thought that I can get an Enchantress's Presence online before I'm dead. Ronald proved me wrong by casting turn 1 Wild Nacatl, turn 2 Sylvan Library (read Necropotence), turn 3 Kird Ape + Grim Lavamancer, and turn 4 Cat + Monkey.Note to self: Do not underestimate the speed of Zoo. Going aggro with Sigil of the Empty Throne = bad plan. Although it's nothing new, Sylvan Library performed excellently for Zoo, filtering his draws with fetchlands and giving him 2 extra cards.
Game 3
I had better luck this time as Ronald only had a turn 1 monkey to match my turn 2 Argothian. However, his turn 2 Library gave me jitters. I spent my 3rd turn ramping mana and drawing cards using the Wild Growth that was in my hand since turn 1 (no point casting it before Argothian) and Sterling Grove came to play. Gaddock Teeg did little to disrupt me as I had 8 removals for him. I soon set up double Confinement lock with 8 life to spare.
I have to mention that Ronald played well by refusing to concede in game 3. On a critical turn, he could have broken the lock as he has a Qasali in play for my Sterling Grove and a Krosan Grip for Solitary Confinement. Luckily, the 2nd Confinement I played sealed the deal for me.
Moral of the story: Never give up. You never know whether your opponent has sided out his win conditions.
W-L-D
1-0-0
Round 2 vs Kaiser with Madness Survival
Kaiser again! Wooo hooo! The last time I played Enchantress, I defeated him in close matches that I won with lucky draws. Suffice to say, he didn't appear too happy to see me pilot Enchantress again.Game 1
“Broken” was what I wrote in my notes. Turn 1 Noble Hierarch, turn 2 Survival, turn 4 3x Vengevines attacking for 12?Sb: Not too sure about how I sided but it might be like this: +1 Elephant Grass, +2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, +1 Tormod's Crypt, -1 Moat, -1 Sigil of the Empty Throne, -1 Replenish, -1 Oblivion Ring.
Game 2
I kept a 1 land hand with Argothian Enchantress and Utopia Sprawl. When he saw that I missed a land drop on turn 2, he Krosan Gripped my Utopia using the mana from the Noble Hierarch he casted on turn 1. Luckily, I top deck like a champ and drew a land and ramped my mana with Wild Growth. On turn 3, Kaiser top-decked like a pro too with Survival of the Fittest, and Pierced my turn 4 Oblivion Ring.“Combo out” was what I wrote this time.
But I'm the one who bagged the game.
Even though 2 Basking Rootwalla and 3 Vengevines made their way into play on turn 4, I was left with 8 life from the onslaught. 2 Journeys to Nowhere, 1 Elephant Grass, and “alot of things” happened on my turn, and Angels flew in for the win.
Game 3
Rubber game! And my Oblivion Ring for his Survival resolved! Just when I thought I was about to win when he embarked on Hierarch beatdown, I drew like 5-6 lands in a row. That allows him to draw more threats to beat my face swollen.Moral of the story: When you have more than half your deck on the field, it's probably a good idea to Shuffle Your Deck™. You might also be interested in Shuffling Your Deck Well®.
W-L-D
1-1-0
Round 3 vs Kelvin with TES
TES? ANT? TEPS? TPS? Which is correct? Anyway, the news of Zhiming (piloting Enchantress) winning a match against Tendrils combo prepared me somewhat for the singleton Tendrils combo deck.Note to self: If you catch a glimpse of Polluted Delta while piloting Enchantress, it's not always the tech-ed Saito Merfolk. (Especially if your opponent plays Ponder, duh).
Game 1
I was still figuring out what deck Kelvin's playing when we started. Needless to say, my “good hand” of Argothian Enchantress, Wild Growth, Sterling Grove, and Serra's Sanctum was trumped by turn 4 Ad Nauseam generating >10 mana, allowing him to Wish for Reverent Silence to destroy my Confinement, I mean board and Infernal Tutor out Tendrils for the win.
Note to self: You don't need a Forest to cast Reverent Silence for free. Paying 3g the old fashioned way works too.
Sb: -4 Journey to Nowhere, -4 Oblivion Ring, +2 Null Rod, +2 Silence, +2 Leyline of Sanctity, +1 Solitary Confinement, +1 Tormod's Crypt.
Game 2
I'm unclear about this game, but I mulliganed down to 6. I'm like all tilted this time round for playing a Silence on his upkeep after his EoT Ad Nauseam. Obviously, he discarded the Duress he drew, kept a hand of 7 good stuff, untapped next turn and won.W-L-D
1-2-0
2 losses, out of contention for top-8? Officially in tilt mode. Still, there's Noble Hierarch if I got 9-12. Gotta make my trip worthy.
Round 4 vs Eugene with Madness Survival
Eugene! Again! Survival! Again!Game 1
An early Runed Halo shut off the faster Vengevine route and made Eugene madness out 3 Basking Rootwallas instead. Although I felt kinda stupid for sending a lizard on its Journey to Nowhere, I console myself that it's 3/3 after pumping. The game ended when I Replenished my field and went wild with mana and angels.Note to self: Pat on the shoulder for correctly predicting a Force of Will when Eugene doesn't pump his lizards with 5 mana open.
Sb: Refer to Kaiser's game above.
Game 2
The game went smoothly for me, as a Tormod's Crypt shutdown Vengevine shenanigans, while Journey to Nowhere and Oblivion Ring exiled Tarmogoyf and Survival of the Fittest. Thinking that I have the game in the bag, I happily added Solitary Confinement to the lock.That was when he cast Back to Nature.
Now I think I know how Desmond felt when his board with was destroyed by Karmic Justice.
Sb: +2 Karmic Justice, -1 Replenish, -1 Oblivion Ring, I think.
Game 3
Here's when I tilted the 2nd time round, when I mulliganed down to 5 (I think) and kept a hand with only Enchantress's Presence. It wasn't that much of a fight when my engine is countered while his rampaged on.W-L-D
1-3-0
Note to self: Stop tilting and focus on winning! Cut the useless Wheel of Sun and Moon and put in something useful next time!You now know that Eugene is rather the defensive player, so use that to your advantage in the next tourney!
Round 5 vs Raymond with Fauna Bant Survival
I was amazed by my poor memory as I forgot what deck he piloted even though I watched him play against the mirror. Nevertheless, we're both out of contention for top-8 and this is a fight for honour.Game 1
I was wrong for putting him on Show and Tell when he opened up with Fauna Shaman. Although my Argothian was FoW-ed, Presence stuck and drew me the nuts. His Mother of Runes and Fauna Shaman beatdown did little to hinder my combo.Sb: See Kaiser's game above.
Game 2
Now this puts the tourney at a happy ending. I was happily combo-ing out, plunking Angels and churning out permanents when he resolved a Peacekeeper with 2 Mother of Runes out. If you've not figured this out yet, I need to get rid of the 2 Mothers before I can get rid of Peacekeeper. This was what happened:
Journey no 1 targeting Mother no 1, Mother no 1 granting herself protection from white.
Journey no 2 targeting Mother no 2, Mother no 2 granting Peacekeeper pro white.
End my turn.
Journey no 3 targeting Mother no 1, Mother no 1 granting Peacekeeper pro white.
End my turn
Journey no 4 targeting Peacekeeper. Angels fly in for the win with <10 cards left in my library.
Mothers can be irritating when you're doing stuff on your own.
W-L-D
2-3-0
Summary
In all, a mediocre performance, although I've learnt some lessons.Never concede, never give up.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle!
Pray before you enter the tourney
Ok, maybe not the last one.
Props
Getting my board ruined by Reverent Silence and Back to Nature: it's ego-stroking when you imagine people are gunning for you.
Zhiming piloting my previous Enchantress decklist to a top-8 finish.
Trading tons of crap rares for Umezawa's Jitte!
Slops
Tilting.
Getting my board ruined by Reverent Silence and Back to Nature, it's sad to experience...
My mediocre plays. Tweet this!
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