drawer - 07 May 2006 07:07 PM
yeah, I don’t really know of many decks that can come back after triple castigate plus extraction for three of your six win conditions plus triple mortify in hand for your remaining three win conditions.
Yeah, I drew the nuts against Kevin in both games. I played Magnivore four times, and his was the only one I won a match against. To my credit, the guy on Team Metatron was a really lucky topdecker, topdceking Pyroclasm, Wildfire, and Magnivore in three games where any other spell would have cost him the game. But that’s just how Magic works sometimes.
A recap from the Orzhov perspective:
Round 1 - Mono Green Aggro. I figure I should smash him, but he gets turn 2 Vinelasher Kudzu in game 1, and I don’t see Mortify until he’s already got lethal damage on the table. The Kudzu is eventually joined by a Jugan wielding a Loxodon Warhammer (this is a PTQ?) and I get smashed. I did get him to six before the Hammer came over, though. Game two, I side in six removal spells, and draw one Mortify all game. I also revealed two Ghost Councils with Bob in game 2, giving him the damage he needs to kill me. I am happy my team won, but frustrated over having 2x Slay, 2x Nekrataal, 4x Last Gasp, and 3/4 Mortify never show up in game 2.
Round 2 - Magnivore. Despite a mulligan, I come out of the games fast with lots of disruption, and he is unable to do much before a Jitte-wearing Grotesque takes him down. Game 2, he opens with Eye of Nowhere, double Stone Rain, from which I cannot recover. Game 3, I mulligan into a slower hand, and the Eye starts in on turn 2 again. Even on the play, I never recover from the constant stream of LD.
I also note that I’ve mulliganed three times in five games. Not so good.
Round - 3 Magnivore. For the second straight match, I lose the die roll against Magnivore. I have to mulligan, but the LD doens’t starts early, and I’m able to mount another winged offensive with Grotesque holding a Jitte. Game 2, I mulligan to five and never really draw much. He bounces my Phyrexian Arena every time I play it, but I get him to about 5 with Ravenous Rats and a Grotesque. I make a serious misplay now, probably my worst one of the day. I have Rats and Grotesque with an unequipped Jitte in play, and he has no cards, six lands, and just bounced my Arena. I attack with both creatures without equipping the Jitte and play the Arena, suddenly realizing that I now lose if he top-decks Magnivore (and Pyroclasm/Widlfire would be bad, too). He draws Compulsive Research casts it, and I sigh a bit of relief, knowing that now he has to get Land, Land, Magnivore in order to kill me this turn. Guess what he drew? Yeah, those three. Game 3 I mulligan again to six, and draw one land all game or something like that.
I have now mulliganed seven times in eight games, and lost to Magnivore twice. Fichtel and Ambler comfort me over lunch, saying that I will now go on a winning streak. I am doubtful.
Round 4 - Magnivore. Does the fun never stop? This was against Kevin Delger, and there’s not much to say other than I out-drew him both games, he never got turn 2 Eye, and I got Triple Castigte into Cranial Extraction in game 2. I didn’t mulligan either game, I think. I’m starting to realize that this matchup is a lot more even (i.e. draw-dependant) than I was originally thinking, and other than that massive play error in game three, I had been doing ok against the deck. I still feel bad for essentially taking our friends out of contention for top 4.
Round 5 - Hand in Hand. This is what Orzhov Aggro looks like when it’s hoping to destroy Aggro and not control. He’s got maindeck Arenas and full sets of both Paladin En-vec and Hand of Honor. Yikes. Fortunately, I get extremely lucky because he is starting with a game loss due to a team penalty (deck mis-registration). On top of that, he keeps a hand of 4 land, Paladin, Arena, some other creature. No mulligan this time, though I again lose the die roll. I hit turn 2 Castigate and take the Paladin, reasoning that I have fewer ways to deal with it than the Arena (3x Descendant vs. 4x Mortify). It turns out to be a pretty good choice. He draws so much land off the arena that I actually whiff a third Castigate while he’s holding six lands. Meanwhile, Bob’s going to town with a Jitte. He is obviously quite frustrated, and understandably so. We play a few games for fun while Kevin finishes up (though Matt beat Heartbeat, so we didn’t need the win). In four more “fun” games, he only beat me once, and that was because of a Hand of Honor holding a Jitte.
Round 6 - Ghazi-Chord. I don’t think I had to mulligan here, but I lost the die roll. He opens on turn two Selesnya Guildmage, and I get a Bob. Bob graciously hands me 2 Ghost Council again this game, and my opponent eventually drops Glare with no cards left in hand after I Casgigate a Jitte and play a Rats and Grotesque. His glare is keeping me out of combat, but I eventually use Plagued Rusalka to eat a now potentially-lethal Bob (I’m and five or six at this point) and a Rat to kill the Guildmage when he tapped out to make a Saproling. Nezumi Shortfang grabs a Vitu-Ghazi from his grip and flips into Stabwhiskers the Odious, which basically wins me the game. I have too many creatures for Glare to let his Viridian Shaman and lone Saproling get through, and I’m able to recoup some life with Ghost Council and Orzhova while Stabwhiskers kills him outside of combat. After such a hard-fought game, I have a tough time sideboarding. I side out Castigates for Slay and Nekrataal and shuffle up for game 2. Turns out, his deck decided not to show up for game 2. He mulliganed to four and led with Vitu-Ghazi. Staring low on cards is really bad against hand disruption, it seems. I proceed to wreck his hand with Rats and Grotesques while attacking with Bob, and he concedes when I resolve a Jitte.
(Probably Rats/Grotesques would be my hardest matchup, but that’s only if I don’t get/if they kill Bob.)