How I played in the league in Brno

The first tournament of the next season of the Czech Duel Commander League. Everything looked good in the morning. I even managed to shift my sleep schedule a bit during the week, so I set off with the guys in the morning with a nice seven hours of sleep, two baguettes, and four bananas. I was playing a banana commander, a deck where the goal is to beat your opponent in the fourth round with a sphinx and Broodlord (see primer for instructions), and it also plays a bit of interaction. In Brno, I picked up the sphinx before the tournament, which completed the deck, and I was just looking forward to tearing it up.

Round 1 vs Lier

The guy with the headband had a different island for each one. But he played well, beating me the first time despite my two counters on High Tide. The second time, I had him on the ropes, he had nothing and had to just slap Lier on the table, but in the end I didn't have enough mana and he did. But that's okay, it was a tough matchup, last time I also started with a loss and then won 5 in a row. 0-2

0-1

Round 2 vs Petr Párek

I started and in the first round I gave him Grief -> Sacrifice -> Tasigur, which didn't make my opponent very happy and he didn't turn the game around. But he stalled me in the second round with Magistrate + Containment Priest, he was obviously well prepared for the matchup. In the third round, he played Birthing Ritual Ranger-Captain and sacrificed him to me on upkeep in response to suspend tutor. I drew a card, then thought about what to do next, which ultimately led me to decide to play the ritual and DT into Culling Ritual. So I did that, and as I was searching my library, my opponent said, "Hey, I actually sacrificed that Ranger, right?" He was right, I got a warning and we went back to the moment before I started playing spells. But I kept the land I dropped during that time, which I then lost (I untapped it thinking I would need the mana right away, and then I didn't have enough mana the next turn). But at 4-2, I still have a chance for some decent league points. 1-2

0-2

Round 3 vs Zurgo

For the third round, I'm heading to the back room with the stoned Slovaks. But the fritka is easy, it has no interactions, so I'll stop it with a 4/5 and then combo it. The first game was played by some plívy and frity, which I stopped with Tasigur. It worked out that I had Requiting Hex on his Ash Zealot + block and then he got comboed. Everything went according to plan, I played Hex and then my Evolution line (see primer). In step 9, I play Saw in Half from the graveyard on the Sphinx, and my opponent tells me that I have three (I have three) and points to the Ash Zealot on the table, from which he redirected my Hex elsewhere with Redirect Lightning. That's right, he had it there. The second game went as it should, he took me down to two, and then he died. In the third game, I combo again, and when I put the sphinx with a +1 counter from Neoforma on the table, my opponent almost casts something that gives five for sucking up Mountains, but then he realises that the sphinx is 6/6, so he quickly puts the card back in his hand. Which is bad news, because five damage to a creature will interrupt my combo. So I try to play around it, hoping it will work next turn. Unfortunately, he finishes me off with 6 Fiery Confluences. And he adds: "Oh, actually, I can only play Mine Collapse in my deck, so it wouldn't have worked anyway." Oh well. 1-2

0-3

Round 4 vs Aragorn

Classic Aragorn, I discard some of his cards, counter some of his spells, he has nothing left, he taps into his commander, and I combo him out. In the second game, he was still stuck on three mana, but even so, he only had useless cards like Snap and Fury in his hand. So he just went to complain to the Slovak brothers at the next table. 2-0

1-3

Round 5 vs Breya

I head back to the main room, right next to the guy with the beer, who gets a plum at the start of the round (he's playing Vohara). The easiest match of the day, I have everything, my opponent has nothing. I beat him in the first game when he gets stuck in Phlage. He gets the second one despite the interaction, thanks to the Negation Pact. After the game, he said he had it set up like Aragorn. He did. 2-0

2-3

Round 6 vs Rocco

The last game for three points in the league against a decent opponent, where I hoped he would have the same problems as my deck, i.e. that he would draw random combo cards and with a little interaction from me, it wouldn't work out for him. I controlled the first game quite well and then started my combo when he was tapped out with only a few cards in his hand. Except one of them was Solitude. I ran him over in the fourth, just as it should be. The decisive game started with him playing Hobbit and Rocco X=0, and I was ready for T3 transmute, T4 win. But I got Minsc in the third, who killed me with a squirrel in the fourth round, so it didn't work out again. 1-2

2-4

After the main event, the organiser gave us the opportunity to play for promo packs or promo cards, which was nice, and I won at least Flusterstorm. Then we wanted to see how the quarter-final between Hei Bai and Terra 5c would turn out, as they were approaching the time limit, but after some disagreements with the end of round procedure, we decided to pack it in and go home. So overall – good for Brno, except that I played really badly this time. I probably didn't sleep well or something.

See you next time

Marek