The calm before the storm:

The third tournament of this year’s Czech Duel Commander League took place on Saturday 11 April at Xzone in Prague. I set off for the tournament in the unknown reaches of Prague (read: Lužiny) shortly after nine in the morning and arrived at the venue around 9.40 am, giving me a comfortable buffer before the start of the tournament, which was scheduled for 10.15 am. Once there, I shuffled a few cards in my deck, which for this tournament was Sorin, i.e. my mono-black deck with a splash of white. After that, I headed off to face my opponent in the first round.

Round 1 vs Glarb:

Right in the first round, I came up against a very capable player (ranked 7th in the Elo rankings at the time of the tournament), who was, however, playing a deck that was relatively new to him, so I felt confident going into the match. I won the first game fairly easily early on because he returned an Island to his hand via Daze on my second turn and then couldn’t regain control of the game. In the second game, I played Disruptor Flute on Glarb on my second turn and was rewarded with a Doomsday straight from his hand, to which I had no answer. The third game dragged on quite a bit and my opponent was Hellbent for several turns, but unfortunately for me, he managed to find an interaction every turn and then a Doomsday from the top of his deck; I was subsequently one damage short of lethal, so I started with a loss.

0-1

Round 2 vs Brigid:

In the next round, I faced another skilled player, though in what I considered a favourable matchup, one I’d also practised quite a bit. In the first game, I managed to kill Brigid several times, and his deck never really got going after that. In the second, unfortunately, I had to mulligan down to four because of my lands, and the rest is history. The third game dragged on for ages, with both of us just one good topdeck away from killing the opponent for several turns. I eventually managed to storm out in the fourth extra turn, securing the match win.

1-1

Round 3 vs Cloud:

In the next round I faced Cloud, not exactly the worst matchup, but not the best either. I don’t remember the first game that well, but after a bit of back-and-forth I won it. In the second game, a heavily armoured Thalia attacked me for several turns, taxing me in the process. Down to 6 life, I had no choice but to play Cruel Bargain and hope my deck would hold out. Fortunately, it did, in the form of Sheoldred’s Edict, which got rid of Thalia, and after that Cloud couldn’t get going.

2-1

Round 4 vs Glarb:

Here I was playing against an opponent who didn’t know my deck very well and, on top of that, didn’t draw very well. In the first game, in response to my Inquisition, he found Jace in his hand using Tainted Pact, which, however, left him with only 7 cards in his library and 2 cards in his hand. After the Inquisition, I followed up with Tourach, which banished Jace, and that was enough for the first game. In the second game, it was classic control play, where my opponent didn’t find much, and after a while I won.

3-1

Round 5 vs Phelia:

In the first game, my opponent pretty much laid it all on the table, but I managed to tutor out Toxic Deluge in time and stabilise my position; after one more well-timed removal spell, he conceded and we moved on to the next game. In that one, my opponent started with a very Stax-like hand featuring Thalia and Tangle Wire, but his fourth land took quite a while to arrive (even though the third was City of Traitors), so I managed to play Damnation and turn the game back in my favour.

4-1

Round 6 vs Cloud:

In the match for the top spot, I faced another excellent player (this time 4th in the Elo rankings), so I knew I was in for a tough BO3. In the first game, I played and quickly turned Sorin, but it cost me most of the cards in my hand, so I needed to do a bit of spellcasting afterwards. That magic came in the form of Sorin’s -6 ability, which my opponent (and, frankly, I) had forgotten about. It stole a 5/5 vigilance creature, which then pushed forward and, at a crucial moment, blocked the attacking Drannith with black protection. All I needed then was to topdeck white mana for Swords, and the first game was over. In the second game, my opponent rather unluckily drew only 5 cards. Despite a fairly brisk start, he got me down to just 7 life, but I managed to stabilise there, and my opponent subsequently found only lands from the top of his deck again. The game was eventually ended by Zuran Orb.

5-1

Round 7 vs Brigid:

In the seventh round, I was quite keen to play, as a truly top-tier Alter was waiting for the Swiss winner, but my sideboard was pretty poor due to the loss in the first round, so I eventually settled for a draw and the certainty of a top-eight finish

5-1-1

During the seventh round, I at least managed to grab a very late lunch and buy something to drink

Quarter-final vs Glarb:

The first game was interesting; I managed to find Coffers and hold onto March of the Wretched Sorrow as a response to Jace, which I suspected was coming soon, as my opponent had played about five tutors. When that fateful turn arrived, on my endstep he exiled the rest of his library via Snapcaster and Tainted Pact. On his turn, he put Jace and Ability onto the stack. This is where I made my fatal mistake: I looked through the exile zone, saw all the counters I could think of, and decided I’d simply try to kill Jace—it would either work or it wouldn’t. And my opponent had Misdirection, so he sent the removal at the Snapcaster sitting there smirking, whom I could have simply got rid of with Snuff Out beforehand. Never mind, I’ll keep Misdirection in mind and on to the next game. In the second game, my opponent ruthlessly cast Doomsday on his fourth turn. After going through the exile, I realised that Pile was really packed with discard, and my instant answers probably wouldn’t be much use, so I decided to improvise. I found a Disruptor Flute, thinking that either it would go through and I might win, or there’d be nothing I could do. The Flute went onto the stack; my opponent looked puzzled for a moment, then said, ‘Right, let’s go for a third.’ In the third game, I got a well-timed Eye of the Storm on my commander right at the start, followed by a Wishclaw Talisman, so I told myself I’d just have to beat the frog to death with the deer. Unfortunately, this plan was thwarted by a couple of good counters, such as Daze on my card draw when my opponent tapped out, and then Murktide Regent put a complete stop to my hopes of advancing.

The tournament was great anyway; the deck performed as it should and everything went smoothly. Sorin was saved from being dismantled, and I’m already looking forward to the new cards from Strixhaven, some of which will definitely find their way into it.