So my first outing with the new deck, and my first FNM in a very long time, went pretty well. I didn't get to stay, though, as it was a long tournament and we had to get to Inception (amazing film, BTW). But I did go 3-1 in the swiss rounds, losing to W/B control.
Before the tournament I was able to acquire some of the missing cards for my deck. I purchased a Noble Hierarch and a Misty Rainforest at Castle. I also snagged a Basilisk Collar for the Sideboard. I also traded for a 3rd Sovereigns so that replaced the 3rd Rafiq. Most importantly of all, though, were the two Baneslayer Angels I picked up.
My first round opponent, John, was sporting a G/W deck he admitted that he'd pretty quickly cobbled together just to use some new M11 cards. It was basically a quick weenie deck with Ajani's Mantra thrown in. Presumably he had some Ajani's Pridemates as well, but they didn't make an appearance in our very fast games. Game 1 was the longer of the two, thanks to my opponent casting 2 or 3 Path to Exile, but once I stuck a Sovereigns of Lost Alara, it was over in no time. Game 2 could have been worse, as he played 3 Mantras in a row, and started gaining quite a bit of life. Fortunately I didn't see any Paths, and a Bird of Paradise with two Conscriptions put it away handily.
Round 2, I played Dakota, who was running W/B control. I lost this match, but it was a good fight. Game 1, he couldn't draw Day of Judgments, but Jace advantage still eventually won him the game. I was drawing way too much land and mana guys, not enough real threats. Still, as badly as I drew, it was close. Game 2 was worse for me, as I got a 3rd turn Baneslayer, hit with it once, then lost it to Day of Judgment. Then, every threat I dropped was eventually neutered by removal, countermagic, or Jace, Mindsculptor.
I didn't catch my opponents name in Round 3, so sorry whoever you are. They were playing Mono Red, a homebrew version sporting some cheap burn and some goblins. Didn't see much of the deck, though. Lost game two due to mana screw. I kept a one-lander with two cobras and two heirarchs, and even with the one land, I was in good shape until he played Earthquake for 1. Oh well. Games 1 and 3, though, I put away quickly enough.
Round 4, I found myself up against Open the Vaults, piloted by a young man named Kyle; a deck I wasn't expecting to see. Fortunately game 1 was all about him digging, digging, and digging, but never finding an Open the Vaults. Game 2 I sided in 3 Qasali Pridemages, and 3 Negates. I ended up drawing all 3 Pridemages, and they worked well enough that I never needed the Negates. At one point, my opponent dropped a Font of Mythos after playing a Howling Mine previously. I let the Mine stick, then when he dropped the Font, I waited until my turn so that I got 3 extra cards, then blew both the Mine and Font with Pridemages. Thanks for the cards, man!
At this point, I stood a very high probability that I would get into the top 8, but the hour was late and we didn't have long to get to the theater, so I gave Kyle the win anyway, as I needed to drop. It'd be pretty poor form to ruin someone's chances to make it into top 8, only to then abandon the slot myself.
And for what it's worth, I made the right call - Inception was totally worth dropping for.
Anyway, the deck did okay, but I am worried about the W/B control match-up. However, during the tournament I was able to trade for 2 more Celestial Colonnades, so that might help. And I am adding Dauntless Escorts to the Sideboard for Day of Judgments.
I'll try again next week, after I do a bit more fine tuning.
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