The list was played by DanniMRebel. I noticed he had an updated list on a later league, so I put it together and began playing. I went 4-1 in each of my first two leagues. I was finally off of my losing ways! I also played in a store event and went 2-1, so things were looking promising. A few adjustments to the sideboard based on the expected metagame and I registered this list for the Hunter Burton Memorial Open:
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Field of Ruin
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Thalia, guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
3 Renegade Rallier
4 Flickerwisp
1 Knight of Autumn
4 Restoration Angel
1 Eternal Witness
Sideboard
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Dromoka's Command
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Consulate Crackdown
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Stony Silence
1 Declaration in Stone
1 damping sphere
The Tournament
I've played in this event four times now, and it's usually a good time (last year had me somewhat upset, but that has nothing to do with the actual event and is something that could have occurred at any tournament). It's one of my goals to one day Top 8 the event and hopefully win. Many of my friends have their names on that trophy and I've never really come close. This would be the first year of a two-day event, so with more room for losses and a format I'm usually doint well in I thought I had a decent shot.
Round 1 - Burn
Game one he floods out with me at five life despite him having four cards in hand. Game two I play two Knight of Autumn and Flicker each to gain 16 life an easily win.
1-0
Round 2 - Esper Smallpox
In one of the more stunning things thats happened to me in my time playing Modern, I kept a hand game one with Temple Garden, Ghost Quarter, Noble Hierarch, Path to Exile, Leonin Arbiter, Thalia, and Flickerwisp (aka the nuts). My opponent won the die roll and lead with Hallowed Fountain. I deployed Noble Hierarch turn one, all ready to destory his land the following turn. He played Urborg and cast Smallpox, and I basically lost on the spot. A few more turns of not drawing any lands and he finally played a Bitterblossom to kill me. Game two I won with zero lands in play after a turn one Vial put a Flickerwisp and two Restoration Angel in play and they finished him off. Game three he Inquisition my Vial and I can't beat Smallpox on my Noble Hierarch. I do stick an Angel but he has Ensnaring Bridge and he finishes me off with Kaya.
1-1
Round 3 - Burn
Playing against a long-time player Michael Ferri. Game one I play Thalia, he kills it. I play another, which also is killed. I then play a Rallier to get one back, and he has to kill it as well since he is stuck on two lands. The second Rallier putting a fourth Thalia into play finally sealed the deal. Game two I almost kept a zero land hand on seven cards: Vial Noble Noble Path Path Knight Flickerwisp. It would have been a first in my life doing such a thing. I decided to not be foolish and mulligan, and I was easily able to win.
2-1
Round 4 - Burn
Three burn opponents in four rounds is something. I used to believe the stereotype of Texas being a bunch of Red Mages was inaccurate, but having experienced this even I may change my tune. I go on to play Burn a total of five times in thirteen rounds. Game one he is stuck on one land and I'm able to GQ it with Arbiter. His only mana source draws were fetchlands the rest of the game. Game two I keep one land Vial and never draw another land. The game is close but I'm unable to catch up against his four-creature draw. Game three is also close and I probably punt by not being aggressive enough with Arbiter and GQ and he's able to cast his Boros Charms before I deny his white mana. He then has two Skullcrack to finish me off.
2-2
Round 5 - Dredge
Playing against longtime friend, collaborator, and teammate Robert Berni in the battle of who gets to Uber home early. He wins the die roll and my turn two Thalia isn't fast enough to do anything. Game two I have both Cage and a Scavenging Ooze that I protect from his Darkblast and ride to victory. Game three his start slower, with turn two Life From the Loam to get back one fetchland his only dredge enabler. I play a Leonin Arbiter. On his turn he replays the fetch and sacrifices. I ask if he is going to pay the two mana to search. He decides he's had enough Modern for his lifetime and immediately drops from the tournament. Sorry bro.
3-2
Round 6 - Burn
I lose a close game one when I miss a chump block that would save 3 damage. He kills me exactly the following turn. Game two he had Rest in Peace and Cindervines, both of which do mostly nothing. Eventually I use Dromoka's Command to kill an enchantment, and he sacrifices the Rest in Peace. This allows some trades and my Scavenging Ooze to come back to life and I win. Game three he kills my first two Aether Vials with Destructive Revelry, but doesn't have much else and the turn three Knight of Autum more than stabilizes the game for me.
4-2
Round 7 - MonoRed Phoenix
Three fairly close games that I don't remember much about. Scavenging Ooze does a ton of work, as does Vial into Flickerwisp on his high-powered Soul-Scar Mage to undo all the work he does to play multiple spells in a turn. I lose game two because Blessed Alliance was just really awful for me, but the third is more of the same like the first.
5-2
Round 8 - Jeskai Delver
He has turn one Delver game one, but no additional threats. My Scavenging Ooze and Thalia prevent him from doing much else and I'm able to win the race well out of Lightning Bolt range. Game two he plays a turn two Young Pyromancer and kills every creature I play. I die. Game three he has a removal heavy draw, but no early threat. I'm able to use the time to set up Vial with Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel to blank at least three of his removal spells and win easily from there.
6-2
So after 2-2 start I pull off the 4-0 run to make day two. I don't expect to be able to lose on day two at all (thinking 10-2-1 the record you need for top 8).
Round 9 - Tron
Game one was a pretty abusrd game. I decline to GQ him off turn three tron since I still need the land, hoping he misses it or doesn't have a good play. He has Ballista to clear my board. I then follow up with Thalia, but he uses Oblivion Stone to kill it and the Voice elemental token. I path a Wurmcoil and deploy a Scavenging Ooze attacking for 3 a turn. He has no follow up threat, just a Urza's Factory. I finally decide to use my GQ on the Factory since he has more than enough mana otherwise and pray that he draws blanks the rest of the game. The plan almost works. I attack him all the way to 4 life with a large board presence, leaving him a one-turn window to draw something to answer the board or trigger the Sanctum of Ugin. He draws Walking Ballista and I lose. Game two I play turn one Noble, turn two Arbiter plus GQ and he concedes on the spot. Game three I have him almost completely hard locked with Thalia, Arbiter, and he missing land drops. But he finally is able to cast Ancient Stirrings off of a Chromatic Sphere to find the missing Tron piece. I can only attack him down to 4 life and the Oblivion Stone he plays is enough to stop any kind of Restoration Angel surprise victories.
6-3
Round 10 - Tron
Game one is much like game two from the previous round: Noble into Arbiter plus GQ and he concedes. Game two I lose but don't remember much about how. Game three he is able to get a Thragtusk in play to go to 8 life against my two 4/3 Knight of Autumn. He has no followups and a Rallier to get back Thalia and I can alpha swing to kill him in one hit.
7-3
Round 11 - Tron
Third Tron opponent in a row! This time its Jon Toone, one of the better players in the event. Game one I keep a hand I'm almost certain I'm going to lose with: Scavenging Ooze, Rallier, Rallier, GQ, GQ, Forest, Plain on the draw. I draw nothing interesting first two turns, but he misses his third land so I'm able to use my GQ and Rallier plan to end up killing four total Tron pieces. It buys me enough time and I draw an additional Field of Ruin. He finally reaches all five basic Forests in play plus one other land to play Wurmcoil Engine, but I have the Path to put the game away. Game two I keep a one land hand with Noble and Stony Silence. He kills the turn 2 Stony with Nature's Claim, but that lets me use the Vial I draw to great advantage. Eventually I land a Damping Sphere, and when he goes for the Karn with eight lands due to my Thalia, I use Vial to put in Phyrexian Revoker in response to seal the deal.
8-3
Round 12 - Burn
Game one he floods with something like seven lands and five spells and I win comfortably. Game two he tries to go control with Grim Lavamancer, but a timely Dromoka's Command to prevent a Helix on my Arbiter and fight the Lavamancer puts me way too far ahead and he has to point too many spells at my creatures hoping to stay alive.
9-3
Round 13 - Grixis Phoenix
Game one I get him with a Arbiter off Vial in response to a fetch. I then get to Path the Thing in the Ice. He can't recover. Game two I have Cage and Vial. At some point I put Vial on four but don't use it despite having Angel in hand. This works out when he uses Kologhan's Command to deal two to my Arbiter and kill my Vial. The Angel comes it to turn the game around. He then makes a very aggressive attack with Crackling Drake, but I have Blessed Alliance to kill it and then draw Path for his Thing in the Ice and he's dead.
10-3
15th Place, $200
Mulligan Theory
A few things I noticed about this deck. I rarely got flooded thanks to low land count, four Canopy and the Rallier / Witness to bring them back. Most games didn't go long enough for flood to matter anyway. I also kept quite a few one land hands. These were mainly on the draw with Aether Vial in post board games with SB cards in hand, but I probably kept 5 or 6 total. It is definitely a strength of this deck to be able to keep those hands, and I'm not sure that the London Mulligan will help that aspect. You can probably still keep them, but the opportunity cost of skipping your opportunity to mulligan is going to be greater. I'm not entirely sure what that means, and maybe it was just strange variance to be keeping one lander almost 15% of my hands. But it's something worth thinking about in preparation for the Mythic Championship.
I enjoyed the deck quite a bit and will be exploring similar strategies in the near future.
-Ty
