Sword of Feast and Famine at GP Austin

I played Bant Snowblade at GP Austin this past weekend. You can see my decklist here. I didn't practice much with any deck, but knew I wanted to play 4 Oko before it got banned. After playing in the Grand Prix, I definitely think it should be banned.

I decided to play Stoneblade over Urza because I love Stoneforge Mystic and Sword of Feast and Famine. I also didn't want to play Urza mirrors but knew I would probably be not favored against any fully functional Urza deck. The last card in was 1 Mana Leak for the 22nd land.

I didn't play any additional mana creatures because I wanted my deck to have largest top deck value. I also avoided Horizon lands because I never wanted to give up a mana source. I changed the mana base from most lists because of a three things that I'm still certain are correct: you never need 2 Forest in play, you always want to start Temple Garden into Island so you should play the fetches that get both of these (Flooded Strand and Misty Rainforest), and Prismatic Vista is unplayable in a three-color deck. 

The sideboard was mostly copied from existing lists and I played the cards I know I like. I didn't play any cards I was skeptical of besides Mystical Dispute and Veil of Summer (both seem low impact for SB card). I felt the expected metagame made it so you should have some of those cards, but going forward I wouldn't play Mystical Dispute.

The MVP Card of the weekend was Sword of Feast and Famine. The tournament was full of Oko and Field of the Dead and Death Shadow. There is nothing I find more exhilarating in Magic than connecting with the Sword, and I was able to do it in just about every match. The second MVP was Jace, the Mind Sculptor who proved (to me at least) that he could hang with Oko.

Some quick recap of my rounds:

R1 Bye

R2 Bye

2-0

R3 Goblins - My first game with the deck I went turn one Noble, turn two Oko, turn three Jace. Okay, this is fun! Game two I drew my Supreme Verdict and stabilized at 6 life before playing an Oko to win.

3-0

R4 Green Tron - I drew Field of Ruin in both games to keep him off tron at the right moment. I also had Force of Negation to protect my Jace from Oblivion Stone. Eventually I began to hit him with Sword. Both games were similar.

4-0

R5 Bant Snowblade - I lost game one due to losing the die roll and his turn two Oko turn three Teferi was better than my turn two Oko turn three Teferi. Game two he had a faster start but I stuck a Jace and it lived a turn and I slowly crawled back into the game with repeated brainstorms. Eventually I killed his Oko and won. Game three I was stuck on two mana and never really in it.

4-1

R6 Sultai Death's Shadow

I played a bunch of Ice-Fang Coatls and he can't beat them. Game two I lose, but game three is similar, I just have too many two-for-ones for him to beat.

5-1

R7 Sultai Death's Shadow

This was closer than previous but I steal game three with Sword of Feast and Famine and a surprise Batterskull.

6-1

R8 Sultai Death's Shadow

This again! Game one he fails to find a creature. Game two I draw two Veil of Summer and get too far ahead.

7-1

R9 Amulet Titan

I win a mulligan to four game one with Noble Temple Garden 2x Field of Ruin. To be fair, he also mulligan to five. Game two he wins with Oko to kill my Ashiok, but game three I get both Ashiok and Damping Sphere to stop him.

8-1

R10 Temur Ponza

He keeps one land only game one and I'm too far ahead with Sword before he draws out of it. Game two I manage to kill his first Karn with Batterskull and then Path three of his Glorybringers and he can't keep up.

9-1

R11 Kethis Combo

Tad gets his revenge for the PTQ finals in November by beating me easily, even through multiple GRVs and missed Bauble and Sai triggers.

9-2

R12 UG Urza

Sam Black tricks me with his deckbuilding by eschewing Emry and I end up boarding in cards that don't do anything relevant.

9-3

R13 Green Tron

Game one I can't keep him off Tron but I do kill his Karn Liberated and counter his Oblivion Stone. He only has Wurmcoil which I path and then fateseal him off of gas with Jace. Game two I Field of Ruin him and he never comes close to assembling tron.

10-3

R14 Amulet Titan

I win game one with Sword of Feast and Famine racing three Primeval Titans that become Elk. Game two I'm stuck on three land and don't Path my own guy before Supreme Verdict and can't keep up with his Oko. Game three is super back and forth, I'm about to win but he has Force of Vigor to blow me out one turn. I still manage to regain control and finally kill his Oko with lethal damage in play but one attack step short after time is called. He takes the draw.

10-3-1

R15 Jeskia Thopter Urza

Game one I either shuffle away a Path to Exile by accident or never actually had it to begin with, but it wasn't there when I tried to cast it. Fatigue setting in. Game two I resolve Rest in Peace and his deck doesn't do much. Game three is silly. I kill his Urza but he has Pithing Needle on both Teferi and Oko and the resolves Ensnaring Bridge. I can't attack anymore but I draw Jace and start brainstorming. I find some Spell Quellers to go with Teferi and use Jace to bounce them to keep him off of spells for a few turns. Eventually I find Ashiok and stop his Emry and start milling him. He finds Galvanic Blast with about 12 cards left in his library to kill Ashiok and cast Whir of Invention. He can only get Pyrite Spellbomb off of it. I have a second Ashiok though and mill him out before time is called.

11-3-1

Overall I feel lucky to only play Urza twice, and one didn't have Oko. I wish I could have finished round 14 and maybe have outside shot at back to back GP top 8. 18th place on tiebreakers.

Edit: now that Oko is banned, here is how I would build the deck going forward:

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Ice Fang Coatl
4 Spell Queller
2 Brazen Borrower

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Path to Exile
3 Force of Negation
2 mana leak
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Breeding Pool
2 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Snow Forest
2 Snow Plains
3 Snow Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Windswept Heath
2 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Stand

Sideboard
2 Damping Sphere
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Dismember
2 Veil of Summer
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Ashiok, dream render
1 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 ceremonious rejection 

I will now focus on Theros: Beyond Death limited and Pioneer for the Player's Tour next month. I'll see you then.

Thanks

Ty

Props:

Sword of Feast and Famine / Stoneforge Mystic

Tad for making top 8

Will for winning Pioneer PTQ with my brew. 

Evan for getting exactly 64th with my Eldrazi Tron cards

Slops:
Oko for being the way he is

Mox Opal - good riddance

Collin for dropping at 2-2