Year in Review: 2022

Back in the days of the forums of TexasMagicZone.com, I would usually write a year-end recap of my Magic events. They never made it to the blog and now, like most of my other writing in that forum, they are lost forever. The closes I've come on this blog was a 2016 Resolutions post that I didn't achieve nor ever revisit.

I don't know if I will do these every year going forward, but this seemed like a good year to do it. For past years, I hope the ongoing PWP project will eventually include some year-by-year analysis, but that is not happening any time soon.

Some of the important non-Magic events of the year can provide context. First, I completed my Masters program and graduated in December of 2021. This meant I was no longer balancing work with school and had more free time. My wife and I moved from Texas to New Jersey. COVID is still out there, but with vaccines, boosters, and milder strains, it's not a hinderance to me personally enjoying things in a manner like the before times. 

I'm going to review this year format by format, as I think it paints the best picture of where I'm at currently with Magic.

Old School

This was the year I fully committed to playing Old School. This is because of a few factors. One, moving to New Jersey put me close to many more players and events than Bryan Texas. Two, the competitive play offerings for non Old School no longer had a sizeable advantage over Old School events. The "path to the Pro Tour" was maybe a bit more clear, but the value not the same as previous. The Star City Games circuit also no longer seemed worth travelling very far for. Finally, some fortunate travel plans meant I was going to be in Europe for the WinC0n Old School World Championships and I wanted to make sure I was prepared and doing it right.

The first event I played was an online event put on by the Canadian clubs. I played Atog as part of the non-Canadian Outsiders team. I went 4-1 and helped the team achieve 2nd (or 3rd?) place. I don't know why I didn't write this one up, but I'll put my deck photo here:

The next event I played was the Philly Tournament for Balance where I finished 3rd place. I went 4-2 with AtogShops. You can read the report from that here.

Because of fortunate travel plans, I ended up in Italy for the OS Championships. I played all three events and managed to top 8 the Scryings event. Read about it here.

Next up was the Buffalo Stampede at the end of October. I went 5-1 to finish in 3rd place. link

Simon and I teamed up for TwoHeaded Giant at JawnCon and once again finished in 3rd place.

Lastly, the NAOS Cup at Eternal Weekend, where I broke the 3rd place trend with a 2nd place finish.

So over those eight events and six-ish formats, my record was 32-14. I'd call that a solid showing, and I'm looking forward to improving on it if I can. Mano and Mason said I was the clear "Rookie of the Year" on All Tings Considered. I supposed I'm a rookie as I only played some local Texas events and only one a year from 2019-2021. So if that counts, I don't know who my competition would have been. The criteria of "Mano said so" is easier to understand than Major League Baseball eligibility rules. This feels much more like Dennis Quaid than Thomas Ian Nicholas to me though.

Middle School / Premodern

I played three Romancing the Stones Middle School leagues, one Philly Old School Premodern league, and one IRL Premodern event in New Jersey. I managed to finally top 8 the RTS league after two years of close (and not close) calls. I even made back to back top 8s and almost won one!

February - Dance Party - I played Mesa Enchantress. I thought I wrote about this, but it must have been overlooked in the move. I went 4-2 and lost in the top 8 to MasaH on Parallax Tide Replenish. Here's what I played:

August - Summer School - I played Abzan Aluren and finished in 2nd place. Read about it here

October - Fall Semester - 3-3 with Naya Zoo. link

For Premodern, I played NightmareWhale for both the Philly OS League and the local 1K in New Jersey. I went 1-4 at the local event, but I did win the league. I'll be playing something else in the new year.

I've been trying to withhold judgement, but I now feel like I'm close to forming an opinion on which is better. I'm going to probably focus on Premodern to prepare for Lobstercon and save my final verdict until then, but as of now I think Middle School is better in the areas that matter most.

Modern / Pioneer

In March, I did a blind deck swap with Collin Rountree at the Hunter Burton Memorial Open in DFW. He gave me Amulet Titan, which I had never played before. I killed myself with Summoner's Pact on turn two on camera in round one, and the rest of the event was not much better. Also involved in the blind deck swap was Will Lowry. I cost him a match by accidently swapping his lands for his sideboard so he played a game with no mana in his deck. Oh well, those are the perils of blind deck swap I guess.

The only other Modern event I played was the RCQ I won with Merfolk. I still think Merfolk is sweet and hope I can play it in the upcoming HBMO.

Pioneer was limited to two events, the RC in Atlanta and the side event the day after. If winning the RCQ was my Magic highlight of the year (I don't think it is, but it was the only event I won), then the 0-4 at Atlanta was the lowlight. The side event was fun enough to not turn me off of the competitive circuit play for good, but I'm less excited about future RCQs and RCs for now.

Vintage / Legacy

My only Vintage experience was playing a side event at the Hunter Burton event. I think I went 3-2, with Doomsday, missing out on top 8. I love that they offer sanctioned Vintage at this event every year, and will continue to bring my deck when I attend.

The only Legacy I played was the Legacy Championship at Eternal Weekend. Legacy used to be my favorite format, but now that seems like so long ago. It still looks like it could be fun, but there hasn't been any reason to play. Maybe I will check out the local scene.

Standard

L.O.L.

Other Events

Probably my favorite event of the year was the Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse draft that Andrew Webb hosted in Austin shortly before I moved away. The event also featured IPA Block Constructed, which was a great time as well. I went 3-0 in Draft (see below) and 2-1 in Constructed (with Naya Panther, an inspiration for the MS Zoo deck I played later in the year).

Loot

I believe these are all the fun cards acquired at these events:

Looking Ahead

2022 was a great year for me at finding new ways to enjoy the game I love. I played the least amount of MTGO of any year in probably decades, and almost zero MTG Arena, and still had a great time.  

For 2023, the only event I'm committed to attending is the Scry Hard 2 Scryings event in NJ in January. I am strongly considering both LobsterCon and the HBMO. I would like to plan on attending Eternal Weekend again, if only there was a date to save!

The rest of the schedule is still open. I probably won't be flying to Europe to play Old School, but I haven't ruled it out completely. I may try to play more online webcam Old School events starting with the Winter Derby, but beyond that it will depend on how much I enjoy that one.

Also the Gathering part was great! I met so many new people this year, and they were all great! Some are even greater, but the tier list is a secret.

Until next year,

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

-Ty

White Initiative at Eternal Weekend Legacy Championships

This is already a week later than I wanted, but I had match notes so going to still get it out. Not a lot of deep analysis here though.

As previously mentioned, the only events I got to play at Eternal Weekend were the Thursday Old School event and the Legacy Championships on Saturday. I hadn't played Legacy in over three years, but assumed I would still be playing whatever the current flavor of Blood Moon was. 

Turns out, the current flavor is White and doesn't involve Blood Moon at all.

The Deck

I ordered the Initiative white creatures early enough that I would have them, even though I still didn't know what they did. As the week of the event approached, I finally read all the rooms of the Undercity dungeon and printed out a copy to use. 

Collin Rountree and Jacob Nagro were advocating for a Once Upon a Time build with Mox Diamond and more lands instead of Chrome Mox and Emeria's Call. They also were less interested in the lock pieces of Chalice and Thalia and instead wanted to speed run the dungeon. At the time, this sounded reasonable, but I'm not sure it is the correct approach overall. I went with their advice and played this:

4 White Plume Adventurer

4 Seasoned Dungeoneer

4 Solitude

4 Anointed Peacekeeper

4 Elite Spellbinder

1 Palace Jailer

4 Once Upon a Time

4 Mox Diamond

4 Lotus Petal

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Touch the Spirit Realm

4 City of Traitors

4 Ancient Tomb

4 Cavern of Souls

2 Karakas

2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

6 Plains

Sideboard

1 Gemstone Caverns

3 Chalice of the Void

1 Containment Priest

2 Cathar Commando

1 Dismember

4 Faerie Macabre

3 Archon of Emeria

Just a few notes here:

Once Upon a Time is strong and lets you find the Cavern of Souls and Initiative creatures way more frequently. It also does the same with important sideboard creatures like Palace Jailer, Containment Priest, and Faerie Macabre. With 4 Mox Diamond and 4 Lotus Petals, we decided that a basic Forest was not needed, and I'm glad that decision was made. Dismember was great and I had two up until the last minute. Should have stayed with two as it answers Empty-Shrine Kannushi, but probably should have also had a Walking Ballista for that since it can also be found off of OUAT. I managed to use Gemstone Caverns twice in eight rounds and lost both games, so maybe it's not worth the sideboard slot. 

The Games

(opponent names taken from MTG Melee)

Round 1 - Adam Prusa on 4-Color Yorion Spellseeker

Game one he had to Force Petal on turn one facing my Cavern opener but the turn two Orc still won easily. Game two I had two Swords to Plowshares and a Dismember to stop his Spellseeker for Ephemerate Shenanigans.

1-0

Round 2 - Mark Kitchenman on Elves
Game one I mulligan to five cards and only have turn one Peacekeeper on the draw. I manage to slow down his development by naming Quirion Ranger but eventually he found a Cradle and Natural Order to kill me. Game two is similar as I have turn one Chalice but he has two Elvish Visionary to continue development. My Archon of Emeria probably isn't doing much but he does Zenith for Grist to kill it, and then Natural Order for Craterhoof kills me again.

1-1

Round 3 - Chad Maurer on Jeskai Miracles

Game one I use Peacekeeper on his Flooded Strand which prevents him from being able to miracle the Triumph of Saint Katherine (yes, I had to read it). He draws some spells which don't interact with Initiative and I win. Game two I get initiative and keep him from using Snapcaster to get it back, but he does miracle Entreat the Angels. At this point, he's too low on life to race so I attack with an Orc with some counters on it to kill one angel. Eventually I kill him with the Undercity. 

2-1

Round 4 - Bryce Morgan on 4-Color Loam
Game one my hand does nothing and he has Swords for my only guy and his creatures win easily. Game two I have turn one Initiative and he didn't have Force of Will. He gets too far behind. Game three I again have turn one initiative and he Brainstorms in response but doesn't find the answer. I have Containment Priest in play when my dungeon reaches the end so that non-bo happened but I was so far ahead that it did not affect the game.

3-1

Round 5 - Brandon Chang on MonoWhite Initiative
Game one I have first initiative but he has Jailer to try to swing the tide. I also have Jailer and being both Monarch and the one with Initiative was too much. Game two he has turn one Empty-Shrine Kannushi so I can't go for Initiative right away. I hold up mana for Eiganjo but he doesn't swing into it. Eventually I play the Orc to get Initiative and try to win the race. I manage to do so by using both Eiganjos after I reveal one to Explore and that with Solitude and a Swords to Plowshares meant I kept Initiative from that point on and won.

4-1

Round 6 - Justin Ryan on Izzet Delver

Game one I have an Orc on turn two and he has Daze. Unfortunately for him, I also had Cavern of Souls. The loss of tempo was too much for him to recover from. Game two I have Chalice for one but he already has a Dragon's Rage Channeler in play. I take about 7 points from it before using Solitude to stop the bleeding. He follows up with Unchained Berserker (!!) and I'm in a tight spot. I draw enough Initiative creatures though to progress the Undercity to the point where I get a Skeleton to block with just in time. He has a Murktide Regent to threaten lethal but I draw Solitude for that. He only draws one-mana spells from that point and I win with Initiative.

5-1

Round 7 - Jeff Kinsey on MonoWhite Initiative

He asks if I played Vintage on Friday and I tell him no. I ask him if he played and he says yes. I ask him what he played and he said "I'd rather not say". Which is basically saying that he's playing Initiative, so I mulligan appropriately. Game one I have first Initiative but then draw five land in a row and lose. Game two I have turn one Dungeoneer and turn two Palace Jailer off of so many Lotus Petals and the advantage of both is too much. Game three I have Gemstone Caverns on the draw, but only have turn one Spellbinder. He shows me a hand with three Orcs and a Dungeoneer. I manage to slow him down but draw too many lands and eventually he can cast Dungeoneer and win. I had a spot where I could block and Dismember to keep iniative but I save my creature to attack back. This made my clock lethal if he doesn't find removal or flyer off of the end of his dungeon and also gave me more outs, but I drew another land. Maybe keeping him from initiative one turn to delay his end of dungeon was the better play.

5-2

Round 8 - Jeffrey Zhang on FiveColor Loam Zenith with Yorion

Game one he has Wasteland and Loam to slow me down but I eventually get some basics and Palace Jailer. Despite all his creatures, he can't get the Monarch from me so this game goes long, even though I'm so far behind from Wasteland I really don't think I can win. Eventually I get Initiative back after he forgets the trigger twice in his upkeep. I reach the end of the dungeon and reveal ten non-creatures off the top so I guess it wasn't meant to be. Game two I have turn one Spellbinder which takes his Abundant Growth and he can't cast any spells. Game three I use three Peacekeepers on the two Swords to Plowshares in his hand but can't find an Initiative card or any other gas to close the door. Eventually he uses Prismatic Ending on one Peacekeeper to unlock the two Swords and all my threats are neutralized. I just play along as he generates tons of value with Yorion and Karakas and I lose.

5-3

I was fairly confident that 7-3 would not make prize, especially after the 5-3 start so I elect to drop instead of coming back to play again on Sunday (which would have cost me another $20 to get on site, what's up with that?)

My Thoughts on Initiative

One of my better skills in Magic is the ability to identify a broken deck when I see one. I've done this many times over my playing career to great success. This event didn't have the success, but I feel the same about this deck as I did with Mythic Conscription, or Dungrove Ramp, or any of the other times I've done this. The following opinions presented with the caveat I have only eight matches of sample size, but on the other side of that coin, keep in mind that its clear to me after just eight matches.

Initiative feels like a weird combination of Eldrazi (for disruptive bodies that end the game quickly), True-Name Nemesis (for the inability to be interacted with), and CawBlade (for board state complexity and decision tree intensity). I think it is an issue and should be addressed. 

The best way to combat Initiative is to play your own Initiative creatures. I don't think the fast mana of Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors would be enough to stop the coming Initiative arms race. There are certainly decks that will improve in a metagame full of Initiative (I think Elves is a good candidate), but that does not mean Initiative is not an issue. There are always metagame decisions to be made when busted cards are around, whether they be Necropotence or Skullclamp or Treasure Cruise or Underworld Breach or whatever. 

There are so many initiative creatures that banning just the best ones might not be good enough. It probably is, but I'm not sure thats a risk worth taking. The only reason to fix the problem with a ban instead of a rules change is to maintain the playability in Vintage. The initiative deck in Vintage is probably good for the format as a whole, but I do not think it is good for Legacy.

Future Legacy

I don't know how much Legacy I'll play in the future. I'll try to play in Eternal Weekend again next year, but don't even know when or why I would play beyond that. Maybe there will be a team event where someone needs a Legacy player and I can join them.

Props:

Philadelphia Convention Center for being great place for big events

Reading Terminal Market 

My wife 

Slops:

Daily badge entry to event sites with only a voucher for side events included

2nd place with TrollAtog at Eternal Weekend North American Old School Magic Cup

This past weekend, Eternal Weekend took place in Philadelphia. I've wanted to participate in EW for a long time now, but have never been able to make it work except for the online version in 2020. This year, it would be only an hour away, so I wanted to play as many events as possible. Unfortunately, work and other commitments meant I would only be able to play in the Legacy Championship on Saturday. 

However, the plans I had on Thursday evening canceled at around 14:30, which left me just enough time to rearrange my schedule to get to Philadelphia and Love City Brewing for the 17:45 player meeting. Luckily, I already had a deck sleeved up in preparation for the upcoming Winter Derby. 

The Deck

4 Atog

4 Sedge Troll

4 Black Vice

1 Jalum Tome

1 Copy Artifact

2 Relic Barrier

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Psionic Blast

1 Fireball    

1 Wheel of Fortune

1 Timetwister

1 Time Walk

1 Ancestrall Recall

1 Chaos Orb

1 City in a Bottle

1 Mind Twist

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Sol Ring

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mox Pearl

1 Black Lotus

4 Strip Mine

4 Mishra's Factory

4 Volcanic Island

4 Badlands

4 Underground Sea

1 City of Brass

1 Library of Alexandria

Sideboard

1 Falling Star

1 Earthquake

2 City in a Bottle

3 Shatter

3 Copper Tablet

2 Gloom

1 Terror

1 Shatterstorm

1 Braingeyser

This is the next iteration of the BottleAtog list I played in Buffalo in October. Once again, the idea is to use City in a Bottle to destroy City of Brass and use the 4x Strip Mine to further constrain the mana. This time I opted for Black instead of White as my support color. This gives access to Demonic Tutor, which means multiple Bottles main deck is no longer necessary. This also gives Mind Twist, which just wins games.

For supplemental threat, I went with Sedge Troll. I was already planning on playing the full eight dual land Swamps, so it was a natural fit. As it is more of a midrange card, I didn't think playing Chain Lightning was necessary. There are no turn one Savannah Lions to clear the way for, and a lot of the creatures that Chain kills are blanked by having a Troll in play. 

The other strategy in the main deck was to not have any non-restricted cards that couldn't be converted into damage. So instead of Shatter or other reactive cards, I played artifacts like Relic Barrier that could be sacrificed to Atog for damage. 

The sideboard options in black aren't quite as good as with white, but they are serviceable. Earthquake is always a consideration when you don't play Savannah Lions and it works fine with Troll. Terror is a reasonable Swords to Plowshares replacement. There isn't an answer to The Abyss or Moat as good as Disenchant, but Gloom does a good enough job at stopping Circle of Protection: Red which is significantly better against the increased red threat count.

The Event

I believe 50 or so players showed up. The brewery was very nice. There was a small hiccup where the bartenders thought it was open bar, but it was sorted out quickly enough before round one to not be a total disaster, and most people ended up with a free beer or two from the mix-up. 

I don't have great notes or full record of pairings, so some names and events might be slightly off.

Round 1 - Jason Castonguay

He did not show up, so I win this round. Lucky

1-0

Round 2 - Brett Attmore - UR Atog

He had basic Island and basic Mountain. Game one he has an early Ankh of Mishra, but is stuck on two mana so while I take 6 damage from it, I'm never in danger of dying and I think I burn him out. I don't remember game two, but it might have involved Mind Twist.

2-0

Round 3 - Andy Callaghan? - MonoGreen Aggro

Game one I have turn one Timetwister but I'm on the draw so its parity vs his land and Llanowar Elf. He has too many cheap beaters to follow up and I don't have enough removal. Game two I think I land a Black Vise and Strip Mine him twice and he's never really in it. Game three he has two Scryb Sprites and an Argothian Pixies, but they get swept up by my Falling Star. I think I have Mind Twist the following turn to ensure the game is locked up.

3-0

Round 4 - Michael Scheffenacker - RUG 12 Bolt with Kird Ape

I win game one with a Demonic Tutor for City in a Bottle to get his City of Brass and Serendib Efreet. Game two he has two Argothian Pixies but I have Earthquake for 1 and then Demonic Tutor for Relic Barrier to stop his Jade Statue. I think I also have Library going for a few turns this game. Eventually I draw some beaters to kill him as he floods out.

4-0

Round 5 - Will Parshall - Atog

Game one he has early Vise and Ankh, but is losing to my board presence. I'm two points short of killing him with Atogs when he draws Ancestral to find the burn he needs to kill me. I maybe could have avoiding playing one land, but I'm not sure. Game two I don't remember but I think I win quickly with Vise and Timetwister. Game three I keep a hand with Lotus, Time Walk, Badlands, Factory, Atog, Demonic Tutor, Psionic Blast. He has turn one Vise so my first turn is Badlands Lotus Atog Time Walk to avoid Vise damage. I have drawn City in a Bottle for the extra turn but no other mana source. I play City instead of Demonic Tutor in order to wait for more information and to have protection for my Atog from a bolt. He has Chain Lightning which I sacrifice the Bottle to save Atog. He also has Strip Mine for my Factory. I never draw another mana source and die to his Vise and Factory shortly after. There is some debate whether to tutor for a Mox, or to mulligan the hand, but I'm not sure either play is better than taking the occasional loss to Strip Mine.

4-1

Round 6 - I don't remember who I played this round - Shops

Game one I'm ahead with some Vise and Atog damage. He has two Icy holding me down, but then draws the sixth mana to play Triskelion. This gives me a turn to Timetwister into another Vise and two Lightning Bolt which is enough to finish him off. Game two he has an early Su-Chi and Copy. I have turn one Library so I start digging. I use Shatter to kill one and then Mind Twist to get the two Trikes in his hand when he's on five mana. I manage to get Relic Barrier to stop the other Su-Chi beats. Eventually Library finds me enough burn to end the game before he can find any more threats.

5-1

Will Parshall ends up the lone undefeated for first place. I have the best tiebreakers of the 5-1s and take second place. I select the Winter Orb for my prize.

Conclusion

The deck performed about as expected. I don't think this build is the best way to build Atog but I think it has unique advantages. I've still yet to face anyone on The Deck with these builds so the viability there is still just theoretical.

The event was a great time. Thanks to Jimmy for putting it on with short notice.

Props:

Love City Brewing - beer was fine, but rolling with the open bar / cash bar mix up was nice. The venue was a great spot for event

Philadelphia parking - I've shit on Philly parking and road layout previously, but this area was very easy to get to and I didn't struggle to find street parking. Probably not good enough for a true "prop", but in the interest of fairness I'll put them here

My wife Beth for allowing me last minute to go to the event after our other plans fell through

Slops:

Strip Mine - just when you think 4 Strip is no big deal after 10 rounds of it, Strip Mine is there to remind you who the boss is. (I've got nothing against 4 Strip formats, just salty about the round 5 loss)

Naya Zoo in Middle School

I recently played in the Romancing the Stones Fall Semester Middle School League. I went 3-3 with Naya Zoo and finished in 15th place. 

The Deck

4 Jackal Pup

4 Savannah Lions

4 Jungle Lion

1 Grim lavamancer

4 Mogg Fanatic

4 Goblin Legionnaire

1 Granger Guildmage

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Rancor

2 Cursed Scroll

3 Wax / Wane

1 Armadillo Cloak

4 Battlefield Forge

4 Karplusan Forest

2 Brushland

3 Rith's Grove

3 Gemstone Mine

2 City of Brass

1 Thran Quarry

1 Undiscovered Paradise

Sideboard

3 Seal of Cleansing

2 Pyroblast

3 Tormod's Crypt

1 Phyrexian Furnace

3 Winter Orb

2 Simoon

1 Armadillo Cloak

I wanted to play a few cards that are only legal (or good) in Middle School: Jungle Lion and Goblin Legionnaire. I even tried to play Kird Ape. It is possible to build the manabase to support Ape with eight fetches and two Forests. However, basic Forest is not good. Basic Plains and basic Mountain are not good either, and the deck failed to cast two spells in a turn quite frequently. So I scrapped the Apes for a better mana base, once again playing zero basic land.

The creature suite is solid. I don't know if Legionnaire is great, but it certainly wasn't bad. I considered playing a couple of Anurid Brushhopper but decided against in order to keep the curve low. Lavamancer is just fine without a lot of ways to fuel the graveyard. I could see Guildmage being the better choice and would play a second and third Guildmage before adding the second Lavamancer. Rancor sort of counts as a creature in this deck. I don't think you need four copies when you have Jungle Lion to up the power of your one drops. It can be clunky sometimes to play out and trample was not that relevant. I would play three copies or fewer going forward.

The only spells you have to play are Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares. I think Wax / Wane does enough in the format that I would also want at least three copies, but the Wax side is a bit underwhelming. It does shore up lots of matchups against Oath, Survival, Necropotence, Humility, and Deed. Scroll is kind of slow and the mana base doesn't support it that well. Drawing Gemstone Mine or Undiscovered Paradise or Rith's Grove can make it hard to utilize. It could be just a sideboard card. The other options for spells would be to play Seal of Fire or another burn spell, or to mainv deck some copies of Winter Orb. After playing the league, I think I would try to play two or three Orbs in the main and go up to the full four Rith's Grove to supplement it. When everything in the deck costs one mana Orb will be asymmetrical against most other decks even when it isn't shutting them down completely. The Armadillo Cloak was about as good as expected, which is to say I expected it to be not that great. I only played it for the style points.

I really liked the sideboard I played except for Simoon, but other options to include if you shift Orbs to the main deck would be Absolut Law, more Cursed Scroll or Lavamancer type cards, or some more resilient threats like Anurid Brushhopper or Call of the Herd.

There are four and five color versions of this archetype popular in Premodern that play Carnophage and Sarcomancy along with Duress. They are usually base Jund colors or Mardu. The mana base isn't that much worse for them since they replace the pain ands with more City of Brass and that means you take about the same amount of damage. Damage from your own lands is the biggest drawback to this archetype. 

I considered a straight Red Green approach that would utilize Kird Ape and Skyshroud Elite to replace Savannah Lions and Goblin Legionnaire along with more burn spells. Giving up the Lions is not that big of a deal, but not having Swords to Plowshares, Wax / Wane, and Seal of Cleansing is a big deal. The mana base would be a lot better at not doing damage to yourself. 

The Games

Round 1 vs Jake Baltz on Urzatron Time Spiral Time Stretch deck

Game one he mulligan to five on the draw and I have Lion Lion Pup so he's facing 6 power before he can even play a spell. He plays two islands and Mana leak on my Legionnaire but then concedes when no third land.  Game two he has Force of Will for my turn one Lion and Syncopate for turn two Legionnaire. I have two Savannah Lion turn three and then land Winter Orb. He takes two turns to get mana back online and tries for Chromatic Sphere plus Fire to kill my creatures but I save one with Wax. I draw another Pup off the top and another Wax to kill him the turn before he has enough mana for time Spiral. 

1-0

Round 2 vs Phillip Collier on White Weenie

Game one I have enough Bolts and Swords to eliminate his problem creatures (Paladin and Mother and Silver Knight) and he only has shadow guys that don't win the race. Game two he stuck on one land and forced to block with Mother of Runes to prevent damage from my Rancored Lion but I have Wax to make it huge blowout and by the time he finds Tithe and more lands he's dead.

2-0

Round 3 vs Lorien Elleman on Bubblick Muck Tendrils Necropotence

This match was streamed here. Game one I have two Cats and Rancor and he never really recovers. Game two he kills my first two guys and has Necro plus Zuran Orb and I flood out. Game three I lead Pup he has Carnophage, I decide to use Wax to trade instead of letting my guy die with Rancor. I follow up with second Pup, but he has Cabal Ritual into Priest into Engineered Plague on Jackal and I'm blown out. The rancor I'm left with doesn't answer Necro and I lose shortly after.

2-1

Round 4 vs Robert Wilson on CounterRebels

Game one goes very long as I get two Cursed Scroll active. My sixth land is Undiscovered Paradise so its tough for me to activate both each turn though. I kill a Lin Sivvi and a Sky Marshall but then he sticks Standstill and starts attacking with Conclave once my hand is a bit more full. I have four cards, two are Rancor and I miss like four Scroll activations at 50% before I'm forced to break Standstill. He wins from there. Game two I have enough pressure and removal and he gets too far behind so I easily win. Game three I kill his first Mother and Rebel, he has Disenchant for my Cursed Scroll though. I have Lion with Cloak to try to race his Thermal Glider but I end up drawing 8 land and 8 spells flood out while he kills me with Glider and Factories.

2-2

Round 5 vs Dustin Ransom on Blue Storm

Game one I keep hand with Wax/Wane thinking he's on Stasis like he's played every other league but he plays turn two Helm and then kills me on turn five when my clock wasn't fast enough. Game two I have two Legionarre and Seal for his first Medallion. I have no green mana so my clock is a bit slow. He has second Helm and I bolt him to 9. I draw City for Rancor attack for 6 he's at 3. I can activate both Legionnaires to kill but I also have Pyroblast in hand and only two red sources so I tank a bit. In the end I decide letting him untap on his turn is too risky so I go for it and he can't kill at instant speed. Game three he mulligan to five and I keep Lion Lion Rancor Seal Brushland two red cards on the draw. I never draw a second land but he never finds third land and I win with just 2/1 beats somehow.

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Round 6 vs Keith Sweeney on Black Aggro

Game one I'm looking good with double Rancor to get him down to five life but he gets Cursed Scroll online and I'm forced to top deck mode. Because of his Sarcomancy doing damage each turn, I have four turns to draw any of Mogg Fanatic, Goblin Legionnaire, Lightning Bolt, or Cursed Scroll  but I don't and he attacks for lethal while he's at 1. Game two I have Lion plus Rancor off of Undiscovered Paradise so my development a bit slow. All he has is the one Sphere of Resistance he left in but Wasteland and Hymn make it so I can't play any of the three Legionnaire in my hand. I kill his Factory but he has Slayer to start chipping away. Eventually I get him to 3 life with Legionnaires before his Scroll takes over and I fail to find the Lightning Bolt to win.

3-3

Lessons Learned

All three of my losses ended up making the top eight, and they all felt close enough that with better draws or slightly better build I could have been there instead. In several games against Necropotence and Rebels I really wanted to draw Winter Orb after sideboard and never did. I think going forward I would try to play Winter Orb main deck in some quantity.  I also think playing fewer Rancor is fine as I routinely had multiple in my hand without anything to put them on. Cursed Scroll was a tough card to beat, but maybe the best answer is more Scrolls of my own, but this is would not work with Winter Orb. 

This was probably the deck that surprised me the most from how good I expected it to be compared to how well it performed. I would definitely consider playing this again if I felt the metagame was right. 

Props:

Once again, Middle School format for letting you play with sweet Portal cards

Once again, Romancing the Stones crew for running these great events

MasaH for finally winning one of these leagues

Slops:

Once again, formats where you can't play sweet Portal cards like Jungle Lion

Cursed Scroll for missing my coin flips.