SWaWLQ IV – Event Report

Introduction

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile but I am very happy to say that I can present the fourth iteration (despite COVID’s best efforts!) report for the South West and Wales Legacy Quarterly (SWaWLQ)!

As with each time I will quickly give a little background information: Inspired by a swiftly developing Legacy scene within the Bristol and Cardiff regions of the UK and the amazing reports from the lovely folks who attend the London Legacy Monthly (LLM) events, a small group of us were inspired to give organising a similar event a go. Fast forward a number of years now (thanks COVID) with no small amount of helpful advice gleaned from the LLM organisers and us having found a new wonderful venue that were willing to host us for free we have been able to get four events of the series underway.

SWaWLQ IV

October 23rd 2021

Coming off the back of continued unsurity from the pandemic and with many players having dropped out of the scene for so long we were worried about attendance going into the event. It turns out our fears were for nought as we had the full 32 players sign up with 31 appearing on the day! Of course COVID being present still and people’s safety as a top priority we asked that people wear masks by default for the event, checked with their opponent before handling any other player’s cards etc and to use hand sanitiser etc where possible.

The new venue for us (The Cloak and Dagger) opened at 10:30 allowing early arrivals to grab hot drinks and the organisers to make last minute checks to the arrangements. Almost everyone was registered on time other than one latecomer who seemed to face some bad traffic but otherwise everything went well in the morning and we were underway by 11:30 as predicted! The lovely Winter hosted the player meeting and it felt great to just here the words “MAGIC PLAYERS, WELCOME BACK” in the room.

The Tournament Structure

The event was five rounds of swiss with a cut to top 8 judged at PubREL with Winter as “Head Judge” and myself as deputy. Prizes were a Revised Bayou for first, a playset of Verdant Catacomb for second, a Liliana of the Veil each for 3rd and 4th and a Wasteland each for 5th to 8th. As before, playtest cards (proxies) were allowed but it was really nice seeing many people opt to not proxy showing solidarity for potential future, sanctioned events within the area. It was also really nice seeing a lot of people local to the wider South West and Wales area that do not normally get to play paper Legacy join us and we even had some local celebrities in the form of the “two Stus” of Legacy Breakfast Podcast fame attend. We must have been such a popular event we had people come down from Scotland to attend and even one person from Canada(!) present. I guess SWaWLQ is ready to compete on the international circuit haha!

The Metagame Breakdown

As we have previously, we collected the complete set of decklists from everyone at the event. Once again we used our online submission form which we will hopefully have improved ready for the next one!

Across the 31 players in attendance we saw 22 unique archetypes deployed on the day with no single deck with more than 4 pilots however this was down from 25 from the previous event (though granted that event did have more people in attendance). The metagame seemed pretty balanced with roughly 58% of the field being “blue based” in their style of deck construction down from 61% at the previous event.

Going into high level simplifications of archetypes (based on the mtgtop8 system of classification) and dividing into “Aggro”, “Combo” and “Control” we can see that Aggro is dominant once again (which makes sense as this is where the efficient “Delver” archetypes lie) at 39% with Combo close behind at 35%. Control decks seem to continue to be underepresented at 26% which is surprising given how successful certain Bant style lists involving Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath have been online. I think the metagame has shifted in favour of hyper efficiency provided by new key printings like Expressive Iteration or avoidance of interactivity or an increase in speed favouring faster spell based combo decks.

The expected decks to beat going into the tournament were UR Delver, Bant Control, Death &Taxes and Doomsday. Delver has always been a popular archetype at these events and this one was no different with it fielding the most pilots in the room. Death & Taxes has also always been popular in the UK and South West area especially and this was also well represented with 3 pilots showing up with it. What was surprising was the lack of the other two expected decks in Bant Control and Doomsday. Bant Control is well known to be a good deck to bring against an expected Delver heavy meta and can bring in key sideboard tools to help bolster the combo matchups too and Doomsday is known to have a number of pilots local to the region with at least 4 afficienados of the deck in attendance however none of them decided to register the deck (although there was still one copy of Doomsday present on the day.
The full list of archetypes can be found below:

Archetype	#	Archetype	#	Archetype	#	Archetype	#
Aluren (BUG)	2	Jeskai Ragavan	1	Oops All Spells	1	Stoneblade (WUB)	2
Bogles	1	Lands	2	Pirates (UBR)	1	Tainted Pact (UBr)	1
Death & Taxes	3	Moon Stompy	1	Slivers	1	Reanimator (UBr)	1
Elves	1	MUD	1	Sneak and Show	1	UR Delver	4
Hogaak (BUG)	1	Ninjas (UB)	1	Song of Creation Storm	1
Infect	1	Omnishow (UW)	2	Stax (W)	1

Archetype Discussion – Delver

As per previous events Delver was the most popular archetype in the room however it looks like it’s meta share has decreased from last time with none of the variants other than UR taking to the stage. This year has seen a huge boost in efficiency to the archtype combining old staples like Force of Will, Brainstorm and Daze and pairing them with new threats and engines in the form of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Murktide Regent and Expressive Iteration.

The main flex slots seem to be focussed around the creature based and permission suites with a little variation also seen in how much to commit activating Delirium. 3/4 lists were using Mishra’s Bauble to act as additional card filtering, Surveil triggers and Delirium fodder with two of them on 2 and the other on 3 copies of the free artifact. The removal packages seemed to disagree between the use of Gut Shot which is effective vs opposing Ragavans and similar and Unholy Heat which has a greater reach against larger threats.
The sideboards all seemed pretty similar with slots devoted to other blue decks, combo, graveyard and artifact based strategies as well as some other slots for the mirror. All in all the list remains flexible in its approach and despite the name is now down to only 2-3 copies of the titular card Delver of Secrets.

With two of the pilots converting to the top eight and two having a somewhat lackluster performance the archetype did well as expected but was not as dominating as it is sometimes made out to be. There is a lot of discussion online around the potential for a banning or two from the shell which we may see before the next event however for now it seems a solid choice to bring to any future events.

Archetype Discussion – Death & Taxes

Death & Taxes was the second highest represented archetype this time which, as mentioned before, is not too much of a surprise for the local area. What was surprising was a lack of Maverick or the GW Depths deck which shares a large card pool with it. Both of those decks have proven to be popular online and in paper so their absence was interesting. Two of the pilots ran a simple 60 card list with one pilot favouring the 80 card Yorion, Sky Nomad build which has slowly become more popular over time boasting a decent Delver and Control matchup by trading some consistency for card advantage and ability to play a long game.

The decks all shared similar elements that are inherent to the archetype but varied in how they approached them. The equipment package was present in all but some opted to run newcomer equipment Kaldra Compleat in the main whilst others relegated it to the sideboard. They all carried a host of silver bullets that could be found with Recruiter of the Guard but the options differed between them with all manner of cards like Palace Jailor, Elite Spellbinder and Cathar Commando available to fetch when needed. There was also variation observed in how heavy people went on the removal suite with some opting to run the full 4 Solitutde alongside the normal 4 Swords to Plowshares whilst others ran only 1 or none at all. Sideboards all focussed quite heavily on graveyard interaction or tools for facing spell based combo decks.

None of the pilots managed to convert into the top eight and overall the archetype had an “okay” result with a combined W/L/D ratio of 6/7/2. The deck certainly has tools to beat what was in the room but can be tricky to navigate if not familiar with the archetype or with a sideboard tailored to a different subset of decks to what is faced.

Archetype Discussion – Chalice Decks

This event saw a small resurgence in the success of Prison decks. Last event we had Oko, Thief of Crowns legal which was a key force in keeping artifact based strategies in check. With the fae planeswalker gone from the format they are a little more free to play around though MH2 card Prismatic Ending is another threat to the “stompy” deck style. Three Chalice of the Void decks were fielded with Moon Stompy, Stax and MUD all being brought to the table. These decks are very polarising with having the potential for very powerful and fast openings but low consistency and late game potential thanks to a lack of selection. One of them managed to convert to top eight and another stated that though they went 1-4 they felt like it could have easily been 4-1 with many manages being hinged on the back of microdecisions or key topdecks. It was nice to see such a variety displayed in the “stompy” deck style with all three decks playing out in very different ways and showing that there is a lot of versatility even outside of the classic blue based cantrip shell.

Archetype Discussion – Spell Based Combo

Spell based combo was by far the most popular of the wider archetypes with 5 decks represented under it. Three of these were decks based around Show and Tell with two opting for the more linear UW Omniscience decks and one playing the more heavy hitting Sneak Attack variant. These decks are all very effective by attacking opponents on an axis that can create virtual card advantage by ignoring key cards like removal spells or similar. They also often have very quick clocks thanks to acceleration from lands like City of Traitors or cards like Lotus Petal. What was notably absent was any sort of traditional storm deck (emphasis on the traditional part here) like ANT or TES. ANT has fallen into decline in the last two years thanks to many hurtful printings but TES has been trying to push through with consistent online results from its key pilots. Last event we had 3 TES pilots in the room and this one we saw none at all! We also already noted Doomsday was absent from the event but this will be in part explained later.

The Greg Nichols Hall of Fame!

(Graveyard Decks)

Even though they did not attend I would feel remiss to not include this segment. Three graveyard decks attended in the form of Reanimator, Hogaak and Oops All Spells. These decks are in an interesting position whereby many decks are often quite light on graveyard interaction these days as the strategies are less popular, especially with the addition of Endurance to the format however there is no better time to bring them out than when people are least expecting it! This is proven by the fact one of these decks converted into the top 8 despite the full hall of fame being present!

The full hall of fame (graveyard hate) list breaks down as such:

• 29 Copies of Surgical Extraction
• 16 Copies of Leyline of the Void
• 15 Copies of Endurance
• 5 Copies of Rest in Peace
• 4 Copies of Bojuka Bog
• 4 Copies of Grafdigger’s Cage
• 4 Copies of Containment Priest
• 4 Copies Tormod’s Crypt
• 3 Copies of Faerie Macabre
• 2 Copies of Ravenous Trap
• 1 Copy of Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Copy of Soul-Guide Lantern
• And finally 1 Copy of Shred Memory

Although this event’s hall of fame list seems longer with new faces in the form of Endurance, Soul-Guide Lantern and Shred Memory and is absent of old faithful Scavenging Ooze it is in fact a much lighter amount of hate compared to previous events. Last time, likely due to Underworld Breach being in the format there were 116 pieces of graveyard hate in the room whilst this time only saw 86. If the trend of disrespect towards the archetype continues it could be a good option to snipe an event going forwards.

The Kitchen Sink

As usual I can only donate so much time to discussing all the decks present and there were some really fun ones about with a diverse field. We saw a mix of old favourites like Esper Stoneblade reappear with decent results, steady contenders like Aluren make use of new printings like Acererak the Archlich and even some porting over from other formats with Bogles jumping in making use of the wider card pool to try and jam a Daze protected True-Name Nemesis enchanted with Curious Obsession. Despite all the lovely creativity and tight play that we saw in the end only a chosen few could make it all the way through with a very tight cutoff for the 8th place position.

The Top 8

31 players entered the fray and after the swiss we were left with a pretty diverse top 8. I present the chosen few in seed order coming out of the swiss:

1. Ben Roberts on BUG Aluren
2. Ishu Singh on Jeskai Ragavan
3. Matt Hayden on UR Delver
4. Huw Evans on Oops All Spells
5. Ben Jones on UR Delver
6. William Paul Chantrill on Esper Stoneblade
7. Peter Bedwell on UB Ninjas
8. Louis Vale on Moon Stompy

A mix of old and new faces to the top spots for this event. We also see a good amount of diversity with a mix of combo, prison, tempo and control all present.

The Quarter Finals

Quarter Final – Ben R on BUG Aluren vs Louis on Moon Stompy

Game one was a all out slugfest of a match with Louis able to deploy double Blood Moon and a Trinisphere. Thanks to the heavy amount of basics deployed early on Ben was able to play an Aluren but due to the tax provided by Trinisphere had to pay 3 for every creature deployed. Because of this, a slow deployment of deathtouch wielding 1/1’s was sent forth and traded with power cards like Goblin Rabblemaster. A Grist, the Hunger Tide also joined the fray thanks to its unique creature properties allowing it to be cast via Aluren. It was looking dicey for Ben until a timely Abrupt Decay was found and cast taking out the Trinisphere allowing Acererak the Archlich to run amok through the dungeons an infinite amount of times.

Game two was a lot quicker with a very quick (turn 1) Blood Moon from Louis finding Ben without a Force effect. This was backed up by a Fireflux Squad which proceeded to close the game out in quick fashion.

Game three was another grindy affair which saw each haymaker that Louis deployed met with mana floated and either an Abrupt Decay fired off or a Reclamation Sage found. This removal allowed Ben to stave off just enough of the threat base to be able to deploy and Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath which in typical fashion, was able to finish things off. The combined life gain and card draw was too much for the poor red deck to beat and Ben R progressed to the semi finals.

Quarter Final – Huw on Oops All Spells vs Ben J on UR Delver

Tempo vs combo is always an interesting match though no deck forces polarising games like Oops does. Game one saw a mull to five from Huw who jammed a turn one Balustrade Spy hoping to end things quickly. Ben responded to the Force check by showing the Force of Will and Huw decided to scoop it up.

Game two had a bit more counterplay with a turn one Thoughtseize from Huw lead into a turn 4 Balustrade Spy which Ben managed to counter. A lucky Expressive Iteration from Ben managed to find double Surgical Extraction leading him to put one in hand and exile the other. The exiled Surgical took out the Spy but revealed an Undercity Informer in Huw’s hand however presenting another key threat to Ben. Informer managed to get the combo going but Ben fought it electing to target the Thassa’s Oracle from Huw’s graveyard preventing the instant win. Huw had boarded for this however using Memory’s Journey to buy time alongside a small hoard of Narcomaeba however he had made a crucial mistake forgetting to board in Bridge from Below to create a very scary and lethal prospect over the next few turns. Ben was in a dire strait facing death across the next three turns but just as all seemed lost a very timely Murktide Regent appeared to allow him to survive long enough and close out the game.

Quarter Final – Ishu on Jeskai Ragavan vs Peter on UB Ninjas

Game one saw an early ninjitsu effect from Ingenious Inflitrator off the back of Changeling Outcast lead to a snowball of momentum from Peter that even a large Murktide Regent from Ishu could stop. Trading 1 for 1 as per the Jeskai deck’s plans only works so well when your opponent is drawing 2-3 cards a turn.

Game two saw another turn one Changeling Outcast meet a Prismatic Ending from Ishu. Things were looking good for the Jeskai deck until back to back Wastelands from Peter neutered Ishu’s manabase and took him off his crucial white mana needed for a lot of the removal in the deck. Ishu tried to deploy a Dragon’s Rage Channeler to help close the game but Peter responded with a Snuff Out to take it off the field. Between the mana limitations, disruption in the form of Thoughtseize and a steady deployment of threats Ishu could not stop the tide of deadly shinobu going his way and was defeated.

Quarter Final – Matt on UR Delver vs Will on Esper Stoneblade

Game one was a grindy game which eventually landed into the classic battle of Batterskull vs Murktide Regent. This held fast for awhile until a Teferi, Time Raveler was able to break parity allowing the Regent to be bounced and helping locate an Umezawa’s Jitte in the process.

Game two was a very simple affair. Matt deployed an early threat and was able to ride the mana efficient disruption to victory. Very simply Will got “Delvered”.

Game three saw a Wasteland from Matt take out a Tundra from Will, stranding his early removal in hand. Matt followed up with a Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer which Will eventually managed to deal with as well as the Dragon’s Rage Channeller which joined it. A Plague Engineer joined the fray at some point (naming “Monkey”) followed by Stoneforge Mystic from Will to grab a Batterskull however it was too little too late as it was prevented from deploying early and could not race the Murktide Regent which Matt managed to land soon after.

Well done to our honourable quarter finalists who went away with their brand new, aggressive, real estate.

The Semi Finals

Semi Final – Ben R on BUG Aluren vs Ben J on UR Delver

The legendary battle of the Bens had finally come to pass and so these two formidable beings who shared both a love of Legacy and a first name clashed in our first semi final.

Game one was very grindy with all pressure from Ben J’s threat base being mitigated by an Uro from Ben R. Like in his Quarter Final match, the time gained from the life gain and card advantage that Uro provided allowed him to deploy an Aluren and go infinite once more through the dungeons with Acererak.

Game two followed the same pattern as Matt’s Quarter final game two. A turn one Monkey rode the full road to victory thanks to the backup provided by Daze, Force of Will and Pyroblast effects. A cool play to note was at one point the Ragavan trigger flipped a Living Wish which Ben J used to grab a Wasteland they had sideboarded out.

Game three saw an explosive start from Ben R with a lot of acceleration but wasn’t able to find enough business spells to capitalise on it. Some time was gained through some removal trading for threats but it wasn’t going to be enough to stop Ben J and his threat base. A key misplay occurred late into the game where Ben R cast a Living Wish which they used to grab an Acererak as they were unsure what to take and wanted the potential for the instant win if an Aluren was found. This meant they were unable to protect the Aluren they did find as they had no card to pitch to Force of Will. If they had grabbed Leovold, Emmissary of Trest with the Wish then they could have resolved the enchantment and won in the next few turns. As it stood they could not make anything happen and died to some large Murktide Regents and a horde of smaller red one drops.

Semi Final – Peter on UB Ninjas vs Matt on UR Delver

Go ninja, go ninja, go! With secret support from some of the venue’s staff Peter seemed to be in high spirits. Game one saw what was swiftly becoming his signature move of turn one Changeling Outcast into turn two ninjitsu shenanigans. A Retrofitter Foundry joined the game and between the card draw and the unlimited threat potential Matt was down a game.

Game two found Matt struggling again against a small group of ninjas and their construct companions however was rewarded through finding not just one Murktide Regent but two! Nimble they may be, the ninjas were not able to get through the massive wall of sinew and despite clever workings of two Retrofitter Foundrys in order to buy time through blockers, the large blue beasties managed to finish things off.

Game three had Matt mull down to 5 and face once again the turn one Changeling Outcast. Immediately the ninjas began to flood onto the board and despite a True-Name Nemesis buying Matt some time the ninja snowball of drawing 2 cards a turn was way too much for the tempo deck to handle and our final two were decided!

The Finals!

Final – Ben J on UR Delver vs Peter on UB Ninjas

With the end close in sight, both players were rearing to go. Game one had the higher seed Ben on the play and immediately dropping a Dragon’s Rage Channeler paired with a Mishra’s Bauble on turn one which sent another Bauble to the graveyard. Peter as always deployed a Changeling Outcast off of a Swamp which Ben immediately took out with a Gut Shot triggering yet another Surveil trigger. Thanks to the filtering of the Channeler Ben was able to locate removal for the future ninjas Peter tried to deploy and finally dropped a Murktide Regent to try and close things out. Peter wasn’t done yet and slammed down a Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow however Ben wasn’t taking any chances and forced it pitching another Regent. A Fatal Push on Channeler is stopped as is a late Baleful Strix and Ben manages to close it out.

Game two sees Peter mull to 6 after happily stating “this should be fine if I don’t have to mulligan”. Again we see turn one Swamp -> Changeling Outcast but this meets a first turn Blazing Volley from Ben off of Volcanic Island. Peter tries to keep momentum adding a Retrofitter Foundry to the table and cantripping to find more threats. An Ornithopter from Peter becomes a Yuriko but that is destroyed by a Red Elemental Blast before it can connect for damage. The Blast also helps feed value from a Channeler that joined the fray providing both value and aggression. An actual Delver of Secrets jumps into the mix and despite another attempt at getting the ninja ball rolling a ninjitsu’d Ingenious Infiltrator is met by a second Red Blast. Delver flips to an Abrade causing Peter to scramble for answers. Ben doesn’t relent though with Expressive Iteration coupled with the Surveil triggers providing a huge amount of advantage which the Foundry on Peter’s side cannot keep parity with. Despite the Thopter becoming a 4/4 and a Fatal Push taking out the Channeler, the Insectile Aberration keeps hitting in for damage. Eventually the final nail in the coffin is presented by a Murktide landing into play and with that Peter presents the handshake.

Commiserations to Peter (but also congratulations for making it so far) and a huge round of applause to Ben for becoming our SWaWLQ IV champion!

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Closing Words

(More below if you want it including full Top 8 decklists, a fun little agreement story and the Spice Corner)

And with that we are done for the fourth event. Despite uncertainty, real world events, organising issues and nerves it seems like everyone had a great time. Congratulations to all top eight competitors and a big thank-you to everyone who attended. These events are for the community and to promote the format so anything that you can do to help is always appreciated! The organising committee are once again taking on feedback so please, if you have anything to say, either positive or constructively critical, let us know via Southwestlegacymtg@gmail.com. We were hosted this time at the Cloak and Dagger and we wish to thank them and their staff for their contribution to the event! Also as always a big thankyou to Winter for running the event on the day and Stephen for running this website and sorting out all the ticketing, decklist collections and communications with the venue!

We did have a special extra prize for this event which was provided by the lovely Adrian “Kip” Kitto of the Legacy Discord #cool-stuff channel who sent over a TSR Tarmogoyf all the way from Australia for use as a door prize! It was decided to be allocated out to anyone who stayed for all five rounds and who didn’t make the top eight. The room stood waiting (and giggling) as the wheel spun and it was in fact our 9th place player David Van Loo who the RNG gods took pity on, gifting him the green beasty. Whether it was the prospect of the prize or just the general hype to be playing paper Legacy again, it was great to see almost everyone stay for all five rounds even if they were doing poorly in the event so thank-you to all who stayed xxx

It was a brilliant event all round and a blast to play in. We look forward to hopefully seeing everyone again in roughly 3 months time (life permitting!). Until then have fun, stay safe and keep playing Legacy xxxx

Top 8 Decklists

1st Place UR delver by Ben Jones

Creatures (14) 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer 4 Dragon’s Rage Channeler 4 Murktide Regent 2 Delver of Secrets Spells (26) 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Daze 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Force of Will 2 Gut Shot Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (2) 2 Mishra’s Bauble Enchantments (0)

Lands (18) 4 Wasteland 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Volcanic Island 1 Island 1 Mountain 1 Polluted Delta 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Flooded Strand 1 Wooded Foothills Sideboard (15) 3 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Abrade 2 True Name Nemesis 2 Force of Negation 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Meltdown 1 Submerge 1 Blazing Volley

2nd Place: UB Ninjas by Peter Bedwell

Creatures (17) 4 Ornithopter 4 Changeling Outcast 1 Baleful Strix 1 Brazen Borrower 3 Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow 4 Ingenious Infiltrator Spells (22) 4 Ponder 4 Brainstorm 2 Fatal Push 1 Thoughtseize 3 Daze 1 Drown in the Loch 1 Murderous Cut 1 Snuff Out 1 Force of Negation 4 Force of Will Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (3) 3 Retrofitter Foundry Enchantments (0)

Lands (18) 1 Underground Sea 4 Polluted Delta 4 Prismatic Vista 2 Wasteland 3 Swamp 3 Island 1 Karakas Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Flusterstorm 2 Back to Basics 2 Plague Engineer 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Null Rod 1 Thoughtseize 1 Pithing Needle 1 Hydroblast

Semi Finalist: UR Delver by Matt Hayden

Creatures (14) 4 Murktide Regent 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer 4 Dragon’s Rage Channeler 2 Delver of Secrets Spells (25) 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Expressive Iteration 2 Unholy Heat Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (3) 3 Mishra’s Bauble Enchantments (0)

Lands (18) 4 Wasteland 4 Volcanic Island 1 Snow-Covered Island 1 Snow-Covered Mountain 4 Flooded Strand 4 Scalding Tarn Sideboard (15) 1 Court of Cunning 1 Force of Negation 2 True-Name Nemesis 2 Surgical Extraction 2 Gut Shot 3 Pyroblast 2 Abrade 1 meltdown 1 Karakas

Semi Finalist: Aluren Dungeon Explorer by Ben Roberts

Creatures (14) 1 Birds of Paradise 4 Ice-Fang Coatl 2 Baleful Strix 3 Acererak the Archlich 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath 1 Leovold, Emissary of Trest Spells (20) 4 Brainstorm 3 Ponder 3 Green Sun’s Zenith 3 Living Wish 3 Abrupt Decay 4 Force of Will Planeswalkers (1) 1 Grist, the Hunger Tide Artifacts (0) Enchantments (5) 1 Sylvan Library 4 Alluren

Lands (20) 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Tropical Island 1 Underground Sea 1 Bayou 1 Snow-Covered Swamp 3 Snow-Covered Island 3 Snow-Covered Forrest 2 Polluted Delta 1 Verdant Catacombs 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Prismatic Vista Sideboard (15) 2 Force of Negation 1 Acererak the Archlich 1 Grist, the Hunger Tide 2 Veil of Summer 1 Plague Engineer 2 Endurance 1 Reclamation Sage 2 Collector Ouphe 1 Karakas 1 Bajuka Bog 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

Quarter Finalist: Jeskai Midrange by Ishu Singh

Creatures (11) 3 Murktide Regent 4 Dragon’s Rage Channeler 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer Spells (25) 2 Force of Negation 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Swords to Plowshares 3 Prismatic Ending 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Ponder Planeswalkers (4) 2 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Teferi, Time Raveler Artifacts (0) Enchantments (0)

Lands (20) 1 Karakas 1 Plateau 2 Wasteland 3 Arid Mesa 3 Flooded Strand 3 Scalding Tarn 3 Tundra 4 Volcanic Island Sideboard (15) 1 Torpor Orb 1 Null Rod 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Izzet Staticaster 1 Alpine Moon 1 Meltdown 1 Force of Negation 2 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Containment Priest 1 Hydroblast 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Prismatic Ending

Quarter Finalist: Oops All Spells by Huw Evans

Creatures (26) 1 thassa’s oracle 1 wild cantor 4 narcomoeba 4 undercity informer 4 balustrade spy 4 chancellor of the annex 4 elvish spirit guide 4 simian spirit guide Spells (26) 1 dread return 1 cabal therapy 4 pact of negation 4 summoner’s pact 4 cabal ritual 4 dark ritual 4 agadeem’s awakening 4 turntimber symbiosis Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (8) 4 lotus petal 4 chrome mox Enchantments (0)

Lands (0) Sideboard (15) 4 noxious revival 1 nature’s claim 2 force of vigor 2 bridge from below 1 cabal therapy 1 memory’s journey 4 thoughtseize

Quarter Finalist: Esper Stoneblade by William Chantrill

Creatures (10) 4 Stoneforge Mystic 2 Baleful Strix  2 True-Name Nemesis 2 Snapcaster Mage Spells (24) 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Force of Will 1 Force of Negation 1 Fatal Push 2 Drown in the Loch 4 Prismatic Ending Planeswalkers (3) 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Teferi, Time Raveler 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Artifacts (3) 1 Batterskull 1 Kaldra Compleat 1 Umezawa's Jitte Enchantments (0)

Lands (20) 4 Polluted Delta 4 Flooded Strand 2 Island 2 Plains 1 Swamp 1 Tundra 1 Hallowed Fountain 2 Underground Seas 1 Volcanic Island 1 Scrubland 1 Badlands Sideboard (15) 2 Flusterstorm 2 Meddling Mage 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Pyroblast 1 Force of Negation 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Blood Moon 1 Null Rod 1 Dress Down 1 Hullbreacher  2 Plague Engineer

Quarter Finalist: Fast Prison by Louis Vale

Creatures (25) 4 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Fury 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 4 Legion Warboss 4 Fireflux Squad 4 Bonecrusher Giant 1 Magus of the Moon Spells (4) 4 Shatterskull Smashing Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (11) 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Chrome Mox 3 Trinisphere Enchantments (4) 4 Blood Moon

Lands (16) 2 Den of the Bugbear 4 Ancient Tomb 4 City of Traitors 6 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Leyline of the Void 1 Trinisphere 4 Dead // Gone 2 Magus of the Moon 2 Fiery Confluence 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno

Extra Stuff:

A Tainted Pact – The Tale of Two James’s

So prior to the event myself (James Johns) and another Doomsday advocate (James Whitehouse) decided to make a deal for the event. Initially this was part of a “Peach Garden Oath” style agreement with a third player who was unfortunately unable to attend in the end whereby we each design and build a deck for another person. As a result we both set about brewing, constructing and finally ‘gifting’ each other our decks. The result was one of us hoping to find the Ninja’s pilot in the room for the ultimate Pirate vs Ninja tribal showmatch and the other playing EDH all day. I decided to try and make Ragavan more ‘fun’ by pairing it with Legacy staples like Aether Vial, Hullbreacher and Admiral Beckett Brass whilst Mr Whitehouse decided to think about “what commander cards are slightly legacy playable and work towards the goal of Tainted Pact, so just picked a load of cards, and guessed how much land you’d need.”

In the end we both did very well ending 3-2 apiece and taking the 10th and 11th spots respectively and I must say, both decks were an absolute blast to build and play! We may well do this again so if you are interested in joining our little challenge, feel free to jump on the bandwagon! You can find our decklists below:

The Spice Corner (Dune Fans Rejoice!)

No report is complete without something a little bit extra, a little bit fancier. And yet again it’s our dear friend Bruno Maillot who brings the A game with this one. Something that has been seen a little bit online but has died out as a tier z pipe dream was reborn and brought along in the form of Song of Creation Storm. This deck has a lot of raw power with the ability to easily go off on turn 2-3 (even potentially turn 1) however it is pretty greedy. The core card is a 3 colour enchanment that can be REB’ed and is 4 mana to boot! Despite this though it managed to win out some matches and looks very stylish whilst doing so. Definately something fun to try and get working!

One Spicy
Boi: Songstorm by Bruno Maillot

Creatures (0) Spells (22) 3 Veil of Summer 3 Rite of Flame 4 Brainstorm 3 Echo of Eons 3 Burning Wish 3 Gamble 3 Manamorphose Planeswalkers (0) Artifacts (20) 3 Defense Grid 1 Engineered Explosives 4 Chrome Mox 4 Lion’s Eye Diamond 4 Mox Opal 4 Lotus Petal Enchantments (4) 4 Song of Creation

Lands (14) 2 Wooded Foothills 3 Tropical Island 1 Island 1 Taiga 1 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Volcanic Island 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 1 Shattering Spree 1 Reverent Silence 1 Xantid Swarm 1 Echo of Eons 1 Pyroclasm 2 Tendrils of Agony 1 Empty the Warrens 1 Rite of Flame 3 Carpet of Flowers 2 Echoing Truth 1 Veil of Summer