Hey everyone, KYT here providing a bit of coverage for the 2nd FacetoFaceGames.com Invitational. Some of you might remember me as the inaugural champion, but due to not having time available, I will not be able to defend my title. I will hopefully be able to provide some interesting Legacy tech. Justin Richardson will be providing coverage during the Sealed portion as well as more Legacy action in the Top 4.
Round 1: Alexander Hayne (BUG) vs. Robert Pambianchi (Merfolk)
by Kar Yung Tom
In round 1, we have one of my closest friends in Alex Hayne against rising superstar Robert Pambianchi. Of course, Hayne has been doing amazing in his own right, finishing 2nd at GP Montreal. Rob wins the die roll. Both players draw their opening 7 and keep their hands. Robert leads with a Cursecatcher. After a ship from Alex, Rob follows with 2nd Cursecatcher and is able to bring Mr. Insayne to 17. Silvergill Adept is cast by Rob (revealing Coralhelm Commander) and Alex responds with a Brainstorm. After a bit of pondering, Alex lets it resolve. At this point, Alex had at least 2 Force of Wills. Instead of countering, Alex opts to cast a Tarmogoyf on his turn to deal with Robert’s army.
Back to Robert, we now see Lord of Atlantis joining the 3 other Merfolks. Alex finally decides to Force it, pitching Force. Rob responds with a Force of his own, pitching Coralhelm Commander. Alex counters back with another Force, pitching Brainstorm. Rob Dazes the Force, but Alex can pay for it. However, Rob makes a misplay here as he could fight back with Cursecatchers. To punish Rob to the max, Alex casts Hymn to Tourach and shreds Robert’s hand. Rob draws and plays Standstill while Alex responds by resolving Snapcaster Mage. Things look grim for Rob who has the smaller creatures and is probably locked under his own Standstill. Life totals are 9 to 9 at this point.
Rob attacks with Adept and a Catcher, leaving a Catcher back. Alex counters with a 4/5 Tarmogoyf attack and life totals are now 6-5 for Alex. Rob decides to send a Catcher to bring life totals at an event 5-5. Alex now attacks with both creatures. Rob opts to not block the Tarmogoyf thinking he could live, but Alex decides to pop the Standstill with a Diabolic Edict to make Tarmogoyf a 5/6. After drawing his cards, Rob quickly scoops them up.
After sideboarding, Rob decides to go first and keeps his hand. Alex mulls to 6 and Rob smiles like a giddy school girl. He is FEELING it. After Alex keeps, Rob starts off this game with a Cursecatcher followed with a Standstill. He then Wastelands Alex’s Tropical Island. At this point, both players are just drawing cards with Rob applying a bit of pressure with Cursecatcher. Alex is waiting for the most opportune moment to crack the Standstill. Alex is now at 14 with 5 lands in play and ships the turn to Rob. Rob just attacks with Cursecatcher. Rob with 8 cards says that he wishes to move to discard and this is when Alex casts Brainstorm to crack the Standstill. Brainstorm resolves and Rob discards Spell Pierce, Submerge, Phantasmal Image and Coralhelm Commander.
On his turn, Alex plays Tarmogoyf, which lands as a 4/5. Alex Ponders, making his Tarmogoyf a 5/6, keeps the 3 cards on top and ships the turn. Back to Rob, Mr. Pambianchi is able to play a land and drops a Merrow Reejerey which is met by Alex’s Ghastly Demise. Swinging in with the Gofy and landing a hit, the life totals are now 15 to 12 for Rob. In his 2nd main, Alex attempts to resolve Jace, the Mind Sculptor which Rob Dazes. Alex pays for the Daze. Rob now Forces the Jace, pitching a Reejerey. Jace hits the bin. Rob draws and ships the turn.
Alex attacks in for 6, bringing Rob to 8 and lands another Jace which he had put 2nd from the top with Ponder. He bounces Cursecatcher and things are looking really grim for the Merfolk player. Rob tries to come back in this game with 2 Silvergill Adepts though. Alex was able to Diabolic Edict one of them end of turn though. On his turn, Alex tries to Inquisition Rob which Rob Forces pitching a Cursecatcher, bringing Rob at a low 7 life. Alex now casts Snapcaster Mage to Ghastly Demise Rob’s only creature on the board. Swinging in for 6, Alex brings Rob to 1 with a board of Goyf, Snapcaster and Jace.
“Yeah, I lost…” followed with a sigh.
2-0 for Alex Hayne
Round 2: Michael Oberman (Affinity) vs. Sebastien Alarie (Canadian Thresh)
Seb goes first and starts off with Delver of Secrets. Mike goes for a vault Skirge. Seb reveals a Lightning Bolt off the top to flip over Delver into a 3/2 flyer which he brings to the red zone. He then gets rid of the Skirge with the Bolt. Mike’s reply to all this is a measly Springleaf Drum. In the meantime, Mr. Alarie praises the awesomeness of Delver of Secrets. After getting attacked for 3 again, Mike tries to land a Frogmite which gets Dazed. Seb wings with the 3/2 again and the life totals are now 20-9.
Mike plays Frogmite which Seb allows to resolve. Seb keeps the pressure on with Insectile Abberation (the 3/2), putting Mike down to 6. Seb lands a Nimble Mongoose with another Bolt for the Frogmite as Oberman scoops his cards.
1-0 Alarie
Mike keeps his 7 which seems to have way more gas this time around. He lands Springleaf Drum, Ornithopter and Signal Pest. Seb nods to them all. He plays a Volcanic Island and passes. Mike attacks for 1 and brings Vault Skirge to the fray. Seb follows it up with a Lightning Bolt and a Brainstorm. Back to Mike, he lands his Etched Champion which meets a Force of Will. Seb pitched another Force of cast it. Seb plays a land and ships the turn. On his turn, Mike plays Thoughtcast to get more gas but just ships the turn after it resolves.
Seb plays Nimble Mongoose and Mike counters with Etched Champion. Only the Vault Skirge has been attacking for now as the life toals are now 21-18 for Oberman. Seb now lands a nasty Goyf, but Mike is keeping up the pressure with Champion and Skirge and it is now 22-11 for him. 2nd main, Mike resolves a Tezzeret, +1s it to draw a Cranial Plating. Seb attacks Tezz with both the Goyf and the Mongoose but Oberman is able to chump block the Goyf with a Thopter to keep Tezz alive. Back to Oberman, he plays a Cranial Plating that he hopes will resolve but Seb has a Spell Snare. Mike opts to kill his own Tezz by making one of his creatures a 5/5 and Seb decides to scoop up his cards.
1-1
Seb mulls to 6 and Oberman decides to keep what seems to be a very explosive start. After Seb plays a Delta for a Volcanic Island, Oberman starts things off with a Signal Pest which meets a Lightning Bolt. Mike tries to play a Springleaf Drum and it gets Dazed. What looked to be a quick start from Mike has slowed down to a crawl. He doesn’t seem to like his current board state but is able to bring a Frogmite into the game. Seb draws and ships the turn. Mike casts a Memnite followed by a Thoughtcast that gets Forced. Seb throws away a 2nd Force to use the counterspell. Once again, Mike’s Cranial Plating his a Spell Snare.
Seb now tries to develop some board state with a Tarmogoyf. Mike lands a Tezzeret though and was able to get Memnite from the +1. Seb doesn’t like the shape he is in even with the cards in his hand. Life totals are 20-15 with Tezzeret threatening to do 14 damage by itself. Seb finally decides to Bolt the Memnite and swings at Tezz, bringing it to 1 loyalty. On Mike’s turn, a Tezzeret is ripped off the top, so Mike decides to make Memnite a 5/5 and play another Tezz that gets him an Etched Champion. Oberman now has a 5/5 Memnite and a Frogmite versus Seb’s Goyf. He opts to swing with the Memnite, bringing his opponent down to 10. Seb has no cards but is able to rip a Bolt that gets rid of Frogmite and allows his Goyf to kill Tezz #2. But Seb is now at 5 and Etched Champion eventually does him in.
2-1 Oberman
Round 3: Davies Clarke (New Horizons) vs. Felix Lapan
by Nicholas LeBlanc
Right now we have local Legacy superstar Felix Lappan playing against a favourite local, Davies Clarke. Both players are quiet as they shuffle up for their match, hoping to enter the sealed deck with a 2-1 record. Felix wins the die roll with a 3, and Davies mulligans to 6. Felix starts the game with a Gitaxian Probe, and Davies shows Force of Will, Daze, Brainstorm, Swords to Plowshare and 2 lands. After drawing his card, he plays Cabal Therapy, ridding Davies of his Brainstorm. On both their second turns just lands were played, but Felix finally broke the silence by playing out his Birds of Paradise, working on building up his mana base. Davies, unfortunately, is stuck on 2 lands, and quietly passes back the turn without making a land drop. Felix, ever full of gas, fires out another Cabal Therapy. Davies tanks for a bit, and Swords to Plowshare the Birds. Felix floats a red, allows to it to resolve, and Davies cast Daze on the Therapy. Felix pays it, and Davies reveals 2 Stifles and another Daze. Seeing no pressure, Felix gets aggressive with his Dryad Arbor and casts another Birds of Paradise. Both players have been missing land drops for the last few turns, and Felix hopes to dig out a land during his turn with a Gitaxian Probe. He gets there playing his second Dryad Arbor, and then casts Tinder Wall, building up his mana. Not to be outdone, Davies rips a Horizon Canopy and passes the turn.
Felix, looking at his hand, thinks for a bit and casts Green Sun’s Zenith for 1, fetching a Xantid Swarm. He’s preparing to combo, and Davies knows it. He thinks for a bit and passes the turn. Felix, during his turn, tanks for a bit and jots down some math on his lifepad. Clearly something is up! He attacks with his Xantid Swarm, and Davies Stifles its triggered effect. Felix then flashes back his Cabal Therapy with the helping hand of Snapcaster Mage….I mean Dryad Arbor and names Daze, and Davies discards two Dazes and is left with just a Stifle in his hand. Felix again flashes back his second Cabal Therapy, eating his own Birds, and his Davies of his last card, a Stifle. He then plays Pattern of Rebirth on his Tinder Wall, while looking at Davies empty board. Davies tries to dig for an answer by fetching and then drawing with Horizon Canopy but finds nothing. Felix sacrifices his Tinder Wall, finds and plays Progenitus, and Davies draws a card for his turn and promptly scoops. What a turn for Felix!
Felix 1 – Davies 0
Both players quietly sideboard, deep in thought on how the post-board game 2 will play. Davies knows the monster of a deck he is against, as Felix has had quite a bit of success with his Protean Hulk deck. He even top 8’d a StarCityGames Legacy Open with his brew, and his deck is a headache and one to fear, as he can win the game quite rapidly.
Both players keep their 7, with Davies starting with a Tropical Island. Felix tries to fetch a land, but Davies promptly Stifles it. He then follows up with a Stoneforge Mystic, tutoring up Umezawa’s Jitte, an artifact Felix fears. Felix finally successfully fetches a land, his basic Forest (in fear of Wasteland) and runs out his Carpet of Flowers, a really annoying enchantment any blue mage doesn’t like to face. He takes mana on his second main phase and Therapy’s away Davies’ Umezawa’s Jitte. Davies goes for the aggro plan, attacking with his Stoneforge Mystic (LOL) and then playing Knight of the Reliquary, a house of a creature. Felix, abusing his Carpet of Flowers, takes 2 mana and casts a Fauna Shaman, and then uses his Forest for a Xantid Swarm. He then casts Green Sun’s Zenith for his Dryad Arbor and passes his turn. Davies, sensing trouble, tanks for a bit and Brainstorms, seeing his options. He Wasteland’s Felix’s Bayou, and passes the turn without attacking. And for good reason, as at the end of Felix’s draw step, he uses his Knight of the Reliquary to find a Tropical Island, sacrificing his other Tropical Island, and casts Vendilion Clique, targeting Felix. Felix reveals Dryad Arbor, Academy Rector and Verdant Catacombs, and Davies does some MORE tanking. He lets Felix keep his hand, and pitches his Dryad Arbor to Fauna Shaman to get Viscera Seer. Davies, on his turn, plays Stoneforge Mystic getting Sword of Feast and Famine, and puts it into play with his other Stoneforge, and passes the turn.
Felix untaps and is ready for the kill. He attacks with his Xantid Swarm, gaining the trigger he wants but losing the Swarm. He plays his Academy Rector with the mana from Carpet of Flowers, flashes back his Cabal Therapy, gets Pattern of Rebirth on his Fauna Shaman, sacrifices it to his Viscera Seer, gets his Protean Hulk and tells Davies he will combo off with his Reveillark, Body Double and Mogg Fanatic. Having already seen and witness the combo several times, Davies offers the hand.
Felix 2 – Davies 0
Round 4 Peter Sachlas vs Thomas Marsan
by Justin Richardson
This is the first round of sealed with both players going 3-0 in the legacy portion of the event. Thomas was playing Natural Order RUG while Peter choose to play Mono red burn and both were obviously very happy with their choices. Neither player gave any indication on how good their Sealed Pools were and shuffled in silence.
Game 1
Thomas won the die roll and chooses to draw.
Both play land but Thomas has a turn 1 Delver of Secrets and turn 2 Stitchers Apprentice while Peter plays a turn 3 Chapal Geist to stop any attacks. Thomas responds with one of his own but Peter plays a 2nd one, and Thomas counters back with a Cellar Door and plays Feeling of Dread to tap both flyers and get in for 4 damage to put Peter to 15 while Thomas is still untouched at 20 life. Peter adds to his flying army with a Moon Heron on turn 5 and attacks with 1 of his Chapel Geists. Thomas goes into the tank against the air armada and decides to flashback his Feeling of Dread and attack with everything to put peter at 11. Peter swings in with his creatures to put the score at 11 all. Thomas activates Cellar Door on himself at end of turn and mills a creature and puts a 2/2 zombie token onto the battlefield.
Thomas plays a Moon Heron to help stop the flying beatdown he has been receiving all game long and attacks with the zombie token, the delver and the apprenctice. Peter 7, Thomas 11. Peter untaps and plays Bonds of Faith on Moon Heron and attacks with everything. Thomas trades his Chapel geist with Peters moon heron. Post combat peter plays Slayer of the Wicked to kill the zombie token.
Thomas untaps, finally transforms his Delver into a 3/2 flying by revealing Silent departure during his upkeep. He plays the silent departure on the untapped Chapel Geist and attacks peter down to 4 with Insectile Abberation. Peter attacks back with a Chapel Geist and finishes Thomas off with a Devil’s Play.
Peter – 1 Thomas – 0
The players sideboard silently and Thomas again chooses to draw and wish each other luck as they present their decks
Game 2
Peter mulliganed to 6 while Thomas went down to 5 cards.
Thomas once again has a turn 1 Delver of Secrets against the lands of Peter. No transforming for Thomas and plays a Travevelers Amulet and passes back leaving up 1 mana. Peter plays a Mountain and plays Devil’s play on the Delver before it can transform into a 3/2. Thomas gets a land with his amulet and untaps and plays a Stitched Drake by exiling his Delver. Peter Thinks Twice and misses his 4th land drop, Thomas plays a land and attacks with his Drake. Peter plays a Butcher’s Cleaver and Thomas counters it with Frightful Dellusion and continues to beat with his Drake while Peter continues to miss land drops, and adds a Stitched Apprentice to the board. Peter plays a Voiceless Spirit and Thomas plays a Bonds of Faith and attacks with his creatures .
Peter draws a 4th land to play a Chapel Geist but Thomas slams down a Geist Honored Monk to try and slam the door on the 2nd game. Peter plays a Slayer of the Wicked to kill the drake and stem the bleeding, Thomas attacks with the Monk and tokens and Peter draws a blank and concedes in the face of Thomas’ huge army.
Peter 1 – Thomas – 1
Again both players sideboard in silence and Peter chooses to draw for the deciding game.
Game 3
Both players keep their hands and Thomas once again plays turn 1 Delver of Secrets. Thomas Transforms it on turn 3 while Peter only has lands and attacks Peter down to 16 and adds a chapel geist to the board. Peter still just plays a land and passes. Thomas goes to attack and Peter plays a Feeling of Dread to tap both creatures and Thomas passes the turn. Same thing happened the next turn with Peter flashing back the Feeling and thomas again says go without playing anything other than land.
Peter untaps and plays a Forbidden Alchemy and again doesnt play a dude. Thomas attacks for 5 putting Peter at 11 and adds a Mindshrieker to the board. Peter plays a Fiend Hunter to exile the Mindshrieker and plays a Cackling Counterpart which gets countered by a Frightful Dellisions. Thomas bounces the Fiend hunter, plays an Undead Alchemist and attacks with his creatures putting Peter to a precarious 6 life in the face of all the flyers. Peter replays the Fiend Hunter on the Transformed Delver and plays a Claustrophobia on the Mindshrieker. Thomas attacks Peter down to 4 and mills 4 land and flashes back Silent Departure on the Hunter. Peter plays a Slayer of the Wicked on the Alchemist and Devil’s Play on the Delver of Secrets. Thomas attacks Peter down to 2 and says go. Peter untaps and attacks with the Slayer and plays Moment of Heroism to go up to 7 life and putting Thomas to 15. Thomas again attacks for 2 and plays a Makeshift Mauler.
Peter untaps and plays another Fiend Hunter on the Chapel Geist and his own Makeshift Mauler. Thomas plays a Feeling of Dread at End of turn to tap 2 blockers and plays a Bonds of Faith on Peters Mauler and attacks with his own Mauler to get Peter at 1 life and plays a Cellar Door and passes the turn. Peter slowly untaps and flashes back Cackling Counterpart on his Slayer of the Wicked to take out Thomas’ Mauler and attacks with his creatures to put Thomas at 10 life. Thomas plays an Armored skaab and passes the turn. Peter Thinks Twice during his mainphase. Peter attacks with both of his Slayers and Thomas misses on Cellar door and blocks with his Skaab to go to 7. Thomas flashes back Feeling of Dread to try and get in the final point of damage put Peter has the Rebuke to stay alive. Thomas passes the turn. Peter attacks with his creatures and Thomas again misses on Cellar Door and takes lethal damage and extendes the hand.
Peter takes game 3 after being far behind to become the only undefeated player at 4-0 and is almost guaranteed to get Top 4.
Round 5 Michael Oberman vs Peter Sachlas
by Justin Richardson
Game 1
Michael wins the die roll and chooses to play and both players kept their hands.
Michael leads of with a Caravan Vigil for a Mountain. both players play their 2nd land and Michael has an end of turn Ambush Viper. Michael attacks for 2 and plays a Voiceless Spirit while Peter Thinks Twice end of turn. Peter untaps and plays a Chapel Geist and says go. Michael attacks with Viper and Peter trades for it with his Geist and adds a checklist… I mean a Daybreak Ranger to the battlefield. Peter plays a Makeshift Mauler and passes. Mike plays a Slayer of the Wicked and attacks putting Peter at 14 life. Peter main phase flashes back his Think Twice and passes. Mike goes to attack but Peter taps 2 attackers with Feeling of Dread and goes to 12. Peter adds a Morland Haunt to the board and passes and the Daybreak Ranger transforms during Mikes upkeep. Mike attacks with his creatures and the transformed Ranger gets Rebuked by Peter. Mike plays a Brimstone Volley with morbid that gets Dissipated and adds a Elder Cathar to give him 3 creatures to peters 0. Peter plays an Abbey Griffin and says go.
Michael untaps his creatures and goes right to combat causing peter to go into the tank. He attacks with his spirit and cathar and peter snap blocks the Cathar giving the slayer 2 +1/+1 counters going to 5 life. Mike has no followup so Peter makes a token with morland haunt and untaps and attacks with the token. Mike tries to attack but Peter flashes back Feeling and makes another Spirit token and untaps and passes back the turn. Michael attacks with his creatures and peter blocks with 1 token going to 3 life and mike adds a Cloistered Youth before ending his turn. Peter drops a slayer of the wicked before passing, Michael transforms his youth and sends in his team and peter blocks the transformed creature with his 2 guys and drops to 1. Mike adds another creature to the board while Peter draws another land to go with the one in his hand throws them down in disgust.
Michael – 1 Peter – 0
Peter chooses to play agaisnt the aggresive deck of Mike.
Game 2
Michael is the first to play something with a Village Ironsmith which transforms during Mikes upkeep after Peter fails to play anything. A rebuke gets countered by a Ranger’s Guile and then a travelers amulet makes the Ironsmith transform back. Peter plays an Abbey Griffin and Mike doesnt play anything to transform his guy again. Peter attacks and Michael flashes in an Ambush Viper. Mike attacks with his Ironfang to put Peter at 13 and plays another Ironsmith. Peter plays a Chapel Geist and attacks again with Griffin. Michael untaps and plays a 3rd Ironsmith and attacks with his Ironfang and Ironsmith, Peter blocks the Ironsmith and Mike plays Moonmist to kill the Abbey Griffin by transforming all his Ironsmiths into Ironfangs. Peter plays a Devil’s Play on one of the Ironfangs before passing.
Mike attacks with everything and Peter chumps falling to 4 life. Peter chumps again going to 1 and makes a Spirit token with Morland Haunt before drawing and revealing 3 lands in his hand.
Mike wins the match 2-0 as both players go to 4-1 and are in good shape going into the final round of swiss.
Top 4 – Alexander Hayne (BUG) vs Peter Sachlas (Burn)
by Justin Richardson
Game 1
Both players keep their hands and Alex leads off with a Thoughtseize revealing Arid Mesa, 2 Flame Rift, Grim Lavamancer, Price of Progress, Chain Lightning and Keldon Maurader. He decides to take Price of Progress which is devastating given his all nonbasic manabase. Peter plays his Lavamancer and passes. Alex main phases a Brainstorm and plays a Bayou. Peter misses his land drop, attacks with Lavamancer and suspends a Rift Bolt. Alex Ponders and keeps the three cards on top and plays a Polluted Delta to shuffle away the unwanted cards and plays a Hymn to Tourach making Peter discard both Flame Rifts. Rift Bolt resolves putting Alex to 13 and an attack and Chain Lightning drop him to 9 life. Alex plays another Thoughtseize going to 7 revealing Fireblast, Marauder and Lightning Bolt. Alex makes Peter Discard the Lightning Bolt and plays Diabolic Edict to get rid of the Lavamancer. Peter draws and plays a Scalding Tarn and plays the Maurader to put alex at 6. Alex untaps and fetches down to 5 life to play a Snapcaster Mage on Hymn and played it, Peter played Fireblast in response and Alex played Force of Will. Peter attacked with Marauder and it got chumpblocked by the Snapcaster. Alex drew a card and passed, Peter attacked with Goblin Guide revealing a Force of Will and Alex reveals another Force of Will in his hand and concedes.
Peter – 1 Alex – 0
Both players laugh while sideboarding as they had played earlier and Alex knew he was gonna have to steal a win here as this was his only loss in the swiss and that it is a very bad matchup for him.
Alex “You got this Peter ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS NOT MESS UP!”
Peter “I’m not listening to you”
Game 2
Alex thinks it over and decides to play first and both players keep. Inquisition starts off the game revealing 3 mountains, bloodstained mire, fireblast, lava spike and searing blaze. Lava Spike hit the bin. Peter draws and plays a Goblin Guide attacks and reveals a Spell Pierce. Alex untaps and mainphases a brainstorm and plays a fetch. Peter attacks with Guide and Alex fetches and reveals a Verdant Catacombs and Ghastle Demises the Goblin and Peter plays a Keldon Marauder. Alex plays a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and the revealed Catacombs. Peter attacks and Alex blocks with Goyf and Peter finishes it off with a Lightning Bolt but Alex untaps and replaces it with another Goyf while Peter suspends a Rift Bolt. Alex attacks with Goyf to put Peter to 15 and plays a Ponder and fetches and plays a Hymn to Tourach discarding Fireblast and Mountain. Rift Bolt resovles putting Alex to 11. Goyf attacks to make it 11 all and another Goyf shows up. Marauder for Peter. Alex edicts it going to 9 and attacks Peter to 3. Peter doesn’t draw anything and dies to the Lhurgoyf beatdown while Alex slaps himself in the face.
Peter – 1 Alex -1
Game 3
Sideboarding is much quieter this time around as this one is for all the marbles.
Peter chooses to play first. Alex slaps himself some more. Both players again keep and Peter leads off with a suspended Rift Bolt. Alex slaps himself and plays a land. Rift Bolt is Spell Pierced and Peter plays a Keldon Marauder. Alex tanks a bit before deciding to play a Ghastly Demise on the Marauder going to 16 life. A 2nd Marauder is played putting Alex to 15 and another Rift Bolt is suspended. Alex plays a Hymn and in response Peter plays a Fireblast which gets Force of Willed removing Jace. Rift Bolt and an attack puts Alex at 8 life. He falls to 7 during Peters upkeep. End of turn Alex plays a Vendillion Clique targeting Peter and Peter Bolts it in response. Peter plays a Chain Lightning but Alex plays Snapcaster on Spell Pierce to counter it. Searing Blaze gets countered by another spell Pierce and Hymn takes out Price of Progress but Peter topdecks a 2nd Price of Progress to take the game and match!
Peter wins 2-1!
Finals – Peter Sachlas (Burn) vs Thomas Marsan (NO RUG)
by Justin Richardson
Game 1
Peter wins the die roll and chooses to play and keeps his hand. Thomas also keeps. Grim Lavamancer is the first play for Peter and Thomas Forces it removing a Brainstorm. Thomas fetches a Taiga and plays a Noble Hierarch. Peter Lavaspikes Thomas and suspends a Rift Bolt. 2 more Noble Hierarchs enter play for Thomas. Turn 3 Natural Order fetching Progenitus puts Peter on a fast clock and attacks for 2 with a Hierarch. Progenitus attacks for 12 putting Peter to 6 and Thomas drops a Goyf. Peter tries a flurry of burn spells to end the game but Thomas Forces a Fireblast and Progenitus seals game 1.
Thomas – 1 Peter – 0
Game 2
Peter keeps his hand but Thomas mulligans down to 6 cards. Lavamancer starts things off for Peter while Thomas Green Sun Zeniths for a Dryad Arbor. Goblin Guide enters the battlefield and attacks revealing another Dryad Arbor. He plays the 2nd Arbor and a Noblie Hierarch and attacks for 2 with the 1st Dryad Arbor. Peter Bolts the Noble Hierarch but Thomas Dazes it. Goblin Guide attacks in again and Grim Lavamancer takes out the Noble Hierarch. Both Dryad Arbors attack Peter down to 15. Goblin Guide and Lavamancer attack to which Thomas responds with a Brainstorm and puts a Fire/ice on top of his library. Keldon Marauder comes down putting Thomas at 12. Natural Order puts Progenitus into play. Searing Blaze takes out the remaining Dryad Arbor and Peter attacks with Guide and Marauder and Progenitus blocks the Goblin Guide and Thomas falls to 6. Progenitus attacks Peter to 5. Fire takes out the Grim Lavamancer putting life totals at 4 all. Marauder down to 3 and Lava Spike puts it in the bag!
Thomas – 1 Peter – 1
Game 3
Thomas chooses to play first for the final game. Thomas keeps his hand but Peter mulligans to 6. Island for Thomas and a Grim Lavamancer gets Dazed. Another Grim Lavamancer from Peter and a Lava Spike gets Dazed. Noble Hierarch from Thomas. Chain Lightning puts Thomas to 17 and Lavamancer kills of the Hierarch. Fire/Ice kills off the Lavamancer and a Marauder enters the Battlefield. A Lava Spike and an attack put Thomas to 8 and he falls to 7 during Peters upkeep, Chain Lightning down to 4. Brainstorm digging for gas from Thomas and he comes up with a Noble Hierarch. Searing Blaze on the Hierarch Thomas responds with Bolt on the Hierarch but still takes 1. Zenith for 2 gets a Scavenging Ooze for Thomas. Lightning Bolt deals the final three damage!!!
Peter becomes the 2nd Face to Face Invitational Champion!!!!
Decklists and Final Standings:
1st Place –
[deck title=Peter Sachlas – Mono Red Burn]
[Lands]
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
8 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Keldon Marauders
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Flame Rift
4 Fireblast
4 Price of Progress
4 Lava Spike
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
4 Searing Blaze
3 Smash to Smithereens
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
2nd –
[deck title=Thomas Marsan – No RUG]
[Lands]
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Wooded Foothill
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tropical Island
2 Dryad Arbor
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Taiga
1 Forest
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Progenitus
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Trygon Predator
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
1 Negate
4 Natural Order
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Daze
2 Fire//Ice
3 Green Sun’s Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
4 Lightning Bolts
1 Ponder
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Null Rod
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Cursed Totem
2 Pyroclasm
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Meltdown
1 Mountain
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
3rd
[deck title=Alexander Hayne – BUG Snapcaster]
[Lands]
2 Riptide Laboratory
3 Wasteland
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Bayou
2 Tropical Island
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Ponder
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Dismember
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Unearth
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Nature’s Claim
4 Ghastly Demise
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Wasteland
2 Spell Pierce
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
4th
[deck title=Michael Oberman – Affinity]
[Lands]
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Glimmervoid
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Frogmite
4 Signal Pest
4 Etched Champion
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
3 Master of Etherium
3 Vault Skirge
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Springleaf Drum
3 Mox Opal
4 Cranial Plating
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Thoughtcast
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Pithing Needle
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Ethersworn Canonist
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
5 Jamie Blanchette – Blue Lands
6 Joey Smith – Canadian Thresh
7 Felix Lapan – Hulk Rebirth
8 Sebastien Alarie – Canadian Thresh
9 William Blondon – Snapcaster BUG
10 Robert Pambianchi – Merfolk
11 Rory Bokser – UW Tempo
12 Davies Clarke – New Horizons
13 Andre Giraud – Thoper Tezz
14 Eric Gaudreault – High Tide
15 Robert Anderson – Painted Stone
16 Justin Richardson – Elf Combo
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.