I've been to Draconian Cylix III in Eindhoven (NL) last Sunday with Pascal
Delfosse. The ruleset was peculiar: based on the French 2017 Bazaar of Moxen
tournament, Fallen Empires was allowed, only 1 Black Vise, 1 Recall and 1 Maze
of Ith, otherwise it is the Swedish B & R list. Cards with the same art and old
frame were allowed for a greater accessibility.
I chose to play Power Artifact without having playtested it (some goldfishing
though), but it looked good. I chose a Land Tax/Ivory Tower shell since I was
expecting a lot of Hymns.
Thirteen players show up, we played straight swiss for 4 rounds.
Round 1: Robert Vlackeners - B/R discard
I met Robert previously, he was playing Goblins and I a Living Plane land
destruction deck. Robert chose to play heavy discard (Hymn, Specter, Mindstab Thrull and The
Rack).
Game 1 was uneventful: I fireballed Robert three times to win without combo (the
first time I split it on a Mindstab Thrull, the other two times at him directly).
Game 2 I mulligan into a slow hand with 2 Fireball, Robert is light on mana and
my Strip Mine on his Badlands didn't help. I can't finish it though, Robert
recovers, strips my hand away and beats me with Factories.
I don't get lands in my initial hand in the third game, but I have a Sapphire
and Ancestral, so it's OK. I also get an Ivory Tower out. My first Basalt
Monolith is shattered, a Power Artifact REBed. I get a Land Tax out to keep The
Rack from doing its job. Robert plays Underworld Dreams. Nevertheless, I play
Timetwister and it's a hit: I manage to combo him out with a lethal Fireball
2-1, 3 points.
Round 2: Frenk van der Mey - G/W/R aggro-control
Frenk has come from Leiden with Marten who I played several times recently. They
both play a good stuff G/W/R deck with Serendib Efreet, Savannah Lions, Bolts
and a lot of restricted cards. Frenk also plays Power Sink.
We both get a turn one Ancestral, but I also get an Ivory Tower. Henk
disenchants it, so I play City in a Bottle to kill his City of Brass. It turns
out that he also drew Dibs and a library later on. I combo him.
Game 2 goes back and forth until Henk plays an unmatch Serra Angel that goes all
the way.
I get a great hand game 3: I get a turn 1 blood Moon out (Henk has very few
basic lands if any), but Henk plays his Sapphire, enabling him to play Time Walk
followed by Timetwister next turn. I gain a lot of life thanks to Ivory Tower.
After playing a second Blood Moon, I get out a Serra Angel that I can protect to
take the match.
2-1, 6 points.
Round 3: Bjorn Stemerdink - B/u/w Deadguy Ale style
Bjorn is one of the organisers, it is nice to meet him :)
I win the toss and open with Land, Sol Ring and Ivory Tower. Bjorn answer with
Swamp, Mox Jet and Hymn to Tourach, getting my second land and the Timetwister I
planned to play next turn. I am holding a Monolith and a Power Sink. Bjorn
misses his next land drop, so I play the Monolith. Next turn Bjorn gets a land
and plays a Hypnotic Specter, eating my hand away. Soon an Order and a Vampire
join the battlefield and I am dead.
I have to mulligan in the second game, getting a hand with Library as my lone
land and a Land Tax. Things could have been good, but Bjorn gets a second turn
Mind Twist for 3. Fortunately, he cannot put pressure on, and I am able to
recover, gaining life thanks to Ivory Tower powered by Land Tax. It is a hard
slope to go up though, as Bjorn played an Energy Flux, so I am hampered by the
upkeep cost of the tower (and 2 Moxen went in the bin). I manage to assemble the
combo later on and Bjorn gets toasted.
Game 3, Bjorn opens with a City of Brass, I play a land, Lotus, Land Tax and
Timetwister. Bjorn plays a CoP: Red, but I am not too worried. I get a Powered
Monolith and am holding Fireball, time for Chaos Orb to get rid of the CoP. But
I miss the flip, with Recall and Timetwister already in the bin, no way to
recover it. My hope is to get Braingeyser to deck him. Time is called, Bjorn
doesn't manage to kill me in the 5 extra turns, so it is a draw...
1-1-1, 7 points.
Round 4: Pascal Delfosse - The deck
We have driven 1.5 hour to play each other... Pascal is playing a version of The
Deck with 2 Lightning Bolt main deck and Moat.
I have to mulligan, but get a Library (on the draw) that stays, Pascal has kept
a hand with 3 Mishra's Factories and is hitting me hard. Fortunately, I have
been able to play an Ivory Tower to keep me alive. He disenchants it, but I get
another one. I cast Timetwister, Time Walk, Wheel of Fortune: this is enough to
pull the combo and fry Pascal.
Game 2 is long, Pascal casts Dust to Dust on a Basalt Monolith and Sol Ring. I
play two Ivory Tower and a second Monolith later on, Pascal is able to regrowth
his Dust to Dust and chooses to remove the two Towers (I am already at 40+
life). Next turn I pull the combo (he counters my Power Artifact, but I have a
second one) and send a huge Fireball at his face :)
2-0, 10 points.
This is already the end of the tourney, too bad we were not a bit more numerous,
I would have enjoyed an extra round.
I finish 2nd and get a Fellwar Stone for my trouble: it is now in my deck!
Props to Bjorn and Arno for a smooth and enjoyable tournament, I hope to be able
to come to the next one in November.
