Winston - 11/21

John W and I got to Winston three times on Sunday. We'd play a few games, see who was cripplingly defeated, and move onto the next draft. Let's see if I can remember any highlights.

Winston 1:

I had a uBR burn deck, with Char, Psi Blast, Earthquake, Flame Javelin, Ball Lightning, Hell's Thunder, Jaya Ballard, and more (can't remember the black). This of course meant John drafted his Ivory Tower/Land Tax deck in fact, I think he at least got Ivory Tower out all three games (maybe 2). His Goyf, White Knight, and Ajani Goldmane ran me over. Repeatedly.

Winston 2:

We opened a ridiculous amount of fixing in this draft. 4 Vivids were drafted along with several fetches and duals. I drafted WB with lots of Angels and mass removal (Wrath, Akroma's Vengeance, Parallax Wave). John drafted every good 1 and 2 drop in Red, Green, and Black and built a very fast deck. Game one he ran me over after I whiffed on every Goblin Guide land reveal (except the last one where I revealed Thawing Glaciers). I boarded in Propaganda, which proceded to win me the next 2 games. My deck was pretty much an answer to everything his deck did. I had Stonecloaker for his Recurring Nightmare, Propaganda for his oncoming hoard, and Wrath to reset the board. I won one game with Wurmcoil Engine with a Jitte on it, and another with Pristine Angel with Stonecloaker in hand.

Winston 3:

I drafted a BGr very silly deck based around Mimic Vat and Doubling Season (also had Sarkhan the Mad and Broodmate Dragon). I thought I was going to crush game one, when John mulled to 6 and I played a turn 1 Hymn to Tourach (with Braids imprinted on a Chrome Mox) and a turn 2 Thoughtseize. Both our decks proceded to stall for a few turns after that... and then the Gifts Ungiven came. John chose 4 mana sources (Scrubland, 2 Signets, and a Talisman). After getting enough mana, he ramped to Form of the Dragon. I was having color issues, so I couldn't find the red to cast Sarkhan the Mad, get a dragon, equip my Lightning Greaves, and win. Instead, I died pretty quickly. In the next games, John pulled the same Gifts Ungiven multiple times, ramping him into Future Sight (which with Academy Ruins is really nasty), Gilded Lotus, several counterspells (Undermine, Forbid, and Counterspell), and Capsize. To be fair, my deck didn't really perform, but at the same time, John built one of those cube decks that doesn't really play Magic. It was a particularly ugly end to the day of Winstoning. Hope you're proud of yourself.

Good times!