R1 Erik with Infect (2-0) Record: 1-0

Game 1:

Erik wins the die roll, and leads off with Tropical Island into Glistener Elf to let me know what he's on. I take a few unpumped swings from it until I establish Thopter/Sword, which ran away with the game over the course of a few turns. His only infect creatures this game were Elf and Inkmoth Nexus, and my Wastelands and Thopter army were able to handle those.



Game 2:

This game was a bit of a blowout. He didn't have an answer to my turn 1 Chalice, and though he did resolve a turn 2 Blighted Agent, that didn't match up very well against my turn 2 play of The Abyss. The Abyss and my Wastelands ended any hopes he had of ever sticking a creature, and a few Strixes and a 5/5 were able to take him down.

R2 Eddie with MUD (2-1) Record: 2-0

Game 1:

Once again, I lose the die roll, but this game starts off a bit better for me when my opponent immediately mulligans to 5 cards. Even those hopes are dashed pretty quickly though when he leads off on a sol land into Grim Monolith, and I'm stuck looking at a Chalice hand. He plays a Kuldotha Forgemaster that I didn't have an answer to, and though I counter the next thing he played with the FoW I drew immediately after he cast the Forgemaster, he eventually plays another artifact and kills me with a Blightsteel Colossus.



Game 2:

With my Chalices now out of my deck, I open on a hand with mana and a Dack Fayden, and smile when my opponent casts Steel Hellkite as his first spell of the game after playing a few Cloudposts. Dack convinced the dragon to work for me in short order. He cast Ugin on the following turn and was forced to -3 it to kill Dack and my Baleful Strix, but after my new dragon friend took care of Ugin I had enough mana to use it's X ability to take care of everything else he played.



Game 3:

On the play, he starts off with a (normally) strong play of a turn 2 Coercive Portal. Unfortunately, Dack arrived when I untapped with the help of a Mox Diamond, and I coerced his portal into drawing me some cards instead. He had a few threats come down over the course of the game, but the overwhelming card advantage found me more copies of Dack to convince his army to fight against him.

R3 Anuraag with Miracles (2-1) Record: 3-0

Game 1:

After having a nice discussion with Anuraag about The Source, I win my first die roll of the tournament. He leads off with a few typical Miracles plays, but I'm able to resolve an early Thopter Foundry. I eventually find the other half of my combo, and my token army is able to kill him over the course of two turns without much resistance.



Game 2:

I keep a reasonable hand with some lands and spells in this game, but I don't have any fast mana. Unfortunately for me, he is able to assemble CounterTop with a two on top with hard countermagic for anything else, and eventually casts a Jace to lock me out of the game.



Game 3:

The hand I keep in this game has a sol land and a Diamond, and I lead off with a turn 1 Sword of the Meek followed by a Tezzeret on turn 2. I immediately turn it into a 5/5 creature and begin to attack him, and though he does manage to resolve a Jace to bounce it eventually, my Tezzeret ultimate is able to finish him off.

R4 Eric with Miracles (2-1) Record: 4-0

Game 1:

I'm on the play again, and we both start the game off with a mulligan leading into one of the strangest games against Miracles I've ever played. We both play our first land, then... Well, then we moved to our discard steps for awhile. Neither of us managed to draw any lands or anything to actually do for a few turns. I eventually draw another land, and manage to resolve a Thopter Foundry. I eventually assemble my combo, and my tokens take it down.



Game 2:

This game was extremely long and very grindy, which is a situation that usually favors Miracles. With both of our boards mostly empty, he casts a hardcast Entreat the Angels for 2 which I have no answer for. Two attack steps later, my life total hit zero.



Game 3:

I play out some Baleful Strixes fairly early in this game, and have them get to work on Eric's life total. I resolve a Tezzeret and tick it up, and pass the turn with a hand full of artifacts. My opponent decides not to attack his Vendilion Clique into my Thopter Foundry with mana untapped, so when my Strixes bring his life total to 14 the next turn, I'm able to unload my hand of mana rocks and such to Tezzeret ultimate him for lethal.

R5 Sam with Miracles (2-0) Record: 5-0

Game 1:

The hand I keep this game is very threat dense, so I'm able to chuck spells into his countermagic until I'm eventually able to land a Thopter Foundry to go with the Sword of the Meek I'd played earlier in the game. Unable to really interact with my plan, my tokens take down the game a few turns later.



Game 2:

Once again, I open on a very threat-dense hand - this time with both copies of Lodestone Golem. He struggled to find an answer other than Jace to my Golems, and they end up beating him to death in tandem with my Tezzeret 5/5s.

R6 Jon with Ad Nauseam Tendrils (2-1) Record: 6-0

Game 1:

I open on a reasonable hand with Strix, Tezzeret, and a Force alongside some lands, so I'm less than excited when my opponent's first play is a Duress to take my Force of Will. I play out the Strix and put it into the red zone, and draw into another Force of Will and some more land during that time. On turn 3, I take a gamble and play out Tezzeret and activate it's plus ability. I looked at the top of my deck trying to find one of ten cards (either a Chalice or another blue artifact), but end up failing to find anything and die after I pass the turn.



Game 2:

I keep a sick hand with a some lands, a Chalice, and a Lodestone Golem, and my opponent immediately concedes after I lead on turn 1 Chalice at 1 followed by the Golem on turn 2.



Game 3:

I mulligan to a 6 card hand with a Chalice, a Tezzeret, and some other cards, but with only a Volcanic Island as a mana source. I'm on the draw, so I take the gamble and keep the hand. He Probes me and cantrips on his first turn, and like a master, I rip Ancient Tomb, Lodestone Golem, and another two lands over the next few turns. My Golem and a 5/5 Chalice of the Void quickly drop his life total to zero.

R7 Kevin with Lands (2-0) Record: 7-0

Game 1:

My opponent knows what I'm on as we've been sitting around the same area for the last few rounds, and he gives away what he's on as well when he casts Gamble off a Grove on his first turn on the play. I land Tezzeret, find Thopter/Sword, and ultimate him for lethal the turn after I untap with it.



Game 2:

I manage to live the dream in this game by mana screwing the lands player. He leads on a turn 1 Mox Diamond into Gamble, but when he discards his only land to that spell, he's left passing the turn. Though he does find another land 2 turns later, I untap and cast Dack Fayden off my own Diamond, take his Mox, and Wasteland his only remaining mana source. I eventually hardcast a Leyline of the Void and Transmute for Helm to kill him.

R8 ID Record: 7-0-1

R9 ID Record: 7-0-2 (2nd seed overall)

T16 Joe with Sneak and Show (2-1) Record: 8-0-2

First, I'm really sorry for forgetting your name. I can't access my PWP page right now either apparently, so I can't even look it up. If WOTC decides to bring their password reset page back up, I'll edit it in. Thanks, guy from Reddit!



Game 1:

I have a reasonable idea of what most of the people in the top 16 are playing, so when I sit down across from the only matchup that I didn't want, I started to think that my run was over. I keep a hand with a turn 1 Chalice followed by a turn 3 Tezzeret, but with no Force of Will. The Chalice keeps my opponent from doing anything but passing after playing an Island on turn 1, but that doesn't stop him from playing another Island, a Lotus Petal, and a Show and Tell for Emrakul on turn 2. My draw step doesn't show me a Bridge or Transmute, so I scoop it up.



Game 2:

I open on Leyline, Signet, Transmute, Force, Strix, and some lands, and decide to keep it. He once again has a turn 2 Show and Tell, and he has the Force of Will to back it up. Fortunately, he shows me an Emrakul to match up against my Signet, and concedes when I resolve Transmute for Bridge after I untap. I don't have access to the decklists as I write this, so I'm not sure if he didn't have anything to remove the Bridge at all or if he just forgot to board it in.



Game 3:

Excited after winning game 2, I open on a hand with Leyline, Transmute, Force of Will, and a turn 2 Lodestone Golem. My Golem resolves, and puts on the beatdown over the next few turns. His mana is very restricted by LSG and some Wastelands, and he is eventually forced to tap out to Ice the Golem at 7 life. I move to my postcombat main phase, and LSG prevents him from responding to my Transmute for Helm of Obedience.

T8 Ryan with UW Stoneblade (2-0) Record: 9-0-2

Game 1:

We fight a bit over some of our early plays, but I'm able to assemble Crucible/Wasteland to keep him off of his mana. Eventually, he manages to resolve a True-Name Nemesis on a mostly empty board. Over the next few turns, another TNN and a Sword of Fire and Ice join the party, but I'm eventually able to resolve a Transmute for Ensnaring Bridge to stop his guys from attacking me. Tezzeret arrives a few turns later, and, ultimates for his life total after I untap.



Game 2:

He takes a mulligan on the play, and once again I begin the game with a few copies of Wasteland. I play out Chains of Mephistopheles to constrict his ability to filter through his deck, but he immediately draws into Stoneforge Mystic finding Batterskull and passes the turn with 2 cards in hand. Unfortunately for him, I have other plans for his equipment. I untap, cast Dack, and activate his plus ability targeting my opponent for a makeshift Mind Rot. A few turns of milling him later, Thopter/Sword comes down to end the game.

T4 Kellen with Death and Taxes (0-2) Record: 9-1-2