Hello everyone! My name is Scott Monroe and I played Mono-White Bomberman in the MissouriMTG Legacy 10k on July 27, 2019 at Moonbase Market in St. Louis, MO. This is my third great result in a row at a tournament of this magnitude with this deck (6-2, 6-1-1, & 7-1), and I would say that the craze is catching on. This time around, there were at least five of us on the deck — with three on the top 10 tables in the final round! This deck is GAS! I certainly have been on a run with it, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a unique deck that attacks from many angles. Now on to the fun – here is the list I played on Saturday:

Round 1 — RUG Delver — 2:0 WIN

Round 2 — GB Loam Pox — 1:2 LOSS

Round 3 — BUG Snow — 2:1 WIN

Round 4 — RUG Delver — 2:0 WIN

Round 5 — Death & Taxes — 2:0 WIN

Round 6 — Moon Stompy — 2:0 WIN

Round 7 — RUG Delver — 2:0 WIN

Round 8 — Death & Taxes — 2:0 WIN

Final Result: 3rd after Swiss (175 players) into Top8 split

Round 1 vs Andrew on RUG Delver

G1: He wins the die roll & mulligans. I kept a t2 Monastery Mentor hand with 2 or 3 zero cmc cards and a Karakas. He leads on Scalding Tarn > Volcanic Island > Ponder. I assume Show and Tell or Delver at this point and feel kind of let down with my hand. When it comes to my turn, I decide to play around a potential Daze and just drop the Karakas and pass to my opponent, who proceeds to fetch a Tropical Island and play a Dreadhorde Arcanist. I draw a Cavern of Souls, jam the Monastery Mentor and get 3 monks before he untaps and kills it then flashes back Ponder. I draw a Karn, the Great Creator — which surprisingly resolved — triggering prowess on my monks. Then I wished for Tormod’s Crypt and had enough for lethal next turn. Opponent drew for turn and scooped.

IN: 1 Cast Out

OUT: 1 Karn, the Great Creator

I think Karn, the Great Creator is kind of slow in this matchup, plus I have nothing to block flyers. Cast Out is a good catch-all answer and can also be ditched for a card if needed.

G2: I kept a hand with 2 lands, a Chalice of the Void, and 3 baubles and a Lion’s Eye Diamond. OP mulliganed again. Andrew leads with a Delver of Secrets. I get a t1 Chalice of the Void and it sticks. Andrew drops Dreadhorde Arcanist and attacks, then next turn Andrew casts Price of Progress, hitting me for four and that was about it. I got the un-counterable combo kill soon after.

1-0

Round 2 vs Zac on G/B Loam Pox

G1: Zac wins the die roll and keeps what turned out to be an insane hand. He leads with 3 Mox Diamonds and then casts Life from the Loam returning Verdant Catacombs, Wasteland and Thespian’s Stage. I thought “Dang, I’m supposed to have the “vomit your hand on the board” draws.” — but then I remembered what was in my hand! In one of my major highlights of the day, I go Ancient Tomb > double Lotus Petal > Karn, the Great Creator — turning off each of his Moxen. I’m also able to wish for Tormod’s Crypt to exile his Life from the Loam. We and everyone at the tables around us shared a laugh,as this happened before our neighbors resolved mulligans. “Just as Garfield Intended”. I next resolved a Monastery Mentor, quickly getting there with monk Tokens while he durdles around with Smallpox.

I don’t recall precisely how I boarded for this, but I believe it consisted of shaving down baubles and bringing in the Disenchant effects and a Cast Out. If you have boarding tips for this matchup, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!

G2: I had a fast Monastery Mentor hand and he got me with double Wasteland then Crop Rotation into The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and passed when I had no lands left in hand or in play. Quick scoop and move on.

G3: I had a combo kill but he slowed me down with Wasteland, then Assassin’s Trophy got my Auriok Salvagers and he used Surgical Extraction to remove the rest from my deck. Marit Lage put me out of my misery a turn later. Funny note here: I caught up with Zac throughout the day, and his first three rounds were against Bomberman. What are the chances?!

1-1

Round 3 vs Matt on BUG Snow

Matt’s deck was really neat and looked like something I would love to play if I ever get off the Bomberman bender. I was a long time BUG Delver player, and the snow cards bring a new element to the deck that seems exciting.

G1: I win die roll and kept a questionable hand and got punished for it. Sol Land, Karakas, 3 Baubles and a Chalice of the Void. Opponent kept as well. Force of Will ate my Chalice of the Void. I see a Tarmogoyf in his hand and on top of his library. My baubles led into more lands and I got beat down by the Llhurgoyf army. Astonishingly, this was the last game of Magic I would lose all day.

I didn’t board much for this matchup.

IN: 1 Cast Out

OUT: 1 Walking Ballista

G2: Opponent got cut on colored sources and only saw 2 mana. I got there with monks this game.

G3: This was a grindy one, but I eventually got there. I ended up leading on Plains & baubles, then followed with another Plains into Chalice of the Void on 1. Matt responded by casting Surgical Extraction targeting the bauble for value. I ended up with an uncounterable Monastery Mentor a turn later then resolved Mystic Forge the next game and made 6 monks by the end of the game. I got through his Tarmogoyf by surprising him with a Nature’s Chant targeting my own Mox Opal to pump and clear his board and that was all she wrote.

2-1

Round 4 vs Peter on RUG Delver

This round was kind of anti-climactic. I didn’t take many notes on this one because we wrapped up very quickly and I grabbed a beer and stepped outside for some fresh air after.

From what I remember and wrote down, G1 my opponent didn’t flip either of his Delver of Secrets for three turns, which allowed me to clean house with Walking Ballista. I then cast uncounterable Auriok Salvagers and my opponent scooped. I did not have Lion’s Eye Diamond and I’m not sure if Peter just didn’t know I didn’t have it or scooped out of frustration, but I’ll take it.

IN: 1 Cast Out

OUT: 1 Karn, the Great Creator

G2: I had a t1 Chalice of the Void on 1. I was able to follow with an uncounterable Monastery Mentor and an uncounterable Auriok Salvagers and looped Lotus Petal with a ton of mana to get there. Peter didn’t resolve a spell and drew all 1 drops. I was very curious why he kept this hand.

3-1

Round 5 vs Travis on Death & Taxes

G1: Travis wins the die roll here and leads with Plains, Aether Vial, pass. I get a Chalice of the Void on 1 and Lion’s Eye Diamond which felt crummy but ended up being really important. Travis then played a Phyrexian Revoker naming Lion’s Eye Diamond, and I followed with a Monastery Mentor. I remember playing another Monastery Mentor and resolving two Auriok Salvagers and getting two monks. It was a weird creature flood hand where he couldn’t attack me, even with his freshly played Umezawa’s Jitte and I could get exactly lethal with one big swing and recurring my Walking Ballista.

IN: 1 Disenchant, 1 Nature’s Chant, 1 Path to Exile, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Walking Ballista

OUT: 4 Chalice of the Void, 1 Lion’s Eye Diamond, 1 Urza’s Bauble

G2: This was a game with a combo kill in the making and I kept a slower, but basic land heavy hand. Travis was able to find a Sanctum Prelate and passed to me with Aether Vial on 3. I had drawn one of my boarded in Swords to Plowshares and was able to dispatch of the Sanctum Prelate and quickly combo killed thereafter.

4-1

Round 6 vs Tony on Mono-Red Stompy

G1: This game was another tourney highlight and a headache all at once. Tony wins the die roll and leads with City of Traitors > Chrome Mox > Legion Warboss. I lead with a Monastery Mentor, a couple baubles, and Chalice of the Void on 0 to keep up (SUPER IMPORTANT later). He lands another Legion Warboss and plays a land, sacrificing the City of Traitors (also important later). I play another Monastery Mentor and we race tokens for a bit. Tony eventually gets down a Blood Moon, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Trinisphere, 2 Ensnaring Bridge and a Karn, The Great Creator and has 8 Goblin tokens. I eventually get to a point where I have 2 Monastery Mentor, 13 monks, Karn, the Great Creator and Lion’s Eye Diamond in play. I drew a Plains and played an Auriok Salvagers. Tony takes his turn, ditching a Simian Spirit Guide for nothing so I couldn’t attack and used Chandra’s +2 to hit me for 2 damage once again. I draw my 6th land for turn. After some thought, I ask if we can count each other’s decks and realize I have one card more in my library than him. I decide that my best chance to win is to go for Mycosynth Lattice to lock him out. Neither of us can play anything, neither of us can afford to attack, and he has used 2 of his 4 Simian Spirit Guide so he can’t draw into 2 Simian Sprit Guide + Abrade to get out of this because of Trinisphere. He realizes he is going to lose to decking and scoops with about 15 minutes of time left in round.

IN: 1 Cast Out, 1 Disenchant, 1 Nature’s Chant, 1 Mystic Forge

OUT : 4 Chalice of the Void

G2: This was much more brief. He mulled to 6. I kept a fast Monastery Mentor hand that was an Auriok Salvagers away from the combo and he resolved a fast Chandra, Torch of Defiance. I made 4 monks but he got an Ensnaring Bridge with an empty hand. Tony thought he had me beat when he pushed out a Fiery Confluence. Thankfully, by this point I had the combo in hand.

5-1

Round 7 vs Tim on RUG Delver

This round was brutal for Tim who was a really nice guy.

G1: I win a die roll and keep a greedy hand with three Chalice of the Voids and 4 lands. I resolve Chalice of the Void on 1, then resolve Chalice of the Void on 2. I draw a Mystic Forge and jam since nothing else has been countered, get a bauble off the top and use it, and my opponent scoops. By doing so, I only saw two Scalding Tarns. I side-boarded as though I was facing Show and Tell but I now realize that was wrong to do because he would not have scooped to Chalice of the Voids if he was on the 3 mana sorcery.

IN: 1 Cast Out, 2 Containment Priest

OUT: 3 Karn, the Great Creator

G2: Opponent plays Delver of Secrets and passes, I Chalice of the Void on 1 again with Lotus Petal to pay for Daze. This resolves and he drops a Dreadhorde Arcanist. I resolve a Mystic Forge and go to town. I just hit card after card and the value eventually got me to the combo kill. My opponent and I counted and I went 13 cards deeper because of Mystic Forge by the end of this game.

6-1

Round 8 vs Matt Hoey on D&T (Win-and-In Feature match)

This was a strange feeling. Here I was in the same chair I was in a few months ago, once again having 1 loss and being forced to play a win-and-in to top 8. Last time, my feature match ended in a tough draw vs. Miracles and finished 9th, which was crushing — but overall a motivating and learning experience. Admittedly, I sat next to Matt earlier and knew what he was on, and I’m not sure if he knew what I was on but he seemed to be mulliganing aggressively.

﻿ ﻿ ﻿

(Incase the VOD is pulled, here is the recap)

G1: Matt mulls to 5. This game was straight-forward. I got down a Walking Ballista and a Monastery Mentor, pumped the Walking Ballista and rode him and a couple monks to victory. I actually missed a bauble trigger while Matt and I were talking but it was my own fault and that is that. Also, I was informed later by Eric Berlett (F7eleven) that by not playing my Chalice of the Void on 0 before pitching my hand to pump Walking Ballista, I could have opened myself up to letting my opponent stabilize at 1 life:

IN: 1 Disenchant, 1 Nature’s Chant, 1 Path to Exile, 2 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Walking Ballista

OUT: 4 Chalice of the Void, 1 Lion’s Eye Diamond, 1 Urza’s Bauble

G2: I keep a hand with the full combo and 2 Disenchant effects and he mulls again. I felt pretty bad for back to back mulls on the win and in. He keeps the next hand and this game plays out with him getting out 2 Phyrexian Revokers: The first on Walking Ballista and the next on Auriok Salvagers. I sequence this hand carefully to kill the first Phyrexian Revoker and pump Walking Ballista to kill the other one, while all the while playing around Swords to Plowshares and potentially Surgical Extraction/Faerie Macabre. You can do this by having extra mana when you combo. The moment he tapped out for Palace Jailer, I wanted to shout out in joy!

7-1 (3rd after Swiss)

In closing, I don’t think this could’ve went much better. I may have been better off not 2-0ing so many people because my first tiebreaker was really bad. However, my second breaker– game win percentage – was an astronomical 89%. I only lost 3 games in 8 rounds and I didn’t even realize it until it was over and I was telling my girlfriend about my matches. The top 8 decided to split and I was hungry, so I took my $900 bucks and went and had a steak dinner with friends and family.

This, as always, was a grade A event with a great prize pool, TO, and judges. Also, as usual, I played some of the kindest people and nearly all showed immense interest in the deck and my personal success and the support I received from friends and opponents alike all day was heartwarming and really kept me razor sharp and locked in. I would like to say GGs to each of my opponents and a special congrats to my friends Dan and Jacob who also ended up in the money. Jake was on Elves and had a nice day, while Dan was on his usual Lands and ended up 1-2, sticking it out and winning out after he started drinking beers! Maybe playing loose is the proper way to Marit Lage!

Going Forward

In regard to Bomberman and the potential of the deck going forward, I think that this particular build is fantastic in the current meta for a multitude of reasons. Having seven Plains in the main deck is fantastic against the new monster of Legacy Wrenn and Six as well as Blood Moon and Back to Basics. Sometimes hands may be slightly slower, but the trade-off is well worth it in my opinion. Notice, without Ancient Dens in the main-deck, Karn, Scion of Urza becomes slightly worse. I didn’t include any in my 75 this weekend, and I don’t believe that it is a sound strategy without at least 4 artifact lands to bolster Karnstructs. Mystic Forge impressed and I look forward to continuing to test the card. I didn’t sideboard the 4th copy in during any of my matches but finding room main-deck for it may be worth it – even at the expense of a Karn, the Great Creator. If the meta stays reasonably fair, I expect this deck to keep operating at a high success rate. However, if we begin to see more blazing fast combo like TES, Reanimator, and Show and Tell, adjustments may need to be made.

Until next time friends!

Please follow and like us: