History of Magic 2 match reports

With nine competitors and four matches per round, we were able to schedule one feature match each round, and have it covered by the player not involved in a match that round.

Featured matches

1. Round 1: Enchanté v Matt
2. Round 2: Glenn v David
3. Round 3: Chris v Mark
4. Round 4: James v Darryn
5. Round 5: Shaun v Enchanté
6. Round 6: Matt v Glenn
7. Round 7: David v Chris
8. Round 9: Darryn v Shaun
9. Semifinal: Shaun v James
10. Final: Glenn v James

Round 1: Enchanté v Matt

Coverage by David Chambers

Game 1

Matt won the die roll and elected to play. Matt kept his opening hand; Enchanté looked at a hand containing Powder Keg, Eternal Witness, and Decree of Justice, along with Horizon Canopy and three other lands. After running the permutations for thirty seconds or so, Enchanté decided to send it back. He kept his six card hand, though, and with that the first History of Magic feature match was under way.

Matt opened with an Island; Enchanté, a tapped Gilt-Leaf Palace. Matt's start was good, with a Plains and a signet coming down on turn two. Enchanté also had a two-drop in Oversold Cemetery. Matt missed his third land drop, but a land showed up the following turn to allow him to Concentrate. Meanwhile Enchanté had Fyndhorn Elves and Jens (Solemn Simulacrum) but not much other action.

Matt tapped out on turn five, suspending Aeon Chronicler with one time counter; Maro was on the way! Enchanté attacked for three before playing Ravenous Baloth, a business spell at last.

The blue Maro swung in for a hefty eight damage, and was joined on Matt's side of the board by Keiga, the Tide Star! Enchanté did not look happy at this stage, but refused to go down without a fight. He had Mortify for Aeon Chronicler, and Survival of the Fittest threatened to bring Oversold Cemetery online. Jens swung in for two, leaving the Elves back to provide mana for a Survival activation. Matt had a full grip of cards at this stage, while Enchanté had just two.

Matt played Deep Analysis the fair way, and followed it up with Jace Beleren which he used to give both players a card. Matt decided to have Keiga play defense; with four loyalty counters Jace would now survive an all-in attack directed his way. Enchanté tapped Fyndhorn Elves for mana at end of turn, pitching Deranged Hermit to Survival and spending a long time deciding which creature to fetch. Woodfall Primus, he opted for in the end.

Enchanté sent Jens into the red zone, and Matt obliged by blocking with Keiga. After Jens had hit the bin, Matt asked Enchanté who he'd been attacking. This was Enchanté's first encounter with a planeswalker, and he didn't realise that it was possible to attack them (valuable info when you're playing one yourself). Enchanté said that he'd been attacking Matt, to which Matt replied that he would not have blocked in that case (lol). The end result was Enchanté trading an insignificant 2/2 for a potentially useful card from the top of his library.

"Potentially useful" is not a phrase commonly associated with Living Death, the card he ripped. Enchanté sacrificed his Baloth for life before playing the Tempest sorcery, which set aside Deranged Hermit, Woodfall Primus (which had also been discarded to Survival), Solemn Simulacrum, and Ravenous Baloth, along with Matt's Aeon Chronicler, before sending Keiga to the graveyard and returning these creatures to play. Matt stole Jens with Keiga's graveyard trigger — an interesting decision given the quality of the competition — and Aeon Chronicler was sent straight back to the graveyard courtesy of Woodfall Primus.

Matt had a five mana sorcery of his own, Austere Command, which he used to destroy all enchantments and all creatures with converted mana cost four or greater. The logic behind Matt's play the previous turn became clear as Jens hit the bin, along with Ravenous Baloth, Deranged Hermit, Woodfall Primus, Survival of the Fittest, and Oversold Cemetery. Matt followed up this impressive play with the slightly less impressive Epochrasite. The board was at this stage Epochrasite and eight mana producers for Matt, six lands and four squirrels for Enchanté. Woodfall Primus should actually have been on the board courtesy of persist, but neither player had remembered the trigger.

Enchanté sent in the squirrels, one of which traded with the artifact creature on Matt's side. Recurring Nightmare lived up to its name, hitting the board briefly twice to allow Enchanté to make a couple of good "trades": 1/1 squirrel for Woodfall Primus, and 1/1 squirrel for Deranged Hermit! Matt's Austere Command, devastating at the time, had been rendered little more than a minor inconvenience by the timely arrival of Recurring Nightmare.

Morphling made an appearance, but it proved to be nothing more than a cameo. Enchanté sent everybody in. Morphing got in the way of Woodfall Primus, but when Enchanté pointed out that Primus tramples Matt realised he'd just taken lethal.

Enchanté 1, Matt 0

Game 2

Interestingly, Matt decided to give Enchanté the first turn of game two. Both players kept their opening hands.

Enchanté opened with Birds of Paradise, while Matt had a "one-drop" of his own in Coastal Tower. Enchanté appeared to have a much faster start this game, playing both Survival of the Fittest and Elves of Deep Shadow on turn two. Matt had a good turn two as well, with Boros Signet making a turn three Darksteel Colossus a possibility. Elves of Deep Shadow made mana before being sacrificed to Diabolic Intent. The tutor found Recurring Nightmare which Enchanté played immediately, but this time it did not pose an immediate problem for Matt.

Matt played a second signet before transmuting Drift of Phantasms into Tinker. Enchanté simply played a land and passed the turn, at which point Matt transformed one of his signets into an indestructible 11/11 trampler!

Things looked bad for Enchanté until — for the second time in the match — he topdecked Living Death. He played it, forcing Matt to sacrifice his Colossus. As in game one, Matt replied to Living Death by playing Austere Command, again destroying all enchantments, this time catching Survival of the Fittest and — unusually — Recurring Nightmare.

Draw-go ensued for a couple of turns until Jace Beleren from Matt threatened to, well, find a threat. That threat duly arrived in the form of Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir; Enchanté was still without gas. Matt attacked with Teferi, doing damage at last, although Enchanté had Putrefy the following turn to remove the legendary wizard. Enchanté followed it up with Deranged Hermit, but Matt leapt on the opportunity to make use of Mana Leak.

Morphling came down on Matt's side. The following turn Enchanté played Solemn Simulacrum, and Matt played Thirst for Knowledge in the end step, discarding Darksteel Colossus which he then shuffled into his library. Morphling attacked for three, Sower of Temptation stole Jens, and Morphling attacked again to force a decider.

Enchanté 1, Matt 1

Game 3

Enchanté elected to take the first turn, which may have pleased Matt. Enchanté kept his opener; Matt had to mulligan twice to find a playable hand.

Enchanté opened with a tapped Murmuring Bosk, and had an impressive second turn with Wall of Roots immediately issuing a 50% dividend which he spent on Birds of Paradise.

Matt's first two turns were also impressive, particularly given the double mulligan. By the beginning of his second turn he had played a land and used Mystical Tutor to find Tinker, and by the end of his second turn he had added a second land and Azorius Signet to his board. He now had all the prerequisites for Darksteel Colossus: three mana, an artifact in play, and Tinker in hand.

Enchanté had Putrefy to force Matt to find a replacement for his signet before he could Tinker. Enchanté added Werebear to his team as well. After an explosive start, Matt's double mulligan started to take its toll: Matt had no play. Enchanté, meanwhile, had Survival of the Fittest and a morph creature, and he was able to attack for one with Werebear. Matt passed without a play the following turn as well, allowing Enchanté to attack with both his guys, dropping Matt to 16.

Ophidian from Matt came down to hold the fort, but the following turn Enchanté finally drew a creature, Elves of Deep Shadow, which he discarded to find Hellkite Overlord, which in turn fetched its slightly smaller cousin, Teneb, the Harvester. Enchanté played Teneb and ended his turn.

Matt again had nothing, still stuck on three lands. Enchanté attacked with Teneb, then played Unmask which revealed a hand of Phyrexian Processor, Control Magic, Final Judgment, Tinker, and other goodness. Unmask took Control Magic; Enchanté took the game and the match.

Enchanté 2, Matt 1

The final game was particularly tight. Were it not for Putrefy, Matt's turn three Colossus would surely have been a game winner. Even post-Putrefy, Matt could well have won the game if he had managed to get to four mana, given the quality of his holding at the end of the game.

Round 2: Glenn v David

Coverage by Darryn Ying

Game 1

Glenn won the die roll and chose to start. Both players had pretty unremarkable starts — just playing lands and passing — but it was first advantage to Dave as his Library of Alexandria came online on turn two (he'd mulliganed to six).

Dave ended the Mexican standoff by playing Charcoal Diamond which met one of Glenn's many Power Sinks. Talisman of Indulgence was Dismissed. Dave did resolve Mind Stone, but when he followed it up by casting Dark Ritual to power out Jade Statue, Glenn tanked for a while before saying "Well now that you've blown your load, I guess I have to counter!" Force of Will sent the Unlimited uncommon to the graveyard.

The tide had turned. Dave may have been wondering whether he was right to pull the trigger by trying to push through Jade Statue, rather than sitting back and taking full advantage of his Library. In Glenn's turn he used Bribery to acquire Grinning Demon. Dave "matched" it with Drinker of Sorrow. Glenn asked "What are the drawbacks on that thing?" He laughed after picking up the card and reading it.

Glenn attacked for six with Grinning Demon before deciding to Confiscate Drinker of Sorrow. Despite things having gone from bad to worse for Dave he still seemed to be enjoying himself, quipping that the Drinker had merely been bait before dropping the significantly less mockable Razormane Masticore.

Glenn swung in again with Grinning Demon — dropping Dave to 8 — before passing the turn. Dave remembered to discard a card in his upkeep, and to destroy Drinker of Sorrow in his draw step. In his main phase he played Phyrexian Scuta to buy himself a turn, but Glenn had Power Sink, his deck's trademark card, which secured the win.

Glenn 1, David 0

Game 2

Dave had an explosive start on the play with Dark Ritual enabling him to get down a talisman, Winter Orb, and Urza's Bauble. Glenn just played lands for the first couple of turns. Dave resolved Skittering Horror on turn three, and attacked with it twice before Glenn played Dominating Licid. Skittering Horror got through a third time before it was stolen, at which point Dave just played Guardian Idol.

Glenn then began attacking with Skittering Horror. Dave's Defense Grid was countered, but Library of Alexandria, Chimeric Idol, and Tolarian Academy all made it into play. Armageddon would have been brutal but it Forbid, which was bought back. Drinker of Sorrow was also countered, but Glenn was running low on cards by this stage. He still managed to Rewind Dave's next threat, Braids, Cabal Minion. Glenn balanced things out a little in the mana department by using Dust Bowl to destroy Dave's Academy.

Dave cast Mind Twist for three (the number of cards in Glenn's hand). Glenn chose to let it resolve in order to drop a free 5/5 Dodecapod, which joined Skittering Horror in the red zone the following turn. Dave blocked Skittering Horror with Chimeric Idol, and with damage on the stack Dominating Licid reverted to creature form.

Having finally emptied Glenn's hand Dave proceeded to take a truly sick turn. Yawgmoth's Will allowed him to play the following cards from his graveyard:

• Urza's Bauble
• Dark Ritual x 2
• Talisman
• Armageddon (Glenn lost 10 lands)
• Tolarian Academy (post-Geddon, nice!)
• Chimeric Idol
• Defense Grid
• Barbed Sextant
• Braids

Glenn's hopes of wrapping up the match in two games were dashed faster than a "Wing Sharded" Nantuko Monastery.

Glenn 1, David 1

Game 3

Glenn chose to start and opened the final game with Flood and some lands in the first few turns. Dave started much better, resolving Defense Grid and Braids, Cabal Minion which is obviously a great card in this matchup. Glenn sacrificed a land and played another. Dave played Charcoal Diamond and swung with Braids, and a bit later played Mesmeric Fiend which snatched Future Sight from Glenn's hand.

Glenn continued to tread water, sacrificing a land each upkeep and replacing it each main phase. Dave chose to sacrifice Defense Grid rather than a mana source, and attacked again with Braids, having missed the fact that Glenn had an untapped Faerie Conclave and enough mana to activate it. Glenn, of course, had not missed this, and made the trade happily.

Dave's kicked Phyrexian Scuta was of little concern to Glenn thanks to Flood. Glenn played the big man after which his deck is named: Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor. Dave had Disenchant for Flood, but now needed to find an answer for the walking flood.

Dave did hit an out: his bomb, Yawgmoth's Will. It allowed him to play Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, City of Traitors, Braids, and Defense Grid from the bin. Glenn played Dominating Licid on his turn. Pox from Dave dropped both players from 15 to 10, Dave sacrificed Phyrexian Scuta and Armageddon, Glenn sacrificed Aboshan and discarded Whispers of the Muse, and a few lands were sent to the graveyard.

Post-Pox, Dave attacked with Braids who was blocked this time by Dominating Licid. Glenn activated Desert to make it a one-for-one trade. The game slipped out of reach for Dave when Mouth of Ronom destroyed Mesmeric Fiend, returning Future Sight to Glenn's hand. Bribery followed, putting Juggernaut into play as Dave's iPhone signalled the end of the round. Two attacks later, the game was over.

Glenn 2, David 1

Round 3: Chris v Mark

Coverage by Enchanté Chang

Mark is filling in for Koray, who is at WOMAD in Adelaide. On paper, Chris has an edge in this matchup. His deck is full of cheap big dudes that'll be hard for Mark to handle. While Chris does not have as much removal as Mark does, he needn't worry because Mark's critters are not particularly daunting.

Game 1

Tempo should play an important role in this match, so it's no surprise that Mark elects to start after winning the toss.

Both players keep their opening seven and Mark leads with Mountain, Pyrite Spellbomb; a very good start. Not to be outdone, Chris plays a Snow-Covered Plains and Isamaru, Hound of Konda. Mark trumps the doggie with Blood Knight (pro white for the win). Chris decides it's not a good time to attack and plays one of the most feared creatures from its day: Wild Mongrel.

Mark's great start turns sour as he draws and passes without playing a third land! Chris plays a second Snow-Covered Forest and lays down Troll Ascetic, which could possibly go all the way. Chris passes up another attack even enough Mongrel can get huge. At the end of Chris's turn Mark does… nothing. He then draws and again passes without a play.

Chris really drives home his advantage by playing Thornscape Battlemage with "Shock" kicker. For those of you watching at home, Thornscape's red kicker allows the caster to direct 2 (green) damage at any creature or player. Blood Knight just got bloody. Chris swings with all his dudes (except the newly cast mage) but Isamaru falls to Mark's spellbomb before damage.

Mark finally draws a third land but perhaps it's two turns too late. He sends Rhystic Lightning at Wild Mongrel. Chris has three cards in hand, and could discard them all to keep the Mongrel around, but puts the "bear" into the graveyard after a couple of seconds' thought.

Chris untaps and swings again for another five (troll + mage), dropping Mark to 10. He follows this up with Stormbind with two untapped lands at the ready, and Mark can smell defeat.

Mark draws another Mountain and plays Keldon Champion, another POS card in Koray's deck (note: none of the card choices are Mark's, he's just playing the deck he was given). The Champion from Keldor does an almighty three damage to Chris, but he doesn't even get to be a martyr, dying to a Stormbind activation at end of turn.

Chris swings, Mark draws… and scoops.

Chris 1, Mark 0

Game 2

After the beating he just dished out, Chris is feeling rather confident and shows me "I win the prize card" a.k.a. Circle of Protection: Red. He also sides in Ghitu Slinger and Cosmic Larva (seriously?). Seal of Cleansing, Spellbane Centaur and Scavenger Folk come out to make room for these additions. I have no idea what Mark sided in, and I don't think it'd be wise to ask at this point.

Mark starts this game as well, but mulligans his opening hand. As if to back up my prediction that tempo will dictate the flow of this match, the first three turns play out like this: Mountain-go from Mark, Snow-Covered Mountain-go from Chris, and Mountain-go again from Mark.

Chris's second turn is more interesting, as Taiga allows him to drop Boreal Centaur. Mark plays his third Mountain, giving him the requisite RRR for Ball Lightning (a card that Koray spent an extra round in The Dark to collect). Ball Lightning turns sideways, dropping Chris to 14, before making its way to the graveyard.

Chris swings for a couple with the Centaur. Post-combat he plays a City of Brass which he taps (ow!) along with his other two lands to play Kird Ape and Goblin Legionnaire. While Chris is tapped out, Mark removes the Centaur with Hammer of Bogardan before sending a Firebolt at the hapless goblin soldier. (Nice plays!)

Chris gets in for another two before playing a morph and taking one from City of Brass to play Granger Guildmage. This puts Chris at 13 while Mark is still at a healthy 16.

It appears that Mark has run out of gas as he draws and passes… déjà vu?

Chris's attack does five damage this time, with morph and mage joining ape in the red zone. The second main phase sees Kitchen Finks restore some of the life that City of Brass has chipped away. Oh, and it's a 3/2 body with persist. For the first time in the match so far (!) Mark has an end of turn play, Lightning Blast, which he directs at Chris, dropping him to 10.

Mark does his best blue mage impression with a quick draw-go, and Chris just swings with all his dudes. You know that it's an owning when Mark's best play is to Flame Javelin Chris's Finks. When the top of Mark's library fails to produce Breath of Darigaaz, the match is over.

Chris 2, Mark 0

Round 4: James v Darryn

Coverage by Glenn Patel

Game 1

The game starts quietly, with Darryn choosing to play and promptly mulliganing to six, while James keeps with quiet confidence. Both players open with "comes into play tapped" lands: Thawing Glaciers from Darryn, Crumbling Necropolis from James. Darryn plays a second land and passes, James does the same. In James's end step, Darryn fetches a Forest with Glaciers. James responds by playing Lim-Dûl's Vault, eventually paying two life.

Darryn, on his third turn, surprises this reporter by playing Call of the Herd. Clearly he wants a clock, not card advantage. James plays a second Swamp and asks himself "What the fuck do I want to do? 7 cards… 5…" – a cryptic pronouncement.

He makes a play! Coalition Relic, into Dark Ritual, into Necropotence! He proceeds to draw five cards with Necro, dropping to 13. Darryn quickly plays a third Island, then thinks, before swinging with the elephant token and playing Erhnam Djinn.

James skips his draw step (quite rightly) aaaaaaand… plays Distress, knocking out Muddle the Mixture and revealing another Call of the Herd, a Forest, and the Glaciers. James plays Cabal Therapy on the Call of the Herd, then draws two cards off Necropotence… and scoops.

James 0, Darryn 1

This reporter thinks James should have used Necropotence more aggressively, but then again, this reporter also just lost to Darryn. Darryn has had a charmed run so far, his aggro-control deck squashing David's "mana and bombs" and my own control deck. James faces both a quick clock and permission, a hard proposition for any combo deck. Still, we shall see…

Game 2

James has three or four sideboard cards he's looking at, Darryn has a more obfuscating style, looking at his entire sideboard and changing his mind frequently. Darryn: +Naturalize (x2), +Molder, +Rootgrapple, +Stifle, +Annul, -Meloku, -Dominate, -Kira, -Genesis, -Blurred Mongoose, -Vedalken Shackles. James: Very quiet. Deep in thought. I'm sure he's composing an excellent sideboard plan.

James keeps, and Darryn mulligans again! Will this be the difference, granting James victory? Or will Darryn somehow pull this one out as well? Stay tuned…

Swamp, Æther Vial from James threatens to blank Darryn's counterspells. An Island is scant answer, but James just has another Swamp after adding a counter to the vial. Darryn has Reflecting Pool, James has "add a counter, Island, transmute Shred Memory into Painter's Servant". Darryn has a Forest. James plays Lost Hours which Darryn targets with Counterspell, but James's Negate ensures that hours are indeed lost. Darryn's hand? Wickerbough Elder, Caller of the Claw, Skullclamp, Island, Island. Wickerbough Elder gets put third from the top of Darryn's library.

Island, Skullclamp, go from Darryn. Temple of the False God from James is followed by Demonic Tutor! James now has the combo. He plays Grindstone and Darryn scoops.

James 1, Darryn 1

Game 3

Darryn brings in Quiet Disrepair and Uktabi Orangutan for Skullclamp and Opposition. Good call, he doesn't need them.

No mulligans this time. Darryn ponders his first land drop and decides on an Island, while James opens with a Swamp. Darryn then plays a Forest and suspends Riftwing Cloudskate. James has Lost Hours again, which this time reveals Annul, Naturalize, Thawing Glaciers, Umezawa's Jitte, Forest. James sends the Jitte away for a while.

Cloudskate ticks down, and Thawing Glaciers comes into play. James plays Trinket Mage which fetches Grindstone, obviously. Darryn plays Yavimaya Coast, revealing a distinct lack of topdecking skills. James swings for two then plays Beseech the Queen, finding Necropotence. Darryn wonders "Is Jitte better than a random card? Probably." He draws it and bounces one of James's lands (yes, in that order… Darryn may be a great player, but he is not a terribly tight player). Darryn then plays Jitte and passes. (After the match, we discovered that Darryn did not realise that suspended creatures come into play with haste, which explains him passing up the opportunity to get a couple of counters on his Jitte.)

James swings for another two. Then, those dreaded words… "Ritual, Necro"… followed by "Annul", "Delay!" (okay, that last exchange may never have happened before in the history of Magic… but this is the History of Magic, so now it has. James draws five cards, dropping to 13 — wait, make that six cards — pitching Island, Swamp, Phyrexian Arena to the removed from game zone.

Darryn uses Glaciers end of turn, untaps, draws, replays Glaciers, equips Cloudskate with Jitte, and swings for two. James untaps and swings right back. Then Thoughtseize removes Naturalize from Darryn's hand, and reveals that the coast is clear (Darryn's hand is now Simic Growth Chamber and a Forest). James plays Damnation to remove the pesky flyer, then ponders, clearly tempted by the prospect of using Necro to draw nine cards (leaving him on 1). Tempted, and sold! He pitches two Swamps, two Islands, thinks some more… another Swamp, Sunken Ruins, Æther Vial. Who needs lands?

Darryn uses Glaciers in his upkeep, desperate to draw something useful – like a creature. Or a counterspell. Or artifact destruction. Or or or or… Darryn plays a land and passes. James has his turn! Ponder (digging) (shuffling) (mise). After choosing to shuffle with Ponder, James says "Oops, should have kept (that card)."

After a minute's thought he relaxes and states "If I lose, I lose." Painter's Servant makes everything black, Grindstone resolves, and a Dark Ritual enables James to wrap up the match right away.

James 2, Darryn 1

Round 5: Shaun v Enchanté

Coverage by Chris Chambers

Both players came into this round with respectable records: Shaun even at 2-2 and Enchanté at 2-1. My initial thought from looking at their decks is that Enchanté will have a slight advantage provided he can keep control of Shaun's card advantage engine, his Rebel searchers.

Game 1

Shaun wins the roll and, no surprises, elects to play. Shaun keeps his opener; Enchanté doesn't like his seven, and looks unhappy about his six as well but decides to keep. Shaun's first turn play is Windswept Heath, while Enchanté has a fancy land as well in Murmuring Bosk. Shaun then searches for Mistveil Plains end of turn before untapping and playing White Knight. Enchanté merely plays a Birds of Paradise.

Shaun swings for two before playing a two-drop Rebel searcher. Enchanté is unfazed and plays Ravenous Baloth, quelling Shaun's aggression for the time being. Baloth attacks the following turn, but Shaun searches out Defiant Vanguard which hastily trades with the beast. Enchanté plays Solemn Simulacrum second main phase.

White Knight attacks again, and after some hesitation Enchanté decides that the a card in hand is worth more than a 2/2 on board. Shaun again leaves his mana open to search out a new recruit on demand. Enchanté plays his sixth land which he follows with both Spike Feeder and Oblivion Stone, but Krosan Grip removes the Disk-like artifact immediately.

Shaun plays Mirror Entity and Gaddock Teeg; Enchanté can only muster Fyndhorn Elves for blocking duty. The broken changeling then makes all of Shaun's guys 6/6 as they attack. Enchanté scoops after his draw phase fails to produce an answer.

Shaun 1, Enchanté 0

Game 2

Both players start game two with seven card hands. Enchanté opens well with Birds of Paradise. Shaun plays Windswept Heath before going into the tank — enquiring how many cards Enchanté has in hand — and finally deciding that no play is his best play.

Enchanté has no land drop on his third turn, but Wall of Roots is a good substitute. Shaun tries to take advantage of Enchanté's paucity of lands by removing Birds of Paradise from the game with Swords to Plowshares, but Enchanté peels a land the following turn, allowing Ravenous Baloth to make another appearance.

Shaun plays Ramosian Lieutenant, a powerful card should the game go long. Enchanté begins his assault with four damage from his hungry beast. Shaun simply draws and passes, allowing Enchanté to swing in again. Just as in the previous game, Defiant Vanguard is fetched to trade with Ravenous Baloth. This time, however, Enchanté foils Shaun's plan by Putrefying Defiant Vanguard before it can block. Shaun is now at 12 life.

When Enchanté tries to attack with Baloth a third time, Shaun again visits the fish tank, this time deciding whether to leave G or W open. Finally he decides on G, and he then searches for Bound in Silence (it's awesome that a Rebel searcher can find a Pacifism effect) before passing the deck to Enchanté for him to shuffle it. At this point Shaun grabs to deck back to have another look (this from the man who the previous round vociferously complained about James's speed of play).

Enchanté has nothing more to do and passes, as does Shaun on his turn (even though he's holding a full grip). Enchanté then pays full price for Avatar of Woe; Shaun responds by searching out a bomb of his own in Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero. Avatar of Woe is tapped to kill Lin Sivvi the following turn, but not before it has searched out the pro black Chameleon Colossus. The Colossus attacks, and is blocked by a well-used Wall of Roots. Shaun, with eight cards in hand, decides that Mirror Entity is surplus to requirements and discards it.

Loxodon Hierarch comes down and Enchanté passes the turn without attacking with the 6/5 unblockable. Shaun now faces a tough decision. Enchanté can chump-block Colossus for ages, meaning that he'd lose a race against Avatar plus Hierarch. Shaun decides to continue with draw-go for now.

Survival of the Fittest comes down for Enchanté, but he has just two cards in hand to Shaun's seven. He decides that it's time to launch an offensive, sending in Avatar of Woe and Loxodon Hierarch, threatening lethal damage. Shaun's Wing Shards is brutal, however, sending both attackers to the graveyard. Enchanté hurriedly digs a Moat to prevent a counterattack. Shaun then plays Krosan Grip on Survival; a nice play, since split second prevents Enchanté from getting any use out of the enchantment before it leaves the board. Shaun seems to have all the answers at this stage, with an end step Worldly Tutor finding Ronom Unicorn, which promptly destroys the Moat, enabling Chameleon Colossus to attack for four.

Enchanté is desperate now and sacrifices Horizon Canopy in the hope of finding something of consequence, but he fails to do so. Shaun plays Steelshaper's Gift then equips Chameleon Colossus with Lightning Greaves, making it virtually impossible for Enchanté to remove it from the board (Living Death would be really good right now). Colossus enters the red zone, and an activation of its obscene ability doubles the damage.

Enchanté, despite having eight lands in play, would be happy to draw Tendo Ice Bridge, as this would enable him to cast Hellkite Overlord. No luck this time for Enchanté, who passes the turn. Shaun attacks again, but just for four this time. Preacher comes into play in Shaun's second main phase, prompting a concession (I hope Living Death was not the top card of Enchanté's library).

Shaun 2, Enchanté 0

Round 6: Matt v Glenn

Coverage by James White

This feature match sees the two most pure control decks paired up. On the surface Matt's deck looks like a traditional UW control deck, but a closer inspection reveals far fewer counterspells than are typically found in such decks. These spots are filled by an impressive array of creatures. Matt has the ability Tinker out Darksteel Colossus, an auto-win against some opponents.

On the other side of the table is Glenn who drafted mono blue control in its purest form. When asked about the quantity of Power Sink-like counterspells in his deck (there are six in total) Glenn states "It doesn't matter the quality of the counterspells if you hit critical mass." Eighteen counters backed by numerous creature control spells and card drawing plus an impressive selection of nonbasic lands has Glenn on a hot streak going into this round.

Game 1

The game begins with both players apparently content to develop their mana bases, the only interaction being Glenn tying down one of Matt's lands with Rishadan Port. Compulsion hits the stack on Glenn's sixth turn; Matt muses over the possibility of Glenn holding Power Sink before allowing Compulsion to resolve. The following turn Matt transmutes Drift of Phantasms into Thirst for Knowledge, and Glenn compliments him for (correctly) placing Drift in the graveyard as part of its transmute cost. Matt replies that he has played this game before and that he has played with Drift of Phantasms many times!

Stalking Stones-go is Glenn's next turn. Matt plays a main phase Mystical Tutor, putting Counterspell on the top of his library. Glenn says "Yeeeah!" before animating his Stalking Stones at end of turn. Matt takes advantage of of Glenn's tapped out state: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is flashed into play. Matt, aware that he's taking a risk, says "I hope you don't have Treachery." Glenn taps five mana main phase and replies "It's my other five mana control spell." Glenn's Persuasion has Teferi switching allegiance on the spot, which Matt is apparently ok with. Matt's answer is a main phase Cryptic Command to return Teferi to his hand, but this plan is Thwarted.

Stalking Stones and Teferi get in for six damage. Matt attempts Final Judgment, but Glenn has Desertion. Another attack drops Matt to 5. When Glenn Rewinds Matt's Austere Command the following turn, Matt scoops.

Matt 0, Glenn 1

Game 2

Glenn opens with Island, Flood. Matt's first nonland play is a signet on turn two. Callous Oppressor comes down turn three for Glenn; Matt chooses Efreet. Oblivion Ring takes out the Oppressor. Dandân is played to cheers from the crowd which are soon replaced by gasps as Glenn resolves Bribery against a deck fully of impressive creatures including Darksteel Colossus! Glenn discovers that Darksteel Colossus has been sided out and instead takes Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, which is devastating as Matt has stalled on two lands.

All Matt is able to do for the next few turns is attack with Dandân before discarding. Jushi Apprentice makes an appearance for Glenn, and Flood soon keeps Dandân away (if only he'd listened to his parents and taken those swimming lessons).

Matt tries to improve his situation with another mana artifact, but Glenn plays Forbid with buyback to prolong Matt's mana troubles. Glenn then plays Compulsion which he'll be able to abuse with seven lands in play.

Steam Vents shows up for Matt, and when he resolves Thirst for Knowledge in Glenn's end step, it looks as though he might make a game of it. It won't be easy though, because after drawing five free cards over the last few turns (three from Jushi Apprentice and two from Whispers of the Muse) Glenn now has nine cards in hand!

Glenn plays Persuasion on Dandân, to which Matt responds with Cryptic Command, attempting to counter Persuasion and bounce Grand Arbiter back to Matt's hand. Unfortunately for Matt, Glenn is holding Power Sink #5 (a.k.a. Syncopate). Glenn Dismisses Matt's Sower of Temptation the following turn, leaving the coast clear for Faerie Conclave to fly in for the win.

Matt 0, Glenn 2

Round 7: David v Chris

Coverage by Shaun Hayward

There appears to be a positive correlation between the amount of time that Shaun will invest in an activity and the increased likelihood of him winning something as a result. Which could explain the absence of any coverage for this round.

:P

Round 9: Darryn v Shaun

Coverage by David Chambers

Shaun sits at 4-3; a win will secure him a playoff spot, while a loss is likely to bring tiebreakers into play. At 3-4, Darryn needs to win this match to have any chance of successfully defending his title.

Game 1

Shaun won the die roll and elected to play, then looked at his opening grip and decided to keep it. Darryn, on the other hand, felt that he could do better; thankfully, he found his six card hand to be satisfactory. It was time for this much anticipated match to begin.

Shaun opened with a Plains; Darryn, a land and Skullclamp. Shaun used Enlightened Tutor end of turn to fetch Seal of Primordium. He then untapped, drew the enchantment, and used it as a sorcery-speed Naturalize to remove the banned-in-six-formats artifact from the board. Darryn spent his second turn developing his mana base: Simic Growth Chamber replaced his first land drop.

Shaun had equipment of his own on turn three: Sword of Fire and Ice. Darryn simply replayed the land he'd bounced earlier and passed the turn back.

Shaun attempted to get Gaddock Teeg into play, but Darryn had an answer in the form of Liquify. Darryn had no immediate answer, however, to Shaun's follow-up play of Defiant Falcon, although he did have Erhnam Djinn to apply some pressure of his own. Shaun equipped his Falcon, which then demonstrated remarkable swordsmanship by getting through for three damage, wielding the blade with the grace and finesse of a Serra Angel despite having to grip the handle with its talons. The Sword's triggered ability took Darryn to 15, and drew Shaun a card for his troubles.

The Falcon was granted another form of evasion in Darryn's upkeep: forestwalk courtesy of Erhnam Djinn. Darryn played Reflecting Pool and got in for four damage with Ernie, who attacked again the following turn but was sent packing by Swords to Plowshares. Darryn produced a capable replacement in the form of Wickerbough Elder, which came down and destroyed Sword of Fire and Ice, a nice two-for-one.

Shaun played Chameleon Colossus. Yikes! Darryn attacked with his Elder, offering to trade it for a regular-sized Colossus, but Shaun elected to take four damage rather than lose his changeling. Call of the Herd added a 3/3 elephant token to Darryn's side after combat. Shaun attacked back with his Colossus, and summoned Isao, Enlightened Bushi.

Darryn sent in Wickerbough Elder and the 3/3 token. Shaun blocked the 4/4 with Isao, who grew to an impressive 4/3 thanks to his mastery of the samurai code of honour and morals. Damage went on the stack, and Shaun tapped a couple of lands to regenerate the legendary samurai. Darryn had forgotten how bushido works — despite a top 8 at Nationals the year Kamigawa Block was drafted — so needlessly lost a guy to this on-board "trick".

Defiant Falcon, which had been quiet of late, finally recruited Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero, at which point Darryn picked up his cards and consulted his sideboard.

Darryn 0, Shaun 1

Game 2

Both players took a single mulligan to start the second game. Darryn opened with three Islands, while Shaun's first three turns involved playing two Plains, a Forest, and a certain samurai that had caused some embarrassment in the previous game.

Darryn played yet another Island, giving him enough mana for Cytoplast Manipulator. Shaun played a fourth land and Glorious Anthem before sending in Isao. Darryn took three, dropping to 17.

Miren, the Moaning Well was Darryn's fifth land drop. He then played Skullclamp, equipped his human wizard mutant, and attacked for three. Shaun attacked back for three more damage of his own before passing the turn. Darryn attacked, but Shaun's Krosan Grip destroyed the Skullclamp, reducing the damage to two. Unfazed, Darryn transmuted Muddle the Mixture into Umezawa's Jitte and tapped out to play it; one ridiculous piece of equipment replaced by another. Shaun played Enlightened Tutor end of turn, and quickly pulled up Seal of Primordium and Sacred Mesa and began to weigh up the pros and cons of each option. After delivering a lengthy spiel about how how could just "play round it" (Jitte) he again went with Seal of Primordium; as I'd expected, Shaun was full of hot air.

Shaun again got in for damage with Isao, after which he summoned Ramosian Lieutenant. Darryn grafted a +1/+1 counter grafted onto the Lieutenant, which enabled him to steal it with Cytoplast Manipulator before Shaun could fetch Lin Sivvi.

After getting in once more the following turn with the legendary samurai, Shaun's said "It's sick when you're using this shit [goodness] as counter bait." The statement was accompanied by Wilt-Leaf Liege, which Darryn allowed. Shaun passed the turn to Darryn who simply untapped, drew a card, and passed it right back.

Shaun went to attack, but Darryn stopped him so that he could Dominate Isao. I was actually a little surprised that this works: in my mind he's the product of interbreeding between troll and mongoose, with a hearty dash of samurai training thrown in for good measure, and is thus virtually untouchable. Shaun bade farewell to Isao, before handing him over to his new master.

Shaun gained inevitability by resolving Sacred Mesa, but since he had just four lands with which to power it a painful, drawn-out defeat seemed to be on the cards for Darryn (a prospect which Shaun was no doubt relishing). Before finishing the turn Shaun had one more action: he got up and went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl with which to cover his library. Shaun has had the odd nosebleed over the years, and was clearly keen to avoid a repeat of Grand Prix: Auckland where he received a game loss for twice forgotting the upkeep trigger of his Goblin Assault (and missed out on a top 16 finish as a result).

Shaun demonstrates his preferred method of remembering upkeep triggers

It was then Darryn's turn to attack with Isao, although the samurai's reduced proportions highlight an inaccuracy in Glorious Anthem's flavour text. Shaun made a pegasus token in his upkeep which he duly sacrificed to appease the gods (I don't endorse the notion that these are cannibalistic pegasi). Having successfully negotiated the upkeep phase, Shaun lifted the nosebleed bowl, drew a card, and replaced the bowl carefully. He passed the turn, leaving four mana open for pegasus production.

Shaun and Darryn focus on the task at hand, while Enchanté catches forty winks

Darryn attacked with Isao (representing post-combat Serrated Arrows?) but Shaun simply blocked with his 5/5 Wilt-Leaf Liege. This forced Darryn to tap a couple of lands to regenerate the legendary samurai; interestingly he elected to tap Miren despite having four Islands in play.

Shaun made two pegasi at end of turn, and opted to sacrifice one of these in his upkeep rather than create one specially for the purpose. He attacked with his pegasus — a 3/3 thanks to Glorious Anthem and Wilt-Leaf Liege — before using the Karakas he'd just drawn to return Isao to his rightful owner. Darryn looked down at this tapped Miren in dismay.

Darryn had Disperse to get Sacred Mesa off the board (and probably a counter to stop it from returning), but he had no answer to Shaun's herd of 3/3 flying horses.

Darryn 0, Shaun 2

Semifinal: Shaun v James

Coverage by David Chambers

Having avenged a 2-0 loss to Chris in the round robin by beating him 3-1 in the quarterfinal, James comes into the semifinal on a six match winning streak. To make the final he needs to extend this streak to seven against Shaun, who also beat him 2-0 earlier in the tournament.

Game 1

Shaun rolled 10 on 2d6 to trump James's 9, and he opted to take the first turn of the match. He sent back a hand containing Defiant Falcon, Changeling Titan, Sword of Fire and Ice, and four Plains. James took a mulligan as well, so both players started the game with six cards in hand.

Shaun opened with a Plains, James a Swamp. Shaun played a second Plains followed by Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. James just played another Swamp. Shaun's third land drop, Sungrass Prairie, gave him access to green mana. He played Ramosian Lieutenant after attacking for two.

James's hand at this stage contained Chrome Mox, Trinket Mage, Fact or Fiction, and Insidious Dreams, along with three lands. There were several possible plays at this point. One option was to ignore Chrome Mox for now and simply play an Island and Trinket Mage. An interesting alternative was to play Chrome Mox imprinting Trinket Mage, and to use Fact or Fiction to power Insidious Dreams. In the end, James played a third Swamp and imprinted Fact or Fiction on Chrome Mox.

Shaun played a fourth land to bring Ramosian Lieutenant online, attacked again with his legendary fox, and passed. James played Insidious Dreams in the end step, discarding Trinket Mage and two Islands (his whole hand) to put three cards of his choice on the top of his library. He then drew the top card, Necropotence, and played it immediately.

With Ramosian Lieutenant about to bring a Rebel into play on Shaun's side, and with Shaun holding quite a few cards, working out how many times to activate Necro was not an easy task. James calculated the maximum damage that Shaun could do the following turn with known information to be five. After deciding not to play around Glorious Anthem he paid 10 life, dropping to 6.

Crucially, however, James appeared to have forgotten about Mirror Entity, which Shaun recruited at end of turn.

Shaun 1, James 0

Game 2

James made the interesting decision to have Shaun play first. Shaun's opening hand contained two Plains, Enlightened Tutor, Ramosian Lieutenant, Amrou Scout, Krosan Grip, and Changeling Titan. He deliberated for some time before announcing "Actually, snap keep!"

"I think we define 'snap' differently" Koray said, laughing.

I chimed in "Anything under two minutes is a 'snap' decision for Shaun", whose slow speed of play is notorious. Meanwhile, James took a mulligan, but kept his hand of six.

Shaun played a Plains to start the game. James considered his options before playing a Swamp and ending his turn. Shaun played Enlightened Tutor in the end step, and found Runed Halo. He played the Halo the following turn, and proceeded to embarrass himself by making it clear that he could not remember the name of James's win condition. "Whetstone?" offered James. After those present had had a few jokes at Shaun's expense, James provided the magic word, and Runed Halo granted Shaun protection from Grindstone.

James played an Island and passed. Shaun's deck failed to produce the third land he'd hoped for. He played Amrou Scout and was done. James's third land drop enabled him to play Coalition Relic.

Shaun again failed to draw land, but was at least able to attack for two and drop White Knight. James charged his Relic in Shaun's end step. After untapping and drawing, James removed the charge counter to add B to his mana pool. Ponder rearranged the top three cards of his library. He then drew a card and played Phyrexian Arena.

Shaun attacked for four, dropping James to 14. James again charged the Relic at end of turn. He then untapped and had a really impressive turn. First he drew two cards, falling to 13. Relic again added B to his mana pool. He followed Temple of the False God with Damnation! After sending Shaun's creatures to the graveyard, he played one of his own, Trinket Mage, which found Grindstone.

Shaun played Ramosian Lieutenant, nothing more than a Squire at this point. James charged his Relic.

James considers his next play

James again drew an extra card thanks to his Arena, going to 12. Relic again added B to his pool. He played Brainstorm, which forced him to think for a long time about his correct course of action. "If I need it I can get it again" he muttered before playing Diabolic Tutor. He was very concerned about Gaddock Teeg, a card to which he had just a single answer. Lost Hours from James revealed Krosan Grip, Changeling Titan, Worldly Tutor, Wilt-Leaf Liege, and Oversoul of Dusk. Krosan Grip was sent beneath the top couple of cards of Shaun's library.

Shaun drew a third land at last, but unfortunately it was a third Plains. He played it, but could do nothing more. James charged his Relic.

James drew two cards, falling to 11. He played a main phase Lim-Dûl's Vault, and began to look through his library in five card chunks. He finally uncovered Painter's Servant in the final five. The game of hide and seek cost him seven life, leaving him on 4. He then played Sickening Shoal on Shaun's Squire, which cleared the way for an attack with Trinket Mage!

James Repealed Shaun's Runed Halo the following turn, which cleared the way for the win.

Shaun 1, James 1

Game 3

Shaun elected to draw this time, having seen the sense in James's analysis of the matchup. James kept his opening hand, while a lack of white mana forced Shaun down to six.

Land, Mox, go?

James got things going with Polluted Delta. Shaun followed with a Plains. James played a second nonbasic land, Crumbling Necropolis. Shaun played another Plains, and a turn two Runed Halo for the second time in as many games.

Nice starting hand: four lands and three tutors

James played an Island before lapsing into thought. He then played Demonic Tutor, sacrificing the Delta at the same time to find a Swamp. He revealed Necropotence, his chosen target. "You don't have to show me, but thanks" Shaun said. "I'm playing it!" James retorted, which he did with help from Dark Ritual.

James set aside the top three cards of his library with Necro. Shaun had Krosan Grip ready for it at end of turn, and split second prevented James from setting aside any additional cards. Shaun appeared to have nothing, with no play the following turn other than a land. James, on the other hand, had a hand was full of goodness: Diabolic Tutor, Temple of the False God, Willbender, Duress, Thoughtseize, Damnation, and Beseech the Queen. He played Diabolic Tutor (for Phyrexian Arena he told us later).

Shaun sprung into action suddenly. He played a land, Mox Diamond, Seal of Primordium, and Paladin en-Vec. James played Temple of the False God and used Beseech the Queen to fetch Repeal.

Shaun's Paladin attacked, dropping James to 14. James Repealed Runed Halo, then played Duress. Shaun responded by using Crop Rotation to search his deck for Mistveil Plains. Duress hit Runed Halo. (Shaun's decision to respond to Duress with Crop Rotation was a good one. Otherwise, if James had been holding a second discard spell he could have stripped Crop Rotation with Duress, leaving Runed Halo for the other discard spell.)

Paladin en-Vec attacked again, taking James to 12. Infest destroyed it the following turn, however, and James played Willbender face down. Shaun played Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero, but James trumped that with Brainstorm, followed by Phyrexian Arena, followed by Pithing Needle naming "Lin Sivvi"!

Shaun — his Lumengrid Warden unable to get past the 2/2 on James's side — could do nothing. James drew two cards, dropping to 11, and passed. Shaun's situation remained unchanged the following turn. James drew another couple of cards, going to 10. Shaun just had Tithe the following turn. James drew another two and ended his turn on 9. Shaun, again, had nothing. James drew two more, falling to 8, and played Lost Hours which revealed that Shaun was holding nothing but land.

Shaun finally drew some gas. He played Sword of Fire and Ice which threatened to end the 1/3 versus 2/2 standoff. James decided that he was quite happy with the status quo, so showed Shaun Negate. He then drew two, dropping to 7, and played Trinket Mage which grabbed Grindstone.

Another uneventful turn from Shaun was followed by an exciting turn from James. He drew two, going to 6, and played Thoughtseize to check that the coast was still clear (it was), losing another couple of life in the process. Apparently bent on self-annihilation, he played Doomsday! Despite his meagre life total, James proceeded to ask Shaun for a concession, showing him the Memory Lapse that could counter anything Shaun might draw. Except Nantuko Monastery, Shaun realised, which would bring Mistveil Plains online.

Shaun drew Anurid Scavenger, however, which predictably met Memory Lapse. James drew two, falling to just 1! He played Grindstone followed by Painter's Servant. Shaun responded to the Servant by targeting Grindstone with Seal of Primordium. James, however, flipped Willbender to have Seal of Primordium destroy Shaun's Mox Diamond instead. Grindstone was duly activated for the win.

James had stacked his library cleverly with Doomsday, putting Painter's Servant on top, and Brainstorm immediately underneath. He had drawn both on the final turn, and Brainstorm had given him access to a trio of useful cards should something unforeseen have happened: Negate, Repeal, and Shred Memory. Shred Memory would have ensured the win even if Shaun had drawn Nantuko Monastery. James would have waited until Shaun's upkeep to activate Grindstone. Shaun would have been forced to animate his Monastery and then activate Mistveil Plains. James would then have responded by using Brainstorm to draw Shred Memory, which would have removed Shaun's target from the game.

Apparently, this was the first time that James had played Doomsday in his ten matches with the deck! Not a bad debut, I would say.

Shaun 1, James 2

Game 4

Shaun again elected to have James take the first turn. James was satisfied with his opening hand; Shaun was not, but he kept his hand of six. James started with a Swamp, Shaun a Plains. James added an Island to his board. Sungrass Prairie was Shaun's second land drop. Shaun tapped both his lands to play White Knight. Um, yeah. Oops. Apparently he had mistaken it for its more recent relative, Wooded Bastion. He rewound and played Amrou Scout instead.

James played a third land and Coalition Relic. Shaun attacked for two with Amrou Scout, then played Ronom Unicorn, but did not have a third land drop. James charged his Relic at end of turn. He played a free Massacre in his own turn, to which Shaun objected "But I don't have a Forest!" Um, yeah. I think you'll find that's not actually relevant, Shaun. :P

James proceeded to play Trinket Mage which found Grindstone. Shaun played a third land and dropped his bomb, Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero. James charged up his Relic in the end step.

Shaun trying to Jedi mind trick James into targeting himself with Grindstone

Relic adds B to James's mana pool in his main phase. He played Painter's Servant and Grindstone for a turn five win.

Shaun 1, James 3

Final: Glenn v James

Coverage by David Chambers

James is the hot favourite in this match. Not only did he dispatch Glenn 2-0 in their previous meeting, he's also on a seven match winning streak, including 3-1 wins in both playoff matches thus far against decks that beat him in the round robin. If there's one player that should never be underestimated, however, it's Glenn Patel.

Game 1

James rolled a pair of fives to beat Glenn's eight. As in the semifinal against Shaun, he showed a preference to draw rather than play by giving Glenn the first turn of the match. Both players kept their opening grips.

Glenn started things off with a Snow-Covered Island. James played a Swamp followed by Thoughtseize which revealed Rewind, Force of Will, Power Sink, Desert, and two more Snow-Covered Islands. James placed Force of Will in the graveyard.

Glenn played a second Snow-Covered Island, and James played an Island of his own. Glenn played another Snow-Covered Island the following turn, and James continued to develop his own mana base with a Swamp. Glenn added a touch of variety with Desert. James, too, had a nonbasic in Sunken Ruins. He then played Demonic Tutor. Glenn tapped out for Rewind, but James had Negate ready. James's hand at this stage contained Reconstruction, Painter's Servant, Distress, and Insidious Dreams. He weighed up the pros and cons of Necropotence and Grindstone, eventually opting for the latter.

Glenn and James in action in the final

Glenn played Compulsive Research to draw three cards, before discarding Ray of Command and Confiscate. Not seeing too much to be happy about at this point in time, Glenn quipped "On the plus side I finally resolved a spell." He played another Snow-Covered Island and passed the turn. "That shouldn't be my line" he pointed out.

James tapped a couple of Swamps for Distress, which revealed Power Sink, Voidmage Apprentice, Disrupting Shoal, and Soramaro, First to Dream. James once again deprived Glenn of his "free" counterspell: Disrupting Shoal went to the graveyard.

Mouth of Ronom off the top enabled Glenn to play Soramaro, First to Dream. James did not have the land drop that would have secured the win (he had complete information at this point), but Coalition Relic was followed by Painter's Servant, naming black.

Glenn swung in for three with Soramaro, then tapped out to destroy the Servant with Mouth of Ronom. James, however, had Reconstruction to return it to his hand. He then played Servant and Grindstone, which he activated for the win.

Glenn 0, James 1

Game 2

James sided out Mind Shatter, Insidious Dreams, Damnation, Repeal, and Glen Elendra Archmage to make room for Volrath's Stronghold, Dreadship Reef, Gainsay, Pithing Needle, and Yawgmoth's Bargain.

Glenn removed Persuasion, Sunken Hope, and both copies of Ray of Command, but had a displeasing selection of cards from which to make substitutions. He brought in Dodecapod, Tradewind Rider, Submerge, and Winding Canyons. Not exactly stellar.

Both players kept their starting hands. Glenn, having opted to start, opened with a Snow-Covered Island. James played a Swamp. Glenn added another basic land to his board, while James played Dreadship Reef, a powerful sideboard card in slow matches such as this.

Glenn played another Snow-Covered Island, and James charged the Reef at end of turn. Play continued in this way for several turns, both players hitting their land drops but James gaining incremental advantage courtesy of Dreadship Reef.

Glenn tapped out on turn six to Confiscate the Reef, which by this stage had three counters. James responded by tapping the Reef for one mana which he turned into three by removing the counters. He then activated the ability three more times — removing zero counters on each occasion — to empty his mana pool. Once the paperwork had been dealt with, Glenn became the proud new owner of a tapped, counterless Dreadship Reef. Unfortunately, however, James already had a new toy in Coalition Relic, which he charged in Glenn's end step.

James added B to his mana pool in his first main phase courtesy of Coalition Relic, played a Swamp, and dropped Necropotence! He then played Painter's Servant, which made everything blue, before paying five life to set aside the top five cards of his library. He drew them in the end step, and removed Polluted Delta and an Island from the game.

Glenn played Treachery on Painter's Servant, which caused James to lapse deep into thought. He eventually decided to Negate the Treachery. Glenn then tapped out to play Dominating Licid. James's Distress resolved, revealing Glenn's hand of three lands: Azorius Chancery and a pair of Snow-Covered Islands. James paid 11 life in exchange for 11 cards, dropping to just 4. At the end of the turn he discarded eight cards.

Glenn played a land and passed the turn. James charged the Relic, and removed the counter for a blue mana the following turn. He then played Beseech the Queen off Dark Ritual to fetch Grindstone. Grindstone resolved, and was activated immediately to mill Glenn's entire library.

Glenn 0, James 2

Game 3

Again, Glenn chose to start, and again both players kept their opening hands. Glenn's hand looked dodgy, though, with just Stalking Stones and an Island to provide mana for Exclude, Power Sink, Dismiss, Future Sight, and Thieving Magpie. But for a player whose skill at drawing "natural Tron" earned him a Nationals top eight, throwing it back was not an option.

Two lands on the play? Keep!

Glenn led with the Snow-Covered Island, James played an Island of his own. Stalking Stones came down on Glenn's side. James again had Dreadship Reef on turn two. The top of Glenn's deck did not let him down: Rishadan Port provided a third land drop. James charged his Reef at end of turn, and again in his upkeep when Glenn tapped it with Port. He played an Island and passed the turn.

Glenn played another Snow-Covered Island, proving to the small crowd that he still had the touch. With four lands in play he was able to summon Thieving Magpie. James played a third Island, tapped it, and turned the blue mana into BB by removing both counters from Dreadship Reef. He then played Phyrexian Arena followed by Grim Monolith and Coalition Relic.

Thieving Magpie attacked: James went down a life, Glenn went up a card. Glenn then further demonstrated his skill by playing a Snow-Covered Island which gave him the requisite 2UUU for Future Sight. James charged his Relic at end of turn.

James left Grim Monolith tapped and drew a card from his Arena, going to 18. Relic added B to his mana pool in the main phase, Demonic Tutor resolved, and Sunken Ruins provided another couple of black mana for Necropotence. James paid four life, falling to 14. In the end step he drew the cards that had been set aside, and discarded Crumbling Necropolis.

Glenn drew Compulsion which had been sitting face up on the top of his library since Future Sight entered play. Future Sight then revealed Desert, which Glenn played, followed by Jushi Apprentice, which he played as well. Glenn then attacked with Thieving Magpie, drawing the Snow-Covered Island from the top of his deck and revealing Power Sink. Nice!

James dropped to 12 in his upkeep. Keen to avoid giving Glenn a target for Power Sink, James transmuted Shred Memory into Painter's Servant. He then activated Necro five times, falling to 7, and in the end step spent a good deal of time deciding which five cards to discard.

James with a grip full of cheap, efficient disruption and tutoring courtesy of Necro

Glenn drew the Power Sink and attacked with both his creatures. He drew Whispers of the Muse from the Magpie trigger, then played an Island off the top and passed the turn with Azorius Chancery revealed. James played Lim-Dûl's Vault end of turn, eventually paying three life, going to 2. Glenn, with nine cards in hand, discarded Compulsion and a land.

James went to just 1 in his upkeep thanks to Phyrexian Arena. Beseech the Queen then found Grindstone. James played Painter's Servant, but Glenn had Exclude. James removed both of Dreadship Reef's counters to get mana for Negate, but Glenn's Dismiss was enough to seal the win.

Glenn 1, James 2

Game 4

James had the decision this time, and again he elected to have Glenn start. Glenn's first hand contained two lands but no source of blue mana, so he sent it back, but kept his hand of six. (It is a testament to the consistency of these two decks that the first mulligan came in the fourth game of the match). James started yet another game with a full hand.

Glenn opened with a Snow-Covered Island. James played Crumbling Necropolis. Glenn played Rishadan Port and used it in James's upkeep to tap his Necropolis. James played a Swamp and passed the turn. Glenn played a third land and again tapped Crumbling Necropolis in James's upkeep. Things looked really bad for James when his third land drop came in the form of Temple of the False God. Another Snow-Covered Island on Glenn's side allowed Tradewind Rider to enter play.

James made the most of Glenn being tapped out by playing Demonic Tutor, with which he fetched Dreadship Reef! He played the land and passed the turn. Glenn's next play was brutal, however. Dust Bowl hit the board, and Glenn immediately activated it to destroy Dreadship Reef. Intriguingly, though, Glenn decided to sacrifice Dust Bowl itself rather than one of his three Snow-Covered Islands or the Port. Tradewind Rider attacked for one.

James correctly determined that the only reason Glenn would sacrifice Dust Bowl rather than a basic land would be to keep three blue sources around for Future Sight, a card that played a key role in Glenn's win the previous game. James's Lost Hours revealed Dismiss, Forbid, and Soramaro, First to Dream, along with Future Sight, which James then had Glenn place under the top two cards of his library.

Glenn attacked again with Tradewind Rider, taking James to 18, and passed the turn. James played Arcane Sanctum and passed the turn right back. Glenn tapped Crumbling Necropolis at end of turn; James responded by tapping it for mana and playing Lim-Dûl's Vault, but Glenn answered with Forbid.

Tradewind Rider attacked a third time. James played a fifth land — an Island — which brought Temple of the False God online, doubling his mana production capabilities in an instant. The 1/4 flyer attacked yet again, dropping James to 16. Glenn tapped out for Future Sight, but James had Negate. James played Fact or Fiction end of turn, and this time it was Glenn's turn to say "no". He returned three Snow-Covered Islands to his hand to play Thwart "free".

Glenn hopes Tradewind Rider will go all the way

Unfazed, James untapped and played Phyrexian Arena, then transmuted Dimir Cutpurse into Painter's Servant. Tradewind Rider and Phyrexian Arena each took a life from James's total, leaving him on 14. James then played Willbender — his one and only morph creature — face down, and Glenn's palm went to his forehead as he wracked his brain. "Mischievous Quanar?" he wondered aloud. James then transmuted Shred Memory into Gainsay.

James dropped to 12 courtesy of one more combat damage from Tradewind Rider and another Arena trigger. He attacked for two then played Æther Vial, which Glenn decided to Dismiss. James followed this up with Grim Monolith, which resolved.

Another round of Tradewind + Arena damage left James on 10. He played Volrath's Stronghold, attacked for two with his face down (and still mysterious) Willbender. Glenn attacked back for half as much with Tradewind Rider, then played a legitimate threat in Soramaro, First to Dream. James's Gainsay ensured that there would be no change to the status quo quite yet.

James fell to 8 in his upkeep, played Coalition Relic, and took another damage from Tradewind Rider. Glenn then played Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor, which resolved! James charged his Relic at end of turn.

James went to 6 in his upkeep. He removed the charge counter from Coalition Relic to add U to his mana pool. He then played Diabolic Tutor which found Grindstone. Duress snatched Disrupting Shoal, which cleared the way for the combo pieces. Even after playing Diabolic Tutor, Duress, Painter's Servant, and Grindstone, James still had enough mana to activate Grindstone immediately to claim the game, the match, the title, and the trophy!

Glenn 1, James 3

It's possible that Glenn could have taken the match to a decider had he kept Dust Bowl around. Full credit to James, though: after a shocking start in the event he rattled off eight consecutive wins — including three convincing playoff victories — to become the second History of Magic champion. Well done, James!

James holds the History of Magic trophy after winning the final

James pays his respects to Necropotence, his deck's MVP

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