Hey! I'm back!
I took a break from tournaments in August due to work and family life. However, I'm making a big comeback with a double Duel Commander weekend in Quebec City. Two days, two stores, two tournaments, and two Dual Lands to win.
Although I considered my deck options for the weekend, I went with my trusty Aragorn, King of Gondor. It's a strategy I like, and it's served me well in the past.
On Saturday, a Tropical Island is up for grabs at L'Arène des Dieux. Here's a summary of the rounds:
Round 1 - Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar (loss)
Round 2 - Elminster (win)
Round 3 - Deadpool, Trading Card (loss)
Round 4 - Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd (win)
Round 5 - Leovold, Emissary of Trest (loss)
Round 6 - Grist, the Hunger Tide (win)
Asmo really caught me off guard. I knew the deck was aggressive, but my opponent had perfect openings, and unfortunately, I didn't have the perfect answers.
Elminster was fairly easy to play, as I designed my deck to play against control decks with lots of Flash creatures to apply pressure and keep my counterspells safe.
Deadpool was a close match against a good friend. I hate playing against this commander, but playing against Frédéric is always a pleasure despite the loss.
Phelia ended fairly quickly as well, given my multiple interaction spells. Notably, I killed my opponent at 19 life by playing Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury from my hand, then from my graveyard, and enchanting it with Detective's Phoenix to attack my opponent in the air (I had another Flying creature for the missing 2 damage).
Leovold was a rematch from a Face-Off tournament. My opponent got his revenge and appreciated the lessons he learned from one game to the next. Although I was a little bitter about my defeat, his comment reminded me why I love playing Magic so much: learning and improving one game at a time. I wanted to thank him for that.
Grist was a duel I was dreading. Philippe is a skilled player, and Grist's graveyard strategy is more difficult for Aragorn to interact with. I nevertheless managed to pull off a surprise win thanks to a rare mistake on his part and some lucky breaks on my end.
So I finished with a 3-3 record. Disappointing, but at least as many wins as losses. I'm leaving the tournament hoping to do better tomorrow.
Sunday, a Scrubland deck to be won at La Boutique Mythique. Here's a recap of the rounds:
Round 1 - Azusa, Lost but Seeking (draw)
Round 2 - Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar (win)
Round 3 - Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel (win)
Round 4 - Slimefoot and Squee (loss)
Round 5 - Golos, Tireless Pilgrim (loss)
Round 6 - Ketramose, the New Dawn (win)
Azuza is a land deck that's difficult to interact with. My plan was to be aggressive while delaying my opponent's plan as much as possible. Delaëlle didn't make it easy for me, and we went to a timed draw to finish the third game.
Asmo was close, but I got my revenge!
Malcolm is a deck somewhat similar to mine, but with fewer colors. Some see this as an advantage given the simplicity of the mana base and its consistency. Personally, I see a lack of tools that the other colors provide.
Slimefoot and Squee is another graveyard deck I was a little wary of. I had specifically added two or three cards to be competitive. It was close, but I ended up losing.
Golos was a somewhat unknown deck. In the end, it's a five-color version of Azusa. In the first game, I wasn't prepared, and in the second, my deck simply didn't cooperate. These things happen, unfortunately.
Ketramose was also quite close, but I managed to win the final round to secure a positive record of 3-2-1, good for 16th place out of 48 players.
In the end, the Dual Lands eluded me. Nevertheless, these were two more great tournaments in this format, which is quietly becoming one of my favorites.
See you next week for the return of the cEDH tournament at Coin du Jeu and their 24-hour gaming event for Extra Life.