Top 8 Gaming: June 15th WNM Feature Match Bonus Coverage!

Chris Goertzen (Eldrazi Hate Bears) vs Sean Murphy (G/R Tron)

Game 1

Chris mulliganed, while Sean kept. Chris kept 6 and scryed to the top.

Chris’s hand: Eldrazi Temple, Plains, Oath of Nissa, Temple Garden, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, and Leonin Arbiter.

Sean’s hand: Urza’s Tower, Urza’s Power Plant, Sanctum of Ugin, Karn Liberated, 2 Chromatic Sphere, 1 Chromatic Star.

Chris led on an untapped Temple Garden, playing Oath of Nissa and finding a Ghost Quarter. Sean led on Urza’s Power Plant and Chromatic Sphere, passing back.

Chris played a Plains and Leonin Arbiter, passing the turn back and putting Sean in a bind. Any Tron land could fall victim to a Ghost Quarter and he’d have to pay to search.

Sean cracked Sphere for green, played an Urza’s Mine, and played another Sphere and a Chromatic Star.

Chris played an Eldrazi Temple and slammed Thought-Knot Seer, stripping Sean’s hand of Karn Liberated. Arbiter hit Sean for 2 and passed. Sean drew and cracked his Star for red mana before playing Lightning Bolt on the Arbiter. Sean then played Ancient Stirrings off his last Sphere, finding Oblivion Stone and playing it! He followed up with two more Stars and passed.

Chris drew and slammed a second Arbiter. He followed up with Ghost Quarter on Power Plant, and Sean couldn’t fetch a basic in response thanks to being tapped out. Chris attacked with the Seer and passed.

Sean didn’t have Tron again, instead playing a Grove of the Burnwillows for his turn and floating red off his Star, drawing a card. Sean then turned that red mana into green by cracking his last Star, drawing again and then passing the turn with nothing to do with his mana!

Chris attacked for 6 and dropped Sean to 8. He played a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and passed the turn.

Sean paid two mana to Bolt the Thalia, then passed. Chris attacked for 6 again to drop Sean to 2, then played a Brimaz, King of Oreskos!

Sean drew the Power Plant and cracked his Oblivion Stone, wiping the board! He drew a card off the Seer dying and then cast a Stirrings to find a World Breaker. He passed the turn at 2.

Chris drew an Aether Vial and cast it, although it was a bit late to the party. He passed the turn back holding Path to Exile.

Sean drew. He played Sanctum of Ugin and used it to help cast World Breaker, triggering the Sanctum while exiling Eldrazi Temple! Sean found an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger off the Sanctum and played an Expedition Map, passing the turn. Chris used Path in the end step to exile the World Breaker, and Sean failed to find! His Forests certainly liked ending up in his hand.

Chris drew and played another Leonin Arbiter, and he was now empty handed. If Sean had an answer, it was likely he could stabilize and win the game. He needed a Tron land to cast Ulamog, though.

Sean simply shrugged and cast Karn Liberated. Sometimes you’ve just got it.

He exiled the Arbiter, then used a Sylvan Scrying to find another Tower. Ulamog was coming down soon and he’d be pretty hungry.

Chris simply drew and passed, and Sean traded his Karn for the Aether Vial. Sean cast Ulamog, exiled all of Chris’ lands except a lonely Plains, and then passed – Chris had the Path to survive, but needed action.

Instead, he found a Ghost Quarter, shipping the turn back. Sean calmly untapped and played a Wurmcoil Engine, Chris didn’t find an answer, and the game quickly ended.

Sean sideboarded:

IN: 3 Nature’s Claim, 1 Thragtusk, 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Forest

OUT:  2 Spellskite, 1 Ulamog, the Ceasless Hunger, 1 Karn Liberated, 1 Chromatic Sphere, 1 Sylvan Scrying, 1 Expedition Map

Chris sideboarded:

OUT: 2 Oath of Nissa, 2 Aven Mindcensor, 1 Scavenging Ooze, 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos, 1 Aether Vial

IN: 2 Surgical Extraction, 2 Stony Silence, 2 Burrenton Forge-Tender, 1 Sword of Light and Shadow

Game 2

Chris would be on the play. Both players kept their hands.

Chris had a hand of Noble Hierarch, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Path to Exile, Ghost Quarter, Razorverge Thicket, Plains, and Temple Garden.

Sean had a hand of Urza’s Power Plant, Urza’s Mine, Sanctum of Ugin, 2 Chromatic Sphere, Sylvan Scrying, and Chromatic Star.

Chris led on Thicket and Hierarch, while Sean played a Chromatic Sphere off an Urza’s Mine. Chris played a Thalia off his Thicket and Hierarch, then Ghost Quartered Sean’s land. Sean found a Forest, and Chris passed back.

Sean played an Urza’s Power Plant and cast an Expedition Map for 2 thanks to Thalia. Chris took his turn and attacked with an exalted Thalia for 3 before playing another Ghost Quarter and passing the turn.

Sean played Sanctum of Ugin and made a red mana off his Chromatic Sphere to draw a card. He then played Pyroclasm, wiping Chris’ board. Chris drew a Burrenton Forge-Tender, right on time.

He cast it, and passed the turn back to Sean. Sean played a Sylvan Scrying and found another Mine, playing it for his turn. Sean shipped the turn back.

Chris drew another land – he had 4 in his hand and no action. He attacked with the Forge-Tender for 1, dropping Sean to 16. Chris passed, and Sean cracked the Map to find an Urza’s Tower – Chris, the gentleman that he is, used the Ghost Quarter at the same time to get a Mine and let Sean find a Forest at the same time. How polite!

Sean drew for his turn, playing the Tower and following up with another Map. He then cast double Chromatic Star and passed the turn back.

Chris played an Eldrazi Temple and cast Thought-Knot Seer, revealing Sean’s hand of 2 Lightning Bolts and a Chromatic Sphere. Chris took a Bolt, attacked for 1, and passed, and Sean found a Mine with his Map.

Sean played the Mine, then cracked his first Star, drawing a card and making green. He cycled through the other Star, then used the floating mana to play a Sphere. He then played another Sphere and a Chromatic Star, then passed the turn with 7 colorless mana up.

Chris attacked for 5, dropping Sean to 10. Sean considered using his Chromatics in Chris’ end step, and did so, drawing a card off 2 of them before moving to his own turn.

Sean played a Worldbreaker and exiled an Eldrazi Temple. He used Sanctum to cast it, so the trigger found him an Ulamog, the Ceasless Hunger as well. He was able to follow up with a Thragtusk as well, and the game quickly looked to be getting out of reach. Chris used Path on the Worldbreaker, but the Thragtusk was a major problem.

Chris drew a Sword of Light and Shadow, casting it and equipping it to Thought-Knot. He swung with the Thought-Knot Seer and Sean blocked, getting a 3/3 Beast token. Chris passed.

Sean drew and cast Nature’s Claim on the Sword, and Chris went up to 24. Sean then cast an Ulamog, exiling both of Chris’ creatures and drawing a card off the Thought Knot’s leaving the battlefield trigger. Sean got in for 3 with his Beast and passed.

Chris played a lonely Leonin Arbiter and shipped the turn right back. Sean bolted the Arbiter.

Sean swung for 13 and exiled the top twenty cards off of Chris’ library, dropping Chris to 9. Sean passed the turn back with a very hungry Ulamog waiting to end the game the next turn.

Chris drew and cast a Hierarch and passed. Sean played Pyroclasm and took the match.

Sean Murphy ends the night undefeated at 4-0 with R/G Tron, carefully navigating his way through Eldrazi Hate Bears in the final match of the tournament!

Top 8 Gaming: June 15th WNM Feature Match

Ryan Ascott (U/W/R Nahiri) vs. Sean Murphy (G/R Tron)

Game 1

Ryan began the game by cracking a Flooded Strand and fetching an untapped Steam Vents. Rather than using a Bolt to Sean’s face, however, Ryan cast a Serum Visions and drew a card, scrying 1 on top and 1 on bottom. Sean followed up with Urza’s Mine and Expedition Map before passing, and Ryan just played a Flooded Strand and passed.

Sean played a Grove of the Burnwillows and attempted to cast a Spellskite, but it was met by Ryan’s Spell Snare. Ryan fetched a Hallowed Fountain at the end of the turn, played another Strand, and then passed back. Sean cast another Expedition Map off another Grove and shipped the turn.

Honestly, one day I’ll feature a match that has action in the first twenty turns.

Ryan, as if on cue, fired off a Lightning Bolt at Sean to drop him to 17. Ryan drew for his turn and passed back, missing his fourth land drop. Not bad for a one land hand, but still unfortunate for the control deck. Sean got an Urza’s Powerplant off his map in Ryan’s end step, then played it for his next turn. Sean passed, and Ryan fired off another Bolt and then a Lightning Helix to drop Sean to 11.

Sean cracked the second map after Ryan found a fourth land, Sulfur Falls, and passed, and Sean found his last Tron piece. Sean played the Urza’s Tower and debated his turn before casting a World Breaker and targeting Ryan’s Hallowed Fountain, his only white source! Ryan fired off a Cryptic Command in response, countering the World Breaker and bouncing his own Fountain to save it. Not bad.

Sean played another Map and passed, and Ryan played the Fountain tapped and passed back. Sean cracked his Map to begin his next turn, finding another Tower and playing it. Mana wouldn’t be an issue for him this game, but finding threats might be.

Sean cast an Oblivion Stone and followed it up with a Sylvan Scrying that brought Ryan back up to 20. Sean found a Sanctum of Ugin and passed the turn. Ryan drew a Ghost Quarter and played it immediately, targeting Urza’s Mine. Sean used his open mana to sacrifice the Mine in response to add the World Breaker back to his hand, and on his turn he played another Mine!

Ryan was in trouble. Sean cast the World Breaker again and exiled the Fountain, and Ryan wasn’t able to save it this time. Ryan cast a Path to Exile to try and end the World Breaker, but Sean responded by cracking his own Oblivion Stone to put it in the grave instead!

On Ryan’s turn, he played a Plains and then a Nahiri the Harbinger, ticking her up without discarding. Somehow Ryan was down to only 1 card in hand, while Sean still had 4 and the threat of a recurring World Breaker. It wasn’t clear exactly where the game had slipped away, but it definitely felt like Ryan was far behind.

On Sean’s turn, he floated 3 mana off his second Tower and sacrificed it to get a World Breaker back, using his mana efficiently albeit eating into his massive land advantage slightly. Sean tapped a Mine and a Grove for Sylvan Scrying, finding a Tower with a mana floating still. Sean followed up with the Sanctum, then cast a World Breaker, triggering the Sanctum, grabbing Ulamog, and exiling Ryan’s Plains. Sean passed afterwards, but the Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger loomed large. Without a discard spell or land destruction, Ulamog’s cast trigger would exile Nahiri and kill Ryan.

Ryan ticked Nahiri up. He discarded an Island, grimaced, and immediately scooped.

“I had an out, at least. A second Cryptic Command on your upkeep to tap your World Breaker and bounce your Tron piece would’ve locked Ulamog out for one more turn.”

With Nahiri at 8, one more turn was all Ryan needed. Unfortunately, his deck didn’t cooperate, and the Tron player won a surprisingly hard fought game 1 in a match-up that was usually quite favourable.

Ryan sideboarded:

IN: 4 Restoration Angel, 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Negate

OUT: 4x Nahiri the Harbinger, 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, 1 Supreme Verdict, 1 Mana Leak

Sean sideboarded:

IN: 2 Thragtusk, 2 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Crumble to Dust, 1 Forest

OUT: 4x Lightning Bolt, 1 Chromatic Sphere, 1 Expedition Map

Oddly enough, Sean’s sideboard looked like he was focusing on land destruction, while Ryan had very little in the way of interaction with Sean’s lands.

Game 2

Ryan kept seven and his hand was Serum Visions, Negate, Spell Snare, Lightning Bolt, Mana Leak, Path to Exile, and Flooded Strand.

Sean mulliganed down to 6, scrying to the bottom.

Ryan lead on the Flooded Strand, fetching a Steam Vents and playing the Visions in an exact mirror of how he started the first game. Ryan left both on top, a promising start that Sean felt was somewhat foreboding for him.

Sean led on a Grove of the Burnwillows, an inauspicious start that saw him cast an Ancient Stirrings and find an Urza’s Tower before passing. Ryan simply played a Scalding Tarn and passed, while Sean played the Tower and cast another Ancient Stirrings, sighing. Ryan chanted “miss!” fervently, but Sean took a Grove of the Burnwillows – still a win for Ryan, really.

Ryan played an Arid Mesa and left both his fetchlands uncracked. Sean drew and played an Urza’s Powerplant and passed back, and Ryan tisked. “Nice draw,” he said, completely ignoring the fact he played Tron for over six months at locals and was renowned for always “having it”. Justice!

Ryan bolted Sean in his end step after fetching out a Sacred Foundry and another Vents. Ryan simply played a Strand for his turn and passed the turn back. Sean didn’t draw the third Tron piece, sadly, and played the second Grove he revealed a few turns ago and considered his options. Ryan was representing any number of counter spells, but Sean still jammed a Crumble to Dust. Ryan cast a Negate, and Sean was tapped out. Ryan cracked his Strand and found a Hallowed Fountain, then played another Strand for his turn.

Sean played a third Grove and attempted to cast a Thragtusk. That resolved, and Sean went up to 22. Sean moved to his end step, and Ryan flashed in Restoration Angel! Ryan fetched another Fountain tapped and drew for his turn.

Ryan drew a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Sack. Infinite angels rained down on the battlefield, and the match moved on to a game 3.

Game 3

Sean chose to be on the play. Both players didn’t bother with their sideboards. Both players mulliganed to start. Both kept 6 and scryed their cards to the bottom.

Sean’s hand: Urza’s Tower, Urza’s Mine, Sanctum of Ugin, Grove of the Burnwillows, Forest, and Oblivion Stone.

Ryan’s hand: Scalding Tarn, Ghost Quarter, Plains, 2 Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt.

Sean lead on Urza’s Mine and passed. Ryan played a Scalding Tarn and passed. Sean played his Urza’s Tower and passed right back. “It’s gonna be that kinda game, huh?” Ryan asked, cracking his Tarn and finding a Steam Vents tapped. Ryan followed up with a Ghost Quarter on the Tower, and Sean found a Forest. Ryan’s hand needed to get better, and quick, or else Sean was on pace to hard cast all his spells.

Sean played Sanctum of Ugin and an Oblivion Stone, and Ryan fired off a Lightning Bolt at Sean’s face in his end step. Ryan played a Tarn and passed, and Sean played a Spellskite and a Grove of the Burnwillows. Ryan fetched a Sacred Foundry untapped and Path to Exile was cast targeting the Spellskite, and Sean declined to find a basic – he’d already drawn his second off his mulligan. Ryan bolted Sean right in the face again. Ryan played Island for his turn, Sean played his second shameful Forest, and passed. Ryan played a Plains and passed again.

Sean played his second Mine, and his second Spellskite. Ryan end-stepped a Restoration Angel, and then served in with it on his turn. Sean likely wasn’t going to leave O-Stone down again this game, so that Resto was going to have to do some work.

Sean passed again with no plays, at a perilous 11 life in the face of Resto. Ryan attacked and Sean fired off the Oblivion Stone! Ryan’s Restoration Angel and Sean’s Spellskite perished, and Ryan passed with 4 mana up. Sean drew a Tower and hard cast a Karn, Liberated, getting a Sanctum trigger and seeing the Karn get countered by a Mana Leak. Sean grabbed an Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, saying he “had a feeling” he was going to get there. He passed the turn back.

Ryan drew and played Celestial Colonnade, passing the turn. Sean drew and cast a Sylvan Scrying, and Ryan paused before letting the spell resolve. Sean searched and found an Urza’s Powerplant, finally completing Tron. Sean had exactly 10 mana and cast the Ulamog, following through on his called shot. Ulamog’s cast triggers targeting Colonnade and Sacred Foundry, and Ulamog resolved. Ryan used Path to deal with it, and flashed in Snapcaster Mage to flash Bolt back! He attacked with Mage to drop Sean to 6 before playing a Strand and passing the turn back with 1 card in hand.

Sean drew and played Ancient Stirrings. This would likely decide the game. Sean shuffled the 5 cards, surveying the board, while Ryan could only wait and hope for the rare Tron brick. Sean took a Crumble to Dust – basically a brick! Unfortunately, he also had Thragtusk, going up to 11 and taxing Ryan’s presence on the board. Sean still had the mana for Crumble, too, and was clearly thinking about it. He cast it, targeting Steam Vents. Ryan cracked his Strand in response, fetching out a Steam Vents tapped. Ryan had no more Vents left in the deck, and Sean passed his turn. Ryan drew Electrolyze and passed, likely hoping to set up a Snapcaster block + Electrolyze and use the Path to clean up the token. Unfortunately, Sean played a second Thragtusk, bringing himself up to 16! Ryan simply cast Electrolyze at Sean instead, dropping him to 14.

Ryan drew his card off Electrolyze and then for turn, passing back immediately. Sean put a Fate Counter on a Thragtusk, then drew his card for turn – it was another Karn, Liberated, and it went after Ryan’s last white source! Ryan floated white mana and fired off a Path to exile the Fate Countered Thrag, then used a Snap to flashback Bolt and kill the Karn. Ryan drew and passed his turn back.

Sean put a Fate Counter on his other Thrag and then drew for turn, shaking his head in disbelief. Was it good disbelief or bad, though?

Sean activated his Oblivion Stone, and his Thragtusk was the only thing that survived. He followed up with ANOTHER Karn! Ryan cast Remand, a temporary answer. Sean attacked with Thragtusk to drop Ryan to 14, and passed back. Ryan cast a Serum Visions, but he needed a lot of help. He went into the tank about his scrys, which were especially important given that he had just found another Visions. He bottomed both, cast it, drew, scryed both to the bottom. Ghost Quarter took out a Tron piece, dropping Sean to six lands! He couldn’t cast Karn, but he could follow up with a Thrag attack that dropped Ryan to 9.

Ryan drew and passed, with a dead Spell Snare and a Cryptic Command he couldn’t cast. Sean cast Stirrings, found another land, attacked with Thragtusk to drop Ryan to 4, and then curiously didn’t case the Karn.

Ryan found a Strand, which would let him find the fourth land he needed! Sean played into it a little bit, casting a Karn before attacks, prompting Ryan to fetch a Hallowed Fountain (shocking himself down to 1) and countering Karn while tapping the Thrag down. Ryan drew and played another Strand, and Sean drew and played Relic of Progenitus, cracking it to exile both players graveyards and prevent Snapcaster Mage shenanigans.

Sean cantripped through his deck a bit and finally attacked with Thragtusk. Ryan cracked his fetch, dropping himself to 0 and going out on his own terms. What a hero!

Sean Murphy’s R/G Tron takes down Jeskai Nahiri (with some sideboard spice) in 3 games!