"The Italian Stallion versus The Mad Scientist" is the billing for this match. Zvi Mowshowitz is a name who everyone is familiar with, while Antonino DeRosa is a longtime pro who has posted consistent but unamazing finishes over the last couple of years... Well, at least until Grand Prix: Kansas City two weeks ago, where he took it all. Zvi is playing YMG's three-color Oath of Druids deck, while DeRosa is running the Myr Incubator/Tinker deck that CMU-TOGIT cooked up.

Being his usual, charismatic self, DeRosa chatted while shuffling up. "On Wednesday, I gave a lady a lapdance on stage at The Cat's Meow. It was her birthday, so me and Gerard Fabiano decided to go up there and give her a treat."

Game 1:
Zvi had to Paris to five, as he complained to Antonino to"Stop giving me one land!"

DeRosa clearly had other things on his mind, though, as he checked out the neighboring Feature Match and commented"Tomi Walamies is sooo sexy. Just look at him. The ladies think he's nice."

Zvi finally kicked things off with a Treetop Village and an Island, while Antonino started with the equally intimidating"Island, Rishadan Port" combo. "I wish I knew what your deck did," said DeRosa. Zvi replied,"Well, your scouts can't tell you everything, ya know."

"It looks like Turboland. You're Zvi - you could be playing Turboland!" Zvi just shrugged and gave Antonino no clue as to what he was actually playing.

Chalice of the Void hit the board for two on DeRosa's side, while Zvi began sending the Treetop Village into the Red Zone. DeRosa played a Masticore, while Zvi continued to drop lands on his side of the board. The Masticore got his dirty on, dropping Zvi to sixteen.

"I'm sorry I'm taking so long - I'm really kinda stupid, so just bear with me here," said DeRosa - playing dumb is a classic DeRosa mind game - while Zvi, unfazed, just shrugged and said,"I haven't said a word."

Apparently, Antonino couldn't decide whether to untap his Grim Monolith or to Port Zvi's Village, but eventually settled on waiting to see what sort of action Zvi had on his turn, and finally untapped his Monolith during Zvi's end of turn step. On his own turn, Antonino again threw Masticore into the Red Zone, dropping Zvi to twelve, and cast Myr Incubator.

Zvi couldn't find any answers to the Incubator, and scooped up his cards without making Antonino dig out twenty 1/1 artifact creatures to finish him off.

Antonino 1 - Zvi 0

Antonino:"Can I ask Tomi Walamies what to sideboard? He might know... I still don't know what your deck does."

Zvi:"I wish I had played Hermit."

Antonino
In: 2 Chain of Vapor and something unknown.
Out: Mindslaver, Masticore, and Chalice of the Void.

Game 2:
DeRosa had to Paris this time, as Zvi dropped a first-turn Chrome Mox, imprinting Cognivore and an Island. Counterspell got rid of Antonino's Grim Monolith, as the Italian continued to play Port tricks with Zvi's Islands. But the mad scientist was nonplussed by this as he cast Isochron Scepter, imprinting Counterspell. DeRosa resolved a Tangle Wire while Zvi was tapped out.

The game slowed to a crawl as both players played underneath the Tangle Wire, and then underneath a second one that DeRosa managed to sneak through. Stroke of Genius for five rebuilt Antonino's hand, as Zvi couldn't manage to get any pressure going even though Antonino had dropped all the way down to six life from using Ancient Tomb repeatedly.

Zvi countered a Tinker on a Tangle Wire, but Antonino was able to sneak a Grim Monolith through, and then cast a Chalice of the Void for two, thus shutting down all of Zvi's Counterspells. On his next turn, DeRosa cast Phyrexian Colossus, while Zvi cast Cunning Wish for Illusion / Reality during Antonino's end step. Reality destroyed Antonino's Chalice, bringing the Sceptered Counterspells back online - but Zvi still had to survive some beatings from the Colossus first.

Another end-of-turn Wish nabbed Teferi's Response for Zvi, making Antonino's Rishadan Port usage much more challenging.

"Teferi's Response? That's very tricky, Zvi... You ready for those Ponza decks?"

Zvi Naturalized the Colossus, neutralizing Antonino's threats with Counterspell backup again as the mad scientist seemed to be setting up for his kill.

Zvi decided to let Thran Dynamo and Metalworker resolve, and then played Isochron Scepter, imprinting Fire / Ice. Fire destroyed Antonino's Metalworker, and an end-of-turn Stroke of Genius for three cards met a Mana Leak. Chalice of the Void for two was promptly countered as well - but this let Antonino slide Upheaval through, and recast a Monolith, Voltaic Key, Thran Dynamo, and Tangle Wire.

Zvi sighed with exasperation at his deck, while Antonino swung with his little metal man, yelling"Get in there!" as it plinked away Zvi's life one at a time.

"I'm sorry I do this really slowly - I've just never done this before," Antonino apologized.

"Way to cheer me up, Antonino..."

DeRosa cast another Metalworker, but Zvi Rack and Ruined both of them during his upkeep, as DeRosa exclaimed,"What?! My win condition is gone!"

He was obviously lying through his pearly white teeth, though, as he cast a Masticore, while Zvi responded with Isochron Scepter, imprinting another Fire / Ice. An end-of-turn Fire plus another Fire during Zvi's upkeep were Zvi's first damage of the game - and was the end of the game. Thanks to Antonino's flagrant use of Ancient Tomb, Antonino was down to a fragile four life. Prompting Zvi to say,"Yep, he dug his own grave. I'm not saying he was wrong to do it, but he did that one himself."

Zvi 1 - Antonino 1

Game 3:
"Yeah! First-turn Monolith, how bout that?" was Zvi's complaint as DeRosa got his engine going in a hurry. A Tinker, targeting Seat of the Synod, got Counterspelled, while Zvi cast Isochron Scepter on his turn, once again Imprinting Counterspell.

Zvi called a judge over to watch for slow play with ten minutes on the clock, as Antonino apologized and said,"Sorry, Zvi, but this is hard." Zvi countered Tangle Wire, while Tinker from DeRosa traded a tapped Monolith for a Myr Incubator, which was promptly sacrificed for twenty-five 1/1 artifact creatures.

"Yeah, Antonio!" was Osyp's cry as the TOGIT spectators cheered on their teammate, while Zvi was clearly dejected - and actually seemed upset enough that we couldn't get his sideboarding information before he disappeared from the Feature Match area.

Antonino 2 - Zvi 1