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Jacob Orlove was the man who put the new Oath of Druids deck on the map in Vintage when he won the second Power 9 in October with Mean Deck's new take on the old favorite. His opponent for this round is none other than Eric Miller - a man who has a Power 9 title of his own to go along with two other Top 8 appearances. Eric is renowned in Vintage circles for his unique takes on Mishra's Workshop decks.... decks that have taken him to the top of the Power 9 standings time after time, especially here in Virginia, where he is practically unbeatable.
Miller's deck this time around is very similar to his original Riddler design. He said he made some minor changes to the deck to make up for the loss of Trinisphere, but overall he thinks the deck might actually be stronger than it was at the last Richmond. Orlove's deck is what has made him a small hero to budget Vintage players everywhere: the latest iteration of Worse Than Fish. His U/G design is meant to handle both combo and control decks alike while beating down with uncounterable weenies and providing card advantage all the while. Both players came into this match a 4-0, meaning all they'll need is a win in this round to possibly draw into the Top 8.
Game 1:
"I'll Force of Will that, pitching Ninja of the Deep Hours," marked the first real play of the match, as Orlove looked to keep Illusionary Mask off the table. Yes, Type One is just that cool right now.
Orlove played some weenies in the early turns, trying to add some pressure to the board before Miller could put together his terrible, trampling two-card combo of Mask and Phyrexian Dreadnought. Wild Mongrel turned into a Ninja right before our eyes, drawing Orlove a card, and then the angry puppy came back down during Miller's end step via a two-counter Aether Vial. "That's synergy right there," noted Orlove.
Sadly, in spite of all of Orlove's cool tricks, Miller's resolved Illusionary Mask plus two Phyrexian Dreadnoughts put game 1 away in short order.
Miller 1 - Orlove 0, or:
Artifacts 1 - Ninjas 0
Game 2:
"Let's see if I can draw a hand that will handle two Dreadnoughts and two Masks this time..."
Orlove started game 2 with a Basking Rootwalla thanks to a fetchland-into-Tropical Island. Miller's turn was much hotter, as the reigning Richmond champ played Black Lotus, Wasteland, Time Walk, Chalice of the Void for one.... and then cast Illusionary Mask on his Walk turn, causing a very stern frown from Orlove, as his Oxidize and a fresh Ancestral Recall off the top of his deck were now stranded in hand.
Thankfully for Jacob, Miller's hand had absolutely no more action for the rest of the game and Jacob's Worse Than Fish weenies began to beat down in earnest, dropping Miller's life to twelve and then six in subsequent attacks. Miller drew one more card and then shrugged, saying "That's game. Every card I drew cost a fortune and I couldn't get any mana."
Miller 1 - Orlove 1
Game 3:
Both players mulliganed to start game 3 (Orlove for the third time in the match), but Miller had to toss back his second hand as well, starting with five cards on the play.
Miller's five gave him turn 1 Black Lotus and a Gemstone Mine. Orlove Oxidized the Lotus during his own turn, but that didn't stop Miller from once again tossing down a very early Illusionary Mask. Wasteland on City of Brass left Miller with only one mana for numerous turns, but he was at thirteen when Phyrexian Dreadnought hit the table. At this point, Orlove's game seemed to unravel a bit, as a series of minor misplays cost him some extra draw steps.
For starters, Miller had two lands at the beginning of the game: a Gemstone Mine and a City of Brass. Orlove used his Wasteland on the City of Brass, looking to lock Miller out of reusable colored mana sources, but as an aggro deck he should have left the City out there to ping Miller whenever he used it. The next mistake Jacob made was simply playing one land too many from his hand, leaving him a point short of killing Miller on the attack before Jacob had to pack it in.
The final error was in not attacking after the land mistake. If he would have left his team back on defense, he could have blocked the Dreadnought and killed it and then rebuilt his hand via Standstill, putting any creatures into play with his active Vial.
Changing any one of those decisions likely would have won Jacob the game, but the combination of the three errors gave him his first loss of the tournament, while it put Miller into yet another Power 9 Top 8.
