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If you are a valid StarCityGames.com Premium member and still cannot view the article, please consult this FAQ. Miller/Goddard
I walk in during game one of Miller/Goddard as Eric is resolving a turn 2 Vampiric Tutor. He played a Juggernaut the turn before, but hasn't been able to get in for any damage yet because of Doug's Tangle Wire. Eric settled on Crucible of Worlds and played out one of his signature plays of the weekend: Chalice of the Void for one. Doug tapped down his side to his Wire, but couldn't do anything else. Eric now had plenty of permanents and got to leave his Juggernaut untapped this time and played out a Karn, Silver Golem as well - which, combined with the Juggernaut, will probably be enough to wrap this game up.
Pinchot/Folinus
I then head over to game two of the Pinchot/Folinus match, where Jesse is leading 1-0. Jeff started out with a fetchland for an Island and a Black Lotus and played out a Chalice of the Void for two - which seems like a really weird play to me, because that keeps him from playing his own Oath of Druids.
They played out some lands for a few turns (one of which was a Mishra's Factory on Jesse's side, which Jeff Strip Mined) and eventually Folinus played a Thirst for Knowledge, which he discarded two Forbidden Orchards. This matchup continued to get stranger.
Pinchot even cycled a Cloud of Faeries. I completely forgot that Cloud even had Cycling until I saw that.
Miller/Goddard Again
Looking back over my shoulder, Eric Miller has gotten another one of his amazing draws. He just played out turn 1 Gemstone Mine, Mana Crypt, Illusionary Mask, a face-down one mana creature, and now he is currently resolving a Vampiric Tutor on his second turn. I thought about Trinisphere, but since Goddard has a Mishra's Workshop out, I figure that maybe Miller got Time Walk.
Orlove/Zaun
Walking over to the Orlove/Zaun matchup, Knut tells me that Umezawa's Jitte won yet another game for Jacob. Game 2 just started and Jacob's got an Aether Vial, Island, and Mishra's Factory versus Mike's Mogg Fanatic.
Mike: "I have no idea how I got here. I never play Type 1. I'm not even sure, but I think that my deck is supposed to be terrible. Like Kiki-Jiki, I don't even know what he did until last round! When he played a Wild Mongrel game one, I thought he was playing Madness or something but then he played Jitte and I just got totally confused."
Knut: "This is like a preview for Rochester. We have a pro against a Type 1 star."
Mike: "Yeah, but the difference between that and this is that they're going to actually have good decks!"
Jacob: "The pros are still going to get a lot of wins against Type 1 players who don't know when to go for it and pass when they've got the win on the table."
Mike: "Type 1 players don't really know how to mulligan. I had some games when I was going manual with a Goblin Recruiter on turn 6 and that just can't possibly be right."
Right now, Mike just resolved a Goblin Recruiter and is going through the long process of figuring out his stack. Suffice to stay, it's not looking good for Jacob - but at least his Aether Vial is letting him drop out Wild Mongrel and Meddling Mage as blockers to slow Mike down. Of course, this also means that Zaun is "only" able to get one Goblin Lackey (powering out Goblin Ringleader at this point) past Jacob's blockers rather than three.
After getting out a Jitte and a second Factory, Orlove has finally gotten Mike to stop attacking. Mike eventually tries to punch through, forcing Jacob to take ten from a Goblin Piledriver in order to stop one of the Lackeys. The one that gets through brings out Kiki-Jiki, and it's not looking good at all for Jacob. Jacob sees that there aren't any possible outs and concedes.
I went to go look to see if there were any other matches to cover but this one looked like the only one that was still running. Jacob started the third game off with a Tropical Island, Ancestral Recall, Aether Vial, and a Mox Emerald, while Mike only had a Mountain. After upping his Vial by a counter, Orlove brought out a Phyrexian Furnace and a Standstill.
Jacob: "I only brought this in because there are so many cards in my deck which are terrible against you and at least this cycles!"
Zaun played yet another Mountain and Jacob played out a Basking Rootwalla with his Vial at the end of turn. On his own turn, he turned the Rootwalla into a Ninja of the Deep Hours and played out a Wasteland.
Mike eventually broke Standstill with a Goblin Matron and Jacob let it through. The Matron found a Recruiter and Zaun passed the turn. Jacob replayed his Rootwalla with the Vial and then swung in for five. Jacob played his Library of Alexandria, which he was actually able to activate. He discarded another Rootwalla and Madnessed it out for free. Mike played out yet another land (this time a Wooded Foothills for Taiga) and attempted Food Chain, which Jacob Force of Willed after drawing his LoA card. But Mike countered back with Red Elemental Blast to get the Food Chain to resolve.
Mike removed the Matron from the game to play a Recruiter and began to set up his stack. Eventually, he got everything figured out and used his remaining mana from Food Chain to cast Goblin Piledriver and then let Jacob take his turn. Jacob attacked with everything (Zaun blocked the Ninja with the Piledriver) and got in for six more damage. Zaun removed the Recruiter to play his Ringleader and began to go off, bringing out a Warchief, another Ringleader, two copies of Kiki-Jiki one after another, another Warchief, yet another Ringleader, and lastly Siege-Gang Commander and attacked for a gazillion.
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