June Tournament (tournament complete; scherbchen1 wins)

[Brandon822]

Bracket G

Disco(human) vs Shantak 2-0(Disco +2 pts)
Shantak(human) vs Disco 2-0(Shantak +2 pts)

Match 1: Disco(human) vs Shantak
Game 1: Very long game. He drains me and kills my creatures. I made him discard and make damage slowly. Finally he dies in his own Phyrexian Arena and Bitterblossom. 1-0.
Game 2: Easy win. AI gets two Ivory Tower at play early, but I use two Hymn to Tourach. Then Tombstalker comes and finishes the game. 2-0.

Match 1: Shantak(human) vs Disco
Game 1: Very long game(I had 13 cards at the end left in my library). Nothing interesting happened though. I end up winning with two Bitterblossom and Eldrazi Monument. 1-0.
Game 2: Tight game. I have lands and two Bitterblossom in my hand, but I don't draw any more lands in five turns. Opponent Has two Tidehollow Sculler in play. I play both Bitterblossom and opponent pounds me to 10 and kills my faeries with Stops. Maelstorm Pulse comes to save the day and I get rid of two Tidehollow Sculler. Tombstalker comes to game, but I Maelstorm Pulse it which i got from Tidehollow Sculler. Finally fairie army + Garruk tokens kill opponent. I end up with two life, so would have been dead in my next turn. 2-0.

[Cognis]

If thedrigo can choose which deck he will be paired up against you might as well give him a bye, I have no problem with that, I guess we have our first person in the quarter finals, congrats

[Serbitar]

Match D:
Brandon vs Taron

Human Brandon vs AI Taron 2:1 [Brandon +1pt]
1st game, I die to Progenitus while drawing all land.
2nd game, I Deed the little men and Lord of Extinction cleans up (I also have Diabolic Edict for a late Progenitus).
3rd game, AI plays T1 Gaea's Cradle, t2 Gaea's Cradle... yeah, I win that one. It takes some time though, as Lord of Extinction unfortunately doesn't trample.

Human Taron vs AI Brandon 2:1 [Taron +1pt]
1st game, I have some Hierarchs into t3 Progenitus. AI only does Diabolic Edict, to which I can sac a Hierarch.
2nd game, I have t2 Eureka into Platinum Angel and Progenitus, but the AI puts Broodmate Dragon and Hellkite Overlord into play and has removal for the Angel, barely racing Progenitus.
3rd game, I have t3 Natural Order, but the AI edicts Progenitus. I have to go for Eureka again, and this time the AI only has Broodmate and Imp to my Progenitus. Two dorks protect Progenitus from two more Edicts and I win a close race.


Match E:
Cognis vs Monopoman

Human Cognis vs. AI Monopoman 2:0 [Cognis +2pts]
1st game, my men are more and better...
2nd game, more of the same.

Human Monopoman vs. AI Cognis 2:0 [Monopoman +2pts]
1st game, I mull 6 lands into nothing exciting. The AI has much better creatures and removal. I stabilize at 1 with multiple Ringleaders, Incinerators, Matrons and win with Siege-Gang.
2nd. game, I remove some blockers to connect with Lackey and Ringleaders win the game.


[[Match F:
aww1979 Jundinator vs aww1979 MalcolmX

Human aww1979 Jundinator vs AI aw1979 MalcomX 2:1 [aww1979 Jundinator +1pt]
1st game, Meekstone annoys me, but I have way to much card advantage for it to matter.
2nd game, AI removes my first dudes and I hit a big landpocket...
3rd game, is close, but eventually the superior card quality of Jund wins it.


aww1979 MalcomX vs AI aww1979 Jundinator 2:1 [aww1979 MalcomX +1pt]
1st game, AI doesn't remove my t2 Confidant and I get Jitte online. Still, it is close and the AI punts the game by sending a cascaded Lightning Bolt to my head instead of my last guy.
2nd game, AI has more removal that I have guys (plus I get flooded), Broodmate Dragon kills me.
3rd game, again, I fight an uphill battle with the AI removing every creature on sight and having more two-for-ones than me. Meekstone keeps me in the game for a while and suddenly, the AI is out of removal. Dark Confidant survives a turn, and I win.]]

edit: just read, that this is irrelevant now. That being said, I really enjoyed the Jund deck: the second deck I had, which I almost submitted was Jund, too, but totally different. Mine had Hymns, Putrid Leeches, Confidants and at least 4 Fetches, which also make Goyf much better.

[Cognis]

Match B

Salbei vs Schrebchen 2-1
Schrebchen vs Salbei 2-1

Salbei: 1 point
Schrebchen: 1 point

Match 1 (Schrebchen AI)
Game 1: Force of Will against my Damnation left the AI full of creatures and in the end I died to Phyrexian Arena.
Game 2: A tough match but 2 Sorin Markov, Meekstone and Bitterblossom clenched the victory.
Game 3: 2 Bitterblossom and Vampire Nighthawk made short work out of the decisive match.

Match 2 (Salbei AI)
Game 1: Natural Order for Progenitus and it was all over, although the AI died to its own Bitterblossom.
Game 2: Bitterblossom, 2 Vampire Nighthawk and Meekstone were just too much.
Game 3: 2 planeswalkers were the key to the game, although Jace went ultimate it was Progenitus and a few other creatures that won the game.

[Cognis]

Match C

Aww1979 vs Jatill 1-2
Jatill vs Aww1979 0-2

Aww1979: 5 points
Jatill: 3 points

Match 1 (Jatill AI)
Game 1: Hasted Progenitus ended it before the AI was able to play anything important.
Game 2: AI played Progenitus and put me to 2 but I finally got a creature that survived the turn so I could play Natural Order; the only problem was that both Progenitus were in my hand so I couldn’t get rid of the AI’s one and lost.
Game 3: I was completely mana flooded and the AI played Simic Sky Swallower early on with a couple of walls so Drop of Honey was useless. I thought this deck would surely triumph over Jatill but I was wrong, but who knows, maybe the AI will play it better than I did.

Match 2 (Aww1979 AI)
Game 1: I controlled the board and was sure to win but than the AI played Progenitus and killed me in two swings.
Game 2: Turn 3 Progenitus with Concordant Crossroads was just too much. The AI just had a better hand every time. Frustrating.

[Cognis]

Match D

Brandon vs Taron 2-1
Taron vs Brandon 2-0

Brandon: 1 point
Taron: 2 points

Match 1 (Taron AI)
Game 1: AI played Gaea’s Cradle on turn 1, followed by another one the next turn. After a while and a few Diabolic Edict, Pernicious Deed cleared the board for Lord of Extinction.
Game 2: Progenitus got me a turn before I would’ve won.
Game 3: Elvish Piper was the key to victory.

Match 2 (Brandon AI)
Game 1: AI was mana screwed and I did it a favour by playing Eureka, but since I put 2 Platinum Angel and Lightning Greaves in play I wasn’t very concerned by his 2 Hellkite Overlord and Lord of Extinction.
Game 2: Turn 3 Progenitus was enough to win.

[Serbitar]

Match G:
Disco vs Shantak

Human Disco vs AI Shantak 2:0 [Disco +2pts]
1st game, I clear his hand and slowly start killing, now and then interrupted by removal, but I get there.
2nd game, I mull a 2x Hymn hand with only Plains for land. Nevertheless, I curve nicely with Hymn, Grotesque, Simulacrum, Baneslayer... I won.

Human Shantak vs AI Disco 2:0 [Shantak +2pts]
1st game, his hymn hits neither Bitterblossom nor Arena, so I win (I get a bit greedy with 2x Arena and 2x Bitterblossom, but there is enough lifegain in the deck: I end the game at 14).
2nd game, I have to mull to 5 (with still only one land)... still, I get into the game with Night's Whispers, Arena (AI seems to be totally flooded), managing myself at very low life. Eventually I win with Bitterblossom, Garruk and Monument at 2 life (dead next upkeep).

[One a sidenote, I really enjoyed playing Shantak's deck ]

Match H:
Nyktorion vs Yggdrasil

Human Nyktorion vs AI Yggdrasil 2:0 [Nyktorion +2pts]
1st game, Sword of Fire and Ice > Ranger of Eos for card advantage. I path a Balefire Liege, and that's already game.
2nd game, I have a quick start and always keep the AI on the backfoot. It also helps, that my guys are of the Goyf/Nacatl variety, while his more of the Birds/Pridmage.

Human Yggdrasil vs AI Nyktorion 2:0 [Yggdrasil +2pts]
1st game, 2 AI Paths accelerate my Bloodbraid Elf, but when that's removed, too, I'm left with Burn only (AI is colorscrewed for green luckily). AI stays colorscrewed and I draw 2 more Bloodbraids (cascading into Birds is not so hot, though *frown*)
2nd game, I keep a sketchy 2x BoP, Jungle Shrine hand, but the AI only has one land for the first turns. Then I have all spells (including 3 Bloodbraids) and win. I even get to cast one Balefire Liege, yay!

[aww1979]

@monopoman: The idea is that people wanted something less random, so everybody plays the bracket and then we see which deck won the most

@thedrigo: Giving Thedrigo a bye is actually better than letting him choose which of the two decks to face, since he might lose to me (a possibility nobody seems to have considered, making me sad :p)

@snacko: In real life, Drop of Honey DOES NOT target creatures, as you pointed out. However, in manalink, it DOES target creatures. This is why Nimble Mongoose, Progenitus, and Simic Sky Swallower survive in bracket C. Protection from green creatures also survive Drop of Honey in the computer version; I once made a deck exploiting this with Green Ward :p

For Bracket F, I have decided what we will do:

Thedrigo will play aww1979 jundinator.

The reasoning is that if I hadn't been stupid enough not to forget his deck, the deck of mine that I would have dropped would have been MalcolmX, since Jundinator proved better in testing. Also, MalcolmX is fairly close in style to two existing decks, salbei's and serbitar's, while jundinator is unique in this tournament. Apologies to everyone, particularly thedrigo and anyone who played the 'old' bracket F.

(please let this be the last time I screw up this tournament...)

@serbitar: I didn't use fetchlands because the AI likes to use them at end of turn, which slows it down a turn. I didn't use Putrid Leeches, because AI rarely pumped it, and only seemed to do it at bad times. The AI also seems to like holding back discard at times, though it isn't so bad with hymn; it usually plays that, but cards like Duress it almost never plays. Dark Confidant is great, but several of my cards have high mana costs, and it would suck to pick up Bituminous Blast or Broodmate Dragon with Bob. (I did use Bob in MalcolmX, where only 7 cards cost more than 2 mana, and cap out at 4) However, if the AI play were not a consideration, your choices all make very good sense, though I'd debate the Bob, unless your deck had a lower curve than mine.

[Cognis]

Half way done and already sick of Progenitus

[Nyktorion]

Bracket E:

Cognis defeats Monopoman AI 2-0 (Cognis +2 pts)
Monopoman defeats Cognis AI 2-0 (Monopoman +2 pt)

In the first game as Cognis, I mulliganed to 3 (just got 1-land hands, and still kept a 1-land hand). Still, I manage to get a 2/3 Tarmogoyf on the table, which held back a horde of 1/1 and 2/2 goblins. Finally, I got to play Sarkhan Vol, and 3 turns later, his ultimate decided the game. In the second hand, I again kept a 1-land hand (this time still at 7 cards). Luckily, I immediately got a second land. This allowed me to play a Goyf to block the ground, and two Skyfishers to win in the sky.

As monopoman, I won both games by first removing all opposition with Goblin Sharpshooter and cycling Gempalm Incinerator, and then beating downthe AI with lots of little critters.

Edit: Bracket F:

Jundinator defeats Thedrigo AI 2-0 (Jundinator +2 pts)
Thedrigo defeats Jundinator AI 2-0 (Thedrigo +2 pt)

As Jundinator, the first game was a quick win for me due to two Tarmogoyfs. The second game, I just kept the table clean for the first few turns using my removal. Then, I play some of my own threads, but they get either countered, or exiled. Finally, a Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Blightning gives me the necessary card advantage to win.

As thedrigo, I won both games by Natural Order into Progenitus. Game 1 took a while, since all my early creatures were removed, but finally, a Tarmogoyf sticked, and could be sacced. In game 2, I could play the combo at turn 2, thanks to Noble Hierarch and Lotus Petal.

[Cognis]

Match E

Cognis vs Monopman 2-0
Monopman vs Cognis 2-0

Cognis: 2 points
Monopman: 2 points

Match 1 (Monopman AI)
Game 1: Had a great start and then Ajani Goldmane powered 2 Kor Skyfisher to victory.
Game 2: Mulligan down to 5 cards for a great hand and excellent draw. It was over quickly.

Match 2 (Cognis AI)
Game 1: Opening hand – 2 Mountain, 2 Dragon Fodder, Price of Progress, Gempalm Incinerator and Goblin Ringleader.
Turn 1: Land
Turn 2: Land, Goblin Piledriver; AI plays Swords to Plowshares
Turn 3: AI plays Kitchen Finks; Land, Dragon Fodder
Turn 4: AI plays 2 Path to Exile; Dragon Fodder, cycle Gempalm Incinerator to kill Kitchen Finks
Turn 5: AI plays 2/2 Wild Nacatl; Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Sharpshooter
Turn 6: AI plays Elspeth, Knight Errant; Goblin Sharpshooter leaves only Wild Nacatl in play, Siege-Gang Commander
Turn 7: Goblin Army kills planeswalker, clears the board and puts the AI at 9
Turn 8: The end

Game 2: Opening hand – Mountain, Wooded Foothills, Goblin Bushwacker, 2 Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Matron, Dragon Fodder
Turn 1: Fetch land, Goblin Bushwacker for Swords to Plowshares
Turn 2: AI plays Kor Skyfisher and returns land; Land, Dragon Fodder
Turn 3: Fetch Land, Goblin Matron for Goblin Warchief
Turn 4: Goblin Warchief
Turn 5: Path to Exile on Goblin Warchief, Wild Nacatl; 2 Goblin Piledriver
Turn 6: Wild Nacatl; Dragon Fodder, kicked Goblin Bushwacker, traded 2 Goblin Piledriver for 2 Wild Nacatl, AI at 6, I’m at 14 and have Goblin Sharpshooter in hand
Turn 7: Imperial Recruiter; Goblin Sharpshooter, AI at 2, I’m at 12
Turn 8: Bloodbraid Elf for Imperial Recruiter; The end

[Brandon822]

Bracket H

Nyktorion(human) vs Yggdrasil 2-0(Nyktorion +2 pts)
Yggdrasil(human) vs Nyktorion 2-1(Yggdrasil +1 pts)

Match 1: Nyktorion(human) vs Yggdrasil
Game 1: Long game. Two Kor Firewalker is pain in the ass all the time, but finally get rid of those via sword. Grim Lavamancer s and bolts deal with other creatures. 1-0.
Game 2: Boring game. Remove versus remove and then little guys starts pinging each other. Finally I won. Grim Lavamancer was the key(in both games). 2-0.

Match 2: Yggdrasil(human) vs Nyktorion
Game 1: I mulligan to four and see first mana. Well AI is ahead all the time and I can't really fight for the victory. 0-1.
Game 2: Time to win. I start fast with mana bird and Figure of Destiny. Balefire liege comes to play and it and Lightning Helix destroys AI fast. 1-1.
Game 3: Time to win again. Third turn Thoctar gets Stopped. I kill two small Tarmos. Then I play Balefire Liege and next turn Woolly Thoctar. Game ends pretty fast, AI has only two Lavamancers in play. 2-1.


Bracket F(revised)

aww1979 Jundinator(human) vs TheDrigo 2-0(aww1979 +2 pts)
TheDrigo(human) vs aww1979 Jundinator 1-2(aww1979 +3 pts)

Match 1: aww1979 Jundinator(human) vs TheDrigo
Game 1: Good hand with 2 manas and Bolt and Edict. Progenitus doesen't show up and Broodmate Dragon ends the game. 1-0.
Game 2: Ok hand with Bloodbraids and Bolt and three mana. I kill green creatures fast and pound with Bloodbraids. Progenitus plays hiding game again. 2-0.

Match 2: TheDrigo(human) vs aww1979 Jundinator
Game 1: Good hand with two Noble Hierach and counterspells. I counter his early threats and make two damage in a turn. Then comes 5/6 Tarmo and i'm out of counters. Then comes Thrinax and game ends quickly. 0-1.
Game 2: Turn 4 Progenitus. 1-1.
Game 3: Turn 5 Progenitus eats Edict and AI races to victory with one big Tarmo I countered rest. 1-2.

[Cognis]

Match F

Aww1979 vs Thedrigo 2-0
Thedrigo vs Aww1979 0-2

Aww1979: 7 points
Thedrigo: 0 points

Match 1 (Thedrigo AI)
Game 1: AI was mana screwed so it never actually stood a chance.
Game 2: I had the solution for everything AI played so it was over quickly.

Match 2 (Aww1979 AI)
Game 1: Had a good start but Maelstorm Pulse killed 2 Noble Hierarch and left me with no target for Natural Order. Broodmate Dragon finished me off.
Game 2: AI crippled me with 2 Bloodbraid Elf and Blightning which discarded Natural Order, it has 2 Bloodbraid Elf and Sprouting Thrinax in play while I have Noble Hierarch and a 3/4 Tarmogoyf and no cards in hand and I top deck Progenitus (the other was removed by Force of Will). Lightning Bolt and Terminate kill my creatures and it’s all over.

[monopoman]

Match C:

aww1979 Cuddles vs. Jatill

aww1979 Cuddles vs Jatill 0-2
Jatill vs aww1979 Cuddles 2-1

Match 1 (Jatill as the Computer)

Game 1: I get out a lot of mana dudes and only one threat Tarmo which gets removed easily. The AI builds up a huge force of walls while I draw nothing but lands or mana dudes. Keep hoping to topdeck Natural Order. Simic Sky Swallower comes down and I draw a tarmo on the same turn. Never draw a Natural Order or a Drop of Honey early enough which would have helped.

Game 2: Get down early drop of honey which helps me against the wall force. AI gets out Progentius first which seems bad though. I do get out my own though the turn after due to top-decking Natural Order also. So they are both removed obviously.. Game goes on a while longer with AI trying to stop my beats by playing more walls and removing threats but Honey keeps helping me get a bit of damage through. AI finally drops a Simic I have no answer for it at all and the Honey will remove everything but my mongoose. AI natural orders for another Simic and that spells the end of me period.

Match 2 (aww1979 as the Computer)

Game 1: Thanks to AI playing Magus of the Vineyard I get out an easy 3rd turn Natural Order for Progrenitus. The game then is easily taken over by me since the AI does nothing special for the next 3 turns.

Game 2: AI natural orders for Progenitus before I am able to do the same. Unable to stall the game at all at that point.

Game 3: Forced to Mulligan down to 4 cards and get out some early walls vs. the AI's 2 llanowar 2 noble and 1 nimble. I get out Prog first via Order and proceed to swing in. AI has no answer for prog and only plays out more inconsequential creatures.


Match D:

Brandon vs. Taron

Brandon vs. Taron wins 0-2
Taron vs. Brandon wins 2-0

Match 1 (Taron as the computer)

Game 1: AI gets a 3rd turn Progenitus have no answer at all as all my removal is worthless vs. it.

Game 2: A similar game Prog comes down fairly early and smashes me again. Everything I have does nothing to stop it.

Match 2 (Brandon as the Computer)

Game 1: Nothing really happens for the first few turns except me getting some early beats in bringing AI down to 10 then I natural order for Progenitus and its all over the following turn.

Game 2: AI is severely mana screwed keeping a one land hand like a dork. Platinum Angel comes out on 5th turn due to Cradle+mana dorks = GG. Adding insult to injury I do end up Natural Ordering a Progenitus into play the turn before I would have killed him with the Plat Angel alone.

Match E:

Cognis vs. Monopoman 2-0
Monopoman vs. Cognis 2-1

(Monopoman as the AI)

Game 1: AI gets out some quick gobbos but I have Tarmo+Skyfisher+Goldmane Ajani seals the game as the goblin deck can't come back form it.

Game 2: Similar but this time I get Kitchen Finks+Ajani recursion which easily overwhelms the AI.

(Cognis as the AI)

Game 1: Can never mount a appropriate force to get the game going in my favor due to a bit of a land glut. The AI slowly stabilizes the game by playing out a ton of creatures.

Game 2: Get a lot of trading on both sides as each deck starts to race with the other. Goes much better as the goblin horde mounts with sharpshooter to help clear the way easy win.

Game 3: Similar to G2 Sharpshooter helps clear the way and gain RIDICULOUS card advantage. Game keeps going back and forth but then the goblin horde swings in for a crap ton and wins.

[Yggdrasil]

Cognis defeats Monopoman AI 2-0 (Cognis +2 pts)
Monopoman was defeated by Cognis AI 0-2 (Cognis +5 pts)

Cognis
Round 1 : an early wall of reverence was the key
Round 2 : again, a wall of reverence hold the goblins. Then a sword of plowshares, 2 eternal witnesses and 2 kor skyfishers gave me a lot of ammos to deal with the threats (sword + sword + sword +...).

Monopoman
Round 1 : I began the round with 2 lands in hand, and didn't draw my third until turn 5. It was lethal against AI's army.
Round 2 : an army of tarmo, Kor Skyfisher and Nacatl was stronger than my gobs.