July Tournament (in progress)

[aww1979]

@Cognis: I tried to make a poll just now, but there is a forum limit of 10 options in the poll, and there are 12 decks. Good idea, though.

With Yggdrasil's results, Monopoman is now ahead by 4 points. This means that unless Taron plays and loses with Monopoman to aww1979 as the AI, Monopoman has won. I didn't set a deadline yet for round 2, but I'll wait until the end of this Tuesday for Taron; if he does not report by then, I will declare Monopoman the winner and move on with round 3.

[Shantak]

FYI, I'm away from home the next week and can't take part in round 3, so don't mind missing my results when the new round starts.

[Cognis]

I already played round 3 between Yggdrasil and me since we are both through. It was a close match as it can be seen.

Bracket Epsilon

Cognis vs Yggdrasil 2-0
Yggdrasil vs Cognis 2-0

Cognis: 2 points
Yggdrasil: 2 points

Match 1 (Yggdrasil AI)
Game 1: I get an aggressive start and bring the AI to 11 but then Damnation clears the board. A few removal spells later and Qasali Pridemage is going for victory. The AI enters the race with Demigod of Revenge but it’s not enough.
Game 2: I keep a one land hand with 2 Noble Hierarch and Wilt-Leaf Liege. I draw another one and have three on turn 2. Turn 3 Baneslayer Angel and then have to discard Wilt-Leaf Liege to Blightning. Turn 4 I play Kirchen Finks and the AI is at 8. Damnation clears the board and mana screws me significantly since I only have 2 lands and another angel in hand. My persistent finks put the AI at 8 but then Demigod of Revenge takes me to 21. I play another thinks and it is game over next round. AI plays Vampire Nighthawk and after blocking finks stays at 4 while I’m at 12 after Demigod of Revenge. I play Watchwolf. AI plays another Vampire Nighthawk and I’m at 5 while the AI is at 2 but I get a land and play Baneslayer Angel. The AI doesn’t attack. I play Path to Exile on vampire and swing for the win with everything I have. A close match.

Match 2 (Cognis AI)

Game 1: Oppening hand – Swamp, Hymn to Tourach, Nezumi Shortfang, Blightning, 2 Damnation, I mulligan into 2 fetch lands, Badlands, Lightning Bolt, Bitterblossom, Death’s Shadow; I play first

Turn 1: Play Badlands
AI – Forest, Noble Hierarch taken out by Lightning Bolt
Turn 2: Draw Damnation, Play fetch land for Badlands, Bitterblossom
AI – Forest
Turn 3: Draw Lightning Bolt, Play fetch land
AI – Plains, Swords to Plowshares on token
Turn 4: Draw Chainer’s Edict, Play nothing
AI – Plains, Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers, Path to Exile (Swamp and I activate fetch land)
Turn 5: Draw Blightning, Play Blightning (Watchwolf, Baneslayer Angel)
AI – fetch land, Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Turn 6: Draw Demigod of Revenge, Play Damnation
AI – nothing
Turn 7: Draw Draw Demigod of Revenge, Play nothing
AI – Qasali Pridemage taken out by Lightning Bolt
Turn 8: Draw Swamp, Play Swamp, Demigod of Revenge, AI at 10, Me at 13
AI – Noble Hierarch
Turn 9: Draw Blightning, Play Demigod of Revenge; game over

Game 2: Oppening hand – Mountain, Badlands, Bitterblossom, Terminate, 2 Chainer’s Edict, Damnatio; I play first

Turn 1: Play Badlands
AI – Forest, Noble Hierarch
Turn 2: Draw Swamp, Play Swamp, Bitterblossom
AI – Plains, Kitchen Finks
Turn 3: Draw Bitterblossom, Play Mountain, Bitterblossom
AI – Forest, Path to Exile (Swamp), Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Turn 4: Draw Vampire Nighthawk, Play Damnation
AI – Forest, Kitchen Finks. AI 26, Me 11
Turn 5: Draw Hymn to Tourach, Play Chainer’s Edict
AI – Watchwolf and I Terminate it
Turn 6: Draw Bitterblossom, Play Vampire Nighthawk
AI – Forest, Watchwolf
Turn 7: Draw Lightning Bolt, Play Chainer’s Edict, attack, AI 20, Me 7
AI – Path to Exile (Swamp) on vampire, I Lightning Bolt Watchwolf
Turn 8: Draw Swamp, Play Swamp, Hymn to Tourach (Path to Exile, Qasali Pridemage), attack, AI 14, Me 5
AI – Savannah
Turn 9: Draw Mountain, Play Mountain, attack, flashback Chainer’s Edict, AI 6, Me 3
AI –Gaddock Teeg
Turn 10: Draw Blightning, Play attack for the win at the last moment since I was left at 1

[juzamjedi]

YggDrasil vs. Cognis
YggDrasil as human win 2-0
Game 1 I have Swamp, 2x Badlands, Bloodstained Mire, Blightning, Nezumi Shortfang and Vampire Nighthawk. Keep.
AI plays T1 Noble Hierarch and T2 Swords to Plowshares his own Hierarch. Seriously I play T2 Hymn to Tourach, T3 Blightning, T4 Vampire Nighthawk, T5 Vampire Nighthawk + Nezumi Shortfang. T6 Bitterblossom + Chainer's Edict + flip Nezumi. T7 Demigod of Revenge. Sometimes these games take a lot of skill to win
Game 2 I have 2x Swamp, Bitterblossom, Hymn to Tourach, 2x Nezumi Shortfang, Demigod of Revenge. Keep.
I go T2 Hymn to Tourach, T3 Hymn to Tourach, T4 Bitterblossom + Nezumi (it dies), T5 play another Nezumi + Blightning (AI has no hand), T6 Demigod of Revenge, T7 Demigod of Revenge #2. Lots of skill, etc.

Cognis as human win 2-0
Game 1 I have Plains, Savannah, 2x Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers, Wilt-Leaf Liege. Keep.
AI keeps a 1 land hand and discards for 4 turns in a row while I beat down. Lots of skill, etc.
Game 2 I have Forest, Plains, Gaddock Teeg, Kitchen Finks, Swords to Plowshares, 2x Baneslayer Angel. Hopefully one of my Baneslayers will survive in hand until I have 5 mana. Keep.
AI doesn't hit my hand at all; it plays Nezumi, but I kill each of them on sight until he plays his 3rd (!) one. Meanwhile I am getting beat down by Vampire Nighthawks and Kitchen Finks isn't racing them well. I now have a 3rd Baneslayer in hand, but still no 5th mana. But then AI does a curious thing and casts Damnation ; my Kitchen Finks persist and now I am ahead on board, but losing 21 to 8 life. I finally draw my 5th land and cast Baneslayer. I only play 1 of them though so I don't die to a topdecked Damnation. No more removal comes from AI and I steal the game!!!

[aww1979]

I'm declaring Monopoman the winner of Bracket Delta. Thanks to myself for playing, better luck next time, hehe, and grats to Monopoman. The brackets for Round 3 are as follows:

Round 3:
Bracket Epsilon: Alpha winner vs Beta winner
COGNIS vs YGGDRASIL

Bracket Zeta: Gamma winner vs Delta winner
JUZAMJEDI vs MONOPOMAN

[Serbitar]

Cognis vs Yggdrasil

as Cognis 2:0 (Cognis +2pts)
1st game is fun and close: I start rather slowly. AI has removal for both my Baneslayers and has Damnation for two bad board positions. Finally, the turn before its Bitterblossom would have killed it, it draws a second Demigod and swings for 12 in the Air (I'm at 12). I block a 11/11 Death's Shadow with Finks, going to 2 and swing back for lethal.
2nd game, I mulligan two 1-land-mox-diamond-hands to 5 (still 1 land). But I get to discard some Lieges for free and win (AI Damnations at 1 life and drops Bitterblossom...).

as Yggdrasil 1:2 (Cognis +3pts)
1st game, I'm screwed on 2 mana, AI on one... by the time I draw a third land, AI has multiple Baneslayers and other dorks. I never draw a fourth land for Damnation.
2nd game, I have to Damnation once to get rid of Baneslayer, but my follow ups are better.
3rd game, AI gets to discard two free Lieges and I'm too far behind.#


Juzamjedi vs Monopoman

as Juzamjedi 2:0 (Juzamjedi +2pts)
1st game, Belcher wins.
2nd game, AI forces two lords, but eventually I swarm around his Goyf for the win.

as Monopoman 0:2 (Juzamjedi +5pts)
1st game, I mulligan to 3 (to find a land, keeping City of Brass, Ponder, Coiling Oracle). I get Progenitus around t5, atttack once, but then the AI forestwalks me.
2nd game, I mulligan to 5 (7 had all land, 6 had no land, 5 had Island and offcolor spells...) - probably should have gone to 4.
[this was obviously rough luck... I'm sorry.]

[Brandon822]

Cognis vs Yggdrasil

Cognis +1 pts
Yggdrasil +2 pts

As Cognis 2:1

First two games were very close. AI winning first. Last game was easier for me.

As Yggdrasil 2:0

First game was fast. Second one I holded two BA's with tokens from bitterblossom while AI gathered life. Finally I drew Damnation and cast Nighthawks and took care of AI's creatures with Chainer's Edict s from grave.

Juzamjedi vs Monopoman

Juzamjedi +7 pts

As Juzamjedi 2:0

Two very fast wins.

As Monopoman 0:2

Got crushed by Elves in both games.

[monopoman]

Yeah looks like this deck is my kryptonite so guess I'm off to the consolation bracket.

[jatill]

Yeah looks like this deck is my kryptonite so guess I'm off to the consolation bracket.

I can't imagine ever losing that matchup with your deck, as long as it's played well and doesn't mulligan into oblivion. Guess I'm not imaginative enough


Cognis 2-1 (great match- didn't use discard Liege cheat)
Yggdrasil 0-2 (Gaddock destroyed my Damnation plan game 1, and then a top-decked BSA finished me game 2)

Juzamjedi 2-0 (Coiling Oracle being an Elf won me a game! The other game Forestwalk may or may not have been a good thing )
monopman 2-0 (I won game 1 despite playing like a complete ass, and game 2 the AI skipped its 1st land drop. Go figure.)

[Brandon822]

Yeah looks like this deck is my kryptonite so guess I'm off to the consolation bracket.

Yeah, I think it is hard match up for your deck. I played best of five after my official games and lost 3-2. Both wins came after turn 4 NO and Werebear was crucial for that. Trygon Predator, Nimble Mongoose and Ponders and Brainstorm were almost useless if AI got Elf army going fast, off course blue spells help to dig up NO, but still too few answers to Elves. Good deck, but bad match up in my opinion and AI plays quite well that Juzamjedi's deck, well it's much easier to play for AI.

[juzamjedi]

Well - I played my match against Monopman. I made a game losing mistake that I could have avoided while piloting Monopman's deck, so I will not be posting a match result this round for my bracket.

[Cognis]

great match- didn't use discard Liege cheat

I wouldn't call it a cheat. It's just an imperfection in the game system. Cascading Darkstell Colossus would be a cheat, using debug mode to put liege into play is simulating a real game of mtg. Of course I might think otherwise if I didn't play this deck, but as I said it's not cheating.

[Cognis]

Bracket Zeta

Juzamjedi vs Monopman 1-2
Monopman vs Juzamjedi 2-0

Juzamjedi: 0 points
Monopman: 5 points

Match 1 (Monopman AI)
Game 1: AI was at 7 when it played Progenitus so I was able to outrace him.
Game 2: I had one land and the AI removed my mana sources and stomped me with 2 Tarmogoyf. I stabilized at 4 with an elf army with forestwalk but the AI played Progenitus and I couldn’t swing for enough in one sweep.
Game 3: I get a good start but the AI plays Progenitus and I’m just able to get the AI down to 4. Again the removal of a mana creature showed decisive since it slowed me down a turn.

Match 2 (Juzamjedi AI)
Game 1: Weenies ensured that I wouldn’t be attacked. I Fact or Fiction for Natural Order and bring out Progenitus and have 2 Force of Will for Elvish Champion so to stop an unblockable army.
Game 2: Turn 3 Progenitus almost wasn’t enough when Elvish Champion entered the board but fortunately I exiled him to win.

[aww1979]

Cognis vs Yggdrasil AI 2-0 (cognis +2 pts)
Yggdrasil vs Cognis AI 1-2 (cognis +3 pts)

Sorry, I clicked on something by accident and wiped my reports. Apparently Wilt-Leaf Liege is fixed, as mine was automatically put into play in both games when I was forced to discard it.

Game 1: Won fairly easily; don't really remember the game, but I do have video of the games still, just I accidentally closed this window midreport :p I think I got a liege into play with nezumi, but I didn't need it to win.
Game 2: Won in 5 turns because I threw Liege to Blightning on turn 3.

Yggdrasil vs Cognis AI
(note: several times during this matchup, some of cognis's creatures attacked with vigilance when they shouldn't have, so I just tapped them with debug mode. I think it's happening when it has to discard a cavaliers)

Game 1: Lost the report. I won the game at 1 life. I'd have done considerably better, but I made an incredibly stupid play early on (bolted a liege twice, forgetting I had a Chainer's Edict in hand!) 1-0
Game 2: Lost the report. I had to mulligan to 5 due to a one land hand of 7 and zero in 6. I got my ass kicked as a result. 1-1
Game 3: Turn 2 I get Nezumi out, AI gets Teeg. Turn 3 I Blightning, not fearing liege since I have terminate and damnation in hand. (I catch Cavaliers and BA) AI plows Nezumi and swings for 2. I draw Chainer's Edict and use it, killing Teeg. AI plays cavaliers and I Terminate it at the end of its turn. I draw land and pass. AI plays Baneslayer. I draw Hymn (AI with 1 card in hand) and play Damnation. AI casts another Baneslayer. I draw Nezumi, cast it and a Hymn, even though I'm catching only one card, I figure AI will never have a hand again due to it having 5 lands out. AI plays Qasali and attacks with an exalted BA. Ow. I draw land and pass, having only Death's Shadow in hand and 13 life. AI draws Path to Exile, Paths Nezumi, and swings for 7. (6-28 life) I'd been hoping to block Qasali, activate Nezumi to flip it, and kill it, but no such luck. I draw Lightning Bolt, kill qasali, and cast Death's Shadow. (I had enough mana to Chainer's Edict, but I feel this is much better, and I'll do that next turn if AI plays no other creatures) AI topdecks another Path, kills my Shadow (DAMMIT!) and swings for 5. Life totals 1 to 33. I draw land and flashback the Edict, killing BA. Boards and hands are both empty except for land, but those life totals are not friendly to me! AI topdecks Watchwolf; I need an answer and draw a Demigod of Revenge. Whew! AI does nothing. I draw another Demigod, play it, and attack with one of them. AI draws and plays a hierarch. I draw Yet Another Land, and swing again with one Demigod. AI plows the untapped demigod and swings for 4 with exalted Watchwolf. Life 2-23. I draw Terminate, and that lets me attack safely, so I do. AI tries to attack and I Terminate it. (I wait until the last second because if I Terminate on my turn, and AI draws a Liege, I lose, whereas this way I don't) I draw a fetchland (don't use it as I'm at 2, and it's land #11 anyway; AI has 6) and swing for 5 again. 2-13. AI topdecks plowshares and kills Demigod, so I use my fetchland to thin the deck. 6-13. I draw another fetchland :p Ugh. AI casts Qasali, and thankfully hasn't been attacking with a lone Hierarch. I draw Nezumi and play it. AI casts Finks and attacks with a 4/4 exalted Qasali. If I take it, I'm at 2; if I block, I'm at 6 and facing 5 damage next turn. The first way I have more resources (nezumi can flip in combat) but only one turn to draw an answer; the second way buys an extra turn but I don't have nezumi to help. I take the hit and use my fetchland to thin the deck again, and I'm at 1. I draw... DAMNATION! It looks good, but since the Finks have persist, I've lost. 1-2 (sorry cognis. No way to know what my next draw would've been; it was badlands in this scenario, but if I'd chumped with nezumi earlier, I couldn't have spared the life to fetch, so it could've been anything I'd have drawn)

With the lieges working now, this is a very brutal matchup for Yggdrasil, plus I had bad manascrew game 2 and mana flood game 3. Even so, I think Cognis has the advantage in this matchup.

[Cognis]

I also noticed that creatures sometimes get vigilance without any particular reason, I wasn't able to see a pattern but it's probably linked to Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers since that is the only creature that has vigilance in the deck.