Four Color Wolf Run Takes First

"There are some qualities---some incorporate things,
That have a double life, which thus is made
A type of twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade."
---Edgar Allen Poe, "Silence"








Success! I brought my 4-color Wolf Run deck to Guardian Games on Sunday, scoring 4-1 and taking first place on tiebreaks. Hurray! I got $27 in store credit, which I used to pick up a Snapcaster Mage and a foil Dragonskull Summit. I gotta say, there's no feeling like creating your own deck, taking it to a Standard tournament, and raping face; it feels pretty good. Screw netdecking.

Unlike the previous tournaments---where I faced U/W Delver three out of five matches---this tournament I faced a variety of different decks:

In round one I played against Naya Pod. There was nothing really exciting about this matchup except for the fact that my new "plan" worked perfectly. The Go for the Throats were awesome and killed Wolfir Silverhearts whenever needed.

In round two I played against Henry Freedman running U/W Delver. This wasn't really a match at all. Henry had to mulligan to 5 cards in the first game and 4 cards in the second. I won the match, 2-0.

In round three I faced a 4-color miracle deck. The deck tried to win by utilizng Fog, Devastation Tide, and Terminus to try and slow down the opponent until my opponent had enough mana to cast a lethal Entreat the Angels. My Inferno Titans were effective at circumventing Fog in game 1. In game 2 however, the game was back and forth until I ultimated a Karn Liberated in response to a miracled Entreat the Angels on my opponent's previous turn (otherwise I was just dead). I had managed to nab a forest with Karn before I used his ability, so I started with the forest in play and was able to ramp turn 1, Solemn Simulacrum turn 2, and Primeval Titan turn 3. The (second second) game was over quickly and I won the match, 2-0.

In round four I played (down) against Glesty Waters running R/W Humans. This proved to be my only loss of the tournament. Turns out that a Sword of War and Peace equipped to a Mirran Crusader with double Honor of the Pure in play is pretty nasty. It was after this match I realized something important about my new 4-color deck:

There really isn't much room for sideboarding in this new deck. Whereas with R/G Wolf Run I could sometimes sideboard out ramp to board in removal, this new deck uses ramp to serve another function---mana fixing. I can't board out ramp without potentially harming my ability to get every color of mana I need. In this match, I mistakenly boarded out an Abundant Growth and a couple Rampant Growths, and was therefore unable to find the Plains I needed to cast the Day of Judgment in my hand (which would have killed the Mirran Crusader). Something to keep in mind for later. I lost the match, 0-2.

In round five I played against David Smith running 5-color Frites. David and I have played numerous times and I have never lost against him. He's a decent player and I've told him several times that he's due for a win. David offered me a draw before the match, but I declined. First of all, only one player in the tournament (Michael Hume) was undefeated, and he was about to play against the R/W Humans deck I had just lost to. If Michael lost, anyone with a record of 4-1 would be in the running for first place. So if I won, I might get first, but if I drew, at 3-1-1 I'd get very little. Second, I felt my deck was favored. After all, David's plan was to animate an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite from the graveyard, and I now have many ways of meeting that plan---Go for the Throat, Day of Judgment, and Beast Within. In addition, I have sideboard copies of Memoricide, which I can use to name Unburial Rites or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, potentially destroying David's deck in one simple spell. This is exactly what happened in game 2. The match against David was close, but I came out on top,  2-1.

And so, since Michael lost in the finals, and the winner was determined on tie breaks. I was lucky enough to come out on top. A good tournament, and not a bad way to say goodbye to competitive play for a month while I study for the bar exam. Thanks for reading!