Dominaria: Round of 128
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Ground rules for this tournament.
Let’s start this tournament off with one of my personal favorite sets, Dominaria. It’s got this nice combination of modern creature design (and power level) with mechanics that are relatively simple. Simple, because Dominaria is, after all, a return to a plane that doesn’t have much of a defining feature besides being “the plane that most of Magic took place on for its first ten years”. So I don’t expect too many convoluted match-ups here.
Unfortunately, I don’t see the set’s main new mechanic – historic – getting much play here, seeing as most of the creatures that interact with artifacts and legends aren’t artifacts or legends themselves. Kicker, though, does give some creatures a versatile early-game/late-game strategy, and should add an interesting angle to things.
Remember that the legendary rule does not apply here, so I fully expect at least a few of the Dominaria legends to turn out busted in multiples.
Note: Hover over the names to see card images.
Round of 128
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
The first Multani comes down as a 6/6, and the Elemental Avatars quickly overpower the Cyclops before they can get more than a few attacks in.
(5)
Even with the Protector’s “must be blocked” ability, Jhoira doesn’t mind trading for the length of the game. With both creatures having the same CMC, this one ends in a Jhoira default victory.
(6)
The standard Marwyn strategy:
Turn 3: Cast Marwyn.
Turn 4: Cast 2nd Marwyn. Use 1st Marwyn to generate 2 mana to help cast a 3rd Marwyn. (Marwyns are 3/3, 2/2, 1/1)
Turn 5: Cast 4th Marwyn. Use 3rd Maryn to generate 3 mana to cast 5th Marwyn. (Marwyns are 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 2/2, 1/1)
etc.
In this case, the early presence of two larger Marwyns means a pretty decisive outcome.
(7)
The bigger Naru Meha stops the Evangel offensive early, then takes them down just a few turns later.
(8)
The Colony gets very big very quickly. Attack with a 3/1 on Turn 3, two 5/1s on Turn 4, and four 7/1s on Turn 5…the 5-mana Acolyte never stood a chance.
(9)
Tatyova nullifies the 1-power Arcanist early enough that it’s ability isn’t even needed to take this one.
(10)
When they have the same CMC, a 5/4 will manhandle a 2/3 pretty badly any day of the week.
(11)
The Sergeant-at-Arms only gets two rounds of attacks in before Minotaur-Cleric duo comes down and gradually takes over the board. By the time the Sergeant uses its Kicker cost, it’s way too late.
(12) Demonlord Belzenlok defeated by (117) Relic Runner
Well, that was awkward. When the first Demonlord comes down, it uses its ability to put into its hand…another Demonlord. Which is followed by…yet another Demonlord…and so on. Until the deck runs out of cards.
(13)
That 7 CMC really hurts Darigaaz here, as the much cheaper Envoy is able to smash them with 18 before the first big dragon even comes down.
(14)
They have the same cost and trade, so the Merfolk wins by default.
(15)
The Overseer can only get one attack in before the first Lich Knight hits the board. From there, any attempted attack will result in a lot of dead Overseers – so it has to wait for its moment to strike.
But that moment never comes. Since Overseer needs 7 lands to do the Kicker, while Lich Knight needs 8 lands to cast two a turn, Overseer will always only have two more attackers than Lich Knight blockers (before the Kicker effect). With the Act of Treason Kicker, that’s a two-creature swing, allowing for four unblocked Overseers for 12 damage. Not enough.
And so, eventually a large army of Lich Knights takes the game over.
(16)
The Chronicler is cheaper than Squee and outclasses it in battle, so there’s no way Squee can mount an offensive. All Chronicler needs to do is build up to a large enough army, such that an attack will necessitate a large number of Squee chump blocks – and thus a large number of dead Goblins. There’s only enough mana to bring back two Squees next turn, which isn’t nearly enough as Chronicler ends it with the second wave of attacks.
(17)
The bigger Chainwhirler starts coming down before the Ooze can even start attacking. Eventually, two Chainwhirlers a turn sweeps the board of Oozes and ends the game shortly thereafter.
(18) Jhoira’s Familiar defeats (111) Bloodstone Goblin
The mega-cute owl pulls this one off, but only barely.
The key for Familiar here is to be patient. Don’t block with the Turn 4 and Turn 5 owls, thus letting through 14 damage by the start of Turn 6 – while staring down an army off six Goblins (with only two defenders).
But then, on Turn 6, using just three mana, they can empty their hand of six Familiars. And from there, there will always be exactly enough owl blockers for Goblin attackers…just so long as the Familiar didn’t make their fifth land drop the turn before so that they remain at mana parity.
And so, it ends with a win by default.
(19)
Both of them are effectively unblockable, so this one comes down to a race. Despite having less power; Tetsuo’s three-turn head start, and slamming down two creatures a turn starting from Turn 4, gives it the edge.
(20)
Danitha is cheaper and wins the combat; and by the time Journeymage comes in and starts bouncing, Danitha has enough mana to cast two a turn to keep up the offense. And just before Journeymage gets the 8 mana to play two cost-reduced bouncers to start really stabilizing, the Danitha attack forces chump blocks from the two remaining Journeymages – breaking down any remaining defense and ending it.
(21)
24 evasive damage done before the first Wurm even gets to attack.
(22)
To do one better, 32 evasive damage before the first Wanderer even enters the battlefield.
(23)
The Spider is too slow to hold off those efficient Bladewing Strikes, and the drop of the Bladewing twins on Turn 7 ends things for good.
(24)
What Traxos lacks in timely defense, it makes up for in offense. Aided by its own historic properties, Traxos can swing for 7 tramping damage on Turn 5, 14 trampling damage on Turn 6, and 21 trampling damage on Turn 7 – totally overwhelming the horde of centaurs.
(25)
The Marshal, even without the help of the +1/+1 boosts, overpowers the Raider easily.
(26)
The Grand Warlord, even without the help of the mana ability, overpowers the Homarid easily.
(27)
They trade, but Aryel is cheaper and can eventually outnumber the Guardians. The historic ability of the Guardians is literally useless here.
(28)
Whisper’s ability is also totally useless here, so it eventually gets overtaken by the cheaper Journeymage. Helped along by all those extra 2-damage shots.
(29) Baird, Steward of Argive defeats (100) Feral Abomination
An interesting one.
Baird starts out on the offensive, getting Abomination down to 14 before the first Thrull comes down and they stabilize.
However, with all the Bairds in play, Abomination has to essentially skip casting for the turn in order to attack with one creature. Since skipping a cast for Abomination is giving up long-term value; it will only start attacking once it knows it can kill (or force a disadvantageous Baird block) within the next four attacks.
Problem is, upon the first attack, Baird would be able to counter-attack for 10. Upon the second, Baird would be able to counter-attack for 12. And upon the third, Baird would be able to counter-attack for the kill.
So Abomination can’t find a window to attack, and eventually they’ll run out of cards in their hand; such that they’ll either run out of Thrulls in play or mana to pay the significant Baird tax.
Baird grinds out the default victory.
(30)
A quick kill for the cheap wizard against the slow elephant.
(31)
Caligo can’t get much going before the dinosaurs start taking over. By the time the discard is active, it’s way too late.
(32)
The Honor Guard goes on the offensive, and the Bird Cleric legend – thanks to its twice-as-large CMC – cannot keep up.
(33)
The second Arvad coming down makes them both 5/5s, stopping the Gorger offense. Just after the first 7/7 Gorgers come down, Arvad strikes with four 9/9 fliers in the air for the win.
(34)
Sporecrown attacks with a 3/3 on Turn 3, two 5/5s on Turn 4, and four 7/7s on Turn 5. The Drakes can only chump helplessly until their inevitable death.
(35)
Without any cheap sackers, Torgaar can only come online Turn 8. Plenty of time for the hasting Phoenixes to do the full 20.
(36)
Without the ability to call her father, Niambi is held off indefinitely by the meat- and plant-eating thallid. Since she needs to double-block in order to trade, Omnivore eventually reaches a point where a mass-attack forces a large number of Niambi chump blocks.
Given the threat of 16 extra damage from the sac ability, Niambi has to chump with pretty much the whole team. Leading to a loss shortly after.
(37)
What an upset! Let’s walk through what happened here.
Turn 1 (Confessor): Cast a Confessor.
Turn 2 (Confessor): Cast two Confessors. Attack with a Confessor. (19 to 20)
Turn 3 (Shade): Cast a Shade.
Turn 3 (Confessor): Cast three Confessors. Attack with two Confessors – they get through with Menace. (16 to 20).
Turn 4 (Shade): Cast a Shade. Keep two Shade blockers.*
Turn 4 (Confessor): Skip land drop, cast two Confessors. Attack with six Confessors – one gets double-blocked and killed. (11 to 20).
Turn 5 (Shade): Cast a Shade. Pump and attack with a Shade for 5. Keep two Shades blockers. (11 to 15)*
Turn 5 (Confessor): Cast a a Confessor. Attack with seven Confessors – one gets double-blocked and killed. (5 to 15)
Turn 6 (Shade): Cast two Shades. Attack with a Shade for 3. (5 to 12).*
Turn 7 (Confessor): Attack with seven Confessors – Shade only has four blockers, so five get through (0 to 12).
*Shade could go on the offensive by attacking in the intermediate turns. But no matter what they do, Confessor will always have just enough chump blockers to keep themselves alive while still being able to counter-attack in Turn 7 for the kill.
(38)
Mishra’s little toy can’t replicate fast enough to outspeed Serra’s cheap flier.
(39)
The two trade (sadly, the Spirit’s indestructibe ability is useless here) and Stowaway costs less, so the legendary Fungus cruises.
(40)
After the first few turns, the tougher Pegasus stonewalls the little bird.
From there, the Pegasus waits until a point where it can start attacking with a portion of its army such that it both: (1) gets some damage through the triple-blocks; and (2) can survive a counter-attack. From there, it slowly whittles down the Assistant’s life total and blockers until the end.
(41)
The legendary Wizard ends it before the first Phantom can come down.
(42)
Another quick kill by a much faster creature.
(43)
Being cheap and being on the play seems to be a pretty good combination. Turn four kill.
(44)
Evra comes down just in time to turn the tide with its big blocks and lifegain.
(45)
Kazarov is so unnecessarily overcosted that it falls (on the play) to a 1/3 for two with no other abilities.
(46)
Shanna gets real big, real fast. And the Surveyor, even with all those extra lands, stands no chance.
(47)
The Scout wins out with its higher toughness.
(48)
It doesn’t matter how much life the Unicorn gains if it can’t attack through the bigger Hound.
(49)
Against almost any other opponent, Slinn Voda would be dead on arrival. But facing the 0-power Elf, it actually gets to its eight mana and dominates from there.
(50)
The Skeleton’s pseudo-regeneration ability can’t save it from being overpowered by Garna.
(51)
The rush of double-striking damage is too fast for the slow Turtle.
(52)
The Construct both outnumbers and, with the help of those +1/+1 counters, overpowers the lame unarmed Champion.
(53)
A 1 CMC creature on the play vs. a 5 CMC creature. Guess who wins this one?
(54)
In this battle of knights, Grace and its First Strike has the edge over New Benalia.
(55)
The Golem’s card draw does give it more of a late-game threat, but Raff Capashen strikes for lethal in the air before that becomes too relevant.
(56)
The Adept can stall this one out until it starts blowing up a Sentinel each turn with its ability.
(57)
The bigger Tiana takes care of business.
(58)
Even without the coin-flip ability, the Giant overpowers Hallar.
(59)
In this battle of 6 CMC fatties, Zahid’s evasion and one extra point of toughness gives it the advantage. Grunn can swing for 10 the first attack, but can only swing for the same 10 the second attack (whether via one or two attackers) – allowing Zahid to chump block and then kill the next turn.
(60)
Despite the two complicated historic abilities here, it’s basically a battle between a 3/3 and a 2/2. The 3/3 wins.
(61)
The Kavu starts off small to hold off the (already lame) Excavator assault. Then, once the 5/5s start dropping, it’s a blowout from there.
(62)
The legendary Specter handles the Soothsayer on blocking before swinging back with an evasive alpha strike.
(63)
They trade, but the Pilgrim’s haste means it can always get that one extra shot in – giving it enough to eventually take down Valduk.
(64)
It’s Yargle time! And here, it scores a pretty convincing victory over the offenseless Wall.
Onto the Round of 64…