FNM - Mar 7, 2008

The thing with playing a Dragonstorm deck is that your match results are pretty much like flipping a coin -- because it largely depends on how lucky your draw is. Problem is, I'm not very lucky with coin flips. And that was exactly the case in last Friday's FNM.

Here's the deck that I used -- a modified version of the original DS deck, without the Pyromancer's Swath-Rift Bolt combo, but with a more controllish theme, via the maindeck Sulfurous Blasts and Siege-Gang Commanders:



// Lands
4 [LRW] Spinerock Knoll
4 [TSP] Fungal Reaches
4 [TSP] Molten Slagheap
8 [UNH] Mountain
3 [MOR] Mutavault
1 [10E] Karplusan Forest

// Creatures
4 [TSP] Bogardan Hellkite
2 [10E] Siege-Gang Commander

// Spells
4 [TSB] Dragonstorm
4 [TSP] Lotus Bloom
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [10E] Shock
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [10E] Incinerate
2 [MOR] Shard Volley
4 [TSP] Sulfurous Blast

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [TSB] Dodecapod
SB: 3 [FUT] Ghostfire
SB: 3 [TSP] Ignite Memories
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip


Round 1: vs. Mono-red burn

Burn after burn after burn... Mogg Fanatic, Keldon Marauders, Incinerate, Rift Bolt. And I drew no Dragonstorm despite having sooo much mana. Match score: 0-2; Standing after 1 round: 0-1.

Round 2: vs.UB Reanimator

Four words -- Akroma, Angel Of Wrath. And on both games. I did get a chance to Ignite Memories for 5 though, with him on 12 life and 3 cards on hand -- I only hit a Shriekmaw once, and a land 4 times. Apparently he had 1 Shriekmaw and 2 Underground Rivers on hand. Match score: 0-2; Standing after 2 rounds: 0-2.

Most players would drop the tourney at this point. It was still quite early though, so I decided to play another round before heading home.

Unfortunately, my 3rd and 4th round opponents were one of those "0-2 and drop" guys, and they no longer showed up on our table. I won those matches by default, and my standing after 4 rounds was a miserable 2-2.