“A Master’s Course in Role Assignment & my weekend with Floresdrazi, inc.” by Benjamin Botts

Ben Botts aka @BottsThoughts has graced us with another guest blog post — this time a great experience with the U/W Eldrazi deck (or as he calls it “Floresdrazi”).

Anyone who wants to check out Ben’s previous contributions to Five should check out:

• My Weekend with King Hulk
• Cascade Control

Thanks Ben!

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Third time around the block, and I still find this to be both an honor and a sweet, sweet opportunity to put myself out there.

Once again, I took up the mantle as a steward of Flores’ recent suggested deck list for Standard. And I must say I was not disappointed (How could I be?). I was, however, hesitant but only for a short distance between my trade binder full of Super Friends, U/G Polymorph, Gerry-Naya and other such variants a-waiting to find a home in those exclusive 75 sleeves.
Before I dig into an excerpt of the weekends’ events I will provide the deck list (both MD and SB):

Maindeck:
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Spreading Seas

4 Path to Exile
4 All is Dust
2 Day of judgment
2 Mind Spring

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Gideon Jura

4 Wall of Omen
2 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

6 Island
3 Plains
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Sejiri Refuge
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Eye of Ugin

Sideboard:
1 Jace Beleren
2 Eslpeth, Knight-Errant
2 Day of judgment
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Oust

Moving along.

Round 1: Josh, playing Boros Allies

Josh is an awesome guy. I can’t help but have a great time regardless of whether it’s a win or loss.

I won the die roll for Game 1:

Let’s just say I stabilized at 9 life, Swung once with an Ulamog that ate his only Plains when it was cast (So as to not find myself on the fetch a basic side of a PTE) – and he rips the 3rd Lightning Bolt. He pocketed 9 to my dome. And thus was the short end of game 1.

Game 2:

-1 Eye of Ugin, -1 All is Dust, +2 Day of Judgment

He took a horrendously slow hand, and I never looked back. I dropped a Wall, Spread his only Mountain, DoJ’ed the board, Dropped a Gideon, Dropped a Jace, Dropped a Ulamog (That Jace then gladly returned said Ulamog to my hand to simply be recast post combat to eat an opposing Elspeth).

Game3: I kept the sideboard intact sans the post-first game changes.

He did a few cute tricks with his Ally triggers before I resolved back-to-back DoJs then cleared his board on turn seven with a game ending All is Dust … the card is just retarded. I showed my hand full of removal, and my Jace was going up to Ultimate status on my next turn. He graciously extended a handshake.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2: James, playing SpiritDancerWW(?)

Game 1: I won the die roll

I didn’t see much of his deck. Honestly. He misplayed countless times, and it was sort of a rag on the experience. Example – He played a T2 Spirit Dancer. Then T3 plays a Hyena Umbra on said Dancer then plays another Spirit Dancer which he showed he had in hand BEFORE he played the Umbra. I know it may seem inconsequential but that sort of thing misses a free draw. Also – I don’t think this guy was very conversational. After a number of Walls hit the table alongside my couplet of Sea Gate Oracles to clog his Red Zone attempts I ushered Kozilek out to the table w/ his good friend Ulamog. He quickly scooped to go to game 2 … in which he brought 15 cards in … 15.

-1 All is Dust, -1 Eye of Ugin, -1 Everflowing Chalice, -1 Jace TMS, -1 Kozilek
+2 Oust, +1 DoJ, +2 Elspeth

Game 2:

I Ousted a Spirit Dancer that he failed to attack w/ to break my Wall of Omens down, but instead he seemed content to play 3 Hyena Umbra’s on her so he could draw. He did play 3 Lone Missionaries on me which didn’t hurt my feelings – I just played a DoJ that ended up giving me a dirty look from him (I mean … “you killed a puppy” look). I resolved a Butcher, and he extended his hand after I revealed 2 more All is Dust and a Gideon to fog past his combat phase(s).

I inquired as to what he sided in against me, and he just darted back with a, “If you had played fairly you would’ve seen my Sideboard in the game”.

I took my win without losing any sleep.

2-0 (4-1)

Round 3: CJ, playing WW (w/ Stoneforge tutoring)

CJ won the die roll

Game 1:

CJ opened with a first turn Elite Vanguard. I simply played a tapped Celestial Colonnade. His turn 2 procured a Mystic-Stone Forger fetching up a trusty machete. My turn 2 graciously gave me an Island with which gave me the option to play a 0/4 wall, or accelerate into a turn 3 Sea Gate Oracle with PTE mana left up. Knowing CJ’s deck doesn’t have the potential to run me over before turn 5 I opted to play a Chalice for 1. This ended up being the strongest play for me – I curved into a turn 4 Gideon after ripping said Fog Master off the top of my library. As always Senor Giddy Pants received the obligatory sigh of disapproval from yet another aggro player. It seems to me that Gideon’s first impression left a sour taste across the archetypal landscape. After a DoJ cleared his board of some unwanted creatures I simply set-up further classes on why Flores’ deck just gut checks the aggro match-up.

1-0 me

Knowing CJ doesn’t run a crappy sideboard in case he does run into a Control deck I knew I had sleeved up my Oblivion Rings for a reason (aside from them being FNM promo 4’ofs). I didn’t know exactly what he took out, but I knew he sided in 4 Luminarch Ascensions. Albeit I run All is Dust, but sometimes an early Oblivion Ring can be the needed punch to set-up an All is Dust w/ an Eldrazi to follow foot.

-1 All is Dust, -1 Eye of Ugin, -1 Everflowing Chalice, -1 Kozilek
+2 Oblivion Ring, +2 Elspeth

Game 2:

Sure enough. CJ slams a turn 2 Ascension. I figured he was aiming hard to get one down immediately; seeing as that he decided on a 5 card hand mulligan. Fortunately for me he missed the first counter; which allowed me to play a little loose before setting up an AID on turn 5. I dropped a turn 2 Chalice, which led to a turn 3 Chalice on 2. He was able to activate Ascension for 2 Angels which took me down to 6 before I was able to dig into a turn 7 AID; which came after he played his own O Ring on my Gideon. As is the case he struggled to recover, and Gideon swung with a +3/+3 buff from his Girlfriend Elspeth. Only took 2 swings with Senor Gideon before CJ extended his hand after pulling nothing of consequence.

3-0 (6-1)

Round 4: John L (3-0, 6-2), playing Valakut Combo

We decided to ID the round because there was only 1 other 3-0 at the time. Looking back on this decision now made me realize I should’ve just pushed for the win that round. I hadn’t had any time spent on specific match-ups, and this would’ve been a great chance to cover some ground in respect of researching the inner-workings of said deck on deck play. I must admit though, plenty of people over-look Valakut Combo as a viable deck in this format. It may not be Jund and/or Mythic by any stretch. Hell it isn’t anywhere near the price-tag of Super Friends. But when you can simply say (Or Simply walk into Mordor for that fact), “I dealt 12+ damage with a single Harrow”. Well then you damn well deserve a high five worthy of Flores, let alone anyone else.

3-0-1 (6-1)

Round 5: Bryan W (3-0-1), playing U/W tap-out

Bryan is a good friend of mine, and I asked him how he managed a draw, and he told me it was against another Control deck. They spent 50 minutes of attempting to resolve answers on both sides of the table, and when the time ran down they had 5 turns to figure out how to bore each other a little more.

Needless to say I respect Bryan as a very strong player, and he asked me if I would like to draw. Without fear of being bumped out of any of the top 8 slots I gladly accepted the ID. We then spent that time discussing EDH, and watching various other matches underway for Round 5. You know – Jund v Jund; those exciting matches.

3-0-2

Top 8 – Round 6

Adam M (Playing Jund – traditional build w/ Sarkhan the Mad)

I won the freaking die roll … WWMFD? Fist Pump and smile.

Game 1:

This is where the master’s course in role assignment came into effect. I never take Jund lightly. Nobody should. Until this cancer rotates out of Type 2 you should never shrug off the opportunity to play test against any of the builds (old or new).

I lead off with a turn 2 Spreading Seas on his Savage Lands (note: I have played [them] all tournament – this was the only relevant match-up where I felt it necessary to express, emphatically, when I played one).

Which gave me an Eldrazi. I then played a turn 3 Chalice for 1 leaving PTE mana open in-case he decides to play his Turn 3 Thrinax. No such luck. I met a turn 3 Blightning; which oddly enough made me happy. I didn’t want Kozilek in my hand, neither the Eye of Ugin that was sitting lifeless in my grip as well. So I shipped those two cards off, and gladly took a free shuffle courtesy my opponent’s Blightning. On my turn 4 I had a very serious decision to make: Play my Jace and leave myself naked to a BBE (albeit I could leave 1 mana up for my PTE, but I didn’t want to risk running him out there without absolute assurance of his survival). I opted for a Chalice at 2. This came as the best play looking back. I met a second Blightning which asked me kindly as to which 2 cards I would like to lose. I was staring at:

Jace, Mind Spring, DoJ

I chose to toss the DoJ and Jace. This left me with a prayer on ripping a 5th land for turn 5 – which would give me a Mindspring for 6. I mise’d the land drop, and quickly pushed Mindspring for 6.

He came out strong on his turn 5 – knowing I may have pulled some serious answers to whatever he played. He gave me a BBE which flipped a Ruinblaster; he opted to over-look the Kicker cost, and swung for 5. Which after 2 Blightnings and that left me at a precious 9 – he then chose to bolt me down to 6. So I was now within Bolt/Blightning range. BBE/Bolt~Blightning range. Or any sorts of threats that would call me dead.

I resolved a much needed DoJ w/ Path mana left after I played a post-DoJ Wall of Omens. He played a Thrinax (which met my Path), and passed the turn. I dropped Gideon and immediately rolled him up to perform guard duty. After Adam played his Sarhkan he opted for his first ability … flipping his 2nd Sarhkan. Bad times.

I quickly dropped Kozilek and a Sea Gate Oracle. Which He then asked if we could get on with game 2.

1-0 me (I am both pumped and nervous … Jund is a rough match-up for me)

-2 Jace TMS, -1 All is Dust, -1 Eye of Ugin
+2 Eslpeth, +2 DoJ

He comes out with a turn 2 Trace of Abundance … Which means I am possibly facing a turn 3 BBE, or possibly a Blightning w/ Duress. Any of those combinations would make for a bad day.

I run out a turn 2 Chalice, and pass. Fortunately he does not play any of those. Instead he drops a Prophetic Prism which then cantrip’s him into a Duress. He gladly drops this on me – with which I was able to safely show him a hand full of this:

2 Wall of Omens, 2 Eslpeth, All is Dust

He takes away 1 Elspeth (which makes me wonder if he has a Pulse for her, or if he is hoping to Strip my hand with a Blightning or two).

My turn 3 finds a freshly drawn Land which allows me to set up the board. I lay down both Walls and draw into 2 Lands (made me glad to see this … because Blightning can eat those if I am sufficient on mana)

His turn 4 gladly showed a missed land drop. He played out a pair of Putrid Leeches, and passed. I took advantage of this good fortunae and knowing his shrouded land + lens would give him the colors required sans any Spreading Seas I may draw into/play I still knew the prospect of having a land Spreaded gives your opponent additional mana math to deal w/ while restocking your hand for a probable Blightning. My turn 4 found a Spreading Seas off the top. I laid it down on his Dragonskull Summit. This drew me a 2nd Spreading Seas which then clasped safely on to his Forest. That Spreading Seas, by sheer fortunate, drew me into a Sea Gate Oracle. He managed to squeeze out a Siege-Gang Commander on his 5th turn. Which I gladly dropped my All is Dust on the following turn. Yes I lost my Spreading Seas, but he lost both his lens and Trace – along with his SGC & company. He was able to rebuild while I spent the time doing the same, and preparing myself for the worst of it. He gave me another Blightning as a present, but I was able to use my miser’s copy of Eye of Ugin in response to fetch up an Eldrazi to toss to said BBE > Blightning; which then gave me back my graveyard. Granted he was able to push me down to 2 life over the next 2-3 turns, but I stabilized with 2 back to back Gideons that both died valiantly and for a cause I was hoping wouldn’t have been in vain. I drew into my 1 copy of Jace TMS I left in, which gave me a DoJ and Elspeth with which I gladly shipped back 2 lands and proceeded to drop both, and then make a token. I was on the open-season end of a ripped Bolt, Blightning, BBE into any other haster. But He never managed to pull an out. And I grabbed the game when I resolved an Ulamog and ate his only Raging Ravine that had been played.

Sejiri Refuge = Godsend. That 1 life may seem miniscule. But when it helps you stay above the 6ft under guidelines for shaking hands and giving the GG to another player then you’ll come to respect that little uncommon with generic artwork.

4-0-2 (8-1)

Top 4: Round 7

John T, playing Mythic (Never saw the entire decklist, but it was a Conscrptn/Finest Hour mix)

Game 1: I do not procure the die roll

John T dropped a 1st turn Birds, and I am already mentally bolstering myself for a turn 2 Lotus cobra into a turn 3 Sovereigns, etc, etc. He does stick his turn 2 Lotus Cobra, which gives him a second Cobra to follow foot. On my turn 2 I opt to not play a single spell (I had 2 untapped lands, one having been my turn 1 Sejiri Refuge putting me up to 21 … w/ 2 PTE’s gripped I was ready to pray and slay). On his 3rd turn that’s when I watched as he laid down a Fetch Land (cracked it netting him 4 free mana), tapped for a 5th in the pool – tapped the birds and the 2 other lands for a grand total of 8 mana. I watched as he Dropped Finest Hour and 2 Noble Hierarchs. I started doing the math in my head.

+3 Exalted triggers for the first Combat on a Lone Lotus Cobra then receiving another set of +3 for the next combat phase. I waited for him to announce combat. I dropped a Path, one for each Lotus. Looking at that play I had just given him 8 mana on turn 4. My turn 3 showed me a Wall of Omens and a Path off the cantrip. I passed the turn. John T smiled. I figured he was pocketing a Negate for this moment. I was wrong – he went greedy, and played a BS Angel, and nothing else. He swung in with an Exalted Noble.

My turn 4 showed DoJ. I threw an obligatory Fist Pump and tapped out for the answer. He had all but spent his hand in the early turns, and never drew into any PW’s or any other severe threats (Which honestly I don’t think he was playing any, and if he were I never saw them, nor did he ever talk about it). I dodged a bullet on that one – because I hate seeing Sovereigns just sit there, and point their puffy cloudy fingers at you as they give way to smashing your face.

Game 2:

-1 Eye of Ugin, -2 All is Dust, -2 Sea Gate Oracle, -1 Chalice
+2 Oust, +2 Oblivion Ring, +2 DoJ

Turn 1: Noble. Me? Land. Turn 2: Lotus Cobra with a cracked fetch dropping a KotR. Me? Turn 2 I played a wall of Omens, which then led me to a turn 3 O Ring on his turn 3 Finest Hour after my Wall had soaked up a good chunk of damage from an Exalted and beastly KotR before allowing me to take 5 off the exalted triggers. Turn 4 gave me an Oust on his Lotus Cobra and a Chalice set for 1, and 1 land left open to bluff a PTE. I proceeded to run a clinic on my opponent. I was able to stabilize with a Jace spending his loyalty counters bouncing a Lotus Cobra and eventually after Gideon showed himself table side I was able to DoJ the table a couple more times while letting Gideon get in there. After I showed an Ulamog and Kozilek in my hands, and with John T at an unfortunate disadvantage due to multiple board wipes he extended his hand and congratulated me on the win.

Top 2: Round 8

Adam Uhler (6-1), playing Mythic (sans Conscription build – more Kibler’s list)

We chose to split 44 packs between the two of us (Because quite frankly it was 1:47 am, and he wanted to go out and hash with his friends. And my girlfriend was ready to go.)

He gave me the win so I ended the night with a 6-0-2 match record overall, and we had it written up as a 2-1 in my favor.

I personally went 5-0-2 match play with 10-1 as my games played record.

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All in all I was fortunate to play another one of Flores’ lists. I always enjoy the challenge, and I won’t lie – I almost Blue 42’ed back to my Super Friends. But once I had already publicly spoken via Twitter and FB that I was going to give Mike’s deck a run for its money I couldn’t back down and chance looking like a pansy for not remembering what a tree branch feels like.

This deck is a serious reminder as to, “Who is the Beatdown?”*

And as with his previous King Hulk list you must obey this rule first and foremost.

It is not a suggestion.

Because suggestions end up in bargain bins and yard sales.

As always here’s to hoping you stayed awake for the entire read.

I am always open for criticism and advice. I am learning to write better tournament reports/articles. So any advice on how to approach match-play breakdown and/or any statistical research to better my craft would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, Mike Flores, and you his viewers for the time and space allotted.

v/r

Benjamin David

For Reference:

Who’s the Beatdown? by Michael Flores
The Danger of Cool Things by Chad Ellis