Very intense games, Z, I was sure I would easily go 2-1 this phase once we left it at 2-0, but I was hoping like hell that something good would happen and let me win that last game.
Decks/Descriptions inc.
Game 1:
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4vl 4vl 58o 58o 58o 58o 58r 58r 58r 58r 594 594 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 6u7 6u7 6u7 6u7 77a 77a 8pj
Phew. This was probably the closest game I've played in a long, long time, and I'm immensely glad I was able to pull out a win. Started off pretty slow, didn't like Death mark because if he was creature-less my AMs would be useless, and I would lose for sure. My hopes weren't high when he quickly got out 3 Wardens and put my 3 creatures in a stand-still, but he played a pivotal Steel Golem here, which I assume was used to test the waters for AM, that allowed me to heal up and slowed down his Arsenic for a long time. I was glad to get another Dragon to end his warden stalling, but he top-decked a 4th warden and we were stuck again. Discord came out, albeit late, and though it's scramble was pretty useless, the 4 damage per turn ended up winning it for me. It got closer and closer until I used SS the turn before he could have OHKO'd me, and got out 6 creatures, breaking his lock. This was the nailbiting part, since I knew his hand was full of SS and creatures. He continually used SS to heal up, and eventually I was sure he had the win, having counted off only 4 Stone Skins so far and being 2 turns from defeat, when I got the "gg" message, sighed in relief, and pressed spacebar. I ended with ~20 ho and over 22 poison counters on me. The SS that I put in as a last-minute thought won the game.
Game 2:
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58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 596 596 596 596 59c 59c 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5lm 5lm 5lm 5lm 5lm 77b 77b 77b 77b 77b 7k1 8pq
I had hoped Z would stay with the same deck or change to Gravity in the hopes of countering my Dimshield deck, and called it right. I mostly hoped he didn't bring a Grav shield or get an early Pulvy, and got what I wanted. Slow game, started with 7 Pillars are kept his critters at bay until we desynced, at which point I was 2 turns from winning and he graciously gave me the win, knowing he couldn't win from that position.
At this point Z had to leave, so we continued the match later.
Game 3:
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592 592 595 595 595 595 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5ic 5ic 5ic 5ie 5ie 5ie 779 779 779 77b 77b 77b 8pp
Played Tridents, expecting a stall, and instead I got a golem rush. Turn 3 Trident came out and blew up his pends, but he managed to draw 3 Gnomes very early, no his
gen was safe. He also drew massive amounts of BBs and Wardens, CC-ing everything I played. I drew BBs to keep up with his golems, and for a while it looked like I would win, until he played a 3rd Golem I had no answer for. Top-decked a BB next turn, but his first golem was free now, and finished me off. He ended the game with 14 hp, all I would have had to do was draw another Dragon at any point in the game, and I'd have won. His Gnome damage actually won it for him, had he not had them, I would have been at full hp for 3/4ths of the game.
Game 4:
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58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 58o 594 594 594 594 596 596 596 596 59c 59c 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5lh 5lm 5lm 5lm 5lm 5lm 77b 77b 77b 77b 77s 77s 8pq
He played Poison again, and got out a turn 3 Arsenic. He had a BB ready in hand for every Dragon I drew, and I didn't get a 2nd Sanc until I was about half hp with 12+ counters on me. At this point it was pretty much over, there was no chance that I'd be able to overpower his SS before he killed me. Nothing very eventful happened, it was mostly a spacebar-pressing game.
Game 5:
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590 590 590 590 590 590 593 593 593 593 593 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5rk 5rk 5ro 5ro 5ru 5ru 8ps
Control Grabbies matched up very well against a Light/Earth stall, I knew I had a large upped hand due to my EQs and Eternity, and that proved true. Okay start with 3 Pends, got out a quick Graboid, which got BB'd, then another and an EQ soon after. Eternity came out quickly and kept his Warden out of play, and soon my critters were free and I was close to victory when we desynced. There was no way Z could have won at that point, but I agreed to rematch to avoid drama, knowing my deck was superior in this matchup. Indeed, I had a very similar start the next game, 2 fast Graboid and Eternity, though this time I spammed EQ and kept his quanta very low on both Light and Earth. Nothing he could do.
GGs, Z, very very close to beating me.