Winter Derby Round 7

Round 7 Rajah (Tax Tower)

1-6 (3-12 in games)

Rajah was on what I assume was a typical Tax Tower build. He was running a full set of Ivory Tower, along with Land Tax to gain a bunch of life. His win condition was to mill me out. He would Armageddon my lands away to keep my board clear, then use Tormod’s Crypt to exile my Graveyard. Finally a Timetwister ensures he is not decked before I am.

Game 1 pretty much followed that path. I countered things that I thought were important such as Land Tax and Chains of Mephistopheles. I realized too late that these were not worth fighting over. The game took a long time, but I eventually conceded with about 15 cards in my library and no way to deal 20 points of damage in that amount of time.

Game 2 I sided in every counter I had in my sideboard. I realized that Ivory Tower, The Abyss, and Timetwister were the only spells I cared about. Everything could stay on board. He played out a Library of Long, Chains, Land Tax, Ivory Tower, and Ali of Cairo. I got him down to 1 with Serra Angel, but Ali ensured he stayed there. We then both started digging for an answer. He had to mill his Timetwister, which meant that I had a chance. I Demonic Tutored for a Swords to Plowshares, but he mised a Mind Twist and took it away. I kept digging, but he played out a second Ali. I found a Swords and hit one of them, but had to keep digging. With him having 1 card in his library and me with 2, I drew my card for turn, and had to discard a card to Chains for my second draw from Howling Mine, so I pitched Control Magic. I then drew my last card and passed the turn. Rajah, drew his card for turn, used Library of Long to discard it to the top of his library, and then drew it again. Both of our libraries were empty, and he passed turn, meaning I was decked once again. My friend Matt that was watching asked why I discarded Control Magic. At that point I realized that I could have cast Control Magic on Ali of Cairo, and swung for lethal with Serra Angel. I was in shock and disbelief, but he was right.

Rajah is a great guy, and this is definitely not the last time we will sling some cards. This match was rough because I was playing too loose, and missed my out to win. At least the match didn’t mean much since we were both at the bottom of the standings.