Intro
Hi, I’m Lorenzo, montij on mtgo, Lega Pauper Pisa member. I recently placed first in Paupergeddon Lecco 2025! In this report I will tell you all about my tournament.
I hope the reading will be enjoyable and comprehensible, this is my first time writing a report or article in genera), so there is surely a lot to improve.
My memory is not the best, I’ve done my best to remember the games.
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The Decklist
Mono Black Pactdoll by Lorenzo Montana, Winner Paupergeddon Lecco 2025
| Creatures (15) 4 Shambling Ghast 4 Refurbished Familiar 3 Crypt Rats 3 Pactdoll Terror 1 Troll of Khazad-dûm Instants (17) 4 Deadly Dispute 3 Fanatical Offering 2 Eviscerator’s Insight 3 Snuff Out 1 Spinning Darkness 2 Cast Down 2 Toxin Analysis Artifacts (8) 2 Blood Fountain 2 Nihil Spellbomb 4 Ichor Wellspring | Lands (20) 4 Khalni Gardens 12 Swamp 4 Vault of Whispers Sideboard (15) 4 Duress 2 Suffocating Fumes 2 Troublemaker Ouphe 2 Weather the Storm 2 Avenging Hunter 1 Drown in Sorrow 1 Thorn of the Black Rose 1 Snuff Out |
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In the period before the tournament Riccardo Cestari, aka Cesta, popularized a monoblack deck starring Pactdoll Terror, I fell in love with the idea and started testing a number of similar lists on mtgo, the DLPP helped me in the testing, thank you guys.
While discussing about Pactdoll Terror with some friends, Lostonkato named it “Robert” and since then for Lega Pauper Pisa it simply was Robert. For this reason, they say if they give a name to something you get attached to it, I will keep referring to it as Robert throughout the report.
The initial version was much more artifact-based, playing 4 Blood Fountains, 4 Grim Baubles, 4 Ichor Wellsprings and 4 Lembas, moreover, it played 4 Accursed Marauders and didn’t play Crypt Rats.
After playing a bit I decided I wanted to play more control, and this got me to cut part of the artifacts, some number of Blood Fountains, Grim Baubles and Lembas, to make space for interactive spells, such as removals, Crypt Rats and Toxin Analysis.
I liked the deck a lot and started testing it, realising it has good to 50-50 matchups with the decks I thought would be most played: Glee, Jund Wildfire, Kuldotha and Mono U Fae.
In my, quite short actually, life as a pauper player I have played a lot of Gardens with which I got top 4 at IPT Versilia; this new deck has some similarities/similar patterns with it, but differs in one particular way: it can put creatures on the battlefield very soon with Shambling Ghasts and Refurbished Familiars, and this changes completely the match up against Faeries and Kuldotha, or in general against aggro decks the pass through combat to kill you.
Moreover, Robert provides a solid way to race the opponent without passing through combat in a Eldrazi Spawn meta, non-trampling creatures often struggle to connect for significant damage and helps staying alive against aggro decks. Also, Robert makes it a lot easier to kill an opponent with Crypt Rats than it is in gardens, as it pushes your HP up and your opponent’s HP down.
Lastly, the deck gets to play the best card-advantage engine of the format, the best removal of the format , one of the best creatures in the format and it is unaffected by the best removal of the format, respectively 9 Dispute-effects, Snuff Out and Refurbished Familiar.
All these considerations and, let’s be honest, the fact that the deck was playing the most beautiful of cars, made me want to take the deck to the event; thus, when me and my fellow Lega Pauper Pisa friends started testing I brought with me this deck.
My friends know that I like to play decks that I find fun more than necessarily strong, and in the top 8 of our local league of the week before I had brought a Grixis Affinity list starring Robert, and things went pretty poorly for me.
With this in mind they initially gave the deck very low credit, but after a bit of testing they started to get more involved in the decklist.
Tommaso Loss suggested a few changes: in the main deck I had +1 Lembas, -1 Troll, in the sideboard I wasn’t playing Duresses but another spicy technology to beat Glee combo, but I won’t discuss it here.
We kept testing the deck online and it proved to be solid against all the top tiers. At this point everybody’s feelings towards Robert were starting to warm up, and in the end 3 other players from Lega Pauper Pisa decided to bring the exact same 75 I was bringing: Giovanni Postorino, Stefano Ghiara and Tommaso Loss, thanks for the faith.
The stakes are high for our little car, but we are ready to fight.
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Tournament
You will find at the end of the report a sheet with a very brief sideboard guide for some of the matchups.
Unfortunately I didn’t write down the names of my opponents, I really didn’t think I would end up writing a report. Please forgive me.
Let’s finally start to talk about my run in the tournament.
Turn 1: Bogles – Slightly Bad
G1: I won thanks to an early Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis.
Side In: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 4 Duress, 2 Troublemaker Ouphe, 2 Suffocating Fumes, 1 Drown in Sorrow
Side Out: 1 Pactdoll Terror, 2 Cast Down, 3 Snuff Out, 1 Spinning Darkness, 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Blood Fountain
Everything that can in some way interact with their gameplan comes in; there are a lot of bad/slow cards to take out. The deck doesn’t have clean answers to the opponent’s threat, a bit of luck it’s needed.
G2: my opponent got everything he could ask for, I was dead before I could do anything.
G3: a Troublemaker Ouphe got rid of a trample effect and got me the time to find Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis.
Match: 2-1
Score: 1-0
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Turn 2: Mono U Fae – Positive
G1: in my top 20 cards I found 4 Shambling Ghasts and 3 Refurbished Familiars. No way out for my opponent.
Side In: 3 Duress, 2 Suffocating Fumes, 1 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Snuff Out
Side Out: 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 2 Cast Down, 2 Toxin Analysis, 1 Blood Fountain
The match up is pretty good, having 5 free removals and 6 wrath effects post side. If you get to use a map on a Crypt Rats and make it a 2/2 then the game is almost done. Also Robert is a great blocker and counters their flying race with all the drain.
It’s necessary to play around their Annuls, but Refurbished Familiars help a lot. Also Shambling Ghast is a menace.
G2: my opening hand was: Khalni Garden, Vault of Whispers, double Snuff Out, Refurbished Familiar, Deadly Dispute, Crypt Rats, too good to ship, but my third land-drop was a second Vault of Whispers.
I found a Swamp when it was way too late to recover and lost the game, same hand with a swamp would have been unbeatable.
G3: my hand was a bit clunky and I couldn’t resolve the critical spells. Lost again.
Match: 1-2
Score: 1-1
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Turn 3: Orzhov Robert – Positive
A fellow Robert player!
G1: I started strong, my opponent on the other hand had kept a one-lander supported by Candy Trail. Before he got to do anything relevant he was down to 3 life. Then he started stabilizing and kept his life total away from 0 with Candy Trails, Radiant Fountains and Lembas. On the other side of the battlefield I was flooding badly. His race in the air got threatening, then a Crypt Rats followed by a Robert managed to win me a very difficult game.
There were 5 minutes left on the clock, game 2 I just stalled a bit and the match ended 1-0. Anyway, Crypt Rats is a huge card in the matchup, as it easily blows all the opponent’s board. Post side, having access to Duresses, I would imagine that resolving a Toxin Analysis on Crypt Rats should not be too hard, so that life total should not be a problem as well.
Match: 1-0
Score: 2-1
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Turn 4: RG Monsters – Slightly Positive
G1: a well timed Refurbished Familiar and some spot removals got rid of all his threatening creatures. I secured the initiative and had an easy win, with Robert ruling the battlefield.
Side In: 1 Snuff Out, 2 Avenging Hunter
Side Out: 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Blood Fountain
The gameplan is pretty straightforward: use the removals for their trampling creatures, the other creatures are not very threatening, as we have a lot of creatures we are happy to block with and then dispute, to control the board until Robert takes it home.
Otherwise fight for the initiative and win with that.
G2: he got a Jewel Thief on T2, a Writhing Chrysalis on T3 and an Avenging Hunter on T4. On my turn 4 I had the opportunity to clean the board with Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis with a treasure from a Deadly Dispute in the previous turn but I got greedy and I just played a couple of blockers for the Chrysalis and a possible Boarding Party from hand.
I ended up dying to a second Avenging Hunter from hand that got my opponent to trap a turn earlier then I imagined.
G3: my opponent mulliganed, the lack of cards in his hand forced him to go to lost well with the initiative. This costed him the game: when I got to forge a familiar gave me the initiative for a couple of turns, I put the +1/+1 counters on Robert, that became a huge 5/6 that made my opponent’s 5/4 Hunter look miserable and compleately blocked their race. Another Robert the following turn sealed the deal.
Match: 2-1
Score: 3-1
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Turn 5: Bogles – Slightly negative
G1: I got completely obliterated by Bogle on T1, Ethereal Armor on T2, Ancestral Mask on T3 and a topdecked Rancor on T4 while empty-handed.
G2: on T3 my opponent played a Mask of Law and Grace on their Bogle. I topdecked Troublemaker Ouphe and got back in the game. Then a second Mask of Law and Justice came down on T4, but I got lucky and drew my second Troublemaker Ouphe a couple of turns later. Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis sealed the deal.
G3: a couple of Duresses, a Refurbished Familiar and a Troublemaker Ouphe slowed my opponent a lot. A Blood Fountain on Refurbished Familiar and Troublemaker Ouphe kept me in the game at 1 HP as I was looking for Toxin Analysis because I already had Crypt Rats in my hand.
We had something like 5-6 turns where he attacked with a giant non-trampling Bogle and I desperately drew as much as I could to find Toxin Analysis. I ended up finding it with ~15 cards in my library the turn before my opponent drew Armadillo Cloak. That turn I gained 77 life with a huge Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis, then it was a matter of a few turns of Robert draining to close the match.
Match: 2-1
Score: 4-1
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Turn 6: Boros – Slightly good
G1: he punched me in the air for a bit, then Crypt Rats and Robert stopped his race. A couple of turns later he played a Thraben Charm on Robert with 3 creatures in play. I Snuffed one out and played cast down on another one, to keep safe the greatest car in the world. This costed me the game: in his turn, my opponent showed me his last 3 cards: 2 Galvanic Blasts and a Bolt.
Side In: 2 Weather the Storm, 4 Duress, 2 Troublemaker Ouphe, 1 Drown in Sorrow
Side Out: 2 Shambling Ghast, 3 Snuff Out, 2 Blood Fountain, 2 Nihil Spellbomb
The gameplan is just to stay out of range of the opponent’s burn. Duress can disrupt their way of card advantage by discarding Lembas/Experimental Synthesizer or just take some Bolts out of the way.
Robert or Crypt Rats will eventually close the game.
Post-side games are easier then pre-side games.
G2: a Weather the Storm for 15 life followed by Crypt Rats + Toxin that gained me another 28 won me the game.
G3: my opponent kept a risky hand, with a Great Furnace and a Mountain as his only lands. On my turn 3 I played an Ouphe on his Experimental Synthesizer to stop his value engine, and when the turn later he found an Ancient Den he didn’t have anything good to return to his hand with one of his pigeons. I had the time to do my things, and Robert got me the game.
Match: 2-1
Score: 5-1
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Turno 7: Kuldotha – Positive
G1: my opponent mulliganed to 5 and started with Mountain Reckless Lackey. My hand was Khalni Garden, Swamp, Shambling Ghast, Deadly Dispute, Refurbished Familiar, Spinning Darkness and a seventh card that I can’t remember. I knew I had won before I got to play my first turn of the game.
Side In: 2 Weather the Storm, 2 Suffocating Fumes, 1 Drown in Sorrow
Side Out: 3 Snuff Out, 2 Nihil Spellbomb
6 wrath effects, 7 strong lifegain cards, 2 Weather, 3 Robert, 2 Toxin, make the matchup pretty easy. Shambling Ghasts and Refurbished Familiars are very strong.
Some might think that Ouphe is a card to side in but I don’t like it much in the matchup, mainly because I don’t want to spend treasures to cast it, both because I want green mana available for Weather the Storm and because at that point it might be hard to have a second artifact to bargain with. Moreover I don’t think the deck needs it: while testing, the only time I lost a BO3 against Kuldotha my opponent had played at least 2 Tomb Raiders by turn 2 every game.
G2: another easy match, won by a Suffocating Fumes followed by Robert. I didn’t get under 14 HP in both games.
Match: 2-0
Score: 6-1
After the cut me and Stefano got to day 2, broombrooming over our opponents.
Unluckily Giovanni and Tommaso didn’t broombroom as much and didn’t qualify for day 2.
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Turno 8: Mono U Fae – Positive
G1: my opponent mulliganed and kept a one-lander with Faerie Seer and Moon-Circuit Hacker. He couldn’t find his second land soon enough: a ginormous 3/4 car on the battlefield was too much to handle for his ninjas.
G2: my T1 was Swamp Snuff Out on my opponent’s Faerie Miscreant. This hard-punished his hand composed of a land and 4 ninjas. He got to hit me for a bit, then I played a Refurbished Familiar to lure out his counterspells. It resolved, and gave me the signal that the 3 cars I had in hand were free to go broombroom on the battlefield. I resolved one right away and 2 more on the following turn, followed by a Vault of Whispers and a Refurbished Familiar. Our life totals switched in a blink of an eye and the game was very soon over.
This is the only game of the event where I got to assemble the Tribert, mythological figure of unmatched power. It made me feel alive, can’t wait to have 3 cars on the battlefield again.
Match: 2-0
Score: 7-1
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This closed up day 1, very tiring but also very enjoyable. After dinner I got to bed hoping to sleep more than the 6 hours I had the night before.
My roommates had other plans and started talking about whale combo, this led me to go to sleep with my noise-canceling headphones on.
Anyway, the excitement didn’t let me sleep more than 6 hours again: I started day 2 a bit sleepy, but confident in our weapons and with great support from my fellow LPP friends.
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Turno 9: BGr glee – Slightly Positive
G1: I slammed Robert on turn 3 using a treasure from a Shambling Ghast, followed by another Robert on turn 4. The so-called BiBert put on a solid race with both attacks and drains and didn’t give my opponent the time to assemble their combo.
A couple of removals in my hand made me feel safe while the cars were doing their job.
Side In: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 2 Avenging Hunter, 1 Snuff Out, 4 Duress
Side Out: 1 Shambling Gast, 1 Robert, 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 2 Blood Fountain, 2 Toxin Analysis
The gameplan is to put on enough pressure, with Refurbished Familiars or possibly with an Avenging Hunter, so that the opponent can’t play optimally/doesn’t have the time to assemble the combo. Also having 7 removals with 5 of them being free helps a lot.
Post side the deck has 8 spells that disrupt the opponent’s hand, this can mess them up real bad in particular if they mulligan. Duress is a key card in the matchup, as it gives you the information you need to know if you can afford to tap out to play a threat (Robert/Thorn/Hunter) or if you need to stay open do play removals/dig for removals.
G2: I had a pretty solid start, with a Duress and a Refurbished Familiar disrupting my opponent’s hand. I got him to 1 hp before he managed to stabilize with Makeshift Munitions and a Troublemaker Ouphe for Robert. I managed to draw 17 out of my 20 lands in the top ~30 cards of the library and ended up dying to his Writhing Chrysalises. Also, I got screwed by a Treasure I didn’t see: on the last turns my opponent went for a Glee on his Broodscale, with one land open. I didn’t see the Treasure and didn’t Snuff the Broodscale right away.
When on my turn I tried to Snuff it, he adapted using the Treasure I hadn’t seen, so that I had to use my second Snuff Out on it. Had I seen the Treasure, I would have been able to Snuff both his last remaining blockers and attack for lethal, instead I only killed the Broodscale end died the following turn to the remaining Chrysalises.
There was no time for game 3: sad to throw a game and start day 2 like this, but moved on.
Match: 1-1
Score: 7-1-1
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Turno 10: UB Snacker – Slightly Positive
G1: my opponent had a cluncky hand: T2 they deployed a Sneaky Snacker, followed by a T3 Modern Age. A familiar disrupted their hand, a Crypt Rats with a +1/+1 counter from a map cleared a couple of Snackers a couple of time until I resolved a Robert who secured the win.
Side In: 1 Snuff Out, 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 4 Duress
Side Out: 2 Shambling Ghast, 1 Crypt Rats, 2 Toxin Analysis, 1 Spinning Darkness
Their gameplan suffers a lot hand disruption from Duresses and Refurbished Familiars, as they don’t have a lot of card advantage at least compared to all the other players with Wellsprings and Disputes.
The only thing that can go wrong is a resolved Monarchy by them protected by counters and removals. We want to always have some creatures on the battlefield to make it as hard as possible for them to slam the monarchy.
A key point is that they don’t have many ways to destroy a resolved Refurbished Familiar/Robert, as their main kill-spell is snuff out.
G2: they struggled to find their third and then forth land-drops, and this led to a pretty easy victory.
Match: 2-0
Score: 8-1-1
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Turno 11: UB Fae – Positive
G1: I never let my opponent connect with a Fae, by blocking or killing their faeries with Shambling Ghasts/removals.
They resolved a Thorn of the Black Rose, but the following turn I deployed a Refurbished Familiar. They only had a Murmuring Mystic to protect the Monarchy, but only had 1 mana after deploying the Mystic. I killed the Bird they created with a Brainstorm, stole the monarchy and killed the Mystic with Crypt Rats + Toxin going over 30 hp. They couldn’t take the monarchy back and conceded.
Side In: 1 Snuff Out, 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 4 Duress
Side Out: 1 Shambling Ghast, 2 Toxin Analysis, 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Spinning Darkness
As in the previous round, I hope to capitalize on their lack of card advantage. The main problem is the Monarch, they play 2 or 3 copies, making the matchup a bit harder then the matchup against UB Snacker, but my black creatures fight well on the battlefield as they are immune to my opponent’s Snuff Outs.
We need to be careful of our opponent’s Murmuring Mystic.
G2: on T3 my opponent got brainstorm-locked without the third land-drop. A Duress showed me their hand: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 2 Ninjas, 2 Counterspells and 2 removals. Before they hit their fourth land-drop I had 3 creatures on the battlefield and secured the monarchy after they played their Thorn. The game ended soon after.
Match: 2-0
Score: 9-1-1
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Turno 12: BG Glee + Exhume – Even
G1: my opponent played an interesting list of Glee combo which included Trolls and Exhume. They got a Troll on the battlefield on turn 2 that got to attack me twice before I could find a cast down. Another Exhume put the Troll back in play, and it got to attack me once again before I could remove it.
At this point I still didn’t know they were playing the combo, and after a Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis helped me kill a third troll I dodged the bullet with a Snuff Out, sitting in my hand for a long time, as it didn’t do much against the Trolls, to stop their combo. At this point they didn’t have anything left and a Robert closed the game putting me in front.
Side In: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 3 Duress
Side Out: 2 Blood Fountain, 2 Shambling Ghast
Differently from the usual gameplan against Glee, this time I couldn’t side out the copies of Nihil Spellbomb and Toxin Analysis, as they are one of the few ways I could prevent an exhumed Troll from killing me. This led me to leave out the Avenging Hunters and the last copy of Snuff Out.
Also, from game 1 I didn’t realize they were playing Glee with Troll + Exhume, and I thought the combo was a secondary gameplan. After the match ended and I talked to my opponent I realized I was wrong, knowing it I would have sided slightly differently. Anyway, the angle of attack Troll + Exhume makes it that I can’t side out as many cards as I would do against a normal Glee list, making the matchup a little harder.
G2: my opponent mulliganed twice, I disrupted their hand with a Duress and resolved a Thorn of the Black Rose. They couldn’t keep up and I got the win.
Match: 2-0
Score: 10-1-1
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At this point of the tournament, a draw was enough to put me in top 8.
With a lucky pairing I could have not played the last round, but this was not the case.
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Turno 13: Jund Wildfire by Paolo Donfrancesco – Slightly Positive
Generally game 1 of this match up is pretty easy, as they only have 2/3 removals for our black creatures (they usually play 2/3 Cast Downs and 2 Snuff Outs). We have to be sure not to die to Nyxborn Hydra; it is generally easy to get a pretty big Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis, they have a few copies of removal that hit Crypt Rats, and those removal are often used on Robert. Also, they don’t have lifegain except for 2 Lembas, which makes our Roberts and Crypt Rays extremely deadly. Post side the match up can be a bit more interesting, I will discuss it later on.
As I see it, it is crucial to try to make the opponent’s Blood Fountains useless. This means that I try, if they have a Fountain on the battlefield and I don’t have a Spellbomb, to not kill their creatures, using my life total as a resource, again, knowing that a Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis can skyrocket my life-total very high. They have few threats, and if we manage to kill them all, which is not unrealistic, as we have Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis and 5 more removals, they can’t win.
G1: they had a pretty strong start that got me down all the way to 5 life. A Crypt Rats + Toxin Analysis got me back up to 10 life and cleared all their threats. A Robert proceeded to close the game.
Side In: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 2 Avenging Hunter, 4 Duress, 2 Troublemaker Ouphe
Side Out: 4 Shambling Ghast, 1 Crypt Rats, 2 Blood Fountain, 1 Spinning Darkness
There are 3 main things I want to talk about this board in/out. Firstly, the Shambling Ghasts are not bad in the matchup, as they can kill Refurbished Familiars in particular, with a Ghast on the battlefield and 2 mana up, the opponent can’t bestow a Hydra on a Familiar. Any other creature they might bestow on we can kill with a Snuff Out or they can act as fodder for our disputes. However, the other cards are better, and the Ghasts ended up being the cut.
The second thing I want to talk about are the Troublemaker Ouphes: I want them to be a way to permanently take care of a threat of my opponent. As I said above, I want to approach the match up by removing all their threats (Ouphes’ targets are Familiar, Hydras and Munitions) so that they just can’t kill us. In particular, for as much as juicy it might be, I don’t want to use an Ouphe to exile one of my opponent’s lands.
Finally, why boarding out the Blood Fountains? Surely they are great cards and can win the matchup by themselves. However, if the opponent sees a Spellbomb before we see or have the opportunity to use our Fountain, then it becomes almost useless. After these considerations, we thought that it would be better to renounce the possibility to get back from the graveyard some creatures to make space for the cards from the sideboard. Also notice that taking out the Fountains makes our opponents spellbombs way worse, which is also another upside. Notice that this consideration is a bit useless if your opponent knows you are siding out your Fountains and they’ll know it if they have read this report.
G2: Paolo had an incredible start, with 2 Familiars and 2 Chrysalises in the top 15 cards of his library. I died very quickly.
In: 1 Snuff Out
Out: 1 Robert
With little time on the clock I just need not to die. With this in mind, I decide to put in one more removal for his creatures, hoping this will help. I take out 1 Robert as it shines in the middle/late game.
G3: there is not much time, Paolo has 2 Familiars that are beating me up. A cast down stops a bestowed Familiar to hit me, then a Troublemaker Ouphe takes care of the Hydra left on the battlefield.
Soon after two Chrysalises come down on the battlefield. At this point time is up, we have our last turns. I topdeck a Snuff Out (is it the fourth one, the one just sided in? No one will ever know, but I like to think it is) and take care of one of my opponent’s Chrysalis. At this point their only out to kill me in time is to topdeck their second Hydra: they don’t, and I get the draw I need.
Match: 1-1
Score: 10-1-2
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Paolo still placed 8th, and we ended up having a rematch in the final. More about that later.
It’s my second Geddon, I came with the aim to get to day 2 and I got all the way to top 8. My friends and I are all excited and I can’t wait to start playing also because we have a 4 hour trip to come back to Pisa ahead of us, and we all want to go home.
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Quarter: Quarter Final: BGr Glee by Matteo Canfora – Slightly Positive
G1: my opponent mulliganed twice and on turn 3 I deployed 2 Refurbished Familiars. They disrupted their hand and provided me with the race I needed. I win the game with 2 Snuff Out, a Spinning Darkness and a Cast Down in my hand.
The top 8 was open decklist. I notice that my opponent is playing 2 Makeshift Munitions and a Sylvok Lifestaff as finishers with the combo. I decided to board in a Troublemaker Ouphe, differently from the original sideboard plan.
Side In: 1 Thorn of the Black Rose, 2 Avenging Hunter, 1 Snuff Out, 1 Troublemaker Ouphe, 4 Duress
Side Out: 1 Shambling Ghast, 2 Robert, 2 Nihil Spellbomb, 2 Blood Fountain, 2 Toxin Analysis
G2: I have an early duress followed by an Avenging Hunter on turn 4 using a treasure from a ghast. The pressure is great and I manage to kill an attempt at the combo thanks to a Snuff Out that I drew with a dispute in response to the cast of Glee. On a turn I attack with Hunter but forget to take back the initiative, that would have drawn me a card. I remember it at the beginning of my opponent’s turn and the judge says that I get the trigger of the initiative at that moment. I draw a duress that I would have gladly cast. The 3 cards in my opponent hand ended up being Broodscale, Glee, Deadly Dispute. Luckily he didn’t draw a finisher and I won the game the next turn attacking in the air with a Familiar.
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Semi: Semifinal: Jund Wildfire by Ernesto Jacopo Varriale – Slightly Bad
Differently from the latest lists, my opponent was playing with 4 galvanic blasts. This is quite annoying, as they are clean removals for Robert and my Crypt Rats. However, there is not much I can do with my gameplan.
Unfortunately this semifinal was not very entertaining.
G1: my opponent mulliganed to 4 and I played 2 Refurbished Familiars by turn 4. This closed the game.
G2: I mulliganed to 5 and my opponent played 4refurbished familiars. I guess it’s fair.
G3: my opponent mulliganed, and on T2 I played a Duress: he showed me a Cleansing Wildfire, an Ichor Wellspring, a Deadly Dispute, a Pilfer and a Mountain, after he had played a Drossforge Bridge. I took his Ichor Wellspring, predicting that on the next turn he would play Wildfire and fetch a Forest. He did, and on my turn I played a Troublemaker Ouphe on his Drossforge Bridge, taking care of his only black source. I’m going against what I said above about exiling lands, but in this spot it was clearly the correct play to me. It paid off as my opponent couldn’t find a black land, and after I played my Thorn of the Black Rose I quickly took over the game, winning this last game and the semifinal with it.
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Finals: Jund Wildfire by Paolo Donfrancesco – Slightly Positive
We face again, this time we will have time to complete the whole BO3.
G1: I play 3 Refurbished Familiars soon enough to disrupt badly my opponent’s hand and to have a nice race. I get Paolo down to 3 life, when he finally finds an Eviscerator’s Insight for his wellspring, drawing 3 cards. With a Krark-Clan Shaman he kills my Robert, and his Chrysalises won’t let my Familiars connect for the last final points of damage I need. Moreover, 2 Familiars by him discard my whole hand, containing a copy of Crypt Rats that would have won me the game. On my turn I have the luckiest topdeck of the tournament: a second copy of Crypt Rats wins me the game and throws chaos in the room.
G2: I kept a pretty bad hand and my draws weren’t lucky. The game ended before I could make any significant play.
G3: Paolo mulligans twice, I mulligan once and keep a risky hand with one land, 2 Duresses and an Ichor wellspring. I hope I can disrupt his gameplan and find a land and one of my 9 dispute-effects soon enough. I don’t want to mulligan to 5 against a deck playing Refurbished Familiars. On turn 1 I play a Duress, and Paolo shows me 2 lands, Wildfire, Chrysalis and Thorn. On the following turn I’m lucky enough to draw a Troll, securing my second land-drop. Paolo draws a land himself and plays it, so I know he already has a third land-drop.
On my turn I play Ichor Wellspring and hit my land-drop again. Paolo plays the land I know and passes. If I don’t find a creature and Paolo has another untapped land he can slam the monarch, and things might go badly. I dispute my Wellspring but I don’t find creatures to play. Paolo indeed hits his fourth landrop and plays the monarch, that I immediately kill as I want the board as clean as possible, I already have a Snuff Out for the Chrysalis coming down on his next turn. On my turn I draw a Familiar, that together with the Snuff secures me the monarchy and leads me to victory.
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Conclusione
It feels incredible to win such a big tournament, against such amazing players and in front of my friends. Doing it with a deck not in meta and brewed personally makes it even more special.
The deck made a great performance both days, ending up with the score of 13-1-2, with the loss from a good matchup went poorly and one of the draws caused by a miss-play.
I want to point out that the deck might not be very powerful in a vacuum, but it fits extremely well in the current metagame.
A special thanks to all members of Lega Pauper Pisa for supporting me, to Bøøse for organising such a great tournament and to all my friends for watching me play from home and rooting for me.
Can’t wait to play more Robert and keep competing!
See you at Paupergeddon Pisa, Brumbrum!
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Bonus: SB Guide
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