by Red Riot Games CA

By Yuki Lee Bender

 

Preparation

Canadian Nationals landed on September 17-18th, just over 2 weeks after I arrived back from Lille on August 31st. This meant a very quick turnover time between events, and a completely fresh metagame due to Prism achieving Living Legend status. This change not only removed Prism, one of my comfort picks, but also shifted the metagame towards proactive Oldhim decks which were very hostile for my other two comfort picks, Viserai and Lexi. Early on in testing I decided I needed to explore new options in order to stay competitive in the emerging metagame. In my eyes this meant learning Dromai, Oldhim or Iyslander, all of which are quite challenging decks to pilot and decks I have little to no experience playing.

Additionally, my day job as a highschool business teacher started back up in the first week of September, and demands quite a large amount of my time and energy at the start of the year. It was clear that testing hours going in were more limited than I would have liked, so I wanted to commit to a deck early. I spent the first week testing Oldhim, to better understand how the rest of the meta lined up against him. While I think Oldhim may be the top deck, I ultimately decided I wasn't confident enough in the mirror to bring him. At this point my friend and testing partner Nghia Tran convinced me to try out Iyslander.

I really enjoyed Iyslander right away, it reminds me of a combination of Lexi's ability to balance tempo/setup with Prism's ability to play at instant speed and build a board state. The deck had a big learning curve at first but clicked for me pretty quickly. I really enjoy how Iyslander gives the pilot a lot of agency in the gameplay and gives me plenty of opportunities for player expression. Frequently in testing Nghia and I would see wildly different lines, both of which had their merits. The deck feels complex but also very rewarding to play.

Come time for Nationals I felt like I had gameplans and about 3-5 reps into most of the major matchups with a few extra into Oldhim, which I had identified as the deck to beat. I definitely felt underprepared going into the event and would have liked time to get more practice, but I liked the deck and felt like it was quite well positioned.

Day 1

Going into day 1 I had quite a few more tournament nerves than I usually do. I think it's mostly from wishing I had more practice on my CC deck. But, I was determined to stay positive, play my best and see where that took me.

Round 1 CC - Oldhim 

I had hoped to get an easier opponent for the first couple rounds, but when I checked my gem pairings and saw none other than Isaak Krut; a player who I had met in semifinals last nationals and has since had many more accomplishments including a Top 8 at PT New Jersey. Not exactly who I was hoping to face off against right away.

Early on in our game I was quite happy with my ability to set up three Insidious Chills and Amulets of Ice and preserve my life total. I had a big swing turn where after blocking a fused and pummeled Oaken Old, I got to Sigil of Solace from hand, play blue Strategic Planning from arsenal to setup an Ice Eternal in my pitch stack and bottom only 1 card. Then draw into an Insidious at the end of turn off of planning, after the discard effect resolved. Both of my tech cards for the matchup really put in work.

However, the game got quite tight as I didn't see any Frost Hexes until the bottom 20 cards of my deck and had to take quite a lot of damage to set them up. Isaak was extremely close to decking me, but had an off turn with only a c&c which let me block with 2 cards, fuse an ice eternal for x=1 off an energy potion giving Isaak a frostbite and taking most of his hand on my turn, arsenaling the last Ice Eternal. On his turn I take the rest of his hand with a fused ice eternal for X=4 for lethal with the last five cards in my deck. Strategic planning proved to be extremely pivotal in this game.

After beating Isaak a lot my initial nerves washed away and I gained some confidence going into the rest of my rounds.

Game 2 CC - Belittle Briar (feature match)

Briar started with two early Channel Mounts and managed to channel twice on both, but I was able to disrupt him nicely and maintain my life total with a combination of Coronet Peak, Channel Lake Frigid and Hypothermia. I also set up two Insidious Chills during this early part of the game, however I find myself down 36 to 20 on life.

After the second CMH is gone I find time to pivot and start doing back to back Aether Ice Veins to trigger Insidious, take his hand, and claw back the life totals. After denying my opponent his Sow Tomorrow draw with Channel Bleak Expanse from arsenal, I blunder and sink a card to Sink Below and immediately realize I can't draw. This makes the game quite stressful but I manage to chip him down and finish him off with Storm Striders and Freezing Point for lethal.

Game 3 CC - Oldhim - Dimos K

I get paired against another extremely talented guardian player who I played late in nationals last year. My game goes very similarly to the one with Isaak early on with me establishing early Insidious Chills. However, Dimos is able to pressure me very effectively early and get my life total low fast. I see my Frost Hexes very late and a timely Tear Asunder on Chokeslam when I have my last Frost Hex and an Ice Eternal I want to arsenal in hand leaves me too far behind. I get forced to block and get decked out.

Draft 1

I pick one pack one Insidious Chill which is one of the biggest bombs in the set in my eyes. However, pick 2 I get passed a Nekria and suspect an Iyslander common has been taken so I decide to stay open to Dromai. The next several picks Dromai continues to flow with cards like Red Sweeping Blows, Miragai and Cenipais, while Iyslander continues to be cut. I end up as 1 of 2 dromai at the table, with me to the right of the other Dromai. My deck is outrageous and is easily the best dromai deck I have drafted.

The cards on the bottom right are sideboard.

 

Round 4 - Fai

I win the die roll choosing to go second. I start with an early Rake the Embers that my opponent decided to clear with Inflame, giving me space to make efficient plays like Embermaw Cenipai and dragons, while blocking with the rest of my hand.

 

We continue to trade life but ultimately my opponent being forced to deal with my dragons lets me pull ahead and lock him out of the game with a bunch of ashwings when he is at 2 life. I end the game at 5.

 

Round 5 - David Rood - Fai

Another round and yet another TCG legend. Drood wins the dice roll and chooses to go second. He has a very strong Fai deck and manages to pressure me very consistently. I prioritize blocking, gaining ash and look for an opportunity to play a Cenipai which puts him to 12. I take some damage down to 9 to establish a Nekria which continues to pressure him for several turns. 

 

He ends up pushing me down to 5 life and has the option to put me to 1 life, but decides to make the disciplined play and clear Nekria. This gives me the space to pivot and force him on the back foot. We trade 2-3 card hands for a bit before I manage to land a Yendurai and a red Rake the Embers after an off turn to lock him out of the game.

 

This is the first time I've gotten to properly meet and play with Drood, it was a pleasure. The game was extremely tight and he played very well.

 

Round 6 - Fai

I win the die roll and get to go second. I get to apply pressure early and establish a life lead. He pressures me quite heavily forcing blocks but I find a spot to take damage and resolve Nekria and arsenal Vynserikai, putting him down to 1. I block out, keep a blue in hand and resolve Vynserikai which alongside Nekria takes his entire hand and leaves him unable to clear them. I find a red starter next turn to lock up the game.

 

Draft Pod 2

This draft I open one of the best packs I've ever seen. Notable cards include Red Fyendal's Fighting Spirit, Blaze Headlong, Spellfire Cloak, Red Aether Icevein, Red Aether Hail and a Blue Frosting. Additionally, I know some of the players passing to me have strong preferences and I expect the table to be:

 

Dromai  Iyslander  Fai  Fai

     ?           ?           ?    me

 

While I usually would slam the Spellfire Cloak, as I tend to prefer Iyslander, I decide to take a page out of Matt Roger's book and take Red Fyendal's with the plan to cut Dromai and put people down stream from me on Iyslander. I get rewarded at first with cards like Kyloria, Red Sweeping Blows and Dust Up, before Dromai starts to dry up. My first pack wheels and I see Spellfire Cloak and Aether Hail still in the pack with no dromai cards remaining and realize things have gone horribly wrong. However, it's too late to pivot to Iyslander at this point. The plan ended up failing because the players I was passing to wanted to avoid Iyslander and our table ended up being as follows:

 

Dromai Iyslander  Fai   Fai

Fai        Dromai    Fai   Dromai (me)

 

I end up with some strong cards and good equipment but only 28 playables. This forces me to play 2 Phoenix Flames and some middling cards. I end the drafting portion with regrets and pray for a 2-1 record.

This draft solidifies my stance that I want to leave myself open and able to read the signals I get, instead of trying to send signals. Even in pod 1 at Nationals many players may not be comfortable with draft or may just have very strong preferences. As a result trying to force and send signals feels quite risky.

 

Round 7 - Dromai - Tariq Patel (feature match)

Tariq and I get asked to go on stream and we both sheepishly agree. Neither of us are thrilled with being one of three Dromai drafters. During the match we were both laughing and groaning at how poor our decks were.

 

I win the die roll and decide to go second. This lets me exert pressure early with some early Dunebreaker Cenipais, Flamecall Awakenings and Transmogrifies. I have a popper for his Red Embermaw which gives me an early life lead of 12-8 and force him on the defensive.

 

Cards in deck are a major consideration and I decide to make plays like save a yellow flex I could have played for 3, for a time I could pitch for it to get more value out of my deck. Neither of us is able to really control tempo as our threat quality is quite poor so we trade small hands and grind out small bits of value.

 

I draw my first Red Rakes with limited ash and a clogged arsenal, forcing me to resolve one early to pressure Tariq while his life total is low. I end up misplaying and attacking with an ashwing when Tariq has quell from Silken Form up. I should have kept the ashwing back to clear his ashwing, should he choose to summon it. Tariq has the punish with a yellow rake and a red oasis to turn on go again, allowing him to clear my board. I play Kyloria into a yellow embermaw Cenipai which gives me tempo with Kyloria still on board and allows me to pull way ahead. On the following turn I play a red rake to clear his board, but a timely popper on Kyloria helps him stabilize at 2. I still have the advantage with Ashwings in play. Sand Cover, Strategic Planning, Miragai and some other red go agains I pitched early for ash come back around allowing me to clear his board and deck him out with only a few cards left in my own deck.

 

Round 8 - Fai

We both trade damage and try to get value out of our decks. It's clear neither deck is very optimal. My opponent has to make some plays like starting his turn by pitching a blue to grab a Phoenix Flame.

 

However, a poor Fai deck is often more efficient than a poor Dromai deck thanks to Searing Emberblade so I start to fall behind on life. I decide to pop Silken Form early and take damage to play Miragai as I know dragons will be my main way of keeping up. 

 

I'm low and forced to block every turn while slowly losing life, but Miragai keeps chipping in for 2. My opponent decided to Breaking Point my Miragai when I'm at 5 for fear of me continuing to block out and win with Miragai.  Luckily, I have Flamecall Awakening, ashwing attack into yellow Embermaw from arsenal when he started the turn at 7, forcing him to start blocking with multiple cards each turn. A Red Rake closes out the game.

 

Game 9 - Iyslander - Mike Caronchia

Despite my deck being poor, it actually has reasonable tools into Iyslander. I resolve an early Themai, but make the mistake of attacking with it instead of playing and attacking with Kyloria first. He has the only popper in his deck in hand and kills my Themai. However, I tend to prefer to make my opponent have it than to just sit back and wait.

 

I try to pressure with efficient attacks where I can and conserve my life total by pitching to AB.  However Mike is good at presenting lots of damage on his turn, forcing me to block, then chipping me for damage on my turn when my hand is depleted. My Rakes come quite late though, making it hard to get ashwings so I have to blow my Sand Cover and Oasis Respites early. He ultimately finds a Singe before I find my second Rake and manages to close out the game. He ends the game at 4 with less than 10 cards in deck. Despite the loss, I was thrilled to get a 2-1 draft with a mediocre deck. This draft is a great reminder that sometimes when your draft goes poorly, the rest of your pod may have also not ended up with strong decksl.

 

At the end of day 1 I'm third seed, the highest of the x-2s, with only two players at x-1. I feel great about my spot after such a long grueling day of fab. The event had started at 10 am and ended at almost 8 pm, with some breaks and the draft portion causing the event to drag in some spots. But, overall the event was fairly well run and a big improvement over last year.

 

Day 2

Round 10 CC - Iyslander

I get paired against Victor whom I have tested with. I win the die roll and go first.

 

Victor sees primarily damage and sigil of solaces early while I manage to find 2 Frost Hex and 2 Insidious Chills over the course of several turns. I try to preserve life, but go down 25 to 39 life as I set up. At this point I decide to turn the corner with fused Ice Veins on my turn and ice blues on his turn which do lots of damage thanks to the Frost Hexes. 

 

I get him down to 15 and go for a big Ice Eternal X=5 play taking his hand, but miscalculating his ability to pay through it thanks to Aluvion and Energy Potions. I should have made the play for X=4 which would still force the potions, but kept two cards in hand. Over extending causes me to have no arsenal and lets him start to catch back up.

 

We trade life down to 12-7 and he fuses a Yellow Icevein triggering Insidious on his turn. In response I play a Coldsnap from Arsenal's and Striders ice eternal for x=2 with metacarpus nodes, allowing me to Amulet him and come in with Waning moon for a total of 8 damage for lethal through his interaction and arcane barrier.

 

Round 11 CC - Rhinar

I get paired against my friend and local, Ian Smith. He's a very talented and hardworking player who goes on to place second at the event, playing against Tariq Patel in the finals. This is a win and in for both of us.

 

He played quite a grindy style of game focused on trading efficient attacks and making efficient blocks in order to outvalue me. However, my disruption lined up well with his potential power turns, managing to find all 3 Channel Lake Frigids early. Insidious Chills + Aether Ice Veins let me take control of the game. These tempo plays in combination with some minor inefficiencies on his part let me pull ahead early. I close out the game with Striders into Icevein.

 

Round 12 CC - Iyslander - Mike Caronchia

Mike was already locked for first seed and decided he'd rather have me on the other side of the bracket at second, so he conceded to me after deck check. This gave both of us time to relax and get coffee.