“This is getting out of hand! Now, there are two of them!” – Nute Gunray
Foreward Note
This article is written by Keegan, anything in red will be from the Alex, like god dropping sick knowledge (and any links you may see).
Key
BD : Banned deck
* : started the game
Banned Decks and Game Decks
| Player | Banned | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Jeff | Sythis | Satya | Krenko | Satya |
| Keegan | Zacama | Uril* | Zur* | Uril* |
| Rich | Gishath | Edgar Markov* | Kami* | Edgar Markov* |
| Sean | Codie | Locust God | Ur-Dragon | Obuun |
Game 1
Edgar Markov & Uril VS. Locust God & Satya
This is the first night of two-headed dragon for the Mana Addicts this season. As always First and Last VS Second and Third, in this case, Rich & Keegan (TeamRK) VS Sean & Jeff (Team SJ).
This game was started off by Team SJH, with Jeff carrying the team with a turn 1 City of Brass into a Sol Ring then casting an Arcane Signet. A good proper mana addict, we don’t need no stinking Mana Crypts. Team RK each played lands but nothing remarkable.
Turn 2 Sean casts a Howling Mine juicing everyone’s draw. Yet again, Team RK played some lands, Rich cast out a vampire to put up a body (or two).
So straight up, this start looks like it is going to be an ass whoopin’ from team SJ. The acceleration from Jeff is not always great in our league. It can be, depending on remaining cards in hand, but Sean following up with a mine to restock is nasty work. Jeff being able to develop and threaten as the snow ball of Locust God develops is nasty work. Team RK has their work cut out for them.
Turn 3 Jeff decided to cast out a Smothering Tithe further tilting the game into Team SSH’s favor. This tilt quickly transferred to Keegan and Rich and not for the reasons you may expect. (Ominous but alright…)
Turn 4 was uneventful, with all players continuing to build their board states. Keegan gets a Sol Ring out getting him within the mana to cast Uril.
Turn 5 This is where it all fell apart for Team RK. Jeff cast out Satya and did some jamming. Sean played nothing, very sus. Team RK begins and Keegan opens with an Austere Command hoping to clear out all of the artifact support he saw Team SJ relying on. This is met by a hardcast Fierce Guardianship from Sean. Rich, seeing the blue player tapped out shoots his shot to cast out the all powerful Vampire Nocturnus. Sean had other plans, blasting off a Force of Will. Dejected Team RK passed.
Seeing the desired tempo playing out here for team SJ. Jeff is jamming while Sean is protecting. This on paper is seeming very good for them, but there is something to keep in mind here. The exchange that just occured was a 2 for 3 for team RK. The Autere –> Fierce is a 1 for 1, which is a fine trade to protect resources. The Nocturnus –> Force had to have been done via pitch casting, which is a 1 for 2. Yes, Locust God is a card draw deck, but right now everyone is drawing the same. I think that this may have been too proactive of a Force, but let’s see how it plays out.
Turn 6 Sean began by casting Narset, Parter of Veils to lock out Team RK from drawing more cards, promptly seeing Jeff cast a Windfall. An excellent example of an awesome combo play. THIS IS WHY TWO HEADED DRAGON ROCKS. Team RK dump their hands and draw 1 card each as their rivals take full new hands. Rich casts Patron of the Vein to be countered by Jeff with a Mana Drain netting 5 colorless mana. Participation trophies will be given to Team RK.
This sequence is nasty and showing the power of teams SJ as a combo. I do not know if the Narset was a top deck or not, but I think I would have saved the force for this. Narset is such a lockout piece that you need to resolve and stick. Nonetheless, this is a textbook tempo-control play from team SJ.
Turn 7 Team SJ, dominating the game, builds their board and continues jamming into Team RK. Keegan casts out a Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor, Sean FOILS my “plan.”
Life totals: RK:30 SSH:52
Turn 8 Team SJ blasts into Team RK for a ton of damage. Rich attempts a Sevinne’s Reclamation but is countered by Sean with a Mana Leak. All said Team RK went 0 and 5 attempts for casting ANYTHING. Team RK was tilted by this for all the obvious reasons.
I am just going to go on record and state this, two players in white here on team RK. I think that this is a pure example of why you need to not forget Orim’s Chant, Grand Abolisher, Silence effects at home. Would this be a perfect fix for 1/3 of those cards listed? No. Could it bait a counter out of their hand for 2 mana max? Strong chance yes. And if you have green, pack your City of Solitude. If you cannot beat them on the stack, make there be no stack.
Turn 9 Team SJ blasts in wiping Team RK from the game.
An absolute master class of blue player controlling the stack and keeping the doors open for their beaters to get through.
Results: Team RK: 2 Team SJ:1
Game 2
Kami & Zur, VS. Ur Dragon & Krenko
This game started off with lands from each player. Turn 2 chaos ensued. Jeff wielding the very dangerous and fast Krenko deck, casts a key piece, Golin Bombardment. Keegan had other plans as he cast Force of Negation to counter it. Oh how the turn tables.
To some of you reading, this may seem like an aggressive force from Sean the previous game. That would be incorrect. That is Keegan protecting his team from losing the game. That simple 2 mana enchantment is the true wincon of Krenko. I pray to have a force in times like those lol.
Turn 3 Saw Keegan using Savor the Moment to gain an extra turn for himself without an untap (this is a rare occurance, like seeing a samsquanch in the wild). This was purely to ramp. Rich cast out Kami giving Keegan the ability to draw 2 on the second turn. In that second turn he cast out Zur.
Team SJ each played a land and mana rocks.
Turn 4 Team RK moves directly into combat swinging Zur and pulling out a Curators Ward to gain protection. Rich gets another land out and holds up mana.
Turn 5 Zur swings again, this time retrieving Bitterblossom. Keegan then casts a Attrition (put this art directly into my veins). Rich continues doing Kami esque things, casting out support pieces and beginning to mill Team SJ. Jeff casts out a couple more goblins, building his grubby army. Sean continues building up mana and reducers to start getting dragons out.
Turn 6 Zur swings again, fetching out Steel of the Godhead. Keegan sac’s his faerie rouge to destroy a goblin lord. Shaffer casts The One Ring which is countered by Keegan with a Fierce Guardianship.
Turn 7 Zur swings in, unblockable, and gets Hatred cast onto him doing the necessary commander damage to end the game (42). (just ain’t the same eh?)
Results: Team RK:1 Team SJ: 2
Let us talk on this game. I have spoken to Keegan at length over the years about EDH, and Zur is the deck I do not want to face for real. The ammount of hours that man has spent pouring over <= 3 drop enchantments to find a tool box to win with is incredible. He is the sword smith and this is his master craft katana. Zur is kill on sight and you have an extremely slim window to do so. I will mull to 1-2 answers against Zur in league, you should too.
Game 3
Edgar Markov & Uril VS. Obuun & Satya
Don’t call it a comeback (because it wasn’t).
Turn 1 Only lands entered the battlefield from each team.
Turn 2 More lands from Team RK, Rich began casting vampires building up a wall. Jeff cast out a Razorkin NeedleHead
Turn 3 Rich began swinging vampires at Team SJ. Team SJ cast both of their commanders. Jeff cast a Grand Abolisher. (he read my commments above, must be a time traveller)
Turn 4 Keegan Cultivates setting up mana for Uril. Rich continues building his vampiric army. Team SJ cast a few more support pieces to get their deck running faster.
Turn 5 Keegan casts Uril, Rich casts Edgar, Charmed Groom. Team SJ hold back their attackers for a turn while continuing to build.
Turn 6 Huge combat from both sides ensue.
Lifetotals Team RK: 38 Team SSH: 46
Turn 7 Keegan casts Instill Energy onto Uril, Rich cast a few support pieces for his Vampires. Sean holds back mana and Shaffer casts a Farewell choosing all modes to clear out the board.
Imma get on my soap box real quick, and preach. Farewell is a b.s. card that shoulda never been printed. It is the Fatal Push of sweepers. Negating indestructible as a keyword on basically all permanant is just straight wrong. I think as a minimum this should have been a choose just 1 card, but giving it multiple choices modality is just wrong. Wack ass card. Imma step down now.
Turn 8 Keegan casts a Smothering Tithe. Rich casts Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Duskborne Skymarcher and Vampire Socialite. Sean begins using all the support pieces he has out and buffs Obuun to being enormous.
Turn 9 Uril returns to the battle field. Sean casting Moraug, Fury of Akoum, playing 2 seperate fetches and popping them granting 4 extra combats. For good measure he cracked off a Naya Charm to tap down all of our blockers and swung in for a commander damage victory!
Let’s talk quick on this. Mourag as a finisher is amazing. I love that landfall has an actual finisher that is not hoof and just value dirdle. But I wanna give a huge shout out to Naya Charm. Been a staple of Obuun for a long time. Not sure if Keegan meant literally or just the vamps with the tap down, but that charm has opened a lot of Ws for Sean over the years. Great game by team SJ.
Results: Team RK:2 Team SJ: 1
Quick closing thoughts here. Team SJ seemed like they were meshing well together. Taking down Keegan is legit tough, I could not name the best EDH player of our group, but I could name the best 2HD player. And it is him. I think it is his education background but idk lol.
It seemed that Edgar was a bit soft here. G1 not his fault due to the way the counter magic flowed, but it was not able to pop off after a wipe. I know Edgar is well touted as very powerful by many, but in our leagues, I have found an extremely few tribal decks that are quick enough / offer enough support and rebuild in singleton. Something to ponder.