A tournament report playing Miracles (5-1)

My name is Marcus and I’ve been playing Magic on and off since 1995. I first started playing Legacy in 2009 and the deck back then had the exact same copies of Counterbalances and Sensei’s Divining Tops I ended up T8-ing with at Bazaar of Moxen earlier this year. I am a one-deck kind of guy and I love to tweak and tune my 75. Over the years I’ve been trying most other archetypes eventually always came back to Counter-Top. It’s something special about countering spells and drawing cards and I just can’t have enough. I used to play other constructed formats as well (and I still love Limited) but after my first match of Legacy everything else suddenly felt un-interactive and random.
I am from Sweden where we don’t have the luxury of SCG Opens so I mostly get my fix of Legacy on Magic Online. Playing in real life and hanging out at a big event is still the best thing about Magic so when Wizards announced there would be a Standard GP in the capital I decided to give the format another shot, playing UB Control.

Having been on my honeymoon for 3 weeks prior to the tournament was great but did not really help my preparations to win the trophy. I dropped after round 4. The event was still a blast and I will definitely continue to play standard for as long as control is viable. There seems to be a lot of room for innovation and for once I felt decisions actually mattered more than just the topdecks!
As usual at a GP there is a Legacy tournament during Sunday. I had not played against the new cards from Khans of Tarkir but I felt much more prepared for Legacy than the Standard. About 40 people showed up for 6 rounds of swiss without top8. I registered the following:

CREATURES (4)
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Snapcaster Mage
ENCHANTMENTS (4)
4 Counterbalance
SORCERIES (8)
4 Terminus
2 Ponder
2 Entreat the Angels
INSTANTS (14)
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Force of Will
2 Counterspell
PLANESWALKERS (4)
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
ARTIFACTS (4)
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
LANDS (22)
4 Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tundra
2 Arid Mesa
2 Plains
1 Volcanic Island
1 Karakas
1 Mountain

SIDEBOARD (15)
2 Flusterstorm
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Batterskull
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Council’s Judgment

The list is more or less the same as I’ve been playing since December. Miracles is heavily tuned by a lot of people and there are only a few cards difference between the lists. I have tried most of them so if you have any questions about specific card choices I gladly answer them in the comments section. Here’s a summary of my matches as well as my conclusion about the matchups. It is very likely I forgot important details or made things up the way I think it happened.

R1: ANT (very good pilot)

G1: I survived the first attempt when he tried to go off (T3) but couldn’t find Counterbalance in time and died about 10 turns later from Past in Flames (Counterspell) flashback -> Infernal tutor -> Tendrils of Agony for 11 copies. Counterspells trading 1for1 only get you so far and without Counterbalance (or a timed Entreat the Angels) the Storm player is actually favored in the late game pre board because of all the bad white cards ending up in our hand.

Sideboarding.

-2 Entreat the Angels -4 Jace, The Mind sculptor, -2 Terminus -1 Plains -2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Relic of Progenitus +2 Surgical Extraction +2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +2 Flusterstorm +2 Red elemental Blast +1 Pyroblast.

There are a few different approaches you have to be aware of during sideboarding versus Storm. Your white cards are generally terrible but you can’t afford to cut all of them. Empty the warrens and Young Pyromancer requires Terminus and if they play Dark Confidant or Xantid Swarm you better keep some Swords to Plowshares. There are also potential Pithing Needle, Defense Grid, Flusterstorm, additional discard, Red Elemental Blast and Abrupt Decay to be aware of (and Silence/Orim’s chant if they play white). Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull is also a fine way to answer both Empty the Warrens and Young Pyromancer. A few hits with Batterskull also make it harder for them to build a high enough storm count for a lethal Tendrils of Agony. Note that it’s often to correct to hold on to Stoneforge Mystic for a turn or two. If you have a Brainstorm and a Top you can save the Batterskull from one of their 7-8 discard spells and still attack with it the next turn! A final word about Stoneforge Mystic is that even if they do end up discarding Batterskull you have them dead in less than 20 turns.
Surgical Extraction usually hits Infernal Tutor but seeing their whole deck is also very helpful for proper sideboarding G3.
The second Plains is not needed after we cut our expensive spells (Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Entreat the Angels). I wouldn’t go below 21 lands though as not having enough mana (or being forced to use cantrips to find lands) often lead to scenarios where you are short on mana and not able to counter their stuff. Presenting a win condition is low priority versus Storm and postboard games are often won with random beats adding up to 20.
The red blasts are not clutch vs Storm but trading for a cantrip is better than the options we have. Especially Brainstorm is good to counter as if they have a lot of lands they can’t get hellbent for Infernal Tutor without a Lion’s Eye Diamond.
Relic of Progenitus keep Cabal Ritual of threshold and stops Past in Flames. Sometimes you can even set up a Counterspell with Ponder and draw it using the Relic as a way to dodge discard the turn they go off.
Flusterstorm needs no explanation.

Tapping out at the wrong time is the most common way for inexperienced players to lose against Storm. A blind counterbalance on turn 2 on the draw is perhaps worse than holding up Brainstorm and Flusterstorm. Be patient and adjust to what they are doing. Not all storm decks try to go off turn 1-2 and the longer you wait (unless you die) the more options you have. If they for example miss a few land drops and don’t play any discard you have to be very ready as their hand is probably full of rituals and all they need is Infernal Tutor or Duress. Don’t play Jace at that point. If they instead play their fifth land and shuffle with Ponder you are often in a better shape and maybe it’s correct target yourself with that Vendilion Clique to dig for that brainstorm to put those useless drawn miracles back in the deck.

G2: This was a drawn out affair. Counterbalance got Abrupt Decayed and Abrupt Decay got surgical extracted. Around turn 8 I had a hand full of counters and CB+Top in play. Eventually I got there with random beats. I saw 3 Xantid Swarm and ETW when looking through his deck. So for G3 I cut the Stoneforge Package for 2 Swords to plowshares and a Terminus. Xantid Swarm is scary.

G3: It all came down to a turn where I knew my opponent’s hand was only rituals+infernal tutor+1 random card (from a Vendilion Clique the previous turn taking Past in Flames) plus the unknown card from this draw step. My hand was 2 Force of Will and a Counterspell, 2 lands untapped and a Sensei’s Divining Top in play. The top card was Force of will and 2 lands. He led with Duress (one unknown) which I Forced pitching Force. He then Cabal Therapied (the second unknown) for Flusterstorm and saw my Counterspell. If he led with Cabal Therapy for Force of Will instead he would’ve got me. I won a few turns later with Clique beating him down. Close game.

1-0

R2: Burn (at least a good pilot, hard to really know)

G1: I stabilized at 3 life and got Cb+top (actually 4 tops!) up and running. Playing 10 fetches is problematic in this matchup not only because my life total is important but also because I was floating Entreat the Angels and Counterbalance for my Counterbalance in play (with Force of Will for his Fireblast). If I shuffle my deck at any point I could end up dead to whatever 2 or 3 mana burn he has. I had a hard time finding either the second white source for Entreat the Angels or something I could use to beat down with. Eventually I found plains and made an angel with a few mana left to spin the tops. He didn’t kill me and the Angel finished him off.

Sideboarding:

-2 Entreat the Angels -2 Terminus -2 Jace, The mind sculptor
+2 Flusterstorm +2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +1 Council’s Judgment

Without Stoneforge Mystic/Batterskull I can see why people keep Entreat the angels in the matchup. Not only does it counter Sulfuric Vortex with Counterbalance but is actually about the only way we can hope to beat that card if it sticks around in play. My game plan is not to end up in a race and I rather sideboard for consistency by removing the miracles. I like to keep 2 Terminus as a way to beat Eidolon of Great Revels without taking damage. If I see more creatures than usual (Vexing Shusher for example) I switch the last 2 Jace for Terminus 3-4. Jace is not great but he is much better than entreat the angels in my opinion. He also pitches to force of will, bounces Eidolon and the fateseal ability is very nice once we have CB+Top established (and make sure we can set up cb/top anyways). A common misconception about the deck is that we need a win condition when it’s actually more about not dying, with a few exceptions of course (12-post, goblins etc.). The Council’s Judgment is there to handle Sulfuric Vortex and the Flusterstorms are healing salves or a way to protect Stoneforge Mystic. Even though the deck is called Burn their suite of answers to stop T2 Stoneforge Mystic are usually only Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. If you are on the draw and they have their third land you can add Rift Bolt to that list.

G2: This was an interesting game and a good example why Burn could be an even matchup. I kept a hand with Jace, the mind sculptor, Counterbalance, Sensei’s Divining Top, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique and 2 lands. My opponent played turn 1 Goblin Guide (I played top), turn 2 Goblin Guide+suspend Rift bolt. Instead of playing Counterbalance I now had to deal with the board. I had no removal so my plan was to let the Guide triggers resolve and then if I reveal either Terminus or Swords to plowshares can I draw it with my Sensei’s Divining Top and if not I can trade Snapcaster Mage for one of the Goblins. I revealed Terminus so I stacked a Top activation and responded by drawing terminus killing his creatures. The reason I did that was because I had the mana to spare. I got to see three new cards while I also hid the information about my next draw. Next turn I played Counterbalance for which he had a red blast. He then threw a Chain Lightning and a Lava Spike at me. At 8 life I played Vendilion Clique during his draw step and saw 3 Lava Spikes (he had 2 mountains in play). I cycled one Lava Spike thinking that the only card that would kill me this turn is Fireblast and If I get to untap I have my 4 lands with Flusterstorm, Snapcaster Mage+Flusterstorm to hopefully stabilize (unless he drew an instant burn spell and cast it with my “first” Flusterstorm on the stack). From this position I can’t really afford to let him have that third lava spike which would be lethal in 2 turns (or next turn if he draw a mountain). Even though I might just die this turn I have to get lucky and hope that the Lava Spike cycles into something else I don’t have to counter. He drew the Fireblast and I died.

G3: Being on the play versus Goblin Guide is huge. I got cb+top up turn 3 at 10 life on an empty board. He played Sulfuric Vortex but I had my Council’s Judgment for it. I killed a Vexing Shusher and played Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Rather than fatesealing right away I brainstormed a few times. The reason for brainstorming was that I wanted to draw my top 3 cards (Force of Will, Flusterstorm and Counterspell) so trading those for two random draw steps from my opponent was a trade I was willing to take, especially considering I had cb+top in play. With enough counters in hand I then proceeded to fateseal and when Jace hit 11 my opponent conceded. Had I started fatesealing right away there is a chance, even though it’s unlikely, that my opponent would end up drawing the same cards Jace had put to the bottom and then I end up with no counterspells to stop them. There is almost no downside brainstorming with Jace at this point other than it takes a few more turns to win.

2-0

R3: BUG Delver with TC and TNN (average pilot)

G1: We traded back and forth and it all came down to him having 2 TNN and me having Jace. I had 3 turns to find Terminus but didn’t get there. He played DRS, Delver, Tarmogoyf, Treasure Cruise and some cantrips.

Sideboarding:

-4 Force of will -4 Counterbalance -2 Counterspell
+2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +2 Red elemental blast +2 Pyroblast +1 Supreme Verdict +1 Council’s Judgment +1 Relic of Progenitus.

Counterbalance is sided out not only to play around Abrupt Decay (which has no other good targets) but because it’s an unreliable way to stop their spells. Unlike for example RUG-Delver the BUG version is not centered around resolving 1-mana spells but rather 2,3 and now even 8 from Treasure Cruise. If we are lucky the Counterbalance counter all of their spells but if it not it could just sit there doing absolutely nothing or die instantly from an otherwise semi-worthless Abrupt Decay. We don’t really need the potential Card Advantage from Counterbalance in this matchup. Jace, the Mind Sculptor should be enough combined with the fact that they have more dead draws in the late game (Thoughtseize, Daze etc). To blank their discard even further I side out Counterspell and Force of Will. I prefer powerful topdecks that can played right away, not reactive cards that does not impact the board. As long as I can trade 1-for-1 I have a much better chance in the late game than they do (even with Treasure Cruise).
The last cut for me during sideboarding is the second Counterspell for the 4th Pyroblast. Both of them are fine making sure True-Name Nemesis and Treasure Cruise do not resolve. Even though Counterspell is an answer to Null rod, Pithing Needle, Sylvan Library and Liliana of the Veil I rather have the full set of blasts because these are more mana efficient and can also kill Delver of Secrets. Note that Counterspell is a lot better on the play than on the draw.
In G1 I did not see any Hymn to Tourach or Stifle which are the ONLY cards I would consider adding Flusterstorm against. Note that a very important reason to sideboard like this is the access to a basic mountain in the list.

G2: I mulliganed a 6 spell 1 Karakas hand into a decent 6 with 3 lands (I almost never mulligan, especially if I have enough lands and expect my cards to be discarded anyway). He played T1 Pithing Needle naming Sensei’s Divining Top (which I didn’t see the whole game). He made a small error playing a T2 Bayou instead of a fetchland and now had a Deathrite Shaman that could not produce mana. He deployed Tarmogoyf a turn later and also stifled my fetchland activation. I killed his Shaman. He then Abrupt Decayed my Vendilion Clique and beat me down with Tarmogoyf. I resolved Jace and bounced the Tarmogoyf a few times before I killed it. Jace did his thing of finding more answers than my opponent found threats. Eventually I killed him with Angels. It’s often correct to take some hits and be patient to get max value from your Sweepers and Cantrips. Against BUG you don’t have to worry about creatures with haste or Lightning Bolt finishing you off.

G3: This game was extremely grindy and he resolved a total of 3 Treasure Cruises. I punted and forgot that I had a Snapcaster Mage on top of my library. If I had activated my Top to draw I could’ve flashbacked the Red Elemental Blast I had in my graveyard and stopped the first Treasure Cruise. Instead I activated Sensei’s Divining Top to look and was now a mana short. I remembered to play Snapcaster+Red Elemental Blast for his next Treasure Cruise but he had a Daze for it. I had a hand full of gas so it wasn’t over. My first Jace got Maelstrom Pulsed but the next one stuck and lived for a few turns. I got there eventually with a big Entreat the angels. Even though Treasure Cruise is busted I don’t think it’s more than fine in a lot of decks currently playing it, for example in BUG beatdown. It seems like the average Tarmogoyf is nothing more than a 2/3 because of Delve and Deathrite Shaman. Even if you can afford to delve, wouldn’t Tombstalker be a better choice? If the plan is to beat down and you even play cards like Daze to cement your role as the aggressor why would you want to draw Daze with Treasure Cruise in the mid/lategame? In my opinion it’s the same 10 year old mistake in deck building as to put Standstill and Daze in the same deck.

3-0

R4: LED Dredge (good pilot)
This guy sat next to me during the previous match and even though I barely remember people and what they play I remembered that this guy had about a million permanents on the table when he won. Dredge it is. I didn’t know if it was manaless or “regular” dredge but he won the roll and wanted to start so regular dredge it was. I’m very unlikely to win pre-board and I knew had to get lucky. I kept a hand with Ponder, Sensei’s Divining top, Force of will and 4 lands. Pretty much everything I could ask for. I played my Top and Forced his Careful Study. He resolved another one and discarded a Stinkweed Imp. He dredged a few more dredgers and a Narcomoeba (which I Swords to Plowshared in the end of his draw step). I had Terminus for a zombie and an Ichorid in his drawstep. He found another Ichorid and beat me down. I Counterspelled a Faithless Looting. At the last possible moment I made 3 angels for his 3 attackers and killed him over two turns. He did not resolve any Breakthrough this game which gave me some time to breathe. Very weird game.

Sideboarding:

-4 Counterbalance -2 Counterspell -2 Jace, the mind sculptor -1 Entreat the Angels
+2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +2 Flusterstorm +2 Surgical Extraction +1 Relic of Progenitus +1 Pithing Needle

On the play I would also go -2 Vendilion Clique +1 Red elemental blast +1 Pyroblast to have more answers to T1 Careful Study and Breakthrough. The blasts are also fine killing Narcomoeba or sometimes even my own (blue) creatures to remove Bridge from Below. Vendilion Clique will never cycle a card from them but is a fine end of turn play when your own hand is terrible. Dredge has two angles of attack to be prepared of. Either it can go full combo via Breakthrough, Careful Study or Faithless Looting and dump half their deck in the graveyard or it can “slow-dredge” using the natural draw step only. The most explosive draw from Dredge is very fast but also very fragile. Forces of Will and 1-mana counterspells (on the play) are excellent against that. Counterbalance is too slow and is almost a complete blank when your opponent is on the slow-dredge plan, not casting any spells. This is more manageable but still scary. If you have fetched twice a single Ichorid and 2 Bridge from Below will create a lethal army in just 3 turns. We want removal too.
Counterspell and Jace are very slow and Entreat is clunky as always. I still like to leave one Entreat in the deck as it can sometimes act as the 5th Terminus. I would consider leaving both in versus a slow opponent as the games tend to very long, if we survive the first onslaught that is. I don’t want to remove any more blue cards because of Force of Will.
The Stoneforge Package is a nice addition and completely dominates the slow-dredge plan. It’s also nice to have the option to remove Bridge from Below by bouncing Batterskull (killing the Germ).
For graveyard hate I used to play 2 Rest in Peace and 1 Grafdigger’s Cage in my sideboard. The recent switch back to Snapcaster Mage main deck and the disynergy it has with those cards made me rethink the way I approach both graveyard-centered decks and the decks that use the graveyard as a resource. I switched my 2 Rest in peace for 2 Surgical Extraction and my 1 Grafdigger’s Cage for 1 Relic of Progenitus. Against the most popular Tarmogoyf/Deathrite Shaman deck (BUG) where Rest in Peace seems great I would actually not side them in. The reason is that outside of Rest in Peace and Counterbalance (I side out) there are no good targets left for their Abrupt Decay. Stoneforge Mystic, Vendilion Clique or one of many Angel Tokens are all something I happily trade a card and 2 mana for.
The games I lost to BUG with Rest in Peace in the deck ended when a Tarmogoyf killed me after Rest in Peace got destroyed, or me dying to Delver of Secrets when I had a useless Rest in Peace in play. I have done lot of testing and found that “blanking” Abrupt Decay is the approach I like the most. The upside of shutting down all Tarmogoyfs in one card is actually not worth the risk. However, If RUG-Delver becomes popular I would reconsider Rest in Peace again. Without black there are almost no effective ways to remove either Counterbalance or Rest in Peace (except Krosan Grip). Fortunately RUG deck is on the decline as players now have to choose between Treasure Cruise or Nimble Mongoose for their Delver decks.
The other anti-graveyard card, Grafdigger’s Cage, does actual nothing versus Tarmogoyf but instead is great shutting down Natural Order, Green Sun’s Zenith and the ability to use a fetchland for Dryad Arbor. That’s pretty much all I can ask for from a sideboard card against Elves! (even though it’s already a favored matchup for Miracles). I am not sure if Relic of Progenitus, which is a bad card versus elves, is good enough to replace Grafdigger’s Cage in the list but unlike Grafdigger’s Cage there is almost no downside of playing Relic of Progenitus in the same deck as Snapcaster Mage, it dodges Abrupt Decay and is an effective tool to stop Treasure Cruise. I also like it as a one-of versus Thopter Foundry, Goblin Welder and other cards where you sometimes want the effect. The last “fair” cards using the graveyard I’m going to mention are Life from the Loam and Punishing Fire. I’m not going into the details but the new sideboard is weaker against these. I would reconsider Rest in peace if these starting to show up in greater numbers.
Let’s just move on to the real reason why I play graveyard hate in my sideboard, to beat Reanimator and Dredge.
I think Surgical Extraction is a lot better versus Reanimator than Rest in Peace. It’s all about mana efficiency and free spells are the best of the bunch. Removing Griselbrand (and all additional copies) in response to Reanimate Is very good. Surgical Extraction versus the most common version of Dredge (the one with lands) is very powerful. Removing all of their Bridge from Below, Narcomoeba and Ichorid is enough to stop them completely and is actually pretty realistic if you counter their draw spells and Terminus their board. It’s a little tricky but as long as you do it right it’s very hard for them to win. The power level of Surgical Extraction is not up there with Rest in Peace, especially against Manaless Dredge, but I actually prefer Surgical Extraction in this matchup. The reason is that Dredge side in 3-4 Nature’s Claim and use Cabal Therapy to name Rest in Peace. The unexpected Surgical Extraction completely sidesteps this. Relic of Progenitus is a great way to split your answers between the hand and the board. It’s also unexpected and something that at least can give you value when answered.

G2: I mulligan a pretty unexciting 7 for a decent 6 without any graveyard hate. He plays Putrid Imp and pass. I play Tundra and use Swords to Plowshares target Imp in his upkeep. He responds by pitching a Golgari Thug which he then dredges in his draw step. He plays another Imp and passes. I play a land and a Top and pass the turn. He discards some cards and plays Careful Study which I Flusterstorm. The game goes on and I manage to hit removal in each of his draw step that matters. He only had one bridge from below so as long as I can keep him down to two creatures he can’t flashback Dread Return. Taking 2-3 Damage a turn is manageable. In the end I found Entreat the Angels.

4-0

R5: Junk Nic Fit (average pilot)

G1: I had no idea what I was up against until I saw Veteran Explorer a few turns into the game. This made an earlier Ponder decision a bit awkward but it didn’t really matter. He Cabal Therapied without hitting anything. He was apparently flooded and Jace went fatesealing right away. He found a GSZ but I had a hardcast Force of Will for it (thanks Veteran Explorer!).

Sideboarding:
-4 Counterbalance -2 Swords to Plowshares
+1 Council’s Judgment +2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +1 Supreme Verdict +1 Relic of Progenitus

Veteran Explorer is one of their weaker cards against Miracles because it’s symmetrical and we can use the mana to cast Entreat the Angels. Veteran Explorer is often sided out, sometimes in exchange for Carpet of Flowers. By leaving uncracked fetchlands and fetching for Plains sidesteps both Carpet of Flowers and Choke. The early game then gives you enough time to either kill them with Stoneforge Mystic->Batterskull or to set up and find Jace/Entreat the Angels (which only can be dealt with using Pernicious Deed or Maelstrom Pulse).
Sometimes the Nic-Fit player slam a bomb turn 4,5,6,7 and then there is not much you can do. The average draws are much weaker as they run very little card manipulation. This is therefore the only matchup where I would consider using Force of Will on a Sensei’s Divining Top (and of course Sylvan Library). It seems weird to keep Force of Will in this matchup but the card disadvantage is not that big of a deal because of how threat light they are. The games go long and hardcasting Force of Will stopping Thragtusk is more than fine. Counterbalance dies to Abrupt Decay but is also way to unreliable in this matchup.

G2: I was caught off-guard T2 when he played Stoneforge Mystic and fetched Batterskull. Normally Nic-Fit don’t interact in any meaningful way this early on. He beat me with his creatures and cast a few Cabal Therapies (they were all pretty lackluster). Eventually I plowed the Mystic and found Jace to bounce his Germ. He had 5 mana and spent the next turns re-casting Batterskull while I was alternating fatesealing and bouncing the germ. I punted and used Terminus when I thought he had a Germ but didn’t. Eventually I found Vendilion Clique to get rid of it. He drew a blank and with Karakas in play I had all bases covered and Jace finished him of.

5-0

R6: Dark Maverick (very good pilot)

We both kept our seven. I got a Mother of Runes and a Qasali Pridemage with Terminus T3. His follow up Deathrite Shaman was plowed and then Jace showed up brainstorming. I guess he drew only lands and Swords to Plowshares because he conceded a few turns later with cards still left in his hand.

Sideboarding:
-4 Counterbalance -1 Force of Will -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+2 Stoneforge Mystic +1 Batterskull +1 Council’s Judgment +1 Relic of Progenitus +1 Supreme Verdict

Counterbalance is pretty bad for the same reasons as its bad versus BUG-delver. It’s unreliable and dies to Abrupt Decay (which I saw none, but suspected he had).
Unlike Nic-Fit this deck is very threat dense and any two creatures will dominate my Jace. It seems super bad to keep 3 Force of Will in this matchup as it’s even harder to make up for the card disadvantage versus Maverick. I still think it’s correct as the difference between their threats also varies a lot. Gaddock Teeg, Choke, Sylvan Library and Elspeth, Knight-Errant are all very, very good against Miracles. Even though Gaddock Teeg shut down Force of Will I think I must keep them and hope to find them first. A Force of Will that stops Green sun’s Zenith for X=2 followed by Jace is often the difference between winning and losing.
I sided out the 4th Jace because Maverick normally runs neither discard nor Counterspells. Finding Jace in time is normally not the problem.
Stoneforge Mystic is great in this matchup. It buys a huge amount of time and sometime it just wins on its own. The normal nut-draw of Sylvan Safekeeper-Gaddock Teeg-Thalia, Guardian of Thraben does almost nothing if you go T2 Stoneforge Mystic.
Council’s Judgment is a very nice catch-all for Sylvan Library and Elspeth, Knight-Errant but it’s also one of the few ways we can get rid of Gaddock Teeg if they have Mother of Runes in play (Karakas being the other option).
Relic of Progenitus is not great but it keeps Deathrite Shaman and Knight of the Reliquary down.
Supreme Verdict kills creatures (hopefully).

G2: My opponent landed an early Sylvan Library and drew some extra cards from it. I had the option to either sweep his board with Terminus or to deploy Stoneforge mystic. In case he had Abrupt Decay/Krosan Grip/Qasali Pridemage I decided it was safer to preserve my life total and sweep the board first. Batterskull got Thoughtseized but I was actually keeping up with Sylvan Library until he found Thespian’s Stage and Dark Dephts. A pair of Vendilion Clique blocked Marit Lage twice while I was digging for Karakas, Jace or Terminus . I found a Swords to Plowshares which gave him a lot of new cards from Sylvan Library. I couldn’t find Entreat the Angels and was buried under his card advantage.

G3: Seeing Marit Lage and Thoughtseize I decided to put the 4th Jace back in to the deck. I mulligan a no-lander into a decent 6. I played Top and passed. He played Pithing Needle and I responded by drawing with Top. I played a fetchland and passed the turn. He thoughtseized and I responded with Brainstorm. In hand I had a useless top, 2x Jace and some lands. I put a land and the top back. Jace got discarded and immediately I got blown out by a second Thoughtseize. I fetched and hoped to draw something nice. I didn’t. During his next turn Sword of Fire and Ice entered the battlefield. This is actually good news if you are playing Miracles. Equipment on its own does nothing and as long as I find a reasonable amount of removal I will be fine. Them spending a card and a lot of mana equipping means they will not advance their board position at all if the creature dies before it can connect. Protection from Blue makes Sword of Fire and Ice harder to stop than other equipment but my point is that with Miracles you have to clear the board anyway to protect Jace. The best strategy is then to focus on the creatures and not the equipment. I draw Swords to Plowshares which kills his follow-up Knight of the Reliquary all according to plan. Gaddock Teeg came next and my outs were slim. I died after 3 attack steps.

5-1

I finished fourth which was good for 100£ store credit and 10 packs of Khans. All in all I was happy about the tournament and the way I played it. I made mistakes but luckily they didn’t change the outcome of any matches.