Its been over a year I think since I posted here b/c I've been playing Modern mostly, but a couple weeks ago decided to brush the dust off my Nic Fit deck and start playing it again. Yesterday I went to Lodestone Games for a Win a Moat Legacy event which 54 people turned out to. I had only played a handful of games on Cockatrice to warm up the last few days, so I wasn't expecting much, but turned out I placed 13th. This is the deck I took:
1 Bayou
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
1 Karakas
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Phyrexian Tower
2 Plains
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Deathrite Shaman
1 Diabolic Intent
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Kaya, Ghost Assassin
2 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Painful Truths
2 Path to Exile
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Siege Rhino
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Thragtusk
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Veteran Explorer
Sideboard:
1 Ashen Rider
3 Carpet of Flowers
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
Match #1 - Miracles - Gregory Orange - 0-2
So the day started off with me getting paired against a pro tour player. Fun. I was a bit nervous, but don't think I made any obvious misplays.
G1 - Near the end he had a Mentor in which he created 2 8/8s by chaining Tops, which is what brought me to 3 life. I drew a deed and wiped his board to keep me alive, then he played another Mentor passed the turn. I swung in with Segarda putting him at 1. I was at 3 when I swung with him having a Mentor and no cards in hand. He drew a top, which triggered prowess and he swung back to win. Not sure if it was right of me to swing in b/c I didn't remember he put a the Top on top of his deck. So was that the optimal play? I dunno. I feel like the longer that game goes the more it is not in my favor, so I went for it.
G2 - He Jace locked meturn 5 or 6 and got Jace to 11 or 12 loyalty, I just scooped. I had only 3 or 4 lands, can't remember, but I couldn't play what I had in hand which made the Fate Seals more crushing.
Match #2 - Goblins - Johnathan - 2-1
G1 - I have never played against Goblins. He got off to a quick start and had 3 Vials out. I landed Rhino and a Kaya, which I exiled the goblin that gets +2 for every other goblin when it attacks, so it kept him at bay a couple turns, then I wiped his entire board with Deed. Then I landed a Nissa and went to town and won.
G2 - He overran me with goblins pretty quick. 1-1.
G3 - He kapt a 5 land, 1 Ringleader hand, which I Therapied, and then can't remember details but my notes say I Therapied 2 other cards so he was low on gas. I chained Rhinos with GSZ and they went all the way. 2-1
Match #3 - Burn - David - 2-0
I thought for sure I was toast b/c the couple of matches I played on Cockatrice against burn I got steam rolled, which is why I decided to add 2 Leylines to the board, and I figured they would help if I ran into Storm.
Both games he got me to 5 or 6 life, so I was close to death, but G1 I was able to chain a couple of Rhinos and pull back while he ran out of gas. I did manage to Therapy a Price of Progress and something else.
G2 - I brought in the Leylines, nothing else. Had one in opening hand with a 1 lander and kept it. It bought me 2 additional turns until he cast Destructive Revelry. But that bought me enough time to hit land drops and again cast a couple of Rhinos to win.
Match #4 - BUG Control - Johnathan - 1-2
Notes were hazy on this, but G3 he landed a TNN and rode it to victory with a Jitte. I had him at 1 life but couldn't kill him.
Match #5 - No Show - 2-0
My opponent didn't show, so I got a free win. Though I did get to play someone else on BUG Control who was sitting next to me for funzies. We went 1-1. G2 of that I was on 1 land with 2 Tops for 4 or so turns after he Wasted a Bayou. That was rough. Time was running out in the round so we just scooped.
Match #6 - Nic Fit - James Hammes 2-0
I was talking to James about Nic Fit before the pairings, then we got paired up. Irony. G1 saw us both with a Sigarda and Rhino on the board. We were basically mirroring each other. I forget the exatct series of events, but I ended up playing 2 Vet to go wider not expecting them to do much. I had a DRS on board and chipped away 6 life or so with it. I think I pathed his Rhino and hand enough for legthal with the additional vets on the board.
G2 - I think I was on the winning side of variance. I saw more GSZ which let me get more Rhinos than him, and I sac'd the Strangleroot for an Intent to fetch up Nissa, which did a lot of work. I think I cast all 3 Rhinos during that game, the last one was a GSZ when he was at 3 life I think. It is worth noting that the players next to us had a good chuckle when they saw me play Strangleroot. Its a good sac target, what can I say.
Final thoughts: The Karakas was a last minute borrow from a friend b/c my Stronghold is still in the mail. Never got to use it, so not sure which of the two I want to use going forward. I might try out Finks in place of Strangleroot b/c its a good sac target with life gain, though its slower to hit the board. Kaya was good when I cast her, but I might take her out and just play 60 cards, or go to 22 lands with a Karakas, Stronghold, and Tower. Not sure what else I would change to be honest right now. I was talking to James about Nissa and he said he usually ultimates her if given the chance, but in my experience I kept wanting the 5/5 beater, b/c by that point in the game land drops are slowing down. I'll experiment with ultimating her and see how it goes.
