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Thread: Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

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    Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

    I've been playing Underworld Breach since it was released, trying to concoct the best list and always feeling like it held more potential than it was displaying in my tournament experiences. I was going to play Eldrazi Post for this event, but I had a change of heart and went back to Breach, which is what I really wanted to play.

    This was my list, which included several last-minute changes, including running Counterbalances because I couldn't find Lavinias in my apartment.

    4 Underworld Breach
    4 Lion's Eye Diamond
    4 Lotus Petal
    4 Brain Freeze
    1 Tome Scour
    2 Intuition
    1 Sevinne's Reclamation
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Preordain
    4 Force of Will
    1 Pact of Negation
    1 Force of Negation
    1 Thassa's Oracle
    1 Silence
    2 Teferi, Time Raveler
    4 Scalding Tarn
    3 Flooded Strand
    2 Misty Rainforest
    1 Polluted Delta
    3 Volcanic Island
    3 Tundra
    2 Island


    Sideboard:

    2 Wear/Tear
    2 Serenity
    1 Chain of Vapor
    2 Karakas
    1 Monastery Mentor
    2 Counterbalance
    1 Surgical Extraction
    4 Leyline of Sanctity


    Around 36 hours before this event, I got rear-ended in a turn lane just off a major highway on the way to an evening appointment. My car appeared to be OK. Outwardly, I was OK and was hoping there wouldn't be issues beyond the initial shake-up. I woke up pretty sore on Saturday, and that made it harder than normal to drag myself out of bed early in the morning, but I managed.

    When I arrived at Geek Fortress in Snohomish, there was a small crowd milling about outside the store in the sun. The scene reminded me of old PTQs, and the crowd of us, mostly Seattle-area Legacy regulars, gabbed in good spirits. The TO was on his way and arrived about two minutes after I did. There was an issue with the judge who was supposed to cover the event, so Dylan, the TO, would also serve as the judge. People continued to roll in, and we began shortly after 11 a.m. with 38 players, which meant six rounds of Swiss, followed by a Top 8. We were battling for 1K in store credit as well as a first-round bye at Puget Sound Battleground 3.


    Round 1: Michael Lacker. I played Michael a month and a half ago at the Card Kingdom/Mox Boarding House 3K, and he was on Goblins then, while I was on UR Delver, so I put him on the same deck and assumed he would put me on Delver. We both started off on a mulligan, but I was on the play. I cantripped to set up a Turn 2 kill, but I was soft to Wasteland. I crossed my fingers. Michael didn't have one, leading with Badlands into Goblin Lackey. Turn 2 I comboed him out.

    Game 2 I triple mulliganed. Michael had Cavern of Souls into Aether Vial, then Vialed in Lackey next turn. I had Serenity to blow up the Vial, but I was missing two combo pieces. Michael had Turn 3 Goblin Chieftain, and Lackey put in a Goblin Matron, which found an Earwig Squad. Turn 4 I scooped to his Wasteland and imminent Squad prowl.

    Game 3 we played an unreleased Duel Deck: Monks vs. Goblins. I played a Turn 2 Monastery Mentor after his Turn 1 of Mountain, go. Michael played another Mountain and two Vials. I chose to Force one of them, feeling like I could overwhelm him with cantrips in the next few turns, but my cantrips didn't chain like I expected them to. Michael nearly stabilized with Warchief on Turn 3 and a second Warchief plus Ringleader on Turn 4 (revealing Wasteland, Siege-Gang Commander, Goblin War-Marshall, and another Ringleader). Running copies of Teferi proved to be enough for prowess, allowing me to remove blockers, draw cards, and press my advantage.

    A vexing distraction this match was my sleeves splitting. I single-sleeve and use black Ultra Pro Mattes, and I lost four in this match. I had brought extras with me, but not enough to replace them if they were going to fail at that rate. I've been using this type of sleeve for years and have never had a bad batch like this. I buy them by the case, so I guess I'll soon find out if the rest of the case is bad or if it was just one bad pack of 100. Fortunately, there were only a couple more busted sleeves on the day.


    Round 2: Travis Hobrla. Travis has been playing a RUG or 4c (UGrb) Breach build in the Card Kingdom/Mox Boarding House weeklies, so I expected to play a quasi-mirror. I think the mirror goes two ways: Either it's over immediately in a vulgar display of power or it lasts a long time and is full of planning, posturing, and intricacy.

    Game 1 I was on a mulligan and on the draw, so I played Ponder Turn 1, trying to find Silence or countermagic. I found neither and shuffled. Travis went off on Turn 2. I had him go through the motions, noting the contents of his deck as he milled himself, to better prepare for the next games. Travis was still running Veil of Summer, Burning Wish, Spell Pierce, and Pact of Negation, which was what I expected.

    Game 2 was a flip of the first. I was on the play, and we both began by dumping our artifact mana onto the board (important if you suspect Lavinia, Azorius Renegade). Travis went for the combo on Turn 2 and Pierced my Brainstorm, but I had a Force already and was just trying to find additional protection. I countered his Breach, then I drew the missing combo piece on my turn and comboed him out.

    Game 3 we got to play a better game of Magic. Travis had Spell Pierce for my Turn 2 Counterbalance. He cycled a Veil of Summer on Turn 3, which indicated to me that his hand didn't have much going on besides reactive spells. On Turn 4, he Veiled with my Teferi on the stack, then chose to value Brain Freeze himself, and he cleared the top of my library as well, which hit a Surgical Extraction I was setting up potentially for next turn. He tried to Burning Wish on Turn 5, which I chose to Force of Negation, assuming he would get Sevinne's Reclamation or maybe something better that I didn't know about. On Turn 7, he played Surgical on Force of Will. I could tap out and counter it with my Force in hand, but I also had a Silence in hand, and if his last card was Breach, I would lose by tapping out, so I let him exile my Forces and see that I had Silence. He later resolved a Burning Wish and found Sevinne's Reclamation. He played Breach, and I responded with Silence. I needed to hit a Breach or some way to find one ASAP, since he would win next turn, and I did.

    I think my build is not favored in the mirror, but I managed to get this one (whereas Travis defeated me when we played a few weeks ago in a weekly event). From my experience so far, the mirror is primarily about, in order of importance:
    1. The quality and quantity of your opening hand.
    2. The amount of countermagic and Orim's Chants or Silences you have.
    3. Static effects that protect you (Lavinia, Counterbalance). Travis has been playing Blast Zone in his deck, and that fits this category, although it's much slower. Teferi fits this role in longer games but is a blank if the game is about the first two turns.


    Round 3: Rachel Forshee. Rachel and I have talked a bit about Breach in the weeklies (where the deck actually is not that prevalent), and I assumed she would be on it here, but Rachel had an unwelcome surprise when she got to the tournament: Her deck box was missing her deck. She had only a sideboard. Fortunately, other players shipped her a deck on the spot -- Maverick -- and she tweaked it and was undefeated so far.

    Game 1 we both mulliganed: me to six, her to five. I was on the play and had some setup with cantrips and Forced her attempt at a Thalia on Turn 2, then comboed her on Turn 3.

    Game 2 I mulliganed, and Rachel had a string of strong plays: Turn 1 Tormod's Crypt, Turn 2 Collector Ouphe, Turn 3 Wasteland me and play a Qasali Pridemage, Turn 4 Gaea's Cradle into Knight of the Reliquary, Turn 5 second Knight and Sylvan Library, Turn 6 Green Sun's Zenith for second Ouphe, Turn 7 Deafening Silence. On my side, I had managed to put a Monastery Mentor into play after stumbling on mana due to the Ouphe turning off Lotus Petal, but my Monks had to cower before the mighty Knights. I might have had a potential line to win, or at least a way to buy myself time, if it weren't for the Deafening Silence. I drew a Breach right after the Deafening Silence, and I packed it in.

    Game 3 we both kept seven, and I had a potential Turn 1 hand if I wanted to go all-in blind on a Brainstorm and dump my hand to Lion's Eye Diamond, since Rachel had no Leyline of the Void and I suspected I would run into three or four straight turns of hate. I chose not to. I Forced her Turn 1 Deafening Silence. Her Turn 2 was a Wasteland and a Noble Hierarch. I got stuck on one land (much harder in my 18-land build, but still possible). Rachel found a Collector Ouphe via Green Sun's Zenith, and that shut off my Lotus Petal, which was primed to cast a Monastery Mentor if I drew another land. Turn 4 showed me a backup Ouphe via Green's Sun, and Turn 5 was Green's Sun for Knight, which finished me off quickly.


    Round 4: Bill Li. Bill is usually a steadfast Death & Taxes player, but he switched to Delver when Wrenn and Six was in the format. I expected him to be back on DnT today. Plains into Aether Vial confirmed it for me. I was on the play on a mull to six and decided to try to go for it on Turn 2 because my hand couldn't beat a Thalia. I found a Brain Freeze on my speculative Breach line and won from there.

    Game 2 I mulliganed to six. Bill started with Karakas into Deafening Silence, followed up by a Turn 2 Mishra's Factory and Thalia. I had a Karakas of my own for the Thalia, but Bill added to Team Fair with Sanctum Prelate. He chose 1. I drew a Wear/Tear. Later, when he fired up the Factory and attacked, I was able to cast it fused (so CMC=3), bypassing the Prelate and nuking the Factory and the Deafening Silence. Later in the game, I preemptively cast Brain Freeze on myself, risking a potential Rest in Peace, but I ran out of time in answering the Prelate.

    Game 3 I Forced Bill's Turn 2 Thalia and tried to combo on Turn 3. I cycled through six or seven cantrips but couldn't find a Brain Freeze or a Tome Scour, so I had to pass the turn. I was almost able to make another attempt two turns later (I drew the Freeze the turn after fizzling), but a Thalia from Bill made it too difficult, and I was set back a turn due to a Vialed-in Flickerwisp that blinked out one of my lands.

    At this point, I was unlikely to squeeze into the Top 8 even if I won out, but I wasn't 100 percent out yet. Onward!

  2. #2
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    Re: Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

    Round 5: Kent Haley. I didn't want this pairing. Kent habitually plays fast combo decks, often with Griselbrand or Marit Lage, and my sideboard lacked action for Griselbrand. The Turbo Depths matchup was the reason I went with four Leyline of Sanctity (which is a very large sideboard commitment). I had run Swords to Plowshares in earlier weeks and had found them inadequate. Depths is too good at stripping them. On the graveyard-hate side, I had a lone Surgical Extraction, operating under the assumption that the room would have overloaded on graveyard hate and, thus, Reanimator would lose and I'd be above it in the brackets. Well, gotta win more, obviously. Kent won the die roll, and I sighed internally.

    After I mulled to five and Kent mulled to six, he proved to be on Turbo Depths and started with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth into Thoughtseize, taking my Underworld Breach. I was able to do almost nothing this game, getting hit with Thoughtseize again and seeing Kent set up Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths via Sylvan Scrying. I played my Hail Mary of cast Teferi, minus to draw while sacrificing a Lion's Eye Diamond and a Lotus Petal, hoping to topdeck a Breach. I drew a land and conceded.

    Game 2: I boarded according to my usual plan in this matchup and brought in the Leylines, the Karakases, and the Chain of Vapor. Kent mulled to six, and I kept my seven, which was pretty decent, with a line to a fast combo and Force of Will for protection.

    "Pregame actions," Kent announced.

    Uh-oh.

    Leyline of the Void.

    This is one of the wild cards of the matchup. Usually, Depths interacts via discard and Crop Rotation or Elvish Reclaimer into Bojuka Bog, both of which are nerfed by Leyline of Sanctity. Depths can also Abrupt Decay the Breach, but if you have a few turns, you can often play around it. Depths also is very capable of racing you, which is where Karakas helps.

    But I was awfully cold to Leyline of the Void in this instance, and I think it represents the toughest aspect of playing Breach: You have to guess the hate, and there are so many types out there. You choose a plan, and sometimes you guess wrong.

    As I stared into the Void, I saw the end of my tournament. I knew I had no Monastery Mentor to draw to, that I had boarded out my Teferis (too slow on average), and that I had a single Chain of Vapor in my deck to draw to. I felt my odds of winning were around 2 percent, but that's not zero. It's not over till it's over.

    Kent quickly set up Stage + Depths, while I had Karakas to play defense. I was able to cast a Leyline of Sanctity to guard my hand, and at one point Kent chose to play a Bojuka Bog and Bog himself (because I wasn't a legal target) rather than not play a land for the turn. Then he cast a second Leyline of the Void.

    The door slammed shut. No more Chain of Vapor to draw to. It was now hard mode.

    The only way to win this game was going to be manually milling out Kent, which would require numerous spells leading up to a double Brain Freeze, or even a triple Brain Freeze. The clock soon became Elvish Spirit Guide. I used my cantrips to find lands, but Kent answered my Karakas with Ghost Quarter off a Sylvan Scrying, and my only chance was going to be finding another Karakas on my next draw step. I didn't find it and was sure I was done for.

    But ... Kent didn't combo.

    I had shrewdly always kept up a Tundra, and Breach usually plays Swords to Plowshares after sideboarding, so he was respecting my bluff and probably waiting for protection (Not of This World). His Sejirri Steppe was already on the battlefield.

    Every turn was a gift, and when I found my second Karakas, I finally felt the blood returning to my body. I was going to make it out of this game. A couple turns later, I drew the Chain of Vapor and decided to use it on my Lotus Petal and Lion's Eye Diamond to generate storm, but Kent responded by Decaying the target. This was OK, because the goal was to build storm, so I was able to cast more spells and deck him with double Brain Freeze.

    Game 3 we had a little over five minutes left in the round. I knew a draw would eliminate both of us from Top 8 contention, so each of us was likely to favor hands with fast combos. We did, however, have a six-minute time extension due to Kent having two judge calls/clarifications during the Chain of Vapor play. I added in more answers for Leyline of the Void and trimmed elsewhere. We both mulled to six. Kent began with Urborg into Inquisition of Kozilek, which I chose to Force, expecting to combo him quickly. His second turn, though, was Bayou into Sylvan Scrying, finding Dark Depths, then exiling Elvish Spirit Guide to cast Grafdigger's Cage. When he made Marit Lage via Vampire Hexmage, I had Chain of Vapor. He had Not of This World, but I had Force, pitching Brain Freeze. When he set up for a second attempt, I had to hit a Karakas off a Ponder, and I did. I later was able to deal with the Cage, and then I took a nondeterministic Breach line and was able to find what I needed to combo out.


    Round 6: Cody Haldock. I knew Cody was on Burn from sitting near him earlier in the tournament. He won the die roll, and I mulled to five. He had Turn 1 Monastery Swiftspear and Turn 2 Eidolon of the Great Revel. My cantrip on Turn 1 hadn't found a Force of Will, but I could try to combo through the Eidolon on my Turn 2. I decided the situation wasn't getting any better for me, so I went for it. I got very close but fell just short of winning via escaping Teferi to bounce the Eidolon. I needed a few more cards in the graveyard or a few more points of life.

    Game 2 I mulled again, and Cody began with a Leyline of the Void. I answered it and comboed him a few turns later.

    Game 3 Cody mulled to four, which is a big handicap for Burn. He got in some damage from a Goblin Guide into a Light Up the Stage and then another Light Up the Stage, but I was able to strand three copies of Lava Spike in exile with a hardcast Leyline of Sanctity. The next turn I played a Monastery Mentor and an LED, and Cody went to Lightning Bolt the Mentor with the prowess trigger on the stack. I Forced his Bolt, and he played Red Elemental Blast on my Force, so I used Wear/Tear to blow up my Leyline and grow the Mentor out of range. When the dust settled, I had a little monastery of Monks and Cody had no cards in hand. He scooped to that.

    We were playing at Table 6, so I knew I would end up in either eighth place or ninth place with my win. Bill Li was at Table 5 and had lost. I wasn't sure if this was good or bad for me, since I had lost to Bill in Round 4. Usually, you want everyone you play against to lose to you but beat everyone else. I knew I had the second-highest tiebreakers earlier in the tournament, but tiebreakers shift a lot more in smaller, shorter events than they do in larger events. If Bill's tiebreakers were higher than mine and he had won, then I reasoned that he would jump me and be the eighth seed, but if his tiebreakers were lower than mine, then him losing was probably bad for my tiebreakers and might drag me into ninth.

    The Top 8 was announced: Case and Francisco leading the pack, followed by Connor, Josh, Ian, and Chris. Then the cut. Rachel in seventh. Me in eighth -- by a difference of 0.7 on my tiebreakers.

  3. #3
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    Re: Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

    Quarterfinals: I knew Case Kiyonaga was on some kind of control deck, so I felt favored. He Forced my attempt at Teferi on Turn 3, but I resolved a Teferi on Turn 5 and was set up to combo on Turn 6, but Case played a Leovold, and that blocked my line of playing Breach and escaping cantrips. I think I was missing Lotus Petal and LED this game, so mana was a bottleneck. Case had a Snapcaster Mage and an Ice-Fang Coatl already on the board, along with a Jace the Mindsculptor, which he'd resolved on Turn 4. He'd been Brainstorming with Jace every turn, so I knew his hand would be stocked. He killed the Teferi and countered my attempted Intution with Drown in the Loch, but when he later tried to flash back Drown in the Loch with a second Snapcaster Mage, I was able to Force the Drown in the Loch, leaving him tapped out, and I comboed him.

    Game 2 he began with Tropical Island and Tormod's Crypt, which I Forced. We each cast some cantrips across the next few turns, and he resolved a Leovold on Turn 3. I was able to resolve a Breach on Turn 5, although Case played a Veil of Summer while I was comboing, and I chose to escape a Force to counter it, which was probably the wrong play. When I escaped a Teferi and Brain Freezed away my library, then I went after Case's. "I have Emrakul in my deck," he said, and everyone watching the match went, "What???!" Then he grinned. Solid joke.


    Semifinals: We chopped the store credit at this point and played for the Puget Sound Battleground 3 first-round bye. I was facing Storm fan Josh Yandell. I didn't know if he was playing his usual ANT or if he had something different today. I mulled to six and had a decent hand that really came together after a Brainstorm, so I raced Josh to my combo. I still didn't know what he was playing.

    Game 2 Josh went all-in Turn 1 with land, Petal, Petal, LED, Echo of Eons. OK, so TES. I didn't have a Force, so we both got new seven-card hands. Unfortunately for Josh, his was a bust. He passed the turn. For my Turn 1, I kept up mana for an end of turn Brainstorm, not knowing the strength of Josh's hand. I Brainstormed end of turn to set up a Turn 2 Counterbalance. Josh made some land drops, and I stuck a Leyline of Sanctity on Turn 4. He tested the Counterbalance with a Mox Opal, and I declined the trigger, since he had plenty of mana. Then he tried a Defense Grid, which I think revealed another Leyline of Sanctity, and it resolved. Josh just passed the turn. I cantripped into Force and felt ironclad. The next turn I pieced together the combo and won. Josh told me afterward that his hand off Echo had been five lands, Chrome Mox, Mox Opal. Oof.


    Finals: Rachel Forshee beat Chris Wessel in the other bracket of the semis, so it was the seventh seed vs. the eighth seed! It was also a rematch of Round 3.

    Game 1 I mulled and Rachel began with Turn 1 Dryad Arbor, so I knew her second turn would 100 percent be a hate card, since it indicates an unkeepable hand otherwise. I cantripped, looking to find a Force or set up a kill and found neither. Rachel resolved a Thalia on Turn 2, then had a Wasteland and a Scryb Ranger on Turn 3. I Tome Scoured myself but didn't hit an LED. I had the combo but couldn't win through Petal because it's mana-neutral when Thalia is in play.

    Game 2 Rachel played a Cavern of Souls on Human and deployed a Noble Hierach. I went off on Turn 2.

    Game 3 Rachel started with Savannah, Tormod's Crypt, Noble Hierarch. She added Collector Ouphe to the board on Turn 2, followed by a Knight (plus Wasteland me) on Turn 3, and a second Knight on Turn 4. End of turn I tried to Chain of Vapor the Collector Ouphe, intending to overload the Tormod's Crypt on my turn. I assumed that Rachel would use the Knight to blow up my Volcanic Island, which would mean I would need to draw a Volcanic, a fetchland, or a Lotus Petal on my draw step to have a chance. I wouldn't be able to cast Breach otherwise. She ate the Dryad Arbor with the Knight and put a Verdant Catacombs into play, and I thought I caught a huge break. Then she decided against it, went back into her deck, and I resigned myself to getting Wastelanded and having to topdeck out of it. But she found a Gaea's Cradle. I wasn't sure what she had in hand, but I was getting to untap with a red source, so I was going to get to go for it. I played Breach and expected her to pop the Crypt in response, which would then allow me to refill with Brain Freeze, but she chose to wait. I played Brain Freeze, and she cracked the Crypt in response to the second copy of the Freeze. I was able to limp in with one escaped Freeze for nine cards, needing to hit an LED or a Petal to win, and I hit an LED.

    Going forward, I still feel like there's a lot of development to do on the deck. I don't think I ever cast Sevinne's Reclamation this tournament, and I was commonly boarding it and Intuition out, so while I appreciate them as powerful in theory, I wasn't impressed. I had been playing Enlightened Tutor before, and I may go back to that, or I may try a split with Intuition. I do want some answers for creatures, so I'll probably try out the Lightning Bolts. I don't think Leyline of Sanctity was worth the space in the sideboard. It's probably correct for now to just forfeit the Depths matchup and get four slots back. The Counterbalances were good in theory, but I never stuck one in the mirror, and the only game that a Counterbalance actually resolved it didn't actually counter a spell, which on the face of it seems like a failure. I didn't dislike the card, but there are so many other options to explore.
    Last edited by ESG; 03-01-2020 at 11:01 PM.

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    Re: Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

    Congrats on the win! Great tournament report!

    Round 2 G3 looked like a great game of Magic! One thing I love about this deck is the ability to have long grindy games like that, whereas a lot of combo decks either go off or fizzle.

    Reading through your matches, I have a few questions about lines and your thoughts on what may or may not have worked here.


    Quote Originally Posted by ESG View Post
    Round 1:
    Game 2 I triple mulliganed.
    Why so many mulls? Were you digging for something, or were the hands just trash? In fair creature matchups without hatebears I think most hands are keepable as long as there are lands and cantrips, but falling behind 3 cards makes it really hard to recover.


    Teferi proved to be enough for prowess, allowing me to remove blockers, draw cards, and press my advantage.
    I find Teferi extremely powerful with the Mentor plan vs fair decks. It protects Mentor from removal while you make monks, removes blockers, and draws you into more cheap spells.



    From my experience so far, the mirror is primarily about, in order of importance:
    1. The quality and quantity of your opening hand.
    2. The amount of countermagic and Orim's Chants or Silences you have.
    3. Static effects that protect you (Lavinia, Counterbalance). Travis has been playing Blast Zone in his deck, and that fits this category, although it's much slower. Teferi fits this role in longer games but is a blank if the game is about the first two turns.
    The other thing I'd add here (and it goes for most combo mirrors) is the die roll. Going first game 1 is a huge advantage.
    Why did you think he was favored? I think Silence is much better than Veil in the mirror.


    Round 3: Rachel Forshee.
    Game 2 I mulliganed, and Rachel had a string of strong plays: Turn 1 Tormod's Crypt, Turn 2 Collector Ouphe, Turn 3 Wasteland me and play a Qasali Pridemage, Turn 4 Gaea's Cradle into Knight of the Reliquary, Turn 5 second Knight and Sylvan Library, Turn 6 Green Sun's Zenith for second Ouphe, Turn 7 Deafening Silence.
    Rough game. This is a match where I think you were really hurt by spending 6 slots on Depths (2 Karakas, 4 Leyline) and left with no room for removal.

    Did you board in Karakas or Leyline in any other matches? When you used Karakas, would StP have been as effective?



    Round 4: Bill Li.
    Game 2 I mulliganed to six. ... Bill added to Team Fair with Sanctum Prelate. He chose 1. ... I ran out of time in answering the Prelate.
    1 is smart. He was expecting Swords to Plowshares or Bolt, like most builds run. Little did he know you're not packing removal! Removal should help this match, though Prelate @ 1 would have shut down the usual choices anyway. Wish for Pyroclasm or ETutor (in response) for EE are the only reliable answers I see. Intuition for Teferi + Sevinne maybe?


    Round 5: Kent Haley.
    Game 2: I boarded according to my usual plan in this matchup and brought in the Leylines, the Karakases, and the Chain of Vapor. Kent mulled to six...
    Leyline of the Void.
    Yeah there's nothing you can do here. There's normally no reason to board in Serenity vs Depths. This is a game 2 I think you just have to accept losing, and try to optimize the main to do well in game 1 so you get a game 3 to board correctly.

    Dredge has the same problem. Sometimes you just board in all the wrong answers and lose to opponents who chose unconventional sideboard hate to throw you off. To compensate, you REALLY have to win game 1. A Dredge player who doesn't win all their game 1s is not top 8ing. Breach is kind of Dredge-Storm, we're in the same boat.

    That's also where plan B helps. We may not guess the hate right, but Mentor gets there no matter what! More copies of Mentor might help.



    Finals: Rachel Forshee
    Game 3 Rachel started with Savannah, Tormod's Crypt, Noble Hierarch. She added Collector Ouphe to the board on Turn 2, followed by a Knight (plus Wasteland me) on Turn 3, and a second Knight on Turn 4.
    And again, why we need some removal. Drawing a 1-of SB Chain to bounce Ouphe, having Knight tap out for a dud, and keeping your red source was a lucky break, otherwise this game loses hard. Even untapped Knight representing Bojuka Bog might have been too much to play through on top of the Crypt.

  5. #5
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    Re: Breach tournament report: Leap Day Legacy 1K in Snohomish, WA

    Thanks! To answer your questions:

    1. In the game against Goblins where I triple mulliganed, I was primarily looking for a fast combo or a reasonable hand that contained an answer to a potential Leyline or Chalice, but the hands were mainly trash. The six-card hand was otherwise strong but had no lands. The others lacked likely paths to victory.

    2. Teferi is an all-star in this deck, and I boarded him out only a few times on the day.

    3. Yeah, I think it goes without saying that winning the die roll or having the play due to seeding is a significant advantage. Personally, I'd like WOTC to try to adjust that so it isn't such an advantage. Against Travis, I felt that his Spell Pierces and Veils made his Forces more likely to beat mine. I agree that Silence is better than Veil in the mirror, but I was really light on it in this tournament (one copy).

    4. Agreed. The hate bears were very good against me. The other matchups I brought in Leylines were TES and Burn, but I don't think Leyline is integral to the deck unless discard becomes more common. I boarded in Karakas vs. any deck that could conceivably cast Lavinia. I think the main advantage of Karakas, aside from being the best against Marit Lage, is that it handles a Lavinia protected by countermagic.

    5. If I had been running Grapeshot, I maybe could have killed Prelate that way, but I wasn't super concerned about that card, since I can win through a Prelate on 1. I think I boarded out Intuition and Sevinne's Reclamation in that match, knowing that Bill also was playing Surgical Extraction.

    6. Agreed about having a Plan B. I managed to win on hard mode, but it's a useful lesson for next time.

    7. Yep. Creature removal would have been good.

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