Da ich selbst nicht unbedingt in der Verfassung war, ein weiteres Constructed Turnier zu spielen, nutzte ich meine Zeit etwas sinnvoller und entschloss mich dazu, ein kleines Feature Match des Viertelfinal-Matches zwischen Christian Pfeiffer und Krzysztof Cylwik anzufertigen! Ich mache das mal auf englisch, da wir mit Sicherheit auch einige amerikanische Leser haben werden, die das interessieren wird!
Christian won the die roll and opted to go first. He played Miniature Voodoo Mask, declaring „Voodoo Mask“ and that concluded his first turn.
Sav’gin the Reckless was stashed by Krzysztof, hitting Suncaller Haruh for 2. Nothing else happened on Krzysztof’s opening turn (he was playing Drazul the Molten, so no huge surprise).
Christian was keen to step on the gas, adding Keeper Balrus to his side of the field. Krzysztof didn’t perform any moves, telegraphing Overload.
On his turn 3, Christian simply passed after adding another resource. When Krzysztof did the same on his own turn 3, Christian made use of the opportunity and flipped his hero, adding 5 additional health to its health totals (now 32).
Cairne was stashed on Christian’s turn 4; he sacked the token for Shadowfang Keep and followed it up by playing Mazu’kon. Overload made short use of the threat. Keeper Balrus attacked directly and play was back to Krzysztof.
He invited Obsidian Drudge to his party, probably his best way to deal with the Miniature Voodoo Mask.
Christian didn’t feel like giving Krzysztof any room to breathe! He exhausted 5 resources to play a second Mazu’kon and attacked directly with both of his allies!
Play was back to Krzysztof, who was losing ground and fast! He attacked with Obsidian Drudge into Keeper Balrus and passed with 5 open resources!
Christian declared an attack, but Frost Blast stopped his allies dead in their tracks. Instead of simply losing Keeper Balrus, though, Christian sacked it for Shadowfang Keep’s effect, which then allowed him to play Edwin VanCleef for 2 resources – quite the bargain if you ask me! Krzysztof found another Overload to deal with it and Christian passed his turn with 3 ready resources.
Krzysztof drew into his fourth card and considered his next move carefully. He placed a sixth resource and „hard casted“ Cairne, Earthmother’s Chosen!
The Ichor of Undeath got Christian Mazu’kon back from his Graveyard. He sent his Mazu’kon on the field into Drazul the Molten, sacrificed it for Shadowfang Keep so a token could follow, he then went on and played the Mazu’kon he got back at the end of his opponent’s previous turn and the third attack eventually allowed Christian to claim the win!
Christian Pfeiffer gains the lead!
Both players took the mulligan and Krzysztof opted to kick things off this time! He found Kor’kron Vanguard in his opening 7, which allowed his hero to deal the first damage to Suncaller Haruh in this match!
Christian sighed after drawing into his 8th card. He simply played a face-down resource and passed.
Nothing happened on Krzysztof’s second turn. Christian played Power Word: Barrier at the end of his opponent’s turn, he played Keeper Balrus and it stuck – no Overload would go to waste that early!
Shroud of the Archmage was placed as a face-down resource. Krzysztof looked Christian in the eyes, trying to read his mind, he then went on and played Miniature Voodoo Mask, declaring the same and passed with 2 ready resources!
Keeper Balrus’s attack equaled the damage totals. Still no face-up resource for Christian, who really had to consider what to row. He was about to set a card, but hesitated and took it back, thought again and finally placed it face-down. He then played Edwin VanCleef, asked: „It’s OK?“ and all Krzysztof could do was „I don’t like him, but yeah, it’s OK…“ – suddenly, Christian was on the roll again!
Back to Krzysztof, who added a fourth face-down resource. He activated Ripple and Christian opted to use Power Word: Barrier for Edwin VanCleef and Keeper Balrus. That meant that Edwin’s tokens left play and Suncaller Haruh took 1. Mana Agate came down and play was back to Christian!
He stashed Sava’gin the Reckless, dealing 2 and followed it up with Parexia, Herald of Shadows – quite the blowout! Edwin VanCleef and Timriv the Enforcer were sent to Krzysztof’s graveyard, which meant he would keep Mazu’kon!
Mana Agate was used so Krzysztof could draw into 2 more cards. He placed a face-down resource, which left him with 3 cards in his hand. Drazul the Molten attacked into Keeper Balrus, dealing 1 thanks to Kor’kron Vanguard. Baxtan, Herald of the Flame followed, so Keeper Balrus bit the dust.
Another Parexia, Herald of the Shadows came down! Wow! That meant Krzysztof was all out of cards, with Overload and Mazu’kon getting sent to his graveyard! Attacks followed which left Krzysztof in quite a desperate position!
His topdeck wasn’t that impressive: Sava’gin the Reckless. He stashed it to „do the Jim Fleckenstein“, but lady luck wasn’t on his side that day. He only hit the undamaged Parexia.
Christian attacked with all his allies, which left Krzysztof with only 2 health remaining. A swing with Aurastone Hammer followed and the Mage was really hanging on by a thread now! Christian couldn’t deal the final point of damage and passed.
Krzysztof topdecked a second Kor’kron Vanguard – once again not what he needed. He offered the handshake and wished Christian the best of luck for the remaining rounds!
Christian Pfeiffer advances to the semi finals!
We talked a little about the plays and came to the conclusion that it would have been better for Krzysztof to play Mana Agate on his turn 3 (instead of Miniature Voodoo Mask and bluffing Overload). That would have given Christian the opportunity to play Edwin VanCleef without the fear of it getting countered, however, he was going to play the threat anyway, which seemed rather obvious after his early plays that all screamed: „EVC is coming!“
Still, it would have been hard to sport a comeback against double Parexia and an Edwin on the field, so it might not have made the difference.
