​ZNR Draft 56 - Game Analysis

Game 1 (Win vs WB Party on Play)
MVP: Bala Ged Recovery
You could make the case that Scute Swarm is really the MVP of this match but it wouldn't have been possible without Bala Ged Recovery. Phylath was just the exclamation mark on the OP killing several Scute Swarms.

• I knew Gnarlid Colony on 2 and Baloth on 4. 
• I did miss an attack on 4 by casting the Baloth BEFORE the attack. There was no harm in attacking. 
• Turn 5. Learned my lesson and attacked with open mana, not that I could have cast anything.
• Turn 6 was a good turn where I brought back the Scute Swarm. I debated. Looks obvious now. 
• Turn 7 for OP - glad he did not target a Scute Swarm. 
• Turn 8 - Phylath for the exclamation mark.

Some random thoughts: I am very proud of how I thought about my play here, as I did not plan on playing Phylath when I hit 6 lands and luckily I got the best draw on 6 with the Scute Swarm. For Phylath, I wanted to be able to boost one of the plants. Also it was interesting to absorb that it only counts basic lands and I drew the right lands at the right time. But in reviewing the play, should I not play Phylath on 6 as I would get a bunch of 0/1 plants and if he killed Phylath I can Bala Ged Recovery it back, while the plants chump block. Hmmm. 

Game 2 (Loss vs WU Party on Play)
MVP: OP's Shepherd of Heroes with full party

• Needed to mulligan with 3 mountains + Phylath and 3 green creatures, including two 2-drops and no MDFC. Mulligan turned out good with good options. 
• Turn 1 Bala Ged Recovery as land, make sure I hit my drops
• Turn 2 Vine Gecko into Turn 3 Reclaim the Waste with cheaper Kicker is great
• Turn 3 Reclaim the Waste kicked and buff Vine Gecko
• Turn 4 OP probably would trade Gecko for Geysermage, so good to hold
• Turn 4 by OP - probably should let the 5 get through. They have 2 open mana. I was thinking into the roil but should think about OP bringing out Sell-Sword before attack. The practiced tactics is going to be useful anytime by OP. I block thinking Into the Roil was worse case, but sadly I got hit. Not a horrible outcome. In hindsight, shouldn't block unless I had mana open for Kazuul's Fury. 
• Turn 5 - probably shouldn't attack here, should have stayed back - though two of his 3 creatures are 3 damage. 
• Turn 5 by OP - nice to have a full party. If they didn't bring out Shepherd of Heroes, I would have attacked and then Kazuul's Fury for 12, but sadly, it wasn't meant to be.
• Turn 6 - First time casting Valakut Awakening. Getting a sense of how it plays out. I think it was the right play to give me a chance to draw a creature. Okay got all spell/lands. I didn't do the math with the +2 life from the Scale the Heights. I shouldn't have attacked with the Baloth and seen what OP did with one card. I have very little chance to win but maybe I get Phylath. 

Should have known Blue White Party wants to protect creatures and something as valuable as Packbeast would not be put at threat. In hindsight, I didn't play until the end because I didn't think through all the lines. 

Game 3 (Win vs UB Mill on Play)
MVP: Phylath
Wow this was a game that I felt like I needed to make the right plays over and over after some bad plays.

• Opening Hand - Would be nice to cast the Ardent Electromancer on turn 3 but I got options with at least one creature at 2 and rabid bite. 
• Turn 1. With two Bala Ged Recovery and 2 lands, make sure that I get to 3. 
• Turn 2. Pretty straight forward - Dauntless Survivor. It paused on casting, so he's probably got a Duelist. Thank you for milling me away 2 forests. 
• Turn 3. I had thought of Electromancer - > Wildfire his island to prevent another Duelist. And in hindsight, I should have. The land for me was not going to be important with just the replacement. I would still get to draw a land. This was a bad play by me and I paid the price for it. 
• Turn 4. The canopy baloth is a big threat and I know I can go get it. But the mistake was not putting the land into play since I needed the 4th land anyways to cast Baloth and no reason not to. Check timing on landfall and bringing out lands. 
• Turn 5. Good Rabid Bite here. Damage coming as well as card draw. 
• Turn 6. Interesting choice here. If I cast Hellion and get the land back, I am 1 turn further from being able to cast Stomper or Phylath - BUT he's not pressing at all, as I want the Bala Ged Recovery. So I think it's fine at this time.
• Turn 7. Should have cast spell/play lands after attack. Need to play the land, because it's 2 turns before stomper or Phylath. 
• Turn 8 - joyous Forest. The question is whether to play the forest now or wait until next turn to get value out of it and then cast Phylath or stomper. I pause. Interestingly, Baloth draws the one card in OP's hand and deadly alliance. Little do they know what's coming next. In hindsight, probably should have played the forest here as stomper would bring two back andI could play one. Once they get rid of the Baloth, I think I should play Forest here.
• Turn 9 - Phylath -> Stomper will allow me to have lands to power Phylath. 
• Turn 10 - Stomper to get the lands. I guess they got rid of a Plant to prevent 4 damage/losing a creature. I guess that's better than bouncing Phylath or Stomper. Put Pick-Axe on Stomper to buff the trample.
• Turn 11 - Oh look-e here, Roil Eruption. Looking at damage from stomper and then Roil to face, but getting rid of the Cleric for 3 blocking as well as freeze. 
• Turn 12 - You can see me almost just play the Canopy and then almost play the Valakut. But I thought through it. Do the Math for attackers. Casting Valakut is bad with the mill coming at me. 

Made a few boneheaded plays but worked my way through.

Game 4 (Win vs UG Kicker on Draw)
MVP: Canopy Baloth
Even though Canopy did not deliver the killing blow, he could have. 

• Opening Hand/Turn 1 - Good mix of cards. Two 2-drops. 
• Turn 2 - Vine Gecko into Turn 3 Reclaim the Waste is good, knowing I have the 3rd land.
• Turn 3 - Reclaim the waste is really good at making sure I have those lands to play. And 3/3 Vine Gecko helps against Duelist.
• Turn 4 - Canopy Baloth is good 4 drop. Big threat. 
• OP Turn 5 - It's interesting when someone taps out, you have much more clarity on possibility space of actions. I really think this is one thing about reviewing my plan and writing about my games. I look back at "oh they did have untapped lands". 
• Turn 5 - This is where Electromancer can shine with 2 drops. Debate here is playing Bala Ged Recovery as land so we can be sure to hit Stomper the next turn. Not sure why I cast all my creatures BEFORE I attacked. They are all tapped out but that was a bad play by me. I know if I attack, they'd have to sacrifice both Gnarlid Colonies to block. I think I need to get better at always attack before play. 
• OP Turn 6 - Was worried getting down to 7. But I have small creatures to block Riptide. And Vine Gecko could help block the trample Gnarlid Colony. I guess the worry would be getting a counter on RIptide and giving it trample. That would have been bad. 
• Turn 6 - Glad there wasn't anything too temping to bring back from Graveyard with Bala Ged Recovery. Just played the straight game here. Glad I attacked before casting this turn :D
• OP Turn 7 - Gave up Wizard vs Survivor because I had 2 wizards and only one warrior. Can't remember if I have any party cards at all
• Turn 7 - I think that is a nice top deck. I think I should have just cast the Kazuul's Fury first, instead of all the other things I did. Because then I could Bala Ged Recovery it back into my hand. The question is should I have Fury'ed the Canopy or the Stomper. Scale the Height +1/+1 on Vine Gecko was right call but I could have done that next turn if they blocked my Fury.

Good smart game. Some small mistakes here and there but I got there.

Game 5 (Win vs UR Wizards on Draw)
MVP: Scute Swarm
Pretty funny battle between Scute Swarm and Relic Amulet. OP said GG once Scute Swarm hit the board. 

• Opening Hand/Turn 1 - Gnarlid Colony and 4 lands make me happy that I'll likely be able to cast either Canopy Baloth/Visionary on 4 or I'll be able to double spell or be confident to get Pyroclastic Hellion and Stomper out. Hellion does slow the progress to Stomper though. 
• Turn 2: Straight forward Gnarlid Colony
• Turn 3: Cast the Scale the Heights before play so I can +1/1 the Colony and nice to play another land to accelerate. Not that I could do it, but don't cast Scute Swarm early, especially with Relic Amulet. I know I want to time it so I can bring out Scute when Relic Amulet is tapped, as well as having at least 6 lands to create another Scute Swarm.
• Turn 4: Debated on Hellion since it's using all my mana but I think getting Canopy Baloth on the board to start fighting is key. Played the land BEFORE casting Baloth because of the counter spell. 
• Turn 5: I could cast Scute or Stomper, but the OP does not have any pressure. Watching the Amulet very closely now so I can cast Scute Swarm. 
• Turn 6: Decide NOT to return lands so I can cast Scute Swarm next turn. 
• OP Turn 7: Glad they used the Relic Amulet so I can play Scute Swarm. 
• Turn 7: Apply the pressure, bring out the scute swarm. Interestingly, in hindsight, they cast the Into the Roil on the stomper when they should have cast it on the swarm token, so they could relic amulet the 2nd one. Though I guess Stomper is going to do a lot of trample damage
• Turn 8: Did I cast Canopy before attacking, sigh. 
• Turn 9: Not sure in hindsight if giving the scute a +1/+1 counter makes sense - it makes that one out of 1 turn relic amulet but the other copy is not. I guess I know I can give another +1/+1 counter or I can get a card that allows me to play multiple lands. It's a race while my  big creatures hit. 
• OP Turn 10: I guess if you can't relic amulet charge, the Scute count is about to go to 4 and might as well resign the tug-of-war.

Game 6 (Loss vs UR Wizards on Draw)
MVP: OP's Risen Riptides
Made several mistakes. Didn't even realize OP was Mythic #1294 until after the game. Let's count the mistakes:

• Opening Hand/Turn 1 - Fissure Wizard is turn 2. 4 mana to Canopy Baloth. Good but not great start. 
• Turn 2: Fissure Wizard - he hasn't cast anything yet. Rogues? Trade in extra land. 
• Turn 3: Oops. Ordering here is bad and I missed 6 damage here or killing his riptide. Should have done axe, land, wildfire. That would have been 6/5 and he'd have to decide. I didn't think about how all my cards would work here. Was using cleansing wildfire here for draw card but should have used it maximally. 
• Turn 4: Instead of bringing out the Baloth I decided to attack with Wizard. They missed land drop. Maybe I should have only played one land, since it would have killed it and kept the land for Baloth. Could have done more damage with the Dauntless Survivor before the attack. So right now I've missed 7 points of damage. OP should be down to 6 or with less Riptides. 
• Turn 5: Since I wasn't attacking, should I have played a land and saved one for next turn and Baloth?
• Turn 6: Lots of choices here. We can apply pick-axe, we can Bala Ged and get back scale the heights. 
• Turn 7: I'm with the Scale the Heights on the Survivor. If we drew a forest/mountain, then we wouldn't have to get rid of Bala Ged Recovery.  The question is since I drew the Hellion, do I play the Bala Ged Recovery. I 'm obviously afraid of Into the Roil. So I keep Bala Ged Recovery and attack. OP has option to cast before attack, so yeah. Baloth for one riptide isn't horrible. I can now go get it back. 
• Turn 8: Why did I cast Hellion and not Baloth and Survivor here. I guess I wanted two big creatures. Hmm. 
• Turn 9: Should always be afraid of the 1 blue mana open. I debated putting the Pick-Axe on - should have to make sure. Axe on the Electromancer probably the right play here. They've stabilized now. 
• OP Turn 10: Survivor not critical. Where's another Baloth. 
• Turn 10: I think I should be playing Defense here and not attacking. OP with all the tricks. 
• Turn 11: Could have used the Survivor with the Electromancer still around. 

Lots of edges I gave up to a Mythic player with a good deck. Can't do that. Great learning lesson on thinking about full sequencing. 

Game 7 (Loss vs WB Clerics on Draw)
MVP: Scion of the Swarm
I thought I was doing really well until I did the math. Ouch. Fliers, and this is even with me getting rid of one. I think there's not enough removal in this deck.

• Opening Hand/Turn 1: Cleansing Wildfire can get me a forest. I have two 2-drops, so I can at least do the Fissure if I don't get a forest. And pitch the survivor for a try at a forest. Options. I'm on the draw as well. 
• Turn 2: Reclaim the waste can go get forest but obviously i need a forest in the first place. Fissure Wizard can trade the Pick-Axe or Survivor. Debated just going Cleansing Wildfire to make sure I draw a forest. Again, I can get a Forest with the Cleansing Wildfire. 
• Turn 3: Okay time to go get a forest. So I'm derping around with land and getting land when I could/should be building a board. 
• OP Turn 4: Okay that's a threat.
• Turn 4: I guess I should take care of it with the Roil Eruption. 
• Turn 5: I guess I should have saved the Roil Eruption for the Scion of the Swarm. I wonder if I could have been better there. I don't think so. 
• Turn 6: Oh no another one. This is bad. Not sure that I could have done much else given the draws I had. 
• OP Turn 7: Once the Shepherd of Heroes came out, there's not much I can do about all those fliers. Clock has started. 
• Turn 7: Should have chucked my hand once I did the math (which I did not). I guess Rabid bite is the card I needed. I should have thrown my hand away and seen what I could have drawn. If I didn't, then there's no way to win. 

Not sure if I could have turned this one around - some issues with deck construction to deal with Fliers. Luckily I survived the Blue/White deck earlier and the Blue/Black one. This one got me. Two Scions. Ouch. 

Summary/Thoughts

I had a pretty good deck but it definitely had some weak spots. I think the Axe was just too clunky to use. Reclaim the Waste was great. Hellion was great. Scute is busted as well as Phylath. Canopy Baloth did a bunch of work and I guess I need some more supporting cast. I wonder if I should have gotten a Legac (3/4 and landfall for damage). I also wonder if Broken Wings would have been useful for Artifact and Flying hate.