A Step Forward: CFB Clash Recap

As the Magic Online Championship Series took center stage in the MTG world last weekend, hundreds of other competitors battled in the CFB Clash Qualifier #4. I was one of those competitors, and it wasn’t until last Friday - the night before the event - that I actually decided to play in it.

Admittedly, I had no idea what the event was about, its prize structure or any other details. All I knew was that the format was Standard, it started at a reasonable east coast hour and it was a super affordable way to play competitive Magic. Count me in. I’m someone who is always looking for opportunities to improve at Magic and compete, and CFB Clash was one such opportunity to do just that.

Unlike other tournaments I’ve recently played in, CFB Clash wasn’t a tournament I necessarily prepared and tested for. I did some significant laddering that week on Gruul Aggro in Standard and had a build I liked, but that was about it as far as preparation goes. I didn’t go into the event with high expectations or aspirations outside of using the opportunity to practice playing my absolute best. I also made it a point to try to have fun. After all, I was playing an Open-ish event from the comfort of my desk on a beautiful Saturday, coffee in hand. Life is pretty good, and Magic isn’t to be taken too seriously. Let’s do this.

Before I dive into the matches, I’ll say this - though I didn’t even make Top 32, this event was an important step forward on my path. Read on and I’ll explain how.

Round #1: Esper Yorion. In game 1 I was able to go wide enough and fast enough to put up a ton of early damage. After a late game Shatter the Sky wiped my board, I was able to finish the job in two turns with double Questing Beast. Despite some embarrassing mistakes in G2, I ended up taking that game as well, handily winning what’s normally a brutal matchup. Win 2-0.

Round #2: Esper Yorion. Game 1 played out the way this matchup normally does - board wipes, followed by Doom Foretold. After losing game 1, I got off to a fast start in game 2 and drew pretty well. I was fairly conservative with my resources, but applied enough pressure and was able to finish with Cleave. My opponent claimed that they had internet issues in this game, which sucks all around. My empathy wore off fast though when the opponent hammered me after the match with all of the reasons why they thought they would have won that game. I took game 3 in fast Gruul fashion. Win 2-1.

Round #3: Dimir Control. Not much to note here. Despite playing my best and mulliganing my best, I didn’t have very fast draws and my opponent did what Dimir does - kill or counter everything. Had I won this match, my day would have ended and I would have advanced to Day 2. The good news was that I had more Magic to play, which is a good thing. Notably, the opp ended up making Top 8. Loss 0-2.

Round #4: Dimir Control. After losing game 1, Ox of Agonas came to the rescue for me in game 2. This card provides a huge grind quality that you normally don’t get with Gruul. In game 3 my opp kept a land light hand, giving me an easy victory. Win 2-1.

Round #5: Dimir Rogues. Never feels good to mull to five in game 1, especially in this matchup. My opponent didn’t make it easier with his premature “gg” immediately after I mulliganed, so I muted the Melee messenger and focused on the task at hand: win the match.

Game 2 played out well for the hero, and I was able to develop a ridiculously wide board and escape an Ox along the way too. Game 3 also went my way - my opponent couldn’t put enough things in my graveyard to make his deck very effective, and I put the beats on pretty well. Notably, this match was against the player who made the finals on Day 2, making it an even sweeter victory well after the match ended. Win 2-0.

Computer Issues

In between rounds 5 and 6 my computer crashed with the blue screen of death. It always happens after I install a major Windows update, which took place a couple days before. The crash happens over and over again until I restore the previous version of Windows. Unsure of what’s wrong with my computer, but restoration takes about an hour, so it wasn’t an option at that point with only 20 minutes left in the round.

Instead, I decided to reboot the laptop and take my chances in the next round. As pairings went up, I received a message on Melee from one of the tournament organizers. “Hey, we’d like to feature your match this round. Are you willing to participate?”

S**t.

I never played in a feature match before and always wanted to play in one - even if it was in an online tournament. How could I turn down this opportunity? Having my computer crash in the middle of the match would be pretty embarrassing, but I’m sure it happens from time to time.

“Yeah, I’m in,” I said. And so, I decided to take my chances and play in my first feature match.

Round #6: The Feature Match

My stream was smooth and I was ready to go with a 4-1 record on the day. If I won this match, my day would be over and I’d advance to Day 2. If I lost I’d have two more opportunities to win my fifth match and advance. Not a bad spot to be in.

I tried my best to not worry about the computer crashing mid game, but it was hard not to think about it at times. That’s not something you want to have to worry about while playing competitive Magic, and admittedly I probably shouldn’t have put myself in that situation. It’s no way to play, and my computer crashing would make a poor experience for the viewers, even if just for a couple seconds.

My opponent was playing Mono Green Food. This is also a pretty difficult matchup for Gruul, but fortunately I drew better than my opponent did and played fairly well. You can watch the entire match HERE (starts at 02:28), so I’ll only note my train of thought during some key plays and scenarios.

In game 1 I was able to establish a really wide and fairly sizeable board. My opening hand had multiple bartenders, sizeable bodies and quality removal. It was about the best I could ask for in game 1.

Fast forward to later in the game: I’m pretty well established at this point with a Kazandu Mammoth, Lovestruck Beast, Bonecrusher Giant and two Innkeepers, and I have The Great Henge in hand. The problem is that my opponent has two Thrashing Brontodon on board, making Henge an awkward play. So I go to attacks, hoping to get at least one of the TBs into the graveyard. My opponent elects to chump block with Gilded Goose and Tangled Florahedron.

At this point I can hold Henge, play Bonecrusher Giant and draw two cards from Innkeeper triggers. Alternatively, I can play Henge and force my opponent to sac a TB, and still draw at least two cards, if not three. Considering that I’m pretty well ahead at this point, I need to begin thinking about closing and not making this game go longer than it has to. This is a deck that has Kogla, the Titan Ape, Feasting Troll King and Wicked Wolf, and it’s not in my best interest to see any of those cards resolve.

As such, I decide to cast Henge and cast Bonecrusher, forcing my opponent to sac a TB and burn a Food token in the process. That way, I can save my Shatterskull Smashing if I need it to answer a Feasting Troll King. As you can see in the video, I took that game.

Game 2 played out pretty differently in terms of boardstates, though my opponent still wasn’t able to resolve any bombs. The key play was stealing their TB with The Akroan War, and then sacrificing it before the third saga trigger.

I made some critical mistakes later in this game that I fortunately wasn’t punished for. Throughout the game I was holding an Evolving Wilds in hand, hoping to use it once I had a landfall creature on the battlefield. Bad idea, especially after my opponent put a 5/5 Scavenging Ooze on the battlefield with Turntimber Symbiosis. At this point, I needed that land from the Evolving Wilds in order to kill Ooze with Shatterskull Smashing, but instead the common fetchland was sitting in my hand. Additionally, it would have made sense to crack it earlier to get lands out of my deck - a best practice that I uncharacteristically deviated from.

If my opponent gets to untap with that Ooze and activate it, I will almost certainly lose the game. Fortunately, it’s me who gets the top deck luck, as I untap and draw a Fabled Passage. In turn, I’m able to avert disaster and kill Ooze on the spot with a 5 point Shatterskull Smashing. PHEW. From there I take over with a Questing Beast and TB, and win with Stomp.

I’m unsure of why I didn’t board in Soul Sear. I was pretty sure that I did, but this is why it’s important to doublecheck your deck before submitting for games 2 and 3, which I did not do in this case. While this was a huge win in my first ever feature match, there were plenty of learning opportunities I took away from this match, all of which are much more important than the victory. Regardless, onto Day 2. Win 2-0.

Good Game, Let’s Walk

After earning my spot in Day 2, I went back and watched the stream with my wife, which was a really cool experience. From there I decided to celebrate my Day 2 qualification and enjoy the great weather by going on a long walk with my dog Bricks.

On the walk I reflected on the mistakes I made throughout the day, and how lucky I was that my computer didn’t crash during the feature match. As great as it felt to win a feature match and make Day 2 of this event, I reminded myself that it’s important not to settle on this feeling of victory - and that I need to stay hungry and approach Day 2 trying to play my very best.

Day 2

Round 1: Gruul. After playing six rounds on Day 1, it wasn’t until Day 2 when I played the mirror. Game 1 was wild. My opponent and I traded punches, each with relatively strong boardstates. My opponent got me down to 1 by swinging with all but one creature and flashing in an Embercleave. When the dust settled, all I had left was a Kazandu Mammoth. I untapped, played two Brushfire Elemental and an Evolving Wilds, which was more than enough to give me game 1.

In game 2 I was smashed pretty well by opposing Mammoths, a TB and removal. I was able to get there in Game 3 with Primal Might, which is such a great card in the mirror match. Win 2-1 in a nailbiter.

Round 2: Esper Doom. My final match of the event was a blowout. In game 1 my opponent played two Extinction Event and followed it up with Doom Foretold. Notably, there was a turn I elected not to swing with a 1/1 Human and Edgewall Innkeeper out of respect to Omen of the Sun. I passed the turn and my opponent flashed in Omen of the Sea instead. Hard to win these cat-and-mouse games against flash cards.

In game 2 I had to mulligan and kept the best six I could, though it wasn’t particularly fast. I was able to resolve a Great Henge, but Doom Foretold took care of it and my beefy creatures pretty well. Loss 0-2.

In Closing

While I didn’t reach Top 8, CFB Clash was definitely a step in the right direction for me. I ended with a 6-2 overall record, played in my first ever feature match and got some valuable tournament experience playing against strong talent. I also learned a ton from the mistakes I made, and really, the primary goal of this event was to come out of it a better player. Mission accomplished.

Now it’s onto Historic. I’ll be playing in the SCG Satellite tonight and aim to reach Top 1200 of Mythic over the remainder of the month. There’s still a lot to explore in Historic with the addition of Kaladesh Remastered, and I look forward to the growth opportunities ahead by learning and mastering this format.

Thanks for reading.