Finals:
Mathew Kelly (1) vs David Petryk(6)
Mathew continues his banter by asking for a concession before game 1 which is quickly rejected and the two shuffle up for game 1.
The two both keep their initial 7 card hands and the finals begin.
Both players lead off with a pair of lands, and the first play of David’s Servant of the Conduit is met by a quick Harnessed Lightning. Mathew then plays a Whirler Virtuoso on turn 3 and seems to be in a great position with 4 energy and being slightly ahead on board. In comparison David’s second Servant of the Conduit seems anemic.
As they go into turn 4, Mathew attacks, casts and Attune with Aether, and passes the turn with 6 energy and 3 mana up. Now David plays a Rogue Refiner, and both players have 4 mana, 6 energy, and it seems to just be a manner of who can take advantage first.
Mathew attacks in again, and his Whirler Virtuoso tangles with the Refiner, and a second Refiner suffers a Fatal Push. David the untaps and plays the first Marvel of the match…. Which is Negated and the game seems to be very even.
Mathew then follows up with a Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot, but seems unable to find a way to leverage the energy amassed so far. David casts a pair of Rogue Refiners and now Mathew is hard pressed to find an answer to the board as he only has a pair of turns to live.
When David attacks, a Lumbering Falls pulls double duty, both blocking and casting a Harnessed Lightning as Mathew shows some fight and after untapping and casting a Chandra Flamecaller, he no longer seems very behind.
When David casts his 3rd Servant of the conduit, it seems much less exciting especially compared to Mathew’s Aetherworks Marvel and his 15 energy. Mathew activates his Chandra, attacks for 6 and prepares to spin the wheel.
David draws for the turn, shakes his head, and passes back with no play. Mathew’s Marvel finds an Ulamog, and David’s permanents are cleaned away before he can choose his targets.
Mathew 1-0
Game 2:
The players quickly sideboard and get ready for game 2, both clearly coming prepared for the matchup. This time both players quickly mulligan to 6, and Mathew goes to 5 as David considers his options. David elects to keep his 6 as Mathew begrudgingly keeps at 5. Both players push the top card to the bottom and play begins.
Mathew hand seems to be less than ideal as he has a pair of Negates and Woodweaver’s Puzzleknots but no 3rd land. The first Puzzleknot meets a Negate, and David plays a Vessel of Nascency.
Mathew draws a timely Attune with Aether and David cracks the Vessel, taking a Blooming Marsh over either of the Ishkanah’s available to him. On the next turn a Rogue Refiner comes into play, starting to advance the board for David.
Mathew draws and casts a second Attune with Aether, getting him closer to the coveted 6 energy.
David attacks and casts a Bounty of the Luxa, which is quickly Negated. Matthew’s next play of Tireless Tracker with a land isn’t answered immediately, and when David passes and doesn’t kill the Tracker after it draws a card it seems Matthew may be in a position to take over the game.
Two Woodweaver’s Puzzleknots come into play for Matthew the turn after, and the Tireless Tracker is starting to feed Mathew cards as he searches for a way to end the match.
David finds a second Rogue Refiner, and the Tracker is no longer able to attack with impunity, slowing the game down as Mathew can only crack the Puzzleknots and clues he is creating.
A second Vessel from David is cast and cracked and David is forced to choose between Aetherworks Marvel or a Bounty of the Luxa while he has 5 energy. Eventually he takes the Bounty, and after untapping he attempts to cast it. The second Negate in Mathew’s hand is a clean answer, and he spends the rest of his mana casting a Glimmer of Genius and he keeps both cards on top.
He draws yet another Negate and a Void Winnower, then cracks his clue giving him another Glimmer of Genius. He casts the Glimmer immediately, presumably looking for another land, and finds one. Then he passes the turn holding up two mana with his 3rd Negate.
David untaps and tries to get into the game with an Aetherworks Marvel which is quickly Negated, and when Mathew untaps and casts the Void Winnower, David can only shrug and try to move on.
A Vessel of Nascency is cast and cracked in an effort to find some card that will get him out of this (and cost an odd number of mana) but eventually he takes a Blooming Marsh as Ulamog and Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot seem unlikely to pull him out of this.
The two Rogue Refiners trade for the Tireless Tracker, the Void Winnower gets through, and a follow up Tracker makes the game look over.
David untaps, draws, and extends his hand.
Congratulations to Mathew Kelly, winner of the Anime Hypercube PPTQ Albuquerque