0-2-1

Sigh.

I thought I made some good changes to the deck, cutting the Cloudsteel Kirin, two lands, and moving Sword of Fire & Ice to the sideboard for three copies of Path to Exile (with a fourth in the SB), and four copies of Patchwork Automaton. 

Patchwork was a card I was really excited about, because like Esper Sentinel, it would put a tax on my opponent's mana. A difficult to remove threat that scales? Sounds good, right?

The sideboard consisted of 3 Sword of Fire & Ice, 3 Red Elemental Blasts, 1 Path to Exile, 3 Wear/Tear, 3 Unlicensed Hearse, and 2 Price of Progress. I saw a lot of non-basics my last time out and thought that would be a good addition.

My matchups didn't work out very well, though.

Rd 1 vs Nathan on UW Standstill

Game 1: got locked out. Thanks Teferi, Time Raveler. (I hate this card).

G 2: Turn 3 with a 11/11 and him at 9, he conceded. This is what I was hoping for!

G 3: a slog. I couldn’t remove his Teferi, again, and he couldn’t eliminate my creatures. It eventually ended in a tie.

As he's scooping up his cards he says, "I think I had you, in the end."

What can I say to that? He didn't, so...my reply was "On a long enough timeline, everyone dies."

Rd 2 vs Tyler on UWR Counterbalance

G1: I kept up a good fight, but eventually succumbed to an ultimated Jace, the Mind Sculptor, despite fighting through a Teferi, Time Raveler.

G2: I started off with an Automaton, got it to 3, but my opponent's removal was eventually too much-there were Swords to Plowshares and Prismatic Endings all over the place- and I conceded once I had a hand of nothing but a land and no board presence. Thanks, Telferi, Time Raveler. (I hate this card).

G 3: William

No Show as you can see from the pic. Sigh. This is 'technically' a win but in this instance, being technically correct isn't the best kind of correct at all.

Game 4: Derek on Nic Fit

G 1: a Path to Exile saves me from taking 18 from two Greater Gargadons and he concedes.

G2: Collector Ouphe stalls me out and then it's twin Mayhem Devils to whittle my life total to zero.

G3: Nic Fit decks love Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. They especially love it when the opponent cannot find a Path to Exile.

What a drag. Winning 4 out of 17 games is rough. 

Some of this was matchup driven; if my opponent can produce plenty of mana, effects like Patchwork Automaton or Esper Sentinel really don't matter. I faced two control decks in this event and both of them were easily able to work around my cards. 

Some of this is a matter of consistency: Hold The Heathen Hammer High needs more Sigarda's Aid effects to consistently do what it wants to do. Puresteel Paladin helps, but I might've been on the right track with Magnetic Theft, too.

It would certainly be useful for the times when I've got a Colossus Hammer on the table but not enough mana to equip a creature. 

However, that consistency is part of the problem, too. Only twice, in all the games I played, was I able to actually do the thing this deck wants to do. 

If I can't et things to happen until turn 4, this aggro deck isn't aggro enough.

On the upside, this is a hell of a fun casual deck. So let's talk about that.