“Want to go to Berlin for a weekend?” I asked my wife. Of course she wanted to go. “By the way, I’m planning to play some Magic while we’re there.”
I’d wanted to play Highlander abroad for a while, and when the opportunity came up in Berlin, I was ready to go. It’s a convenient destination from Finland—just a two-hour flight from Helsinki. Berlin is also a great city to visit, so it wasn’t hard to trick my wife into going for a short ‘’family’’ vacation.
Unfortunately, due to work, we couldn’t fly on Friday. But there was a 7 a.m. flight on Saturday—so it was an airport hotel and early morning for us.
These days, I have very limited time to play Magic. Lately, I’ve been thinking about Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. I got three leagues worth of testing done.
At first, I copied some 5C Scapeshift list. I faced two RDWs and lost both times. The games were close, and the deck felt okay, but I just didn’t like all the ramp spells. Next, I took my own spin on the archetype and combined Midrange Lands with Valakut and Scapeshift. I went 3–0 immediately in our league. I even forgot to add Urza’s Saga and accidentally played Summoner’s Pact—still got there. I added more solid cards to the deck and snagged another 3–0.
My league lists can be found on MTGTop8.
5c Scapeshift Lands @ mtgtop8.com
5c Scapeshift Lands @ mtgtop8.com
Despite the initial success, I had the idea to play Oath of Druids in Berlin, since I expected to see more midrange decks than we typically have in Finland. Unfortunately, adult responsibilities got into my way, I didn’t have much time to move cards around or fine-tune a list. I managed to play four bar games against Oath of Druids Lands, won them all, and decided the Midrange version would be good enough.
I still made a few last-minute changes—I added Bojuka Bog and Balance to the deck. I expected to face Reanimator and wanted some additional graveyard hate. Balance is a powerful sweeper and catch-up card, although this version isn’t the best at abusing it. I also expected some random creature decks like White Weenie, where Balance shines.
You probably should play more than 10 Mountains, but I really dislike Triomes. I could have added Thundering Falls, but I decided to be greedy. Badlands also looks a bit odd, but I needed all the Mountains I could get and wanted my black sources to come into play untapped.
The new Tarkir cards were legal to play. I probably would’ve swapped Otawara for Mistrise Village if I had owned one. If I recall correctly, proxies were allowed, but I prefer playing with real cards.
I ended up with a 102-card deck, as I ran out of time to decide what to cut. Aftermath Analyst probably should’ve been left out, but it’s become a pet card—so it stayed in.
Here was my decklist:
The trip got off to a rough start—our 3-year-old came down with a fever during the night. After barely sleeping, we got up early and spent two hours keeping our kid entertained and in his seat. We landed in Berlin at 8 a.m. I left my family to do some vacation stuff, grabbed something to eat, and headed to the venue. I found two other Finnish players, chatted a little and then it was time to play.
Match 1 vs 5C Living End
Game 1
I keep a solid seven with Mox Diamond, Elvish Reclaimer, three lands, and Crucible of Worlds. I’m on the play and start with Mox, Elf, and a fetch for a Surveil land. I see a Tamiyo on top and leave it there. The opponent surveils away Fanatic of Rhonas. Next, I play Tamiyo and pass. The opponent just plays a land and passes. I use Reclaimer to find Wasteland. I destroy a land and play Crucible. The opponent cycles Waker of Waves, doesn’t see anything good and concedes.
Game 2
I keep a slow hand with Brainstorm, Zuran Orb, and five lands, including Bojuka Bog. The opponent has a better hand now and starts cycling limited commons, and I realize I’m playing against Living End. My Brainstorm finds me Nissa, Endurance, and Life from the Loam. I shuffle Zuran Orb and a land away. On turn 3, I keep Endurance ready while my opponent just cycles. On turn 4, I play Bojuka Bog, exiling the opponent’s graveyard. I play Nissa.
The opponent still has cyclers left, end of turn his graveyard is full again. As expected, Shardless Agent follows, and Living End is revealed. I use Loam to evoke Endurance. Agent is left facing my Endurance and Aftermath Analyst (surveil land put it away turn 1 or 2).
I think I’m in a good position now, but then I start drawing only lands. The opponent has hit all his land drops and begins casting big creatures. I do some chump blocking to survive. Finally, I’m facing lethal Oliphant and Greater Sandwurm. My last drawstep gives me a Demonic Tutor, which finds me a lethal Scapeshift.
2-0 (1-0)
Combo decks are hard matchups. Against Living End, Terminus and Balance at least do something. Still definitely got lucky here.
Match 2 vs White Weenie
Game 1
The opponent starts by playing small white creatures. I go Three Visits on turn 2, into Brightglass Gearhulk on turn 3, which finds me Fastbond and Expedition Map. I already have Zuran Orb in hand. The opponent removes the Gearhulk and keeps attacking. I tutor for Field of the Dead and with Fastbond create a bunch of zombies. Surveil land shows me Eladamri’s Call on top. My life total is already little low, and I don’t have enough zombies to completely stop the opponent’s attacks so I play Zuran Orb for safety.
The opponent uses Portable Hole on my Zuran Orb. I sacrifice some lands to keep my life in a safe range, I go down to 7 lands. But that was a bad call as now I can’t Eladamri’s Call into Primeval Titan, which would have probably ended the game immediately. The opponent has been stuck on two Plains and City of Traitors for a while, so I search for Sowing Mycospawn and Wasteland the sol land.
The opponent has more lands, so the game still continues. He draws Ghost Quarter but it is not enough to stop me as I have Life from the Loam. Slowly my zombies overwhelm the opponent, but it took probably me an extra 10 minutes to close the game.
Game 2
I keep an uninspiring seven with Planar Genesis and Knight of the Reliquary. The opponent starts with Esper Sentinel and Rishadan Port. I don’t get to play anything on turn 2. Turn 3, the opponent plays a couple of creatures. I use the opportunity to cast Knight. On turn 4, the opponent continues with Seasoned Dungeoneer. I play my fourth land and pass.
Oust is cast to remove my Knight. I try to use it in response but the opponent has Aven Mindcensor. I cycle Lórien Revealed and cast my Planar Genesis. The instant and knight end up giving me to fetchlands. I don’t draw Terminus, and I see no way to victory. I concede to save time.
Game 3
The opponent has a risky keep with only one land. He starts with Giver of Runes. On turn 2, I cast Green Sun’s Zenith for Deathrite Shaman, but Portable Hole deals with it. The opponent is still stuck on one land and end of turn 3 I cast Eladamri’s Call. I don’t have double white for Gearhulk (nice Badlands), so I take Omnath instead.
The opponent can’t remove Omnath. Soon I Wargate for Field of the Dead and start making zombies. I also cast Endurance just to attack. Now the opponent starts drawing lands and keeps casting small creatures to block. I get to trigger trigger Omnath’s third landfall ability a fetchland and Talon Gates of Madara. We go to time and I needed one more combat step to finish the opponent. It’s a draw.
1-1-1 (1-0-1)
This should be a quite good matchup. I just spent too long winning game 1. It wouldn’t have changed how I played, but I was surprised that there were only 3 extra turns. I’m used to having 5 extra turns here in Finland.
On the Finnish Discord there has been talks about how games going to time should be handled. We are, for example, testing 5 turns or 10 minutes, whichever comes first here in Turku Highlander league. Only 3 extra turns is also an interesting alternative.
Match 4 vs. Jund (or 4C Blood)
(There are only Jund cards in my notes, but I remember seeing a white land)
Game 1
We both keep sevens, and Thoughtseize takes my Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. The opponent follows up with Scavenging Ooze. At the end of turn 3, I cast Intuition, searching for Life from the Loam, Wasteland, and Field of the Dead. The opponent has no green mana up. I Loam all my lands back and Wasteland the opponent to slow them down. More creatures hit the board.
At the end of the turn, Enlightened Tutor for Brightglass Gearhulk, which then finds Fastbond and Zuran Orb. I get to make one zombie and pass with Primeval Titan and Balance still in hand. If I get to untap I will probably overwhelm the opponent. Unfortunately, the opponent has the perfect answer, Kolaghan’s Command. Both my creatures are removed, and I’m forced to sacrifice down to three lands just to survive.
I draw Endurance. The opponent has one card in hand. I need to cast Balance to survive. I think for a while—do I put us both down to zero lands? In the end, I decide that the opponent’s deck probably recovers faster, so I just wipe the board and discard Primeval Titan.
The opponent then proceeds to draw two lands into Fury, while I draw nothing relevant—and no lands. I figure I’ll be fine since Endurance still trades with Fury. I hold Endurance to play around sorcery-speed removal. But the opponent then draws Detective’s Phoenix and bestows Fury. I’m forced to chump, draw nothing relevant and die.
Game 2
I keep a risky seven with potential for a turn 2 win: Fastbond, Walk-In Closet, Bring to Light, Knight of the Reliquary, and three lands. I just need a fetchland.
I start with Fastbond and play one extra land. The opponent plays a surveil land. My next draw is Currency Converter, which I play immediately. I loot, see no lands, and discard something irrelevant. The opponent sees the artifact as a greater threat and uses Abrupt Decay on it. Next, I play Knight of the Reliquary. I still have only three lands. The opponent plays Broadside Bombardiers and attacks.
I get my turn, use the Knight to find a fetchland, cast Walk-In Closet, and loop the fetchland until I have enough lands to Bring to Light for Scapeshift, which finds Valakut and a lethal number of Mountains.
Game 3
I don’t like to mulligan with this deck, so I keep a bad seven with Lightning Bolt, Enlightened Tutor, and five lands. My plan is to tutor for Fastbond, play out all my lands, and hope to draw into some action.
The opponent starts with a Nethergoyf. I draw Expedition Map and decide to Bolt the Goyf. The opponent has no plays on turn 2. I play a fetchland and pass.
Then, the opponent plays a third land and passes with three mana open. The moment that happens, I realize I’ve made a terrible mistake—not playing around Opposition Agent. I crack the fetch, the opponent flashes in the Agent, and I don’t have it in me to continue playing. I concede.
1–2 (1–1–1)
Both the opponent and I thought this was a favorable matchup for me. I completely punted Game 3. The chance of Nethergoyf being larger than 2/3 by turn 2 was quite low. I was in no hurry to bolt it. Had I tutored for Fastbond turn 1, I’d likely have been in a pretty good position ending turn 2 with Field of the Dead and five other lands in play.
After a döner break, I was ready to play faster and better.
Match 4 vs. Grixis
Game 1
I keep a seven with Lightning Bolt, Mystical Tutor, and plenty of lands. The opponent starts with a Deathrite Shaman, which I immediately kill. Deathrite makes a comeback with Reanimate or Unearth, and I get Wastelanded. I just continue to play my lands. The opponent finds Urza’s Saga and uses all their mana to make Constructs. Saga’s third chapter finds a Shadowspear. Dark Confidant also makes an appearance.
End of turn, I Mystical Tutor for Terminus and sweep the board. Opponent never gets anything relevant going again and soon I find Primeval Titan to end the game.
Game 2
The opponent has a slow start; their first plays are turn 3 Third Path Iconoclast and Shadowspear. He gets a Soldier. I remove the monk with a Portable Hole and keep making land drops. The opponent keeps pressuring my life total with Shadowspear, Tinybones, the Pickpocket and Creeping Tar Pit.
I play both Urza’s Saga and Sowing Mycospawn. The Eldrazi finds a Wasteland, but I don’t use it. I want all my lands and untapped Wasteland is enough to keep Creeping Tar Pit away. The opponent has removal for Mycospawn, but luckily not enough mana to cast it when Tinybones connects. I make a Construct and pass but the opponent has yet another removal spell. Psychic Frog joins the board. Now my life total is starting to get low.
I untap and don’t make another Construct. Saga finds Expedition Map. I have Bring to Light in hand, but since I lost my seventh land, Scapeshift into Field of the Dead isn’t an option. The opponent’s life total is also over 30 thanks to Shadowspear, so Valakut wouldn’t work either.
I cast Bring to Light for 4 and start looking though my deck. I have Talon Gates of Madara[c] in hand, so I end up choosing [c card="Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath"]Uro. The Elder Giant phases out. Attacks keep coming and Dreadhorde Arcanist[c] joins the board.
Uro comes back, and I find [c]Primeval Titan, which searches for Field of the Dead. Frog still flies over, and I get hit with a Chain Lightning. I think the opponent missed lethal here—they could have double-bolted me with Dreadhorde Arcanist.
Luckily, I get to untap. Now Uro brings me out of burn range. Expedition Map finds me Maze of Ith to deal with Frog. The opponents 40+ something life total doesn’t matter as I draw Forth Eorlingas!, I make an army of knights and they die in two combat steps.
2–0 (2–1–1)
Tempo decks can be hard matchups for Lands. I don’t know exactly what kind of list the opponent was playing, but not seeing any counterspells sure helped.
Game 5 vs. Abzan Midrange
Game 1
The opponent starts with Ajani, Nacatl Pariah. I have Nissa, but I can’t find a removal spells, so I keep taking hits from the Cat token. My Walk-In Closet is removed by Skyclave Apparition, so I don’t get to loop my fetchlands to trigger Nissa. Aven Mindcensor enters play but I’m able to ambush it with Endurance. The opponent, recognizing the importance of the bird, uses Reanimate to bring it back.
We end up in a stalemate with lots of creatures on both sides of the board. The opponent keeps attacking with the Cat token, and I continue to take the hits since I have no answer to the flipped Ajani. Eventually, I find Ramunap Excavator and start playing Mindcensor roulette— when there’s a land in the top four, I get a Nissa trigger. I fail several times but do get Titania.
My life total starts looking dangerously low. When the opponent finds Umezawa’s Jitte, I’m finally forced to block the Cat token. I make a small mistake by blocking with Endurance. The opponent is now able to kill my Elemental, and I have no other creatures left to block Aven Mindcensor. I still fail to draw removal spells and die couple more attacks later.
Game 2
The opponent keeps a slow hand with no disruption. I ramp a bit and play some midrange threats, which the opponent manages to answer. Once I’m certain the coast is clear, I cast Gifts Ungiven and find Fastbond, Zuran Orb, Crucible of Worlds, and Sevinne’s Reclamation. I have enough mana to assemble the combo regardless of how the opponent splits the pile.
I mill my deck using a Surveil land and then loop a Mountain with Valakut to end the game.
Game 3
The opponent again has a slow hand. He plays some creatures and a Birthing Pod but doesn’t threaten any combos. I use a couple of tutors to quickly assemble Fastbond, Crucible of Worlds, and Field of the Dead. I’m under no pressure, so I use my life total to fetch as many lands as possible and flood the board with Zombies.
Time is called. Opponent tutors for Kami of False Hope and can force a draw.
A draw would knock us both out of the Top 8, and since I clearly have the winning board position, the opponent is a great sport and offers the concession.
2–1 (3–1–1)
This is another great matchup. Game 1 just took too long and I again struggled to win rest of the games in time.
Match 6 vs. Jund
Top 8 Win-and-In, Part of Game 2 can be seen on stream.
Jund Midrange (Felix R.) vs. 5C Scapeshift Lands (Tuomas L.) – Round 6 European Highlander Cup
Game 1
I keep an uninspiring hand with some creatures and The One Ring. The opponent starts with Deathrite Shaman into Liliana of the Veil. He uses +2, and I discard Sevinne’s Reclamation. All the creatures in my hand look quite bad now.
On turn 2, I just play a Surveil land. The opponent declines to use Liliana and instead adds Sentinel of the Nameless City to the board. I draw Three Visits and use it to find another Surveil land. More creatures are played on the other side of the board.
I probably should’ve played The One Ring here, but instead I play Knight of the Reliquary, which gets immediately sacrificed to Liliana. Next, I play Nissa, fetchland gives me a trigger and I get Elvish Reclaimer, which I play immediately. Liliana uses -2 is again and the planeswalker dies. I choose to sacrifice Nissa, thinking I’ll need the land-tutor Elf more—but it doesn’t matter, as the opponent has a removal spell ready.
Now I finally play The One Ring, but even the protection doesn’t save me, as I die to Deathrite Shaman activations.
Game 2
I keep a somewhat risky seven with Urza’s Saga, Mox Diamond, Expedition Map, lands, and Titania. I get to make two early Constructs, although my deck isn’t really built to support that kind of plays. Still, I don’t think I’m supposed to mulligan a hand like that. I start to like my keep more after the opponent mulligans to five.
I open with Saga, Mox, and Map. The opponent plays a land. Next turn, I make a Construct. The opponent casts Hymn to Tourach, hitting Titania and a land. I make another Construct, fetch Currency Converter, and swing with a 5/5. The opponent follows up with a 4/5 Barrowgoyf.
I draw Forth Eorlingas, but I’m still stuck on three mana. I create a knight, then make a mistake that probably let the opponent to get back into the game—I attack with all my creatures. The opponent blocks the knight, and I gain the Monarch. Goyf attacks back and steals the crown. If I had held the Knight back, I’d have been in a much better position and denied the opponent card draw.
We trade the Monarch back and forth for a few turns. Barrowgoyfs lifelink keeps the opponent alive. I draw blanks like Terminus, and the opponent starts creeping back into the game. He finds Tainted Pact and takes Pyrogoyf, which shoots down one of my Constructs. (We had a judge call here as we both initially missed that goyfs had grown by one due to Tainted Pact.)
The opponent now has the upper hand. I draw Mystical Tutor, search for Brainstorm and put Terminus back on top. Currency Converter draws me into the wrath on their turn. Unfortunately, the opponent is left holding the Monarch.
I draw Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. Expedition Map finds Field of the Dead, and I also play a fetchland. I’m still only at six lands. This was likely a mistake—I probably should’ve searched for Valakut and used the fetch to put the opponent down to 2 life. That way, the rogues from Currency Converter would’ve been more threatening.
The opponent casts Endurance at end of turn, removes the Dryad, and attacks with Endurance and Restless Cottage.
End of turn, I fetch a Surveil land and see Preordain, which I keep. I make a Rogue, scry two to the bottom, and draw a land. I make a Zombie and decide to attack to reclaim the Monarch and dig deeper. In hindsight, I probably had a better shot at drawing something impactful by leaving two blockers back and trying to live to see another draw step.
Anyway, the opponent draws a lethal Chain Lightning. Currency Converter cycles me into Lightning Bolt, which I cast for show before dying
0–2 (3–2–1)
Jund is at least a decent matchup. I feel lost to my own non optimal decisions.
Losing the last match was a bit of a bummer, but at least it meant I had more time to enjoy the vacation side of the trip with my family.
All in all, it was a great experience coming to Berlin to play my favorite format. Everyone was super friendly—I had some great conversations both during and between rounds, and the overall atmosphere was really positive. The venue was a bit on the smaller side, but it wasn’t a big issue. The tournament itself was well-organized and ran smoothly. Would definitely come again.
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