Which is the best colour, I wonder? - Round 2

Welcome to Round 2 of the weekly Star games. The duelist's have gone and made some changes to their decks in light of last week's match, and the results are quite interesting. Here are the updated decklists:

White

Lands – 12 cards
12 Plains

Creatures – 16 cards
4 Cenn's Heir
2 Goldmeadow Dodger
2 Goldmeadow Harrier
2 Kinsbaile Ballonist
4 Plover Knights
2 Springjack Knight

Other Spells – 12 cards
2 Neck Snap
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Soaring Hope
2 Surge of Thoughtweft
2 Triclopean Sight

Blue

Lands – 14 cards
14 Island

Creatures – 12 cards
4 Aethersnipe
2 Mulldrifter
4 Pestermite
2 Sentinels of Glen Endra

Other Spells – 14 cards
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Faerie Trickery
2 Glimmerdust Nap
2 Ponder

Black

Lands – 14 cards
14 Swamp

Creatures – 18 cards
4 Bog Hoodlums
4 Hornet Harasser
4 Moonglove Winnower
4 Nightshade Stinger
2 Spiderwig Boggart

Other Spells – 8 cards
2 Eyeblight's Ending
2 Nameless Inversion
4 Weed Strangle

Red

Lands – 14 cards
14 Mountain

Creatures – 10 cards
4 Flamekin Brawler
4 Inner-Flame Acolyte
2 Soulbright Flamekin

Other Spells – 16 cards
4 Blades of Velis Vel
4 Lash Out
4 Needle Drop
4 Tarfire

Green

Land – 16 cards
16 Forest

Creatures – 22 cards
4 Battlewand Oak
4 Cloudcrown Oak
4 Kithkin Daggerdare
4 Leaf Glider
4 Oakgnarl Warrior
2 Woodland Changeling

Other Spells – 2 cards
2 Fistful of Force

Possibly the most interesting change here is the pumping addition to Red's deck, in exchange for creature power. Blue went for more control, and Green took out the Fertile Ground's (which, as he found out after the match, are illegal in the format) and added a couple of Forest's. White took out some lands in exchange for the evasion/life gain power of Soaring Hope. Black dropped his mana curve, taking out the Mournwhelks, and dropped the Foodbottom Feast's, and put in some sacrificial Hornet Harasser's and Bog Hoodlums, both big threats in their own way.

Here are the life totals throughout the game:

White: 20, 18, 16, 11, 9, 6
Blue: 20, 15, 12, 8 |
Black: 20, 19, 18, 17, 3
Red: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12 |
Green: 20, 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 4 |

First thing I will point out: Red failed to keep his crown! This is actually quite intriguing: this game ends in a tie between Blue and Black, even though Blue was knocked out! If they had argued, then we would have said that Black wins for staying in, but they didn't, so the tie stands. And now, how they did it:

Opening hands:
White: Neck Snap, Goldmeadow Harrier, Goldmeadow Harrier, Surge of Thoughtweft, Surge of Thoughtweft, Glodmeadow Dodger, Cenn's Heir. After mulligan: Plains, Kinsbaile Balloonist, Plains, Kinsbaile Balloonist, Oblivion Ring, Cenn's Heir.

Blue: Aethersnipe, Glimmerdust Nap, Glimmerdust Nap, Faerie Trickery, Island, Pestermite, Glimmerdust Nap. After Mulligan: Broken Ambitions, Island, Island, Sentinels of Glen Endra, Island, Glimmerdust Nap, Aethersnipe.

Black: Weed Strangle, Hornet Harasser, Swamp, Nameless Inversion, Spiderwig Boggart, Nightshade Stinger, Nightshade Stinger.

Red: Lash Out, Lash Out, Blades of Velis Vel, Mountain, Lash Out, Mountain, Inner-Flame Acolyte.

Green: Forest, Leaf Glider, Forest, Leaf Glider, Battlewand Oak, Forest, Forest.

These are very different hands to Game 1. Red certainly has a lot more Burn, green has a whopping 6 mana sources, and black has only 1 land, relying on the two Nightshade Stinger's to get him through the early game. The other hands are fairly standard.

Turn 1:
White: Draws an Oblivion Ring, then plays a Plains and passes.

Blue: Draws an Aethersnipe, then plays an Island and passes.

Black: Draws a Hornet Harasser, then plays a Swamp, followed by a Nightshade Stinger, then passes.

Red: Draws a Mountain and plays it, then passes.

Green: Draws a Kithkin Daggerdare, then plays a Forest and passes.

Turn 2:
White: Draws a Plains, plays it, then plays a Cenn's Heir and passes.

Blue: Draws a Glimmerdust Nap, then plays an Island and passes.

Black: Draws a Spiderwig Boggart and plays his other Nightshade Stinger. Attacks green with the Nightshade Stinger. Green goes to 19. Black passes.

Red: Draws a Flamekin Brawler, then plays a Mountain and passes.

Green: Draws an Cloudcrown Oak, then plays a Forest, followed by a Leaf Glider. Blue counters the Leaf Glider with Broken Ambitions, paying 1 for the X cost. Clashing with Red, Blue keeps the winning Pestermite, and Red keeps his Mountain. Green puts a Forest, Cloudcrown Oak, then another Forest and Cloudcrown Oak, into his graveyard. Green passes.

Turn 3:
White: Draws a Plains and plays it. Attacks Black with the Cenn's Heir – Black goes to 19. White passes.

Blue: Draws a Pestermite, then plays an Island and passes.

Black: Draws and plays a Swamp. Attacks White with the two Nightshade Stingers. White goes to 18. Black passes.

Red: Draws and plays a Mountain, then a Flamekin Brawler. Red passes.

Green: Draws a Kithkin Daggerdare, then plays a Forest and a Battlewand Oak and passes.

Turn 4:
White: Draws and plays a Plains, then plays a Kinsbaile Balloonist. Attacks Black with Cenn's Heir, dropping him down to 18. Blue flashes in a Pestermite, tapping Battlewand Oak. White passes.

Blue: Draws a Pestermite, then plays Glimmerdust Nap on Green's Battlewand Oak. Attacks red with Pestermite, putting him down to 18, then passes.

Black: Draws a Monnglove Winnower, then attacks Green with the two Stingers. Green goes to 17. Black passes.

Red: Draws a Mountain and plays it. Plays a Lash Out on White's Cenn's Heir, clashing with White. White wins with a Plover Knights, keeping it, while Red keeps his Tarfire. Red then plays another Lash Out, this time on White's Kinsbaile Balloonist. Clashing with Black, he loses again, this time to a Eyeblight's Ending, which is sent to the bottom of Black's Library. Red, once again, keeps his Tarfire. Red then passes.

Green: Draws a Forest and plays it, followed by a Cloudcrown Oak, then passes.

Turn 5:
White: Draws a Plover Knights and plays a Plains, then the Knights. White passes.

Blue: Draws a Faerie Trickery, then attacks Red with a Pestermite, which drops him to 16. Blue passes.

Black: Draws a Swamp and plays it. Attacks white with 2 Nightshade Stinger's, putting him to 16, then passes.

Red: Draws a Tarfire, then plays a Mountain and burns the Pestermite with the Tarfire. Or attempts to at least; Blue counters it with a Faerie Trickery. Red then plays an Inner-Flame Acolyte, targeting itself, then activates Flamekin Brawler once. Attacks Blue with the Acolyte and the Brawler, taking him to 15. Red passes.

Green: Draws a Woodland Changeling, then plays a Forest, then plays a Leaf Glider and a Woodland Changeling. Green attacks Blue with the Cloudcrown Oak, dropping him to 12. Green passes.

Turn 6:
White: Draws and plays a Plains, followed by an Oblivion Ring, targeting Inner-Flame Acolyte. White passes

Blue: Draws an Island and plays it. Enchants Cloudcrown Oak with Glimmerdust Nap. Attacks Red with Pestermite, dropping him to 14. Blue passes.

Black: Draws a Nameless Inversion, then takes Green to 15 with his two Nightshade Stingers. Black passes.

Red: Draws Blades of Velis Vel. Activating Flamekin Brawler five times, he attacks White with the Brawler. White goes to 11, and Red passes.

Green: Draws and plays a Forest, then drops two Kithkin Daggerdare's. He drop's Blue to 8 with a Woodland Changeling and a Leaf Glider, then passes.

Turn 7
White: Draws and plays yet another Plains, followed by a Kinsbaile Balloonist and a Goldmeadow Harrier. White passes.

Blue: Draws a Faerie Trickery and passes.

Black: Draws an Eyeblight's Ending, then Nameless Inversion's White's Kinsbaile Balloonist. White is attacked with the two Nightshade Stingers, dropping him to 9. Black passes.

Red: Draws and plays a Flamekin Brawler. Activates the other Flamekin Brawler four times, just before Blue plays another Pestermite, targeting the activated Brawler. Red passes.

Green: Draws and plays a Leaf Glider. Attacks Blue with the other Leaf Glider and the Changeling. Blue blocks each with a single Pestermite, then Green targets each one with Kithkin Daggerdare's ability. The two Pestermite's die, and Green passes.

Turn 8:
White: Draws a Surge of Thoughtwet, playing it after attacking Red with Goldmeadow Harrier to kill the blocking Flamekin Brawler, and draws a Plains, playing it post-combat. White passes.

Blue: Draws an Ponder and plays it. Orders his cards Island, Island, Ponder, then plays the drawn Island and passes.

Black: Draws and plays a Swamp, followed by a Hornet Harasser. Takes green down to 13 with two Nightshade Stingers and passes.

Red: Draws and plays a Mountain. After activating Flamekin Brawler four times, he attacks Blue with it. Blue plays a Sentinels of Glen Endra, blocking the Brawler. Both the Sentinels and the Brawler go to the graveyard, and Red passes.

Green: Draws an Oakgnarl Warrior. After activating the Kithkin Daggerdare's, targeting a Leaf Glider and a Woodland Changeling, he attacks Blue for 8, knocking him out of the game. Green passes.

Turn 9:
White: Draws Triclopean Sight, then attacks Red with Goldmeadow Harrier. Before damage is dealt (Red has to take the damage), White flashes in Triclopean Sight, targeting the Harrier. Red goes to 12. White passes.

Black: Draws and plays Nightshade Stinger, then ends Green's Cloudcrown Oak with Eyeblight's Ending. Green then has no choice but to take an incoming four damage from two Nightshade Stingers and a Hornet Harasser, going to 9. Black passes.

Red: Draws and plays a Mountain, followed by a Lash Out, targeting Goldmeadow Harrier. Winning the Clash with White, taking him down to 6, Red decides not to keep Blades of Velis Vel, as White does with Goldmeadow Harrier. Red passes.

Green: Draws and plays a Forest, followed by an Oakgnarl Warrior. He then attacks Red for 12 with Kithkin Daggerdare, two Leaf Gliders, a Woodland Changeling and Battlewand Oak, knocking him out of the game; at the same time, the other Kithkin Daggerdare attacks Black, dropping him down to 17. Green passes.

*

Let's interrupt the commentary for a moment to examine what Green has just done. He could have forced a tie with himself and White, but didn't. As all players figured out eventually (yes, even Green), the only way for Green to now win was to knock out Black, and that would force a tie. But, how else could it end? Black and Green would be at each other's throats, will White and Red would be continuously clashing. White, however, was in no position to fend off Red's attacks, and he would surely have won for the second time in a row. The only way for Green to get the throne, if only in part, was to ensure that Red didn't. Knocking him out was the only way to do that.

*

Turn 10:
White: Draws and plays a Goldmeadow Dodger, followed by an Oblivion Ring, targeting Oakgnarl Warrior. White passes.

Black: Draws a Bog Hoodlums, then plays a Moonglove Wimnnower. He attacks green with three Nightshade Stingers and a Hornet Harasser, putting him down to 4. Black passes.

Green: Draws a Fistful of Force. Attacks Black with Battlewand Oak and two Leaf Glider's. Black blocks the Oak with Moonglove Winnower. Green activates the Daggerdare's, targeting the two Glider's, then plays Fistful of Force, targeting a Leaf Glider. Green wins the clash with White, keeping Oakgnarl Warrior, as does White with Oblivion Ring. Black is devastated as he takes 12 damage to the face, leaving him on 5. Green passes.

Turn 11:
White: Draws and plays an Oblivion Ring, targeting Moonglove Winnower, then passes.

Black: Draws and plays a Swamp, then plays a Spiderwig Boggart, giving Hornet Harasser Fear just long enough to win the game. He then attacks Green with three Nightshade Stingers and Hornet Harasser, booting Green out of the game and claiming the throne.

There weren't many mistakes in this game. You might say that defeating Red was not the way to go for Green, but on the other hand, what else could he do? If he was going to win, or even tie, that was the only way. Of course, no-one expected Black to win after Green's last attack, but no-one knew about the Spiderwig Boggart's he had been hiding. What an exciting way to end a game! Also, Black claims sole ownership of the throne, as Blue was knocked out. And fair enough. He'll just be in even more trouble next week, when the player's get together for Round 3!