Flickers From the Past: 2013 Realm Champs Report
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Welcome to the first ever Flickers From the Past! In this series we will be taking articles and content from throughout WoW TCG’s history and bringing them back to life! We have something “recent” for today as we’re featuring a tournament report titled Tales From Stranger Tides: Realm Champs Report by Oliver Gehrmann originally released on themetamart.com in May 2013. Without further adieu, here’s the article:
A little more than a week ago, the Realm Championships of the 8th Season took place. I was fortunate enough to earn an invite by doing well in the Sealed Realm Qualifiers, although I also added a few points in a Constructed event – please don’t ask me how that happened.
Battle preparations
After disappointing performances at the DMF Poznan from pretty much every member of our team, the core group from Leipzig opted out of attending the Realm Championship. They felt they lacked preparation, something that never bothered me enough to not attend an event. After I butchered the decklist that one of the better players of our team came up with (cutting Shadowfang Keep and Stormwind Summoner to make room for Seeds of Their Demise, Tharal Wildbreeze and The Essence of Enmity), I visited the local store on Tuesday to get my hands on a couple of the cards I needed. [1]
Wednesday was the first and only time I played a couple of rounds with the deck, which also led me to some of the changes I applied. Since Berlin must be the poorest city in the world – at least if you judge it by the average income of your TCG player – my local playgroup opted to avoid driving to Bochum on Friday already. [2] Instead, we started our trip on Saturday morning at 3 AM, which meant we’d arrive on site at around 08:30 AM. Despite a few hassles on our way there, this plan worked out extremely well, which gave us enough time to grab some breakfast prior to door opening.
The Tournament
After some opening ceremonies of the hugging sort, the tournament was underway and I got paired against Michael Brocker. He piloted a Murloc swarm deck, which led me to mulligan for Poison the Well. Naturally, I didn’t draw the ability on both attempts.
Michael added Coastrunner after Coastrunner and at the start of my turn 5, there were 7 Murlocs on his side of the field. I knew that if I wouldn’t draw into Poison the Well now, it would all be over.
I drew…
Legacy of Betrayal. I had a feeling this wasn’t too bad. I read the card again, just to make sure and activated it shortly after to get rid of all the 5 Murloc Coastrunners on his side of the field. He then attacked me with his remaining 2 Slippyfist and I drew another Legacy. “Well, why not?” was what went through my head, so I also got rid of all the Slippyfists in his deck. After that, he had next to nothing to threaten me, his Unleash the Swarm had no targets remaining. A few turns after, I had wrapped things up despite standing on the brink of defeat just a few turns earlier. Lucky me!
Round 2 vs. Marco (Augh)
I don’t think Augh is a bad match-up for Edwin VanCleef. If you know what his deck is trying to accomplish, you can play around (to some degree) Monstrous Frostbolt Volley. I didn’t even need to play around too many of his cards as I got a Nasala Silvertree online early on and once he got rid of it, I found a second copy. Viewless Wings on turn 6 was all she wrote. [3]
Round 3 vs. Dome
I got paired against my teammate Dome in round 3. I won the die roll for the second time in a row and had pretty much all I needed: Archdruid Fandral Staghelm, Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest and next to it, Nasala and Faenis the Tranquil. He never really got into the game despite his Grglmrgl preferring to be the aggressor.
That meant I’d advance to the draft portion with a perfect record!
The Draft
I’m rather used to not opening any bomb rares, so when I came across Gahz’rilla in my first pack, I knew that this was going to be one of the easier drafts. I saw a Grim Touch late in the pack and considered taking it, but since I often tend to float between classes and / or factions, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again and opted to not take it. I went for Alliance since I had a strong feeling that Roman, my right neighbor, would favor the Horde, which turned out to be the right call.
Pack 2, I open Alpha Prime and I know that I’m in the run for a potential 3 – 0 deck. The rest of the draft, I pick up 2 copies of Hugh Mann, a spare copy of Timewalker Guard and to my demise, I don’t see a single Glory to the Alliance. Still, I knew that I had no reason to complain.
Round 4 vs. Christian
Christian won the die roll and decided not to place a resource on his own turn 3. He applied some more pressure with a weapon a few turns later, but I was still able to turn things around thanks to the extra card and the initiative that he freely gave away.
The second game, he doesn’t apply too much pressure, I can assemble my troops and eventually take total control of the game.
Round 5 vs. Marc-André
Marc is one of Hans’ minions, which means he has a decent understanding of both Constructed and Limited repeats pretty much everything Hans says and applies this knowledge as if it were his own. That’s what happens when you’re entering the lair of the former World Champion once a week and are being force-fed useful information about the game. [4]
He put down a DK hero, so I knew that this would be hard. I win the die roll (3 out of 5 by now) and in the first game, I find a couple of Humans together with Hugh Mann to run over him before the second DK Rare, Ebon Plague (which I also saw during the Draft), ends my streak.
The second game, he goes first, he has Ebon Plague on 4 and despite my best efforts, I’m out of cards just a few turns after.
The third game, I see him adding Ebon Plague to his hand rather late in the game. I have the upper hand on the field, however. So there’s a chance he rows it, but I don’t think so. I’m frenetically trying to apply pressure. He also adds Death’s Decree to his hand. I finally draw into Gahz’rilla. I’m an idiot and windmill slam it on the field. The following turn, he uses Death’s Decree, his one and only out, and gets rid of it. I learn he rowed Ebon Plague and realize that I would have easily won this game if I wouldn’t have played like a total dork… a few turns later I get my comeuppance and he deals me lethal.
No new lesson learned in this game; I’ve been in similar situations where my hands were faster than my head a few times before. Still, I felt it was worth pointing out again…
Round 6 vs. Robin
I win the die roll (4 out of 6) and the first game, I’m able to apply pressure and take a peek at his hand. I spot Blazing Infernal, Rhonin the Time-Lost, Danath Trollbane. Seems like I’m not the one with the more impressive mid game…
I’m in the driver’s seat thanks to me going first, though, and when I drop Gahz’rilla, he accesses his Side Deck.
The second game, he overwhelms me with way too many powerful allies. Did I mention he also had a Bitey?!
Alright, no real harm done, I know by now what he’s got and I can go first again. Unfortunately, I didn’t really draw into a lot of aggression and his hand, which I get to see in the middle of the game, is just as sick again – Rhonin, Arrowstorm, Danath, Bitey.
I’m able to get rid of Bitey with relative ease (only 5 smash damage) thanks to Timewalker Guard and Hugh Mann and my second Hero Power (Sylvanas Windrunner) can get rid of Danath. After that, we’re both out of cards, but I’m slightly ahead on the field.
I draw a 1 drop. He plays a 4 drop.
I draw a 1 drop. He plays a 2 drop.
I draw a Quest. He plays a 4 drop.
I draw a 2 drop. He plays a 4 drop.
I’m dead. What the fuck? I should have won that game… there were 7 cards remaining in my deck at this point, with 3 of them being 5 drops and there were also Alpha Prime and Gahz’rilla still in my deck. 5 people watched the game and every single one of them was shaking their head in unison.
A horrible ending to this chapter of my little tournament report. Granted, I still had a shot at advanding to the Top 8, but it didn’t seem too likely now…
Second Constructed Portion
I had to play Jan, who was running Blue Hunter. Fortunately, I won the die roll (5 / 7) and find Distraction Technique and Nasala Silvertree, so I can buy myself some time. [5] He drops Archdruid Fandral Staghelm and he has 1 more card in hand and 1 open resource. It’s my turn 6, I don’t place a resource and I activate Legacy of Betrayal. He drops Nalisa Nightbreeze in response. I have a Prey on the Weak in hand and think to myself that it would have been a lot better to FIRST drop a resource.
The following turn, he passes after only attacking with Nalisa. I flood the board with more guys. He plays another dude, I try to use Prey, but he has a second Nalisa. He can buy himself another turn, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. Still, I thought to myself that this could have been much easier…
Round 8 vs. Henriette
Both Henriette and I are on the bubble. I know she has a history of coming extremely close and getting nervous when she’s in this position. Also, I’ve kicked her out in this exact situation a few times before, so she doesn’t enjoy getting paired against me in these instances.
Naturally, I win the die roll. I’m getting good at this. She’s playing Arisella, Daughter of Cenarius and since I’m much more prepared than I’ve been the past 20 Constructed events, I know that this indicates she’s running a Harmonize combo deck. I mulligan for 2 removals and find them.
When I have Poison the Well to deal with her smaller Harmonize allies and a Prey on the Weak to deal with Remulos, Son of Cenarius, she’s so far behind that I can wrap things up with next to no hassle.
Round 9 vs. Roman
I win the die roll. Obviously. Since we know that winning die rolls really doesn’t matter in this game, this is not an indication that I would have never come this far if I wouldn’t have won all but 1 die rolls in the Constructed portion. Also, everybody knows that I’m much better at playing Constructed than I am playing Draft.
Anyway, Roman also relies on the Blue Hunter full of Haste Night Elves that combo perfectly well with Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest and Nyala Shadefury. Nothing of this matters too much since I got my combo going, slowing things down tremendously. He comes somewhat close in turning the tides, but in the end, I remain successful.
I end up on 5th place despite my disappointing performance in Draft thanks to my perfect Core Constructed record. Obviously, I must have improved in this format a lot lately. Or it did have something to do with the fact that I rolled really well, but this sounds rather unlikely…
Top 8
First, I had to go up against Richard’s take on the Harmonize deck. We playtested the match-up a couple times before going to bed and I won only one game because my opponent made a crucial misplay. If he wouldn’t have made it, I would have lost that one, too. I start getting used to the idea that the Top 8 are as far as I’d advance in this tournament…
We drive back to the venue in the morning after we spent the night in the house of a relative of one member of the playgroup. We still haven’t paid a lot of money and it became obvious that this trip would be below 150,- € for me…
So I’m going up against Richard and I win the die roll. I start slow, but he doesn’t really do anything either. I play a Archdruid Fandral Staghelm on my turn 4, tapping out. He drops 3 (!!!) Keeper Sharus. I expect Remulos, Son of Cenarius, the Hero flip and then Muln Earthfury, which basically translates to “I’m dead”. He passes after inviting the 3 1 drops to his party.
I’m confused, but play Poison the Well to wipe his field. He then (!) plays Muln Earthfury. [6] I use Legacy of Betrayal on it and it attacks twice thanks to Fandral. That basically concluded the game.
The second game, he accelerates into an Edwin VanCleef on his own turn 3. I know he’s playing Viewless Wings, but there’s only so much I can do. So while he starts upping the ante with Commander Ulthok, calling Viewless Wings, I drop Tharal Wildbreeze and Aggra with “Elusive” and “Mend“.
I then have a Legacy of Betrayal for his Ulthok while he has Entangling Growth for Aggra. I see Muln and Shade of Aran on his hand.
He plays the Shade, copying Edwin so he can flip (Hans later pointed out that it’s much more busted to copy Aggra’s effect as you get all 4 keywords!). I play Ulthok courtesy of Legacy and naturally call Muln. He rowed it. Usually, this is a skillful play, but in this very situation, it was a bad move if you ask me. He held on to Seeds of Their Demise. Yes, he would have lost Muln otherwise anyway, but now he wasn’t able to smooth out his draw. And he drew pretty much nothing on the following turn.
I, on the other hand, added Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest (after considering whether it would be better to play Tessa – you can think about that for a second yourself… [7]), which forced him to send his Shade into it (I had traded Edwin with Ulthok). Suddenly, I was in the driver’s seat.
I now realize how stupid it would have been to add Tessa Black earlier and let out a sigh. Then I play her. He blanks again (he drew into another Seeds before, again he Delved and just like before, he didn’t draw anything after that) and I win shortly after.
Wow, what a game. None of the things that happened seemed extremely likely, but I was happy that I ended up advancing to the semi finals.
Semi Finals vs. Roman
There’s a video of the semis which you can find here: Semi Finals Realm Champs Elwynn Forest – Roman vs. Oli (editor’s note: lost to time).
If that’s not your thing, let me break it down for you. The first game, I start with Faenis the Tranquil and Edwin VanCleef, allowing me to dish out some damage while healing back and Roman tries to come back with Fandral. I use Legacy on his Nyala Shadefury and add it to my own field a turn later. This way, I can dish out enough damage so he needs to get rid of my field rather than swinging with a Fandral-powered ally on my hero (as he would be back to square one the turn after). So he trades Edwin and the following Vanessa with a Grumdak, but the following turn, I can attack for exactly lethal with a powered Faenis and Nyala as well as my hero.
The second game, he goes first and destroys me thanks to a Nalisa, that made his Marundal Untargetable.
The third game, I go first, I find Benedictus, the Twilight Father and it helps me slow things down a bit. Or so I thought, since he has another Nalisa to make sure his Fandral can do his dirty work. He plays Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest and trades both Faenis and Benedictus. Wait a minute, doesn’t Benedictus sport a whopping 8 ATK and wasn’t Kur’talos“just” a 6 / 5? Yes, you got that right, but for some reason, both of us failed to realize the mistake.
The game turns into a grinding match with me trying to exhaust Fandral thanks to Nasalas and Distraction Technique and him finding yet another Nalisa. I’m more or less save with only 2 Nalisa remaining in his deck and 2 Tokens that can protect my hero (which isn’t too much use when the ally gets Stealth thanks to Fandral, but that means he needs Nalisa AND a powerful ally), announce that I’ll now draw into Viewless Wings and I do just that. Roman isn’t amused.
Finals
After he “overcame” the first of his minions, Hans also beat a Mage Deck that seemed like it could need a trip with Last Year Airlines straight to this year. Seriously, it was a typical Ice Barrier build that you used to come across something like a year ago. Hans’ Grglmrgl made rather short use of the Mage.
We decided to swap the vouchers since we both agreed it wouldn’t be too fair when the first place finisher walks away with something like 3.500,- € while the runner-up would “only” receive 500,- €. This way, the winner would get 2.000,- € and the runner-up 1.500,- € – a much fairer split.
Hans asks whether we do a high or low roll, I go for a low roll and naturally, I win this one as well. So it’s me going first for the third time in the Top 8. The first game, he misses his 1 drop, he’s forced to play Monstrous Upheaval on his turn 4 on one of my Edwin tokens (as a Viewless Wings would be pretty much fatal otherwise) and he clears yet another token with Concussive Barrage. I decide to not play Wings when they have so little effect on the field and drop Fandral instead, looking forward to the following turn as I had Tessa Black in hand.
Hans plays Ulthok and calls “Tessa”, foiling my plan. I don’t draw into an ally and consider resolving The Essence of Enmity for the first time in the tournament (yes, the card was that good). Then again, I could simply drop Wings, attack with everything and put him up to 27 damage. Since he has no healing nor armor in his deck, Edwin VanCleef would be able to attack for game the following turn no matter what. I pointed that out, Hans gave it some brief thought and he agreed that it would be best to continue with game 2.
While Hans still doesn’t have a 1 drop, he’s able to flip early and run over me without me having the slightest chance. What a beating…
The third game, I have a good hand and keep it. Hans finds a 1 drop for a change. On his own turn 4, he has Hemet Nesingwary and Pygmy Firebreather. “You can’t ask for much more…” was all Hans mused. I had to agree…
I fought back, but the following turn, he brings back a Gilblin Deathscrounger, he plays a Monstrous Upheaval for 8, he plays 2 more low drops and after the dust settles, I’m on 24. Hans repeated what he said before and I added: “If you’re able to say that for a third time, we’ll be done with this game…”
I trade some allies, get Distraction Technique and Nasala online, but if he only finds 1 more ally, I’m dead. With 2 copies of If You’re Not Against Us… in his resource row, that didn’t seem too unlikely.
And well, that’s basically what happened. Hans finds another threat and sends it right at me, thanks to Grglmrgl’s flip that says we or rather he plays Yu-Gi-Oh! rather than WoW…
I wasn’t too disappointed, though. Considering my awesome preparation for the event and the fact that the whole trip was a bargain, ending up on second place was a great accomplishment. There wasn’t too much I was able to take away from the tournament, other than “place resources first, then start playing cards”, “don’t put allies away that don’t have lethal damage” or “think before you make a play”, but these are more or less my usual mess-ups (well, that thing with the allies without lethal is rather new, I have to admit…). Still, I hope you might have learned a thing or two and you enjoyed reading this report!
[1] I didn’t quite understand what Stormwind Summoner was supposed to accomplish. My teammate told me that it was great; you could sacrifice it during your opponent’s turn with Shadowfang Keep to trigger Distraction Technique and exhaust an additional card on your opponent’s turn.
It was also obvious that you could accelerate into some of your higher drops, but to me, none of this seemed extremely necessary. I didn’t consider it likely to draw into a 3 card combo and thought it would be better to rely on cards that were less situational and better topdecks.
[2] I still fail to accept the sad truth that this game is a lot more tempo based than it used to be; I’m like a romantic that can’t detach himself from the train of thought that this game is all about card advantage and controlish grinding marathons (like it used to be to some degree) rather than putting 4 allies on the field, adding Viewless Wings and asking “GG?”
And yes, I do realize that things are changing thanks to the recent bannings, but still…
[3] Naturally, Hans enjoyed correcting me; he didn’t think that Augh had too many problems with Distraction Technique decks as long as you were running certain cards, namely Bottled Spite and Miniature Voodoo Mask. I had to admit it seemed like he had a point. One day, right after I understood that the game is all about tempo, I will also start to accept that he’s right more often than not.
[4] If I’d be living in the area, I’d have to think twice whether I wanted to attend this weekly “tournament” / brain storming session. My ego would probably recommend only showing up every other week as I don’t enjoy getting told that I’m wrong all the time. Then again, there’s a slight chance I’d improve as a player…
[5] A lot of time, in fact, since he never used the effect of his Furious George in response to me targeting it with Distraction Technique.
[6] If we would have waited another turn, he could have played the 3 Sharus, then invited Muln to his party, flipped his Hero in response and add up to 5 more cards to his hand. After that, there would have been a strong chance I’d be dead…
[7] If your opponent is on full health and he has an Elusive Shade of Aran in play that you can’t get rid of, don’t you ever consider playing Tessa Black…