Contemporary Nook's $100 Multi-EDH concluded with Chris Fang's Raiyuu inching it's way to take the 1st place. Here are the Top 4:
1st - Chris Fang (Raiyuu, Storm's Edge)
2nd - MJ Rodriguez (Fynn, the Fangbearer)
3rd - Efren Alcantara (Kykar, Wind's Fury)
4th - Lawrence Du Alo (Tivit, Seller of Secrets)
Here's the tournament report from our champion itself:
To be honest, I did not expect to win the top place in this tournament, but my mindset is to at least get within the top 5. My commander is Raiyuu, Storm's Edge, a Boros commander with double combat trigger, an effective voltron strategy. It is a deck I have used in the previous $100 Multi-EDH Tourney so I'm very familiar with the deck.
Preparation started 4 days prior the tourney since the deck's price may have changed. Indeed it has, and I had to modify the deck to remove cards which increased in value and added some which I believe will be useful based on previous games. With those adjustments came with new win conditions.
ROUND 1:
I was mana screwed and unable to interact until around turn 7 or 8. I faced against Marwyn, Sidar Jibari and Kykar who are all setting up to deal huge damage. During the last turn, I was left with two other players with Kykar only having 1 life remaining. Luckily, I had Boros Charm which gave me the last push needed to finish him and end the game in a draw against Sidar Jabari. Since I was able to eliminate two opponents, I ended up having more points that round.
ROUND 2:
This time I was playing against Fynn, Tivit and Tatyova. The Fynn player started out aggressive and was able to eliminate the Tatyova player through poison counters. Having a Commander with first strike helped me defend against Fynn's deathtouch creatures, giving me the opportunity to suit my commander up and eliminate him instead. The Tivit player was unable to play lands consistently which prevented his value engine and finally ending the game with a standstill. Again, eliminating an opponent with my Commander gave me the point advantage.
ROUND 3:
This is by far the best round for me since I ended up with 8 points! Facing again Tivit, he was in a far better position now and the whole pod needed to aggro him in order to stop the value engine. The game became combat-centric but my synergy pieces and win-cons were already exiled by Umbris. I was able to soldier on, defeating the Adris player despite his blocker, and finally the Umbris player, by tutoring a Trailblazer's Boots and finally swinging for the win.
ROUND 4:
This time I was eliminated early. The Fynn player focused his attacks on me while I still have my board open. I thought I'd be able to play out one of my win con spells (Loyal Apprentice + Breath of Fury) since I already had the them in my hand. Unfortunately, I was unable to draw a white mana to bring my Commander out and setup the play. I ended up with 9 poison counters from Fynn with the last blow was dealt by the Godo player via Plague Myr. The game then ended with a draw.
With the points I accumulated during the earlier rounds, I ended up in 1st place despite being eliminated early during the last pod.
The overall experience was great. Playing with a restricted budget pushed me to think of ways on how to make my deck work without the expensive and fast/powerful cards. Preparing ahead of time, I believe, gave me an advantage since I was able to modify, playtest and calibrate my deck. Asking friends for advise in deckbuilding is also a huge help. I'm also very happy with the prizes I won. I got a fetch land which I have been collecting recently.
I'm looking forward to the next $100 Multi-EDH Tournament, where I might use a different deck by then.
