The Standard finals featured two previous event winners. Jason D'Mellow had picked up his wins recently, having won his last two events entered - the Extended event the previous week and the Standard side-event at the invitational, both of which he had won with his mono-green Elf deck. Though he had made several top 8's, Dom hadn't won an event since the Fall Extended event, which he took down with Doran Zoo back in September. This time, he was wielding his RUG Ramp deck, hoping to again go all the way after finishing 8th place in the Swiss.
Dom again won the roll, having reversed his fortune from the Swiss rounds throughout the top 8, and played first. Both players kept their opening seven. Dom started with a Halimar Depths, while Jason surprisingly had no first turn play. Dom played a Scalding Tarn and passed, while Jason had a lone Llanowar Elves. Dom played a Raging Ravine on his next turn, evidently waiting for his opponent to make the first move.
Jason obliged on his next turn, casting Nissa Revane and using her first ability to fetch a Nissa's Chosen from his library. However, Dom found a Mountain with his Scalding Tarn (19-20) and took advantage of her low starting loyalty of 2 and disposed of her with a Lightning Bolt before she could get above 3 loyalty. Dom then used his fourth turn to cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor and return the Chosen to Jason's hand. Jason decided he needed to prevent Dom from targeting his creatures anymore, so he spent his next turn casting Asceticism.
However, Dom had a more direct way around that plan, using a Misty Rainforest (18-20) to fetch a fifth land, allowing him to cast Acidic Slime to destroy the Asceticism. Jason used his next turn to re-cast the Nissa's Chosen and play a Joraga Treespeaker. Dom then used Jace to Brainstorm, finding a sixth land for his Frost Titan, which came down and tapped the Treespeaker.
Jason continued rebuilding his field, casting Fauna Shaman and Elvish Archdruid on his next turn, as well as leveling his Treespeaker to 1. However, with the Asceticism gone, Dom was able to unleash his Lightning Bolts on Fauna Shaman and the Archdruid, significantly weakening Jason's field. Dom then played a Halimar Depths and attacked with Frost Titan, keeping the Treespeaker tapped (18-14).
Jason had no plays on his turn but to keep leveling the tapped Treespeaker. Dom continued pressing his advantage by casting another Frost Titan to tap the Nissa's Chosen, and then attacked with the first one, keeping Treespeaker down (18-8). Jason found no answer atop his library, and it was time for the second game.
Dominic Casali 1, Jason D'Mellow 0
Both players kept their starting seven again, this time with Jason playing first and starting with Llanowar Elves. Dom had a rare turn one play, choosing to Preordain on the opening turn. Jason had a second turn Elvish Archdruid, but Dom had the trump card, using Pyroclasm to consume Jason's board in one fell swoop, severely hindering his mana development.
Jason cast a Fauna Shaman on his next turn, while Dom was content to cast Explore and play two lands. Jason then tapped out to cast Nissa Revane, whose first ability fetched a Nissa's Chosen from his library. He then attacked with Fauna Shaman (18-20) since he couldn't pay for its ability. However, Dom took advantage of Jason's inability to pay for Fauna Shaman, dispatching it and Nissa with a pair of Lightning Bolts whose casting required a Scalding Tarn activation (17-20).
Jason again used all his mana on the next turn, casting Asceticism, and attacked with Nissa's Chosen (15-20). However, the green enchantment met the same fate as it did in the first game, being destroyed by Acidic Slime after a Misty Rainforest activation (14-20). Jason then decided to attack with his Chosen, which Dom was happy to trade his Slime for. Jason then cast Llanowar Elves and Elvish Archdruid, but they both fell victim to a second Pyroclasm on Dom's next turn.
Jason was finally running out of gas, as he simply played a Forest and passed. Dom finally went on the offensive, casting Avenger of Zendikar for 7 plant tokens. Jason topdecked and cast Asceticism, but it was fairly irrelevant, as he controlled no creatures. Dom topdecked a Halimar Depths, which he used to make all his Plants into 1/2's, and then attacked with them and the Avenger (14-8). When Jason found yet another land atop his library, he extended his hand in defeat.
Dominic Casali 2, Jason D'Mellow 0
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