Feature Match - Finals: Jason D'Mellow vs. Hunter Garrett

After seven long rounds of Magic, the finals had arrived. Hunter Garrett had found a home in the finals, making his impressive fourth consecutive appearance in them (with four different decks, I might add - this time it was mono-blue artifact ramp). On the other side was Jason D'Mellow, who had cracked the top 8 once and also won a Swiss-style Standard side-event during last semester's invitational, but had not yet played in a playoff final. Jason won the roll and elected to play first with his Elf deck. Both players kept their opening seven, and the finals were underway.

Jason opened with a Llanowar Elf on turn one, followed by two more on his second turn. He then attacked with his first Llanowar Elves (20-19) and shipped the turn. However, Hunter still had no plays. Jason then cast Asceticism on turn three, but it was met by Mana Leak from Hunter, and he had no further plays as he missed his third land drop.

Hunter finally cast a spell in the form of Everflowing Chalice for 1. Perhaps thinking he had baited the counterspell, Jason cast Nissa Revane, only to find the planeswalker countered by a second Mana Leak. He cast an Arbor Elf with his last mana and ended his turn. Hunter started developing his board, casting Ponder and two Etherium Sculptors on his fourth turn.

However, Jason retaliated strongly with a Relic Crush to kill both Sculptors, setting Hunter far behind. After a quick check from me to confirm that Jason hadn't failed to de-sideboard after the previous match (he hadn't - he actually played 2 Relic Crush main), Hunter cast a Ponder but didn't like what he saw, shuffling his deck and then passing after drawing off the spell. Jason played an Elvish Archdruid and passed back, with Hunter playing a Grand Architect on his next turn.

Jason then took advantage of his newfound mana, playing another Archdruid, a Nissa's Chosen, and a Joraga Treespeaker, which he leveled 4 times. Hunter finally put some threats onto his board in the form of Steel Hellkite and Master Transmuter, but when Jason cast his Joraga Warcaller kicked 10 times, he had far more than lethal damage on board and Hunter conceded.

Jason D'Mellow 1, Hunter Garrett 0

Hunter chose to play first in game 2, and both players again kept their opening hands. Hunter opened with Ponder while Jason had the first permanent of the game with Joraga Treespeaker. Hunter then cast Augury Owl and got to scry 3. Jason spent his turn leveling the Treespeaker to 1 and then tapping it to cast Arbor Elf and Ezuri's Archers. Both players did little over the next two turns, with Hunter just playing Islands and Jason leveling his Treespeaker to 5.

Jason finally attempted to break the stalemate, carefully casting Elvish Archdruid with 3 mana up, but it was for naught, as Hunter countered it with Cryptic Command and bounced the Treespeaker, forcing Jason to restart his mana development. Hunter then resolved a Wurmcoil Engine on his turn, while all Jason had was a Nissa's Chosen and the bounced Treespeaker.

Nissa's Chosen chumped the Wurmcoil Engine (20-26), who was joined by his brother, the pre-release foil Wurmcoil Engine who was facing the opposite direction. Jason leveled his Treespeaker to 1 and cast Elvish Archdruid before passing his turn. Hunter swung in with both Wurmcoils, which Jason declined to block (8-38). Jason cast an Arbor Elf and attempted a Relic Crush, but this time Hunter was ready for it with his sideboarded Turn Aside to save both of his Wurmcoils.

Hunter then summoned Grand Architect, turned them blue, and sent them both into the red zone. Jason chumped one with the Arbor Elf and took the other (1-52). Jason played an Asceticism and passed, then conceded a couple seconds later after realizing he could chump both Wurmcoils again, but the Grand Architect would get through for the last point of damage.

Jason D'Mellow 1, Hunter Garrett 1

The third game of the match saw the round's first mulligan, as Hunter went down to 6 before keeping. Jason, playing first, started with Arbor Elf, while Hunter had another first-turn Ponder. This time, Jason had the turn 2 Archdruid, while Hunter had no play. Jason used his third turn to cast a Joraga Treespeaker and level it 3 times.

Hunter played his first permanent in the form of Augury Owl, scrying all 3 cards to the bottom. Jason leveled his Treespeaker to 5 and cast Asceticism, passing the turn. Hunter then played Halimar Depths and cast a foil Grand Architect, sending his Augury Owl into the red zone for the first damage of the game (18-20).

Not to be outdone, Jason played an Elvish Archdruid and then summoned Nissa Revane, who searched up a foil Nissa's Chosen. He also had the mana to cast Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and suddenly had a very formidable team of Elves. Hunter Pondered and then fought back with a Wurmcoil Engine.

Jason then went big on his next turn, casting an Arbor Elf and using Nissa to fetch another Nissa's Chosen. He then tapped both of his Archdruids for enough mana to cast Emrakul, the I Win Lols. On his extra turn, Jason attacked with Emrakul (18-5), leaving Hunter with nothing but a Wurmcoil Engine and the Augury Owl. Hunter attacked with the Wurmcoil just for fun, and Jason chumped it with Nissa's Chosen (18-12), but Hunter realized it was over and extended his hand.

Jason D'Mellow 2, Hunter Garrett 1