The first feature match of the Top 8 involved FITSSFF Magic's wonderful, caring, responsible, organized, knowledgeable, and obviously exceptionally humble tournament organizer himself, piloting his trademark red/blue/green Titan ramp deck. His opponent, however, was no slouch, as Hannah Sharp had proven herself more than deserving of finishing atop the Swiss standings, being the only player to go undefeated in the early rounds, having rattled off four consecutive wins following an opening round draw. Her weapon of choice? The relentless white aggro deck featuring Quest for the Holy Relic and Argentum Armor, with the slightest touch of red for access to the Cunning Sparkmage/Basilisk Collar removal package.
Dom won the roll, and excitedly chose to play first after lamenting his previous string of lost die rolls during the Swiss rounds. Both players kept their starting hands, and after Dom rearranged his top cards with a Halimar Depths, Hannah started off with a trademark first turn play - Quest for the Holy Relic. Dom had a second-turn Lotus Cobra, but Hannah was able to cast three creatures on her second turn - two Ornithopters and a Stoneforge Mystic, which fetched up a Basilisk Collar.
Dom needed a quick answer to the Quest, but he had it on his third turn, using a Scalding Tarn to find an Island and float two green mana off of the two landfall triggers (19-20). He then tapped his three lands and cast Acidic Slime to destroy the Quest. He then passed the turn, not wanting to offer a trade of his mana-producing Snake. However, Hannah gave him no choice in the matter, using Arid Mesa to fetch a Mountain (19-19) and cast Cunning Sparkmage, whose haste allowed Hannah to dispose of the Lotus Cobra before Dom could untap.
The loss of the Lotus Cobra stunted Dom's development, but he tried to recover by casting an Oracle of Mul Daya. However, the Oracle came up empty, revealing a Preordain, and all he could do was attack with his deathtouching Ooze, who was chump-blocked by an Ornithopter. Hannah then used her turn to play and equip Cunning Sparkmage with the Basilisk Collar, who shot down the Oracle, and attacked in with her Stoneforge Mystic (18-19).
Dom fought back, using a Misty Rainforest (17-19) to find a second green source, which he used to cast another Acidic Slime, this time destroying the Basilisk Collar. He bashed in with the first Slime, which took down the remaining Ornithopter. Not to be outdone, Hannah cast a second Sparkmage, and used both of them together to destroy an Acidic Slime. She then cast Kor Skyfisher, bouncing and replaying a Plains, and attacked in with her Mystic (16-19).
Dom began his next turn with a Preordain, filtering his draws to try to find a game-ending threat that he was nearing the right amount of mana to cast. He then used a Lightning Bolt to dispatch the Skyfisher and attacked again with Acidic Slime, who connected this time (16-17). In his second main phase, he played Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and used the planeswalker's second ability to Brainstorm.
Hannah reinforced her field with another Skyfisher and a Memnite, and used her Sparkmages and Stoneforge Mystic to take down Jace. However, Dom had the trump card on his following turn, an Avenger of Zendikar, who created seven 0/1 Plant tokens. They all immediately became 1/2's after Dom laid down a Copperline Gorge. Hannah had little further action on her turn, attacking with the Skyfisher (14-17) and then passing.
On his next turn, Dom had a Halimar Depths on his turn to make the Plants into 2/3's. Hannah responded to the Avenger's landfall trigger by using her Sparkmages to take down a Plant token, leaving six plants and the Avenger himself. However, Dom had Lightning Bolts to dispatch the two remaining blockers (Stoneforge Mystic and Memnite), and had exactly 17 damage upon turning Avenger and friends sideways (14-0).
Dominic Casali 1, Hannah Sharp 0
Both players did some sideboarding, and after some shuffling they were on to the second game. Hannah was happy with her starting hand, but Dom immediately sent it back. His six-card hand was at least considerable, but after a long, pensive stare at the six, he again sent it back, eventually keeping his five-card hand.
Hannah started off strong, playing a Memnite and then returning it to her hand to cast a first turn Glint Hawk. The hawk bashed in for 2 (18-20), and was soon joined by a Kor Skyfisher, who bounced the same Memnite back to Hannah's hand. Dom played a Scalding Tarn on his turn and passed. Hannah sent both her creatures into the red zone (14-20), and then played two more creatures: a Kor Duelist and a Stoneforge Mystic, who this time searched up a Sword of Body and Mind.
Dom finally had to take action to prevent being overwhelmed by the white creature swarm. He used his Scalding Tarn to find an Island (13-20), and it joined the Mountain on his side of the table. He then cast Pyroclasm, which brought all of Hannah's assault but the Kor Skyfisher to a fiery halt, but did miss his third land drop. Hannah continued her aggro strategy, bashing with the Skyfisher (11-20) and casting the Sword of Body and Mind.
Dom found a Preordain atop his library, and used it to find a Misty Rainforest before passing the turn back. Hannah had a burn-resistant creature in the form of Kor Firewalker, and also had enough mana to equip the Skyfisher with the Sword. Dom used his Rainforest to find a basic Forest (10-20), and then cast a Nature's Claim to destroy the Sword (10-24). However, he had no answer to the Skyfisher itself, so he still took two damage from its attack (8-24).
Dom was running out of time and needed to get back in the game quickly. However, the top of his deck only provided a Raging Ravine, whose tapped entrance to the battlefield stranded his two four-mana spells in hand. Hannah attacked with both of her creatures (4-24), and also cast a Squadron Hawk. Dom had a Mana Leak for the Hawk, but when the top of his deck did not provide any refuge from the lethal damage sitting across the table, he conceded the game.
Dominic Casali 1, Hannah Sharp 1
Dom chose to play first and kept his starting hand for the final game, but this time Hannah had to mulligan to six. Dom led off with a Halimar Depths, rearranging his top 3 cards, while Hannah had a first-turn Memnite. Dom then used a Scalding Tarn to find a Mountain (19-20) and used a Mana Leak when Hannah attempted a Stoneforge Mystic. She sent the Memnite into the red zone (18-20) and passed the turn back.
Dom Preordained on his turn and kept both cards, drawing and playing a Forest before passing. Hannah spent her turn casting a Glint Hawk, bouncing the Memnite and keeping it in hand for the time being. Dom used another Preordain on his next turn, played another land, and again had no play. Hannah found a Mountain with Arid Mesa (18-19) attacked with the Glint Hawk (16-19), then played Kor Firewalker and Memnite before passing back.
With three creatures across from his empty board, Dom needed to take action soon. He used his turn to cast Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Brainstorm, passing back with one mana open. Hannah then attacked Jace with the Glint Hawk and Memnite while attacking Dom with the Firewalker. A Lightning Bolt dealt with the Glint Hawk, sending Jace to 2 loyalty (14-19). Hannah cast a Sword of Body and Mind and passed the turn.
Dom first put Jace down to 1 loyalty to bounce Kor Firewalker. He then used a Misty Rainforest (13-19) to find a sixth mana source, and then cast an Inferno Titan, destroying Memnite and burning Hannah for 2 (13-17). Hannah replayed the Kor Firewalker, but had to pass back, not having enough mana to equip the Sword to her Kor.
Dom went for a swim in the think-tank, finally concluding that his best line of play was to sacrifice Jace to bounce the Firewalker again, as allowing a creature with protection from red to also gain protection from blue and green seemed extremely dangerous for the RUG deck. He then used his two red sources to pump Inferno Titan to an 8/6, and attacked, dealing 3 more to his opponent for a total of 11 damage (13-6). He cast a Lotus Cobra and passed.
Still stuck on three lands, Hannah decided to cast a Kor Duelist and equip the Sword. This actually allowed the Duelist to trade with Inferno Titan on its next swing, but when the Titan attacked, Dom used all three points of his Inferno Titan's attack-triggered Arc Lightning ability directly on Hannah (13-3). The Inferno Titan fell, but the Lightning Bolt in Dom's hand was just enough to finish the job (13-0) and send him to the semifinals.
Dominic Casali 2, Hannah Sharp 1
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