As the abridged playoff rounds got underway, the two points leaders squared off with the semester points lead on the line. Both players went 3-1 in the Swiss; Carney was playing his Bant Natural Order deck while Hunter was playing the Goblin Welder/Metalworker deck - two decks that can be described by the uncommon blend of aggro and combo strategies. After a pair of prolific die rolls that gave Hunter a 3-2 win, he chose to play first and both players kept their starting hands.
Hunter tried to go big right from the start, first playing a Wasteland and then casting Mox Diamond by discarding a Great Furnace. He tapped his two mana sources to cast a Grim Monolith, which he immediately tapped to play Voltaic Key and potentially untap the Monolith, but Carney decided that was enough for one turn and countered the Key with Force of Will, exiling a Spell Pierce (20-19). Carney was content to take a more modern turn of Misty Rainforest, which he sacrificed for a basic Forest (20-18), carefully playing around Hunter's Wasteland, and then passed.
Hunter played a Great Furnace on his turn, tapping his three available mana sources for a Metalworker. Carney had no turn two plays, content to lay down a Tropical Island and ship the turn back. Hunter immediately shot it down with Wasteland after untapping, using his Metalworker to power out a Kuldotha Forgemaster. However, it soon met a Swords to Plowshares from Carney (23-18), which he cast off a Tundra.
Undeterred, Hunter used his Metalworker again to cast a Lodestone Golem and pass. Carney peeled a second Swords to Plowshares, which he chose to use to dispose of the Metalworker (24-18) before it could power out any more fatties. The Lodestone Golem, however, made its presence felt, getting in for 5 since Carney surprisingly controlled no creatures (24-13). A Verdant Catacombs for a Tundra solved that (24-12) and allowed Carney to cast a 3/4 Tarmogoyf.
However, Lodestone Golem doesn't afraid of anything, so he charged into the red zone again. Carney elected to trade his Goyf for it. The reasoning for this attack became apparent in the second main phase when Hunter cast Goblin Welder before ending his turn. Carney played a Brainstorm on his turn, using Windswept Heath (24-11) to shuffle away two unwanted cards, and then played Green Sun's Zenith for 2 to search up a Qasali Pridemage, but couldn't use its ability yet because he had no mana remaining.
Hunter played a Voltaic Key and used it to finally untap the Grim Monolith he had played on turn one. He then tapped it immediately to play Crucible of Worlds, and played a Wasteland from his graveyard, removing Carney's Tundra. Carney played a Noble Hierarch on his next turn and then attacked with the Pridemage for four thanks to double Exalted (20-11) before sacrificing it to destroy the Crucible. Hunter responded by Welding it into Lodestone Golem.
Hunter appeared to be setting up another big play on his next turn, using Voltaic Key to untap Grim Monolith and cast a Metalworker, but his line of play changed course when he sacrificed it to Goblin Welder to bring back the Crucible, obviously trying to keep Carney off of Natural Order by using his Wasteland from the graveyard to destroy a Tropical Island, leaving Carney with just Forest and Savannah along with his Hierarch. Hunter beat down with the Golem (20-6) and passed.
Carney played a new Tropical Island and stopped the Golem's assault with a 9/9 Knight of the Reliquary. However, Hunter had Wurmcoil Engine on his next turn, and things began to look grim for the Bant deck. He Brainstormed into a Dryad Arbor and traded his Knight for the Wurmcoil (26-6), but this became moot quite quickly, as Goblin Welder brought the Wurmcoil right back. The trio of angry wurms was enough to earn a concession.
Hunter Garrett 1, Michael Carney 0
Carney chose to play first in game 2, but had to take a mulligan, while Hunter was content with his starting hand. Carney led with a Tropical Island and no action, while Hunter played a Wasteland, but chose to cast a Voltaic Key instead of taking the land destruction path again. Carney played a forest and a Green Sun's Zenith for 1, grabbing a Noble Hierarch from his library.
Hunter played a City of Traitors, which he immediately tapped to cast a Grim Monolith, using the Monolith to cast Trinisphere. Carney used his next turn to cast the ever-popular three-mana Ponder and play a Misty Rainforest. Hunter destroyed Tropical Island with his Wasteland at the end of the turn, but had no play on his own turn. Carney played a Dryad Arbor on his turn, lamenting the fact that it is the only land in the history of Magic with summoning sickness and wondering why he had it in his deck. However, he did have Green Sun's Zenith for 2, finding Qasali Pridemage, but only after using his two fetch lands (20-18).
Hunter had another turn of nothing, and Carney pulled the trigger on Natural Order, sacrificing his (apparently) useless Dryad Arbor and turning it into everyone's favorite Hydra Avatar, Progenitus. Since the 10/10 apparently wasn't good enough, he swung with his Pridemage for four as well (16-18). On his turn, Hunter finally had a play in Lodestone Golem and then Chalice of the Void for 1, but it was little help against a 10/10 with protection from everything. That 10/10 soon became 12/12 after two exalted triggers (after all, who wouldn't exalt Progenitus?), and Hunter's time was soon running out (4-18). After drawing his card, Hunter conceded and we were on to game 3.
Hunter Garrett 1, Michael Carney 1
The battle for the points lead and a spot in the finals came down to one game, which Hunter chose to play first in. However, both players took an excursion to Paris, with Hunter going down to 6 and Carney going down to just 5. Hunter led with a Great Furnace, which he used to cast Sensei's Divining Top. A Mox Opal gave him turn 1 metalcraft, allowing him to spin the Top. Carney led off with a Tropical Island and a Ponder, choosing not to shuffle.
Hunter spent his turn 2 Wasting the Tropical Island and casting Chalice of the Void for 1. The play appeared useful, as Carney had no play other than Windswept Heath. Hunter developed his mana further with a Mox Diamond (discarding Ancient Tomb) after using the Top during his upkeep. He then drew a card with the Top, putting it on top of his library. He cast a Phyrexian Revoker naming Qasali Pridemage and passed. Carney used his Heath at end of turn (20-19), finding a basic Forest to steer clear of Wasteland.
On his turn, Carney played a Tundra and cast a relatively weak Tarmogoyf, who was only 2/3 courtesy of lands and sorceries. Hunter had no play on turn 4, and Carney used his turn to cast Green Sun's Zenith for 1 to find a Noble Hierarch before attacking with his Exalted 'Goyf (17-19). Strangely, Hunter again had nothing to add to his board, and settled for just attacking with the Revoker (17-17). Carney used a Misty Rainforest to find Tropical Island (17-16) and cast a Ponder, only to find it countered by the Chalice.
Carney then paused and regrouped from his mistake, attacking again with Tarmogoyf (14-16) and then playing a 5/5 Knight of the Reliquary. Hunter played a Trinisphere and passed, but that seemed to be fairly irrelevant at this point, as Carney had plenty of mana to cast Green Sun's Zenith for 3 and find a Rhox War Monk. He attacked through with his Knight (8-16) before ending his turn.
Hunter dropped a Metalworker and passed, possibly giving him a shot at a big turn if he could survive Carney's next attack. Carney swung with Goyf, Knight, and War Monk, earning a chump block from the Revoker on the Knight (3-19). Carney added Qasali Pridemage to his board via Green Sun's Zenith after combat, and Hunter had to act immediately.
He first tapped the Metalworker for 8 mana, casting Kuldotha Forgemaster and Duplicant, which exiled Knight of the Reliquary. However, now with Revoker off the field, Qasali Pridemage was able to take out the Forgemaster, and with artifact and creature now in graveyards, the team of Tarmogoyf and Rhox War Monk was enough to push 3 damage through one blocker.
Michael Carney 2, Hunter Garrett 1
