Despite not having a single identical card in their lists, both players' decks attacked the opponent in similar ways. Liz's Jund deck has spent time as an infamous menace of last year's Standard format and this year's Extended format, with its grinding midrange approach. Joe's mono-white deck attacked in a similar way, using trades and long-term card advantage to slowly wear the opponent down. Who would endure the battle in this final match?
Joe won the roll and elected to play first, but both players would have to hold their horses and take a mulligan. Both players kept their six and just had lands on turn 1. Joe cast a second-turn Mortarpod, while Liz had Sygg, River Cutthroat. Joe cast Pilgrim's Eye on his third turn to grab a Plains, and Liz fired back with Kitchen Finks (20-22).
Joe happened to have a Finks of his own (22-22), and swung in with his flying Pilgrim's Eye (22-21). On Liz's turn, she first used a Maelstrom Pulse to remove the Mortarpod, but Joe got a poke in by sacrificing his Germ token in response (22-20). Liz then attacked with Sygg and her Finks. Joe chose to block Sygg with his Finks, which Liz chose to kill in response with Lightning Bolt. Joe's Finks persisted (24-20), but then he took 3 from Liz's Finks (21-20), and Liz drew a card thanks to Sygg's ability.
Joe barreled in with his Thopter again (21-19), and got to reuse it after casting a Flickerwisp. Liz cast Bloodbraid Elf on her turn, and the Cascade Lottery was good to her, revealing her second Kitchen Finks (21-21). Liz attacked with Bloodbraid Elf and the first Finks, and Flickerwisp traded with the hasty Elf Berserker (18-21). Her 3 damage netted Liz another card.
However, after using an Arid Mesa to find a sixth Plains (17-21), Joe took a commanding board presence with a Sun Titan, which recurred a Flickerwisp, which in turn reset the persisted Finks (19-21). Liz continued the stream of hasty creatures, casting a Demigod of Revenge and attacking with it and both of her Kitchen Finks. Joe used Flickerwisp to chump the Demigod, and his Sun Titan and Finks to block the two incoming Finks from Liz. After the battle, one Finks persisted for Joe and both did for Liz (21-23).
On his next turn, Joe dealt with the Demigod thanks to an Oblivion Ring, and cast a Wall of Omens to draw a card. He then attacked with Pilgrim's Eye and Sun Titan, recurring a Flickerwisp and blinking Wall of Omens. Liz took the one in the air and blocked Sun Titan with one of her 2/1 Finks (21-22). Liz had nothing but a land on her turn.
As if this state of semi-infinite Kitchen Finks weren't bad enough, Joe cast his second one (23-22) and repeated his attack from the previous turn - this time bringing Mortarpod back with his Sun Titan. Liz's remaining Finks blocked Sun Titan and Liz hit the Pilgrim's Eye with a Lightning Bolt. However, it was clear that she was low on resources.
She did, however, draw a second Demigod, though it didn't bring back the first one since it was in Oblivion instead of the graveyard. She attacked, but Joe blocked with the 5/4 with his 3/1 Flickerwisp and then shot it for the fourth point of damage with his Mortarpod's Germ token. Joe then launched his most aggressive attack, swinging with 2 Finks and Sun Titan (recurring Flickerwisp on the Wall of Omens). The long forgotten Sygg blocked Sun Titan (23-16), but things were getting out of hand as Joe's steady stream of advantage had finally run Liz out of steam.
After Liz had no play on her next turn, Joe went in for another big hit, equipping his Titan with a newly found Sword of Feast and Famine. He attacked, flinging the Flickerwisp with Mortarpod (23-15) and then bringing it back again. Liz couldn't block (23-7) and discarded a land. She drew yet another one and then packed it in.
Joe Hammond 1, Liz DiGangi 0
Liz chose to play first, but drew poor opening hands and had to mulligan twice, putting her 5 cards at a serious disadvantage against Joe's 7. Joe summoned a Burrenton Forge-Tender on turn one, and had Stoneforge Mystic for Sword of Feast and Famine on turn two, though it ate a Lightning Bolt. Liz removed the pro-red Kithkin with Maelstrom Pulse, but Joe followed it up with a Mirran Crusader, showing his plethora of protection creatures from the sideboard. However, Liz had another Lightning Bolt to stop it.
Liz then went aggressive, casting a Thoughtseize and taking Joe's Sun Titan (20-18). Joe cast Sword of Feast and Famine but had nothing to equip. Liz killed it with another Pulse just to be safe, but Joe had both Burrenton Forge-Tender and another Mystic, this time fetching Sword of Body and Mind. After Liz could only summon Sygg, Joe put the Sword into play, and, after an Arid Mesa activation (19-18), got in with his sworded Forge-Tender (19-15), milling 10 cards and making a Wolf token.
Liz summoned a Boggart Ram-Gang on her next turn and attacked with it, and Joe allowed her to get in the 3 damage and draw a card. However, on his next turn, he played a Kitchen Finks (18-15) and attacked again with his BFT (18-12), making a second Wolf. Liz had no plays, and Joe got in with the 3/3 yet again (18-9). He pressed his board further by blinking Kitchen Finks with a Flickerwisp (20-9).
Liz went for one last assault, casting Bloodbraid Elf and cascading into a second Ram-Gang, attacking with all three. However, Joe had an army of Wolves to block with, and once he cast a Flickerwisp to bounce Sygg, the path was clear for his lethal damage.
Joe Hammond 2, Liz DiGangi 0
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