The tournament report is not dead and today we got one by Frank Roelofs—enjoy! / Martin
Featured artwork: Orcish Settlers by Pete Venters.

Hi all!

On the 7th of February I played and won the Italian Premodern Nationals. This is the story how that came to be.

Background

I started playing Premodern somewhere in 2020 during COVID. I really wanted to play Magic, Premodern seemed fun and there were webcam tournaments. And the idea of playing with physical cards was very attractive to me. After toying around with The Rock and UW Landstill, I designed Mono Blue Storm and had some great results with it, including a second place finish in the webcam monthlies. During that time Robert Cuellari was having a great run with what I consider the first version of Survival Elves, which piqued my interest. I picked it up and promptly won the next two monthlies with it. The deck was that good. And it was a ton of fun playing as well. It also cemented my love for the Survival Elves archetype. To be honest, that wasn’t very hard as I played tons of Elves in the Extended format and it even won me my first Pro Tour invite.

After this I played a lot less Premodern, except for some Dutch Premodern Nationals and the Euro Champs, but I do love the community and everything that comes with it. Playing in a tournament also means meeting old friends and making new ones. So when I’m playing, it’s always in real-life tournaments, because I think those are just the most fun you can have playing Premodern. Also, I don’t like testing, so I am mostly playing tournaments with zero games played in advance.

Euro Champs and Cradle Control

2025 came along and the Finnish community had the opportunity to organize Euro Champs. This sounded like a good excuse to visit Finland. The unfortunate passing of Jens Jaeger made it extra special, because a lot of people from my inner Premodern circle joined and for me it was also a way of grieving with other people that I knew would attend the tournament. It was very emotional and for me the main reason for attending.

However, I also had a good run there. I changed from Survival Elves to Cradle Control because it fixed the red matchups. Being better vs Sligh and Goblins was something that the deck needed. I was following Fran’s (Fpawlusz) build of Cradle Control and changed a couple of cards for meta game purposes and fitting my style of play a bit better. Also, Orcish Settlers seemed like a great card in the current metagame.

Anton and Seb did a Monster of the Week podcast episode with me where we talked about the deck and the weekend, which you can find here.

I came in third place and the deck felt very powerful in the Parallax Tide meta. However, I was not convinced that the Sylvan Libraries were actually that good, except in the control and midrange matchups, which were decent to begin with. The Rishadan Ports, however, were overperforming. So for Dutch Nationals during Uthden Troll Cup I changed the list a bit and I played with this version:

As you can see there were some small changes. I added an extra Wall of Blossoms instead of a Sylvan Library, a lifegain creature to the sideboard and upped the Pyroclasm count. However, during this tournament I was still missing the additional Symbiote and Acolyte to be able to grind out more games. I went 5-2 at the Dutch Nationals. Phil and I couldn’t ID in round 7 although we both had a 5-1 record. He was playing Life combo, which is the worst match up you can imagine for the deck. Of course, I lost that match and Phil went on to become the champion. Still, I was happy with the record.

Decks tweaks and tournament prep

After this, I heard from Fpawlusz that he was experimenting with Goblin Bombardment. I love that card and I think it makes you even stronger against the red decks. Goblins players need a Naturalize, or they just lose to that card. And even against Sligh, the Ball Lightnings and Grim Lavamancer go from really good to mediocre cards. For the Italian Nationals I ended up with this version (text version here):

This list is more streamlined. You have a 2/2 split of Symbiote + and Acolyte. No Sylvan Library because I think the card was too cute and I was boarding them out most of the time. I still have two Wall of Blossoms and one Wall of Roots, which might be one wall too little, but it is hard to find any room. Also, the sideboard got redone. I hate Tangle Wire, and compared to a regular Elves deck we are missing three Quirion Ranger and two Wirewood Symbiote that you can tap to Tangle Wire. The only switch that I think was wrong was swapping Masticore and Goblin Sharpshooter between the main deck and sideboard. With Bombardment in the deck I thought Sharpshooter had a spot maindeck, but you’d rather have the powerlevel of Masticore as it just solos some matchups. I also swapped out one Tormod’s Crypt for a Gaea’s Blessing as a respectful nod to mill combo decks such as Devourer and Storm, while still not giving up too much versus the graveyard combo strategies.

Orcish Settlers is the last card I’d like to mention. This card has been going in and out of my deck (together with BFF Genesis), but with the Tide ban I expected more Enchantress and midrange piles. This is where Orcish Settlers shine so in the end I decided to keep my orc friends in the deck. Plus we were playing in the Chaos Ork fest, so we gotta represent some. But back to the tournament weekend!

The week prior to the tournament I got the flu. And a pretty bad one at that. My wife got home sick the weekend before the tournament and I got it from her on Sunday. I was supposed to travel to my good friend Danny de Rooij on Wednesday, but I could barely go outside, let alone travel. So I needed to postpone my flight to Friday and hope for the best. To be honest, on Friday I was still feeling bad, but Strepsils, handkerchiefs and paracetamol made me feel somewhat okay-ish. Not the best tournament prep, but I also didn’t want to skip it.

I arrived Friday evening and went to the tournament location. It was in some sort of community center which was lovely and Lugo, a quiet old Italian town with tons of history, was also a nice place. I met up with Danny as he was playing some absurd combo deck in a special Premodern event where basically the banned list was made restricted instead. We ate some dinner which was nice (and meaty) and got to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. Also, I got to meet Anji, Giamma, Valerio and the rest of the organizers, which was part of the reason to travel to begin with. I really wanted to experience Premodern in Italy. The Italians travel every year to the Netherlands to play in the Uthden Troll Cup and I wanted to see what playing a Premodern in Italy was like. It did not disappoint. 

The tournament

Saturday, still half sick, and it was time to play some Premodern Magic. 189 players were attending, which is more than twice the size of Dutch Premodern Nationals.

I’ll be posting some of my thoughts on how to sideboard between games, to be taken as inspiration rather than an absolute truth.

Round 1: Jacopo Borrelli on Enchantress

Jacopo is owner of the local store Magic Time and a very kind soul. In game 1 I got a quick Orcish Settlers, which met a Swords to Plowshares, wherafter my Survival got Sealed and we got into a bit of a boardstall. I made a Rishadan Port to keep his Serra’s Sanctum tapped, while building a better board turn by turn until I got an alpha strike to put him to 1 life. He managed to get Opalescence and Parallax Wave going, but a hasty Goblin Sharpshooter took his last life point away.

Sideboarding:
-1 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Goblin Sharpshooter
-1 Thornscape Battlemage
-2 Wall of Blossoms
-1 Wall of Roots
-1 Multani’s Acolyte
-1 Wirewood Symbiote
+3 Naturalize
+1 Tranquil Domain
+3 Winter Orb
+1 Nantuko Vigilante

After boarding you want to be able to play a prison role as well. Winter Orb + Port or Settlers into Port are lines that are really strong. I like to have one miser’s Goblin Bombardment as a way to give you a bit of reach in case they have Elephant Grass and you just need to push through a bit of damage. Most card draw creatures are going out of the deck as they can use it to kill you with the Wave combo.

In game 2 I had a very strong start backed up by two Naturalize. He started Forest, Forest and signaled that he had no white mana. I used my first Naturalize on his Mirri’s Guile. I was correct, he did not play a single white land for the next 3 turns which gave me ample time to finish the game right there. Jacopo was unfortunate enough to be paired against Danny next round and lose. After that he won all his matches for a clean 5-2 record. Nicely done!

Result: 2-0

Round 2: Gabriele Costa on BW Control

In game 1 I landed an early Survival and I got an additional creature every turn, which is great against a control deck. At a certain point he got rid of my Survival but I had a second one and the card advantage was just too much to overcome for Gabriele. These games are not the most interesting ones as they feel inevitable to lose for my opponent.

-1 Goblin Sharpshooter
-1 Goblin Bombardment
-2 Wall of Blossoms
-1 Fyndhorn Elves
-1 Priest of Titania
+3 Winter Orb
+1 Nantuko Vigilante
+2 Naturalize

You want to shave some elves to be less vulnerable to Engineered Plague, as they usually bring three Plagues in. Other than that, just add the Winter Orbs. BW has a difficult time beating that card except when they can Disenchant them.

In game 2 I got an early Winter Orb and Survival again. The Survival was destroyed quickly, but not before I got a Quirion Ranger. That card makes it so that I get mana every turn. Two Wrath of God followed, but due to two Symbiotes I keep my Ranger around. Slowly but steadily I am getting damage in, while he has not the mana nor time to deploy an Exalted Angel due to Winter Orb. He managed to Vindicate my Winter Orb, but I get a fresh untap, deploy some threats and drop a second Orb to win the game on the spot. 

Result: 2-0

This was Gabriele’s first Premodern tournament. He went 5-2 after this, which is great for a first tournament!

Round 3: Antonio Capone on Enchantress

Another round, another Enchantress opponent. This time around my opponent curved out perfectly in game 1. Turn 1 Mirri’s Guile, Turn 2 Argothian Enchantress. The only thing I could do was put a fast clock on the board. I got a Goblin Bombardment and a turn 4 Hermit and put him at 9. In his turn 5 he got Wave and Opalescence. In response I burned him to 2 life with the Bombardment, giving me three draw steps to draw Thornscape Battlemage or a Survival of the Fittest, but drew neither, so I lost game 1.

-1 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Goblin Sharpshooter
-1 Thornscape Battlemage
-2 Wall of Blossoms
-1 Wall of Roots
-1 Multani’s Acolyte
-1 Wirewood Symbiote
+3 Naturalize
+1 Tranquil Domain
+3 Winter Orb
+1 Nantuko Vigilante

In game 2 I mulled to five cards and fate seemed to turn on me. However, I did get a Ranger + Winter Orb in play and with a Rishadan Port I could keep tapping his mana sources. Bit by bit I clawed myself back into this game and he did not get out of it. I could make a board presence and he never developed his mana well enough to make the Wave + Opalescence that were stuck in his hand.

In game 3 we both had pretty good draws. I did get rid of his Enchantress’ Presence and his second draw engine was a little deeper so we needed to fight the fair fight. I managed to hit him a couple of times with a Nantuko Vigilante and it was followed up with another Vigilante. He drew an Argothian Enchantress and kept drawing some additional cards. Unfortunately, he tapped his mana a bit weirdly on one turn and couldn’t go for Opal + Wave, he did not chump with his Argothian when I attacked with the duo of Vigilantes and a Bombardment did the last four points of damage.

Result: 2-1

Antonio managed to make top 16 with a 6-1 record but unfortunately lost in the top 16. A great run from him.

Round 4: Sebastiano Gabrielli on Mono Black Moneyball

In game 1 I mulled to five and kept Goblin Bombardment, Skyshroud Poacher, Birds of Paradise and two lands. He started with Duress into Ravenous Rats. I had drawn a Sharpshooter, which I discarded, putting all my eggs in one basket with the Poacher. I played the Poacher on turn 3 and hoped. He tapped his mana and it was just a Hypnotic Specter, ooph! I already had a Gaea’s Cradle. I searched for a Quirion Ranger on my turn, untapped the Poacher, searched for a Deranged Hermit and played my second Cradle. On his turn I searched for two more Hermits and he scooped.

In game 2 I mulled to five again. My Survival got Cabal Therapied, then a Dystopia took care of my Birds. I decided to not play more cards. He let his Dystopia go and I could play some creatures again. In the meantime, he built a board of Nantuko Shade, Ravenous Rats and a Withered Wretch. At a certain point I had six mana and I topdecked a Masticore. With him also having six lands in play and being tapped out I went for the line of pinging his Shade. He did not have a removal spell and Masticore killed the other two creatures while I kept open two mana from that point onwards. Masticore solo’d the rest of the game.

Result: 2–0

A strong start for Sebastiano. Unfortunately, he went 4-3 after this.

Round 5: Marco Pioli on Pandeburst Replenish

This match was on camera and to be honest not very interesting to watch as it was just me gold fishing against him. In game 1 he mulled to five. I got a fast Skyshroud Poacher, and he played a turn 4 Gigapede off a Mox Diamond. I searched for two Hermits and the game was done.

-2 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Goblin Sharpshooter
-2 Wall of Blossoms
-1 Priest of Titania
-1 Genesis
+3 Naturalize
+1 Tranquil Domain
+1 Nantuko Vigilante
+1 Tormod’s Crypt
+1 Gaea’s Blessing

He played Mox Diamond in game 1, so I expected some Engineered Plagues. You can also board out Settlers, or might even go for the Winter Orb plan as the Pandeburst deck needs to big mana turns to win. But this was a bit of a different build, so I opted for the safer route. 

In game 2 I kept a fast hand with no interaction but I could produce a fast clock. When I got him to down to 9 life points he had an Attunement. He bounced it and discarded a Wave and some more cards. I expected a Replenish, there were none and could put him to 1 with a Rishadan Port in play that would kill him next turn by tapping his City of Brass. He scooped.

Result: 2-0

Wow, this was such a nice start to the tournament! Probably based on breakers I might be locked for top 16 already, even if I lost the last two matches. However, time to battle on. I was still not feeling great, so I decided to have a couple of drinks as it wasn’t getting any worse anyway.

Marco ended up in the top 16 with a 5-2 record, great performance! But unfortunately he lost in the top 16.

Round 6: Nacho Barrachina on Gro-A-Tog

Nacho and I are building quite the history of playing against each other. In Finland we faced each other twice, but the matchup was great for me and I won both of them. This time around he was playing Gro-A-Tog and that matchup is more equal than Mono Blue Tide.

In game 1 I got to stick an early Survival of the Fittest which just wins in this match up, especially pre-board. After a couple of counterspells on my haymakers I got to land a Deranged Hermit and that was it.

Against Gush decks you cannot board in Winter Orb. Gro-A-Tog decks usually have Pyroclasm and not Plagues, but you still have to respect Plague a little bit, and worst case, Naturalize kills a Mox Diamond which can turn off the red for Pyroclasm as well. You don’t need to board in all Naturalizes, though, two feels like the magic number.

+1 Vigilante
+2 Naturalize
-1 Sharpshooter
-1 Priest of Titania
-1 Fyndhorn Elves

You can, of course, board in Masticore and/or keep the Sharpshooter in if you expect them to have Meddling Mage. I saw Nacho play in an earlier round and I did not expect him to have them. Even if he doesn’t have them, it might be correct as it is a great hedge against Pyroclasm and Masticore can block a Tog all day long. If I knew Nacho didn’t have Wonder in his list, I would have done it for sure.

Game 2 was a quick-ish one for him. I didn’t get a Survival into play, and Nacho dealt with every thing cleanly by Pyroclasming my board twice, whereafter he finished me off with a very big and healthy Psychatog.

Game 3 was a GRIND. I got a Survival in play and played a couple of walls that could soak up some Tog damage. And Nacho had three Pyroclasm in this game, making me grind through almost all my threats. But Survival is banned in all other formats for a reason. Bit by bit I got rid of all his answers, even though his Xerox build went through most of his deck. And in the extra turns I got my third Hermit with haste and won the game on the last possible moment. Phew, what a match! This is usually a matchup I’m fine playing, but is always such an energy drainer post board. Luckily, I got there.

Result: 2-1

At a 6-0 record, I could comfortably say I got the top 16 slot and the last match is just for placement, probably for first or second seed. And I knew who I had to play against already, because there was only one other person at 6-0, Conor Brown, our (now) adopted Dutchie, playing his Future Sight Thought Lash combo deck (Perfect Future). That matchup doesn’t feel comfortable at all, but let’s see.

Nacho lost his last round to my round 3 opponent Antonio but got great breakers and managed to sneak in the top 16 as the 15th seed. He even managed to make it to the semifinals where he unfortunately lost against Andrea and his UB Zombie Infestation deck.

Round 7: Conor Brown with Perfect Future

I won the die roll and kept a hand that was mana denial heavy. I started with a Birds and on turn 2 a mana elf, porting his land in his upkeep. He played a City of Traitors. I went for an Orcish Settlers and tapped his land again, this time the City of Traitors. He didn’t play a land, but went Lotus Petal and Earthquake for 1. Settlers and mana dork down, but luckily my Birds of Paradise fly. I did some board development with Survival and went for a Genesis and got back my Settlers again. He was either not drawing a lot of lands or declined to play them and the Port was doing the lords work. The Settlers (and some more of my board) met another Earthquake. And by now I could do hasty hermits and those won the game for me with Conor still on two lands.

+3 Naturalize
+1 Tormod’s Crypt
+1 Gaea’s Blessing
+1 Tranquil Domain
-2 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Goblin Sharpshooter
-1 Fyndhorn Elves
-1 Thornscape Battlemage

This is probably how I boarded. He plays Replenish, gotta respect that card. And he needs both Future Sight and Thought Lash in play to combo off, hence the enchantment removal. Bombardment seems too cute. He might have Engineered Plagues (I keep talking about that card, not that afraid of the card to be honest, but still it will give you ample targets for your Naturalize effects as they come in anyway). That’s why I usually shave some 1/1 elves here and there.

In game 2 Conor went for an Intuition for three Future Sight, after he played one of them I had the Naturalize. With still one Naturalize in hand I figured that if I got rid of his fourth Sight I could just win the game by exiling his graveyard with Tormod’s Crypt. However, it never came that far. I got a Settlers in play and this time there was no answer. That means… I got to blow up all four lands Conor had. After that, it didn’t really matter anymore what happened and I just needed to clean up, which I did.

Result: 2-0

Holy shit, 7-0, sick. After feeling like shit for the whole week, I was just happy to be there. Being the only undefeated player in the room was not on the list. You won’t hear me complaining though. I was not playing badly or anything, but I did feel that I could sleep for hours already. But no rest for the wicked as there was a top 16 to be played. My opponents did great in the Swiss as well. Four of them made the top 16 with the other three going 5-2, 5-2 and 4-3, which is kind of insane.

Top 16 playoffs

Eight finals: Simone Fumagalli on RG Goblins

Matchups like these are the reasons why I play this deck instead of regular Survival Elves. Normally, Goblins are extremely difficult for Elves, but Cradle Control has a decent chance.

I play first due to being first seed in the Swiss and in game 1 I open with mana dork into Goblin Bombardment. Simone starts with a Goblin Lackey, but my start prevents it from ever connecting. We both develop our boards and Simone goes for the value route, hoping to outgrind me, but I have a Survival and start making Wall of Blossoms and a Wall of Roots. After that the Deranged Hermits were coming and those and Bombardment made it so that he could never outgrind me, as each Hermit acts as a pretty neat Pyrokinesis. Genesis got in the graveyard and when I could start recurring the Hermits as well, he packed it in.

+3 Pyroclasm
+1 Masticore
-2 Nantuko Vigilante
-1 Orcish Settlers
-1 Quirion Ranger

You could also take out Genesis as it is pretty slow. I kinda like the end game you get to with that card in your deck, though, and Quirion Ranger usually doesn’t have a lot of untap potential.

In game 2 Simone has a Lackey into Warchief and Piledriver. I had a Pyroclasm, however, which was so brutal there. He followed up with Matron into Ringleader, but that gave me enough time to build my own board again, including a Survival. He had the Naturalize, but I had a second copy of Survival and slowly but surely I was pulling the game towards me. He had a Sharpshooter, but I had a Thornscape Battlemage. I mean, if we are going into the end of the midgame with me having an active Survival it felt like it was over. He still could Pyrokinesis some stuff, but in the end I got ahead more and more every turn until I could start dropping Hermits and that was it. 

Result: 2-0

Quarterfinals: Davide Zoli on Red Ponza

I knew Davide just won against Jan on Goblins and that he was playing some mono red land destruction deck, which prompted me to keep a pretty land-heavy hand. My first couple of mana dorks were burned, three land destruction spells followed, and I got a Survival. He played a couple of Veteran Brawlers and a Grim Lavamancer. Yes, this was a real grind, and I was trying to keep up with his Lavamancer. But due to Survival I never needed to tap out so the Brawlers were on defensive duty only. This meant that Davide never really got me into burn range. At a certain turning point I found a red source so I could play Thornscape Battlemage to kill his Grim Lavamancer. After that I could start developing for real, and developed I did. I got to a huge board of tons of squirrels. Davide drew a Rorix Bladewing, but even that didn’t get him out of the situation.

Unfortunately for Davide, he got mana screwed in game 2, so the game wasn’t very exciting. He Burning Wish’ed for an Earthquake, but my Ports got him off his mana for long enough that he couldn’t even cast the Earthquake in this game.

Result: 2-0

Semifinals: Vittorio Piatti on RG Goblins

I could go first again and went turn 1 mana dork into Goblin Bombardment again. The same line I had in game vs Simone. Vittorio had two Lackeys but they weren’t doing a lot. Interestingly, Vittorio went for a very aggressive line by getting more Piledrivers with his Matrons instead of Ringleaders, which I think might be correct as he is probably not winning the long game anyways  versus an active Goblin Bombardment. However, I was curving good and the moment I got a Deranged Hermit in play I was miles ahead and that advantage was never given away.

+3 Pyroclasm
+1 Masticore
-2 Nantuko Vigilante
-1 Orcish Settlers
-1 Quirion Ranger

In game 2 Vittorio went Lackey into Warchief. I Pyroclasm’ed both away and we got to play some real magic. My Survival was Naturalized and he went for an aggressive line again. I got my Masticore with my sole Survival activation. He drew a Goblin Incinerator immediately and pushed his advantage forward from there. He got there, but it was close and the Incinerator was necessary to not lose the game to the Masticore. 

In game 3 I had a Pyroclasm hand again, but started with turn 1 elves. He didn’t have a one drop. So I dropped double Multani’s Acolyte who both traded for Piledrivers, which I don’t mind. This meant that the Pyroclasm would not be cast for the foreseeable future. I got a couple of Wall of Blossoms and was firmly in the driver’s seat with a Pyroclasm still in hand. I traded some of my small stuff until he got a double Siege-Gang Commander down. Now, it was time for a Pyroclasm. After that a Survival showed up and I could clean up the game and the match.

Result: 2-1

Finals time! Nacho and Andrea were still playing, but Andrea won in the end so I had to play against UB Zombie Infestation, which feels like a decent matchup.

Finals: Andrea Riva on UB Zombie Infestation

In game 1 I kept a hand of Survival, Genesis and lands (one Port), which was very weak to Duress but great otherwise. Andrea mulliganed already. He did have the Duress, I got a Birds and a Thornscape Battlemage and I played my Genesis on turn 4. Andrea found a Zombie Infestation but beats from my Battlemage and Genesis already got him to the point where he almost needed to chump the Genesis every turn. With only one Squee found it meant he needed to discard a card every turn to make a zombie. An Orcish Settlers got countered, but a Deranged Hermit resolved and that was game 1. One more win and I’ll be the Italian Premodern Champ. Pressure was on, although it felt like playing a casual event. 

+1 Tormod’s Crypt
+1 Masticore
+1 Gaea’s Blessing
+1 Nantuko Vigilante
+3 Naturalize
-2 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Thornscape Battlemage
-1 Fyndhorn Elves
-1 Quirion Ranger
-1 Priest of Titania
-1 Llanowar Elves

I boarded something like this. If I could keep Zombie Infestation off the table I’d likely win, as he he only had one Psychatog and Krovikan Horror as alternative win conditions.

In game 2 Andrea came out of the gates strong with a turn 2 Zombie Infestation. I had a Naturalize, but he made a Zombie in response discarding a Wonder, which is the card I fear most as my “control” plan doesn’t really function with that card in the graveyard. A new Infestation came and after that a Psychatog and I really couldn’t keep up. He made some more zombies and was attacking for six damage a turn through the air, and the game was over in a couple of minutes.

In game 3 I saw a great starting hand with some early elves and a Survival, to set up the card advantage loop. He didn’t have an Annul. He did, however, have a Powder Keg for some of my early drops, but it wasn’t really stopping me. I made a Wall of Roots, and stuck a Skyshroud Poacher. He didn’t find an answer and two activations later the game and title were mine! 

Result: 2-1

I can now say: I am the new Italian Premodern National Champion!!!

I never thought I could say that in my life. Not only did I win it, but I did so without losing a single match, which still feels unreal when I am writing this. The deck overperformed a lot. I got lucky a couple of times but I was also happy with how I played and how I built the deck. Funnily enough I never faced Stiflenought or Sligh, but those decks also underperformed a LOT during this event, with only one deck in the top 16 and a couple more in the top 32. 

After this, I got to join the stream with Danny, Valerio and Martin and I got to eat some pizza and have a drink. After all of this Gordon convinced me to have some drinks, and we went to a nice wine bar in town.

Wrap-up

About the decklist: I probably would swap the Sharpshooter and Masticore again. Masticore is just a bit more of a stable card. I boarded out the Bombardments a lot, but also won some crucial matches with the card. The card certainly earned it’s stay and I was extremely happy with it. When it was good, it was insane.

I already gave some sideboard strategies, but here are some more for matchups that I didn’t face. I make these kinds of lists before tournaments to know that I have enough cards to take out, but always just sideboard on instinct during the matches as you might always be wrong or face some out-of-meta cards from certain decks. So, take it with a grain of salt and keep thinking about what’s correct even with a written sideboard guide.

Stiflenought:
+3 Naturalize
+1 Nantuko Vigilante
-2 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Sharpshooter
-1 Settlers

UW Tide Control:
+3 Winter Orb
+2 Naturalize (for Humility or Mishra’s Factory)
-2 Wall of Blossoms
-1 Wall of Roots
-1 Anger
-1 Goblin Bombardment

Sligh:
+1 Spike Feeder
+2 Naturalize
+1 Masticore
-1 Orcish Settlers
-1 Skyshroud Poacher
-1 Priest of Titania
-1 Deranged Hermit

The Rock:
+3 Winter Orb
+1 Nantuko Vigilante
+2 Naturalize
-2 Goblin Bombardment
-1 Priest of Titania
-1 Quirion Ranger
-1 Fyndhorn Elves
-1 Anger

Finally, some shoutouts:

• All the organizers of Romagna’s Calling. This was a blast. Very well organized, all rounds were done at a reasonable speed, the food was great and loved that all family and friends helped out with this as well.
• Danny for being my travel buddy and hype coach.
• Conor and Gordon for being overall great to hang out with and Conor also for playing an incredible deck to a great finish.
• All my opponents and everyone who reached out during the event. This was the most welcome I ever felt at a tournament. You guys made the event for me.
• My wife, Aliki, for dropping me off in Brussels to make my Friday flight.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and you’ll probably see me around at nationals somewhere in Europe and for sure at the Uthden Troll Cup.

Take care,

Frank