EPTFirst, I was on UW Flash. I've always been a fan of tempo and being able to play counterspells alongside Archangel Avacyn was a huge draw, that card is completely insane. In testing it had performed admirably against most of the format. Here's my exact list:
Spells
2 Revolutionary Rebuff
4 Smuggler's Copter
1 Always Watching
1 Declaration in Stone
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Creatures
4 Spell Queller
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Archangel Avacyn
3 Reflector Mage
4 Thraben Inspector
Lands
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
4 Stasis Snare
7 Island
10 Plains
Sideboard
2 Fragmentize
2 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Bruna, the Fading light
1 Declaration in Stone
2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Spell Shrivel
2 Negate
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Fumigate
Round 1 vs UW Spirits
Game 1 - I thought I was up against the mirror and got blown out by rattlechains on turn 3 after a statis snare. He was on the play and dropped Gideon on turn 4. His board presence was too overwhelming after that and quickly ended the game.
Game 2 - He opened with a couple of Mausoleum Wanderers and a Selfless Spirit while I just had one Selfless Spirit. He played Always Watching on turn 4 and Gideon Emblem on turn 5, and after that I my board just didn't match up. Looking back I think he had fantastic draws and mine were sub-par.
Record: 0-1
Round 2 vs Mono-U Metallurgic Summonings
Game 1 - He took two mulligans and had no answers to my early threats. On turn 3 he cast Pieces of the Puzzle revealing 5 Islands. After his next spell was Quellered, he conceded.
Game 2 - I boarded in the counterspells and boarded out all my creature removal. In the early game I had no threats but sat on counters, but he didn't play into them. On turn 4 I cast Gideon and he used his turn 5 to cast a draw spell and a Thing in the Ice. I built up a board presence over the next two turns as he didn't play anything when I had open mana, and eventually I had him in range of a lethal attack. Then I made a play mistake by using Gideon's +1 into a 2-counter thing in the ice. He had two instants to flip it during my attack and bounce everything. I replayed as many creatures as I could in my second main. Next turn he cast metallurgic summonings and I chump blocked the awoken horror. Then he cast 3 Part the Waterveils in a row and killed me with creatures.
Game 3 - I opened strong with Thraben Inspector - Copter - Queller his turn 3 play - Negate his turn 4 and 5 plays. Hitting for 1, 3, 5, 5, 5 left him at 1 life on turn 6. He resolved an engulf the shore, and I played 2 thraben inspectors, leaving mana up for spell queller. I quellered at the end of his turn and he didn't have an answer.
Record: 1-1
Round 3 vs Mardu Vehicles
Game 1 - I opened Thraben Inspector, Selfless Spirit x2. He cast Unlicensed Disentigration on a Spirit, which I sac'd to avoid damage. I then got another Selfless Spirit and landed an Avacyn on his turn 5. I was able to flip avacyn and save my board with a spirit, wiping him and causing him to concede.
Game 2 - I kept a 2 land hand with a copter and a thraben inspector and looted into all my land drops. I resolved always watching and my team played offense in the air and defense on the ground. He couldn't get through to keep up in the race.
Record: 2-1.
Round 4 vs UW Flash
Game 1 - We had similar creatures in the first couple of turns but I resolved Gideon first and 0'd it. He cast Gideon on his turn 4 and Emblem'd. I chumped and traded my copter with a selfless spirit to protect Gideon. He passed and I started up the Gideon Beats. He went for another Gideon on turn 5 which I Spell Quellered. He conceded shortly afterwards.
Game 2 - Both of us mulliganed to 6. He missed his second land drop two turns in a row. I cast Selfless Spirit and Gisela on turn 4. I then drew Always Watching. He eventually hit his second land but didn't follow it up with a creature. Meanwhile I kept drawing lands. The game ended on turn 9 and I only drew 4 non-land cards, but I was at 34 life thanks to an unanswered Gisela.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 vs Mardu Vehicles
I got absolutely crushed this round and did not take notes on it. During game 2 he cast all 4 Unlicensed Disintegrations.
Record: 3-2
Round 6 vs GB Delirium
Game 1 - I was able get some damage in with early creatures, and I got to counter his first Ishkanah, but he had another on turn 6. Then he got back his first Ishkanah with Grapple with the Past and played it on turn 7 for more tokens. Then on turn 8 he used Liliana to get the second Ishkanah back and play it again. I got drained out by Ishkanah's active. He used a couple tokens to block a Gideon that was beating down but I still was getting drained for 6-7 a turn after that.
Game 2 - On the play I had a great hand in Thraben Inspector, Copter, Spell Queller his turn 3, Gideon turn 4. It was too much for him to handle that early and he quickly conceded.
Game 3 - This game was very long and drawn out and I don't any notes on it. I do remember it ended with an Emrakul, but it was a very close game up until that.
Record: 3-3
Round 7 vs GB Delirium
Game 1 - I flooded the board with creatures and played a Gideon on turn 4 which got Ruinous Pathed. Then I played Avacyn at the end of his Turn 5 which got Grasped. However, he didn't have an answer to my early threats, and they got there.
Game 2 - I protected a Smuggler's Copter with a revolutionary rebuff during my attack step on turn 3, and it ended up doing 15 damage after casting Always Watching on turn 4. On turn 5 I stuck a Gideon, used his 0, then over the next couple turns used his +1, -4, and +1. He cast Ishkanah but I went over the top with a bunch of double-Anthemed creatures.
Record: 4-3
Round 8 vs Abzan Planeswalkers
I don't have notes for this round but I think it was a very bad matchup for him. At one point in one of the games he cast Ob Nixilis, used -3 to kill a Selfless Spirit, and I quellered at the end of turn to attack and kill it next turn. He was relying on sorcery speed removal and planeswalkers that didn't match up well against my flash creatures. I won rather easily.
Record: 5-3
Round 9 vs Jeskai Control
Game 1 - I open Thraben Inspector and he plays Inspiring Vantage and passes. I think he's on Vehicles without a one-drop so I attack with Inspector and pass with Revolutionary Rebuff, hoping he doesn't play copter, but even if he does I can just sacrifice the clue. He plays Aether Hub and passes. On my turn I play a land, swing and pass. At the end of my turn he uses his energy to cast Anticipate. Shocked, I decided to Revolutionary Rebuff it, which was probably a mistake in retrospect. However, next turn he played a plains and passed. On my turn 4 I cast Gideon and he immediately scoops. After the match he told me he had nothing but blue cards in his hand and no blue mana.
Game 2 - I had limited information but I boarded in Negates and Spell Shrivels. I played a couple creatures on the first three turns. At the end of my turn 4 he tries to cast Glimmer of Genius. Since I had superior board position, I decided to counter it with Negate. He plays a land and passes. I hit with team again, pass again, and he glimmers again. This time it gets eaten by a Spell Queller. On his next turn he doesn't play a land and passes. I hit him down to one attack away from lethal. He draws on his next turn and concedes. He shows me his hand - two Fumigates and an Avacyn. I look at his mana and see only one white source! Turns out denying him those draws worked! I still don't know if this was the correct line, but it worked out this time.
Record: 6-3 - I qualified for Day 2! This was the first time that I had ever qualified for Day 2 and I was just happy that I had a chance to come back the next day for more magic.
Round 10 vs UW Flash
Game 1 - I mulled to 5 after a one-land hand and a no-land hand. I kept a 2-land, 5 card hand and scry'd Avacyn to the bottom. However, I missed my third land drop two turns in a row and couldn't keep up with his board.
Game 2 - We passed back and forth a few turns. I mistakenly cast Gisela into 3 open mana and it got Spell Shriveled. He was then able to play threats that I couldn't answer. I also looted away a 5th land rather than a Bruna and then drew into two Avacyns. Needless to say, mistakes were made this game. I half-blame them on a coffee addiction that went unsatisfied due to an incorrect assumption that there would be coffee in the venue before the round started.
Record: 6-4
Round 11 vs RB Aggro
I got some coffee and felt a lot better.
Game 1 - He went Bomat Courier, Scrapheap Scrounger. Turn 2 I had no plays but left up Revolutionary Rebuff, but he only cast Artifacts. I Reflector Maged his Courier so that he would lose the cards underneath it, hoping to trade with Scrounger. He Disintegrated my Mage and hit for 3. Turn 4 I played an Inspector and left up Rebuff. He cast Fleetwheel Cruiser and smashed in for 8. It was all downhill from there.
Game 2 - No notes, but similarly brutal loss.
Record: 6-5.
Round 12 vs GB Delirium
Game 1 - After a lot of back and forth, my opponent cast Emrakul into my empty hand. I drew Reflector Mage, which bounced Emrakul after two of my creatures were eaten by Ishkanah and Emmy. Then Emrakul got Recast, and two more of my creatures were eaten by mind control. Pretty hard to come back from that.
Game 2 - I was able to buy time by upticking Jace and Gideon. After exhausting multiple removal spells to push attacks through to kill Jace and Gideon, I was able to stick an Acacyn. I ended up attacking for 8 when my opponent was at 9, and my opponent mistakenly decided to offer a trade with a Reflector Mage and died to the Avacyn flip trigger.
Game 3 - We both mulliganed to 5. I never got a 5th land but had two Avacyns in hand. However, I was able to stick a Gideon and apply huge beats. My opponent flooded out and had something like 9 lands in play at the end of the game, never answering Gideon.
Record: 7-5
Round 13 vs RU Colossus
Game 1 - This colossus build was awesome. It had all the metalwork colossus usual cards plus Elder Deep Fiend. It gets to critical mass and empties its hand after tapping you out. I wasn't able to go under and end the game by turn 6, and he just chained colossi and Deep Fiends with multiple Sanctum of Ugins.
Game 2 - I made a critical mistake this game and cast Stasis Snare in response to an Elder Deep Fiend cast trigger, forcing me to Snare my own Thraben Inspector during my attack step. However, next turn he cast two free colossus. Even if the Deep Fiend got Snared, there was no way for me to win that game. My opponent said that he hadn't dropped a match to any deck except Mardu Vehicles - which he hit 5 times, and lost each time. He beat every Delirium, Aetherworks and UW Flash list he was matched up against.
Record: 7-6.
After that round I dropped, but overall I was pretty happy with the event. I never play standard, and I'm prone to making mistakes, but I still managed to day 2 a grand prix. I hope you enjoyed this wrap-up, thanks for reading!
