Game 12

Game Summary

Sultai Elfball mulliganed twice before keeping six and putting Deathrite Shaman on the bottom. Its one-land start nevertheless developed quickly: Forest powered Arbor Elf on Turn 1, then Quirion Ranger and Arbor Elf repeatedly returned and untapped that same Forest. By the end of Turn 2, Sultai Elfball had also cast Elvish Mystic and Survival of the Fittest.

Marchesa developed normally through three land drops: Badlands, Tainted Peak, and Island, and cast Sage of Fables on Turn 3. This appeared to begin assembling Marchesa’s +1/+1 counter and card-draw machinery, but Marchesa, the Black Rose never entered the battlefield, and no sacrifice or recursion engine became active before Elfball’s decisive turn.

On Turn 4, Sultai Elfball used its Forest, Arbor Elf, Quirion Ranger, Elvish Mystic, and Delighted Halfling to produce six mana. Thousand-Year Elixir gave Priest of Titania immediate access to its mana ability after Survival of the Fittest converted Glen Elendra Archmage into Priest. Lys Alana Huntmaster created an Elf Warrior when Priest was cast. Priest then tapped twice with help from Thousand-Year Elixir, producing enough mana for a second Survival activation: Trophy Mage was discarded to find Craterhoof Behemoth, which was cast with two green mana remaining.

Craterhoof saw eight creatures and gave the entire Elfball board +8/+8 and trample. Quirion Ranger, Lys Alana Huntmaster, and Craterhoof attacked for 33 total power. Sage of Fables blocked and absorbed 2 damage, leaving 31 trample damage to reduce Marchesa from 40 to 9 life. The newly created Elf Warrior could not attack because it had entered that turn.

The Turn 4 attack was therefore not lethal. However, Sultai Elfball retained all eight creatures, Survival of the Fittest, Thousand-Year Elixir, and its reusable Forest engine. Gavvin determined that Marchesa’s available position could not prevent lethal combat on the following turn, so the game was recorded as a Turn 5 combat win without playing out another attack.

Key Moments

• Sultai Elfball rejected two opening hands: the first had mana but little immediate action, while the second had only one land and no early mana creature.
• The third hand was kept at six, with Deathrite Shaman placed on the bottom. Forest, Arbor Elf, Elvish Mystic, Quirion Ranger, Survival of the Fittest, and Delighted Halfling supplied a functional one-land engine.
• Arbor Elf repeatedly untapped Forest, while Quirion Ranger returned Forest to hand, untapped Arbor Elf, and allowed the Forest to be replayed as the turn’s land drop.
• By the end of Turn 2, Sultai Elfball had developed Arbor Elf, Quirion Ranger, Elvish Mystic, and Survival of the Fittest from a single Forest.
• Marchesa made three consecutive land drops and cast Sage of Fables on Turn 3, beginning development toward its counter-based engine. No counters were removed for cards, and no sacrifice or recursion occurred.
• On Turn 4, the Forest/Arbor Elf/Quirion Ranger sequence, plus Elvish Mystic and Delighted Halfling, generated six mana.
• Sultai Elfball cast Thousand-Year Elixir, then paid for Survival of the Fittest and discarded Glen Elendra Archmage to find Priest of Titania.
• Priest of Titania triggered Lys Alana Huntmaster, creating an Elf Warrior. Thousand-Year Elixir allowed Priest to tap immediately.
• Priest tapped for six mana, was untapped by Thousand-Year Elixir, and tapped for another six.
• A second Survival activation discarded Trophy Mage to find Craterhoof Behemoth. Craterhoof was cast with two green mana remaining.
• Sultai Elfball controlled eight creatures when Craterhoof resolved, so each received +8/+8 and trample: 64 additional power across the board.
• The legal Turn 4 attackers were Quirion Ranger for 9, Lys Alana Huntmaster for 11, and Craterhoof Behemoth for 13.
• Sage of Fables blocked. After 2 damage was assigned to it, 31 trample damage reached Gavvin, leaving Marchesa at 9 life.
• The Elf Warrior could not attack because it had entered the battlefield that turn.
• After combat, Sultai Elfball still had Arbor Elf, Quirion Ranger, Elvish Mystic, Lys Alana Huntmaster, Delighted Halfling, Priest of Titania, the Elf Warrior, and Craterhoof Behemoth, along with Survival of the Fittest and Thousand-Year Elixir.
• Gavvin determined that his position could not answer the surviving board before its next combat. The unplayed but effectively unavoidable follow-up attack established the recorded Turn 5 combat result.

Game Context

Sultai Elfball was constrained to one land but was not meaningfully mana-screwed after Arbor Elf and Quirion Ranger turned Forest into a repeatable mana engine. Its Turn 4 sequence was unusually explosive, combining Survival of the Fittest, Priest of Titania, Lys Alana Huntmaster, and Thousand-Year Elixir to tutor and cast Craterhoof Behemoth.

Marchesa established Sage of Fables but did not have time to cast its commander or activate the deck’s counter, sacrifice, and recursion machinery. The only preserved combat interaction was Sage blocking during the Craterhoof attack; no removal or other disruption was recorded.

Two bookkeeping corrections materially affected the account. An early reference to Fyndhorn Elves and a second Elvish Mystic was corrected: the actual Turn 3 play was Delighted Halfling, which did not trigger Lys Alana Huntmaster. The initial Turn 4 attack also incorrectly included the newly created Elf Warrior. Removing that summoning-sick attacker changed the attack from a claimed lethal strike to 33 power and 31 trample damage after Sage of Fables blocked.

Accordingly, Marchesa survived Turn 4 at 9 life. No Turn 4 response sequence for Marchesa or literal Turn 5 attack was played out; the Turn 5 combat result was recorded after Gavvin determined that his available position could not prevent the surviving Elfball board from delivering lethal damage.