Game 1

Mikko wins the die roll and he keeps his opening hand. Lou mulls.

Turn 1
M: Stashes [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen] and plays [Rosalyne Von Erantor]. Rohashu takes 3.
L: Stashes [Sava'gin the Reckless] but… misses any allies! Rohashu at 25 life.

Turn 2
M: Both allies to Haruh. 23 life. Plays [Trade Prince Gallywix]
L: Places a face-down (FD) resource. Passes.

Turn 3
M: Plays [Grand Crusader]. Lou plays [Dispel] on GC. All allies attack Haruh. 16 life.
L:  Places [Shadow Fang Keep] as a resource. Plays [Jex'ali]. Haruh back to 20 life, but no additonal card draw.

Turn 4
M: All allies attack hero again. Harush now at 13 life. [Edwin VanCleef] and his thugs join the party.
L: Jex’ali attacks Gallywix for the kill, then gets sacrificed to play [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows]
[Faceless Sapper] and [Dagax the Butcher] go to the graveyard.

Turn 5
M:  All allies attack on Haruh, Rohashu flips, and that’s game 1!

Mikko 1 – Lou 0

Game 2
Both plays mull.

Turn 1
L: Stashes Cairne for a token.
M: Also stashes Cairne and plays Rosalyne. Rohashua takes 3.

Turn 2
L: Trades Cairne for Cairne. Plays [Alecia Hall] for a 2/3 body.
M: Plays Trade Prince, exhaust to ready and then plays a 2nd Rosalyne. Rohashu with 6 damage.

Turn 3
L: Alecia trades with Trade Prince! Plays Jex’ali for an additional card.
M: Plays Sapper to reveal Trade Prince. Sapper trades with Jex’ali. Both Rosalynes attack the hero. Take 6 damage. Plays Jadefire Scout before passing.

Turn 4
L: Plays double [Alecia Hall] to heal himself back to full health!
M: All allies attack hero for 9 damage. Plays EVC.

Turn 5
L: Both Alecias trade with the Rosalynes. Plays Parexia. Mik discards a Faceless Sapper to the yard.
M: Stashes Cairne. Jadefire Scout and EVC attack Haruh, now at 17 damage. Mik ponders for awhile as Lou only has 2 cards in hand (either [Gnash]  or [Mazu'kon]. He decides to attack both Thugs to Parexia and flips Rohashu to kill her.

Turn 6
L : Plays Mazu’kon! Wrong guess Mik! Mazu kills EVC.
M: Cairne token attacks Mazukon. Mazukon token comes into play. Jadefirescout attack hero, now at 20 damage. But Mik doesn’t have much gas left! Plays another Jadefire Scout.

Turn 7
L: Mazukon kills Jadefire Scout. Plays [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde] and gets Mazukon from the yard.
M: Plays Trade Prince and refuses to attack with Jadefire Scout.

Turn 8
L: Stashes Sava’gin but it hits the hero. Mazukon attacks the Scout. The retreived Mazukon comes down to attack Trade Prince.
M: Draws and passes.

Turn 9
L: Plays Parexia, forcing Mik to discard Faceless Sapper. All allies attack Rohashua for a ton of damage, and Mik scoops.

Lou 1 – Mik 1

Game 3

Both players mul. Mik goes first this time. Apparently, Lou has mulliganed to a hand with out accelerators and 3 Parexias!

Turn 1
M: Stashes Sava’gin and plays Jadefire Scout. Haruh at 2 damage.
L: Stashes Cairne.

Turn 2
M: Scout attacks hero. Plays Sapper but reveals a location!
L: Cairne attacks hero. Places SFK as resource. Sacs token to play Jex’ali. Haruh heals back to 1, but no card draw!

Turn 3
M: Plays Grand Crusader! Sapper kills Jex’ali. Scout attacks Haruh. Haruh at 6 damage.
L: Stashes Cairne, sacs token to play, [Gispax the Mixologist]

Turn 4
M: All allies attack Haruh. Then Mik reveals a hand of double [Dagax the Butcher]!

Mikko Peña is your 2012 Zangarmarsh Realm Champion!

Mikko wins the die roll.

Turn 1
M: Places face-down (FD) resource
Plays [Jadefire Scout]
J: Stashes [Sava'gin the Reckless], hits Rohashu for 2 damage. 28 life.
Mirrors with his own Scout

Turn 2
M: Attacks Jadefire Scout, Drazul 22 life.
Plays Faceless Sapper, gets angry thanks to [Lordann the Bloodreaver], attacks Drazul. 18 life.
J: Stashes a 2nd Sava’gin, hitting Mik’s Jadefire Scout
Scout attacks Rohashu, 25 life.
Plays [Miniature Voodoo Mask] naming [Grand Crusader]
Plays a 2nd MVM naming [Bottled Light]

Turn 3
M:  Attacks Sapper to hero, Drazul now 16 life.
Plays [Trade Prince Gallywix], exhausts to ready a resource and plays Lordann.
J: Draws [Flame Lance]
Scout attacks Rohashu, now 22 life.
Places FD resource.
Plays Faceless Sapper and misses to reveal [Frostfire Bolt]

Turn 4
M: Draws [Kor'kron Vanguard] (KV)
Lordann attacks Faceless Sapper, but gets burned by Flame Lance
Sapper trades with Jadefire Scout
Gallywix trades with Sapper
Places KV in resource row and invites mr. [Edwin VanCleef] to the party
Jay heavily reacts to the money card
J: Places FD resource and passes. Remaining hand: [Timriv the Enforcer], Frostfire Bolt and [Gilblin Deathscrounger]
Plays the Gilblin

Turn 5
M: EVC attacks hero, Drazul at 11.
Pumps Rohashu with KV and attacks hero. Down to 10 life.
Thugs attacks attack hero. Down to 8 life.
Passes with 4 resources up.
EOT Jay hits one of the Thug tokens with Frostfire Bolt.
J: Gilblin attacks Rohashu, 18 life.
Plays [Ice Barrier]

Turn 6
M: Ponders for awhile.
Thugs attacks Drazul. Ice Barrier down to 2 counters.
KV pumps Rohashu. IB down to 1 counter.
Flips Rohashu to deal 3 to Drazul, removes the last IB counter.
EVC attacks for the win.

Jay comments if he went first, he could have had a chance.

Mikko 1 – Jay 0

Game 2

Jay muls a hand of triple MVM, KV, [Monstrous Frostbolt Volley] and [Frost Blast]
Mik also muls his hand

Turn 1
J: Places FD resource and plays Jadefire Scout
M: Places FD resource and [Rosalyne von Erantor], takes 3. 27 health.

Turn 2
J: Scout attacks Rohashu, 24 health.
Stashes Sava’gin to kill Rosalyne
Plays MVM calling GC
M: Stashes his own Sava’gin but hits Drazul, 23 life.
Plays Lordann, hoping to protect

Turn 3
J: Stashes a 2nd Sava’gin to hit Lordann
Plays [Baxtan, Herald of the Flame] to finish off Lordann and deal 2 to Rohashu.
Jadefire Scout attacks, Rohashu at 18 life.
M: Stashes [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen], plays Gallywix, exhausts to ready resource to play Rosalynne again. Takes 3 damage, down to 15 life.

Turn 4
J: Plays Monstrous Frostbolt Volley for 3 AOE damage. Wiping out Mik’s party. Rohashu, 12 life.
Baxtan and Scout attacks. Rohashu down to 7 life.
M: Mik ponders and flips Rohashu to kill the Scout.

Turn 5
J: Baxtan attacks Rohashu, Drazul flips and we’re off to game 3!

Jay 1 – Mikko 1

Game 3
Mik keeps, Jay worries that Mik keeps. Jay mulls>

Turn 1
M: Stashes Cairne, and plays Rosalyne. Rohashu takes 3.
J: Stashes Sava’gin. It hits Cairne.

Turn 2
M: Rosalyne proposes attacks, but eats a Flame Lance
Stashes a 2nd Cairne, plays Trade Prince Gallywix, readies a resource to play Jadefire Scout
J: Plays MVM, naming GC.
Places FD resource

Turn 3
M: Cairne token attacks and deals 1 to Baxtan
Gallywix eats a 2nd Flame Lance before it could attack
Jadefire Scout attacks for 3.
Plays an angry Sapper and hits for 4 damage. Drazul now at 17.
J: Places a FD resource and passes

Turn 4
M: Stashes Sava’gin for 2 more damage. Drazul at 15.
Proposes an attack with his allies, but they all get hit by a Frost Blast. Cairne token dies, the rest take 1 damage.
A wild EVC appears!
Jay reacts again.
J: Plays Baxtan to kill the Scout, Sapper and a Thug token

Turn 5
M: Topdecks KV to kill Baxtan for free. Rohashu now at 24 damage.
EVC attacks Drazul.
Thug token attacks as well. Drazul now at 9 damage.
Leaves 4 resources open.
J: Jadefire Scout attacks Rohashu for 3. Flips Drazul. Rohashu now at 17 damage.

Turn 6
M: EVC attacks Drazul.
Rohashu gets pump with KV and attacks Drazul.
Rohashu flips to seal the deal!

Mikko 2 – Jay 1

Mikko Peña advances to the finals!

The Realm Championship season came to a full circle with the top 8 playoffs yesterday as four Paladins, a Priest, a Shaman, a Hunter, and a Mage fought intense matches for the title. In the end, everyone’s loved/hated bovine took the crown in a finals match which featured both members from our team!

The RAMPAGE vs RAMPAGE finals was fought by one of our newer members, Lou Marvin, whose stellar performance in the core portion earned him an undefeated run, and yours truly. The matchup was of classic RCQ fare – Hordestone versus GC, with Lou’s innovative list in contrast to my somewhat generic aggro build.

Another one of our newer members, Paxi, made it to Top 4 using the Alliance flavor of our team’s Blessing and Crusade brew. Standing with him is Team Anjazz’s formidable Jay Tanhueco with his Drazul the Molten, which featured [Monstrous Frostbolt Volley].

Rounding off the top 8 is Team Anjazz’s living legend, Sonny Estrada using also an aggro GC deck. From the Netherstorm, Ramil Rama came back to his native realm to play with a different style of GC aggro. Dick Forlales on the other hand, proved that his Hunter deck stands above the rest by securing a spot in the top 8.

Last but not the least, our teammate McNhel surprised everyone by starting the tournament 0-2, then winning the rest of his games up until the last round of draft, and sneaking exactly into the 8th spot in an epic comeback performance! Well done!

You can view the Top 8 decklists HERE.

Tournament Reports can be found below, the quarterfinal and semifinal matches are already up and the rest will follow soon.

Zangarmarsh Realm Championships 2012 Quarter Finals: Paxi Alcantara vs Sonny Estrada
Zangarmarsh Realm Championships 2012 Semi Finals: Mikko Peña vs Jay Tanhueco
Zangarmarsh Realm Championships 2012 Finals: Lou Marvin Bautista vs Mikko Peña 

Pictures of the event can be found in Neutral Ground’s Facebook Page:

Day 1
Day 2 

1. Lou Marvin Bautista

Hero
[Suncaller Haruh]

Abilities (8)
4x [Power Word: Barrier]
4x [Dispel Magic]

Allies (38)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
3x [Gispax [the Mixologist]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
2x [Al'Akir the Windlord]
4x [Mazu'kon]
4x [Gnash]
4x [Jex'ali]
4x [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows]
2x [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde]
3x [Alecia Hall]
4x [Keeper Balos]

Items (6)
1x [Discerning Eye of the Beast]
1x [Dread Pirate Ring]
4x [Miniature Voodoo Mask]

Weapons (4)
4x [Devout Aurastone Hammer]

Locations (4)
4x [Shadowfang Keep]

Total cards: 60

2. Mikko Peña

Hero
[Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun]

Abilities (4)
4x [Grand Crusader]

Allies (42)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Rosalyne von Erantor]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
4x [Trade Prince Gallywix]
4x [Korlix Grimvik]
3x [Bronze Drakonid]
4x [Dagax the Butcher]
3x [Lordann the Bloodreaver]
4x [Faceless Sapper]
4x [Edwin VanCleef]
4x [Jadefire Scout]

Items (4)
4x [Bottled Light]

Weapons (3)
3x [Scimitar of the Sirocco]

Quests (4)
4x [Seeds of Their Demise]

Locations (3)
3x [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Total cards: 60

3. Ramil Rama

Hero
[Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun]

Abilities (8)
4x [Grand Crusader]
4x [Righteous Cleanse]

Allies (36)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Telor Sunsurge]
3x [Bronze Drake]
3x [Bronze Drakonid]
4x [Bronze Warden]
4x [Dagax the Butcher]
4x [Obsidian Drudge]
4x [Lordann the Bloodreaver]
4x [Kazbaz]
2x [Stonebranch, Ancient of War]

Armors (4)
4x [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]

Items (4)
4x [Bottled Light]

Quests (4)
4x [Seeds of Their Demise]

Locations (4)
4x [Twilight Citadel]

Total cards: 60

4. Danniel “Paxi” Alcantara

Hero
[Gundek Hammerguard]

Abilities (11)
4x [Blessing of the Kindred]
4x [Grand Crusader]
3x [Righteous Cleanse]

Allies (31)
4x [Magni, the Mountain King]
2x [Ruby Stalker]
4x [Gully Rustinax]
4x [Bronze Drakonid]
4x [Bronze Warden]
3x [Obsidian Drudge]
4x [Scarlet Renegade]
4x [Burly Berta]
2x [Stonebranch, Ancient of War]

Armors (4)
4x [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]

Items (4)
4x [Bottled Light]

Weapons (3)
3x [Scimitar of the Sirocco]

Quests (4)
4x [Seeds of Their Demise]

Locations (3)
3x [Twilight Citadel]

Total cards: 60

5. Jose Maria Estrada

Hero
[Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun]

Abilities (7)
4x [Grand Crusader]
3x [Righteous Cleanse]

Allies (40)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Rosalyne von Erantor]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
3x [Trade Prince Gallywix]
3x [Bronze Drakonid]
4x [Dagax the Butcher]
4x [Obsidian Drudge]
4x [Lordann the Bloodreaver]
4x [Faceless Sapper]
4x [Alethia Brightsong]
2x [Stonebranch, Ancient of War]

Items (4)
4x [Bottled Light]

Weapons (3)
3x [Scimitar of the Sirocco]

Quests (2)
2x [Seeds of Their Demise]

Locations (4)
4x [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Total cards: 60

6. Jay Tanhueco

Hero
[Drazul the Molten]

Abilities (17)
3x [Frostfire Bolt]
3x [Monstrous Frostbolt Volley]
4x [Flame Lance]
3x [Frost Blast]
4x [Ice Barrier]

Allies (32)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
2x [Timriv the Enforcer]
2x [Soggypaw]
4x [Baxtan, Herald of the Flame]
4x [Mazu'kon]
4x [Gilblin Deathscrounger]
4x [Faceless Sapper]
4x [Jadefire Scout]

Items (8)
4x [Bottled Knowledge]
4x [Miniature Voodoo Mask]

Locations (3)
3x [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Total cards: 60

7. Ricardo Forlales

Hero
[Master Sniper Simon McKey]

Abilities (12)
3x [Aspect of the Wild]
3x [Avatar of the Wild]
2x [Spoils of the Hunt]
4x [Concussive Barrage]

Allies (37)
3x [Bogspike]
4x [Boomer]
4x [Garet Vice]
3x [Loriam Argos]
4x [Magni, the Mountain King]
3x [Tesla]
2x [Rufus Claybourne]
3x [Faenis the Tranquil]
4x [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]
2x [Vanessa VanCleef]
3x [Jeishal]
2x [Tyrande, High Priestess of Elune]

Quests (8)
4x [Seeds of Their Demise]
4x [If You're Not Against Us...]

Locations (3)
3x [Fordragon Hold]

Total cards: 60

8. McNhel Bulabs

Hero
[Samaku, Hand of the Tempest]

Master Hero (1)
1x [Cenarius, Lord of the Forest]

Ability/Ally Cards (3)
3x [Blazing Elemental Totem]

Abilities (8)
2x [Spiritual Return]
4x [Cleanse Spirit]
2x [Spark of Life]

Allies (36)
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
3x [Gispax [the Mixologist]
4x [Grazzle Grubhook]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
1x [Al'Akir the Windlord]
4x [Obsidian Drudge]
1x [Amani Dragonhawk]
3x [Mazu'kon]
3x [Erunak Stonespeaker]
3x [Gnash]
2x [Zudzo, Herald of the Elements]
2x [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde]
2x [Bath'rah the Windwatcher]

Armors (2)
2x [Tarnished Raging Berserker's Helm]

Weapons (4)
4x [Devout Aurastone Hammer]

Quests (4)
4x [Seeds of Their Demise]

Locations (2)
2x [Shadowfang Keep]

Total cards: 60

Paxi wins the die roll. “I can’t kill you in 4 turns”, Sonny now side comments. Paxi mulls, Sonny keeps. And now, the battle starts!

Turn 1
P: Stashes [Magni, the Mountain King], plays [Scarlet Renegade]
S: Stashes [Sava'gin the Reckless] and kills Magni token
Plays [Alethia Brightsong] and delves

Turn 2
P: Plays [Blessing of the Kindred] and names Warrior
Scarlet Renegade attacks Alethia and survives with 1 life left
Stashes a 2nd [Magni, the Mountain King]
S: Not to be outdone, stashes his own [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
Plays [Faceless Sapper], enrages with [Dagax the Butcher] on top and trades with the Magni token

Turn 3
P: Puts down [Seeds of their Demise]
Scarlet Ren attack Rohashu for 3
Plays Girdle and [Ruby Stalker]
S: Draws and ponders what to do
Places a FD resource, and plays [Obsidian Drudge]
Cairne token attacks Scarlet Ren for the trade

EOT Paxi delves with Seeds, reveals Magni and [Bronze Drakonid], both go to the bottom

Turn 4
P: Places a FD resouce
Plays [Burly Berta], passes with 2 resources up
S: Drudge attacks Burta for 3
Plays [Bottled Light] to bring back Alethia and delves
Exhaust hero to activate bottle for Sapper, enrages and attacks Burta

Paxi responds with another Blessing, naming Warrior. Trading both Sapper and Burta
Sonny places a FD resource and passes

Turn 5
P: Places [Twilight Citadel] in play
Makes a dragonkin, and activates girdle, draws 2 cards
Plays [Grand Crusader]
S: Places a FD resource
Plays [Scimitar of the Sirocco] and attacks with it.
Drudge and Alethia also attack. Gundek taking 8, down to 21 life.

Turn 6
P: Activates TC, plays Burly Burta, places another TC and makes a 2nd token
S: Drudge attacks Burta,and dies. Destroys Girdle. In response, Paxi activates to draw another 2.
Alethia attacks Burta, Burta down to 1 life.
[Righteous Cleanse] on  GC and Sonny gets to delve
Rohashu attacks token with Sirocco and takes 1. Now at 26 life.
Plays [Rosalyne von Erantor], takes 3 damage.
Now with ferocity, Rosalyne attacks Burta for the trade.

Turn 7
P: Plays his own Bottled Light for Burta and…. Burta.
Makes TC token
Plays [Bronze Warden] and heals hero for 3. Now up at 24 life.
S: Hero attacks Warden, takes 1. 22 life.
Plays [Trade Prince Gallywix], exhausts to ready resource
Plays his 2nd Bottled Light for Alethia and Sapper. Sapper isn’t angry as it reveals GC on the top!

Turn 8
P: Paxi ponders
Token trades with Alethia
Burta attacks Sapper for the kill
Burta attacks Gallywix for the kill
Plays his own Obsidian Drudge
Plays Bronze Drakonid to ready Burta, attacks for 5 and draws Paxi a card. Rohashu at 17 life and with only Sirocco in his side of the board.
S: Plays GC and passes

Turn 9
P: Before draw, plays RC to remove GC and delves
Burta attacks for 5, Rohashu at 12 life
2nd Burta attacks for  5, 7 life. Sonny strikes back for 3.
Drudge attacks for 3. Down to 4 life.
S: Draws and decides to scoop!

Paxi 1 – Sonny 0

Game 2
“So that’s how the deck works!” Sonny goes first this time. Both players decide to mulligan. Sonny swears a little and declares he has a “full house” with a hand of 3 Obsidian Drudges, 2 Seeds, 1 RC, and 1 Sava’gin.

Turn 1
S: Plays Seeds
P: Plays Seeds and Scarlet Renegade
Sonny EOT Seeds, puts Gallywix on top and Cairne at the bottom

Turn 2
S: Stashes Sava’gin and hits hero
Plays the trade prince
P: Activates Seeds before drawing, Scarlet Ren and Ruby Stalker go to the bottom
Places FD resources, trades Scarlet Ren for Gallywix
Plays Burta

Turn 3
S: Topdecks Faceless Sapper!
Plays it, uses Seeds to make sure it enrages, puts [Stonebranch, Ancient of War] on top
Sapper kills Burta for free
P: Plays [Gully Rustinax]

Turn 4
S: Sapper attacks hero, but Gully protects
Plays Stonebranch, 2 treant tokens attack. Gundek at 25 life.
P: Plays Bottled Light to get back Gully and Burta back to play

Turn 5
S: Draws the 4th Drudge!
Treant attacks Burta but Gullywix protects
Another token attacks and gets through. Rohashu flips to finish off Burta.
Stonebranch attacks Gundek for 2. 23 life.
P: Ponders. Plays Blessing and Sirocco. Passes turn.

Turn 6
S: RC on Blessing then delves. Gallywix and Alethia go to the bottom.
Plays Drudge, Stonebranch attacks Gundek. 21 life.
Places [Kor'kron Vanguard], activates to hero, Gundek now at 20 life.
P: Attacks Stonebranch, Gundek now at 18 life.
Plays [Etched Dragonbone Girdle], only has 1 hand left another Girdle

Turn 7
S: Drudge attacks Gundek, 15 life. Activates KV and attacks for 1. 14 life.
Plays 2nd Drudge. and Rosalyne. Rohashu takes first 3 damage, 27 life.
P: Plays Warden. Gundek attacks Drudge to take 3 more, 11 life.
Drudge effect was only triggered once, destroys Girdle. In response, Paxi sacs Warden and draws 2.
Plays Burta and attacks 2nd Drudge, destroys Sirocco.
Plays a 2nd Warden to heal Gundek back to 14.

Turn 8
S: Stonebranch attakcs Burta for the kill.
Plays GC. Rosalynne attacks Gundek, 9 life.
Plays Sirocco and strikes, 6 life.
EOT Paxi plays Blessing of the Kindred.
P: Places TC at resource row. Activates and sacrifices token for 2 cards.
Places FD resource and hardcast King Magni, now 5/6 thanks to Girdle and Blessing

Tunr 9
S: KV pumps Rosalynne and attacks Magni
Paxi plays a 2nd blessing in combat! Magni lives with 1 life left.
Rohashu attack Magni to finish off the job, but takes 6 damage, 21 life.
Stashes a Cairne token, 3/3 with GC attacks Gundek for 3 damage.
P: Before draw, delves with Seeds. Keeps Magni on top.
Makes a token and sacs for 2 cards. Hardcast Magni again.
Now 6/7

Turn  10
S: Rohashu attakcs Gundek, but Magni protects. Takes another 6 damage. 15 life on Rohashu.
Sonny also hardcast Savagin and attacks with ferocity… randomly. Settled by the dice where Savagin attacks, Sonny gets the roll and Gundek gets killed by an enraged Savagin. Sonny survives with a full house hand, and we are now off to the final round!

Paxi 1 – Sonny 1

Game 3
Paxi plays first again and keeps opening hand of Magni, Blessing, Burta and GC. Sonny worries and mulls a hand of RC, Dagax x2 and Gallywix. Gets a new hand featuring 2 Lordanns , Savagin and Carine.

Turn 1
P: Stashes Magni.
S: Stashes Savagin. Kills Magni token. Plays Alethia and delves.
EOT Paxi casts Blessing.

Turn 2
P: Places TC in resource row. Plays Burta
S: Stashes Cairne, plays [Lordann the Bloodreaver]. Attacks Alethia to hero, Gundek now at 27 life.

Turn 3
P: Plays GC. Burta kills Lordann.
S: Places KV in resource. Ponders.
Cleanses Paxi’s GC, Alethia attacks Burta, uses KV to pump Alethia for the trade. Cairne attack Gundek. 26 life.

Turn 4
P: Activates TC, and plays Girdle
S: Plays Drudge, activates KV. Attacks Rohashu to Gundek. Cairne token attakcs Gundek. 24 life.
EOT Paxi sacs token to draw 2 cards

Turn 5
P: Plays Bottled Light for Burta. Plays Bronze Warden, heals Gundek back to 27.
S: Drudge attakcs Burta, but Warden protects and gets sac with girdle.
Sonny plays GC, pumps Cairne token with KV to 4/3. Places a 2nd KV and pumps it to 5/3 to kill the 1/5 Burta.

Turn 6
P: Before draw, uses RC on Sonny’s GC. Cairne token gets killed.
Plays Burta from hand.
Uses Bottle for Warden. Gundek back to full health. Places FD resource.
S: Topdecks a 3rd Vanguard
Plays Sirocco. Drudge attacks Burta, but Warden protects and gets sac again. Sonny strikes with Sirocco on Burta for 3, but since Burta dealt 1 to Rohashu, Paxi draws a card!

Turn 7
P: Burta attack for 3. Paxi draws. Rohashu now on 26 health.
Plays GC and Bronze Drakonid. Readies Burta and attacks for 5 damage this time. Draws another card! So many draws!
Plays Bronze Warden from hand to heal Burta to full.
S: Rohashu attacks Warden, but Paxi sacs it Girdle in combat.
Obsidian Drudge attacks Burta. Drudge dies and destroy the girdle. Plays RC on Paxi’s GC and delves. Plays Lordann.

Turn 8
P: Places Seeds. Drakonid and Burta trade with Lordann.
Activates TC, plays Durdge and Girdle.
S: Before Sonny can propose, Paxi activates Girdle to destroy the Sirocco. Sonny plays Sirocco again and kills the Drudge. Rohashu now at 18 life.

Turn 9
P: Seeds before draw. Sirocco and GC, go to the bottom.
Plays Bottled Light for double Burta.
Plays GC and activates TC.
S: Plays Alethia and delves.
Rohashua attacks Gundek. Pumps with KV, but Paxi prevents 1 with Girdle, Gundek takes 5 total with the ferocious Alethia as well.

Turn 10
P: Seeds before draw.
Plays Blessing. Burly attacks for 6 and a card draw. 12 damage.
2nd Burly attacks for 6 and a card draw. 6 damage.
Plays Sirocco and attacks. 3 damage.
TC token finishes Rohashu off.

Paxi 2 – Sonny 1

Paxi lives more than 4 turns and advances to the semi-finals!

Druids of Elderlimb pray to their ancients… praying that Cenarius and his brethren bless them with unending stampedes of beasts and dragonkins. The death knights having an affinity for flocks of the dead and living lurk behind capitalizing on the unseen.

The shamans and priests emerged from the dungeons, their parties filled with prized treasures that but with a few drops can buy armies and nations. The rogues flash in glimpses, flickering about delivering deathblows to decks unnoticed.

The mages who brought the disruption to the realm now fragments into diverse styles of trickery.  Many pushed forth a fiery path, burning faster than hellfire. A few remain frozen in their fortitude.

The masters of the hunt, acquired the fastest beasts the could catch. Each one like a spectral tiger in fang working like piranhas devouring their prey turn by turn.

The once crusading paladins divided others sought tactical advantage from the goblin gangs. Engulfing their opponents like swarms of insects spewing out from a crack. The valiant ones sought ancient and modern metals, forging them into formidable anti-magic. Able to stop overruns and overgrowth stunned. This style of fighting is not new to the warriors who have long accumulated trophies of the gallantry in metal-to-metal combat.

This truly is a unique realm to belong to. The battle is so diverse and disrupted, the level of hero skills and experience in alike no other. Compared to the other realms where arenas fills with thousands, here the concepts, tactics and characters come in multitude.

To the valiant heroes of Zangarmarsh: To battle!

Having ran out of ideas for a good aggro deck, I turned to the recent Metamart 3k tournament to check for new ideas that I can build up on. One of these caught my eye in particular, and that is Ben Isgur’s Horde [Bash and Slash] deck. The deck’s premise is simple: play rogue allies until one of them sticks long enough to deal lots of damage via Bash and Slash (or at least, that’s what I think it does). In the match report, Isgur won via a [Jadefire Trickster] that was empowered by the signature ability for two consecutive turns, and the game simply ended there.

Unfortunately, I can’t find his decklist online, so I tried figuring out the cards he played on the deck based on the match report. Without much success, I decided create a new list for the Alliance side instead.

The blue side actually has a lot of notable rogue allies, so it’s just a matter of picking a suitable hero. Interestingly, Alliance also have good warrior allies so having making the deck with a Rogue hero is a good option as well. Two cards however, made me stick with the plate class in the end:

[^Boundless Rage] [^Scimitar of the Sirocco]

Personally, I think the former is really good. It’s an ability that grows stronger as the game progresses, costs very cheap, and represents a recurring threat that could blow out your opponent at any point in the game in the absence of Bash and Slash – it’s only a matter of finding an opening to use it.

The latter has always been a great weapon for ally-based decks ever since it was made. At 3 ATK, it’s also a decently-sized threat, and the Artifact keyword makes it hard to deal with. The weapon also eventually led to the deck’s hero of choice, [Peter Hottelet]. If you can flip him early, the weapon becomes a bigger threat as the game goes on. Finally, the ferocity effect allows for blowout turns, which is important if the game drags on to the later stages, where your smaller allies will be less effective because the opponent could deal with them as long as they stand still for a turn. If, say by turn 6 you attack, then play a couple of ferocious allies, and then on the next turn they spent all of their resources for [Gnash], you still open up their hero for an assault on the next turn from whatever ally you can draw. Add Boundless Rage or Bash and Slash to the mix and it’s mostly GG.

These two cards also affect some of the allies that were added later, and we’ll talk about them as we move on.

The first list I made was sub-par. It ran out of fuel by turn 5 and you’re easily at the mercy of the topdecking gods. Clearly, some sort of drawing power is needed. Thankfully, we’re playing for the Alliance and they have [Burly Berta]. Warrior too has the ever-hated [Etched Dragonbone Girdle] / [Twilight Citadel] Combo. With the prevalence of [Miniature Voodoo Mask] and the deck’s lack of equipment hate however, I opted to leave the combo for another day and considered a third option:

[^Arcanomage Misti]

Berta’s slower, more fragile sister doesn’t seem like much of a draw engine, until she gets buffed by one of the deck’s abilities. Combined with Sirocco in play and Boundless Rage in hand, she can refill your entire hand by the 6th turn! Suddenly, you’re back in the game, fresh with new threats.

And with that little gimmick in the deck, here’s my list.

Bash and Slash ver. 1.1

Hero: [Peter Hottelet]

Abilities:

4 [Juggernaut]
4 [Boundless Rage]
4 [Bash and Slash]
4 [Essence of War]

Equipment:

4 [Scimitar of the Sirocco]

Allies:

4 [Jadefire Scout]
4 [Garet Vice]
4 [Vakus the Inferno]
4 [Loriam Argos]
4 [Latro Abiectus]
4 [Burly Berta]
4 [Bronze Drakonid]
4 [Jadefire Trickster]
4 [Arcanomage Misti]

Locations:

Quests:

4 [Seeds of Their Demise]

Alliance wins hands-down in terms of quality of rogues allies. [Garet Vice], [Loriam Argos], and [Latro Abiectus] each have their own ways to survive. The Jadefire allies were also a good addition to the deck, providing sturdy threats early in the game. One ally which I really wanted to add, but didn’t make the cut (at least for this version of the deck) was [Windspeaker Nuvu]. I’d probably cut a couple of [Essence of War] to make space for him.

[Bronze Drakonid]… well we can’t sing enough praises for this card. ECS and I always start our questions with “Y U NO ADD BRONZE DRAKONID?” when we’re checking out the other aggressive decks that our other teammates make. The dragonkin is simply awesome in the sense that he piles up the damage a turn earlier than is expected and leaves a 2/2 body as a bonus. Turn 3 Vakus + Drakonid = 8 damage, while turn 4 Vakus + Boundless Rage + Drakonid = 16 damage! On the less awesome side of things I usually use him to make Berta attack twice and draw more cards.

Speaking of [Vakus the Inferno], he’s an awesome reach card, especially in a meta that skips on protectors in favor of direct damage. At 1 resource, he can fit in almost any turn for a guaranteed 4 or more damage.

The abilities are straightforward: [Bash and Slash] and [Boundless Rage] both push damage. The same goes for Juggernaut, which can also be used to bypass most protectors or control opposing allies early on. [Essence of War] provides more options to buff your allies and can be cast cheaply, although there are times that I find it useless, especially in the later turns. It’s probably the first card I’ll cut from the deck as I explore more options.

So that’s it for now. I’ll be adding more insights and updates as I use the deck in the Battlegrounds, and probably try to make a budget version of the deck (Bash and Slash and Boundless Rage are both Php80 each at the Neutral Grounds forums and $1.65 and $1.45 respectively at warcraftgamingcenter.com).

Until then!

A gust of cold wind bellowed across the realm of Zangarmarsh. A stroke of genius struck like fire of frozen blight. Plated warriors clanked their shields and belts in anxious fear, the mage is back.

The sky darkened in contrast throughout the realm, a bone chilling shiver of silence blared the forest shut except for some tiny clinking tunes  from a visitor’s [Melodious Slippers].

The mighty tauren paladin towering above the rest snorted in contempt. Feared and respected by most, his holy might has dominated the realm for many moons. Along side him were a band of warriors that have mastered the art of offense while building defense. A complete and well thought-off army that has employed the best of the best assassins and dragonkins to bring forth devastation to who ever opposes.

The mage shrugged, brought his hand forth and motioned out to the tauren, “Your move.”

A Cairne decendant warrior stepped up and stood tall.

The tauren hero blessed the valiant warrior and his brothers strengthening their resolve. The mage waved his hand in the air as if choosing nonchalantly from the future. The tauren felt the mage advance in tactics but focused on his strategy.

Seeing the opportunity the pally lunged forth with his warrior and re-enforced his troops. The mage simply swirled his hand and stalled the raging bull right in front of him. Again further scrying into the future, rearranging the sequence of events that will unfold.

The tauren called upon his holy magic and roared in reverent prayer.

The mage gets hit!

The tauren smiled but questioned himself why the mage allowed himself to be wounded. The mage is tricky though, decisively killing and fending off some, not letting all of the tauren’s troops pass his guard.

Amidst  all the looming danger, the mage found time to drink!

Not from a bottle of wine though but from a [Bottle of Knowledge]. The mage smiled, slightly bleeding and then showed his hand taunting the tauren to attack him further. He has looked and arranged his future enough.

The tauren was annoyed with the arrogance and lack of substantial action from the mage outsider. He commandeered his warriors to siege the mage. Break him down to the point he can be easily killed by one of his assassins.

The mage took quite the beating. In the corner of the mage’s sight, a shadow of an assassin gave sign.

The mage disposed of him swiftly with [Rime and Freezin']. The mage stood up with a glimmer in his eye as if he had already won.

He motioned a circle around him, tearing the remaining warmth there is in the air and conjures an [Ice Barrier]. The surrounding forest grew dead cold. The very essence of life being ripped out and about.

The tauren called upon his inner strength and smashed the mage. His blow crushed through the barrier but it was still holding. His troops readied to strike.

The mage raises his palm and voiced with reserved conviction “No!”

A [Cold Front] dazed the band of warriors to a standstill. The tauren employed more to his army poised for an alpha strike as soon as the frozen field before them have passed.

The tauren got hurt as the [Ice Barrier] grew expansive in its frozen wrath!

Out of nowhere the mage summons a giant monster… [Gnash]! With that a loud thunderous thud clapped as the giant’s feet landed all of the paladin’s men were decimated instantly upon his frozen arrival.

The tauren now desperate, used one of his assassin-dragonkin teams to work their way into the barrier. The mage hurls a [Frost Blast] on the tauren and his assassin preventing them to move their feet.

Volley after volley, the mage simply brushed off the futile attacks of the tauren while freezing him down to death. The once mighty and dominating tauren eventually fell, frozen in blood, dried of rime and buried in a glacial tomb.

The mage treads forth on the now desolated frozen wasteland, singing a death tune with his [Melodious Slippers].

Presenting the Team RAMPAGE deck Frozen Magic from the Aventhunderer – JDJ.

Hero: [High Magus Olvek]

4 [Gnash]

4 [Overload]
4 [Counterspell]
4 [Mana Agate]

4 [Flame Lance]
4 [Ice Barrier]
4 [Rime and Freezin']

4 [Frost Blast]
4 [Cold Front]
4 [Glacial Tomb]
4 [Glaciate]

3 [Melodious Slippers]
3 [Bottled Knowledge]
4 [Miniature Voodoo Mask]

4 [Seeds of their Demise]
2 [Throne of Tides]

The short story is based on my experience with this deck. My warlock training allowed me to be less fearful in taking damage. Picking out who I need permanently gone and letting others I could control later on through. It definitively beats aggro decks. Make sure you kill-off non-combat damage producers like [Boomer].

What I like about this deck, is that its relatively cheaper to build. With majority of the budget at [Miniature Voodoo Mask] and [Ice Barrier] the other components are easy to come buy. Even MvM is just for support and can be reduced depending on your play style.[Overload] is used for key situations only, Ulthok, Phyrexia, Amani and the like. Mazukon is just one ally which can be delayed or even encased in a frozen tomb if you like.

Casting multiple barriers allows you to chose which bubble token you will remove. Since the next barrier can check if there is still damage to be prevented to which the first one did already. And even if you burst the barrier, the [Melodious Slippers] allow you to control and recover cards at the same time.

I guess the key trait that you need to gain to work this deck to perfection is the tuning your decision making on which damage to let through which one not. The [Bottle of Knowledge] will have you thinking too, but that’s pretty much it .

You can easily change this up to adapt to your local meta, you can even snow-wall this if you wanted. The simplicity of deck allows you to control your opponent while rebuilding your simple combo. Have fun freezin’ ^_^

Hero: [Gaxtro, Bilgewater Marksman]

4x [Keeper Sharus]
4x [Katali Stoentusk]
4x [Boomer]
3x [Keeper Balos]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Mazu'kon]
4x [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]
4x [Tesla]
3x [Jaron, Herald of the Hunt]
2x [Keeper Alinar]

4x [Avatar of the Wild]
4x [Aspect of the Wild]
3x [Explosive Shot]
2x [Spoils of the Hunt]

3x [Kor'kron Vanguard]
4x [If You're Not Against Us...]

2nd Place: Lou Marvin Bautista

Hero: [Suncaller Haruh Back]

4x [Dispel Magic]
4x [Power Word: Barrier]
3x [Shadow Word: Despair]

2x [Gnash]
3x [Alethia Brightsong]
4x [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4x [Keeper Balos]
4x [Mazu'kon]
4x [Parexia, Herald of the Shadows]
4x [Sava'gin the Reckless]
4x [Tristani the Sunblade]
3x [Obsidian Drudge]
3x [Vanessa VanCleef]

4x [Devout Aurastone Hammer]
1x [Miniature Voodoo Mask]
1x [Discerning Eye of the Beast]

4x [Shadowfang Keep]
4x [Ichor of Undeath]

3rd Place: Jonathan De Joseph

Hero: [Warlord Grok'thol] [Warlord Grok'thol Back]

4x [Blazing Elemental Totem]
2x [Cleanse Spirit]
4x [Elemental Vision]
2x [Ancestral Purge]
3x [Monstrous Totem]
3x [Tidal Totem]
2x [Spark of Life]
2x [Spiritual Return]

4x [Keeper Sharus]
4x [Gnash]
2x [High Warlord Zogar]
2x [Commander Ulthok]
4x [Vylokx]
2x [Mindbender Ghur'sha]
4x [Erunak Stonespeaker]

4x [Devout Aurastone Hammer]
4x [Venerable Mass of McGowan]
4x [Abomination Knuckles]

4x [Seeds of their Demise]

4th Place: Xerxes Quismundo

Hero: [Master Sniper Simon McKey]

4x [Rufus Clayborne]
4x [Windspeaker Nuvu]
4x [Magni, the MOuntain King]
4x [Tharal Wildbreeze]
4x [Boomer]
4x [Tesla]
3x [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]
3x [Faenis the Tranquil]
3x [Gareth Vice]
2x [Tyrande, High Priestess of Elune]
2x [Vanessa VanCleef]

4x [Aspect of the Wild]
4x [Avatar of the Wild]
3x [Explosive Shot]

4x [Seeds of their Demise]
4x [If You're Not Against Us...]
4x [Corrosion Prevention]

Mikko Peña

Hero: [Samaku, Hand of the Tempest]

Abilities:

3 [Earthen Might]
3 [Riptide]
3 [Cleanse Spirit]
2 [Ancestral Purge]
2 [Spiritual Return]
4 [Blazing Elemental Totem]

Equipment:

4 [Devout Aurastone Hammer]
4 [Venerable Mass of McGowann]

Allies:

4 [Jex'ali]
4 [Sava'gin the Reckless]
3 [Gispax the Mixologist]
3 [Erunak Stonespeaker]
3 [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]
2 [Zudzo, Herald of the Elements]
4 [Mazu'kon]
2 [Gnash]

Locations:

3 [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Quests:

4 [Seeds of Their Demise]
3 [The Essence of Enmity]

Edward Cheson Sy

Hero: [Master Sniper Simon McKey]

Abilities:

4 [Avatar of the Wild]
3 [Explosive Shot]
2 [Quick Trap]

Equipment:

Allies:

4 [Scarlet Renegade]
4 [Jadefire Scout]
4 [Vakus the Inferno]
4 [Boomer]
3 [Faceless Sapper]
3 [Bronze Drakonid]
2 [Jeishal]
4 [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]
4 [Magni, the Mountain King]
3 [Tesla]
3 [Edwin VanCleef]
2 [Vanessa VanCleef]

Locations:

3 [Fordragon Hold]

Quests:

4 [If You're Not Against Us...]
4 [Seeds of Their Demise]

Godwin Cabagnot (incomplete decklist)

Hero: [Master Sniper Simon McKey]

Abilities:

3 [Avatar of the Wild]
4 [Concussive Barrage]
4 [Master of the Hunt]
3 [Aspect of the Wild]
2 [Spoils of the Hunt]
4 [Cobra Shot]
2 [Master's Embrace]

Equipment:

Allies:

4 [Bogspike]
4 [Wind Speaker Nuvu]
4 [Boomer]
4 [McCloud the Fox]
4 [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]
4 [Tesla]
2 [Fury]

Locations:

Quests:

4 [Seeds of Their Demise]

Mark Anthony Enriquez

Hero: [Rohashu, Zealot of the Sun]

Abilities:

4 [Grand Crusader]

Equipment:

4 [Bottled Light]

Allies:

4 [Alethia Brightsong]
4 [Rosalyne von Erantor]
4 [Jadefire Scout]
4 [Trade Prince Gallywix]
4 [Gollom Skybang]
4 [Abysswalker Rakax]
4 [Korlix Grimvik]
4 [Bronze Drakonid]
4 [Dagax the Butcher]
4 [Sava'gin the Reckless]
1 [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]
3 [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]

Locations:

4 [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Quests:

4 [If You're Not Against Us...]