FNM Again

I wanted to start this post with a thought I had at Magic this week :

My decks don't want me to take first place.

After the last month I began to wonder if my decks conspire against me when I'm not around.

I played Classic 5cc this week, (I also played it last week but didn't bother with a writeup) and I was pretty confident with my chances for a top spot. I used Charles Gindy's list from nationals as the base and then made changes for my meta (ie lots of creatures/no faeries). I'll post the list up here later as an update.

First Round: U/W Angels

My first opponent is Aaron, and I know his deck from previous weeks. I do what my deck does, counter or kill his early drops and cast Cruel and Broodmate for the win. His angels come down too late to make a difference, although he had my life down in one game because my first removal was Hallowed at 5 mana.

Second Round: Treefolk

I'm paired against Nelson running Treefolk. He beat me with this deck two weeks ago, so I was looking for some sweet revenge.

I let him play a bunch of dudes in the first game, letting Leaf Crowned Elder come in and kinship the next turn so I can hallowed burial all of them and gain board advantage.

The second game is depressing for him when he keeps a two land hand and I proceed to counter every card he plays that produces or searches for mana. I win keeping him down and casting Cruel.

Third Round: Red Burn

Mike is my opponent thIs round with a ton of hasty damage. I'm able to keep his damage down with Essense Scatter vs Ball Lightning. He starts drawing into land, allowing me to Cryptic-fog until I find an answer.

Game two Ajani goes the distance with good timing and counterspell backup. I Cruel a few times after Ajani goes ultimate and get the W.

By this point I was 6-0 on game wins and feeling good. It was going to be Tim and me in the finals battling it out for first, and I was feeling positive about the kithkn matchup.

Fourth Round: Kithkin

I know that Tim has lapse of certainty in the sideboard to mess me up after the first game, so winning is crucial here.

I get stuck on 4 lands with one Hallowed and one Broodmate in hand. He runs me over when I have no answer to super pumped Figure of Destiny.

Game two I get stuck on 5 mana when he plays back-to-back Lapse of Certainty on Hallowed Burial and I die.

I'm pretty bummed at this point because kithkin has been my bane for about a month, no matter what I bring out against it. Sigh

If anyone has any new ideas feel free to post them in the comments or on FB. I really like the deck but I'm tired of banging my head against the X-1 door.