They Called This Deck C Tier: top 8 at Dreamhack Dallas 5k Report

Hello Everyone, my name is Massapo, MTG grinder online and in paper.  

This is my first time writing a tournament report, please let me know if you'd like me to continue creating tournament reports, sideboard guides and other written content in the future. I am very active on twitter you can follow me at https://x.com/LordMassapo To stay up to date with all my magic Endeavors. Please don't hesitate to reach out if have any questions or are interested in coaching :D

Before we start, background. This tournament took place on Day 3 of Dreamhack Dallas, and was a Pioneer tournament which would cut to top 16 after 7 rounds of swiss (about 230 players), after which there would be a single playoff round, with winners getting an invite to SCGCon Washington D.C.'s main event. Please keep in mind this tournament had closed decklists, and as such I sideboarded presuming the hate pieces my opponents would likely have. In an open decklist tournament you should adjust your sideboarding philosophy accordingly.

Why I built the deck this way:

• First and foremost this build is still a very preliminary initial build of mono green. A Lot of the sideboard is still in the developmental process. For this event I didn’t have access to all my cards so I had to make due with what I had in my binder.
• I am unsure on what the correct number of sunken citadel is. Having it in your opening hand when you have elf and Kiora is very awkward when it prevents a turn 2 Kiora. That said it does enable nut draws and works well with Nykthos (to say the least)
• I like 21 lands. Hitting land drops is very important vs decks, especially when I board out my elves
• I’m not high on lowering the amount of forests in my maindeck because I want untapped lands and always have a land to attach old growth trolls to. (This is a reason it’s hard to decide on a correct number of sunken citadel)
• I like invasion of Ixalan more in this build than old mono green with karn because of how much better this deck is at utilizing Nykthos. It's incredibly important to have ways of digging for nykthos in your deck. Currently I believe Invasion is better than Oath as it also works better on average with Kiora and trailblazer.
  
• Polukranos is a flex slot, I am experimenting with other cards in this slot.
  
• 2 Ulvenwald oddity - I like playing 2 oddity because of the number of matches where it is important to kill your opponent in one turn so they can’t wrath you or combo on their turn for example amalia. Playing only one is risky because of the chance of milling with cavaliers (and I did not have Hostile Hostels on hand). Oddity is also just a generically good card and so far it’s felt rewarding and hard to be punished for playing 2.

R1: Vamps

My main tip for sideboarding with mono green is DO NOT OVER SIDEBOARD. Your deck is very powerful and the more you sideboard the more you lower your power level, the goal is maintain a balance of still having a very powerful deck while having a few extra cards that are very good vs your opponent, this is also why I don’t like bringing in 4 pick your poison against decks like Sorin Tell.

Out: 2 Elves

In: 2 pick your poison

Reasoning: I’m still playing around with the correct number to board in I’m 5-1 vs this matchup and usually we just combo off and win before they pick your poison becomes important. I lost due to a mull to 6 and getting triple thoughtseized game 3.

R2: Waste Not

Out: 2 Elves

In: 2 Stone Brain

Reasoning: Very easy matchup I side boarded out 2 elf for 2 stone brain (I’m not positive if this is good but I was predicting that they would bring in extinction event. And elves are not that great in this matchup). Keep in mind they have access to go blank so if you can I like to prioritize flashbacking my graveyard storms first

R3: Gruul aggro

Out: 1 Elf, 1 Invasion, 2 Ulvenwald Oddity, 1 Trailblazer (dies to play with fire)

In: 1 Frillback, 1 Petitioner, 3 Pick Your Poison, 1 Tail Swipe

Reasoning: This matchup is all about staying alive. If you don't lose, they cannot win.

R4: 5c Niv2Lite

In: Emrakul

Out: PolyK

Reasoning: We are extremely favored in this matchup, but need ways to beat Unmoored Ego just in case.

R5: Gruul aggro

Out: 1 Elf, 1 Invasion, 2 Ulvenwald Oddity, 1 Trailblazer (dies to play with fire)

In: 1 Frillback, 1 Petitioner, 3 Pick Your Poison, 1 Tail Swipe

Reasoning: This matchup is all about staying alive, as above. This matchup was pretty close but thankfully, I was able to stabilize by flipping Polukranos and battling back from 1 life.

R6: Angels

In: 3 Pick your Poison

Out: 1 Oath, 2 Invasion

Reasoning: I boarded in 3 pick your poison. My reason for not bringing in Tail Swipe is where so favored the only way we lose is if we don’t draw our storms/can’t combo. Pick your poison is so good in this matchup that it's worth having all three.

I sided out 1 oath and 2 invasions because they I brought in 3 pick your poisons and it’s a good idea to side out the invasions when you sideboard in non-permanent cards

R7: Phoenix

In: 2 Hearse, 1 Frillback

Out: 3 Elf

Reasoning: I sided out 3 elves because this matchup is all about playing a longer game and not running out of cards. Leyline is very good here because they have no interaction for it. I often keep hands of 2 Forest, Nykthos, Leyline and at least 1 three drop (troll is amazing in this scenario). I can not stress enough how bad elves are here. It’s important to have access to 5-6 but never more than that. You want exactly one on turn one to spot check them, then none after.

I won this matchup in a close game 3 three by attacking with a hearse. I would use kiora to untap after I attacked with it to make sure I could use it to exile phoenix if needed.

R8: Amalia

G1: I knew my opponent was on Amalia from having sat next to them in a previous round. Amalia is a very bad matchup. Thankfully I was on the play and kept a good hand that allowed me to combo on turn 4 and win.

In: 2 Stone Brain (Play), 2 Gathered Courage, 2 Tail Swipe

Out: Polukranos, Oath, Invasion (1x on the play, 3x on the play)

Reasoning: On the draw I sided in tail swipe and 2 gathered courage and I sided out Polukranos, oath and invasion. On the play I sided in 2 Stone Brain. I did not side in 2 Brain on the draw because I knew that I would not be able to use it in time and a lot had to go right for me to win on the draw, ie having double Leyline into a turn 2 combo.

G2: I was able to draw by using gathered courage

G3: I lost to a turn 4 kill

G4: I sided in 2 Stone Brain and took out a trailblazer and another invasion. Trailblazer doesn’t seem great here because it doesn’t have a high devotion count and while drawing cards is great my goal is to end the game as fast as possible or prevent them from doing their own thing by using Stone Brain, Tail Swipe or Gathered Courage.

However, none of it mattered, because at the start of this game my opponent and I decided to split, so I would get the win, $200, and qualify for the Washington D.C. Regional Championship.

Thank for you reading!

Love Live Mono Green!

Follow or DM me here if you are interested in coaching or have questions! My handle is @LordMassapo on twitter(X?).

-Massapo