Pack of Wolves: First Blood

As I promised last week, I went all-in with my werewolf deck.  To my surprise I came in second place after I racked up three wins and a draw in four rounds.  The shop where I played was not expecting werewolves and so my opponents' sideboards were unprepared.

In the first round I was up against the Selesnya guild.  I burned Avacyn's Pilgrims and Arbor Elves to deprive my enemy of mana in case he had kept a top-heavy hand.  It worked as I took the match in three hard fought games.  In the last one, he had an opportunity to gain five life points with a Thragtusk but he played Trostani, Selesnya's Voice instead.  This allowed me to use Kessig Wolf Run for exactly lethal.

My next opponent sported a Golgari deck.  I triumphed in Game One by casting Blasphemous Act and sacrificing Full Moon's Rise to save my creatures while destroying his.  I could have finished him off in Game Two but I blundered when I tried to kill his Lotleth Troll with Garruk Relentless' first ability and he pumped it in response. The game still took a while to complete because I had a couple of Moonmists in hand to stall him while I waited to get a Huntmaster of the Fells.  When I didn't, I succumbed to his zombies.  With only a few minutes left in the decider we couldn't eliminate each other so we drew.

Round Three pitted me against someone employing a Bant ramp strategy.  In the opening game he used Supreme Verdict and two copies of Terminus to wipe my board but each time I had a followup Huntmaster of the Fells to rebuild my pack of wolves and deal the final points of damage.  My mistake in this match had to do with my assessment of his deck.  I removed two copies of Full Moon's Rise anticipating that he would rely on Terminus to reset the board.  When he deployed Centaur Healer and Thragtusk which gained him several life points I tried to hide my shock.  A Full Moon's Rise and two copies of Huntmaster of the Fells  convinced him to pull the trigger on his Supreme Verdict.  My creatures remained after I used regeneration on them and he got a 3/3 beast after Thragtusk died.  I simply let my creatures transform and they broke through his defenses in short order.  

After this match I was in third place, needing to win for a shot at first or second.  I fought an Azorious deck in the final round.  It had Elite Inquisitors but Pillar of Flame trumped them.  His flyers were soon overwhelmed by a Mayor of Avabruck that transformed and spat out 2/2 (3/3 really) wolf tokens.  In Game Two he got off to a fast start, dropping me to nine life points before I stabilized with a Huntmaster of the Fells.  He didn't waste time exiling my most valuable creature with a Fiend Hunter.  I wasn't fazed though as a Daybreak Ranger turned into Nightfall Predator via Moonmist and began chewing up his little guys.  In fact, one of my best moves in the entire tournament was to Sundering Growth the Spectral Flight on his Elite Inquisitor and populate the token from a Huntmaster of the Fells.  The two wolves blocked the now grounded human and this was sufficient to turn the tide as my growing army of felines launched an unstoppable assault.

And with that the tournament ended, netting me three booster packs and a foil FNM Evolving Wilds.  I was happy with how my deck handled the various foes I encountered. Also my in-game decisions were excellent and my mistakes were not punished.

Having drawn first blood, my werewolves are eager to hunt down more victims in the days (especially nights) ahead.  This weekend's Game Day will become a killing field.  Awoo! :-)

GR WEREWOLVES
Wolfbitten Captive - 4
Mayor of Avabruck - 4
Daybreak Ranger - 4
Immerwolf - 3
Huntmaster of the Fells - 4
Wolfir Silverheart - 3
Pillar of Flame - 4
Full Moon's Rise - 4
Moonmist - 4
Blasphemous Act - 1
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Kessig Wolf Run
11 Forest
7 Mountain
Sideboard:
3 Blasphemous Act
3 Zealous Conscripts
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Sundering Growth
2 Clinging Mists
2 Garruk Relentless

Notes:
1. Put in Blasphemous Acts against token decks.  Take out the Silverhearts.  Sundering Growth and Clinging Mists replace the set of Pillar of Flame.
2. Zealous Conscripts come in against ramp and control decks.  They are mostly used to steal a big flyer like Angel of Serenity and negate Thragtusk's enters the battlefield ability of gaining five life points by taking control of and attacking with it.  Once again the Silverhearts go out for these to go in.
3. Grafdigger's Cages are deployed when facing Reanimator Decks.  The set of Pillar of Flame is removed to make room for this trio and maybe a single Zealous Conscript is brought in.
4. Sundering Growth usually answers enchantments like Oblivion Ring and Detention Sphere.  Sometimes it kills equipment like Runechanter's Pike or auras like Rancor.
5. Clinging Mists serve as fog effects numbers five to six after the set of Moonmist.  Against Selesnya, Zombies, tokens and any other aggressive deck, the Fateful Hour clause can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 
6. Garruk Relentless is a threat to both control and beatdown decks.  It can take the place of Wolfir Silverhearts in control matchups to lower the curve and provide a stream of wolf tokens.  Or it can remove a blocker or pesky attacker like a Huntmaster of the Fells on the other side of the table.