The First of Many

After a few months of playing, watching, learning, and experimenting, I finally settled on my own brew that allowed me to start winning some matches. This was the first time I really built my own deck from scratch with intention beyond 'this card seems good' and tried to build a cohesive deck. This deck was put together with cards I had opened in packs, gotten in drafts, or traded for, so while I wasn't buying singles to build with,  I was starting to get a feel for my playstyle and how to get my 60 cards working together. 

How It Worked and Won (...When It Did)

I was partial to the Izzet build already, as I had purchased the Eldritch Moon preconstructed deck with Mercurial Geist at the helm. This really sold me on the idea of a balanced spell-weaving style; not fully a control deck nor fully a burn deck, but a balance of both. As you might expect from looking at the build, a lot of games were won on the back of Torrential Gearhulk making a huge swing in the match, removing a big threat in combat and bringing a good spell back with it. Some of my most fond memories came from games in which Fevered Visions gave opponents absolute fits, as it would hit the board and put folks in a tough spot: hold up cards and try to play around counterspells they knew were coming, or try and play the hand out and hope threats could stick to the board. Chandra helped a bit too, as I got to emblem her a few times and just stormed off for lethal with a few spells. Amonkhet brought with it a few of the all-stars, namely Censor and Enigma Drake, which gave a fantastic T2 option and an early blocker (and sneaky finisher). 

To be clear, I didn't win much at this stage in my play, but I think playing a pseudo-control sytle deck really taught me the need to learn as may decks as possible so I could effectively asses threats and better understand the balance of Life Total as a resource. 

Top 3 Memories with this Deck

3.) Any and all 'Hot Hand' Wins: Either getting an oponent to hold cards up and burn themselves when Fevered Visions was on the board, or having a Chandra emblem sit as a powderkeg and a few small spells in hand to close a game (seriously, Burn from Within for 0, Censor your own spell and not pay mana, then Harnessed Lightning on your own Enigma Drake for 0 energy = 15 damage to the opponent) were great experiences. Getting run over by creature strategies was painful, and while cracking in with a 12 power Enigma Drake felt good, winning outside combat felt better. 

2.) First Broken Mirror: I played a lot against an opponent who played a pure mono blue control deck, in which one Sphinx of the Final Word was his win condition. He was a good player and I lost to him many, many times. The only time I beat him, it was not because of spells or a big drake or even a Gearhulk. Our match went very late into the library and I had three Wandering Fumerole on the board. I had enough mana to turn two on at a time, so while he did resolve his sphinx, it was already too late as he had no way to deal with the lands. I didn't even see the play on the board initially, and I think he was counding on that. I then had to call a judge and ask if I could activate more than one at a time, as I still wasn't sure how the lands worked. It was the first time I had beaten another control matchup, and it was in a way I never thought I would have won. 

annnd 

1.) Refuse//Cooperate for Lethal: This card stole games from folks multiple times. It caught things like Sphinx of the Final Word, The Scarab God, Carnage Tyrant, and Torrential Gearhulk all in games when the other player had taken a fair amount of damage and thought they had stablized the game or turned the corner. I will never forget playing an early Esper Control deck based around The Scarab God, where all I had left on board was an Enigma Drake and the opponent and I were both at 2 Life. The opponent had all of their mana open and The Scarab God and Glint Sleve Siphoner on the battlefield, so I knew I had to try and make a play for the match. I swung in with Drake, forcing them to play Grasp of Darkness. Having burnt their counterspells on so many things early in the game, my opponent had a hand full of creature removal and no play, so the lowly Refuse/Cooperate won the game on the spot. This will always be a special card for me. 

Deck All Stars

A brief highlight of some heros of the deck, some expected and some a surprise: 

No explanation. Thank you for all your hard work and for putting the team on your back. 

Chip damage adds up, and this card more than pulled its weight

Refuse//Cooperate

I couldn't be more proud of you. You beat some of the biggest threats in the game, and people frequently had to ask to read you. I will never stop telling the stories of your greatness, and our foes will never admit to defeat by your hand. 

You already know you're on the favorite card list.