Played in a tournament with the variant Naya version with Growth and Domri's Ambush two weeks ago; not sure if was miscounting or just my not paying attention but had mana issues all day.  Found out afterwards I misplaced 3 lands so instead of running 21 my deck had 18- after going 2-2 I abandoned Naya and have played Boros Feather the last two weeks. 

Last week I went 3-1 with this Boros deck, in hindsight not having access to Justice Strike was to blame for my loss against mono black hand maniupulation + 3 cmc dino and giving it flying and plus 3 power = destroyed.  First match was against Izzet; growing dragon and others with tokens while drawing and countering- was able to tenth district after my opponent tapped out and he was never able to bounce or get rid of him, second match was more grindy as we both burned each others creatures- was able to get Feather to stick and keep it alive- won 2-0.  Secone match was against dino's; game one was close but at a key point in the game took justice strike out of my hand.  Second game, put in leyline and prevented hand manipulation but never drew justice strike or light of hope.  Lost 0-2.  Third game was agaisnt mono green stompy- my opponent was unable to kill tenth district each game- won 2-0.  Fourth game, was against black and white light gain with vito and control; one of those games were I drew exactly what I needed at every turn- I was able to keep the board clean and keep Tenth district and Dreadhorde alive each game- Tenth got 6 tokens on him and I gave it portection black (vito) and unleashed fury to attack for 14 unblockable ending the second game.  Win 2-0. 

All in all it was fun to play Feather and I was happy with how it performed, not sure its even close to top tier meta  however it felt good to play a deck I've missed playing.   

MVP cards have to give it to Justice Strike and Light of Hope; both cards allowed me in every match I was able to play them tipped advantage to me. Honorable mentions are:  Swallow Hole and Unleash Fury- none of my opponents had seen either of these cards and they really pulled there weight.  I am thinking of adding another copy of Unleash the Fury to either the sideboard or main but at this point its hard for me to take something out or add...  

This Week 3-2

First Deck I faced was blue/white control with flyers.  I recall getting curb stomped the first game and then when my opponent had some mana issues took the second and third games.  2-1.  

Second match I went up against their 1 meta sulti ramp trash, took the first game and had mana issues myself in game two and three which was unfortunate.  Frustrated at how close all the games were, if it weren't for mana flooding I think I would have not lost a game all night... 1-2.  

Third round my opponent was playing a hybrid of green and white tokens, underestimated the deck and lost the first game; the second game went back and forth but in the end my removal helped gain advantage.  The third game was more of a blowout- my opponent was unable to deal with dreadhorde and I think I justice striked my opponent 6 times. 2-1.   

Four round was against mono red, my opponent was new to the deck type so I payed my deck straight up- one game was close the other ended quickly as he was unable to remove a 6-6 tenth district legionare.  2-0.  

Fith and final round went up against another tier one deck with red/white/blue control using many of the adventure cards like the red and white giants and the ferrei that bounces stuff.  First game was nice, deck ran smoothly, lack of removal and countering allowed for an easy win.  Second game went poorly for me as I somehow got stuck on three lands for eight turns; opponent either board wiped, snagged w/casket x4 and bounced all my creatures with aether gust (fracking annoying card... makes me miss Veil of Summer but I digress).  Third game was very close, was able to widdle my opponent down to 2 health- didn't see a shock the whole game- lost to the shandra core 2020 multiple emblems.  1-2.  

I finished the night at 3-2, still bummed about the two loses against top meta decks- still I am glad all the games were competitive and in the end things were very close.  Overall the last 4 weeks Boros Feather has won more games than its lost; if it weren't for some really bad luck and mana issues with naya variant a couple weeks ago win rate would be 70% or better still I'll take the 11-6 (54% win rate).  

Tomorrow is the last tournament before Standard rotates, I will write up the event most likely on Sunday night hopefully.  

13SEP2020 

Mardu Feather's Last Flight standard 

I suppose this final and last standard tournament is bittersweet for me, not sure if its unnatural to form bonds or appreciation for fine luxurious cardboard rectangles however this marks the end of a wild a crazy ride for one of my favorite magic the gathering arch types and cards.  Being inspired to try out Mardu with the hand control aspect (Drill Bit, Duress and friends) and exiling my opponents creatures via Dire Tactics I thought to give it a go.

First round was up against a an opponent of decent skill who was playing white weenies, I've played against various iterations of the decks and was able to prey of its weaknesses while playing to Feather's strengths.  Drill bit and Shock allowed me to dominate the first match; despite caputuring my tenth district's and several dreadhordes my Lavabrink and Feather did admirably.  Second match was a bit of an odd match, getting nearly all my creatures exiled, destroyed or snared Glass Casket ect Vampire of the Dire Moon went down on turn one and lived for the entire game- anytime my opponent tried to capture/kill/or exile I had an answer- she finished the game as a 8/8. In a more drawn out and slower game than the first I won as the Vampire proved too much.  2-0.  Round 1 win

Second round was against the same Izzet opponent as last week, the deck is built around prowess with dragon sprite and other support; the first game was close as my opponent had answers to all my creatures and I got drew into many lands and few creatures.  In the end giving lifelink to Tenth district became too much.  1-0.  Second match went better than the first, sideboarding in more hand denial and a fourth copy of dire tactics my removal and hand manipulation worked to prefection.  I think getting my Vampire up to a 6/6 and a tenth district up to a 5/5 in one turn was brutal- I will say the three drop creature that gains +1/+1 counters each time you play a spell + doubling its power via Unleash Fury was a nice touch.  I won the second match. 2-0.  

Third game of the night was just annoying and brutual, despite drawing both shocks and using two dire tactics my opponent being able to pull multiple creatures from his deck with houndmaster was in my opinion broken as each game regardless of how many of his creatures I exiled or destroyed he had more.  The first game ended poorly via an embercleave and despite side boarding anti artifacts and even more creature removal still got out matched through all the games.  It was one of those games that just left me scratching my head- was able to remove and deal with all my opponents threats but still lost because of card advantage.  Round loss 0-2.  

Fourth game was a fun overall round for me, the first game was rough as my opponent was playing W/B control.  Enduring many board wipes and late in the game Ugin exiling all my creatures- Feather, dreadhorde and Lavabrink I was able to play another tenth, Feather, defiant strike and Samut's Sprint to end the game despite my opponent gaining a ton of life. Match win 1-0.  Second match was rough as I drew into mostly lands and my opponent gaining so much life and being able to give hexproof to dreamtrawler was rough- was board wiped twice, and my opponent gained around 18 life with dreamtrawler and the 2 cmc spell that gains 3 life and draws a card.  Match loss 1-1.  The third and final match was in my favor as I went first, shocking myself with b/r land I played duress taking 4 cmc board wipe on turn 1, turn two played Dreadhorde, turn 3 played defiant strike on dreadhored and attacked- played duress again and removed board wipe cmc while drawing Feather- played drill bit on second main and took dreamtrawler out of his hand.  Turn 4 played feather whil holding up either fight as one or gods willing.  My opponent casket the first feather after countering my gods willing- but I was able to play tenth district and pump him up twice with defiant strike and Unexpected Fangs (which also gave him a lifelink counter).  In the end my opponent could not get rid of lavabrink adventurer.  Won match and round 2-1. 

In reflecting I see the potential of mardu feather in other formats- especially in modern or pioneer- - thoughtseize is a card that seems to fit in well to the hand manipulation that black provides.  Over all aside the game against the boros card advantage on steriods the deck played exceptionally well.  The cycling lands to me were the stand out of the game; they allowed me many times to draw another card when my hand had too many non creatures or lands.  The two honorable mentions or MVP's were Drill Bit and Unexpected Fangs- Vampire of the Dire Moon was very very impressive with the deathtouch- kept the white weenie deck from swinging with a huge attack for several turns.  Samut's Sprint was such a life saver- being able to haste into hand denial or shock or dire tactic was amazing-- not sure its an essential card in other formats but did it catch people off guard and tip games in the blanace in my favor.  For the last 4 weeks went 14-7 overall with Naya 2-2, Boros 3-1,3-2, 3-1 and Mardu Feather 3-1; four of those games were deck loses which means my deck didn't draw a third land or flooded out.  Still 50% win rate isn't too bad.