Welcome to the last round of Day 1 here at Darkmoon Faire Indianapolis. Both Joseph Larney and Josh Paris are locked up at 6 and 1 going into this round, and thus each needs a win to make Day 2.
Game 1
 Joseph, who is playing Runetusk, won the roll and chose to play first, although he was left with no play on the first turn. Josh, who was playing Ringleader Kuma, matched his opponent with no play on turn 1.
Joseph flipped his hero on turn 2, forcing the Shaman player to discard a Niyore of the Watch. Vindicator Kentho came down for Josh on his second turn. Joseph played Vexmaster Nar’jo, who traded with the Vindicator, and to follow that up, Josh could only complete the quest Information Gathering, drawing a card.
Turn 4 was another uneventful one for both players—Joseph had no play, and Josh could only muster another Information Gathering. On the next turn, Joseph played a Voidfire Wand and attacked, forcing Josh to miss his next draw. Josh had a Tatulla the Reclaimer to force the sacrifice of the Wand, although a Melt Face from Joseph along with a Touch of Darkness cleared the board of Tatulla and forced a discard of Doshura Risestrider. Vindicator Kentho came into play for Josh and he completed Tabards of the Illidari.
On the next turn, Joseph had another discard spell that hit Varimathras. Josh attacked with the Vindicator and flipped another Tabards. Joseph had no play to follow up, so he could only watch Josh attack with the Vindicator and a new Brok Bloodcaller. Brok Bloodcaller stayed on the field via an Elements’ Fury and the turn ended with a score of 13 to 2
Joseph now decided it was time to bring out The Bringer of Death and use it to clear the board. Unfortunately for him, he drew nothing to follow it up, while Josh had Exarch Oonala. After a couple of turns with no action, Joseph decided he’d had enough.
Josh: 1; Joseph: 0
Game 2
The Priest hero chose to play first again, though after seeing the first game results he wanted to start the game with a better hand. After his mulligan, he played a quest and passed. Josh placed his favorite quest—Tabards of the Illidari—and passed on his turn.
Vexmaster came down on Joseph’s turn and attacked the Shaman hero. Josh spent his turn playing Terror Pit Girdle and Minions of the Shadow Council. Joseph followed up by attacking again with Vexmaster and playing Mental Anguish, which hit Josh’s Doshura Risestrider. Josh had a slow start this game; he played his quest and passed the turn.
After flipping Josh’s quest down with The Root of All Evil, Joseph attacked again with Vexmaster and flipped his hero, causing Josh to discard Elements’ Fury. On his next turn, Josh played Doshura Risestrider and finally cleared the Vexmaster.
Brok Bloodcaller came in and took out Doshura Risestrider. On Josh’s turn, he used Elements Fury to kill Brok Bloodcaller, leaving him two counters on Minions of the Shadow Council. Ras’fari Bloodfrenzy also joined the fray and placed the Priest on a clock. Next, Voidfire Wand came in on Joseph’s side of the board, and an attack prevented Josh’s next draw. Without that extra card, Josh could only play Niyore of the Watch and pass on his turn.
Mental Anguish made Josh discard his last two cards, but he used Terror Pit Girdle to prevent the damage from the Wand, allowing him to draw on his next turn. Niyore attacked Joseph, placing 5 damage on the Priest and leaving the score at 12 to 3 in favor of the Shaman.
Doshura Risestrider killed Niyore for Joseph, but at the end of his turn, Josh completed three The Sigil of Krasus. Tatulla the Reclaimer came into play for Josh, forcing Joseph to give up his Wand and freeing up Josh’s use of his Girdle.
 Joseph had another Mental Anguish, leaving Josh with only one card, and after a Melt Face cleared Tatulla, Joseph ended his turn, choosing not to attack with Doshura Risestrider. Vexmaster got into a scuffle with Doshura Risestrider, and it was finished off by a Lightning Arc that also put the third counter on Minions of the Shadow Council and added 1 damage to the Priest.
Joseph drew a card with Information Gathering, looking for answers, but ended his turn when he found none. Josh attacked with Vexmaster and added a Vindicator Kentho to his growing team of allies.
Joseph played a fourth Mental Anguish. This time Josh had a Mana Spring Totem to play, though he still discarded Exarch Oonala. A Touch of Darkness targeting the totem was countered by the Vindicator’s power. Josh drew an additional card from the totem on his turn and attacked in for 1 more, leaving the score at 20 to 3. He drew another card with Information Gathering and ended his turn.
Having a reset button for a game is one of the greatest feelings for a control player, and Joseph had been holding one for a while. Now was the optimal time to play and activate The Bringer of Death, and then the board was cleared. All Josh could muster on his turn was another Vindicator Kentho, leaving him slightly ahead on the board but way behind in card advantage.
Joseph quietly played the answer to the beatings: Varimathras, though his end of turn power was countered by the Vindicator. Josh played a Vindicator Zalreth and ended his turn needing some help. When Joseph took his next turn, he played Twist of Faith, taking the Vindicator and moving him to his side of the field. Josh only wanted to see one more card before he conceded the game, leaving the match tied up at one game each.
Josh: 1; Joseph: 1
Game 3
Josh made the rare choice to draw first, indicating that he would need the card advantage to counteract the discard abilities of the Priest if he was going to win this match.
Both players played quests on turn 1, and Joseph started the discard by flipping his hero on turn 2. Offender Gora came in for Josh on turn 2 and quickly put 2 points onto the Priest hero.
Vexmaster Nar’jo was brought to the board by Joseph, who used him to take out Gora. Josh could only flip his quest Information Gathering on his turn, trying to stay ahead in card advantage.
 As if sensing this, Joseph played a Mental Anguish, forcing the Shaman player to discard Terror Pit Girdle and Lightning Arc. Vexmaster attacked Josh, but he was disposed of when Doshura Risestrider came into play. Doshura Risestrider quickly followed him to the graveyard when Joseph played Melt Face. Josh had no plays on his turn and chose not to lay a resource, fearing more discard.
Joseph played Brok Bloodcaller and attacked for 4, though the ally died at the end of turn because he had no damage on him. Now Josh got to play Vindicator Kentho, hoping the ally could survive long enough to get in some critical midgame damage. Faces from the Past resurrected Brok Bloodcaller, and this time he attacked the Vindicator. Joining the board was Vexmaster Nar’jo, who also came back from the dead to go after the Shaman. Lightning Arc killed Brok Bloodcaller and put 2 damage on Joseph, ending the turn at 4 to 7 in favor of Joseph.
Being happy with the board position, Joseph played a quest and attacked for 1 with his Vexmaster. Josh brought out a beatstick in the form of Hammer of the Naaru and crunched the Priest for 6 damage.
Joseph didn’t like having Josh’s weapon around, so he quickly played one of his own, The Bringer of Death, activating it only after attacking with Vexmaster. Josh again had no plays on his turn, clearly trying to save the cards in his hand.
Now seemed like the perfect time for Joseph to summon his win condition, Exarch Oonala. Josh played a Mana Spring Totem at end of turn but it died to a Touch of Darkness. Needing to see an answer for the Exarch, Josh tapped the top of his deck. It didn’t fail him—his draw was the powerful Ishanah, High Priestess of the Aldor. Josh ended his turn by taking control of the Exarch.
This victory for Josh would be short-lived, as Joseph placed a Twist of Faith on Ishanah, allowing him to steal the thief and regain control of his Exarch at the end of his turn. Josh played Tatulla the Reclamer forcing Joseph to sacrifice the Twist of Faith and bringing his Ishanah back to his side of the board. At the end of the turn, Exarch Oonala went once more to Josh’s side via the effect of Ishanah. A couple of jokes were made about how tired the Exarch must have been getting from the bouncing.
Joseph played Mental Anguish, forcing Josh to discard his last two cards in hand. He then played a Voidfire Wand and attacked, leaving Josh with only what was on the board to kill him. This proved to be a critical mistake, as Josh took his turn and flipped his hero. The flip ability from Ringleader Kuma gives all heroes and allies +2 ATK while attacking. There was a bit of discussion regarding whether or not this would be enough to kill Joseph, so Josh pointed it all out—2 damage from Kuma, plus 5 from Tatulla, 7 from Ishanah, and 6 from the Exarch totaled out to 20 damage from the attack, which was more than enough to finish off the Priest.
Josh Paris defeats Joseph Larney and moves on to the Top 8 and a chance to win Darkmoon Faire Indianapolis! |