Rhystic Gaming

Tournament Report: MBG Monthly

posts Magic: The Gathering Report

Event: MBG Monthly
Team: TBD
Player: EP
Deck: Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin

Friday

Stopped by Upkeep to pick up sleeves and a Vexing Bauble.

This was the first cEDH event where I had a decklist, sleeved deck, and registration completed the night before — which made the next day much smoother.

Event Day

The event starting at noon and being close was great. I arrived about 45 minutes early. Garmo was still waiting on breakfast from The Crunchy Pickle, so I went in, paid at the counter, and checked in with the head judge.

Round 1

Seat 1: Etali, Primal Conqueror
Seat 2: Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Seat 3: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Seat 4: Me — Kefka

Turn 1

None of us should have seen a turn. Etali, Primal Conqueror went off on 1, but the pilot made a few mistakes that likely cost him the game. Etali is a hard deck to play well because you’re essentially building a deck out of everyone else’s cards.

After Etali passed, Atraxa, Grand Unifier set up; Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept dashed Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer; I played a few rocks and, if we got another turn, was ready for turn 2 Kefka.

Turn 2

Etali’s turn 2 was met with interaction from everyone. He fizzled at 1 life and, out of frustration, cracked a fetchland and scooped.

Atraxa continued setup; Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept dashed Rag again; I played Kefka. After the fight with Etali, none of us were ready to go off.

Turn 3

Atraxa cast Atraxa, saw 10 cards, took one to flicker her, effectively seeing 10 more. They grabbed a Mindbreak Trap and some ramp but it was hard to tell if they had the win in hand.

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept was light on resources but tried to put a win on the stack. I had priority but knew Atraxa had MBT. When asked if I could respond, I said “I have limited interaction, not really — I pass.” That forced Atraxa to use MBT. Once they did, I responded with Fierce Guardianship and we talked about a draw.

We talked it through — I could flip Kefka, draw 5, and still have 1 mana open, and might be able to spike a win; but since it was Round 1 and we all “should have had a loss” from Etali’s near-win, I offered a draw, and the pod took it.

Outcome: Draw

Round 2

Seat 1: Blue Farm — Kraum, Ludevic's Opus / Tymna the Weaver
Seat 2: Tivit, Seller of Secrets
Seat 3: Me — Kefka
Seat 4: Tivit, Seller of Secrets

My first time playing against Tivit, Seller of Secrets. The table was friendly and explained how the deck wins. Blue Farm mulled to 5 and stayed land-locked all game.

Turn 1

Seat 3 played Mystic Remora ("Fish"). The table debated feeding the Fish.

On my turn: land → Sol Ring → Signet → used the mana to kill the Fish. Set up for turn 2 Kefka, no Fish in play, Tivit slow, Blue Farm behind.

Turn 2

Everyone set up; I played Kefka. After the trigger I had Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal in hand — could Vamp for Thassa's Oracle, Seal for Demonic Consultation and use Kefka to pull DC off the top of my deck — but Seat 4 cast Swords to Plowshares on Kefka, ruining that line.

Turn 3

Blue Farm: played Tymna the Weaver
Seat 4/Tivit: played Rhystic Study

I misplayed and drew before using Vampiric Tutor in upkeep, forcing a pivot. I bounced Rhystic with Cyclonic Rift, then played Orcish Bowmasters and passed with counters up.

Seat 4 played The One Ring. We became friends: he drew, I pinged.

Later, a Mockingbird copied my OBM, killed it, and I used Volatile Stormdrake to steal his Mockingbird back — regaining OBM, swinging with an 18/18 Orc army, flipping Kefka, attacking, and drawing 18 cards. It's hard to lose after drawing that many cards.

Outcome: Win

Round 3

Seat 1: Me — Kefka
Seat 2: Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy
Seat 3: Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Seat 4: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept

Turn 1 Vexing Bauble into two fast decks — I think it was the correct choice.
Turn 3, after a Rhystic Study, I tapped out for Kefka. I learned I need to keep agency over Bauble: only tap out if I have Simian Spirit Guide in hand; otherwise keep mana to crack it.

Outcome: Loss to Seat4

Round 4

Seat 1: Me — Kefka
Seat 2: Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Seat 3: Blue Farm — Kraum, Ludevic's Opus / Tymna the Weaver Seat 4: Terra, Magical Adept (?)

Turn 1

Me: land → Sol Ring → Lion’s Eye Diamond.
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy: Kinnan + rock.
Blue Farm: setup.

Turn 2

I played The One Ring, drew Mindbreak Trap.
Kinnan set up further with Reshape fetching Sol Ring.

Blue Farm went off with Ad Nauseam to 5 life. Terra countered Silence with Flare of Duplication. Blue Farm cast An Offer You Can't Refuse, but Kinnan had Pact of Negation and mana to pay later.

Terra took their turn, then Blue Farm cast Final Fortune to take another after the Terra players turn, not letting me untap. They played out their entire hand, since I didn't interact during their last push they felt I didn't have interaction. The cast Thassa's Oracle, and put Demonic Consultation on the stack. I fired MBT — they conceded.

Kinnan had 1 card, Terra 2, me 3 plus The One Ring. I cast Kefka, drew from Ring + Kefka, I used Demonic Tutor to find Underworld Breach, since I already had LED, then replayed DT from the yard to get Brain Freeze and did then Oracle win.

Outcome: Win

Round 5

Seat order unclear. Seat 3 (Rocco) was the only player who couldn’t draw into Top Cut. We agreed that if any ofTymna the Weaver / Kraum, Ludevic's Opuse three of us won, we’d concede to Rocco and draw.
Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy did Ral things andTymna the Weaver / Kraum, Ludevic's Opusn.

Outcome: Draw

Semifinals

Seat 1: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Seat 2: Me — Kefka
Seat 3: Tymna the Weaver / Kraum, Ludevic's Opusr) / Kraum, Ludevic's Opus (TnK)
Seat 4: Stella Lee, Wild Card / Kraum, Ludevic's Opustella-lee-wild-card)

Notes are not really 100% correct

I had to mull to 5. My opening seven: LTymna the Weaver / Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, Land, Mystic Remora, Mental Misstep, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Tainted Pact, Wishclaw Talisman. I kept Land, Land, Fish, Mental Misstep, Offer.

Mulligan results: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept went to 6, Me: 5, TnK: 5, Stella: kept second 7.

Turn 1

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Kraum, Ludevic's Opusrograkh-son-of-rohgahh) / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept didn't go off but played Spider-Punk. Spells can't be countered… great.
Me: Fish, Pass.
TnK: They had to mull to 5 also, turn 1 Tymna the Weaver.
Stella Lee: Land pass.

Turn 2

Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept: Played Demonic Consultation for Underworld Breach (I think), exiled half of their library. They needed to sacrifice Spikefield Punk for mana to play Necropotence.
Me: Paid for Fish, now that my hand is unlocked I need to keep drawing cards.
TnK: Stuck on 2 lands; used Steal Enchantment to take Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept's Necropotence. Cracked Lion's Eye Diamond for blue but missed on Born Upon a Wind or Valley Floodcaller.
Stella Lee: Land Pass.

I needed to take better notes. This game was a lot, but in the end, everyone fought. Kefka is a draw engine in the command zone, so when the dust settled, Kefka found me the win after flickering and cloning Kefka a few times.

Outcome: Win

Finals

Seat 1: Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh / Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
Seat 2: Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy
Seat 3: Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Seat 4: Me — Kefka

Seat 1 played solitaire.

Outcome

I took forth place, got a dual land, traded it for 2 reserved list cards and a foil Kefka.

Prize

Reflections

What Went Well

  • Turn-2 Kefka is a solid plan.
  • Reaching turn 4 often led to wins.
  • Strong mulligan decisions overall.
  • Thoughtful assessment of each player’s table role.
  • Seat order meaningfully affected keep decisions.

What Didn’t

Lessons Learned

Side Note

JUDGE!!!!

This game had a 17min time extention for a judge call, I saw the play that causes the call, but I don't have all the details of this game.....

Judge