"Midweek Magic 2018 #35: Tooth and Nailing to Victory!"

"Midweek Magic 2018 #35: Tooth and Nailing to Victory!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I rarely get sick but when I do I am absolutely miserable. It was a rainy Thursday night and it was our EDH magic time. It was Jus , Janry and me. It was Ydris vs. Horobi vs. Omnath , Locus of Rage who I have summoned back after a couple of weeks of hibernation. 

I was feeling the effects of my medications and despite having 2 cups of coffee and more amounts of sleep than I usually have in a weeks time my eyes were still closing and the game was going nowhere in my favor. Janry had established a board presence and was taking care of anything that Jus would land on the floor. They were cancelling each other out as I was not able to do anything at all but ramp. 

I was able to get Omnath Out and protect him with a Lightning Greaves. I was able to produce 2 5/5 Elementals and that was it. Janry was down to 16 and Jus was down to 26. Jus was able to plop down the dreaded Omniscience and was going off with Ydris but oddly was unable to finish us off. 

When he dropped a lot of creatures and passed the turn to me I was thinking of how to finish the game. I had Zealous Conscripts in my hand so my Kiki-Jiki combo was impossible. I did have enough mana to to cast my Tooth and Nail with Entwine though. So looking at the 4 cards that Jus has , I took the chance. I knew he had limited counters in that Ydris deck so I took a chance. Still not knowing what I was doing. Mostly sick , mostly drowsy but still wanting to play with my friends.

Then the answer came to me when I realized that my Avenger of Zendikar was in this deck along with the Craterhoof Behemoth that I considered a gift from a fellow Doctor ( Salamat Dr. Rey Ame!). I was able to play them , triggering the Avenger of Zendikar with the 10 lands I had in play , creating 10 tokens and then the Craterhoof Behemoth who looked at all the creatures in play and added them all up.

There was now a total number of 15 creatures in play and Omnath,Locus of Rage +2 5/5 Elemental tokens + Craterhoof Behemoth all became 20/20 creatures that attacked and finished the game! 

It was a much needed victory. I never thought I would be able to win since Jus and Janry already had better set ups than me. It was a pleasant surprise.