Semifinals
Ellis Edmunds vs. Orie Guo
RDW against Jund

Game One: Ellis came flying out of the gates with a turn one Goblin Guide, hitting Orie to 18. Orie went for the slightly less greedy play of basic Mountain to Bolt the Guide instead of setting up a potential turn two Putrid Leech. The Guide got Bolted after revealing a Bloodbraid Elf and saving himself some damage. Guo cracked a Verdant Catacombs and laid a turn three Leech which Ellis Staggershocked on end-step.

Orie: "Wow, really? I mean"¦ I don't think anyone actually has done that to me. Wow. This is hard."

"I mean you're either a master or just terrible. Assuming perfect play that's right, but wow."

It should be known that Ellis and Orie do know each other so this isn't him just going insane. Orie ended letting the Leech go and he ate two damage on the rebound, sending him to 15. A Ball Lightning knocked Orie down to 9. Guo came back with a Blightning to eat a Staggershock and Smoldering Spires, leaving Edmunds with a Lightning Bolt that went to Guo's face and put him to 6. A Sprouting Thrinax a turn later meant Guo had a bit of defense; that quickly went on the attack when his second Leech hit the table. The Thrinax attack put Ellis at 13 and a kicked Burst Lightning on Orie's end-step sent him to 2.

Orie: "Done? Say done. Done?"

Orie got his wish and threw down Bloodbraid Elf which whiffed on a Maelstrom Pulse. Guo went into the tank to consider his attack options. He cracked with only the Bloodbraid Elf and dropped Edmunds to 10. A Hell's Thunder made the point moot as Flying trumped anything Orie had on the table.

Game Two: Orie started off slow with a pair of Mountains and a Raging Ravine while Hellspark Elemental took off a 3 point chunk from his face. Hell's Thunder hit on turn three and put Guo on 13.

"Ran good all tournament and it stops here."

Orie got blasted with Quenchable Fire and put him on 10, soon to be 7. A Cunning Sparkmage looked just slightly awkward when faced with the burn Ellis had. A Searing Blaze put Orie at four and Hellspark unearthed took him down to one. When Orie discarded the game was effectively over and we all got a good laugh when Ellis was taking his time picking how to kill Orie.

"You had a Siege-Gang too? Wow".

Ellis Edmunds advances to the finals 2-0