The 2009 Malaysian Nationals Coverage Report - Quarterfinals
Zac Hill vs Michael Tan Chuen Hwa
Zac Hill vs Michael Tan Chuen Hwa
Game 1
Zac Hill rolled a 3 to match his opponent's but won his 2nd roll with a comfortable margin, but didn't like his opening hand enough to want a mulligan, and after thinking for quite a while and with some confusion occurring regarding the mulligan procedures and a short talk with the head judge, Michael too decided to take a mulligan. Zac then accidentally flicked open a card from Michael's deck, and had to receive a warning for it. Both players then promptly kept their 6-card hand.
Zac started the game with a Reflecting Pool but Michael made the first play with a Figure of Destiny off a Karplusan Forest, taking himself to 19. Zac had a Putrid Leech on his following turn however, which kept the Figure of Destiny from attacking. Both players passed their 3rd turn with no action while Michael turned his Figure to a 2/2 and the end of Zac’s 3rd turn, but had to take another point of damage off the painland to go to 18.
A Boggart Ram-Gang sent Zac to 17 as Michael’s 2/2 Kithkin Spirit was held back but a Maelstrom Pulse made sure that the goblin won’t stick around. Michael had to take another painland damage to cast the goblin spell which put both players at 17 apiece. A Puncture Blast from Michael then tried to kill off Zac's Putrid Leech, but Zac kept it alive, paying 2 life points to go to 15. The Leech then goes to the graveyard the end of turn thanks to the 3 -1/-1 tokens but soon after, Zac played a Bloodbraid Elf which gave him a free Putrid Leech. The 3/2 hasty elf was quickly sent in to the red zone to send Michael to 14.
Michael then sent his 2/2 Figure of Destiny on a counter-attack and was blocked by Zac's Leech, but a Might made the 2/2 Kithkin Spirit a 6/4 with trample, and as Zac paid 2 life to pump the 2/2 Leech, Michael sent a Magma Spray at it, killing it off, while trample gave Michael the opportunity to send 6 whole damage off to Zac, putting him to 7. Zac then played an Anathemancer that did 4 points of damage to Michael before holding back his Bloodbraid Elf on defense.
Michael took a while to consider his options before deciding to animate his Treetop Village and sent Zac's Bloodbraid Elf into the RFG Zone with a Magma Spray, forcing Zac to block and kill off the Figure with his zombie wizard while taking 3 points of damage to go to 5. Michael then played another Figure of Destiny before passing his turn with Zac who had an empty board and seemingly in a very bad shape.
But that is not to be the case as Zac then tapped out all of his lands to send a Cruel Ultimatum on Michael, killing off Michael’s lone Figure of Destiny, bringing back his Anathemancer from the graveyard, forcing Michael to discard 3 cards and drawing 3 himself and creating a huge swing in life totals as Zac gained 5 and Michael lost 5.
All Michael could do was to shake his head, drew for his following turn, and simply decided to just scoop up all of his cards for game 2.
Zac Hill 1 – Michael Tan Chuen Hwa 0
Game 2
After spending some time sideboarding, both players drew their 7 cards and after taking a while to consider, Michael sent his opening 7 back to his library to draw a fresh 6 while Zac was happy with his opening 7.
Satisfied with his 6 and going first, Michael started off with a first turn Noble Hierarch which powered out a 2-turn Boggart Ram-Gang for him, quickly sending Zac down to 12 in 2 turns thanks to Hierarch's Exalted ability while all Zac had to show was vivid lands. An Exotic Orchard allowed Zac to play a Volcanic Fallout, killing off Michael's Hierarch, but made both players lose 2 points of life.
Michael then kept the pressure up on Zac with a hasty Jund Hackblade that swung in for another 6 damage along with his Ram-Gang, putting Zac to 4. Zac however had a Bloodbraid Elf which fetched a free Maelstrom Pulse to kill off the Ram-Gang and leaving him a 3/2 blocker, but and end of turn Incinerate sent Zac to 1 and with Zac tapped out of lands, Michael could safely animate and send his Treetop Village in on Zac to finish him off in just 5 of his turns to draw match 1 to 1.
Zac Hill 1 – Michael Tan Chuen Hwa 1
Game 3
Zac starts off the game with a couple of Vivid lands as the players spent a couple of turns doing nothing but play lands Zac made the first play with a Kitchen Finks that brought him up to 22 but a Magma Spray made quick work of it permanently as Michael cast and attacked with his Boggart Ram-Gang to put Zac back to 19, but another Kitchen Finks put him back to 21. The Ram-Gang took another 3 off Zac to 18 while Michael played a Kitchen Finks of his own to gain 2 to go to 22.
Michael then tried to attack into Zac and after declaring attackers, played a Puncture Blast on Zac’s Finks but a Volcanic Fallout killed off both side's Finks gaining them both life to put Michael at 22 while Zac stood at 18. The Ram-Gang is then killed off by the surviving Finks thanks to Fallout damage. A Bloodbraid Elf on Michael’s following turn saw him flip opened a Magma Spray which is useless with Zac's side of the board empty, after which he sent his hasty 3/2 elf and his surviving 2/1 Finks into combat attacking Zac but his opponent had a Bituminous Blast to kill off the elf and even managed to get a Sower of Temptation into play with the Blast’s cascade ability, totally negating Michael’s attack.
With his newly gained creatures, Zac attacked Michael for 4 points of damage, but on his 2nd attack with the 2 creatures on following turn an Incinerate killed the Sower, giving back control of the 2/1 Finks to Michael. The Finks was immediately put to work into the red zone on the following turn but yet again, Zac had the Bituminous Blast to kill it off, and as if it wasn’t enough, the cascade ability brought along a Bloodbraid Elf for Zac which in turn, brought along a Kitchen Finks for Zac.
Zac then sent his creatures on the offence, and while the elf got through for 3 points of damage, the Finks didn’t stay for long thanks to Michael’s Puncture Blast that made sure the Finks wouldn’t stick around any longer than he’d like it to. The elf went into the offence again on the following turn, and a Snakeform from Michael turn the attacker into a 1/1 snake which Michael attempted to animate his Treetop Village to block while taking a damage off his Karplusan Forest but once again Zac had the Bituminous Blast to deal with it but the cascade ability revealed a Path to Exile which was of no use to Zac as Michael goes to 14 from Zac’s attack.
Michael later then played his own Bloodbraid Elf, and he too missed on his cascade as he revealed a Colossal Might which couldn’t be used on neither his empty board nor the elf that’s still on the stack. But that wouldn’t be enough as Zac then cast Cruel Ultimatum yet again, strengthening the grip he had on the game as all Michael could do was muster a top decked Chameleon Colossus but as Zac showed Michael the Path to Exile he had ready for the Colossus, Michael saw the writing on the wall, and decided to pack up for the game 4.
Zac Hill 2 – Michael Tan Chuen Hwa 1
Game 4
Michael, choosing to go first started off the game in a rush again with a 2nd-turn Kitchen Finks thanks to a 1st-turn Noble Hierarch, putting himself up to 22 while Zac played vivid lands and cast Thoughtseize seeing a hand of 2 Mountains, Jund Hackblade and an Incinerate. Zac took a while to think before deciding to force Hwa to throw away his Incinerate, taking 2 to go down to 18. Jund Hackblade then entered play taking Zac down to 12 before an Volcanic Fallout cleared the board to both players to 22 (Michael) and 10 (Zac) although Michael’s Kitchen Finks stuck around thanks to it’s persist ability.
Michael then tried to retain the pressure with another Noble Hierarch, pushing in 3 damage with his 2/1 Finks pumped by the Hierarch’s exalted ability putting his opponent to 7. Zac then flipped over a Path to Exile from the top of his deck with a Bloodbraid Elf, which exiled Michael's Noble Hierarch Zac left his 3/2 elf on the defense.
Michael then played a Chameleon Colossus but decided to not attack this turn after which Zac played another Bloodbraid Elf after considering his options for some time. The elf gave Zac a free Kitchen Finks off the top of his deck to send him up to 9 from 7.
Michael on his following turn pushed his creatures in, with his 2/1 and his Chameleon Colossus while having 5 sources of mana open. Zac thought long and hard and eventually settled on blocking only the Colossus with his Finks effectively negating damage for this round as his persisted Finks gained him the 2 life his lost from the opposing attacking Finks. A Pithing Needle played by Zac naming Chameleon Colossus puts a huge dampener on Michael's offensive plans, and after taking some time to consider his options at Zac's end of turn he sent his creatures into the offense yet again irregardless.
Michael’s 2/1 Finks is blocked by Zac's own 2/1 Finks while the Colossus met both of Zac's 3/2 elves. A Magma Spray tried to that battle into Michael’s favor but Zac had a Volcanic Fallout after damage cleared the board proper.
Zac then went down to 4 as Michael throws a Puncture Blast at him after which Zac played yet another a Bloodbraid Elf but the elf’s cascade ability saw Zac flipped over another Path to Exile on an empty board. The elf stayed on defense while Michael sent more burn on Zac with another Puncture Blast putting him at 1 and that was his life total stayed as Zac kept sending his elf onto Michael for the next few turns sending him to 14 over 3 turns. A Treetop Village threatened to finish off the game for Michael but Zac sent in his elf confidently on to his opponent anyways sending him to 11.
Michael then ripped an Incinerate which was promptly cast and pointed it at Zac as he sent a Bituminous Blast on his own Bloodbraid Elf, hoping to flip over hopefully would be Cryptic Command or anything that could take him out of this pinch but it was not to be as Zac only managed to cascade a Kitchen Finks into play which puts him nicely at 3, just enough for Michael to force Zac to play a 5th and final game to decide who goes through into the semifinals.
Zac Hill 2 – Michael Tan Chuen Hwa 2
Game 5
Zac Hill
Michael sends yet again another opening hand back for a fresh 6 which he kept. Zac started off with a 2nd turn Putrid Leech which he held back on his 3rd turn as Michael played a Treetop Village and lands before playing and attacking with his Boggart Ram-Gang. The goblin was blocked by Zac's Putrid Leech which Zac paid the 2 life to kill off the Ram-Gang. Ajani Vengeant came along to assist Zac, keeping Michael’s Treetop Village tapped as Michael musters a Kitchen Finks into play on his following turn, going to 22 to Zac's 18. Zac then used Ajani's Lightning Helix ability to kill off the Finks while gaining 3 life points, but persist kept the Finks around with a -1/-1 counter while giving Michael another 2 life to go to 24 to Zac's 21.
Michael then animated his Treetop Village before sending them both his creatures onto Zac's Ajani. Zac had a Bituminous Blast to kill off Michael's Treetop Village, but it’s cascade ability revealed another Ajani Vengeant which was promptly send to the bottom of Zac's library. The Finks was more than enough to send Ajani away from the battlefield before a Deathmark dealt with the 2/1 Finks as Zac chose not to take any chances. Jund Hackblade joined Michael’s side of the board but once again, Cruel Ultimatum created a huge swing in game momentum to Zac’s favor as he got back his Putrid Leech and destroying Michael’s hand and board.
A Pithing Needle from Zac forced Treetop Village to remain a land for the rest of the game as long as the Needle stays in play while a Maelstrom Pulse quickly dealt with Michael’s freshly cast Figure of Destiny, as Zac's Putrid Leech took 4 from Michael while paying 2 life points puts Zac to 18.
Another combat phase sees Michael go to 13, but Zac chose not to pump the Leech pay this time around. Michael then saw a Jund Hackblade join his side of the board as the Hackblade and the Putrid Leech went unopposed for a couple of turns as both players traded 2 damage during each other’s combat phase, until Michael stood at 7 while Zac was at 14 when a Maelstrom Pulse from Zac put a stop on the trading of blows. When Zac sent in his Leech to take another 2 from Michael again however, it too was killed off by Michael’s own removal in the form of a Puncture Blast.
Michael Tan
Michael then cast a Chameleon Colossus, but it was quickly dealt with on the end of the very turn it entered the battlefield with Zac sending a Path to Exile on the Changeling's direction. With an empty board save for the lone Pithing Needle on Zac's side, both players passed a couple of turns doing nothing until Michael dropped a Jund Hackblade which was promptly killed by a Bituminous Blast but it’s cascade ability once again saw a Path to Exile that is of no use to Zac. Both players spend another couple of turns playing lands and passing turns until Michael played a Kitchen Finks, which gained him 2 life to go to 9 and for once in quite a while a creature survived past Michael’s turn.
Zac had creatures of his own on the following turn with a Bloodbraid Elf who brought along a Putrid Leech for Zac and with both the Elf and Leech on the stack, Zac played a Volcanic Fallout, killing off the Finks which persisted, before a Bituminous Blast killed off Michael’s Finks proper, but not before the Blast brought along another Putrid Leech for Zac. The 3/2 elf then tried to attack Michael but met an early end to Magma Spray.
The 2 Putrid Leeches then tried to finish Michael off, but a Puncture Blast tried to make quick work on one of them, but Zac paid 2 life to keep it around after all as a 1/1 thanks to the 3 -1/-1 counters as Michael took 3 from the leeches to go to 6 while Zac stood at 10. One of the Leeches died as its pump effect wore off while the lone surviving Leech attacked again on Zac’s following turn.
Michael tried to put it out of his way with a Magma Spray, which drew Zac to respond with paying 2 life in response to go 8 to keep the Leech around, but Michael had another burn spell in the form of Incinerate to finish off the Leech. A Kitchen Finks brought Zac back to 10, and a Chameleon Colossus ripped off the top of his deck for Michael drew a loud cheer from the crowd of spectators but an end of turn Path to Exile drew an even louder response from the crowd.
Zac cast another Kitchen Finks and quickly attacked Michael to 3 with the one he cast earlier. Michael then had a Bloodbraid Elf which brought a Boggart Ram-Gang, but a Volcanic Fallout from Zac sealed the game up as Michael scooped up his cards in defeat paving the way for Zac Hill to the semifinals and one step closer to be part of the 2009 Malaysian National team!
Zac Hill 3 – Michael Tan Chuen Hwa 2
Zac Hill wins the Quarterfinals beating Michael Tan 3 to 2!
Read more!
