The Buckeye Brawl was a huge success, and I’m incredibly appreciative of everyone who helped make it happen. Players and crews traveled to Ohio from Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico(!), and the atmosphere was outstanding.

The Premodern community has a penchant for charity-focused events ran by the community, and the Retromancers intended to continue that endeavor. The charity raffle was a massive hit and, together with the bake sale, raised a significant amount of money for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. We also received donations from several different crews, which once again proved that the Premodern community is the best in Magic.

As for the tournament itself, I bounced between about five different decks during the week leading up to the event before ultimately settling on GW Oath Ponza. It ended up being an excellent metagame choice, and I rode it all the way to a 6th-place finish.

The Deck

I struggled quite a bit while trying to settle on a deck for this event. As my friends will tell you, I changed decks constantly during the week leading up to the tournament. Huge thanks to Jason, Spencer, Travis, and everyone else who helped test games and bounce ideas around.

In the end, I wanted to play something that I would still enjoy piloting seven rounds into a longer tournament. I also wanted something reasonably resilient that wouldn’t implode on itself too often. Looking back, the deck really only failed me once all day—in Round 3—and I’m pretty happy with that rate.

One of the most important skills with the deck is identifying your role in each matchup. Most games revolve around mana denial into oversized threats, but the deck can also pivot into a different role with cards like Sylvan Library or Oath of Druids generating overwhelming advantage.

The hard part usually isn’t identifying your initial game plan—it’s recognizing the moment when you need to shift gears mid-game.

As far as changes to the 75 go, I don’t know that there was a lot that I’d change. I am interested in trying to squeeze some number of [[Hail Storm]]s into the sideboard.

Round 1 — Ryan on Machinehead

Game 1

Ryan opened with [[Grim Lavamancer]] and [[Ravenous Rats]] while I developed into [[Oath of Druids]] and eventually found a massive [[Terravore]]. Mana denial kept him off black mana long enough to strand [[Terminate]] in his hand.

The key was waiting to deploy Oath until he had already committed creatures to the board, and the plan worked perfectly.

Game 2

[[Wasteland]], [[Thermokarst]], and [[Sphere of Resistance]] kept him constrained on mana while [[Mishra’s Factory]] slowly chipped away at his life total.

Very early in the game, it became clear that manlands plus mana denial were going to be my route to victory. His removal looked significantly worse when I was double-Porting Mountains and [[Wasteland]]ing [[Sulfurous Springs]].

Record: 1-0 (2-0)

Round 2 — Adrian (Neon Mushroom) on UW Midrange

Game 1

He landed a [[Meddling Mage]] that slowed me down a bit, but I was eventually able to pressure his mana, resolve [[Oath of Druids]], and close the game with a large [[Terravore]].

Being ahead on board meant that I could play under his [[Standstill]] effectively, which resulted in him having the break his own enchantment. The game played out almost exactly how the deck wants these lower-to-the-ground matchups to go.

Game 2

I continued attacking his mana while applying pressure with [[Mishra’s Factory]] and [[Treetop Village]]. At one point, I attempted to resolve [[Sylvan Library]], only to have it hit by [[Memory Lapse]] twice.

The third attempt finally stuck, and once Library resolved, it buried him in card advantage and disruption.

After the match, we both agreed the matchup was difficult for him already, and I also got fortunate by never seeing [[Ramosian Sergeant]] or [[Whipcorder]].

Record: 2-0 (4-0)

Round 3 — Matthew on Terrageddon

Game 1

I mulliganed to five and never found a colored mana source. Meanwhile, he executed his game plan exactly as intended and quickly killed me with [[Terravore]].

Game 2

The second game was more of the same. I kept a six-card hand featuring [[Oath of Druids]], but he answered it before it could trigger. Once again, I failed to find a second colored source and died with multiple uncastable cards stranded in hand.

Matthew played very well, but this was also the one point in the tournament where the deck truly felt like it imploded.

Record: 2-1 (4-2)

Round 4 — Liam (“Yeetus Mc Feeterson”) on Rector Oath

Game 1

This game was completely wild.

I had developed a strong board position and felt significantly ahead when Liam resolved [[Academy Rector]]. Since he was on GW colors, I knew something scary was probably coming, but I had no idea what.

I had [[Swords to Plowshares]] in hand and figured I could simply exile the Rector before it would be able to trigger its ability.

Then he played [[High Market]].

For anyone unfamiliar with the interaction, sacrificing [[Academy Rector]] is part of the activation cost for [[High Market]], meaning I never get priority to respond with Swords. Suddenly, [[Form of the Dragon]] entered the battlefield and I was immediately reminded why Premodern is the greatest format EVER. At that point, I needed to pick my jaw up off the floor and shuffle up for the next game.

Game 2

The second game turned into a slow, grindy exchange.

Oddly enough, his [[Funeral Pyre]] Spirit token ended up dealing nine damage to him over the course of the game, while [[Academy Rector]] itself dealt six to me. I spent most of the game doing everything possible to keep Rector alive and prevent [[Form of the Dragon]] from entering play.

Eventually, a sufficiently enormous [[Terravore]] ended things.

Game 3

This was one of the tightest games I’ve ever played.

My opening hand contained both [[Ray of Revelation]] and [[Naturalize]], but I was extremely concerned about double [[Sterling Grove]] locking me out of interacting with [[Form of the Dragon]] entirely.

We were also getting low on time, so I decided to take a more aggressive approach.

I resolved an early [[Terravore]] while he assembled two [[Sterling Grove]]s. Fortunately, he sacrificed one to tutor for [[Oath of Druids]], opening a small window for interaction later.

Oath eventually found him [[Academy Rector]], but it also filled his graveyard with lands in the process.

We entered extra turns.

He managed to sacrifice the Rector and put [[Form of the Dragon]] into play, dropping himself to five life during his end step while simultaneously preventing my lethal Terravore attack.

Then, on my final turn, I cast [[Ray of Revelation]] targeting Sterling Grove, flashed it back to destroy [[Form of the Dragon]], and attacked for far beyond lethal damage with [[Terravore]].

An absolutely unbelievable game.

I was relieved afterward, though I also realized the next round was about to begin immediately.

Record: 3-1 (6-3)

Round 5 — Adam on Sligh

Game 1

Adam came out quickly and started pressuring my life total, but I eventually landed a 7/7 [[Terravore]] that he couldn’t remove. Two attacks later, the game was over.

After the previous round, it felt nice to finally play a fast match.

Game 2

He opened aggressively with double [[Jackal Pup]] while I eventually tutored for [[Circle of Protection: Red]].

CoP: Red slowed the bleeding significantly, but he had four creatures in play while I only had four lands available. I tried to conserve mana for the most threatening burn spells and Jackal Pup triggers, but eventually he managed to force enough damage through to finish the game.

Game 3

After realizing he hadn’t boarded out his creatures, I brought Oath of Druids back in.

An early Oath quickly created a near-lock board state involving:

• 2 [[Zuran Orb]]
• 3 [[Sphere of Resistance]]
• [[Oath of Druids]]
• roughly 12 lands in play

Both graveyards were packed with lands, meaning I simply needed to find Terravore to end the game.

Meanwhile, Adam had double [[Cursed Scroll]] in play but seven cards in hand, causing him to miss activation after activation for what felt like an eternity. We spent most of the match resolving Scroll triggers while I desperately searched for a Terravore that never arrived.

I had inevitability, but I never found the actual win condition.

A very unfortunate draw.

Record: 3-1-1 (7-4-1)

Round 6 — Cameron on Turbo Lands

Game 1

I kept a somewhat sketchy opener in the blind, but it turned out perfectly.

Triple [[Wasteland]] completely locked him off colored mana, and once I established pressure, he never really got back into the game. The only non-land card that I saw was Exploration, but the mana base didn’t indicate Enchantress.

Game 2

Not knowing exactly what he was playing, I sideboarded out Oath of Druids and brought in [[Call of the Herd]].

I started producing Elephant tokens while he struggled to find action. The only notable spell I saw this game was [[Karmic Justice]], which didn’t impact the board with three Elephants swinging in.

After the match, I inquired about what he was playing since I hadn’t seen many spells. When he said Turbo Lands, I was pretty grateful for it to have played out how it did. The deck looked sweet though and I may have to try it myself at some point.

Honestly, I think I got pretty fortunate here because the matchup otherwise seemed fairly difficult for me.

Record: 4-1-1 (9-4-1)

Round 7 — Ben on Terrageddon

With Top 8 on the line, the nerves started to kick in a little bit.

Game 1

I leaned hard into the mana denial plan and successfully kept him off colored mana for most of the game.

[[Mishra’s Factory]], [[Treetop Village]], and eventually a large Terravore applied enough pressure that he quickly conceded while still holding a full grip of cards.

Game 2

He opened with [[Nimble Mongoose]] while I held Oath of Druids, [[Reprisal]], and [[Swords to Plowshares]].

Rather than immediately deploying Oath, I spent several turns attacking his mana development first, keeping him off of Threshold and to make it difficult to answer a big Terravore.

Eventually, he attacked me down to four life before I finally resolved and then triggered Oath the following turn. On my upkeep, Oath revealed a massive 28/28 Terravore.

He was forced to Swords to Plowshares it immediately, sending me all the way back up to 32 life. The second Terravore, however, survived—and that was enough to lock up Top 8.

Record: 5-1-1 (11-4-1)

Quarterfinals — Josh on UW Landstill

This was an extremely long and difficult match for both of us, but several people also reached out afterward and told me that it was the most fun they’ve had watching Magic in a very long time.

It was also the only point during the tournament where I wished I had been playing the RG version for access to Red Elemental Blast and Pyroclasm effects.

Game 1

He slowly chipped away at my life total while I relentlessly attacked his mana base with Wasteland and [[Thermokarst]]. Eventually, I resolved a 13/13 Terravore that forced a Swords to Plowshares.

The life gain made it very difficult for him to close the game, and a second lethal Terravore eventually ended it.

Game 2

I sideboarded out Oath of Druids and brought in [[Call of the Herd]].

He surprised me by boarding in [[Meddling Mage]] and naming Oath anyway. We traded damage back and forth for several turns, but I failed to draw enough disruption to keep him off balance.

Eventually, he assembled enough answers in hand and stabilized at four life before taking over the game.

Game 3

Both of us are exhausted at this point, heading into a pivotal game 3.

After seeing him bring creatures in, I decided to pivot back into Oath of Druids for the final game.

Early on, I felt significantly ahead—until Humility entered the battlefield and suddenly reduced my Elephant tokens to much less threatening 1/1s.

The game devolved into a tense manland war involving Mishra’s Factory, Treetop Village, and eventually [[Dust Bowl]], which slowly broke parity in his favor.

I eventually resolved Oath of Druids, but he responded by cycling [[Decree of Justice]].

At dangerously low life, I desperately hoped to reveal [[Ray of Revelation]] off my Oath trigger to answer [[Humility]].

It never came.

Terravore remained a 1/1, and he eventually closed out the match.

Final Record: 5-2-1 (12-6-1)

Final Thoughts

The deck felt great and I feel like its positioned pretty well in the post-Tide metagame. I expected a lot of aggro that would have difficulty playing through a resolved Oath of Druids, as well as midrange decks that were freed by the Parallax Tide ban. Overall, the mana denial plan seems very strong, provided you can back it up with a decent clock against midrange. It can sometimes struggle when you dedicate all of your resources to deny the opponent, but you’re not able to really pressure them. Overall, it’s likely where I’ll start with LobsterCon testing.

This was our first major tournament, and it feels incredible to have such a positive outcome to the event. The event featured 40(!) unique archetypes and we had people from 8 different states attend. That meant that players cumulatively traveled over 10,000 miles to attend the Buckeye Brawl. However, the most exciting part was that we raised $3,086.52 for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, directly helping people and families in our community.

When we first started building this community, I never imagined forming friendships like these or creating something this welcoming and vibrant. So many people contributed their time, energy, and support to make Buckeye Brawl happen that I won’t even attempt to list everyone individually for fear of forgetting someone.

Meeting so many amazing Premodern players and crews throughout the weekend only reinforced my belief that this is exactly where I belong.

I genuinely cannot wait until the next time we all get to do this again.