The tournament venue this year was Invesco Field. After spending my Saturday morning paddling on the lake and getting splashed on repeatedly, I battled my way through weekend traffic on I-25 and arrived at Invesco Field mid-afternoon to play in the Legacy Challenge to test the waters for the big event. During the weeks leading up to the tournament, I playtested decks such as Team America, TES, Merfolk, Zoo, Burn, and Deadguy Ale, but that Friday night right before the tournament I playtested with a guy piloting Hive Mind, and it seemed like a solid deck that was also crazy fun to play. As a result, I decided on a whim to play Hive Mind that Saturday. I looked up Eleyet's list from GP Providence as a basis, and modified it a bit to suit my tastes (-2 Misdirection, +1 Slaughter Pact, some sideboard changes). After hitting the dealer booth to trade for the cards I needed for the deck (which happened to be most of it), I took Hive Mind to a 3-1 finish in the Legacy Challenge. I used the same decklist the next day for the Legacy Open, and can be seen here.
(Note: Being the terrible player that I am, I failed to use Pact of Negation on my own Pacts correctly throughout the tournament, and didn't realize it until after the event. This misplay will become evident in the feature match coverage that I was in, and I may have blew my shot at Top 8 because of it)
ROUND 1: Belcher (2-1)
I win the die roll. Game 1 he takes a Serum Powder mulligan, and after checking with a judge regarding if I could see the cards he exiled (the answer is yes, they are face-up), I recognize he's playing Belcher before I take my first turn. Turn 2 he plays a Tinder Wall which got Mental Misstepped, and follows up with a lone Lion's Eye Diamond. I had the turn 3 Show and Tell to put Hive Mind into play with multiple Pacts to kill him during his upkeep, but he had the Goblin Charbelcher to deal 68 damage to me before my turn ended. Oops.
Game 2 he takes a Serum Powder mulligan, followed by a Paris mulligan, but things became awkward when he accidentally drew 7 cards on his Paris mulligan and picked up his hand. The judge ruled that two random cards from his hand gets shuffled into his library, and the game proceeds with him having 5 cards in hand. After we keep our hands, I had turn 1 Ancient Tomb into Grim Monolith, turn 2 fetchland into Hive Mind into Pact...the stone cold nuts.
Game 3 was more interesting. He keeps his original 7 while I mull to 6. He tries to combo off early (maybe turn 2?) with Chrome Mox imprinting Elvish Spirit Guide, Tinder Wall, and Rite of Flame, but I Force of Will his Rite to keep him off of the 4 mana needed for a potential Empty the Warrens. All he has left was another Chrome Mox imprinting another green mana source and rebuilt his hand slowly while I feebly attempted to sculpt my hand with cantrips turn after turn. Eventually I stuck a Hive Mind in play with nothing to follow up, and he stuck a Xantid Swarm and Lion's Eye Diamond. When I built up to 5 mana, I cast Pact of the Titan, giving us each a titan and forcing him to break his LED and discard his hand (which had a Charbelcher and no Empty the Warrens) in order to stay alive. I place a die on top of my library as an upkeep reminder, which was the only reason I didn't lose to my own Pact (I untapped, reached for my deck to draw my card, saw the die sitting there, and then remembered to pay for my Pact). I rip a Pact off the top to win the match.
1-0
ROUND 2: High Tide (2-1)
He wins the die roll. Game 1 started with some cantrips for both of us, and a Merchant Scroll for High Tide for him, but the next turn I had the Show and Tell into Hive Mind with a Pact to kill him.
Game 2 he combos off and fights my permission with his superior permission. Eventually he cast multiple Meditates, multiple Turnabouts, 3 Time Spirals, and 5 High Tides with 3 Candelabras in play before killing me with Blue Sun's Zenith for 60-ish (with 20-ish mana floating). I figured my only chance once he started to combo off was to draw the nuts (read: permission up the ass) every time he Time Spirals, but unfortunately on that last Time Spiral I draw all sorts of combo pieces but no permission.
Game 3 began with a single-digit number of minutes left on the clock. On turn 5, my opponents untaps and time is called. He proceeds to combo off (interrupted briefly by a Pact of Negation war, which he "won") with 2 High Tides, a Time Spiral, lots of Brainstorms and Ponders, and a Blue Sun's Zenith for 9 targeting himself in an attempt to recharge his depleted hand. At that point, I had a Volcanic Island, Grim Monolith, and 2 Ancient Tombs untapped. I decided that I needed to fight that Zenith, so I tap my Volcanic Island for 3 blue mana and Brainstorm into the absolute nuts: Force of Will, Mindbreak Trap, Mindbreak Trap (comment from spectating judge after the game: "best Brainstorm ever"). Putting some combo pieces back on top, I Trap his Zenith, which got Pacted (his second one that turn), so I Trap his Zenith again with Force of Will backup. His 2 Spell Pierces can't stop it, and he concedes the match. Interestingly, he decided to eschew the Brain Freeze line of play entirely due to me having Emrakuls in my maindeck, but I actually sideboarded them out for games 2 and 3.
2-0
ROUND 3: Budget Zoo (2-0)
He wins the die roll and starts Game 1 with a fetchland into shockland into Steppe Lynx. My opening hand wasn't the nuts, so I had to find the combo real quickly with cantrips. Turn 2 he fetches up a shockland again and bashes for 4 before sticking another Steppe Lynx. All I have is City of Traitors to join my turn 1 Island. Turn 3 he fetches another shockland and bashes for 8, putting me at 8 and dead next turn (Kird Ape joined his team). I Intuition for a combo piece during his end step, and Show and Tell a Hive Mind into play (he puts in a land). Pact of the Titan almost sealed the deal for him, except he had a Path to Exile during my end step to find that 5th land he needed to stay alive, but Pact of Negation on his Path killed him.
Game 2 he starts with Forest into Wild Nacatl. Then turn 2 he plays Mountain into Stoneforge Mystic, getting Batterskull. It wasn't until turn 3 when he tried to sneak Batterskull into play that I realized he didn't have white mana to play Stoneforge in the first place - I had always assumed that the Zoo player has access to all colors of mana at all times. One judge call and 2 issued warnings (1 for both of us) later, he Lightning Bolts me and attacks me to 12 before I Intuition for Show and Tells to put Emrakul into play the next turn. He scoops.
3-0
ROUND 4: Dredge (2-0)
As we were chatting before the round began, I find out that he was the Standard Open finalist from the day before. We also talk about the prevalence of Dredge in the room, with me saying how I think it's a good matchup for me.
I win the die roll. I had a turn 1 cantrip, while his turn 1 consisted of draw, discard Golgari Grave-Troll, go...awkward. I didn't have much action on turn 2. His turn 2 dredging put a Cabal Therapy into the graveyand and a Narcomoeba into play, and he Therapies me naming Trinket Mage. Seeing my hand full of Hive Mind combo pieces: "oh, THAT deck." Ancient Tomb the next turn allowed me to Intuition for a combo piece, and after his next dredge didn't hit any Therapies (but I did see a Woodfall Primus hit the 'yard), I put Hive Mind into play and Pact him to death.
Game 2 I start with a Leyline of the Void in play. He starts with Undiscovered Paradise into Putrid Imp, which got Mental Misstepped, even though I probably should have let that resolve and save the Misstep for the potential Nature's Claim, which is exactly what he used to get rid of my Leyline a few turns later (slow combo deck on my part, eh?). Shortly afterwards, I find the 3-piece combo. I play Show and Tell to put Hive Mind into play, and he asks a judge a rules question regarding enters-the-battlefield triggers (Woodfall Primus, anyone?). He puts Primus into play, targeting my Hive Mind with the trigger, but instant-speed Summoner's Pact will still get there.
4-0
ROUND 5: Merfolk (0-2)
This was my first feature match of the day, which wasn't anything more than us playing in the feature match area - no coverage nor cameras. This was his first Legacy event ever, which he will go on to Top 8. I win the die roll, and know he's playing Merfolk by watching him play during the previous round. Unfortunately, I mulligan to 4 before leading with Ancient Tomb, go. 5 turns later I died to a school of fish, and all he saw from me that game was a single Ancient Tomb - I drew all sorts of colorful Pacts with nothing else.
Game 2 we both mulligan, except he kept at 6 and I went down to 5. He missed his second land drop, but Force of Willed my turn 2 Grim Monolith and played fish after fish after resuming his land drops while I attempted to cantrip my way to a combo or a Llawan. A few turns later, with lethal on board, he attacks me and I Slaughter Pact his fully-leveled Coralhelm Commander to buy me a turn, even though I knew there was nothing that I could draw to save the game.
4-1
ROUND 6: Blue/White Control (1-2)
This was a feature match that is covered here (note: typos aplenty in that article). Game 1 is an example of my misplay with Pact of Negation (hint: he had 9 lands in play that turn). Game 3 was probably the most fun game I played all day, even though I lost. The tension at the end was epic as I played cantrip after cantrip to no avail.
4-2
ROUND 7: Combo Elves (2-1)
I win the die roll and start Game 1 with a cantrip. His turn 1 consisted of Windswept Heath into Forest into Fyndhorn Elves. The next turn he resolves Birchlore Rangers, and I immediately recognize how awkward this match will be for me. My hand consisted of Show and Tell, Intuition, and far too many colorful Pacts, but when he went for the Glimpse of Nature, I had to Intuition for Mental Misstep and counter it. With a Priest of Titania and Gaea's Cradle in play alongside a table full of elves, I recognize that my two lines of play (Hive Mind and Emrakul) are both useless, and my only chance of winning this game was if he fails to pay for his Summoner's Pact, which got Regal Force. Mirror Entity and random elf put me from 17 to 5 life before he remembered to pay for his Pact the next turn and attack me for near-infinite damage.
Game 2 he assembles a few elves before going for Glimpse of Nature again, except I had the Intuition for Mental Misstep again. He then plays Birchlore Ranger and gets the beatdown going to put me at 7 life before I Intuition (putting me at 5 from Ancient Tomb) for Pact of the Titan/Pact of the Titan/Slaughter Pact (he wisely lets me have a Pact of the Titan). I put Hive Mind into play, followed by 2 Pacts of the Titan and a Pact of Negation. He only had to pay 7UUR during his upkeep due to my Pact of Negation misplay, which was still too much mana for him.
Game 3 started as time in the round was running out. He had the turn 3 Glimpse of Nature with a great board position (Nettle Sentinel, Birchlore Rangers, Wirewood Symbiote, Forest, Horizon Canopy), but I had Island and Ancient Tomb to cast Intuition for Mental Misstep yet again (third time this match!). The next turn I cast Ponder, trying to find Show and Tell. I find it and keep the cards on top, drawing Show and Tell. "So you like them, eh?" my opponent asks nervously. "Oh yes. Actually, only one of them," I replied with a smile, as I crack a fetchland and go for the win via Show and Tell for Hive Mind, and he puts a second Birchlore Rangers into play. Analyzing his board position, I think that he can generate only 3 mana, 1 of which being off-color, so I cast Pact of the Titan followed by Pact of Negation without passing priority like a noob, and he ends up needing to pay 3UU during his upkeep or loses the game. He untaps and says he can pay 2UU due to Wirewood Symbiote's ability (I facepalm), and spends the next 5 minutes agonizing over how to pay that last mana needed to stay alive while a crowd gathered around to watch our game. After being asked by a judge to proceed the game state, he decides to convoke Chord of Calling for 1 to see what he could find, as his board position couldn't pay the upkeep. Unfortunately, his library couldn't get there either.
END RESULT: 5-2 matches, 11-7 games, 12th place out of 117 players
PROPS: Playing Hive Mind on a whim - it really is a fun yet solid deck to play. I don't think I've ever had as much fun playing a deck as I did that day. Maybe it has something to do with killing your opponents with Pacts. Also, SCG for coming out to Denver for their Open Series. It's unfortunate how there's no Legacy scene here, but SCG brings that with them, albeit for one weekend out of the year.
SLOPS: Me not knowing how to pass priority when using Pact of Negation on my own Pact all day long (told you I'm a terrible player!). Also, mulliganing into oblivion during the critical Round 5.
