Boros Initiative - Legacy Report: Champion of Eternal Challenge #21

Greetings, Legacy enthusiasts! Today, we won't be doing a Deck Tech because I have something more important to share: I won the 21st stage of the Eternal Challenge, held on October 1st! For those who are not familiar, the Eternal Challenge is the main Legacy circuit in Brasília (The capital of Brazil), and its main tournaments usually have around 30 to 35 players, with prizes and giveaways totaling an average of R$5,000 in cards and products. In recent years, the prize for the first place has been a Dual Land.

Organized by the esteemed Fausto Sousa, with support from Marcelo Coutinho and me, the circuit tournaments are held in three stores in Brasília (Fortaleza Jogos, Gruta Bsb, and Smash n’ Play), with an individual and team ranking system, prizes for the top performers, and an Invitational tournament at the end of the year.

Well, even though I retired from Magic from 2012 to 2018, I returned to play in the GP Modern in São Paulo, but it was this circuit that put me back on the Magic map and eventually led me to write about Legacy for Cards Realm. The 21st stage was held at Fortaleza Jogos, had 34 players, and awarded the champion – myself – with 1 Plateau and 1 The One Ring foil full art.

Those who follow me here know that I've been a long-time enthusiast of Red Prison, and this deck has been my faithful companion for many of the years I've dedicated to Legacy. But you also know that I found a new love, hyperlink which I talked about in a previous article: Boros Initiative!

Since the release of Forth Eorlingas!, this archetype has risen to the top tiers of the Legacy metagame, filling the power vacuum left by the banning of White Plume Adventurer. The list discussed in that article was one of the first to emerge with significant results, and since then, the deck has taken two directions: one with a higher presence of Humans, notably Anointed Peacekeeper and Boromir, Warden of the Tower, and extracting more value from Cavern of Souls; and another less focused but with access to one of the strongest cards in practically all formats where it's allowed: Fable of the Mirror-breaker.

I've been playing the second version since then, even managing to reach the Top 4 in the 20th Eternal Challenge with a main deck identical to what I used in this Challenge. The main difference between my list and the standard list is that I choose to use 18 lands instead of the 17 used by most, and I have 1 Sunbaked Canyon in place of the 4th Cavern of Souls. My justification is that the deck's mana base is quite tight, being a two-color deck with 8 colorless lands, and I wanted more reliability to cast spells like Fable or the Eorlingas - and since the 18th land is the Canyon, I gain an extra out against Mana Flood.

As for the sideboard, I had a plan until a week before the tournament. When I talked to both circuit players and players in Discord, I understood that there would be an increase in Dimir decks, both Death’s Shadow and UB Scam, both firmly based on the interaction between Troll of Khazad-dûm and Reanimate. This made me decide to include a pair of Rest in Peace in the sideboard, using the same 15 cards recently used by Andrea Mengucci in an event in Bologna.

Anyway, those were the 75 cards I registered for the event:

Decklist

When I returned to Magic in 2018, one of the most important person in this return was one of my oldest friends and wedding godfather: Fábio Ancelmo, or as we know him, Zelinha. Before this tournament, he was undecided about what to play, and we discussed the options extensively, which ultimately came down to Temur Aggro ((the subject of my last article) or UB Scam.

We discussed deck and sideboard options for both lists until he finally decided to go with the Dimir list, also using a version from Andrea Mengucci. Obviously, when the pairings for the first round were announced, we were paired against each other.

I confess that I had little experience against this archetype because I played little Magic Online recently and hardly faced the deck in previous in-person tournaments before the Challenge. In Discord discussions, the consensus was that it was a very challenging opponent, and I sought some plans on how to play and sideboard against it.

In the first game, he won the roll and started by wrecking my hand with Grief and Reanimate, but I managed to go head-to-head with some creatures, and thanks to 2 Solitudes coming straight from the top, I managed to get ahead.

The plan suggested on the forum by a player who had made the top 8 in a Magic Online Challenge recently was to remove Caves of Chaos Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer to avoid providing good targets for their Reanimate, switching to a more Control mode.

In:

Out:

This plan didn't work out very well because in games 2 and 3, I couldn't pressure him, and I was quickly defeated by Grief in game 2 with no response on my side, and in game 3, even though I played Magus of the Moon on turn 1, I had no answer to Swampcycling on turn 1 and Reanimate on turn 2. I decided to change strategy if I faced another UB list.

I said if I faced one? I meant when I faced one because right after that, I faced another Dimir list, this time with Death’s Shadow. After playing some tournaments shredding other people's decks with UB Mill, Marcelo Jr. decided to go for something more aggressive.

In game 1, after losing the roll again, in the midst of the discard onslaught, I still managed to deal with a Troll through Solitude, but I eventually succumbed to an unanswered Shadow. I decided to change tactics for the sideboard, leaving some Initiative creatures in, despite the risk of being reanimated.

In:

Out:

The second game started with Chalice of the Void on 1 and Forth Eorlingas! for 3 tokens, with Simian Spirit Guide in hand to pay for a potential Daze on turn 2.

In game 3, I made a wrong decision to open with City of Traitors for Chalice of the Void on 1 (which got countered) to avoid exposing Cavern of Souls, which would enable one of the 2 Seasoned Dungeoneers on the next turn. I was punished with a Null Rod.

The game dragged on until I drew a Simian Spirit Guide to play the Dungeon Explorer, which was promptly killed, Reanimated, and channeled by a Touch the Spirit Realm, controlling Undercity to go back and forth.

In the end, the game ended due to his misjudgment and lack of experience with the Dungeon, as in the final turn, if he had attacked with everything, I had no response, and the 3rd stage of it, Trap!, would have killed me. With the next turn, my Dungeoneer with 2 +1/+1 counters from the 2nd stage, Forge, successfully Explored, becoming 6/7 and leaving him at 5 life, enough for my Trap to finish the game.

Overall, I consider the game against DnT (Death & Taxes) to be a much more manageable opponent than Dimir: you have answers to the Living Weapon through Solitude, and despite them having many creatures to try to control the Dungeon, they struggle to respond when it enters on turn 1.

My opponent, Edson, besides playing with this deck for a long time, has the honor of being a great expert in Physical Education! Magic can be a fit, folks!

He opened with a big headache for me: Mother of Runes. I tried to counter attack with a Caves of Chaos Adventurer which promptly took Swords to Plowshares, and I quickly succumbed to a combination of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Flickerwisp, and Umezawa’s Jitte.

For the sideboard, the Chalice of the Voids are coming out, as they not only don't stop much, but they can also be invalidated by Flickerwisp and some Eorlingas and Adventurers, as they can be slow, and they can contest control of the Monarch and the Initiative.

In:

Out:

Game 2 was marked by Archon of Emeria on turn 1, which delayed him for several turns, and Fury killing a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and a Stoneforge Mystic.

In game 3, Loran of the Third Path hit an Aether Vial early, delaying his development, and creatures were exchanged back and forth until King Théoden summoned 4 Eorlingas to finish the game.

Another Dimir opponent, but this time in full Reanimation mode. My opponent was an old-school player returning to the circuit, and this was his first tournament in the Eternal Challenge, despite playing since 1998!

The game started with a Grief + Reanimate here, Fable of the Mirror-breaker there, and it entered an unusual situation: he got stuck on 1 land and, after resolving a Chalice, I kept drawing more lands, reaching the point of avoiding attacks from the black Incarnation by the possibility of creating copies of the Goblin Shaman token to generate an extra blocker and using the copies generated at the end of the turn to chip away at life points and accumulate Treasures.

At 1 life, he finally managed to use Animate Dead to put an Archon of Cruelty, discarded due to excessive cards in hand, into play, only to see a horde of Eorlingas summoned by over 7 Treasures entering the game!

In:

Out:

Because it was a Draw and he didn't have Wasteland, I opted to remove a Petal. This game was relatively simple: Chalice on 1, Explorer on 2. He couldn't put anything in the graveyard on the first turn, and it was impossible to hold on.

This time, the opponent was a familiar face on the circuit, with several top 8 finishes and always at the top of the rankings using one of the decks that got new toys with Eldraine.

Since I already knew what he was playing and won the die roll, I went for a hand that could hold him back and generate pressure, and I quickly got a hand that brought Chalice of the Void for 0, Fable of the Mirror-breaker on the first turn, and Initiative on the second turn. One turn before dying, he did the math to see if he could combo and conceded.

In:

Out:

In the second game, I even tried to keep pieces of hate to hold back the combo, but Archon of Emeria fell to Sheoldred’s Edict, Abrupt Decay took down Magus of the Moon, and after drawing several cards with The One Ring, I took a lethal Storm count.

In game 3, the 7-card hand had only 1 Rest in Peace without pressure, so it couldn't be kept. The 6-card hand had nothing to stop the combo, and the 5-card hand... was 7 lands! I kept a hand with Chalice of the Void, Mountain, Simian Spirit Guide, and Fable of the Mirror-breaker, and he kept 6.

I opened with Chalice and lost the Monkey to a Thoughtseize. I had several turns without drawing a land, and he did nothing until I finally managed to play the Fable. He cast a Grief for 4 mana, but unfortunately for him, the second chapter of the Saga found a Magus of the Moon. Without access to colored mana and no access to mana artifacts, he quickly succumbed.

With 12 points, an ID (Intentional Draw) was the ticket to the top 8, and that's exactly what I did. I secured the 7th place and was paired against the opponent I had just drawn with!

Lucas is the least active member of the Nunes family, which also includes the two-time Eternal Challenge champions, Diego and Daniel. However, he made it to another top 8 undefeated, his third – the Nunes DNA has power!

He started with Mother of Runes, and I immediately called in the cavalry with a Forth Eorlingas! for 2 on the first turn, leaving a knight behind to protect the Monarch. Unfortunately for me, even though I managed to defend the emblem for three turns, I basically drew only lands, and he managed to take control and win the first game.

In:

Out:

The second game was quick: I played Magus of the Moon on the first turn, and he failed to draw basic lands, even with an Once Upon a Time. He conceded as soon as I played the second creature, and his top wasn’t giving anything playable.

In the third game, he opened with a pair of Thoughtseize, with Fury being one of the casualties, but I managed to play Archon of Emeria and Seasoned Dungeoneer, significantly slowing down his game. A Ramunap Excavator helped him find basic lands and forced creatures to fight for Initiative.

The crucial play came when he turned to activate a Fiend Artisan by sacrificing a Dryad Arbor and fetching a Knight of the Reliquary, and then attacked with the 4/5 Excavator (Forge counters). That's when I seized the opportunity to play a Solitude, exiling the Artisan and combining it with a Simian Spirit Guide to ambush the Naga Cleric, securing control of the Dungeon. This move left him far behind, and the game was sealed two turns later when I reached the final stage of the Dungeon.

Since I started competing in the Eternal Challenge circuit, Maykon has been playing Zombies. One of the most beloved members of the community, he has been dedicating himself over the years to perfecting his list, and the result was rewarded with another top 8 and his first top 4.

Both players mulliganed, and I kept a somewhat slow hand with 2 lands, and I didn't draw the third one, but I drew a Simian Spirit Guide. Here, I made the risky play that cost me the game: my options were to play a Forth Eorlingas! for 1 token or hold the Monkey to try to play one of the 2 Caves of Chaos Adventurer I had in hand if I drew a land.

I chose the first option and was promptly punished with a Swords to Plowshares. I couldn't recover in the game, falling to the combination of Gravecrawler + Carrion Feeder.

In:

Out:

In the second game, I already had a Caves of Chaos Adventurer in play on turn 1 that he couldn't remove, and it carried the game on its own.

The third game was very unusual: he opened with Gravecrawler, and I started with a Chalice of the Void on 1, which delayed his entire game. In the following turns, he played a Damping Sphere and I a Fable of the Mirror-breaker, losing the token to a Fracture.

And then the game stalled, with him dealing 2 damage per turn with the Zombie and me, believe it or not, attacking with the Reflection of Kiki-Jiki because I had nothing to copy. After several turns in which neither of us did anything other than that, sacrificing Sunbaked Canyon finally found a Seasoned Dungeoneer to seal the game.

The finalist, Hugo Lima, joined the circuit this year, playing for a long time with what I consider the most difficult deck to master in the format: Doomsday. On an upward trajectory, he decided to keep the colors but change the strategy for Eternal Challenge 21, and the gamble paid off; that was his first (I believe many more will come) top 8!

As he finished 8th in the tiebreaker (the first time I've seen that happen, he and Leandro Messere, whom I faced in round 5, tied in points in the first and second tiebreaker, separated by hundredths in the third tiebreaker!), for the first time in this top 8, I had the chance to start on the Play.

And I made good use of it, opening with Chalice of the Void on 1, which resolved, and Seasoned Dungeoneer on 2, which also resolved but was removed. He started casting low-cost spells to be countered by the Chalice to fuel a potential Murktide Regent that came in as a 7/7, but I had a Solitude ready to deal with it, and he ran out of steam when the Dungeon reached the final stage.

In:

Out:

A Chalice on 1 was countered by Force of Will. But a Seasoned Dungeoneer resolved. Again, the Explorer was removed, and he took the Initiative with an Orcish Bowmasters. The key play of the game was when, during the upkeep, he used the Forge to make the Orc Army 3/3, attacked me for 11 life, and played a Death’s Shadow. Because on my turn, I could play a Solitude protected by Cavern of Souls to exile the Orc, raise his life total to 14, killing the Shadow in the process. The White Incarnation regained control of Undercity, and soon the dungeon reached the final stage, and he conceded!

Although I have managed to win intermediate stages of the Eternal Challenge circuit, my last victory in a major tournament was the PTQ Berlin in the so, so distant 2008. I confess, I missed the adrenaline rush that competing and winning at a high level provides.

As for the deck, I wouldn't make any changes to the list if I had to play in a tournament tomorrow, although I understand that the fourth Forth Eorlingas! and the second Touch the Spirit Realm could make room for something more proactive like Anointed Peacekeeper or Boromir, Warden of the Tower.

I feel rewarded for the dedication I had to the archetypes of Chalice of the Void and Sol Lands, first with Eldrazi Aggro in my first top 8 at Eternal Challenge 5 in 2019, then with Red Prison for most of the years, and now with Boros Initiative in stages 20 and 21.

I would like to express my gratitude to the circuit organizers, the stores, all the players who are part of the Legacy community in Brasília, and to Cards Realm for providing a platform to talk about this format that I love! Greetings from the depths of Undercity, and until next time!