Keenan Davidson: Angels and Goblins – Kiki-Control in Madison
Prior to the last Nerd Rage Championship Trial in Madison, I found myself stuck on how to attack our new Modern format. I had put in hours on MTGO with multiple Jace decks, Jund, and even Bogles (God is this what I’ve come to) and still had not come to a solid conclusion on what to play the week leading up to the event.
I was having marginal success with the ‘new’ Bloodbraid Elf Tribal Flames Zoo deck when, halfway into a league, I got severely crushed by an old favorite that I had forgotten even existed. Enter Jeskai Kiki Control:
After taking a quick 2-0 loss to the deck, I immediately pulled up my old list from GP Minneapolis a couple years ago and went to work on some minor updates. Once I’d put together a list I felt confident in, I queued up a league and returned to that old feeling of beating up on Jund decks. Now, knowing that people would be looking to sleeve up their Bobs and Bloodbraids I felt like this was an easy decision for Madison. I sent the list to my friend Mitch Weisrock (January’s Standard CT winner) and told him that if he didn’t play this list then to please bring the cards for me to jam this masterpiece. Now on to the tournament recap:
Round 1 – Charles Martin – Burn (W)
This match basically comes down to the amount of Spell Snares and Lightning Helixes I draw, as Wall of Omens protects from Goblin Guide and Swiftspear while I close the game with Restoration Angels and burn spells.
Round 2 – Nate Lisko – Colorless Eldrazi (W)
This deck has some very awkward draws in Serum Powder and additional Chalice of the Voids. My goal here is to slow them down with Field of Ruins and counterspells until I can close the game with the combo or in the air with 1-2 angels, as the deck has a problem dealing with flyers. Unfortunately, Nate drew some of the Serum Powders and a late Dismember with a low life total while dying to a single Restoration Angel.
Round 3 – Timmy Standafer – Mono White Taxes (W)
On paper, this matchup appears to be slanted in my favor, as the removal and creatures in Jeskai line up fairly well against the likes of Leonin Arbiter and Thraben Inspector. As long as I make my land drops I am pretty confident in being able to close the game in short order. This match was also enjoyable as it was against one of the guys that plays at my old local shop in Delavan.
Round 4 – Blair Splett – Tribal Flames Zoo (W)
Being familiar with my opponent’s deck in and out, I knew that as long as I kept pressure off the board that eventually I would be able to close out the game. Wall of Omens, Path to Exile, Lightning Helix, and Lightning Bolt are all great in this matchup. The thing I found while playing the zoo deck myself was that if I could not win within the first 5-6 turns of the game, I was more than likely not going to be able to finish off my opponent. The deck is sweet though! Between Bloodbraid Elf, Mantis Rider, Tarmogoyf, and Wild Nacatl, not to mention Tribal Flames and Boros Charm, the deck has a lot of ways to pressure your opponent’s life total. Luckily Restoration Angel and Wall of Omens do a great job at slowing down BBE and Mantis Rider. At this point, I was 4-0 and felt really good about the day going forward. Then came round 5.
Round 5 – Mason Lange – Draft Commons (Just kidding, W/R Oketra’s Monument) (L)
You can watch our match here (it was a short one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2SlChO0u0
Mason easily had the most unique deck of the tournament, combining Oketra’s Monument with Squadron Hawks, Legion Conquistadors, and Reckless Bushwackers. Game 1 came down to me being overrun by 1/1’s. Game 2 Mason mulliganed to 6 with 1 basic and I showed him the combo on turn 4. Game 3 was a race where I didn’t find an Angel or Exarch on time and Mason proceeded to run me down. Although losing was a beating, at least it was to someone I enjoy being around at these tournaments. Mason would go on to win Round 6 and lock up his Top 8 at this event.
Round 6 – ??? – Grixis As Foretold (Kiki, Griselbrand, Living End) (W)
I didn’t catch my opponent’s name this round as we didn’t speak much during the beginning of the match, but I did know what he was playing from sitting near him most of the day. Game 1 I Logic Knot an As Foretold and go about killing my opponent with the combo a couple turns later. Game 2 my opponent and I played a long, grindy match which ended in a convoluted stack where my opponent exiled a Simian Spirit Guide and tapped his last blue mana to Izzet Charm my Cryptic Command targeting his Living End. Game three I got back in the driver’s seat by using Wear on his turn 3 As Foretold and closing the game out with Restoration Angel.
Round 7 – Sam Black – Lantern (ID)
We decided to intentional draw here since breakers swayed in our favor. On to Top 8!
Top 8 – Tim Greenwood – Jeskai Saheeli (W)
It’s better if you just watch this grindfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY1Xe4Op68U
Top 4 – James Bush – Mardu Pyromancer (L)
In the Top 4 I was paired against another great player in James Bush and lost in three. I knew going in that this was going to be rough, as James came prepared with 12 main deck discard spells. Game 1 wasn’t close as I got locked out by a Blood Moon and proceeded to die to Young Pyromancer and tokens. Game 2 was very good as we went back and forth until I landed a Kiki-Jiki, allowing me to draw cards with Wall of Omens. This gave me the additional draws I needed to look for Restoration Angel. Bush was not able to close out the game with his spirit tokens before I found the combo. Game 3 was rough as James led on discard spell into discard spell, taking away my card draw spells and leaving me with lands and no action. Several turns of Pyromancer and Revelers later, I scooped it up while James went on to win the CT.
Over time, the competition at the Nerd Rage Championship Series has been getting better and better, especially with the inclusion of out-of-state events giving us visibility to surrounding Midwest areas like Madison. As one of the Wisconsin players, I was happy to see this event come to my backyard and provide exposure to the series to other players in the area. Having players like Sam Black, Justin Cohen, and Adrian Sullivan come out and support the series increased the quality of competition at the event as well. With SCG Milwaukee coming up I hope to make the necessary changes to Kiki-Control and continue to post results at that event as well as at future NRG Championship Series events. Hopefully I will see you at one of the next CTs!
Thanks for reading, and if you want to chat more about the deck or the series, feel free to hit me up on Twitter at @King_Dmari32
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