Roc Herms Pont vs. Sam Gomersall

Round Five Feature Match:

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The letter I!t wouldn't be a Spanish Grand Prix without Roc. He's practically part of the staff around here. Although he might not have a lot of top finishes in his curriculum he is still a force to be reckoned with in his home country. Sam is known, of course, from his Pro Tour results.

Game 1

Pont showed he isn't really familiar with new set when he had to read Auriok Glaivemaster. He played Atog and Krak-Clan Grunt but the Glaivemaster grabbed Leonin Bola and started working on his life total while Gomersall dropped Auriok Transfixer and Arcbound Stinger. The race was on. Pont's red creatures swung back and he played his own Arcbound Crusher.

The Englishman did his math and decided it was time to play the equipment game. He attacked with the Glaivemaster and then passed the Bola to his Stinger to tap an incoming creature. The Spaniard snuck in enough damage to keep things balanced and dropped Soldier Replica further messing up any combat math.

A Terror packed the Glaivemaster away and Herms Pont sent his whole crew in before dropping Arc-Slogger. Gomersall's eyebrows reached for the sky. He dropped Spire Golem but it was clear Roc's superior army was locking up the game.

Sam played Somber Hoverguard and the Spanish agonized for a few minutes before Shocking it with Arc-Slogger. Despite Gomersall's two tappers the next swing brought him down to a mere four. A draw later he was scooping his cards.

Roc 1 - Sam 0

Game 2

To make things worse, the Englishman had to send his first hand back. They both played second turn Myrs. Apparently that was quite tricky for Pont. He spent a good minute before deciding he might as well play a third-turn Krak-Clan Grunt after missing his third land drop (his other option was Culling Scales). Across the table Arcbound Hybrid came out swinging followed by Mr. Mishra's Workshop himself: Vedalken Engineer.

Again, Roc Herms Pont lapsed into thought. He sent in his Grunt, sacrificing an artifact to power it through the Hybrid but Gomersall was ready. He played Test of Faith to build a true monster.

Trying to rebuild his army Roc dropped two extra Myrs. Gomersall, untapped nodded and dropped Triskelion wiping them all away. Ouch.

Roc: "That was bad."
Sam: "That was... a very nice turn."

All Pont could do was play Culling Scales while showing the audience the Myrs the Triskelion sent away. A swing and a draw step later he was shuffling his deck and shaking his dead.

Roc 1 - Sam 1

Game 3

Again the Englishman had problems with his initial hand but this time... his second one wasn't any better. He sighed and sent it back. Still unhappy he kept the five. He played a second turn Arcbound Stinger followed by Whispersilk Cloak while Roc played Atog, Viridan Morningstar and Clockwork Condor.

Sam's deck seemed to bounce slightly back. He made his fourth land drop and played Somber Hoverguard. Roc stopped and pondered his options. Finally Barbed Lightning took the Hoverguard away and Gomersall dropped to fifteen.

The Stinger stepped in the way of the Condor and Test of Faith turned it into a 3/3. Roc played Culling Scales and the Stinger grabbed the Whispersilk Cloak. Pont noticed his mistake and smiled.

Sam: "Don't worry. You are still going to win."

The Scales went away but down came Arc-Slogger. Still somewhat lost in the game Pont tried use Blinding Beam on Stinger. He ended up playing a Myr and burning for two. Auriok Transfixer entered the game briefly (the Arc-Slogger promptly sent it away) but it was too little, too late.

A swing later, and despite a chump block, Sam Gomersall was within reach of an Arc-Slogger activation.

Final result: Roc 2 - Sam1

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