Dustin wins the coin flip and chooses to go first. Dustin is playing a fast Red Black deck while Chris drafted a blue green deck with multiple fliers. Throughout the match both players remain fairly quiet, but very comfortable. There isn't any trash talking at all, but there is a little familiarity, both players having been Pro Tour and Grand Prix regulars.
Stern's deck is full of combat tricks and cards that take advantage of Threshold. Over the course of the first game, Dustin Acceptable Losses one of Chris's creatures, losing an Anarchist, then he Gravediggers his Anarchist, plays Anarchist, retrieving Acceptable Losses, then casts Acceptable Losses again on another of Chris's creatures. He also loses his Gravedigger AND his Anarchist in combat, then Morgue Thefts back Gravedigger, Gravediggers his Anarchist, but wins the game before casting Anarchist again with a Frightcrawler that he cast early in the game after achieving Threshold.
For the second game, Chris decides to play. Chris comes out strong with a good curve for Werebear, Cephalid Scout, Treetop Sentinel (pro green). Dustin Acceptable Losses the Sentinel, losing a Swamp. Chris then enchants his Cephalid with Seton's Desire. Dustin sees this 3/3 Flier as a big threat, so he attacks with his Crypt Creeper (all of Chris's creatures are tapped from attacking), then after combat sacrifices it to remove a card from Pikula's graveyard to put 3 cards in his own graveyard. Dustin then Ghastly Demises for 3, targeting the enchanted Cephalid.
Chris goes on to cast two Dreamwinders to put pressure on Stern. Stern makes a couple of questionable attacks, losing a couple of creatures. This, however, puts him past Threshold, which in turn makes his Shower of Coals VERY GOOD. Stern kills both of Pikula's Dreamwinders and deals Pikula 4 damage, then attacks for the win the following turn.
Dustin Stern-2, Christopher Pikula-0