by Randy Buehler
Matt Vienneau took his third straight Grand Prix match from Chris Benafel in round 13 to clinch Top 8. That meant round 14 was all about trying to crush Kurtis Hahn's hopes and dreams. The "Fat Man" was the crowd favorite, spreading his permanents out because he's used to playing in fear of Chaos Orb and laughing at Chris Benafel (at the next feature match table over when he noticed they each had Yavimaya Barbarian and Voracious Cobra in play by turn 4).
Vienneau's turn 4 Bog Down with kicker nailed Armadillo Cloak, Aggressive Urge and Mountain, emptying Hahn's hand. Hahn immediately drew a 2nd Aggressive Urge, which killed a creature, followed by a third, which also killed a creature. Matt lifted his eyebrows a bit, Recovered his poor Pouncing Kavu, and replayed it to stabilize the board with him at 6. Explosive Growth (with kicker) eventually took it out again. Vienneau sent his life total back up by Soul Burning a Yavimaya Barbarian and that left the Fat Man with just a Thornscape Familiar. Hahn did the commentary on his next turn for me: "What a rip! Right off the top, would you look at that! I was hoping to draw Contract from Below, but Halam Djinn will do just fine. Take five."
With his lucky (and well decorated) Troll looking down from his hat, Hahn won game 2 by putting Armadillo Cloak on his Mirrorwood Treefolk and all Matt Vienneau could muster in his own defense was a Morgue Toad. It's not easy for black/red decks to operate without Mountains after all. Vienneau did draw his Mountain, but Hahn used two Aggressive Urges and an Explosive Growth to save all his creatures over the course of two turns. Then he untapped and dropped a Halam Djinn. Hello Top 8! Hahn's deck had "some" removal: 4 Aggressive Urges, 2 Explosive Growths, 2 Armadillo Cloaks, and a Gerrard's Command!
Hahn 2 (now 11-2-1)
Vienneau 0 (now 11-2-1)