Round 6 Feature Match - Benjamin Spencer (Omni/Door) vs Joey Merlino (Naya)
Time to have some fun in the feature match area. It’s not often that you get to stream a match where you attempt to cast Omniscience in Standard.
Game one starts slowly with a turn three Borderland Ranger for Joey, fetching a Forest. Benjamin takes the early turns to develop his land and play a Chromatic Lantern. Borderland Ranger attacks Benjamin down to 18, but Joey decides to not play another spell. Ranger’s Path is the next ramp spell of choice for Benjamin. Sensing it won’t be needed for creatures, Joey casts Searing Spear targeting Benjamin at the end of the turn. Thundermaw Hellkite leads to a 7 point attack from Joey.

With Benjamin at 8, a Supreme Verdict clears the board. Strangleroot Geist and Pillar of Flame are used to cut Benjamin’s life total in half. With his ramping complete, Benjamin summons Angel of Serenity to attempt to deal with Strangleroot Geist. Joey answers with Selesnaya Charm on the Angel. A Terminus off of the top deals with the Geist for good. Benjamin finally has enough land to cast the combo in his deck (Omniscience/Door to Nothingness), but Restoration Angel enters play just in time to kill Benjamin before the Door is slammed.
Joey 1, Benjamin 0
Game two brings another Borderland Ranger from Joey. Thragtusk is the first play of the game for Benjamin, bring him up to 25 life. Joey passes the turn with no play. Benjamin ramps with Ranger’s Path, which Joey responds with Restoration Angel, blinking the Borderland Ranger. Thundermaw Hellkite enters the battlefield; the two fliers attack Benjamin down to 17. Increasing Ambition tutors Benjamin a card, The next play is a Supreme Verdict to leave just a Beast token in play. Joey starts to rebuild with Huntmaster of the Fells. Two more tutors is the reward for Benjamin after he flashed back Increasing Ambition. Joey drops to 14 after a Beast token attack. The counterattack by Huntmaster and his wolf friend was met with a blinding Fog.
The second copies of Ranger’s Path and Increasing Ambition were played by Benjamin. Joey flashes in Restoration angel, targeting the Huntmaster of the Fells. The alpha strike drops Benjamin to 8 life. Benjamin casts the Omniscience which he likely tutored for, then casts Terminus for free. He then plays all of the cards from his hand to setup the game winning Door to Nothingness.

However, Joey has the Crushing Vines to remove the Door. An Oblivion Ring removes the Omniscience, forcing Benjamin to play fair. A Supreme Verdict from the Benjamin attempts to buy him more turns. Thragtusk enters play for Joey in another attempt to rebuild. Benjamin casts his ‘backup’ win conditions in Thragtusk and Angel of Serenity, which removes Joey’s Thragtusk. After no plays from Joey, a Rhox Faithmender enters the battlefield for Benjamin. Eventually, Benjamin combines his Angel with Kessig Wolf Run to send the match to a deciding Game 3.
Joey 1, Benjamin 1

Joey is forced to mulligan to six while on the play. The first spell of the last game is Huntmaster of the Fells for the Naya deck. Benjamin counters that with Rhox Faithmender. An attack plus the transformation of the Werewolf to Ravager status drops Benjamin to 14 before ten life is gained from a summoned Thragtusk. Thundermaw Hellkite enters the play and Selesnaya charm removes Thragtusk. After Rhox Faithmender blocks the Wolf Token, Searing Spear kills the cleric. Benjamin follows with a Terminus to sweep the board. Strangleroot Geist is Joey’s first followup. Temporal Mastery provides Benjamin with a second turn. He uses this extra turn for a Sphinx’s Revelation and an Angel of Serenity. Crushing Vines deals with the Angel as Geist attempts to finish off Benjamin. Increasing Ambition provides a tutor and is eventually flashed back for an additional two cards. A Knight token from Selesnaya Charm and Huntmaster of the Fells are the latest creatures to enter play for the Naya player. Benjamin counters with Thragtusk, looking to buy enough turns to set up Omniscience. By the way, when I meant Omniscience, I meant Worldfire. Both players’ life totals fall to one once the Worldfire resolves. Thanks to Thragtusk, the resulting 3/3 token wins the match for Benjamin.
Yes folks, that was a Worldfire kill in Standard. Pigs are flying overhead as you read this.
Benjamin Spencer defeats Joey Merlino 2-1
