I told you I'd dust this off before I slept tonight (PTQ report)

Dylan, James, and I went to Dallas for the first local LOR/SHM Block PTQ. Left at Sixish, more like seven, and got there at about Midnight. Cheap room at Motel 6 FTW, and we didn't even get shot. Since we got up at 6:30 and for once had everything go smoothly in the morning we were the first people at the tournament site, except for some guy passed out on the couch. I picked up my last two Puppeteer Cliques for $3 each from some dude before the dealer showed up, so I was set. I had decided to go with Gerry's latest list, which I had only seen Friday night, but I still feel it was the right choice because his reasoning seemed sound and it seemed like we had come to many of the same conclusions about matchups and such. I also trusted a (Semi-, amirite?) Pro to know what to do about potential problems better than I would. On top of that, I didn't mind making a relatively minor departure from the lists I'd been testing since I'd played so many iterations of the deck over the last couple of months. For reference, I registered:

// Lands
4 Island
4 Vivid Grove
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
3 Mystic Gate
3 Vivid Meadow
3 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Sunken Ruins

// Creatures
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
3 Shriekmaw
3 Cloudthresher
2 Oona, Queen of the Fae

// Spells
4 Cryptic Command
4 Firespout
4 Broken Ambitions
3 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Austere Command

// Sideboard
SB: 2 Crib Swap
SB: 4 Plumeveil
SB: 3 Wispmare
SB: 2 Jace Beleren
SB: 1 Negate
SB: 3 Puppeteer Clique

Aussiefox did their usual great job, and there are more hilarious, awful, and embarassing judge stories that I'll just have to tell you all in person (though only one involved Tulsans). They had enough tables for 144 players, but we ended up having 174, so 15 minutes before the tournament was supposed to start, they had everyone step away from the tables so they could push them all together and add another row. 10:00 start time? Make that 10:45. So much for a lunch break.

Round One vs Mirror
The guy flashed me an Austere Command when he was shuffling, so I felt okay. The five land hand I drew was also an easy keep on the draw. He evoked a Mulldrifter on turn three but still missed his sixth land drop. In the meantime I stuck a Kitchen Finks and EOTed a Cloudthresher. He countered it, so I untapped and hardcast Mulldrifter. It was somewhat risky since I only had two lands untapped after that, but I didn't have any counterspells if he decided to just hardcast some crap, and I had two Firespouts (DIAF) and Oona in hand, so I think it was fine. He played a seventh land and Oona, so I untapped and cast my own. He mainphase Mannequined his back, so I cast double Firespout with Broken Ambitions backup, though he didn't try to stop me. He Mannequined it back again, so I Mannequined mine back. I think I stuck another Kitchen Finks at this point and hit him a couple more times. He EOTed a Cloudthresher, which I Cryptic Commanded in Dismiss mode. He untapped and just said go. Then during my upkeep, he tried to Mannequin back his Oona again. Basically, by not mainphasing it so I couldn't Broken Ambtions it, he punted this game. I tapped all but one land to successfully Broken Ambitions it. He was out of gas at this point, and I revealed a Cryptic Command off the clash and killed him with a Kitchen Finks and a Mulldrifter.

Sideboarding: -3 Shriekmaw -4 Firespout -1 Kitchen Finks +1 Negate +2 Jace Beleren +2 Crib Swap +3 Puppeteer Clique
You have a lot of ways to answer Cloudthresher so you don't need to keep any Shriekmaws in. Kitchen Finks to chump twice is great for that. But cutting one is fine since you need one more card to take out and it's not amazing on defense or offense, just okay.

Game two we both led with a couple of Vivids. He blew up a land on turn three with Fulminator Mage, so I played an Island and passed. He went for mainphase Mannequin on the Mage, but I had the Broken Ambitions. I untapped, cast Jace, and drew a card. He Mind Shattered me for three, which I didn't really care about as much with Jace in play. I just drew some more cards and hit all my land drops. He played two more Fulminator Mages and a Mulldrifter, trying to get to my Jace. I make us both draw for a couple of turns to keep Jace alive, but realize that it's futile and just use my last counter off Jace to draw. For the life of me, I can't remember how we got to this spot, but he had a Cloudthresher and Shriekmaw to my Puppeteer Clique, which had taken a Mulldrifter to try to draw action spells, and Kitchen Finks. He attacked with both of them, and I blocked Shriekmaw with Clique and Cloudthresher with Finks. He realized that by attacking with Shriekmaw he was about to lose his Cloudthresher, and I had tapped out for some reason, so he hardcast a second Cloudthresher before damage. Clique took a Fulminator Mage which blew up one of his lands and Cloudthresher finished off my Finks. He was obviously a little miffed about his poor attack and passed with a "come on, Austere Command me." I untapped and did just that. He cast a Mulldrifter and played his ninth land untapped, so I untapped and lived the dream by casting Puppeteer Clique with Cryptic Command backup and killing him with his two Cloudthreshers. Melissa DeTora, eat your heart out.
1-0

Round Two vs Faeries
I lost the die roll and he smacked me a couple of times with a Mutavault. I played a Kitchen Finks in the meantime. He played his fifth land and during my turn five upkeep cast Mistbind Clique. I said okay, and when he activated his Mutavault to champion it I just bounced it and drew a card. It's pretty nice when a counterspell lets you draw a card AND bounce a land too. My Finks got in five times untouched before he resolved a Scion. I had seven lands in play and tried to evoke a Mulldrifter. He had eight lands, four of which were tapped from Cryptic Commanding my EOT Cloudthresher. He decided to cast Spellstutter Sprite in response. I say okay. He activated Mutavault to make it a Faerie. I say okay. He points to Mulldrifter and stares at me. I let him know that Mulldrifter's converted mana cost is still five, and he curses a little while I draw my cards. One is a Firespout, so I wipe his two guys out and get another swing in. I only paid green for the Firespout, but I should have paid both colors to trade a counter on my Finks for his Mutavault too. It didn't matter, because he had drawn a lot of lands, and I won a counterwar next turn over either a Cloudthresher or an Oona so he scooped.

Sideboarding: -2 Austere Command -1 Kitchen Finks -4 Firespout -3 Shriekmaw +1 Negate +4 Plumeveil +2 Crib Swap +3 Wispmare
Firespout and Austere Command will never resolve when you want them to, so they come out. Finks is pretty decent as a threat that just makes them do something eventually or die, as seen in game one. Crib Swap is a fine answer to Scion or Clique.

Game two I just remember him playing two Bitterblossoms, which I was never able to remove. They took him to eight mostly because I had a Plumeveil or two making attacking difficult for him, but he resolved a Scion and I died in two turns.

Game three he played turn one Thoughtseize, turn two Bitterblossom, and it was basically more of game two. Plumeveil was really underwhelming because he was just able to accumulate guys and take apart my Cloudthresher/Mannequin combo with Vendillion Clique then eventually win a counterwar over Scion and just kill me. Three of his tokens had to eat a Kitchen Finks, and double Plumeveil and a lot of counterspells on his first three Scions was almost good enough since he was stuck on four land. But he had double Clique, which I had no answer for, to hold off my Finks, then Mind Shattered for two and hit the Cloudthresher I had just drawn as well as a Mulldrifter, leaving me with just a land. I did make a mistake though, because even though he telegraphed the Shatter, I still played a land after he Cliqued me for some reason. He went from a 1/6 chance to hit both my action spells to a 1/3 chance. He also went from a 50% chance to hit my Cloudthresher to a 67% chance. These things matter, kids. After that I drew four lands in a row and lost.
1-1

Round Three vs Kithkin
My opponent sat down and basically shuffled his Kithkin deck face up, obviously not caring whether I knew what he was playing. He also talked to his friends while he shuffled his deck FOREVER. I had to prod him to get him to present. I won the die roll with a one versus his twenty since he decided he wanted to play low roll. I kept, then he showed his hand to his friend and yelled about how it was so bad and he hated his deck, then showed me his hand and mulliganed. After another marathon shuffling session, his six were good. I drew two Firespouts and he let me Broken Ambitions a two drop and a Spectral Procession, wipe his board a couple of times, hardcast some Shriekmaws and Mulldrifters, and just kinda crush him. Meh.

Sideboarding: -2 Oona, Queen of the Fae -4 Broken Ambitions +2 Crib Swap +4 Plumeveil
So uh, I don't think I should be taking Oona out here, but I felt like it might just get Oblivion Ringed, since I didn't think I could count on this guy to board them all out. I also felt like Cloudthresher was a fine answer to Spectral Procession and the life loss isn't bad enough to pull any of him. But I'm totally open to input on this. Dylan thinks the best way to hold off their Cloudgoat Rangers and token generators late is to just activate Oona, and he's probably right, since you're going to hit like 60% of the time. Maybe I just leave Crib Swap out?

Game two, I don't remember all that much, but I'm pretty sure he had a Burrenton Forge-Tender to trump my one Firespout. He had triple Kinsbaile Borderguard, and my only answer was to somehow Austere Command and Firespout in the same turn without him having a Forge-Tender or killing me before I hit nine mana, but that didn't happen.

Game three he had a slow start with just two hideaway lands on the first two turns. He played out some dorks, including two Wizened Cenns and a Kinsbaile Borderguard. He also got a Miltia's Pride into play. Meanwhile, I played two Mulldrifters, a Kitchen Finks, and a Shriekmaw which killed a Cenn and got Oblivion Ringed. He attacked with just his 5/5 Borderguard, and I put my Finks and only untapped Mulldrifter in front of it. Luckily, he didn't have a pump spell, so he got three tokens from it and passed with about ten creatures in play, as well as his two enchantments. I untapped, attacked with Mulldrifter, and cast the Austere Command I had been sandbagging, killing all his nonland permanents and trading my Mulldrifter for a Shriekmaw. I was momentarily sad he didn't have a Thistledown Liege or Cloudgoat Ranger in play. He was mostly out of gas and I was full of Cryptic Commands, Mulldrifters, and Kitchen Finks, and won on 17 life.
2-1

Round Four vs Elementals
I recognized my opponent as a pretty decent young guy from San Antonio. I punted to him during the Dallas Extended PTQ by using an Engineered Explosives to blow up his Dark Confidant...as well as two of my Tarmogoyfs. He was pretty cocky that day, but as I walked over to the table today, I heard him talking to his neighbor about how nice it is to get free match wins from scrubs. I nodded and started to sit down, and he rolled his eyes and said "not this round." I guess I somehow have street cred?

He won the die roll and mulliganed to six. He lead with a Vivid Crag and Vivid Marsh but had no third land and discards on turn four. I played a Finks, but he Nameless Inversioned it twice. He had only three or four lands in play even after evoking a Mulldrifter, so I cast a Cloudthresher at the end of his turn and bash him down to 11. He evokes a Shriekmaw to kill the Cloudthresher, so I just Mannequin it back and bash him down to 2. He tries to evoke another Shriekmaw, but I counter it and he scoops.

Sideboarding: -4 Kitchen Finks -2 Cloudthresher +1 Negate +3 Puppeteer Clique +2 Crib Swap
Kitchen Finks has a hard time getting through all his guys, and he can just ambush you and do mean, mean things if you let him keep Incandescent Soulstoke on the board. But you can fight him with Puppeteer Clique and of course all your spot removal. A lot of times there won't be much you can do about Reveillark, because they just have so many ways to get it into play. But you still have to fight it, and hopefully Clique it and get back some Mulldrifters to keep up on cards.

I actually boarded incorrectly for game two because all I saw were Nameless Inversions, Shriekmaws, and a Mulldrifter, along with some lands. I didn't know for sure what creatures he was playing, though I guess the Vivid Crags and lack of Vivid Creeks and blue filter lands should have tipped me off. So I boarded out a couple of Firespouts for some reason, which I really needed instead of the terrible Kitchen Finks, and lost to a lot of uncounterable Reveillark and Mulldrifter recursion via Soulstoke.

Game three, I Shriekmawed a Smokebraider and Firespouted a Soulstoke. He Fulminator Maged me, then his second Soulstoke stuck. With four lands in play he produced GW off Fire-Lit Thicket and Two Vivid Crags, and cast Gaddock Teeg. I Dismissed it with Cryptic Command, so he Soulstoked a Reveillark into play, bashed me for five, and returned Teeg and another Soulstoke. Frowns. I used Puppeteer Clique to blow up one of his lands and found a second Firespout a couple of turns later. Some of the details are a little fuzzy again here, but I Cliqued a Mulldrifter at some point and just attacked him with a Clique a few times. I also Firespouted his ground guys, but he put a Reveillark into play in response. Because I expected him to return Gaddock Teeg and my hand was Cryptic Command and Broken Ambitions, I decided to just tap the Reveillark and draw a card to get some damage in and hopefully a castable card. To my surprise, he returned two Soulstokes, which I guess is actually okay since he doesn't care about my counterspells as long as he doesn't need to actually cast spells to win. I Shriekmawed one of them and took him to nine with Puppeteer Clique and Mulldrifter beatdown. When he tried to cast a Gaddock Teeg on five land, I Broken Ambitioned it for two, which he paid, tapping him down to one. I then cast my third Puppeteer Clique, returned Reveillark, and attacked with Reveillark, Shriekmaw, and a 2/1 Clique for exactly lethal. In other words, I drew three Puppeteer Cliques, GG.
3-1

Round Five vs Kithkin
I recognized this guy from Wichita PTQs and JSS/MSS Qualifiers. The Wichita crew was surprisingly big this time, I'd guess about eight, and as far as I know none of them got a hotel. I mean seriously, they're two hours farther away then us, yet they had two carloads of people compared to our less than one? Hmm...but my opponent was pretty quiet and just nondescript. Sometimes I'll chat it up with my opponents, but we rarely even said anything when we passed the turn this match since we just gave the hand wave. Efficient.

Game one, my opponent plays turn one Goldmeadow Stalwart revealing Wizened Cenn, turn two double Burrenton Forge-Tender. No dummy, this guy. Kitchen Finks made me feel good about myself, but then he played Mirror Entity and Wizened Cenn and killed me in two big swings. My hand had two Firespouts, but no Shriekmaw, Austere Command, or even Cryptic Command.

Sideboarding: -2 Oona, Queen of the Fae -4 Broken Ambitions +2 Crib Swap +4 Plumeveil

Game two, I Shriekmawed my opponent's turn one Forge-Tender then cast two Firespouts and Austere Command within four turns. He also ran two guys into Plumeveils. Yeah, I won that one.

Game three, my opponent had a Forge-Tender, but I was able to Crib Swap it and wipe his board. I probably panicked about a Knight of Meadowgrain a little too early, but I removed that as well. He cast Spectral Procession, so I hardcast mainphase Cloudthresher. He cast another Spectral Procession, but I attacked with both a Kitchen Finks and Cloudthresher one turn because I didn't see his Mutavalt when he had some dorks and I was at 5. I had to keep the Finks back to block, but didn't, so I had to waste a Cryptic Command on tapping his guys two turns in a row while trying to topdeck an Austere Command (he obviously had Forge-Tender too). In the meantime, he resolved two more Spectral Processions and a Cloudgoat Ranger. I didn't rip. Punting FTL.
3-2, drop

So basically, I really liked the deck. I sorta wish the Plumeveils were 3 Nameless Inversions and an Austere Command, because Command is just so good against Kithkin, and Nameless Inversion is good against both Kithkin and Faeries since it kills Scion and basically any Kithkin, obviously. Plumeveil was not that great against Faeries because like I said, they can just sit around and accumulate guys until they kill you with Scion. But then again, they would just kill you with their tokens if you didn't have a giant wall, so maybe they just don't need Scion to win if you don't play Plumeveils. Also, against Kithkin, yeah they usually run a guy into it and have to Oblivion Ring it or whatever, but they can push through a lot of damage just by swarming you. It's pretty awesome against the all grizzly bear draw though I suppose. Nameless Inversion would be just another removal spell for Wizened Cenn, Knight of Meadowgrain, Mirror Entity, and Burrenton Forge-Tender. It does nothing about swarms, but you would have access to seven sweepers, and it's not like Plumeveil really helps against swarms either. Kitchen Finks is so much better than Fulminator Mage. You get to chump block twice and gain four life? And attack for more damage against Faeries? Man, I guess the Frenchies had it right all along.

Even though I lost, I don't feel too bad, because I only saw about three or four blatantly incorrect plays out of all the decisions I had to make today. That was certainly fewer than I saw my opponents make, which is nice. I also learned a lot about my deck and the format in general. I certainly think I'll be playing Five-Color Control at least until Eventide comes out, and we'll see what happens after that. Input welcome on the Plumeveil slots in the sideboard and how to board against Kithkin. Also on how I write way too much and tl;dr, etc.

That was a quality write-up.

Same shit from the 2 ptq's i went to, basically.

snoozeallday wrote:Same shit from the 2 ptq's i went to, basically.

From what I saw, there was less Faeries and more Kithkin than I expected. Apparently there were also a lot of Merfolk at the top tables somehow. I don't really understand how though since it's so bad against Kithkin. The few people that I saw playing 5-Color Control had no clue what they were doing.

has anyone tested brigid in 5 color sb's?

samthevindicator wrote:has anyone tested brigid in 5 color sb's?

Not that I've seen, I'll have to think about that. Then you might board in Wispmare, which is nice anyway to kill Militia's Pride, and keep Oona in. But I don't know how you're going to find that much space.

samthevindicator wrote:has anyone tested brigid in 5 color sb's?

Seriously, that seems fucking hot.

Great write up Ben! So... how did the rest of the crew do? I guess you can call it a crew but barely. Let's hear it! Any bad Aussie Fuck calls? Were any of you're opponents pricks, etc. ?

Dylan went 1-2 drop, James went 2-3. The one judge situation involving a Tulsan was with me in round 3 against Kithkin, during game 2. My opponent had 2 Forge-Tenders and a Wizened Cenn, ~5 lands including a Windbrisk Heights. He asked a judge if he could attack with his guys, activate Heights, and "do this" pointing to the card under the Heights. The judge said yes, that works. It turns out, it was Milita's Pride, and he obv can't activate it this turn. So I tell the judge and he fetches the head judge who rules in my favor. He gets to back up to the declare attackers step which is fair, but does it anyway, and I continue to smash him.

There were two instances of what I consider fairly blatant cheating that both occured when judges were watching. I told the judge about one and it sparked a fairly heated conversation. All my opponents were fine, but I didn't really get any free wins.

Very good report.

Plumeveil does help deal with swarms, which you basically already said. If you didn't have it, the tokens would kill you. Spot removal isn't going to do that. Obviously the problem in those situations is the Bitterblossom and not the Scion. Why don't you ever try drawing Wispmare?

Scott Barrentine - 1st place
4 Cursecatcher
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Sower of Temptation
2 Sygg, River Guide
2 Mirror Entity
3 Sage's Dousing
4 Ponder
4 Cryptic Command
1 Mirrorweave
4 Wanderwine Hub
4 Mutavault
3 Mystic Gate
2 Plains
11 Island
0 Sideboard:
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Plumeveil
4 Curse of Chains
2 Reveillark
2 Wispmare

Kinny Fain - 2nd place
4 Bitterblossom
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Scion of Oona
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Sower of Temptation
2 Vendillion Clique
2 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
4 Nameless Inversion
3 Thoughtseize
1 Leechridden Swamp
4 Swamp
9 Island
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Mutavault
0 Sideboard:
1 Broken Ambitions
2 Peppersmoke
2 Shriekmaw
3 Incremental Blight
3 Negate
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Thoughtseize

Paul Hagan - 3rd place
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Scion of Oona
2 Vendillion Clique
4 Cryptic Command
4 Mistbind Clique
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Broken Ambitions
3 Peppersmoke
3 Thoughtseize
4 Bitterblossom
4 Nameless Inversion
8 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins
4 Swamp
0 Sideboard:
2 Faerie Trickery
2 Incremental Blight
2 Mind Shatter
1 Peppersmoke
3 Puppeteer Clique
3 Shriekmaw
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Thoughtseize


Mark Hendrickson - 4th place
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Island
4 Fire Lit Thicket
4 Vivid Marsh
3 Vivid Grove
4 Sunken Ruins
4 Shriekmaw
4 Broken Ambitions
3 Festercreep
4 Mulldrifter
3 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Incendiary Command
4 Cryptic Command
4 Firespout
3 Cloudthresher
2 Horde of Notions
0 Sideboard:
1 Cloudthresher
4 Plumeveil
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Crib Swap
2 Mind Shatter
3 Puppeteer Clique

David Gan -5th place
1 Wooded Bastion
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Grove
4 Vivid Crag
1 Sunken Ruins
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Primal Beyond
2 Mystic Gate
2 Graven Cairns
2 Fire-lit Thicket
4 Smokebraider
3 Shriekmaw
4 Reveillark
4 Mulldrifter
4 Incandescent Soulstoke
1 Horde of Notions
4 Flamekin Harbinger
3 Cloudthresher
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Wispmare
2 Makeshift Mannequin
3 Nameless Inversion
1 Crib Swap
0 Sideboard:
1 Cloudthresher
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Guttural Response
1 Spite Bellows
2 Festercreep
2 Eyes of the Wisent
3 Firespout
1 Incremental Blight

Pete Picard - 6th place
4 Shard Volley
4 Lash Out
4 Tarfire
4 Mudbrawler Cohort
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Boartusk Liege
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Firespout
3 Flame Javelin
4 Forest
4 Fire-lit Thicket
15 Mountain
0 Sideboard:
2 Cloudthresher
4 Puncture Bolt
3 Incendiary Command
3 Vexing Shusher
3 Guttural Response


Ryan Peek - 7th place
4 Scion of Oona
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Bitterblossom
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Thoughtseize
4 Cryptic Command
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Sower of Temptation
3 Vendillion Clique
2 Broken Ambitions
8 Island
4 Swamp
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins
0 Sideboard:
4 Incremental Blight
3 Shriekmaw
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Peppersmoke
2 Negate

Casey Stewart - 8th place
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Sower of Temptation
2 Sygg, River Guide
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
4 Cryptic Command
4 Sage's Dousing
3 Negate
2 Broken Ambitions
4 Ponder
4 Mutavault
4 Wanderwine Hub
3 Mystic Gate
13 Island
0 Sideboard:
4 Leech Bonder
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Oona, Queen of the Fae
3 Faerie Trickery
1 Negate
1 Island
1 Broken Ambitions

Leech Bonder > Curse of Chains imo

aceben3 wrote:Leech Bonder > Curse of Chains imo

I think I'd have to disagree on that one. I mean, you're essentially looking at cards to solve two totally different situations. Leech Bonder gives you edge against the Faerie matchup, while Curse solves the what I'll call "Finks-Plumeveil" problem. Considering he's only got the two Wispmares in the board, apparently the guy doesn't feel too bad about his Faerie matchup.

On a somewhat related note, the more I see the Merfolk deck, the more I think it's just way better than the Kithkin deck. It's probably got the most card advantage of any deck of the format, period, and in an aggro deck. It's top drop slot is an immeasurably bigger bomb than Cloudgoat Ranger. You lose out on the swarm aspect, but come on, you get fucking Cryptic Command to replace it. You've also got 8 solid post-board answers to Firespout that come out on turn 1. When I look at the first place list, I hardly even miss the Lords of Atlantis. You've got the 4th Sower, which is just an excellent card in this format, 2 Mirror Entity (just about as good as a lord), and the singleton Mirrorweave. Those seem about as good as some Lords, to me. I also like Cursecatcher even more in this format than I do in Standard, since the format's major answers to aggro in Block are Firespouts, Commands, and Mannequins. For these cards to work like they need to, they pretty much have to come out on the first possible turn that they can come online. Cursecatcher fucks that plan up all to hell. Let's also not forget, you essentially play the Faerie gameplan, but you're just totally unfazed by Cloudthresher. The only downside I see with the deck is that you get burnt by Peppersmoke more than Faeries or Kithkin.

Leech Bonder is just much better against Kithkin, which is your worst matchup imo. The only guy you really want to Curse of Chains is Knight of Meadowgrain. Which is nice, but Leech Bonder actually messes up combat and is a 3/3 in two turns. He also gives you a slowish option for dealing with swarms. Curse is okay in other matchups, but does it do anything Oblivion Ring doesn't? And do you want more than 4 of that effect? Is it worth boarding a card that's just one mana cheaper than what you're already doing? Curse is better against big green things if you just can't beat a G/W deck or G/R Shamans. But I don't think that's reason enough for me to like it.

The more I look at Merfolk, the more I wonder how he dodged Kithkin that much.

Well then, wouldn't Brigid just be way better?

i still have yet to cast that card but it's possible...

I think the point is just that the guy tried to use the cards that were best across the board, which was probably best for him, since I don't think there was a Kithkin deck in the top tables after like round 4. If you wanted to fight just Kithkin, it seems to me like your best bet would be to use the exact same cards Kithkin decks do for the mirror: Pollen Lullaby, Ajani, Brigid, etc. But, as more and more people start going with other decks, I think the more versatile Chains is probably the right call. I mean, the guy is still running Plumeveils in the board, too.

Seems fine. I guess Leech Bonder is only good if you decide to play monoblue for some reason. Like you said, might as well just play the stuff they board for the mirror if you're UW.