Swiss Nationals 2009 - Round 5 - Mark Schwass vs. Tommi Lindgren

Mark Schwass (UW) - Tommi Lindgren (Esper)

by Rémy Solna and Guillaume Baudois

For the 5th round, we have the defending Swiss National Champion Mark "Le Maître" Schwass in the feature match area against level 3 Pro Player Tommi Lindgren who has 67 lifetime pro points!

Swiss Nationals 2009 Coverage Day 1

Article by Editor Andy on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 10:52

Average:

We bring you exclusive in-depth coverage of one of the first premier events to feature the new cards from M10 as well as the new rules!

Some of the best pro players in the game such as Manuel Bucher and Nico Bohny are battling for the national champion title. If you are looking for the latest Standard decktech or the best booster draft strategies, you should not miss out on this!

Marc Schwass vs Tommi Lindgren
Marc Schwass (on the right) is thinking hard, while coverage reporter
Guillaume Baudois is working hard to bring you all the action from Nationals.

Game 1

Versions:
Conflux (Foil)

The first Game is really quick, as Mark Schwass starts with an Esper Stormblade, a Parasitic Strix, a Deft Duelist and an Aven Squire, while Tommi, already a bit behind because he lost the toss, could only play an Obelisk on turn 3. He then blocks with an Ethersworn Shieldmage and a Sewn-Eye Drake to gain some time, but concedes on the following attack.

Lindgren 0 - Schwass 1

Game 2

The second game lasts much longer, with both players trading some classic esper commons (Ethercaste Knight, Deft Duelist, Khatari Screecher, Tidehollow Strix and so on). Mark has the advantage because he gets a Thopter Foundry into play.

When we reach turn 9, the game moves to another stage, and it is rare bombs time! Tommi, still behind, plays a Filigree Angel to gain 12 life, and then attacks with an Architects of Will to put the lifetotals in his favor, at 17-16.

Mark answers this with a Sigil of Distinction (with only 5 lands in play on his side), equips his Aven Squire and attacks for 7, putting Tommi to 10 life. The sky becomes even more crowded, with an Aven Mimeomancer. Both players try to attack a bit during the following turns while keeping some creatures in defense, but Mark, despite trying to sneak in as many damage as possible, can't win a race where Blister Beetle and other 1/1 creatures turn into 3/1 flyers.

Lindgren 1 - Schwass 1

Game 3

This game is not really close at all, because even if Mark did his best to race, 3 key things happened:

Tommi Lindgren brings the beats.

1) Mark somehow chose to be very courteous to his opponent, and mulliganed down to 6 cards... without drawing his initial 7! He and the table judge notice it too late into the game to change it and after consulting the Head Judge it is decided, that Mark can not draw another card. The whole situation is very amusing because the judges discuss the problem and find out that there has never before been anything like that. Mark says that he officially invented the "courtesy mulligan".

2) A Behemoth Sledge enters play on Tommi's side on turn 5.

3) While Mark still in decent shape (for a guy doing a politeness mulligan facing a Behemoth Sledge), Tommi then gained 9 more life with a Filigree Angel.

So, as you probably already guessed...

Tommi Lindgren wins this round 2-1

Lindgren 2 - Schwass 1

Decklists

Esper draft deck by Tommi Lindgren (Swiss Nationals 2009)

Deck by Editor Andy on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 10:26

This decklist was played by Tommi Lindgren during the first draft of Swiss Nationals 2009 and forms part of the exclusive Blackborder.com Swiss Nationals coverage.