“My wife told me to come home with money,” Štěpán Dudešek said, “‘Or don't come home at all.'”

This at least Dudešek had already accomplished, as he would walk away with at least 600 Euros in MagicCardMarket.eu credit. Now the Affinity player was one match win away from the top prize of 1,200 Euros. All that he needed to do was overcome Philipp Schmidt and his Elves.

“My wife just told me to come home, period,” said Schmidt

Game 1

Schmidt kept a one-land hand and had his first two creatures, Llanowar Elves both, grilled by Galvanic Blasts. Schmidt had a third, while Dudešek summoned Arcbound Ravager, Signal Pest, and Vault Skirge. Schmidt still had no second land, but did have a pair of Elvish Mystics.

Štěpán Dudešek

However, when Dudešek cast Cranial Plating the resulting attack, his first of the game, already brought Schmidt to 10. Schmidt cast more Elves and passed his turn with two ground blockers. To no avail. Master of Etherium meant that Signal Pest and Vault Skirge could attack for another 10 points of damage.

Philipp Schmidt 0-1 Štěpán Dudešek

Game 2

Schmidt mulliganed to five, though a good five. His turn-two Elvish Archdruid met Galvanic Blast, but his Eldritch Evolution on the following turn put Kataki, War's Wage onto the map, and that lived.

On his upkeep, Dudešek sacrificed Vault Skirge as well as Mox Opal and went down to just two permanents. He didn't draw another land now, and he also didn't draw another land on the next turn when he sacrificed his remaining artifact. In the meantime, Schmidt had assembled an army of Heritage Druid, Elvish Archdruid, and Ezuri, Renegade Leader to go along with his Kataki.

Philipp Schmidt

“You're at 13?” Schmidt asked. He went to attack with all but the Archdruid, activated Archdruid and Ezuri, and counted out the damage. “That's 13.”

Dudešek just nodded and packed in his cards. Which didn't take long, considering he was still at just one permanent.

Philipp Schmidt 1-1 Štěpán Dudešek

Game 3

This time it was Dudešek's turn to mulligan to five. He made more than up for his card disadvantage, though, with Grafdigger's Cage. Over the course of the game, this left three Collected Company and one Eldritch Evolution stuck in Schmidt's hand.

An assortment of Elves, boosted by Elvish Archdruid, still managed to bring Dudešek to 4, then 2, before Ghirapur Aether Grid got rid of the Archdruid and made further attacks unprofitable. Soon all Elves were dead and thanks to Cranial Plating it didn't take long for Schmidt to follow.

Philipp Schmidt 1-2 Štěpán Dudešek

Afterward, the players went over a couple of key moments in their match.

“Kataki was brutal in the second game,” Dudešek said.

“And I have so many ways to find it,” Schmidt pointed out. Only in the final game, due to Grafdigger's Cage, he of course didn't …

Congratulations to Štěpán Dudešek, Modern champion of the MKM Series Prague 2016!