Here I am back again for my fourth article on CardShark and I get to discuss a very lopsided loss I had to the one and only Joanie (My Wife). First for the decklist:

Spells (22)
4 Volcanic Hammer
4 Seal of Fire
4 Lightning Helix
4 Demonfire
4 Devouring Light
2 Scour

Creatures (16)
4 Sunhome Enforcer
4 Firemane Angel
4 Skyknight Legionnaire
4 Shard Phoenix

Land (22):
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Boros Garrison
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Plains
6 Mountains

I'll skip listing the sideboard since the only cards that were relevant were Blood Moon and Sacred Ground.

Here is a brief description of how my deck should work:

Direct damage should be used to clear away early creatures or flying creatures. Late game it can be used to finish off your opponent. This deck has 12 life gaining cards so Scour can be very helpful against any deck playing Rain of Gore. Devouring Light was used only because my wife was using my Wrath of Gods. I would have beaten her with them.

Creatures were each chosen for a certain reason. Firemane Angel is good against Control or any deck that deals a lot of damage. Shard Phoenix is great at clearing the field of small non-flying creatures. Skyknight Legionnaire is added for an aggressive creature to get some early evasive damage in. Sunhome Enforcer forces opponents to hold back their attacks while gaining you lots of life when you attack.

Round 1 vs. Kyle Martins playing Black/White Orzhov
Game 1:
I find out why my deck really needs Wrath instead of Devouring Light – because of the card advantage it creates. I don't draw a single Devouring Light but I am able to burn away all his early creatures until he gets out 2 Paladin en-Vec's. I have a Sunhome Enforcer out but can't gain any life with him. He ends up beating me down with the two Paladins.

Game 2:
I luck out. He does not draw a single Paladin en-Vec. Recurring Shard Phoenix keeps all his creatures off the board. Sunhome Enforcer goes all the way.

Game 3:
I open with no land and mulligan down to 6 cards. The one significant card I sided in was 2 Blood Moon. You might think Blood Moon hurts me but it actually helps me with Shard Phoenix and Sunhome Enforcer. He never draws a basic land. All he is able to play is a turn one Savannah Lion and a turn 2 Dark Confidant which both meet early demises by the hand of my Seal of Fires.

Matches: 2-1-0
Rounds: 1-0-0

Round 2 vs. Dan Jordan playing Heartbeat
Game 1:
Not much to say about this game. He beats me down on turn 7 getting the combo off. Maga for the win.

Game 2:
This game is worse than the first. He combo's off on turn 5. Maga for the win.

Matches: 2-3-0
Rounds: 1-1-0

Game 3 vs. Joanie (My Wife) playing Green White
Game 1:
This game really shows me why I need to play Wrath of God over Devouring Light. I am able to burn away most of her early creatures. The she gets out her Silhana Ledgewalker which I cannot kill because of all my removal targeting her creatures. The turn after that she casts Moldervine Cloak. I am able to block a few times with Skyknight Legionnaires. The game goes sour for me when she is able to cast and equip a Loxodon Warhammer on her Ledgewalker. I cannot handle that. I lose bad.

Game 2:
This was one of the worst losses I've ever had and it could have been much worse. Turn 2 Joanie casts her Ledgewalker. Turn 3 She Moldervine Cloak's it. I block with a Skyknight Legionnaire. I'm holding a Shard Phoenix in my hand with two more lands. Turn 4 she ends my hopes of killing the Ledgewalker by casting another Moldervine Cloak. Since my wife is still a beginner I was able to bluff a bit and I was able to prevent her from attacking for a few turns. That enabled me to get enough mana out to block with my Shard Phoenix and return to my hand each turn. Meanwhile she casts her third Moldervine Cloak. I'm still able to bluff her out a bit, while blocking the few turns she does attack. To add insult to the attack she is able to cast 2 Loxodon Warhammers and equip to her Ledgewalker. Two turns to kill me. No Wrath of God's for her next week. They will be all mine!!!!

Matches: 2-5-0
Rounds: 1-2-0

Round 4 vs. Doug (Cole ??) playing Black, Green, Red Land Destruction
Game 1:
Dough plays a turn 1 Llanowar Elf then starts destroying my lands. He seems to be playing a lot of nonbasic lands, so I know how to sideboard.

Game 2:
I use burn to kill all elves and birds to keep him one mana away from doing anything for most of the game. I get out a Sacred Ground and that neutralizes most of the cards in his hand. I win with a Shard Phoenix going in for the kill.

Game 3:
I finally see Blood Moon in my opening hand. On turn 3 I play it and he only sees 2 basic land and none of his red land destruction cards. Sunhome Enforcer wins the game.

Matches: 4-6-0
Rounds: 2-2-0

Overall Wrath of God would have helped me win the games against my wife but I don't think there is anything I could have done differently against the Heartbeat deck.