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Daily Digest: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

Michael Majors didn’t get to play his first-pick deck choice at Grand Prix San Diego this weekend, but the “backup deck” seems to have worked out pretty well for him as his return luggage includes a trophy.

This is the best type of story. Michael Majors had a rough year, going from nearly Platinum to not even Silver. Finding himself suddenly without a Pro Tour invite, he didn’t know if he even wanted to continue playing Magic. Ultimately deciding not to give up, he entered Grand Prix San Diego with the mantra of “clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose,” and he did just that.

Awkwardly enough, the reason he even ended up playing Andrew Cuneo’s U/R Mill deck is because neither Ross Merriam or I could find our Abzan cards to loan him. He looked for the cheapest option and found the well-positioned U/R Mill deck. All day long, he fought off aggressive decks with Dromoka’s Commands and even Esper Dragons with its counterspells and Thoughtseizes, but he just couldn’t be stopped.

Despite Ensoul Artifact encouraging people to play more enchantment removal, Majors continued to plow through people trying to take out his win condition. As it turns out, cards like Treasure Cruise, Magmatic Insight, and Tormenting Voice are incredibly good at finding backup copies of Sphinx’s Tutelage. When paired with Alhammaret’s Archive, you can really tear through your deck and potentially one-shot your opponent with a Tutelage.

In a field full of green creatures, cards like Anger of the Gods and Roast are incredible. They buy you the time you need to get set up and eventually mill your opponents to death. Send to Sleep is another potential game-breaker, and no deck makes better use of Spell Mastery than this one. Of course, in a deck full of spells, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy is a workhouse, and it even works with Sphinx’s Tutelage!

Welcome back to the Pro Tour Michael Majors — We missed you!