2026 Grand Contest Hartford Recap — 23rd Place w/ImmOrbal Throne Magician

Sorcery: Contested Realm · by ForceofPhil · October 26, 2026

The 2026 Grand Contest Hartford occurred on Saturday, October 24, at the Connecticut Convention Center. I brought yet another version of {The Immortal Throne} {Magician} list I've been working on. I moved away from being so reliant on Frogs to enable payoffs like {Dhol Chants} toward [fire] for {Searing Truth} and powerful sites like {Fields of Camlann} to remove exposure to {Mock Court}.

The shift resulted in a significantly more Magics-focused Spellbook, leading to sweet tech like {Orb of Ba'al Berith} which generated some insane turns.

I hope to return to a more Frog-forward build soon, and the optimal version might be somewhere in between. Here's what I brought to Hartford:

[fire][water][air][earth] ImmOrbal Throne Magician

DECKLIST_START

Minions (5)

1 {Highland Princess} [2][air][air]
1 {Morgana le Fay} [3][fire][fire][fire]
1 {The Lady of the Lake} [3][water][water][water]
2 {Salmon of Knowledge} [3][water][water]

Artifacts (19)

1 {Aquamarine Core} [1]
1 {Amethyst Core} [1]
1 {Ruby Core} [1]
1 {Onyx Core} [1]
1 {Key to the City} [1]
1 {Philosopher's Stone} [1]
1 {Ring of Morrigan} [1]
1 {Kythera Mechanism} [1]
4 {Wiccan Tools} [2]
1 {Shrine of the Dragonlord} [2]
1 {Silver Bullet} [2]
1 {Four Waters of Paradise} [2]
1 {Pnakotic Manuscript} [2]
1 {The Immortal Throne} [4]
1 {13 Treasures of Britain} [4]
1 {Orb of Ba'al Berith} [5]

Magics (16)

3 {Divine Healing} [1][earth][earth][earth]
1 {Plague of Frogs} [1][water][water][water]
1 {Browse} [1][air][air][air]
1 {Immolation} [1][fire][fire][fire]
1 {Pendragon Legacy} [1][earth][earth]
2 {Return to Nature} [2][water]
3 {Searing Truth} [3][fire][fire]
1 {Pact with the Devil} [4][fire][fire]
2 {Poison Nova} [5][fire]
1 {Chaoswish} [6][water][water][air][air]

Auras (2)

1 {The Great Famine} [4][fire][fire]
1 {Atlantean Fate} [5][water][water]

Collection (10)

1 {Ferryman's Coin} [1]
1 {Exhume} [2][earth]
1 {Dredge} [2][water]
1 {Poisonous Dagger} [2]
1 {Sunken Treasure} [3]
1 {Scatter} [3][water][air]
1 {Swap} [3][water][water]
1 {Scavenging Fiend} [4][fire]
1 {Poison Nova} [5][fire]
1 {Muirid Fomorians} [7][water][water]

DECKLIST_END

En route to this list, I was on a {Demonic Contract} build, which I'm still working on. The problem with solving tutor-focused builds is reigning in the potential to do everything. Along the way, I explored a build with 4 {Blink} to move onto {Vaults of Zul} in the early game. Drawing four cards on turn two was extremely appealing, and I didn't mind letting the opponent get an extra turn if it meant I was resource-flush.

I still think that line is hot A.F., but cut the {Blink}s since my desired opening hands included {Searing Truth} and a way to cast it on turn two. That meant prioritizing [fire][fire] over any other threshold, which is why the absent tri-site is the [fire]-less {Tintagel}.

In the aforementioned potentially optimal in-between build, some {Blink} might be attractive, since having a proactive way to get out of a projectile's path without conceding a turn of site-development is extremely attractive. {Pudge Butcher}s are still abundant in the Realm.

Round One | L

I drove to the tournament with {Ironclad} Jack, who posted a solid 4-2 finish, but heavy traffic made us late and cost us round one. We didn't intend to start our tournament with this kind of loss, but everyone loves an underdog comeback.

Round Two vs Tony | {Savior} | L

The underdog comeback was still far off as I mulliganed three cards with a one-site opener and passed every turn until I died. My second site was the 23rd card down, resulting in a non-game. While unfortunate and improbable, it is the implicit risk of {Magician}.

Luckily, Tony is a wonderful member of the community, and it's always a pleasure to sit across the Realm from him.

Round Three vs Mitch | Colorless {Ironclad} | W

I paired against the other {Ironclad} player in the event. Mitch has been brewing his threshold-less version of the deck for a while, and the match had some really wild interactions.

The most notable one, which likely gave me the time needed to scale {The Immortal Throne}, was {Silver Bullet} animated by {Infusion Factory}. Mitch, playing out this interaction for the first time, sacrificed the bullet to itself since it has its own bearer abilities and reached for his Collection. We double-took each other as though realizing in that moment...

Judge!

Zach, the esteemed head judge of the tournament, came over and confirmed our suspicion: since the {Silver Bullet} has to sacrifice itself to use its ability while animated, the effect would fizzle because the caster was no longer in the Realm.

These interactions are great to learn before the upcoming Avatar of the Realm. Don't put your {Silver Bullet}s and {Toolbox}en in the {Infusion Factory}.

Round Four vs. Zachary | {Avatar of Earth} | L

From my point of view, one critical turn swayed the game: Zachary developed {Garden of Eden} on the last possible turn before I could go off, with an in-realm {Salmon of Knowledge}, and three summoning-sick Frogs nearly ready to go fishing and a nearby {Pnakotic Manuscript}. Poetically, my next two draw steps were back-to-back {Searing Truth}es to pair with my in-hand {13 Treasures of Britain}, which just needed a {Kythera Mechanism}.

While the timing of {Garden of Eden} was spot on, it came from taking an earlier turn off developing that {Tadpole Pool} to move out of the way of a {Pudge Butcher}. Perhaps those {Blink}s I cut could have made the difference.

Ultimately, additional answers to {Garden of Eden} are variables I can control in my deckbuilding and will report back what I come up with.

Round Five vs. Oneyjonta | [fire] {Sorcerer} | W

Typically, I'm always happy to sit across from {Sorcerer} because it means that {Garden of Eden} won't enter the Realm. This was my most straightforward match since I opened {The Immortal Throne} for an early clock, but there were still some sweet lines.

Against an extremely aggressive list, {Divine Healing} paid big dividends. Copying {Divine Healing} with {Orb of Ba'al Berith} is an even bigger game. I gained 21 life before I finished scaling {The Immortal Throne} at 10 life. My {Key to the City} drawn by {Morgana le Fay} let me ignore his {River of Blood}.

Round Six vs. Tommy | {Waveshaper} | W

The critical highlight from the final round ensued after I {Poison Nova}'d Tommy's {Abbaddon Succubus} and {Questing Beast}. I cast {The Immortal Throne} to my home site, and dropped a site to draw a card and put the throne to one counter.

Tommy cast {Swap} to move {The Immortal Throne} onto his home site. My {Magician} builds have always included {Silver Bullet} with access to {Swap} to counter an opposing {Swap}, so I knew I had an answer to dig to. There was, however, an even better path to journey toward.

I kept casting spells that would trigger {The Immortal Throne}, despite Tommy's Waveshaper currently occupying its seat. Along the way, I acquired my {Kythera Mechanism} and cast {Orb of Ba'al Berith} to the site adjacent to me. When the throne was at six counters, I cast {Chaoswish} and put an Orb copy on the storyline.

The copy wished for {Swap}, exchanging my {Onyx Core} and {The Immortal Throne}. Now atop the throne alone, the original {Chaoswish} cast {Divine Intervention} (though it could have been any [7]-mana spell) to trigger the throne to eight counters and win the game.

That final sequence drew a small crowd around the table, which earned the community award: a Gothic uncut Exceptional sheet. It was an immense honor to be chosen, and I thank the judge staff and all my opponents for the recognition.

Wrap Up

Although I didn't take home the Grand Contest title, I had an incredible time and learned even more about my deck. I can't wait to make adjustments to contest the Realm again. See you in Boston at Avatar of the Realm!

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Featured Image: {Orb of Ba'al of Berith} by Dan Seagrave