Winning With Entombsday — Tournament Report: Bearded Dragon Duel for Duals

Magic: The Gathering · by Eric Ratkowski · March 5, 2025

In February 2025, The Bearded Dragon in New Jersey ran a Legacy tournament that capped at 48 players and featured cars full of New York City (NYC) Legacy grinders. Despite my mediocre showing at that tournament,, it was fun, so I signed up for the March Duel for Duals event — it was smaller since they showed 45 spots remaining midweek.

Nonetheless, the level of competition is always high, and that was my experience. My opponents were competent, friendly, and serious about the game, even when they ran fringe-playable Legacy cards like Nethergoyf or Plains.

Deck

Becoming a bit too known as a Doomsday player, I toiled recently to break that mold online and locally. I fiddled with Lands decks, Sudden Substitution Combo, Lion's Eye Diamond (LED) Dredge, and even Mono Red Prison.

I don’t have access to all of those decks in paper, but figured I’d end up on something odd. Then, I had online success with this:

Turbo Reaniday

Sure, it doesn’t exactly escape the Doomsday trap. However, it absolutely fooled people on Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO). 

I think they meant “you’re so smart and clever and cool,” but whatever. There was something rewarding about the pause when the opponent realizes they’ve been had. Who knows how long that surprise lasts among Legacy grinders, and there are signals to the observant opponent.

The fast mana and too-greedy main deck Consider might tip people off. I avoided playing this at smaller tournaments because the jig would be up immediately. Whenever I sideboard, I always shuffle the entire 15-card sideboard in before removing one of the plans — even when not changing the deck.

By only thinking about the deck as a novelty, I underestimated how much pressure both plans put on opponents; the raw strength of Force of Will, Daze, Thoughtseize, Brainstorm, Ponder, and fast mana in the same shell was on display throughout the event.

Each half is slightly weaker than it would be on its own, and the deck carries some necessary-but-underpowered bits (Tainted Indulgence and Brazen Borrower). The Reanimator plan leans hard on Entomb, and Doomsday has only two Personal Tutors and one less Street Wraith. 

Personal Tutor by D. Alexander Gregory

Despite those weaknesses, the deck presents a weird brewer’s advantage. Several opponents, who were well aware of the different combo facets, were forced to sideboard awkwardly. I found my sideboard decisions pretty straightforward.

If I thought my opponent had seen enough of Reanimator that they would dedicate significant resources to it, I switched. Once they knew both plans going to a game three, I did not try to trick anyone. I chose the best matchup I could despite open information.

I drew well. My draws overwhelmingly lined up well against my opponents. As stated above, every opponent played quality Magic and displayed good sportsmanship. I mulliganed aggressively for fast combos, and rarely had to delay. There was also luck to the matchup spread — this deck is not dead to fast combo, but lacks any permanent-based hate and is tight on interaction. I was fortunate to secure the top seed for Top 8, meaning I was on the play every match — a huge advantage for a proactive, fast mana combo deck.

Sideboarding

Reanimator Package — 13 Cards

Doomsday Package — 13 cards

The only two other sideboard cards are the 2 Force of Negation. They are generally for other combo decks, but have uses against permanent hate for either plan.

Round 1 vs. Golgari Reanimator (Vin)

Sideboard

Vin mulliganed low Game 1. I had an early Archon and saw a Stalactite Stalker. Vin cast Thoughtseize at least once. I did not see the reanimator part of their deck.

I put Vin on some type of Dark Depths, although Stalker was confusing. Against Green decks, the problem is Endurance, which is good against both plans. I left in Thoughtseize for them.

In Game 2, Vin had an early Emperor of Bones, and cycled a Troll of Khazad-dûm, which was exiled to the first Emperor trigger. On the next turn, I cast Doomsday with Brazen Borrower in hand for the on-board Emperor plus Troll.

Emperor of Bones by Josh Hass

I built a double Thassa's Oracle pile to hedge against removal or Endurance. The next turn played out as expected; Vin went to combat and activated Emperor to Shallow Grave the Troll. I confirmed with the judge and then bounced the Emperor, taking zero damage. Vin did not replay Emperor, so I figured there was removal in hand, possibly Abrupt Decay — it was actually Go for the Throat. Regardless, one turn later, I played another Thassa's Oracle and won.

Round 2 vs. UB Tempo (Gabe)

Sideboard

Sideboard

Once upon a time, Gabe used BUG Beanstalk to beat my Doomsday senseless every time we played. At the last Bearded Dragon event, leading into the tournament, Gabe made some questionable life choices and was perhaps too tired to compete effectively. That day, I drew well and defeated Gabe. Gabe was well rested this time and assured me that we would resume our previous pattern of dealing gruesome defeats.

In Game 1, Gabe kept me off balance and unable to get a big creature into play. I believe some of the usual Blue/Black nonsense was directed primarily at my first Entomb. I saw enough of Gabe’s deck to understand it was UB Tempo, not UB Reanimator.

In Game 2, my draws were perfect. Gabe may have played a Grafdigger’s Cage, but I didn’t pay attention. When Doomsday hit the stack, it was tremendously rewarding to watch Gabe’s soul leave his body. This was magnified by his response:

You’re so smart and clever and cool.

—Gabe, upon Eric putting Doomsday on the stack as a pivot plan post-board.

I sent him the MTGO screenshot above one month ago and we both forgot.

Nonetheless, Gabe is an excellent player who would rally. As outlined in the Deck Tech, I went back to the Reanimator plan. Consign to Memory would come in, which is good against both plans, but less so against Reanimator.

Consign to Memory by Ben Hill

I hoped my 2 FoN would help fight permanent-hate. In the end, it didn’t matter. My Game 3 hand was nearly perfect and the fast mana put a big threat in quickly.

It’s not ideal to beat a friend early in a tournament, but Gabe made Top 8. We vowed to meet in the finals.

Round 3 vs. Lands (Jake)

Sideboard

Sideboard

Jake is a strong player with a beautiful Lands deck. Game 1, I entombed Archon but never found a reanimation spell despite cantripping. Jake's Urza's Saga tutored Soul-Guide Lantern.

Game 2, I had a quick Doomsday. I made my biggest error of the tournament.