Madryy of the Altered Aces led Afanas to an undefeated 7-0 in the Europe-focused Monday event for AWOL Season 2 Week 7 March 17 on Board Game Arena. Damianc91 (Afanas) and Guibz (Basira) went for second and third, respectively, in the 157-player event.

Oraginality pulled the same trick with Fen in the U.S.-focused Wednesday event March 19. Feanturi44 (Sigismar) and Mbruza of AFTU (Lindiwe) took second and third, respectively, in the 61-player event.

The Monday event was played over seven rounds of Swiss play, streamed with commentary by PaandyAndy, TheKelonGuy and Blue. The Wednesday event covered 61 rounds of Swiss, streamed with commentary by Runefolk and Taum. Each week, the first- and second-place players receive a booster pack, and each player who places in the top 16 receives an invite to the Seasonal Invitational, where an additional two booster boxes are available across the prize pool.

Monday tournament breakdown

According to 39cards.com, Sigismar led the pack with 35 decklists, followed by Afanas and Teija tying at 23 each. Fen picked up fourth-most popular at 20 decks. Treyst, Waru and Arjun weren’t represented at all. A total of 76% of cards played came from BTG, compared to 24% from TBF.

Madry’s uncatchable Afanas deck brings in a few newer tricks with two out-of-faction Joyrides and Field Reinforcements, the latter of which gives Afanas both a token and a boost in a single play. A full playset of Helping Hands keep the three rare Kadigiran Mage-Dancers in play, while two rare Studious Disciples bring spell costs even lower. The deck runs a total of 26 spells with 13 characters. But it’s helpful that three of those characters are a unique Muna Caregiver (1/1) and two unique Spindle Harvesters (1/1 and 2/2), all of which bounce spells back to hand from reserve.

Wednesday tournament breakdown

According to 39cards.com, Sigismar was again at the head of the group with 15 entries, followed by Afanas at 12 and Fen at 11. Akesha, Waru, Rin, Arjun and Auraq skipped the event. A total of 80% of cards represented BTG with 20% coming from TBF.

Oraginality’s undefeated Fen deck relies on full counts of rare Aloe Vera and Magical Training to ramp up Fen’s card advantage, with three Hathor shuttling cards back to hand. The deck’s rare one-offs are interesting, with a Tinker Bell, an Eat Me Energy Bar and a Magic Sleigh changing the deck’s approach a little bit if they show up. It also runs a unique Esmeralda (1/3) that resupplies, a Yong-Su (3/3) that reduces spell cost and a Dr. Frankenstein (3/4) that activates permanents.