Rally is capable of explosive wins out of nowhere, but Bant Company has better threats, and it has fliers which Rally can’t block. Who will win?

M1

Bant wins the die roll while Rally has to mulligan to 5. Bant casts Tireless Tracker T3. On T4 Rally tries to play Reflector Mage, but Spell Queller interferes. T5 Tracker and Queller attack Rally down to 10 (Thanks to some fetch land damage). Rally plays Catacomb Sifter, and Bant sacs two clues. T6 an attacking Tracker is now a 5/4. A scion blocks it. Rally takes a turn, stuck on 3 lands, plays baby Jace and a Sidisi’s Faithful which sacs itself and bounces the Tracker to try and buy some time, but end step Collected Company from Bant brings out a Spell Queller #2 and a Sylvan Advocate… AND Bant also gets to sac another clue. T7 Bant attacks with 2 Quellers and a giant Advocate. The advocate is blocked by a Catacomb Sifter. On Rally’s turn Jace flips and gives one Queller -2/-0 for next turn, and Rally finally finds a 4th land, but passes the turn with no creatures. Bant attacks with 2 creatures, and Rally can only muster an extremely disappointing Rally the Ancestors for X=2 that only gets back one creature. It’s not enough. Bant 1-0.

M2

Rally has to mulligan again, this time to 6. Rally is already at 18 life from fetch lands when Bant plays a T2 selfless spirit. T3 Bant adds a Sylvan Advocate and on T4 Nissa. Meanwhile Rally plays an Elf, then a Catacomb Sifter T4, then another Sifter T5. Bant plays a 2nd Advocate and a 2nd Selfless Spirit. T6 Rally bounces a Spirit with a Mage. Bant, now on 6 lands, attacks with 2 Advocates and a Selfless Spirit. A Triple block on an Advocate results in an Advocate and a Sifter dying, and the other Advocate is chumped by a Scion. Bant casts a Duskwatch. But Rally is at 8 life and Bant is at 20. T7 Ayli enters the battlefield, offering both deathtouch and the ability to sacrifice creatures to gain life. Sidisi’s Faithful bounces a Selfless Spirit. On Bant’s turn 7, a 7th land flips Nissa who starts drawing extra cards. 2 Selfless Spirits return, and a baby Jace also arrives. T8 Rally finds a Husk, finally, but Bant has Ref Mage for the Husk and attacks Rally down to 3 with the Selfless Spirits (and help from fetch lands). Rally jumps back up to 7 life by sacrificing a creature to Ayli. On T9 all Rally can do is play an elf and say go. An end step activation from Duskwatch finds a Ref Mage. On Bant’s turn, the Mage bounces Ayli. Rally sacs a creature to go to 10. Bant’s Jace flips, gives a Sifter -2/-0, and Bant attacks with 5 creatures. Rally chump blocks a bunch and goes down to 4. Bant adds even more gas: a Tracker, and another Duckwatch. Tapped out, says go. Rally plays a Husk, and has to pass. When Bant attacks next, Rally the Ancestors adds 8 blockers to the Battlefield, and bounces both Selfless Spirits (although one sacrifices itself to give indestructible.) Rally has no way to gain life, but he does block all incoming damage and gets lots of scry triggers from all the creatures that get sacrificed to the Husk before damage. He puts his best card on top. Rally gets a turn and can only play 2 Zulaport Cutthroats (too late! They got drawn from the Elves that returned to play) and Ayli. During endstep Bant flashes in Avacyn. Then on Bant’s turn Nissa goes ultimate and even though all six 6/6 attackers are blocked, there’s 19 more damage from other attackers. So many creatures on Bant’s side. Bant Company 2-0.

M3

Rally keeps 7 this time, and starts playing fetch lands. Bant gets another turn 2 Selfless Spirit. Rally plays an elf on T3. Bant has nothing on T3 and cannot find a blue source. Rally can actually attack with the elf on T4, and casts baby Jace and a 4th fetch land. On Bant’s turn 4, since Dispel might be in from the sideboard and Rally has no untapped blue, Bant casts CoCo during the main step and finds 2 Spell Quellers. The triggers get wasted but it is great that they are fliers and they would’ve cost blue mana if drawn, which Bant does not have. T5 Rally’s baby Jace flips and starts doing -2 on a Selfless Spirit. But on Bant’s T5 Gideon briefly appears, then leaves (makes an emblem) and the three flying creatures take Rally down to 5 life. T6 2 Reflector Mages buy some time, bouncing creatures, and Jace -2’s the other one. Bant can only attack for 1. T7 Rally brings Bant down to 11 life, but an end-step Spell Queller means the next turn is attack for 4, and Rally, never having found CoCo, has nothing. Bant Company 3-0.

Weird hands for Rally. Rally was drawing really good this entire tournament, with incredibly lucky come from behind wins, but this match lady luck turned sour. Bant Company advances to the final to take on Spiral Blue and Rally will fight Jund Monsters for 3rd place.