The Winged Sliver proved to be the key. Apes don't stop flyers very well. Ravenous Baboons did show that land-kill works well against a five-colored deck, but not enough to make a real difference.
In probably the best example of a match between raw creature power vs raw creature defensive power, the Bears, after a while, swarmed past the Spiders, loosing a few each time in the first contest. Game two saw the Spiders just sit behind their webs and block until they ran out of cards.
Fast mana for the Treefolk along with the mana-hosing for the Minions enabled a leafy beatdown in game one, but in the next two, creature kill proved invaluable. One-by-one, the Trees were chopped by Bounty Hunters and the Dauthi Trapper/Dauthi Cutthroat combo, enabling the Minions to serve their master to victory.
A never-ending supply of Imps couldn't out-run the Wolves. The Imps ability to taunt the Wolves into attacking was definitely not a plus. Imps were robbed of a near-win when the Wolves top-decked a second Aspect of Wolf.
When the Griffins reached four mana, they won. Quick beatdown by the Wizards while the legendary lion-birds were stuck at three mana, kept the Griffins from sweeping.
The Efreets just couldn't handle the trampling beatdown of the regenerating pachyderms, thanks to the Elephant Graveyard. Even the fast, flying Efreets couldn't soar over the beefy creature for enough damage.
This match-up could be called the "Battle of the Beef," and appeared equal until Kezerdrix and Dauthi Horror pounded the Giants. One key play was when the Two-Headed giant of Foriys killed both Kezerdrix AND a Flowstone Hellion with, what else, a Giant Growth.
