Sadly the official Wizards coverage of GB Nationals only talks about the main event and has no mention of the Legacy and Vintage championships held alongside.

So here's a quick recap of this year's GB Vintage Championships which took place in Sheffield on 20th August.

Attendance was 37, a few more than last year's 33. Almost every deck was fully powered and most current Vintage archetypes were present, a strong field.

Top 8 was dominated by 5 "Bob Tinker" decks, sorry didn't get to see all their exact variants. Certainly plenty of Blightsteels and Time Vaults as win conditions along with some selection of Tezzeret, Jace and Gush. There was also 1 Storm combo deck and 2 Aggro MUD decks (I was one of the MUD pilots).

2010 champion Jim came in 9th on tiebreakers.

Top 4 were the 2 MUD decks and 2 of the Bob Tinkers, though both MUD decks lost in the semi finals.

Victorious at the end was Quentin Martin, who can now add the title of GB Vintage Champion to several Pro Tour and Grand Prix top 8s. Apparently his deck was card-for-card what Stephen Menendian played in the recent Worlds.

Hey folks, glad you're enjoying my report. There's not much Vintage played here in UK & Ireland. We generally get one decent tournament a year, often as a side event at Nationals, or GenCon UK, or if we get to host a Grand Prix or something. A couple of people were talking about the Annecy Bazaar of Moxen to get their Vintage fix.

From what I saw, 7 out of the top 8 were fairly routine versions of the popular decks. Only Jim's welder deck seemed on the rogue side - he had Bazaar in there (didn't see Uba Mask though), Sundering Titan and Esperzoa which was really good (bounce/replay a Tangle Wire keeping it set to 4).

I've emailed the event organisers (http://thegamesclub.org/) and they generally post top 8 decklists on their website, but given this was part of GB Nationals with dozens of other events they might not get round to it.

One thing which was really nice was that everyone seemed to have come especially to play Vintage. In previous years it felt like some people had scrubbed out of Nationals and thought they'd kill time having fun in Vintage, maybe put some dual lands into a Standard deck. But this time there was lots of power, lots of proper decks and lots of Vintage fanatics.

So I haven’t played, or even thought very much about, Magic since I returned from Canada in the autumn of 2006. Fast forward nearly 4 years and a circular email arrives from the House Atreides traders, informing me of the dates of GB Nationals and the extensive side event schedule – which includes GB Vintage Championships. I check the dates, get a permission slip from the wife and I am in business.

But I needed a deck. Luckily decks change slowly in Vintage so most of my old cards were still very relevant. I wanted something “easy to play” as I knew I’d be rusty, so that ruled out tricksy combo stuff. Browsing around starcitygames.com and themanadrain.com, I came across the latest artefact prison variants which seemed to meet my needs. I was short a few cards and ordered them online, though sadly only half of them arrived in time so I had to substitute in some lower quality replacements.

The day of the tournament arrives, I’m up bright and early at 5.30am to get the train from Wales to London. I get to the site and registered with plenty of time for a coffee beforehand. There are 33 people registered which meant 6 rounds of Swiss followed by a top 8 playoff.

Round 1, Martin playing Oath. We had recollections of each other from back when we were both hard on the PTQ scene. Game 1 I got a couple of sphere-effects out early but then stalled and Martin was able to sneak Oath out and I had to read Terrastodon to see just how unfair it is. Game 2 another Oath found another monster. I was hoping for a Duplicant but no. Loss 0-2.

Round 2, Paul playing Tezzeret. Paul is part of the Swindon crew, who I recall from the 2004 Vintage Championships at Butlins in Minehead, when Ian won with Goblins. I didn’t see much of his deck as I drew very well and overwhelmed him. He did delay the inevitable with some bounce from the Jace planeswalker – so many new cards to read. Win 2-0.

Round 3, Rob playing Elf-Clamp (unpowered). Game 1 he made an army of 1/1s and swarmed all over me. Games 2 and 3 were harsh, I had Chalices for 1 and 2 out very early in both which much limited his options. Win 2-1.

Round 4, Nathan playing Tezzeret. Game 1 I got off to a reasonable start until he got a Trygon Predator out and I had no answer. Game 2 was much better, I had a very fast and aggressive hand and Nathan didn’t get to do much. Game 3 was ridiculous, turn 1 Trygon Predator and my health went down 2 points at a time. Loss 1-2.

Round 5, Kevin playing Tezzeret. Kevin recognised me from the 2002 Vintage Championships when I beat him in the semi-finals. He’d travelled over from Ireland just for this event so I wasn’t the only one coming a long way for the fun of Vintage. Game 1 went long with some back and forth until Kevin assembled the Time Vault + Voltaic Key combo and was able to take infinite turns. Game 2 was incredibly fast, it went Workshop, Trinisphere, concede. Game 3 also went quickly in my favour thanks to a good hand. Win 2-1.

Round 6, Nick playing Tezzeret. This was Nick’s first Vintage tournament but he had the Power and seemed knowledgeable about the format. Sorry but my mind had gone blank by this point. Win 2-1.

So I ended the Swiss on 4-2, with my losses against people who were above me in the standings. My tiebreaks meant I just squeezed into the top 8, in 8th place.

Top 8, playing Jim with Welder Stax. Jim went 5-0 in the Swiss before IDing the last round. Game 1 Jim got an early Welder and won easily, my hand was too slow. Game 2 we both mulliganed to 5 yet I managed a turn 2 Golem and took advantage of Jim’s mana screw. Game 3 more mulligans, this time to 6 and I had a promising start but stalled for threats and Jim went aggro and his Tangle Wire locked me out long enough for him. Loss 1-2.

Top 8 looked like 3 Workshop decks (2 MUD, 1 Welder), 2 Tezzeret, 2 Dredge and 1 Oath. Caught my train back to Wales rather than spectate and haven’t yet heard the final results.

I was overjoyed to make top 8 in my first tournament in 4 years. All of the other people in the Vintage Championships were friendly and pleasant to chat to and the judges were great. All in all a top day out and hopefully one I will repeat.

I lost in the top8 to Julian's deck labelled "EBA" but yes it's a UWB Fish variant. I beat him in the Swiss 2-0. In the top8 Game1 he Vialed out a couple of Avengers, had counters when I tried to bolt them and a couple of StPs for my guys. Game2 I mulliganed to 4 and was never really in it. Fun fact - I never drew a single Dystopia all day.

I chose the deck cos I always had a thing for Suicide Black. I was lazy and netdecked from the various forum threads here. But I didn't like the Rotting Giant plan, I think my Black Knights were reasonably effective in that slot instead.

Top 8 decklists:
http://www.thegamesclub.org/mtg/results/gpt/columbus_07.htm

My suggestion would be Frantic Search?

In a couple of weeks I'll be moving from the UK over to Canada for a year, Calgary to be more precise. I did a search on these forums and the most recent post involving Calgary was from February 2004. So does anybody know if there's any Type1 going on in Calgary?

Thanks

Luke

How about Wheel of Fortune?

(Sorry, don't have privileges to post in Tournament Announcement forum)

http://www.theplaceforgames.com/events.asp?Action=Event&EventID=412

They do actually. All companies have to report a whole bunch of financial information in their annual reports - which are free. Which are basically a whole pile of numbers in the public domain. (Like Top8 decklists)

Financial analysts take all those raw numbers and do complicated analysis. (Like Dr Sylvan's stats)

Luke

I thought the whole point of publicly posting Top8 decklists on websites such as this one was to enrich and inform the whole community. Are you suggesting that the only person who is going to read your typed Top8 decklists is Dr Sylvan? I for one always look at Top8 decklist threads out of interest to see what other players from all around the world have in their decks.

So because you disagree with how one person/website makes use of your Top8 decklists you are going to deprive the rest of the Type1 community too?

Also, by way of metaphor and comparison. You know all the financial information like share price, company profit, etc? That's all public domain. Yet you're not going to find a merchant banker sharing his statistics, historical averaging and trend analysis with you for free now are you?

Luke

Entry fee is £5

http://www.theplaceforgames.com/events.asp?Action=Event&EventID=412

(Sorry, don't have privilege to post in the Vintage Tournament Forum)

Newsflash!

The Place For Games will host unsanctioned Type1 tournaments in the UK, with 5 proxies, at the following locations/dates:

10th April in High Wycombe
23rd July in Colchester
9th October in High Wycombe

http://www.theplaceforgames.com/news.asp?Action=News&NewsID=213

Actually it looks like the Welder still had summoning sickness based on your report above.

Luke

http://www.theplaceforgames.com/news.asp?Action=News&NewsID=202


It's an encouraging sign if one of the biggest Magic organisers in the UK is getting involved in Type1. Make sure your voice is heard.

Luke

Moved to Basic Community. -Dr Sylvan[/color]

Hi

Interesting deck.

I'd play Dauthi Horror over Dauthi Warlord. If you ever get 3 Warlords out at once you're either winning anyway or over-extending horribly straight into mass removal.

Do 10 creatures provide enough Curiosity targets?

Also, do 10 "Islands" provide enough Daze targets?

Luke

Sorry Zherbus - with hindsight the tone of my initial post seems a tad harsh.

I'll contact you directly with details in future (probably in about a year after the 2005 Champs - organised Type1 is thin on the ground in the UK at present).

Looking forward to your November article, am interested to see what you make of the UK metagame.

Thanks

Luke

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandnews.php?Article=8418



Your analysis was lacking the UK Type1 Championships.

http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20244&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

I assumed that posting a report on The Mana Drain would be sufficient. Was I supposed to have emailed it you directly?

Luke

Hi

I don't have privilege to post in the Vintage Tournament Forum so hope this is the most relevant place to say this.

For those discussing the scooping that happened in the Oath mirror matches, you might find this Feature Match report from 2002 interesting, especially the part about sideboarding.

http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=GPLIS02\490finals

Luke

(Sorry for the delay, I emailed this to StarCity 5 days ago but they've been inundated with States articles and won't be publishing it. Hope this isn't too long!)

UK Vintage Championships 2004
By Luke Twigger

INTRODUCTION

The UK Vintage Championships 2004 were held on Friday 15th October at Butlins in Minehead, Somerset as part of the GenCon UK event.

In recent years, GenCon has been held in Central London. This year the event was hosted in a holiday camp a long way from anywhere. The remote venue gave a nice community feel, as all the accommodation was on-site, along with bars, cafes, etc. Everywhere you went you were surrounded by other roleplayers, goths, gaming geeks and LARPers. It was a very long journey from most of the UK though (e.g. 200 miles from London) which I think hurt overall attendance, some traders said it was quieter than expected, although I was only there on the Friday and would assume it would become busier over the weekend.

In 2002, there were approximately 27 people entered in the Vintage Championships. In 2003 the tournament was something like 12 people, due mainly to a last minute change from the scheduled 2pm start to a 10am start which meant that many people (myself included) would have played but arrived too late to do so. Given that the remote location appeared to have harmed overall GenCon attendance this year, it was therefore a pleasant surprise to discover that there were 48 people enrolled in the tournament (thankfully the organisers could extend the original 32 person limit).

48 players meant 6 rounds of Swiss followed by a Top 8 playoff. The event was sanctioned so no proxies were permitted.

Top 8 were:

Ian Garnett (FCG) *unpowered*
Gary Campbell (4cc)
Barry Horwood (Storm Tendrils)
Jezz Allen (Mono U)
Richard Clyne (Mono U) #2003 champion#
Jonathan Challis (Hulk Smash)
Dave Fry (Trinistax)
Grant Laing (Suicide Black) *unpowered*

In the quarterfinals:
Ian (FCG) beat Gary (4cc)
Barry (Tendrils) beat Jezz (Mono U)
Jonathan (Hulk) beat Richard (Mono U)
Dave (Stax) beat Grant (Suicide)

In the semifinals:
Ian (FCG) beat Dave (Stax)
Barry (Tendrils) beat Jonathan (Hulk)

In the finals:
Ian (FCG) beat Barry (Tendrils)

Congratulations to Ian, who finished top of the Swiss in a field of 48 players and went on to win the tournament. And he managed all that without a single power card. And he's my team mate :-)

This report contains several sections. First is coverage of the general metagame. After that comes the Top 8 decklists (thanks to the judging staff for letting me have these). After that are Feature Match style notes following Ian’s progress through the Top 8 (originally I only decided to do these for fun as he’s my team mate but as he went on to win the title they’ve gained in significance). Finally there’s my own personal tale of the event (which contains something I’ve never ever witnessed at a Magic tournament before – scroll down if you’re intrigued).

METAGAME

Here was the metagame prediction I posted on The Mana Drain a week before the tournament:

“Based on past experience I expect a fair amount of "bad" budget aggro e.g. Sligh and Suicide. Probably also some Goblin decks from people who dusted off last year's Extended deck. Based on its recent T1 tournament success I expect a fair amount of Fish to be played by the more serious unpowered players. There should also be a reasonable amount of power, most likely played in Keeper/4CC type decks. I also heard Belcher will be there. I'm not expecting many Bazaars or Workshops�

After my first round match was over, I wandered around taking a peek at what decks were being played. I think my prediction was pretty accurate. The metagame was surprisingly diverse with most known archetypes in attendance (Slaver being the most notable exception). There was also a lot more power around than I had expected, though most people I spoke to were only partially powered and/or had borrowed it.

Approximate metagame count (NB I didn’t get to see all 48 decks)

4 Mono U
3 U/R Fish
3 Food Chain Goblins
3 Suicide Black/ Nether Void
3 Ravager Affinity
3 Red Deck Wins/ Goblins/ Sligh
2 Hulk Smash
2 Keeper/ 4cc
2 Mono Red Burn
2 Belcher
1 U/W Control
1 U/W/R Control
1 Army of Squirrels
1 Stacker
1 TNT
1 Trinistax
1 Budget Dragon
1 Storm Tendrils
1 Death Long
1 WTF
1 Oath
1 Stasis
1 Reanimator
1 Discard
1 B/R/W Jank
2 Rogue Mono G
1 Rogue Mono R (contained only 4th Edition cards?)

TOP 8 DECKLISTS

Ian Garnett – 1st place – Food Chain Goblins

4 Food Chain
4 Goblin Lackey
3 Skirk Prospector
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Goblin Matron
2 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Ringleader
2 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Taiga
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
5 Mountain
1 Forest

3 Null Rod
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Artifact Mutation
4 Blood Moon

Barry Horwood – 2nd Place – Storm Tendrils

4 Force of Will
4 Duress
4 Brainstorm
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
1 Gush
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Frantic Search
1 Timetwister
1 Time Spiral
1 Memory Jar
1 Future Sight
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Time Walk
1 Cunning Wish
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Ritual
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy

3 Mana Drain
3 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Rushing River
1 Teferi’s Response
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Misdirection
1 Stifle
1 Brain Freeze
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Dave Fry – Top 4 – Trinistax

4 Smokestack
4 Trinisphere
3 Tangle Wire
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Goblin Welder
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Memory Jar
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Volcanic Island
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta

3 Rack and Ruin
2 Triskelion
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Pyroclasm

Jonathan Challis – Top 4 – Hulk Smash

3 Psychatog
3 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
2 Deep Analysis
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Duress
1 Mind Twist
3 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Time Walk
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
4 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
(61 cards)

2 Duress
2 Deep Analysis
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Berserk
1 Artifact Mutation
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Naturalise
1 Starstorm
1 Gush
1 Divert
1 Stifle

Gary Campbell – Top 8 – 4cc

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Cunning Wish
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Decree of Justice
2 Exalted Angel
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Time Walk
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mind Twist
1 Balance
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fire/ Ice
1 Moat
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
3 City of Brass
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea

1 Diabolic Edict
1 Gainsay
1 Plagiarize
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Ebony Charm
1 Hydroblast
1 Pyroblast
2 Fire/ Ice
1 Disenchant
1 Stifle
1 Misdirection
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Artifact Mutation

Jeremy Allen – Top 8 – Mono U

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak
3 Counterspell
1 Misdirection
4 Impulse
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Ophidian
2 Morphling
3 Powder Keg
3 Back to Basics
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
8 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand

3 Propaganda
1 Old Man of the Sea
1 Back to Basics
3 Control Magic
3 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Energy Flux

Grant Laing – Top 8 – Suicide Black

4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Mind Twist
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Sarcomancy
4 Carnophage
2 Skittering Skirge
3 Phyrexian Negator
3 Skullclamp
1 Necropotence
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Dark Ritual
1 Chrome Mox
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
13 Swamp

4 Diabolic Edict
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Engineered Plague
3 Powder Keg
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Phyrexian Negator

Richard Clyne – Top 8 – Mono U

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak
3 Counterspell
1 Misdirection
4 Impulse
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Ophidian
2 Morphling
3 Powder Keg
3 Back to Basics
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
8 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

4 Old Man of the Sea
1 Back to Basics
3 Control Magic
3 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Energy Flux

IAN’S TOP 8 MATCHES

My team mate Ian had made Top 8 and I hadn’t. This meant I’d be staying awake until he’d finished playing anyway. So I thought it would be fun for me to write Feature Match style notes for his Top 8 matches.

If you spot any errors, either in my notes or in the game play, remember that these matches took place around 2am to 5am and everybody was very tired by this point.

Feature Match – Quarter Final – Ian Garnett (FCG) vs Gary Campbell (4cc)

Game 1 started extremely badly for Ian as he was forced to mulligan to 4 cards before he saw a red mana source. Gary led with a Library of Alexandria while Ian started with a Mountain and Skirk Prospector. Gary laid a Volcanic Island and Gorilla Shaman. Ian dropped a Mana Crypt but then saw his Goblin Warchief meet Force of Will and the Gorilla Shaman ate the Mana Crypt. On Ian’s next turn his Goblin Piledriver met a Mana Drain that Gary used to Tinker out a Darksteel Colossus. Even though Ian managed to play a Goblin Lackey and Goblin Piledriver the following turn, the Darksteel Colossus won the game.

Game 2 was very swift. Ian played first turn Blood Moon thanks to his Mana Crypt and Gary had no Force of Will. Gary got as far as 4 “Mountains� before scooping as Ian steadily played out Goblins.

Game 3 saw Ian attempt another first turn Blood Moon via Mana Crypt, though this time Gary had the Force of Will. Taiga met Strip Mine and Goblin Recruiter met Mana Drain. Ian got out a couple of Goblins and things were looking bad for Gary as he was on a perilous 3 life thanks to City of Brass and fetchlands on top of what Ian’s Goblins had inflicted. But he had just enough life to Vampiric Tutor for the Mox he needed to cast Balance without using his City of Brass, resetting both players to 0 creatures, 0 cards in hand and 2 lands (both had some artifact mana aswell). Ian’s topdecked Goblin Warchief met a topdecked Fire. Then a topdecked Siege-Gang Commander met a topdecked Swords to Plowshares but the Goblin tokens guaranteed the win.

During this match Ian went on an extremely lucky coin flipping spree, winning something like 12 flips in a row between Games 2 and 3, which quite possibly won the match for him.

Feature Match – Semi Final – Ian Garnett (FCG) vs Dave Fry (Trinistax)

Game 1 Ian started with another mulligan. Dave went broken on his first turn – Volcanic Island, Mox Emerald, Time Walk, Wasteland, Trinisphere looking somewhat better than Ian’s Wooded Foothills. Dave played Wheel of Fortune on his second turn,  then dropped a Mishra’s Workshop and a second Trinisphere (presumably in case Ian had maindeck artifact removal). At this point Ian scooped.

Game 2 started with a Mountain and Goblin Lackey for Ian. Dave had another good start with a Volcanic Island, Goblin Welder, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus and Smokestack! However, Ian’s Goblin Lackey dropped a Siege-Gant Commander into play, followed by a Goblin Warchief. Both players proceeded to make mistakes e.g. Dave forgot to add a counter to his Smokestack, Ian forgot to play a Goblin Piledriver before his attack step (he had the Goblin Warchief in play), etc. In any case Dave scooped in the face of Ian’s huge army. It later emerged Ian had forgotten to sideboard before Game 2 but luckily he remembered for Game 3.

Game 3 saw yet another great start from Dave – Mishra’s Workshop, Mox Jet followed by Ancient Tomb and Memory Jar. Meanwhile Ian had simply played a couple of lands. The Memory Jar provided a Trinisphere though Dave was stuck without red mana sources. Then Ian played a Food Chain while Dave played a Tangle Wire. On Ian’s next turn, with the Tangle Wire effect on the stack, he tapped all his land to cast Artifact Mutation (paying 3) on the Trinisphere. The resultant Saprolings were tapped for the Tangle Wire but this didn’t affect Ian sacrificing them to Food Chain to play a Goblin Matron, Goblin Recruiter and Goblin Ringleader which set off the combo chain. Dave scooped.

Feature Match –Final – Ian Garnett (FCG) vs Barry Horwood (Storm Tendrils)

Game 1 saw a first turn Piledriver (off a Chrome Mox) meet Force of Will. Barry then cast Brainstorm, Mox Sapphire, Mox Emerald and Lotus Petal. Ian played a Goblin Warchief and attacked. Barry used Lotus Petal for a Vampiric Tutor. Ian played a Goblin Piledriver and Goblin Sharpshooter and dealt another 8 damage. Barry played Yawgmoth’s Bargain off a Black Lotus, Dark Ritual and Tolarian Academy. Ian’s big attacks severely limited how many cards Barry could draw off Yawgmoth’s Bargain, even going all the way down to 1 life he couldn’t pull off his combo kill.

Game 2 ended controversially in Ian’s favour. He began with a Mountain, Mana Crypt, Piledriver  while Barry twice searched out Underground Sea with Polluted Delta. A Goblin Ringleader met a Force of Will and the Goblin Piledriver attacked for a measly 1 point of damage. Barry then used Dark Ritual to power out a Necropotence which drew several cards. Ian played a Goblin Matron and attacked for another 1 with his Goblin Piledriver. Barry cast Tinker for Darksteel Colossus and drew more cards with Necropotence. At this point Ian was stuck with access to just 1 red mana, stopping him playing his Goblin Warchief and making a combo kill impossible. Barry played Mystical Tutor for a Blue Elemental Blast which he then drew with his Necropotence.

Here’s the controversy – Barry drew the top card of his library (the Blue Elemental Blast) using Necropotence, looked at it, then drew a second card using Necropotence, looked at it, then drew a third card using Necropotence and looked at it. At  this point the table judge pointed out that this was illegal. By looking at the first card he drew he implicitly announced the end of his turn (as Necropotence makes the cards face down until the end of turn). Hence Barry had technically drawn 2 extra cards plus had been playing Necropotence as though it was a Yawgmoth’s Bargain. He was awarded a Game Loss which as a result of course meant Ian won the title. It wasn’t the most glorious way for the tournament to end.

MY TOURNAMENT REPORT

In 2002 I won the UK Vintage Championships playing an unpowered Suicide Black deck (a report can be found at http://www.psi-soft.co.uk/nuke/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=485). I missed the 2003 event due to flying home after a friend’s wedding in Ireland, arriving on site at 11.30am in advance of the scheduled 2pm start, only to learn the time had been changed to 10am just that morning (apparently to ensure the event had time to finish before the venue closed, why they hadn’t thought of this when drawing up the original schedule escapes me). I’d never had chance to defend my title and was very keen to play in the 2004 event.

As mentioned above, GenCon had relocated from Central London (an hour on the train for me) to Somerset (5 hours in the car). The only part of GenCon I was really interested in was the Vintage Championships so planned simply to drive down, play the tournament, and then drive home again. I foresaw much abuse of caffeine to get me through. Accompanying me on this daring raid was my team mate Ian. He was in the middle of a stretch of jury service but luckily wasn’t needed on the Friday.

Our third and final team mate, Toby, was down at GenCon for the full 4 days working for House Atreides, who sell all manner of CCG and roleplaying items including plenty of Magic cards.

I planned to play Mono U. Ian was playing Food Chain Goblins, as Goblin decks in general have been very kind to him in the past 2 years. Toby was originally playing Mono U as well, but changed at the last minute to Belcher after House Atreides offered to loan him some power (he made it to 2-1 before being dropped from the tournament after arriving very late for the 4th round).

In recent months I’ve managed to acquire 2 pieces of power (Mox Emerald and Black Lotus) plus a Mana Drain, funded completely by disposing of old roleplay games and miniatures on eBay. I was also able to borrow a Mox Pearl and Mana Drain off Jezz Allen, a Mana Drain off Toby and the final Mana Drain I needed off House Atreides. Many thanks to all who lent me cards.

My decklist:

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Mana Leak
1 Counterspell
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Misdirection
4 Impulse
4 Ophidian
2 Morphling
4 Powder Keg
3 Back to Basics
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Chrome Mox
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
9 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand

4 Propaganda
2 Control Magic
4 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Energy Flux
1 Tundra
2 Decree of Justice

Thanks go to Stephen Menendian for the articles on Mono U upon which I based my deck. I also used sideboard tech which Ben Kowal mentioned on The Mana Drain – Tundra and Decree of Justice for control mirror matchups.

Round 1 – Daniel – Ravager (partially powered)

Daniel was playing a Ravager deck. He’d been lent a piece or two of power to speed things up a bit. Despite not knowing what many of my cards did and being unaware of the Mono U archetype he smashed me quickly (which was good in a way as I got to do the metagame survey mentioned above).

Game 1 I ended up mana light with just 2 Islands, though to be fair I’d also used a Strip Mine and Wasteland. Even after using Powder Keg to remove a couple of artifact lands and Ornithopters he still managed to get more cheap threats onto the board and pecked me to death.

Game 2 I weathered the early assault and stabilised the board, though had depleted my hand of counters in doing so. I had 2 Ophidians and a Morphling to his 2 Ornithopters. But then he played Tinker for Darksteel Colossus. He attacked with his Colossus. Next turn I drew Impulse and went looking for a Powder Keg to win me the game – he was on 7 life and only had Ornithopters as blockers. But I saw 4 lands off the Impulse and next turn he could even attach Cranial Plating to the Darksteel Colossus.

W0 L1

Round 2 – Simon – U/W/R control (unpowered)

Simon’s deck was mainly an Invasion block control deck – Lightning Angels, Goblin Trenches, Prophetic Bolt, etc.

Game 1 Simon stalled on land, not helped by my Wastelands and Back to Basics, while I got out an Ophidian and Morphling to win with.

Game 2 he sneaked a Lightning Angel past my counters and it went all the way. The Vigilance meaning I couldn’t draw using my Ophidian while he could hit for 3 damage a turn.

We were just shuffling up for Game 3 when something happened that I’ve never witnessed in the middle of a Magic tournament before. Simon vomited! And not just a little, I mean he really vomited for a good 5 minutes. Thankfully he directed it onto the carpet next to him rather than onto our decks. Cleaners were summoned and Simon conceded the match to me and dropped from the tournament. He was extremely apologetic though it later emerged he’d drank an unhealthy amount of whisky earlier in the day.

W1 L1

Round 3 – John – Goblin Sligh (unpowered)

We were deck checked and unfortunately John had made an error when recording his deck list so was awarded a Game Loss.

Game 1 he got an early Goblin Lackey and Mogg Fanatic but I answered both with a Powder Keg. He was disappointed to discover Goblin Grenade was a Sorcery not an Instant. I then dropped a Chalice of the Void for 1 which negated a good portion of his hand. An Ophidian filled my hand with counters and then began damaging him, eventually joined by a Morphling who finished it.

W2 L1

Round 4 – Gary– 4cc (fully powered)

These were the best games I played all day, very tight and requiring lots of thought. Gary was an experienced player, fully powered and had driven for 10 (!) hours down from Scotland so was obviously pretty keen. He went on to make Top 8.

In Game 1, Gary got a morphed Exalted Angel out on his third turn but a Powder Keg removed that. There was a large counter war at some point which left Gary tapped out, so next turn I played Back to Basics which destroyed him and he scooped (he admitted he had 0 basic lands). I sided in my Tundra and Decree of Justice tech.

Game 2 started with Gary going for a swift Mind Twist for 4 off a Black Lotus. I had Force of Will, so did he, but I had Impulse to find another Force of Will. Which had the net result of my hand being 4 cards smaller than before he cast the Mind Twist. Back to Basics met Mana Drain but an Ophidian hit the board. Before I could start drawing cards he cast Tinker with Force of Will backup to fetch Darksteel Colossus which won the game. After seeing the Colossus I sided in 2 Control Magic.

Game 3 saw Gary cast Mystical Tutor for Ancestral Recall. I had Misdirection, he had Force of Will but so did I, so I got to draw the 3 cards. Gary went for an end of turn Fact or Fiction which I countered with Mana Drain looking at Ophidian and Back to Basics in my hand. But on his turn he topdecked a Tinker while I was tapped out and grabbed a Darksteel Colossus. He even had the luxury then of casting Yawgmoth’s Will, Brainstorm, Mystical Tutor and Ancestral Recall to ensure he had a counter in case I topdecked a Control Magic (I had been careless when sideboarding after game 2 and he knew I’d brought them in). The Colossus then won.

W2 L2

Round 5 – Jim – Suicide variant (unpowered)

In Game 1 I had to use Powder Keg to remove an early Phyrexian Warbeast and then played Chalice of the Void for 3, which seemed to negate a good proportion of his deck as he drew up to 8 cards and began discarding Phyrexian Warbeast, Plague Spitter, Crucible of Worlds, etc. I couldn’t play my Ophidian but I had plenty of counters and patiently waited for Morphling to win the game.

Game 2 started badly for me as I was hit by Duress and Hymn to Tourach. Jim then dropped a Phyrexian Negator. I played a Powder Keg but he had Null Rod. I then played out a Morphling and had enough mana to make him attack while flying, yet still have enough to potentially untap and boost to block the Negator at 6 toughness. Jim delayed his death a turn or two using Hypnotic Specters but Morphling proved a winner.

W3 L2

Round 6 – Mark – Mono Red Burn (unpowered)

Chalice of the Void for 1 was golden here, negating his Lightning Bolt, Shock, etc.

Game 1 he burned me all the way down to 2 life before I took control with Chalice of the Void and 2 Ophidians first filling my hand with counter magic and then slowly reducing his life total. I even had a Misdirection ready in case he drew Urza’s Rage.

Game 2 started with a first turn Chalice of the Void for 1. Mana Drain accelerated out a Morphling who won in 4 turns, with mana spare to make him untargetable.

W4 L2

In the final analysis I finished 14th which was respectable. Though to be fair I’d not had the toughest wins against 3 budget aggro decks and a concession after my opponent vomited. I lost a close match to a fully powered 4cc and been soundly thrashed by a surprisingly good Ravager deck. But I was pleased to see two Mono U decks in the Top 8 which suggests my metagaming and choice of deck were sound.

So my team has entered two UK Vintage Championships and won both of them. It’s Toby’s turn in 2005!

By the time Ian’s Top 8 matches had finished it was 5am. Graham Pool had stayed up to spectate and had plenty of space in his accommodation so kindly provided beds for us to grab a few hours of sleep before the drive home.

THANK YOU

- Graham Pool for providing beds at 5am for Ian and myself
- Jezz Allen for loan of a Mox Pearl and a Mana Drain
- Toby Wallis for being a great team mate and loan of a Mana Drain
- House Atreides (http://homepages.tesco.net/~lawrenson/) for loan of a Mana Drain
- Judges & organisers for staying awake till 5am and a well-run tournament, thanks also for providing me with the Top8 decklists
- the other players for being friendly, fun and cool

Why wasn't this advertised on the GenCon schedule? I'd have stayed around an extra day if I'd known.

Luke

Jacob, thanks for the rules clarification.

Apparently it's the word "instead" which identifies it as a replacement effect. I'm now studying the comprehensive rulebook :-)

Luke

Are you sure this is correct? I appreciate your local judge gave a ruling.

But surely the Colossus' triggered ability goes on the stack and doesn't occur right in the middle of resolving the Windfall?

Luke

I didn't actually mention prizes in my article, it somehow escaped my attention. Thinking about it, the 1 pack of Darksteel I got for 13th is pretty lame. But then we were playing for the glory of the title, not boosters? A trophy or playmat for the winner would have been a nice souvenir.

Ian did get some Italian 4th Edition as part of his prize and gave me a lovely mint Volcanic Island in lieu of petrol money.

BTW I think Jamie Ross was playing (non Food Chain) Goblins and Keith Cornell was playing something rogue, fully powered, 5 colours, with Platinum Angel.

Luke

I don't mean to tease, but I've just written a very long report and emailed it to StarCity. So I'm afraid you'll have to wait for it to appear there, hopefully in the next day or two.

As requested above, it contains the Top 8 decklist for the Suicide, plus match reports explaining how FCG beat TPS and 4cc, along with much, much more.

Luke

The UK Vintage Championships 2004 were held last night (15th October) as part of the GenCon UK event.

Top 8 were:

Ian Garnett (FCG) *unpowered*
Gary Campbell (4cc)
Barry Horwood (Storm Tendrils)
Jezz Allen (Mono U)
Richard Clyne (Mono U) #2003 champion#
Jonathan Challis (Hulk Smash)
Dave Fry (Trinistax)
Grant Laing (Suicide Black) *unpowered*

In the quarterfinals:
Ian (FCG) beat Gary (4cc)
Barry (Tendrils) beat Jezz (Mono U)
Jonathan (Hulk) beat Richard (Mono U)
Dave (Stax) beat Grant (Suicide)

In the semifinals:
Ian (FCG) beat Dave (Stax)
Barry (Tendrils) beat Jonathan (Hulk)

In the finals:
Ian (FCG) beat Barry (Tendrils)

Congratulations to Ian, who finished top of the Swiss in a field of 48 players and went on to win the tournament. And he managed all that without a single Power card. And he's my team mate :-)

I have a lot more exciting info, like Top 8 decklists (for Dr Sylvan/ Zherbus to analyse), detailed reports of Ian's Top8 matches and stuff like that, I'll let you know once it's published on the web. But the final didn't finish until 5am. I got 3 hours sleep and then it took me 5 hours to drive home. So I'm off for a bath and then to bed for a bit.

Incidentally, Red Bull > Sleep :-)

Luke

I think Thug meant to say "Ophidian isn't an *activated* ability anymore, so Matrix won't stop it."

Ophidian's original card text is worded as an activated ability which has obviously been updated in the Oracle into a triggered ability.



Luke

Hi this info is to the best of my knowledge but may be incorrect.

You have to pay two fees - one to Butlins and one to GenCon.

GenCon entrance fees are: £11 for one day, £20 for Saturday and Sunday, £35 for all four days.

With Butlins you must either book some accomodation, otherwise it's £12 per day. I believe parking is free.

In previous years there've been several Type1 traders. I know House Atreides will definitely be there this year, and Cutting Edge are likely to be present too (see URLs below).

I have no idea what the best day to trade is. Perhaps Thursday or Friday before the Type1 Nationals assuming people will buy all the best cards to use in the tournament.

Luke


House Atreides
http://homepages.tesco.net/~lawrenson/

Cutting Edge
http://www.cutting-edge-cards.com/

As this tournament is now just a week away I hope it's not unreasonable for me to bump this post to the top of the forum?

To add a little content, hopefully the 2003 Champion, Richard Clyne, will be present to defend his title. He won last year using Vengeur Masque.

Expected Metagame (my personal opinion, could be way off):
Based on past experience I expect a fair amount of "bad" budget aggro e.g. Sligh and Suicide. Probably also some Goblin decks from people who dusted off last year's Extended deck. Based on its recent T1 tournament success I expect a fair amount of Fish to be played by the more serious unpowered players. There should also be a reasonable amount of power, most likely played in Keeper/4CC type decks. I also heard Belcher will be there. I'm not expecting many Bazaars or Workshops.

It'll be interesting to compare the metagame to e.g. Waterbury or Dülmen.

BTW still no idea of prize or REL.

Luke

Did you shuffle his deck after he presented?

BTW, thanks for spending the time to write an indepth and interesting report.

Luke


http://www.wizards.com/dci/downloads/Magic_FLR_20Jun04.doc