We hope to come out swinging for this one!

Here's what it's like when Twaun does take off his panties and show up:

I'll be there slinging some cardboard and eating some chicken!

Everyone coming to this? Sweet. Just send your monies in this direction. I might even sling a poopdeck.

I'll be there packing heat. This guy got too close to my deck:

Shame on you!

Here's what'll happen when I turn in my deck list for this event tomorrow:

The numbers were indeed small for Vintage events at GenCon. Here are my best remembrances:

Friday 1pm: 62 players (followed by a Top 8)

During the Friday event, they added two more events:

Saturday 1pm: 26 players
Sunday 9am: 14 players

The prize support for the Saturday event was better than for the scheduled Friday event. Sunday was M15 packs - every Vintage player's favorite.

One of the highlights had to be the presence of Terese Nielsen.

Eternal Weekend Redux!

Like many other folks, I've thought it would be fun to try and break the Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage combo and make it viable in Vintage. 'Viable in Vintage' is a pretty high calling and this deck is not there just yet. However, the deck can power out a 20/20 indestructible flyer on turn two or three (and infrequently turn one) on a very consistent basis. The result is that your opponent is forced to react if they have not yet realized their own winning game plan or they will lose on the next turn. It has many of the same vulnerabilities that many 'glass cannon' decks have: a well-timed Mental Misstep, Force of Will, or Duress/Thoughtseize, as well as Chalice, Sphere, and Strip-effects can set you back. A Swords to Plowshares or Phyrexian Metamorph can do the same. The deck runs very much like a fast combo deck and here's what it looks like:

Maindeck

The combo (8)

4 Dark Depths
4 Thespian's Stage

Ways to find the combo (18)

4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Expedition Map
2 Into the North

Mana acceleration (19)

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Mox Diamond
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Fastbond

Other lands (15)

4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
3 Crystal Vein
4 Snow-covered Forest

Sideboard

4 Noxious Revival
4 Pithing Needle
2 Mental Misstep
2 Guttural Response
2 Spellskite
1 Surgical Extraction

The one thing the deck does very well is to reassemble the combo if it is disrupted. With eight combo pieces and 18 cards to help you find/assemble the combo, it doesn't take long to recover. I just tested the deck for the first time in a small tournament (19 players) and went 3-2. The deck beat a TurboTezz, Dredge, and blue control deck (Tinker/BSC/Vault/Key) and lost to a blue control deck and a 'Shop deck with Metamorphs and Karn Liberated. There may have been too many search tools and those slots could have been maindecking something else. When I sideboarded, I found myself removing redundant search cards for defensive cards. Some very vague ideas for sideboarding:

'Shops = Noxious Revival (for Strip effects), Pithing Needle (for Strip effects), Surgical Extraction
Dredge = Noxious Revival (to put Dredgers from their GY to top of library), Pithing Needle (for Bazaar), Mental Misstep, Surgical Extraction
Control = Mental Misstep, Guttural Response

I tested a huge list of cards and had many more suggested. Here's a list of some for either the main or side:

Exploration
Manabond
Chrome Mox
Simian Spirit Guide
Gitaxian Probe
Street Wraith
Living Wish
Nature's Claim
Deconstruct
Avoid Fate
Autumn's Veil
Realms Uncharted
Primeval Titan (with Flash?)
Knight of the Reliquary
Weathered Wayfarer
Tolaria West
Life from the Loam
Land Grant
Grafdigger's Cage
Petrified Field
Mindbreak Trap
Summoner's Pact
Manamorphose
Concordant Crossroads
Lightning Greaves
Instill Energy
Karakas
Maze of Ith

In the end, staying with green as the only color seemed to test well. After the tournament, I would definitely test a green/black hybrid to add some defense and tutoring of a different nature.

Heartless.

Awesome report.

Are we gonna have some live video feed of this shizzle or what?

I played a version of TMWA in the 34 man field at the Meandeck Open yesterday. I was not spectacular, but here's what happened for the community's digestion:

The deck was produced from a core of TMWA staples. I went with seven total Moon effects. With eight lands that make two mana and seven possible free red manas (including Lotus), the obvious goal is to land a Moon effect on the first turn. The second best plan is to land a Null Rod on turn one and a Moon effect ASAP. Here's what I ran:

Artifacts (7)
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Ruby
4 Null Rod

Creatures (21)
3 Figure of Destiny
2 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Simian Spirit Guide

Enchantments (3)
3 Blood Moon

Instants (12)
4 Dead / Gone
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Smash to Smithereens

Lands (17)
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
9 Mountain

Sideboard:
3 Artifact Blast
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pulverize
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Slag Fiend
2 Stingscourger

Round 1 – Bernie from Cincinnati with some thing similar to Jimmy McCarthy's deck from the last TSO

Bernie and I played in the Sunday Vintage tournament at GenCon and he remembered his bad luck. He had mis-reg'd his deck and got a game loss before we started. In game two, I mulled to six and had Tinker/BSC for the win...

Game 1

I was on the play and Bernie mulled to six. I believe he countered my early Moon effect and dropped a Jace TMS which was active a couple turns before I dropped a Phyrexian Revoker on Jace. Bernie had dropped a Delver at one point, but used it to block when I attacked his Jace. A second Magus of the Moon stuck along with a Figure of Destiny's Child and the team went the distance.

Game 2

I board in the two REBs and the Pyroblast from the board removing one Smash to Smithereens, one Dead//Gone, and one Figure. I had an early Revoker again, but my Null Rod was FOW'd. I landed a Magus, but he was Dismembered the next turn, although I Metamorphed him before he went away. And then that was Dismembered. Among all of those counterspells and Dismembers, I got him down to six life before Vault/Key was dropped with a Snapmaster in play. Scoop.

Game 3

I mulligan to six and probably shoulda went to five...Ben goes aggro and drops two Tarmgoyfs and a Trygon Predator and overruns me.

RECORD: 0-1

Round 2 – Adam from Columbus with ANT (Goody Two Shoes – get it?)

Game 1

Adam is on the play and I mulligan to six, but still land an early Magus. Adam sees a Mox, but no usable lands. A Revoker comes in on the Mox, along with an SSG and they go the distance.

Game 2

I board the same as game two from round one. Again, Adam is on the play and I mulligan to six. Adam has a Swamp and an Island and Mysticals for Ad Nauseam. I had a Pyroblast and considered using it on the Mystical, but I figured he was going for Tinker or Acall so I saved it. Whoops. As it turned out, Adam had one of the worst Ad Naus's I've seen:

Mox Jet, Tendrils of Agony, Hurkyls Recall, Mana Vault, Underground Sea, Tendrils of Agony, Slaughter Pact, Hurklys Recall, Tendrils of Agony -

...at which point he stopped at three life. He discarded the two Hurkyls and one Tendrils at the end of his turn. Unfortunately, I could not get a moon effect in before he fetched a basic Swamp and Island and I kept top-decking mana sources and no threats. I did drop a Null Rod. Even a Lighting Bolt woulda been nice. Kinda unusual for a deck with 21 creatures and four Bolts. With a Cabal Ritual and his available mana, he dropped the unusable Jet and Mana Vault and was able to storm five and Tendrils me for 12 getting him back up to 14 (he was at 2 after a fetch). Then he Vamp'd for Yawg and killed me the next turn.

Game 3

Now that I knew what he was playing, I boarded in the two Mindbreak Traps and dropped the other two Dead//Gones. This time I was on the play and Adam had to mulligan to six. I landed a turn one Magus and a turn two Revoker on Lotus. They got him down to three before he went off with a Tendrils for 12 bringing him back up 15 and me to eight. At one point he Duressed me and I Lightning Bolted in response. He saw nothing else though and the team took him down.

RECORD: 1-1

Round 3 – Mark Sun

Game 1

Mark was on the play, but had to mulligan to five. I had a turn one threat (Null Rod or Moon) that was FOW'd, but the turn two Magus stuck. I then landed another Null Rod and Mark scooped soon after.

Game 2

I boarded in one REB and one Pyroblast as I really saw nothing from Mark. I removed one Smash and one Dead//Gone. This time I had to mulligan to five with Mark on the play. He again FOW'd an early threat and assembled Vault/Key rather quickly and I scooped.

Game 3 (EPIC)

No one mulligans and I land a first turn Magus on the play with Ancient Tomb pitching SSG and I also drop Black Lotus. Mark plays a Volcanic Island. On my turn, I play a Mountain and swing with Magus and Mark taps his 'Mountain' to cast...a Beta Lighting Bolt at the Magus! I crack my Lotus for UUU, tap my Mountain and hardcast Minbreak Trap the Lighting Bolt! That was the first time I had seen Lotus on the day and the first time I had ever hardcast Mindbreak Trap.

Mark uptaps, plays a land, and drops Voltaic Key. I drop a 2/2 (maybe SSG?) and swing in. Mark draw and plays...Time Vault. Seriously? As it turns out, you can use basic Mountains to cast Voltaic Key and Time Vault without any problem. With just under 50 cards left in my deck, I had seven outs (four Null Rod and three Phyrexian Revokers). I topdecked a Null Rod and my dudes went the distance.

RECORD 2-1

Round 4 – Mark with Turbo Tezz

Game 1

I am on the play, but have to mulligan to six. I try a first turn Null Rod, but it is FOW’d. Mark has a broken opening with Mox, Vault, Grim Monolith into Grim Monolith. I land a Magus of the Moon who beats for a couple turns, but Mark lands a Top and assembles Vault/Key after I had dropped him to seven life. This match kinda sucked because I had a hard time following what he was doing because it seemed his entire deck was proxied.

Game 2

I had a first turn Magus that was Dismembered and he assembled Vault/Key on turn two.

RECORD 2-2

Round 5 – Reuben who is named after a sandwich and is off cubing…

RECORD 3-2

Round 6 – Twaun with the BRAX!

Game 1

I mulligan to six with Twaun on the play. He drops a Workshop, Mox, Chalice at zero, and a Lodestone Golem. Eek. I drop a Null Rod on my turn and he beats me with Lonestar on his and drops a Bazaar. I get beat again down to eight and drop a Simian Spirit Guide. Twaun drops a Thorn and beats again and I go to three. I play a Metamorph copying Lodestone using my Ancient Tomb and go to one life. Twaun keeps Bazaaring and finding nothing so he attacks with his Lodestone and we trade. I think I drop a Phyrexian Revoker on Welder and begin beating with him and the SSG while Twaun continues seeing three cards a turn (draw + Bazaar) and amazingly finding nothing. Another 2/2 joins them and they beat in for the win with me at one life.

Game 2

I finally get to use my Shop sideboard cards and bring in four Slag fiend, three Artifact Blast, and one Pulverize. Unfortunately, Twaun is on the play and I mulligan to four cards. He lands a first turn Lodestone Golem and I think I was able to play Ancient Tomb, Ruby, pitch SSG for Magus. Twaun doesn’t mind at all as he drops a Viashino Heretic the next turn. I get a Metamorph in on the Lodestone, but he is rocked by the Heretic on the next turn. I drop a Slag fiend and he is only a 3/3, but he is good enough to trade with a second Lodestone. I think I landed a Null Rod or a Revoker also, but between the Heretic and another Lodestone, I am quickly out of blockers.

Game 3

Just as we are shuffling up, time is called.

RECORD 3-2-1

My sideboard was focused on blue decks and Shop decks. I figured with Dredge, my best plan were the seven main deck Moon effects. The two Stingscourgers were for Oath. Some of the TMWA decks I've seen run Greater Gargadon or Goblin Bombardment to deal with Spirit tokens. That seems fine, but when this deck wants to win by creatures, I figured it was easier to deal with the Oathed up creature than to try and stop the Oath. With the two Stingscourgers, three Metamorphs, and three Gone there were some options. And with Lab Man Oath, I have three Dead and four Lightning Bolt, not to mention all the REBs and Pyroblasts. As it turned out, there was zero Oath at the tournament.

I like the deck and I think it's definitely viable in the meta. The one glaring weakness was when the other guy has better creatures like Tarmogoyfs. I suppose adding another Metamorph might be reasonable. I also thought about possible adding Mana Crypt and/or Sol Ring, but I'm not sure at the expense of what.

For what it's worth...cheers

Webcast today gents?

I think the prize for 'Longest Distance Traveled' should be that there is no way you can get the BYE round one. Because no one likes driving/flying hours and then sitting on their duff during round one

QFT They were outstanding. If you're ever gaming there, swing across the street to the Packard Pub. You will not be disappointed. You've gotta love when the jeans pocket hangs lower than the jean shorts have been cut.

The tourney was a great time, even though I scrubbed 2-3 with a B/R Belcher list.

Smennycakes took this one down with...GAT? What year is this anyhow?

Not that there is a huge overlap between Vintage Magic players and sports, but with the College and Pro football seasons beginning, that can become a factor of attendance on Saturdays and Sundays.

And how is this event turning out?

1st Brian Demars - Draw Seven Vault/Key/Empty
2nd Cj Moritz - Sea Drakes
3rd James King - Oath
4th Soly - Vault/Key
5th Doug Linn - Draw Seven Vault/Key/Empty
6th Jerry Yang - BR Shops
7th Matt Hazard - GUW Fish
8th Chris LePay - ???

I was random trolling eBay and ran across this:

Item number: 160351528660

I just thought I would post it to check for legitimacy, loss, etc (not that I could bid it). It seems awfully pimp and identifiable for a seller with a zero rating and some spelling mistakes. Look familiar to anyone?

Mods: If this is not the place for this sort of thing, feel free to move.

Regarding attendance, I would imagine the double p9 in Chicago the week prior, the double P9 in Pittsburgh the week after, and GenCon/Vintage Champs two weeks after that would be a factor in attendance. Most folks in the format cannot hit all of these so a Vintage event at Nationals might only be attracting those who play other formats as well.

What if the Thurman Burger has shroud?

I would say that any discussion about alternative draw/card quality cards for TPS lists would have to include the draw/card quality choices that currently exist in the deck and ask the question: are any of these suggestions more optimal than what we currently have?  Here is what we already have:

Card Quality/Draw

1 Brainstorm
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall

Tutors

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Grim Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll

Sticking with a list somewhat close to what we have seen earlier in this thread, which of these eleven cards – okay let’s say eight because I don’t think I could ever imagine dropping Ancestral, Demonic, or Mystical from the list - would you cut to replace with any of these:

Serum Visions
Careful Study
Meditate
Ideas Unbound
Frantic Search
Gush
Opt
Impulse
Lat-Nam’s Legacy
Thirst for Knowledge
Strategic Planning
Cephalid Coliseum
Skeletal Scrying
Night’s Whisper

Or would you cut something else in the list where the slot would be better served as additional draw/card quality?  I would love to find a slot for Night’s Whisper, but I think the card I would want to drop for it is Merchant Scroll and it is perilous to drop your blue count for FOW reasons.

I would also throw a vote to Vintage.

If anyone else needs a ride from the central ohio metropolitan area, shoot me a PM.

What about Retract?

Retract   
Cost : U   
Type : Instant   
Wording : Return all artifacts you control to their owner's hand.

I understand in combo decks that Hurkyls can also target the opponent and so it has greater utility, but Retract is one cheaper and could definitely help facilitate some storm count.

I'm horrible with dates - will Eventide be legal here?

Sweet - one final warmup before the whacked-out meta that will be the Champs in Chicago.

So what happened with this?