Yep - this is right in the middle of campus (basically).

There isn't much of a Vintage community at GYGO.  I do know that RIW used to run Vintage tournaments with a good deal of success, so there is definitely interest in the format around here.

GYGO is doing a series of power tournaments in various formats.  This is the second one.  The first was Legacy, and was last Saturday, and had 32 people.  While I'm guessing that most people don't play Vintage regularly(I don't even play this format), I don't think that will affect the attendance.  People around here love to play Magic, no matter the format.  I'm confident that the attendance for the Vintage tournament will at least be comparable to the Legacy one (which was dissapointing - we were expecting more).

Get Your Game On will be hosting a 15-Proxy Vintage Event. As many of the cards used in the format cost upwards of $200 and are growing increasingly rare, the players are permitted to "proxy" UP TO 15 cards in their decks. A proxied card is to be identical in every way to a standard magic card, with the exception that it CLEARLY NOTES the properties of the card it is representing. This means that cards cannot feel, bend or weigh differently than any other card in the decks. If the Head Judge feels that your proxies are not to these specifications, we will ask you to use one of ours.
Proxies must include:
~ Casting cost of the card
~ Name of the card

**Please Note! The tournament will be held on a SUNDAY to avoid traffic from the Saturday home U of M Football game.**

Doors open at 11:30am, with registration for players at 12:00. GYGO will be requiring all Decks to be registered at this time as well. Entry is $20 for each person playing in the event.

Deck checks will take place at the beginning of the tournament, as well as completely randomly throughout the tournament.

DCI Head Judge for the tournament will be: TBA
The K-Rating for the event is: Non-existent as this tournament will be held using 15 Proxies.

Prize Structure at 30+ Players:
First Place: 1x Excellent Condition Unlimited Mox Ruby
Second Place: 1x From the Vault Exiled
Third & Fourth Place: 1x Underground Sea
Fifth Place: Phyrexian Dreadnought - NM
Sixth Place: Phyrexian Dreadnought - NM
Seventh Place: Phyrexian Dreadnought - SP
Eighth Place: Phyrexian Dreadnought - HP

***IN THE EVENT OF 50+ PLAYERS***
Ninth-Sixteenth: $20 Store Credit

Parking is found in the surrounding areas in the neighborhoods, and on the street in front of the store. Parking at meters in Ann Arbor is free after 6:00pm, and costs $.60 per hour before then. Check out the map attached in the pictures for the event for more details.

Date:
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Time:
12:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:
Get Your Game On
Address:
709 Packard Rd
Ann Arbor, MI
Phone:
7347863746

Here is a link to the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events.php#/event.php?eid=232219135525

Note that I am not organizing this tournament, and I am just posting the info on behalf of the TO.

Feel free to ask me any questions though!

Hope to see you there!

Any results?

If I get a ride, I'm there.

There's a relatively new store in Ann Arbor, where there's Legacy every Saturday at 1:00pm

Get Your Game On
709 Packard Rd
Ann Arbor, MI, 48104
Phone: 734.786.3746
E-mail: alex@getyourgameonline.com
Web: www.getyourgameonline.com

It's really nice place.  Lots of space.  The only problem is that his singles are a little over-priced, and, because he opened less than 6 months ago, his selection isn't too great.  S'all good, though.  I've only played Legacy there once ('cause I just found out about it), and only four people participated, but he said his Standard and Block tournaments also started like that (now he gets like 16+ for those).  So please, if you're in the AA area, come on down!

Brady > Manning.  Period.  Though that may just be my U of M bias.

Though three rings seems pretty good.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the LIONS.  I mean, for cereal.  It's amazing that we actually have a football team this year.  They make the playoffs this year.  Book it.

Thanks for the comments, guys.


Counter-Top is so good right now.  I've found that its significantly better than some combination of Duress, Abeyance, or other tutor(s).  It's basically a permanent Duress - it shuts off Stifle, Swords to Plowshares, and Lightning Bolt when you're combo'ing off.  It controls the board like no other.  In several games, I stopped every play the opponent tried to make.  That's two thumb way up.


I was actually running three until I decided on the Ghoul kill the night before.  The idea is that if you have Tarmogoyf(s), you won't need extra Narcomoebas on the board.  If you don't have the Goyfs, you'll probably have either Counter-Top, or some combination of Force of Will and Daze to protect you.  At that point, you probably only need one Cabal Therapy. 

On a similar note, I was considering dropping the second Therapy.  However, Therapy is very useful in general, and I was never dissapointed if it was in my opening hand.

One thing I was discussing with Doug was that, like JOrlove pointed out, because I only really combo'ed twice, the actual combo might not be that useful.  While this is true, it is also true that I simply just drew Counterbalance or FoW/Daze and Tarmogoyf more often than I drew the combo pieces.  This doesn't mean the combo wasn't needed, it just means I didn't see it.  In any of the games, drawing the combo would have led to the same result.  (Even against Yixid Jailer, I had the FoW/Daze to get rid of it, but I didn't care because I had a fucking Tarmogoyf).

*This is just some background info on how I settled on the list I used.  Feel free to skip this part and jump down to the decklist and tournament report*

I started testing for this event about two weeks ago when I decided I was going to run some build of Cephalid Breakfast.  From then on, I went back-and-forth, pretty much every day, on what kill I was running and what support I was running.  I originally started with the Kiki kill, because it was fewer slots, only three colors and Wasteland-resistant, and allowed me to run more control/protection.  At that point, I was running Counterbalance as a 2-of, along with four Duress and three Daze.  Shortly, I took the Counterbalances out and moved them to the SB temporarily, and tried Abeyance in the main, reasoning that Abeyance is never dead.  After a week or so, I found I had issues finding the combo and getting the right lands out (at that point, I ran only four dual lands and eight basics).  So, I decided to add the fourth color, Green, for Worldly Tutor, and figured that if I’m running Green, I might as well just run Tarmogoyf.

The first draft still ran Force of Will, Daze, and Duress as protection, but Brainstorm was the only draw and Worldly Tutor was the only tutor.  So, about four days ago, I put Counter-Top back in, taking out Daze and Duress.  I wasn’t really happy with the lack of control in this build, so I went back to the three color version with the Kiki kill (replacing Worldly Tutor with Lim-Dul’s Vault), and fit in Force, Daze, and Counter-Top.  Again, however, I found that I still had trouble finding the pieces, especially against Aggro, because LDV is a full turn slower than Worldly Tutor.  Also, I had a really poor ‘plan B’ if I didn’t manage to land the combo early on.  So, I came up with a new Green version build to smash Aggro – running seven Tutors and more combo pieces.

At this point, it was two days before the tournament.  I presented each list to my team and they all said I should run a build with Tarmogoyf.  So, with that in mind, I continued to test the four color version.  I was unhappy with the lack of control (again), so I actually dropped the Ghoul kill and put in the Kiki kill.  This gave me the room for the control base I wanted to run.  Carl suggested, the night before, the changes that would complete (well, make it 99.9% complete) the deck – putting the Ghoul kill back into the deck, and taking out the fourth Daze, En-Kor, and third Narcomoeba. 

It was Friday night, and Doug and Anthony got to my house around 10:00 or so.  (I should mention that as of Wednesday night, I still wasn’t sure how exactly I was going to get there.  Spencer had been talking with Doug about coming up, but he wouldn’t know until Thursday night, as he didn’t want to drive all the way from Columbus alone.  I guess KC would’ve been able to get me, but it would’ve been the morning-of, which would’ve added like an hour to his trip.  Needless to say, Doug found a ride, and all the problems were solved).  After a few minor detours (ie, missing the exit and realizing it about fifteen miles later), we eventually get to Spencer’s, at which point it was about 12:00. (The time it should take to get from Ann Arbor to Clawson is about 45 minutes, so we took more than double the time.  Big frowns).  We got some Taco Bell, and gave Doug the cards to build the rest of his deck.  (I just realized that he still has my Scrublands.  This is why things should be written down).  Also, that night, I decided (for some reason) to run a single Volcanic Island so that I could bring Pyroclasm from my sideboard.  I’m not exactly sure why, but it seemed like a good idea.  (Although, those Pyroclasms should’ve been Lightning Bolts…but more on that later). 

After a decent night’s rest (and plenty of pills to keep my allergies in check), it’s time to head out.  We get to Adventurer’s Guildhouse at about 10:00, and are surprised to see we are the first ones there.  We head to McDonald’s for some gourmet breakfast, and get back to the store at about 10:45, by which point more people had shown up.  Unfortunately, only sixteen payers came, which meant only four rounds and a cut to Top 4.  Small turnouts for the lose.  The tournament starts a little late, but the pairings finally come, and my Round One opponent is none other than Mr. Douglas Linn.

Oh, and here’s the list I played:

Mono-Blue Combo-Control with Black, Green, and White Splash Suggested by Richard Franklin on 2007-9-22 as a Potential Deck for Legacy
By Richard Franklin

4 Tundra
4 Tropical Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

4 Cephalid Illusionist
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Narcomoeba
2 Nomads en-Kor
1 Shaman en-Kor
1 Sutured Ghoul

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 AEther Vial
3 Daze
3 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Worldly Tutor
2 Cabal Therapy
1 Dread Return
1 Dragon Breath

SB: 3 Rushing River
SB: 3 Abeyance
SB: 3 Pyroclasm
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Compost

I have to say that this is the best list I’ve ever seen for any deck ever.  It preformed like it, too.

Round 1: BGW Junk piloted by Doug Linn (Hi-Val)
I’m on the draw and keep a hand with a turn two kill, along with Force of Will backup.  He just plays a land and passes.  I drop Nomads, and pass.  I Force his Hymn, and untap (drop Illusionist) and win. 1-0

Sideboarding:  I can’t quite remember, but I think it was something like this
+3 Compost
-3 AEther Vial

Game Two, I keep a strong hand with Counter-Top and Goyf.  He plays a land and passes, and I drop the Top.  On his second turn, he drops Yixid Jailer, and I drop the big Counterbalance on mine.  From that point on, it was an easy ride, as Counter-Top stopped all his plays, while a couple of giant Goyfs carried me to victory.  2-0

1-0

Round 2: Salvagers piloted by Chris (MasterShake)
I’m on the play and keep a good control hand, leading out with a Therapy naming Gamekeeper, which hits.  His hand is LED, 2x Tainted Pact, and a couple lands.  He drops a land and passes.  On my second turn, I drop a Narcomoeba.  He plays his second land, and passes.  I swing with Narcomoeba, and then Flashback Therapy, to which he responds by Pact’ing for Living Wish.  I then take Living Wish, and pass.  I can’t quite remember what happens, but I beat down with some creatures, before he’s eventually able to find the combo and win.  0-1

Sideboarding:  Again, I cannot recall specifically, but I do know that I brought Abeyance in, probably for AEther Vials

In Game Two, I open with Counter-Top which wins me the game.  He can’t resolve any of his tutors, disruption, or pieces, while Goyf beats for the win.  1-1

Game Three starts much in the same way.  I get him down to two life, when he’s able to land a Pernicious Deed and clean the board.  I just drop a Cephalid Illusionist and beat for the win.  2-1

2-0

Round 3: Salvagers piloted by Spencer (SpencerForHire)
One reason I dislike small tournaments is that you always play the people you know.  Paying $25 to play against Doug, Spencer, and Chris sucks. 

He’s on the play, though I’m able to stop his early combo attempts and swing with Goyf a couple times.  On about turn five or six, he Deeds the Goyf, after which I just Worldly Tutor for Nomads, and show the Illusionist in my hand for the win.  1-0

Sideboarding:  Probably something similar to what I did the previous round.

He Living Wish’es for Yixid Jailer, which I let resolve, and I’m able to get Counter-Top going.  He gets me to 12 when I find and drop a Tarmogoyf.  I drop another one soon after, and smash face.  2-0

3-0

Round 4: UGR Threshold piloted by Zac (I’m not sure if he’s on any forums)
At this point, we’re the only two undefeated players in the tournament, so if we ID we’d still be the first and second seeds.  So, we ID.

3-0-1

Fortunately, Spencer wins his match and makes it into the Top 4.  He gets paired against Zac, while I’m paired against Stephen and his Vile Horror deck. 

Top 4: Vile Horror piloted by Stephen (Isamaru on MTGSalvation)
I’m on the play, and, as seems to be the theme of the day, land Counter-Top by the third turn.  The only play he lands is a Sage of the Epityr, as Counter-Top stops his entire deck.  He eventually tries to land a Gilded Drake, but I just Worldly Tutor for another Tarmogoyf in response.  He loses to double Goyf.  1-0

Sideboarding:  I don’t remember, but I know I bring in all three of my Rushing River.

Game Two starts the same as Game One, but he’s eventually able to land an Engineered Explosives for two.  He nukes it, and I decide to River my Counterbalance and Tarmogoyf.  He drops a Hunted Horror and passes.  I think for a while, as he has lethal damage on the table.  I’m holding a Nomads in my hand, along with the mana to Top and cast the Illusionist that's sitting three cards down on my Library, though I didn't know it at the time.  I should've Top'ed, saw the Illusionist and won, or (say if the Illusionist wasn't there) just cast blockers.  However, I decide not to risk it, and I simply recast Tarmogoyf and Counterbalance to buy me a turn, but he has the Gilded Drake to win.  1-1

At this point, time is called, so we’re only given five turns to play Game Three.  I’m not a big fan of timed elimination rounds.  The way it worked was this:  we have five turns to play the game.  At the end of those turns, the game goes to the player with the most life.  If the life totals are the same, the game goes to the player who can deal damage first (or, technically, gain life).  Zac and Spencer’s match also went to time, which basically screws Spencer, because all Zac had to do was counter some cards, and then just Lightning Bolt or Fire/Ice for the win (which he does).  Anyway, Stephen and I angrily finish our match. 

Game Three, I keep a hand with some land, Rushing River, and a Nacomoeba.  Because I’m on the play, all I have to do is bounce his threat.  So, I drop Narcomoeba on turn two, and he answers with Epochrasite.  I bounce it on my turn, and swing with Narcomoeba to even our life totals.  On his turn (which is turn 5), he can only drop the Epochrasite again, and watch as my little flying dude swings for the win.  2-1

I joke that Lightning Bolt is so good in this format, and that the Pyroclasms (which I didn’t use all day) should’ve been Bolts.  Whatever.

Top 2: UGR Threshold piloted by Zac
I keep a hand with Daze and Counterbalance in it.  I fetch for an Island and pass.  He plays a Mongoose, which I Daze, but he Daze’s back (I should’ve tapped my Island to float mana.  D’oh).   I land the Counterbalance, but he Wastelands my only Green sources and I am unable to find answer to the Mongoose, which beats for the win.  0-1

Sideboarding:  I bring in some number of Abeyance and take out the Worldly Tutors

Game Two, however, is as bad as Game One, as he’s able to resolve a Goyf through Counterbalance.  I eventually find my own Goyf, and stall for a little.  He manages to land a Mongoose, though, and wins with Lightning Bolt backup.  0-2

So, I end up with $75 in store credit, which I spend on a set of Cabal Therapy (I borrowed Anthony’s for the tournament) and three Pernicious Deed.  The rest I spend on eight Future Sight packs, hoping to open a Goyf (which I do!  I also get some other decent stuff) to make money off.

It was a decent day, even though I came in expecting to win the Mox.  I’m okay with second place and a bye in the next Mox tournament.  I was really happy with my deck, though, and definitely made the right choices.  The sideboard kind of sucked, as I really only used the Rivers and the Abeyances, though those were great.  People often question why I use River instead of something like Echoing Truth.  The reason is that River can bounce two different permanents, like Pithing Needle and Crypt/Leyline.  Even though that situation never came up, it is useful to have an answer to it. 

And now, the obligatory Props and Slops.

Props:
-Doug and Anthony for driving up from Columbus and giving me a ride
-Anthony for lending me a couple Cabal Therapies
-Chris, Spencer, and KC for convincing me to go with the Tarmogoyf plan
-Carl for making some great suggestions
-Tarmogoyf
-Counterbalance and Sensei’s Divining Top
-Rushing River and Abeyance
-My deck, for being the awesome.
-The TO for giving awesome prizes, despite the low turnout

Slops:
-Timed elimination rounds
-Bad allergies
-The rest of my sideboard
-Wasteland
-16-player tournaments with a $25 entry fee

Okay...so....I guess I lied the last couple of times, but this time I'm cereal:  I am 100% able to make this.

I just need a ride.

(For real this time)

Results?

About time you started playing Magical Cards again.

Coming off an extended break is always a little tough to do, so great job!

How did your Sideboard work out for you?  I've liked Confidant in the SB, but it appears he didn't do much for you - would you want to replace him wish something else that draws cards?  Also, were all the bounce spells really necessary? 

Good job on the finish.

I'm 90% sure I can make this.

I just need a ride from Ann Arbor.

Good job, KC.

A couple of things:

1. Dark Ritual:  I've been going back and forth with this card.  How did you like it?

2. Creatures: How'd they work out for you?  Did you ever find you wanted a few more?  How much did Dark Confidant help?  Have you considered maindeck Loxodon Hierarch/someother dork instead of the Jitte slot?  I've found that I really want 15 or 16 dudes.

3. Pernicious Deed: I think that in the Flint meta, it's not terribly useful - with all the UG/x around, you're only going to be popping it for 1 or 2, and it's only going to remove one or two threats, as well as whatever you have on the table.  In some other meta, though, I think I'd keep them in.  As far as replacements go, I don't think you want creature kill.  You already have Vindicate, StP and Smallpox (and Fish/UG/x only runs at most 15 creatures).  I'd add something that helps with the combo matchup.

Who would've guessed it would be all 'Goyf on 'Goyf action? 

Seems like the meta is all Aggro-Control feat. 'Goyf.  But, then again, he is like the best creature evar.

'Grats to all who Top 8'ed.

Interesting fact: Detroit didn't have a Baseball team until about a year or two ago.*

Then, suddenly, this team called "the Tigers" popped up, and they were pretty decent.  Very strange.

S'all good, though.  They're actually the most exciting team in either League, and, barring a complete burnout (though, they did last year), should easily surpass the R-Sox for first.  I wouldn't be surprised if we surpass 100 wins.

They're my pick to win the Series, but, either way, the AL is going to win it; it'll just be whoever survives the postseason run.  The NL is pretty weak.

*We still don't have a Football team...

Congrats on your finish, man.  Way to represent Michigan!

Well, I made Day 2 and finished 115th.  I rolled through Day 1, and then just sort of lost it Day 2:

Day One:
Round One: Burn, 2-0.  1-0
Round Two: UGwr Gro, 1-1-1. 1-0-1
Round Three: Faerie Stompy, 2-1. 2-0-1
Round Four: UBW Fish (with Vials and Silver Knights), 0-2. 2-1-1
Round Five: BW Confidant, 2-1. 3-1-1
Round Six: BGR Loam Control (Terravores, Seismic Assaults, etc), 2-1. 4-1-1
Round Seven: UB Flash (Kiki kill), 2-1. 5-1-1
Round Eight: UW Landstill, 2-0. 6-1-1
Round Nine: BGR Loam Control, 1-1-1. 6-1-2

Seeded 82 going into Day 2.

Day Two:
Round 10: UBW Fish with Flash-Hulk SB, 2-0. 7-1-2
Round 11: UB Flash (Kiki kill), 1-1. 7-1-3  (This draw killed my chances to make Top 8.  I'll write a little more on this match later.)
Round 12: UBW Fish with Flash-Hulk SB, 1-2. 7-2-3
Round 13: Goblins, 1-2. 7-3-2
Round 14: UBW Fish (with Exalted Angel), 1-2. 7-4-3

At that point, I was so sick of Magic, I dropped.  I was getting completely out-drawn the entire day, and had absolutely no desire to even finish the last round.

My list looked like this:

Mono-Blue Control with Black and White Splash Suggested by Richard Franklin on 2007-05-19 as a Potential Deck for Legacy
by Richard Franklin

4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Scrubland

4 Dark Confidant
4 Meddling Mage
3 Mother of Runes
3 Jotun Grunt
2 Serendib Efreet

4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions

4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Stifle
2 Spell Snare

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Umezawa's Jitte

SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Rootwater Thief
SB: 2 Azorius Guildmage
SB: 2 Serenity
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte

It's the list I've been using for ages, except for:

-1 Daze
-1 Jitte
+2 Spell Snare

and a few minor tweaks to the mana base.  I liked the list, and it worked pretty well.

Nothing eventful happened Day One, as I cruise through the day.  The only problem were my draws (not intentional), which would come back to haunt me.  So, I was okay with being 82 going into the next day.

I should have made it to at least the Top 64, but the draw in Round 11 pretty much put me in the wrong bracket.  What happened was basically this:

I win Game One quite handily, although it takes about 35-40 minutes.  In Game Two, he brings in Plague Slivers and Phyrexian Negators, but I'm able to deal with all of his threats.  I hardcast a Leyline and get a Grunt out, which gets him down to single digits.  He eventually finds a Pernicious Deed to clear the board, which I let through, since I'm holding two Moms and a Thief.  I get the Moms and Thief out, and start beating.  I start removing his Masticores (which he also sided in), Hulks, and other threats.  However, he's holding in his hand his last Hulk, which he hardcasts (he's also holding his last Deed).  At this point, I'm at 8 life, and he's at 4 and time is called.  I ask him to concede to me, as it would be better for my tie-breakers to win 2-0 instead of 1-0.  He refuses.  So, I keep swinging with a flying Thief, and get him down to 2 life.  He then casts the Deed he'd been holding in his hand, for which I have no answer.  He clears my board, and swings with his Hulk to finish me off.  Were I able to draw one last creature after he Deed'd, I would have won the round 1-0.  However, he beat me Game Two, and we drew, 1-1.

To Top 8, I needed to go 5-1 Day Two.  Had I won Round 11, I would've been 2-0 on the day, and only needed three wins the rest of the day, which I knew I could get.  However, with the draw, I could no longer lose a match.  Now, I wasn't too upset, as I knew that it was pretty much all Flash, Fish, and Threshold players at the top tables, which I knew I had a good matchup against and could outplay.

However, my luck quickly changed as I just kept getting outdrawn each round.  In the next round, the Flash player combo'd off games two and three on turn two with Force of Will and Daze back up.  I never opened with any of the Leylines I sided in both in Day One and Two, even when I mulligan'd.  Fine.  So, I'm 1-1-1 on the day, and can still Top 32 or 64 and make prize.  But, I get matched up against Goblins in the next round.  I get steamrolled Game One, when he draws and casts all four of his Pyrokinesis, and managed to win Game Two.  But, as seemed to be the theme for the day, I get completely screwed Game Three; I open with a very strong hand with both a Jitte and a Plague in it, along with a threat or two and some counters.  But, of course, he gets a completely nutty hand, and plays 3 Wastelands and two Ports, and beats me down with two Mogg Fanatics.  Seems good.

I split the first two games in Round 14, but get romped in Game Three.  He has a Swords/Force/Daze for all of my dorks, and eventually stabilizes with TWO Exalted Angels and a Mage on Swords.  Boo.

So, I just drop, and spend the rest of the day playing mental magic with Spencer, Darren, and Doug (Hi-Val) and consuming some amounts of alcohol.  Now, apparently, Ohio has some dumb law that limits the amount of alcohol in a drink.  When Spencer called me to ask what I wanted Doug to buy (this was still Day One, when Spencer, Darren, and Doug scrubbed out and went on a beer run), I said Smirnoff Green Apple, hoping to come home to a nice fifth of vodka.  However, they bought me those sissy Smirnoff bottles which are like 5%.  I guess I didn't specifiy I wanted a fifth, but it wouldn't have mattered, because no store in the area sold hard liquor.  Endless amounts of Appletini/girl jokes ensue.  Whatever.

I don't have too much to say regarding Flash, other than, after seeing that most of the top tables were Flash or Aggro-Control, I think it's best for the format if it goes away.

The weekend was fun though, and I sold a bunch of cards and made quite a bit of money.  I was very dissapointed with my finish, needless to say, but I enjoyed every minute of the event.  And now, I'm home in time to watch the Pistons beat the piss out of the Cavs.

Props:
-Spencer and Darren for providing a ride
-Doug for providing boozahol
-Serenity (Seriously, that's my most favorite card ever.) for owning Faerie Stompy
-Paul for Top 8'ing.  Way to go!!!
-Spell Snare and Rootwater Thief for being the awesomesauce

Slops:
-Spencer and Darren for sucking it up
-Flash
-Fish SB'ing into Flash
-Ohio for having dumb laws
-Drawing garbage all of Day Two

Thanks for reading.

Mother of Runes might be expendable, but I'd keep her around, as there's bound to be those Aggro decks who just thought they could add Leyline of the Void maindeck and have a decent Hulk Flash matchup.

I like the column (or whatever you would call this), but I'd like to see you expand even farther - maybe a more matches a night and more discussion on tweaks you consider during the sessions.  I don't know if you have the time for that/whatever, but it'd be very interesting to see.

Keep it up.

The festivities begin in two days.  I'm overflowing with exitement.

or you can play Fish with a Protean Hulk-Flash kill!!!

In all seriousness, Fish is the best option.  Leylines are everywhere, and they're going to be maindecked in some of Threshold's weaker matchups, ie Goblins (or, what's left of them, at least).  I like BW Confidant, but, as you said, it has the inability to maintain the pressure, and can lack a decent clock. 

There's no reason not to run Fish, and there's no reason to run another deck.  (Unless, of coure, you opt for Hulk Flash).

I do like the new FS frames; they're really cool-looking on their own.

However, it's going to look like two different games when you're holding, say, an Ice Age Swords to Plowshares and a Lucent Liminid.

I say the old frames are still best.

Well, it was the first time it was played at a real tournament at Pandemonium

Also, Nicolo's decklist is HOT.  Morphling ftw.

I went 2-2-1 with Doug and Darren's RG Survival list (with slight modifications).  I have brought shame and dishonor to my family.

I played Truffle Shuffle (2-0), Solidarity(2-0), Affinity(0-2), and Faeries Stompy(I got paired down, 1-2).  (I ID'ed in the last round because there was no point to playing it out.  I don't recall what he was playing).

In retrospect, I probably could have done better had I played Fish, as I am much more talented with that deck (I did make one wrong play during the FS matchup, but it is questionable as to whether it would have had an effect). But with a boat-load of Control and Aggro, Fish wasn't the best choice - Truffle Shuffle, Faerie Stompy, and Affinity are still bad matchups for me.  (Though, I'm positive I could've gone X-1 based on my natural talent, had I played Fish.  But, alas, I wanted to try something different).  It was also the first time Faerie Stompy has been played at Pandemonium.  There were also only two Combo decks, in TES and Solidarity.

S'all good, though.  I'll just have to catch a GPT in Ohio, or just take it like a man and play every round at the GP.  Either way, I'll avenge myself.

Congrats to Josh!

*edit* A total of 25 people showed up.

Boo Spencer.

So, I guess I need a ride to this, from the Ann Arbor.  PM me if you're awesome enough to do it.

Man, I wish I could've gone to more of these.

A lot of fun, and it was great meeting the Meandeckers.

A (very) brief recap:
Round 1: Doug Lynn with Affinity (2-0)  (Not bad for my first Meandeck encounter)
Round 2: Nam Tran with Angel Stax (2-0)  (Nam Tran is still powerless to stop me. (I'm jus' playin'.))
Round 3: Dylen Brown with Affinity (2-1)  (*sigh*.  What a boring matchup.)
Round 4: Spence (ID)  (Hooray for being 3-0!)
Round 5: Mark Trogdon with Burn (ID)  (I'm so glad I didn't have to play this matchup.)
Top 8: Dave Doughtery with BWHC Landstill (1-2)  (worst. matchup. ever.  It was damn fun, though, 'cause Dave was great, and we had Mastriano and Menendian (as well as 3/4s of the rest of the crowd) watching us and providing some interesting commentary.  Despite bein an awful matchup for me, the games were very, very intense, and really close.  But uncounterable, recurrable 4/4s with First Strike are some good, I hear.)

I have no idea why I have to keep running into Affinity/Stax.  Something about Fish, I guess...I used the same list as the one I used at the most recent Garden City Event, which is in the UWb Fish thread

I have to say, for my first trip into Buckeye-ville, it wasn't too bad.  You guys have much better roads than we do. (Aside from the whole dog thing.  But the cop was pretty cool).  S'all good.

Hrm...Fetchlands, Decree of Justice, Ringleader, Matron, Wasteland.  Possibly a few more things, but that's all I can remember.   Duress did come in everytime against Landstill, where it was pretty decent.  I don't really remember, specifically, what I brought out in each match, but I know that Stifle pretty much stayed in for everything.

<hyperbole>Stifle is pretty much the best card in the format.</hyperbole>

It's actually good against pretty much everything - it's rarely ever dead.  I don't remember ever 'boarding it out

Duress, on the other hand, doesn't help you as much against the Aggro matchup (which you're most worried about), and is stronger coming off the bench.  Duress is there for Combo and Control, and I 'boarded it in against Landstill. 

I forgot I was running Vindicate and Wasteland back in September, but I like this new build better.  It's much more fluid.

They split store credit 50/50.  Something like $140 each, which seems pretty good.  Technically, the WW guy conceded to Austin, but who's counting?

For whatever reason, there was no deck registration, so I don't think anyone has all the Top 8 lists.  Aside from me, Liek, cancerstix, and Master Shake, the rest of the Top 8 aren't registered here.

As for my list, it's pretty much the same one I top 4'ed with at the Kettering tournament in September.

Mono-Blue Control with Black and White Splash Suggested by Richard Franklin on 2007-02-18 as a Potential Deck for Legacy
By Richard Franklin

4 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Scrubland

4 Dark Confidant
4 Meddling Mage
3 Jotun Grunt
3 Mother of Runes
2 Serendib Efreet

4 Brainstorm
4 Serum Visions

4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Stifle

4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Umezawa’s Jitte

SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Serenity
SB: 3 Kataki, War’s Wage
SB: 3 Engineered Explosives

Though, I moved Duress to the SB, and increased the Stifles maindeck. 


*edit* Okay, nevermind.  I completely forgot I was running Wasteland and Vindicate back in September.  So, yeh, it's slightly more different than 'pretty much the same thing'.  Whatever.

Sort of a dissapointing turnout, but whatever.

I piloted UBW Fish to Top 4, facing:
R1: Affinity, 2-0 (1-0)
R2: UW Landstill, 1-1-1 (1-0-1)
R3: UR Landstill, 2-0 (2-0-1)
R4: WW, ID (2-0-2)
T8: Mono-Red Goblins, 2-0
T4: UW Landstill, 0-2

I didn't really take notes, 'cause I didn't feel like it.  So, I leave with $40 in store credit and a worthless draft set. 

Props:
-Austin and Rick for driving me. (I shall sacrifice a thousand lambs in your honor.)
-Pandemonium for holding the tournament
-Everyone who attended for being good sportsmen (and women) - it was a great crowd and atmosphere, very light-hearted.  Everyone was having fun.  Always a major plus
-Austin and Rick for being awesome.

Slops:
-Everyone who didn't show up.
-Wrath of God and Nevinyrral's Disk.  And Faerie Conclave.  And Mishra's Factory.  And Dust Bowl.


It was a shame there weren't more people, as we barely had enough to cut to Top 8.  I had a good time, though, so it's all good.

The meta itself was something like this:
2 Landstill (UR and UW, both of which Top 8'ed.  UR Top 4'ed, UW Top 2'ed)
1 UBW Fish (*sigh* Top 4.  Again.  Lame.)
1 Lands.dec (Worst. Deck. Ever.)
1 Goblins
1 Angel Stax
2 Mono-Red Sligh (or something to that effect.  I know Phil Cape was playing Sligh, but I'm not entirely sure about the other one.  I know it was mono-Red and ran burn.  Dunno about creatures.  Whatever.)
1 F***ed-Up RGB Pseudo-Zoo (piloted by cancerstix.  I guess it sort of worked?  Made Top 8)
1 Truffle Shuffle (the GWB Control deck Liek was talking about.  Piloted by Master Shake.  Made Top 8)
2 Affinity
1 Sort of Mono-Black Control (Ran Phyrexian Totem.  Not so cool beans.)
1 UGW Threshold (Quirion Dryad ftw.  Top 8)
1 White Weenie (JINXED CHOKER FTW.  Top 2)
1 Other WW

I think there was like one or two more, but I can't remember.

Someone might want to fix this.