@Lotushead

I was in that Top 4! I lost to RandomMiser, and had to settle for a Mox Pearl instead of a Lotus. That was right when I started getting into Vintage, and the P9 series over the next few years was a big part of why I ended up getting so into Magic.

Yeah, regarding Gifts: I have actually been mildly dissatisfied with Gifts for a while, and even played Fact or Fiction over it a few times. Fact still wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but then Jace got printed. It was slow to catch on, but now it seems like every Blue-based deck has at least one Jace (the Fish deck that made the finals did, even), and whenever I play Tezz or Oath, I have been running two Jaces. I was skeptical of Jace at first, but it turns out that he is the real deal.

Yeah, this is pretty disappointing. It would be nice to know more about why this was cancelled, though I'm not assuming anything. It is just frustrating to get 3 days notice about a cancellation of a tournament many of us planned to attend, especially when many people made plans regarding the event well in advance. If you want people TO plan around eudemonia's announced tournament dates, it would definitely help if we knew why this happened and why it (hopefully) won't happen in the future.

Thanks.

As I was building Tezz last night, I realized I wasn't looking forward to playing it at the tournament, and that was no good. Vintage is awesome, and there is no reason to play something that bores you. I also realized I hadn't cast Necro in over a year, so I had a new plan! I knew I wanted to play Bobs, Duresses, and Tendrils, so I started to search for some inspiration. As usual, the Atog Lord had a sweet brew, and that's kind of where I started.

I basically took Rich's list from his last tournament and made a few swaps:

-1 Impulse
-1 Sleight of Hand
-1 Cabal Ritual
-1 Swamp
-1 Gifts Ungiven

+3 Duress
+2 Preordain

Impulse and Sleight of Hand seemed worse than Preordain (and Sleight of Hand is just strictly worse), and I definitely wanted to get some Duresses in the main. I expected a ton of Tezz, based on past events, and Duress is awesome. It felt odd even playing less than 4, actually. Gifts is a card I have disliked for a while, and I would rather play Jace almost any time instead. The Cabal Ritual and the Swamp may have been greedy, but looking at my old lists I saw that the mana count was about the same, so I felt ok (and Preordains help, right?).

The final list:

4 Dark Confidant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ponder
4 Force of Will
3 Duress
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Necropotence
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Brainstorm
2 Preordain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Rebuild
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mind's Desire
1 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Timetwister
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
2 Island
1 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Polluted Delta

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Yixlid Jailer (The Dredge Package: don't leave home without it!)
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Tinker
1 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth (the extra Rebuild and Truth were because I was worried about Stax w Leyline of Sanctity, and didn't want too many Hurkyl's)
1 Duress
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Island
1 Swamp

The sideboard was pretty typical. I cast Tinker once on the day (for Sensei's Top), and didn't really use the rest all that much. Then again, there was infinite Tezz, and TPS is pre-boarded there (though the matchup isn't as good as it was in the pre-vault key and spell pierce days). The basics were awesome, as they always are vs stax. I find it pretty funny that BASIC land is a powerful sideboard option in Vintage, and think that it shows how well-designed the game is.

A recounting of my matches:

Round 1 vs Lotushead, MUD of course

He won the roll, and played a Trinisphere, which I forced. I dropped a Bob, then another Bob, though he was able to slow me down with Tangle Wire, Null Rod, and Thorn. I make a bad attack around turn six or so, when I hit with two Bobs. That lets him Mishra's Factory me for two, which could easily have spelled doom. I manage to live at 3 life for around three turns (though one Bob died partway through), which more than makes up for the flipped Desire earlier. Chain of Vapor bounces Thorn and my Bob at his EOT, and Ritual Ritual Tendrils is enough to finish what Mana Crypt started.

I side in lands and bounce spells, taking out crappy Duresses and expensive cards.

He mulls to six and opens with Chalice 0, Mox, Ghost Quarter, and Mana Crypt into Lodestone Golem (not necessarily in that order, of course). I FoW the Golem, and Ancestral (nice hand!), then play out a pair of Bobs. He finally draws a Juggernaut on turn five or thereabouts, but it's not nearly fast enough, since I get to take a hit and Rebuild EOT, then go off at my leisure.

1-0

Round 2 vs BC, Mono-Red Stax

Game 1 was ugly. My hand was Preordain, Bob, Lotus Petal, Timetwister, 2 Fetchlands, and Yawg Will. I was on the play, and I decided to go fetch->basic, Petal, Bob. A good start by any measure. He led with Strip (I always feel cheated when they have Strip Mine. I'm playing all these crappy basics for a reason!) and after some thought, Chalice for zero. While I certainly had no moxen in hand, Bob might draw me into them, and by Stripping my land he keeps me off any powerful plays. I of course draw Lotus on my turn, which would have been game without Chalice. I Ponder into nothing of note, play a land, and pass. He unfortunately has Workshop into Crucible, and my next turn fails to yield either a land or bounce spell for Chalice, so I'm promptly locked out.

Game 2 didn't start much better. We both mulled to five, and I kept Flooded Strand, Lotus, Hurkyl's Recall, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual. A ton of mana at least, so any gas and I should be good to go. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. He didn't have a blazing fast hand either, and my midgame Hurkyl's bought me a ton of time, but I never saw any sort of action spell. Usually when you have near-infinite mana (I ended the game with Lotus in play and double ritual in hand, vs his board of Chalice 2 and Smokestack), you are good vs Stax, but you do need something to get the ball rolling.

1-1

Round 3 vs Matt Young, Dredge

He mulled to 2, which isn't all that bad since he still found Bazaar. I kept a speculative hand (Mystical, Merchant Scroll, Lotus Petal, Duress, FoW, lands). Basically the nuts vs anything BUT dredge (which I knew he was). Still, I was on the play and had t1 Scroll for Ancestral with FoW to slow him down. As it turned out, my Ancestral found me Ritual and Lotus, so when I Mystical'ed for Will the game was over (I even had a FoW to try and mitigate any potential Cabal Therapy'ing, but he didn't get that far).

My opener had Leyline g2, which bought me at least a few turns. It also had a ton of mana, so when I drew Timetwister turn 3 I was able to play a bunch of moxes, rituals, Tendrils for 16, and then Twister. I didn't kill him that turn, but Twister found me that Tinker for Top I mentioned, which dug up a Tendrils on the following turn. Even with a hand of 7, he still had to waste his turn dealing with Leyline and putting the first few dredgers in the bin, and couldn't mount an offense.

2-1

Round 4 vs Michael Lewis, TPS

My opponent led with an Imperial Seal t1, then on t2 Mystical'ed for Ancestral. I had t1 Top t2 Bob, but his t3 Ancestral into Lotus into Ritual into Will into kill me kind of trumped it.

I kept a risky one game 2: Lotus, Duress, Duress, Bob, FoW, Yawg Will, DT. Powerful, but if he had Force for Lotus (and the read), I was sunk. Luckily, his six card hand had Mis-D, not Force, so I was able to Duress his Gifts and let Bob find me lands before he could really do anything. At one point, he did tutor for Tinker and summon a Darksteel Colossus, but Vamp for Jace was a perfect answer to that. At this point, running any target but Inkwell in the main seems insane, since Jace is everywhere. After that, another two Duresses cleared the way for a nice Yawg Will turn.

I thought I was in a little trouble game three, since I kept a hand with no Force. It was an awesome hand, but it looked like he was going to do a bunch of stuff. He led with land, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, Gifts. I was a little less worried, since unless he had Lotus in hand, he was probably shipping the turn. He pulled out Tinker, Lotus (whew), Sadistic Sacrament, and Demonic Tutor. I gave him Tinker and Sad Sac, and he passed the turn. Situations like that are why Gifts doesn't impress me much. Sure, when you have a ton of lands or a tutor/Will in hand, it can be awesome, but I want my four mana spells to just be awesome, period. Jace has so far accomplished that with flying colors, acting as a Brainstorm machine with the side option of bouncing their monsters, and maybe even fatesealing them (though rarely).

My hand was pretty nice: Duress, Dark Ritual, 2xBob, Demonic Tutor, Lotus, Delta, Sea. Drawing the second Bob was neat I guess, but I didn't end up casting either of them. I led with Duress, and saw Tinker, Sad Sac, Swamp, and 2 Cabal Rituals. I took Sad Sac, though I wasn't even all that worried about it, figuring I would be able to find Fow. I figured that since my next play was to go Lotus, Ritual, DT, Necro, and Necro for 9. I did indeed find FoW, though I didn't need it, and after another round of Necroing I was able to go Will->Tendrils.

3-1

Round 5

ID with Jack, playing Depths Hexmage of all things.

3-1-1

Top 8 vs Tom Raney, Tezz

Tom started with a turn one Bob, which is never a pleasant sight. I had a kind of slow hand, and spent my first couple turns Pondering and Preordaining. I eventually Brainstormed into some restricted cards, and went Time Walk into Ancestral, with Lotus in play. I then Duressed him, and saw that he had no counters but a few action cards. I settled on taking Brainstorm and leaving him with Vamp and Tinker. As predicted, he Vamped for FoW and Tinkered into Inkwell. I had a Rebuild, and figured I just needed to draw an action card in the next two turns. He FoWed my Rebuild and hit me to 5 after I missed, leaving me with one draw step. I peeled Jace, which dug me into Yawg Will, which I luckily had enough mana for (since that's all I had drawn thus far). Yawg Will with Lotus, Ancestral, Walk, and cantrips in yard was easily lethal, as the Recall even found me Tendrils immediately.

Game 2 was over pretty quickly. He led with a fetchland and passed. I went land, ritual, which resolved. I know Tom, and Tom likes value, so even if he had Spell Pierce he was likely to let Ritual resolve. I Duressed him, and lo and behold, a Spell Pierce! I don't think that it's necessarily wrong for him to let me Ritual, especially since he had a Brainstorm that he wanted to cast that turn. He let my Duress resolve, and I indeed took Pierce, and just hoped he didn't Brainstorm into Force, since I was dumping my hand. I played another Dark Rit, then a Cabal Rit, then DT'ed for Lotus, then played Yawg Will. Of course, he Brainstormed, but missed on Force of Will. Will let me replay 3 rituals and Lotus into DT for Tendrils, with storm 14 or something.

Top 4 vs Tom Martell, Tezz with Trygons

Game 1 I threw pretty badly. After a few turns with Bobs on both sides, he had a Jace and a Bob vs my Bob. On my turn, I Topped into a Delta, which would let me cast my own Jace to kill his, after which I was planning on playing Mystical for Will and attempting to go off. I decided to get tricky and attack Jace with Bob, hoping to force the trade, since I had just Duressed him and wanted to limit how many new cards he got. As expected, he traded, at which point I realized that I couldn't play Jace anymore, since I had neglected to account for the one floating Sol Ring mana going away. Awkward. Instead of me Willing and crushing him, he Jaced into Spell Pierce, which I paid for, though it limited me to just playing Ancestral. The game then went on for two more turns, and all the extra Brainstorms let him assemble Vault + Tezzeret in the same turn to murder me.

I started game two well, with Lotus into Brainstorm into Mox, Sol Ring, Merchant Scroll, Ancestral. With Ancestral on the stack, my hand was FoW, Mystical, Bob, Rebuild, so things were looking good. I had a mana floating and hadn't played a land, so all I needed to do was hit a black source. Unfortunately, I missed, and had to pass the turn after playing a Sapphire (to go with my Emerald and Sol Ring). Tom played a land and a Mox, then tried to Time Walk. I had a new plan, so I FoWed his Walk, and he passed. FoWing Time Walk in that situation is unusual, but my plan was to Mystical for Timetwister, so I didn't want him to play any more permanents. Twister resolved, and I immediately remembered why I never played Twister in my previous TPS decks. It drew me into 5 lands, a Mox, and a Tendrils, and Tom into a bunch of sweet blue cards and a Library of Alexandria. I died in short order, never playing another spell. It isn't that drawing a bad hand makes me think Twister is terrible, it is that there is always the possibility of such. I like my TPS decks to play somewhat controllish, and have a million Duresses and Bobs, so Twister just doesn't fit well. Twister is more at home in the faster and less stable combo decks, like Ad Nauseam, not the deck that sides into 6 basics and plays a bunch of Duress effects and whatnot.

Tom ended up beating Phil for the Mox, so Trygons took home another tournament. Nice card.

My Thoughts on Preordain: I was not impressed. The card just doesn't do enough, and I rarely felt like I was getting a mana's worth of utility from casting it. It really isn't that much better than Sleight of Hand, and Sleight of Hand was never a great card. I understand that combo is all about digging into broken plays, and that is why it always plays Ponder where Tezzeret doesn't, since it has Rituals and the like to get the mana back, but Preordain just didn't do it for me. I was hoping it would be sweet, but my first experience with it was not positive. I might give it another go, but if it isn't good, I'm not sure what to replace it with. It is hard to justify playing Storm instead of Vault Key, since now the "control" deck has a very fast kill and gets to play Spell Pierce and Mana Drain instead of Rituals, but I wasn't completely dissatisfied with the deck I played. If I can find something good to replace Preordains with, I will be happy, but I'm really not sure what that is. Also, Twister  is probably going too.

Jeff (thefob) didn't misrepresent anything. As long as you keep track of life and don't lie about it, it isn't your responsibility to tell your opponent that they just let through a lethal attack. If Lotushead, before blocks, said something like "I'm at 13, right", jeffthefob would obviously have told him that "no, you are at 6". Once he doesn't block and dies, it is definitely too late to go back and block. I mean, a mistake is a mistake, and if you make them you should be held to them. I have to credit Lotushead for accepting it as it was and not arguing, since it is a tournament, and mistakes are mistakes.

As for my tournament...

I played Oath (basically the same list as the last few events), since I didn't have the time or inclination to switch to Web's brew.

Round 1 vs Phil, TPS

Both games he mulls to 5, though the games ended up being reasonable.

g1 he had double Force + Ancestral, so we weren't that off on cards, but I was able to peel Yawg Will to replay Time Vault with Tezzeret in play.

g2 he didn't do anything t1, even play a land, but t2 went swamp ritual force my spell pierce into sadistic sacrament. All of a sudden it didn't seem too bad to have Iona stuck in my hand, which I eventually Jaced back into my library and oathed up.

1-0

Round 2 vs Web

I scooped so we could get some lunch (and by that, I mean I won the coinflip against Tristan and he bought me lunch!)

1-1

Round 3 vs the Counselor, Matt Sperling, ANT

I got rolled pretty fast g1, as it tends to go. He had duress into Ad Naus on t2, and even had a Pact of Negation he didn't have to use.

g2 I managed to stick an Oath, despite his chain of vapor, and he never found an Ad Naus.

g3 I mulled a hand without disruption into Fow, Mystical, Will, Mana Crypt, lands, and died. He went t1 Xantid Swarm (which I didn't fow, since it was pointless), t2 attack, ad naus, kill you.

1-2

Round 4 vs William, Skullclamp Brain Freeze combo

This was William's first tournament, so his deck wasn't quite as refined as it could have been. He had explosive starts both games, but a timely Force of Will was able to stop him from finishing either. I assembled Vault Key rather quickly, and that was that.

2-2

At this point, the standings showed that I had no chance, so I dropped.

The deck was fine and all that, though the ANT matchup was a bit weak (which is why Matt chose to play ANT, of course). I'm not overly excited about the Oath + targets package, but it's good vs stax and fish, and gives you a pretty decent early threat in tezz mirrors. If people actually start playing combo again (though both the TPS and the ANT i played were from socal), I might have to devote some sb space to it.

I know that I have always feared Null Rod more than non-Null Rod decks, simply because it restricts my options way more. What Matt said about being on the draw is spot on; there is nothing better than dropping two Moxes on the play against Stax in g3 and knowing they have few outs.

As for Dredge: Like Pierce said, Vintage tournaments are too small to reliably dodge Dredge, especially if one slips into the Top 8. If we REALLY needed the sideboard space for something else, I could maybe buy it, but how many matchups do you have where you want to sideboard more than a few cards? Whenever I try to cut dredge hate for other stuff, I just end up with too many board cards vs the other decks, which is mostly a waste of sb space. I would much rather just have my bases covered. Of course, if you are really good about scouting and know there are few dredge decks in a given field, go for it.

Also, Webster and I would certainly be interested in some sort of Vintage challenge (he even participated in one at PT Honolulu). We should definitely get something set up for GP Columbus (and if dave williams and efro are going they would probably be in too)

I might be playing Vintage, but that's only if I don't day 2 GP Minneapolis (they have a sweet side event that hopefully I don't have to play in!)

I played the same tezzeret list I have been playing for a while, with some minor alterations. Still not sure about Fof v Gifts, although FoF was pretty good today. I expected a fair amount of vroman's oath list to show up, and there were indeed like 3 people playing it, which is a reasonable number. I figure I'll post a brief report, even though I do talk about the deck in my article on channelfireball today for those interested.

Round 1 vs Mike Klemic

Mike decided he wanted to go for the top unpowered prize, which I knew because all his power and drains were in his binder when I was looking through it for sideboard inspiration. I wasn't sure what he was running, but I was told it was quite the brew.

Game 1 and 2: Turns out he was BG loam/smallpox/bloodghast/cabal therapy disruption.dec, except the disruption stayed home in our match. I think he cast like one Thoughtseize and one Extirpate in the match, which pretty much gave me free reign to cast broken Blue spells.

1-0

Round 2 vs Cory Redmond

Cory was playing Vroman oath, complete with Spell Pierces and all. I actually had been reading the thread on oath the night before, and one credmond posted in it, so I figured he was running oath.

Game 1

He has turn 1 Island, Ruby, Key, Lotus Petal on the play. I could Thoughtseize him, but I have a Pearl, which means I can cast t2 Thoughtseize and pay for Spell Pierce. It ends up not mattering, because he Vampiric Tutors for Time Vault and just wins on turn 2 when my Brainstorm fails to find a Force of Will.

Game 2

It's my turn to mise a win, as my Turn 1 Ponder nets a Mana Crypt, which lets me go t1 Time Vault t2 Key. Nice combo etc.

Game 3

We get to have at least one close game, as it turns out. He plays a Library and a Mox Sapphire on his turn 1, which is a dead giveaway. Playing the Sapphire means he has to have either Spell Pierce or Negate in hand, since he won't get to 7 cards next turn. I lead with a Pearl, which I will gladly get countered, but he doesn't bite. I then go Jet, land, Ponder, playing around Pierce. After Pondering I play a Lotus, then a Dark Confidant. He doesn't play anything on turn 2, now hoping to get Library online. My Bob flips the Thoughseize that Ponder left on top, and I'm able to sculpt a nice turn.

I cast Thoughtseize, and see Spell Pierce, Negate, 2 Forbidden Orchard, Mystical Tutor, and another land (i think?). I take the Mystical, then go to Repeal his Sapphire, which is his only source of Blue. He Spell Pierces the Repeal, and I don't pay. I then crack Lotus, cast Yawg Will, and replay Repeal, Ponder, and Thoughtseize. I actually like the Will for value over the game-ending Will, since it is so much more satisfying. I mean, either way you win the game, but when you Will for value you even get to play for a while longer!

Unfortunately, Bob decided to make this game alot closer than it should have been. The turn before I was to Tinker for DSC, I instead flipped the Iron Giant and took 11, down to 4. Cory was still playing spells, so I kept having to counter Oaths and whatnot, which meant I wasn't able to find a way to kill him that rapidly. It came down to my Bob and 3 orchard tokens with him at 5, and me at 1. He (correctly) Krosan Reclamation'ed me, forcing me to shuffle, since I had a Sensei's Top out and a 0 casting cost card in the top 3. If I missed in the new top 3, that was that. I Topped and saw Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize...Island! Phew, dodged a bullet. I flip the Island to Bob and bash for the last 5 points.

2-0

Round 3 vs Lin Chang (Tezzeret)

Game 1

Neither of us has a particularly fast start, but my draw is pretty sweet. We get into a counterwar over my Dark Confidant, which I decide to let go, since it leaves me with Force, Force, blue cards, Fact or Fiction. My Fof is pretty nice, and he had to use double Force in the previous war, so I end it quickly.

Game 2

I mulligan to six, and see a hand of: Tezzeret, Force of Will, Red Blast, Thoughtseize, Sol Ring, Voltaic Key. After some deliberation, I keep it, as I often do with sketchy hands. I do miss one land drop, but then draw a Mox Jet, and am able to play Mox, Ring, Key, untap Jet, Thoughtseize. He drains the Thoughtseize, then plays a Time Vault to go with his Voltaic Key. I obviously Force, and that gets Red Blasted. I get one draw step to hit my one outer (Black Lotus, since I drew a different Blue card to pitch to Force earlier, leaving me with Tezzeret still, and Lotus + Sol Ring + Key + Jet + Tezz would be exactsies). No dice, unfortunately.

Game 3

This is a tough one. I keep Drain, Force, Force, Mox Pearl, lands, and he mulls to six. His turn 1 Ponder leads into a t2 Bob with double Force backup, leaving us both with almost nothing. I draw another Force, and have to decide whether it's worth playing Mana Crypt in order to keep Force up. He has one card, and will see two new ones on his next turn. I figure that there are very few cards he would cast mainphase, so I don't play the Crypt. One Tinker for Inkwell later, and I have only two draw steps to hit something pretty good. I don't and that's that.

2-1

Round 4 vs Campee

Eric is playing Tezzeret with Bobs

Game 1

We both get bob into play, and both of them live, which is kind of unusual. I have a Sensei's Top going, but he drew his Lotus, so he is pretty far ahead in mana. The key turn is when he goes for Yawg Will (wait, that's the important turn in this Vintage format?). I Force, he Forces, I Drain his Force, and he Forces again. I am down to just Echoing Truth and Yawg Will in hand, so I spin my Top. I find a Force of Will, and counter his Will for the third time. He is a little surprised, and reluctantly Demonic Tutors for what I assume is a Mana Drain afterwards. He didn't expect triple counter out of 5 cards and 3 mana, which is pretty understandable. I find Tinker on my turn, which he has to Drain, since I have a Key in play, then I go Will into Tinker again, Vamp for Repeal to bounce my Bob just in case, and use Vault plus Key to take a few turns. Key turns, if you will.

Game 2

Not really a game; he mulls to 5 and I have turn 1 bob, t2 thoughtseize + drain, t3 tinker.

3-1

Round 5

ID with Brett Allen

Top 8 vs Morgan

Morgan always has something brewing; today it's Tezzeret, recently completed with zero proxies, which is sadly more than I can say. I got rid of my Time Walk 3 years ago, and have been too lazy to get another, mostly because I could burgle my former roommate's.

Game 1

We trade cards, but he manages to stick a Bob. I have a nice Brainstorm, and end the turn with Vault plus Key in play, but no mana to activate. He has Bob, one card in hand, Underground Sea, Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, and Time Vault. On his upkeep, he Mysticals for Tinker with Bob on the stack, meaning that his draw step needs to yield either the Voltaic Key or a blue source for Tinker. He flips it, and it's Underground Sea. Boooo!

Game 2

I Merchant Scroll for Recall on t1, but don't have a force or a 2nd land. He plays a t1 Bob, which I am more than fine with, since I have Smother and Fire/Ice in hand. I peel Force on my turn, but don't end up ever using it, since he never draws any of his. My recall resolves, I find a Sea and a Delta, kill two Bobs in a row, then resolve Fact or Fiction and other assorted action spells.

Game 3

He mulls to six, and I keep a slow hand of Thirst, Brainstorm, Drain, Pearl, lands. Luckily, we draw-go for like 6 turns, which is a rarity in Vintage. We both have a bunch of lands out, but my hand has to be better. I am sitting on Force, Force, Drain, Drain, Thirst, Fof, Brainstorm. He doesn't counter my Thirst, which I actually would have preferred, since I end up discarding Bob and a land to it. He then plays Vault, which I allow, then Tezzeret, which we battle over. His Force pitching Force is met by my own, after I cast a Fact or Fiction in the meantime. Between Fof, Brainstorm, and the five Drain mana I have floating, I manage to find a way to win the game.

Top 4 vs Lin Chang

Game 1

My hand is pretty sick: Tinker, Force, Force, Island, Volcanic, Sol Ring, Time Vault. Sadly, I'm on the draw, but it still is a nice one. He Ponders on t1, and I just play land, Sol Ring, Vault. He Thoughtseizes on t2, which I Force (of course) and he Forces back. This leaves me with 2 land in hand, so I need to peel something. One Ancestral Recall later, and I am setting up a lethal Yawg Will. This is why we play Vintage, amiright?

Game 2

This hand is somehow better than the last, and he has a relatively slow hand. He does have t1 Sol Ring, Top, but he has to tap Top on t2 to draw a Thoughtseize, and he doesn't play a 2nd land. I Force the Thoughtseize, then go nuts on my t2. I Ancestral, play Lotus, play Yawg Will, Ancestral, and Brainstorm again. I could have Merchant Scrolled instead of Brainstorming, but I hoped to hit a mox off the Brainstorm and do both. He has a Dark Confidant on his turn, which won't nearly be enough. I actually can't kill him quite yet, but I DT and play a Key, with Vault in hand. He doesn't find anything, and when I have Thoughtseize + Red Blast to protect the combo, he scoops.

Finals

Brett and I work out a split, which is good because I have to finish up my article and he wanted to grab dinner. Plus, he had destroyed a bunch of Tezzeret already, so I don't even know if the matchup was any good at all for me.

I enjoyed being back at Eudo, and look forward to the next ones!

(also, so much for a "brief" report)

Hopefully I can make this one.

Would people prefer to move to a guaranteed prize of a piece of power (probably starting out with a Mox) rather than the current payout of credit based on entry fees?

Superstars will run a guaranteed Mox tournament, if that would garner better attendance, but if attendance falls very flat then it makes such a thing less likely in the future. What do people think about the prize structure?

Sower is pretty awesome, as it is great against BUG fish, which I think is your most common bad matchup. It also has utility against plenty of other decks, particularly if people are on Colossus over Inkwell, which was predominately the choice at this event (most of the Tezz decks had DSC over Inkwell). Plus, if you play vs Tezz w Bobs like what I played, sower is a beating.

I don't think the proxy issue was the big problem, as the Vintage sanctioned event at GP Chicago (at least I think it was sanctioned, not 100% sure since I didn't play) got 80 people. If it actually was unsanctioned and w proxies, ignore this point. Granted, a Legacy GP would naturally get more people for Vintage, but I still expected way more than 22 at this one. I guess we will see how GenCon and the world champs goes, which unfortunately I don't plan on going to this year.

I just wrote a pretty detailed tournament report for this on Channelfireball.com, although it is below some content about Standard. If you prefer to skip to the real magic, just CTRL+F Vintage and it should get ya there!

http://strategy.channelfireball.com/featured-articles/initial-technology-standard-after-nats-plus-bonus-vintage/

Steve Port (Legion Events) was running the event, so that can't be the reason. They run all the side events at Pro Tours, and they even changed all the events this event to Top 4 or Top 8 instead of Swiss +1, which was an excellent change. I don't really know why not enough people showed up, since they prizes were good and the event went smoothly. Unfortunate =/

As for Regrowth, I haven't ever played with it before, and after not playing for 4 months I was hesitant to try cards that I had no idea about. That of course didn't stop me from trying the Oath SB plan that GerryT brewed up, but that seemed sweet.

There were a few problems with my list (61 cards being a pretty obvious one), but overall I liked it a fair amount. I will probably throw up a report when I get home, particularly since the tournament was pretty stacked despite being 22 players, since the percentage of good players was quite high. I hadn't played Vintage for months, so this was alot of fun.

Twenty-two people showed up to battle for their right to the unlimited Black Lotus and Mox Jet. Even though the attendance was roughly half of the expected number, the prizes were already locked in. Sadly, it's very questionable whether any further vintage side events like this will be held again due to the lack of attendance. The monetary loss was significant.


Top 8:
Luis Scott-Vargas vs. Bill Boysen
David Ochoa vs. Owen Turtenwald
Mike Klemic vs. Justin Swierczek
Joseph Bogaard vs. Tommy Kolowith

Top 4:
David Ochoa vs. Justin Swierczek
Joseph Bogaard vs Luis Scott-Vargas

Top 2:
Split


Luis Scott-Vargas: Tezzeret Control

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Ponder
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

4 Dark Confidant
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
1 Darkblast
1 Smother
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Arcane Laboratory
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Yixlid Jailer



David Ochoa: Tezzeret Control

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fire/Ice
1 Hurkyl's Recall

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
2 Night's Whisper
1 Ponder
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Island
3 Snow-Covered Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroclasm
2 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Sower of Temptation
3 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt



 Joseph Bogaard: BUG Fish

4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Trygon Predator
2 Vendillion Clique

4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Duress
3 Null Rod
1 Echoing Truth

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Life from the Loam
1 Time Walk

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire

1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bayou
1 Island
2 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
4 Energy Flux
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Echoing Truth
1 Darkblast



Justin Swierczek: Ichorid

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Dryad Arbor

4 Cabal Therapy
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Unmask

4 Golgari Grave-Troll
2 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp

4 Bridge from Below
4 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
4 Serum Powder
4 Street Wraith

3 Dread Return
1 Angel of Despair
1 Cephalid Sage
1 Flame-kin Zealot

Sideboard:
4 Emerald Charm
4 Contagion
3 Faerie Macabre
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Taiga



Bill Boysen: 5-Color Stax

4 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Inkwell Leviathan

4 Crop Rotation
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Balance
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will

2 Chalice of the Void
3 Crucible of Worlds
2 Mindslaver
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Smokestack
1 Trinisphere

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
3 Enlightened Tutor
3 Pithing Needle
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Oxidize
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Seal of Primordium



Owen Turtenwald: Time Vault Control

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Fire/Ice
1 Red Elemental Blast

4 Impulse
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Ponder
1 Regrowth
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Time Vault
2 Trinket Mage
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 City of Brass
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Island
1 Relic of Progenitus



Tommy Kolowith: Time Vault Control

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Rebuild
2 Repeal
1 Duress
1 Thoughtseize

4 Impulse
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Ponder
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Time Vault
1 Trinket Mage
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 Tolarian Academy
2 Flooded Stran
4 Polluted Delta
6 Island
3 Underground Sea

Sideboard:
1 Trinisphere
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Darkblast
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Duress
1 Sower of Temptation



Mike Klemic: Tezzeret Control

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Hurkyl's Recall

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Jace Beleran
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

3 Dark Confidant
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

1 Tolarian Academy
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
1 Darkblast
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Pithing Needle
1 Pyroblast
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Smother
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Pyroclasm

Did this fire today?

Awesome to have this back, and hopefully I can make it out for most of these!

I think what Web was trying to say about Pridemage and the Fish matchup is that Vault-Key isn't a reliable plan anyway. My gameplan against them is not very dependent on Vault-Key at all; even before Pridemage there was Null Rod. The way I have historically beaten Fish is card draw, Tinker, and removal. The Remora lists I used in the couple tournaments I played always beat fish with Sower of Temptation, Psychatog, Inkwell, and Smother. I leave Vault-Key in, but it certainly isn't very important. Trying to win through a route that they shut down essentially for free with Null Rod (and now Pridemage) isn't a very good plan, and you are much better off making them fight through a bunch of Sowers and whatnot. They still have to respect your combo capability, so they can't cut all the Vault disruption, but by making it your secondary plan you are shifting the fight to a battlefield where I think you have a much more solid footing.

 It isn't that Pridemage and Rod force you to a "Plan B", I was already on that plan and Vault-Key was my plan B.

Yeah, I also played one and it was pretty sweet. It's funny how relevant a 2/2 guy can be, the Mage always ends up pretty useful.

Looks like Fob nominated himself. Works for me! (sundays seem like the best day anyway)

This was an enjoyable event, even though the rescheduling may have cost us some attendees. I think changing the date due to the PTQ was the best call, but it was still somewhat unfortunate either way. Still, battling Vintage is always good times.

I had played one of the Thursday night tournaments with the same deck, which I mostly threw together on a whim. I still had my GP Chicago deck, but figured that Goyfs maindeck weren't necessary. As it turned out, I boarded them in every time, but I didn't play against combo ever. I took out Goyfs and Dazes and Swords, added in Vault-Key and a bunch of restricted cards, and there we have it. I still think Vault-Key in the Grow deck doesnt quite fit, since you only have one Top, no Tinker, and less search/card draw like Thirst or Trinket Mage. It wouldn't be too difficult to work them in, but given the configuration liberalbias showed me right before the event it seemed wrong.

I agree that the metagame is particularly hostile to TPS at the moment, what with the sudden popularity of Remora.dec and the always present Null Rod Fish. It has been awhile since I have sleeved up Rituals, but that may just mean I am waiting for people to get used to them being gone...

I couldn't decide what other color(s) I wanted to play, since UB was the base but I wanted a way to kill Null Rod and/or have a better plan vs Fish. Fish always shows up at our events, and given the abundance of Vault/Key decks I expect it to continue doing so. Null Rod seems like one of the best strategies to fight blue-based decks, and its aggressive nature gives it a better shot against Dredge as well. The two options I was considering were Red and Green for Grudge/Goyf, or just Red for Ingot Chewer, Rack and Ruin, Red Blasts, and maybe some Red removal spells. Web told me (not suggested, actually told) to run just Green for Goyfs, Oxidize, and Trygon Predator. It cleans up the mana, always good vs Wastelands, and gives me the plan I wanted. I do miss out on Red Blast against other Blue decks, but Dark Confidant and Counterbalance are pretty good in those matchups anyway, especially since Tezzeret and other expensive spells have somewhat fallen out of favor and blue decks are of pretty low curve, even the control decks.

The final list got posted above, with the last-minute addition of a whole 5 anti-dredge cards. That probably isn't enough, but I liked the rest of my sideboard! Plus, maybe I can mise....

Round 1 vs Eric Campusano (campee)

Eric usually plays Fish, but last few events had been rocking Vault/Key control. He had expressed some frustration at the last 1k, so I thought he might have gone back to the deck he won two Lotus' with, Fish.

Game 1: One by one I picked up my cards, seeing at first: Tinker, Force of Will, Time Walk, Voltaic Key, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl. The nuts, if the last card was a blue source, and it was Mox Sapphire. I was on the play, so there is no reason to think about mulling this. Eric mulled once, and I went for t1 Tinker. He Forced, pitching Cursecatcher, which kind of reveals what he's up to. I Force back, and debate getting Vault. The problem with that is if he has Duress or Null Rod on turn 1, I almost assuredly lose. On the other hand, getting Inkwell seems pretty good against Fish. If he was Tezz I might have gotten the Vault, bc Tezz has less answers to the t2 Key and a faster clock, but Fish can't deal with t1 Inkwell. Turns out he had the t1 Duress, so Inkwell goes the distance.

Game 2: I keep a two land hand with Force of Will, Counterbalance, Threads, Thirst, and Spell Snare. His turn 1 Cursecatcher is annoying, and I Snare his turn 2 Null Rod. I play a Counterbalance, but it it keeps flipping 3 drops and black spells (I am on Island + Trop), and I actually never cast anything. Eventually Eric plays a Tarmogoyf and I just die.

Game 3: My opener was interesting: Demonic Tutor, Lotus, Trygon Predator, 4 lands. I debate Lotus + DT turn 1, but really don't want to get Forced. Eric kept his 7, and has shown a willingness to mulligan non-Force hands in the past (like g1). I play land and pass, and get my DT Duressed off his Jet. That sucks, since now I don't have a whole lot of gas. Eric isn't done, and goes Wasteland, Lotus, Tarmogoyf, Null Rod. Well, at least he probably doesn't have another land either. He hits me with a 2/3, then 3/4, Goyf, but I drop a Trygon Predator on turn 3. He is stuck on just Jet, having Wasted + Stripped two of my land. I eat Jet first, since I don't want to eat Null Rod and have him play Confidant. I drop a Goyf, then another, then eat Rod and play Lotus plus Sower on his Goyf. He still can't cast spells, and my now three Goyfs eat him rapidly.

1-0

Round 2 vs Charles (liberalbias)

Game 1: He has an unanswered Dark Confidant for many turns, which feeds him exactly enough disruption (Force, MisD, Vendilion Clique) to keep me off Vault-Key. I messed up on turn 3, when I chose to Ancestral without waiting a turn for Drain backup. I didn't want to let him draw off his Bob, but he is so counter-light that it likely would have been better to match my Drain vs his two cards for the turn in a counterwar. Ancestral got Forced, and that made me shuffle away gas with Top because I needed to crack a fetchland the next turn. The turn before I am to die to Goyf plus Bob, I think I am good, because I have Key + Time Walk + Will, and he only has 3 cards. Unfortunately he Forces the Key, and Vamps for Vendilion and takes my Will once I cast Walk, which leaves me with Vault and nothing since I had to shuffle away Top the prior turn. I don't rip another tutor, and die to his men. Apparently I shouldnt have agreed that he add Vendilion Clique when he asked me about them before the tournament.

Game 2: I have turn 1 Bob on the play, and he answers with his own. I go turn 2 Time Walk, turn 3 Mox + Sower, and he is basically dead. His lone Underground Sea against my Sower, 2 Bobs, and 4 land just doesn't seem fair.

Game 3: This was quite an epic game, and both of us have pretty busty hands. He has t1 Lotus+Thoughtseize+Bob, which take my Force+Ancestral+Counterbalance when all is said and done. I still have t1 Bob, but he has a t2 Goyf, which is a 6/7! That card is just ridiculous. The Goyf hits me to 4 in short order, and the rest of the game is all about dodging my Bobs (since I play a second one). I DT for Threads to take his Goyf, but he finds a Seal of Primordium a few turns later. I misplay pretty badly one turn, where I attack my Bob into his Goyf. I wanted to kill my bob so I didn't die, since 2 bobs with me at 2 is pretty sketchy, even with a Top out. What I realized as soon as I did it was that he had a Diabolic Edict still in hand from an earlier Mystical, so I needed that Bob to block with. He had Bob+Goyf and I was left with Bob+Goyf, which means Edict = death. This forced me to crack a fetch to play another Bob, thus defeating the purpose of attacking AND costing me a crucial life in the process. Luckily with some Top gymnastics (Top, reveal a land, Top, see no 0cc cards so activate the look in response draw, Thirst, look resolves and I see a land) I was able to survive the two turns it took to kill him once I Sower his Goyf.

2-0

Round 3 vs Alex

Alex was Painter, and we had actually played like 15 games the day before. I joked that this playtesting was irrelevant since we were each going to be the only person playing our respective decks, but Alex actually beat Wrapter the round before who was playing Counterbalance.

Game 1: I have turn 1 Sol Ring plus Top, and he has Ancestral. I go for the turn 2 Ancestral, which he forces, and Tinker, which he does not. I get Inkwell, but don't really think it will be fast enough. He drops a Grindstone, and passes. I play a bob, and bash with Inky. He Vamps, but gets Tinker instead of Painter. He briefly forgot about the fact that Inky has islandwalk, and planned on getting a Colossus with Tinker. He realizes this before Tinkering, so gets a Painter instead. This leaves him with only one mana, so I have a turn to find an answer. He is on 9, so Echoing Truth or Time Walk are my two outs. I Bob, then draw, then Top, then fetch, then Top, and Etruth is among the top 3. Hitting a 2 outer is pretty nice, although it turns out that if Alex Vamped for Painter, he would have had Drain mana up. Awk. I of course got tremendously lucky to win, but I guess thats what happens.

Game 2: This is somewhat anticlimactic, since I force his turn 2 Ancestral and then duress him, seeing DT plus lands. I take DT, and he draws literally 7 mana sources in a row. No joke, I duress him the turn before he concedes and his draws were ALL lands or Moxes.

3-0

Round 4 vs Matt Nass

Since this is a 5 round + cut to top 4, we have to play it out. I know he is dredge, and I, uh, skimped a bit on the dredge hate. Matt hasn't lost a game so far (ever since the finals of the ptq the day before in fact), so I anticipate having to win my next round.

Game 1: On the play I keep Bob+Ancestral+Tinker plus two lands and some blue cards. I really want to Ancestral into some Moxes, but I just hit more blue cards. He has t1 Bazaar plus Chalice, which is bad news. I choose to run out the Bob on turn 2 instead of Time Walk, since Walk is so much better val once you have a Bob. I figure if he turn 2's me then I die, so whatever. He doesn't kill or Therapy me on turn 2, which is kind of lucky. I reveal a Brainstorm with Bob, then draw a Mox. I still am on just my 2 lands, but Brainstorm instead of Walking. I need to see a land in the top 3 anyways, so just Time Walking is pretty pointless. I don't see a land, and just die.

I side in my 5 dredge cards, as well as some Goyfs and an Oxidize, taking out a bunch of bad blue cards.

Game 2: I open with t1 Pearl + Delta + Tormods Crypt, and Vamp for a Jailer after he Bazaars. He Contagions my Jailer, then uses Oxidize to make me pop the Tormod's. Stupid dredge, able to beat t1+2 hate like its nothing. Luckily I draw one of the many hate cards I still have, and 2nd Jailer plus Goyf beat him down rapidly.

Game 3: I keep Tormods, Etruth, Goyf, Brainstorm, 3 lands, and he keeps his 7 for the third time. I probably just lose to Chalice, but this hand is fine otherwise. He just has t1 Bazaar, so I drop Tormods Crypt asap. I have to pop the Crypt in a turn or so, but at this point I have drawn into another Crypt AND a Relic. Good thing I am playing so many, that I draw 3 pieces of hate each game. Double Goyf plus double Bob don't give him time to outmaneuver all my hate, which is why the man plan is much better than the normal blue deck plan of trying to combo out.

4-0

Round 5 vs JefftheFob

I scoop em up, since I am a lock at this point.

4-1

The top 4 split, since the payout of 200-100-50-50 is pretty generous and getting 100 each is better than spending 2hrs battling over a small increase. Plus, I have a 2 hour drive home, and leaving early gives me time to pick up an always insane Zachary's pizza from Berkeley.

Hopefully attendance will increase, especially if we have enough advance notice of PTQs, Regionals, etc, which isnt always possible. I actually have a few questions for Bay area vintage fans:

In general, is Saturday or Sunday preferable for Vintage 1ks?

If a weekly tournament is to be held, which day is best? Thursday is what Superstars is doing now, but it can be moved if there is overwhelming support for a different day of the week/weekend.

What entry would be best for the weekly events? They can be smaller 8 dollar or so entry, or slightly more expensive but higher payout, like 12, 15, or 20. Bear in mind that Superstars gives out 100% of entry fees as prizes, so whatever people prefer is fine.

Leave feedback here or PM me, just trying to do what I can to increase turnouts for the best format one can play!

LSV

I skip one tournament and this is the result ^_^

The tezzeret list I played was fun enough, and here is a fairly brief report>

Rd 1 vs BA Peterson

Brent is playing Shops, which he seems to recently have taken a liking to.

Game 1
I keep Library, Fetchland, Drain, Drain, some other cards (no moxes or FoW) on the play. I figure if he wastes Library then we both did nothing turn one most likely, and if he doesn't I should draw enough lands to eventually get drain up. I also am not playing Storm, so a random Sphere really isn't that big a deal. He just has land mox Thorn, and then t2 nothing relevant. I am able to have up drain before anything happens, and after Thirsting a few times I EE his stuff and play Tezzeret for the win.

Game 2
I randomly beat him down w Trinket Mage plus his Mana Crypt, as the one threat he drew got FoWed.

1-0

Round 2 v James Cabot

Kobold Nauseam or whatever its called.

Game 1
I mulligan to 5, but have t1 Ancestral and t2 double counter to stop his Nauseam plus Pact, so he dies to Pact.

Game 2
I mulligan to 6, and he goes off turn 2 with Pact backup and I lose.

Game 3
I mulligan to 4, and he wins on turn 1.

As much as I mulliganed these games, I think the Kobold deck is pretty good. It seems consistently fast, and against decks without Duresses (or at least very many Duresses) Pact of Negation really trumps Drains/FoW.

1-1

Round 3 v Phil Yam

UB Faeries (complete w Bitterblossom)

Game 1
I keep a hand with alot of mana, and his turn 1 Dark Confidant pulls him pretty far ahead. I have some good draw steps, and some confusion as to how Spellstutter Sprite works (you cannot have Sprite come into play and THEN activate Mutavault, since its ability won't trigger unless you have enough Faeries to counter a spell on the stack currently), and I am able to string Thirst into Timewalk into Tezzeret w. Time Vault already in play.

Game 2
I have a broken hand with t1 Drain into t2 Fof + walk + will and win.

2-1

Round 4 vs Matt Kurtin

Matt is playing my TPS deck, and by my I mean MY physical cards. He is also 1-2 with pretty bad tiebreaks, and thus out of contention. Mise.

3-1

Round 5
ID

Top 8 vs UW Fish

Game 1
My opening hand is pretty nice...Lotus, Sapphire, Mana Crypt, Tinker, Drain, Thirst, Trinket Mage. I tinker out turn 1 DSC and then FoW his Swords to plowshares (he waits until I attack to swords, and I drew Fow on my turn) This proves to be enough, and we move on to g2.

Game 2
This game goes pretty long, and I am cut off black spells since he wastes both my Underground Seas and has Null Rod to stop Jet and Lotus. Eventually, I activate Tezzeret's ultimate and drain his stifle, and kill him with four 5/5 pieces of useless jewlery.

Top 4 v James Cabot

Game 1
I mulligan to 6, but end up playing t1 Time Walk plus Tezzeret (although I have to untap artifacts w Tez), threatening a kill after he only gets one turn. He isn't able to win on turn 1, so I go infinite.

Game 2
He mulligans (I think), and is slowed down by my Sphere of Resistance since he only has one land. This of course is after I misdirected his tutor'ed for Ancestral, so yea, the game was looking good. He never gets out from under the Sphere, and I eventually assemble Key plus Time Vault.

Finals
Split w Mike Klemic

Thanks for the congrats! I would like to thing that all this time playing combo in vintage made playing this elf deck way easier than it would have been otherwise. I was certainly much faster with the deck than most of my elf opponents, even if I would rather be resolving Brainstorms.

I think the issue of takebacks or not is going to be different depending on the level of familiarity you have with tournaments and strict play in the first place. Like Webster said (and usually its us battling each other when we test), we are both comfortable enough with tournament play that we don't need additional reinforcement of being extremely strict. We would rather just see how the matchup should play out, assuming optimal play, and that includes going back/doing things differently.

However, for people who have not played in an extensive amounts of tournaments, strict playtesting does help quite a bit. If you are not completely comfortable playing in the most strict of situations, it only makes sense to do some practice under those conditions to ensure that you will be comfortable and at ease with playing a high-level event. Practice is designed to make your game better, and for some that includes playing without takebacks if thats something you want or need more experience with. At this point Webster or I (or Shay, judging from his post) seem to be satisfied that we can make the distinction between tournament and practice without the need for very strict rules, and are more interested in seeing how the decks work and which is better.

Ill admit that I haven't played with these lists specifically, but is there a reason that there aren't any Dark Confidants present in any of these lists? I played various incarnations of Storm/Tendrils decks for the last two years and Dark Confidant has always been outstanding. Recently we have been sideboarding him in Doomsday, but now that decks like Stax and Control Slaver, as well as the decks presented here appear to be more prevalent, I would definitely consider playing him main. He may not fit as well in the Control Tog deck, but Drain Tendrils seems like the perfect deck to take advantage of him, and he wouldnt necessarily be bad in Tog.

Bob is a pretty potent tool in any matchup that isn't blisteringly fast (Flash/Ichorid were the main reasons he was relegated to the SB before) and even gives your opponents incentive to keep/add otherwise dead removal spells.

This is pretty dissapointing. I just played in a Vintage tournament today and I really felt like the biggest edge I had in the blue mirrors was the proper usage of Brainstorm. Timing the card, playing it right, and really maximizing its value are so integral to winning that restricting it really seems like it takes a lot of the skill that we know and love out of Vintage.

I find it hard to really argue that playing Workshop or Ichorid is very difficult, and I hope that the format doesn't degenerate into the opening-hand roulette people always falsely assume Type 1 is made up of.

Just last weekend I played a Storm deck (Gush Tendrils with Doomsday) that had Quirion Dryads in the sideboard. http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35759.0

One the one hand, it supports the connection that Dryads are akin to Storm spells, as they fit neatly in a deck that can only win through Tendrils game one. Still, the deck shifts greatly once Dryads (and Dark Confidants) come in. Instead of winning through a Storm turn with a bunch of spells plus Tendrils or Dryad, you just focus on sticking a Confidant or Dryad and cantripping Ponders or Brainstorms until they die. Granted you still finish a fair number of games post board with Tendrils, but Dryad usually plays a bit differently. Sometimes you do Yawg Will, play a Dryad, play a ton of spells and a Timewalk, but most often Dryads hit for 4-6 damage a turn for a number of turns.

That being said, I liked the article and thought that showing the basic connections behind all of these decks was interesting.

I really hated Grim Tutor back in the old 6-7 Ritual decks, and it's much worse in this one. We had some discussion about this deck in the Eudemonia Pearl results thread (http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=35549.0) and to reiterate what was said there, this deck flows much smoother when it moves away from the clunkier 3-mana spells like Tinker and Grim Tutor towards a draw engine focused on Brainstorm, Ponder, and Gush.

I too have played Ponder Long / Tropical Storm in a bunch of events, and I recommended that Eirik cut the Tinker and Jar when we were putting the deck together. I just found myself never wanting to draw Tinker, much less Jar, and figured that Scroll would be a good replacement. Tinker is more expensive and costs you more if it gets countered. Especially now that the deck plays Gush, I have relied less and less on the Draw-7s.

Time Walk is awesome. It makes both Necro and all the topdeck tutors better, as well as working with Gush. If you don't have fastbond, just being able to play another land is pretty critical. I can't fathom any reason to think about cutting it or siding it.