Thanks man! Was a super hard and intense match. It took everything for to not just concede when he landed Gris t1 in g2. Never give up!

I don't think this deck is actually very good. I only played it because I felt my 3 opponents were likely on some combination of Merfolk, Shops and Oath and I felt it was the deck that had the strongest game vs that 3 deck metagame. Even so there are a few things I'd like to change in it.

-1 Mishra -1 Bayou +2 blue duals
-1 MBT +1 Mental Misstep
-1 Steel Sabotage + 1 Misdirection

And probably more.

My biggest regret is Factory #4 over another colored land and a that is a change I thought about after I submitted 30 mins before we began. I had to hope it wouldn't bite me in the ass.

My mana base isn't actually that nonstandard. I have 25 lands but only drew one colored source in game 3. The 2nd wasteland by him was used on a redundant copy of Factory which actually made me happy. I just happened to draw all 4 of them when it counted most. One colored land in those last turns and I turn that game into a blowout the other way by decaying his lord and blowing up his board. Hopefully things work out better the next two weeks. I predicted Merfolk from randy and loved plague and decay in that match up and feel good about my oath matchup vs Rich next week and love my matchup vs Bob in week 3.

Thanks man. I've been playing my heart out but just haven't been getting any breaks. Hopefully I can pull off a 2-0 and avoid last place.

I didn't cast the probe because I needed two blue cards for my two Force of Wills. If I were to cast probe and not hit a blue card I wouldn't have a 2nd blue card with my FoWs behind my Ancestral. Luis only plays 3 Missteps in his deck and had 2 of them. With two in his hand it's likely he counters the probe as they are less effective when his opponent knows about them.

You are the biggest Monday morning quarterback I've ever seen. Every time I see you criticizing a play you somehow always would have made the perfect play based on results. I have never seen you applaud a play or say how you would have done something differently that would not have worked out. We are playing a high variance format against other very good players. A lot of the options are close judgement calls and the difference in them is small % points that could really go either way.

How about saying "I don't understand why he didn't cast the probe first (clearly you didn't) and I wonder how the game would have played out if the did." Questioning plays instead of asserting how you would have made the play that would turn out to be correct based on results is actually conducive to promoting a high level discussion analyzing different lines of play. This would help everyone involved (including the players in the match) improve as players and based on the few minutes of your videos I've watched, you could use it.

DW

I didn't do commentary on this match.

Basically what he says above. I was really close to playing it knowing they would scoop but the instances where I didn't have the game 100% locked up, but had infinite mana would be a pain and not really enjoyable for the viewers, watching me click a Lotus and a Bomberman repeatedly.

Strom,

I'm curious as to why you lumped us both in as bad dredge pilots based on Tom's mistakes (which I have now heard about)? I'm asking to learn not to be defensive. Other than quitting g3 when I mulliganed to 1, I haven't heard of anything I've done.

Kevin,

My position was winning up until that moment after everything leading up to it. So its not really up to you to tell me whats applicable and what's not. Deciding to quit is not a "mistake", which is what I was inquiring about.

Steve's "peace" of play is and has been a concern to everyone in the league. He is a friend of mine so it's not personal, but he is slow. There was a time he cast a preordain and we sat for so long that I had to ask in the skype chat if my MTGO was lagging and he eventually replied "thinking". No one watching wants to stare at the screen with nothing moving while a guy is thinking 5 minutes for a preordain and as a caster it's even hard to cast Steve's matches, something also echo'd by most of the other casters/players in the league.

You state "another low blow" which would imply it's been brought up before (it has). If it looks like a duck...

Comparing clocks is not the way to decide if it's accurate or appropriate. Imagine the scenario where one player is playing bomberman on MTGO and the other is mana screwed and stuck on 1 land and has not cast anything. The game ends and they both have 10 mins on their clock. Does that mean the guy who had 1 land and didn't cast a spell was not slow because the clocks are the same? 

It also wasn't a dig, I was stating why I was no longer interested in continuing the match.

I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion about Steve's play speed so I'm going to leave it at this; this is for entertainment, who likes staring at a screen with nothing happening?

I would like to address the pointlessness of your post though. What looks like an attempt to be Steve's White Knight. He could have posted if he had a problem with it or even sent me a text message. We text often. I rarely post here or any forums because I can't take posts like yours. I was trying to engage in actual knowledgeable discussion and find out what mistakes I made. When the only one pointed out was me deciding to quit the match, I replied with what I was thinking.

I think I'm done here and will go back to not engaging in forums.

Have a nice day.

It wasn't a mistake, I was consciously quitting. I was over it. It was almost 1am in NYC and I had been on the stream since the beginning and was starving and didn't feel like playing vs Steve and his glacial pace for the 5% chance at winning.

What "suboptimal play" are you referring to from me? You said "pilots" so that would imply you are referring to both myself and Tom. I didn't see his match so I don't know if he made mistakes, but I assure you he knows what he is doing and is not doing a disservice to anyone. If he made a mistake, it happens. No one plays perfectly.

Due to the small turnout please give my share to Rich Shay. I appreciate everyone that came out and showed support. I may end up recovering the value of my things. I am currently working with my home owners insurance to file a claim. Thanks again guys and I hope to see you at an event soon.

I also started a thread about a $5000 reward I'm offering for my deck here.

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=42745.0

Nice tournament report. A+. Keep em coming

Wow, this really feels great. A group of people I don't really know getting together to show support for me is amazing. I don't think there are any other communities in Magic that would do something like this. When I saw the title of this post I was nervous there would be a lot of hate because of my success in poker and am shocked to see it's been the opposite. That being said, I'm not sure if this is the right idea. Although people may not be posting it, I feel there are a lot of people who may not want to attend or contribute due to my situation. For example, Chris Pikula tweeted to me "yeah man it totally blows that your deck was stolen, but you probably still aren't really first in line for my charity dollars!" (and I can't blame him, he knows I will be ok). I really appreciate what you guys are doing and would request anything donated or earned for me please be given to a charity.

It does mean A LOT to me that you guys are doing this and that alone shows me the how amazing most of the Vintage group is. My desire to play vintage hasn't wavered and I will continue to play. Don't worry about me not trusting the Vintage community, I know who stole my deck, and it's just one guy, he isn't a representative of everyone and hasn't broken my spirit.

Also, I have a meeting with my Home Owner's insurance claim adjuster Tuesday, and they say it's a long shot, but maybe they will do something for me.

Again, THANKS sooooooo much for this amazing gesture.

I was walking up to the table and Soly said "your opponent is playing either Oath or Dredge". Doesn't do me much good at all. But it was legal and fair. Sorry you felt weird about that, other than that we had a fun match and it was nice to meet you.

Actually Owen and I discussed playing Ocho'as list and I told him I wanted another Jace, and we agreed that Tez wasn't good anymore so we made that swap. Then we decided we wanted a nature's claim main deck and cut Thirst for Knowledge (I think, maybe something else, can't remember right now) and added one Nature's Claim to the main. Then I told him I wanted to play Pyroblast in the sideboard because I felt we needed a way to beat other people's Jace, because I felt it was going to be a very important card for the weekend. Owen said it sounded good so I put in one Volcanic and I brewed up a sideboard. I told Owen and me him and Bob played the exact same 75.

So I wouldn't call it my list at all. It was Ochoa's list and I made a few small tweaks to attack what I felt we would see, but that is what you should always do with any deck before a new event. Congrats to Owen and Bob.

DW

Thanks Brian. I may be new to Vintage, but not mtg. Glad you thought of me. Be there in a few hours.

That is the cutest SB I've ever seen.

This NOT the BA that plays poker. I wish he would play magic.

LOL

I went to BoM II and it was awesome. I just may come back out to Europe again for this.

From the official DCI Shards FAQ.

Soul's Fire

Instant
Target creature you control in play deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.

* If either target has become illegal by the time Soul's Fire resolves, the spell will still resolve but have no effect. If the first target is illegal, it can't perform any actions, so it can't deal damage. If the second target is illegal, there's nothing for the first target to deal damage to. If both targets have become illegal, the spell will be countered.
-----

Does anyone know of any vintage events in London the next few weeks? I am here until Oct 7 and would like to play. If not, how about some casual gaming? Send me a PM if you have anything at all.

DW

I am considering coming but I am in Ibiza right now. Where would I fly into from here and then how would I proceed to get there from the airport? Also where should I stay?

David

I am in Barcelona for the rest of the week. Is there any vintage going on? Small or large tournaments or just casual gatherings of players. Or anyone that would just like to get together and play a casual game?

David

I played TK's Pitch Long list. Jerry Yang beat me with the Savor the Moment deck.

So at this point I had dropped from the event at 2-1, still very much in contention because I felt that I was no longer having fun. The OPP's attitude and the way the judge handled himself had killed it for me. I was telling my friends the story and they told me I shouldn't let two bad apples spoil it and I should see if I can un-drop and continue to have fun. I decided they were right, other than those guys, I was really enjoying myself and having a great time and meeting some nice guys. I went to Scott Larabee, one of the WOTC guys in charge, and told him of the situation and warned him that the judge had it out for me and felt that another situation could arise.

Now DeMars account is mostly accurate but there are a few little details he got wrong, but since it all directly affected me I will also recount.

The Evil Judge says begin the round and my opponent is not there, now I read the name as Ashok but at the time I didn't know who that was or what he was playing. Since the event I now know who he is and have spoken with him, and it turns out he was the nice guy I had spoken with earlier in the event but at that time I didn't know his name. So the judge says he has lost game 1 and I will win game one if he doesn't show up. I didn't know how much time he had to show, but honestly I was hoping he would show up, because I wasn't here for free wins, I wanted to play some Vintage. While the judge was standing there a few of the guys in the other matches said that he went off looking for food and wasn't planning on coming back. I noticed most of the Vintage community knows each other so I was pretty sure everyone knew what they were talking about and that I wasn't going to get to play this round.

At this point, since I have to sit there for some time with no opponent I decided to call Mike Long back, (I did make a call DeMars, and never said I didn't, just didn't call you or Paul or anyone else who knows about sideboarding). Mike had came up to say goodbye during the other incident in round 3 and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I explained to him the situation from earlier on the phone and quietly said that the judge was being a dickhead. At the time I didn't notice the judge was standing somewhere close where he could hear me, but I didn't intend for him to, so that probably provoked him for later. Then at the end of my call with Mike I said that I was having trouble with the deck and asked if he had any of the guys from the top 8 the night before phone number, as I remember he had gotten a few. He said he had Paul M.'s # and that he should have the other guys. He gave it to me and I wrote it down on my life pad. That is the only thing I had written and I never talked about sideboarding on the phone.

After I hung up I was about to text Paul and ask him for DeMars # when I looked up and saw DeMars! I said "Hey I was just about to text Paul and see if I could get your number, I have some questions about playing". I never had to send a text message and I'm sure Paul can verify that a stranger (ME) never text him that afternoon. DeMars sits down and ask where my opponent is, I say he never showed so I guess I win. I tell him that every round I can't figure out what to take out to sideboard and want his thoughts. At this point I had a very long call so I'm pretty sure I've already won the match. He sits down where my opponent would be sitting and we began to talk. I yell over to the judges that this isn't my opponent so that they know I'm just messing around and not playing a tournament match. They yell back "you are ok". I first ask him how I would board against Ichorid since I have 9 cards for that matchup and can't figure out what you would take out in a tight combo deck. The reason I asked about this deck first is because I had so many cards for the matchup and because I had seen a few guys playing it so it was fresh on my mind. It turns out Ashok was playing Ichorid, but at this point I had assumed he had already lost the match since it's been so long, and I didn't even know what person or deck belonged to the name Ashok at the time. He gave me his thoughts and I said mine and that was it. I then was about to ask about the next matchup and DeMars said "you wanna just play?" This was great since all I wanted to do was play so I jumped at the opportunity. We began to play and when I had a tough decision I just turned my hand over and asked him his thoughts. At this point the judge comes over and tells me that I have a match loss for receiving outside assistance before the loss had been giving to my opponent. He said I made a phone call about sideboard help (not true) and wrote it on my paper (also false). I had my pad there but since Sheldon had come over with him, I didn't feel like arguing. It felt like they had made up there mind so I just told them I didn't want to discuss it and to just give me my match loss and I'll drop. I told DeMars I didn't feel like playing anymore and just left.

I then remember that I had told Scott Larabee that I felt like an incident with that judge could come up so I went to find him and relate to him what happened. It must mean something if I was able to predict he would come after me 10min before it happened. When I got there Sheldon was already with Scott telling him about the situation. I was very upset and disappointed and told them both what exactly went down. I had my pad with me and showed Sheldon the only thing I had written down was Paul M.'s # and there were no notes, I also showed my call log and the only call was to Long, who knows nothing about current Sideboarding in Vintage. He said he had gotten a different story, that I had written down sideboard notes within 10 minutes, and that's why they made there decision. They went to the judge in charge of the judges in side events and related the story and they overturned my match loss and asked if I wanted to continue playing. I told them I felt uncomfortable with that judge and only if he was gone. They said he had gone to a seminar so I was safe. I went back to the event, and lost to Jerry Yang's Blue Serra Beats  . I lost the next round but still had a blast. The Evil Judge was gone for those last two rounds and I lost them both, and I've never had as good a time losing in my life.

I really enjoyed most of my time playing and besides those two exceptions, everyone I met was really friendly and nice. It was amazing the difference in the Vintage community and the Pro Tour one. Most on the Pro Tour are nice, but they are so serious about everything such as help and decklists that it makes it not as enjoyable. I want to thank everyone that I met for their hospitality and I can't wait to be able to play again. Every since then I have been brainstorming about deck ideas and even dreaming about playing Vintage. I only wish there was some events on the West Coast for me to play :-/.

Thanks again,
David Williams
david@davidwilliamspoker.com

After my great experience this weekend (except the one judge, and I will recap the events here) I found this forum and began lurking. I usually don't post on forums because in poker especially they are nothing but gossip circles that aren't productive at all. So far I've already learned a lot from this site and I only found it yesteday. The event that Goobafish is referring to is a different situation than what DeMars was talking about but it led up to the event so I will give the full recount here for you all. I normally don't care what people think of me, but since this is a new community and I'd love to be a part of it, I want to give my story so I don't start out on the wrong foot.

First, in round 3, I was 1-1, and still very much in contention (not 0-2 like Goobafish said) I was paired against what appeared to be a nice guy. Up until this point both my other two opponents had been very friendly and nice and realized that this was a casual environment and could tell I was just there to have fun, win or lose. I had noticed pretty much everyone I had watched in the Vintage events had been this way so I assumed my opponent in round 3 was also. So what started the trouble was this. My opponent (who I'll refer to as OPP from now on) cast duress and takes a card that is irrelevant for this discussion. The rest of my hand is non interactive cards, meaning no FoW or anything that would require me to ever make a choice. I draw and play a land and a Sol Ring and am done. I have one card he doesn't know. On his turn he plays Wasteland and takes out my only land and then taps his Mox and land and plays Challice for 1 nullifying most of the cards in my hand.

At this point he stares at me and I thought he was waiting for me to take my turn since I didn't have a blue card in hand when he played Durress on me, so there is no way for me to have drawn FoW and a blue card. I asked him if he was done and he said what I thought was yup. It didn't make sense to me that he was waiting for me to respond and since I am new to Vintage I also didn't think he could have anymore plays since he had tapped out and played a land already. I know there are many zeros in Vintage but I wrongly assumed he would have already played any of those.

So, I began to draw. The card came off my deck and I saw it but it didn't mix into my hand. At this point he says "I'm not done", I quickly put the card back and apologized. He says "I have a play, Chalice for zero, but I have to call a judge." I then inform him that I have already won game 1, and it took a very long time and the round is almost over that he is just wasting more time, and to be honest, it is in my favor if this game takes a while, so I am actually doing him a favor. He says that he "must call a judge" and I ask him what his point is. It appears to me that he is only calling a judge in hopes of getting a free game win in a situation that was clearly accidental and where there was NO advantage gained by me. I have no lands in play, he knows all my cards except one and I have no decision that I will make between him playing Chalice for zero and drawing that card. So there was no harm done in that situation and it appeared to me I had finally run into a jerk of an opponent in this event, which was a drastic contrast from EVERYONE I had met so far. The judge came over and agreed that there was no issue and told us to continue playing. I was a little irked at my opponent at the time, but everything was fine at this point.

I draw the card I saw and say go and then he cast Gaea's Blessing on Wasteland, Sac Land and Duress in his graveyard. He puts them on the bottom and immediately draws without shuffling. Now up until this point in the tournament, I would have been totally cool if anyone made what appeared to be an honest mistake and just let them put it back and do it correctly. Like I said, I was just here to play some games and have fun, not try and nit-pick everyone about every little thing. But since he had been a little tight with me I felt I had to call a judge on him now. The judge came over and ruled that he gets a warning but the card stays in his hand and he just shuffles now. So instead of having the option to draw that Wasteland, Sac Land or Duress he doesn't. This seems very unfair to me and I ask the judge to appeal. He gets very angry and puts his hand in my face and says there is no higher authority. I get pretty upset about his tone and actions and inform him that he doesn't need to treat me like a child or put his hand in my face. I NEVER swore once, I don't swear in conversation so if you, Goobafish, think you heard someone swear, it wasn't me. I swear when joking with friends, but never in confrontation, I know that it can only hurt your case and make you look worse. I did get heated but I had a man putting his hand in my face and yelling at me, which shouldn't be tolerated by any players, not just me. I got the higher level WOTC staff involved, found out that now you don't lose for drawing a card in a situation where you can't fix it like he did, and moved on and kept playing. I won the round and was at 2-1. I told the judge that I was offended with how he handled the situation and that I was going to drop even though I was in contention because he had totally ruined the fun experience I was trying to have. I was a little out of line when I was leaving as I told my friend the story in front of my OPP and said he was a jerk to my friend, where the guy could hear it, but I felt his actions did prove me right. I doubt anyone of the other Vintage players I met in that situation in that tournament would have handled it like he did.