Once again, many thanks to Carl for running these events!

Visit www.blackgoldsports.com for details of other events.

Details are as listed below!

2nd Vintage Extravaganza

FORMAT: Vintage (Type 1)

WHEN: Sunday, April 9th 2006

ROUND 1: 11:00 am

Lunch will follow Round 2

DECK REGISTRATION: 9:00 - 10:30 am

ENTRY FEE: FREE!
 
1st place - $75.00
2nd place - $35.00
3rd & 4th place - $20.00 each

Prizes will also be awarded to 5th through 8th place if participation exceeds 32 players.
5th through 8th place - $10.00 store credit each

Best 2 unpowered decks not making T8 - $10.00 store credit each
Any deck with at least one "Power Nine" card in it will be considered powered.

Top 8 players will participate in a single elimination playoff to determine prizes.

Deck Registration required.

Proxies are not allowed as this is a DCI sanctioned event.

Rules Enforcement Level 2 will be in effect.

Level 2 judge will be on hand to resolve any questions.

This is the Announcement for the BLACK GOLD VINTAGE EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Details can be found Here.

Here is some additional hype for those still unconvinced:

Black Gold Vintage Extravaganza

Black Gold is Colorado's leading Vintage tournament venue, known for attracting some of the best Vintage players in the state... nay, the WORLD!  Just take a look at the decklist section on our website to see what kinds of decks have won at our previous Vintage tournaments.  So come on down to Black Gold on Saturday, March 4th to play in a serious Vintage tournament for some serious prizes. 

DATE: Saturday, March 4th
FORMAT: Vintage (formally Type 1)
ENTRY FEE: FREE!!!
REGISTRATION: 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
ROUND 1 begins: 11:00 a.m.

    (Lunch will follow Round 2)

DECK REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

PROXIES ARE NOT ALLOWED AS THIS IS A DCI SANCTIONED EVENT.

RULES ENFORCEMENT LEVEL 2 WILL BE IN EFFECT.

A LEVEL 2 JUDGE WILL BE ON HAND TO RESOLVE RULES QUESTIONS.

TOP 8 PLAYERS ENTER A 3-ROUND SINGLE ELIMINATION PLAYOFF TO DETERMINE PRIZES.

PRIZES
1st place: $125.00 cash
2nd place: $75.00 cash
3rd place: $50.00 cash
4th place: $50.00 cash

Prizes will also be awarded to 5th through 8th place if participation exceeds 32 players.

5th place: $25.00 store credit
6th place: $25.00 store credit
7th place: $25.00 store credit
8th place: $25.00 store credit

So Sack Up Denver, and let's blow Carl's wildest expectations for attendance.  He has promised me that there will be more events like these if the attendance is high enough!

Not a single person played combo huh?  This looks like a metagame ripe for the picking...

 :shock:

I received this PM a couple of days ago.  Let's see if somebody can help a brother out, can we?  Minot ND??  Are you freakin kidding me?  That's gotta be some kind of a record.

Shawn

Sorry for not being entirely clear on that point.  1100 will be deck registration in anticipation of a noon start.  Bill just wants to make sure that we get a little bit earlier start than has been happening lately.

Wild Bill is at it again!  This time he's throwing an even bigger event than last time with BIGGER PRIZES and a BIGGER PRIZE STRUCTURE!  Here are the Particulars!

First Place: Mox Emerald -OR- Mox Ruby (Winner's Choice!)
These cards are apparently in M/NM condition due to NOT HAVING BEEN PLAYED!


The tournament specifications are as follows:
11:00 AM, May 28, 2005 at Classic Cards and Comics in Castle Rock.
Entry fee will be $20 and buys you 10 Proxies ($0.50 per extra proxy beyond 10)
Just like Last Time, Pizza will be available to players along with Soda for a small additional fee.

Any questions please contact me here on themanadrain or Bill at CCC!

{/End Transmission}

Hot.  Please remember that the Entry fee will be $20 and assuming that this number of players show up the $5 Rebate can be redeemed in the form of a free pizza lunch.  All those that want Pizza at Bill's should just let him know when registering so that He knows the proper quantity to order during Round 1.  

Finally,  Thanks to the front range T1 Community for their support!    

Shawn

There's a lot to be said about this.  But one thing that I disagree with is that there "may or may not be a reduction in the effectiveness of combo."

To my knowledge there has never been a time in the history of Magic where the DCI has Restricted cards and sped up the format as a result.  Due to the power/noninteractive nature of almost every archetype at this point it would make sense that the DCI would take steps to reduce the consistency/speed/power of each Archetype to the point where it would be forced to at least pretend to interact with its opposition.  There will be hue and cry for a period of time but at least order will be restored and the malaise that is currently affecting the entire community may be lifted and cards that were previously ignored due to their relative lack of power in comparison to older cousins will come to the fore.  See the Vintage forum thread started by Smmenen to get a flavor of the vintage intelligentsia's general disaffection with the situation, and the need for drastic change becomes evident.



Whoa there tiger.  "Marvel of Design?"  I think not.  The decks designed to abuse the power of the sphere almost never relinquish control of the game to such a degree that the Sphere's effect becomes irrelevant if it's in play.  IMHO the Sph3re may have been created in a vacuum without the thought that it might have an immense impact on vintage.  I could see it having been the earliest attempt on the part of Wizards to limit the power of Affinity in standard, sort of a less-sucky Hum of the Radix.  Given the existence of Sphere of Resistance was it really necessary to print this monster?  That answer probably lies above my paygrade.



Wizards has to walk a fine line when considering these sorts of restrictions.  Hitting MWS and Drain could have the effect of causing a schism where players that own those cards simply give the DCI the bird and start their own league, a la 5-Color.  The existence of the sheer number of proxy tournaments has been caused by Wizards' refusal to do something to placate vintage players who would like to own power at reasonable prices but can't.  I think they would like to avoid widening that gap any further.  People that point to the banning of Academy and Time Spiral during Combo Winter as an argument that Wizards doesn't care about the Financial health of the game as well as much as the health of the format ignore the fact that $20 << $80 (mana drain) or $200+ (MWS).  They don't want sanctioned T1 to go the way of the dodo.  But if they did, this would probably be a good way of making sure that happened.

I knew that joining SCG premium would be worth it Smmenen.  If nothing else I get to read you and Zvi.  Hilarious.

About the deck:  I understand the importance of Night's Whisper as a pure card advantage device.  It is doubtless a good route for restocking for a second try after having been disrupted.  I have found in repeated Goldfishing (both pure goldfish and a 'fish with a FoW on the first critical component) that the fourth Night's Whisper tends to get in the way unless I have resolved a Cabal Ritual with Threshold.  That action wins the game pretty much regardless, but I tend to be forced to Brainstorm away the spare copy.  Having (hesitantly) placed Vampiric Tutor in the rotation for the fourth Whisper has had the effect of powering up the cantrip eggs to a higher level than the current random draw.  That statement bars Brainstorm stacking of course.

At this point I haven't done an exhaustive simulation in order to provide statistics, but as with any restricted card drawing it is as random an event as is drawing DT.  The aggregate effect however is to essentially give you a third chance (1.5 times as many opportunities) to get either a Lotus or Ancestral.  You have Goldfished the deck and played it in more tournaments so I lay at your feet the question of whether or not this is a line of reasoning that you have pursued aggressively and whether I am barking up the wrong tree.

We messed around with Phyrexian Tower as a mana Generator in conjunction with Crop rotation, as producing G is pretty simple and opponents may undervalue the threat that Rotation represents, thus allowing it to resolve.

My problem with this deck is that it runs into the "Fluctuator Problem."  The creatures that you're using essentially have cycling when Glimpse is Active but do nothing else but build storm or pretend to be a card drawing engine under Skullclamp conditions.

Under ideal conditions (goldfish) this deck functions well and is not difficult to pilot.  Under the worst conditions (Chalice=1 or Trinisphere in play) it becomes next to impossible to win.  Even a single FoW is devastating if it hits Glimpse.  At least that has been the experience that Fall-titan and I have had with this deck.  It either Draws the nuts or it fumbles utterly.

The question becomes this: Can this deck perform at a level equal to or slightly above the level represented by the established benchmark of the format?  Or, are there tradeoffs that can be made in terms of stability or resistance to disruption that would justify playing this deck above another, say Meandeck Tendrils or TPS?

We shall see.  I note that none of the allegations about being "uncut" have been refuted however.

Between now and the tournament just look out for your teammates' "one-eyed snakes" lest they get into your "red zone" during "playtesting."  And if they do make it past your stalwart defense, I'm sure your teammates are familiar with plenty of good antibiotic hemmorhoid creams to heal that problem right up.

Due to the unforeseen difficulty of the Extended PTQ being scheduled on the same day that we had this tournament scheduled for we have decided to push back the date that it is going to occur to the 12th of March.

Frantic search has the potential to create mana under a limited number of situations with this deck.  You have to have Tolarian + a couple artifacts or 2-3 non-workshop lands + a workshop and a mox or something to be even moderately impressive.  Your main source of casting colored spells lays with tapping Gilded Lotus.  That is poor synergy with FS.  Use anything but this.

The VOID will pwn the Leakers when they are forced to prostrate themselves before the Rock!  I mean seriously, naming your team after your own nocturnal emissions?  Have you no shame at your self fouling?  

In honor of Carson’s passing we should play some Freak-a-Leak Carnac.

Answer:  Kowal’s Face.

(for reference)

Question: Where can one find more hair than exists on the collective bodies of Team Freak-a-Leak?



Answer:  Their lips.

Question:  What are those things that show when a Leaker wears his pants too low?


 
Team Freak-a-Leak: Have smegma, will run smack!

Alright crew, let's see if we can get an accurate count of the people who plan on showing up on the 26th so Bill can have the proper setup in place the day of.

The as-yet Unnamed Castle Rock Crew (Team CRC?): Me, Conley, Jesse, John, Brian, Zach, Zakk, Adam and maybe Dave.  That makes around 9 of us right there in addition to any little kids that want to suit up proxies and get mopped.

Team Freak-a-Leak (Team Lords of the Uncircumcised): I've talked to your girlfriends and they've thanked me for giving them the opportunity to get a rest from "continuously being chasing around the house by some guy with a Bone Flute." Ahem.  Your smegma-fueled antics are legion. :shock:   I understand that six lucky ladies will get to go to sleep for the first time since january on that afternoon.

Team Doug Musser (Team I'll-kick-your-ass-in-standard, ok?):  There's four of you from what I understand.  I demand satisfaction of Kalan for my sickening humiliation at his hands in Longmont.  

I also have confirmation that a Guy in the Springs is coming and there are rumors of an unspecified number of unwashed barbarians tripping down from Denver for this event.  Tack onto that the possible infusion of vintage players from Kansas (where Sui-black is OMFG TEH SO GOOD!!11!!!) and we could be looking at the biggest power event in front range history with something on the order of 30+ players.  I'm going to tell Bill to be ready for Big Numbers, so Don't Disappoint!  PM me to confirm (if you haven't already) with your expected number of participants.

One last thing.  I know it's hard to get up on a saturday after getting destroyed by all of the Zima you quaffed on Friday night, but let's all try to be on-time to the event this time so It can have an orderly start? (a la Mile High Events)  If that means you have to print up your deck registration the night before so you can saunter in the door 30 seconds before 1:00 do it.  Metagaming be damned I say!

End Transmission.

Top 8: Prison, Combo, Combo, WS Aggro, Oath, Oath, Prison, Combo.  3 Prison Decks, 3 Combo and 2 Aggro/Control.  Is that pretty typical for the metagame over there?  Combo and prison seem pretty over-represented and Control seems pretty pathetic.

Eww...  You have to drive all the way from KANSAS to find some vintage action?  That has to be the weakest of all sauces.  Kansas kind of sucks then, huh?  I'll see what I can do to get Bill to alter his Web Page.  We'll drive attendance as High as we can.  And there will be great rejoicing.

Bill's tournament is confirmed to be on Saturday the 26th.  Hopefully that inconveniences as few people as possible.  The mox is still TBD at this time.

Cheers,
Shawn

I suppose I shall be forced to awaken from my slumber as the depth of the shit-talking has reached neck-deep levels.  I think I'll need SCUBA gear soon.    Allright little Oscar.  Someone will dethrone Freak-a-Leak this time.  It may not be me, but it will be somebody.  Denver will not stand for your Tyranny!  

Here's the Skinny:

Sunday 2/26/05 at Classic Cards and Comics
Entry fee buys you 10 proxies, extra proxies are $0.50
Format will be swiss rounds with a cut to top 8.
Deck registration begins at 12:00 and the tournament will begin at 1:00.
Prize structure will be an Unlimited Mox Jet for first and decreasing prize support from there.
Entry Fee is currently set at $20.00 and will be dropped to $15.00 via rebate or lowered prior to registration if >20 people show up.

(This issue has been resolved, but for interest of the record here it is in case anybody has complaints later) Bill wants to try out Sunday for this tournament so let's make some noise and see if we can get him to do it on Saturday instead if that will be more convenient for you.  PLEASE PM ME IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THIS ON SATURDAY THE 26th.  I NEED PLENTY OF AMMUNITION TO SUPPLY BILL WITH IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE HIM CHANGE THIS.

On a related note, due to the success of the previous two tournaments that Bill has thrown He is going to begin having these tournaments on a bi-monthly basis now!  Congratulations to the Front Range Vintage Community for supporting those willing to step out on a limb to let us play!  Make sure you thank Bill for the opportunity when you see him.

ADDENDA TO TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Here are the Latest developments on the Mox Tournament:  Bill is currently in the process of purchasing either a Mox Sapphire or a Mox Jet.  

EDIT: (2/8/05) The Mox has been purchased and it is a JET!  Thanks Bill!  Second Tier prizes will consist of anything from a complete set of Ice Age to Dual Lands depending on Turnout.

Also, to expedite the amount of time lunch has been taking Bill is going to be offering the opportunity to purchase lunch from him at the time of your entry.  If you choose you can pay Wild Bill $5 when registering and during the first round he will order Pizza Hut or Domino's Pizza which will show up hot and fresh at the end of round 1.  Your $5 will get you 3 slices of pizza and a couple of sodas while sparing you the trouble of packing up your stuff and racing around Castle Rock like headless chickens.  This will doubtless be much, much better than the "Laxative Riddled Pizza" at the joint next to Stonebridge Games in Longmont.  :shock:

I don't know... I think that cracking the jar during your upkeep generates such an unfair tempo swing in your favor it's impossible not to advocate it.  Even if you're only able to cast a couple of spells (due to Trinisphere) you typically can really get over on your opponent through your use of Gilded Lotus.  Who cares if you can't play the artifact fat you draw off the jar?  You're going to weld it up anyhow.  Just beware Artifact mutation on Gilded Lotus...

I thought that the possibility of designing some disturbingly overpowered blue creature (#1) seemed like a possibliity at first, but then rejected it.  That picture is trippy though...  That blue explosion seemed like it might be some interesting way to sneak a draw7 in, a la "the cards simply explode off the top of your deck into your grip."  That black robed creature reminded me of a cow pie with a face.  Bizarre.  Was this really the best they got?

The enchantment's name is Stormbind, and it's a house in this deck.  It essentially turns every card drawn into 3 damage (2 from stormbind and 1/2 of a Lavamancer activation).  My initial testing with it shows that the biggest downside to the card is that it can be hit with BeB when it's in play.  It also has the relatively small benefit of serving as a potential madness outlet it you choose to go with the Rootwalla/Mongrel build.  Seal of cleansing can also hit it, but hopefully you've burned their seal up before you drop this card.  The final piece is the decent cost of the spell at RG1, making it a turn 2-3 threat that could prove to be a late game sleeper threat if not countered.

One thing:  If your opponent gets the drop on you with Chalice=1 you have very little game against them other than savagely mising one of your 2 MD Artifact Mutations.  Just a thought.

Unfortunately, even Aether Spellbomb can't hit the Pristine Angel if she's untapped.  She's still likely to get past Morphling. (they attack with angel and prior to declaration of blockers play an instant)  Have you considered echoing truth main?  It fulfills some of the same functions as annul, has similar weaknesses and in my opinion shores up your first game matchup vs alot of decks that you have trouble with.  The ability to bounce multiple welders and then drop chalice=1 seems particularly attractive for example.  Maybe a more toolbox oriented approach would work by incorporating a couple of Merchant Scrolls to dig up answers?

The reason I'm so big on this consolidation of mana cost thing is that I'm always scared of having the Chalice=1 setup vs a strong combo deck like Doomsday and having the following situation arise:  The set up the doomsday stack.  Chalice for 1 negates Ancestral (if they have no way to kill the chalice) so the Beacon plan is pretty much out of the picture, so instead they go with the YawgWin/Lotus/LED/Tendrils+Necropotence plan.  The only conterspell backup you have in hand is Annul. (which you would otherwise use on the Lotus or necro to win the game)  Unfortunately your Chalice has now Housed you instead of the other way around, whereas Mana Leak wins the game if cast at any given spell in the string.

This isn't the only example of course, it's just one specific example of a situation where there is no benefit to playing cards that are unintentionally self disrupting.

On a related note, I think that there could be a great deal of benefit to playing the version of mono-blue that you are running when Disrupting shoal is legal and the varied mana costs will be a benefit rather than a hindrance.

I have a question for you regarding the CoTVs in your maindeck: Did you find yourself regretting your inability to play chalice for 1 without hurting yourself?  Chalice for 0 on turn 1 is a given against almost every deck in the field today (assuming you're going first) but with the lack of consolidation of the converted mana costs in your deck (particularly the infiltration at the 1 drop slot) do you feel that it would have behooved you more to have more counterspells at the 2-drop so that Chalice=1 becomes a more beneficial play for you to make?   I'm thinking of testing this deck and looking out among the various models available for test drives gives me sense that a more consolidated mana cost scheme would maximize the utility of the MD chalices.  Any thoughts?

Recently at a proxy Tournament I slapped this deck together for my friend to play.  He's not a sophisticated magic player so I was shooting for simplicity and redundancy.  I expected for him to see a bunch of Workshop and Oath so the MD Hate was rampant.

4 Hull Breach
2 Naturalize
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 River Boa
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
3 Root Maze
3 Blood Moon
4 Rancor
4 Arc Lightning
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
4 Land Grant
4 Taiga
5 Mountain
6 Forest

SB: 3 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 2 Naturalize
SB: 2 Reckless Charge
SB: 4 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 4 (Something I can't Remember... some anti-combo tech)

So it's a bad deck.  I had like 5 Minutes to build it, so it was devoid of some obvious better choices (Lavamancer >> Mogg Fanatic) But I do stick by the non-obvious choice of Arc Lightning.  The ability to burn out welders and fish-men while still applying the beatz to the dome means you are almost always going to get some Utility and death out of this card.

Unfortunately for John, he ran into combo deck after combo deck.  That is the suck for a deck without countermagic or more active disruption.  He did however take every match he played to the full 3 games and had most of his opponents in death range at the time he lost.  So, If I were to redux this for him I would likely cut the Blood Moons and use a full complement of 4 Root Maze and 5 Strips, Lavamancers over Fanatics and maybe some extra Burn.  Maybe Stormbind, as its synergy with the Mancer is some good.  Price of Progress probably needs a place in the sideboard as well due to its ability to shred workshop and decks like 4cC.