Adventurer's Guild Vintage Mox Tournament
Format: 5 proxy
Participants: 33
Prize: Mox Jet
Rounds: 5
Placing: 8th (!)
The official results of this tournament are here:
http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21407 The Adventurer's Guild is in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for those who are unfamiliar with it. This was my first time there. I rode with my teammate, Dan (Draven), in his 2004 Mustang. The drive is about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours from Winona, MN, mostly on 2 lane roads. We arrived in downtown Eau Claire at 6:00 pm, just in time for the start of the Registration period.
Here is what I registered:
4 Auriok Salvagers
4 Trinket Mage
2 Exalted Angel
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Decree of Justice
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Leak
2 Cunning Wish
2 Intuition
4 Brainstorm
1 Impulse
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Aether spellbomb
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Tinker
1 Lions Eye Diamond
1 Ancestal Recall
4 Flooded Strand
9 Island
6 Plains
Sideboard
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Disenchant
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Stifle
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Energy Flux
1 Control Magic
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
This is the same list I played on Sunday to 13th place at Dreamer's, and I felt quite good about it going into the tournament. What I didn't feel good about was how tired I was.
Anyway, before Rd 1, we learned there was a slight glitch: The printer that was going to be printing the standings was having problems, and thus we would have to use the screen to read the postings. This wasn't that big of a problem.
Rd 1 pairings went up, and I find I am playing Jason. Jason was playing
Sneak Attack.dec, a matchup I certainly did not expect.
He won the roll and started out Bloodstained Mire, fetch a Badlands, go. I kept a hand with Salvagers, Brainstorm, Mana Leak, and Intuition. Turn 1 I play Flooded Strand and grab an Island. Turn 2 he plays another Mire, Badlands, go. I play land go. On his turn I Mana Leak something, and he passes the turn. I play land go. He plays Mana Vault, which resolves, and plays Sneak Attack, which also resolves, and passes the turn. On my turn I play the Salvagers. I have drawn nothing really relevant, but already have what I need, since he seems to have no disruption. I pass the turn. He takes damage from his Vault, and Sneaks a Dragon Tyrant into play! He hits me for 12, leaving me at 7 and passes the turn. I untap, play a land, and Intuition, which resolves. I go get Black Lotus, Lion's Eye Diamond, and Pyrite Spellbomb. He takes a while pondering, and gives me the Spellbomb. I fetch out the land I need to retrieve the Lotus from the 'yard, and proceed to do so. I explain the combo to him, and he scoops.
I side in 2 Swords to Plowshares for Impulse and Trinket Mage
Game 2 I don't really remember my starting hand exactly, but I do remember that it had at least a counter or 2 and Exalted Angel.
He chooses to play, and plays Mire/Badlands, and Black Lotus, which he uses to play Sneak Attack. On my turn, I draw my own Lotus, and crack it to play the Angel facedown. I seem to recall having a Sol Ring in play as well, and a Plains.
On his turn 2 he plays Vampiric Tutor, but misses his second Land drop, and passes the turn. I take my turn, play Mox Pearl off the topdeck, Island, Flip the Angel, and swing for 4, leaving him at 13, and taking me to 24. I pass the turn. He takes his turn, Sneaking a Serra Avatar into play and swinging for 13, leaving me at 11. He misses his land drop again, and is stuck on just the one Badlands. I swing for another 4, going up to 15, taking him down to 9. I also play a Trinket Mage, grabbing an Aether Spellbomb, and playing it, leaving me tapped out. He takes his turn and Sneaks Dragon Tyrant into play again, but again misses his land drop. I go to 3. I swing again on my turn with Angel and Mage, leaving him at 3, and me with Aether Spellbomb in play, and 7 lives. He untaps, draws, and scoops, still stuck on 1 land.
Games 2-0 Matches 1-0.
Rd 2 vs. Tony playing Ninja Mask (Full English Breakfast + Masknaught)
I've played against Tony before at Dreamer's in September, and he remembers that I played some sort of combo deck, but not how it worked.
Game 1 I Force a Volrath's Shapeshifter, while playing Trinket Mage for Lotus. I already have the Salvagers in hand, and combo out soon after.
I side in Swords to Plowshares again.
He sides in what looks like half of his sideboard.
Game 2 he plays a 1st turn Ground Seal off a Mox and a Fetched Tropical Island, and I frown slightly, even though I do have Cunning Wish in the deck, as well as other non-combo wins. I manage to draw and resolve my Combo, but he still has Ground Seal. I topdeck Cunning Wish, which I use to get Disenchant. This is where I make my biggest mistake thus far. On my turn I play a Fetchland, and fetch out an Island, giving me 3 Islands, Mox Sapphire, and 1 Plains in play. I realize my mistake immediately, but it's too late to do anything about it, so I use up my only White mana to Disenchant the Ground Seal, and pass the turn. Luckily, he has nothing, and extends the hand.
Games 4-0, Matches 2-0
Rd 3. vs Luke Ojala playing Storm Combo (TPS I believe)
I've also played against Luke before, at Dreamer's and he remembers what I played that time (Salvagers) as well. *sigh* Being known for a pet deck has its downside at times.
Game 1 I keep a slowish hand, with Mana Leak, but no Force of Will. On one of his early turns he keeps track of Spells played, and I comment that he's either playing Storm combo, or pretending to. Sadly, he manages to resolve Yawgmoth's Bargain. I have Black Lotus and Pyrite Spellbomb on the board, and Salvagers in my hand. He Bargains repeatedly, and goes crazy, ending up Bargaining down to 3 in the process of playing a lot of spells and gets his Tendrils for 20, while all I can do is draw a card off the Pyrite and look on helplessly as I have only Force of Will, lacking the Blue card or Mana to play it.
I side in Stifle for Impulse
Game 2 he resolves an early Necropotence, while all I manage to do early on is Force a Dark Ritual to slow him down. He's drawing mana sources, but no business spells.
I eventually resolve a Trinket Mage and go get the Lotus, but no Salvagers in sight. He's Necro'ed down to 5, and realizes he has miscalculated. He asks me to quote him in my report as saying "I'm the worst Magic player ever." So there you go Luke. I Trinket Mage him down to 3, and after thinking for a while passes his turn. I Cunning Wish for Stifle. He thinks for a while and scoops.
Game 3 He plays mana sources, while I play Salvagers off a Lotus. He takes a turn, and Duresses me, taking Cunning Wish, which is the only win condition I have in hand, over Force of Will. I untap and slowly take the top card off my Library. It's a Cunning Wish! I play the Wish, and he says in disbelief "You drew Cunning Wish?" I drew Cunning Wish. I count my library, finding 49 cards left. I Wish for Stroke of Genius and Stroke myself for 49. It resolves, and I display the Pyrite Spellbomb. He scoops.
Games 6-1 Matches 3-0
I am feeling rather good right now about my chances for Top 8. This round ends, however, with many players going to time and drawing.
Rd 4 starts and I am playing Matt, who wishes to be called "El Conquistador" in my report. There you go Matt. He is at 2-0-1, so we must play it out. He is playing Workshop Aggro.
Of note is that we are at Table 1. I am the only player at 3-0, and there are several 2-0-1s and 2-1s.
Game 1 starts off rather slowly, with him playing land and other mana, and me resolving a Trinket Mage for Black Lotus, with Tinker in hand, but no other Artifacts. I am forced to use the Lotus for a Mana Leak on something threatening, and burn for 1. I swing with the Trinket Mage, leaving him at 18 and me at 17. I have drawn Mox Ruby, and play the Tinker, finding Darksteel Colossus. He still has no action, and passes his turn. I take my turn and swing for 13, leaving him at 5. On his turn, he manages to do something to remove my Colossus, though I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. All I do know is that it was not Swords to Plowshares, as I didn't gain any life. My next notes indicate that I found an Exalted Angel, turned it face up, and rode it to victory. Perhaps El Conquistador remembers what he did to remove my Colossus and Trinket Mage. Balance perhaps? In any case, it was on to game 2.
I side in Disenchants.
He chooses to play. I draw my hand. This is where things start going badly for me. I see a hand of 6 lands, Salvagers. I Mulligan to 6, and see a hand of Force of Will x 2, copious Blue cards, but no lands. I Mulligan to 5, and have Mox Ruby, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Disenchant, Impulse. I sigh, say something to the effect that "This is brutal." and keep it. Perhaps I should have gone to 4.
In any case, he plays Workshop, Mox, Juggernaught, go. I draw another non-land card, and say go. He swings for 5 and passes the turn. I draw junk and pass the turn. He swings for 5, plays a second Jugg. and passes the turn. I don't draw a White mana source, and say "OK, let's play Game 3.
Game 3 I play Island, go. He plays Workshop, something, which I Force, and he passes the turn. I play Plains, go. He plays Strip Mine, Strip your Plains. He then resolves a Crucible of Worlds. I sigh, but having plenty of land in hand, and Disenchant in my Library I still have outs. Sadly, I don't find them, and when he plays Sundering Titan to nail my lands, it's pretty much over. I hold out some hope of perhaps drawing a Mox and Disenchant before I lose, but he manages a Chalice for 0, 1, and 2 after attacking me down to 5. I scoop. The only good part of this game for me is that his Mana Crypt does 9 damage to him.
Games 7-3, Matches 3-1
After Rd 4, there are 2 people with 10 points and 7 people with 9 points. I am at the top of the people with 9 points in the standings.
I check the pairings, and I am paired up. My opponent is I@n Degraff, who I know to be playing Italian 'Tog, which uses Red instead of Green.
We talk before the match, and with all the 9 point players, I think that I must play it out in order to have a shot at making Top 8, so we shuffle up.
Control on Combo Control matches are hard to remember specifics in, so though Game 1 went on for a long time, my notes are fairly sparse. What I do remember is that he has massive card advantage, and out counters me, before finding 'Tog and winning in one lethal swing.
Sadly, my sideboard is lacking tech against 'Tog, the best I can do being Swords to Plowshares.
Game 2 my notes are a bit better.
I choose to play. My 1st turn is pretty good: I play Island, Sol Ring, Aether Spellbomb, Draw a card off the Spellbomb, which ends up being Black Lotus, which I play, and break for White, playing a face-down Exalted Angel. Perhaps I should have waited and played the Angel 2nd turn off the Island and Sol Ring, hoping to draw another land to flip it face up off the Lotus, but I thought it was more important to get off to as fast a start as possible. In any case, neither of us finds much action for quite some time. My notes show me attacking with the Facedown Angel for 4 turns before finally managing to turn it face up and swinging once, flying over his Psychatog, leaving him at 7 and me at 23. Unfortunately, this isn't enough. We trade Force of Wills over his Intuition, and his 2 beat my one, leaving him at 5, and getting 3 Accumulated Knowledges. He draws many cards, flashes back a Deep Analysis, leaving him at 2, and then Fetching, leaving him at 1. He Cunning Wishes for Fling, and has enough cards in hand and graveyard to kill me with the 'Tog + Fling.
Also of note in this game is that he countered 2 Brainstorms that I played with an empty hand after Mind Twisting me. It was notable, and unusual, but absolutely the right play, since I was obviously digging for a second White Mana Source at the time, and had I found one a few turns sooner may have had better luck.
Games 7-5, Matches 3-2
This was the end of the Swiss, and wasn't feeling very good about going 3-0 and finishing 3-2. I watch the match going on next to me, which goes to time, and then head to the computer to check the Top 8. I look at the first pairing, #1 vs #8. I see the following names: #1 I@n Degraff vs. #8 Alan Koxlien (me). I made Top 8! I made Top 8? Incredible. I head back to the table, and I@n is still there. I tell him not to bother moving, we're playing again. It turns out that we could have saved the troble of playing Round 5 after all, and just taken the draw. In hindsight, this may have actually been better for me. I may not have had to play I@n again. The matchup is not totally unwinnable for me, but it is definitely not in my favor either.
The rest of the Top 8 arrives, and I discover the reason my 3-2 was good enough to make Top 8: My tiebreakers were incredible, since I had already played I@n, Luke, and Matt (El Conquistador) in the Swiss, and they were all in Top 8.
We spend about 5 mintues chatting and shuffling before starting Game 1.
He tells me that he is trying to win this tournament so that he can buy a dog for one of his friends. I think it's a bit funny, but noble. This doesn't change anything about how I play, but it's interesting.
We both Mulligan to 6.
I keep a hand that looks pretty good, with Mystical Tutor, Mox, and other pretty good stuff. I play Land Mox, go. He plays Land Duress. I play Mystical Tutor in response to his Duress, which resolves. I get Tinker, and his Duress resolves. I don't remember, and my notes don't say what I discarded. He passes the turn. I untap, draw the Tinker, and play Land, Tinker. He Mana Drains it. From there, it is mostly a repeat of Game 1 of the Swiss matchup we had. His Library of Alexandria and efficient draw engine bury me in Card Advantage, and the finishing Tog + Fling is pretty much a formality.
Game 2, interestingly, is mostly the same. I have early Mystical in response to his early Duress, setting me up for the early Tinker. The difference this time is that I don't actually have the 3rd mana source I need to play the Tinker. I have to make the unusal play of Force of Will against his Duress in order to protect the Brainstorm that is the only card left in my hand. I play the Brainstorm mainphase, which does find me a land, but it's a turn late when I play the Tinker, as he manages to have a counter this time. I do manage to find an Angel and even flip it, but my 21 life are not enough to ward off his 'Tog, Time Walk, attack with 'Tog, Fling. Oh, he played Yawgmoth's Will this game I believe, which I couldn't counter.
This match was like running a Marathon. Uphill. With 3 feet of snow on the ground. Into a headwind. With the flu. Other than that, I had a good time playing it.
I tell I@n that I am sure we shall meet again, and he agrees. I wish him good luck, and go to find my Teammate. He also has finished at 3-2, but in his case he went 0-2 before finishing 3-0, so his 3-2 is only good enough for 16th place.
I also find out that both Ojala's have lost in this Round.
So I end up with 8th place, which is good enough for a T-shirt, and we drive home.
Props: The Adventurer's Guild for having the tournament.
Draven for driving us there.
El Conquistador for living up to his silly name by going on to win the tournament! Congrats!
I@n for being interesting to talk with, and beating me twice.
Slops: The cold Wisconsin weather. It was -2 degrees F (-19 C) outside after the tournament!
