N.Y.S.E. IV - Official Report

[Prospero]

     First of all, I’d like to thank all the players who came to yesterday’s event.  You are true Vintage road warriors, all of you.  I’d also like to thank our judge, Aaron Rubinstein, Nick Coss for coming out and providing some of our prize support, and all of the Brothers Grim staff – Frank, Dave, and especially Gil, for all their help in running a successful event.
    
     We had 29 players come to compete in N.Y.S.E. IV.  If the weather had been better, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have easily broken into the 40-50 range.  This was the smallest N.Y.S.E. event yet, and yet I consider it the most successful.

     I have been told by several players from the event that they had cameras, and that they took pictures.  I’m going to contact these players, but if you have pictures from the event, please email me whatever you have at Nick.Detwiler@Gmail.com and I’ll try to cobble an album together.  Our cameraman for the event was unable to make it yesterday due to the weather.

The Complete Metagame Breakdown:

Tezzeret: 4
Goblins: 2
Mono Red Shops: 1
Keeper 2K9: 1
Oath: 5
5CStax: 2
TPS: 3
Dredge: 3
Hexmage/Depths: 1
Shop Aggro: 1
U/R Painter: 1
Slivers: 1
Vault/Key (Tezzless Tezz): 1
Vendilion Clique Control: 1
BUG Fish (w/Cutpurses): 1
Remora/Key: 1

     A shade over 17% of the field was comprised of Oath decks.  While Matt Elias’s Philly crew certainly favors a Dragon/Iona combination, there were three Iona Oath decks to two Dragon/Iona hybrids.  Tezzeret rounds off to a mere 14% of the field, while 5CStax rounds off to a shade less than 7% of the field.  Beyond Dredge and TPS at a shade over 11%, and Goblins at just under 7%, the field was very undefined.  Several of our usual 5CStax players were either unable to make it, or chose to play different decks.  I believe that had the weather been better, we’d have had the chance to witness a more defined metagame.
    
     It was good to see nearly every pillar well represented, but the dominance of Oath should not be ignored.  The printing of Spell Pierce, enemy fetch lands and Iona seems to have given Oath precisely the weapons needed in order to secure its place as a tier 1 deck in the format.

Standings at the End of Swiss Rounds:

Rank    No.     Name    Points  OMW%    PGW%    OGW%    P/W/D/B
1       1       Pollack, Austin 13      61.3333 80.0000 60.2168 5/4/1/0
2       10      Pikula, Chris   12      56.6667 75.0000 54.0584 4/3/0/1
3       29      Lalo, Josh      11      66.6667 75.0000 67.8788 5/3/2/0
4       5       Hansen, Chris   11      57.3333 75.0000 61.7863 5/3/2/0
5       22      Mann, Corey     10      61.3333 70.0000 60.3377 5/3/1/0
6       16      Folinus, Jeff   10      54.6667 77.7778 52.4359 5/3/1/0
7       19      Chitturi, Ashok 10      53.3333 61.5385 53.4359 5/3/1/0
8       23      Brandon, Madison 10      53.3333 60.0000 56.5556 5/3/1/0
9       28      Forino, Vincent 10      44.0000 72.7273 47.5000 5/3/1/0
10      11      Granberry, Brad 9       61.3333 54.5455 57.7013 5/3/0/0
11      17      Lawrence, Robert 9       52.0000 57.1429 54.0000 5/3/0/0
12      4       Noble, Mike     9       52.0000 54.5455 54.0000 5/3/0/0
13      21      Chang, Roland   9       48.0000 53.8462 50.4274 5/3/0/0
14      13      Conway, Scott   9       42.6667 57.1429 46.5152 5/3/0/0
15      9       Sedgwick, Brandon 7       61.3333 50.0000 59.9484 5/2/1/0
16      20      Gans, Jake      6       64.0000 50.0000 59.0090 5/2/0/0
17      8       Hornung, Mark   6       56.0000 40.0000 58.6954 5/2/0/0
18      3       Hangley, James  6       54.6667 41.6667 52.5758 5/2/0/0
19      26      Meckes, Josh    6       48.0000 46.1538 47.9359 5/2/0/0
20      12      Stein, Joshua   6       46.6667 50.0000 46.6721 4/1/0/1
21      15      Harris, Visna   6       45.3333 36.3636 45.6710 5/2/0/0
22      18      Cummings, Kellan 6       45.0000 40.0000 46.2500 4/1/0/1
23      6       Lopategi, Aritz 4       56.6667 41.6667 59.2532 4/0/1/1
24      14      Gans, Dave      3       64.5833 30.0000 65.6566 4/1/0/0
25      24      Lupo, Mike      3       48.0000 25.0000 45.9091 5/1/0/0
26      27      Ruiz, Matthew   3       47.2222 33.3333 47.7778 3/0/0/1
27      2       Brown, Max      3       46.6667 25.0000 44.5163 5/1/0/0
28      25      Nowukowski, Steve 3       37.0370 37.5000 44.0476 3/1/0/0
29      7       Rich, Scott     0       33.3333 33.3333 36.1111 3/0/0/0

Top Eight Pairings and Results:

Austin Pollack vs. Madison Brandon – Pollack wins
Ashok Chitturi (Meandeck) vs. Chris Pikula – Ashok wins
Jeff Folinus (D3G) vs. Josh Lalo – Folinus wins
Chris Hansen vs. Corey Mann – Hansen wins

Top Four Pairings and Results:

Austin Pollack vs. Chris Hansen – Pollack wins
Ashok Chitturi (Meandeck) vs. Jeff Folinus (D3G) – Ashok wins

Finals:

Austin Pollack vs. Ashok Chitturi – Pollack wins

   Congratulations to Austin Pollack, Ashok Chitturi and all of the top 8.  It was great to see Ashok make his return, Chris Pikula come and top 8, and Austin Pollack, who has seemingly been in every one of my top 8’s, finally take an event down.  

Top 8 Decklists:

1st - Austin Pollack
“Oath”

2 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
3 Underground Sea
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Time Vault
1 Brainstorm
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Lim Dul’s Vault
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ponder
3 Thoughtseize
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Duress
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Voltaic Key
4 Oath of Druids
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Spell Pierce
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Impulse
4 Force of Will
1 Time Walk
1 Rebuild

Sideboard:
2 REB
1 Oxidize
1 Krosan Grip
2 Pithing Needle
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Wasteland
1 Hellkite Overlord
2 Firespout
1 Extirpate

2nd - Ashok Chittturi
Mono Red Shops

4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Tangle Wire
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Null Rod
1 Trinisphere
1 Sundering Titan
1 Memory Jar
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wasteland
4 Barbarian Ring
3 Montain
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl

Sideboard:
3 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Greater Gargadon
3 Shattering Spree
4 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Ensnaring Bridge

3rd - Chris Hansen
“Iona Oath”

4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Polluted Delta
2 Island
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Oath of Druids
1 Regrowth
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Krosan Reclamation
2 Thoughtseize
1 Timetwister
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Mana Crypt
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Lotus Petal
1 Strip Mine
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Sideboard:
1 Pithing Needle
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Balance
1 Tinker
1 Echoing Truth
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Rebuild
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Oxidize
1 Pernicious Deed
3 Extirpate

4th - Jeff Folinus
Tezzeret

3 Island
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
3 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Repeal
4 Mana Drain
3 Dark Confidant
1 Time Walk
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Fire/Ice
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Force of Will
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Thirst for Knowledge

Sideboard:
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Rack & Ruin
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 REB
2 Mystic Remora
1 Firespout

5th - Madison Brandon
Goblins

1 Stingscourger
1 Warren Weirding
2 Artifact Mutation
4 Goblin Matron
1 Mogg War Marshall
3 Null Rod
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Tinkerer
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Siege Gang Commander
4 Goblin Piledriver
3 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
6 Mountain
3 Wooded Foothills
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
3 Taiga
3 Badlands

Sideboard:
2 Warren Weirding
1 Artifact Mutation
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Hull Breach
4 Extirpate
1 Relic of Progenitus

6th - Chris Pikula
Tezzeret

3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
3 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Stand
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Dark Confidant
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tinker
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Merchant Scroll
3 Thoughtseize
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
2 Fire/Ice
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Rebuild
2 Repeal
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Sensei’s Divining Top

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Greater Gargadon
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Pyroblast
1 REB
1 Echoing Truth
1 Rack & Ruin

7th - Corey Mann
Goblins

1 Stingscourger
1 Warren Weirding
2 Artifact Mutation
4 Goblin Matron
1 Mogg War Marshall
3 Null Rod
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Tinkerer
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Siege Gang Commander
4 Goblin Piledriver
3 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
7 Mountain
3 Wooded Foothills
1 Mox Ruby
1 Black Lotus
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
3 Taiga
3 Badlands

Sideboard:
2 Warren Weirding
1 Artifact Mutation
1 Yixlid Jailer
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Krosan Grip
4 Pyrostatic Pillar

8th - Josh Lalo
“The Deck”

2 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland
3 City of Brass
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
1 Snow Covered Island
1 Island
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Mind Twist
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ponder
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Fire/Ice
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Misdirection
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Regrowth
1 Tinker
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Empty the Warrens

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Helm of Obedience
2 Greater Gargadon
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Rebuild
1 Pyroblast
1 REB
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Extirpate
1 Oxidize
1 Diabolic Edict

Sportsmanship/No Proxy/9th Place Prizes:

   The Sportsmanship prize of a Misty Rainforest went to Visna Harris.  Visna has been present at almost all of my events, and I usually run into him at the tri state area Vintage tournaments.  He has been nothing but courteous and kind to his opponents, and was certainly deserving of recognition for this.

   The No Proxy prize of an English Mana Crypt went to Josh Lalo, our 8th place finisher.  What was most impressive was that Josh won this prize while running nearly the full power 9, duals, and many other expensive cards.  It’s great to see dedication to the format like Josh’s.

   The 9th place prize went to Vincent Forino, who missed out on the top 8 on breakers.  The prize was easily the funniest prize I’ve ever given away, a wolf shirt, donated by Nick Coss.  If you followed the announcement thread for N.Y.S.E. IV, you know just how appropriate this prize was.  Vinnie, here’s hoping that you wear your prize well…

   So, once again, many thanks to everyone who made the trip out to Grim, to Aaron Rubinstein, Nick Coss, and to all the staff on site.  I hope to see you all at N.Y.S.E. V on 1/23.  

[metalhead666]

i really wish i could have been there to see the look on everyone's face when they saw the 9th place prize.

[Sporkcore]

I knew there was a whole bunch of Oath there, but I didn't realize that 5 of 29 people were playing it.

It was good to see Cory and Madison playing Vintage again also, with both of them playing Goblins and making T8. Unfortunately they both had to play the Oath players in top 8. It probably would have gone differently if they were playing Earwig Squads.

Nothing will beat the 9th place prize of a Wolf Shirt, except maybe a first place prize of a Wolf Shirt. I would totally be at the tourny with that as a prize.

[v4ino]

Nick,

You run a great show! I love my new Wolf shirt and will be were-ing it (haha) at a tournament sooner than later. Getting the best prize and being able to leave before the snow hit hard was an ideal outcome 

[MirariKnight]

Wolf shirt was an awesome prize.
As was Goatnapper, my new tech.

Awesome tournament as usual. It was certainly awesome to see so many people turn out despite the blizzard. Grim is a great venue, and I don't say that just because it's so close to me.

Congrats to Austin, and apologies to Vinnie for drawing the last two round and ruining your breakers, but hey, at least you got a Wolf shirt out of it.

[Sporkcore]

I think one of the biggest surprises of the tournament were the amount of people who weren't playing their usual deck/archtype, such as Jimmy Hangley, Josh Lalo, Vincent Forino (I guess there had to be at least one Forino playing Stax at a N.Y.S.E. event) and myself.

[Vise]

Yes, very fun year and thanks for the reward
Can't wait for 2010..time to work on the sheep deck lol !!!
V,

[Iron_Chef]

It was fun to see everyone out there in force despite the weather.  Maybe next time I'll convince some more philly people to come and play.

-Nick

[Gekoratel]

Blizzard or not this event was a blast, the tournament was run extremely well with very little downtime between rounds and the atmosphere was great as usual.  It was also cool to put faces to some of the TMD handles such as MirariKnight who I had a nice battle with in the quarters and Rico Suave who I played and talked with at the last Blue Bell but didn't know who he was on the drain.  Congrats to all in their finish and look forward to seeing you at future NYSE events and Blue Bell which is right around the corner.  Slops to snow plows getting trapped in the snow seriously!?

[psyburat]

Corey Mann's list didn't have any Krosan Grips?  He definitely owned me with one game 2.

[2nd_lawl]

wolf shirts for the entire top 8 please

[Iron_Chef]

Corey Mann's list didn't have any Krosan Grips?  He definitely owned me with one game 2.

Seems like someone should be checked into...

[Prospero]

Corey Mann's list didn't have any Krosan Grips?  He definitely owned me with one game 2.

Seems like someone should be checked into...

Corey and Madison had a 1 card difference between the maindecks because Corey built both decks.  It was my fault, in my haste, I just copied and pasted the sideboards after a quick glance - I thought they were the same.

The maindecks have been checked again, and are correct.  The sideboards have been double checked and are correct.

And just when I thought that the whole report was without flaws.

[Iron_Chef]

I'm glad to hear that it was an honest mistake on your part, and Corey had nothing to do with any wrongdoing.  I was getting pissed thinking that cheating on that level might have pervaded the local type 1 scene.   To everyone who missed out.. You missed out!  Next time come play dammit!

[Shean]

The Mono Red Stax deck is card for card what I ran at the Meandeck Open and wrote an article about here except:

-1 Null Rod
+1 Sundering Titan

Glad to see the deck still performing extremely well, even in a low Tezz % tournament.  I'm also happy to see it out-performing 5C Stax!   

Does anyone know Ashok Chittturi?  I may know him by username, but I'm from the midwest, so I don't think I've met him.

I'm curious as to how the 7/10 was for him.  I agree with chopping a Null Rod, and have been toying with that myself as well.

[Prospero]

His username is The Method. 

We'll see how the Stax variants perform in January at the Lotus event.  Our list is almost right and I think you're going to see at least one of my guys top 8 with it.

[Shean]

Thanks for the info.

I do like your 5C Stax list as well.  I believe either, if piloted well, give a great chance at T8ing at any tournament.

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

Hey Shean,

     I just started playing vintage again recently, as the last time I played four copies of gifts were legal. I was set on playing a workshop deck and started testing a list of bazaar/stax from morphling.de, then I came across your results in Columbus and commented i your other thread about the deck.

    Other then the manabase I feel like the cards/quantities are pretty standard (I don't think thorns are playable). I cut one null rod because its role already overlaps with chalice of the void, it can screw your own hand over, and its not useful if it comes down late after your opponent has a opportunity to use his moxen a couple times or make land drops. I like playing one titan because he is easy to dig for with multiple bazaars, combo's with bazaar/welder, and hits basic lands. I'm normally not a fan of tormod's crypt but I played your SB because an ichorid deck won the lotus tourney here before and I was pretty pleased with it all day although I'd want to play 4 gargadons.