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wjcuttler
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« on: January 02, 2010, 06:52:03 pm » |
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All I Won For Christmas
S2D Vintage Champs Tournament Report
12/19/2009
William J Cuttler
I received one of my Christmas gifts early this year.
The Annual Kentucky State Vintage Championship is held at Something 2 Do Games in the Oxmoor Center Mall every year the weekend before Christmas. As this tourney also doubles as the Christmas party we had cupcakes and pizza for everyone.
Last year we had 30+ players for Vintage Champs. This year was no different. The weather was less than cooperative with snow in the evening forecast and we still averaged the same turn out. Having the prize support being a Time Walk for first place and Time Vault for second adds a little incentive to get out the door and into the cold.
Oath
Will Cuttler
Main:
4 Oath of Druids
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Force of Will
4 Impulse
4 Spell Pierce
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Brainstorm
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Wipe Away
3 Thoughseize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Duress
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Volcanic Island
1 Wasteland
Side:
3 Ravenous Trap
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Pithing Needle
1 Echoing Truth
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Firespout
1 Krosan Grip
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Spawning Pit
1 Trinisphere
Maybe because I don’t like trends or maybe because I dislike the ease with which one can win with it, but I don’t like Time Vault. It’s for this reason (among others) that I’m not playing it. Unlike Matt Elias, who played Time Vault in his Aggro Oath list, I see Vault/ Key as a speed bump on my road to Oath. Drawing one-half the combo sucks when you need duress/counter to resolve Oath. Drawing Key when you need disruption is like finding a spoon when you need a knife.
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I always get psyched for the Vintage Champs because it’s always a fun time and this year was no different. We had most of our regulars there and some out-of-towners braved the weather as well, namely the St. Louis crew w/ Vroman. Tiffany Gaddis baked up a whopping 90 cupcakes and when Josh Palmer came in carrying a steaming, wobbling tower of pizza boxes, I knew it was gonna be a good day. After I gorged myself on cheese and sugar the first round started, so I checked the pairings and found my seat.
Round 1- Caleb w/ANT
Game 1- A tense moment passes whn he plays a bunch of artifact mana then I Force of Will an Ad Nauseum. I then cast Oath w/Orchard. It resolves and he's unable to answer the creatures.
I board in Empyrial Archangel and Trinisphere.
Game 2- A Sadistic Sacrament on the first turn wrecks my world. I Oath the Archangel up but can’t find disruption enough to stop him from comboing off.
Game 3- We duress each other’s hands away. I stick an Oath but can’t find an Orchard. I do find Trinisphere and that’s enough to keep him from building a lethal Tendrils.
0-0-1
Round 2- James w/Tezzeret
Game 1- I thanked him for playing Bob then cast Oath and resolve it through a counter war. Akroma gets in there a couple of times before being bounced to my hand. Then Hellkite Overlord takes it home.
I board in Red Elemental Blast, Pithing Needles, and Krosan Grip.
Game 2- I land Oath early with back up and find Orchard in time for Iona to lock him out.
1-0-1
Round 3- Chris w/Affinity
Game 1- I keep a counter-heavy hand. I Force of Will his Skullclamp and Spell Pierce his Cranial Plating. Ornithopter resolves. I cast Oath and again thank my opponent for playing creatures.
I board in Ancient Grudges and Krosan Grip.
Game 2- 3 Ravagers and a Frogmite stomp a mud hole where my head was.
Game 3- We race each other’s life totals. My 8/8 dragon wins.
2-0-1
While waiting for pairings, I notice this fella wearing what looks like a glove on his foot! I ask him about it and he tells me all about Vibram Five Fingers. Check em out. They're dope.
Round 4- Ben w/Tezzeret
Wouldn’t you know it? I sit down and tell him I had no idea we were gonna be paired up.
Game 1- I counter multiple welders while trying to get Oath online. He wins the counter war and resolves Tezzeret into Time Walk and swings with 5/5 artifacts.
I board in Red Elemental Blast, Pithing Needles, and Krosan Grip.
Game 2- I let a Welder resolve and save my counter to resolve an Oath. Before I can get to the trigger he casts Gifts Ungiven end-of-turn for the win!
2-1-1
I have to win out from this point to stay in contention for Top 8. I feel my confidence level depleted a bit and to make matters worse, I lost a six sided die.
Round 5- Andrew w/Dark Depths
Game 1- My opponent vamp tutors at my end step and sets the card on the table in front of him. He shuffles up his deck and draws a card for turn. I point to his tutored card and he scoops em up.
Since I have not a clue what he’s playing, I board in Pithing Needles expecting some permanent type hate (Seals, Explosives, etc.) and Empyrial Archangel for Sadistic Sacrament.*
Game 2- I misdirect the Sad Sac and he pulls some mana out of his deck. I have the Archangel but I have learned from my match with ANT in Round 1 that having only one Oath target blows. While being stuck on two mana, I get the Hexmage beatdown. I have Strip Mine keeping him from playing Dark Depths. My other land is Tropical Island which allows me to cast either Oath of Druids or Merchant Scroll from my hand. My life total gets low and I don’t draw into mana. So I cast Merchant Scroll. He responds with Crop Rotation. I don’t have an answer to the spell nor the 20/20 legendary token.
Game 3- This was an eventful game. Oath flips up Empyrial Archangel. Then Marit Lage enters the battlefield. My opponent doesn’t attack with the 20/20. After Akroma arrives he never gets the chance. The Angel of Wrath has protection from black and blocks the black token all day.
3-1-1
Round 6- Scott w/Tezzeret
I start to shuffle up when I notice the worst torn sleeve I’ve ever seen. I pull the card out of the sleeve. The sleeve was ripped along the side, not in the corner seperating the clear plastic from the opaque, but both the clear and opaque was ripped in the center of the leftside like some one took a pair a pliers to it or something. This was just odd. I re-sleeved the card and continued shuffling.
Game 1- I quickly get the Trinket Mage and Spirit token beatdown. With my life total dropping fast I squeeze in an Oath through lots of counter. I barely win the race with my life total at 3.
I board in Red Elemental Blast, Pithing Needle and Krosan Grip.
Game 2- He repeals my Oath, I replay it with back up. It sticks long enough to Oath up the win.
4-1-1
Top 8- Ben w/Tezzeret
When Josh read off the Top 8 I was thrilled to hear I was paired against Ben, again. The swiss rounds weren’t even close. I had high hopes for this round.
Game 1- I have a strong opener with Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Fetchland, Oath, Vamp Tutor, and Thoughtseize x2. I win the roll and lead with Lotus for black into Thoughtseize. He reveals Mana Vault, Mana Leak, Mana Drain x2, Red Elemental Blast, and Tropical Island. I take the Vault and then use another black to Thoughtseize the Leak. I crack the fetch for Tropical and play the Oath with the remaining black and the trop. He does little to stop my upkeep Vamp Tutor for Orchard. He tries to set up the win but the fatties beatdown was faster.
I board in the usual: REB, Peedle, Grip.
Game 2- I lost a pivotal counter war over Oath and couldn’t recover before the 5/5 artifacts swing FTW.
Game 3- He has an active welder in play when he passes turn. I untap then declare Oath trigger and start flipping cards. I flip Iona and my opponent groans. I name blue and lock him out. After the game he exlains that he wanted to cast Intuition for Vault combo before the Oath trigger. I explain that I had plenty of counter.
Seated at the Top 4 table was Korey Age, Tiffany Gaddis, Bobby Graves and myself. This is most of our playgroup! As I sit down across from Korey he says “Yeah! We’re keeping this thing local.” I think he was talking about the Time Walk. This is the same group that went to the Meandeck Open 11/22/09 and took up half of the Top 8.
Top 4- Korey w/Tezzcast
Game 1- I keep a fair hand with turn 1 Thoughtseize followed by a turn 2 Oath with back up. My Thoughtseize revealed triple Spell Pierce! He only has two blue sources, some off-color moxen and a Voltaic Key when I set up the Oath for resolution. I draw into a Spell Pierce of my own and figure he can only cast two Pierces so I can win this counter war. Wrong! I cast Oath. He Pierces. I Force. He Pierces. I Pierce back. He activates Key to untap Seat of Synod and taps a mox to pay the Pierce cost. He only needed two of his Pierces to counter my Oath and set up Vault/ Key next turn.
I board in the usual: REB, Peedle, Grip.
Game 2- I open with Sensei’s Top. Turn 2 I play Needle. He counters it so I play another one. I name Time Vault. He tutors and draws a card. I top, putting Thoughtseize on top and leaving Oath below it. I draw the Thoughtseize and cast it, taking Force of Will leaving Yawg Will in hs hand. This cleared the way for me activate Top, drawing Oath and putting Top on top. I cast and resolve Oath. During his turn, he casts Transmute Artifact and I respond with a Spell Pierce. He pays the 2 which leaves him tapped out. He grabs Black Lotus and sacs it for black. He casts Yawg Will but doesn’t win. He draws a shit-ton of cards and casts Tezzeret. He activates Tezzeret and grabs Sensei’s Top. He digs a bunch but doesn’t find any answers before he passes turn. I Oath up Akroma and she takes out the Planeswalker. On his turn he keeps digging but comes up empty handed.
Game 3- Korey leads with Time Vault. I start with Top, again. He turn 2 Tinkers leaving 1 colorless floating after sacing a mox. I look at my hand of Impulse x2, Gaea’s Blessing and Land. No help there. Well, let’s spin the Top and see the top three. What’s behind door number 1? Land, damn. Door number 2? Ponder. Good but not right now. Door number 3? Force of Will! Hell yeah! Put Force on top. Activate Top. Draw Force, put Top on top and counter the win. I draw the Top and replay it. He must have been all in on that Vault/ Key play because I resolve Oath shortly after and win.
Robert “Bobby” Graves was the reigning Vintage Champ and the store was awarding anyone who beat Bobby in the swiss rounds with a booster pack. I regret to inform you that the finals game was rather anti-climatic.
Finals- Bobby w/The Deck
Game 1- I mulligan into the nuts. Mox, Orchard, Oath, Force, Mystical, Fetch. He plays a land, Mox and a Mana Crypt. I play Mox, Orchard, Oath of Druids. He forces and I Force back. He casts Gifts Ungiven. It resolves. He fans these four out: Yawg Will, Mystical Tutor, Regrowth, and Black Lotus. I note that he has no black source. I give him Yawg Will and Mystical Tutor. Regrowth and Lotus go to the yard. I anticipated a Mystic Tutor during his upkeep but it never came. Before he can set up the win, Akroma and Hellkite end it in two.
I board in Red Elemental Blast, Pithing Needle, Krosan Grip and Empyrial Archangel.
Game 2- Bobby tries for the mana denial strategy by blowing my land up and I draw more to replace them. I land a Peedle that I almost misname as Strip Mine but catch myself in time to name Wasteland (he already played and saced his Strip). I Oath up Hellkite Overlord and during my upkeep Bobby casts Diabolic Edict so I sacrifice the dragon. I am holding Akroma in my hand. Both my hasters are tied up so I know I’ll Oath into either Iona or Archangel next. Bobby is mana screwed as I flip up the Archangel. I see lots of different colored spells and a City of Brass on his side, so when Iona flips up I don’t know what to name right away. Thinking back to Game 1 when he almost Gifts FTW, I name blue. By the time the next trigger rolls around I have Time Walk in hand and Hellkite Overlord gets shuffled back in and Oathed back out to close the curtain on this shindig.
Props
-Bobby Graves for being a good sport about losing his title despite disparaging remarks from the spectators.
-Josh Palmer for hosting this event every year and providing pizza and great prizes.
-Tiffany Gaddis for making all those yummy cupcakes.
-James “Bluetooth Guy” who cheered me on throughout the finals even when warned by the Judge to keep comments to a minimum.
-Korey Age for helping me sculpt my Sideboard before the tourney. I am not on a team, but if I were Korey would be my team captain. This guy knows his stuff.
-Everyone who came out to play in the snow.
Slops
- James “Bluetooth Guy” who had too much to say about the finals game and spoke up when he shouldn’t have and pissed off Bobby.
-The weather for snowing and putting a damper on the tournament turn out. Next year we’ll have over 60 players! Wooh!
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