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

[Prospero]

     N.Y.S.E. XIII is in the books, and what a great event it was!  We competed with SCG D.C. and we still had 45 players for a double Mox event.  Given the positive response that I had, I am going to look to run double power events from here on out.  The prize support for April 16th’s event is not yet set, so let me know what you guys want to see.

     We had a star studded top 8 featuring Vintage greats old and new, but at the end of the day nobody could stop John Jones.  His Turbo Tezz deck tore through the top 8, and won him his second Mox in as many weeks as he took down Jake Gans’s Minus Six in the finals.  Congrats to John, Jake and all the top 8 competitors!

The Complete Metagame Breakdown:

Mana Drains:

Turbo Tezz: 1
DeMars Control: 2
Remora Tezz: 1
Tidespout Oath: 1
R&D Reanimator: 1
Keeper: 1
Keeper w/Oaths: 1
Golden Gun Oath: 1
Elephant Oath: 1
Staxless Stax: 1
Drain Control (w/0 Jace): 1
Jace Control: 1
Cobra Storm: 3

Workshops:

Espresso Stax: 6
Mono Red Shops: 3
Staff Combo: 1
Affinity: 2
Elysian Fields: 1
MUD Aggro: 1
MUD Obeyline: 1

Bazaars:

Dredge: 5
Worldgorger Combo (Minus Six): 2

Null Rods:

Noble Fish: 3
Goblins: 2

Rituals:

U/B Storm: 1
Gush Storm: 1

     The field was surprisingly diverse, as the blue pilots couldn’t seem to agree on what the optimal blue deck was at the event, while the Shop decks almost all agreed that Metalworker wasn’t the right call on the day.  Paul Mastriano’s Cobra Storm put him into another top 8, which attests to the sheer brutality of his latest creation.

Top 8 Pairings and Results:

John Jones vs. Josh Butker – Jones wins
Jonathan Addesa vs. Corey Mann – Addessa wins
Paul Mastriano vs. Jeff Anand – Mastriano wins
Jake Gans vs. Scott Hughes – Gans wins

Top 4 Pairings and Results:

John Jones vs. Jonathan Addesa – Jones wins
Jake Gans vs. Paul Mastriano – Gans wins

Finals:

John Jones vs. Jake Gans – Jones wins

     Congratulations to John Jones and all of our top 8 competitors.

Top 8 Decklists:

1st – John Jones
Turbo Tezz

4 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Sol Ring
2 Mox Opal
2 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Myr Battlesphere
2 Voltaic Key
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Echoing Truth
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Rebuild
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Preordain
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
2 Mana Drain
3 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will
1 Mana Vault

SB:

3 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Volcanic Island
2 Ravenous Trap
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Echoing Truth
2 Sower of Temptation

2nd – Jake Gans
Minus Six

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Duress
1 Sol Ring
2 Read the Runes
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
2 Island
4 Force of Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Dark Confidant
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Dance of the Dead
4 Underground Sea
1 Swamp
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Echoing Truth
1 Brainstorm
2 Intuition
3 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest

SB:

1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Mana Drain
1 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus

3rd – Jonathan Addesa
Dredge

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fatestitcher
4 Narcomoeba
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Bridge from Below
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dread Return
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Terastodon
1 Flame-kin Zealot
4 Bloodghast
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Serum Powder
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Ichorid
4 City of Brass
2 Petrified Field
2 Darkblast

SB:

4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Leyline of the Void
4 Chain of Vapor
4 Nature’s Claim

4th – Paul Mastriano
Cobra Storm

3 Lotus Cobra
2 Thoughtseize
4 Gush
4 Force of Will
4 Preordain
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Fastbond
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Voltaic Key
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Ponder
1 Necropotence
1 Imperial Seal
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tinker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Vault
1 Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn

SB:

1 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
3 Yixlid Jailer
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Forest
1 Rebuild
1 Doom Blade
1 Slaughter Pact

5th – Josh Butker
Espresso Stax

4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Serum Powder
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Smokestack
3 Karn, Silver Golem
2 Wurmcoil Engine

SB:

4 Leyline of the Void
3 Maze of Ith
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Pithing Needle
1 Duplicant
1 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Spawning Pit

6th – Scott Hughes
Magus Red Shops

1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Lodestone Golem
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
3 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sundering Titan
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
4 Triskelion
4 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Mountain
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland

SB:

2 Duplicant
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Greater Gargadon
2 Shattering Spree
2 Viashino Heretic

7th – Corey Mann
Not So Noble Fish

3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Trygon Predator
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
3 Annul
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Spell Pierce
3 Stifle
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Meddling Mage
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
4 Wasteland
1 Forest
1 Strip Mine
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra

SB:

4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Kataki, War’s Wage
4 Sower of Temptation
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod’s Crypt

8th – Jeff Anand
DeMars Control

1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Island
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Time Walk
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Force of Will
1 Black Lotus
1 Misdirection
1 Mox Emerald
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mana Crypt
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Sol Ring
1 Echoing Truth
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Goblin Welder
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
3 Mana Drain
4 City of Brass
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Preordain

SB:

1 Engineered Plague
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Perish
2 Thoughtseize
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Doom Blade
2 Yixlid Jailer
4 Leyline of the Void

9th Place Prize:

     The 9th place prize of $24 in $4 bills and a playset of Troll Ascetics (the regenerating Troll with special shroud from Mirrodin block) was signed by the top 8 and given to Visna Harris, who had 13 points, but dropped from 8th to 9th place due to tiebreakers changing in the last round.  Congratulations Visna, and better luck next time!

Player of the Year Race:

     Standings for the player of the year race have been updated and feature a former world champion and an old pro at the top:

A., David - 4
Addesa, Jonathan – 34
Aiken, Nate – 6
Albergo, Pat - 6
Anand, Jeff – 38
Balleseter, Lance – 12
Banfield, Brendan - 6
Bartell, Chris - 6
Bauer, Michael – 18
Berman, Hal – 9
Berse, Sam – 32
Bilarczyk, Andy - 9
Brady, Andrew – 6
Brady, Brian - 3
Brown, Max – 3
Butker, Josh – 37
Carey, Brian - 32
Close, Andrew – 3
Coombe, Alan – 3
Davis, Jim – 6
DeMarco, Jesse - 6
Dixon, Thomas – 24
Earley, David - 9
Egan, Michael – 13
Eisenhauer, Michael – 3
Elias, Matthew – 12
Farias, Andrew – 15
Fenton, Greg – 21
Folinus, Jeff – 9
Forino, Raffaele – 15
Forino, Vincent – 3
Fortune, Damien - 6
Fulmer, Allen – 12
Gans, David - 4
Gans, Jake – 25
Giuliante, Thomas – 3
Glackin, Ryan – 12
Greene, Jeff - 19 
Griffiths, Shawn – 9
Gumina, T.J. – 9 
Hajduk, Mike - 12
Hangley, James – 15
Harris, Visna - 13
Hornung, Mark – 27
Houdlette, Steven - 6
Hughes, Scott – 33
Hundertmark, Evan – 3
Imperiale, Jason – 7
Impink, Jack - 6
Ingram, Peter - 9
Jones, Brandon – 15 
Jones, John – 42
Jones, Ryan - 6
Jones, Travis – 15
Karmiche, Dominick - 27
Keeton, Andrew – 12
Kent, Clark - 4
Kohler, J.P. – 24
Konak, Ronald – 6
Koresko, Jason - 9
Lane, Brian - 3
Lapine, Michael – 6
LaRosa, Devon - 3
Lawrence, David – 16
Lawrence, Robert – 18
Lessard, John - 1
Leshen, Justin – 6
Levinton, Andrew – 1
Lopategi, Aritz – 9
Magrann, William – 9
Mann, Corey - 17
Martin, Jesse – 10
Mason, Daniel – 12
Mastriano, Paul – 45
Meckes, Josh – 19
Noble, Mikey - 12
Nowakowski, Steven – 3
Owen, Alex - 12
Parsinitz, Ralph – 21
Pascuzzi, Nelson - 9
Pate, Matthew – 13
Philpotts, Terence – 3
Potucek, Josh – 12
Probasco, Andy - 9
Rappa, Ryan – 12
Reilly, Brian – 13
Reitnauer, David – 12
Roberts, Chris – 10
Robillard, Raymond – 21
Rossetti, Mike - 3
Rottenberg, Brian – 3
Rumbel, Carl - 6
Schreiber, Michael - 9
Seals, Keith – 12
Smith, Eric – 9
Trinks, Will - 6
Vibulayacom, Ted – 10
Worsham, Martin - 3
Zivny, Andrew – 8

Your current top 10 players in the N.Y.S.E. Player of the Year Race:

1.    Paul Mastriano – 45 points
2.    John Jones – 42 points
3.    Jeff Anand – 38 points
4.    Josh Butker – 37 points
5.    Jonathan Addesa – 34 points
6.    Scott Hughes – 33 points
7.    Sam Berse – 32 points
8.    Brian Carey – 32 points
9.    Mark Hornung – 27 points
10.   Dominick Karmiche – 27 points


In Conclusion:

     My sincere thanks to Gil, Dave, Frank and all the Brothers Grim staff.  My thanks to Nick Coss, dealer extraordinaire for providing prize support and being an awesome guy.  Thanks to Brian Paskoff, the best judge in New York.  Finally, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to all my competitors – you are what makes Vintage great, and I was glad to see all of you…

     Let’s do it all over again on April 16th!

[Smmenen]

Nicely done Nick.  The two Nick's have set the standard for regularly scheduled Vintage tournament organization.   I'm also very curious to see if the double power thing is sustainable.    Do you find the winners asking for other cards or prizes rather than power?  How often do the finalists split the power?   

And, am I wrong, or has John Jones deck now won two tournaments in a row?  Congrats to him and his turbo tez deck. 

[Will]

Nicely done Nick.  The two Nick's have set the standard for regularly scheduled Vintage tournament organization.   I'm also very curious to see if the double power thing is sustainable.    Do you find the winners asking for other cards or prizes rather than power?  How often do the finalists split the power?   

And, am I wrong, or has John Jones deck now won two tournaments in a row?  Congrats to him and his turbo tez deck. 

Since John is banned from TMD and will be for a long time I feel it might be appropriate for me to answer for him as a friend.  I know that when he won Coss' tournament he received table credit rather than a Mox because he already had that Mox (He has 5 Moxen, 1 Lotus, Ancestral, Timetwister) and this past weekend he took a Mox Jet. 

[Vise]

Lot's of Fun, YES !!!
I will NOT, ever make fun of the 9th placer, ever-never..again !
1 loss, 1 Draw means nothing in this highly competitive environment called the N.Y.S.E. not to be confused with N.I.C.E...

Deck Shenanigans 2.0 Coming Next Event, Troll Ascetics Not Included...

[Iron_Chef]

Nicely done Nick.  The two Nick's have set the standard for regularly scheduled Vintage tournament organization.   I'm also very curious to see if the double power thing is sustainable.    Do you find the winners asking for other cards or prizes rather than power?  How often do the finalists split the power?  

At my events, I usually offer "Nick Coss bucks" (store credit) in lieu of taking the piece of Power that I have advertised as 1st (or 2nd) place prize.  At my last event, 2nd place finisher Rich Sim took $300 in credit in order to build himself a copy of the deck that he had played that day (he had borrowed it from Ryan Glackin aka KingSquee).  1st Place finisher John Jones took $375 in credit, used some of it towards a Timetwister that he needed and some other smaller stuff.

I think players choosing power vs. credit or "other stuff" is totally dependent on what the TO/dealer has available and at what prices, as Paul Mastriano had stated in a thread about prize structure in Vintage.  If a store has $20 Misty Rainforests that you could choose instead of Power, then you would see players take power.

Beyond that people dont care as much, but you can build a player base of repeat players by giving out fair and reasonable prizes to the rest of the top 8, store credit that buys has fairly priced cards (and has a selection of things worth buying) is great way to do this without having to put in as much of an investment.

-Nick

[forcethewill]

Props to james Hangley for his"  babysitting"

[Smmenen]

Nicely done Nick.  The two Nick's have set the standard for regularly scheduled Vintage tournament organization.   I'm also very curious to see if the double power thing is sustainable.    Do you find the winners asking for other cards or prizes rather than power?  How often do the finalists split the power?  

At my events, I usually offer "Nick Coss bucks" (store credit) in lieu of taking the piece of Power that I have advertised as 1st (or 2nd) place prize.  At my last event, 2nd place finisher Rich Sim took $300 in credit in order to build himself a copy of the deck that he had played that day (he had borrowed it from Ryan Glackin aka KingSquee).  1st Place finisher John Jones took $375 in credit, used some of it towards a Timetwister that he needed and some other smaller stuff.

I think players choosing power vs. credit or "other stuff" is totally dependent on what the TO/dealer has available and at what prices, as Paul Mastriano had stated in a thread about prize structure in Vintage.  If a store has $20 Misty Rainforests that you could choose instead of Power, then you would see players take power.

Interesting.

I like the idea of having at least two pieces of power because it reduces the incentive to split the top prizes.   A huge disparity between the first and second prize is a huge reason to split.   When you have two pieces of power, it reduces that incentive.   It still produces a strong incentive to split top 4, but that's another thing.   

I was also curious how often your top 4 players split the prize pool.   

[Bibendum]

Props to james Hangley for his"  babysitting"

I heard that movie adventures in babysitting was his life story

[Iron_Chef]

Props to James Hangley for his"  babysitting"

Indeed.  He is, in fact, a god among men.

I like the idea of having at least two pieces of power because it reduces the incentive to split the top prizes.   A huge disparity between the first and second prize is a huge reason to split.   When you have two pieces of power, it reduces that incentive.   It still produces a strong incentive to split top 4, but that's another thing.  

I was also curious how often your top 4 players split the prize pool.  

On the topic of prize splitting, outright splitting, and as someone would say in all caps, COLLUSION here are my thoughts along with how my tournaments usually play out.

First up, rarely if ever do people split in the Top 8 or in the Top 4 at my events.  I'm sure a large part of that owes to the prize structure being given away, and that nobody is "unhappy" with a prize that is at least double their entry fee.  That is a luxury of large events and my business model, which does not depend on making money off the tournament.  At my last two tournaments, here was the prize structure.  (1st event/2nd event is how the prize structure is laid out)

1st: Mox Sapphire/Mox Jet
2nd: Mox Emerald/Mox Pearl
3rd-4th: $150/$120 (in credit)
5th-8th: $75/$60 (in credit)
9th-16th: $30/$0 (in credit)

Even in the case of a smaller event (the 2nd event was 44 players while the first event was 50 players) once you Top 8'ed you are guaranteed to "profit" off your entry fee.  This leads to people being comfortable with losing and playing for the win, unlike a smaller event that you may need to Top 4 or even get to the finals before considering a split.

I have a problem with someone giving someone else money or other things of value for a win.  At an event I ran last year, a split in the finals was organized where "the win" was worth something around $40, when other then bragging rights it really didn't have any value (both players were out of contention in the Player of the Year race).  Afterwards, the "2nd place" player still told everyone (in real life and online) they split in the finals.  What did that $40 get someone?  Nothing.  I'm fine with prize splitting, so playing out the Top 4 or the finals is a no-risk situation (financially), but I do not allow players to give someone else the win at my events.  You have to play it out, to determine a clear winner of the event, and for the points in my Player of the Year race to be accurate.  granted, the difference between 9 and 12 points (2nd and 1st) isn't much, but players need to earn what they get, not buy it.

All that said, I have never had the Top 4 split prizes at one of my events.  I have had players prize split in the finals thought.  BBGD #11 was one, where instead of a Sapphire and Emerald, each finalist had $350 in credit, which one used for a Time Walk and the other used for a lot of cheaper cards.

EDIT:  We got two hotel rooms because we were going to be drunk.  Yes, this drunk.  And yes, that's the hotel manager.  And no, we did not get thrown out.  And yes, it was 2 AM.

[Ravager Sam]

@ Nick Coss - we t4 split the 4th of July tourney last year (iirc).

We still played it out to have a winner, but I think it was like we each took ~225$ credit in top 4 and played it out for the no proxy 25$ and bragging rights.

...or something like that

[Iron_Chef]

@ Nick Coss - we t4 split the 4th of July tourney last year (iirc).

We still played it out to have a winner, but I think it was like we each took ~225$ credit in top 4 and played it out for the no proxy 25$ and bragging rights.

...or something like that

Yea, I remember that.  What Steve was talking about is when 4 players split, get 225, and all go home (and don't play out the semis/finals). 

[Cruel Ultimatum]

@nick coss:shouldn't one player be able to offer prize for a concession, since my understanding is that is how it works under dci rules. Yes I understand your events are unsanctioned and yes I understand there is not much of a point to do so unless it was some sort of poy race

[Iron_Chef]

That's actually Bribery/Collusion and it's hardcore against the DCI rules.  it's in section 5.2 of the Comprehensive Rules.  Here is an excerpt of that.

Players in the announced last round of the single-elimination portion of a tournament may agree to divide
tournament prizes as they wish. In that case, one of the players at each table must agree to drop from the
tournament. Players are then awarded prizes according to their resulting ranking. DCI ratings will not be affected
because no match will have been played. Such an agreement may never include a concession or an intentional
draw.

Even though my events are unsanctioned, the only difference is that I allow the use of proxies.  The quote above shows what players are allowed to do (split prizes evenly).

[Cruel Ultimatum]

Yeah, so if there are 2 people left and 1 drops, the other one is declared the winner. I am unsure how splitting a piece of a mox would work, but I assume that since it has a given value that could be split.

[Mr. Type 4]

Another great event in NY.  Its a little bit farther for me than all the awesome events in the Philadelphia area, but I;d say it was worth it. 

Highlights for me: in round 1 I was able to win a rematch vs Coss who had beaten me the last time we played-  i had a turn 1 kill with Tendrils in game 2.  Round 2 I faced Goblins which was a very real deck.  Round 3 I beat Shop by getting off Tinker in all 3 games, it worked out for me in two of them.  Round 4 I had an epic match with jeff Anand which ended in a massive luck-sack hand where I got off turn 1 key/Vault on the draw in game 3.  During my ID rounds I won a fun game of Ascention vs this guy Frank and Jake Ganz's dad.  My top 8 re-match with Jeff anand was even more epic than in the swiss.

In the Top 4 I played an All-star game 1 vs Jake Ganz in the top 4 where I survived a million mana crypt rolls, drew lands for 3 turns but bluffed counter magic to stay alive then finally drew my Tendrils.  Game 2 I couldnt beat his hand full of counter magic, and in Game 3 I thought I had it all wrapped up with Key in play, Time Vault on top of my deck, FOW with a blue card in hand and Yawg Will in case something went wrong BUT jake caught a break off a Brainstorm and key/vaulted me (with FOW back-up) just in time.  Good games.

i would have loved to get in a re-match with John Jones (who eliminated me at Blue Bell), but i guess that will have to wait for another day. 

See you all at the next one.
     

[Petro_Nor]

Great tournament, and great to be back after so many months w/o playing, nice to see a lot of people around and meet new people form the city for more testing . Thanks Nick for organizing this.

I have a great time with my deck (UBr jace control), and I go 3-3, reading perfectly the metagame for what I see, I expected mainly workshop and control decks, some Ichorid and a few fih like builts, so my side was well prepared agains the first 2 and something agiants ichord (allways...). First round goblins (I'm soooooo lucky with the pairings) and third round noble (so so lucky..) take off my chances, at least I know that it was a little of bad luck with the pairings, and a little of my wrist that is oxidized after so many months... good to learn from this .

See you in a next one (I don't even know what off them...)

[Eastman]

I am really jealous I missed this, looks like another great NYSE event. Don't know what this says about the metagame but I think the stax exchange has outperformed the stock exchange in three of the last four quarters.  Congrats to Nick for another successful event  and to the top 8 as well.

[Prospero]

I am really jealous I missed this, looks like another great NYSE event. Don't know what this says about the metagame but I think the stax exchange has outperformed the stock exchange in three of the last four quarters.  Congrats to Nick for another successful event  and to the top 8 as well.

Thanks.

It has been a fair amount of work, but it's absolutely worth it.

I'd love to see you make the next one, on April 16th.  If I can facilitate that, let me know...

[psyburat]

...First round goblins (I'm soooooo lucky with the pairings) and third round noble (so so lucky..) take off my chances...

At first I was like "I didn't play against that Round 3" and then realized what you meant.

Great tournament Nick.  Went 4-2 with Ginger Stax, got sac'd out by Dredge round 5 thanks to my game 3 turn 1 play of Leyline of the Void (if only I had an eight-card hand...), but otherwise the deck felt good.  Can't wait to see everyone at the next event!

[Prospero]

Standings for the player of the year race have been updated, with a top 10 included.

[Ravager Sam]

Standings for the player of the year race have been updated, with a top 10 included.

My ringer is ahead of me, that's hilarious!

[randyjohnson]

Hey I think I was there! I think I need a life.