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aahz
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« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2011, 04:21:35 pm » |
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Here's a report while it's still fresh in my memory. I top 4'd and my deck is UBr Wizards.
A Wizard Did It
2 Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Riptide Laboratory
8 Solomoxcrypt
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Ponder
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
1 Flusterstorm
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Dark Confidant
Sideboard:
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Mountain
3 Ingot Chewer
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Flusterstorm
1 Mental Misstep
1 Mindbreak Trap
I briefly considered playing Kuldotha MUD for this one, but finally realized that was a bad idea because nearly all of my actual Vintage experience has been playing Blue (and I'm a terrible player anyway), so I'd likely make way too many mistakes with Workshops. Instead I opted to fall back on a more comfortable deck. After testing a bit with Gush builds, I decided that I shouldn't be playing Gush either and settled on something I'd be more comfortable with: Drains w/ Bob. I wanted to run some number of Snapcaster Mages since they seem pretty good, but I expected them to be out in force as everyone else was presumably thinking the same thing. This made maindeck graveyard hate seem like a good call (hence the Nihil Spellbomb, which has apparently been serving other people pretty well). Riptide Laboratory seemed like a fun card to play with Snapcaster, and it has the added side benefit of being able to bounce Bobs: either under a Time Vault so they don't kill me (I've flipped Blightsteel AFTER getting infinite turns for the loss in a tournament before), or giving him some decent combat tricks. Once I decided to slip in the Lab, I couldn't resist throwing in one Vendilion Clique. So I suppose I ended up playing a Wizard deck (but I don't have to explain because A Wizard Did It!).
Since this is the first Vintage tournament in the area, I wasn't sure what the meta would look like, so I had some trouble building a sideboard. I knew Lotushead would be playing Shops, and BC told me he was going to play Blue. Due to the unlimited proxy nature of the event, it seemed unlikely that anyone would sleeve up Dredge (why would you, if you could just proxy power/shops instead?). At the last minute, I decided to engage in the "Dredge Gambit" and skimp on graveyard hate even though I knew that Nick was going to play Reanimator (as I loaned him the Oath cards for that part of the deck). Since I already had Snapcasters main, I tossed in a Surgical Extraction as the 61st card (haters gonna hate, but I like playing 61 card decks, I'm just a scrub that way) then removed the Leylines from the side in favor of cards versus Shop and Blue (+1 Ingot Chewer, +1 Hurkyl's, +1 Misstep, +1 Mindbreak Trap). I left in the Jailers just in case. This plan ended up coming back to haunt me as I faced Dredge in Round Two and didn't play against a single Shop deck.
Round One versus Ryan (UBr)
2-0
Ryan was a nice opponent despite a frustrating match for him (early Tinker both games, which left a bad taste in my mouth, too). Game 1 he resolved Ancestral by Forcing my Misstep on it. Then we had counter war over Tinker (which I won). He followed up with a Tinker to match my Blightsteel, but I had the Drain for it. Game 2 I had a turn 1 Bob, which he Fired (and 1 damage to me). I just Tinkered turn 2 and that was it. We both lamented how unsatisfying the games were and how awful Blightsteel Colossus is. We played another game while waiting for everyone else to finish that was much more interactive (though possibly only because I chose not to Tinker early even though I had it in my hand).
I think I sideboarded like this for games 2/3:
-1 Spellbomb, -1 Surgical Extraction, -2 Bolt, -1 Hurkyl's; +2 REB, +2 Flusterstorm, +1 Misstep
Record: 1-0
Round Two versus Rafael (Dredge)
1-2
So here's where playing the Dredge Gambit comes back to bite me. Rafael is a high school senior who had recently moved to Davis from France. While his proxies were a little annoying (slips of paper that all look the same), I couldn't bring myself to give him any flak for it because he seemed a little intimidated by playing Vintage against all these older guys who seemed to know what they were doing. Apparently he hasn't really played much (or any) Vintage before and is mostly a Legacy player. I asked him why he was playing Dredge when he could proxy anything and he told me that was the deck he felt the most comfortable with because the Blue and Shop decks don't really have analogs in other formats, so he wasn't sure how to play them correctly. Fair enough, as that's exactly the reasoning I used to justify playing Drains myself. Hopefully, he wasn't turned off by his experience (as many people seem to get annoyed playing against Dredge and lousy proxies) and will try out Vintage again in the future.
He's playing a slower, disruptive build with Chalices and Unmasks rather than the Sun Titan/Fatestitcher versions. We have a very intense Game 1 because I draw into Nihil Spellbomb and remove more than 3/4 of his deck (including 3 Bridges). Unfortunately, he ended up with about 5 Zombies and my Lightning Bolts and Riptide Lab tricks just aren't enough to save me since his Unmasks/Therapies take my business. This game went pretty long and had lots of interaction though. I could have easily won it if I had an additional Bolt or Bob/Snapcaster to block. Game 2 I keep a hand with a quick Tinker into Blightsteel, and he can't race it or bounce it (he's got Ancient Grudge). I had Voltaic Key out and almost went for Time Vault, but then figured Blightsteel was better because it couldn't be answered by Claim or Grudge (indestructible), which turned out to be the right call. Game 3, I mull to a 6 card no mana source hand with Surgical Extraction and Nihil Spellbomb. I rationalize keeping it because I only have 4 pieces of hate in the whole deck and 5 card hands are likely to be much worse. I extract his Grave-trolls, but he Unmasks away the Spellbomb (I find the land to cast it the following turn). I fail to draw any more mana sources and get beaten down by flaming zombies after a few turns. I never saw the Jailers at all and deserved to lose this match for skimping on hate (and possbily keeping that hand in Game 3). However, it is amazing how much more game you have against Dredge in Game 1 if you maindeck just a bit of graveyard hate.
Sideboarding:
-1 Library of Alexandria, -1 Hurkyl's, -1 ? (Flusterstorm?); +2 Jailer, +1 Misstep
Record: 1-1
Round Three versus Nick (Reanimator/Show&Tell/Oath hybrid)
2-1
Nick is one of the only people I get to play Magic with on a regular basis. He's primarily a Legacy player and this is his first foray into Vintage (other than playing a few games here and there with decks that BC and I hand him). He wanted to just port his Legacy Reanimator list to Vintage, so I suggested looking into the hybrid Reanimator/Oath lists that Matt Elias had suggested. He changed it around a little to update it (Jin Gitaxias!) and I loaned him the Orchards, Oaths, Tinker, and Blightsteel. He was pretty demoralized by the time he played me because he was not doing as well as he had hoped.
In Game 1, I can't keep Jin Gitaxias off the board and he kills me, though I manage to stay alive for a few turns with Wizard tricks and Orchard tokens. Game 2, I get a turn 1 Tinker into Blightsteel (I didn't even get around to writing down life totals in this game). Game 3 is a bit more tense and I get down to 8 off Mana Crypt and Bob flips before I manage to beatdown with Snapcaster and Bob to finish him.
Sideboarding:
-1 Hurkyl's, -1 Island, -2 Bolt; +1 Flusterstorm, +1 Misstep, +2 REB
We played another game just for fun and it turned out to be one of those super ridiculous back and forth games. There were a bunch of Oath activations on both sides (into Terastodon, Blightsteels, Clique, Bob, etc.). I think I ended up winning, but it doesn't even matter because that game would have been entertaining even if I had lost. Too bad most tournament games for me don't seem to turn out that way.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 versus Jim (Bob Tendrils)
2-1
Jim is a local player who plays other formats mostly. He has a penchant for combo, so he wanted to play Storm in Vintage. Game 1 has lots of back and forth (Misstepping Missteps, Duresses, etc.). After many turns, I've got basically nothing but some mana and a Time Vault in play (and more or less nothing in hand). He was going to go off next turn (and I couldn't stop him), but I topdeck Voltaic Key for the win. Game 2, my notes fail me. I think he went off with Will after I tinkered up Blightsteel. In any case, I lost. Game 3, there is more Duressing and back and forth counters. I get down to 10 from Bob flips, but manage to beat him down to 6. That's irrelevent though because I can protect a Tinker into Blightsteel for the win. I made a huge (and really really stupid) mistake that probably should have cost me this game. I drew Blightsteel, but had Vamp and Merchant Scroll in hand. I Vamp for Tinker, then Merchant Scroll for Brainstorm to put back Blightsteel for the Tinker. Stupidly, I brainstorm at the end of his turn instead of in my upkeep. I somehow failed to remember (despite the fact that he was sitting right in front of me) that I had a Bob in play, so I still ended up drawing Blightsteel again. Sigh. I SUCK at Magic. Luckily for me, he couldn't capitalize on the opening and I draw Jace a turn or two later to seal the deal. I don't know that I even needed Tinker though as Bob might very well have gone all the way.
Sideboarding:
-2 Bolt, -1 Island, -1 Hurkyl's, -1 Spellbomb, -1 Surgical Extraction; +2 Flusterstorm, +2 REB, +1 Misstep, +1 Mindbreak Trap
Record: 3-1 (which gets me 3rd place overall, so I'm in the Top 4).
Semifinals versus Danny (UBr Snapcaster)
0-2
I get stomped in both games, but it's a good time anyway. I win the die roll and play first. I lay turn 1 Bob and win the counter war over it. Then I Surgical Extraction his Force of Will, but he reveals a hand with Land, Mox, Lotus, Tinker, Top (see Lotushead's picture in the first post). Damn. Game 2, I end up mulling to 5 and he has an insane hand with a turn 2 or 3 Tinker into Vault/Key with Tolarian Academy. For some reason I can tell he's got the Drain to protect it (body language or plays, I don't know for sure). I've got my own Drain online, but he blows me out with Flusterstorm. Danny is a really nice guy and we have some great conversation about Vintage and Pimp cards during and after the match. I'm really glad he made it up here to play in this one despite only being in the Bay Area on a business trip. The other semifinal match went on for a while so I pulled out Kuldotha MUD and we played a bit more while waiting for the Finals to start.
Sideboarding:
-1 Island, -1 Hurkyl's, -2 Bolt, -1 Spellbomb, -1 Surgical Extraction; +2 Flusterstorm, +2 REB, +1 Misstep, +1 Mindbreak Trap
Final Record: 3-2
Some observations about card choices:
Riptide Lab has a lot of potential. There were a few games where not producing U was a little problematic, but the times when it allowed for combat tricks or reusing Snapcaster may make up for that. I didn't get to use it as much as I would have liked, so I think the jury is still out about whether or not it's worth it. Similarly, I didn't have Clique come up enough to decide if I liked it. The 3/3 split of Bob/Snapcaster seems good though. Lightning Bolts sometimes seem marginal, but when they're good, they're really good (especially with Snapcaster). They might have served me better in this tournament as Fire/Ice, but I didn't play against any Lodestone Golems, so I still think Bolts are the better call in general (and they're an easy thing to side out in a lot of matchups). Two Missteps main seems about right. I like having the third one in the side, but I don't think I'd want all four. Flusterstorm is awesome, but I like my configuration of one main and two in the side. They are a liablity against Shops, so while it might have been nice to have two main for this event given the matchups I ended up with, it would have sucked if I had ended up having to play against Shops. The maindeck Surgical Extraction is interesting. I only used it a couple of times, so I'm going to leave it for now until I can get some more testing in. I feel much safer with the Spellbomb and Extraction maindeck and both of them can be used to great effect against many non-dredge decks game 1. If I were to do it again, I'd probably leave the maindeck as is and change the sideboard: -1 Ingot Chewer, -1 Hurkyl's, -1 Steel Sabotage, -2 Jailer; +4 Leyline, +1 Rebuild
Overall, this was a fun experience. I'm really happy that Drom's hosted a Vintage tournament and that I managed to not suck too much. While the turnout could have been better, it was definitely decent for a first time Vintage event. Everyone was generally nice and fun to talk to. I hope I got everyones' names right and if I made any errors in my report, please let me know so I can fix them (most of this is reconstructed from life totals and my memory, as I usually take lousy notes during tournaments). Hopefully, the few people who were just trying out Vintage don't get too discouraged, and there will be enough interest to have more Vintage events in the area in the future. There were some others around just watching, so maybe we'll have even more players next time. Congrats to Danny and Frankie on winning the Duals!
A postscript about prizes:
There were a few people around the store who might have played if the entry fee had not been so high ($20). They were interested in the format, but unwilling to throw away $20 just to try it (when they could go get themselves a Snapcaster, or whatever instead). I think this is actually a problem for Vintage events. I know there are some people who don't want to play unless there is something big put up for prizes (understandably so if they have to travel a long way). However, I think putting up big prizes is, in a way, another type of barrier to entry. Big prizes require both higher entry fees and top heavy prize structure (e.g. in this one only 1st and 2nd got anything). It is very discouraging for newer players just trying out the format to have to shell out a bunch of money just to lose horribly because they aren't familiar with the format and even if they do okay still miss out on any prizes just because they didn't win the whole thing, especially for such a small tournament. This creates a Catch-22 though: Either 1) the long time players won't travel for a tournament unless Duals/Power/equivalent are put up as prizes, but this shuts out the locals who just want to try out the format with minimal investment, or 2) No big prizes/small entry fee, which brings in the locals, but means there won't be many experienced Vintage players to show them what the format is really about. I don't know what the answer is, but this is something that I've observed. Personally, I'd rather play for peanuts and actually be able to play since I already have all the cards I need and I'm a lousy player anyway. Even though high entry fees won't break my bank, they reduce the number of people willing to play, which means I get to play less overall. I'm curious as to what others think about this issue, as it could be a contributing factor as to why Vintage is struggling/dead in many areas.
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