Hi all,
A massive drop in attendance this year for the highlight of the NZ vintage scene saw 11 mages come together to battle it out for the Andy Fletcher T1 which is contested annually as a sanctioned vintage event in NZ (23 last year).
The Andy Fletcher Memorial Vintage Cup event was created to honour Andy Fletcher and the work he did as a TO while living in New Zealand. He ran a wide range of events and lifted the level of events run in New Zealand through organisations like Salty Dog. To honour this work, and because he likes the Vintage format the Andy Fletcher Memorial Cup event was created.This event was suppose to be a 4 round + T4 event however with several drops and 2 DQ's it was reduced to 3 rounds and it was cut to T4 with the following match ups:
Zen (Landstill) vs Dan (Workshops)
Chris (Gush Control) vs Gary (Infect)
Finals:
Zen vs Chris
In a riveting final that went to 3 games the pivotal point in G3 was Zen stuck on 3 lands with 2 cards in hand and the Chris had Fastbond in play, Chris has 3 lands & 2 cards in hand and taps 2 lands for mana & returns them to his hand to cast Gush. He draws the 2 cards and sees his ancestral & another land. His hand is 4 lands and ancestral with a FB in play. he casts ancestral & Zen responds with Misdirection pitching his Jace, the Mind Sculpter to cast it. Chris cannot do anything in response so Zen draws his 3 cards drawing into Land, JtMS and his own Ancestral. Next turn off the top of the deck is a mox so he can cast the Jace and the Ancestral and use Jace's ability to brainstorm netting him a massive 7 card advantage over Chris. Needless to say JtMS found a standstill rapidly and it was pretty much over for the Gush Control deck.
Zen wins 2-1
A little back story on Zen, he's a bit of a rising star in NZ magic at 15 years old. He went deep in GP Auckland in November and at GP Sydney in January he made the top 4 securing himself an invite to the Pro Tour (He's won a PTQ ~2 years ago but his parents wouldn't let him travel to it). He was the only player to go 5-0 on the day and only lost 2 games on his way to this win which was his first time playing Vintage with a deck he net-deck'd about 4 hours before the event. His deck decision was an excellent but accidental choice for the meta, he could borrow a Sapphire / Lotus / Ancestral / Walk off his friend and some Drains / FoW / JtMS / Volc's off me so that left him with choosing this Landstill deck which suited his style of play very well.
Note: Zen's comment to me after the match was "OMG I want to play Vintage again" which means we've won over at least one young player this year.
Note 2: At the next event we think a house rule should be players are only allowed to play with cards printed after they were born to rule Zen out from playing FoW / Mana Drain again
Zen Takahashi - Landstill
2 Misdirection
1 Izzet Charm
2 Spell Pierce
4 Mana Drain
1 Steel sabotage
1 Echoing Truth
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Force of Will
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Mental Misstep
1 Time Walk
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Standstill
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Wasteland
2 Faerie Conclave
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
SB
4 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Ingot Chewer
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Viashino Heretic
Chris Wilson
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
4 Mental Misstep
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Peral
2 Trygon predator
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Preordain
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Voltaic Key
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Vault
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Misdirection
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Fastbond
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
SB
1 Trygon Predator
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Volcanic Island
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
4 Leyline of the Void
Gary Freedman - Infect
1 Dismember
3 Ichorclaw Myr
3 Plague Stinger
4 Flensermite
4 Thoughtseize
3 Groundswell
2 Mutagenic Growth
4 Invigorate
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 rancor
4 Glistner Elf
4 Berserk
3 Bayou
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Polluted Delta
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty rainforest
1 Wasteland
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Forest
1 Swamp
SB
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Null Rod
3 Leyline of sanctity
3 Seedtime
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Darkness
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Surgical Extraction
Dan Sy - Stax
1 Trinishpere
4 Tangel Wire
4 Serum Powder
2 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Peral
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
4 Lodestone Golem
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
2 Duplicant
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Rishandan Port
SB
4 Grafdidger's Cage
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pothing Needle
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Wurmcoil Engine
