Next Level Vintage: July Edition

[shrewarmies]

On Saturday 6th July, 12 souls made their way down to Next level Games for our monthly Vintage event. We had over $350 in prizes guaranteed and it really drew out the players as with some no shows due to other commitments we still managed to hit 12. Im hoping to break the 17 mark by the end of the year and get 5 rounds for a monthly tournament. NLG has really grown from the 4 man monthlies we were getting 12 or so months ago and I hope to see this growth continue. This event was punctuated by Michael Runic, doing his best Thrun Impersonation (the Troll), sleeving up his deck and managing to take it to the finals just because he could.

After 4 rounds and a cut to top 4 our finals ended with:

Michael Runic (Slivers) Defeated James Dowling (U/R Landstill) 2-0
Joshua Butler (Cavern Humans) Defeated Ben Kearney (U/W Landstill) 2-1

Joshua Butler (Cavern Humans) Defeated Michael Runic (Slivers) 2-0

Final Standings

1) Joshua Butler - Cavern Humans
2) Michael Runic - Slivers
3) Ben Kearney - U/W Landstill
4) James Dowling - U/R Landstill
5) Jeffery Chan - Metalworker Shops
6) Daniel Spivak - Panther MUD
7) Zacc Brandt - Grixis Control
8) Tim Dolphin - Cobra Gush
9) Gavin Kroeger - Burn
10) Jackson Wain - Dark Times
11) Owen Goodwin - Martello Shops
12) Andy Horne - Grixis Control

Decklists:

1) Joshua - Cavern Humans
Lands (21)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Brass
2 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
2 Mishra's Factory

Artifacts (6)
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald

1 Chalice of the Void
1 Batterskull

Creatures (24)
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Dark Confidant
3 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Sin Collector
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Enchantments (2)
2 Stony Silence

Instants (7)
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
2 Mental Misstep
2 Abrupt Decay

Sideboard (15)
1 Wasteland
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 True Believer
1 Glowrider
1 Path to Exile

2) Michael Runic, the last Troll - Slivers
Lands (15)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
4 Mutavault
1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (12)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl

4 Æther Vial
4 Thorn of Amethyst

Creatures (25)
4 Crystaline Sliver
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
3 Winged Sliver
3 Gemhide Sliver
3 Harmonic Sliver
2 Hibernation Sliver
3 Phantasmal Image

Sorceries (2)
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor

Instants (5)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
3 Path to Exile

Sideboard (15)
2 Notion Thief
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Flusterstorm
2 Chalice of the Void

3) Ben Kearney -  U/W Landstill
 Coming Soon

4) James 'Jimbo' Dowling - U/R Landstill
Lands (24)
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Barbarian Ring

Artifacts (7)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire

3 Engineered Explosives
2 Crucible of Worlds

Enchantments (4)
4 Standstill

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sorceries (1)
1 Firespout

Instants (20)
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Dismember
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
1 Mana Leak
2 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Spell Pierce
1 Ancestral Recall

Sideboard (15)
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Goblin Welder
4 Ingot Chewer
3 Ravenous Trap
4 Grafdigger's Cage


Congratulations to everyone who made top 4 and tanks to everyone who made it out to NLG for this and I hope to see you all again at MASTERS in a couple of weeks.

[brianpk80]

Can't wait to see the first place deck list.  Congrats to the Humans. 

[msg67183]

Can't wait to see the first place deck list.  Congrats to the Humans. 

I can't wait to see how Slivers got 2nd!!!

[shrewarmies]

Updated with 3/4 of the top 4's lists.

I am unsure about the Slivers players path through the rounds. I have reached out to him but all I recall is that he went 3-1 in the Swiss and I saw a Harmonic Sliver absolutely wrecking the Metalworker MUD deck in round 2.

[hashswag]

My UW Landstill decklist was:

4 Flooded Strand
4 Mishra's Factory
3 Island
4 Wasteland
3 Tundra
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Plains
1 Strip Mine
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
3 Mana Drain
3 Spell Snare
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Flusterstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Standstill
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
SB: 4 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Enlightened Tutor
SB: 1 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Energy Flux
SB: 2 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Stoneforge Mystic
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 1 Crucible of Worlds
SB: 1 Serenity
SB: 1 Batterskull

The match against slivers in the swiss was MUCH harder than I'd expected. I got batterskull online most games, but hibernation sliver kept blocking and bouncing itself, halving the clock and stopping my lifelink. Best play of the match was when Michael vialed in a hibernation sliver to kill my batterskull, I went to bounce it and he vialed in another sliver, destroying batterskull again. I'd assumed that it was just a once off etb, but apparently slivers give things to all slivers. Who knew? I should have bounce it in response to the Harmonic being vialed, rather than the ability trigger.

Also most blue vintage decks are totally unprepared for Cavern of Souls. Sure, you might have turn 1-2 Wasteland for it, but that doesn't stop the dudes the opponent has already played by then. Unless you have wasteland AND a couple of pieces of removal (try drawing all your bolts in the first 3 turns), you can be in for a world of hurt while Howlpack Alpha makes a billion dudes.

[ecky]

I was the UR Landstill player - the Slivers list was easier for my list than Ben's I think. Harmonic Sliver didn't ruin my day because of my lack of Batterskull, Crystalline Sliver was the biggest issue for me holding a hand full of Bolts. To compare it to another deck, it's essentially a Merfolk deck with no countermagic, but with Shroud instead.

Cavern of Souls is definitely a card - the Humans matchup in the Swiss was really difficult because of the Cavern, and Slivers would have been a lot simpler without it there.
It was interesting to see both the Landstill decks reach the Top 4, with only 1 combo deck in the room...