[Report] Ubawire goes undefeated in the swiss, gets 6th at Blue Bell.

The Team:
Myself - Ubawire (obviously)
Mike - Flame Vault Gifts
Alex - Gro-A-Tog (GAT)
Josh - Food Chain Goblins (FCG)

//THE PRE TOURNAMENT RANT:

(skip down if you don't want to read about the events that happened a week prior to the tournament)

Exactly one week before this tournament, we went to the PTQ at West Chester (the same four of us), and Josh made it to the top 16, but the guy he was playing against had unbeatable hands, and he got rocked 2-0 on the game where it was most important. We felt bad for him, but had a great time. I didn't play in the PTQ as I SUCK at Limited formats, but played a guy with Control Slaver in between rounds with my Ubawire build (and picked up 4 Tangle Wires for 4 bucks each, mind you!)

None of us really know each other really well, although Alex is definitely the outcast of the group. This kid has tourettes and can't control his emotions very well, so whenever he kicks ass in a game, he has to rub it in the other guy's face. Whenever he loses, if it's a game where he made a mistake, he'll actually cry (I've heard). He also is apparently a very good player that makes very few mistakes and can win with alot of different kinds of decks. However, he knows almost NOTHING about Vintage Magic, and makes horrendous mistakes that I've never seen anyone do before.

There's a dealer there (Morgan Chang) that has just flat out absolutely ridiculous prices on nearly everything he sells, but they buy for a good bit too (more than I do). However, his high-end cards are pretty cheap, and I end up picking up two bazaars off him (one for 180 and another for 150) the one being in NM condition, and the other in (as far as I can tell) absolute mint condition. I try haggling him down to 310, and he won't budge. I think it's a descent deal, and I need Bazaars for the Blue Bell tournament next week, so I just go ahead and do it.

While we're there, Alex has been talking about getting into Vintage, and he finally starts to trade for the stuff he needs to make GAT.ï¿½ He has a foil set of scourge that he sells to Morgan Chang with a card missing! He brings this foil set to the PTQ, and apparently someone takes his foil scourge binder, and trades out a foil root elemental for a regular one! So it's not a complete foil set!

On top of that, the Sliver Overlord in the set is torn in half! It's an overlay tear, so apparently Alex put it back together so it looked like a regular card. Alex gets really pissed off at this dealer for only giving him 100 bucks (he started out at 125 but because Alex was being hesistant and he was getting pissed off at him, he dropped it to 100) for his foil set of scourge, so he does the trade and then starts saying things to us like, "I just owned that dealer's ass," and stuff like that, which cracks us all up.ï¿½ He gives me 100 for 3 NM Force of Wills, a Vamp Tutor, a Demonic Tutor, and 3 Quirion Dryads, a beat up revised Trop Island, as well as maybe another card or two that I had which he needed, which was real cheap. I made ten bucks or so in the trade, even though I was giving away REALLY nice force of wills which I graciously valued at 20 each (although they were worth probably a little more, these forces were so nice).

There was another dealer at the PTQ, as well, who had VERY decent prices on nearly everything. They were selling a NM alpha wheel of fortune for 70, which Mike wanted really badly. (He's trying to make an alpha set). I told him 70 was a great deal, as it's probably worth 80-90, and we checked with a few of my other dealer friends which were at the PTQ, and they all said a NM was worth about 90. So Mike buys this Wheel of Fortune off this dealer for 70, and we get talking about how the one dealer's prices are absolutely absurd (he wanted 250 for a beat up workshop!) and the other guy's prices are very decent.ï¿½ I explain to Mike some things about Magic economy, and we start joking around about how outrageous the one dealer's prices are, like he would probably sell a foil root elemental for 5 bucks, or a NM alpha wheel of fortune for an outrageous price. Mike goes, "Yeah, he'd probably sell it for 110."

So we're like, "hey, you wanna go see how much he would sell one for?" and he's like, "yeah, it'd be funny." So we go up and we ask him if he has any alpha wheel of fortunes, and he says yes. We ask him what condition it's in and he says, "it's really nice, actually." We ask him how much he wants for it, and he goes, "110."

We look at each other, and chat for a little bit and then walk away and laugh. On top of this, something even funnier happened. While we were leaving, I had forgotten my coat downstairs and went to get it. While I'm going to get it, I see Morgan Chang (the outrageous priced dealer) with the foil set of scourge laid out over his table, and looking through them, flipping them over and examining every card and whatnot.ï He's not sitting down doing this, but rather standing up, bending over the table, like he wants it from behind. As I pick up my coat, I look at him, just as he goes, "There's a card missing." He's not talking to anyone, and he has this depressed, but unbelieving look on his face, like: "Did that kid really just give me a set without a foil root elemental?" I try not to laugh so he doesn't turn around and go up and tell the guys, and they just break out in laughter.

Alex starts going, "You just got owned, you dealer," and, "I just dominated your ass." And we're like: "Dude, you just cheated him out of a foil rude elemental. That's not really getting owned." That's when he tells us about the ripped up Sliver Overlord, and we just lose it.ï¿½ Then we start making jokes, like, "Dude, you should have put an I.O.U. in there too." Or like, "Hey man, you should have walked out saying, ALL SALES ARE FINAL."

I also pick up a beat up bazaar off a kid for 80! bucks. I left all my power/workshops etc in Georgia and only brought my 14 proxy Ubastax up to play some people at the local shop in Harrisburg, but found out there was a ten proxy Vintage tournament 12 days after I arrived, so I got pissed off at myself and began to assemble a new playset of Bazaars.

So I find out about about ten-twelve days ago that there's a tournament near Philly, where first prize will be a Library.ï¿½ If enough people show up, it gets upgraded to a Mox, and again to a Time Walk.ï¿½ I meet up with my friend Mike who's been playing Vintage for about ten months, and we plan to make the trek. Alex has been looking forward to this for a week or two, ever since he started playing Vintage.ï¿½ He wanted to know what deck to play, and Mike told me that he was used to playing Tog in extended.ï¿½ I go, "Okay, then you are probably going to want to play blue-based control in Vintage."ï¿½ I explain to him all the options, and then we hit Grow-A-Tog.ï¿½ He wonders what that is, and I explain to him what the deck does, and he loves it.ï¿½ So he goes around trading for all the cards he could possibly need for GAT, basing his list off the list that just won Waterbury.ï¿½ He gets the deck assembled the day before the tournament, but is still at something like 12 or 13 proxies, but he gets what he needs at the tournament, enough to go down to 9 proxies, but I find out later he's only running 4 moxes!ï¿½

WTF!?

//end rant

Here's the list I ran:

UBAWIRE w/ no resist orbs

21 LANDS
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Barbarian Ring
4 Wasteland
1 Strip mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Mountain

9 ARTIFACT ACCELERANTS
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald

8 CREATURES
4 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
2 Duplicant

22 ARTIFACT LOCKS
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Uba Mask
3 Null Rod
3 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere

15 SIDEBOARD
4 Fiery Temper
4 Maze of Ith
3 Viashino Heretic
2 Duplicant
1 Tangle Wire
1 Tormod's Crypt

About the build:
I expected there to be ALOT of Oath at this tournament.ï¿½ Mike was here the last time they had it, and he said 50% of the field was Oath, and another 25% was Fish.ï¿½ Upon hearing that 50% was Oath, I cringed and started to think of how I could optimize my sideboard against 50% Oath and 25% Fish.ï¿½ I decided on the Maze/Duplicant sideboard, instead of the Jester's Cap sideboard.ï¿½ Jester's Cap is better against Oath than Maze/Duplicant but not as good against Fish, even though I rarely need much help against Fish.ï¿½ Jester's Cap also allows me to free up 2 more sideboard slots if I run a playset of them, which I usually don't.ï¿½ (I usually only run 3 in my meta).

I also wanted to experiment with a Sphereless build, having utility creatures make up for the soft lock provided by sphere.ï¿½ It worked out really well, as I went undefeated throughout the swiss, but lost in the top 8 - but NOT due to being sphereless.

I altered the sideboard at the last minute, opting for 1 Tangle Wire over the 2nd Tormod's Crypt.ï¿½ I made the right choice, as Tormod's Crypt didn't do anything for me all day.

Round 1 vs. Matt with 5c Stax

This guy was so classy.ï¿½ I would LOVE to play against this guy all day.ï¿½ He was so nice, and he was extremely graceful when losing.

I win the die roll.

Game 1 - Ubawire owns the mirror. I keep a mediocre hand of Ruby, Welder, Chalice, Mountain, B-ring, Wasteland, and Crucible. My opening turn, I play ruby, welder, chalice at 0, and mountain. He goes rainbow land, welder. As he's flickering his cards back and forth, I see a ruby and a pearl. I think he topdecks darkblast, and darkblasts welder, plays workshop, and casts crucible of his own. He could have been holding darkblast though. I have to fight an uphill battle now. However, I play chalice at 1 (that I drew after a bazaar) the following turn and start abusing bazaar enough to kill his welder and play workshops and such. Luckily, I draw nothing but lands off bazaar to discard, so he never gets to weld out crucible (although it didn't matter, as I had a second on the board in the early game and could have played a 3rd and a 4th a few turns later).
I topdeck Uba Mask somewhere in here, and just start going nuts.
Later on, while deciding between playing a null rod or another lock (I don't remember what, I think it might have been a second smokestack), I play the Null Rod and he topdecks Karn the very next turn.
I'm drawing five cards a turn, and eventually have out a load of permanents, as well as: Chalice for 0, 1, 2, AND 3. He scoops after I duplicant his Karn with SPARE academy mana. I drew 20+ cards off Bazaars in this game.

Game 2 - I get out two early welders, play chalice at 1 for darkblast, and have recurring barbarian rings for his welders. He scoops after I start welding madness with bazaar, discarding a crucible, uba mask (the only one I left in!) and smokestack. Then, I cast another smokestack. Yeah. He had RACK AND RUIN, but it was useless, as I had two moxes and two active welders.

Record: 2-0 games, 1-0 matches

Round 2 vs. Alex (TEAMMATE!) with Gro-A-Tog.

Because the tournament is only five rounds, I consider for a good five minutes whether to ID with Alex or not. Alex wants to ID badly. He's been playing Vintage for four days, and has no idea about basic strategy, like holding Yawgmoth's Will until it wins you the game, and not casting it early game for four cards when you have no way to replay Yawg Will in your deck, like Burning Wish. He knows that my deck beats his (it's like 70-30 when I can resolve ONE lock in the first four turns, far more when I can resolve more than one). I tell him that we'll play it out, but if we go to game 3, I'll consider an ID before game 3.ï¿½ He agrees.

I win the die roll.

Game 1 - This game goes quickly.ï¿½ I go first turn workshop/mox/stax, which is forced. Next turn, I go lotus/wasteland/stax/uba mask. Neither the Stax or the Mask gets forced, and he doesn't have drain mana up, although he does have drains in hand. I topdeck a crucible two turns later.

Game 2 - This is the most frustrating game of Magic I have ever played.ï¿½ I'm not even kidding.ï¿½ I usually love playing Vintage Magic because I have fun when I lose.ï¿½ I really do.ï¿½ I like dying to first turn tinker and stuff like that alot of times, because it's just fun to see, even on the losing end. However, this game is retarded.

I have an extremely slow hand with no disruption which I mulligan.ï¿½ I go down to six, and have workshop, but no buisness spells.ï¿½ I don't draw into any in like, three turns, while he's playing two dryads.ï¿½ However, I topdeck double Maze of Ith.ï¿½ Eventually, the game boils down to this:ï¿½ He has dryads, a 6/6, a 3/3, and a 2/2.ï¿½ I have chalice for 0 and 2 out.ï¿½ I have THREE MAZES OF ITH out.ï¿½ I am at EIGHTEEN life.ï¿½ I also have a ton of other locks out, including wire and smokestack, but he has like, seven lands in play, no moxes.

I take a long time to do the calculations, and decide that he needs an ABSURD amount of mana (like, 18), as well as yawg's will/time walk/his SINGLETON OXIDIZE, and some other junk in order to win.ï¿½ The game goes on for THIRTY FIVE TURNS because I can't topdeck any of the THREE duplicants in my deck, and I had just played a stax two turns ago, and he was at one million permanents, etc.ï¿½ I do the calculations and figure out that he has .000001% chance of winning the game.ï¿½ Seriously, he needs to win this turn, or stax eats up too much mana of his, and he needs like, six cards all in his hand to win, and just barely at that.

Okay, so he topdecks all the right cards THREE TURNS IN A ROW prior to this point without the help of ancestral or any other draw for that matter.ï¿½ Then, he proceeds to cast oxidize on chalice at 0, lotus, ancestral (that he got somehow, although I forget), yawg's will, ancestral, oxidize on chalice at 2, time walk, CUNNING WISH FOR STIFLE.ï¿½ WTF.

Because of that stifle on my maze of ith for the huge guy, he wins the game, as I can chump block as well.ï¿½ Stupidest game ever.ï¿½ The stupidest part of the whole thing was that the Yawg's Will turn lasted 15 minutes.ï¿½ The whole game lasted 40.ï¿½ I was irate at Alex at this point because he wouldn't concede the game and let us go scout.

Game 3 -ï¿½ This game is just silly.ï¿½ I go workshop, mox, mox, trinisphere, go.ï¿½ He plays island or something.ï¿½ I go workshop no. 2, smokestack.ï¿½ He tries to force.ï¿½

I explain that he has to pay 3 for the force of will in addition to RFGing a blue card and paying a life for it's alternate cost.ï¿½ I go, "Okay, there's really no point to play this game out, you know what happens now."ï¿½ He scoops.ï¿½ I had crucible in my hand anyway, but I didn't bother showing him.ï¿½ ï¿½ The third game lasted at most thirty seconds.ï¿½ He drew the force, by the way, he knows at least as much as to counter first turn trinisphere, even if he didn't know that it messes up force.

Three people are like, "Force of Will doesn't cost 3 to cast if you use it's alternate cost" including my teammate Josh, and I explain to them that even though you're using an alternate cost, you're still paying the cost of a spell, so even though it requires 0 mana to use that alternate cost, you're not somehow circumventing additional cost effects, like Sphere of Resistance, or Trinisphere.ï¿½ They believe me, thankfully, and I go start scouting for round 3.

Record:ï¿½ 4-1 games, 2-0 matches.

Round 3 vs. AJ (sorry about the wrong name in the report) playing RED BLUE FISH.

I win the die roll.ï¿½ WHOO!ï¿½ Third time today!

Game 1 - So, I'm extremely surprised to see red blue fish undefeated.ï¿½ Did not expect that.ï¿½ I trounce him with quick locks, and an Uba Mask which resolves.ï¿½

He doesn't scoop until I get strip recursion, however.ï¿½ I'm trying to think what he could board in against me.

Game 2 - I try for chalice at 2 first turn.ï¿½ Dazed.ï¿½ I try for chalice at 2 again second turn.ï¿½ Forced.ï¿½ I try for Stax third turn.ï¿½ Annuled.ï¿½ I go for Uba Mask fourth turn.ï¿½ He allows it.ï¿½ I think he casts rack and ruin then on my mask/mox endstep or something like that.ï¿½ Basically, he has an answer for absolutely everything I play, and he never even cast ancestral.ï¿½ I lose to Mishra's Factory.

Game 3 - I draw a VERY broken hand of:ï¿½ Workshop x 2, Trinisphere, Smokestack, Uba Mask, Crucible, Wasteland.ï¿½ I quickly go, "I keep this," which definitely tipped him off to the fact that I had something insane.ï¿½ Even though this is a small tournament, I remember not to do dumbass things and scold myself.ï¿½

He doesn't mulligan for a force, however, and I win this game on turn 3 when I play crucible with 3-ball and ramped Stax out.

Record:ï¿½ 6-2 games, 3-0 matches

Round 4 vs. Mike (TEAMMATE!) playing FLAME VAULT GIFTS
He's undefeated too.ï¿½ I'm #1 and he's #2.ï¿½ We ID, and go scout the top tables.
Record:ï¿½ 6-2 games, 3-0-1 in matches

Round 5 vs. [blank] playing Oath.
He's ranked #3, right behind Mike and myself.ï¿½ We ID.
Record:ï¿½ 6-2 games, 3-0-2 in matches

So, while I'm waiting for the Top 8 to start, a few things come up.ï¿½ I'm doing the math in my head (as apparently I'm the only one at that tournament who can actually accurately predict what can happen to people), and I figure out the following:

1)ï¿½ If Alex wins, he's in, because he has the best tie breakers.
2)ï¿½ If Josh wins, and Alex loses, he is probably in, barring two other people winning their games.
3)ï¿½ If the guy Alex is playing (his last name was Davis, he has a pimped out Flame Vault Gifts deck) wins, I drop to #2, and Mike drops to #3, but we're still in different brackets, so we can still split the prize if we both make it to the finals.ï¿½ The guy he's playing is currently seeded 5 or 6, but he got paired down, so if he wins, he'll have one more point than Mike or myself.

During Alex's match, the guy he's playing apparently gets FOUR WARNINGS in one game, but no game loss.ï¿½ It's worth noting that the guy Alex is playing is a level 2 judge, as well.ï¿½ I was upset with the one ruling, but decided it wasn't all that bad.ï¿½ This is what happened:

It's turn three or so, and Alex has out a Dryad, and three lands.ï¿½ His opponent is completely untapped with a fetch down, a underground sea, and a mana crypt.ï¿½

Alex casts duress.ï¿½ In response, his opponent casts thirst for knowledge, draws three, discards a pearl, and then says "Duress resolves," and reveals his hand, as he's putting two cards on top of his library, before Alex can even tell him not to put two cards on top his library.

Alex calls the judge, and he comes over and rules in Alex's opponents favor, saying the intent to brainstorm was clear.

I would have ruled it that Duress resolves without Alex's opponent getting a chance to brainstorm, because there are a few reasons:

1)ï¿½ He said Duress resolves, THEN put two cards on top of his library as he's revealing his hand.ï¿½ Like, Alex SAW THE CARDS that he was revealing.
2)ï¿½ He never tapped mana to even play brainstorm.
3)ï¿½ He needed to crack a fetchland to do so.
4)ï¿½ He never drew the three cards for brainstorm.

A few people come up and actually complain to the judge about it afterwards (whoa), to which he said that the intent was clear that Alex's opponent meant to brainstorm.ï¿½ While I wasn't happy with the ruling at the time, I don't think it's really that huge, even though the guy did get to hide his Gifts and DT.

Not even thirty seconds after the judge left, Alex's opponent did the same thing (or something very similiar to) again, and got another warning.ï¿½ Apparently, two more times a similiar occurance happened and the judge was called in, and Alex's opponent got a warning every time.

Alex's opponent won 2-0, and words were exchanged as soon as he lost.ï¿½ Mike and Sean (the guy who drove - he wanted to trade) were already saying that they didn't want to bring Alex, but I was telling them that it meant alot to him, and that I don't think that he'll cause that much of a problem.ï¿½ He did, and he pissed me off, so I told them that I don't want Alex to catch a ride with us to any Vintage tournaments anymore either.

Alex loses, and I drop to #2, Mike drops to #3 seed.ï¿½ Josh gets in, much to our delight.

TOP EIGHT

Quarterfinals vs. Jason playing BLUE WHITE FISH.

So, this is the only guy that I have never seen play at this tournament.ï¿½ Apparently, he always played over on a side table on the other side of the room, far away from everyone so no one could see what he was playing.ï¿½ I am scared shitless thinking this guy has some tier 1 badass deck, because he's acting like an absolute pro from the get-go.ï¿½ I ask my team what this guy is playing, and they have no idea.

I win the die roll, for the fourth and every time today.ï¿½ I really was on a roll.ï¿½ (Get it?)

We get to talking before the games and he mentions that this is his first Vintage tourney. BADASS. I congratulate him on T8ing in his first Vintage tourney, and he wishes me good luck! What a guy!

Game 1 -ï¿½ I keep a sub-mediocre hand with a ton of artifact mana, bazaar, and uba mask.ï¿½ I think about it for a minute and consider if this guy is going to be playing blue-based control or not, but decide that he's probably not if this is his first Vintage tournament, which makes the mulligan decision harder, because Uba Mask then provides virtually no immediate benefit, aside from dropping bazaar and another possible lock next turn.ï¿½ I drop Uba Mask with like, 3-4 mana still available, hoping he won't force the Uba Mask because I'm still holding a card in my hand (which happens to be the Bazaar).ï¿½ He says, 'shit' on the Uba Mask and allows it.ï¿½ He draws a card, and I say, "oh, hey, man," and he's like:ï¿½ "Yeah?"ï¿½ And I go, "Uba Mask RFGs the card from the game."ï¿½ And he goes, "Oh, right."ï¿½ And he shows me a force of will.

Okay, this tells me about a million things:
1)ï¿½ This guy is playing blue based control.
2)ï¿½ This guy is cool as hell to actually show me the real card he drew.
3)ï¿½ This guy is really not that familiar with my deck, else he wouldn't have drew a card with Uba Mask.
4)ï¿½ I decided right in keeping, although luckily he didn't have that force in his opening hand.

His turn, he says, "Tundra, Flying Men, go."

I take a huge breath of relief, as I now know exactly what he's playing, (I don't think there is a two card combination in his deck that could tell me what he's playing moreso than that), but honestly, I'm like WTF?ï¿½ Blue White Fish in the top 8?ï¿½ I am LUCKING OUT TODAY.ï¿½ So, next turn I drop Bazaar and ANOTHER artifact mana, RFG into two more locks and play them both.ï¿½ He plays disenchant on Uba, but I replay one the following turn.ï¿½ He scoops on turn 4 or 5.

On top of that, I actually draw the card off Uba second turn, accidentally.ï¿½ Luckily, I didn't call a judge on Jason for doing the same thing, so he doesn't call a judge either.ï¿½ (although, I didn't shuffle around the card in my hand).ï¿½ That's the only time in serious organized tournament play I have ever drew a card when Uba Mask was in play.ï¿½ I felt like a total noob.

I side in 4 Maze of Ith and 1 Duplicant (for 3 total).ï¿½ (I should have sided in the 4th Duplicant, but really didn't have anything to side him in for, and figured my deck would absolutely crush his deck, so there's no reason for me to bring much of anything in).ï¿½ I knew he was going to be playing Energy Flux, and so I cursed myself for not bringing REBS, but I didn't expect to be swimming in an ocean metagame.

Game 2 -ï¿½ He has an answer for absolutely everything I do.ï¿½ I try for the first turn chalice at 2, forced, second turn chalice at 2 (because I drew a workshop), dazed.ï¿½ My third turn Uba Mask was disenchanted, and my fourth turn Uba Mask was disenchanted as well!ï¿½ Eventually he gets an energy flux out, but I keep a crucible (SO DOES HE!) and bazaar for like, 7 turns not picking up a workshop to cast the Uba Mask in my hand.ï¿½ He eventually goes the distance with a curiousitied flying men.ï¿½ This game was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that whenever I played something, he either destroyed it with disenchant or countered it with the apparent 24 counters in his deck until he got out flux and then continued to waste my lands with crucible (smart!) so I couldn't build up enough lands to get multiple artifacts on the board.ï¿½ Disenchant is tech.ï¿½ Countering two chalices before you have 2 mana open isn't bad either.

Game 3 - Double Energy Flux does me in.ï¿½ I get a first turn Mana Vault all three games (gay!) and it does me a combined 40 damage or so, seriously.

I draw into a hand FULL of gas (it's like, 3 moxes, workshop, academy, mountain x2), with no buisness.ï¿½ I'm playing first, and want to throw him off before he has a daze island or disenchant mana, so I mulligan.ï¿½ ONLY PLAY MISTAKE OF THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT.ï¿½ Looking back on it, I don't need to throw UW Fish off his game first turn.ï¿½ I can dominate him if I get one threat on the board.ï¿½ Plus, I had academy, so I could have kept all my artifacts under flux fairly easily.ï¿½ I knew this, but was fearing a flux-wasteland, and figured the better thing to do would be to try for an explosive first turn play, like Uba Mask, and then move up from there.ï¿½ After I throw it back, I immediately regret my decision.

My six card hand is exactly what I was hoping for, however:ï¿½ Mox Ruby, Mana Vault, Mountain, Bazaar, Uba Mask, Crucible.

I play Uba Mask, which is forced.ï¿½ Crap.ï¿½ I now am fighting a large uphill battle.ï¿½ He does nothing (nothing!ï¿½ no men, no mishra's factory attacks, no wastelands, (nothing!) until third turn, where he lays Energy Flux.ï¿½ Meanwhile, he's countering just about every lock I can throw out.ï¿½ Two turns later he lays another one.ï¿½ I can't win under double energy flux, although I can win under one of them.ï¿½ Those two games had more answers in them than anything I had ever seen ever.

So I lose to Fish for the first time ever in tournament play. I also can say that Energy Flux has actually done me in. Congrats to him though, he made only one mistake that I caught (not wasting one of my lands the one turn so I couldn't pay for one of my artifacts when he had a flux out) but it was pointless as he played the second flux shortly after.

Record:ï¿½ 7-4 games (not very impressive looking), 3-1-2 matches.

However, I went undefeated on the play, except for game 3 of the Top 8!

The guy eventually makes it to the finals with the UR Fish guy (no joking) and they split the mox.ï¿½ I look at the matchups I would have faced if I beat the UW Fish guy, and they would have been pretty easy.ï¿½ The guy I would have had to play after Jason had something like 20+ cards at 1cc.ï¿½ It was a homebrew deck that was turboland with Quirion Dryads.

All in all, my deck performed how I wanted it to, except for the first round of the top 8, where nothing could have helped me aside pyroblast.ï¿½ Why, oh why, Pyroblast, did you have to leave me?ï¿½ I could have honestly sided in the pyroblasts out of my other deckbox.ï¿½ There wasn't a single deck check given throughout the entire tournament.ï¿½ No warnings were given out either, except for 4 on that one game, where the guy didn't even get a game loss.

Overall, I was very happy not playing with spheres, and would do it again if I were going to the same tournament.
However, this would be my SB were I going again:
4 Fiery Temper
3 Viashino Heretic
4 Pyroblast!
4 Red Elemental Blast!

Props:
The casual enviroment of the tournament.ï¿½ It felt like I was 14 again at my local shop.
My team.ï¿½ 3 out of 4 of us made top 8 (Alex didn't.)
My opponents.ï¿½ I have never faced better mannered opponents (with the exception of Alex).
Alex's opponent in round five for remaining extremely calm throughout the match, and not flipping out on him afterwards.
The guy that brought the type 4 stack.
Tangle Wire. Mad tapping out is your forte. How I love you.
Ubastax's game against the format, jank and unjank alike.
Josh, for doing better than all of us with FCG and T4ing.

Slops:
The casual enviroment of the tournament. No deckchecks? No game losses for 4 warnings?
PYROBLAST. Why do you have to suck, so I don't put you in the SB?
Maze of Ith. I hate you.
My deck, for crapping out on me in the T8, and losing to my best matchup.
The metagame.
My team, for getting paired up against itself like four times in five rounds.
Alex, for pissing me off and not conceding.
Alex, for winning after I thought there was no way he could win.
Stifle, for winning him that game 2.
Alex. He's not going with us to a Vintage tournament again.
ï¿½ - This character which somehow got into my tournament report. Sorry about that everyone.