1st with Black Stax at BLACK GOLD

[aosquirrels]

26 players participated in the 9th Vintage Extravaganza at BLACK GOLD.  As was expected, since this was a sanctioned event, there was a lot of unpowered decks.  In fact, only 7 decks were powered and only 4 made T8.  It was cool winning and all that but the lack of power didn't make it REAL cool.  Anyway, I hope you find the decklists interesting.  They can be found here:  http://www.blackgoldsports.com/9th%20Vintage%20Extravaganza.htm

The standings after 5 rounds of swiss are as follows...

13 Marcus Knox
10 Viet Tran
10 Conley Woods
10 Brock Strand
10 Steve Golenda
10 Carl Van Laethem
10 Gerald Clas
9  John Parriott
9  Eric Van Laethem
9  Steve Schrader
9  Adam Ramsay
7  Brad Summerlot
7  Brandon Willis
7  Christopher Anderson
7  Jason Dudek
7  Scot Fathauer
6  Michael Cammilleri
6  Paeyton Parriott
6  Steve Nelson
6  Keith Iveson
6  Brett Nuoci
3  Kyle Herzfeld
3  Kalin Baxes
3  Brian Hoover
3  Ian Setser
0  Casey Hoover

Quarter Finals
Marcus Knox def. John Parriott
Gerald Clas def. Viet Tran
Carl Van Laethem def. Conley Woods   
Steve Golenda def. Brock Strand

Semi Finals
Carl Van Laethem def. Gerald Clas 
Steve Golenda def. Marcus Knox

Finals
Carl Van Laethem def. Steve Golenda 

I've been playing all sorts of Stax builds since 2006 Vintage Worlds.  Jerry Yang (my last round opponent in that tournament) was very kind to tell me that I suck big time playing Control Slave.  Since then I've tried all sorts of Stax builds.  Mono Red, 5cc, Black, Red Black, Mono Brown etc., etc..  I'm still on the fence regarding which one I like best so for this event I decided to play what I feel is the most fun version....BLACK STAX!  I'll keep this report short.  Your welcome!

Round 1 - Casey Hoover
Casey is a cool 13 yr. old that plays FNM at Black Gold.  I spent more time explaining cards than playing them.  In game 1 dropped an early Tanglewire and explained that he can play an instant in response to the Tanglewire  trigger.  He plays Deglamer on my Tanglewire  .  That is essentially all he played for that game as 2sphere, Chalice at 2, and Nether Void locks him out while a 5/5 flying black dude beats him up.  In game 2 he was introduced to Smokestack, Crucible, 2 shpere, and Karn. 1-0-0

Round 2 - Kalen Baxes
So I get paired with Kalen won is first round match with Thallids  .  Yes, Thallids! His opponent wasn't too happy to say the least.  Game 1: I got an early Stax lock and let my 5/5 legendary flyer do the dirty work.  Game 2: I play a turn 1 Trinisphere while Kalen is mana screwed.  Dark Confidant and Mishra's Factory for the win in 5 quick turns.  2-0-0

Round 3 - Steve Golenda
@ Steve:  If I remembered this match incorrectly please feel free to correct. 
This match would be the first real test for me.  It turned out to be more like a how-not-to play Magic match.  I've never played Steve before and he turned out to be a real cool opponent.  Game 1:  I mull to 3! and almost win.  My turn 1 Chalice/0 and Steve's bad draws keeps me in the game.  On turn 3 or 4 I play Nether Void.  Steve plays Gifts Ungiven showing me a Black Lotus, Merchant Scroll, Ancestral Recall, and Force of Will.  Forgetting that Nether Void is still on the stack, I give him a Force and a blue card.  Steve wins soon after.  Game 2: Leyline of the Void was MVP in this game.  I play enough lock pieces to keep him from playing much of anything and I finally drop Karn for the win.  Game 3:  This game should have ended in a tie but Steve returns the favor from the first game.  On turn 4 in time, Steve is at 5 life while mine is 7.  Steve tries to go for the win by attacking with his Platinum Angel and Stillmoon Cavalier.  Yes, Stillmoon Cavalier.  (Steve, you've got some splainin' to do).  Anyway, I make my 5/5 flyer that Steve hoped I wouldn't see, and block the Angel.  Steve scoops.  3-0-0

Round 4 - Viet Tran
Both games in this match were essentially the same.  Viet countered everything relevent I played while I attacked him with Mishra's Factorys and a 5/5 flying token.  He stabilizes near 0 life in both games and Tinkers in Plat for the win.  Control decks are my worst matchup and this one was no exception. 3-1-0

Round 5 - Gerald Clas
We ID. 3-1-1

Quarter Finals - Conley Woods
Luck was definately with me in this match.  My topdecks were nothing short of skillful.  Game 1:  Conley plays a Plains and passes.  I had mulled to six and kept a hand of Mox, Lotus, Demonic, Smokestack and two other cards.  I draw and play the Mox and Lotus.  Break Lotus for black and play Demonic Tutor.  Conley responds with ESG-ESG-tap Plains for Aven Mindsensor.  I was looking for a Workshop and lucky me the land was the fourth card.  The lock pieces just kept coming and Conley couldn't break out of it.  Game 2:  I'm having a hard time remembering any specific about this game.  I just remember having a hard lock on him and he wouldn't concede.  I kept pointing to my lock pieces saying (no, taunting) L-O-C-K.  When I finally dropped the 3rd 2sphere and taunted him with some old English L.....O.....C.....K.....E.  He scooped.

Semi Finals - Gerald Clas
Gerald is a VERY good Standard player.  It was his skill in a very very very heavy aggro field that got him this far.  I had solid opening hands in both games and that combined with his lack ways to deal with my artifacts made the match quite onesided.

Finals - Steve Golenda
We split the cash and decide to play it out for bragging rights.  My mind is more mushy than usual right now so I'll try to get this right.  Game 1:  I believe I played a turn 1 Chalice to 0 and a 2shpere.  Steve Scrolls for Rebuild early and is forced to play it in response to my second 2sphere.  This only stalled for a turn and I soon started locking down the game.  Steve attempt a Timetwister but this give me even a better 7 while he gets crapola.  Steve is tapped out passes. He scooped when he realized that I was trying to figure if I had enough mana to play Nether Void, Smokestack, AND Trinisphere.  Game 2:  This was the best game of the match.  Steve has a good opening grip.  He passes after playing land and some artifact mana sources.  He Forces my turn one Trinisphere so it doesn't look good for me.  Unfortunately for Steve, he get a bunch of crappy draws and I show hint, but only hints, of getting back into the game.  My Mana Crypt and Cabal Pit damage and a mini Tendrils has me at 1 life.  Steve then goes Tinker/Plat.  That was a harsh "in your face" play.  Whatever, I ripped a Diabolic Edict.  The crowd went wild.  Women were throwing underwear.  It was insane.  I don't know how Steve finished me off but I do remember women asking for their underwear back.  Game 3:  I was sooo nervous at this point that I really don't remember much.  I remember that my opening 7 was hot and it was my lock pieces that sealed the deal.  Steve - feel free to make corrections on my report and/or fill in the blanks.

PROPS:
Everyone who participated. Especially the newcomers to Vintage.
John Parriott for making his first T8.  He has been tweaking his deck for a while now and it has finally paid off.  Good job.
Everyone for NOT peeing all over my bathroom.
Tomb of Urami for just you being you.  It has finally cooled of enough so I can resleeve it.

Slops:
Steve - STILLMOON CAVALIER?  WTF?
Adam and Chris - Making T16 is not a good goal 


I apologize for any lack of serious content in this report.  The day before I had a few family matters on the East coast to deal with and I was playing in the tournament under duress. No pun intended.  I do feel that BLACK STAX is quite good.  Like all other builds of Stax, its all about the mana base.  Any suggestions or questions on the deck would be appreciated.  Yes.....it is a netdeck.  Netdecking is my specialty.  Check morphling.de and you'll find this build with a modified sideboard. 

[Fall-Titan]

My sideboard is messed up when it gets down to- 3 Krosan grip, 2 Pernicious Deed, that should be 3 Crime//Punishment, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, and 1 Hide//Seek.

Other than that, the only reason I wouldn't concede was because I actually had outs, I simply needed to draw another spirit guide to play one of the 3 Katakis I drew after you had established a sphere of resistance. The sucky thing was, I ripped the needed spirit guides both turns after you had played an additional sphere. So Basically, You undid my topdecking 2 seperate times, while of course, ripping the nuts your self lol. 3 Sphere of Resistance and a second stax after I had duressed away a trinisphere and nailed a smokestack with cabal therapy... weak sauce indeed, especially that now I get to see that you only ran 3 total spheres, what a sack!

Fun tourney though

Conley

[aosquirrels]

My sideboard is messed up when it gets down to- 3 Krosan grip, 2 Pernicious Deed, that should be 3 Crime//Punishment, 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon, and 1 Hide//Seek.

Corrected

[yangtime]

I've been playing all sorts of Stax builds since 2006 Vintage Worlds.  Jerry Yang (my last round opponent in that tournament) was very kind to tell me that I suck big time playing Control Slave.  Since then I've tried all sorts of Stax builds.

Since we were paired up, I don't think my opinion on how to play Control Slaver would be that much better than yours.   

Congrats on the finish.  How was Sickening Dreams in the main?  Nether Void seems to fit nicely, but heavily costed.  Did you ever want Dark Ritual?

[aosquirrels]

I've been playing all sorts of Stax builds since 2006 Vintage Worlds.  Jerry Yang (my last round opponent in that tournament) was very kind to tell me that I suck big time playing Control Slave.  Since then I've tried all sorts of Stax builds.

Since we were paired up, I don't think my opinion on how to play Control Slaver would be that much better than yours.   

Congrats on the finish.  How was Sickening Dreams in the main?  Nether Void seems to fit nicely, but heavily costed.  Did you ever want Dark Ritual?

I feel Sickening Dreams is a must for Black Stax.  Its synergy with Dark Confidant (allowing you to keep those extra Nether Voids and Urborgs in your hand) makes for a great Wrath effect as well as a superb finisher.  Strange as it may seem, Sickening Dreams was not a factor in ANY game this tournament.    Tomb of Urami and the standard Stax lock were MVP for me this time around.  As far as Nether Void is concerned.  I agree that it is heavily costed but also not over-costed.  Too much emphasis is placed on getting NV into play quickly.  I've run into too many scenarios where I've played NV on turn 1 or 2 only to find myself missing land drops and losing to my own enchantment.  I prefer to play the deck as a standard Stax build and use NV as that "nail in the coffin" card.  That being said, I think that 3 NV may be too many and I'm going to try cutting one of them for a 4th 2sphere.   

I have issues with Dark Ritual which I will explain and maybe someone out there can straighten my out on this.  If you look at the decklist it is overloaded with permanents costing 3 or more.  This allows me to freely play Chalice to 0,1, or 2.  I consider this a big plus for Black Stax.  I'm afraid of having Chalice at 1 in play and a Dark Ritual in hand.  Are my fears justified?  Also, playing Stax is all about permanents in play and Dark Ritual is non-permanent mana.  But to answer your question...yes, I would love to have Dark Rituals in the deck.  I'm tired of taking Cabal Pit, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault damage and sometimes losing because of it.

Comments?  Suggestions?   Oh, and thanks for helping me play better Magic!

[zeus-online]

Cool decklist, but why no imperial seal? Was it because of availability?

And why braids? She dosn't seem all that great.

Would splashing red for welder be a bad move? I like welder in stax 

Bazaar goes well with both confidant and welder...

/Zeus

[aosquirrels]

Cool decklist, but why no imperial seal? Was it because of availability?

And why braids? She dosn't seem all that great.

Would splashing red for welder be a bad move? I like welder in stax 

Bazaar goes well with both confidant and welder...

/Zeus

Yes, no Imperial Seal because of availability.  In this event Braids was no factor but generally she is hot hot hot.  Braids is your 5th Smokestack and her effect is immediate.  Having a Smokestack set at 1 and then dropping Braids AND a Wasteland is not that rare of a play.  It can seal the deal for you....quickly!  As far as red goes...I like that build of Stax as well.  I like the versatility of Welders but I also enjoy the quicker hard lock that Black Stax and MUD versions offer.  It's just a matter of preference.  I've played them all and each has its own problems.  Usually it's the mana base.  I can't tell you how many times I've had Tinker, Recall, and Welder in my opening hand and only have Workshop mana as well as the other way around.