Doing something awesome. Vintage video coverage, Feature matches and more !!

[Marske]

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****SPOILER*****
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You guys are reading it here first !! After successfully putting Vintage back on the map in our own country, I'm going to do something that a lot of people are going to enjoy I think. My next event will be the "pilot" in a project that is going to be totally awesome or not in which case at least we tried... so you guys might wonder...what is this crazy dutchie hyping?!

Expect to see a new website being launched very shortly after this tournament with:

• Feature matches
• Video coverage
• Deck Tech (somebody showing of a new / existing deck)

I know we have SCG, TMD and a dozen other sites to talk about all formats, but Vintage doesn't have the same attention Standard or Extended has. The goal I'm setting out to do is giving the Vintage community some real event coverage and people a more in depth view of how cool these events are. I'm starting up this project with one of my own events (this one: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37168.0 ) and I'm hoping to get everything online quick enough for you guys to enjoy it. As I'm currently the only person working on this please be patient.

PS.
If you want to be involved with this with your own event, or writing articles etc give me a PM.

[chrissss]

That is a pretty cool idea, I hope it becomes a success so more vintage tournaments will do something similar.

See you Sunday in Breda.

[Marske]

@Chrisss,
Thanks, Well I hope the site I'm going to be launching will give people a platform to do these kinds of reports more and get them in one place instead of on boards and what not. I'll probably be very busy next Sunday but I hope to make some time to chat a little. See you in Breda.

[Mantis]

Awesome! I am psyched, this is definately what we need for the best format in the game!
This is so cool, it almost makes me want to use Caps Lock and tons of smileys, but I'll refrain.

If there is anything I can do to help get this project of the ground, just ask! Hope we can set up a nice intercontinental collaboration for this one!

[Duncan]

Awesome! I love in-depth coverage of events! Great initiative! 

[oneofchaos]

And so, my players: ask not what your format can do for you - ask what you can do for your format.

[Anusien]

I think this is an awesome idea.  I know lots of players that would be happy to do coverage for an event after they get knocked out or while they have byes or something.  I was kind of sad when SCG stopped coverage for their P9s.

[Marske]

The vids are up and the site will be reachable withing a few days (depending on DNS etc)

If you're interested (still working on the content etc) you guys can take a look at:

www.vintage-sideboard.com

Videos:

Match 1 Steffen (Number2) vs Duncan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3hW_Sxv1p0&feature=channel_page

Match 2 Steffen (Number2) vs Duncan. Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RX4jkcBN1c

Match 2 Steffen (Number2) vs Duncan. Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk83Bi_4_hw

[M.Solymossy]

wow.  Turn 1 recall + pearl, sol ring, and Jet.  Mise into Voltaic key off Recall as well as vamp, and vamp to win.  MUST.

[Marske]

@Soly,
Yes that was a pretty insane play.... no wonder Duncan had a hard time against it

[OwenTheEnchanter]

wow.  Turn 1 recall + pearl, sol ring, and Jet.  Mise into Voltaic key off Recall as well as vamp, and vamp to win.  MUST.

You say that like Duncan would have won had his opponent not had so many insane plays, im pretty sure the guy could have mulled to 3 and still beaten Duncans draw.

EDIT: also, incredibly funny how the guy picks up his 7 one at a time, then looks to see where the camera man is so he can show off his sweet hand.

[Mr. Type 4]

This sounds pretty cool.  Ray Robilard had a little bit of video coverage for his last Waterbury and it just seemed like something that could be very interesting and wasn't too big of a deal to set up.  More coverage always seems like a good idea =)

[Duncan]

wow.  Turn 1 recall + pearl, sol ring, and Jet.  Mise into Voltaic key off Recall as well as vamp, and vamp to win.  MUST.

You say that like Duncan would have won had his opponent not had so many insane plays, im pretty sure the guy could have mulled to 3 and still beaten Duncans draw.

EDIT: also, incredibly funny how the guy picks up his 7 one at a time, then looks to see where the camera man is so he can show off his sweet hand.

My opening 6 was pretty bad yeah, but mulling to 5 would've made no sense since I was able to cast almost every bomb i'd draw. If his hand was less insane I might have had a shot if he still had Confidant resolve. Bob cardadvantage ramps up fast.

EDIT: seet the fist i make under the table in the beginning of the 2nd game? That is when I realize Flooded Strand can't fetch Bayou, so the Swarm in my hand is useless lol

[ErkBek]

Very cool. Please keep doing these videos!

@ Duncan: Shuffle cards around when you draw them and whenever you activate Top.

You topdecked Wheel of Fortune you played it right off the rip with little hesitation -- a tell that the rest of your hand sucks. If you would have drawn the Wheel, shuffled it around, thought for 20-30 seconds while leaning back in your chair, then played Rit -> Wheel the opponent has to think you've got other options, in which case they might let Wheel through since they don't want to blow their 1 counterspell when you're going to back it up with another threat. It's not unreasonable to waste/spend 25 seconds pulling off a bluff. It works.

Also, when you activate Top always shuffle the 3 cards around for a second. The opponent won't know if you just found some gas or whiffed again. Whenever I'm playing against a Sensei's Top I get mad reads all game if they aren't shuffling around their cards (I got really good at this in the Counterbalance extended season). You can tell when they've topped into Lands, instants, or sorceries/creatures if you watch closely (when people are activating Top, there's nothing to do but sit, watch, and think about all their insane plays).

Not saying you would have won those games or anything, the deck sorta self-destructed in game 2.

[Duncan]

@Erik:
Thanks for the advice. I know I should do these things automatically, but it's not completely in my system yet. Especially after 8 rounds of magic.

[Marske]

@ErkBek,
I'll continue with the videos and I hope some other TO's will also jump on the band wagon so we can get lots of stuff up (bundled on the new website). I think Duncan was pretty tired looking at the finals he made some mistakes that I normally don't catch him doing.

@Duncan
I've never been a fan of playing draw7's vs drain decks because in the old days it meant filling them up with counters, these days it probably means you hand them the win... Why didn't you board them out in the first place ? They bring you more harm then they do you good with a deck like GWSx imo.

I saw you keep that hand with Strand in it and make a fist, well better get revenge next time

[Duncan]

I think Duncan was pretty tired looking at the finals he made some mistakes that I normally don't catch him doing.

I was yeah. I'm looking forward to the day that either Guus or Alex gets his driver's license. Driving 2 hours before playing a tournament does not aid your concentration level .

@Duncan
I've never been a fan of playing draw7's vs drain decks because in the old days it meant filling them up with counters, these days it probably means you hand them the win... Why didn't you board them out in the first place ? They bring you more harm then they do you good with a deck like GWSx imo.

If you don't have to pass the turn after resolving one I'm fine with it. You can either duress them or just go on comboing. I think the power per card is higher in a storm deck than in a control deck. Therefore most of the time it is ok to refill both players hand.

[ErkBek]

@Duncan
I've never been a fan of playing draw7's vs drain decks because in the old days it meant filling them up with counters, these days it probably means you hand them the win... Why didn't you board them out in the first place ? They bring you more harm then they do you good with a deck like GWSx imo.

If you don't have to pass the turn after resolving one I'm fine with it. You can either duress them or just go on comboing. I think the power per card is higher in a storm deck than in a control deck. Therefore most of the time it is ok to refill both players hand.

Draw 7's work a lot better when you've got artifact mana lying around (even better when the opponent doesn't). Since all Duncan had was a black mana floating, already made his land drop, and a storm count of 2 things probably weren't going anywhere that turn. In the Drain matchup, if Draw 7's don't convert into comboing out that turn, the amount of Artifact mana you and opponent had before the D7 often times end up determining the winner.

Had Duncan led with turn 1 Sol Ring, instead of his opponent, he'd probably had won the game. Instead, his opponent had lots of mana, chaining draw spells and activating Top before every draw. The speed of comboing out with a Drain deck when you've got a new 7 and lots of mana on the table is really fast. Note that had Duncan not Duressed Tinker his opponent would have killed him again on turn 2. Had his opponent not had the Sol Ring though, Duncan would have had more options b/c his opponent would have had 2 less mana and no artifact to Tinker away.

[Duncan]

Anyways, my draw7 was clearly a desperate one. Without it I was going to lose for sure. My biggest chance to win that game was to go nuts after a draw7, which is why I had to try it.

@Marske: when will the typed-out coverage of my quarterfinal and the other semifinal go up?

[Marske]

@Duncan,
It's something I want to finish up before I leave on my trip next friday (which has me overly busy with other stuff hence the delay)... so expect it in the beginning of next week if all goes well.

Regarding Draw7's
I understand you had to force something because otherwise you would have surely lost, but it was more a general statement about Draw7's vs Drains. They rarely if ever are the best line of play imo (but then again I play a different kind of storm deck) and I've never really liked Wheel.