Report 1st and 2nd Place in 2 Vintage Side Events at BoM ^^

Hey guys, I went to Annecy, France last weekend also and saw 3 nights of extreme Eternal Magic. The first night was the most exciting mainly because I got to play in 3 different Vintage side events and won prizes in 2. I ended up with a total record of 5-2 Day 1 (3 events, Single Elimination).

Here's the decklist:

4 Sower of Temptation
4 Dark Confidant
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tinker

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection

4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Intuition
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Extirpate
1 Timewalk
1 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Echoing Truth

5 Islands
6 Fetch
5 Moxen
1 Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Underground Sea
1 Library of Alexandria

S/B
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Duress
3 Energy Flux
2 Pithing Needle
1 Hurkyl's Recall

Match 1
Game 1 U/G Fish

He starts off with early Goyf and Trygon Predator beatings. I try to resolve a Sower and he Dazes and Stifles the 2nd while winning counter wars. I cannot stabilize fast enough and lost to beatings even as I drew cards.

-1 Extirpate -1 Time Walk -1 Vampiric +2 Duress +1 Threads of Disloyalty

Game 2
I started off with Duress and saw 2 Goyfs and 1 Null rod and 1 Duress and lands. I take Duress and wished that I had Thoughtseize instead. He topdecks Black Lotus and lays down Goyf and 1 Null Rod (misplayed). But no matter as I get stuck on 3 lands with 2 Sowers in hand while I Sensei into Moxes....

I lost the first Side Event just like that and walked away kind of frustrated. I was convinced that I had played mostly well and it was just unpredictability of missed land drops that costed me the match. Although the Duress could have been a Thoughtseize...

0-1

Match 2 U/B Tezzeret

Game 1
My opponent is from Spain and is pretty nice although we have a hard time communicating due to language barriers. He starts off with card draw that I counter. I lay down Dark Confidant and Sensei's Top. I start drawing crazy and beating him down. He lays down a creature which I Sower and dies to Confidant beatings. I control the whole game with Confidant card advantage. He runs out of cards while I just keep drawing.

-1 Extirpate -2 Sower -1 Vampiric +2 Duress +2 Needle

Game 2
He goes first and plays land. I play Confidant and Top again. I beat him down and I again win those crucial counter wars over our draw spells. I let a Tarmogoyf resolve and Sower it for the win.

1-1

Match 3 U/B Tezzeret again

Game 1
Much like how I won against the last opponent. I lay down Confidant and Top while he runs out of cards because I will not let him draw. I beat him down with Confidant. He eventually manages to resolve a combo piece but cannot stabilize while I just slowly controlled the game BBS style and his spells never could break through my counter wall.

-1 Extirpate -2 Sower -1 Vampiric +2 Duress +2 Needle

Game 2
Again, I get a Confidant and Top. This time I go overboard with 2 Confidants/AK/Ancestral Recall. He draws spells too as his opening hand contained counter backup for his Ancestral. We battle again over our draw spells and I try to counter his Tezerett. He has a Force back up. I draw into Merchant Scroll->Echoing Truth and then I top into a Mana Drain. I already have Force of Will in my hand plus another Blue card. I Echoing his Vault.
He casts it again the next turn into my Drain. He tries to Tinker and I Force. He concedes before Confidants can deal their finishing blow.

2-1

Match 4 Fujii Takayuki with U/B KeyVault

Game 1
This is essentially the mirror match except he runs less draw and more utility in the form of Wastelands/Needles/KeyVault/Trinket Mage. I counter all his things and have 2 Confidants in play without a Sensei. He has 1 card in hand. I have 7. I flip over Leviathan/Fact or Fiction/Merchant Scroll/Mox Ruby in 2 turns. GG.

-1 Extirpate -2 Sower -1 Vampiric -1 Echoing Truth +2 Duress +2 Needle +1 Hurkyl's Recall

Game 2
I was really upset at losing to my own Confidants and vowed never to play 2 without Top again. I start with AK for 1 then AK for 2 then Ancestral. He Ancestrals also and lays down Trinket Mage--> Voltaic Key. I am in a dangerous situation as I have no counters and he could topdeck Vault. Sure enough I resolve more draw into no counters. He topdecks Tinker into Vault. GG

2-2 Prize: 1 White Bordered Scrubland...how appropriate right then.

Really pissed and wanting revenge...no J/K but motivated to actually focus. I sign up for the last Vintage side event. And vowed to win 1st place and getting free registration on both the Legacy and Vintage tournaments for the next 2 days.

Match 5 U/B KeyVault

Game 1
I start off with Ancestral Mox Mox Mox Land. I Misdirect his Ancestral. I then play Intuition EOT into 3 AK. I draw another 3 cards. We play Draw-Go for a while until I think I played Sower on his Dark Confidant and beat him to death.

-1 Extirpate -1 Vampiric +2 Duress

Game 2
I do not know what he is playing and assume it is Drain Tendrils because he plays Repeal... iuno why just a random assumption I guess. He goes first and manages to cast a Time Vault. Then attempts to draw. You will notice a usual pattern here. I counter his draw and then draw on my turn. I win with Confidants and Top advantage. And control him BBS style by not letting him resolve anything relevant.

3-2

Match 6 Nicolas Pujol with Drain Tendrils

Game 1
I had Confidant Top out again as usual. I follow it up by some AKs and Ancestrals. He manages to somehow draw cards too because I did not have enough counters. But I still draw into counter magic to set up a semi-permeable wall. He Demonics on his turn, I Drain and he forces. I Top into nothing and he YawgWins for Tendrils with 19 Storm Count at 1 life...

-1 Extirpate -1 Vampiric -1 Echoing Truth +2 Duress +1 Tormod's Crypt

Game 2
The most interesting game of the night. We both start off with strong hands. I get a Confidant but am losing life but lay down a Tormod's Crypt. He tries to lay down Memory Jar I think. I'm not sure. But I counter something huge. I am slowly beating him down with my Confidant. He has a Needle naming Sensei and I am stuck with a damaging Confidant. I use my drain mana to Demonic Tutor for Yawgmoth's Will. I have Lotus/Ancestral/4 AKs/Time Walk/Demonic Tutor in the Yard with 5 colorless floating I think. I cast all my Draw spells and Duress him. I see YawgWill and Tendrils. I nab Tendrils and he is stuck with a useless Will as I have Crypt in play. Next Turn he topdecks a Dark Confidant. I Sower it my turn and hardcast Leviathan. He scoops on his turn.

Game 3
He starts with Land and Go. I start with Library, Draw, Mox. Then I eventually lay down a Confidant and a Top. I control the game and it lasts forever because I did not want to lay down another Top and I refused to use my Sowers in case he had a surprise creature for me. He laughs and says he lost but will still continue to play. He casts a Sundering Titan into my Drain and scoops after I Fact or Fiction into something crazy.

4-2 Woooo

Match 7 Fujii Takayuki again

Game 1
Things go differently this time. We agree to split the prizes as he already won the previous side event. I get Free registration (40 Euros worth) and 1 Scrubland for my 30 Euros. But we play 2 game to see who is the real winner. I lead off with Confidant/Top and overwhelm him with card advantage. He casts Trinket Mage and attempts to combo off. I stop him with Mana Drain off the Top plus Misdirection back up.

Game 2
Exactly like game 1 except I end it sooner with Tinker->Leviathan +Confidant/ToP. AKs really rule in this match up because you get time to reap its full benefits.

5-2 yay! I win Free Registration for the 400+ Legacy and 300+ Vintage Tournaments and a Scrubland!!!!

Legacy Tournament:

5-3-Drop with R/G Beatz but this is a Vintage Tournament and I won't bother you guys with Legacy.

Actual Vintage Tournament

Well this is actually a disappointment because things did not go exactly as planned.

Match 1 UG Fish with Selkie

Game 1

He lays down Selkie and I debate whether to Echoing it or to AK for 1 and hopefully not miss a land drop. For some reason I say GO without doing either. And ended up missing a land drop off the AK...I also decided not to bounce his Selkie...damn. He draws cards and I get stuck on 3 land. He lays down Null Rod and shuts down my manabase. He lays down Goyf and wins the counter war. I have 2 Sowers and 3 mana... I Ancestral then Brainstorm into a Time Walk. 1 Land Short. All because I did not AK.

-1 Extirpate -1 Vampiric Tutor -1 Echoing Truth +2 Duress +1 Threads of Disloyalty

Game 2
I steal his creatures and lay down Confidant Top. He runs out of cards really fast as I Misdirect his Ancestral I think. And he dies to overwhelming card Advantage.

Game 3
I get overran by early creatures and mana denial in the form of Null Rod/Stifle/Strip Mine. I just only seem to draw into Moxen but never land when I need it.

0-1

Match 2 TPS

Game 1
I started and Laid down Sower of Temptation targetting nothing and Dark Confidant without Top. He tries to Combo out but I stop him at the YawgMoth's will. He topdecks Tinker and I slap myself when I see a DSC. He is at 3 life with Mana Crypt during the crucial turn. He wins the Dice Roll and its onto game 2.

Game 2
I gain advantage with Confidants and Top. I slowly wear him out BBS style and refill my hand with AKs and Confidants. He scoops when I counter his Demonic and attack for Lethal.

Game 3
He starts off with Library and I start off with Ancestral. He misplays a lotus petal at 6 cards and cannot use library without missing a land drop. He chooses to play a land and says go. I draw into a Sower. He lays down more land and Tinkers. I counter and he counters back. I see the 11/11 and I Sower it. GG

1-1

Match 3 Sligh

Game 1
I Misdirect his bolts, Sower his creatures. Draw a crapload. And he runs out of cards. This is the endgame for Sligh but I am at 3 life. He tries to bolt me twice only to have it drained twice. He scoops.

-1 Vampiric +1 Threads of Disloyalty

Game 2
Again I sower all his guys and use the stolen guys to block. This gives me enough time to assemble 4 AKs and control the game. I extirpate his creatures and Sowered his newly casted Lavamancers. I beat him down with 2/2 flying Sowers.

2-1

Match 4 R/G Beatz

Game 1:
I keep a decent hand with draw. I draw into 5 Moxen/2 Land/1 Sol Ring GG.

-1 Vampiric +1 Threads of Disloyalty

Game 2:
I try to Sower his guys only to have the Sowers Bolted. I still manage to stablize and wipe some of his creatures off with a combination of Threads/Dark Confidants/Misdirection/Draw. But I cannot handle the overwhelming forces of topdeck wins. And he kills me with more creatures. Bolts=Sower Death=Me Losing.

2-2

I contemplate dropping but I figured I will decide after next game.

Match 5 Ichorid

Game 1
Ichorid Overun

-4 Mana Drain -1 Misd -1 Fact -1 FoW -1 Sower
+3 Yixlid Jailer, +3 Tormod's Crypt,+2 Pithing Needle

Game 2
Tormod's Crypt+Yixlid Jailer+Needle=Ichorid guy scoops at 4 life and no mana.

Game 3
We get into a war with both of us digging. I try to draw into a Jailer or a Crypt but find a Needle. He Ancient Grudges the Needle and I am left with nothing. I try to dig more with Sensei but he beats me down with Ichorid. I steal some Zombie Tokens and stall for 1 more turn. I draw NOTHING. And he kills me with Lethal. I look and all my hate cards were at the bottom half of the deck. GG

Notes:
Needle is subpar vs Ichorid +1 Jailer +1 Crypt
Will test Leyline
AK is way too slow. It is good after the 1st one. But the first one does nothing for you. And that is key early game that may give your opponents an advantage. Will test Remoras/Meditate/TfK again.

Props:
Itou Hiromichi, Fujii Takayuki, both Nicos for coming all the way from Japan and playing awesome matches.
Very Very Very nice players from all over the world including ones from Germany, Italy and Spain.
Great organization
Great deals on the hotels.
Yerba Mate

Slops:
Me for playing so sloppily on the actual tournament.
Me not getting enough sleep because of the Legacy Tournament.
The cards were very expensive.
Lightning Bolts hitting my Sower
Me not shuffling well enough and Drawing ALL 5 MOXEN against R/G Beatz...
Not having enough Yerba Mate
I did not win.