[Report] Northeast Vintage Championship Winner

I won the Northeast Vintage Championship in Connecticut on Saturday, March 20, with Control Slaver. There were, I believe, 164 people who attended the event, and there was a rather diverse metagame. We played seven actual rounds of Swiss; I’ll avoid mentioning anything about the tournament itself, and just give accounts of the (actual) matches. It ran pretty late, so my notes were less thorough than usual.

This is the list I played:

// Creatures
1 Platinum Angel
1 Pentavus
4 Goblin Welder
// Counter
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
// Drawing
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Memory Jar
3 Fire/Ice
// Other
2 Mindslaver
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
2 Cunning Wish
// Black
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
// Mana
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
// Land
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Underground Sea
4 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic Island
6 Island
// Sideboard
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Shattering Pulse
SB: 1 Fire/Ice
SB: 1 Fact or Fiction
SB: 2 Blood Moon
SB: 4 Rack and Ruin
SB: 2 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast

The Maindeck itself is the same that I’ve been playing for quite some time. The sideboard is constructed with a mind toward Workshop decks. I expected them to be popular, but did not play against a single one all day.

Round One – Aaron Kerzner (Kerz) with Keeper
Kerz starts thing off by playing Time Walk, and when I start my first turn, he has out a pair of land, a Jet, and a Lotus. I play an island, my own Jet, and then Time Walk. I play a second land and pass. Kerz draws some cards with Ice and Brainstorm, and Wastes a land on his turn. In the next few turns, Kerz plays a few more cantrips and destroys two more of my land. I keep playing land. Eventually, I resolve a Welder. Kerz casts Ancestral Recall at the end of my turn; I Force the Recall, but Aaron answers with a Mana Drain. On his turn he wishes for Fire/Ice and burns my Goblin. On his next turn, Kerz morphs a creature into play, and after we both cast Force of Will, that morph resolves. I take some damage from the Angel, but force through a Mindslaver. I then make Kerz Balance away his own Angel. Soon I Demonic Tutor for Yawgmoth’s Will, which results in a Slave lock.

Kerz starts game two with a first turn Damping Matrix. However, he does so using a Lotus and does not have any land in play when he passes the turn. I start things off by dropping red and blue Moxes and an Island. I cast Ancestral, and counter his Force of Will with Red Elemental Blast. Kerz misses his second land drop, and I resolve Thirst for Knowledge. Soon I’ve resolved a Fact or Fiction and a Time Walk, while Kerz is still struggling to find land, with only a Library (inactive) and a City of Brass in play. My hand is full and I have five or six land in play. Aaron never gets back into the game.

1 - 0

Round Two (the real one) – Rob with Food Chain Goblins
My opponent was working for Andy (the TO), and was buying and selling cards when the round began. Rob starts by playing a Wooded Foothills, and I play a Library. He plays a Recruiter and searches for a Prospector, two Piledrivers, a Warchief, and a Sharpshooter. I Mana Drain the Ringleader which he casts next turn, and use the mana to play a Platinum Angel. I counter one more of his spells and then resolve a Yawgmoth’s Will.

Bob starts this game with a Taiga, a Mana Crypt, a Black Lotus, and a Lotus petal. I Force his Goblin Warchief, but his Goblin Ringleader resolves, fetching him a Recruiter. On my turn I cast Ancestral Recall. Bob resolves a Goblin Piledriver on his turn. I then cast Demonic Tutor and play a Goblin Welder. On my next turn I Tinker for a Platinum Angel. Bob can’t deal with her and loses, with me at negative life.

2 - 0

Round Three – Jay (Jolly Saint J) with Landstill
We both start by play land. Jay Wastelands and Standstills. In a few turns I break the Standstill with a Brainstorm, and Jay discards a pair of cards, one of which is a Swords to Plowshares. I play a land and a Sol Ring, and pass the turn. Jay plays a Mox Perl. During his end step, I cast a Thirst. Jay Drains, I Drain, and Jay Forces. On my turn, I cast Mindslaver. On his turn Jay Balances, and I believe that all it does is force him to discard one card. I stop the Angel he casts. I Slave him and ruin his hand. I then Tinker up a Pentavus which wins the game.

In the first turn in the second game, Jay resolves a Cursed Totem, which shuts down my Goblin Welders. I play one anyway, and it gets Sworded. For a few turns, no spells are cast as his land assaults me. I eventually Blast his Conclave. I play a second Welder, which is also Sworded. Then I resolve Blood Moon. A third Welder hits, but this one dies to a Soldier token from a Decree of Justice cycled during the attack step. We both spend a while drawing cards, and eventually we both have to discard from having too many cards. Soon, however, I resolve Yawgmoth’s Will and Slave lock him.

3 - 0

Round Four – Jason Zheng (Nantuko Rice) with Food Chain Goblins
Jason crushed me in the first game. His first turn Lackey got him a second turn Ringleader, and his Strip Mine destroyed my only permanent, an Island. Soon his Goblins were joined by a pair of Piledrivers, and it was over.

I have an early Ancestral Recall in the second game, and a Force for his Warchief. I play a Welder, whom he cycles to death. I then play another Welder and Fire his Lackey. He plays Goblin Recruiter, and puts about twenty Goblins on top of his library. I Thirst for Knowledge and Blue Elemental Blast the Ringleader which he plays next turn. I get and activate a Memory Jar, and Slave lock him.

My notes for game three are missing, but I won I believe by Slavelocking him despite his Root Maze.

4 - 0

Round Five – Eric Dupuis (ELD) with Control Slaver
At the last tournament I went to, I played Eric with Control Slaver and gave him my list. He has some interesting and promising ideas for the deck, but I’ll leave it to him to post them. In the first game, after a few turns, Eric casts a Thirst, and I hardcast a Force for it. Eric then plays Goblin Welder. I play a Mindslaver, which resolves after a few instants are cast. On his turn, Eric uses Memory Jar, and recurs it with his Welder. However, he is unable to find an answer to my Mindslaver (I have no artifacts in my graveyard), and I can use his Welder to recur my Mindslaver for me.

In the second game, on the first turn, Eric plays an Island, and then uses a Black Lotus to play a pair of Goblin Welders and a Gorilla Shaman. I play an Island and Blue Blast one of his creatures. I get out a single Welder. A few turns later, Eric casts Thirst, and I Fire his remaining creatures in response. I REB his Thirst, and Force his second Thirst. My Welder stands alone. I Weld a Memory Jar into play on Eric’s end step. I use the Jar, and get nothing worthwhile except a Mindslaver, which I cannot both cast and use. So, I go to my end step and discard my new hand. I attempt to Weld the Mindslaver back into play, thinking that the game is mine. Eric Coffin Purges my Mindslaver! I am forced to let Eric take his turn. He resolves Yawgmoth’s Will and Wins.

In the third game, I play my single land and pass the turn. Eric plays Library of Alexandria, the best card in the mirror match. Eric is drawing two cards per turn, and I am stuck at one land. I lose.

4 - 1

Round Six – Slimstix (He wouldn’t give me his real name) with Hulk
Slimstix is another of Stoke’s workers, “judgin’, buyin’, sellin’, tradin’” as he himself put it. He starts the match by playing a Delta and a Jet. I play a Mox and an Island, Time Walk, and play a Goblin Welder. After Forces are exchanged, the Welder resolves. Next turn I Thirst and discard Memory Jar, and the turn after that I use Jar. Slimstix is Slavelocked by next turn.

Slimstix plays a Jet and an Underground Sea to begin the second game. My first turn Welder is countered. Slimstix resolves a Psychatog, but I counter the Deed he casts next turn. I use the mana to cast Fact or Fiction. He then Regrows and casts Brainstorm. Soon I resolve Yawgmoth’s Will, which results in his being Mindslaved.

5 - 1

Round Seven – Noam (megamanx) with Rector
I have a Sapphire and an Island on my first turn, and I drain his Therapy. On my next turn I resolve Tinker and get a Platinum Angel. I counter Academy Rector, and the Angel wins the game in five turns with Force of Will.

Noam starts the second game by playing an Emerald, a Jet, a Black Lotus, and a pair of Brainstorms from the Lotus. His first turn Rector, however, is Forced. I drain the Rector which he casts on the third turn, and play a Mindslaver. I think I countered a third Rector in this match, and soon Slavelock him.

6 - 1

Top Eight, Round One – Ray Clavette with Dragon
I play a Volcanic Island and Ancestral on his upkeep. He plays Bazaar and pitches a Dragon and a pair of Squees. After about three turns, I resolve a Goblin Welder, which can recur the Mindslaver in my graveyard. Ray attempts to Animate a Dragon, and I Force. Ray does not have a second reanimation spell, and he concedes.

In the second game, I Force his first turn Xantid Swarm. I Fire the next one he plays. Ray is drawing cards off Compulsion, while I struggle to make landdrops. After a few turns, Ray casts Intuition for Duress at the end of my turn. I Mana Drain the Duress which he casts, with a single Island untapped. He attempts to Animate his Dragon. I let the coming-into-play ability stack, and then Blue Elemental Blast the Dragon. His permanents are removed from the game. I had Force of Will backup in case he had a Force himself. On my next turn, I Tinker for Platinum Angel, which ends the game.

Semi Finals – Eli Kassis with Hulk
I start the match and play an Underground Sea and a Black Lotus. Eli casts a turn one Duress, to which I respond by casting Brainstorm. Eli sees a hand with Pentavus and land. We both play lands for a few turns, and Eli casts Intuition on my end step. I Thirst in response and then Intuition resolves. Eli fetches Accumulated Knowledge. He casts his AK, and on his turn casts a second AK, this time for four. On my end step he casts Ancestral Recall, and on his next turn he Duresses my Mana Drain. He attempts to cast Psychatog. I Force, he Forces, I Force again. Tog is countered. Eli then casts Time Walk and resolves Yawgmoth’s Will.

In the second game, I mulligan, and keep a hand with Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Fact of Fiction, Yawgmoth’s Will, and Blood Moon. Then I thought about how best to play the hand. I play a first turn Black Lotus and Mana Crypt, which I use to play Fact or Fiction. Having a Yawgmoth’s Will but no lands in my hand, I take Flooded Strand and Force of Will over a Force, an Island, and a Welder. I play the Strand and pass the turn. On my second turn, I cast Yawgmoth’s Will, get back the Lotus, and play the Blood Moon and the Welder in my graveyard. Eli Mystical Tutors for and casts Ancestral Recall. He draws a second basic Island and casts Fact or Fiction. I split the piles into Sapphire, or Deed and three nonbasic land. He takes the Mox. On my next turn I hardcast Mindslaver. It resolves.

Eli has a first turn Mox Monkey this game. I boarded out one Fire/Ice, but left two in my deck. I play a first turn Volcanic Island, Jet, and Mana Vault, and cast another first turn Fact or Fiction. I take Volcanic Island, Sol Ring, and Black Lotus over Thirst and Mana Crypt. My notes are very bad at this point, but eventually I resolve Blood Moon, Fire his Monkey, and resolve a Yawgmoth’s Will

Finals
I have no notes for the finals. I played against Jacob Orlove playing Green/Blue Fish. It went to two games, and in the second, I dealt Jacob about 18 damage with Goblins and two with Fire. Smmenen has posted a detailed account of the match. Again, Sorry that my notes are incomplete; the event ran very late.

Props:

Dave Feinstein and Jamie Lamkin for driving there with me.

Jason (Apollyon) for going to Burger King and bringing me back a burger.

Everyone I had a chance to talk with/hang out with.

Everyone playing Control Slaver.