[Results] Dreamers, MN, Jan. 8 2006

[Methuselahn]

Sunday, January 8, 2006.  Dreamers in Minnesota hosted a power tournament for a Mox Jet and a mere 23 people attended.   Dark Confidants are flippin' everywhere nowadays.  Oath decks were a presence and continue to be a factor.  Stax, in all forms is being played less and less.  In fact, there was only 1 5cStax deck that was ever close to contention. Control Slaver seems to be becoming more popular, replacing Gifts decks. It really seems that counterspells still overshadow everything.  So that's all of the limited observation you get about our meta.

By the request of some of the patrons, I give you the top8 decklists and breakdown.  Before we get started here I just want to reiterate that if you have never been to a Vintage Power tourny at Dreamers, your first visit is free of entry fees.  As a bonus, there is a "Tournament of Champions" where the top 4 of each tournament for the past consecutive 6 months gets an invite to play.  This tournament, which will be held at the end of January (the 29th) hosts a prize of a Mana Drain and free entry to all the power tournaments for the next 6 months.  This is a really sweet idea and I encourage others to give it a try.

This is the seeding as best as I remember it.  The one thing I'm not sure of is if Andrew/Craig are in the right seeds. Anyone who reads this and notices any errors, please PM me for a fix. thx.

Code:

1 Jeff Rieck - (Methuselahn) 4 Flame Vault
8 Eric Hawkins - Control Slaver                        >Jeff

4 Matt Jendro - (matthew) Dragon                                   >Matt
5 Andrew Lipkin - RG Beats                             >Matt

3 Brian Cox - (Browser) Animal Farm
6 Jim Tolzman - WU fish                                >Jim

2 Justin Meyer - TT Confidant                                      >Justin
7 Craig Olson - (Milton) Oath                          >Justin

Matt and Justin decided to split in the finals.   This is where I get to sort of pat myself on the back and simultaneously say "I told you so" to Justin Meyer who, at 3 in the morning before the tournament asked me what deck to play in the event, citing "preferably with Bob."  The whole day Justin claimed that the deck was bad, yet he goes undefeated to split in the finals with TT Confidant after I linked him to Thug's thread.  

Ok, ze lists, in no particular order.

Justin Meyer, TT Confidant.
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Dark Confidant
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Tendrils of  Agony
2 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Brainstorm
1 Lotus Petal
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
7 Solomoxen
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
3 Island
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Underground Sea
SB:  (wtf @ this sb! -Jeff)
4 Goblin Welder
3 Sundering Titan
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Memory Jar
1 Tinker
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tundra
1 Balance
2 Sacred Ground

Matt Jendro - Dragon.
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Sacred Ground
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Sliver Queen
1 Demonic Consultation
4 Animate Dead
7 Solomoxen
1 Mana Crypt
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Lim Dul's Vault
3 Intuition
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Glimmervoid
4 City of Brass
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Deep Analysis
1 Dance of the Dead
3 Xantid Swarm
4 Forbiddan Orchard
1 Shivan Hellkite
1 Necromancy
1 Eternal Witness
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Time Walk
SB:
1 Pyroclasm
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Duress
1 Coffin Purge
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
2 Pernicious Deed
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Sacred Ground

Jeff Rieck - Ze Quad Laz0r
4 Flame Fusillade
4 Time Vault
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Brainstorm
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tinker
1 Misdirection
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Impulse
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
7 Solomoxen
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
SB
4 Oath of Druids
1 Tropical Island
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Claws of Gix
1 Darkblast

Jim Toltzman - WU 'fish'
3 Icatian Javelineers
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
4 Meddling Mage
4 Force of Will
4 Aether Vial
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine
5 Island
4 Tundra
4 Flooded Strand
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Plains
SB:
2 Guilded Drake
1 Umezawa's Jitte?
1 Icatian Javelineers
4 True Believer
2 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Kami of Ancient Law
2 Devout Witness
2 Tormod's Crypt

Craig Olson - Oath
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea's Blessing
4 Impulse
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Leak
3 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Forbiddan Orchard
4 Wasteland
5 Power Moxes
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
SB:
2 Echoing Truth
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Null Rod
2 Ancient Hydra
1 Platinum Angel
1 Woodripper
3 Oxidize

Brian Cox - Animal Farm
4 COWs
4 HOGs
4 Wasteland
3 Tropical Island
3 Bayou
1 Taiga
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
1 Crystal Vein
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Brainstorm
4 Living Wish
4 Exploration
1 Fastbond
1 Trade Routes
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Zuran Orb
1 Crop Rotation
1 Life from the Loam
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Memory Jar
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Time Twister
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
SB:
1 Maze of Ith
1 Strip Mine
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Guilded Drake
1 Withered Wretch
1 Crypt Rats
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Eternal Witness
1 Woodripper
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Duplicant

Andrew Lipkin - RG Beats "Crushes Oath"
4 Wild Mongrel
3 Kird Ape
4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Grim Lavamancer
3 Null Rod
3 Blood Moon
1 Artifact Mutation
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Viridian Zealot
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Strip Mine
4 Taiga
4 Windswept Heath
3 Forest
1 Bloodstained Mire (9 fetches!?!)
SB:
3 Artifact Mutation
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ground Seal
3 Choke
2 Viridian Zealot

Eric Hawkins - Control Slaver
4 Brainstorm
3 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mindslaver
1 Sundering Titan
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Triskelion
1 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Goblin Welder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
7 Solomoxen
1 Mana Crypt
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
SB:
2 Pyroclasm
1 Duplicant
1 Darkblast
3 Rack and Ruin
2 Pithing Needle
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Eon Hub
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

HOLY CRAP!!! Vinelasher Kudzu in the RG beats deck. That card is so amazingly savage. Like, fetch + kudzu = the nutz. Can anyone say critical mass in type 1? GG.

PS I didn't know dreamer's was free for the first visit. I might have to make it out there sometime when I'm in the Midwest.

-Bob

[Methuselahn]

Oh hell yes.  That card is so borken.  Why else would you play 9 fetches and only 7 fetchable lands?  And yes again, come on down.  In fact, I'm not sure a Meandecker has ever ventured into Minnesota for Mox tourny.

[M.Solymossy]

Hey bob... I've spoken with you a couple times at the Chitown SCG's.  You should make it out to the Milwaukee tournaments, and Madison if they actually start power (i might have to talk with danno bock).  Milwaukee's tournaments are starting to pick up more and more, and have been very fun.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

4 sure. I'll be in Mad-town for like 2-3 weeks in the summer. I'll be hitting up all the big tourneys I can at that time. If Dreamers has another Mox tourney in March, I might be able to make it. Anyways, congrats to everyone who made T8!

[Methuselahn]

4 sure. I'll be in Mad-town for like 2-3 weeks in the summer. I'll be hitting up all the big tourneys I can at that time. If Dreamers has another Mox tourney in March, I might be able to make it. Anyways, congrats to everyone who made T8!

There has been a power tourney every single month for like the last 3 years. Second Sunday of the month. Hope to see you there.

[Milton]

Thanks for posting this info, Jeff.  Thought I'd chime in here with my tournament report.

I played this:

Craig Olson - Oath
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea's Blessing
4 Impulse
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Leak
3 Misdirection
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Darksteel Colossus
4 Forbiddan Orchard
4 Wasteland
5 Moxes
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
SB:
2 Echoing Truth
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Null Rod
2 Ancient Hydra
1 Platinum Angel
1 Woodripper
3 Oxidize

I have never played Oath before.  I felt very akward with the deck for a while, but I tested a bit ahead of time.  
Decided against Challice or Duress.  Went with more search with the Tops and 3 Misdirection instead.  Dreamers can be very control intensive or very aggro intensive (FCG, Fish).  I figured Duress wasn't going to cut it and Challice was sub-par.  Misdirect is soooo good right now that I decided to try it out.  Other than that, the build is very standard.  I did decide against Crop Rotation at the last minute, though.

By the way, I haven't played against an Oath deck at Dreamer's in six months, so I figured it would be a nice deck to run.

Round 1, v. Joe K playing OATH (the damn mirror)

The mirror.  And I'm not very good with my own deck yet.  Shit.

Game 1
He wins the roll and mulligans down to 4 cards.  Holy crap, I should win this easily.  I draw 2 Brainstorms, 1 Waste, 1 Vamp, 1 Fetch, 1 Impulse and 1 Tropical.  I keep.  He goes first.  He plays Waste and passes the turn.  I draw another Brainstorm.  I Waste his Waste, thinking he is mana screwed.  This was a serious misplay.  I should have played the Tropical.  His next turn he plays Orchard, casts Ancestral.  Shit.  I have one token.  On my turn I draw an Oath.  I play the Tropical and pass the turn.  I forget to attack.  I am the worst player in the world.  He draws, plays a mox and casts Oath.  I have two tokens.  Crap.  I brainstorm into Mana Leak, Top and Land.  I suck.  Next turn I play a Fetchland and cast my own Oath.  Damn, do I suck.  He then activates MY Oath and HIS Oath, gets two dudes and beats me down.  I forgot that he can use my Oath too.  I suck ass.  He beat me down after mulling to 4 cards.  This is going to be a long day.

Sideboard out Akroma, 2 Impulse for 2 Echoing Truth and 1 Platinum Angel

Game 2 is uneventful.  He plays a 2nd turn Oath with Force back-up.  We both have Orchards and Wastes, but he got his Orchard out one turn earlier, and he had his Waste one turn earlier too, so I am left with two tokens to his one.  I die.

At this point I'm pretty bummed.  I haven't been doing well lately.  My luck is awful.  He mulls down to 4 and still wins?  He has a turn 2 Oath with coutnter back-up?  I suck.

Games 0-2
Matches 0-1

Round 2 v Pat playing a Dark Fish Vial variant

Game 1
He wins the roll and plays a turn one Vial off an Underground Sea.  He doesn't seem happy with his hand.  I have Orchard and a Jet, but no Oath.  I draw Vamp, play Wasteland on his Sea, cast Jet and end the turn.  He misses his land drop turn 2, sets his Vial at 1 counter and ends turn.  I Vamp for Oath, draw it, play Orchard and cast Oath.  He says "I can't win".  He misses his land drop again, setting Vial at 2.  I Oath out Akroma and he scoops.

I board out 1 Misdirection, 1 Impulse and put in 1 Echoing Truth and 1 Ancient Hydra.  This was a mistake.  I should have taken out Akroma for another Hydra.

Game 2
He plays first.  My draw is 2 Orchard, 2 Oath, 1 Lotus, 1 Sapphire, 1 Top.  He plays Lotus, Jet, Fetch, Wretch, Dimir Cutpurse!  WTF.  I'm on a serious clock.  I draw Darksteel Colossus.  Crap.  I play Orchard, Sapphire, Oath.  NOTE:  Is this the correct play?  Should I have played two Oaths?  I figured not, just incase he boarded in Echoing Truth, but I guess it wouldn't have mattered.  

He attacks for 5 with the token, the Wretch and the Cutpurse.  I discard Colossus.  It's shuffled back in, and I take 5.   He casts another Cutpurse.  He ends turn and I activate Oath on my upkeep.  I Oath up Ancient Hydra.  Unbelieveable!  I draw Brainstorm, play Lotus and my other Orchard and pass the turn.  I have a Hydra in play with 5 mana on the table against 2 Cutpurses, 1 Wretch and 1 Sprit Token.  It's no contest.  He draws and swings on his turn.  I deal two damage to the first Cutpurse, deal 2 damage to the Wretch and declare my Hydra as a blocker on the 2nd Cutpurse.  I didn't tap my Orchard to kill the other Token because it would have been a wash anyway and I wanted to be able to Brainstorm.  I take 1 damage.  I brainstorm, finding nothing important.  I Oath up Akroma and commence beatdown.

Games 2-0 (2-2)
Matches 1-1

Round 3 v. Jesse playing OATH

2nd Oath deck in three rounds?  WTF.

Game 1.  He goes first.  He plays 2nd turn Oath with Orchard.  I play my own Orchard and Brainstorm.  We both have one token in play, both Orchards tapped.  He tries to tap Orchard during his untap step to activate Oath on his upkeep, but it doesn't work that way and the judge tells him so.  He creates another token by Brainstorming, then Wastes my tapped Orchard.  He has two tokens.  I draw Wasteland, one turn too late.  I hate this.  We had very simmilar hands, but he went first and got two tokens to my one.  He proceeds to beat the shit out of me with Akroma or Razia, I can't remember which.

Board in 2 Echoing Truth for 2 Impulse.  He boards in cards like mad.  Something like seven cards.  I decide at the last minute to not put Platinum Angel in.  I figured Tinker Angel might be a good play if I am way down and about to die.  In the end I decided not to put the Angel in.

Game 2 I have first turn Tinker/Colossus off Mox Ruby, Island and Pearl.  I sac Pearl.  His first turn is Land, Ruby, Echoing Truth on my Colossus.  I Misdirect the Echoing Truth to his Ruby.  Our Rubies return to hand.  I draw Stripmine and kill his land, swing with Colossus.  He draws his next card, scoops and on to game 3.

Game 3 is awful for both of us.  I get 12 mana sources in 18 cards.  That's too many.  Three of those were Wastelands, though.  I manage to Leak an early Oath, he Misdirects, pitching Echoing Truth, I Misdirect, pitching Echoing Truth.  GG.  I keep him to only Orchards with my Wastes.  He needs to use Orchards to cast Impulses, Brainstorms.  He's searching, but I have an army of Sprit Tokens.  By the time he gets any steam, he is at 5 life and I have 6 tokens.  I win.

Games 2-1 (4-3)
Matches 2-1

Round 4 Ben K playing OATH

Alright.  Now I'm pissed.  Paired against the mirror 3 times?  Shit.  Ben had a more traditional OATH deck.  Duresses and Challices.  I feel my Misdirections give me an advantage in this match-up, even though conventional wisdom would indicate otherwise.

Game 1 he Duresses twice in three turns, and searches for Oath.  He has two Orchards in play and my army is building.  By the time he casts Oath I have 5 tokens and his life is just too low.

Board out 2 Impulse 1 Akroma, in 2 Echoing Truth 1 Platinum Angel.  I figure that the Angel can be Tinkered out in the face of a massive Token army or whatever.  

Game 2 he plays first.  He has first turn Orchard Oath.  I have first turn Orchard Oath.  He has 2nd turn Wasteland.  I have 2nd turn Wasteland, but, again, I can't win that battle.  It's about who goes first.  His one token to my two mean that I lose to Akroma.

Game 3 I have first turn Oath with Misdirect back-up for his Force.  On his turn I Oath out Platinum Angel.  He looks shaken.  He tells me he has no answer for it.  He scoops.  No bounce spells, I ask?  None.  He wasn't expecting Oath.  I look at his board.

Games  2-1 (6-4)
Matches 3-1

Round 5 v. Someone.  ID to final 8.

Games (6-4)
Matches 3-1-1

T8 v. Justin with TT Confident

Game 1.  I mulled to five.  My draw is 2 Brainstorm, 2 Misdirection, 1 Wasteland.  It was the best I could do.  He plays first, playing Underground Sea and Top.  I draw Impulse, play Waste on his Sea and pass the turn.  He uses Top.  On his next turn he plays another Sea.  He casts two Moxes.  I draw an off-color Mox, play it and pass the turn.  If only I had that Top.  My hand is 2 Brainstorm, 1 Impulse and 2 Misdirection with one Mox in play.  I'm screwed.  He brainstorms EOT.  Next turn he casts Ancestral main phase.  I Misdirect.  He brainstorms and...  he has no response.  I'm back in the game.  Hell yeah.  Off of the Ancestral, I draw a Fetch, an Oath and an Orchard.  On my next turn I draw a Mana Leak.  I play Orchard, Oath.  He is shocked.  He didn't know I was playing Oath.  He digs a bit with Top and Brainstorms on his turn.  He has four cards in hand, Top in play along with a ton of other artifacts.  I Oath up Akroma and swing him down to 12, then play a Fetch.  He knows he has one turn to live.  On his turn he draws a card, uses Top to draw another.  He plays a dig spell, re-casts Top, casts Mana Vault, taps it to Top.  He uses a Fetch and Tops again.  He plays a Mox, giving him two untapped at this point.  He plays Black Lotus.  I should have Leaked it.  I thought about it, but didnt' do it.  He then uses one mana from the Vault, the two Moxes and the Lotus to cast the last card in his hand, MINDS DESIRE!  He Desires for 6.  I'm a turn away from winning.  He filps 1 card.  It's a Brainstorm.  He casts it.  He flips the next five.  A drain, a Bargain, a... well, that's all you need.  He finds a Tendrils and kills me.

Board out 2 Tops 2 Impulse, for 3 Null Rod and 1 Platinum Angel.

I go first.  I have Orchard/Oath turn 2, but he has a Force.  I end up Brainstorming and finding Null Rod.  I play it by turn 5 or so, and he has 2 Spirit Tokens.  Null Rod shuts down his mana, though.  He has only two land and few cards in hand.  Next turn I play another Orchard and Tinker away a Mox for Platinum Angel.  Was this the right play?  he's at 18 life.  It's a 5 or 6 turn clock, but I can't die.  Should I have gotten Colossus?  Three turns later he plays a third land, casts Rebuild.  I lose Null Rod and Platinum Angel, then I lose the game from my tokens.  I should have gotten the Colossus.

Games 0-2 (6-6)
Matches 3-2-1

Still, there were five Oath decks at Dreamers, and I was the only one that made top 8.  

[Moxlotus]

I find it really interesting that you kept in 4 Oaths in each mirror.  Any reason why you did this?  By the way the matches played out, it seems that your opponents kept in all 4 Oaths too.  Confirm/deny?

[Milton]

I find it really interesting that you kept in 4 Oaths in each mirror.  Any reason why you did this?  By the way the matches played out, it seems that your opponents kept in all 4 Oaths too.  Confirm/deny?

Well, I'm a bad player with a new deck, which might explain part of it.  My thought was that if you take one or more Oaths, your first turn combo potential is diminished.  I can't see how taking out an Oath would be good, but, then again, I'm new to the deck.  What is the proper play, to take out an Oath or two in the mirror?  That seems awfully bad to me, expecially if you are going first.

[Moxlotus]

MOst people take out 3 Oaths.  If your opponent has Spawning Pits, you have 4 dead cards instead of 1.  Also, if your opponent has Orchard advantage you have 4 dead cards. 

[Imopen2]

hey milton, ggs man.
yeah, i wasn't expecting the oath mirror at all.
looking at the last few months top 8s, the dreamers meta shifts so much from month to month.

and yeah, i was shaken. 

[matthew]

I think there has been at least 5 or more oath decks for the last four months. I believe one has top 8'ed those months too. You must have just missed playing them.

[Imopen2]

well, last month's top 8 was:
Workshop aggro
Gifts
Gifts
Gifts
UWG Fish
FCG
5-color Dragon
Oath/Gifts(?)

the month before was:
Flame Vault
FCG
5cStax
Gifts-Belcher
OSEternal Witness
Oath (not sure on the version)
Uba Stax
UW Standstill/Fish

month before:
Mean Deck Gifts
Control Slaver
Buried Alive Dragon
UW Fish
Oath
Gifts Oath
Stax
Mean Deck Gifts

month before:
UR Fish
UB Fish
Mean Deck Oath
Salvager Oath

so yeah, there has been an oath or 2 in top 8 but i don't think there has been more than 3-4 each month.
idk, i guess i should have suspected it more but i thought there would be a ton of gifts and there was barely any.

[Milton]

I didn't go to all of those tournaments.  Also, I've been sucking lately, so I've been at the looser table playing against Food Chains, mostly. 

I hadn't played against an Oath deck at Dreamers in a very long time.  Suddenly I play three in four matches, plus I'm playing Oath myself!  This leads me to the conclusion that Oath went from nowhere to everywhere in just one month.  Granted, I'm probabally wrong. 

Anyway, good luck to all who qualified for the Tournament of Champions in three weeks.  See you all at the pre-release next weekend.