Not having ever played in Appleton before, I wasn't sure what the metagame would be for sure. I'd heard through the grapevine that there may be a lot of Fish and random aggro, so that's why I kept the Oath plan in the board. In hindsight, I think that I probably would've opted for something different.
Here's my quick & dirty report:
Round 1: Matt from ICBM playing Stax
Matt wins the die roll and lays some early lock pieces (Chalice for 0 and a 1st or 2nd turn Stax). I'm left holding Lotus, two moxen, a Sol Ring, a Mana Drain and some land. Matt goes a couple turns without putting a counter on the Stax, and adds another one to the mix. I manage to keep a couple land in play and draw into an Echoing Truth, and the following turn a Time Vault. Matt forgets to put counters on his 2 Stax, and I EOT Echoing Truth the Chalice. On my turn I Mystical for Flame Fusillade, drop my power, and combo him out.
Game 2, I bring in Hurkyl's for 1 of each of the combo pieces. I kept a land-heavy hand with a mana vault as the only acceleration. On one of my first few turns, I draw my DSC.
I can't recall Matt doing much of consequence as far as lock pieces go, and I eventually mana drain something for 4 and hardcast my DSC. Matt puts up a valiant effort by playing Karn and a Stax over the next couple of turns, but I draw into Flame Fusillade, kill off Karn, and Beat down for the win.
Round 2: Matt (also from ICBM) playing Gifts
Matt mulligans down to 5 and isn't pleased with his hand. I have an average hand with some counters, acceleration, and search, but no combo pieces. Matt comments that this one will likely just be a goldfishing game for me, and that's pretty much how things play out. I get the FlameVault combo online (with protection) and send massive damage to the dome.
I side in 2 Jester's Caps and take out 2 Merchant Scrolls.
Game 2, Matt starts things off with a 1st turn Orchard, Oath...which I promptly Force. I was wondering if he was running the transformational sideboard, and his first turn answered that! Over the course of the game, Matt takes 6 damage from a Mana Crypt, 6 from Spirit Tokens, 1 from a tapped Mana Vault, and 2 from mana burn. The pivotal play in this game was when Matt EOT Gifts for Yawg Will, Recoup, Oath and Tinker. I gave him the Oath and Recoup, and he does a pretty broken turn that sees his Oath making it into play. The good thing is, however, that he tapped out. I EOT Vampiric for Jester's Cap. Matt has two cards in hand and I'm praying that they're not Force and another blue card, as I have exactly 6 mana available to me, but no protection. I cast the cap, it resolves, and I remove all of his win conditions.
Round 3
Mike from Marinette playing Masknaught
Mike wins the roll, but has to mulligan down to 5 on the play. I have a control-heavy hand that includes a Library, two mana drains, a fetch, an underground sea, a mox and a brainstorm. Mike lays a swamp, dark ritual, first turn Illusionary Mask, and then debates on what to use the final mana for. He finally settles on Vampiric Tutor, and I'm figuring that I'll be facing down a 12/12 in pretty short order. Without any means of stopping it, I decide to try and draw into some bounce. I draw a land for the turn, play the Library, tap to draw (Time Vault), and lay a mox to end my turn. Mike draws, and then surprisingly doesn't lay a face-down man! WTF? On my turn, I draw into a Flame Fusillade, drop a fetch, tap to draw (mox), and play the Time Vault with mana drain online for Mike's turn. Mike plays something or other, which I promptly drain, and then EOT fetch for a Volcanic to combo him out the following turn.
While we're sideboarding for Game 2, Mike expressed that he should have simply gone for the Dreadnought instead of trying to be fancy (I forget what it was that he said he VT'd for). I agree and side in 2 Hurkyl's and 2 Powder Kegs.
Game 2, Mike plays a Delta and cracks it right away to play a Dark Ritual, Illusionary Mask. This game I have the Force to stop it though. Mike Vamp Tutors again really early, and duresses away a Time Vault. I draw a Keg and play it, which makes me feel much better about being able to handle any 12/12's that might be headed my way. Mike gets a Hyppie to stick the turn before I draw into Tinker, which converts a mox into an 11/11 body of my own. DSC goes the distance, and I'm on to round four with a record of 6-0.
Round 4
AJ playing U/W Fish with Exalted Angels Main.
I get an early Tinker->DSC online with FoW backup for his StP. Unfortunately for me, AJ happens to be holding 2 StPs and sends my guy farming. We jockey for control tossing counterspells back and forth before I get a Time Vault to stick. I let a Kataki resolve, EOT Gifts for Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Flame Fusillade, and Demonic Tutor. AJ demonstrated that he was unfamiliar with the Flamevault combo by giving me the Fusillade and a Vampiric Tutor...despite my lack of Red Mana. On my upkeep, I vamp tutored for a volcanic and proceeded to combo him out. I go through the motions and AJ reads both of the cards before declaring that it doesn't work that way. I call a judge, who explains that it does indeed work, and AJ demands to see the Oracle wording on Time Vault. The judge complies, and we shuffle up for game 2 (with AJ muttering that he still thinks he's right).
With AJ pissed about the FlameVault combo, I figure he's probably boarding in artifact hate. I board out the FlameVault combo and board in the Oath plan.
Game 2 starts with under 5 minutes remaining in the round (Game 1 just dragged on with neither one of us getting the upper hand for 40+ minutes). AJ gets some early beats on me when time is called. We go to turns, and I Tinker out a DSC (how lucky!). AJ attempts to StP him, but I have counter backup, so AJ scoops.
At this point I can draw into the Top 8, as 4-0-2 makes it in. Unfortunately, my 5th round opponent isn't guaranteed a spot if we ID, so after consulting the tiebreakers, I intentionally scoop so that he can make it in.
Round 6 features me ID'ing with Jake (Sui Black)
Top 8 - Round 1
Jake playing Sui Black
Game 1 features Jake laying a 1st turn swamp, Black Vise. I have a FoW to stop it if I want, but I'm more worried about biding my time against other threats. Unfortunately for me, I draw a Library (what awful luck). After taking 3 for several turns, I'm starting to wish that I had Forced that Vice...but eventually I work my way out from under it, dodging wastelands and other nasty stuff Jake throws my way. Eventually I get out a TimeVault and combo out at 4 life.
Game 2 I bring in the Oath plan. My opening hand consists of land, oath, tinker, mana drain, braintstorm and a powder keg. Jake plays swamp, ritual, duress (not taking Oath, and that's all that matters in this match) and dark confidant. I savagely rip Lotus off the top and lay both the Oath and the Keg. Akroma shows up on my following turn and finishes the game in short order.
Top 8 - Round 2
I'm facing my teammate Ryan Spindler, and Ben Carp is facing his teammate Jeremy Seroogy. We figure that it will save time and suck less if we all four split the prizes and head back home...so that's exactly what we did. Ryan ended up with the Jet, and the rest of us got cash and store credit.
Fun times in Appleton!
