[Report's Done!] Double T8 at Richmond with UbaCap v.1.0

//The Pre-Tournament Rant

So I live in Georgia, right on the boarder of Tennessee. It takes me about 8 and a half hours to drive to Richmond, Virginia for a weekend where I have to win to do a little better than break even. I'm travelling by myself, as my friend who plays down here, who regularly plays FCG but also Oath on the side told me that he's not coming the day of our departure. Great. So I have to make this trek by myself. So be it.

Rewind a tiny bit. FRIDAY MORNING (as in, a DAY before the tournament). So I haven't done ANY testing at all (my Magic friends are too busy the entire week, and Workstation sucks) so I start getting desparate and asking some people over PMs if they want to play. Nobody responds in the course of a day or so. I finally get ahold of Yespuhyren, and we start some games over workstation which really just turns into how we can tweak the deck to a very optimized build. He says that he's been testing maindecking Jester's Caps all day (I didn't get the impression that he was testing it any longer than that day, too) and says they've been working wonders for him. I quickly run through my mind in any and all situations that Jester's Cap can be useful main, and discover that it's actually pretty good. Cutting Null Rod also frees up some slots as well, like 2 Duplicant. I soon pitch a list that looks like this:

Standard 47.
3 Jester's Cap
3 Uba Mask
3 Sphere of Resistance
2 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Gorilla Shaman

This is actually the list I ran on Saturday, oddly enough. My thinking for the list is as follows:

Cutting Null Rod allows us to add in Triskelion, which is huge against Welders. Because we have Triskelion, we don't need to worry about shaman/welder tricks as much when it comes to 5c Stax and Slaver. Karn is there primarily as super win condition no. 1, but also as Monkey no. 2. Three Spheres of Resistance are there for the metagame (which I expect to be combo heavy). Yespuhyren doesn't really like the spheres, but he likes the wires. We fiddle around for a little bit with a wire build, but I still decide spheres will be better in the MD, because of the vast amounts of Tendrils combo which will be present Day 1 at Richmond. I was thinking that we also needed additional hate vs. combo because Null Rod's been cut.

Yespuhyren explains that his list is tuned towards his meta (good player!) and has a very aggro-hating MD, including 4 Triskelion, 4 Tangle Wire, and 4 Uba Mask (among all things!) I decide that list is definitely sub-optimal for Richmond, and continue to try to optimize my original list, but can't think of a way to do so.

After about an hour of trying to make the MD better, I move to the SB, an area where I feel my strongest skills are. The first thing to get added in are Tormod's Crypts and the 2 remaining Triskelions. I suddenly realize in the course of SBing that Fiery Tempers are COMPLETELY UNNEEDED. This frees up 4 slots. I was doing 2 Shattering Spree / 2 Viashino Heretic earlier in the week to get a good feel for Shattering Sprees, but not demolish Heretic's effectiveness. I decide that I want quick removal at this tournament, as Null Rod actually hurts me now, and a 1-for-1 isn't bad when it only costs R. I also decided that the ability to destroy a crucible when I'm being strip-locked or something against 5c Stax is much better than a 2R dude. So we get 3-4 of those in.

So far, the SB is as follows:

3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Shattering Spree
2 Triskelion

Really, everything else is up in the air. I sorta like this, as I have seven free slots to work with, but I sorta don't, as this is a completely new deck and I haven't had any testing with it at all. I decide that the deck needs a reactive solution to Oath, and not simply proactive, so I add in 2 Duplicants. I decide 2 Duplicants/3 Jester's Caps will be fine to handle Oath games 2 and 3, and 3 MD Jester's Caps should be fine to handle them Game 1, in addition to chalices which I can set at 2. I expect to be doing enough scouting to know what everyone's playing. Oh man. I am wrong about that.

So I've still got five slots to go. Yespuhyren mentions that he really likes Defense Grid (this idea is also all Yespuhyren). As it stands right now, the MD is admittedly weak against blue-based control. I could depend on Null Rod to slow down the pain, but right now, I'm allowing them to counter my stuff AND accelerate into drawing which gets more acceleration, which gets more drawing which gets win conditions, which allows them to make my mid-game Jester's Cap useless. I need a way to either get stuff into play so I can stop this (I.E. Defense Grid) put the pressure on (I.E. Juggernaut) or do board sweeping disruption (Tangle Wire). I decide Juggernaut is inferior as Gifts can easily win by Turn 4 if not disrupted, and Slaver can always weld the dude out, or even kill him with Triskelion (if they should be so lucky) or perhaps even Duplicant him and start beating face. Tangle Wire was next to go, as even though it's really good, I can't board it in for anything reliably, as I want the spheres to remain in there so I can have some way to actually get stuff into play.

So, Defense Grid. This is nice, because I get to side out Sphere of Resistances for Defense Grid perfectly, and they don't effect me at all. They also force my opponent to brainstorm on his own turn, and I'm reminded of the Uba + Bazaar + Welder trick that wins games, so I really like it and immediately add in 3 Defense Grid.

So right now, the SB looks like this:
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Shattering Spree
3 Defense Grid
2 Triskelion
2 Duplicant

After thinking about the sideboard for a while, I decide that Duplicants aren't really all that needed in Oath, because A) I don't expect alot of Oath in Richmond and B) we have 3 MD Jester's Caps. Moreover, I can win with Smokestack, and race with Karn. I decide to cut Duplicants in favor of giving me FOUR SOMETHING, which is a much more favorable number, as now I can actually add in a whole 'nother card.

Yespuhyren makes a comment about how he likes 3/3/3/3/3 sideboards, and I completely agree with him. However, those remaining 4 slots really bug me, as I can't think of a single thing where I need something against a matchup and something else helps. I try to go over all the matchups in my head, but nothing really stands out as needing direct attention.

Yespuhyren goes to bed at this point, and I'm left up pondering what I'm going to use in the SB if I decide to run this UbaCap pile.

Now, in most cases, I was just making note of what we had that we theoretically COULD take out or add in. Obviously you're not going to add in all 3 copies of Tormod's Crypt against Gifts, as 2 does the trick, and we're almost never going to side out ANY Uba Masks against Gifts likewise, but it's always a possibility if we find a better card. I'm also really tired at this point, so I don't catch everything. I also don't have the deck in front of me, so I can't shuffle my SB into my deck then take out the 15 most useless cards like I normally do.

So after writing this PM, I decide to put the Duplicants back in the SB. I also decide that I'm going to sleep on what the other two slots are going to be. I actually don't know what these two slots are until about 30 minutes before the tournament starts and I'm writing out my deck registration list.

I'm trying to think about what on earth I can put in the SB that would benefit me in any matchups. If I would have thought about Granite Shard, the SB would probably be -2 Duplicant +4 Granite Shard, but I didn't over the course of AN ENTIRE WEEKEND. I decide to just add the number on Shattering Spree and Tormod's Crypt instead of add in a separate card. This was the right thing to do, as time would tell.

So this is the list I've decided upon:

UbaCap v.1.0, Day 1, Richmond, 7th Place Finish, Mox Emerald Payout.

21 LANDS
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 Barbarian Ring
3 Mountain
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine

9 ARTIFACT ACCELERANTS
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl

17 STANDARD STAPLES
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Goblin Welder
1 Trinisphere

13 STUFF YOU CAN CHANGE
3 Jester's Cap
3 Uba Mask
3 Sphere of Resistance
2 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Gorilla Shaman

15 SIDEBOARD
4 Shattering Spree
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Defense Grid
2 Triskelion
2 Duplicant

Some stuff about the build:

1) I NEVER saw Gorilla Shaman. That's right, in 18 games, I NEVER saw him, ever. Never discarded him to Bazaar, never saw him in my opening hand, never cast him, killed moxes with him, mulliganed him back, saw him in the course of a game, etc. I looked to make sure he was still in there after about 10 games, and he was. Karn ate infinite x2 moxes than this guy did.
2) It dawned on me on Friday, but again while I was playing: Jester's Cap is like a super-busted Mindslaver. It's 4 to cast, 2 to activate. That's FAR easier than 6 to cast, 4 to activate. The ability to tap two moxes, and weld one out for cap to sac it is so huge it's unbelievable. A few times I had JUST 2 mana to activate it (most famous was game 1, turn 2 versus Outlaw). The detriment of Jester's Cap is trivial, which is it's only good against some decks.
3) Sphere of Resistance was worse than any other possible card I could have put in the deck. I could have actually maindecked 3 Force of Nature, and it would have been better than Sphere of Resistance. Not only did this card do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for me all day, but it actually hurt me in the Quarterfinals against Brian Demars, because I couldn't cast stuff off Workshop. This card is horrible.
4) Smokestack won me a total of ONE game Day 1. It got rid of alot of 3UU counterspells and good blue cards, however.
5) Triskelion was huge in almost every matchup where he could have mattered. I found myself siding the other two in constantly, especially in the early rounds of the tournament.
6) Trinisphere did not do it's job. The only time I even really saw it was when I tried to cast it first turn Game 1 against Rich Shay, in which it drew a force.
7) Aside Jester's Cap, my sideboard was the best part of the deck. More about this later.

//THE ACTUAL TOURNAMENT REPORT

I get there early, and come in before the SCG people are set up, so we have to wait outside. I meet Ray Robillard (sp?) and he lends me a sharpie to use for my revised plains edition proxies (Thanks Ray!). I proxy up six power and four workshops, because unlike the Vintage Elite, I don't want my stuff stolen or screwed up and don't bring it. I'm sitting outside with a few guys talking about the format. The one guy says that he's going to be playing High Tide. I think that's awesome and get a big kick out of that. I'm still trying to think up what those other 2 slots in my SB are going to be.

I lounge around for a little bit, saying Hi to everyone, when I see Joe Davis. Joe just split a Time Walk the week before a tournament in NJ, and he PMed me wanting to meet up so we could go drinking and whatnot Friday Night. (Well, it was my idea to go drinking). Anyway, I got there Saturday Morning, so I explain to him that and whatnot, and he understands. AJ is with him, (AJ won the tournament two weeks prior to that, getting a Library), and we all sit down and talk about stuff, while I'm searching around to get some stuff. I was actually planning on having enough time to get my old school Academy deck built, but that didn't happen because of time constraints.

Shortly thereafter, my crew from PA arrives!

Mike - Flame Vault (TfK) Gifts. Mike's a great player, and has done very well with 5c Stax at smaller venues, but has recently moved to Gifts.
Eeves - Red White Goblins! Eeves is new to Vintage, and plays one of Mike's decks everywhere we go. He didn't like his 5c Stax very much.
Matt - Dragon with insane insant speed kill and stuff. Matt's been playing Vintage since forever, totally a combo player at heart.
A definite absence of Alex, which we were all glad about.

Matt is a huge white dude, and also Einlanzer625 on the SCG Forums. When mentioning in passing that I might not play Ubastax at Richmond, he told me he would kick my ass if I didn't, as we had playtested extensively for about a month straight. He gets mad props for scaring me into two top 8s.

Anyway, I talk to the crew about how things are going in PA, and they're going well. It's only been a week since I left (my grandfather died, so I went back to where I was reared for couple of weeks), but it's good to catch up regardless. Anyway, they help me by Matt giving me a Triskelion (which he WILL sign for me), and Mike giving me 3 Shattering Sprees (which I still have dude, heh), and a The Dark Tormod's Crypt (you can get that back if you want, I'll steal my white boardered one back from Alex). By the way guys, I'll be up Easter Weekend.

I also explain to my friends that if ANY of us T8, it will be really surprising, as with a field this large, no one can honestly go into the tournament without some super huge secret insane tech that no one has ever even heard of or playtested against that comes from the depths of the netherworld thinking that they're going to Top 8. They all laugh and say that I'll probably Top 8. I tell them that it's crazy to think that, and that even the big guys drop all the time (which oddly enough, that did NOT happen to this tournament, as evidenced by the Top 8. Probasco got upsetted, though. Sad

I feel sorry for the guy. He'll get mad props in this report soon enough).

So the tournament starts after some waiting.

I get to sit close to Eeves and am a few seats down from Droba, which is holding the entire table's attention pretty well with a story he's telling. We hand in our decklists, and we go to work shortly after. Here's the match reports, which I WILL be fuzzy on:

Round 1 vs. Jeff Carpenter playing HEAVY BLUE OATH (muddle the mixture and whatnot)

I lose the die roll. I keep a damn good hand, which includes Jester's Cap, Workshop, Smokestack, Crucible, Basic Mountain, Welder and a Mox.

Game 1 - He plays Flooded Strand, says go. I play Workshop, Mox, Smokestack. He breaks fetch to brainstorm. I allow it (heh). He finds the force of will for it, removing merchant scroll, I think. I go, "Oh, great, Gifts first round" Good thing I have a great hand. I say go, and he plays another basic island, then says go. I rip a mox! I play Jester's Cap, which he impulses in response to (while I'm like, Impulse? wtf?). He doesn't find a force of will, and I activate cap to see what he's playing. He gives me his library, and the first card I see is Oath of Druids. I immediately know what he's playing. I remove Razia and two brainstorms. (I know he's got Akroma and Lotus in his hand, however). I cast Welder and say go. He plays a land and says go. I draw smokestack! I tap out to play Smokestack, then weld in Cap and Cap him again. This time I take Brainstorm no. 4, and 2 of something else. Not Oaths. He concedes like a turn later.
Game 2 - I board in Duplicants. They don't matter. I keep a hand of Workshop, Mox, Jester's Cap, Blank x4. I play Jester's Cap, and he tries to search for an Angel but can't find one. I cap him next turn and win.

I come back, and my crew is doing half and half. Mike is 1-0, while Eeves and Matt are 0-1. Joe and AJ, however, are both 1-0. Eeves and Matt got bad matchups.

Record: 1-0 in matches, 2-0 in games.

Round 2 vs. The Magical Canadian Leprechaun playing FLAME VAULT TFK GIFTS

I call this guy the Magical Leprechaun because he's MAGICAL. And I forget his name. I lose the die roll.

Game 1 - I keep a strong hand involving Smokestack, Crucible, and Workshop (no mox, but who cares). I also know he's playing blue as while he was shuffling, he managed to shuffle a few cards in my general direction, and I got to see some brainstorms/artifacts. I figure he's playing Gifts, as that's what I always default to when I see island, go, heh. He plays Island, Sapphire, go. I don't draw a mox, but I do draw a welder and have a red mana, so I cast that instead of Smokestack. It's drained. I drop Smokestack next turn, which is forced. He removes TfK, I think. I topdeck a Jester's Cap and activate it somewhere in here FTW. That's 3 wins off Cap so far.
Game 2 - I'm going first this time, but get a horrible hand, and send it back for six. He rolls me over as I can't draw into anything good.
Game 3 - This is where his magicalness shines through. So I have this game locked up for the most part. He exhausted some counters early on welders and other small stuff. I get Defense Grid online, and start topdecking with an Uba Mask in play. I finally topdeck Bazaar and get Ubazaar going. The turn after I Ubazaar, he topdecks R&R and rack and ruins my Uba Mask and Stax at 1 or 2. He's down to volcanic island, sol ring, underground sea. I have five mana open and topdeck Jester's Cap with no cards in hand. I still have Defense Grid out, so he can't counter it with Drain. The boards are as follows: He has 2 cards in hand, Sol Ring, Underground Sea and Volcanic Island on the board. I have 0 cards in hand, Workshop, Barbarian Ring, Mox Ruby, Jester's Cap, and Defense Grid. I'm going to win next turn.

Immediately after he draws, he says, "I must be the luckiest man on earth right now." And rack and ruins my Jester's Cap and Defense Grid. Unbelievable. He builds up enough cards that I can't win, because now he's got a crazy amount of counters in his hand (he had two drains in his hand since the beginning of the game) and uses them to accel into card drawing into accel into tutor into tinker. I don't topdeck Duplicant and lose.

After all my talk on the forums about how Ubastax beats Gifts, I seem to have lost this match to some savage lucksackery. I walk away sorta depressed that this guy beat me off three crazy topdecks in a row or so. Joe Davis tells me that because it's Vintage, you're going to lose to savage lucksackery. That cheers me up. I accept the fact that I'm not almost certainly not going to T8 in this tournament, and am fine.

Record: 1-1 in matches, 3-2 in games.

My friends and I are all pretty bummed that I lost, and we start talking about what we're going to do after the tournament. We also talk about ordering a pizza, and some other stuff as well. I love these guys from PA. Anyway, I tell them all about how Magical Leprechaun topdecks Rack and Ruin just when he needs it, and we're all pretty bummed that we've all lost a game at least to some held-over luck from St. Pattys.

Round 3 vs. Nice Bearded Guy with FIVE COLOR CHANG STAX.

Sorry if I forgot your name man. Lemme know if so I can change the round title. I lose the die roll, YET AGAIN.

Game 1 - He goes first turn Workshop, Sphere of Resistance. I go, yay. Luckily, I keep a hand with double workshop, sphere, crucible, wasteland, smokestack, red land. He's down to 19. I go workshop, sphere of resistance. I hope he doesn't have wasteland, but even if he does, I have a good chance of rebounding back, as he didn't play any moxes either. My gamble paid off, and he laid a city of brass and passed the turn. I wasteland his workshop, but he plays another one and I can't bring out crucible yet. Then he wastes my workshop on his turn! Gee golly. I play my other workshop, and say go. He draws, then plays his own workshop! I draw and topdeck academy, and play a mox with workshop that I drew or something, then play academy. He goes, and plays something, and casts smokestack somehow. I cast smokestack. I ramp my smokestack, and he sacs his sphere of resistance, and then I sac mine, so I can play my crucible in addition to the wasteland in my graveyard FTW (basically). I forgot what I actually win with, I think it was a Triskelion.
Game 2 - This is so crazy. He plays Lotus, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Sundering Titan. I'm holding a hand of like, mox ruby, wasteland, random mox, crucible, blank (no answer) x3. I say go after playing the crucible. He swings. I'm at 13. I topdeck barbarian ring. Great. I'm at 6. I topdeck Shattering Spree to kill his Titan + His Ruby. Titan kills my mountain. I replay it next turn. I eventually topdeck trike/trike and just start going to town. He topdecks Crop Rotation somewhere in here, and plays it while I have a chalice at 1 out. Countered, ick. Then, he plays some black source or something and taps his pearl and black source for demonic tutor, goes to get balance, and realizes he tapped his pearl.

Record: 2-1 in matches, 5-2 in games.

Jester's Cap actually isn't all that bad against Stax. It allows you to take crucibles, welders, or win conditions. I never actually got to activate a cap against Stax, primarily as there is usually better stuff to cast, but if I had the spare time and mana, I'd probably end up taking out the crucibles, then the welders, then the win conditions, although win conditions might be first if I have Triskelion down or something, where welders are useless. Cap is such a skill intensive card, and I made my fair share of mistakes with it on Saturday, although not that many on Sunday.

Round 4 vs. UW FISH

Once again man, sorry for forgetting your name. I got half-drunk that night while celebrating. I didn't take match notes. Sorry dude.

Game 1 - He has Kataki in his deck, which I see and barbarian ring after it kills off an artifact or two. He Meddling Mages the wrong stuff (stuff that was in my deck, just not the right stuff at the right time) and I run him over with artifacts which he can't get rid of outside of a single MD disenchant or something. This game is pretty much a blowout.
Game 2 - This is basically the same thing. I get an early Uba Mask to stick, and keep him off white mana, which hurts him pretty badly. These two games were really uneventful. The main thing is that I was expecting him to play Energy Flux, which it seemed he never got around to. I asked him afterwards if he boarded in Energy Fluxes, and he said no. He seems to have relied fully on Kataki and Disenchant. I think he brainstorms with the Uba Mask out too, which cripples him a good bit. Triskelion plays a large part in turning the tide in the second game, when he had something like Kataki and Meddling Mage out, I played something to draw a force of will (I couldn't play my Welder as Mage was naming it), which happened, and then I played Triskelion and killed his team.

Record: 3-1 in matches, 7-2 in games.

Something that I realized about this report that I hadn't typed up when I was originally writing it is that I had to mulligan a good amount this tournament. Luckily, any version of Ubastax mulligans extremely well, and going down to 5 is unbelievably rare. I actually went down to 5 in a game near the end, and I got an absolute god-hand. I was telling my opponent when I was going down to 5, actually, that everytime I had to go down to five, I got one of the most busted hands possible. That happened again, oddly enough, when I had to mulligan down to 5 later in the tournament.

A good rule to follow when deciding on taking a mulligan or not is the following:
If you have seven cards) Can you play a first turn threat/lock, or first turn welder? If not, your hand must be mulliganed.
If you have six cards) The above applies, as well as a second turn threat on the play. If not, your hand must be mulliganed.
If you have five cards) Both of the above apply. If you can't, you keep if you have alot of mana. If not, you have to go down to four.

Luckily, I have NEVER needed to go down to four cards because the deck mulligans so well. I need to mulligan about once every five games regularly, and aggressive risky mulligans are very good for this deck, so don't be scared to throw one back. Against Grimlong in this tournament, I actually had a 1st turn Crucible with Waste, but wanted either a 1st Turn Smokestack or 1st Turn Jester's Cap, so I mulliganed down to six and got it. Risks usually pay off.

Round 5 vs. BIRDSHIT.

I lose the die roll. AGAIN. Today is all about losing the die roll and still winning.

Game 1 - He mulligans to FIVE and keeps. He plays Chalice at 0, when I'm holding Mana Crypt, Mox, Mox, Smokestack, Crucible, Wasteland, Mountain. I get completely dominated in this game. He's playing Nimble Mongooses and Werebears left and right, and I'm trying to build up (I drew workshop like two or three turns in, but he countered all my crap, without even casting ancestral or anything), but he just keeps the slaugher going and I lose, even with Karn out there helping out. I eventually eat the Chalice with Karn and go nuts, but he kills me before I can kill him.

So, I realized that my ENTIRE SIDEBOARD is good against this guy, and tell him that I can board in 15 cards against him. I board in more like 10-12, but I still CAN board in 15.

Game 2 - This game is a blowout in my favor. I play a million artifact mana, smokestack (he counters) and I still have enough mana to play Triskelion, I think. That wins the game.
Game 3 - This game is likewise a blowout. He says land, go. I go defense grid, go. He counters defense grid (obviously). I play next turn Triskelion, which he null rods, which I shattering spree (which is why I brought them in, I saw he was MDing Null Rod, actually).

After our match, the guy starts crying, or at least I think he's crying, and I tell him that he just got paired up against a bad matchup and I was sorry that I had to be the one to knock him out of contention. He's okay, but still visibly upset. He was actually undefeated, and lost the game before me, then lost to me, so I can understand why he would be upset, getting all excited about possibly making Top 8 with Birdshit.

Record: 4-1 in matches, 9-3 in games.

I was actually surprised to win this game. My opponent was visibly caught off guard when I told him that I was boarding in 15 cards against him, exclaiming that he really did not like to hear that, and I believe he kept bad hands because he didn't want to risk going down to six. Most of the time when I'm typing this report up, I only remember the absolutely broken hands that I drew, so while it seems like I drew alot of good hands this tournament, I actually didn't. Most of the hands I got were simply mediocre, although I had some pretty nutty ones against Rich Shay Day 2. Like I said before, I NEVER got first turn trinisphere, and rarely got first turn smokestack. First turn Welder was a commonstay, however, which is what allowed me to win a few games.

Round 6 vs. Lyle playing MEANDECK SHITTORID.

I lose the die roll. This is getting old. Seriously.

Game 1 - This is a joke. I concede about 8 minutes into it. Even though I want to see the cards in the deck (I was letting him Dredge up his whole deck so I could see what was MD as opposed to SB, in case I had to face it again), he was playing sort of slowly (only sorta, Lyle), like dredging sorta slowly. Plus, I didn't feel like getting Ichorid beats for much longer.
Game 2 - I board in so much hate for him, including 4 Sprees, 4 Crypts, etc etc. I keep a hand with Spree, Crypt, Welder, Moxen, and two red lands after mulliganing to six. I play mountain, mox, and say go. He discards darkblast and grave troll off Bazaar. He also plays chalice at 0. I spree the chalice at 0, play crypt, then play a wasteland that I drew on his bazaar, then play welder. I win that game. I assume that Meandeck has at least 3 Darkblast MD and SB combined, so I set a chalice at 1 later on in the game, as well.
Game 3 - This is the nuts for me. He doesn't mulligan into chalice at 0 (which he regrets) and I eventually get out triple welder with crypt in the graveyard and crypt in play. He gets Null Rod out but I Spree it. He's forced to hardcast grave troll which I crypt in reponse, ending the game.

Record: 5-1 in matches, 11-4 in games.

I was actually talking with Matt earlier in the day about Meandeck Shittorid, and explaining that I actually thought I had a favorable matchup in games 2 and 3 to the point of almost not being able to lose, because their deck autoloses to Tormod's Crypt, especially with artifact removal for the Null Rods I knew they woud be bringing in against me (because Smennen really feels that Null Rod is a huge part to Vintage). Smennen, in fact, I believe likes Null Rods much more than I do, and thinks they are much better than they actually are. Now keep in mind, this is a guy who plays combo very well, like Grim Long, and takes noticable note of when he's hosed by a card so as to be able to play around it (good player!).

Round 7 vs. Travis Laplante playing GIFTS (his own build, I assume, it had merchant scrolls, I didn't see any TfKs).

I win the die roll. YAY!

Game 1 - We both mulligan to six. I keep a hand of Workshop, Crucible, Wasteland, Welder x 2, Mountain, because I figure he's playing some kind of Workshop variant. He plays Flooded Strand, says go. I try a Welder, but he forces it. I play Chalice at 0 first turn, simply because I know he's got draw (which will net him useless cards), and I want to draw a force out, but I don't get it. It does screw him over, and he has to discard two moxes eventually. I pass the turn. So I cast another welder, which is drained, and say go. I topdeck a Lotus somewhere in here, and am so excited that I can play the remainder of my hand that I throw it down, only for it to be countered by the Chalice at 0. I feel like the worst noob ever, especially in a really important game, but I don't fret it much because I'm already losing this game, and it's to Travis, which I'd be fine with if he beat me. He does something, and blows me out of the water eventually. I did not consider him playing anything other than a Workshop deck, namely 5c Stax, so I lost, as my original seven was descent against blue based control.
Game 2 - Smokestack pulls through to win me the game, apparently. I don't remember this game at all. Thanks Travis.
Game 3 - Long game. He rebuilds, sending everything back to my hand, then giftsing for land while having recoup and some other fun stuff in his graveyard, like DT. He has a ton of mana out. I replay chalice at 2, hoping he doesn't topdeck Tinker. He doesn't, so I play Chalice at 3 next turn. He's completely unable to win, but I'm still taking damage from my crypt. I'm still throwing barbarian rings at his face, though, and it comes down to a war of attrition. He's at a lower life total than I am, but if he calls Crypt correctly three times, he can win. He passes the turn after topdecking something he obviously could not use. He calls the first Mana Crypt die roll right. I topdeck Duplicant, ha. I play Duplicant. He goes, topdecks nothing. He concedes.

Record: 6-1 in matches, 13-5 in games.

Travis played almost everything right, especially game 1 when he countered BOTH Welders, the first with a force and the second with a drain. I was really upset about his play, actually, because I felt like I couldn't compete with such a competent player. Luckily, my deck started working and I regained confidence in the Gifts Matchup, even after being shaken by savage lucksackery in Round 2. I don't feel that Travis made as many mistakes as some others pointed out to him (as no one could see both our hands at the same time), but do feel that his Gifts for Land was a little peculiar on Game 3.

I make it into the Top 8 after drawing in with Rich Shay, and am promptly dominated by Brian DeMars, playing Control Slaver. I'm going to put this up here for now, although I'm going to edit this later with the second portion of the tournament, and a more detailed analysis of the games. I am really fuzzy on some of them. I make a horrible blunder against Demars and take Slaver instead of Duplicant. Anyway, I got a Mox Emerald as well. Again, I'm gonna edit this later.

The guys and myself go get loaded to celebrate my victory, and I have a little bit too much to drink. I come back in a little tipsy to pick my power (the finals just finished up pretty much as soon as I walked in the door, but I got to chat with Randy Buehller a tiny bit), and get the power in nicest condition - the Mox Emerald. Endress had his list the same as mine, as that he wanted the Ruby, which was beat to hell and back. Endress thinks that the Emerald would actually be worth more than the Ruby, which is probably true, by $10 or so, not much.

Anyway, so I wake up with a HORRIBLE hang over. On to Day 2.

DAY TWO!

Here's my list:

Bustin' Caps with Juggy v.1.0, Day 2, Richmond, 5th Place Finish, Mox Jet Payout.

21 LANDS
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 Barbarian Ring
3 Mountain
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine

9 ARTIFACT ACCELERANTS
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl

17 STANDARD STAPLES
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Goblin Welder
1 Trinisphere

13 STUFF YOU CAN CHANGE
2 Jester's Cap
2 Uba Mask
3 Juggernaut
3 Tangle Wire
2 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem

15 SIDEBOARD
4 Shattering Spree
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Defense Grid
2 Triskelion
2 Duplicant

Some stuff about this build:
1) Gorilla Shaman's not in there because I figure if I can win without even seeing him yesterday, I can do it again today.
2) Juggernaut. This guy was a house all day. He put the pressure on people to do stuff early. I unfortunately never went 1st Turn Jugg, 2nd Turn Wire.
3) Tangle Wire. This card is so much better than Sphere of Resistance. Sure, not against combo. I didn't expect combo to be out in huge numbers, though, which is why I even ran Juggernauts. Yeah, I was wrong.
4) Same sideboard. It worked well for me Day 1, and I couldn't think of any possible changes to make being tipsy.
5) Same problems as Day 1 when it came to Trinisphere.
6) I chose to leave Smokestack in, which I knew was wrong from theory. However, it proved to be very good, winning me like 5 games.
7) This build is bad and I would never play the same thing again.

Round 1 vs. Reanimator

I was hung over, man. Can't remember your name. You're a cool guy though, thanks for the games. I hope you do better next time. Smile

I win lose the die roll. *sigh*

The guy elects to DRAW!!! I'm thinking, "This is not going to help my tiebreakers."

Game 1 - I keep an okay hand with Juggernaut, Triskelion, Workshop, Smokestack, Mountain, Welder and blank. I figure he'll be creature-based. He goes 1st turn Library, draw off library, discard Godo (The guy from Kamigawa Block that when he comes into play you get to search your deck for an equipment and put it into play then when he attacks, you can take another attack step). I go, okay. He passes the turn. I have welder out from 1st Turn. I draw Bazaar! I play Mox that I draw off Bazaar and discard Juggernaut and Triskelion, and play Smokestack with the mox/workshop. I say go. He exhumes during his turn, and brings up Godo, while I get back Triskelion. This game is a blowout.
Game 2 - More of the same. This time he discards Akroma, which starts me sweating, but Smokestack wins another game. I'm glad I kept it.

Record: 1-0 in matches, 2-0 in games.

After this game, I started entertaining the idea of making Reanimator good in Type 1. I actually haven't given up on it yet, primarily because of the power of Duress. However, depending on the attack step to win a game is always a horrible strategy. I really was sweating him animating Akroma on Game 2, but luckily I got out a Chalice for 2 (which stops animate dead, exhume and some other stuff) and Chalice for 3 (which stops necromancy and some other stuff), but was still fearing him using reanimate on Akroma. I also realized that animate dead was horrible, as it couldn't actually enchant Akroma after I cast the Chalice at 2, and then realized that he didn't even play with them for that very reason, as alot of guys in his pile had pro-black. I'm lucky to have hit that bazaar game 1, although I actually might have started off the game with one and not seen it (I was hung over).

Round 2 vs. Michael (I believe that's his name) playing NIV-MIZZET CURIOUSITY OATH COMBO.

This guy is really cool, and I have a blast playing him. He wins the die roll (obviously). He elects to play, I say okay.

Game 1 - I keep a hand of like, Crucible, Wasteland, Mana Crypt, Workshop, Smokestack, blank. That might not be it exactly, but I think it is. I try to play a first turn Smokestack, and it's forced. I mean, I eventually draw a Jester's Cap and activate it to which he scoops (so I still don't know exactly what he's playing with regards to Oath, and it's actually just a HUGE hunch I'm taking that he's playing Oath, but when you scoop to Jester's Cap and you don't have extreme brokenness like Gifts, you're probably playing a weird Oath variant, especially with basic island). This one actually goes down to the wire, as he calls the Mana Crypt right EVERY SINGLE TIME except for the second time and the last time (where it would have killed me) and I luckily get Welder online via Barbarian Ring so I can weld it out for a Smokestack or something and win the game from there. Then I draw Cap. Not exactly sure exactly how this played out, but I definitely remember that Crypt was my biggest threat, and not anything he was going to do. I think I had Chalice @ 2 out at one point, even.
Game 2 - This time he calls Crypt wrong nearly every single time. I get out an early Smokestack that goes the distance, and when I resolve and activate Jester's Cap off Ubazaar, he scoops.

Record: 2-0 in matches, 4-0 in games.

This guy was a blast to play, and I had actually never played anyone with combo oath aside the Yawg's Will / Krosan deck, which actually isn't necessarily bad, it's just really easily disruptable. I didn't even know what he was playing until we were done with our match because Jester's Cap really is that insane. Jester's Cap took me to a 4-0 against Oath with games this weekend, and 6-0 against combo with games. He had told me that he was working on the deck for a long time, seeing as it's an auto-win if you can cast curiousity on Niv, and I explained to him that there was a thread about it on SCG. He said he'd check it out, and I thanked him for playing.

The deck really doesn't have a very good time with Oath if they can resolve one. Luckily, you have a proactive solution to it, and post-board, reactive. Your proactive solution is pretty consistent, and also easy to pull off with artifact mana. I activated Cap at least once on first turn this weekend, and turn 2 at least twice. The great thing is that you don't need to know they're playing Oath to activate Cap and win. Like I said on Day 1, I thought the guy was playing Gifts until I saw his library. He was all smiles when I went, "Whoa, did not expect to see this," as well.

Round 3 vs. Rich Shay playing CONTROL SLAVER (obviously)

So I'm mumbling curses under my breath when I see the pairings. I have to play my worst matchup against the best player of said deck.

Rich Shay is quite possibly the nicest guy I have ever played against. I really REALLY like this guy. I had bought a Bazaar of Baghdad off a kid about a month ago for around 60 bucks (I traded with him, but all the cards I got totalled up to 60 bucks of my own money, even though they were worth a little more), and this Bazaar of Baghdad had bad stuff written on it, but I didn't know it was bad. Apparently, Rich got a bad look on his face when he saw it Day 1, and I was told that by someone else. I inquired as to why, and they told me, so I sharpied it off the card, and even plan to scratch it off and then sharpie it again. I told Rich this, and he was very happy. Thanks again, Rich, and sorry if I caused you to be offended at all throughout the weekend, I really hope I didn't and that we're cool, which I think we are.

I win the die roll. Whoo.

Game 1 - My hand is just silly. Workshop, Trinsiphere, Smokestack, Crucible, Red Land, Welder, Mox. So I go first turn Trinisphere, he forces. Next turn I play both Smokestack and Welder. Next turn I play Crucible. I get something online and start going to town.
Game 2 - Another silly hand. Workshop, Mox, Juggernaut, Wasteland x 2, Bazaar of Baghdad, Welder. I go first turn Juggernaut, his face goes "wtf?" and he allows it. I waste two of his red lands as he plays a welder himself. I have an artifact in my graveyard already somehow, so I don't mind activating bazaar, and eventually kill his Welder with B-ring. He also kills the Juggernaut somehow, or bounces it back to my hand or something. Don't remember how this game went, but I definitely got really lucky in him not drawing a Volcanic or Fetch to cast Lava Dart on my Welder. I think I get Chalice at 1 out eventually though, as well.

Record: 3-0 in matches, 6-0 in games.
While we were playing, I was apologizing to Rich for the absolute brokenness of my opening hands, and explaining to him that his deck is really good and it SHOULD beat me. I actually felt really bad about purposely mana-screwing him, but he told me that I shouldn't fret and that my deck did it's job, which made me feel alot better. Rich is a really, really nice guy, and anyone who plays him should be honored to sit across from him. I respectfully shake Rich's hand, and wish him the best of luck throughout the tournament.

Round 4 vs. A Cool Guy with GRIMLONG.

Sorry man, forget your name, even though I asked you it like twice. Forgive me.

I lose the die roll. Ugh.

Game 1 - I mulligan to six and keep the shadiest hand of the entire tournament. It's like, Barbarian Ring, Mox, Mox, Mox, Sol Ring, Karn. I figure if I draw into anything, I can cast it. Yeah, that actually never happened. Luckily, Karn put the pressure on him really early, and I somehow got enough threshold to Barbarian Ring him to death.
Game 2 - First turn Cap activation. Sorry man. Sad

Record: 4-0 in matches, 8-0 in games.

Game 2 I can distinctly remember what my hand was: Mana Crypt, Academy, Sol Ring, Tormod's Crypt, Jester's Cap, and Mountain. I actually had to mulligan again because my hand had absolutely no disruption in it, and I had to topdeck really well to win. Luckily, I mulliganed into a crazy good hand and because I knew he had no counters (the problem with fast combo, in my opinion), I was able to activate first turn Cap and win.

Let's say he was holding the Tendrils in his hand, which he wasn't. What do I get then? Well, I probably take stuff that ennables his storm to go off really well, like Yawg's Will, Yawg's Bargain, and Necropotence, and try to get out chalices set at 1, then 0. I also try to apply pressure to win. Generally, if he has the Tendrils in hand, I need to start applying pressure so he has to go off and can't begin to sculpt a good hand full of rituals and whatnot.

Round 5 vs. Jason Gaudard (I believe) playing FIVE COLOR CHANG STAX

He's a nice guy, and eventually makes it to the T8. I'm really glad for him. I'll talk more about this match later.

Game 1 - This is a blowout with early Juggernaut forcing him to cast Swords to Plowshares. I get Welders and Triskelions and go the distance easily.
Game 2 - He gets Welder advantage, I die to Welders + Sphere of Resistance + Smokestack + All his stuff. This is my first game loss in a tournament to 5c Stax.
Game 3 - Ditto Game 2 - He Wins, putting me at my first match loss against 5c Stax ever.

Record: 4-1 in matches, 9-2 in games.

Round 6 vs. DRAGON

I can't remember if I won or lost the die roll. I probably won it. I dunno. This guy was cool, I really liked playing him. Sorry I forgot your name man. I need to take notes the next time I plan on T8ing. Smile

Game 1 - Juggernaut beats for the win, I think.
Game 2 - I side out all my fatties. I keep another mediocre hand. I cap him after he bazaars away double gorger, and take the other two, then activate Tormod's Crypt (sick!) on him, and remove his gorgers the old fashioned way. It seems like he's stalling, so I start to get frustrated and start playing really quickly, barbarian ringing him to the face many times, and swinging with welders, until he's down to like, five, then he concedes. He explains that he still had a win condition - animating my Juggernauts and other Fatties. I explained to him that I boarded all of them out for that very reason, heh.

Record: 5-1 in matches, 11-2 in games.

Round 7 vs. Outlaw playing GG GIFTS.

We both think this is a stupid ass circumstance that we're in, and are both pretty peeved that we have to play each other, especially as I really like Outlaw, not only from meeting him in person, but also his posts. We have to play each other because of the damn tie breakers and whatnot, but whoever wins will be seeded first going into the Top 8. We try to hammer out a deal, because I don't want to risk 300 dollars on 3 games of Magic, but we can't, and we agree to play for it.

I win the die roll.

Game 1 - I have a HORRIBLE starting hand, I mean, absolutely atrocious. ZERO mana, all big spells. I mulligan. I keep the most super risky hand of all time: Mountain, Lotus, Jester's Cap, Blank x3. I think about this hand for such a long time before deciding to keep it, thinking that he only has a 40% chance to hit a force of will, and I could always superluck into a bazaar or welder (bazaar would eventually get me welder or any other goodness, as I can bazaar away the 3 cards in my hand). He doesn't have a force, so the cap resolves. WOOT. Next turn, I activate it (as he doesn't seem to have a brainstorm either!). I'm going through and I see Flame Fullisade, Colossus, Will, but nothing else. I'm like, "Oh, shit, you've got Time Vault AND Burning Wish in your hand. Crap." So I'm about to start shuffling up his deck to give it back to him when I notice that he proxied Time Vault, and that it's right there in front of me. I take that instead of Fullisade, and take Will, Colossus, and Vault (I don't know if he has a Tendrils in his board). He scoops, which tells me that he doesn't run Burning Wish.
Game 2 - He rolls me over, although I don't remember how. I'm pretty sure early countermagic was very influential in this game. He had to resolve Tinker, as I never lost to Gifts any other way throughout the course of both tournaments.

I tell him, "Look man, I'm not willing to gamble 300 dollars on one game of Magic. How about we do this: Winner gives loser $100 bucks in cards, and we'll be fair about it and not price Oath of Druids at like $5 or anything." He agrees.

Game 3 - My hand is silly. Smokestack, Crucible, Welder, and mana to cast like, all three on the first turn (or second turn). I do, and he doesn't have the force for any of them. I win. I'm out $100, but I don't even care, as I just made my second T8, and never thought I could even make 1, especially with not playing a deck at all (save like, ONE game that Yesphuryen and myself played) prior to a tournament.

So, I give Outlaw like, $150 in Cards, but he actually tells me I can just pay him over Paypal, so I do that. He also let me convert 20 paypal bucks into real money to get me home. (thanks man). He's a great guy.

Record: 6-1 in matches, 13-3 in games.

I get dominated by Slaver in the T8 again, worse than before. I get a Jet for my efforts.

I'm going to make this much more detailed in a day or two, but this is the basic outline. I left a TON of stuff out, as well as huge thanks. I'll try to do that now in the props&slops:

PROPS
Yespuhyren for creating a deck that won me two T8's, and defeated great players, knocking them out of contention.
The players I knocked out of contention - all of them were great guys, honestly, and I really hate doing that to people. Thanks for the games guys.
Joe Davis, for allowing me to convert a buttload of paypal bucks to real money. Outlaw gets props here too.
My buddy from PA, Matt, for threatening to kick my ass if I played something other than anything resembling Ubastax.
Mike, for initially coming up with the idea that we should go out celebrating afterwards.
Travis LaPlante, for doing so well with a deck he was only working on 2 weeks prior to the tournament. Go Juggernaut! (get it?)
All my opponents. You all deserve props.
Juggernaut, for actually doing well in a Type 1 enviroment.

SLOPS
Gorilla Shaman & Trinisphere for bailing on me and going to get married. At least Trinisphere visited me the one time.
Control Slaver, for knocking me out of two T8s and wrecking my deck.

I'll think of more props&slops later, but I'm hungry, tired, and have work to do. Thanks guys.