HAS ANYONE SEEN MY KIRD APES? *Beanie Exchange Finals*

[Dxfiler]

Bah. 

That word perfectly sums up the last 6 months of magic for me.
Now some of you might say, "Now wait just a minute Dave, didn't you just go to back to back pro tours?  I would kill for that opportunity."

Good, you can kill me.

See kids, Pro Tours don't mean anything in the grand scheme of magic.  This is something I learned the hard way.  Free plane trips do nothing if you win no money.  Chances are, you won't make money on the tour.  Given that information, you should probably avoid PTQ's all together.  They are a giant moneysucker.  Then again, magic in general is a giant money pit, with little to no chance of financial return or gain, but at least it can be fun.  Wizards wants it to be fun, because if you're not having fun, they're not making money.  'Fun.'  I hate that fucking word.  Anyway,  for anyone reading this, chances are type 1 is 'fun' for you.  It's 'fun' for me too.  Which brings me to this report.  After not making any money in the past 6 months (this is what happens when you rely on playing cards for a living :p), I decided to hop back into vintage. 

Unlike my past forays into the format, I wanted to play real decks.  No more kird ape at every tourney.  I mean, playing that type of deck is fine if you just want to have 'fun', but it's not 'fun' bringing a puddy knife to a gun fight every tourney.  Once in a while I would win big with the stupid deck, but the majority of the time I would not.  Although I always try to maintain a sunny disposition in games, it's hard to do sometimes when you're losing to better cards instead of better players.  Thus came my decision to play real cards in type 1.  Yes, that means playing the color blue.

I then began testing a wealth of different decks, all with blue in them.  There were alot of decks that I thought were ok, but one in particular I enjoyed alot was UW fish.  Yes, fish.  The only deck that I would love to play against in the past with GR beats and stompy, and all that other aggro crap.  I thought fish could be good, my playtest group laughed at me.  Alot.  Then I was told about Jotun Grunt.  I wanted coldsnap to be legal the day I heard about that card.  Sadly it wasn't, and I would have to wait to try that little fellow out.  So my first t1 tourney back would be at Myriad Games.  Living up to my vow of playing a real deck, I played an Ostompy variant that splashed for pyrostatic pillar and kird ape.  I went 1-3 drop. 

So a week comes and goes, and I notice a post for a t1 tourney at the Beanie Exchange.  Enjoying that venue very much and having done well in the past there, I wanted to go.  But it was two hours away.  Not really worth it.  Then I saw that coldsnap would be legal for this tourney.  Ok, now I want to go.  But who to go with.  Rich Shay is in Europe.  Stefan Ellsworth is on his way to Europe to barn Rich.  Dana A.K.A. Master Tap A.K.A. TheDeadMan is wacthing Undertaker DVD's.  Andy Farias works.  Who, who could I find that has absolutely nothing better to do with their time then travel to far off locales just to play T1?  Does such a person even exist?  As I pondered this, Brassman gave me a call.  The following conversation is word for word what took place the night before the tournament:

*ring*
Me:  Hello?
Brassman:  Hi Dave.
Me:  Hey Brassman, long time no see.  How are you good buddy?
Brassman:  Terrible.
Me:  So how can I help you today?
Brassman:  Nothing can help me.
Me:                        ...
Brassman:  Do you want to go to the Beanie Exchange on Sunday?
Me:  I want to go, just not alone.
Brassman:  I'll go if we can take your car.  I have no money.
Me:  Maybe you should sell some of your 10,000 extra pieces of power.
Brassman: ...
Me:  Ok! You can come with me.  You can sleep over so we can test tonight.  I'll even go easy on gas money, because I'm just happy that someone is coming along me with on this extremely long trip to a location that I don't know how to get to.  That's why I would never want to go alone.
Brassman:  I appreciate it.
Me: I appreciate you not making me go alone Brassman.
*click*         

So plans were set.  I was excited.  I even left Foxwoods early to get some t1 testing in.  Brassman comes over.  Andy Farias joins us shortly thereafter.  To my surprise, Stefan also manages to join our t1 testing jamboree.  Apparently his flight to Europe got delayed in Khazikstan.  By the time it reaches Stefan, Rich will be back in the states.  So Stefan decided to cancel his flight, after seeking counsel from Rich.  There's nothing quite like a dedicated barn.
The testing went well, with the UW fish 50/50'ing or better pretty much everything that was thrown in front of it.  Jotun Grunt was more than proving his worth.  I went to bed that night comfortable with my deck choice and happy that Brassman would be accompanying me on what would otherwise have been a very long and arduous journey to a store I have no idea how to get to.

I sleep soundly.  I wake up.  I walk downstairs.  Brassman is not lying on my couch.  I run into the bathroom to check if he hung himself and my worst fears are confirmed:

Brassman pussyed out on me and went home.

That's ok, I have one of his extra moxen.  I may even continue the tradition set before me by other vintage players and 'hang onto it' for a long period of time.

So off to Beanie land I went: Alone, tired, depressed... with a mox I didn't have previously.  Guess it's just 9 proxies for me!

Two Hours later I wind up at the tournament and say hello to all of the regulars: Hatcher, Kyle Leith, Nate Pease... notably absent was one Travis LAPlante.  He instead decided to play for a mox in the glorious locale of NEW JERSEY.  I heart the Travis.  I wish he was at Beanie.  Unfortauntely he and Beanie are at war.  Think Syria/Lebanon vs. Israel, but bigger.  When I was overheard asking to borrow Tundras, I received multiple looks of shock.  Sorry Kird Apes, I found some new friends.

This is the list I wound up with:

4 Savannah Lions
4 Isamaru
4 Meddling Mage
3 Kataki
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Stifle
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Null Rod
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Saphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall

4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Tundra

Sideboard:
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Seal of Cleansing
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Waterfront Bouncer
3 Chalice of The Void

This list was born out of extensive testing.  I just wanted mine to go for the throat and have substantial backup.  Before some random idiot pops on and says "U STOLE MAH FISH LIZT," please be aware that the first thirty cards of this particular archtype are basically identical in all competitive versions.  The last ten or so are where creative differences occur (and sometimes in the lands).  I don't think there is an optimal UW fish list, for the record.  Some people will tell you otherwise, but the truth of the matter is this:  Like all fish lists, they change frequently and depend solely on your expected metagame.  Sometimes it's the correct call to not run fish at all. 

Now that I got all my fish disclaimers out of the way, I will say that the maindeck is exactly where I want it.  I would find a way to fit a fourth Grunt in there, but other than that I'm happy with it.  The sideboard had exactly 9 useful cards.  Six were totally useless and will soon be finding there way out.  To find out what they were, read the rest of this report :p

Thirty people should be here, but Travis and Brassman actually aren't, so 28 People are here which means five rounds of the swissy with cut to top 8. 

Round 1: Dan Yarrington /w Teh Mountains Win Again

God.  Of all the people I could face, I get the other person in the room notorious for running the same budget aggro deck over and over and over again.
Dan's actually a good player, so he puts up results.  He, like I used to, preys on blue decks, especially fish.  =/

Game 1: Dan hints he may not be playing mountains but I don't buy it.  He leads with Turn one goblin Welder, which I let resolve.  He then drops mox and Grim Lavamancer and I know the jig is up.  I'm forced to Force the wizard and plow the welder, but Dan just keeps laying out little budget-arrgroish threats and keeps toasting mine.  He dispatches me rather effortlessly.

Game 2: He accidentally flips over Jotun Grunt and I cringe.  I thought I was the only one running that card.  I deal with his first Grunt, but his second one comes out to play.  It is here where I learn the true power of the Jotun Grunt. I wasn't aware that you could theoretically remove cards from different graveyards (still two at a time) for each age counter.  Dan informs me that it's on the Coldsnap FAQ.  Dan's about as upstanding as a player can be in Vintage, so I don't bother to ask for a judge to check it.  I check for myself later and he is correct.  Which means two things: 1) He kicked my ass even faster and 2) Jotun Grunt is absolutely frigging ridiculous.  No more running threee.

I'm a little depressed about losing round one, especially considering the distance I traveled, but Dan says not to worry about it and wishes me good luck until we meet again in the finals.  How right he almost was.

0-1

Round 2: Rich Meist /w Workshop Aggro

Rich is a member of team Perfect Scrubs, who I'm pretty good friends with.  I constantly see Rich and his teammate in attendance Ross at PTQ's.  They are in the minority of active T1 teams in that they have both been to Pro Tours.  On top of that, they are both genuinely nice guys.  Unlike Brassman.

Game 1: He gets a typical "Oops, I win" draw that this deck can produce of being on the play and leading with workshop + moxes + trinisphere + it doesn't matter what else because I have no shot at winning since R&D had no business printing Trinisphere.

Game 2: I get a quick Kataki out and manage to protect it with BEB's and Fow's everytime he tries to do something mean to it.

Game 3: He mulligans and then leads with a turn 1 lotus and wasteland.  This is a big tell for me, so instead of leading out with turn 1 guy I waste his waste, pegging him to be land screwed.  He pops Lotus on his upkeep with two black floating and I force it, he frowns and burns for two.  He doesn't draw another land for several turns, at which point it's too late for him to recover.

1-1

Round 3: Teh Jeff /w U/B/W wizard fish

Jeff is a popular local and I could see why.  He was very friendly the entire match and we talked a fair amount later on in the day.

Game 1: He leads with turn 1 confidant and I don't have the force or the plow.  For those who don't know, if you have either of those cards in your hand when facing a confidant, promptly use them.  If you have both, just use the plow :p  Anyway, the confidant rolls me over in short order.

I look at opposing fish to be a coin flip game one, then significantly in my favor for games 2-3.  I don't peg anyone to be running Jitte, which I consider to be the nut high in this matchup.  The Waterfront Bouncers, which in general were the suck, also came in here. 

Game 2: I had a good Isamaru/Meddling Mage (always name confidant) start and with counter and plow backup, they go all the way.

Game 3: He's forced to mulligan and I'm able to waste away his early mana.  I run a jitte out there and immediately equip Isamaru.  It goes to town.

2-1

Round 4: Dave Singer with Control

Dave is the owner of the store and a pretty nice guy. 

Game 1: He led with alot of artifacts.  I manage to pop null rod out there.  He looks like Slaver.  He resolves trinker for Colossus but I have the Plow.

Game 2: He again leads with lots of artifacts but this time I answer with Kataki.  I also pop out multiple meddling mages naming various harmful threats and the weenies do their job.

3-1

Round 5: Outlaw with Counterbalance.dec

I like Outlaw.  He's like Brassman, but with all the good qualities a human being should have.

So I go into this round thinking I can draw, but Dan manages to hurt me even after he kicked my ass in round 1.  Unfortunately for me, Dan is currently 2-1-1 and I'm unable to draw because of this.  If he wins, I'm toast on tiebreakers.  So we play.  Outlaw is not pleased.  I don't blame him, because even though his deck is insane and Counterbalance is the nuts, he doesn't handle aggro decks very well.  With that said, Counterbalance is seriously insane.  As great as Jotun Grunt is, Counterbalance is just plain unfair.  Not just in this format either, I was doing some side t2 testing, and it was almost as broken there as well.
I'm starting to think R&D stands for Reefers and Doobies, since they are clearly high when making some of these cards.

Game 1: He leads with t1 Counterbalance.  I try for Force, he has his own Force backup.  This should be game right there, but his Mana Crypt does a boatload of damage to him.  At some point in the game, I get a Savannah Lion out there and it also does a boatload of damage before being darkblasted.  I get him all the way down to one, and he lays out a Dark Confidant.  If he waited on the confidant until he had sufficient shuffle effects (deck runs brainstorm and top), he wins hands down.  Because he doesn't wait, he flips over a top and dies.  He kicks himself for the mistake.

Game 2: I come out of the gates with meddling mage on counterbalance.  I then drop Null Rod.  The game is over in like 3 minutes.

We play a third game out for fun and he smokes me.  I feel bad about not being able to draw with Outlaw, but it ends up that Dan wins his match, so I would have been drawing to ninth.  Outlaw ends up winning the side tourney for a box anyway.  Mark my words: Counterbalance is getting restricted somewhere down the line.

4-1

I'm first after swiss, with the other seven decks being Nate Pease /w Gifts, SS, Three Workshop Aggro, TMWA and I'm unsure of what the other deck was.

Teh Quarterfinals: Scott /w Workshop Aggro

Of all the incredibly friendly opponents I faced on the day, Scott was the friendliest.  He mentioned that I was a celebrity.  If being a profressional scrub makes me famous, then...

 To Dave Feinstein!  :p

Game 1: He leads with Turn one Sphere but doesn't have much else.  A juggernaut comes down a little later, but I'm able to Stabalize the board with Kataki and friends. 

Game 2: This time he goes utterly broken, with an early Staff of Domination and oodles and noodles of mana.  I try my damndest to stay in the game, but I was never really in it.

Gee, I wish I had energy Flux in my sideboard instead of those Waterfront Bouncers.

Game 3: I lead with Mox/Lotus/Kataki and Meddling Mage naming Juggernaut.  Wow, I'm not used to 'going broken'.  Sorry Taiga/Kird Ape, you can't compare with this turn 1.  Scott tries to cope with my draw, but it was too much.

5-1

Teh Semifinals

Ross Meriam /w Workshop Aggro

I sure am facing alot of these today.  Ross is the other Perfect Scrub member in the room.  We arrange a split since we're both friends.

Game 1:

He wins the die roll.  This ends up being my doom. He busts out a quick Juggernaut with sphere backup.  If I was on the play It would have been turn 1 Kataki + Isamaru.  Sadly the die roll plays far too big a role in these game ones.

Game 2: I have lots of Plows and Wastes, my weenies are able to whittle him down

Game 3: He leads slow.  I drop Isamaru and Jotun Grunt.  At some point Grunt trades with Juggernaut (works for me), and we are at a standoff.  He gets out a trinisphere /w crucible and welder but I have a sizeable weenie army.  I manage to sneak a Kataki out before he nukes all my land.  I have plow in hand but he has lightning geraves on his Welder.  Before he can bust out Big Plats, I'm able to squeeze through exactly lethal.

6-1

Dan lost to Nate Peas in the quarters in a tight 3 game match.  Had Dan won, I expected him in the finals since he was up against SS, which is an even easier fish matchup for him than I am.  Nate won, so I expected him to cruise through SS.  I was wrong there as well.

Teh Finals: Mike Pies /w SS

I was very surprised to see the other fish deck in the room in the finals with me.  I had never seen Mike before but knew he was packing an altered version of SS.  He had swung with Tog in earlier matches.  Mike offers the split, which is usually something I covet when I'm fortunate enough to be playing in the finals.  This time I turned it down, because I already had a split (and apparently he had one with Nate), and I was confident in this matchup.  He was also confident.  He said he liked his sideboard.  I said I liked mine too.  Hmmmm.  When you have to confident players, someone has to lose.

Game 1: I come out of the gates pretty well, as does he.  We trade shots for a little while.  Lots of stifles and wastelands flying around.  I get a Jotun Grunt to stick and start to go to town.  My mistake here is not correctly identifying that he was setting up for Yawg will, as I start dumping my own graveyard back into my library.  He's looking in bad shape until he casts Yawg Will, which SS had not previously run.  I saw it coming once he cast Demonic Tutor, another card SS typically doesn't run.  Why SS doesn't run either of these cards is beyond me, seems like no brainers.  Anyway, he took me for a loop with the Will and drew 12-15 extra cards and took an extra turn.  He then lays toggy and dumps his remaining graveyard.  I only get one more swing in with grunt and get him to 1.  My grunt dies and he stabalizes.  He lays an erayo.  His Tog/Erayo stare down my Savannah Lions/Meddling Mage on Confidant.  He's able to start swinging once he finally gets darkblast and drops cutpurse, and suddenly im on the defense.  Several turns go by where another creature or a plow would be game over, but I draw niether and just sit there getting pounded for 1 while his erayo sits on defense.  I can't break through until I draw another creature.  When I finally do he sets me up perfectly with echoing truth and swings lethal.

Oh well, there's always Jittes to pull me through... or so I think

Game 2: I have double Isamaru and a jitte on the play, as well as a FOW but no blue cards.  I like the hand since I know that deck brings in edicts every time.  I lead with Isamaru and pass.  He duresses me and takes FOW without much thought.  This worries me greatly.  I know he's a good player, and he didn't really hesitate in taking what is usually the wrong card there.  I untap, equip and swing...he edicts as expected.  I lay another Isamaru.  He now has to deal with this one as well unles... he lays a jitte of his own.  I was worried about that.  :-/  After this, it becomes a topdecking war.  He draws Bob, I draw nothing.  I lose shortly thereafter.  Oh well.

This is the second time I've played at the Beanie Exchange, the second time I've gotten second there, the second time I've won a mana drain there, and the first time that mana drain has not been english :p  Still, I enjoyed going and this has boosted my confidence for actually attending Waterbury.  I was debating on going to Maine to try and make another run at PT scrubdom, but Waterbury is probably a lock at this point.  For those looking for a good aggro deck post Coldsnap legality, this is the one.  There were no matchups I dreaded other than Mountains, and that's rarely played.  Stax/Worshop aggro can be rough, but I beat it every time.  I'm probably replacing Waterfront Bouncers and Chalices with Orim's Chants and Energy Fluxes.  Although I did not face combo, I'm pretty sure Chant would be much nuttier than chalice.  So there you have it.  As usual comments are appreciated.  Cya later.

- Dave Feinstein


 

[kirdape3]

Yay, Isamarus and Savannah Lions in a Fish deck!  How rucky, shaggy.

Grunt is one of those Good Men of the Week (tm) that should now be a baseline as a four-of in this deck.  He's just absurd.  It's like DanDan was in Ashok's old Fish list from a Waterbury way back, only with a relevant ability and no Islandhome required.

How good were the Stifles?

[Machinus]

I'm starting to think R&D stands for Reefers and Doobies, since they are clearly high when making some of these cards.

Thank you for the entertaining report.

[EnialisLiadon]

Excellent report.  Cool to see that the Grunt is living up to atleast some of its hype.  It definately looks strong.  Is Ninja not run in u/w fish anymore?  It looks like a nice addition here, with so many one-drops, Grunts and Mages.  Anyways.

Wow.  That is some strong endorsement for Counterbalance.  I admittedly haven't actually seen it in action, but can understand your responce.  I highly doubt it can be placed in just any blue deck, however--it needs more than Brainstorm to work effectively and I've always viewed SDT as a one-sided Sphere of Resistance.  I think the card is best suited for t1.5 and extended, but it could certainly make a decent splash across all the formats.

Great report and congrats on the finish!

[Gabethebabe]

Nice report. Thanks.

TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!

[Nastaboi]

He pops Lotus on his upkeep with two black floating and I force it, he frowns and burns for two.

He popped Lotus for Vampiric, right? Nice beats and an entertaining report.

[T00L]

i'm obv a bigger brassman barn than rich barn :P

[Smmenen]

Joton Grunt isn't legal for another month.  Big cheatz.

[Toad]

Tournaments filled with cards that are not legal in the format = tech.

[AbouTreeFiddy]

it could be worse, we could always live in france.....or ohio.

Uncalled for.  Disagreement with people is fine, but find other ways to discuss it.  Verbal warning.
- Kowal[/color]

[emidln]

Tournaments filled with cards that are not legal in the format = tech.

How are they not legal in the format? He was playing at an unsanctioned tournament, right? It's modified Vintage to begin with (allowing proxies0, so why not allow cards that just came out?

[M.Solymossy]

Well, Outlaw was also playing Counterbalance apparetly, so I'm ASSUMING that they announced that coldsnap was legal.

[Gabethebabe]

Then I saw that coldsnap would be legal for this tourney.

To read a tourney report = tech.

People, people, where are your manners? TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!

[Anusien]

Nice report.  TO DAVE FEINSTEIN.

Out of curiousity, why would you ever Grunt yourself?  I guess you could put creatures back into your deck and get a shuffle to increase your threat density, but is it more important to do that or to put lands back on your opponent's deck?  I'm referring to the finals against SS.  This especially seems key since you knew that he had Togs in his 75.

[EotGiftsGG?]

TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!!

Great Report..

[Yare]

Very nice report; both informative and entertaining.  I am intrigued that you found Grunt and Counterbalance so good.  I guess we'll see if that turns out to be true in the future.

I would highly recommend Energy Flux in the sideboard by the way; it really takes a lot of the headache (and thinking) out of the stax matchup.

Best of luck in the future and congrats!

Edit: Other edit deleted due to my own stupidity.

[Disburden]

I once heard that Dave Feintstein made his Kird Apes fight Jotun Grunts in an epic battle for their master's acceptance. Grunt came out on top in a pile of ape corpses, hence the list!

Great report, I wish you typed more.

TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!!

[UR]

Dammit, I thougt the time-difference between the US and Europe was only about six to nine hours... turns out is is about a month! That is when the Grunt will become legal over here...

[AbouTreeFiddy]

Then I saw that coldsnap would be legal for this tourney.

Dammit, another person that posts something retarded before actually reading.

[EnialisLiadon]

In their defense, they would have to read it to gather that he used Grunts in his deck.  The title of the thread isn't, "I GOT 2ND AT BEANIE AND BTW I USED JOTUN GRUNT."

So people can read, just not very well.

[Smmenen]

Tournaments filled with cards that are not legal in the format = tech.

How are they not legal in the format? He was playing at an unsanctioned tournament, right? It's modified Vintage to begin with (allowing proxies0, so why not allow cards that just came out?

Because it won't be legal at Gencon.  That's at least one good reason.

[tehmajickguy]

Great report Dave. I sincerely hope you decide to write more often, because you're one of the best magic writers I've ever had the opportunity to read. Congrats on your finish and hope to see ya at Waterbury.

[Kowal]

Tournaments filled with cards that are not legal in the format = tech.

How are they not legal in the format? He was playing at an unsanctioned tournament, right? It's modified Vintage to begin with (allowing proxies0, so why not allow cards that just came out?

Because it won't be legal at Gencon.  That's at least one good reason.

Nor are proxies.  Let's get back on topic though, shall we?

[Methuselahn]

Yes, yes.   More homage to the Jotun pimp.  To the one and only Dave Feinstein.  TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!  W00T!!

Thanks for sharing your report Dave, they are always a good read.

and, of course, congrats.

[Smmenen]

Tournaments filled with cards that are not legal in the format = tech.

How are they not legal in the format? He was playing at an unsanctioned tournament, right? It's modified Vintage to begin with (allowing proxies0, so why not allow cards that just came out?

Because it won't be legal at Gencon.  That's at least one good reason.

Nor are proxies.  Let's get back on topic though, shall we?

Yeah, but the reason I said that it won't be legal at gencon is a good reason is because tournaments like this are often a good proving ground for Gencon - but less so if cards are legal that won't be legal at gencon. 

Has The Memnarch given up his Kird Apes in favor of Fish forever?

[Gaagooch]

Great job Dave, very nice report.  I could not make it to this event otherwise i would have probably played some coldsnap cards to test what the format may end up being like.  I mean Steve you already know what the format is like right now.  You can look at Waterbury results if you want to see how Gencon might shape us, as i would use those resuts anyways as opposed to a much smaller field of decks.  And you are just going to play long anyways.  So it really shouldnt matter that the beannie exchange allowed coldsnap to be played, just disregard the results.

[TopSecret]

     Thanks for writing the report. I greatly enjoyed it...

I once heard that Dave Feinstein became so enraged upon hearing
that Mogg Fanatic was voted in over Kird Ape in 10th Edition,
that he became disillusioned with RG Beats, Standard, and all forms of Sanctioned Magic...

     TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!!!

[Madchemist]

So from reading this report, the moral of the story is:

Jotun Grunt > Brassman   :lol:


To DAVE FEINSTEIN!!

[Pave]

Thankyou for the excellent report.

One of the main challenges to UW Fish now seems to be SS (the best Confidant fish so far).  Would Ninja help at all in addressing this match-up, and the mirror generally?  I suspect not, remebering that he is tempo loss and bad without a one-drop, which can occur.  (Would Sky Hussars help?  They look a bit bad next to the Swords of Fire and Ice that SS is bringing in.)  SS buys the time it needs for its bigger curve (Cutpurse) with Wasteland and principally Stifle (and in other match-ups Shadow of Doubt or Hymn to Tourach).  SS can beat UW especially when it gets the jump by means of an early stifle on a fetch, which doesn't encourage me to run mass fetches by way of fueling 4 Grunts.  Is Jitte enough v. SS or would Crusade or Condemn - both having better tempo than Jitte - or something else be better?  Crusade can't remove a Confidant but that might be okay because you just want to race anyway.

Omitting Chalice in favour of Kataki may be correct (because you want to bash).  Are Stifles NEEDED in this case to further take up the slack?  I tend to think not because UW should be tapping out early to play threats.  Stifle can help with Grunt, though, and even Hallowed Fountain, defending against Wasteland if no basics are used.

Were four Isamarus fine?  Could Karakas get a look in?

Is your build too vulnerable to Tinker?  Or are Swords, Forces and Meddling Mages enough?  Are there enough blue cards in your deck to support Force?  I suspect not.

[Dxfiler]

Thanks for all the comments.  I have a couple quick notes before I get to responses. 

1) my quarterfinals opponent was named Jason, not Scott.  Sorry.

2) No Brassmen were harmed in the making of this report.

All references to Brassman were meant in pure jest.  I'm pretty sure everyone who read the report (except for maybe Brassman :p) knows that.  He truly is a stand-up guy.  Oh the jokes I could add right about now.  Seriously, Brassman is one of the most respectable people I've ever met in the game.  This is coming from someone who's played for twelve years and met thousands of players.  He probably gets the least amount of recognition among the big names in vintage, mainly because he's the most humble of them all.

I didn't really need to add this Brassman addendum, but felt compelled to do so for those who do not know Brassman.  He truly is a class act.  For more on

Brassman, pickup this month's issue of Inquest.  That is if you can find a store that actually carries it.

As for comments about the deck, let's start with stifle.  Stile is very mediocre.  It's strictly a support card in the deck.  Not once did it singlehandedly change a game's outcome.  With that said, I don't see it going anywhere in the near future.  Stfile serves several key functions in the deck.  Besides the obvious fetchland and wasteland stopping, it is the most pitched card to Force of Will.  That's a big deal.  It can also be clutch in scenarios involving lots of evil artifacts; examples being Sundering Titan, Triskelion, Smokestack.  It can be a time walk against a Goblin Welder or Bazzar of baghdad.  Using stifle to combat those two cards is rare, but I have won games off that type of play.  One reason why you probably wouldn't stifle a Bazzar is because Bazzar means DAGARON.  And Dagaron means stifle.  Also, if you ever come across it, stifle pwns madness.  Finally, and as already mentioned in this thread, Stifle can be used defensively to keep your adorable little Jotun Grunt around for another turn. 

Ninja of the deep hours is one of those cards that I would like to run, but he's just so damn clunky.  Sure he draws you a card, but he takes alot of setup.  This version of fish isn't really about setup.  It lays some guys and pounds while having backup.  If you want an aggro deck that can setup for a lockdown, just play SS.

As for Hallowed Fountain, it was in here for a while.  I ended up cutting it for Windswept heaths.  I am very happy about that decision.  Way too many wastelands running around for me to justify slightly better mana.

That's all I can think of at the moment in regards to comments.  Thank you again for reading the report.  Glad to see people enojyed it. 

- Dave Feinstein

P.S. For those who are going, see you at Waterbury