I would like to dedicate this report to Kird Ape.
First, just a few words to the dearly departed:
I will never forget the times we had in Vintage. You and I, we once had the world. You a 1/1. Me a Feinstein. Together with a forest, a 2/3 beatstick. I remember frollicking in the fields with you, picking strawberries. Then there was that time when I was out of money and you paid for dinner. A week later, I tried to pay you back, and you wouldn't let me! It's hard to pick just one, but I have to say my most fond memory would be playing four of you off a taiga and a lotus on turn one. Yeah we lost, but the look on that guy's face sure was priceless. Oh the memories.
For those still asking me, Kird Ape is now out of my life. All those months of not winning me any power drove him to the edge of a toilet bowl. He felt it best if I not know. In the middle of the night, I heard a flush, but when I got to the bathroom... it was too late. All that was left was a green sleeve.
Kird Ape left me to pick up the pieces, and I did the best I could. I decided to switch to fish, and although I felt dirty about it, I won a mana drain my first time playing it. I decided to run fish again for Waterbury. The problem was Jotun Grunt. I want to play him. He is the nutz0rs. He is not legal for day one. This makes U/W fish significantly weaker... or so I thought. I scanned for fish variants to run hour after hour. I thought about blue/red fish, but then I realized Darkblast was legal and scrapped that option. Next came toying around with SS. I liked SS intially, but as time wore on, it just wasn't cutting the mustard. This mainly came from it being very dependant on drawing the right mix of threats and answers at the right time. There are alot of common scenarios in T1 that the deck just can't handle without an exact combination of cards. And if there's a weenie rush on the other side of the table? SS has no actual spot removal game one (save a lone edict sometimes), so you can kiss that game goodbye.
Then came the IM from Rich Meyst. I have mentioned Rich in my previous reports, but for those who don't aren't familiar with him, he's a good guy who usually plays aggro in T1, much like myself. Rich informs me of a new deck that he's working on. I look at it and it's a glorified threshold deck... built specifically to abuse the holy hell out of Vinelasher Kudzu.
I liked it. I liked it alot. Thoughts of running it came prancing through my head, but I wasn't prepared to just get in there with it. It hadn't put up any results as of yet and Rich himself hadn't actually tested it much, so I ultimately scrapped that idea. I decided to stick with UW fish. The list I ran was almost an exact copy of what I ran the previous week, but without Jotun Grunt due to legality issues. He couldn't get a visa in time.
Here is my Waterbury Day 1 list:
4 Kir- I mean Isamaru
4 Savannah Lions
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
3 Stifle
4 Meddling Mage
3 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Null Rod
4 Force of Will
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestralk Recall
4 Tundra (At least it sounds like Taiga)
4 Flooded Strand
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Windswept Heath
Sideboard:
3 Orim's Chant
3 Energy Flux
3 Seal of Cleansing
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Blue Elemental Blast
I put as much testing in as I could, usually playing on MWS. The problem with MWS is you can walk into a room stating "T1 SERIOUS PLAYERS ONLY!!" and be the recipient of turn 1 Orcish Lumberjack. As much as I can apprecuate that astoundingly powerful play, that's not why I endure the terrible interface of MWS. I want to play against real decks. To try and achieve that goal, multiple people helped me. The most helpful one being Travis LaPlante. I'm not sure how much longer I can even say Travis's name on these forums before that too is banned, but while I still can say it: Thank you Travis.
The deck was doing ok, but definitely not amazing. It had problems with turn one confidant and welder. It's not like either of those cards are played, so I felt comfortable enough to run this and if I ran into the above cards, just cross my fingers and hope Swords to Plowshares was in my hand. If Jotun Grunt was legal, I'd feel a hell of alot more comfortable, but instead I was forced at gunpoint to run Ninja of the Deep Hours on day one. Oh well.
I went up to Waterbury with the usual cast of characters; Rich Shay, Brassman, and our mutually shared barn Stefan. On the car ride up, Brassman decided to provide us with an inspirational CD. Listening to such classics as 'Eye of the Tiger' and 'The Final Countdown,' it was hard to imagine not doing well. In fact, I was pegging at least half the car to top 16. In other words, Rich Shay and someone else. Unfortauntely, Rich decided not to run Control Slaver. His recent success with Dragon made him think it would be the right choice. As successful as he may have been with Dagaron, Rich without Control Slaver is like Hulk Hogan without the 'Real American' theme music. Sure, Hogan can prance around with a black goatee, an NWO shirt, some porn music and still sell out arenas... but it's just not the same thing. The aura is gone. The same is with Rich and Slaver. He needs it, it needs him. End of story.
Stefan chose also to run Dragon and Brassman went with Gifts. Both of them had good shots as well. Stefan has been under Rich's dragon tutelage and Brassman, for the first time I can remember, seemed fairly confident in his deck choice. When he's on his A-game, Brassman is a pure beast. This is quite rare, but when it happens, he does well. From this point forward, I will stop mentioning Brassman in this report, as he has hinted at being sick of my mentioning him in public arenas. Since he's quite possibly the most non-confrontational person on the planet, he won't actually just say 'Feinstein stop mentioning me in your report you big-headed n00b," but I can read between the lines. I will honor the request and from here onward not mention 'Brassman' in this report.
We arrive at Waterbury about an hour ahead of schedule. I'm able to mingle with alot of people. I like mingling. I'm a social butterfly. My 5th grade teacher told me so. I make the usual rounds, and the turnout looks good. At least 150. All the big name teams have representatives: Reflection, GG's, Meandeck... Team Milkshake. I'm able to go over and say hello to members of most of those teams. Team Milkshake comes over and says hello to me. I try in particular to greet Outlaw of GG's, but he merely gives me a glance that screams 'Oh it's just Feinstein,' and goes back to talking with teammate Andrew Probasco. I comment to Outlaw that this will not be the last he sees of Dave Feinstein today. Oh no, it won't!
Round one goes up and the official tally is 144 people with 8 rounds of swiss, cut top top 16. Gonna be a long day....
Round 1: Bye. Yeah, I purchased one. Not for the win, but to support Ray. I think he should have charged $5, as every single person eligible most likely would have bought one, but if $10 increases the odds of him making money then so be it. The rest of the car was also eligible for byes and chose to support Ray as well.
Round 2: Rich Meyst /w Vinelasher Kudzu.dec (later known as WTG)
So um, yeah. This sucks. Hard. Rich and I groaned when we saw the pairings. I knew exactly what he was playing and had no idea how this matchup would play out. My guess is I bend over to nimble mongoose but can handle most of the other threats, probably making this a coinflip match.
Game 1: I lead with the lions and hounds. I remember null rod playing a big part in this match, as he happens to draw all of his moxen making him very mana light. He eventually draws lands and starts laying mongrels. I sure could use wasteland right about now. Out of nowhere, Neate Pease ninjas into our game and asks what I need. I exclaim, "Wasteland!" He says ok. My next two draws gives me Wastelands. Rich frowns. His two mongrels hold the board for a while, but I eventually run guys into them and replace them with other guys, whittling him away to exactly lethal because he was land light.
I side out null rods for jittes
Game 2: He beats the holy hell out of me as I'm holding 3 Isamarus with one on the board.
Game 3: I get the quick Isamaru/jitte start and he's trying to play catch-up. I again draw multiple Isamarus, but they keep trading with wild mongrels so I'm fine. While this is going on, I get counters on jitte, making every non-mongoose guy he plays basically dead on arrival. By the time he actually does lay a nimble, it's forced to chumpblocked whatever jitte equipped weenie I throw in front of it. He never sees his oxidizes and the jitte takes it home.
I wish Rich good luck and tell him I got lucky. After playing the match, I don't think it favors me or is even a coin flip. Mongoose never really came out to play when it would have counted, and null rod actually damaged him one game. This is definitely an anomaly, since he also runs the card and 9 times out of 10 isn't affected by it. I happened to hit that one time. Despite the loss, Rich stayed in good spirits and we wished each other luck. His last comment to me this round was, "See you in the finals."
2-0
Round 3: Rob Constanza /w EBA
I've played Rob before and he's a very nice guy. I remember getting him to one with Kird Apes, then Exalted Angel flying over the poor things and winning the match. I was not hoping for Deja Vu.
Game 1: I get some hot Lion into Ninja action, and the ninja goes deep. Oh baby. I get at least 4 cards off it before he's able to plow it. Some lions come out to play but meet the fate of darkblast. Then we both draw blanks for a while. A few counters come flying from both sides. He's at five mana and I keep drawing wastes to keep him off six. Finally some morphs start coming out to play and I promptly plow two of them. A ninja is hardcast and starts to beat in once again. I wasted and stripped him down to 3 lands and only one black source when he's at 1. He can't upkeep darkblast, dredge it back and do it again. He draws his final angel and morphs it down. Visions of him stabalazing once again on me at one run through my head, but I quickly snap out of it. I run my ninja into the morph, forcing the block. I'm able to do an even trade since he was forced to tap out when casting it. More blank drawing ensues on both sides until I finally draw a meddling mage and finish off a grueling game 1.
I side in Umezawa's Jitte and take out stifle. This was a bad call.
Game 2: I lead with guy and jitte. He plows guy and we pass for a while. A nullrod hops out there and while it does slow him down, I can no longer equip jitte to anything. Once again, we're both in topdeck mode after lots of counters and removal go flying around. Kataki ended up being the finisher here as he never saw a darkblast.
3-0
Round 4: Chad Behre /w My worst matchup in the room
As I sat down, the first thing I noticed about Dan was his Team Ball and Chain T-shirt. I recognized that shirt, but couldn't put my finger from exactly where. I asked where he was from, he said New Hampshire. Uh oh. I asked if he knew Dan Yarrington, he said he came up with him. Oh no. I asked if team Ball and Chain was Dan's team and he confirmed. Jeebus help me, I'm up against The Mountains Win Again.
Game 1: He drops plateau and a welder. At least I know that's the least threatening creature in his deck for me. I drop guys, he burns them. He drops guys, I try to cope. Grim lavmancer manages to stick after I plow an earlier one. I die to it.
After getting my ass handed to me by Myriad Games owner Dan the week earlier, I figured out that Umezawa's Jitte is actually horrendous in this matchup. Since I have no Jotun Grunt today, any creature I attempt to plop jitte onto will be promptly burnt to a crisp. With that newfound knowledge, I merely do a 3 stifle for 3 BEB swap.
Game 2: I get some weenies out there and he starts burning them. He's continually magma jetting and opting not to put anything on the bottom from his scrying, which does not bode well for me. I stick down two Savannah lions and the burn suddenly stops. He gets crucible/strip online and takes out all my lands, but I just keep beating with 2 guys. I draw a land but decide to hold it in case I draw into plow/beb. While at 4, he drops a lavmancer and passes. I draw into beb, drop my land, and successfully cast/resolve the beb for game.
After seeing crucible, I make the additional sideboard swap of 3 null rod for 3 seal of cleansing.
Game 3: He leads with an early pyrostatic pillar, which definitely puzzles me. Although he has burn, pillar does not seem very effective in this matchup because every time he casts a spell, it's two less damage I have to do to him. That may seem obvious, but in this matchup we both have tons of expendable weenies, and if i happen to draw more than him, I'm going to do more damage to him early on. That's exactly what happened. He manages to stabalize at 6, but I'm at 10 which gives me more chances to drop guys and hope they stick. My first two guys don't stick and I'm down to 6. The trouble for him is that he's now at 2. Other than mishra's, he can't kill me. I just have to find any creature before he finds a factory. I find once again a clutch savannah lion, and although he rips a grim lavamancer, he cant cast it. At least, I notice he can't. He casts the lavamancer and passes. I inform him he's dead to the pillar. He frowns and extends the hand. I breathe a sigh of relief. Dan Yarrington scowls at me later. :p
4-0
At ths point Stefan is also 4-0. Rich and Andrew Probasco are both 3-1. Looking good for the
car so
far. I have good
times with my sick
rhymez.
Round 5: Elias (SonataoftheCathedral) /w Bomberman
People had been mentioning earlier that if Elias wins, Christopher Walken would be adorned on the next TMD playmat. As untouchably cool as that would be, I also want to win Waterbury so I can have... ninja of the deep hours on the playmat? Faced with that choice, I'm also rooting for Elias.
Game 1: I knew he was playing Christopher Walken, but I didn't know Christopher Walken meant Auriok Salvagers with pictures of Christopher Walken over them. He leads with tundras, making me think EBA or a Keeper-esque deck. He already used mana drain and I couldn't find one of my own FOW's in sight, so I resolve a meddling mage naming force of will. He quickly says "resolves." That's never a good thing. He untaps, plops a lotus/Slavagers down, gets infinite mana and then wishes for brainfreeze. Bah.
I side out stifle for seal of cleansing. Not sure why I did this.
Game 2: He leads with some Walkens. I plow them. This would be a recurring theme whenever we play. I setup a turn where I lead with kataki and he counters it, tapping out. I cross my fingers and go for the null rod. It resolves. He drops a couple trinket mages, but he cant use engineered explosives. Eventually some meddling mages do him in.
I realize stifle shouldn't be going anywhere and side it back in.
Game 3: He starts off slow and I get a boatload of weenies down. I meddling mage naming balance and a rod is in play so he can't go off. He draws blanks and just like that I win a tough match against a great player.
5-0
Stefan is also 5-0 and we're both excited. He wants to draw if we face each other, but I tell him playing is the better option, since it's 8 rounds. Although it's a good matchup for me, if we play it guarantees one of us makes it in. 5-0-3 could technically get in, but that's much riskier waters. We would both have to convince 2 other people to draw with us when he would be undoubtedly getting paired up and down in the coming rounds. So that option was out. If we play it out, at least the winner definitely gets in and the loser has to only win one of the next two rounds after that to get in. Stefan is less thrilled with this option since his last two waterbury's he started off 5-0 only to lose 3 in a row. :/
Round 6: OUTLAW OF TEAM GG'S /W GG GIFTS
All that calculating for Stefan for nothing. Oh well, instead of that favorable match, I get the match I realllllly wanted. I never lose to Outlaw :p Don't get me wrong, he's a top notch player, it's just that I always lucksack him out. My feinsteinian aura is too much for him! I assume we're getting feature matched, until they announce orlove/winter as the feature match instead. They were both previously feature matched :/ Oh well. I whine loudly about this just for the hell of it. Ray cracks a smile.
Game 1: I run out a meddling mage. It names Yawgamoth's Will. If you name any other card against grim long or gifts with your first meddling mage, it's probably incorrect. Some people would say name Tendrils right off the bat, but they can still win through any wish or a tinker. Once in a blue moon, they can even still get you with infinite turns and an attacking elvish spirit guide. Andrew Probasco did this to me once on MWS. :p Anyway, the mage goes to town for a while as he sets up a big turn with chain of vapor. I let some gifts reolve while he sets up, and he starts to go off. I have force of Will at key times and think I'm in the clear. It turns out he was baiting me the whole time. He feigned going off so he could actually try and resolve a burning wish. The wish is snuck through and he grabs pyroclasm, pwning my now creature heavy board. BAH. He recoups his will and starts to go off. Miraculously, he falls short on storm and instead is forced to tinker for colossus. I have the plow. After that, it's just a matter of me drawing guys and swinging. This happens and he can't do anything as he's out of gas.
I side out stifle and ninja of the deep hours for orim's chant and blue elemental blast
Game 2: I mull to 3 and keep what actually looks like a potental winner. Lotus/land/meddling mage. He drops some moxes and says go. I draw isamaru. I drop lotus land and mage, pretending i might be batiing him for a null rod. He says resolve and comments that I better not have a null rod. I joke about it but ultimately drop just the isamaru. Although this start is damn good for a fucking mull to 3, it unsurprisingly falls short as he turn 2 tinkers for colossous and I lose promptly. This might be one of the only scenarios where you actually lead out naming tinker with mage, but even if i did that he had more than enough tools to just safely combo out on turn 3 anyway.
Game 3: I keep a 2 plow, 2 land, 2 brainstorm and isamaru hand. It looked fine, but the brainstorms only revealed more Isamarus and I couldn't draw a fetch to save my life. The sad thing is, with only one white open, I still own him off a chant. He has no idea that's in here and is only playing around Daze, which I do not have. After waiting around for a while, he finally goes for it and safely combos off. This loss was extremely frustrating, but I wish Outlaw good luck. I also tell him if we meet again, his ass is mine :p
5-1
Stefan also loses here. Rich is 4-2 and Andrew Probasco is eliminated from the tournament.
Round 7: Kevin /w Confidant aggro
I guess my whining paid off, as this was feature matched. Kevin was the nicest opponent I faced on the day, hands down. He was overjoyed to be at Waterbury and in general seemd to be having a blast. He also came from a PTQ background, like myself. We commented about how much more relaxing type one is compared to ptq's.
Game 1: He leads with confidant, I have the plow. I drop a kataki only to see it get mana drained. He follows up with negator and meddling mage. I try for a fetchland eot and it gets stifled. He's also triple duressed me somewhere along the way. I'm completely perplexed as to what I'm up against. It's like SS meets EBA meets Wizard fish meets TT Confidant. That's not a knock on the deck, btw. I thought Kevin's deck was very unique and I'm sure he was stumping opponents all day. So back to the game. I drop some weenies and he tries for a fact or fiction, I fow it. He's eventually forced to trade his negator plus permanents for my dorks, which leaves him very land land. He has assorted moxen on the table, but a null rod off the top makes my life much easier. A few dorks from me later and that was it.
I don't remember what I sided in here, it may be nothing, since I was at this point still completely clueless as to what I was against.
Game 2: I came out of the gates flying with lions and ninjas and hounds... oh my! :p He had a very creature light draw and a few turns later extended the hand.
I had a blast playing Kevin and wished him good luck. Winning this round ended up being the T16 clincher for me, as my breakers were nutty so win, lose or draw next round I was in. This made me one happy Feinstein.
6-1
Stefan lost and Rich won. Stefan was not a happy panda. I told him to cheer up. If he won round 8 he was definitely in. If Rich won he was probably in.
Round 8: Draw /w Carl Winter
Carl and I amicably drew. I then went to Subway with him and Roland Chang. Both are very nice folk. This Andrew Probasco kid also followed us. Who the hell invited him?
6-1-1
Rich lost to Kevin, who ended up 17th. :/ Stefan also lost and was VERY upset. Understandably so, as he is apparently cursed when it comes to Waterbury. I come into top 16 as third seed and scan the x-2's who made it in. At first I think I'm paired against goblins, and start to tremble. I then realize that I'm in fact paired against...
TOP 16: Elias /w Bomberman
Bah. Neither of us wanted this match again. We both liked our chances in top 16 and facing each other this early was just a kick in the balls. Although I didn't know Elias that well, I offered a small split in that the winner would give the loser $20. Whoever wins gets at least a library, while the loser gets a playmat. Neither of us wanted the damn playmat, so we agreed to the $20 loser bonus and we were off.
Game 1: He starts with triple Salvagers. No lotus is in sight so he just starts beating. Meanwhile I can't manage to keep a land on the board. It comes down to me needing a land and then 3 plows in a row, in that order. I draw those cards in that order and the crowd goes wild. Elias is not pleased. Understandably so :p After that I rip a lions and a ninja and steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
Game 2: I pretend to sideboard but don't actually bring anything in.
My hand is pure gas as he says land go, while I drop land, lotus, mox, 2 meddles and isamaru. Two more meddling mages later (QUAD MAGES!) and that was it.
Elias was a pleasure to play against and I'm sure he'll be winning power in the near future with that deck.
TOP 8: OUTLAW /W GG GIFTS
Outlaw beat the goblins and I get the rematch I was dying for. Outlaw's only mistake in this match was to ask one of his teammates his odds of winning this match. The unidentified teammate said, "You got this." Outlaw had just received the kiss of death.
Game 1: He mulls to five. I drop multiple meddlers with counter backup and smack him around.
This time around I don't side out stifles. Just a ninja for chant swap. Crossman had mentioned how key stifle could be in this matchup and that if I face Outlaw again, to try keeping them in. I tried his advice. For those of you thinking plow should go play in the sideboard, that is not correct. Tinker/colossus is too much of a threat and you never know when you're staring at xantid swarms. The BEB's just didn't seem worth it here either, since the only real threat is burning wish and I can just chant in response to that if need be.
Game 2: He leads land/mox go. I lead with land/mox kataki. It resolves. He untaps and draws. I point to the mox and then to his graveyard. He wants the opportunity to pay for it after drawing a card, but in top 8 I just can't let that happen. He is not happy. Nothing personal, but it's kind of silly to expect any sort of takeback in a top 8 match, even if it's type one. As much as I like Outlaw, there's just too much on the line. I also expect people to fully hold me to the same standard in this type of situation. Anyway, I remember dropping null rod and mage after that. He tries for tinker, I have the fow. I then go crazy on his mana and that's match.
TOP 4: Joel /w 5c Stax
I admit, when I saw Joel playing Roland in top 8, I fully expected to be facing Roland. I had never seen Joel before and he was up against arguably the best Stax player around. That's what I get for underestimating people. It turns out Joel came ALONE from OREGON to play in this event. Now that's a type one fan. Joel was very quiet, but always polite and friendly.
Game 1: He leads with workshop/mox/stax. No kataki in sight, I lose. It's a rough game one but a nutty post sideboard match for me.
I have a number of options in how to board this match. The obvious cards coming in are Flux and Seal. I also thought BEB should come in, and foolishly sided out brainstorm. Don't side out key components of your deck, even for hose cards.
Game 2: He goes workshop trinisphere. Im holding flux AND kataki, just trying to get to 3 land. He keeps wasting me down to two. Luckily he has no threats, and I'm able to eventually get that 3rd land and lay both cards. He concedes a few turns later.
Game 3: I mulligan to five. I keep a lion/mage/fow/2 lander. He again leads with workshop into trinisphere and I'm forced to FOW. Lion comes out to play, but it's just academic at this point. He's 6 cards up on me but the next spell he casts is... in the eye of chaos? Ok... I draw into isamaru and start to think I have a shot at this game, but Sundering Titan comes on down and powns me. I realized after that null rod should have been boarded out for beb, not brainstorm.
I lost a heartbreaker, but Joel was a very nice guy. He ends up losing to Rich Meyst's Kudzu monstrosity, losing his only match to yours truly. I'm technically third but cannot choose between the Mox Ruby or Jet. Ray says I'd have to play it out if I wanted the choice. This initially upsets me, but I find out the other semifinal finisher is Ben Kowal. Ben and I have always repsected each other, despite him trashing my fish earlier in the day :p We sold both mox back to Ray and did an even split. I got to know Ben alot better afterwards as we had a celebratory diner dinner. Kowal is a great player and I'll always be happy to split with him.
It turns out splitting with Kowal would be a recurring theme. On day two I ran the exact same deck but swapped out ninjas for grunts. I was going to do a day 2 report, but this is getting too long so I'll give the uber condensed version:
I start out 4-0, facing all sorts of stuff. I face off with Kowal, we agree again to a split. This one being that if one of us makes top 4 and the other one somehow, someway doesn't make top 8, that person gets half of what the top 4 guy would get. Neither of us thought this split would actually take place, because in order for it to be in effect one of us would have to lose 3 matches in a row. This tournament was half of yesterday's, which meant one less round. So I play Kowal, and I lose two straight. Both were close, but I never saw null rod either time so the result was the same. He wins the long game.
I then heartbreakingly lose the next two matches in a row. Round 6 to Joel AGAIN off nutty workshop starts. Game 3 he leads with workshop/lmox/mana crypt/juggernaut/chalice for one. Good god. I manage to hang in there for as long as I can, and his crypt actually brings him to 3. I have two turns to win a coin flip before I die to Sundering Titan, but it is not to be. Oh well. Round 8 I lose to Jessica, a local from my area who's on team milkshake. I assume she's playing fish like her boyfriend/team milkshake leader Gary, but turns out she's oath. In a nutshell, I lose in 3. Had I won, I would have been in 8th place due to the best breakers. At least Jess made it in after beating me. So no back to back top 8 for me. However...
DID YOU KNOW DAVE FEINSTEIN ONCE WON $100 IN A TOURNAMENT HE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE TOP 8 AT?
TO DAVE FEINSTEIN!
:p
It turns out Kowal makes top 4, beating joel in a tight 3 game series then losing the finals in close games to Tommy Kolowith. Tommy played Grim Long and had only one match loss today. Guess who his only match loss was? :p
So I made $350 on the weekend and handed both Waterbury winners their only match losses on those respective days. Not bad. I'll say exactly what I said last week: Jotun Grunt is the nuts. I believe UW fish is now a very viable deck thanks to it, and as much as I love Rich Meyst's deck, I don't plan on abandoning fish anytime soon.
There are way too many people to give props to, so I'll just say thanks to everyone I met. I had a blast. I'd say I'm looking forward to SCG Boston, since it's only 40 minutes from my house, but the venue they chose is a complete and utter hole :p Oh well, I'll probably still go anyway. Comments appreciated as always. Cya later.
- Dave Feinstein
