Coming up a little short (2nd at Gencon)

[TK]

I have been putting off writing this report for a few days for a couple of reasons, one being that Ive been really busy and haven't had the time and second because it sucks writing a report about second place.

Gencon started off just as i expected it would. ICBM had already dominated one tourney and everyone was having a really good time. As usual though i was still trying to figure out what i would play at worlds there was just so many options and each seemed to have there positives and negatives. I think it was Thursday when i ran into Endress and he said to me "is it bad that i don't know what I'm playing for worlds yet" and i said someting back like well Ive at least limited to like 5 decks or so.

Before i knew it, it was Friday night already and i had to make a decision. I decided that i didn't care if everyone expected combo id play it anyway. So i throw it together and get some test games in before i call it a night.

We wake up on time today unlike Friday where we slept in and missed legacy. we head down to the convention center and i throw together my sideboard and get ready to play.

Here is the list i ended up with

5 mox
1 lotus
1 petal
1 crypt
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
4 delta
1 strand
3 sea
1 island
1 swamp
1 tolarian
4 fow
4 brainstorm
4 dark rit
4 cabal rit
2 tendrils
3 grim
2 mis-d
1 walk
1 recall
1 rebuild
1 chain
1 necro
1 bargain
1 mystical
1 vamp
1 demonic
1 imp seal
1 twister
1 will
1 INFERNAL CONTRACT
1 minds desire
1 tinker
1 jar

SB
2 plague spitter
1 dsc
1 massacre
3 stifle
2 tormods crypt
2 spirit guide
2 chain
2 hurk

I apologize in advance if i get games mixed up its been a few days already and i cant remember everyting exact

Round 1  Jason(SS)

Game one - hes on the play and opens with a bob or something maybe. on my turn i play a ritual and he says something like o i guess this wont be a mirror (I love hearing that) and i end up playing a bargain or something and win.

Game two - its like turn 3 i believe and he has a island, waste, and an erayo in play. i decide to try and start comboing out with a fow in my hand. i go through and do everything and he doesn't play a single spell. right before i play tendrils i think well maybe he has stifle and fow in hand and thinks ill walk into the stifle so i grab another fow with a grim and play tendrils with double fow backup.

2-0 match

1-0-0 for the day

round 2 Ralph(Stax)

Game one -  I'm not sure what my opponent is playing but i go all out for a bargain and it resolves and i pass the turn seeing as i used my land and lotus already. he plays a factory and passes the turn. i combo out on my turn, and go tot he sideboard thinking hes playing u/w fish probably. So i board in the big guy, massacre, and chain.

Game Two - i have a solid hand and keep. He starts off with mountain (wow i read him wrong i guess) mox, mox into trini luckily though i have a fow in hand for the trini and i am able to combo out a few turns later with his only other disruption being a crypt and a null rod.

2-0 match

2-0-0 for the day

Round 3 Jeremy sauld (teammate with oath)

Game one - i mull and get a recall forced and lose pretty badly

Game two- i get a strong hand and am able to combo out around turn 4

Game three - Jeremy mulls to 6 and i follow suit. my hand has tons of gas and some protection but no bombs but i don't want to mull to five so i keep. we play draw go for a few turns where he has a null rod in play. i finally draw tinker my first threat Ive seen. i play a hurkyls at eot with a mis-d in hand but he just lets it resolve i draw and play tinker and that resolves without question. I'm a little shocked at this point but proceed to play some rituals and break jar into a hand with lots of good stuff including a desire i could probably get up to 20. i play a brainstorm and hit  grim tutor and he just concedes. apparently all he drew were duress and his own null rod had been shutting off his jet his only black source.

2-1 match

3-0-0 for the day

Round 4  Fanchesco (Italian champion playing basically togless tog)

Game one - he starts off with Land go upkeep recall. Little backround here i played him on day one when we were both 2-0 and he did this same play when i was playing slaver and i misdirected it at myself and then proceeded to play my own recall. So i say are you sure you really want to do that again but i have noting and it resolves. My turn i play land, sapphire, jet, ritual into a twister expecting to see a fow but he doesn't have one so we shuffle up and i have a black in pool and a untapped land. my twister hand is solid and i am able to finish comobing him out (turn one kill)

Game two - he start with land go and i do the same. he plays something and i brainstorm eot. i untaped fetch and play another brainstorm this time he decides to play a redblast i think for a  while and decide to force his red blast because if i hit nay kind of excel i can go off this turn baring he doesn't have a fow and I'm pretty sure he doesn't. i think i hit a ritual and am able to combo out on turn 2.

2-0 match

4-0-0 on the day

Round 5  Brian (Control Slaver)

Game one  -  i recognize Brian from some chicago tourneys but have never seen him play so i have no clue what I'm up against. i believe he play s a first turn shaman and i realize its slaver. i believe in this game i resolve a necro on turn 3 and win on turn 4 ro 5.

Game two -  its turn 3 and i am looking at playing a desire for 6 this turn barring Brian doesn't play anything. i play a ritual into a grim tutor he brainstorms in response and then attempts to force it i play my misdirection and find my lotus with the tutor and now play a desire for 9 instead of 6 and its enough to get me the win.

2-0 match

5-0-0 for the day

round 6  Elliot (EBA)

Game one - i look at my opening and have one of those hands where i just cant lose. hes on the play and goes land go, i go land, lotus, rit, rit, rit, demonic, will, repeat and win (2nd turn 1 of the day)

Game two -  this game i didn't feel right about. Elliot mulls to 4 on the play and actually has like sapphire ancestral and 2 other cards but he is a little on edge from mulling all the way to 4 and for some reason right after i say ill keep he draws a 5th card. i say wait but its to late already. he just shakes my hand and concedes the match. I don't like to win that way but it was an important round so i cant say I'm still a little happy.

2-0 match

6-0-0 for the day

The next 2 rounds are spent relaxing, eating dip and dots, and  drawing with Paul mastriano (hilarious and awesome guy by the way I'm glad i got a chance to meet him finally) and Davide one of the Italian guys.

TOP 8

I get paired up against Davide who i had just drawn with the round before. I'm quite happy with this since i know what hes playing and just had watched Paul beat him few rounds earlier.

Game one -  i play land go. he draws and discards a drain I'm a little confused at this point but whatever. on my turn i play a demonic which he force i fow back and get my twister i believe. i attempt to play it and he forces again. we play draw go for a few turns until i hit another threat and win.

Game two - This game i honestly don't remember to much about except that it was later in the game and he had one unknown card in hand that he had just draw and a lot of mana. i vamped for a recall over my twister because he just had to much mana and i couldn't afford to give him 7 new cards i play my recall and get enough to pull out the victory.

2-0 match

7-0-2 for the day

TOP 4

I am playing against specail k with slaver which should be a good match for me but I'm a little worried still seeing as he has just beat Paul.

Game one -  he start off pretty crazy with lotus, crypt, land, tfk, impulse, nights whisper but ends the turn with only 4 in hand so I'm not to worried. i play land, mox, mox, cabal rit into my infernal contract (yes finally get to use it and i get some looks like i expected) i draw 4 one of which is a misdirection. i pass the turn he draws and plays recall i use my misdirection of coarse and get some More solid stuff. he then follows up with a tinker but with only 2 floating so as long as he doesn't have a cap I'm fine. he grabs titan and nukes one of my lands. i vamp eot to go down to 6 but i am able to combo out easily on my turn.

Game two - i don't remember what turn it was exactly but I'm looking at my hand with tinker and will and some gas. he only has 1 mana open so I'm only worried about fow and red blast at the moment. i play some rituals that he lets resolve and then i play my tinker. he thinks and says ok I'm tempted to get lotus but there is really no need for it and i just grab my jar. i then play my will with a blue and black still around. he must have thought my tinker was bait so he brainstorms in response then looks at my graveyard and concedes to me.

2-0 match

8-0-2 for the day

FINALS

I'm going to have to play against Travis spiero with meandeck gifts and know that this will be a tough match up.

Game 1 -  i am on the play and i believe i mull to 6. i open a hand that is 3 land recall with fow back up. i play the recall and have to use my fow. i draw 2 more mana sources and a fow. i pass the turn to Travis. he plays a land for turn and then recalls himself and passes back to me. i draw a twister and think to myself thankgod i have a chance yet. if he didn't hit another fow with recall this should resolve. i play it and meat another force. about 2 turns later Travis is going through a will and I'm pretty sure that he will combo me out but i want to watch him do it. i realize near the end that unless he has a mox in his hand that he will be a mana short because he didn't float mana of of his crypt before he chained it. so he has to pass the turn back to me. i draw more garbage and play my 6th land. i pass back to hI'm his crypt take shim down to 4 and im pumped seeing as that probably my best chance of winning this game. unfortunately he palsy tinker i hardcast my fow but he counters back. i draw 2 more terrible cards and lose

Game 2 -  i once again am forced to mull to 6 and keep a hand with not much gas. i play a brainstorm and hit nothing, i realize if My twister doesn't resolve next turn i lose this game for sure. he plays another turn one recall and passes back. i play my twister and he says it resolves (i say something like well i guess I'm still in it, if that got countered i lost. I hear a few chuckles from i@n behind me) i shuffle up good and draw 7 new cards and guess what they suck. i still don't have a land for this turn and i drew 3 of the same cards from my last hand. i have some plays but they will have to wait until next turn. Travis plays a land or something and passes back i draw and still don't have a land but i decide i will try and brainstorm into one and i actually do. i play my land and then a ritual which gets countered and I'm forced to pass the turn. Travis on this turn tinkers out dsc and passes back. i have a mystical and recall in my hand so I'm not to worried at this point. i upkeep mystical for chain and play it. he fows my chain, i recall in response and hit a misdirection but he just decides to drain my chain again. at this point I'm a little irritated from seeing tinker and 3 counters over the last 2 turns but shit happens and i have outs left. he beats me down to 5 and passes the turn. my vault puts me to 4 i realize i have 4 outs at this point. 3 of them are rituals since i can ritual play grim and chain my vault and his dsc and the other of coarse is just drawind the chain. i draw a sapphire and have no relevant plays and am forced to scoop them up.

0-2 match

8-1-2 for the day

After the match i had many team members and other friends congratulating me and some consoling me, but no matter what anyone said i wasn't going to feel better anytime soon. for those of you who don't know me I'm a very competitive person and really hate to lose, but i will except losing from time to time because its bound to happen. This lose however i just couldn't seem to shake off. I ran through both games in my head over and over and thought about all the plays i made and what i could have maybe done differently. I was hoping to find a point in one of the games where i felt i had maybe made a play error or something of the like but i just couldn't. I came to the conclusion that no matter what i did that match there was no way i could have one. Both games his hands were just far to superior to that of my own. I'm not trying to complain or cut on Travis in anyway because he seemed like a cool guy and he seemed to be a solid player. The thing that just continually was bothering me was the fact that the entire match was basically out of my hands and i just hated that thought. After a day or two i came to terms with my loss mainly with the help of my friends who kept trying to tell me how much i had accomplished on the year. so i would just like to say thankyou to my friends/teammates for being as supportive as they always are. I would also like to congratulate Travis again.  Also to Travis i hope you didn't think i was being a dick during are match when i kept asking you to not look down when you were shuffling. Ive just seen to many people cheat before and am always very aware of it. I wasn't trying to call you a cheater in anyway i just watch everyone very closely.

Overall Gencon was a ton of fun and i cant wait to go back next year. The only complaint i have is the utter lack of prize support. i added up what i got for taking second to be worth around $150. I don't play this game with the intent to make it rich but its nice when you do well that your prize at least covers most of the trips expenditures.

As far as pitch long goes i really think that it is one of the better decks out there at the moment. At the 2 tournaments i have played it at (Gencon and waterbury) My overall record with the deck is 16-2 in matches with 3 intentional draws with a individual game record of 32-6.

Regardless i cant wait to see everyone at gencon next year and if i make it i will hopefully se mayn of you in Boston in a month.

[Scoops666]

Really good report. Congrats on your place, and an AMAZING year! Can't wait to see you in Boston man!

Also, I love the Infernal Contract. I think it looks like a really good addition to the deck. What are your thoughts?

[M.Solymossy]

His thoughts are "Lets steal tech"  cuz he tested with me and I was testing it and Nights whisper.

So Tommy... you're playing our deck, stealing our tech... when you just gunna suck it up and join the better team?   


Nah I'm just messing with you.  Congrats on the finish (even though i tell you every freaking day)

[TK]

As to infernal contract i hadn't started to test it until about 3 days before gencon, but i knew that Becker and i@n had both been testing it and getting some relatively solid results. I decided to replace windfall with an infernal contract fro several reasons.

1. i hate windfall
2. windfall tends to only be good on turn 1 or 2
3. infernal contract reads draw 4 every time where as windfall reads sometimes draw 6 or sometimes draw only 2
4. contract can easily be played with one of the 8 rituals in the deck
5. windfall can help your opponent where as infernal contract only gives you the card advantage.

When i began to test contract i was a little worried that the loss of life could matter in some matchups but i quickly realized that the life loss is almost always inconsequential.

[M.Solymossy]

shoulda played cruel bargain... you woulda gotten cool points.

[TK]

well i did play an asian black boarded contract thats pretty cool in its own way

[Pyromaniac]

First of all, congratz with your finish I like reading about combo decks finishing high even though I'm having a tough time forcing myself to play this format atm. That however has been mentioned elsewhere before.

Overall Gencon was a ton of fun and i cant wait to go back next year. The only complaint i have is the utter lack of prize support. i added up what i got for taking second to be worth around $150. I don't play this game with the intent to make it rich but its nice when you do well that your prize at least covers most of the trips expenditures.

This is exactly why we(dutchies) went there one year and decided not to go again: the prize support is well...shit. If you don't finish first you might as well not T8 at all, unfortunately.

[oneofchaos]

Another well done report Tom!

[TheBrassMan]

The only complaint i have is the utter lack of prize support. i added up what i got for taking second to be worth around $150. I don't play this game with the intent to make it rich but its nice when you do well that your prize at least covers most of the trips expenditures.

Welcome to the club, Tommy Couldn't have happened to a better player.

[DoubleDrain]

Tommy, first off congratz on your great playing. You remembered those games better than I did in my report.

Don't worry, I didn't think you were an ass or anything about the shuffling incident. I can understand your concern, esp. in the finals! Those were really tough games for me, and I hate sitting across from a great combo player, as I am always asking myself "oh shit, do I die this turn??"


Looking forward to our rematch...

[ErkBek]

My overall record with the deck is 16-2 in matches with 3 intentional draws with a individual game record of 32-6.

OH SNAP SON!

Congrat's on another finals appearance. One question, did you only play contract once all day? How was it the other times that you drew it?

[TK]

The Game against special k was the onyl time i played it all day. The only other time i can really recall having it in my hand was in the finals where it wasnt going to help me at all.

[LordHomerCat]

Congrats on the top8 Tommy.  Shame there aren't any real tournaments for like forever now, you seem to be on quite a run.

[Kowal]

Congrats on the top8 Tommy.  Shame there aren't any real tournaments for like forever now, you seem to be on quite a run.

Derf.

[AJFirst]

Nice job Tommy, only you and Tom Brady can complain about coming in second at Vintage Worlds.

I couldn't find power so I just traded around and gave GWS guys foils. I was talking to Josh Rayden before the tournement and decided if I could play it would be Meandeck Gifts (without FoF. that card sucks....in type 1...in the that deck...most of the time) because of the high amount of pitchlong in the field, not to mention the usual appearance of Slaver. I definitly think Travis played well (except against you where I saw at least 3 straight-up playmistakes but drew ancestral like a champ) and made an excelent deck choice.

It'd be great to get some of the Midwester's (and others') opinions on PitchLong. Obviously it's extremely powerful putting up those results for TK, but there have been descrepencies on whether it has a permanant place at/near the top of the first tier in the metagame today. It seems like GrimLong which was putting up solid results, but more resiliant with so many more insane plays (MisD allows for quite a few on its own). See you guys next time.
-AJ

[Smmenen]

Congrats on the top8 Tommy.  Shame there aren't any real tournaments for like forever now, you seem to be on quite a run.

Derf.

I doubt many midwesterners will make it to Boston.  I know I won't. 

[Smmenen]

good job tk, but I thikn you are wrong.  I think there were a couple of other things you could have done, primarily with design.  I'll tell you specificis once I watch the video again.

[LouGodKingofDustBunnys]

Ok, so not a lot of midwesterners are going to make it to Boston, but I'm pretty sure that I know of at least 3-4 Midwesterners that are going to make it to Boston...considering I'm going to be putting them up for weekend. So there will be some Midwest representation at SSG Boston, maybe not alot, but at least some.

Congrats on the 2nd Tommy.

[Smmenen]

I'm pretty sure that I know of at least 3-4 Midwesterners that are going to make it to Boston...considering I'm going to be putting them up for weekend  .

right, but many won't be.  that was my point.  i probably won't be playing in a big vintage event until the early scg event of next year - my guess is that will be in Feb or March of 07.

[M.Solymossy]

hopefully in chi ca go

[ErkBek]

good job tk, but I thikn you are wrong.  I think there were a couple of other things you could have done, primarily with design.  I'll tell you specificis once I watch the video again.

I'm not sure I'd say there were design problems he did go 16-3 on the day with his build.

[TK]

As far as Boston is concerned most of ICBM will not be able to attend do to work and or school starting. I however have decided that i am going to do anything i can to get my ass down there. Unfortunately cant afford to miss much school so that really takes driving out of the equation. Ive already looked into plane tickets and hotels now its really just a matter of hopefully finding some people to go with me and split some of the costs.

[Smmenen]

good job tk, but I thikn you are wrong.  I think there were a couple of other things you could have done, primarily with design.  I'll tell you specificis once I watch the video again.

I'm not sure I'd say there were design problems he did go 16-3 on the day with his build.

i think we can agree that there are only three relevant factors in magic:

luck, skill, and design

in the vast, vast, vast majority of vintage games, the second component is by far the most important.  It is extremely rare that both players play both decks perfectly because they generally don't have perfect knowledge of the matchup, insufficient testing, and basically not smart enough to see all the decision trees. 

The finals of a huge vintasge tournament is extrmeely interesting because it is the 1%< time that both players play perfectly (some of the time).

IMO, TK is probably one of the best if not the best vintage player.  If that's true, then design questions just aren't going to arise unless he is facing an opponent who plays perfectly.

That's why Top 8s are so tough - you have to play a totally different level of player.

Since Tommy is primarily a player and not a deck designer (from what I've seen) his thought process centers and focuses on what he could have done differently *in the game*.  Rich Shay has that same approach.

However, the flaw is that he doesn't think about what could have happened if he had differnt cards.  I'm going to ahve to look at the video again, but if the INfernal Contract had been a blue card, he could have Misd pitching it and then waited a turn and brainstormed and see the same cards he saw but been a card deeper. 

Also, running 61 cards is still a sin.  http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12478.html

I didn't want to speak before I saw a closer look at what he had, but if both players play perfectly, then the only thing you can change is design.

A third design change I would have made is using Swarm.  Sure, Tommy didn't need swarm against 99% of his players.  But those weren't he relevant players.

IMO, Swarm is strongest against MDG of any deck in the format. 

[TK]

I did consider the use of swarm in the sideboard but opted against it for several reasons.

1. it takes up a large section of the board

2. my drain matchups are already heavily in my favor for the most part

3. xantid seems to slow combo down to much. Sure there is the hands where you can play a turn one xantid and then go off second with a wall of protection, but those hands are just to rare. The thing is a good gifts player should be able to combo out only a few turns slower than myself. I feel that using xantid against gifts is just to slow and gives them the opportunity to just win faster than you.

I actually had tested the gifts on pitch long match with 13nova quite a bit with myself being the gifts player. A had noticed from are testing that it often was wrong to just try and control the game into the late stages. I found it much more productive to play a aggressive roll with gifts and go for the combo as soon as i could. I was however playing a version of gifts that is faster than meandeck gifts however.

[M.Solymossy]

Tommy also didn't have first turn Recall + force every game against me.

Edit:  Appologize and Congrats.

[LordHomerCat]

In Travis' defense, then yes, he did mess up a bit trying to combo out (by not finding a red source), but he also drew a lot of cards and saw a lot more since he played a huge yawgmoth's will.  He may not have actively won the game that turn, but the advantage he gained basically sealed the game up since it put him so far ahead.

[DoubleDrain]

Yeah, I remember that game i was 1 red mana short of comboing out w/tendrils, but instead ended up with DSC on the board and a grip full of counters. Sure, if I would have found that red mana in all the cards i drew, it would have been an easy win, but sometimes it's ok to pass the turn with a shit ton of countermagic and DSC on the board...

[Smmenen]

I did consider the use of swarm in the sideboard but opted against it for several reasons.

1. it takes up a large section of the board

2. my drain matchups are already heavily in my favor for the most part

3. xantid seems to slow combo down to much. Sure there is the hands where you can play a turn one xantid and then go off second with a wall of protection, but those hands are just to rare. The thing is a good gifts player should be able to combo out only a few turns slower than myself. I feel that using xantid against gifts is just to slow and gives them the opportunity to just win faster than you.

I actually had tested the gifts on pitch long match with 13nova quite a bit with myself being the gifts player. A had noticed from are testing that it often was wrong to just try and control the game into the late stages. I found it much more productive to play a aggressive roll with gifts and go for the combo as soon as i could. I was however playing a version of gifts that is faster than meandeck gifts however.

Faster than MDG?  How is that possible?  LED?  maindeck Tendrils? 

[M.Solymossy]

the list runs LED + maindeck tendrils, and it also runs duress over misD (which i disagree with).  it's actually 2 duress 1 misD

[Komatteru]

A third design change I would have made is using Swarm.  Sure, Tommy didn't need swarm against 99% of his players.  But those weren't he relevant players.

IMO, Swarm is strongest against MDG of any deck in the format. 

I would like to know why you've changed your opinion on the sideboard Xantids + green lands.  Before you realized that they are amazing (something which you've had about seven months to discover), which was about a week ago, you were saying that you "couldn't make a 2.5c Long deck work very well."  How has it gone from "very akward" to "why didn't TK play this?" in a matter of a few weeks?