The Mountains Win AgainTMD Open X: Two Days of Mountainous Magic
The Mountains were well prepared for TMD X, taking place in Stratford, CT, re-titling the event formerly known as Waterbury into “Stratabury”. We’d completed quite a bit of testing and refinement, adjusting for the massive amounts of Empty the Warrens and Ichorid expected to be trouncing about that weekend. There would be three of us playing TMWA and we figured that would be it – just the usual small contingent of proponents of a deck type I’d been stalwartly piloting for over a year and a half.
We were wrong.
During the last week, while catching up at work and taking care of business personally, I’ve been mentally reviewing the results of the four tournaments I took part in that weekend. I thought about the lessons I learned, the friendly opponents I’d met, the matches I’d enjoyed, the epic plays, and the overall fun of spending a weekend enjoying the game of Magic. After receiving a few messages requesting a recounting of the events of that weekend, I decided to set aside the hours it takes to craft a tournament report to reflect on the tournaments of last weekend, the current state of Vintage, and the place of The Mountains Win Again within that framework.
Here’s the build I played last weekend.
The Mountains Win Again version 26.81x Mountain
2x Plateau
2x Scrubland
1x Badlands
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Flooded Strand
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Jet
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
4x Mishra's Factory
4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Jőtun Grunt
4x Dark Confidant
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Cabal Therapy
4x Duress
4x Hide and Seek
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Null Rod
2x Tormod’s Crypt
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Umezawa’s Jitte
1x Engineered Explosives
Sideboard4x Shattering Spree
2x Red Elemental Blast
2x Pyroblast
2x Cabal Therapy
2x Magma Jet
1x Tormod’s Crypt
1x Planar Void
1x Sacred Ground
Recent changes include the move of Cabal Therapy to the maindeck in anticipation of a high proportion of Gifts & Combo matches. The deck still has the flexibility to stabilize the mana base by moving to primarily red and white in Games 2 and 3 vs. mana denial strategies (primarily Fish & Stax). The extra Tormod’s Crypt in the main was added relatively last-minute. The singleton strategy allows you to have one or two major tutor targets against most decks. I replaced one of the Tormod’s Crypts for a Pithing Needle on Day 2 to help against Salvagers and other random stuff. Chad & Sara each played slightly different versions, mostly differing by one or two mana source choices. Chad also added Pyroclasms in the board as extra anti-Warrens tech.
Tournament: TMD X, Day 1, Main Event
Saturday, January 13th, 2007
We awoke early on Saturday and traversed the dreary New England highways to arrive at our destination, Stratford, CT. We brought a variety of bonus prizes for the tournament, including Sara’s “Internationally Renowned, Waterbury Champion-Certified, Waterbury Creator Approved, Level 4 Judge Authorized, Samite Healer Tournament Winner Confirmed, Mystical, Magical, Munchable, but Mostly Just Delicious Mana Cookies” which were thoroughly enjoyed throughout the weekend. We arrived in plenty of time to complete our registration (most of us had our deck lists pre-printed and checked). We assisted the less-prepared members of the team in completing their lists and submitting them in time (by 11 AM promptly). After some announcements from Ray, we were underway, with 153 players in attendance.
Round 1 – Awarded Bye
I had an awarded bye due to my Top 2 split at ELD’s tournament in East Wareham, MA. I took this time to review the metagame. It was difficult to get a complete sample due to the cramped quarters in the middle of the tournament tables, but we managed through a tally to get an idea of what the metagame looked like. About a third appeared to be Gifts / Control decks with about equal showings of Combo, Stax, U/W Fish, Ichorid, and Salvagers. There were just a handful of Oath, Aggro, and Tempo decks including TMWA. We were surprised to see quite a few players whom we did not know at all, playing TMWA almost card-for-card. We found out later, when talking with these players, that they generally got the list through TMD and modified it to their liking. I was ecstatic! After spending so much time and effort promoting and refining this deck, seeing people actually picking it up and playing it was very gratifying. I can only hope more players will share in my enjoyment playing what’s essentially a rogue deck that’s generally dismissed by the majority of the community as underpowered. Seeing others picking up the deck and having fun playing reaffirmed my dedication to playing and promoting the deck. I hoped to finally have a Top 8 at one of these larger events in order to justify writing a detailed primer. Previously my relative lack of play skill and the general low number of players using The Mountains to Win Again impeded the progress of TMWA in affecting the metagame. I hoped that would all change this during this weekend. Regardless of my final record, I was resolved to enjoy myself.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 – Josh Schneier with Gifts
My first match of the day! I lose the die roll, an occurrence that would quickly become a trend and would continue throughout the rest of the weekend. In fact, reviewing my notes, out of the 14 matches I played during the four events in those two days, I won the die roll just 3 times.
We introduce ourselves and begin playing. We both keep and Josh leads with Mox Jet, Island, pass. I lead with a Bloodstained Mire and Tormod’s Crypt which resolves, followed by a Cabal Therapy. He thinks about casting Vamp and decides not to for some reason. I think he’s baiting me, but I can’t let him keep Vamp in hand, so I nab it and see cards including Twister, Force, and some mana. I don’t have any follow up, so I send it back to Josh who proceeds to Twister drawing his Vamp again along with Lotus, Emerald, Mana Vault, and Polluted Delta for Volcanic. A Repeal and a bunch of Storm later, a Tendrils finishes me off – no Yawgmoth’s Will required. We both keep again in
Game 2 and I lead with BSM for Badlands, Duress away Warrens. He has a Brainstorm, U. Sea, F. Strand, Island, Skeletal Scrying, and Massacre. I can certainly deal with that. He draws for the turn, smiles and plays Ancestral. Next turn I Seek him taking Twister since he has 2x Warrens and 1x Tendrils left in the deck. I Seek him again, taking Yawg Will since I don’t have T Crypt on the board yet. He spends a few turns playing a bit of mana, Scrying away a couple of cards, and I Seek him a third time, taking one of his Warrens. He resolves Gifts and shortly after 8 goblins decide the Warrens aren’t the cool place to hang out anymore. Apparently my house has become the cool place for them to tromp. Josh drops a Library that he never uses since he drops the Warrens the next turn. He casts Gifts again and this time I have the REB for it. He Forces the REB. I drop a Confidant and he Lava Darts it. He hits me three times with the Warrens tokens including one turn courtesy of Time Walk, brought to you by Recoup. I draw a Vamp a turn too late to get an answer for Warrens. Well that was a disappointing start. I can only deal with so many broken cards and this wasn’t one of those times. I wish Josh good luck.
Record: 1-1
Round 3 – David Ata with Gifts
Next round I’m playing against a fellow I’ve previously played against at Waterbury, David Ata. We re-introduce ourselves, sign the usual complimentary foil lands, and begin playing. We both keep our opening 7 and David leads with Polluted Delta and Mox Pearl. I lead with BSM for Scrubland, Duressing away Mystical Tutor, seeing Mana Drain, U. Sea, F. Strand, and Sol Ring. The next turn I Duress away his Drain and see a Mana Vault. He plays the Vault and I Demonic Tutor for Null Rod, which resolves. I follow up with a Confidant and a Grim Lavamancer which start pecking away at his life total. I drop a Tormod’s Crypt, just as backup in case he has targeted bounce. I get a Grunt online shortly thereafter. He casts Hurkyl’s Recall and Ancestrals himself up to five cards, drawing Yawgmoth’s Will off the Ancestral. He spends some time considering his options and replays the Ancestral, Mystical Tutor, and Tinker, not necessarily in that order. Darksteel Colossus comes into play to shore up his rapidly declining life total (I have 2 Factories and 2 Confidants on board now). All my dudes overwhelm all his base and it is now belong to us. I finish the game at 6 after taking one hit from DSC. We begin
Game 2 with 20 minutes left in the round. David mulls to 6 and leads with Flooded Strand. I Therapy and he Brainstorms in response. I name Gifts and miss, seeing Mox Pearl, Volcanic, Force of Will, Mana Drain, and Rack and Ruin. I drop a Grunt and start swinging. I Therapy away his Fire / Ice and he Merchant Scrolls for Ancestral, going up to 5 cards. We have 10 minutes left and I’m very conscious of his play time for Gifts and other search spells. The ability to legally slow down the game through shuffle and search effects is ridiculous, particularly in Vintage. For this reason, very strict time limits need to be taken into account when resolving such actions. Gifts should take no longer than one minute to resolve. My 2nd Grunt shows up and relieves his 1st shift counterpart, hammering down David’s life total to 7. I attempt to play Grunt #3 and he hardcasts Force of Will .He’s at 2 cards in hand and he Scrolls for Gifts. He’s up to 4 cards now, after his draw. I get a Confidant online and the match is over shortly thereafter. We finish just as the round ends. I wish David good luck and proceed on to Round 3.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 – Jessica Fico with Oath
I think that Jessica is playing either Ichorid or Oath, so the Wasteland in my opening hand seems good. She leads with a first turn Orchard that I predictably Waste. She Brainstorms in response, drops a City of Brass and Mox Pearl on her next turn and drops Oath of Druids. I Duress her and she has Orim’s Chant, Force of Will, Stifle, and Brainstorm in hand. So much for Duressing away the Oath. Turn 2 Oath with Force backup. Well, as long as she doesn’t Oath up a maindeck Simic Sky Swallower, the 2 Swords to Plowshares in my hand should dispatch of that early threat readily. She Oaths up Simic Sky Swallower. The Swords to Plowshares in my hand look significantly worse. I manage to beat her down to 9 life before I succumb to Oathed up beats.
Game 2 I think I’m in good shape since I’m on the play. I lead with a first turn Confidant after mulling to 6 and pass it over to her. She drops Orchard, Emerald, and Oath of Druids. I go to my turn and attempt to Hide the Oath. She has Force of Will again. She Oaths up another SSS and I draw two more Hide / Seek off Confidant for 8 damage to assist the flying beats. She also gets Ancestral this game followed by Time Walk. This match took all of 20 minutes. I wish Jessica good luck.
Well, so much for making Top 8 today. However, there is a side event for a Mana Drain. I waffle between staying in the main event and trying to win a playmat or trying to do well in the Drain event. I present the options to my legal counsel and they sagely advise me to play in the Drain event. I drop and head into the side event.
Final Record: 2-2
Tournament: TMD X, Day 1, Side Event for a Mana Drain (Single Elimination)
Round 1 – David Hanna with Sensei’s Cranial Extraction
I’m paired up with a fellow who played Sara earlier in the main event so I ask her what he was playing. She informs me that he’s running Cranial Extraction and Sensei’s Divining Top. I’m fine with that. David turns out to be a very nice fellow who just started playing Vintage not too long ago. I make it an especial point to make sure he enjoys himself. I mulligan to 5 on the draw, and David leads with Jet, Top, and Underground Sea. I Duress away a Mana Drain and he drops a 2nd Top. I drop a Mishra’s Factory. He keeps peeking at the top cards of his library, looking for a Helm of Awakening to Brain Freeze me out. I beat down with Assembly Workers and he Vamps. I Waste his Underground Sea. He Cranials me and I introduce him to Jötun Grunt who joins the disgruntled factory worker in pummeling him. But wait! It’s Energy Field!! Great, now I need to put one of his cards in the graveyard. I think The Mountains can handle that. And it happens sooner than I expect. Off the top, it’s… Wasteland! David grins and we shake on a fun first game. I mull to 5 again, and
Game 2 starts with a Duress from Dave, taking my Vamp. I Cabal Therapy him and miss, seeing Tendrils, Cranial Extraction, Watery Grave, Death Wish, and Mana Drain. We play lots of draw go, as we don’t have much mana on either side of the table. I attempt to resolve a Confidant and he Drains it, following up by Cranial-ing away the rest of the Confidants. He Duresses away a Pyroblast a turn later and Jötun Grunt shows up again. At this point I have no cards in hand and he has 3. I soon find out they are Cranial Extraction, Force of Will, and Tendrils. He gets Helm of Awaking down along with another Energy Field. I get Demonic Tutor and find Strip Mine to clear the way for my dudes to swing in for the win. We still have about 20 minutes before the next round starts, so we play a couple more games for fun. We discover that David’s deck is a bit low on the mana count as an early Wasteland often leaves him struggling to play anything for several turns and he’s running about 20 mana sources total. We discuss deck options for a bit and wish each other good luck.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 – Dan Richardson with Counterbalance Control
I’m happy to see my next opponent for two reasons. Most importantly, Dan Richardson is a fun guy to play Magic with. He plays primarily to have fun, and I always consider that mentality essential to defining the best opponents. We chatter about various Magic-related topics including which foil lands are the best (Mountain, obviously). He doesn’t seem too hopeful about this matchup, so I assume he’s playing some form of Fish. He mulls to 6 on the play and leads with Underground Sea and Mox Jet. I lead with Duress, taking Brainstorm, seeing a Flooded Strand, and another land. I resolve a Grim Lavamancer shortly thereafter. He Force of Wills my Confidant pitching Force of Will. I keep up the minibeats with G. Mancer and he Mystical tutors for a Diabolic Edict. I get a Jötun Grunt on the board and beat down with that and a Mishra’s Factory. He drops a Shadowmage Infiltrator while he’s at 2, but even Finkel can’t recover that quickly. We discuss various cards while sideboard and shuffling and somehow mention that some cards are overhyped and underplayed. One of those cards in my recent memory is Counterbalance.
Game 2 Dan leads with a Delta and passes to me. I lead with Mount Fuji! Beat that! He fetches an Underground Sea and plays Counterbalance! I crack up – that’s awesome! Now he just needs a Top. I Waste his Underground Sea and cast a Confidant which gets through Counterbalance. He Time Walks, Diabolic Edicts away my Confidant, and passes back to me. I get another Confidant on board and Strip away one of his other lands. He gets a Withered Wretch on the board. I send the Wretch farming before he can wreck my graveyard. I Hide the Counterbalance and Cabal Therapy away a Back to Basics. I see 3, count ‘em 3! Shadowmage Infiltrators in hand. I just can’t pass that up. I sacrifice a creature to flashback the Therapy and take the three Finkels before any of them come online. Mishra’s Factory and Dark Confidant take it home from there. I wish Dan the best of the luck with all his future games and head on to Round 3.
Record: 2-0
Round 3 – Adam Barnello with Grim Long
Adam is cheery enough as he introduces himself as Mr. Nightmare. Why can’t I play against Mr. Care Bear? No, no, it has to be Mr. Nightmare. I just hope he’s not playing Gifts. He wins the die roll, naturally, and we both keep our opening hands. He plays Underground Sea, Mox Ruby, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Lion’s Eye Diamond, Cabal Ritual, and Yawgmoth’s Bargain! That’s a good use of 7 cards. He pays 5 life building up a bunch more Storm and finishes me off with a Tendrils. We all tell ourselves 1st turn kills don’t happen that often in Vintage (and they don’t). That doesn’t make them any less painful. Adam apologizes for the string of broken spells. I look at the two Duress in my hand and sigh. That’s it, time for the game face… Care Bear Stare!
Game 2 I mull to 6 and lead with Duress taking Yawgmoth’s Will. He has Mox Jet, Mana Crypt, Dark Ritual, Memory Jar, Duress, and Windfall. He drops the Jar first turn and passes back to me. I Shattering Spree his Mox Jet. That bears repeating… I Shattering Spree his Mox Jet. I was looking at his Mana Crypt (which should slowly help me kill him), his apparent lack of any other colored mana, and his single black source on the board and entirely overlooked his Memory Jar. I only had one red source, so I had to choose one, but as soon as I hit the Jet, I knew I should have hit the Jar. I instead gave him every opportunity to come back when he cracks Jar on his turn. Oh well, I resolve to lose this game as a result of that play mistake. I Duress Windfall out of his hand. Over the next seven turns, he takes just 2 hits from Mana Crypt as it misses him 5 times! He finally gets sick of waiting on the Jar and cracks it. He has Emerald, Academy, Tinker, and Lotus in hand and he plays them all, Grim Tutoring for a Yawgmoth’s Bargain and playing it. However, he’s only at 8 when Bargain resolves and he doesn’t see the cards he needs to win by the time he goes down to 1 life.
Game 3 we both keep and he leads with P. Delta for Underground Sea, followed by a Brainstorm. I Duress, seeing Duress, Grim Tutor, Mox Ruby, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, and Force of Will. After considering his mana situation, I take Dark Ritual. I get Mount Fuji and Shattering Spree away his Ruby. He top decks Necropotence and plays it off an Emerald and his U. Sea via Cabal Ritual. I get another Duress off a Confidant and take his Ancestral. He hits me with a Tendrils for 6 to stay in the game. He sticks in it for a while, but eventually I overwhelm him. This match took a solid 38 minutes and Adam said it was the most fun he’s had losing. We wish each other good luck in the future and I proceed to Round 4.
Record: 3-0
Round 4 (Top 8) – Kurt Peterson with U/W Fish
And now we come to the epic and legendary Game 1 vs. Kurt Peterson. I get the feeling that he’s playing Fish, so I lead with an expendable Mishra’s Factory that predictable gets Wasted. He drops a Meddling Mage after I Duress away his Mox Sapphire. I grab Force of Will with my 2nd Duress and he has Jötun Grunt and 2x Daze in hand along with Polluted Delta and Tundra. I get a Grim Lavamancer in play and kill his Mage. I need to find an answer for Jötun Grunt, which hits me twice. I bait with a Dark Confidant and he Dazes it. I Waste his Tundra and he Brainstorms in response. I resolve my own Grunt and trade with his. He Strips away a 2nd Mishra’s Factory and I get the now indestructible Mount Fuji. Unfortunately my Lavamancer turns Grim and starts discussing retiring to the countryside, which he does shortly before I turn the Tundra into a Wasteland and drop another Grunt. Kurt drops another Meddling Mage on G. Mancer. We continue to go back and forth. I kill his Mage, Duress away another Force of Will. He drops another Mage on Dark Confidant. I send Kataki to join my Grim Lavamancer in the fields. He resolves Isamaru. I get another Confidant and block Isamaru since I’m at 7. I consult with a Vampiric Tutor and get another Grim Lavamancer which shortly joins the first in the fiends. I attempt to play a Crucible but it’s Forced. I get another Factory down and another Mage comes online. There’s a Null Rod in play, stopping his Moxen and Lotus as well as keeping my Factories from pumping themselves. The Factory trades with the Mage. I get back up to 13 life from 3 via Swords to Plowshares and Seek. I ran out of space for notes after two full pages, but I eventually exhaust all his Swords and get another Grunt to stick taking the game home after 46 minutes! We’ve accumulated quite a few spectators who congenially heckle us for taking so long, since we’re the last match playing this round and they’re all waiting on us.
Game 2 doesn’t take quite so long. Kurt leads with an Island. I lead with a Strip Mine and a Mox Pearl. He Wastes my land the turn before I get Sacred Ground down and finds a Tundra. He gets a Strip Mine shortly thereafter, but it’s relatively neutered by the consecration on my turf. Jötun Grunt shows up and starts beating down. I send Kataki to join the cadre of retired warriors in the neighboring farming community. Isamaru beats. Another Grunt comes out, this one in his side of the table and I make sure it enrolls with the Future Farmers of America. I try to resolve another Grunt. He Force of Wills and I have the Red Elemental Blast for backup. I resolve another Lavamancer but it gets Swordsded. I get two Grunts swinging and he can’t keep up, even with the assistance of his Mystical Tutor. This game was a relatively brief 21 minutes. We wish each other good luck, and I continue on to the next match.
Record: 4-0
Round 5 (Top 4) – Mike Schneier with Cerebral Assassin
I recognize Mike without realizing exactly why. Turns out he’s the sibling of my first round opponent from the main event, Josh. He’s relatively quiet and I ascertain during the pre-game show that he’s playing either Combo or Stax. I hope for the latter. I mull to 6 on the play. Not a good start. I lead with Flooded Strand. He leads with Gemstone Mine and Goblin Welder. I drop G. Mancer and he drops City of Brass and Mox Sapphire after Vamping during his upkeep. I Lavamance away his Welder and he drops Bazaar the next turn. I Engineer some Explosives to take care of his Sapphire and his Gemstone Mine is exhausted, so he’s just left with City of Brass and Bazaar. He’s dumping a bunch of cards in his graveyard, including Worldgorger Dragon, and it’s clear at this point that I am not lucky enough to be facing Stax. Instead I’m facing the long dormant Cerebral Assassin. I get a Confidant on board. He drops an Underground River, Duresses me and takes my Crucible. He gets another Gemstone Mine, a Strip Mine, and Bazaars Eternal Witness into the graveyard. I’ve dropped another Confidant and Umezawa’s Jitte and his life total is spiraling, so he’s dead in 1-2 turns depending on his disruption. He’s down to 1 card in hand, so his Bazaar isn’t nearly as effective. He draws for the turn, activates Bazaar, discards two cards, and plays Animate. He lets me know after the game that he drew it off the top. We both keep our opening hands heading to
Game 2 and I lead with Tormod’s Crypt and a land. He leads with Ruby, City of Brass, Demonic. I Spree his Ruby and he drops a Pithing Needle on Tormod’s Crypt. I use some Engineered Explosives of the finest quality to blow up his Needle. He drops a Bazaar, pitching another Bazaar and two more lands. I get a couple of Mishra’s Factories down and he Tinkers up a Sundering Titan. I lose my Mountain and he hits me with Titan for 7, bringing me to 13. I have a Vamp and Enlightened Tutor in hand but I need the black or white source. I draw a Bloodstained Mire. I tutor for Planar Void and Crypt away his existing graveyard. He frowns a bit and nods. I can easily recover from this. He just has a couple of cards left in hand. Next turn I Vamp for STP and take out his Sundering Titan, then swing with Mishra’s Factories for the win. His engine is entirely shut off until he finds an answer to Planar Void and plays it. I’m at 5 after his Titan swing and one of my Factories is tapped out. He plays… Time Walk off the top. The one card he needed that turn to finish me off before I take care of the Titan. Oh well, such is Vintage. I should have sacrificed my Mishra’s Factory earlier to give myself an extra turn (when I was at 20 life), but I’m not a good enough prognosticator to have seen that. I wish Mike good luck and collect my booster pack of Coldsnap. Sara opens it for fun. I was very happy to have had the opportunity to continue to play in this Free side event courtesy of Ray; I had a great time.
Final Record: 4-1
We head off to dinner and get lost en route due to the convoluted roundabouts off Exit 33 and some botched directions. After a satisfying dinner, we head back to our hotel. Sara had checked in earlier while I was still playing, so we head right to our room. We discover that it’s remarkably cold since the heater isn’t working. It’s already late and we’re headed to bed to rest up for tomorrow, so we figure we won’t mind too much. We discuss some minor deck tweaks and hop into bed. We find out the following morning that not only was there no heat in our room, but several light bulbs were out as well. Some of our compatriots reported that their air conditioning / heating unit was acting up as well. Zorro warned us not to try the continental breakfast, but we’re a stubborn sort, so we had to be disappointed for ourselves. We head down to check out, and I’m planning to let the desk clerk know about the lack of heat when they pose their usual “How was everything?” The clerk just takes my name and gives me our bill. No question, no pleasantry. I was taken aback. Suffice it to say we were not impressed with the hotel. We pine for the convenience and quality of the Marriott for a bit and then jump in our cars and head down the street.
Tournament: TMD X, Day 2, Main Event
Sunday, January 14th, 2007
We get to the venue about 40 minutes early, register and mill around, building excitement for the day. We have about 90 players for the main event, which Ray informs us is a new record. As such, the Free side event for today will allow the 1st place winner to have a Timetwister!, 2nd place will receive a playset of Force of Wills, and 3rd and 4th places a blue fetch land! So main or side event, I’m ready for another hearty day of kickin’ it with Mountains.
Round 1 – Bryant Cook with Gifts
I meet my first round opponent at Table 3, a potentially positive portent. He seems like a nice fellow. He keeps on the play, and I mull to 6 on the draw. He leads with Mox Pearl, Underground Sea, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Gifts getting Time Walk, Mana Crypt, Tinker, and Lotus. I give him Mana Crypt and Lotus since I can’t handle a Tinker. In retrospect, I should have given him Time Walk and Mana Crypt. Either way, he has the Yawgmoth’s Will in hand and plays Lotus, Vault, Tinker, DSC, Time Walk, Mystical Tutor for Ancestral, Ancestral and passes back to me after burning for one floating black mana. Well, that was a whole game in and of itself. I draw for my first turn, seeing that I have no way to get out of this short from drawing an STP and sneaking it past his counters. I play nothing and pass back to him. He takes 3 from Mana Crypt and beats me to death with The Big Man. He’s hasn’t seen any cards and apparently doesn’t know what I’m playing, so he doesn’t sideboard. I do, keeping in mind that he still has Darksteel Colossus floating around in there.
Game 2 I lead with BSM and Tormod’s Crypt. He plays Mox Jet, Island and Merchant Scroll. I REB it. Major Misplay reporting for duty with this Magic Tip: generally REBing Merchant Scroll is a bad idea, since it can only get other cards that can be REBed. I did not have this flash of insight at that moment. I Waste one of his lands and he plays another and a 2nd Merchant Scroll. I REB it as well (see comment above – major misplays abound – I really deserve to lose this one) and he Forces, pitching Gifts Ungiven. He’s at 3 cards. He gets Ancestral Recall. I beat down with Mishra’s Factory on my turn. He casts Ancestral. I Pyroblast it. This was the reason for my previous misplays – I was suffering from REB overload and just targeting any blue spell that showed up willy nilly. He didn’t have any counter backup left for the Ancestral. He plays a second Island and I resolve a Grunt that starts swinging with my Assembly Worker. I whittle him down to 2 cards and 11 life. I get a second Grunt on the table. He Rebuilds my Factory and Crypt (his graveyard goes away in response) and takes another hit down to 4. He Empties the Warrens for 6 guys and I can easily race him. He gets a Mox Ruby and Tinkers it away for Darksteel Colossus. I can still race him if he misplays with his Warrens tokens (I’m at 14), but he does not and I get him to 2 life before he brings me to negative 4. I wish Bryant the best of luck and resolve to try to play better next time and save my REBs for Tinkers rather than Merchant Scrolls.
Record: 0-1
Round 2 – Zach Tartell with Ichorid
My next opponent is a previous Star Wars CCG Maryland State Champion, as I discover during our pre-game discussion. I keep my opening hand on the play, not knowing what he’s playing, and he Serum Powders to 6 that he can “live with”, as he says. I play Mox Pearl, land, and Seek out the only Sutured Ghoul in his deck. Either the other one is in his hand or he only plays one, as it wasn’t removed via Serum Powder. He plays Chalice for 0, Bazaars, and gets some dredgers in the graveyard. I Waste his Bazaar. He plays another Bazaar and informs me that that’s why he was happy to keep the hand. I concur that it is indeed strong. I drop a Grim Lavamancer followed by a Jötun Grunt and start putting back some of his dudes. He’s down to 7 cards in his library and a Sutured Ghoul in play, but the Dragon’s Breaths are his two last cards in the deck thanks to Grunt, and I’m at 26 courtesy of Seek. He can only get his Cookie Monster up to 23 or so power and can’t swing that turn. I manage to Waste his other Bazaar on the penultimate turn. He scoops with no cards left in his deck.
Game 2 I keep with a decent hand and he mulls to 4 and says he can keep that certainly. I Waste his 1st turn Bazaar (pitching 2x Nether Shadow and Riftstone Portal) and he drops a 2nd Bazaar – again. I play a Grunt and misplay by putting the wrong cards back in his library. My inexperience with this matchup shows. He gets a 3rd Bazaar on his third turn and starts eating away the removal in my hand. I try to keep him off enough creatures to Dread Return but I can’t. He gets a giant Cookie Monster in play and dredges during his upkeep, first for 6 and then for 3 with Shambling Shell. He goes to play the Dread Return and swing and then realizes he hasn’t drawn for the turn. Shortly thereafter, the realization that he dredged away his last cards dawns on both of us and he extends his hand. I wish Zach the best of luck.
Record: 1-1
Round 3 – Jeff Carpenter with Mono Red Workshop Aggro
I assume that Jeff “Cookie Monster” Carpenter is playing his custom confectionary creation, but he tells me that his deck has Mountains in it. I tell him that Volcanic Islands are shabby imposters that don’t count. He wagers that he’s running more Mountains than I am. I color myself surprised by this bold claim and put him on Goblins. I mull to 5 and he mulls to 6. He’s playing first, of course. He leads with a Mountain. It appears he was not bluffing. I lead with a Mox Ruby and Mishra’s Factory. He plays a Strip Mine, a Mox Sapphire, and a Blood Moon! Blood Moon? Blood Moon!?!! That’s awesome!! I drop a Jitte and hope to draw a red creature. He plays a Solemn Simulacrum and I take some beats. We spend the rest of the game referring to all our lands as Mountains. For example, “Plateau Mountain, Mishra’s Mountain, Strip Mine Mountain”. He gets an Orb of Dreams in play and I draw a ton of land – all of them Mountains. I finally draw a Mox Jet, but it comes into play tapped thanks to Orb of Dreams. He has a Sundering Titan on the board (brought to us in part by Black Lotus) along with a Goblin Welder and Uba Mask. He also has a Bazaar Mountain. I lose to Titan beats before my Jet untaps. He mentions that he should keep Blood Moon in and I plan accordingly, siding in a card that will very much enjoy a proliferation of Mountains. I start
Game 2 with a very strong hand and he keeps as well. I lead with Bloodstained Mire for Mount Fuji! I have a Strip Mine and Wasteland in hand and I figure as long as he doesn’t cast first turn Blood Moon (I mean, c’mon it costs three and can’t be cast off Workshop) then I’ll just lock him off lands and win. He plays a Mountain. Sweet, I can Strip it! He plays Black Lotus followed by Blood Moon. Ouch. That’s alright. I’m still in it. I have Grim Lavamancer to handle his pesky Welders and my super Mountain-powered tech to clear his board. I play Grim Lavamancer and he plays Emerald and cycles Slice and Dice! It’s supposed to be there against Warrens tokens, but it certainly works effectively against G. Mancer as well. That’s fine. I play a Mishra’s Factory Mountain and drop a Null Rod followed by another Grim Lavamancer. He plays a Strip Mountain and I drop a T. Crypt – just in case. We play Draw – Go for a while. He Lava Darts my Lavamancer and plays Duplicant, imprinting nothing. I take beats from Duplicant and he gets a Solemn on the board as well. I Magma Jet it and scry into two cards I’m very happy to see. I play 2x Grim Lavamancers so that I’ll still have one after he flashes back Lava Dart. He cycles Slice and Dice – again! He plays Welder shortly thereafter. I look at the Welder on the board, along with four other artifacts that I want to kill and cast…
Shattering Spree!!! BOOM! - blow up his Duplicant - KATHRAKAWAK!! destroy three artifact mana sources – PUNT!!! my Null Rod bites the dust so that I can Crypt away the Duplicant if he attempts to Weld. All 6 copies resolves (an extra one targeting Duplicant – for good measure). I wipe his board and neutralize his Welder. He plays Sundering Titan from hand along with a Sol Ring and another artifact mana that he’d been holding. I Shattering Spree again – clearing away the Titan and his two artifacts. He plays Viashino Heretic followed by another Solemn Simulacrum. This version of the deck can’t recover from that many threats with just red mana to work with. Mountainous Stax had defeated The Mountains. I wish Jeff good luck and take solace in the fact that The Mountains Won Again.
Record: 1-2
Round 4 – Jason Hall with Salvagers
I recognize Jason from a previous second day Waterbury meeting when he bested me with Food Chain Goblins. We engage in the usual pleasantries as we shuffle and begin the match with Jason on the play. He plays Island, Sol Ring and passes to me. I play BSM. I play Mishra’s Factory on my second turn and try to resolve Dark Confidant. He Thirsts in response and discards an Island and a Tundra (ah ha! Salvagers, you fiend!). Confidant resolves. He Brainstorms and plays Black Lotus and Flooded Strand. I reveal another Mishra’s Factory off the Confidant and attempt to cast Null Rod which meets Mana Drain. I beat in with Bob. I cast Therapy naming Force of Will. Swing … and a miss. He has four cards: Mana Crypt, Tormod’s Crypt, Mox Sapphire, and Tundra. At the end of turn, I Seek out his Ancestral since the Lotus is already in the graveyard. I play a Grunt and start beating with that and the Mishra’s Factories. He uses a tricky Trinket Mage to summon up a Pyrite Spellbomb. He plays a Mox Ruby from his hand casts Salvagers, and proceeds to the win phase.
Game 2 He mulls to 4 and I Therapy 1st turn, naming Brainstorm. It’s a miss, but I do see: Tundra, Sensei’s Divining Top, Engineered Explosives, Merchant Scroll). He plays Top and I play Confidant a couple of turns later. He has the Drain for it. He Force of Wills a 2nd Confidant. I S-Word his Salvagers. He sends my Confidant to join the Auriok Plantation Association. I Seek out his Lotus, consult a Demonic Tutor who tells me I should get Strip Mine, and reduce his mana to a negligible amount. He dies to Grunt and Lavamancer.
Game 3 he leads with land go. I play Badlands and Cabal Therapy. He Ancestrals in response. I name Salvagers and see Mana Drain, Engineered Explosives, AEther Spellbomb, Tormod’s Crypt, Library of Alexandria, Pyrite Spellbomb, Merchant Scroll, and Auriok Salvagers. He drops Library. I Strip it after he spends one turn leafing through its ancient tomes. He plays Merchant Scroll and gets Brainstorm. He plays Trinket Mage and gets something just as we go to time. We can’t finish it in five turns and we end up at 1-1-1. We both plan on following up our professional scrubbage with a trip to the handy Timetwister Side Event. I wish Jason good luck and we both sign the slip. The most excellent officiator who comes to check on our match takes care of enrolling us in the side event as well. Nice and convenient.
Record: 1-2-1
Tournament: TMD X, Day 2, Side Event for a Timetwister, et al. (Single elimination)
Sunday, January 14th, 2007
To start off, I’m paired against Mark Biller. This should be fun – I haven’t played against Mark before and I’m always happy to meet new people. We finish up our foil land signing and begin shuffling, etc. Due to some registration errors, we re-pair before the round begins and this time I’m paired up with Andy Farias. I’ve met Andy at previous events so I know this will be an interesting match.
Round 1 – Andy Farias with Salvagers
I lead with a fetch and pass. He plays Tundra and Needle on Wasteland. Ouch – the Wasteland in my hand doesn’t seem quite as good anymore. It appears that it has been Pith-ed. I Therapy on turn 2 and it resolves. I name Auriok Salvagers. Swing… and a hit! A solid double for our intrepid rookie. I also see Mox Ruby, Tundra, Thirst for Knowledge, and Engineered Explosives. I go for a Jötun Grunt and say “let’s see if he drew the Mana Drain”. He did indeed. I attempt to play a Crucible and he Mana Leaks it. I resolve a Confidant. He plays Lotus, Academy, Brainstorm, blows up Explosives on 2 after I reveal a pair of additional Confidants and a Tormod’s Crypt off it. I beat down with the Confidants and a Jötun Grunt.
Game 2 we both keep and Andy leads with an Island. I play Tormod’s Crypt and it resolves. He attempts to Brainstorm on his next turn after playing a Polluted Delta. I REB it. I play a Mishra’s Factory. He Walks through Time uneventfully. I Waste his Underground Sea and play a Confidant. He plays a Salvagers with 3 cards left in his hand. I play Mount Fuji and draw a Grunt off the Confidant. He Drains the Grunt and burns for 2. I send his Salvagers to nobler pursuits in the rustic fields of the Midwest. I play another Dark Confidant and he Drains that as well, burning for one as he uses the other for a Sol Ring. I draw a Duress off the Confidant and he Drains that as well. I Duress away Hurkyl’s Recall the next turn. I resolve a Null Rod and Seek out Yawgmoth’s Will. He plays a couple of Trinket Mages and gets cards that he can’t activate and realizes that he has no way to remove the Null Rod from play since the Hurkyl’s Recall was his only mass bounce. I slowly beat down, removing another Salvagers with a Swords and win before too long. I wish Andy the best of luck with all his future games and ready myself for Round 2. An auspicious beginning for The Mountains in the Day 2 side event. I’m hopeful I can make it to the Top 4 again, with even better prizes this time around.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 Lorenzo Katin–Grazzini with Dragon
I sit down to play against Lorenzo and recognize him from my match the previous day vs. his friend Kurt Peterson. Lorenzo was watching that epic match, so he pretty much knows my entire deck. On the other hand, I don’t know his. I hope that he’s playing Fish, like his friend Kurt. I was not so fortunate. He mulls to 6 and plays a Swamp and Duresses away STP. Could be W/U/B Fish or U/B Fish… I Duress and take Intuition – definitely not Fish. He’s also holding Read the Runes and Cunning Wish. He Duresses away my Hide / Seek and he’s still at just a Swamp and Mox Sapphire. He casts Read the Runes, pitching Deep Analysis and flashes that back. I play Jötun Grunt and it goes the distance against his diminished hand and mana sources.
Game 2 we both keep. Lorenzo leads with Underground Sea, Mox Pearl, Black Lotus, Chalice on 1. I lead with Tormod’s Crypt, Mox Pearl, Waste his Underground Sea. I beat down with a Mishra’s Factory, play a Mox Jet, and a Badlands. Everything else in my hand costs one including 2x Swords to Plowshares, 2x Cabal Therapy, 1x Duress, and 1x Enlightened Tutor. I do not draw a Hide nor a Shattering Spree. I discard extra cards (3rd STP, Pyroblast, etc) and lose once he gets a Bazaar active and ditches 2x Worldgorger in the graveyard, using Animate to start up the combo and overloading my consciousness with a sheer Stroke of Genius. The Stroke of Genius is that Chalice on 1 pwns all my anti-Dragon tech.
Game 3 I resolve not to be caught so unprepared and side in some more Shattering Sprees. I lead with BSM, Scrubland, Cabal Therapy naming Chalice. I miss, but he does have Demonic Tutor, Force of Will, Read the Runes, Swamp, Bazaar, Echoing Truth, and Deep Analysis. He plays Bazaar and pitches Bazaar, Read the Runes, and Deep Analysis. I have 2x STP in hand and two white sources on the table, so I’m in a decent place since he can only Force one. I have a Jötun Grunt in hand that I’d really like to get on the table to take out his Dragon in the graveyard, but I patiently wait, hoping he’ll overextend and hand me the win. At this point I live up to the prefixes of my lands: “Bad”lands and “Scrub”land. I draw a Cabal Therapy. I play it and it resolves. I name Animate Dead and snag it. He has Force of Will, Read the Runes, Intuition, and Mystical Teachings in hand. Wanting to flashback the Therapy, I play Jötun Grunt it resolves. At this point I see the initial misplay in this chain of poor playing: I should have sat on the WW for double Swords. I can still rectify this by sacrificing my Grunt to flash back Therapy. Either he’ll Force the Therapy or I’ll grab it with Therapy and let my Swords resolve, even in the face of another Force of a Duress. I pass the turn… *blink*… *blink*…*blink*… I must be the mayor of Christmas Town, giving away games like this. Lorenzo looks confused, casts Intuition at the end of my turn and gets three Necromancy. He untaps and attempts to combo off. I feebly attempt to convince the Dragon to start a peaceful life gorging on corn rather than corn-fed planeswalkers and Worlds. He is not amused and through sheer Force of Will reinforces his c-c-c-combination!, sending another Stroke of Genius my way to finish me off. I extend my hand and thank Lorenzo for the games. After I leave the table, I make sure everyone who’s willing to kindly listen knows of my horrendous misplays.
Record: 1-1
After a bit of waiting, and a gas refill run in preparation for the return trip home, we head into the most exciting event of the weekend…
Magic Team Trivia!Sara, Fox, Oliver, and I played as “Team Mana Cookies” facing off against four other teams. The categories included Miscellaneous, Artwork, Mistform Ultimus Identity Crisis, Famous Vintage Players Who Aren’t Here, and Famous Deck Lists. We were terrible at the Mistform Ultimus category, but we more than made up for it in the other categories, particularly Miscellaneous. We ended up winning the game about three points ahead of the 2nd place finishers (The Perfect Scrubs). We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 54 points.
We got a bunch of free Odyssey packs for first place along with a sweet T-Shirt that Sara appropriated. We used the packs for Odyssey multiplayer pack wars which was fun if longer than expected. Andrew won with the limited bomb Cabal Patriarch and solid support cards. I got such stellar cards as Thought Nibbler and Obstinate Familiar… Regardless, I had fun and we soon headed out to grab dinner on the way home. We found a restaurant en route and enjoyed a hearty meal, discussing potential decks and the format in general and then continuing the long drive home to arrive in the early morning and prepare for work the next day. After catching up at work this week and thinking about the events of that weekend for a while, including follow up discussions with many other players, I’ve come up with some thoughts on where Vintage is as a format. With the State of the Union looming this coming Tuesday, I humbly present you with…
The State of VintageVintage is innately volatile, which allows for busted plays and games that turn around on a dime or a single card draw. It is not random. It’s not as simple as just being lucky; it’s calculated probability through deck construction and mulligans as well as in game play. You can’t take anything for granted in Vintage, which is what keeps the format interesting. It is frustrating to lose to a topdecked Timetwister or Strip Mine or Ancestral, but it really just means that the game is more compressed than other formats due to the sheer power level of the cards played. A lot more happens in a Vintage game in a shorter period of time due to the acceleration. If a full third of your deck is straight from the restricted list, complemented by other cards that could potentially be restricted, you’re much more likely to draw those cards and use them to win the game. Gifts may very well need to be restricted for its ability to get these specific overpowered resources and abuse them. If that happens, the format won’t change that drastically. Control players will still play control, just with fewer Gifts.
Players often comment that The Mountains Win Again and other similar decks are “hate” decks. I object to that label because I feel it has a negative connotation. Having deck components that target specific threats in the metagame (e.g. blue spells, artifacts, graveyard recursion, creatures) doesn’t mean that you hate those cards or those decks or the players that play those decks. It simply means that you’re adequately taking into consideration the cards you’re likely to face. As the metagame shifts and card choices change, your deck changes as well. That’s what keeps development fun and exciting for me, not simply adjusting 6-10 arguable slots between the sideboard and the maindeck, but drastically altering the deck to keep people on their toes and successfully combat the latest tech. The more players that choose to play focused decks, the more easily they are disrupted. What decks like Mountains and U/W Fish lack in explosiveness, they make up for in consistency
when played properly. You can always misplay yourself out of a good position. I am evidence of that. In almost every instance in these events, I lost a game or match due when I could have made different decisions that would have drastically changed the outcome. Good players play themselves into good positions with what resources they have available.
There seems to be a rift between players that enjoy interaction on the table (most notably playing creature decks) and those who prefer controlling play styles and explosive plays. What I find most interesting is what players (including myself) complain about, including, but certainly not limited to: losing to “broken piles” of cards like Gifts, losing to “janky” decks that run creatures, losing to bad luck or their opponent’s good luck. They don’t often fess up to losing to your own mistakes. And why should we – it makes us look bad. It’s easier and more convenient to blame lucksackery. That being said, recognizing and taking responsibility of your own mistakes is the first step in improving your play. Whether its mistakes in deck construction, sideboarding, mulliganing, or playing, you have a ton of decisions you can make to help shape the outcome of a game. As long as the Vintage format exists, so will “broken” plays. You know the plays I’m talking about: game-winning plays with disruption and/or protection backup.
The difference with The Mountains Win Again is that there are very few explosive cards to help you recover from misplays. A poor player can still top deck Ancestral, Timetwister, Black Lotus, etc, and win. The probability of doing that with a deck like Mountains is greatly reduced due to choices made in deck construction. That does not make it worse than any other deck. It
does mean that you’ll need to become a better player in order to consistently beat better players. I’m certainly having a blast playing the game, trying to improve my play, and supporting a format I very much enjoy. I hope you’ll join me in exploring the incredible possibilities of the Vintage Magic environment. And always, always, always … have fun!
Until next time, may The Mountains Win Again!
