1st (prize Split) at Meandeck open in Columbus.

[forests failed you]

It was a weekend filled with lots, and lots of Magic the Gathering.

It all started Saturday morning around four o'clock in the AM when a group of the RIW crew left from Livonia and headed down to the PTQ in Columbus.  The PTQ was great.  Several Vintage players were in attendence:  Paul Mastriano, Steve Menendien, Paul Nicolo, and myself.  However, none of us did particularly well.  I was out by round six with an unimpressive 4-2 record playing my chant list, and so was pretty much everybody else.  I ended up staying over at Steve's place for the night, and going out to eat the the largest Max and Erma's that I have ever seen.  Unfortunately, Fishy had family obligations for Sunday and was unable to attended the event as I had earlier hoped.  It would be I alone, to represent Michigan in this event.

The tournament was held at the Soldiery, which is a nice venue and by the time the event got started it looked like we were going to have about 21 players; though for the smallness of the field, it was offset by the fact that the talent level was fairly high.  Among the players at the event we had:

Steve Menendien
Paul Mastriano
Doug Linn
JR
Nat Tram
Mark Trogden
and myself

Which means, that approximately 1/3 of the field was high caliber players.  I, of course was playing my signature Burning Slaver list with a few modifications.  In this report I'm really only going to talk about games that really stick out in my mind as having been interesting.

Here is what I played:

BURNING SLAVER

4 Force of WIll
4 Mana Drain
4 Brainstorm
4 Thirst for knowledge

1 Ancestral Recall
1 TIme Walk
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth

3 Goblin Welder
1 Burning Wish
1 Gorilla Shaman

1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Extripate

1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mindslaver
1 Sundering Titan
1 Duplicant
1 Tormod's Crypt

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

1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolerian Academy

2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Snow Covered Island

3 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea

SIDEBOARD

1 Shattering Spree
1 Extripate
1 Deep Analysis
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Solem Similacrum
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Duress
1 Pyroclasm
1 Fire/Ice
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rack and Ruin

Round 1/ Psychatog

Game One:  This game is a real lesson:  I draw my hand of seven and its no good.  I draw my hand of six and its no good.  I draw my hand of 5, and no land.  I sigh and draw my hand of four.  And win the game.  It was one of the more difficult games that I've played, but it is possible to win on a mulligan to four.  My grip of four is.

Polluted Delta
Mox Sapphire
Demonic Tutor
Mana Drain

He is on the play, and doesn't do anything I draw a second drain and DT for Ancestral Recall.  He plays a land on two but doesn't do anything.  I miss my next 2 land drops.  Eventually, he casts an EOT Intuition, while I have three Mana up.  I respond with Ancestral Recall and it resolves while he has only 1 Mana up.  I Extripate the Accumulated Knowledges that he seeks with the Intuition.  Eventually, I Mana Drain a second Intutiton and use it to chain two Thirst for Knowledges into each other and take control of the game.  In all fairness my opponent drew 0 counterspells in the entire game, which allowed me to resolve my counters to get drain mana, and my Ancestral to go through.  Sometimes heavy mulligans pay off.

I get game two.  and I am 1-0 in matches.

Round 2 Nat Moes playing Belcher/Empty

Game one:  A lesson (you can't always mise what you want)

I mulligan to six knowing that i am playing against a very quick combo deck.  My six on the play is

Mox Ruby
Gorilla Shaman
Echoing Truth
Force of WIll
Force of Will
Brainstorm

This hand IS garbage, but I try to mise it anyways.  The hope is that he will dump some Moxes early and try to get an empty into play.  Also he will play land grant so that I can see what he has and how I can disrupt his combo.  Within two turns I should get to blue Mana and have Echoing Truth if he makes tokens, or a Brainstorm to start digging and hitting mana. Also the Shaman will ensure that I can start picking off his moxes.

On turn one I play nothing and pass.

He is surprised.  But, takes his turn.  He plays Taiga and He casts land grant revealing

Pyroblast
Red Elemental Blast
Memory Jar
Living Wish
Tinder Wall
Tinder Wall

What a disaster.  I just lose this game because I kept a hand banking on him having a hand other than what he had.  Had he of kept a hand like:

Mox
Mox
Welder
Tider Wall
Belcher
Land Grant
Living Wish

I would most certainly have won.  But double Red blast, no Moxes sealed my doom.  Sometimes it doesn't pay to try and mise.

Game two I mulligan to five, and he plays empty the Warrens for 16 guys on the first turn.  I do not have, nor do I draw Echoing Truth and I die.

Record 1-1

Round 3 Doug Linn playing T1T

Game one is about the worst I've ever played.  Both of us, Doug and I are experienced Drain players;  However, we both keep abysmal hands trying to Mise our ways out and neither of us get there.  As a result a small croud of about five watch us play the dumbest game of magic ever seen.

He is on the play and casts Lotus sacrifices the Lotus for Blue and casts Thirst for Knowledge.  I allow it.  He discards a Darksteel Colossus and passes.  A no lander.

I draw for the turn and stare down at my no lander.

Thirst for Knowledge
Thirst for Knowledge
Tinker
Force of Will
Mana Drain
Mox Sapphire
Mox Ruby
Mox Jet

get there.  3 Moxes go down.  Thirst?  Force of Will.  Force Back.   Hmmm, you must really want that Thirst, Force back.  Hmmm, Awkward... Pass the Turn.   

Doug draws an Island and passes.  I attempt a second Thirst, and it goes through, I pitch a Mindslaver, but don't draw a land and Pass.  Doug draws and passes.  I untap and don't draw a land I play Welder.      He Chain of Vapors it at the end of turn.  Awkward.   He draws and plays an Underground Sea, and then passes.  I Brainstorm at his end of turn looking for my first land drop of the game and see, Welder, Shaman, Academy.  Awkward.

I draw Tolerian Academy and replay my Welder.  My hand at this point is utter crap.

Welder
Welder
Shaman

and I pass.  Apparently he has no answer to the onboard Slaver next turn so he tries to go off prematurely.  He ends up casting about 15 spells including Time Spiral but the Tolerian Academy allows me to shut off his Draw Spells after the Spiral resolves while he is looking for a lethal Tendrils.  He has to pass the turn to my board of Academy and three Moxes and Welder.  I play more mana Tinker for Slaver and Win.

I win game two with the nuts.

2-1.

Round 4 Paul Mastriano.  playing Long.

Surprise, I win game one and Duress him infi in game two.  They were both close games but I don't remember exactly what happened.  But I won.

3-1

Round 5 ID with Mark Trogden.

Top Eight

Paul Mastriano:  Close, close match.  Due to some things happening I advance to play against Gifts in the top 4.

Top 4:  Gifts:  I don't know exactly what happened in this match.  But, basically I was dead on board for about three turns in a row and bluffed my opponent off making the right plays.  If somebody else recalls the specifics and wants to put them up here I would be very grateful.  All I remember is this string of events.

He Ancestrals, I Force pitching Drain, he Drains my Force, I Drain his Drain and he Misdirects my Drain.  Resolves Recall with me tapped out of blue mana.  I have 3 lands and a Mana Vault (which is why I Forced first, because I needed to Drain a bigger spell to cast my Sundering Titan in hand.  My hand is Titan, Pearl FYI).  He untaps with 3 new cards, five lands in play and five Drain mana.  Casts Gifts Ungiven, gets Demonic Tutor, Yawgmoths Will, Recoup, and Time Walk.  I give him Recoup and Walk.  He casts Walk and loses the game.  Yeah, thats what I thought too.

Game two.  He beats the crap out of me.

Game threee.  I steam roll him with the nuts.  Mana Crypt, sooooo Goood
I Split with Mark in the finals.

Props

Steve- thanks for letting me crash at your place
Paul- always a good time when you are around
Mark Trogden - always good to see you around
Doug Linn - for playing bad magic with me.. And especially for the mental Magic Battles
JR - for agreeing to testify in my lawsuit against Jersey Mike's Subs

Slops-  Put fishy on?  Where Fishy?

It was a fun tournament, thanks to the Soldiery for putting it on.  Congratulations to Trogden for Burning Face.  Both decks in the finals involved Burn in their titles.

In a side note I was 8-0 in games of Mental Magic this weekend.  The highlight of the weekend was trapping Steve under his own Trinisphere, and then playing Winter Orb while he was tapped out.  OMG what an insane play!

Cheers and thanks for reading!

FFY

[Largent]

Grats on your finish bryan! way to be the 1 man slaver machine!

[diopter]

Round 2 Nat Tram playing Belcher/Empty

Game one:  A lesson (you can't always mise what you want)

I mulligan to six knowing that i am playing against a very quick combo deck.  My six on the play is

Mox Ruby
Gorilla Shaman
Echoing Truth
Force of WIll
Force of Will
Brainstorm

This hand IS garbage, but I try to mise it anyways.  The hope is that he will dump some Moxes early and try to get an empty into play.  Also he will play land grant so that I can see what he has and how I can disrupt his combo.  Within two turns I should get to blue Mana and have Echoing Truth if he makes tokens, or a Brainstorm to start digging and hitting mana. Also the Shaman will ensure that I can start picking off his moxes.

On turn one I play nothing and pass.

He is surprised.  But, takes his turn.  He plays Taiga and He casts land grant revealing

Pyroblast
Red Elemental Blast
Memory Jar
Living Wish
Tinder Wall
Tinder Wall

What a disaster.  I just lose this game because I kept a hand banking on him having a hand other than what he had.

You could have FoW'd his Land Grant and left him stuck with no mana whatsoever.

[forests failed you]

Round 2 Nat Tram playing Belcher/Empty

Game one:  A lesson (you can't always mise what you want)

I mulligan to six knowing that i am playing against a very quick combo deck.  My six on the play is

Mox Ruby
Gorilla Shaman
Echoing Truth
Force of WIll
Force of Will
Brainstorm

This hand IS garbage, but I try to mise it anyways.  The hope is that he will dump some Moxes early and try to get an empty into play.  Also he will play land grant so that I can see what he has and how I can disrupt his combo.  Within two turns I should get to blue Mana and have Echoing Truth if he makes tokens, or a Brainstorm to start digging and hitting mana. Also the Shaman will ensure that I can start picking off his moxes.

On turn one I play nothing and pass.

He is surprised.  But, takes his turn.  He plays Taiga and He casts land grant revealing

Pyroblast
Red Elemental Blast
Memory Jar
Living Wish
Tinder Wall
Tinder Wall

What a disaster.  I just lose this game because I kept a hand banking on him having a hand other than what he had.

You could have FoW'd his Land Grant and left him stuck with no mana whatsoever.

He played Taiga:  and had REB and Pyro.  I'm not sure that I like that play so much.  In fact, I didn't like ANY of my plays so much that game... Especially keeping the hand that I did.

[diopter]

didn't see that he played Taiga pre-Land Grant.

[GrandpaBelcher]

Hi, I was your second round Belcher opponent, Nat Moes.  I think you had me confused with Nam Tran, who was also the player in top 8.  It's happened before, surprisingly.  For everyone's future reference:  Nam Tran - Asian; Nat Moes - goofy-lookin white guy.

I think both of our accounts of round 2, game 1 must be wrong.  I have that you Forced my Land Grant.  And that makes some sense because, if I had already played Taiga, I wouldn't have played Land Grant unless I was building storm.  I only had the one land in the deck.  Still, I know when I Granted, you wrote down my hand, so if that's accurate... Jeez, I don't know.  I should have taken better notes.

Congratulations on your finish, though.  Good to have you in Columbus.

[forests failed you]

Hi, I was your second round Belcher opponent, Nat Moes.  I think you had me confused with Nam Tran, who was also the player in top 8.  It's happened before, surprisingly.  For everyone's future reference:  Nam Tran - Asian; Nat Moes - goofy-lookin white guy.

I think both of our accounts of round 2, game 1 must be wrong.  I have that you Forced my Land Grant.  And that makes some sense because, if I had already played Taiga, I wouldn't have played Land Grant unless I was building storm.  I only had the one land in the deck.  Still, I know when I Granted, you wrote down my hand, so if that's accurate... Jeez, I don't know.  I should have taken better notes.

Congratulations on your finish, though.  Good to have you in Columbus.

Here is what I have written down in my notes.

Play/  Shaman/ ruby / FOW / FOW / E Truth / Brainstorm

Turn 1:  Pass
Nat:  Taiga : Land Grant:  Reveals : Tinder wall, REB, Pyro, Living Wish, Tinder Wall, Memory Jar.

Force of Will // pitch Echoing Truth.  It Resolves.  Plays Tinder Wall and passes. 

I draw Tolerian Academy.  I play Mox Ruby, Shaman Brainstorm.  Opponent sacs Tinder Wall and casts REB.  I pass.

Opponent draws Elvish Spirit Guide casts Living Wish for Mishra's Workshop, and plays shop.

I don't draw a blue card for my FOW on my turn.  Opponent removes Simian Spirit Guide for Red, casts Memory Jar.  Cracks Jar, and Emptys the Warrens.  Welder, Lotus, Mox, Empty, I lose.

My notes tend to be really sloppy.  But that is what I have written down for the game.

Sorry I messed up your name!   I didn't realize there were two Nat's in Vintage.  It was definately nice to meet you at the event.

[GrandpaBelcher]

Huh.  That sounds about right.  I knew I Wished for Shop at some point in the tournament.  I wonder why I randomly chose to show you my hand with Land Grant for nothing without EtW in hand and ready to play.  Weird.  The mana burn from countering your Brainstorm does answer why my life was at 19, though.

Rough hand, regardless.  Thank goodnes for maindeck REB.

And it's NaT Moes (that's me) and NaM Tran, the other guy, who was playing Monobrown MUD.  So as far as I know, I am the only Nat who plays Vintage.

It was good to meet you too.  Your prowess with the Magical cards is legendary.  Hopefully, we'll meet again.

[Lyle H]

paul was at the PTQ twice eh?

[forests failed you]

paul was at the PTQ twice eh?

Typo:  Paul Nicolo.  Edited.

[Jacob Orlove]

In a side note I was 8-0 in games of Mental Magic this weekend.  The highlight of the weekend was trapping Steve under his own Trinisphere, and then playing Winter Orb while he was tapped out.  OMG what an insane play!

Wow, who plays Trinisphere in Mental Magic? That could easily have been Bloodletter Quill, or Disrupting Scepter, or, like, anything that isn't Trinisphere. I mean, it's not like they're going to run out of lands to play, even if you just cast Geddon or something.

Edit: oh yeah, and congrats!

[Smmenen]

Heh: I had Workshop Trinisphere and then Smokestack. 

[Hi-Val]

Congrats!

My opening hand was:

Black Lotus
Drit
Yawg Will
Thirst
Ruby
other crap

The TFK actually yielded a land, but it wasn't Sea, so I couldn't Drit out Will and get a crazy first turn like what I seem to get against you : )

In any case, I really enjoyed playing against you and I'm happy that you were able to make it to this one. It's always a pleasure!

And when we Mental next time, let's play Legacy rules so I don't get blown out by you drawing Whisper and blue cards all the time : D

[Liek]

I really have to stop missing Vintage tournaments.

Good job with the split.

[seer]

How could that gifts player lose the game with recoup/timewalk in hand?

[Implacable]

How could that gifts player lose the game with recoup/timewalk in hand?

I'm also confused by this.  By the thread in the Basic Forums, it sounds like you bluffed, but it also sounds like he misplayed hugely.

[Moxlotus]

Heh: I had Workshop Trinisphere and then Smokestack. 

ROFL.  I didn't know Steve played stax

And Vintage mental magic is the only way to play.  2U and 3U spells are sweet.  Gifts, FoF and Intuition are hilarious

[Bob The Builder]

congrats ffy !

I have a small question about your decklist: Did duplicant MD do anything for you during your games?  Couldn't make it out in your report if it did.  I ask this question cause I'm thinking about cutting this dude for some other still undifined card...

But if you tell me this card rocks I'll bend my head to your wise words of advice and keep playing him.

[Hi-Val]

Heh: I had Workshop Trinisphere and then Smokestack. 

ROFL.  I didn't know Steve played stax

And Vintage mental magic is the only way to play.  2U and 3U spells are sweet.  Gifts, FoF and Intuition are hilarious

The problem I see with Vintage Mental is that it really does come down to who draws more blue cards. Cards with costs like 2GG or 4R are going to just turn into lands because you can't get real juice out of them. Vintage Mental, I think, is more luck than skill because it comes down to who draws more blue cards.

I did get to run out Pyknite several times against Brian though, so I was pleased as punch about that.

[forests failed you]

congrats ffy !

I have a small question about your decklist: Did duplicant MD do anything for you during your games?  Couldn't make it out in your report if it did.  I ask this question cause I'm thinking about cutting this dude for some other still undifined card...

But if you tell me this card rocks I'll bend my head to your wise words of advice and keep playing him.

I made a six mana two four a couple of times.  And beat down with it ftw.  With the Extripates in the deck, it is very easy to run an opponent out of win conditions with Duplicant, Welder, Crypt Extripate.

IMO

[Yawgmoths_Dummy]

Congrats Brian, your win % in power tournies is sick!

 

congrats ffy !

I have a small question about your decklist: Did duplicant MD do anything for you during your games?  Couldn't make it out in your report if it did.  I ask this question cause I'm thinking about cutting this dude for some other still undifined card...

But if you tell me this card rocks I'll bend my head to your wise words of advice and keep playing him.

I've seen Brian go 2/4 aggro-beat down so many times it isn't even funny. Wizards should restrict Duplicant! 

[nartman99]

Nat Tram

Woah did Demars just call me a good player? It is Nam Tran by the way, unless you weren't talking about me. It was nice to finally see you make it down to one of these tournaments. Congrats on the finish!

[forests failed you]

Nat Tram

Woah did Demars just call me a good player? It is Nam Tran by the way, unless you weren't talking about me. It was nice to finally see you make it down to one of these tournaments. Congrats on the finish!

Of course I think you are a good player. 

[PacmanXSA]

Anyone can win in Ohio...

See ya with a vengeance on Sunday baby.

Congrats on the win, although the celebration will be short lived.

Pac

[Twaun007]

Way to mull to 4 and get Polluted Delta, Mox Sapphire ,Demonic Tutor, and Mana Drain.....

Good games and congrats on the finish.

[forests failed you]

Anyone can win in Ohio...

See ya with a vengeance on Sunday baby.

Congrats on the win, although the celebration will be short lived.

Pac

Thanks buddy.  I hope that we get to play against each other.  I scrubbed so hard last time I wasn't at the good tables to face off with you!

Although, I suppose I beat you vicariously through Biller (with Burning Slaver) in top eight.  Although, I would have had you in 2 games with the hands he had!!

See you Sunday! 

Cheers!

[Sam Best]

This is a bit late to be asking this, but what was the top 8 for this tournament?

[nartman99]

This is a bit late to be asking this, but what was the top 8 for this tournament?

The top 8 was like:

Chris Sargent - Meandeck Gifts
Brian Demars - Burning Slaver
Jeff Blystone - "Brain" Gifts
Mark Trogdon - Monored LD (I don't recall ever seeing Workshop in his deck)
Paul Mastriano - Pitch Long
Twaun - Psychatog
Matt Hazard - U/W Fish
Nam Tran - Monobrown MUD

[ELD]

Black Lotus
Drit
Yawg Will
Thirst
Ruby
other crap

A perfect example of why Gifts>Thirst.  If that was a Gifts in there, you get Jet, Petal, Sea and Tendrils.  GG

[forests failed you]

Although Gifts in that situation would have equated to a turn 1 goldfish victory;  I was holding Force of Will.  I didn't know what Doug was playing, so I opted not to use the FOW on the Thirst because my opening hand required that I resolve my own TFK to search for a land drop.  However, had he cast Gifts or attempted a Yawgmoth's Will I wouldn't have hesitated to Force of Will that sucker.  The fact that Thirst was so innocuous is what ultimately led to Doug's ability to stay in the game after a fairly weak keep.

Secondly, he had told me before the tournament that he had opted not to play Slaver.  That was a big reason that I opted to keep my FOW to protect my own TFK (knowing that my thirsts would be more important than his.)  I was also afraid of countering the Thirst and having him do something dumb.  Sapphire, Recall, Academy Walk.  Even Mana Crypt land Tinker could have been extremely problematic. 

Black Lotus ----> Thirst for Knowledge is an extremely dangerous play in a Drain mirror.  Often if you FOW the Thirst for Knowledge you beat them, because they were banking on that play in order to develop.  However, it is also plausable that they have other powerful spells as well.  Although it gives you card and tempo advantage to counter the Thirst, I don't always make that play.  1.  You give off a lot of misinformation by not countering.  (most opponent's would assume that because you allowed it to resolve you do not have FOW.  2. depending upon your hand it affords you a lot of really good plays later.

For instance you can EOT your own Thirst on their end step to bait out a counterspell, and then untap and play a bomb like Tinker or Walk without having to worry about it being countered.

Gifts is not strictly > Thirst for Knowledge.  As evidence I cite the fact that I am 11-0-1 against Gifts (the deck that plays 4 Gifts) with my Burning Slaver deck (the deck that plays Thirst for Knowledge) in my last 4 tournaments.  Waterbury day 1, Waterbury day 2, Meandeck open, RIW Jet Tourney.  And my one draw was with Mike Pies, whom I would consider an adept with his Gifts deck, and had I have had 1 more turn I would have won the game.  I had to break my hard Slaver lock for one turn in order to bring in my Sundering Titan without a counterspell to win in turns.  And he topdecked Hurkyl's Recall.  (1 of his 3 outs for forcing a draw, Empty the Warrens, Hurkyl's Recall, Chain of Vapor.)

I disagree with you that Gifts is a better card than Thirst.  They are both insane.  But, even if you look to other formats to gather evidence Thirst for Knowledge sees more play than Gifts does.