Ahh, the overview. Vintage, it has been a while, but I'm back(maybe). I had no idea that it was even feasible to make this tourney for a little while. In fact, it wasn't until I got laid off that I suddenly found the time to sling some cards again. I tried to shake off some rust by playing at an FNM and getting my mechanics down a little bit before I tried again tomorrow, and practice I received.
Maybe it's because I play with a fellow named Dan Yarrington a lot, but I have grown very fond of the attack step. In fact, if the deck's main focus isn't turning dudes sideways, I wanted nothing to do with it. My number one deck has been R/G beatz for roughly a year, but some testing with Oli, Craig, and Dan showed me that red was just a terrible color to feature in this archetype, and I need to find inspiration elsewhere. And elsewhere I found it. I began with a theory: Elves + Gaddock Teeg + Lightning Greaves means YOU CAN'T LOSE! So I threw a deck together with cards that featured all of the above. I wanted it to be a casual deck that randomly
steals games from good decks, and that's normally good enough for me to have a blast at a tournament, but even Teeg elves turned out to be a miserable concoction. I can only sacrifice so many to Skullclamp before I can no longer win with Blasting Station.
So after I gave up on that abomination of an idea, I drew inspiration from old TMWA lists(which Dan no longer runs? For shame!) It involves lots of lock pieces on legs that also happen to beat down. Unfortunately, beyond Magus, red has really bad lock pieces, and no real beatstick. Green still has Teeg, which if my theory proved correct, is still a very viable threat to the NE metagamne. And Goyf, which after today proved it's worth as the absolute nut high. White provides Glowrider, which was excellent all day. I used Dan's current Suite of anti Oath tech, 8x Ponies! (Kami of Ancient Law and RONOM FREAKING UNICORN!) While they proved themselves relevant only once this tournament, they certainly wouldn't hurt against the Oath and Tyrant Blue matchups I managed to avoid.
Aven Mindcensor is a card that just doesn't see enough play right now. Every single good deck, save Oath, wins with a chain of Tutors, and there is no better card at stopping every single one of them than this card. The only other thing I was absolutely sure of was Yixlid jailer in the side. I can board in 15 cards to fight Flash and I'm still not guaranteed to win. Ichorid is that other unwinnable matchup for myself that I can win with enough hate, so I decided to focus my efforts against that deck and ran from there. In the end, my deck looked a little something like this:
When Ponies Attack!
4 Aven Mindcensor
4 Kami of Ancient Law
4 Ronom Unicorn
4 Glowrider
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Skullclamp
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus petal
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
2 Scrubland
1 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
4 Savannah
1 Strip Mine
2 Plains
4 Wasteland
SB:
4 Duress
3 Yixlid Jailer
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Oxidize
I really dislike running Leyline, but Oli talked me into it. It has terrible synergy with my Goyfs, and if I can't more then one out, I'm asking to lose to a Chain of Vapor. Duress was underwhelming. It will likely be replaced with Samurai of the Pale Curtain, which both Oli and Dan suggested to me and it does sound really good on paper. Oxidize because of all my sphere effects, i needed the most inexpensive artifact kill I could come up with.
On with the report! Unfortunately, I did not take notes, so you will have to bear with me on some instances.
Round one: Workshop Aggro
Game 1 involved me Swordsing a Juggernaut, holding down the ground with a 5/6 Goyf, while an Aven flew overhead. Eventually I started drawing more creatures vie Clamp, and I overran him.
In game 2 I Oxidized a Sword of fire and ice and played more dudes than he could handle. His Juggernaut was forced to run into a 5/6 goyf after I sacrificed a Kami to nerf a Pyrostatic Pillar. Eventually I played more dudes than he could handle and I took the match.
Round two: Flash
Not much to say about this, he flashed ge turn two game one and tinker->Platinum Anger game two which I could not answer in time. We both played very sloppiny, as I drew a card on the play, and when he tinkered, we both forgot Mindcensor was in play until it was too late. I deserved to lose this round.
Round three: Ichorid
He did the Ichorid thing game 1. I knew he was that new fangled Mana Ichorid, which means no Reverent Silence anyways. I got smashed
Game 2 I mulled into Leyline, which he was worried about for a little while, until he ripped Chain off the top like a champ. I in turn showed him how much of a champ I was when I ripped the Lotus to hard cast it next turn. Over the next couple of turns, I dropped a Jailer and a Teeg, and he conceeded shortly after digging with Bazaar a few times.
Game 3 I opened with Leyline and two strips for his two lands. I started building up my lands again and dropped 2 glowriders. He was unable to cast a non-Narcomeoba the whole game and I pulled out the win when I had a small army assembled
Round Four: GAT
He was a younger kid who seemed nervous to be on the cusp. The winner of the match gets in. He has an idea of what I am playing, and I know what he is on by watching his match next to me the previous round. I'm not going to underestimate him despite the fact that he looked no older than 11, and the match was underway!
Game 1 he kept a mana light hand. I punished it with an Aven Mindcensor when turned into a must counter when I responded to his fetch. A couple of Strip effects before he could stabilize plus some lock pieces and he was dead in a few turns
Game 2 he had the nuts. Wasn't going to win. He pyroclasmed some dudes though
Game 3 he seemed really nervous. Perhaps this was his first time on the bubble? I tried to have a conversation with him to calm him down, with limited success. I want my opponents to enjoy themselves and he was visually shaking. He allowed both Glowrider and Teeg to resolve not understanding what either of them did. Skullclamp was equipped to Teeg when he clasmed, forgetting that his ponder costed two mana now. This tapped him out as the turn passed. I played a Goyf and two clamps equipping them and started bashing. I then dropped a Glowrider. At this point, he needs to pay a minimum of 3 per non creature spell via Thorn and Rider. Goyf swung again and he was forced to block and trade his dryad. I drew 4, played out my hand, and won shortly thereafter.
Round 5: ID
Top 8: Mono blue Magus of the Moon? Drainless Slaver w/Magus?
I wasn't sure what to make of his deck because I steamrolled him. I had a very good opening hand game 1 and I walked his tinker into a Mindcensor game 2 after duressing him and plucking a Clasm. This match ended in about 8 minutes.
Top 4: Flash Again
He had the nuts game 1. Game 2, he fooled me with a transformational Oath sideboard. I drew no ponies to trump his Oath and I eventually lost to Platinum Beats.
3/4th Playoff against Ray Robilliard. We split the prizes and played for the glory of the bronze medal. As the topic implies, I lost a very tight, enjoyable, and one of the most fun matches in my magic playing career.
I'll describe this match at a later time. It was a very tight match with a ton of interactivity. Kinda late for me now unfortunately.
I snagged a minty Mana Crypt and 6o store credit for my troubles, which bought me a Chains of Mephistopheles and a Thoughtseize. These cards are so much easier to acquire when you win them.
Props:
Dan for his work on the Archetype. I borrowed a lot of tech from his earlier TMWA builds to come up with this deck.
Oli for providing some valuable testing experience which allowed me to settle on a maindeck.
Ruby Tuesday's for having Rogue Dead Guy Ale on tap. I have never seen this beer on tap before, and it's been one of my favorites for a long time.
Slops:
While everyone at the store was friendly and worked to make sure everyone was welcomed, it was a sinking feeling that the store sold porn magazines right out in the open. Especially when young kids were allowed behind the counter to where they were on display.
Overall I had a fun time at the event, even if I held the car ride up by 3 hours because everyone else scrubbed.
Thanks for reading!
