BLACK GOLD weekly vintage results

[aosquirrels]

We've been playing sanctioned vintage on Thursday nights at Black Gold for the past three years now.  I see other organizers posting their own weekly results so I figure why not us too!

10 players played 4 rounds on 1/15/09.  The final standings are as follows....

12 - Carl Van Laethem (MUD)*
9  -  Michael Cammilleri (Goblins)
6  -  Adam Ramsay (Sensei Sensei)*
6  -  Steve Schrader (B/G goodness)
6  -  Ian Setser (B/W Control)
6  -  Jason Dudek (Tezz)*
6  -  Marcus Knox (Workshop aggro)
3  -  Shawn Buell (Ichorid)
3  -  Jesse Kuchinski (Stax)*
0  -  Brett Nuici (?)

*=powered

The decklist I used was Steve Menendian's list from his latest article.  I've never used Arcbound Ravager is a MUD list before so I thought that I would give it a try.

ROUND 1 - Brett
Game 1 I combo out on turn 3 or 4 with Metalworker / Staff.  Brett wins game 2 with an early Tarmogoyf and enough control to keep it in play for the few turns it needed to kill me.  Game 3 was a virtual carbon copy of game 1.  1-0

ROUND 2 - Ian
Ian has won the last two matches we've played so I was a bit nervous as to how this match was going to go.  He has this nasty habit of playing a first turn swamp - dark rit - duress - hymn to tourach and following it up with either a Nantuko Shade or Hippie.  Anyway.... GAME 1 I play a first turn Chalice to 1 a turn 2 Smokestack and a turn 3 Crucible - he scoops and shows me his hand that had 7 1cc cards in it.  Game 2 I just remember that I won.  The match lasted a whole 15 minutes.  2-0

ROUND 3 - Steve
Game 1 is all Steve.  My 2spheres couldn't prevent his Null Rod from entering play.  I topdeck a bunch of land and his Tarmogoyf and Ohran Viper smash my face in fairly quickly.  Game 2 was interesting in that my Karn and Silent Arbiter kept his two Tarmogofys at bay while I waited to topdeck a Smokestack or Tanglewire for the win.  It also helped that Steve couldn't draw a land for 6 or 7 turns.  I just can't remember game 3 for some reason (age?).  I won and that's all that counts right now.  3-0

ROUND 4 - Adam
I had to mull to 6 in Game 1.  My turn 1 Chalice to 0 resolves but that was just about all I resolved all game.  2 Master of Etheriums made minced meat of me.  Game 2 My opening hand was a Stax players dream.  Adam had to mull to 5 and scooped after I established a Stax lock on turn 3.  Game 3 was the only real game of the match.  My early Razormane Masticore kept him from keeping creatures in play while Adam's countermagic kept me from getting any serious lock on the game.  Eventually my Razormane and Factory attacked a few times for the win.  4-0

I like this build of MUD quite a bit.  The only question I have is this....How important is Arcbound Ravager in this deck?  I wasn't very comfortable with it.  I see it as an answer to Energy Flux but not much else.  How about replacing both of them with some combination of Razormane Masticore/Tirskelion/Duplicant?  Thoughts anyone!

[yangtime]

Congrats Carl.  I'm glad to see that you did well with Workshops.  With regards to Arcbound Ravager, that guy is pretty good.  If you don't like him, you could try a more combo oriented build with a full compliment of Staff of Domination in the mix.

[Green Knight]

Howdy Carl! Glad to hear you are still playing (and MUD no less ). What time do you guys play at on Thursdays?
Will you be hosting any T1 tourneys this coming year now that the holidays are over?

[aosquirrels]

Howdy Carl! Glad to hear you are still playing (and MUD no less ). What time do you guys play at on Thursdays?
Will you be hosting any T1 tourneys this coming year now that the holidays are over?

We start play at 6:00pm and usually finish between 9:00 and 10:00.  I will be hosting something in March.  Posting for the event will be coming soon!

[aosquirrels]

Here are the results from last night.

12 - Shawn Buell (Mono Blue Workshop)*
9  - Jason Dudek (Tezz w/Painter's Servant combo)*
9  - Marcus Knox (B/G/U hate.dec)
6  - Michael Cammilleri (Goblins)
6  - Brett Nuoci (U/W Fish w/Iscochron Scepter)
6  - Adam Ramsay (Control Slaver)*
3  - Ian Setser (B/W control)
3  - Carl Van Laethem (Ichorid)
3  - James Morton (Atog Lord Elves)
3  - Tommy Adams (Blue Artifact Stuff)

Shawn destroyed the field with his own Workshop version.  Check it out.

4 - Mishra's Workshop
4 - Mishra's Factory
4 - Mox Diamond
4 - Wasteland
3 - Snow Covered Island
2 - Seat of the Synod
1 - Tolarian Academy
1 - Strip Mine
1 - Black Lotus
1 - Mox Sapphire
1 - Mana Crypt
1 - Mana Vault
1 - Sol Ring
2 - Coalition Relic
3 - Thorn of Amethyst
4 - Sphere of Resistance
1 - Trinisphere
3 - Chalice of the Void
4 - Master of Etherium
4 - Juggernaut
2 - Triskelion
1 - Sundering Titan
3 - Crucible of Worlds
2 - Sword of Fire and Ice
1 - Memory Jar
1 - TInker
1 - Ancestral Recall

SB:
2 - Hurkyl's Recall
1 - Chalice of the Void
2 - Echoing Truth
2 - Grim Poppet
1 - Thorn of Amethyst
4 - Bottled Cloister
3 - Tormod's Crypt


As for me, I had a terrible experience with Ichord.  Here is the very short story....

Round 1 vs. Goblins: Game 1 my dredgers yielded me 0 Ichorids, Narcs and Bridges while Goblins danced on my face.  In game 2 I so 0 Bazaars or Serum Powders and ended up mulling to 1.  Goblins did their happy dance on my face again.

Round 2 vs. B/G/U hate: As a teaser, my deck actuall worked like it was designed to in game 1.  Game 2 and 3 I mulled to some stupid low number. Pithing needle kept me from doing anything but play draw/go and before I could draw enough cards to start dredging Marcus's Tarmogoyfs learned the Goblin happy dance from my 1st round opponent.

Round 3 vs Control Slaver:  I win easily in two.  WOW! How'd that happen.

Round 4 vs. Atog Lord Elves:  Game 1 was a carbon copy of my first game in round 1.  Game 2 was no better as I had to find my Emerald Charm to deal with a Leyline of the Void.  My Bazaar couldn't find it for me in time since all 3 of them were in the bottom 11 cards of my library.

I looked it up in the dictionary and found the definition of Ichoird is: "Suckiest deck in Magic!"

[aosquirrels]

We had 9 players (4 rounds) last night.  It was the first time in recent memory that the three powered decks finished 1-2-3.  I ended up taking this one down with a Stax build that recently won the CVL tournament in Europe piloted by David Pla with a very minor sideboard adjustment.  I really really like the build...check it out.

Main Deck
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald 
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
4 Tangle Wire
3 Razormane Masticore
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Goblin Welder
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Memory Jar

Land
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic Island
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Mishra's Factory
3 Ancient Tomb
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard
1 In The Eye Of Chaos
2 Pithing Needle
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Tormod's Crypt
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Memnarch
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Pyroclasm
1 Crucible of Worlds


Final Standings
12 - Carl Van Laethem (U/R Stax)
9  - Jesse Kuchinski (Mono Blue Workshop)
9  - Adam Ramsay (Oath)
6  - Marcu Knox (Landstill)
6  - Shawn Buell (Ad Nauseum)
6  - Ian Setser (B/W Control)
6  - Josh Chapple (Belcher)
3  - Brad Summerlot (Tezz)
3  - Ryan Hannigan (Green Stompy)

I'll spare you another boring report but I would like to take this time to welcome Josh Chapple (COFFE CUP) to Black Gold.  Josh recently moved to Colorado from Ohio and we hope to see him regularly at our events.  WELCOME TO COLORDAO JOSH!

[CoffeeCup]

Awesome tourney.  Some real good MTG players there.  I'll be seeing you guys next thursday.  I'll have to make this a weekly thing. 

[andrewpate]

@aosquirrels
How important was Karn in a build that already has an unusually large amount of robot beef for a Stax deck?  With Trike, Titan, and 3 Masticores, Karn seems unnecessary.  And since Tezz looks to be a pretty rough matchup for you, maybe some maindeck Pithing Needles would be in order.

[aosquirrels]

@aosquirrels
How important was Karn in a build that already has an unusually large amount of robot beef for a Stax deck?  With Trike, Titan, and 3 Masticores, Karn seems unnecessary.  And since Tezz looks to be a pretty rough matchup for you, maybe some maindeck Pithing Needles would be in order.

I couldn't imagine a build without Karn.  But then again, I couldn't imagine a Stax deck without Chalice of the Void which this build doesn't have.  Go figure.  In any case, I do agree that  Pithing Needle is important but it can still stay in the sideboard for now.  Maindecking it would be just a matter of player's choice.  Karn was key in my first game against Ad Nauseum.  Ate up all those 0cc perms.  As far as too many beefy creatures....the number of them is ok in my view.  I might change one Razormane into a second Trike if I decide to play this build again.  I would also like to try Eater of Days in this build!

Carl

[aosquirrels]

Last night (2/14) was our first event where Conflux was legal.  The few cards I saw were Inkwell Leviathan and Path to Exile.  I modified my U/R Stax build to accommodate Master Transmuter and I wasn't dissapointed.  Here is the list I ran.

Maindeck
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
4 Goblin Welder
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Master Transmuter
1 Triskelion
1 Sundering Titan
2 Razormane Masticore
1 Eater of Days
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Duplicant
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall

Land
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
3 Ancient Tomb
4 Volcanic Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire

Sideboard
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 In The Eye Of Chaos
1 Memnarch
1 Viashino Heretic
2 Pyroclasm
2 Pithing Needle
2 Rack and Ruin

I took out the three Thorn of Amethyst and put in 2 MT's and a Duplicant.  I also took out 1 Razormane for an Eater of Days.  The 3rd Razormane is going back in (bye bye Eater).  Master Transmuter was pretty hot.  It was key in two games.  The first game I was attacking and bouncing Triskelion for the win.  The second was a bit more subtle. I had 5 permanents in play at the beginning of my upkeep (Tangle Wire w/4 counters, Master Transmuter, Mishra's Workshop, Mox something, Volcanic Island).  I remove a counter from Tangle Wire and tap Workshop, Mox, and TWire.  I use the Transmuter to put Smokestack into play avoiding my opponents Force of Will.  HOTNESS!

I was fortuanate to win the small event.  My round 3 opponent (Adam Ramsay) whiffed on a turn 1 win in game 3.  He played Mind's Desire (storm 6) with no mana open and got 4 land a Memory Jar and something else irrelevent.  He plays and cracks the jar and gets bupkus.  My turn 1 Trinisphere made for a quick game.

My thought process on using Master Transmuter was that it would be a 5th and 6th welder sorta kinda.  There was never an issue casting it and when it resolved into play it was very very good.