[Madrid · 28-06-09] Vintage All Stars

[CHaPuZaS]

This weeend, during the UAL Eternal Weekend in Madrid (A Power 9 Series with attendance of 136 players and a Duel 4 Duals with an attendance of 125 players), an special invitational tournament was also celebrated: The Vintage All Stars 2009.

This was an only by invitation entry and free 32 people tournament with just the prize of the glory (And also a trophy and an Altered FoW for the winner). The players invited where the best from all Spain. The players where invited thanks to their results of the last year and his historical results by a Sages Comitee.

The tournament was a fantastic sucess. People were eager to watch games even in the last table with zero points, because even taking the punctuation in account, thata was ging to be an incredible game. All the tournament, and all the tables were Feature Matches.

It will be in the memory of everyone as the hardest round-to-round and with the most average level tournament ever in Spain, no round you could face an easy opponent.

You must tr this in your country, because it's an incredible experience.

An exhaustive report and many photos can be found in my blog, in Spanish obviously, but I will leave you some data here:

Players of the event (Those names are very common in Spanish Top8s, so many of you may remember them):

Alascio, Jose Antonio
Alcoriza, Miguel
Alonso, Raul
Apraiz, Josu
Blaya, Miguel
Bonet, Jaume
Cano, Jaime
Castillo, Luis
Crespo Aurelio
Diaz, Miguel Angel
Diaz, Pablo David
Escribano, Alejandro
Espadas, Juan
Fernández, César
Fuente, Juanjo
Galito, Adria
Garcés, Sergi
Giraldo, Borja
González, Darío
Gonzalez, Ruben
Hernández, Benito
López, Ivan
López-Tercero, Josué
Menor, David
Muntada, Xavier
Ragull, Guillem
Rodriguez, Victor
Rohner, Omar
Samaniego, Alexander
Sanchez, Ramón
Talavera, Raul
Yanguas, Fernando

Deck Breakdown ofthe event:

Drain Tendrils - 7
Almost Variants - 5
Tezzeret UBR - 3
Tezzaret UB - 3
5 Color Stax - 2
TPS - 2
UW Fish - 2
BUG Fish - 1
Remora - 1
Tezzcast - 1
Goblins - 1
Bomberman - 1
Mana Ichorid - 1
Bazaar Tendrils - 1
Faeries - 1

Top 8 Decklists:

Champion – César Fernández - TezzCast

Maindeck

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Thoughcast
1 Tinker
1 Midirection
2 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or fiction
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Inkwel Leviathan
2 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
2 Flooded Strand
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
4 Seat of the Synod

Sideboard

4 Ingot Chewer
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Extirpate
2 Rack & Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
3 Pyroclasm

Finalist - Raúl Talavera - Almost aKa "Almost Dragon"

Maindeck

2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Fire / Ice
2 Pyrblast
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
3 Repeal
3 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mind's Desire
1 Gush
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
2 Misdirection
1 Snow-Covered Island

Sideboard

1 Shivan Dragon
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Razormane Masticore
2 Spell Snare
2 Empty the Warrens
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Massacre

Semifinalist - Pablo David Díaz "Dios" - Almost aKa Chichadeck 2.0

2 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Cryt
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Dark Ritual
4 Force of Will
4 Misdirection
4 Repeal
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Brainstorm
1 Mind's Desire
1 Mana Drain
1 TimeTwister
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yaegmoth's Will
1 Vampirc Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Pyroblast
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warens
1 Rebuild
1 Gush
1 Ponder
1 Meditate
1 Mind Twist

Sideboard

4 Ingot Chewer
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Extirpate
1 Massacre
2 Duress
1 Lava Dart
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan

Semifinalist - Miquel Alcoriza - Tezzeret UBR

Maindeck

2 Polluted Delta
3 Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Volcainc Island
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Sensei's Divning Top
4 Repeal
1 Rebuild
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Tinker
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Rebuild
1 Tendrils of Agony

Sideboard

2 Tormod's Cryt
2 Pyroclasm
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Red elemental Blast
2 Duress
3 Extirpate
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Darkblast
1 Hurkyll's Recall

Top8 - Iván López - UW Fish aKa "Ouh iess"

Maindeck

4 Meddling Mage
4 Sage of Epythir
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
2 Icatian Javelineers
3 Jötun Grunt
2 Kataki, War's Cage
4 Force of Will
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Daze
3 Stifle
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Null Rod
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Plains
2 Island
4 Tundra
3 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand

Sideboard

3 Spell Snare
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Echoing Truth
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Disenchant
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Top8 - Jaime Cano - Almost aKa "Almost one of each"

4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
3 Repeal
1 Chain of Vapor
1 REbuild
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scrll
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Meditate
1 Frantic Search
1 Fact or Fiction
Gifts Ungiven
1 Gush
1 Mind's Desire
2 Brainfreeze
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Regrowth
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Se
3 Island
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta

Sideboard

1 Darksteel Colossus
2 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tinker
3 Duress
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Extirpate
1 Darkblast
1 The Abyss
2 Disrupt

Top8 - Alesander Samaniego - Mana Ichorid aKa "Choustorid"

Maindeck

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Gemstone Mine
3 City of Brass
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Breakthrough
2 Cephalid Sage
3 Fatestitcher
1 Flame-kin Zealot
3 Putrid Imp
4 Golgri Grave Troll
3 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Stinkweed Im
3 Dread Return
4 Narcomoeba
4 Bridge from Below

Sideboard

4 Chain of Vapor
4 Darkblast
4 Pithing Needle
3 Wispmare

Top8 - Aurelio Crespo - TPS

Maindeck

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
4 Dark Confidant
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
1 Imperial Seal
1 Necropotence
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Totur
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
4 Force ofWill
1 Mind's Desire
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Rebuild
2 Repeal
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Badlands
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Undeground Sea

Sideboard

1 Volcanic Island
1 Hurkyll's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
2 Tombstalker
2 Pyrocasm
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Empty the Warrens

I'll be waiting for your opinion!!!

[Implacable]

I read the longer post on your blog - great pictures and turnout!  It sounds like it was a really good tournament.  The metagame, however, seemed very strange to me.  Looking at the Top 8, it seems like Null Rod decks would have wrecked the meta.  Why don't you see more of those in Spain, or at least at that particular tournament?

[Qube]

It's cracy, that so many repeals are played, and the most decks are some comboing-controll storm style. I like it!

But I think that does only works well if the most peolple play like this, if there would be more hate, would it go the same?

[MaxxMatt]

...
Top8 - Jaime Cano - Almost aKa "Almost one of each"
...

...so this is the direction JaimeC gave to AlmostBlue.dec...
cute maindeck. solid sideboard.

...nice nice nice nice  to see people are still killing opponents with my Freezes
props to him for his top8!

MaxxMatt

[CHaPuZaS]

Well, the point is that most of the best performing players last year where Drain Players. This is usual most years, but this year that was powered by the power of Tezz decks.

In fact, I think that mos tplayers played the tournament in order to enjoy it, to have a nice day, not play just the deck that could win in a considered meta. The two Fish players were just that, the best fish players in the country, that's why they palyed the deck so, in the end, the torunament was representative of those deks that could be found in the Top8s, proportionaly.

An important question that I have for this tournamet in other countries... Are other countries celebrating this kind of tournament??

I remember to have heard of Italy doing it before the Ovinoggedon tournament, and sure, doing it in the USA will be very hard due to the country's size, but anyway I want to know it.

[MaxxMatt]

@Qube

All I can say, because of my personal experience matured playing in Italy & Europe, is we are both addicted to "pet" and "personally changed" decks.

We are not only "romantic", we all play for the win but usually acting like "fathers" of our own decks: we adapted our piles through metagames and months instead of picking up best ones all around and start playing it.

Trends are best players plays control or combo control since years.

So, their pet decks became pet strategies mean these players will almost never change too much from their previous choices.

Which is the tricky & funny part of this issue? None seems interested on "break" this un.written rule so everyone is going to play both their best deck and pet deck without thinking too much about "paper, scissors, rock triangle" or "tiers and anti.tiers"

The result is a very competitive enviroment ( because of the master skill level reached ) with really different decks ( because of personalisations ): game breaking decks or winning strategies aren't the only bias behind decks' choice.


MM

[Qube]

So, their pet decks became pet strategies mean these players will almost never change too much from their previous choices.

Which is the tricky & funny part of this issue? None seems interested on "break" this un.written rule so everyone is going to play both their best deck and pet deck without thinking too much about "paper, scissors, rock triangle" or "tiers and anti.tiers"

As I'm also european, I know what you talking about. I also play a deck for a long time and do not pick up just a deck from net. I play now since 6 month the same deck, and after each tournament I change some cards to test them out.  I think this is very interessting and helps alot the understand a deck.

I'm loving your meta, as there are deck which are "selfmade" and very nice strategies.

[JACO]

Cesar, thank you for the great writeup, and congratulations again on your continued excellent performance.

To answer your query of the United States, there isn't really a 'Tournament of Champions' set up like yours here in the USA. This is because the support is not nearly as good and the geographic divide is much larger. However, there are many good players here as you could suspect. For example, at the last ICBM Tournament that Ben Carp hosted in Wisconsin (USA) there were only 14 players, but of those 14 players I believe at least half of them were former SCG Champions, perenial SCG Top 8'ers, Vintage Worlds Top 8'ers, etc. There are many tournaments like that in the States with star studded lineups, but no such Tournament of Champions with only 32 or 64 spots.

[quentin]

We have one such tournament in France scheduled for october, a 2 day event with top 32 vintage players and top 64 legacy players of the past year (And side events for players who didn't qualify).

Nice to see such great names and list.

<3 @ the shivan dragon .

[CHaPuZaS]

@Quentin:

I saw that, the Legacy Coup de France has a great invitation system, which I will implement for next events of this type in Spain, as I am trying to celebrate championships with stars from both Eternal Formats.

@JACO:

We have no support (It was me the one who paid for the prizes), but we are trying to have it for next events. Sure, geography of your country is the worst problem for clebrating tournaments like that.