N.Y.S.E. Challenge II (Official)

[Prospero]

     For starters I’d like to thank everyone who made the trip to Brothers Grim on Saturday to play in my event.  With 39 people we had a great turnout.  We had quite a few people from the Jersey/Philly crew, and I appreciated seeing all of you there.  Having you guys show up is the difference between having an alright event and having a great event.

     With 39 players we broke last tournaments mark of 31.  We were missing a few people I had hoped would be able to make it, but we still had a strong showing.  I’m going to be looking to run a Lotus event sometime in October – either the first or third week of the month.  I’ll post all the details on the next event sometime later this week.

     Pictures from the day:

http://img196.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img0376i.jpg

The Complete Metagame Breakdown:

Painter: 2
Tezzeret: 9
W/G/B Beats: 2
TPS: 4
5CStax: 3
Steel City Vault: 2
Oath: 2
Dredge: 3
Next Level Vault: 1
N.Y.S.E. Black Market: 1
Affinity: 1
Gro: 1
Forino Sui Black: 1
Elves: 1
R/G Beats: 1
Vault/Key: 1 (Tezz w/o Tezz)
Replenish: 1
Underworld Dreams/Megrim: 1

     We were missing quite a few of our Shop players, but those who came did not disappoint – as all three 5CStax players made the top 8.  Almost every Tezzeret deck that showed has settled on Dark Confidant as the draw engine for the deck.  While Tezzeret was the dominant player in the field again, there was a solitary Tezzeret deck in the top 8.  Quite the disappointing finish for everyone’s favorite blue planeswalker.

Standings After the Swiss:

1   Konak, Ron   15   43.7037   64.7059   43.8384   6/5/0/0
2   Forino, Raffaele   14   60.3704   80.0000   61.9714   6/4/2/0
3   Edwards, Rob   13   60.3704   72.7273   58.7446   6/4/1/0
4   Pollack, Austin   13   56.4815   72.7273   57.9582   6/4/1/0
5   Ellias, Matt   13   55.7407   64.2857   56.8415   6/4/1/0
6   Folinus, Jeff   13   55.5556   69.2308   56.8038   6/4/1/0
7   NowakowskiSteve   13   47.4074   71.4286   49.0404   6/4/1/0
8   Hangley, James   13   45.3704   72.7273   45.0605   6/4/1/0
9   Cooper, Simon   12   55.7407   64.2857   55.9108   6/4/0/0
10   Meckes, Josh   12   48.7037   69.2308   48.5678   6/4/0/0
11   Mueller, Kyle   12   46.6667   60.0000   49.7486   6/4/0/0
12   Fulmer, Allen   11   55.5556   60.0000   51.6433   6/3/2/0
13   Earley, David   11   52.7778   60.0000   53.7208   6/3/2/0
14   Lupo, Mike   10   64.0741   54.5455   62.4675   6/3/1/0
15   Sollazzo, Dan   9   59.4444   57.1429   58.7174   6/3/0/0
16   Brown, Max   9   54.6296   50.0000   56.1633   6/3/0/0
17   Lander, Justin   9   47.5926   46.1538   49.3398   6/3/0/0
18   Smith, Noah   9   46.4815   50.0000   51.2221   6/3/0/0
19   Forino, Vincent   9   41.2963   47.0588   45.0660   6/3/0/0
20   Bauer, Michael   6   64.5833   45.4545   59.7222   4/2/0/0
21   Fisher, Ryan   6   61.6667   45.4545   55.9615   4/1/0/1
22   Robbins, Sean   6   61.3333   36.3636   57.8571   5/2/0/0
23   Frontera,Connor   6   60.0000   45.4545   57.7389   5/2/0/0
24   Powers, Sean   6   59.2593   42.8571   58.6014   6/2/0/0
25   Anand, Jeff   6   54.1667   54.5455   48.4848   4/2/0/0
26   Cohen, Eric   6   53.3333   40.0000   52.4242   4/1/0/1
27   Rob, Lawrence   6   51.3333   40.0000   49.8571   5/1/0/1
28   Besse, Chris   6   48.6667   40.0000   47.5238   5/2/0/0
29   Higgins, Sean   6   47.3333   41.6667   46.0606   5/2/0/0
30   Hanson, Chris   6   40.0000   46.1538   41.6667   5/2/0/0
31   Potucek, Josh   4   53.3333   33.3333   52.5238   5/1/1/0
32   Buonanno, Matt   4   52.0833   50.0000   52.5000   4/1/1/0
33   Harris, Visna   3   66.6667   33.3333   62.2222   3/0/0/1
34   Lopresti, Joe   3   55.5556   33.3333   55.5556   3/1/0/0
35   Schwartz, Rob   3   47.9167   40.0000   43.9394   4/1/0/0
36   Stevens, Joe   1   74.0741   28.5714   66.8651   3/0/1/0
37   Stern, Jason   0   59.2593   14.2857   57.9365   3/0/0/0
38   Santana, Oscar   0   55.5556   14.2857   57.1429   3/0/0/0
39   Esparra,Anthony   0   41.3333   9.0909   43.3260   5/0/0/0

Top Eight Pairings and Results:

James Hangley (N.Y.S.E.) vs. Ron Konak – Konak wins 2-1
Raffaele Forino (N.Y.S.E.) vs. Steve Nowakowski (GWS) – Nowakowski wins 2-1
Rob Edwards vs. Jeff Folinus (GWS) – Folinus wins 2-1
Matt Elias vs. Austin Pollack – Pollack wins 2-1

Top Four Pairings and Results:

Ron Konak vs. Austin Pollack – Konak wins 2-1
Steve Nowakowski (GWS) vs. Jeff Folinus (GWS) – Nowakowski wins 2-1

Finals:

Ron Konak vs. Steve Nowakowski (GWS) – Konak wins 2-1

   Congratulations to Ron Konak on winning an Alpha Mox Emerald, Steve ‘The Tiger’ Nowakowski on winning an English Mana Drain and to everyone who made the top 8.  The highest finishing deck without a proxy belong to Raffaele Forino, who won an English Mana Crypt.  

Top 8 Decklists:

1st
Ron Konak
FOWchorid

4 Bazaar
3 Cephalid Coliseum
3 City of Brass
2 Gemstone Mine

2 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Putrid Imp
4 Stinkweed
4 Narcomoeba
4 Grave Troll

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus Petal
4 Bridge
4 Therapy
4 Breakthrough
4 Careful Study
4 Force of Will
2 Chain of Vapor

SB:
2 Chain of Vapor
3 Contagion
2 Emerald Charm
3 Extirpate
4 Pithing Needle
1 Ancient Grudge

2nd
Stephen Nowakowski
TPS

1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
1 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
1 Timetwister
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
1 Tinker
1 Memory Jar
1 Grim Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Inkwell Leviathan

SB:
2 Mystic Remora
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Yixlid Jailer
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 The Abyss
1 Engineered Plague
1 Island
1 Swamp

3rd
Jeff Folinus
5C Stax

1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Barbarian Ring
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Bazaar of Baghdad

3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
3 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Seal of Cleansing
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker

SB:
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Balance
1 Duplicant
2 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Darkblast
2 Viashino Heretic

4th
Austin Pollack
Next Level Vault

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Saphire
1 Sol Ring
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Counterbalance

3 Trinket Mage
2 Tarmogoyf
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

2 Sensei’s Diving Top
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Fact or Fiction

1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tinker

1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

SB:
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Leyline of the Void
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Curfew
3 Oxidize
2 Krosan Grip
1 Tolarian Academy

5th
James Hangley

4 Tangle Wire
3 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
3 Smokestack
2 Powder Keg
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Goblin Welder
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Saphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Strip Mine
1 Memory Jar
1 Sundering Titan
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Trinisphere
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Jester’s Cap
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Crop Rotation
1 Tinker
1 Triskelion
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Demonic Tutor

SB:
3 Leyline OF The Void
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 In the Eye of Chaos
1 Seal of Cleansing
2 Choke
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Duplicant
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus

6th
Raffaele Forino
N.Y.S.E. Stax

4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Bazaar of Baghdad

1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
2 Powder Keg
1 Sundering Titan
1 Trinisphere
1 Triskelion
1 Karn, Silver Golem

4 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Darkblast
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall

SB:  
1 Balance
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Pithing Needle

7th
Rob Edwards
Tezzeret “Time Vault is Dumb”

3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
3 Island
2 Snow Covered Island

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

1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection

1 Tezzeret, the Seeker

1 Voltaic Key
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Time Vault
1 Inkwell Leviathan

1 Tinker
3 Dark Confidant
1 Time Walk
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Regrowth
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Repeal
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

SB:
3 Trygon Predator
2 Smother
1 Darkblast
2 Annul
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Extirpate

8th
Matt Elias
Double Dragon Oath

4 Force of Will
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Impulse
4 Oath of Druids
3 Thoughtseize
2 Duress
2 Hellkite Overlord
1 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Lim Dul’s Vault
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Misdirection
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Negate
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island

SB:
2 Oxidize
3 Null Rod
1 Pithing Needle
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Echoing Truth
2 Smother

   Over the course of the day I had asked many of the participants if they would prefer playing for black-bordered power (albeit generally Pearls, Rubies and Emeralds) or white-bordered power (Jets, Sapphires and Walks – potentially Recalls if I can find them at a decent price.)  I’d like to put that question to the community at large as well.  If you were playing in an event would you rather play for a better piece of power (one of the more useful Moxen or blue pieces) or would you rather play for something that could potentially be worth a little more?  Would you care that the black-bordered piece is slightly less playable?
   
   Finally, I’d like to thank Brothers Grim for providing a great venue, and Brian Paskoff, our level 2 judge, who handled all the judge calls with speed and efficiency over the course of the day.  

   I will post all the information for the next event sometime this week.  Keep your calendars open!  I hope to see you all there!

[Yare]

An outstanding event! Thanks for hosting this, Nick, and to everybody who came. I know I had a great time.

Also, I'm fairly certain Konak won both his semifinal and final matches in 3 games rather than 2. I'm not 100% sure, but I seem to remember 3 games in both of those.

[Gekoratel]

I know the finals was won in 3 games since Steve won the first game against Ichorid by casting Time Walk and Twister on the same turn.  I'm also pretty sure that the semifinal match on the other bracket took three games since the match between Steve and I was long and they were still going through most of it.  Thanks to Nick for hosting another great event, and props to Steve for making it to the finals unfortunately his deck wasn't cooperating in games 2/3.  Also to Rob Edwards for being a gentlemen in our match despite my savage luck of him dying to Bob @5 life with lethal on table.

[2nd_lawl]

Tournament was excellently run, well attended and well ventilated.  No complaints.

I prefer White border Walk/jet/saph/ancestral over black bordered pearl/emerald/ruby because if I won one I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of erasing the border, which is quite labor intensive.

[MagicIsCardboardCrack]

You have to be friggem kidding me!?!? I've been working on a FoW Ichorid list all this morning! Now I'll just look like a net-decker/biter. GDI

[Prospero]

I adjusted the finals between Ron and Steve.  I wasn't there to watch the entire match, I must have missed a game.

As for the semi's between Austin and Ron I was pretty sure that they played a drawn out two games.  As there were no match slips, and I couldn't watch both matches at the same time, I may have missed that.

If it's incorrect I'll fix it. 

[Nomad]

Fun tournament and decent turnout.  It's really a bit far for me to go though.  Happy enough with my 9th place (and associated Sorrow's Paths), just wonder if I could somehow have played Gekoratel differently in our 3rd game to make T8.

I basically played Int/AK Control Slaver, albeit with Tezz/Vault/Key bundled in, it seemed appropriate for the metagame although might have benefitted from a little more tuning.

[forcethewill]

No gronald and austin played 3

[voltron00x]

Nick, thanks again for putting that event together.  I'm looking forward to more in the future.  Thankfully without AJ there I was able to absorb one loss, because I'm 0 for my life against AJ in the Swiss rounds.  I cant wait until he dream crushes me next week in Blue Bell.

Am I reading that right in seeing that all 3 5C Stax players made the top 8?!?  And that of the three, there was a total of 1 Crop Rotation main, and 0 Balances main?  Hmmm...

In my SB I ran 2 Smother and 1 Echoing Truth, it's flipped in the decklist above.  Hopefully I didn't write it down wrong in my haste to register my decklist...

[A.-1.]

Thank you Nick for a well-run tournament. It was a bit of a drive originally coming from Penn State, although we definitely should not have gone up to Rochester for the PTQ afterward. Being in a car for 20 hours over the course of the weekend was mind-numbing.

Personally, I liked what you did for this tourney in terms of prize support. Giving people the option of the Emerald or the Walk was nice, but I don't know how feasible this is for the future. If I had to choose between lesser black-bordered or higher end Unlimited, I would chose the black-bordered power most of the time. Hopefully, some of the Penn State crew can make it out for the BLotus event.

Jeff, sorry to see you didn't go on to win it after our top 8 match. Even though I sided out Misd, I still had four FoW and Tezz left in my library, and had approximately a 10% chance in any of the reveals of killing myself. You did get lucky, but as tight as you played that match you deserved to win just as much as I did.

Congrats to Matt's car for such a strong finish. I hope the Philly area can defend it's home turf the next two weeks.

[Blackening]

Hello, this is Ronald Konak; I finally went ahead and got a TMD forum name. I'll post a small primer for the event sometime in the next few days, but I do wanna get something off my chest; to all my opponents in the Swiss and finals, I'm really sorry if I came across as a bit of a douchebag. The lack of sleep plus the high I was getting off doing so well put me in a sort of weird delirious state, coupled with my attempts to keep things humorous between my opponents towards the end of the day when everyone was already tired and wanted to go home, made my humor kinda fall flat and just made me look bad. So I'm really sorry if you got a bad impression of me. Otherwise, thanks to Nick for holding the event and letting me scoop up the jewelry. Keep me informed if you have room in the caravan for Blue Bell, Nick. Also, yes, my round versus Austin was 3 games.

[personalbackfire]

Nick, thanks again for running these events. I find them very worthwhile and will continue to try to come to every one that I can, I very much look forward to the Lotus event. Being that this was your second event and you got 39 people to come out, you are def doing something right.

In terms of prize support, I would rather you give out better unlimited stuff,  just because there seems to be more tournaments for unlimited Pearls, Rubys, Emeralds, then there are for Jets, Sapphires, Walks, and Recalls. Being someone who is trying to obtain power, it would be more beneficial to have tournaments for those cards, instead of winning bb power then having to try and sell it or trade down for a better unlimited piece, this is just my preference though and would still make the trip for some sweet bb power. I liked that you have the option this tournament, I thought that was awesome, but as A-1 said I am not sure how feasible that is from here on out.

Congrads to our carload for being awesome, and specifically Matt and Jeff for top 8ing; it is a shame that Simon could not join us in our post swiss fun.

[voltron00x]

Nick, I'd like you to run events for a Recall, Walk, and Pearl, in that order; the border color doesn't matter.  Once I win those I won't need any proxies, so then you can offer up whatever you want    Honestly, I think Steve's probably right... Recall, Walk, Sapphire, and Jet are big draws and are probably better to offer than BB power, HOWEVER, BB power IS pretty damn awesome.  Maybe mix it up?  Or when you can, continue to offer both, because I thought that was pretty sweet.

Steve, I'm pretty sure you're going to be "The Tiger" from now on.  Like I said all along, starting 0-1-1 was just your way of sharking everyone. 

Hello, this is Ronald Konak; I finally went ahead and got a TMD forum name. I'll post a small primer for the event sometime in the next few days, but I do wanna get something off my chest; to all my opponents in the Swiss and finals, I'm really sorry if I came across as a bit of a douchebag. The lack of sleep plus the high I was getting off doing so well put me in a sort of weird delirious state, coupled with my attempts to keep things humorous between my opponents towards the end of the day when everyone was already tired and wanted to go home, made my humor kinda fall flat and just made me look bad. So I'm really sorry if you got a bad impression of me. Otherwise, thanks to Nick for holding the event and letting me scoop up the jewelry. Keep me informed if you have room in the caravan for Blue Bell, Nick. Also, yes, my round versus Austin was 3 games.

Ronald... I sort of got the impression that you were getting emotionally beaten up by everyone asking "who won" every time you played, because the obvious and correct inference is that everyone was hoping you'd lose.  Well, guess what - that's what happens when you play Ichorid.  You're the bad guy.  You either love that stuff, or you don't.  Personally I think its awesome, and I loved the tournament that I almost won with Ichorid.  I have to fight myself not to play it every time.  Maybe work on that for next time and be ready for it if you play Ichorid, because brother, you really came off poorly.  I'm willing to take you at your word, though... everyone has bad days.  Congrats on the win. 

Oh, and in the future, um, watch the "N" bombs, maybe?

[XxtSundaybxX]

Nick, thanks for running a great event. It was a blast, even though it was quite a far drive for us from philly. But I will do my best to attend your future events.

Congrats to the Top 8 and especially for the bluebell crew taking 4 of the top 8 spots?

I will definitely be at the lotus tourney for sure

[Sporkcore]

Nick, once again, thank you for a wonderful tournament. Border color for power doesn't matter to me at all, as long as we keep getting awesome events that I don't have to wake up at 5am to get to. The fact that there was an event in Mass as well as a PTQ within driving distance shows that people want to come out to these events and have a fun time playing for some power. As stated before also, Ron and myself went to 3 games where he took the first and third and I got the second.

[MirariKnight]

Wish I could have made this one. Glad to see the attendance was even better than last time. Depending on the exact date I'm going to try to come home from school and make my bid for the Lotus.

[korgano]

Is there any chance of checking out the underworld dreams/megrim decklist? This is a combo that I'd love to try out sometime (hymns, mind twists?, etc.)

[Blackening]

Ronald... I sort of got the impression that you were getting emotionally beaten up by everyone asking "who won" every time you played, because the obvious and correct inference is that everyone was hoping you'd lose.  Well, guess what - that's what happens when you play Ichorid.  You're the bad guy.  You either love that stuff, or you don't.  Personally I think its awesome, and I loved the tournament that I almost won with Ichorid.  I have to fight myself not to play it every time.  Maybe work on that for next time and be ready for it if you play Ichorid, because brother, you really came off poorly.  I'm willing to take you at your word, though... everyone has bad days.  Congrats on the win.

Thanks for being understanding. It was just a very weird day for me the whole time. I'm usually much more mellow and polite, and I hope the N.Y.S.E. crew can vouch for me a little. I just hate it when people walk away with the impression that I'm a complete cockbag; I just like to be a partial one.

Oh, and in the future, um, watch the "N" bombs, maybe?

I promise nothing.

[BJPaskoff]

Hi everyone!  This is Brian Paskoff, and I was judging the tournament over at Grim.  It was great seeing everyone again; I was afraid after the unpleasantness at the other location last time that many of you wouldn't make the trek out again, but as I told Nick when talking about the gloomy weather report for Saturday, I think Vintage players would drive two hundred miles in a blizzard to get to play for some Power.  Aside from a mere twenty minute delay due to about seven of our players getting stuck in traffic because of the weather (much less than the hour and a half delay last time due to... well, I should be nice to store owners), the tournament went on without a hitch.

Judging Vintage is a little bit scary - sure the rules are the same in every format, but it's difficult when cards don't do what they say.  Hell, there's cards legal in the format that can choose to do what they want themselves, as last month's ninth place prize showed.  I had to consult Gatherer a few times, and had to answer a question on Chains of Mephistopheles (which was in Italian, so that didn't help things), but most judge calls involved Looking at Extra Cards and various shortcut guideline things, as well as a few questions involving Trinisphere, the converted mana cost of Chalice of the Void, etc.  Seeing as most of you guys seem to play the same deck forever, it's kind of boring for me when you guys know all the interactions by heart.    (Just kidding, it was actually waaaaay more fun than judging yet another Standard PTQ.  Stax vs. Stax > Faeries vs. Faeries any day.)

Anyway, we had 39 players, which was astonishing considering we were up against bad weather, a Standard PTQ, and a Standard event for a set of M10 the same day.  I know most Vintage players don't care about Standard at all, but I think we could have had more bi-format-curious (ugh, sorry) Standard players showing up to try to win a piece of Power.  We also had a few Brothers Grim locals excitedly building decks for the event, only to not show up for whatever reasons.  I also think we'll get a lot more of those casual Vintage players wanting to play next time if it's for a Lotus.  To answer Nick's question, something like an Emerald is valuable, but the response I got from a few casual players was along the lines of "Why would I want an Emerald?"  Everyone wants a Sapphire or a Lotus, but the other ones aren't as exciting to people who don't fully understand the power of these cards in the format.

Congradulations to Ron Konak for winning the entire thing.  I know Dredge is the bad-boy of Vintage, but every time a "cheap" deck wins it attracts more players.  One of the reasons attendance was down at Nick's first event was because many local, casual-type players were scared of "the big TMD players", but someone winning who they're all at least somewhat familiar with and who isn't a "big name Vintage player" will make them think twice the next time they go to say "I'm not going, there's no way I can win."

I know I've talked a lot about bringing new players to tournaments here and I get the feeling that some of you are rolling your eyes thinking about playing against a bad mono-red burn deck or Dragonstorm or mono-white cats or something, but more players = bigger prizes and more fun.  I'm even starting to get into Vintage, and would probably join you guys at Blue Bell if I had more of a clue what I was doing yet.

Thanks to everyone who came out from both close to home and from so far away, thanks to Brothers Grim for hosting the event and mercifully cancelling their Yu Gi Oh tournament that day, and most of all thanks to Nick for running a successful tournament and bringing Vintage to Long Island.  I hope to see you all again in October!

[voltron00x]

I thought you did a great job judging this event.  It ran very smoothly.  Sorry I didn't tell you in person, I usually try to do so.

[Prospero]

Is there any chance of checking out the underworld dreams/megrim decklist? This is a combo that I'd love to try out sometime (hymns, mind twists?, etc.)

Jay Stern
Megrim/Underworld Dreams
37th place

2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Volcanic Island
1 Bayou
1 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 City of Brass
1 Library of Alexandria

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Inkwell Leviathan

4 Megrim
2 Underworld Dreams

2 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
4 Dark Ritual

1 Time Walk
1 Regrowth
3 Duress
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Time Spiral
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Telemin Performance
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll

1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Intuition
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor

Wish I could have made this one. Glad to see the attendance was even better than last time. Depending on the exact date I'm going to try to come home from school and make my bid for the Lotus.

Your company was missed Josh.  I did get to lend some cards to Sean and talk to Dan for a bit, which was nice.  I hope to see you at the next event.  As I mentioned earlier, as soon as I hear back from Grim I'll get the tournament information up.  

I thought you did a great job judging this event.  It ran very smoothly.  Sorry I didn't tell you in person, I usually try to do so.

Paskoff's awesome.  Trust me, you would all much rather have him judging these events than having me judge them.  

Nick, once again, thank you for a wonderful tournament. Border color for power doesn't matter to me at all, as long as we keep getting awesome events that I don't have to wake up at 5am to get to. The fact that there was an event in Mass as well as a PTQ within driving distance shows that people want to come out to these events and have a fun time playing for some power. As stated before also, Ron and myself went to 3 games where he took the first and third and I got the second.

We were up against quite a bit.  I felt good about the event going in, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be justified in my faith.  I certainly was.  I knew that when I showed up and saw 12+ guys there 45 minutes before registration even started that we were going to be alright.  

I know that we lost at least 3 players to the PTQ.  I know that there were a few guys that had spoken about coming down to the event from Massachusetts that didn't come.  We also missed Team Rebel Alliance's guys.  To have all that 'go wrong' and to have 39 people show was pretty amazing.  

I feel very, very good about the Lotus event.  We were so close to 40 that I could taste it.  I'd want to break 50 for the Lotus event.  I think that we can, and will, do it.  

Nick, thanks again for running these events. I find them very worthwhile and will continue to try to come to every one that I can, I very much look forward to the Lotus event. Being that this was your second event and you got 39 people to come out, you are def doing something right.

In terms of prize support, I would rather you give out better unlimited stuff,  just because there seems to be more tournaments for unlimited Pearls, Rubys, Emeralds, then there are for Jets, Sapphires, Walks, and Recalls. Being someone who is trying to obtain power, it would be more beneficial to have tournaments for those cards, instead of winning bb power then having to try and sell it or trade down for a better unlimited piece, this is just my preference though and would still make the trip for some sweet bb power. I liked that you have the option this tournament, I thought that was awesome, but as A-1 said I am not sure how feasible that is from here on out.

Congrads to our carload for being awesome, and specifically Matt and Jeff for top 8ing; it is a shame that Simon could not join us in our post swiss fun.

Tiger!  I think I may enjoy running these events more than I enjoy playing in events, so no thanks are necessary for running them.  I think I'm doing a few things right, but I'm not about to take anything for granted.  I want to consistently run these events successfully.  It was great to have two successful events in a row, but I think that the biggest challenge is going to be the Lotus event.  If we can draw 50+ people for a Lotus event I'd be up for running one every three months or so.  

In terms of prize support, I think the response has been pretty much universal (sorry Rob) - I think that nearly everyone I spoke with said that they would rather play for better pieces of Unlimited power than black bordered pieces of lesser power.  I don't mind one way or another, I'm looking to cater to what people would prefer playing for.  If I can get enough people to come out and play (enough for me to break even on the day) then I'll do it.  

The Lotus event will be in October, after that I'll probably run an event in November sometime for the Time Walk that didn't go out as prize support this past weekend.

Additionally, if anyone has an Alpha Pearl, Jet, Sapphire, Recall or Black Lotus that they're looking to downgrade to Unlimited with cash please let me know.  

[forcethewill]

@korgano
The deck list was the stains. Like it wasnt a competitive list and nor a fun to play deck.

[StrongIslandRob]

Hey Nick the Event was fun and was an experience i learned greatly from, can't wait for the next one hopfully i dont bomb next time lol.

[Tobi]

Great top8.
If you are looking for a good card to combo with Underworld Dreams, try Teferi's Puzzle Box 


Missing card report:
Jeff's list misses 2 cards MD
Raffaele's list misses 1 card MD
Matt's list misses 1 card MD

[Gekoratel]

The two cards missing from my list (Jeff) are Vampiric and Demonic Tutor.

[voltron00x]

Mine is missing 1 Thoughtseize, it's a 3/2 split with Duress, and as noted above the numbers on Smother and Echoing Truth in the SB are swapped.

[Prospero]

Raf's list was missing an Ancestral Recall.  Jeff's Vamp and D.T. were added and Elias's mainboard and sideboard were changed.

[Gekoratel]

Nick when do you think your going to get the pictures up?

[Almanomada]

Hello everyone, I am new to the vintage scene and play ichorid.... I have been playing dredge since it was leagal in standard.  I am trying to find locations with good atmosphere and players/support and was wondering where this tournament was held.  I am willing to drive a few hundred miles probably to play for some power (even with no chance to win).  Thanks for the assistance.    *Jeremiah

[Yare]

Hello everyone, I am new to the vintage scene and play ichorid.... I have been playing dredge since it was leagal in standard.  I am trying to find locations with good atmosphere and players/support and was wondering where this tournament was held.  I am willing to drive a few hundred miles probably to play for some power (even with no chance to win).  Thanks for the assistance.    *Jeremiah

Brothers Grim Games & Collectibles
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Selden, N.Y.
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brothersgrimgames@gmail.com

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http://brgrim.com/index.htm