This tournament was part of a 3 Japanese tournament series that spanned all of 2009. The first tournament would be Swiss with no Top 8. And the Top 2 winners would move onto the next tournement. The 2nd tournament was to include the Top 2 winners from the previous 2 tournaments and the defending champion from 2008 and the winner of 2009 Gencon Hiromichi Itou.
Game 1:
***Bye*** Hurray for advanced scouting and DCI RATING!!!
1-0 (2-0)
Game 2: Kobayashi
-san with

Zoo
Round 1:
He lays down an early
Wild Nactl and attacks me for 3 the next turn. I begin by fetching for an
Underground Sea and then putting down a
Mox Pearl. I then use
Night's Whisper and pass the turn. He attacks me and tries to play a
Null Rod (Force of Will in response!!!). On my turn, I draw another
Mox, Demonic Tutor for Black Lotus and then cast
Tezzerett the Seeker and search for Time Vault. Kobayashi-san kills my Tezzerett with his Wild Nactl and casts a Qasali Pridemage but does not have the mana to kill my
Time Vault. I have Yawgmoth's will and cast it, replaying Lotus, Polluted Delta, and Tezzerett. Infinite Turns.
Sideboard: -1 Inkwell Leviathan +1 Sundering Titan because I thought maybe destroying all his lands would be better than having a 7/11 Trample.
Although tournaments (especially big tournaments like this) are not a good place to experiment, I have no where else to experiment.
Round 2:
He lays down turn 1
Kird Ape and says go. I lay down a land and a
Mox and Night's Whisper. He tries to play another creature and I
Force of Will it. Then he attacks and says go. I draw a land and
Brainstorm into Tinker, play Voltaic Key, and pass the turn. He lays down a
Null Rod and attacks. Ouch! I lay down a land, and then
Tinker for Sundering Titan and blow up both of his lands and 1 of mine. Alas, he has another land and plays
Qasali Pridemage. He passes the turn and I attack with my
Sundering Titan and he is down to 11 (2 from his own fetches). I
Night's Whisper and pass the turn. He declares attackers so that his
Kird Ape is exalted and then kills my
Sundering Titanand blows up all his lands and 1 of mine again. The next 4 turns, I just
Night's Whisper and Fetch 2 more times. He attacks 4 times with a 1/1
Kird Ape and I am down to 4. I eventually am forced to
Echoing Truth his Kird Ape after he topdecks a Taiga. He tries to replay it and I
Force of Will it. Next turn, he plays a
Wild Nactl and I drain it. On my turn, I
Merchant Scroll for a Mystical Tutor and Tutor for Yawgmoth's Will. He draws and plays a creature. I
Yawgmoth's Will and bounce the Null Rod, then I replay my Mox Jet, Underground Sea, and a Black Lotus from my hand. I bounce the
Null Rod and then Tinker for Time Vault. Infinite Turns with eventual win with Tezzerett.
2-0 (4-0)
Game 3: Nicolas Pujol (NicofromTokyo) with

Drain Tendrils
Nico is my friend and we playtested a lot before this. So I know exactly what to expect and what cards he uses. He knows the same about me. We even know what to roughly expect in terms of sideboarding strategies.
Round 1:
He begins with a land and a
Vampiric Tutor for Tinker probably. I begin by
Night's Whispering, then fetching and passing the turn. He then resolves a
Tinker for a Sphinx of the Steel Wind. I lay down a land and say go. He attacks with Sphinx and I am at 11. I then bounce the
Sphinx with Echoing Truth and
Night's Whisper+Thoughtseize him. I took his
Tendrils of Agony and then passed the turn. He draws and plays his
Moxes. I play my
Tezzeret the seeker with Force of Will back up and win.
Sideboard: -1 Inkwell Leviathan -1 Island -1 Echoing Truth +2 Duress + 1 Sundering Titan
Round 2:
We both play lands and he tutors for an
Ancestral Recall. I
Thoughtseize him and take
Recall obviously. I then play a
Force of will on a huge draw spell and then allow an
Accumulated Knowledge to resolve. I simply just lay down land and then
Night's Whisper for something. He plays
2 Dark Confidants. And I take around 8 damage but he dies after revealing
Sphinx of the Steel Wind + Rack and Ruin + Tendrils of Agony +3 Fetches.Like we say in Japan: Top Deck Wins!!! b>_<;d

3-0 (6-0)
Game 4: Keisuke Suzuki with Mono Blue Fish/Merfolk
Suzuki mentioned after the game that he was a Legacy player and that he had adapted his Legacy Merfolk to Vintage. Well, he mentioned it to his friend while I overheard in Japanese.
Round 1:
I begin by having 2 lands
Wasted/Strip Mined while he attacks me with a 1/1
Cursecatcher. I
Thoughtseize him and he Dazes. I don't really do anything except start drawing and taking 1 damage per turn from his
Cursecatcher (a 17 turn clock). I
Drain his creatures twice and eventually plays
Key + Vault for the win and he had no counters because all he drew were creatures and land I think. I had to keep an extra land out every time because of his Cursecatcher.
Sideboard: -1 Timetwister -1 Fact or Fiction -1 Night's Whisper +3 Sower of Temptation
Round 2:
He starts and somehow resolves 2 creatures. I do not have much notes because I was too busy trying to figure out what to do. I had to
Force of Will a Null Rod, pitching a Sower of Temptation. I then had to Mana Drain something else. I
Thirst for Knowledge into more counterspells. I had nothing to cast and no draw spells so I was top decking. I got beat up by 2 Merfolk. The End.
Sideboard: -1 Thirst for Knowledge +1 Sower of Temptation.
Round 3:
I start off with
Island and Mystical Tutor for Ancestral Recall and play it next turn. He responds with his own
Ancestral Recall. I Drain it, he uses his Sensei's Divining Top and Force of Will. Then after drawing 3 cards, he
Misdirects my Ancestral Recall. I say okay. I play
Yawgmoth's Will and then Ancestral Recall. This time I get to draw 3. I drew into
2 Thoughtseize and 1 Night's Whisper and then cracked my Lotus for BBB. I Thoughtseized him and saw 6 lands and 1 Lord of Atlantis. I took his only creature and then
Night's Whispered and Mystical Tutored for Tinker. On his turn he plays a land and
I Tinker for an Inkwell Leviathan. He gets
a 2/2 Merfolk that can remove 3 cards from my library everytime it deals damage.(anyone know this card) But I
Merchant Scroll for a Mana Drain and attack 2 more times with my Inkwell Leviathan.4-0(8-1)
Game 5: Hidekazu Fujii with

Remora Vault
Since Hidekazu Fujii was already guaranteed a top 8 spot because he won at a previous tournament, he agreed to give me a 2-0 win should I lose the match. The judge said something about that being illegal. So I was not sure what to expect.
Round 1:
He plays
Goblin Welder and I
Thoughtseize him and saw
Delta, Slaver, TFK, FOW, Remora, Remora, and Strip Mine. I took a
Remora and said go. He plays
Remora and I say okay. I do not play anything while drawing land and playing them down. He eventually has to sacrifice his
Remora when he stalls at 3 mana.
He TFK and I Drain it. On my turn, I play a
Tezzerett and search for Vault. He is very upset and starts to worry but he finds his own
Tezzerett and enough mana to cast it after resolving
Brainstorm and Ponder I think.
I double Force and he double Forces. Both our hands are empty. I topdecked into a
draw spell-->tutor-->win.TopDeckWINS!!!
Sideboard: -1 Inkwell Leviathan -1 Island -1 Echoing Truth +2 Duress + 1 Sundering Titan
Round 2:
I
Duress him early and saw
Time Vault, Slaver, Drain, Drain, TFK, and Island. I took Drain and he casts a
Mana Vault and passes the turn. I do really nothing except draw and play enough land to have 10 mana available. He does the same and has his
TFK countered. I eventually
Merchant Scroll for Gifts Ungiven. He Drains and I Force of Will. I get VT, DT, Tinker, Time Walk. He gives me VT, and DT (we both had Time Vaults on the board). I say go. He plays Mindslaver but is 2 mana short of activating it. I tutor for Time Vault and he scoops.
I felt bad because I had won against him in 2 past Vintage Tournaments but still I had to win ><.
5-0 (10-1)
I won the tournament as well as
5 Zendikar Boosters + 1 Artist Altered/Signed Gorilla Shaman and was placed into the "Best Top 8 Players" Tournament.
Top 8 for this tournament included: Nicolas Pujol,
Hiromichi Itou (2009 Gencon Vintage Champion), Hidekazu Fujii, Keisuke Suzuki, Eihou Katou,
Me (Stanley Chen), and Kobayashi-san with Zoo.
Game 6: Eihou Katou with MUD Domination
Round 1:
I watched carefully as he shuffled and shuffled his deck afterwards.
I Thoughtseized a Triskelion away and Force of Willed a Sphere of Resistance. But he got down a Frogmite and an Arcbound Ravager. I just simply laid down land,
Night's Whispered, and casted other draw spells. I then eventually assembled a combo piece. He casts
Skullclamp (a victory spell) and
I Mana Drain it. He groans and attacks. I cast even more draw spells and take my combo.
Sideboard: -1 Fact or Fiction -1 Night's Whisper -1 Time Twister + 2 Hurkyl's Recall +1 Duress.
Round 2:
Early
Duress takes a Thorn of Amethyst and he lays down 2 Frogmite, 1 Ravager, 1 Mishra's Factory. I was like O CRAP better hurry and combo out. I then cast my
Voltaic Key and said go. He lays down
Factory number 2 and attacks 6. I top deck
Time Vault.
TOPDECKWINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6-0 (12-1)
Game 7: Keisuke Suzuki with Mono Blue Fish/Merfolk
Round 1:
We both start off with Island go. I play a
fetch and he Stifles it. I say okay and pass the turn. I plays a
Lord of Atlantis. And on my turn I lay down a land and
Time Walk. Walk turn, I really don't do anything except lay down more land. He attacks and eventually gets me down to 7. I
Thoughtseize him and saw 2 Force of Wills, Echoing Truth, and Brainstorm. I take a Force of Will and more damage. I try to play bombs like
Tinker and Gifts Ungiven so he can waste his counters. Then I play
Demonic Tutor for Yawgmoth's Will and go Infinite Turns.
Sideboard: -1 Timetwister -1 Fact or Fiction -1 TFK -1 Night's Whisper +4 Sower of Temptation
Round 2:
He
Dazes and Cursecatchers my spells but is stuck on 1 land after
Brainstorming. I win eventually through sheer card advantage and tempo advantage. I forgot exactly how I won but I think it was
Voltaic Key + Time Vault after casting a lot of draw spells.
7-0(14-1)
Final Match for the Crown of Japanese National Vintage Champion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh My Gosh I may actually become a Japanese Vintage Champion!!!!! Soo close soo close. This may just be my day.

Finally all those months of hard play testing and damaged social life would pay off...if I win.

Final Round: FIGHT
Nicolas Pujol (NicofromTokyo) with

Drain Tendrils
Round 1:
He starts off with an early
Confidant. I try to
Tinker and he double Forces it. He duresses me and sees
Night's Whisper + Timetwister + Library of Alexandria. He takes the Night's Whisper because he knows my play style and he knows that I will cast the
Timetwister. I do cast the Timetwister in hopes of finding a combo. I get nothing and in emergency, use my
Library of Alexandria. I get nothing. He gets another
Confidant and overwhelms me with card advantage and
Confidant. I remember having to
Force of Will something very important and so I could not use my
Library anymore.
Magic is at least 30% luck I think. This time his double
Confidant got him to 7 but did not kill him.
Sideboard: -1 Inkwell Leviathan -1 Island -1 Echoing Truth -Timetwister +2 Duress + 1 Sundering Titan +1 Sower of Temptation (for SPHINX and Confidants)
Round 2:
I do not want to say much about this round except that it was Nico's day to win the Japanese National Championship. I had infinite turns with Tezzeret but forgot about Sphinx's lifelink ability (Japanese Foil cards do not help me to remember and to the would-be-haters/flamers SCREW YOU). I attacked for 25 damage (including Voltaic Key) because I thought that at 15 life with 2 blockers he would die anyway. I was wrong. I lost after Time Walk got me a Vampiric Tutor.
Prize:
1 Box of Planechase+4 Preconstructed Zendikar Decks (Hidekazu Fujii traded a From the Vault: Exiled box to me for this)
1 Magic the Gathering Soda: Strawberry Lime (Strawberry is my favorite fruit after all!)
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Path to Exile
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Vampiric Nighthawk
Nicolas Pujol recieved:
1 From the Vault: Exiled box
1 Alara Reborn Booster Pack
1 Magic the Gathering Soda: Green Apple
1 Artist Altered/Signed Mana Vault
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Path to Exile
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Wooley Thoctar
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Card (I forgot)
1 Title of JAPANANESE NATIONAL VINTAGE CHAMPION of 2009My End Result:
1 From the Vault: Exiled box
5 Zendikar Booster Packs (1 Scalding Tarn and 2 Spell Pierce)
1 Magic the Gathering Soda: Strawberry Lime (Strawberry is my favorite fruit after all!)
1 Artist Altered/Signed Gorilla Shaman
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Path to Exile
1 Foil Alternative Art DCI Japanese Vampiric Nighthawk
A 7-1 (14-3) Record and some DCI Points.
The happiness of knowing that I got exactly the same prize as the Japanese National Vintage Champion.2009 Gencon "World" Champion : Hiromichi Itou (Japanese)
2009 Japanese National Champion: Nicolas Pujol (French Japanese)We Americans gotta pick up the slack yo.

BTW: My name is Stanley Chen. I live in Southern California and may very well go to Northern California this summer. If there are any playtesting teams that do not know me, PLEASE CONTACT ME. I want and need playtesting partners
. And now that you know I am competant
. Please give me a PM or Email me at: stachen@ucdavis.edu