Xtreme Games Monthly Vintage results 1-17-10

[XtremeGamesOnline]

Xtreme Games had 39 people enter our Vintage for a Mox Sapphire tournament!  

It was really nice to see all our regular players along with many new faces that we hope will become our regulars.

Thank You all for making the trip!


Ok here are the top 8 deck lists

Owen Turtenwald - 1st Place - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
1 Flooded Strand
2 Tropical Island
4 City of Brass
1 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
 19 lands
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Darksteel Colossus
 2 creatures       
4 Compulsive Research
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fire // Ice
1 Regrowth
1 Life from the Loam
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Leyline of the Void
1 Tinker
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Spell Pierce
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
1 Black Lotus
1 Brainstorm
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
  39 other spells       
1 Yixlid Jailer
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Leyline of the Void
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Ray of Revelation
 15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Jake Kempfer – 2nd Place - TPS - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
4 Polluted Delta1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Underground Sea
2 Swamp
1 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
  12 land
1 Darksteel Colossus
  1 creature       
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Necropotence
1 Mind's Desire
1 Imperial Sea
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tinker
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Grim Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Rebuild
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Misdirection
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
  47 other spells       
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Helm of Obedience
3 Xantid Swarm1 Bayou
1 Sower of Temptation
3 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Hurkyl's Recall
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


James King – 3rd Place - "the Jeremy Seroogy Midnight Special." - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 City of Brass
1 Dakmor Salvage
  13 lands
4 Narcomoeba
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
3 Ichorid
4 Bloodghast
2 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
  23 creatures       
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Careful Study
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Bridge from Below
1 Darkblast
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dread Return
4 Leyline of the Void
  24 other spells       
4 Chain of Vapor
3 Ingot Chewer
4 Wispmare
1 Ichorid
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Darkblast
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Robert Vroman – 4th Place - Iona Combo - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
1 Mishra's Factory
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
  17 land
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
  1 creature       
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
4 Oath of Druids
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
2 Mana Drain
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Timetwister
1 Flash of Insight
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Regrowth
1 Balance
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Time Walk
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Gifts Ungiven
  42 other spells       
3 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Oxidize
2 Extirpate
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Nullstone Gargoyle
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pithing Needle
1 Trinisphere
1 Rebuild
1 Ravenous Trap
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Caleb Scherer – 5th Place - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
2 Swamp
  13 lands
  0 creatures       
4 Ad Nauseam
1 Timetwister
4 Chrome Mox
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
3 Cabal Ritual
3 Chain of Vapor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Brainstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ponder
4 Duress
3 Thoughtseize
3 Tendrils of Agony
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Imperial Seal
1 Necropotence
  47 other spells       
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Deathmark
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Brain Freeze
2 Hurkyl's Recall
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Ryan Forsberg – 6th Place - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
4 Wasteland
2 Dark Depths
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Strip Mine
11 Swamp
   20 lands
4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Hexmage
  8 creatures       
1 Darkblast
4 Dark Ritual
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Consultation
2 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Diabolic Edict
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet1 Black Lotus
1 Yawgmoth's Will1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
  32 other spells       
3 Null Rod
2 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Engineered Plague
1 Pithing Needle
2 The Abyss
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Benjamin Carp – 7th Place - PutDrugsInYourTrunk.dec -  Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
3 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Tropical Island
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Strip Mine
  18 land
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
  1 creature       
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Thoughtseize
1 Flash of Insight
1 Mana Crypt
1 Timetwister
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Rebuild
4 Force of Will
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Voltaic Key
4 Oath of Druids
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Regrowth
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Spell Pierce
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Yawgmoth's Will
  41 other spells       
1 Pernicious Deed
3 Mana Drain
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Tarmogoyf
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tinker
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards


Jerome Yanchick - 8th Place - Empire Stax - Illinois - Lindenhurst - XTreme Games
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Workshop
  19 lands
1 Sundering Titan
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Triskelion
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Goblin Welder
  9 creatures       
3 Tangle Wire
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Balance
1 Life from the Loam
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Crop Rotation
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Trinisphere
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Chalice of the Void
3 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
  32 other spells       
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Darkblast
3 Null Rod
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Jester's Cap
  15 sideboard cards
 
60 maindeck cards, 15 sideboard cards

[Suicideking]

My deck name is "the Jeremy Seroogy Midnight Special." 

[XtremeGamesOnline]

Well it wasnt on your sheet......but..........just for you I will fix this : )

[Tha Gunslinga]

We got a fucking HUGE turnout for this one.  Next month should be even better.  Thanks to everyone who came out.  It was good times, even if Oath did shit on me again and again.

[Aew]

@Jake Kempfer: First of all, grats on a strong finish with TPS! I can see from your list that you did not run Bargain? Did you miss it at all?

[JACO]

Thanks for Eric and Shannon for putting on another great tournament, and thanks to all who actually came out to play.

[M.Solymossy]

This tournament was frustrating on so many levels for me.  I had Oath completely dominated and could timetwister with 2UU in pool and an Underground Sea Untapped.  So I went for it, and he got fow + blue card, fow+blue card, and oath with orchard in play.   I got Delta, Strand, Sea, Tropical Island, Library, Time Walk, Tormods Crypt.  FUCK.  So I time Walk.  on my walk turn, I draw a DELTA!   So I play Library.   Then he drops oath.  I draw Minds Desire, hit Library, and draw Inkwell.   I hardcast Inkwell, and it's forced.  Iona names blue, and I'm out of ways to win the game.

I lost 0-2 to FUCKTEZZ because while I had him completely controlled with Vamp and Demonic on top of my deck thanks to top, winning next turn after thoughtseizing his hand and leaving him nothing but mana, he topdecks will, replays it, and Sad Sacrament's my win conditions.

Game 2, I counter everything of his, but with Voltaic Key in play, he drops Will onto the table AGAIN right before I'm going to kill him, and he replays 2 rituals and Time Vault.


I'm starting to really hate the fucking Time Vault Highlander format.  It needs to be fixed.

Stax
Ritual Combo
Control
Aggro
Oath

They ALL run Time Vault.   

[k1x]

@ aew, I honestly just forgot to put it into my list. TK told me it would have won me a game, but I didn't even think about it. And I'm pretty sure I won that game anyway. I put the deck together the night before and simply forgot it. In most cases when I would have wanted Yawg-Bargain, some other card (typically minds desire) had the same game winning effect. Plus, minds desire is typically a much better option considering all the spell pierces in the format.

And @ Soly, what ritual combo lists even run TV? And what aggro lists for that matter?
I have yet to see a ritual list that runs it and does well.
And since when does BUG or GW fish or Goblins run TV?

Oath isn't oath as we used to know it, its a combo deck.

Control decks in vintage have always just run the best kill condition available.

And one stax list ran it, so that means the rest of them must?

I mean come on soly, the majority of your statement is completely unwarranted.
And furthermore, since when in vintage isn't this the case? In every metagame, the best available kill condition is the one that gets played the most. How is that a surprise?

3 decks out of this top 8 ran TV.
2 of which being an oath combo list strictly dedicated to its success. If you're going to make this argument you can say tendrils of agony is a problem because there were 2 tendrils lists in the top 8.

The other list, stax, merely ran it to increase its broken draws. You can hardly say this is a "time vault deck."

Sure the metagame sucks, but TV isn't the problem. It's because wizards restricted the only good blue cards that made other control decks viable. Without TFK or Gifts or Brainstorm, the metagame has degraded into this highlander format based largely on variance and reduced the importance of playskill.

[Rome]

Great tourny thanks eric and shannon. Already gearing up for next month with the new edition to my stax Jug-O-Spheres 4tw!

[Tha Gunslinga]

There was what, ONE Tezzeret deck?  Out of 39 people?

[Rome]

2 i think ben

[LordHomerCat]

Tezz is not fun to play.

[vroman]

I made so many mistakes this tournament. Vintage is hard.

[Tha Gunslinga]

So, rumor has it that Tarmogoyfs are killer in the Oath mirror.

[Isaac85]

I'm happy to see such a strong turnout for this month. Congrats Owen on the finish.

[swawagon]

I ran BUg fish tuned to beat Tez and Tendrils, with Sideboard to beat Oath and Ichorid. Never saw them in 6 rounds.

Lost to Goblins, Elves, and Hexmage beatdown. Draw with Brainfreeze combo. Beat Stax and Belcher.

Vintage is hard.

[M.Solymossy]

I can't recall if Owen's account is still active here.  I'm assuming it is, but I haven't seen him post in ages.

@Owen:  How were the four Compulsive Research?  I have wanted to play it, but being sorcery has really skewed me away from it.  I'm torn because they seem good in your list because you have Spell Snare which allows you to still protect yourself.  You also have 19 lands. At the same time, I worry about it costing too much because you don't have drain mana to sink it.  I know I always hate mainphase Thirst for Knowledge.  I'd like your opinion. I know Bobby Graves has played this in Kentucky, so if Bobby wants to speak on the matter as well, feel free.   

[k1x]

Isaac, for the record Owen and I split. And he was lucky I allowed such a thing to happen. Considering my recent mastery of dark rituals, I would have smashed his maindeck leylines and spell pierces in a quick 2 games.

In all seriousness though, I made infi play mistakes during the day too. Obviously exhibited in my failure to include a card like Yawg's Fuckin Bargain! Almost forgot memory jar too, adding it moments before the tournament started....but that was dogshit all day.

All I really have to say is I can't wait to play gush again.

[M.Solymossy]

Jake:  Why didn't you just take Vroman's Yawgmoths Will?  Then he couldn't have played Iona and Timetwister'ed.  Did you see his Krosan Rec. Play?  I'm curious to your thought process.


And why TPS?  I was toying with storm decks but they just seem awful against Sad Sacrament right now.

[k1x]

Yeah not taking his yawg will was one of my infi play mistakes previously mentioned...i was incredibly lucky not to lose the match to such ritardery

I played "The Deck" last tournament, which is essentially the "blue version of tps" In other words, it runs all the insane blue spells and counters rather than all the insane black spells and rituals.

I felt rituals might have a good shot because they were unexpected and stax is HIGHLY underplayed in our meta. Plus, i had never really played rituals in a tournament before and its a really fun deck to play.

[vassago]

I can't recall if Owen's account is still active here.  I'm assuming it is, but I haven't seen him post in ages.

@Owen:  How were the four Compulsive Research?  I have wanted to play it, but being sorcery has really skewed me away from it.  I'm torn because they seem good in your list because you have Spell Snare which allows you to still protect yourself.  You also have 19 lands. At the same time, I worry about it costing too much because you don't have drain mana to sink it.  I know I always hate mainphase Thirst for Knowledge.  I'd like your opinion. I know Bobby Graves has played this in Kentucky, so if Bobby wants to speak on the matter as well, feel free.   

I too would like to know this.   

[JACO]

@Owen:  How were the four Compulsive Research?  I have wanted to play it, but being sorcery has really skewed me away from it.  I'm torn because they seem good in your list because you have Spell Snare which allows you to still protect yourself.  You also have 19 lands. At the same time, I worry about it costing too much because you don't have drain mana to sink it.  I know I always hate mainphase Thirst for Knowledge.  I'd like your opinion. I know Bobby Graves has played this in Kentucky, so if Bobby wants to speak on the matter as well, feel free.   

I asked him the same thing during the tourney. The way he plays the deck (and how he used to play Thirst for Knowledge in Painter) is that he basically just tries to force through all of his draw on his main phase anyway, so the Sorcery speed didn't really matter. In this deck now with the printing of Spell Pierce he was drawing cards early and often, hoping to chain a couple together, and then just beat you because the rest of Vintage Blue decks are the same Restricted cards and theoretically he'll have more cards than you in hand.

[TK]

@Kix 

On the way back I thought about th gamestate where i told you to go for bargain i was actaully just dead on the spot if you would have got a demonic tutor. knowing that you had a dark rit in hand and a cabal rit plus 4 mana ataleast worth of lands all you needed to do was vamp eot like you did get demonic. so basically if you didnt play like a kid with special needs we would have never drawn the game you woul dhave won with the following series of plays

4 lands = 4 mana
d rit = 6 mana
c rit = 7 mana
demonic = 5 mana
will = 2 mana
d rit = 4 mana
cabal rit = 5 mana
demonic for lotus = 3 mana
lotus = 6 mana
vamp= 5 mana
brainstorm whihc is one card i know you had in gy = 4 mana
draw tendrils win

[k1x]

thanks for the lesson tk

[AmbivalentDuck]

I just realized I totally missed an opportunity to have Kempfer DQ-ed.  He mispresented the floor rules by saying that searching through his deck more than twice was stalling.  Of course, his deck was basically highlander and full of proxies.  Turns out you can take as much time as you want for something like this as long as the match isn't going to go to time because of it.  Naturally, the penalty for misrepresenting game rules is disqualification.

Anyways, I blew some play decisions as a result of not actually knowing the contents of his deck when using Bitter Ordeal. 

[Tha Gunslinga]

You cannot "take as much time as you want" for anything, whether it's time or not.   You must proceed at a reasonable pace.  Period.

[Suicideking]

I just realized I totally missed an opportunity to have Kempfer DQ-ed.  He mispresented the floor rules by saying that searching through his deck more than twice was stalling.  Of course, his deck was basically highlander and full of proxies.  Turns out you can take as much time as you want for something like this as long as the match isn't going to go to time because of it.  Naturally, the penalty for misrepresenting game rules is disqualification.

Anyways, I blew some play decisions as a result of not actually knowing the contents of his deck when using Bitter Ordeal. 

Yeah honestly during our match you were taking a little too long on your decisions.  I think you like to take your time and think things through but there are definitely penalties for slow play.

[Tha Gunslinga]

Anyways, I blew some play decisions as a result of not actually knowing the contents of his deck when using Bitter Ordeal. 

Just to clarify things, while you may write down the contents of a player's hand during a Duress/Thoughtseize resolution, you may not write down the entire contents of their deck during a Cap/Extirpate/Bitter Ordeal resolution, as it takes significantly longer and serves no purpose in advancing the gamestate.  It should not take more than a minute to Cap/Bitter Ordeal someone and note their win conditions, as well as the rough contents of their deck.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Except that capping someone whose deck has a limited number of win conditions condenses the entire game into one decision.

5.5 Slow Play
Players must take their turns in a timely fashion regardless of the complexity of the play situation and adhere to time limits specified for the tournament. Players must maintain a pace to allow the match to be finished in the announced time limit. Stalling is not acceptable. Players may ask a judge to watch their game for slow play; such a request will be granted if feasible.

I interpret this to mean that if the match does not go to time (and especially if it's over in 20 minutes), it's impossible for this rule to be invoked.  In particular if a correct 5 minute decision ends a game within 6 minutes, it *cannot* be stalling.  I may not be able to write down the contents of the deck, but I can probably sort it.

In either case, the number 2 is not present like he stated.  That's a clear misrepresentation of tourney rules and grounds for a DQ.

[LordHomerCat]

Except that capping someone whose deck has a limited number of win conditions condenses the entire game into one decision.

5.5 Slow Play
Players must take their turns in a timely fashion regardless of the complexity of the play situation and adhere to time limits specified for the tournament. Players must maintain a pace to allow the match to be finished in the announced time limit. Stalling is not acceptable. Players may ask a judge to watch their game for slow play; such a request will be granted if feasible.

I interpret this to mean that if the match does not go to time (and especially if it's over in 20 minutes), it's impossible for this rule to be invoked.  In particular if a correct 5 minute decision ends a game within 6 minutes, it *cannot* be stalling.  I may not be able to write down the contents of the deck, but I can probably sort it.

In either case, the number 2 is not present like he stated.  That's a clear misrepresentation of tourney rules and grounds for a DQ.

Then you take it wrong.  It has been REPEATEDLY stated by judges (particularly in regards to vintage and cards like Gifts Ungiven and Necropotence) that you do not get as long as you want, regardless of where you are in the match or how important the decision is.  Sorting their deck is absolutely stalling, and it does not matter if you are casting Extract against a Fish deck or Sad Sac against a Storm deck.  You can't write down the deck mid-search, you can't sort the whole thing, you can't leaf through it for 5 minutes.  Whether the match is going to go to time or not has no bearing on slow play.  Let say you Bitter Ordeal me turn 1 game 1.  You think that since we aren't at time, you can spend 10 minutes writing out my whole deck?  That just is not the way it works.

Also, while misrepresenting the floor rules is against the rules, telling your opponent to speed up is not.  If you had pawed through his deck a couple times already and were sorting it out, he was absolutely right to tell you that you have to hurry up.  Also, why would you take rules advice from your opponent? Who is to say he even knows the rule or knows the current correct rule?  If you really thought you could take more time, call the judge, don't come on here and complain about how he should have been DQ'ed because you don't understand how slow play works.