Meandeck Open Results! -- April 12, 2010

[Smmenen]

We had 23 players from 4 states.  

Results after a top 8 playoff:

1st Place:
Randy Hollis
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
2 Mishra’s Factory
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Metalworker
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Triskelion
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Tangle Wire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault

Sideboard:
2 Razormane Masticore
2 Duplicant
2 Sculting Steel
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Relic of Progenitus

2nd Place: Paul Mastriano
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Regrowth
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Tinker
1 Time Vault
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ponder
1 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Thoughtseize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Iona, the Shield of Emeria
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Terastodon
3 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will
4 Oath of Druids

Sideboard:
2 Mindbreak Trap
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Rebuild
3 Nature's Claim
2 Pithing Needle
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Darkblast
1 Claws of Gix

3rd Place: Stephen Menendian
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
2 Cabal Ritual
 
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Tinker
1 Timetwister
1 Mind's Desire
1 Memory Jar
4 Duress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Grim Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Necropotence
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Inkwell Leviathan
 
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Bojuka Bog
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Island
1 Chain of Vapor

4th Place: Mark Trogdon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Smokestack
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Staff of Domination
4 Metalworker
4 Triskelion
1 Arcbound Ravager
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
2 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Tomb
2 High Market

Sideboard:
3 Eon Hub
3 Duplicant
3 Jester's Cap
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Tormod's Crypt


5th Place: Nam Tran
4 Metalworker
3 Staff of Domination
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Smokestack
1 Trinisphere
2 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
4 Duplicant
4 Triskelion
4 Bojuka Bog
2 Eon Hub
1 Sculpting Steel


6th Place: Matt McMackin
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Terastodon
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will
3 Thoughtseize
4 Oath of Druids
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Krosan Reclamation

Sideboard:
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Pithing Needle
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Show and Tell
1 Bribery
1 Tinker
3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Massacre
1 Ravenous Trap
2 Pyroblast
1 Ancient Grudge

7th Place: Brian Keil
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Oatho f Druids
1 Regrowth
1 Terastodon
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Spell Pierce
3 Annul
4 Force of Will
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tinker
1 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
4 Forbidden Orchard

Sideboard:
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2 Claws of Gix
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Darkblast
1 Rebuild
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Pithing Needle
2 Nature's Claim

8th Place: Gus Schade

4 Master of Etherium
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Thoughtcast
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce
1 Misdirection
3 Mystic Remora
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Tinker
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Island
3 Seat of Synod
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:

2 Pithing Needle
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Darkblast
1 Diabolic Edict
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
3 Nature’s Claim

[Aew]

Thanks for posting this. Congrats on your finish. As a Tps player myself, I would love to read about your battle through the mud!

Edit: Was inky the right choice with mud on the rise?

[honestabe]

Thanks for posting this. Congrats on your finish. As a Tps player myself, I would love to read about your battle through the mud!

Edit: Was inky the right choice with mud on the rise?

Hes the only one who doesnt die to duplicant

[Smmenen]

Thanks for posting this. Congrats on your finish. As a Tps player myself, I would love to read about your battle through the mud!

Edit: Was inky the right choice with mud on the rise?

What would you suggest instead?   

Randy beat Brian Keil in the quarter finals, me in the semi-finals, and Paul in the finals.   

[Ten-Ten]

Steve, Thank you for posting this. Kudos on your finish. I'm so glad to see you kickin' butt with TPS again..especially in all this MUD  By the way, how relevent were the Bojuka Bog(s)? What was the logic behind your selection in 2 Bojuka Bog as apposed to 2 Tormod's Cypt or 2 Extirpate?...

[Smmenen]

Steve, Thank you for posting this. Kudos on your finish. I'm so glad to see you kickin' butt with TPS again..especially in all this MUD   By the way, how relevent were the Bojuka Bog(s)? What was the logic behind your selection in 2 Bojuka Bog as apposed to 2 Tormod's Cypt or 2 Extirpate?...

Thanks man

I previously had 1 Island and 2 Swamp in my TPS SB.   With Bojuka Bog, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone -- have lands to sb against Workshops, but lands that were good against Welder Stax lists (stop Wasteland recursion and exile Smokestacks and Wires) and hosers against Dredge.    

[pierce]

claws of gix in the oath board 

[Troy_Costisick]

What a cool top 8.  I really like Gus's list.  Thanks for posting this, Steve.  Will you be doing a report in one of your articles in the near future?

[RitNecroWin]

claws of gix in the oath board 

For the past few months, Paul has been testing Oath and I have been working with 5-C Stax.... at the last minute, I decided to sleeve up Oath. Paul said that he was going to test Claws on your suggestion. After a few conversations and testing sessions, we felt it was going to give us the best shot at the mirror.
 
I never had the chance to play Claws myself; I don't believe Paul did either.

Also, I decided on playing Annuls main as I expected a heavy Shop/ Oath meta. Unfortunetly, I never really drew any.

Having not played in a tournament in some time and deciding to play Oath in an event without even fishbowling it beforehand, I can safely say the deck is nutty!

Thanks to Steve, the Soldiery and everyone who attended; I had a really great time at this.
 
Also, congratulations to Randy who drug three Meandeckers through the MUD in top 8; Two of which are former Vintage World Champions! Hope to see you again at future events!

[meadbert]

Steve, Thank you for posting this. Kudos on your finish. I'm so glad to see you kickin' butt with TPS again..especially in all this MUD   By the way, how relevent were the Bojuka Bog(s)? What was the logic behind your selection in 2 Bojuka Bog as apposed to 2 Tormod's Cypt or 2 Extirpate?...

Thanks man

I previously had 1 Island and 2 Swamp in my TPS SB.   With Bojuka Bog, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone -- have lands to sb against Workshops, but lands that were good against Welder Stax lists (stop Wasteland recursion and exile Smokestacks and Wires) and hosers against Dredge.    

Would Wasteland be better in that spot?  Wasteland is better against Dredge and since Stax is unlikely to run out Crucible on turn 1 against TPS it seems Wasting Shop would be pretty strong.

[Aew]

Thanks for posting this. Congrats on your finish. As a Tps player myself, I would love to read about your battle through the mud!

Edit: Was inky the right choice with mud on the rise?

What would you suggest instead?   

Randy beat Brian Keil in the quarter finals, me in the semi-finals, and Paul in the finals.   

I would suggest Sphinx of the steel wind. Yes, Sphinx can be targeted by Duplicant, but Duplicapnt is a sideboard card. Sphinx can get through Karn, Inkwell can`t. In my testing Inkwell has just been to easy to chump block when playing against mud.

[Tobi]

There are some mistakes in some decklists. Can you please check the missing cards?
http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1256

[randyhollis3]

Thanks Rit! I had an awesome time playing in the crazy world of Vintage. I used to playing with 40 card decks. Playing turn 1 Workshops and Lotuses make it hard to go back to Limited. I guess I'll settle for some Cube.

For those interested, the only things that might improve the deck would be moving the 2 Sculpting Steel into the main deck and SB'ing 2 Triskelion. There were only a couple games where I didn't bring them in. There were many times that a second Tangle Wire was just game-ending or making another Lodestone Golem added the pressure and disruption needed to win before they could come back.

As Paul Mastriano pointed out to me, Sculpting Steel can copy Inkwell Leviathan. Having no islands and copying their Inky kinda destroys their Plan B.

Thanks to Preston Cordy who talked me into playing, provided me with the deck and drove. Thanks to Steve Menendian for writing his articles and his devotion to the format. I know I would never had started playing Vintage if it wasn't for Steve.

[pierce]

claws of gix in the oath board 

For the past few months, Paul has been testing Oath and I have been working with 5-C Stax.... at the last minute, I decided to sleeve up Oath. Paul said that he was going to test Claws on your suggestion. After a few conversations and testing sessions, we felt it was going to give us the best shot at the mirror.
 
I never had the chance to play Claws myself; I don't believe Paul did either.

true, the claws was my idea. i'm happy to see it made its way into pauls final 75. for the record, i didn't suggest it for him--i merely gave him a list of a deck i made that he might enjoy. i was trinket mageing with that deck, and claws was the obvious sb choice for oath because of this.

oath is so strong that the mirror is bound to come up, and with people playing bribery gargadon gets a lot worse. plus claws dodges spell pierce much better than bombardment.

gratz to the t8, which is stacked with talent. I can't wait to start playing vintage across the midwest again.

[piZZero]

Dunno why, but Gus list looks very familiar to me JaceCast FTW!

Thanks for sharing the lists Stephen!

[Ten-Ten]

Steve, Thank you for posting this. Kudos on your finish. I'm so glad to see you kickin' butt with TPS again..especially in all this MUD   By the way, how relevent were the Bojuka Bog(s)? What was the logic behind your selection in 2 Bojuka Bog as apposed to 2 Tormod's Cypt or 2 Extirpate?...

Thanks man

I previously had 1 Island and 2 Swamp in my TPS SB.   With Bojuka Bog, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone -- have lands to sb against Workshops, but lands that were good against Welder Stax lists (stop Wasteland recursion and exile Smokestacks and Wires) and hosers against Dredge.    

Would Wasteland be better in that spot?  Wasteland is better against Dredge and since Stax is unlikely to run out Crucible on turn 1 against TPS it seems Wasting Shop would be pretty strong.

Actually, I have been testing Stripmine/Wasteland in the SB for Dredge and Stax but not enough to be confident including them just yet. Plus, the fact that it does not provide you with color mana kinda turns me off a bit.

[Smmenen]

FYI: The metagame breakdown:


7 MUD
4 Oath
2 Bant Fish
3 Tezzeret
1 Dredge
1 Hexmage Depths (Suicide Black)
1 TezCast
1 Bob Tendrils
2 TPS
1 Steel City Vault