Double 1st Place reports. 3-0-1 and 6-0-1 with Elephant Oath. 1 mini 4-1 Report.

[Cyberpunker]

Hey guys, just won a tournament with my Elephant Oath and thought I would like to share the experience as well as my thoughts on the deck. Sorry it is late here and the writing style may seem a bit unfocused. Today's tournament was roughly 10-11 people with 4 rounds of Swiss only. So it was not really that big but still awesome.

Round 1 Shiro-san with Mirror Oath

Game 1
I win the dice roll and open up with first turn Mox, Sol Ring, Time Vault, Land. He lays down land and says go. I Mystical Tutor end of his turn for Tinker. I play another land and pass the turn because I had Mana Drain in hand and wanted to protect my Tinker. He attempts to cast Channel and I have to Mana Drain it. I cast Tinker on my turn and win eventually with Oath.

-3 Oath of Druids + 2 Nature's Claim +1 Hurkyl's Recall.

Game 2
He starts off with City of Brass and some Moxes. I start off slow too. He then attempts to play an Oath of Druids with his Forbidden Orchard but I counter it. I concede the Orchard war and try to instead play the Tezzeret game. I accumulate card advantage via Ancestral Recall and Yawgmoth's Will. I sit back and counter his threats while beating him down with 4 spirit tokens. Sorry this is all from memory.


Round 2 Tachiki-san with Jace and Tezzeret

Game 1
I do not remember this game that well. I got off an early Oath and win the counter war. He could not handle it. Tezzeret really has no game if they lose the counter war with you over Oath. Their only out is bounce or key vault and your Oath targets make it very hard for them to recover.

Sideboard: -1 Swamp, -1 Emrakul, +1 Hurkyl's Recall, +1 Nature's Claim

Game 2
He goes first turn Engineered Explosives at 2. I look at my hand. Hurkyl's Recall, Force of Will, Oath of Druids, Iona, 1 Orchard, 1 other land and 1 Show and Tell. I figured that I would let the Explosives resolve and save my counterspell for my Show and Tell. There is one problem with that plan. Tachiki had Sower of Temptation in his hand. Magic is a card game and in a card game we gamble. I lost the gamble in that game.

Game 3
I go first and resolve an early Ancestral Recall. But my card advantage is negated after he forced me to double Force of Will his own Ancestral Recall. I had Tinker in my hand and he played Engineered Explosives at 2 and a Sensei's Divining Top. I was 100% reliant on my Tinker now and Tinkered for an Inkwell Leviathan. Both our hands were depleted and we were on Topdeck mode. He topdecks Merchant's Scroll and bounces my Inkwell. Which of course was devestating. I assembled some counterspells and kept all his threats off the board. But after the I countered his Jace, his Divining Top found him his Voltaic Key and he started taking infinite turns. But time was called and he could not win in 5 turns. Too close.

Tezzeret's strength lies now in the endgame against Oath. Tezzeret runs slower cards like Divining Top and Confidant and Jace. If Oath's offense is stopped early on, the advantage will slowly turn to Tezzeret because their cards grow stronger as the game goes on.

My mistake this round was not countering the Engineered Explosives. I should have still tried to resolve my Oath first because that is the strongest option I had. But I went immediately to Plan B and basically conceded my strongest win condition. So yeah, play mistake game 2. I probably should not have double FoWed his Ancestral Recall. I could have countered his Hurkyl's Recall on my Inkwell. But I would have to let him draw 3 cards. Looking back, that was probably the better play, let him draw 3 and protect my own threat.

Round 3 Rebecca-san with Dark Depths

Game 1
I start off with first turn Oath with an Orchard. He plays Sadistic Sacrament off a dark ritual and removes my Terastodan, Inkwell Leviathan, and Iona. I Brainstorm on my upkeep in response to Oath and put back Emrakul. After I Oath, I Mystical Tutor for Time Walk and Annihilate his board. He chooses not to Oath on his upkeep and scoops after he draws.

Sideboard: Nothing

Game 2
He starts off with first turn double Dark Ritual and Mox Rub-->Null Rod and Magus of the Moon. I see no basic Islands and lose to Magus of the Moon beats. I had first turn Oath too.

Game 3
I start off with 2nd turn Oath. He plays his Confidant after I already gave him a Spirit token. Confidant draws him Darkblast while Oath gets me Emrakul. I Mystical Tutor for Time Walk and he scoops.

Round 4 Nicolas Pujol (nicofromtokyo) with Drain Tendrils

Game 1

I play an early Oath and he attempts to Nature's Claim it. I Force of Will. He tries to dig for an answer with Accumulated Knowledge # 2 but does not have anything. My creature comes into play and I Vampiric Tutor for a Time Walk.

Sideboard: -1 Swamp, -1 Emrakul +1 Nature's Claim, + 1 Hurkyl's Recall.

Game 2

He mulligans once and keeps a 1 land hand. I saw an opportunity and immediately cast my Oath of Druids off an Orchard. I win the counter war and Oath up Inkwell Leviathan. He gets his 2nd mana source but is too late to stop the recurring Oaths.

3-0-1

Prize: DCI Demonic Tutor Judge Foil along with 6 Rise of the Eldrazi packs.

Thoughts on the deck:

It is the best deck in Vintage right now, but still has many weaknesses that can lose games.

Examples: Blood Moon effects, Sower of Temptation, Metalworker combo can outrace it, Duplicant can be very horrible if resolved, Game 1 vs Selkie and Dredge is harder to win. Tezzeret can still beat you if they out counter you early on (IF they out counter you)

Tinker is the biggest weakness in the deck because it is the most vulnerable. Unlike all other options, you are not guaranteed a win if you Tinker. And usually if the Tinker target is dealt with, you have already depleted your hand trying to fight for it and you are in a horrible situation. But Oath has no choice but to run Tinker because it is another win condition. Running Tinker is still better than not running Tinker because of the sheer games you will win with it. But you will also be more vulnerable because you have to run Inkwell Leviathan(or any other Robot) and Oathing up your Robot is not exactly the strongest option.

Jace: Not tried it but looks too slow and clunky.

Tezzeret: Dead early on and does not win you the games plus being vulnerable to creatures.

Sensei's Divining Top: Way too slow and holds you back more than it helps you.

Timetwister: Does not fit into this deck's strategy.

See Beyond: Maybe after they ban Show and Tell. (I don't like it)

Sphinx/DSC: Too vulnerable to Swords to Plowshares, Chain of Vapor, and Echoing Truth. If the opponent is running Hurkyl's Recall rather than Echoing Truth or Chain of Vapor, than they are vulnerable to your other 3 creatures.

4 Creatures: Prevents decking in case you draw 1-2 of them. Does not lose to Sadistic Sacrament. And has perfect synergy with Show and Tell.

Show and Tell: A huge gamble if your opponent sides in Sower of Temptation or in the Oath mirror. But it is worth it. I have won more games with it than I have lost.

Tidesprout Tyrant: Too slow and is a totally different approach. Plus is not synergistic with the rest of the deck. Tyrant requires its very own special Oath build and right now Elephant Oath is stronger than that.

Emrakul: Pure awesomeness. Would recommend everyone try it before judging. If you don't, you are screwing yourself...

12 counterspells: Counterspells are one of the best effects in Magic and it fits very well in a broken deck that wants to outmatch its opponent early game.

Matchups:

ANT: Good matchup with 12 counters. Make sure you hold back your counterspells in the beginning and let them try to go off. ANT will try to go off in the beginning because they grow weaker as the game progresses. Stop them early on with counterspells, then play your Oath after they have exhausted their hand.

TPS: Stop their key spells but you do not need to play as conservatively as with ANT because TPS is slower but more stable. So you play aggressive with Oath while holding back your counterspells for their Key spells and tutors.

MUD: Great matchup. Oath only costs 2 and so you are still able to get it through the spheres. Mud cannot handle 5 Tinkers.

Selkie: Game 1 is a race for you because you have to hurry up and get your huge creature or your KeyVault on the board. The longer the game goes, the worse it is for you. Game 2 you side in your hate and hose them.

Dredge: See above

Tezzeret: A good matchup. You are running the same broken cards as they are except they are slower. The key difference is that you have to be the one to cast the first offensive spell. You need to win the counter war over Ancestral, Yawg Will, Oath or Tinker or KeyVault or else Tezzeret's slower cards can overpower you later on. Watch out for Sower of Temptation game 2 though, it is devastating if they put it into play with your Show and Tell. Otherwise, the matchup is very favorable. Tezzeret needs to side in a lot of hate spells. Always counter the Engineered Explosives at 2 and the Nature's Claim. It should be obvious but the number of misplays that happen in a tournament always surprises me.

Decklist:

Win:
Iona
Emrakul
Elephant
Inkwell
Tinker
4 Oath
1 Key
1 Vault

Awesomeness:
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Yawgmoth's Will
Demonic Tutor
Vampiric Tutor

Protection:
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce

Plan B Packet:
1 Show and Tell

So So but still necessary:
Merchant's Scroll
Mystical Tutor
Brainstorm
Ponder

The Universal Vintage Blue Deck Bomb:
Gifts Ungiven  

Mana:
4 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
4 Forbidden Orchard
5 Mox
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:

Selkie
3 Massacre
3 Deathmark

Dredge
4 Rav Trap
2 Planar Void

Workshop/Tezzeret/Mirror
2 Nature's Claim
1 Hurkyl's Recall

Props:
God
Family
Friends.

[Cyberpunker]

Top 3 for this tournament:

1. Elephant Oath
2. Drain Tendrils
3. ANT

[Tha Gunslinga]

I always board out Tinker-DSC vs any control deck that has Hurkyl's/Rebuild/Chain of Vapor.  I also SB at least one Jace for the control mirror.  Vs Tezz you need to bring in at least two Nature's Claims and one Jace.  Nature's Claim allows you to destroy Engineered Explosives if they have it.  I wouldn't bring in (or even play) Hurkyl's Recall vs Tezzeret; I would rather destroy than bounce, and if they Tinker out Inkwell you still have a number of ways to win.

I never bring in Show and Tell unless either my opponent has a LOT of Oath hate like Ray of Revelation, or they have only small creatures, like Tarmogoyf.  I don't bring in Show and Tell vs Tezzeret.

In the game 3 vs Tezzeret, you probably shouldn't have gone into a heavy counter-war vs his Ancestral; sometimes you just have to let them resolve, especially since you have to fight off Engineered Explosives.  That one is a tough call, though.

Congrats on the win.

[Cyberpunker]

Thanks for the tips.

Yeah, I made a mistake by getting into the counterwar over the Ancestral. I was still reeling from the frustration of getting my Iona stolen by Sower of Temptation. And plus in game 3 of a tournament, people are on edge and the 2 play mistakes happened because I played via instinct rather than logic  .

Interesting theory of boarding out Tinker vs decks with Rebuild/Recall.
My problem with Show and Tell is that I rely on it to put my creature into play. With 4 creatures, I am going to draw 1 eventually. And it is usually no problem except in this case where my opponent happened to draw the Sower of Temptation. I also should have just went with the Oath plan and countered his exposives. I don't know what I was thinking.

So yeah, major play mistakes vs Tezzeret that turned an easy matchup into an unneccesarily hard one. I was saved by the clock because I had no way to win game 3.

[Sobolev]

I'm surprised you didn't just name Blue with Iona.

[Cyberpunker]

I'm surprised you didn't just name Blue with Iona.

Sower was played via my Show and Tell. If I named blue, I would be shutting myself out after he steals my Iona.

[Sobolev]

I'm surprised you didn't just name Blue with Iona.

Sower was played via my Show and Tell. If I named blue, I would be shutting myself out after he steals my Iona.

Ah, I misunderstood.  Question taken back, sorry for missing that XD.

For some reason I was thinking it was the turn after or something.  Ignore me, I'm sleepy.

[Tha Gunslinga]

I bring out Tinker/DSC vs control because it's card disadvantage, and because generally those decks have very little to do with Hurkyl's other than bounce your robot, so it turns a dead card into a live one for them.  It's also too slow; their only bounce is untargeted, so unless your robot is Sundering Titan, they still get at least 2 turns to find bounce, and given that they run at least one mass bounce, plus a LOT of tutors, you're basically wasting your time.  Have I won games vs control with Tinker-DSC?  Yes.  But you're much better off with Oath, which isn't card disadvantage and is much harder for them to hate out.  Tinker can still be used to find Key/Vault, true, but I would rather just board it out for more relevant cards.

[Cyberpunker]

I see. I may try it. But I would have to cut creature hate in the sideboard for Jace.

Question about Jace: Is he as explosive as Tinker/Bot? Because I am still very uncomfortable running him.

[Cyberpunker]

btw here is the link

http://magicdailynews.com/20100428.html

Maybe you guys can check out the Japanese metagame.

[Tha Gunslinga]

I see. I may try it. But I would have to cut creature hate in the sideboard for Jace.

Question about Jace: Is he as explosive as Tinker/Bot? Because I am still very uncomfortable running him.

A little slower, but very good.

[Cyberpunker]

Hey, won another one today. This time it was 5 rounds of Swiss and Top 4 single elimination. I went 6-0-1 and here is my report:

Round 1 Horie-san with MUD

Game 1

I win the dice roll and go first. I go land and go. He plays 3 Mox, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb and attempts to play a Thorn of Amethyst. Seeing how he was virtually spent, I Force of Will the Amethyst. I play turn 2 Oath and give him an Orchard token along with it. However he topdecks Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and destroys my Oath. I cannot handle it and I misplayed already by pitching Show and Tell to Force of Will last turn. I topdecked Emrakul but could not put in into play to save me.

Sideboard: +2 Nature's Claim + 1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Merchant's Scroll

Game 2

I start with a first turn Orchard + Mox -->Oath. He is worried and plays a Lodestone Golem I think. I let that resolve and Oath up Emrakul. He draws and plays another lock piece and scoops.

Game 3

This game, like all Game 3s, was very close. He starts off with lock pieces and wastes my land. I manage to topdeck enough land and play my Oath of Druids. He is now afraid to play any creatures. I topdeck into an Orchard and he plays I think some Lodestone Golems. Terastodan comes into play and blows up all his mana and locks him under his own Spheres. Emrakul them comes in and he scoops. I was very scared because I thought he might have put Duplicant inside his deck. If I were to Annihilate his board with Emrakul, he gets 1 turn to Oath up Duplicant. If he Oaths up Duplicant I am most likely screwed because I could not race him. This would be a reoccuring theme throughout the day.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2 Welder Tezzeret with Wastelands

Game 1

I win the dice roll and we both mulligan to 6. I start off with land and go. He starts off with the same. I play 2nd turn Oath with an Orchard and I win the counter war. He wastelands my Forbidden Orchard to my chagrin and says go. The Elephant comes in and destroys all his lands. He Ancestral Recalls in response to me destroying 1 of his lands and draws 3. But he cannot get rid of my Oath and loses once Emrakul hits play.

Sideboard: Nothing. I was not sure how many Strip effects he was running and did not want to proceed with the standard plan of sideboarding out land.

Game 2

He goes first and we play draw go for a while. I Mystical Tutor for Ancestral Recall and win the counter war. I then play my Oath that I drew and pass the turn. He Rack and Ruins my Mox and Voltaic Key and passes the turn. Demonic Tutor for a Forbidden Orchard and eventually Oath Emrakul into play. He scoops after Emrakul swings.

2-0 (4-1)

Round 3 MonoKuro with Metalworker MUD

It has been a while since I played him and I knew he knows I am playing Oath. So I knew he had some sideboard cards that I had to watch out for.

Game 1

He goes first and stalls me by playing Chalice at 0 and then Wastelanding 1 of my lands. He then plays Metalworker, which I did not have a counter for. I topdeck into land (yay 26 mana sources) and play a land and pass the turn, I am now 1 turn away from casting Oath. He plays Crucible of the Worlds and I Spell Pierce it. He looks at his mana base 1 Mox Sapphire and 1 Mishra's Workshop only. And puts it into the graveyard. However he misplayed because he could have used his Metalworker to make mana but did not think of it. I would have been screwed because I had no way to deal with Crucible lock and Chalice at 0. As a result of the misplay, I resolved Oath and Oath up Inkwell Leviathan and then Iona for the win.

Sideboard: +2 Nature's Claim + 1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Merchant's Scroll

Game 2

He starts off very slow and plays Ancient Tomb + Mox and then Spawning Pit. I let it resolve and play my 1st turn Oath with an Orchard. He plays the 2nd Spawning Pit the next turn and refuses to let me Oath. I Vampiric Tutored EOT for Nature's Claim, destroy 1 Spawning Pit on my turn and Pass. He wastes my Orchard and plays Spawning Pit number 3.  I topdeck another Nature's Claim. I Yawgmoth's Will and destroy the 2 remaining Spawning Pits. He is at 32 life now and hastily tries to play his Metalworker and then plays a Thorn which I let resolve. I then Oath up Emrakul. He tries to play a Sceptor off the Metalworker by I have a Force of Will. Another creature is Oathed up and Emrakul swings. He scoops.

3-0(6-1)

Round 4 Eihou Katou with Affinity MUD

Game 1

I lose the dice roll but open up with this hand: 2 Mox, 1 Time Vault, 1 Voltaic Key, 1 land, 2 other cards. He plays a first turn Thorn of Amethyst. I play Land, Mox, Mox and pass. He plays a Mishra's Factory and then Skullclamp, then Frogmite I think. I play Time Vault. He equips Skullclamp on his creature and attacks. I take some damage. I play Voltaic Key. He attacks again and concedes.

Sideboard: +2 Nature's Claim + 1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Merchant's Scroll

Game 2

I double mulligan to 5 cards but start off with land, mox, Emrakul, land, and Vampiric Tutor. He plays Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Mox, Frogmite, Mishra's Factory and passes the turn. I topdeck another Mox and play 2 Mox + Land and pass. He plays Mishra's Factory # 2 and I take 5.  I Vampiric Tutor for Show and Tell EOT andplay Show and Tell + my Emrakul. He smiles and shows a Tolarian Academy. The next turn he animates both his Factories and swings. I misplay by blocking a Factory instead of his Frogmite/w Clamp. He smiles again and I knew I fell into a trap. He plays Lodestone Golem and I had no counter. I count my life and realize that I was at 6 life and he was at 17. I could not attack into him because he had enough permenants to survive Emrakul and would deal lethal to me next turn. I topdeck Brainstorm and Brainstorm into Nature's Claim. But I accidently tapped my Mox Emerald already...><. I now had to rely on his Mana Crypt to deal him 3 damage, survive his attack by blocking his Golem and then win. He wins the Mana Crypt flip, topdecks a Karn, animates all his artifacts, and swings for lethal anyway.

Game 3

A bit nervous now, I shuffle but draw into the perfect hand for Oath. I play turn 1 Oath with Orchard and the only thing he could do was to play a Mox Sapphire and Strip Mine my Orchard. I give him a token in response and then Oath up Terastodan, blowing up his Mox Sapphire. He concedes after I Oath up Inkwell Leviathan. I was very scared at this point because in that situation, I had no choice but to attack into his blockers. He would have had no board but would get to Oath 1 creature his next turn. If he had Oathed up Duplicant, I would have been screwed. He would have actually had 3 more turns to Oath up a Duplicant and stabilize the board. I could not do anything until I topdeck either KeyVault or another Orchard. But I did not think he did because he scooped early.

4-0 (8-2)

Round 5 Nicolas Pujol with Drain Tendrils

We both decided to ID and get into top 4.

4-0-1 (8-2-3)

Top 4 Playoffs

Round 6 Selkie

I was actually very uncertain about this matchup. Testing shows at it is actually a 50/50 matchup and it all depends on who gets the first strike out. I lose the dice roll and he starts off with Land-->go. I start off with 1 Mox Sapphire, 1 Mox Ruby, 1 Sol Ring, 1 Voltaic Key, 1 Land and hold 2 Mana Drains in hand. He plays Null Rod on his turn, I Mana Drain, and he FoW pitching Thada Adel. I now have 4 of my cards destroyed by 1 his cards. Not good. I eventually die to Noble Hierarch and Qasali Pridemage beats.

Sideboard: +3 Massacre +3 Deathmark +1 Hurkyl's Recall +1 Nature's Claim, -4 Mana Drain -1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant's Scroll -2 Spell Pierce.

Game 2

I start off with the following hand: 1 Swamp, 1 Jet, 1 Island, 1 Deathmark, 1 Massacre, 1 Oath, 1 Yawgmoth's Will. I would be playing a control role. I play Jet and Island then pass the turn. He plays first turn Hierarch. I play my Swamp and after topdecking Mystical Tutor. He plays Qasali Pridemage and passes the turn. I EOT for Ancestral Recall and attempt to play it but I get Spell Pierced. He now was tapped out however and I played Massacre, taking advantage of the fact that he cannot destroy my Mox Jet in response. He however plays Meddling Mage on Oath and then plays another land and a Hierarch. I topdeck into a Forbidden Orchard and play Yawgmoth's Will + Massacre + Oath. He plays a Selkie but I Deathmark it. He scoops after that, his hand was depleted and I was going to Oath next turn. But I still thought it was premature because I still could have decked or he could have topdecked something crazy, I don't know.

Game 3

He mulligans to 6 and fetches out Tundra (yay!). I play land + Mox and he wastes it but not before letting me cast an Oath. I play land he strips it. I topdeck into land (26 mana sources FOR THE WIN) and play 2nd Oath. He has no counter. He grins in frustration and says okay. I play my third Oath and it gets Spell Pierced (he has been stuck on 1 land this whole time btw). He finally topdecks into land. I play my Undeground Sea + Demonic Tutor, which he lets resolve, and I fetch my Orchard. He Nature's Claim one of my Oath's and attacks for 1. I play my Forbidden Orchard and he topdecks into a Qasali Pridemage but with no mana left to activate. Terastodan comes in and destroys his lands. Next turn Iona comes in and names white. He scoops. All this time I had Show and Tell with Emrakul in my hand, but that was plan B and I was deathly afraid of Sower of Temptation. I asked him afterwards if he had Sower in his hand, he said no but he did sideboard them in. I was not going to go the Show and Tell route unless he got rid of my Oath plan. Plan B is for emergency only, Plan A is always the strongest and should always have priority.

5-0-1 (10-3-3)

Round 7 Eihou Katou with Affinity MUD again.

Game 1

This game along with games 2 and 3 against Selkie were the most intense matches of the day. My mind was sharp all the time and both opponent's play exceptionally well. I start first and play Mox + Orchard and Oath and say go. He plays Workshop, Mox, Skullclamp, and Thorn of Amethyst. I let both resolve and he draws 2 off the token. I play my 2nd land and say go. He attempts to play a Golem and I Mana Drain it and he wastes my Orchard. He then gets his Golem back via Skullclamping his Myr Retriever. He passes the turn. I frown and realize I do not have anyting to play and pass the turn. He plays a 2nd Workshop and 2nd Thorn and I Mana Drain it and he gets it back by clamping another Myr Retriever. I Mystical on my upkeep for an Ancestral Recall and play it off the Mana Drain mana. I draw 2 Orchards and another card. I play an Orchard and pass the turn. He plays his Lodestone Golem another Skullclamp and an Archbound Ravager. I Oath up Emrakul and pass. He plays Triskelion, Ravager, and another Golem. He thinks for a while, then double clamps his Triskelion and passes the turn. Terastodan is Oathed up and I destroy 2 of my Moxes as well as 1 Oath to give me 3 Elephants. He now is unable to deal lethal damage to me next turn. Then I attack with Emrakul and destroy 6 of his permenants. He untaps and begins frantically clamping his Factory and then his Triskelion to draw some answers but cannot find any. And he concedes.

Sideboard: Sideboard: +2 Nature's Claim + 1 Hurkyl's Recall, -1 Gifts Ungiven, -1 Spell Pierce, -1 Merchant's Scroll

Game 2:
He Mulligans to 5 while I keep a hand of Oath, Oath, Mox, Orchard, Tinker, Land, Demonic Tutor. He however opens up with Chalice for 0 and Chalice for 2, then he plays a Frogmite. Well most of my hand is dead and I cannot Tinker. I topdeck into Voltaic Key and play it. He swings for 2 with his Frogmite and passes the turn. I topdeck into land and play it. He swings for another 2 with his Frogmite (he was out of gas too from his mulligan to 5). I topdeck into a Nature's Claim and destroy the Chalice at 0, play my mox + land + Tinker-->Time Vault. He draws and scoops.

6-0-1 (12-3-3)

Prize: DCI Foil Vindicate + DCI Foil Orim's Chant. Yay!

TOP 4:
1. Elephant Oath
2. Affinity Mud
3. Drain Tendrils and Selkie

Thanks:
God
Family
Friends

Thoughts on the deck:

Lots of weaknesses. I no longer believe this is the best deck in the format. Rather, I now think it is the best Mana Drain deck and is tier 1 along with Selkie, MUD, and Dredge.

[Evenpence]

However he topdecks Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

...wat

~~~

On another note... do you think running a Tezzeret or Jace instead of Emrakul would be better for the deck?

[Cyberpunker]

However he topdecks Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

...wat

~~~

On another note... do you think running a Tezzeret or Jace instead of Emrakul would be better for the deck?

Ulamog destroyed my Oath and swung for 10, then 10. So yeah, it was a good addition in his build I think. But no I do not think Tezzeret or Jace instead of Emrakul would be good. There was no situation where I wasn't glad I was running 4 creatures. If you draw 1, you are at risk to decking. Plus Tezzeret and Jace would be like Gifts Ungiven 2 and 3. Gifts sits in my hand waiting to be pitched to FoW when I am sitting across Dredge, Selkie, or MUD game 1. The only reason Gifts is good is because it is great in the control mirror. Jace and Tezzeret would be uncastable against MUD or Selkie or Dredge.

Some people on this forum swear by it, but after today I do not know how is it that they managed to resolve Tezzeret and/or Jace frequently enough to advocate running them. Show and Tell is a much better option because it costs 3, and even then it is often barely castable.

[nicofromtokyo]

GG to you Stan, the deck is definitly a pain in the neck to fight against, but I wish I could beat you on finals again  Next time for sure 

[Cyberpunker]

GG to you Stan, the deck is definitly a pain in the neck to fight against, but I wish I could beat you on finals again   Next time for sure  

Until Vintage from Tokyo! Winston says he might make it too depending on the train. This metagame will be very tough because Kitano is coming with Dredge for sure and Winston has a surprise   And I know Namo will have 11 cards against Oath...

[chrissss]

nice report(s) well played.

I assume you loved amrakul? its fun to read that you attacked, he sacrificed his permanents and then drew and scooped

[Cyberpunker]

nice report(s) well played.

I assume you loved amrakul? its fun to read that you attacked, he sacrificed his permanents and then drew and scooped

Hey man, thanks  . Yeah I really liked Emrakul. I recommend running 4 creatures and 1 Show and Tell.

Hopefully tommorow at Vintage from Tokyo, I can make this a Triple 1st place report thread . Hopefully. But then again, I'm just a guy with his cards playing a game. So yeah.

[Cyberpunker]

Sorry to clog up this forum but this is my last Vintage tournament in Japan and I just want to write a report on it because it was awesome.


Hiromichi Itou (2009 Gencon Champion)
ＭＵＤ

Game １
He wins the dice roll and has first turn Metalworker. I don’t have Oath so I lay down my land and Mox and say go. He plays 2 Spheres, 1 Tangle Wire, and a Karn next turn. I scoop.

-1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant Scroll -2 Spell Pierce +1 Duress +2 Nature’s Claim +1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Game ２
I go first and Duress him. His hand is Mox Ruby, Sphere, Metalworker, Lodestone Golem, Ancient Tomb, Mishra's Factory, and Tangle Wire. I take Mox Ruby to prevent him from playing Metalworker next turn. I play my Mana Crypt and say go. He plays Sphere of Resistance and I play my Island. I Mana Drain his Metalworker and on my turn I Ponder into Time Walk. I cast Mystical Tutor for Tinker and Time Walk. I then win with Sphinx of the Steel Wind.

Game ３
He goes first and mulligans to 6. He starst off with Land Chalice for 0 and says go. I play Land + Sol Ring. He plays Metalworker and I play Oath. I Oath up Sphinx and Force of Will his Duplicant. I then win with Terastodan and Sphinx.

Tatsuya Okazawa
ＦＩＳＨ

Game 1
He wins the dice roll and starts off with Land and attempts to Ancestral Recall end of my turn. I Spell Pierce. On his turn he lays down Meddling Mage naming Force of Will. I Show and Tell into Iona and he lays down his 2nd Meddling Mage naming Swords to Plowshares. Iona names White and I win the beatdown race after Oathing into Terastodan.

-3 Mana Drain -1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant’s Scroll
+3 Massacre +2 Deathmark

Game ２
He starts first and plays a Cursecatcher. We both play Draw go and I take some beatings from the 1/1. I then attempt to play Oath. He Forces, I Pierce, he Dazes and Curscatchers, I Force back. Oath sticks and Terastodan comes in for the win.

Ryousei Kawai
ＭＵＤ

Game １
He starts off first and plays 1 Thorn. I play land, he wastes my land and plays another Thorn. I topdeck into Moxen while he plays 2 more Thorns and eventually I scoop to Golem.


-1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant Scroll -2 Spell Pierce +1 Duress +2 Nature’s Claim +1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Game 2
I start off with a hand full of counterspells and I play Land +Mox go. He resolves 1 Sphere and has his Golem, Metalworker, and Tangle Wire countered in the next 3 turns. After we both run out of cards, I Vampiric Tutor (my last card) for Tinker and win with Sphinx. I was gambling he would not topdeck Duplicant.

Game ３
He starts off with Chalice for 1 and says go. I play 2 Mox, Land, and Black Lotus. I say go, and he Wastes my land and plays a Metalworker. I respond to his Waste by Mystical Tutor for Tinker. I play Time Vault and then crack my Black Lotus for Tinker into Voltaic Key. He plays more lock pieces but cannot stop me from taking 15+ turns.

Tasuo Tachiki
U/B/G Ｔｅｚｚｅｒｅｔ

Game １
He resolves 2 Tarmogoyfs and 1 Jace and I resolve Oath after winning a counter war. I Oath into Terastodan and then into Sphinx.

-2 Island -1 Terastodan +1 Duress +1 Hurkyl’s Recall +1 Nature’s Claim

Game ２
I get KeyVaulted turn 2

Game 3
I resolve 3rd turn Oath and protect it with Spell Pierce. He is unable to stop me after I Yawgmoth’s Will into Key+Vault+Oath.

Hidekazu Fujii
Ｏａｔｈ

Game １
Ｉ　lose the Orchard war and he Oaths first. I lose

-2 Islands -1 Terastodan -1 Show and Tell +1 Duress +2 Nature’s Claim +1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Game ２
Ｉ KeyVault him and win the counterwar turn 2.

Game ３
We both get Library up and I evenutally end of turn Mystical Tutor which he Spell Pierces. I then play Oath and he Spell Snares. I make a mistake by not taking advantage of the fact that he is tapped out and naïvely think that I will save my Force of Will for my Vault+Demonic Tutor in hand. He had only 5 cards while I had 6 so I would continue to Library while he could not. But he had Ancestral Recall with Mana Drain back up and won through sheer card advantage. So lesson learned, take advantage of the fact that your opponent is tapped out during Drain mirrors. Especially if you are trying to force through a threat. I had the Orchard war won but just had a slip of the mind.

Elephant Ｏａｔｈ

Iona
2 Elephant
Sphinx
Tinker
4 Oath
1 Key
1 Vault

Awesomeness:
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Yawgmoth’s Will
Demonic Tutor
Vampiric Tutor

Protection:
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce

Plan B Packet:
1 Show and Tell

So So but still necessary:
Merchant’s Scroll
Mystical Tutor
Brainstorm
Ponder

The Universal Vintage Blue Deck Bomb:
Gifts Ungiven

Mana:
4 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
4 Forbidden Orchard
5 Mox
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:

ANT/Control Mirror
1 Duress

Selkie
3 Massacre
２ Deathmark

Dredge
4 Rav Trap
2 Planar Void

Workshop/Tezzeret/Mirror
2 Nature’s Claim
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Prize:

4 Misty Rainforest
20 mini packs of Rise of the Eldrazi/Worldwake


Top 3

4-1 Tezzeret
4-1 Oath
4-1 Elephant Oath (I was 4-0 and technically won the tournament but everyone wanted 1 more round so the judge made it 5 rounds and I was paired against a 3-1 guy when I was the only 4-0)

Meta:

3 MUD
3 Oath
2 Fish
2 Tezzeret
2 Suicide Black
1 Goblins
1 Dredge
1 Drain Tendrils
1 Painter
1 Zoo
1 Dark Depths?????

Props:
God
Family
Friends.