Meandeck Open: Top 4 with UBg Tezz

~~Given my noob status on these forums, I figured I'd put my own tournament report in this thread.~~

No need for that, split the topic. Marske

I finished 3rd with UBg Tezzeret.

Having had a poor showing at the last couple Meandeck opens, in part due to playing a deck with twelve basic swamps in it, I decided to run the most broken list of cards possible, and hopefully get some vindication.

I played the following 75:

creature [5]
3 Dark Confidant
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

instant [19]
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Nature's Claim
1 Repeal
3 Spell Pierce
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor

sorcery [8]
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Regrowth
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

artifact [11]
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

land [16]
1 Flooded Strand
4 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea

planeswalker [2]
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker

60 cards

Sideboard:
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Echoing Truth
1 Extirpate
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Nature's Claim
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Smother
1 Perish
2 Seal of Primordium
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Wasteland

The turnout was small, but there were a lot of great players there. And a few guys from team serious.

Round 1 vs. Steve Menendian (Aggro MUD:)

Game One: I assume he is probably playing TPS or something, and keep a hand with Sea, Trop, Spell Pierce, Drain, and some zero-cmc artifact Mana on the draw. I'm Comfortable with this. Steve plays Wasteland, chalice for zero, and passes. I am uncomfortable with this. I draw a Mystical tutor, Play the Sea (I'm hoping to tutor for a natures claim to get back in the game, so I throw the Sea into the wasteland.) Steve Wastes my land, to which I respond with a tutor for natures claim. He then lays workshop and Trinisphere. The rest of this game did not go so well, and I ended up losing to a Juggernaut or something...

Side-boarding Strategy, Is this a correct Strategy? Do any of you have an opinion?
-1 Jace, -1 Tez, -1 Gifts, -1 Sower of Temptation
+2 Seal of Primordium, +1 Nature's Claim, +1 Wasteland

Game Two: I'm a pretty miserable note taker, but I opened with some mana, and a turn one A-Call. During his turn, I forced a lodestone. I didn't have much action other than wasting his opening shop, and he had all kinds of spheres, leading to us playing draw go for a solid 8 turns. I hit a land pocket first, including a strip mine for his remaining ancient tome. Eventually I EoT Hurkyl's, and assemble vault key during my turn.

Game Three: Literally the exact same game as game two, I strip/waste his workshops, counter/kill his dudes, and we sit around under a bunch of spheres forever. This time I win by hardcasting a sphinx of the steel win after recalling his board eot.

Round 2 vs. Paul Mastriano (Oath, not sure which kind, as he never resolved an oath trigger:)

Game One: The game starts slow for both of us, with me landing a Divining Top, and him Needling it (people play that card main-deck in vintage!?) I stick a confidant, and he goes to town with an active Library before I vamp for strip mine and dispatch it. I have to bounce my confidant after going to 4 from flipping some hits, including Sphinx of the Steel Wind. Eventually he lands an Oath by winning a counter war, with a forbidden orchard that has already given me a couple tokens. I have the Nature's claim in hand, but I mystical for a second one upkeep, because he still has 3 cards and drain mana. I play the first claim, he forces, so I play the second one, which resolves. I stick a Jace the Mind Sculptor, vault key, and he stars looking through his sideboard, which I rightfully assume is his concession.

Game Two: This was Ugly. I keep a one land/no Mox hand, because I have A-Call and Ponder With force Backup. He plays a land, a mox, and passes. I play my fetch, crack it, and then A-Call. He misdirects it (which I forget is a card, as nobody plays that in Legacy,) I force his misdirection, and he spell pierces. Blowout city. He has six cards and a board, I have four clunky cards and one land. He doesn't get oath online, but does a bunch of broken vintage stuff involving Yawgmoth's will, and eventually assembles vault key. I don't make him actually win the game, because I don't want to draw the round.

Game Three: I open With a counter-heavy hand, and on turn three, we get into a major counterwar over his Ancestral Recall. Eventually I win the counter war, and have a hand of strip mine and vampiric tutor, and a board of mana crypt, 3 lands, 2 moxen. I Upkeep vamp for Jace (I didn't have anything to Yawg's will, I boarded out my Tinker target, and Jace basically accomplishes the same thing as an Ancestral recall every turn at this point.) I drop the Jace, brainstorm into a mana drain as I have the mans, keeping my strip mine to blow up his lone green source. He can never recover from Jace, as I brainstorm every turn until I start doing broken Tezzeret stuff.

Round 3 vs. Matt Hazard (Noble Fish:)

Game One: On the Draw, I open with Sea, Trop, tinker, Mana Crypt, Dark Confidant, Nature's Claim, Dark Confidant. After his opening Noble Hierarch, My first turn play is Dark Confidant, because if I run a Tinker into a Force/Daze, It's going to Wreck my tempo, where as If Dark Confidant gets Countered, I'm fairly certain I have a Turn Two Tinker. Dark Confidant Sticks, and he plays and he Plays a Null rod, and wastes my sea. Bad Times. I hit a land on Dark Confidant, and Draw a force of will. I'm really good at this game. I bash with Bobby Digital, and pass. He Plays a Tarmogoyf, and at EoT, I attempt natures claim on Null Rod, which randomly resolves. I Tinker into Sphinx, and the game is more or less over at this point.

Game Two: This was much closer, as he gets an aggressive start, and bashes some face with various dudes, and eventually has goyf, pridemage, and Hierarch, with one card in hand and tapped out. At His EoT, I vampiric for Perish, and hope he doesn't have a daze, because he's wasted a couple land, and I have exact mana. He doesn't have a daze, and I Sweep his board, holding 2 smothers. We Play some draw go for a bit, and he eventually sticks a null rod and a trygon predator. I draw a sower of temptation, and suit up his predator to start doing work for me. I bash for awhile, counter a couple things, and eventually win on the back of flying beats.

Round 4 Vs. Rich Shay (TPS:)

I am the only 3-0, and he is the only 2-0-1, so we draw.

Top 4 vs. Steve Menendian:

Game One: He wins the dice rolle, and I have Land, Land, Sol Ring, Black Lotus, Jace the Mind Sculptor, Mox Jet, and Nature's Claim. I am PRAYING for a turn one Lodestone Golem from him, as I feel I will immediately blow him out. He plays a turn one trinishphere instead... He Follows up with the Lodestone Golem, and I'm pretty sure I never actually played a spell...

I leave Gifts in this time, taking out Sphinx of the Steel Wind, because I feel it will be very hard to set up, and I've already seen he has duplicant and tangle wire through scouting.

Game Two: Epic misplay time: I open With Island, Fetch, Fetch, Spell Piece, Ponder, Gifts, FoW. I play the fetch, and pass the turn, leaving Spell Pierce open to counter some stuff. He Opens with Mox/Lodestone Golem, which I force, pitching Gifts I should have spell pierced the Mox to slow him down. I play a fetch, fetch, and ponder on my turn, hitting a divining top, a nature's claim, and a regrowth. He has enough mana now that spell pierce is close to dead, so I tap out for the top. He Swings for 5, and plays another thorn. I draw my nature's claim, play the island, and pass. He plays a null rod, to which I respond by topping. I draw my regrowth and pass. He swings for 5, and I nature's claim his juggernaut. He plays another, and another. I vamp tutor for a Hurkyl's recall. I'm facing lethal during his attack phase, so I recall him. I top during upkeep, and play my strip mine I draw, and strip his workshop. I decide to top on top for a force of will mainphase, which seems awesome, except I have no blue spells. He plays his crap again and I lose. Punt.

Some of my notes may be somewhat off, but the flow of each game is 100% correct.

This list is absolutely insane, and although I don't play much Vintage, any deck that allows some dude who almost top 8'd a standard PTQ once to beat former world champions has to speak for itself in terms of power level.