Hey people, my name is Stanley Chen and if you saw me at Gencon I was playing Elephant Oath and hanging around my two friends from Japan.
Gencon was an interesting experience and I got to learn a lot about myself and what areas I need to improve on. (namely how to slip into the correct mindset when facing down certain players with certain personalities...)
The 1st Vintage Prelim had around 54-70 people. Here is my report from memory (if you were my opponent and see some errors please correct me):
Round 1 Stephen Gerard with Mono Black Aggro
Game 1
We both lay down early lands and he lays down a Vampric Nighthawk. I do not have Oath in hand and start taking beatings. I however do draw into Ponder, Ancestral, and eventually Brainstorm. He lays down a second Vampiric Nighthawk and I topdeck Gifts Ungiven. He beats me down to 1 life and I topdeck Gifts Ungiven. I cast it and search for Time Vault, Voltaic Key, Mystical Tutor, Demonic Tutor. I get Yawgmoth's Will and take infinite turns.
Sideboard: Nothing (I had nothing to bring in versus him)
Game 2
Again very close. I got my Voltaic Key out but he Sadistic Sacraments me. I let it resolve because I run 4 creatures and do not want to waste my counters on it when I can still win. He takes out Iona, Time Vault, Sphinx I think. I resolve Oath and Oath out Terastodon and blow up his lands. I then Oath my remaining Terastodon and blow up my Oath and lands. I win the resulting match.
He was a very cool guy and I hope to play him again in the future!
Round 2 Abel Castaneda with MUD
Game 1
He mulligans to 5 and sighs in disappointment with his hand. I play first and ask if my Ancestral Recall is okay, he says yes. I do not know what he is playing because he resolves some Moxes and a Tolarian. I then resolve my Oath of Druids with my Orchard and ask if its okay. And he smiles and allows it. He then lays down a Mishra's Workshop and I think tries to resolve a Lodestone? which I counter. And I Oath up Sphinx? and win eventually.
Sideboard: +3 Nature's Claim +1 Hurkyl's Recall -1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant's Scroll -2 Spell Pierce
Game 2
He goes first and lays down 1 Sphere effect. I say okay and play 1 land and 2 moxen. He plays more mana and says go. I play 1 more land and pass the turn. He plays 1 more Sphere and I destroy his first Sphere with Nature's Claim in response. I then play Show and Tell on my turn. He has nothing to put down while I put down Iona, Shield of Emeria. He topdecks Duplicant and I eventually lose.
Game 3
I go first and resolve an early Oath into Sphinx. He tries to resolve some threats but I stop them. I'm sorry my memory fails me but I know I eventually got a creature out and gain control of the game
sorry about the poor report.
Again another chill guy. I have been overseas for the past 2 years so I was very glad to find that many Vintage players are very nice.
Round 3 Jack H. Colwell with Dark Depths
Game 1
I have no Oath but a bunch of counterspells. I stop his early Tarmogoyfs because I am afraid of them doing too much damage before I can topdeck into my win conditions. I get an active Library out after I resolves an Ancestral Recall. I start drawing cards while he plays land and attempts to Thoughtseize/Duress me. He forces me to FoW his big threat I think was Yawgmoth's Will? Then he topdecks Duress and sees that I am running Oath. I find my Oath and Oath up my kill I think.
Sideboard: +2 Deathmark -2 Spell Pierce I was again afraid of him resolving early Goyf when I had no Oath. So I was going to keep him off creatures until I resolve my threats. I still had no idea he was running Dark Depths and assumed he was running a Vintage version of Evagreen.
Game 2
He opens up with Thoughtseize and sees my 2 Deathmarks. He muses that he has sided out Goyfs and that I had sided in Goyf hate. I didn't think he should have sided out Goyfs because they hurt if not dealt with but I was too focused to converse with him at the moment. He rips my counters and resolves Necropotence and draws up to 7. I play my Oath and he plays his Demonic Consultion for Vampiric Hexmage. I Oath up Iona and he finds his Dark Depths. I Oath up Sphinx and draw into Vampiric Tutor. He has his 20/20 and declines to attack because he doesn't want me to block with Sphinx and then kill him with Iona because he was at critical. I expected him to attack and was suprised he didn't. But that made sense too. I EOT tutored for Yawgmoth's Will and went infinite turns.
We exchanged information because we both live in LA and I hope to meet up with him again!
Round 4 Micah Greenbaum with Dredge
Game 1
He lays down 2 Bazaar while I desperatly try to survive with Sphinx of the Steel Wind. He gets down 34 damage thoug hand I cannot hang on.
+4 Ravenous Trap +2 Planar Void -1 Merchant's Scroll -1 Island -2 Terastodon -1 Spell Pierce -1 Yawgmoth's Will (You always want to Oath up Iona or Sphinx against Dredge, Terastodon cannot make enough 3/3s to save you)
Game 2
I get early Oath and also a Planar Void I think. I Oath up Iona naming Green. He attempts to Chain of Vapor my Planar Void and I Mana Drain it. I Oath up Sphinx and continue to lock him down with Void.
Game 3
He starts off slow and just disrupts me with Cabal Therapy. He plays Narcomoeba while I play my Oath. I Oath into Sphinx I think and he begins to Dredge. In response to him flashing back Therapy, I Ravenous Trap him. Next turn Iona comes in and I play Planar Void. He cannot recover.
Funny guy and we wished each other good luck.
Round 5 Jesse Spears with Remora Tezzeret
Game 1
Early Remora stops me from playing my Moxen and he gains way too much advantage. He outcounters me and resolves a Tezzeret into Time Vault.
Sideboard: +1 Nature's Claim +1 Hurkyl's Recall -1 Island -1 Terastodon
Game 2
I go first and play my land and say go. He plays his Mystic Remora and I Spell Pierce it. He then shakes his head in dismay/frustration and plays his Mana Crypt. I resolve Oath and win the counter war. I then Oath up my creatures and he cannot handle it.
Game 3
He goes first but I have early Oath I think and I somehow resolve it through the counter war. I'm so sorry but I do not remember much about this game.
Afterwards we shake hands and I tell him to use Spawning Pool over Engineered Explosives.
Round 6 Daniel Friedman with Elephant Oath (Tha Gunslinga's version)
We both ID to get into top 8 and shared our thoughts about Oath.
Round 7 Jerry Yang with B/R STAX (found here on the TMD!)
Game 1
He resolves 1st turn Smokestack and I resolve first turn Oath. The problem here is that I forgot he can stack his Smokestack to sacrifice a token first. I lose that round because I ended up killing off all my permanents. I should have played Oath with 1 Tropical. Then he would be forced to ramp up to 2 and then damage his own board as well.
Sideboard: +3 Nature's Claim +1 Hurkyl's Recall -1 Gifts Ungiven -1 Merchant's Scroll -2 Spell Pierce
Game 2
I do not remember much about this game except that I Oathed and won...sorry Jerry!
Game 3
This is the game I remember. He plays an early Welder and I respond by playing Oath. He plays Bazaar and then I Oath into Iona naming Red. He plays Ensnaring Bridge. I Vampiric into Orchard and then Oath up Terastodon and destroy all of his Ensnaring Bridges. Locking him under his own Thorn. Then 2nd Terastodon hits and destroys my Oath and 2 Moxes. I then Yawgmoth's Will into infinte turns. However he responds by getting his own Ensnaring Bridge back with his Welder. I tutor for Nature's Claim and kill it. He concedes.
Jerry was an awesome guy and we later would have dinner the next day together with the rest of his friends from Cleveland. I asked him why he didn't play Spawning Pool but he explains that Ensnaring Bridge can be used against Dredge too. I nod in agreement and understanding. Too little sideboard slots available it seems.
Round 8 Jack H. Colwell with Dark Depths again
Game 1
I have first turn Oath and Oath up Sphinx and then Duress away his Diabolic Edict. I then Oath up Iona naming black. He laments his bad matchup and concedes to game 2.
Sideboard: 2 Deathmarks -1 Island -1 Spell Pierce
Game 2
He attempts to early Sadistic Sacrament me but I stop it with a Force of Will. He plays more disruption but cannot get a threat across. I get stripped of my hand but play my Voltaic Key. I then topdeck into Merchant Scroll->Ancestral Recall->Tinker and Oath. He forces through a Sadistic Sacrament and removes Time Vault, Terastodon, and Iona. He then tells me that I have a lot of targets, which is true because I was prepared for Jester's Cap and Sadistic Sacrament. I had Tinker in my hand though and Tinkered for Sphinx of the Steel Wind and play Oath of Druids. (He was beating me down with Spirit tokens by now too so it was safe to play the Oath). He tutored for Nature's Claim and kills my Oath. I then attack him for a couple of turns while having enough counterspells to stop him from drawing his Diabolic Edict or getting his Vampiric Hexmage online. I think I also countered a Demonic Consultation somewhere along the way.
Round 9 Theo C. Limber with MUD
Game 1
I win the Die roll and start with Island Mox Sapphire, go. He plays Workshop, Mox-->Golem which gets drained I think. Then I play an Oath and say go. He plays another workshop and taps Workshop+Mox for Smokestack, leaving the 2nd Workshop and Mox untapped. I Spell Pierce it, and he curses his misplay. He then plays Tangle Wire I think and passes. I think I eventually Oath up Terastodon and he concedes.
Game 2
He makes me counter his first turn Tangle Wire and then I resolve my Oath with Orchard. He resolves Eon Hub and stalls for a long time while beating me down. I was focused enough to keep on going and eventually topdeck a Nature's Claim. I destroy his Eon Hub EOT and Oath up Terastodon. I kill all his mana and then Oath up the Sphinx and win.
Prize: 2 Byes and 1 Netbook. Yay!
I trade the Netbook for a bunch of Japanese Foils (A BUNCH).
Vintage Championships,
I go 3-0 but lose to Connelly Woods playing B/W aggro control(apparently some famous pro player who likes to talk a lot, disrespected me by talking to me in a patronizing tone throughout the match, then accused me of slowplaying him in front of a crowd, then expected me to show him what I run, then making me out to be the bad guy after I refused). Too many mistakes were made because of that. It wasn't even his deck I just forgot to do important stuff like activate Orchard a 2nd time to give him another token etc.
After getting put on tilt I make foolish mistakes the next round too by letting a Skullclamp resolve when I could have Pierced it and by Draining a Lodestone when I had Oath in my hand. I was not prepared for that after the first day of meeting nice people. But next time I will be.
I lose to Micah Greenbaum with Dredge after mulliganing to 4 but then go on to regain my composure to 2-0 the next Dredge player (I did my best to play as perfectly as possible).
Legacy Champs
5-2-1
Iona Survival Lose Win Win
Iona Survival Win Lose Lose (forgot to play Qasali and equiped my Sword of L/S instead)
Iggy Pop Lose Lose
Lands.dec Win Win
Madness Survival Lose Win Win
Countertop Thopter Win Win
Dark Depths Win Win
Countertop Topter Lose Win Draw
Good Moments:
-Finding out that most of the Vintage community is as friendly here as they are elsewhere around the world.
-Staying with my Japanese friends for the last time until the next year.
-Winning and being able to focus Day 1
-Getting to know a lot of very friendly Type 1 players and looking forward to meeting them soon!
-Getting my cards signed finally
-My Triple Sleeved cards beating Rich Shay at his Foil Cards Theory
Awkward and uncomfortible moments:
-Mike Solymossy telling an opponent David Williams what I was playing right in front of my face (This was in a Vintage side event that happened at 11:00 PM the last day)
-My last legacy opponent asking me to concede after we tied but not really wanting to concede to me
-Rude guy who thought I was cutting and shoved me out of line even though he was in...another line. I got back in my original place and reminded myself that I cannot be like him.
-4 Dollar Pizzas, 3 dollar sodas with no refills, 3.50 hotdogs
Bad Moments:
-Getting put on tilt
-Forgot to play Qasali Pridemage
-Forgot to counter Mystical Remora (Vintage Side Event because I was too tired and unfocused)
-Forgot to keep Drain mana up (Vintage Side Event, too tired and excited to just want to play Oath to hurry up and win)
-Forgot that we have to bait with Ancestral first then play Oath (Vintage Side Event, this game was vs David Williams 3rd round)
-Keeping a 2 off colored Mox hand with Voltaic Key and Tinker (Vintage Side Event; idiot, never do that its never worth the risk)
Thanks:
God (WITHOUT YOU I CANNOT DO ANYTHING IN LIFE!!!)
Family (For supporting me financially in my hobby)
Friends in Japan (for the games and fun times)
Most of the US Vintage Community for being relaxed and chill
Decklist: Elephant Oath
Win:
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
1 Duress
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
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
２ Deathmark
Dredge
4 Rav Trap
2 Planar Void
Workshop/Tezzeret/Mirror
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
Legacy:
R/W/G Crazy Town
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Sword of LIght and Shadow
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Sylvan Library
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Plains
3 Taiga
3 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Bojuku Bog
2 Gaddock Teeg
4 Krosan Grip
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Volcanic Fallout
2 Pithing Needle
