[TO Report] Mox Sapphire Tournament at Pandemonium (19Jan13)

[ErtaiAdept]

The event was a great success!  This was the first major Vintage tournament to be hosted in Boston in quite some time.  And I’m happy to say that we received quite the warm welcome.  Thank you to all who came out and threw down in the most gentlemanly form of cardboard combat.

Special thanks:
Pandemonium Books for hosting us and providing us with a great environment to play in
Eric “ELD” Dupuis for helping the store obtain the unbelievable 1st place prize
Our Judges Elliot and Daniel for providing excellent coverage


The final match was truly a clash of titans and was fought out over 3 intense games.  In the end Bill Copes was able to move to victory over Eric an incredibly tense game.  Congratulations to Bill on his Mox Sapphire and to Eric well played, and thank you both for an incredible end to a great tournament.

Looking forward I would very much like to do this again in the future.  It will not become a monthly occurrence as I feel that having such large events too often ruins the excitement associated with them.  However keep your eyes out for another large scale event sometime in the next 2-3 months.

Finally thank you again to everyone who came out and we’ll see you next time!

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And now onto the important information

Total Attendance: 42

Meta Game Breakdown:
5   Gush
5   Bomberman
4   Dredge
4   Espresso Shops
3   Other - Shops
2   Oath
2   Night's Whisper
2   Land Still
2   Delver
2   Terra-Nova MUD
1   Keeper
1   Strix Control
1   BUG Control
1   Reanimator
1   Turbo-Tezz
1   TPS
1   Mono Red
1   Painter's Servant
1   Omniscience
1   Other

Standings after 6 Rounds of Swiss (CUT TO TOP 8)
1st – Bill Copes (16 pts)
2nd – Eric Dupuis (14 pts)
3rd – Andy Probasco (13 pts)
4th – Aaron Console (13 pts)
5th – Stefan Ellsworth (13 pts)
6th – Jesse Martin (13 pts)
7th – Demonic Attorney (13 pts)
8th – Keith Carpentier  (12 pts)


Quarter Finals
Eric Dupuis(Bomberman)  vs Demonic Attorney (Turbo Tezz) (Eric Wins)
Andy Probasco(Bomberman) vs Jesse Martin(TPS) (Andy Wins)
Bill Copes(Espresso Shops) vs Keith Carpentier (Crime City – MUD)  (Bill Wins)
Stefan Ellsworth(Shops) vs Aaron Console(Landstill) (Stefan Wins)


Semi-Finals
Eric Dupuis(Bomberman) vs Andy Probasco(Bomberman) (Eric Wins)
Bill Copes(Epresso Shops) vs Stefan Elssworth (Shops)(Bill Wins)

Finals
Bill Copes(Espresso Shops) vs Eric Dupuis(Bomberman) (Bill Wins)


TOP 8 DECKLISTS

Bill Copes - Shops   
4   Lodestone Golem
4   Phyrexian Metamorph
3   Phyrexian Revoker
2   Karn Silver Golem
4   Smokestack
4   Tanglewire
4   Sphere of Resistance
4   Chalice of the Void
3   Crucible of Worlds
2   Thorn of Amethyst
1   Trinishpere
4   Mishra's Workshop
4   Mishra's Factory
4   Wasteland
4   Ancient Tomb
1   Tolarian Academy
1   Strip Mine
1   Ghost Quarter
1   Sol Ring
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Emerald
   
Side Board   
2   Ghost Quarter
2   Razormane Masticore
3   Relic of Progenitus
4   Pithing Needle
4   Grafdigger's Cage
   
   
   
Eric Dupuis - Esper Bomberman   
2   Cavern of Souls
4   Flooded Strand
3   Island
1   Library of Alexandria
1   Scalding Tarn
1   Tolarian Academy
3   Tundra
2   Underground Sea
2   Auriok Salvagers
4   Dark Confidant
2   Snapcaster Mage
3   Trinket Mage
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Black Lotus
1   Brainstorm
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Engineered Explosives
2   Flusterstorm
4   Force of Will
3   Mana Drain
2   Mental Misstep
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Nihil Spellbomb
1   Sensei's Divining Top
1   Sol Ring
2   Swords to Plowshares
1   Thirst for Knowledge
1   Time Walk
1   Time Vault
1   Voltaic Key
1   Yawgmoth's Will
2   Jace, The Mind Sculptor
   
Side Board   
2   Energy Flux
2   Grafdiggers Cage
1   Hurkyl's Recall
2   Kataki, War's Wage
1   Pithing Needle
1   Plains
1   Disenchant
1   Steel Sabotage
1   Tormod's Crypt
3   Yixlid Jailer
   
   
Andy Probasco - Bomberman   
1   Ancestral Recall
2   Annul
2   Auriok Salvager
1   Black Lotus
1   Blightsteel Colossus
1   Brainstorm
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Engineered Explosives
4   Flooded Strand
2   Flusterstorm
4   Force of Will
2   Intuition
4   Island
2   Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1   Mana Crypt
3   Mana Drain
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Nihil Spellbomb
1   Plains
1   Polluted Delta
1   Sensei's Divining Top
3   Snapcaster Mage
1   Sol Ring
1   Timetwister
1   Time Walk
1   Time Vault
1   Tinker
1   Tolarian Academy
3   Trinket Mage
3   Tundra
2   Underground Sea
1   Voltaic Key
1   Yawgmoth's Will
   
Side Board   
1   Balance
1   Engineered Explosives
2   Grafdigger's Cage
2   Mindbreak Trap
2   Path to Exile
3   Serenity
2   Steel Sabotage
1   Surgical Extraction
1   Tormod's Crypt
   
Stefan Ellsworth - Shops   
4   Lodestone Golem
4   Phyrexian Metamorph
3   Karn Silver Golem
4   Ancient Tomb
4   Mishra's Factory
4   Mishra's Workshop
1   Rishadan Port
1   Strip Mine
4   Wasteland
1   Tolarian Academy
1   Black Lotus
4   Chalice of the Void
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Sapphire
4   Smokstack
1   Sol Ring
4   Sphere of Resistance
4   Tangle Wire
2   Thorn of Amethyst
1   Trinishpere
3   Crucible of Worlds
   
Side Board   
1   Crucible of Worlds
4   Graffdigger's Cage
4   Tormod's Crypt
3   Duplicant
2   Wurmcoil Engine
1   Ghost Quarter
   
Keith Carpentier - Crime City Shops   
4   Mishra's Workshop
4   Wasteland
4   Ancient Tomb
2   Rishidan Port
2   Ghost Quarter
1   City of Traitors
1   Island
1   Strip Mine
1   Tolarian Academy
1   Maze of Ith
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Emerald
1   Black Lotus
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mana Vault
1   Sol Ring
4   Smoke Stack
4   Lodestone Golem
4   Sphere of Resistance
3   Tangle Wire
3   Null Rod
3   Phyrexian Revolker
3   Phyrexian Metamorph
3   Crucible of Worlds
2   Chalice of the Void
2   Thorn of Amethyst
1   Duplicant
1   Trinishpere
   
Side Board   
3   Ensnaring Bridge
3   Relic of Progenitus
2   Graffdigger's Cage
2   Chalice of the Void
2   Thorn of Amethyst
1   Tangle Wire
1   Maze of Ith
1   Duplicant
   
   
Demonic Attorney - The Last Tezzeret   
4   Force of Will
2   Thoughtseize
2   Mana Drain
1   Mind Twist
1   Balance
3   Thoughtcast
3   Sensei's Divining Top
2   Fact or Fiction
3   Tezzeret, The Seeker
3   Voltaic Key
1   Time Vault
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Time Walk
1   Thirst for Knowledge
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Yawgmoth's Will
1   Brainstorm
1   Tinker
1   Blightsteel Colossus
2   Polluted Delta
2   Misty Rainforest
1   Flooded Strand
1   Scalding Tarn
3   Underground Sea
3   Island
1   Tundra
2   Grim Monolith
1   Mana Vault
1   Black Lotus
1   Sol Ring
1   Mana Crypt
1   Tolarian Academy
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Emerald
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Opal
   
Side Board   
4   Hurkyl's Recall
3   Defense Grid
2   Pithing Needle
1   Graffdiger's Cage
2   Yixlid Jailer
1   Annul
1   Steel Sabotage
1   Spell Snare
   
   
Aaron Conole - Landstill   
4   Standstill
4   Wasteland
1   Nevynrall's Disk
1   Steel Sabotage
1   Izzet Charm
4   Scalding Tarn
4   Mana Drain
4   Mishra's Factory
3   Jace, The Mind Sculptor
4   Volcanic Island
3   Island
2   Faerie Conclave
1   Ratchet Bomb
1   Library of Alexandria
1   Hurkyll's Recall
2   Misdirection
1   Engineered Explosives
4   Force of Will
2   Mental Misstep
1   Stripmine
2   Lightning Bolt
1   Mox Sapphire
2   Spell Pierce
1   Echoing Truth
2   Crucible of Worlds
1   Black Lotus
1   Time Walk
1   Ancestral Recall
1   Gorilla Shaman
   
Side Board   
4   Leyline of the Void
2   Tormod's Crypt
3   Graffdigger's Cage
4   Ingot Chewer
2   Red Elemental Blast
   
   
   
Jesse Martin - TPS   
4   Dark Ritual
4   Duress
3   Defense Grid
3   Gitaxian Probe
2   Cabal Ritual
2   Tendril's of Agony
2   Preordane
1   Ponder
1   Brainstorm
1   Ancestral Recall
1   jace, The Mind Sculptor
1   Yawgmoth's Will
1   Yawgmoth's Bargain
1   Necropotence
1   Mind's Desire
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Mystical Tutor
1   Vampiric Tutor
1   Grim Tutor
1   Merchant Scroll
1   Gift's Ungiven
1   Timetwister
1   Time Walk
1   Chain of Vapor
1   Hurkyls Recall
1   Lotus Petal
1   Mox Sapphire
1   Mox Jet
1   Mox Ruby
1   Mox Pearl
1   Mox Emerald
1   Black Lotus
1   Sol Ring
1   Mana Crypt
1   Mana Vault
4   Underground Sea
2   Misty Rainforest
2   Scalding Tarn
1   Polluted Delta
1   Tolarian Academy
2   Island
   
Side Board   
4   Leyline of the Void
1   Pithing Needle
1   Nihil Spellbomb
2   Yixlid Jailer
2   Hurkyl's Recall
1   Chain of Vapor
1   Rebuild
1   Dismember
2   Island

[voltron00x]

Great to see some of my favorite Vintage players listed in this report.  Congrats to Bill Copes and everyone in the top 8, and also nice job New England with the strong support and good turnout.

[Samoht]

42 is awesome! That's great to hear/see.

[Prospero]

Congrats on the successful event!  While I couldn't make it, I was rooting for you.  Great to see two copies of Espresso in the top eight, and better yet to see Bill Copes take it down!

[TheBrassMan]

Had a blast. The tournament was very smoothly run, great judging staff and a generous prize support. It's a shame the New York guys couldn't make it out, but was exciting to have such a great turnout of local players, new and old. I could see Pandemonium really being a vintage hub if it can keep this up

[Bill Copes]

Aside from the winning part, this event was really, really, really awesome.  It was by far, the most smoothly-run vintage event at Pandemonium to date (not to knock previous events, but this one was topps).  Thanks to Craig Masley for all of the hard work he put into organizing this event.  You do us a great service, sir, and I appreciate the motivation you have to keep the format alive in the region.  I'd like to thank the judging staff for being nice and not holding my ignorance of high-rel tournament-etiquette against me. I get nervous sometimes, and as a result, tangle wires are inadvertently revealed to my opponent from the middle of my library.  All of my opponents were/are upstanding gentlemen (Steve, Josh, Andy F., Andy P., Keith, Stefan, ELD, and a person whom I had met for the first time and foolishly didn't write your name down.  My apologies.).  Every match was intense and fun and adventurous and competitive and sometimes silly.  Pithing Needle named Tarpan too many times to run 4 of them.

I have another apology for my round 6 opponent.  Aside from not writing down his name, I forced him to play me in hopes of getting a friend or two into the top 8.  He was a sure draw in.  I hope you understand and look forward to playing you again.  That was the second-most intense match of the day for me.  You play MUD well, sir.  Perhaps I owe you a beer?

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the next one and hopefully will see a bunch of you peeps some time before then.

Tally-ho and whatnot!

[ErtaiAdept]

Aside from the winning part, this event was really, really, really awesome.  It was by far, the most smoothly-run vintage event at Pandemonium to date (not to knock previous events, but this one was topps).  Thanks to Craig Masley for all of the hard work he put into organizing this event.  You do us a great service, sir, and I appreciate the motivation you have to keep the format alive in the region.  I'd like to thank the judging staff for being nice and not holding my ignorance of high-rel tournament-etiquette against me. I get nervous sometimes, and as a result, tangle wires are inadvertently revealed to my opponent from the middle of my library.  All of my opponents were/are upstanding gentlemen (Steve, Josh, Andy F., Andy P., Keith, Stefan, ELD, and a person whom I had met for the first time and foolishly didn't write your name down.  My apologies.).  Every match was intense and fun and adventurous and competitive and sometimes silly.  Pithing Needle named Tarpan too many times to run 4 of them.

I have another apology for my round 6 opponent.  Aside from not writing down his name, I forced him to play me in hopes of getting a friend or two into the top 8.  He was a sure draw in.  I hope you understand and look forward to playing you again.  That was the second-most intense match of the day for me.  You play MUD well, sir.  Perhaps I owe you a beer?

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the next one and hopefully will see a bunch of you peeps some time before then.

Tally-ho and whatnot!

Your round 6 opponent was Ryan O'Connor, he's one of our regular Tuesday nighters and a fine shops player.

[A.-1.]

42 players! The death of Vintage is highly exaggerated. An event in Pennsylvania got 29 on the same day.

Congrats to the all-stars in top 8 and especially Mr. Copes for winning.

[ELD]

If we can make these happen every 3 months, I can see a resurrection of Vintage.  We need large events to excite players, and this was a massive success on that front. 

I had a great time.  Thank you to everyone involved. 

[Bill Copes]

Aside from the winning part, this event was really, really, really awesome.  It was by far, the most smoothly-run vintage event at Pandemonium to date (not to knock previous events, but this one was topps).  Thanks to Craig Masley for all of the hard work he put into organizing this event.  You do us a great service, sir, and I appreciate the motivation you have to keep the format alive in the region.  I'd like to thank the judging staff for being nice and not holding my ignorance of high-rel tournament-etiquette against me. I get nervous sometimes, and as a result, tangle wires are inadvertently revealed to my opponent from the middle of my library.  All of my opponents were/are upstanding gentlemen (Steve, Josh, Andy F., Andy P., Keith, Stefan, ELD, and a person whom I had met for the first time and foolishly didn't write your name down.  My apologies.).  Every match was intense and fun and adventurous and competitive and sometimes silly.  Pithing Needle named Tarpan too many times to run 4 of them.

I have another apology for my round 6 opponent.  Aside from not writing down his name, I forced him to play me in hopes of getting a friend or two into the top 8.  He was a sure draw in.  I hope you understand and look forward to playing you again.  That was the second-most intense match of the day for me.  You play MUD well, sir.  Perhaps I owe you a beer?

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the next one and hopefully will see a bunch of you peeps some time before then.

Tally-ho and whatnot!

Your round 6 opponent was Ryan O'Connor, he's one of our regular Tuesday nighters and a fine shops player.

If you are on the drain, thank you, Mr. O'Connor, for being a challenging and respectful opponent.

[Explosive Engineer]

Excellent event. Big thanks to Craig for taking the initiative to organize and to Pandemonium staff for hosting. Congrats to Bill Copes and the rest of the top8 ringers.  I hope to see more of these in the near future hosted at Pandemonium.  With the success on Saturday, perhaps a handful of the NY boys can make the drive for the next event.  *glare*

Cheers,
Brian

[personalbackfire]

There are some sweet decklists in this event for sure. I especially like the Tezz list (since there seems to be no love for it anymore) and TPS. Speaking of TPS, I know that Jesse is known for combo, which makes me not want to question his list, but 4 Duress ,3 Defense grids, and 0 Force? How do you beat shops?

[Samoht]

Play lands, resolve Hurkyl's Recall.

[Cruel Ultimatum]

I am somewhat curious of what how ELD and brassman like yawg will. Im my experience it was terrible.

[personalbackfire]

Play lands, resolve Hurkyl's Recall.

I was waiting for someone to state the seemingly obvious, just not sure it's been that easy since Lodestone came out.

[Samoht]

Play lands, resolve Hurkyl's Recall.

I was waiting for someone to state the seemingly obvious, just not sure it's been that easy since Lodestone came out.

That's his plan. Whether or not it is achievable is another story in the face of so many Spheres/Metamorphs/Wires.  I find it untenable as a blue player to resolve valuable Hurkyl's anymore, as they can play a Sphere and a 5/3 on the same turn and push me off the needed mana. If we upkeep Hurkyl's in the face of wire, we're still tapped out and have to ship, it's just not what it used to be in that it is too hard to just make land drops enough to get mana for that EoT Hurkyls -> Untap and Win.

[Cruel Ultimatum]

Play lands, resolve Hurkyl's Recall.

I was waiting for someone to state the seemingly obvious, just not sure it's been that easy since Lodestone came out.

That's his plan. Whether or not it is achievable is another story in the face of so many Spheres/Metamorphs/Wires.  I find it untenable as a blue player to resolve valuable Hurkyl's anymore, as they can play a Sphere and a 5/3 on the same turn and push me off the needed mana. If we upkeep Hurkyl's in the face of wire, we're still tapped out and have to ship, it's just not what it used to be in that it is too hard to just make land drops enough to get mana for that EoT Hurkyls -> Untap and Win.

I dont think this particular list is great against shops, but that is the plan. Upkeeping a hurkyls in the face of wire isn't as bad as you make it, since you can easily parlay your land drop for the turn into a kill with rituals. That being said, it seems a lit harder then say the bob tendrils list last year that had more lands, more md bounce, and dark confidant to draw these cards.

[Samoht]

Play lands, resolve Hurkyl's Recall.

I was waiting for someone to state the seemingly obvious, just not sure it's been that easy since Lodestone came out.

That's his plan. Whether or not it is achievable is another story in the face of so many Spheres/Metamorphs/Wires.  I find it untenable as a blue player to resolve valuable Hurkyl's anymore, as they can play a Sphere and a 5/3 on the same turn and push me off the needed mana. If we upkeep Hurkyl's in the face of wire, we're still tapped out and have to ship, it's just not what it used to be in that it is too hard to just make land drops enough to get mana for that EoT Hurkyls -> Untap and Win.

I dont think this particular list is great against shops, but that is the plan. Upkeeping a hurkyls in the face of wire isn't as bad as you make it, since you can easily parlay your land drop for the turn into a kill with rituals. That being said, it seems a lit harder then say the bob tendrils list last year that had more lands, more md bounce, and dark confidant to draw these cards.

I said as a blue player, not a ritual player. Those are different things (am aware the discussion is about rituals). That said, I think 3 basics and 5 fetches makes it a lot harder to build a mana base in the face of Wasteland and potentially Ghost Quarter(s).

[Phele]

I am somewhat curious of what how ELD and brassman like yawg will. Im my experience it was terrible.

Andy Probascos list with its Intuitions (and the Snapcasters) can set up lethal Wills pretty easily. Will seem like an auto include, while Twister for example doesn't have that many synergies.

ELD's (your) list on the other side has many ways to prepare fooder for will (Trinkets), but just plays Demonic to find Will. Couldn't be Vampiric an usefull addition? It is a top deck tutor, I know, but this deck has so many powerfull targets, which can only be found by the black tutors. And Will would be one of them.

[TheBrassMan]

Will was no less fantastic than it always has been, and I wouldn't consider cutting it for a moment. The only drawback I could possibly imagine you're talking about is removing Black Lotus during a will turn - and I would readily cut Auriok Salvagers from the deck before Yawgmoth's Will (but I'm not sure that's necessary). Timetwister was admittedly poor - but I think that had more to do with a field of Stax than the contents of the deck itself. I didn't have the time I would have liked to test before the event, and there were many cards I would like to have tried but couldn't justify running untested. For the most part I was satisfied with the performance of the deck, even if there were other things I wanted to try.

I only really felt outmatched in the mirror, and that was due to the two nonbasics I wasn't running - Library and Cavern of Souls. I opted not to run them in return for more basics against stax. Those basics were strong, but ultimately I'm not sure if they were correct or not.

[Cruel Ultimatum]

Will was no less fantastic than it always has been, and I wouldn't consider cutting it for a moment. The only drawback I could possibly imagine you're talking about is removing Black Lotus during a will turn - and I would readily cut Auriok Salvagers from the deck before Yawgmoth's Will (but I'm not sure that's necessary). Timetwister was admittedly poor - but I think that had more to do with a field of Stax than the contents of the deck itself. I didn't have the time I would have liked to test before the event, and there were many cards I would like to have tried but couldn't justify running untested. For the most part I was satisfied with the performance of the deck, even if there were other things I wanted to try.

I only really felt outmatched in the mirror, and that was due to the two nonbasics I wasn't running - Library and Cavern of Souls. I opted not to run them in return for more basics against stax. Those basics were strong, but ultimately I'm not sure if they were correct or not.

I felt like the only thing I had to will back was recall, walk, and demonic tutor. Most of the games where I was at a point where I was able to cast Will with protection/hold protection up the spicy cards were already flashed back with snapcaster.

[orgcandman]

This was an awesome event, and I'm glad to have been able to participate. All of my opponents were friendly, and the tournament was well staffed and run.

[TheWhiteDragon]

I find it interesting that 3/8 top 8 decks were shops (2 in T4 and 1 winning it all), while there were only 7/42 shop decks played.  Very interesting indeed.

[Commandant]

I find it interesting that 3/8 top 8 decks were shops (2 in T4 and 1 winning it all), while there were only 7/42 shop decks played.  Very interesting indeed.

Workshops are fine. Learn to play.