N.Y.S.E. Open I - Official Tournament Report

[Prospero]

For starters, I’d like to thank the 78 players who showed up to play Vintage yesterday.  Tournament attendance has been down for Vintage, pretty much all across the U.S., but I think yesterday’s event showed that we still have a dedicated core of pilots who are willing to support the format.

Before I move on to the report, I’d like to thank a few people.  There are several people without whom this event was not possible.  The two people who have consistently blown me away with their dedication to the format and the community are Visna Harris and Nick Coss.  These two men were integral to this event.  Without their time, effort and dedication, this event does not happen.  Alan Paperin, owner of Comic Book Depot, was also a great help.  Thank you all.


Full Metagame Breakdown:


Drains:


Turbo Oath Tezz: 1
U/W Bomberless Bomberman: 2
U/B/G Tezz: 1
U/B/G Oath: 2
U/B/G Gush: 1
Grixis Control: 2
U/W Landstill: 1
East Coast Wins: 1
U/R Landstill: 2
Empty Gush: 1
4C Jace Control: 1
U/R/W Landstill: 1
U/W Stoneforge Landstill: 1
Visna.dec: 1
U/W Bomberman: 4
Rector Show: 1
Deathrite Gush: 1
U/R/B Landstill: 1
U/R/B Welder Control: 1
U/W/B Jace/Vault: 1
U/R/G Landstill: 1


Workshops:


Genesis Chamber Shops: 1
Terra Nova: 1
Ankh/Rod Shops: 2
Dismember Stax: 2
BC MUD: 1
Espresso Stax: 6
Martello Shops: 3
BoM Metalworker Shops: 1
5C Stax: 1


Null Rods:


R/U/G Delver: 1
Merfolk: 1
Noble Fish: 1
BUG Fish: 6
W/U/B Fish: 3
The Mountains Wins Again: 1
Mayor Fish: 2
Negator Moon Beats: 1
Suicide Black: 1


Dark Rituals:


Burning Oath: 4
Doomsday: 2


Bazaars:


Gitaxian Probe Dredge: 1
Titan Dredge: 3
Chewer Dredge: 3  
Cavern Dredge: 1
Petrified Field Dredge: 1


The field was exceptionally diverse, as was expected.  While there were many pilots who showed up running some of the popular Workshop decks from the last year, none of those decks made top eight, which surprised me.  On top of that, while this tournament was won by a Vault/Key deck, there were six decks in the top eight that felt like they were ‘fair’.  Creatures, a much maligned threat, have become more and more important in Vintage.  Restoration Angel has to be my pick for breakout card of the day.  


Top Eight Pairings and Results:


Paul Mastriano vs. Adrian Becker – Mastriano wins
John Grudzina vs. Bryce Menard – Grudzine wins
Josh Potucek vs. Craig Berry – Potucek wins
Lance Ballester vs. Mike Egan – Ballester wins


Top Four Pairings and Results:


Paul Mastriano vs. John Grudzina – Mastriano wins
Lance Ballester vs. Josh Potucek – Ballester wins


Finals:


Paul Mastriano vs. Lance Ballester – Mastriano wins


My heartfelt congratulations to Paul Mastriano, Lance Ballester, and all my top eight competitors!


Top Eight Decklists:


1st – Paul Mastriano
Suicide Jace Vault

1 Tolarian Academy
1 Swamp
3 Island
2 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Time Vault
1 Time Walk
1 Voltaic Key
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Tinker
3 Spell Snare
2 Thoughtseize
2 Mental Misstep
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4  Dark Confidant
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain

SB:

2 Rest in Peace
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Disenchant
2 Steel Sabotage
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Extirpate

2nd – Lance Ballester
Lands and Trinkets

1 Grim Lavamancer
3 Mental Misstep
4 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
4 Standstill
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Trinket Mage
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Barbarian Ring
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Mountain
1 Faerie Conclave
3 Island
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Factory
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Volcanic Island

SB:

1 Viashino Heretic
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pithing Needle
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Pyroblast
4 Ingot Chewer
2 Tormod’s Crypt

3rd – John Grudzina
RUG Delver

1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
3 Delver of Secrets
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Trygon Predator
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Black Lotus
1 Brainstorm
1 Fire/Ice
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mental Misstep
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Preordain
2 Spell Pierce
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Time Walk

SB:

1 Vendilion Clique
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Dismember
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Ravenous Trap
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Grafdigger’s Cage

4th – Josh Potucek
U/R/g Landstill

4 Standstill
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Dismember
3 Engineered Explosives
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Spell Pierce
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Island
1 Mountain
2 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
1 Faerie Conclave
4 Scalding Tarn

SB:

1 Red Elemental Blast
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Ingot Chewer
2 Goblin Welder
1 Firespout

5th – Adrian Becker
Affinity Robots

4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Gaea’s Cradle
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mox Opal
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Tangle Wire
4 Genesis Chamber
4 Skullclamp
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Frogmite
2 Steel Overseer
4 Arcbound Ravager
1 Memory Jar

SB:

4 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Witchbane Orb
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Dismember
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Thorn of Amethyst

6th – Mike Egan
Blue Angels

3 Restoration Angel
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Trinket Mage
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
2 Flusterstorm
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Black Louts
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald

SB:

1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Devout Witness
3 Rest in Peace
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Steel Sabotage
2 Disenchant
1 Aetherling

7th – Craig Berry
Blue Angels

3 Restoration Angel
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Trinket Mage
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare
3 Mana Drain
3 Mental Misstep
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Flusterstorm
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
2 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Tundra
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Plains
3 Island

SB:

1 Aetherling
3 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Devout Witness
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Pithing Needle
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Disenchant

8th – Bryce Menard
Burning Oath

4 Forbidden Orchard
4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
2 Mox Opal
2 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
2 Repeal
4 Duress
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Oath of Druids
4 Burning Wish
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Necropotence
1 Windfall
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
2 Griselbrand

SB:

3 Ancient Tomb
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Shattering Spree
1 Thoughtseize
1 Balance
1 Show and Tell
1 Yawmgmoth’s Will
1 Grapeshot
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Hurkyl’s Recall


Team Event:


We had computer and printer issues for the better part of the day, which made tabulating the results for the team tournament more difficult than I’d have preferred.  Even then, with his nine points in the top eight, Paul Mastriano helped carry Team Meandeck to the team championship.  Congratulations Paul Mastriano, Steve Menendian and Joe Brown!


Giveaways:


We had a fair number of no-shows from the pre-registration list, which was disappointing, but I still ran nearly all the giveaways.  The foil Tarmogoyf was won by Mitesh Rao.  The box of Modern Masters was won by Craig Berry.  Craig Masley won the foil judge promo Maze of Ith.  Mike Egan won the Ali from Cairo, John Jones won the Beta Clone, and many, many others won Modern Masters draft sets, and some of the smaller prizes that were given away.  Congratulations to you all!


In Conclusion:


This was a great event.  There were issues at the beginning, which are able to be corrected, and will be come 2014.  I’d like to think that everybody who walked away from the event on Saturday left feeling like they had a great time.  This was the first N.Y.S.E. Open, and it will hopefully be the first of many.  I am going to be running an N.Y.S.E. Open in June of 2014.  I have a lot in mind for the event, and will start announcing qualifier events come September or October.  If you’re an American T/O, and you want in on qualifier events for N.Y.S.E. Open II, please reach out to me via pm.  We had 78 players in 2013.  Let’s crush that number in 2014!

My sincere thanks to my excellent judge staff of Brian Paskoff and Eli Shiffrin; you two were exceptional all day long, and I greatly appreciate your time, effort, and dedication to the game that we love.

Austin Pollack, it was great to see you yesterday, even if it was only for a few moments at a time; you did an exceptional job keeping the 90+ people in the room well fed!

Once again, my thanks to the Visna, Nick and Alan; you made this event a success with me.

And, one more time with feeling, my sincere thanks to everyone who showed up yesterday.  You are the foundation upon which this community is built, and I appreciate that you turned up to support me and the game we love.

[Eastman]

Looks like this was a great event, sorry I missed it.  I guess I'll have to look into picking up some restoration angels.  Looking at the list and the way that deck must play, I think it's closer to Keeper than we've seen in awhile. 

Also remarkable to see 17 prison shop lists in the field and none in the top 8.  Are the blue players a step ahead right now? 

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

This was a great event. Sadly I lost to the mirror in the top 4 game 1 was decided by a late game crucible resolving and game 2 I had him at 3 and he top decked crucible again for the loss, sadly I didnt have grudge or ee...and looking at the list he only ran 1 crucible...so running hot happens lol. The event was awesome I hope it can happen every year!!! Big thanks to all the organizers, Pmas for taking it down, and the rest of the t8!!!

Also side note the Blue Angel control decks (Resto angel deck) both lost to landstill variants in the t8...Congrats on my buddy Craig for designing a kick ass deck nevertheless!

I can't complain though this was a kick ass event and I walked out with a real nice time walk thanks again everyone

[A.-1.]

Congrats to everyone that walked away with prize(s), and thank you to everyone that made such a tremendous day possible. I tip my hat to all of you, especially Nick D. Great fun was had by all, and I'm sure next year's NYSE will be even better.

Eastman, I'm sure the guys who brewed it can elaborate more, but from what they told me Resto Angel plays like Bomberman. They wanted to take out what they thought were the weakest cards in Bomberman - the Salvagers combo - and replace him with Resto Angel. The deck doesn't instantly create an un-winnable board state like Bomberman can with Lotus, Salvagers, and Spellbomb. Instead, it opts to use the card advantage from Angel plus Trinket Mage or Clique to quickly get ahead.

I wouldn't say blue players are a step ahead. They're finally on equal ground. Decks are no longer being designed to beat the blue mirror with the hopes of beating Shops. They're being built to beat Shops, while only slightly weakening their blue matchup. Every match is a grind for the Shop pilot. There are no longer free wins. While no traditional Shop pilots made top eight, I believe there were several in contention with two finishing in the 9th-12th range.

[msg67183]

Congrats to the top 8 and everyone else who received a prize! That top 8 looks quite bizzare!
So what did everyone walk away with?

[Will]

Craig and I built and tested the Blue Angels deck leading up to the tournament. We found that while UW Bomberman was a very powerful deck, Auriok Salvagers was the weak link and thus got boarded out in almost every matchup. We thought Restoration Angel would be a great replacement as it can generate card advantage, save a creature from a removal spell, and it is a much better clock than Salvagers. Craig compared it to Nekratraal, because often a player will attack unknowingly into Restoration Angel. Also, Angel is incredible in the Jace mirror, as it is awful to bounce since it has Flash and can kill a freshly cast Jace if the Jace Brainstorms and Resto comes in end of turn.

This was a great tournament, I had a blast and got my last 2 Mishra's Workshops so I can finally play no proxy Vintage. For those keeping track, I got my first piece of power in March of 2011 and now I have 5 Moxen, Black Lotus and 4 Mishra's Workshop as a college student with a minimal amount of disposable income. If you are someone who is on the fence of whether to get Power or not, I strongly suggest doing so. While I don't have a crystal ball, Power has been and likely will be one of the most stable stores of value in Magic, as well as being a fun and fulfilling journey.

[Sporkcore]

It was great seeing everyone yesterday. It was a pleasure feeding everyone and keeping them hydrated. Even though I don't play anymore, I still love the community and miss the people more than the game. I wouldn't mind doing this again next year.

[Mr. Type 4]

This tournament was awesome, a big thanks to Detweiler for putting on a great show.  I won a Lotus, a sweet altered Karn, a foil Goblin Welder (non-promo) and a big-ass trophy.  The 5 people in my car combined to take almost $2000 worth of prizes home from this thing.  The venue was a bit hot but the well stocked snack bar and increased security certainly made up for it. 

Congratulations to all of my Top 8 opponents.  The "affinity" deck was particularly cool (and scary to play against).  Although Affinity is a misleading deck name - its actually a nasty hyper-aggressive Workshop variant with a Skullclamp draw engine. 

Also congratulations to my team members, Steve Menendian and Joe Brown for finishing strong so we could take home the team trophies as well.

As usual the Vintage crowd was a class act. 

[Sporkcore]

The "Affinity" list reminds me of Crushing Chamber from back in the day, but without the Arcbound Crusher.

[Mr. Type 4]

Eastman, I'm sure the guys who brewed it can elaborate more, but from what they told me Resto Angel plays like Bomberman. They wanted to take out what they thought were the weakest cards in Bomberman - the Salvagers combo - and replace him with Resto Angel. The deck doesn't instantly create an un-winnable board state like Bomberman can with Lotus, Salvagers, and Spellbomb. Instead, it opts to use the card advantage from Angel plus Trinket Mage or Clique to quickly get ahead.

I talked to Craig about his list on the ride and it's funny that the Bomberman list was also the starting point for my deck.  We obviously went in completely different directions, but I agree that cutting the Salvagers is the way to go.  

I also like Lance's idea of getting some Trinket Mages into the Landstill deck. Smart. 

[Purple Hat]

The "Affinity" list reminds me of Crushing Chamber from back in the day, but without the Arcbound Crusher.

yeah, that was the first thingi thought to.  It's funny I've been looking at the mono colored workshop manabases for a while and thinking about how much they look like the base we used in crushing chamber.  I guess someone else had the same thought

[voltron00x]

Jace was clearly the place to be for this tournament.

[Cruel Ultimatum]

Jace was clearly the place to be for this tournament.

Hi, welcome to vintage

[CHA1N5]

1 Aetherling

 

[Asphyxious]

The tournament was awesome!  Security was tight, and I had a great time.  Thanks to both Nicks and everyone who made this thing possible.  Keep it up!

Congratulations to Paul and the rest of the Top 8.

Can't wait for next year.

[Smmenen]

Top 8 is awesome mix of decks.  Paul's deck was a sick metagame choice, and very well tuned to the metagame.  Not surprised that Bob/Jace wins another marquis tournament -- it's won 2 of the last 3 Vintage Champs, and now the inaugural NYSE I.

Like that both Gush (RUG) and Burning Tendrils also made top 8.  

I'm not shocked that only 1 Workshop deck made top 8 -- not because Workshops aren't good, but because Workshops were Enemy # 1.   Everyone was gunning for Shops, and I think Shops performance is a direct reflection of that simple fact.  That opened the door to the decks that did make top 8.

Great to see and hang out with so many cool folks this weekend.  I'll just give two shout outs:

Deep gratitude to Nick for putting on such an incredible Vintage tournament, and congratulations to my buddy Paul M for taking this down for our team!  I love my sweet new team trophy.  

[forests failed you]

Congrats Paul!

Also, that Affinity Robots deck looks sweet!  Very cool brew.

[Phele]

Nice Top8, Congratulations to all of them!

It seems so, that people identified the counter package (Snares, Missteps and Drains), the Trinket toolbox and maxing out Jaces as the key strenghts of Justin Kohlers Bomberman list, cut the weak part (Salvagers) and build different decks around it.

[vaughnbros]

This was a great event!  Well organized, great prize support, a good amount of space, safe location with easy parking, plenty of judges, security, and best of all food right on site.  Thank you for organizing this Nick.  As always it was fun to hang out with the many awesome people that we have in our community.

Surprisingly no traditional workshops decks and no bazaars at all in the top 8 of this one despite a large turnout for both decks. 

Ill be writing up a tournament report as soon as I get the chance after taking home 2nd place and an ancestral. 

[brianpk80]

Nice Top8, Congratulations to all of them!

It seems so, that people identified the counter package (Snares, Missteps and Drains), the Trinket toolbox and maxing out Jaces as the key strenghts of Justin Kohlers Bomberman list, cut the weak part (Salvagers) and build different decks around it.

It's not really a weak part any more than Voltaic Key is weak in Tinker/Vault decks; both just ask for set-up in decks with multiple tutors.  There are a lot of reasons to use the last two slots in a strong shell to enable a modal shift to combo on demand.  There are alternative good reasons to play Angels or splash black for Dark Confidants.  If Bomberman has any weaknesses, they wouldn't be attributed to Auriok Salvagers but perhaps instead to vulnerability against Landstill and Null Rod.  It's interesting that the Bomberman variant that performed best against Landstill is Lance's which is also a Landstill variant.   

[personalbackfire]

Pretty cool to see some 'original' decks coming out of this tournament.
Congrats on everyone who did well! (especially Craig, Josh, and Paul!)

Not going to lie, pretty excited to see a Bob/Jace/Vault Key deck win. I've never understood the hold that bomberman has seemed to have on this metagame.

[Samoht]

Nice Top8, Congratulations to all of them!

It seems so, that people identified the counter package (Snares, Missteps and Drains), the Trinket toolbox and maxing out Jaces as the key strenghts of Justin Kohlers Bomberman list, cut the weak part (Salvagers) and build different decks around it.

It's not really a weak part any more than Voltaic Key is weak in Tinker/Vault decks; both just ask for set-up in decks with multiple tutors.  There are a lot of reasons to use the last two slots in a strong shell to enable a modal shift to combo on demand.  There are alternative good reasons to play Angels or splash black for Dark Confidants.  If Bomberman has any weaknesses, they wouldn't be attributed to Auriok Salvagers but perhaps instead to vulnerability against Landstill and Null Rod.  It's interesting that the Bomberman variant that performed best against Landstill is Lance's which is also a Landstill variant.   

Salvagers is by far the worst card in the shell. Without the other synergistic functions it often is only a 2/4 wall. Now, can you get a ton of value out of said wall even without going for the full combo? Sure. Does that put it on par with what Jace or Trinket Mage or Vendilion Clique or even what the counter suite can do for you on their own? I think we can agree not. In many ways, the infinite combo often is a crutch. People see it as a way to just end the game. Though it does this, there are other cards that can put you so far ahead you will just win the game anyway (like Restoration Angel did this weekend for Craig and Mike). This doesn't even get into getting the Lotus + Salvagers but not having anything to do with the mana or fizzling on WW to start the chain. Furthermore, how many games are you going to lose when you cast a card like Restoration Angel for value? If they try to Bolt/Swords/Path your Trinket Mage and you blink it and rebuy the search, you should do very well to get your three cards to their losing one. Being able to cast a 3 power creature at end of turn forces players to use Jace differently than they normally would. Furthermore, it allows you to control Jace in a way that you really can't with Salvagers. There are trade offs and situations we can construct that favor Salvagers, but I think that Resto creeps its way into more of the situations that Salvagers is better than vice versa.

[Mith]

First, an enormous THANK YOU to Nick for putting together such an excellent event. Vigilant security, lots of food available for cheap, very responsive judges, and an amazing prize structure. It's very reassuring to see the future of Vintage tournaments in the hands of people who so clearly love the game, and are willing to go the extra distance. 

I ran Rector Show and had a blast, just missing the Top 8 with a Round 6 third-game loss to Paul after he comboed out the turn before I could. Paul plays quickly but methodically, and makes very few unforced errors...after he beat me, I was pretty sure he'd take down the tournament. I did end up with a beautiful foil Future Sight Tarmogoyf as a raffle prize, so no complaints on my end.

It was great seeing a lot of familiar faces, and when the next Open goes down I'll fly out again to represent the Midwest.

[brianpk80]

Salvagers is by far the worst card in the shell. Without the other synergistic functions it often is only a 2/4 wall. Now, can you get a ton of value out of said wall even without going for the full combo? Sure. Does that put it on par with what Jace or Trinket Mage or Vendilion Clique or even what the counter suite can do for you on their own? I think we can agree not. In many ways, the infinite combo often is a crutch. People see it as a way to just end the game. Though it does this, there are other cards that can put you so far ahead you will just win the game anyway (like Restoration Angel did this weekend for Craig and Mike). This doesn't even get into getting the Lotus + Salvagers but not having anything to do with the mana or fizzling on WW to start the chain. Furthermore, how many games are you going to lose when you cast a card like Restoration Angel for value? If they try to Bolt/Swords/Path your Trinket Mage and you blink it and rebuy the search, you should do very well to get your three cards to their losing one. Being able to cast a 3 power creature at end of turn forces players to use Jace differently than they normally would. Furthermore, it allows you to control Jace in a way that you really can't with Salvagers. There are trade offs and situations we can construct that favor Salvagers, but I think that Resto creeps its way into more of the situations that Salvagers is better than vice versa.

I suppose it's fair to say that without a Black Lotus, Explosives, Spellbomb or other artifact to return to hand from the graveyard, a creature that returns an artifact from graveyard to hand is "weak."  But that situational weakness is comparable to Time Vault without Voltaic Key/Tinker/Tezzeret(/*Ral Zarek  ).  Keep in mind, I'm not saying one variant of Bomberman is "better"; I think the Angels are awesome.  But dedicating the final two slots to a game-ending combo kill is not a bad call either.  When you think about the Rock/Paper/Scissors analogy of Control > Combo > Aggro (> Control), morphing into Combo is the right call v. Aggro.  I know you don't like SfM->Batterskull because Batterskull is weaker without SfM.  But Key->Vault isn't suboptimal simply because each half is pretty bad when separated because the benefit of joining them is so strong it outweighs the cons of potential dead draws.  I think a similar point be said for Auriok Salvagers into Infinite Draw, Infinite Mana, and Infinite Engineered Explosives.

[Samoht]

Salvagers is by far the worst card in the shell. Without the other synergistic functions it often is only a 2/4 wall. Now, can you get a ton of value out of said wall even without going for the full combo? Sure. Does that put it on par with what Jace or Trinket Mage or Vendilion Clique or even what the counter suite can do for you on their own? I think we can agree not. In many ways, the infinite combo often is a crutch. People see it as a way to just end the game. Though it does this, there are other cards that can put you so far ahead you will just win the game anyway (like Restoration Angel did this weekend for Craig and Mike). This doesn't even get into getting the Lotus + Salvagers but not having anything to do with the mana or fizzling on WW to start the chain. Furthermore, how many games are you going to lose when you cast a card like Restoration Angel for value? If they try to Bolt/Swords/Path your Trinket Mage and you blink it and rebuy the search, you should do very well to get your three cards to their losing one. Being able to cast a 3 power creature at end of turn forces players to use Jace differently than they normally would. Furthermore, it allows you to control Jace in a way that you really can't with Salvagers. There are trade offs and situations we can construct that favor Salvagers, but I think that Resto creeps its way into more of the situations that Salvagers is better than vice versa.

I suppose it's fair to say that without a Black Lotus, Explosives, Spellbomb or other artifact to return to hand from the graveyard, a creature that returns an artifact from graveyard to hand is "weak."  But that situational weakness is comparable to Time Vault without Voltaic Key/Tinker/Tezzeret(/*Ral Zarek  ).  Keep in mind, I'm not saying one variant of Bomberman is "better"; I think the Angels are awesome.  But dedicating the final two slots to a game-ending combo kill is not a bad call either.  When you think about the Rock/Paper/Scissors analogy of Control > Combo > Aggro (> Control), morphing into Combo is the right call v. Aggro.  I know you don't like SfM->Batterskull because Batterskull is weaker without SfM.  But Key->Vault isn't suboptimal simply because each half is pretty bad when separated because the benefit of joining them is so strong it outweighs the cons of potential dead draws.  I think a similar point be said for Auriok Salvagers into Infinite Draw, Infinite Mana, and Infinite Engineered Explosives.

I watched several games this weekend where Salvagers cost the match for a Bomberman pilot, where Angel would have been devastating. In the finals on Sunday, if Murray had dropped down the Angel in response to the opposing Vendilion Clique, he would have rebought his Mage and buy so far ahead his Landstill opponent would be giving him the Mox (no offense Ben). Instead the Clique took nothing because there were 2 of them and he was bottle necked on W and couldn't even play it for value. Wasteland -> Tundra then became an out and was played to seal the game. That was just one of the instances I came across. Now, I'm sure there were games ended by Salvagers -> Lotus as well, but we can't go back and extrapolate what would have happened if it was Resto.

Salvagers in a vacuum isn't exactly what I meant. I meant simply without Lotus. If you're using it fairly, to rebuy spent/countered artifacts, that is it's intended design purpose and it is too fairly costed for it.  It's the infinite part that makes it playable. If Lotus somehow got banned the deck would eschew it immediately. Having the over the top game isn't the worst plan - but sometimes having a Flash 3 power creature for Jace/LSG isn't the worst plan either.

As far as the SFM+BSkull plan, the issue there is that the two cards are so bad dissociatively that I almost never want either one if I can't execute them together. If I draw Bskull before SFM I am now playing a slow but slightly better Squire. Trying to get to 5+ mana for Bskull *thalia is also awkward. Time Vault is a fine card as printed. Key is a fine card as printed. They have solid uses when not paired. Too often players dismiss their Time Vault and miss advantages because of it. This is less prevalent with Key, but still true to some degree. I can't tell you how many games I've won by simply untapping a Time Vault. One of my favorite old school lines was to do that and then follow it up with Tinker -> BSC after acquiring the extra turn.

As far as the RPS game, Angel trumps the Aggro MU right now as well. Almost nothing kills it's 4 butt, you can play behind drain the whole time, and you get to still press advantages elsewhere. It's not as if we're eschewing much % there, if at all. I could even argue that we are gaining some if I point to the utility inherent in what Angel brings to the table against creatures.

[A.-1.]

Brian, you can't compare Salvagers to Time Vault in a deck with at least Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Tinker to assemble a game-winning combo that often only costs four colorless. Bomberman can find the artifacts without much difficulty but then has to stumble into Salvagers with  available.

Trying to win via Salvagers versus aggro does not seem like a winning strategy to me. Trying to win through Null Rod (BUG Fish or Merfolk) or Stony Silence plus creature hate is not something I want to be doing. You want to stay aggro/control because your counters are better and creatures are bigger or trade favorably.

EDIT: Tom posted while I was typing and addressed mostly everything.

[Pokey]

This was an excellent event.  Can't wait for next year!

Having played bomberman forever, I can say that Salvagers is not "bad".  I was going to post some thoughts, but Brian already covered everything I have to say.  I will make note in the future, whether Angel would have been better, whenever I cast an Auriok Salvagers.

You guys are all just saying card x is better, with little to no evidence.  I didn't top 8 on Saturday due to play errors on my part.  It had nothing to do with playing bad cards.

[Mr. Type 4]

There's also a lot of bonus value to running Restoration Angel when it's relatively new tech and people haven't yet adapted to it.  I tested my deck against Kohler's well established Bomberman list for hours.

I ran Rector Show and had a blast, just missing the Top 8 with a Round 6 third-game loss to Paul after he comboed out the turn before I could. Paul plays quickly but methodically, and makes very few unforced errors...after he beat me, I was pretty sure he'd take down the tournament. I did end up with a beautiful foil Future Sight Tarmogoyf as a raffle prize, so no complaints on my end.

Mith, I thought yours was the most exciting deck that I saw that didn't make top 8.  I have been trying to come up with a good Show and Tell list for a while and never thought of Rector.  I wouldn't blame you for keeping your list a secret, but if you're into posting it I thought I'd love to see what exactly was in there.

[vaughnbros]

For the record in my match against Egan, auriok salvagers would've been significantly better than angel.  Both games I had countered his early sensei's top and kept all of his creatures off the table.  Im not sure if it wouldve won him the games, but I think it certainly would've made the games closer than they were since Im pretty sure having a sensei's top out at all times is better than a slightly larger creature.

[brianpk80]

Brian, you can't compare Salvagers to Time Vault in a deck with at least Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Tinker to assemble a game-winning combo that often only costs four colorless. Bomberman can find the artifacts without much difficulty but then has to stumble into Salvagers with  available.

Rob, I see your point but Bomberman is set up so that is has the equivalent of Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Tinker, and Demonic Tutor in the form of Trinket Mage x4.  4WW can be a tall order but it's not significantly worse than 5B for Demonic Tutor, Vault, Key, Untap.  Also, it helps for mana generation purposes when one of the combo pieces happens to be Black Lotus.   

Trying to win via Salvagers versus aggro does not seem like a winning strategy to me. Trying to win through Null Rod (BUG Fish or Merfolk) or Stony Silence plus creature hate is not something I want to be doing.
You want to stay aggro/control because your counters are better and creatures are bigger or trade favorably.

When I play against good Bomberman players, they don't begin by trying to rush into the combo.  They attempt to build board position with Trinket Mages and Jace and will tutor up the Divining Top and Engineered Explosives.  The problem is that this is just a temporary stopgap measure because decks like Merfolk and Mayor Fish have many more creatures than Bomberman and most of them actually don't trade favorably with Trinket Mages & Cliques (Islandwalking Lords, First Strike Thalia, 3/3 Wolf Tokens, Exalted Mishra's Factory) or even Salvagers (unblockable Merfolk Lords, double Exalted, Factory Pump on Exalted Factory, Exava the Blood Witch) and the extensive counter suite in Bomberman is completely useless at stopping the assault when there's a Cavern of Souls in play.  Barring God hands v. bad draws, the natural trajectory of the match v. aggro is for Bomberman to eventually become overwhelmed and forced into the position where it must combo out with Salvagers to win.  And half the time that's exactly what happens.  Since the good players realize this, they will do everything in their power to keep Null Rod/Stony Silence off the table; Spell Snares help a lot in this regard.  Obviously, if Null Rod resolves they can't combo out so they lose.  But that just highlights how important the combo is in the match-up against aggro, which should make sense since combo historically trumps aggro as a general proposition. 

Anyway, I think the Angels were great and salute the guys who did well with them.  I just don't think it's an occasion to suddenly indict a deck that has a pretty sterling record over a long period of time as containing "bad cards" or "weak parts," because it really doesn't.