I also wanted to give a shout out to JarolofFortune, the other California attendee who made top 16! I was especially impressed that he beat Paul, even though it hurt us in the team competition.
It's pretty awesome that both Cali players traveled thousands of miles and both made top 16, showing how strong our Eudo/Vacaville Vintage scene is against East Coast competition.
Thanks! Interestingly, we both came with Rug Delver independently of each other (Although we still can't agree on which two-drop is better Very Happy).
I thought that nothing could ever beat out the Wonder of my first two Vintage tournaments(last year), but on Saturday I was proven wrong. I was overjoyed to see that the awesomeness of this Community stretches from Coast to Coast. Prospero, you were the TO for the best event I have ever attended. Throughout the day, you naturally showed what a great guy you are(Not even including your gifting me the third Karn, which stunned me. I'm pretty much a blue player at this point, but I have a sweet shop brew that I might take to a tourney sometime. Now that I think about it, the deck does have room for a singleton Karn Very Happy). Nick Coss, you showed me an equal amount of kindness throughout the day, and you were practically the secondary TO.
All of my matches were intense, and all of the players i talked to, whether I played against them or not, were great. Paul, the constant conversation in our games made for a perfect atmosphere as I destroyed you, and it would have provided the same effect if our results in the match were reversed. I hope that your deluges will be more effective next time.
Hrishi, it was a pleasure meeting you, and it makes me very happy to see someone running Rituals and gushes in the same deck. Matthew Bevenour, from now on I will always fear misdirection when I play against Merfolk. Espresso Players, you're good people, a good matchup, and there were a lot of you.
Mike, you're a cool guy. Our first game was my favorite game of the tournament. I'm sorry that my Ancestral in our second game was so good(I guess it makes up for the fact that that was the only time I cast Ancestral in the entire tournament). Soly, I enjoyed our talk during the Top 8. Nick, Brian(IDK your last names), and anyone else I may have forgotten, having people to compare results to during the tournament was encouraging. I was rooting for all of you the whole time.
Brian Kelly, you don't know how happy it made me to hear one of your anti-chalice rants in person, and I was glad to have dodged you during the tournament. Matt Murray, next time you force Storm, remember to untap your lands with frantic search Razz. Tom, our post tourney-games were an excellent way to round off the experience. I can promise you that I played a lot better during the actual tournament(Steve, you should note that Pyromancer is abysmal versus Batterskull, while Tarmogoyf is excellent as long as you don't give them an opportunity to equip it Smile.).
If there is anyone else that I forgot to mention, I want you to know that I am still thankful to you.
The stories i have from this tournament might grow the format a little. One of my friends says he is now interested in trying out the format, so he likely will be attending the Eudemonia tournament in August. When I told another friend about how I lost a game to Keranos, he demanded a decklist immediately. This was an excellent tournament on every level.
Edit: I'd also like to thank Daze. It surprised a lot of people that day.
