Tales of Adventure 9-20-14

[Calvin240sx]

facebook info and event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1474767856132548/?ref=29&ref_notif_type=plan_user_joined&source=1

when: Sept. 20th 2014

where: Tales of Adventure
            201 S. 3rd St.
            Coopersburg, PA 18036
when: 1p

why: honestly bc enough of us don't really care about prerelease(and i was browbeat into this by a certain tattoo artist/mechanic/awesome guy)

Entry: $30.
*now if you play in a prerelease at ToA this wknd you're entry will be reduced by $5.

Proxies: 15 total allowed. 10 free. $1 per after that.

payout: $1k credit minimum. we cross 25 for some reason and i'll make it spicy.
All proxies must follow these guidelines:

Please do not use the back of a magic card for a proxie!

There are two types of acceptable proxies. The first and most basic is taking a basic land card and writing the details of the card on it. The second method is to take a card that shares some of the characteristics with the card that is being proxied and erase any characteristics that do not match, replacing them with the correct characteristics.

All proxies must have the following text neatly printed, using a extra fine point sharpie. Ball point pens may not be used:
• The full name of the card (no abbreviations or nicknames)
• Correct casting cost of the card including all colored mana symbols
• All relevant/game effecting text

When choosing what card to use as the base for an erased proxy players must follow these rules:
• The mana cost of the base spell must be the same as the card being proxied.
• The type of the card being proxied must be the same as the base card.
• The P/T of a creature being proxied must be the same as the base creature P/T
• When proxying a creature it may be difficult to find a creature where all characteristics match. In this case, mana cost is the most important, followed by the P/T, followed by the subtype. Any characteristics that do not match must be erased and corrected.
• The art box, card name, and text box must be totally erased. White out may not be used for this as it affects the stiffness of the card and may mark it.
• When adding text to the card do not use a ball point pen. A extra fine point sharpie is the best thing to use. A ball point pen can cause indentations on the card marking it.
• For clarity reasons, the use of cards with the new card frame is strongly encouraged


hoping to see you there.

cheers,
Cal

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

YES YES YES YESSSSSSSSS!!!

[TakeYourTime]

YES YES YES YESSSSSSSSS!!!

Second that, thanks Calvin!

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Thanks a ton Cal...I wonder who browbeat you into this hahahah

[ramrodjon]

Aaaaaand I'll be at a wedding...one of these days I will make a Calvin event.  Good luck folks!

[Kameli0n]

Unfortunately also will not be able to make it due to prerelease obligations, good luck to all who attend!!

[Chubby Rain]

Looking forward to this!!!!!

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

So stoked for this! Spread the news peeps!!!

[Calvin240sx]

well, this will be a lead up to the oct 11th event which i have something pretty damned silly lined up for. the guys who make this trip and the oct event will not be dissappointed.

cheers,
cal

PS: sometimes friends browbeat you into really weird choices that lead to even better ideas. fetching ideas actually

[Pokey]

Looks like I'll be at work instead of this.  Ugh...

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

JUSTIN...NOOOOOO!!! YOU'RE GOING DAMMIT

[Samoht]

Had a blast at the event today. Those that didn't show really missed out on seeing Tom "Stock List" Dixon (@ Brad Jarman) play the Bubonic Plague into top 8! Here's the list:

3 Bazaar of Baghdad (3 proxy)
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Liliana of the Veil (1 proxy)
4 Dark Ritual
1 Trinisphere
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Smallpox
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bloodghast
3 Crucible of Worlds
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Black Lotus
7 Swamp
2 Nether Void (2 Proxy)
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Pack Rat
1 Mox Jet
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 The Abyss (1 Proxy)
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Toxic Deluge
SB: 1 Maze of Ith
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 2 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 3 Ghost Quarter

Thanks to all those that lent me cards: Hrishikesh Sidhartha, David Kaplan, Papa Ferrante, Nicholas DiJohn, and Brian Kelly. I had 7 proxies unfortunately, but the deck performed very well. Hrishikesh had asked me *to build a deck with him* around Nether Void, or The Abyss, or Chains of Mephistopheles, or any other random Legends card he could find. This was the closest I could manage while maintaining competitive plays. In top 8, Murray and I traded punts in G1 and G2 and then his stellar 7 in G3 quickly beat my marginal 7. There were some pretty epic plays that happened over the course of the day, usually involving Dark Ritual(s) and sad opponents.

Edit: Due to popular demand, here is a brief report on the day:
Round 1: Alan on URw Landstill:
G1: He opens with Lotus + Ancestral + Standstill + Fetch. I draw to 8, discard Bloodghast and pass. He plays Factory. I play Wasteland, Trigger Bloodghast and take down his Factory. He breaks his Standstill in a few turns to cast Crucible. I don't draw Crucible. He grinds me out in a close one.
G2: He casts Crucible again and I don't. He neglects to Strip me out and keeps playing Fetchlands because his Jace is absurd and I have no way of getting to it. Crucible > Grindy deck.

Round 2: David Kaplan on UR DelverWaste
G1: I grind him pretty deep, use some of the things like Bazaar Squee and Deluge to get him, eventually Bloodghast is the nail in the coffin.
G2: He Surgicals my Squee's and I die a little inside. I ult Lilliana and then play another, keeping him down on perms/cards. I elect not to +1 Lily at some point when my hand is Deluge Deluge and his is Mox Sapphire. People around thought I was wrong, but I'm pretty sure that I can't lose with 2 Deluge in hand and it's possible to lose with only 1.

Round 3: Lance Ballester on URb Landstill
G1: Lance Mulls to 5 and has no answer for my Dark Ritual into Nether Void. I follow that up with a Crucible and he sees my Strip Mine in play, signifying the end of the game when added to my Chalice 0.
G2: Lance leads with Factory into Sol Ring. I follow that up with Lotus -> Ritual -> Lilliana -> +1 (Discard Bloodghast) -> Wasteland (Trigger Bloodghast) -> Therapy -> Flashback Therapy. He drew two more cards before packing it in to a lack of colored sources and my board position.

Round 4: JD Nir on URg Delver
G1: has an early Nether Void stick after taking apart his hand with Therapy. I then land Trinisphere behind it thanks to Black Lotus. From there, JD has to pay 6+ for anything to happen in a Delver deck. Needless to say, game 2 came quickly.
G2: He has a Preordain and Sapphire to go with his Basic. I start with Bazaar and discard Squee, Bloodghast, and Therapy. He adds a Delver. I have Ritual but he Missteps. I Therapy him next turn when I can play something after attacking to see if I'm in a good spot. He adds a Pyromancer. I double ritual into Duress, Therapy, and Lilliana while discarding 2 Squee's to Bazaar. I land a Smallpox after he takes down my Lilly and ride card advantage all the way home.

Round 5: Draw w/ Paul M on Steel City Vault

Quarters: Matt Murray on Pocket Locket Rocket
G1:I fail to Chalice 1 in order to play Bloodghast against Matt's hellbent hand. He draws Trinket Mage -> Top and I would have lost because of it but Matt lost every Mana Crypt roll under the sun and died the turn before comboing me out.
G2: I don't remember what I did wrong in this game, but there was a definite mistake that led to Matt winning.
G3: I have Dark Ritual + Nether Void, but nowhere to go if it gets countered. I have 2 Therapy so I plan to clear the way. Matt dodges my Therapies expertly and finds a FoW and holds a blue card, so I have to cast Pack Rat to enable Therapy next turn, and Matt kills me on the spot. My hand was marginal, as it was short a 2nd land and relied on Nether Void, but against Matt's combo deck my only real route to victory is a fast Chalice or a Nether Void. I had a potential turn 2 protected Void, but Matt's starting 7 were Mox + Top + Land + Ancestral + Vamp + 2 other cards. I couldn't overcome blanking on Therapy 1 with that quality of a hand on Matt's end.

Edit 2: Added proxies and clarified Hrishi's request

[JarofFortune]

That list is so sweet . But why no Chains of Mephistopheles? You can run all three black Legends enchantments, and Hrishi can attest to the power of Chains+Lili. Also, what is the Sb maze for?

[Chubby Rain]

Quarters: Matt Murray on Pocket Locket Rocket
G1:I fail to Chalice 1 in order to play Bloodghast against Matt's hellbent hand. He draws Trinket Mage -> Top and I would have lost because of it but Matt lost every Mana Crypt roll under the sun and died the turn before comboing me out.
G2: I don't remember what I did wrong in this game, but there was a definite mistake that led to Matt winning.
G3: I have Dark Ritual + Nether Void, but nowhere to go if it gets countered. I have 2 Therapy so I plan to clear the way. Matt dodges my Therapies expertly and finds a FoW and holds a blue card, so I have to cast Pack Rat to enable Therapy next turn, and Matt kills me on the spot. My hand was marginal, as it was short a 2nd land and relied on Nether Void, but against Matt's combo deck my only real route to victory is a fast Chalice or a Nether Void. I had a potential turn 2 protected Void, but Matt's starting 7 were Mox + Top + Land + Ancestral + Vamp + 2 other cards. I couldn't overcome blanking on Therapy 1 with that quality of a hand on Matt's end.

From my recollection, game 1 I assembled Helm + Top + Magus but forgot that I could announce EE at 1, apply the reduction from Helm, and use that to blow up your chalice at zero to unlock the moxen stranded in my hand. Game 2 was another Helm of Awakening blunder as you could have cast Trinisphere a turn earlier. I'm not entirely sure it would have mattered as I had a Rebuild that I cycled later to bounce it, but I don't remember the game state and your hand well enough to figure out how it would have played out.

Again, congrats on the Top 8.

[Samoht]

Quarters: Matt Murray on Pocket Locket Rocket
G1:I fail to Chalice 1 in order to play Bloodghast against Matt's hellbent hand. He draws Trinket Mage -> Top and I would have lost because of it but Matt lost every Mana Crypt roll under the sun and died the turn before comboing me out.
G2: I don't remember what I did wrong in this game, but there was a definite mistake that led to Matt winning.
G3: I have Dark Ritual + Nether Void, but nowhere to go if it gets countered. I have 2 Therapy so I plan to clear the way. Matt dodges my Therapies expertly and finds a FoW and holds a blue card, so I have to cast Pack Rat to enable Therapy next turn, and Matt kills me on the spot. My hand was marginal, as it was short a 2nd land and relied on Nether Void, but against Matt's combo deck my only real route to victory is a fast Chalice or a Nether Void. I had a potential turn 2 protected Void, but Matt's starting 7 were Mox + Top + Land + Ancestral + Vamp + 2 other cards. I couldn't overcome blanking on Therapy 1 with that quality of a hand on Matt's end.

From my recollection, game 1 I assembled Helm + Top + Magus but forgot that I could announce EE at 1, apply the reduction from Helm, and use that to blow up your chalice at zero to unlock the moxen stranded in my hand. Game 2 was another Helm of Awakening blunder as you could have cast Trinisphere a turn earlier. I'm not entirely sure it would have mattered as I had a Rebuild that I cycled later to bounce it, but I don't remember the game state and your hand well enough to figure out how it would have played out.

Again, congrats on the Top 8.

In G1 I could have played Chalice @ 1 instead of Bloodghast. If I do that, your 2nd TM has to get EE not Top, which cuts off a combo piece and interferes with your draws. I'm in a much better situation under those circumstances than I was with Bloodghast.

Yes, in G2 I missed that Helm of Awakening was symmetrical and missed out on 3 Ball by a turn. I would have followed it up with Crucible + double strip, so I'm not sure if you'd have been getting to 3 to cast that Rebuild.

Congrats to you too Matt, you played very well! Was interesting to see the Pocket Locket Rocket deck in action in the flesh! Brian Kelly got into top 8 too, with his Oath package! Glad to see the team doing so well! If only Justin was there!

[Samoht]

That list is so sweet . But why no Chains of Mephistopheles? You can run all three black Legends enchantments, and Hrishi can attest to the power of Chains+Lili. Also, what is the Sb maze for?

My draw engine is Bazaar of Baghdad. Think about Chains again.

Edit: Maze was just a card for threat light decks. I brought it in a few times. It's an out to Tinker of course but that isn't the only reason. It could probably be something else.

[ramrodjon]

Cool looking brew, Tom, and congrats on the finish!

[Chubby Rain]

PS. Here was the list I ran yesterday (or something close to it).

BK Bomber Helm (BK = Brian Kelly)

Creatures (10)
4 Trinket Mage
2 Auriok Salvagers
2 Magus of the Future
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Snapcaster Mage

Combo (7)
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Helm of Awakening
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives

Permission/Protection (9)
4 Force of Will
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
1 Flusterstorm

Good Stuff (10)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Rebuild
1 Merchant Scroll

Mana (24)
5 Moxen
4 Lotus/Crypt/Vault/Ring
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Island
2 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard
1 Teferi, Mage of I don't know
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Aegis of the Gods
1 Tinker
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Disenchant
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Plains
1 Flusterstorm

Short Tournament Report (very short)

Round 1 was against Josh Potucek on some sweet durdle UW deck. Game 1 I have Cavern Magus but he has Cage and Mana Issues (he opened on Crypt, Lotus, Academy Ruins). Magus + Crypt get Josh low before he finds True-Name Nemesis and EE, respectively, but Tendrils does the rest. Game 2, he has the Kohler but no protection and I resolve my force. From there we have dualing tops but I resolve Teferi off a Cavern of Souls and beat down with my counters now much better than his.

Round 2 was against Allen on American Landstill.  I fall just short in games 1 and 3 and I think Bomberman him in game 2. Really, I just remember the games  being close except for the one I won.

Round 3 was against Nick on Shops (Martello I think). I win the die roll and game 1 go turn 1 Land, Crypt, Trinket Mage into Lotus. He has turn 1 Lodestone and never gets a second turn (I have the Salvager and Land to generate infinite mana and Fact or Fiction finds Trinket Mage to find Nihil Spellbomb to draw my deck). Game 2 is more involved in that I trade counters and removal for his threats while Crypt whacks both of us. Eventually I topdeck Magus of the Future and it spirals out of control.

Round 4 was against Hrishi on Grixis Control and game 1 he wins the die roll then assembles Vault Key on turn 2. Game 2 I forget but I think a combo kill was involved. Game 3 Teferi and Trinket Mages went beatdown and I had enough counters for his win cons. Oh, and I managed to strand his only two Polluted Deltas in his hand with a blind called Pithing Needle.

Round 5 was an ID

Top 8 was against Tom and I will refer you to his report.

Top 4 was against Mike on Terra Nova. He was the top seed and had the play, which led to me getting locked out in game 1. Game 2 I develop much faster, bounce all his artifacts and combo out. Game 3 came down to a coin flip. Literally...I won a Crypt roll at 1 life, cast Yawgmoth Will with 2 Spheres and a Helm in play, replayed Academy with 7 artifacts in play, replayed Rebuild, and Demonic Tutored for Tendrils for way more than lethal.

And on to the Finals against Paul Mastriano...well that didn't happen. Paul allegedly drew extra cards against Allen in the top 8 which Allen caught but didn't call a judge as Paul convinced him he was wrong (the former Vintage World Champ card TM). Lance and Josh were watching the match and picked up on it too late to call Calvin over. I spoke with Allen about it after the match as the Top 4 had to wait for Paul to come back from wherever he wandered off to and Allen was pretty dejected, not that he lost to the World Champ TM, but that he was cheated out of the top 4 because of trusting an established member of the Vintage community. This personally really aggravates me as, though I don't consider myself an established member of the Vintage community, I stream Vintage on Magic Online with the sole purpose of promoting Vintage. No donations, and I'm at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage as I stream live and talk through my lines while sometimes making play mistakes because of streaming (though people could argue that my brews put me at a more significant competitive disadvantage). Cheating like this drives people away from Vintage and hurts what I'm trying to accomplish. Paul is sponsored by Vintage Magic and his tournament fees and expenses are covered by them - he should be working towards the same end but did not whether because of ego or because of "incentives". So I was upset and scooped to Mike in the hopes that Terra Nova could do what Terra Nova normally does against these storm decks. Unfortunately, that didn't pan out.

Props: Calvin x 3 (for a well run tournament, tremendous prize support, and hooking me up with the Mox Jet I needed to complete my Power), Caffrey for hosting, the rest of the Top 8, and my opponents on the day for making it fun.

Slops: Who do you think...

[The Atog Lord]

Thank you for taking the time to write this report! You are, indeed, rapidly establishing yourself in the community.

[Mr. Type 4]

I most certainly did not cheat and draw extra cards against Allen in the top 8.  He asked how many cards I had in hand before I cast brainstorm and I counted them incorrectly- a very simple mistake.  It's not like the play went unquestioned - it was on the second turn of the game so it was very easy to track how many cards I should have between my hand, graveyard and in play. It all added up.  

Furthermore, just to play devil's advocate: why would I draw extra cards and "cheat" immediately after being asked how many cards were in my hand? On the second turn of the game no less, where I was not in a position that was in any way desperate. That's just stupid.  When I'm playing in top 8 I make all of my plays very deliberatly and am extremely careful to not make plays that will give me a game loss.  

I play a clean game of Magic and really have nothing to prove at a small tournament like this - I was playing for the value of the experience that I get from field testing my deck in a tournament setting so I can figure out what changes I need to make and to observe the movement of the metagame. I don't need to win $400 dollars so I can afford to eat this week.

@Murry: It's more than a little bit disrespectful to make second-hand claims of cheating without any observation of what happenend.  And to claim that you didn't want to play against me in the finals because of an alleged incident that happened to someone else in the Top 8 is pretty ridiculous. What does that say about you?

 I do have to thank you for pitting me against Mike S in the final because the opportunity to play against a quality opponent using the deck that I have the worst matchup against was the most valuable experience I had all day.  

[Samoht]

I most certainly did not cheat and draw extra cards against Allen in the top 8.  He asked how many cards I had in hand before I cast brainstorm and I counted them incorrectly- a very simple mistake.  It's not like the play went unquestioned - it was on the second turn of the game so it was very easy to track how many cards I should have between my hand, graveyard and in play. It all added up.  

Furthermore, just to play devil's advocate: why would I draw extra cards and "cheat" immediately after being asked how many cards were in my hand? On the second turn of the game no less, where I was not in a position that was in any way desperate. That's just stupid.  When I'm playing in top 8 I make all of my plays very deliberatly and am extremely careful to not make plays that will give me a game loss.  

I play a clean game of Magic and really have nothing to prove at a small tournament like this - I was playing for the value of the experience that I get from field testing my deck in a tournament setting so I can figure out what changes I need to make and to observe the movement of the metagame. I don't need to win $400 dollars so I can afford to eat this week.

@Murry: It's more than a little bit disrespectful to make second-hand claims of cheating without any observation of what happenend.  And to claim that you didn't want to play against me in the finals because of an alleged incident that happened to someone else in the Top 8 is pretty ridiculous. What does that say about you?

 I do have to thank you for pitting me against Mike S in the final because the opportunity to play against a quality opponent using the deck that I have the worst matchup against was the most valuable experience I had all day.  

I will preface this post with the following statement: I did not see Paul draw any cards nor did I witness him and Alan discussing the contention. I was engrossed in a top 8 match of my own.

However, the matter was brought to my (and Matt's) attention during our match shortly after it occurred. Josh Potucek alerted Lance Ballester and us to the situation - they were between the two top 8 matches observing. Sadly, too much had passed for any of us to call a judge over for Allan/Paul, so we played on in our match while Alan and Paul did the same. After the match ended, Paul awkwarldy left the site for a long amount of time, but there could be any number of reasons for that. During that time, we asked Josh to extrapolate a bit and he said that Paul's response when questioned about the extra card was decidedly off. He mentioned that his face got red and flustered in conjunction with immediate defensive statements. I only have hearsay in this instance, but what is put forth is pretty telling. When Matt floated the issue directly to Paul after Paul refused a top 4 split, Paul scoffed and walked away. That is what spurred Matt's actions in his top 4 match, which was to send the harder match up to Paul in the Finals. This is not the first time something amiss has happened surrounding Paul and I think that colored the reactions of everyone involved. As far as I know, the only blemish on Paul's official record is the marked Lotus at Worlds last year. Whether or not you believe this happened, it should give you pause to check everything whenever you can. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The lesson to be learned here is to ALWAYS call a judge if something seems off to you. The culture needs to become one that encourages that.

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Yup what Samoht said...I looked over once all of this came about and from my observations Paul god a little flustered and defensive. So take it for what it is and just call a judge. Weather an accidental card was drawn, a cheat had been made, or a simple miscommunication, a judge would be a great tool to call over. At which point a card count could happen. Again I didn't see an extra card drawn but I was observing it immediately after. I just wish a judge was called. Just to clear things up

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Let it be a lesson for both parties maybe...I know if I was accused of drawing an extra card or whatever, I'd go as far as calling a judge on myself lol. I personally have never lost track of card count in my hand from being a competitive vintage player for years.

Maybe this is just me idk

[TakeYourTime]

First, thank you Calvin for running a fun tournament!

During my match with Paul there was a mixup in card count. After the match another player commented that any time there is a discrepancy then the simplest fix is a judge call. Both Paul and I could have called for a judge and we both failed to do so. If we look at this from a purely objective perspective, Paul wins fair and square. At this point there is little value in revisiting the topic.

Tournaments are long and vintage is not an easy format, so it's possible for anyone to make simple mistakes at the end of the day. What I'd like others to take away from this is that a simple judge call can alleviate any confusion, big or small.

A big reason that I got into vintage is the player community. I'm still new to the community but I'm enjoying the fact that much of the crowd is mature and plays to simply have a good time. I hope that this kind of experience continues!


p.s. The highlight of my day was having to mana drain Brian Kelly's mox pearl because he was threatening 8 mana with cavern on sphinx (for Sphinx of the Steel Wind, UGH).

[Mr. Type 4]

I was flustered about the miscommunication, and to be 100% honest, I was confused by the fact that the number of cards I said I had in my hand before I cast Brainstorm totally didn't jive with the number I had after I cast Brainstorm. In the moment I wasn't sure what happened, but it's relatively easy to figure it out as it was the first card I played on the second turn of the game - we counted the number of cards I had in play, in hand and in the graveyard and the number that we arrived at was correct.  I dont know how I miscounted the number of cards in my hand - it's possible that two were stuck together.  I wish we had called a judge because then I wouldn't have to defend it now.  The judge would have done the same count that we performed and reached the same conclusion.

If you really want to know what happed after the match I'll tell you.  I went out to my car and got my iPad (for reading material), then I went and took a massive bowl filling dump in the bathroom in the far back of the comic book store where they keep the $1 comics so no one would have to experience the blowing up of the bathroom in the main restroom.  After I IDed with Tom Dixon in round 5 I went to Chic-Fil-A and ate a dozen nuggets and a large waffle fries washed down with three or four refills of soda.  This was after I had eaten an Arby's combo at about noon follwed by an energy shot and three cans of Coke.  It was a bad decision.  The second game of the top 8 was total hell as I fought to maintain my composure as my insides were ravaged.  

I hope that explains away the mystery of my actions.  


Thanks to everyone I had the pleasure of playing against at the tournament.  I wish Tom and I had played for fun after we IDed instead of me eating a chicken gut bomb because his deck was super cool.   I really had a great time and as usual Calvin's tournaments are really enjoyable.  I traveled 3 hours to get there because I really enjoy playing Vintage and I knew it would be a blast.  It totally was.  

[Chubby Rain]

@Murry: It's more than a little bit disrespectful to make second-hand claims of cheating without any observation of what happenend.  And to claim that you didn't want to play against me in the finals because of an alleged incident that happened to someone else in the Top 8 is pretty ridiculous. What does that say about you?

 I do have to thank you for pitting me against Mike S in the final because the opportunity to play against a quality opponent using the deck that I have the worst matchup against was the most valuable experience I had all day.  

I did want to play against you, Paul. I wanted you to lose more and thought Mike had a better chance of pulling it off. What does this say about me? That I was tired of hearing second hand accounts of newer players getting screwed by established players and decided to speak up, risking that I might be wrong and legions of individuals that are convinced of your sparkling reputation would come drag me through the mud? Or something else? I'll let other people figure out what this says about me...

[vaughnbros]

Yup what Samoht said...I looked over once all of this came about and from my observations Paul god a little flustered and defensive. So take it for what it is and just call a judge. Weather an accidental card was drawn, a cheat had been made, or a simple miscommunication, a judge would be a great tool to call over. At which point a card count could happen. Again I didn't see an extra card drawn but I was observing it immediately after. I just wish a judge was called. Just to clear things up

Let it be a lesson for both parties maybe...I know if I was accused of drawing an extra card or whatever, I'd go as far as calling a judge on myself lol. I personally have never lost track of card count in my hand from being a competitive vintage player for years.

Maybe this is just me idk

As a first hand account of the situation I agree with these comments.  A questionable situation occurred and a judge should have been called because sometimes accidents do happen, and sometimes there are dishonest players.  Let the judge decide on which one it is instead of wondering.

The sad thing about today's game is there are a number of dishonest players and the honest players are the ones that end up suffering from their actions, either directly be losing games they shouldn't against them or indirectly by having to go through extra steps to ensure their opponent is not trying to skirt the rules of the game.  The lessons to take from this incident are that there are actions every player should take to prevent cheating:
1.  When in any doubt about your opponents actions call a judge.
2.  Shuffle your opponents deck when presented the opportunity to cut.
3.  Be vigilant, especially against opponents with a reputation.

[Mr. Type 4]

@Murry: It's more than a little bit disrespectful to make second-hand claims of cheating without any observation of what happenend.  And to claim that you didn't want to play against me in the finals because of an alleged incident that happened to someone else in the Top 8 is pretty ridiculous. What does that say about you?

 I do have to thank you for pitting me against Mike S in the final because the opportunity to play against a quality opponent using the deck that I have the worst matchup against was the most valuable experience I had all day.  

I did want to play against you, Paul. I wanted you to lose more and thought Mike had a better chance of pulling it off. What does this say about me? That I was tired of hearing second hand accounts of newer players getting screwed by established players and decided to speak up, risking that I might be wrong and legions of individuals that are convinced of your sparkling reputation would come drag me through the mud? Or something else? I'll let other people figure out what this says about me...

Please.  The next time you want to start a revolution play out your own finals match.  You say that you dont consider yourself an established member of the Vintage community, yet you give away a great opportunity to earn respect by winning this tournament.  Bring your deck to the table and put your money where your mouth is.  Tell me you cant split because you came to game and win one for everyone who streams matches of Magic online totally pro bono.  

I wanted you to lose more and thought Mike had a better chance of pulling it off. What does this say about me?

it says that you earned the right to play the finals and you threw it away because you thought you would lose.  That's sad.

[Chubby Rain]

Please.  The next time you want to start a revolution play out your own finals match.  You say that you dont consider yourself an established member of the Vintage community, yet you give away a great opportunity to earn respect by winning this tournament.  Bring your deck to the table and put your money where your mouth is.  Tell me you cant split because you came to game and win one for everyone who streams matches of Magic online totally pro bono.  

I'm not looking to start a revolution, merely speaking up on a perceived injustice that I have noticed time and time again since I began playing Magic. As far as beating you, Paul, I got that monkey off my back in my second ever Vintage tournament.

[Smmenen]

Paul is sponsored by Vintage Magic and his tournament fees and expenses are covered by them -

Do you know this to be true?  Do you have knowledge of the VM sponsorship?

I know this to be false.  VM sponsorship does not extend to small, local tournaments. 

You seem very poorly informed, and you are spreading false rumors.