Hello Vintage friends! I have not had the opportunity to write a report yet, nor do I take good notes, but ill try in the hopes that ill get to write another one
Calvin's Invitational, 62 players, 6 rounds cut to top 8 (I mean 16).
The miscommunication about the cut to playoffs has been discussed enough, so I do not feel the need to discuss it here.
The List: ::Cave of Wonders::
4 Lodestone golem
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sundering Titan
1 Duplicant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Triskelion
1 Batterskull
4 Chalice of the void
4 Tangle wire
4 Thorn of amethyst
3 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Strip mine
1 Tolarian Academy
::Sideboard::
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Crucible of Worlds
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Triskelion
1 Duplicant
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Precursor Golem
Since I didn't take good notes, it's going to be tough without help to determine who I played in the swiss. I know that I played 4 blue decks in a row after deciding to be on cavern for the day, so that felt like a combination of soul read/luck.
I played John Grudzina, Matthew Bliffert, and two others during the first 4 rounds. I know John was on URx delver, but can't remember the others without assistance. One opponent was on some sort of steel city vault or something like that, and there was someone on UWR mentor control. In all 4 of those rounds Cavern was instrumental in providing an uncounterable threat that sealed the game away at some point during the match. Rounds 5 and 6 were ID'ed with Rob Edwards and Brian Durkin respectively.
My top 16 matchup was Tom Dixon, on a deck designed to beat my deck. He beat me fair and square, but conceded the match based on my standings; I as the second seed would be on the play with shops for the rest of the night, where he'd be on the draw as the 15th seed. Many props to Tom for this, and I hope to have the opportunity to return this favor in the future.
My top 8 match was against John Grudzina for the second time. I drew quite well, game one went something like workshop, mox, thorn, he forces, second thorn, pass. He plays delver pass, i play second workshop, triskelion, shoot your guy. he plays land pass, and i play lodestone, he concedes. Game two was crazy vintage style magic. John leads Flooded strand pass, i lead crypt, chalice one, mox, lotus, cavern golem, lodestone. i have two cards left. He plays volcanic, mana crypt, dack fayden, steal lodestone, pass. I play ancient tomb, steel hellkite, and win the race, blowing up his dack with the first activation.
Top 4 Split was Vasu B., Keith Seals, Hank Zhong, and myself.
Card Choices::
Maindeck Trike with another in board:: Kills things like other revokers, Jace on 3, trygon, some tokens and the pyromancer they rode in on, and mainly, interacts favorably with dack.
Cavern of souls over Mishra's factory:: Great against blue decks and combo, but makes you a dog in the mirror. If you try this be sure to have a very solid plan to beat the mirror.
Maindeck Batterskull:: Can't even say enough about this card. Multiple permanents for opposing stacks, wins races against fish decks, can break bridges by paying 3, can be forged out through a cage. Many more obviously, but also interacts favorably with dack. Are you noticing a pattern here?
Precursor Golem:: Should probably have been a needle looking back, but I chose Precursor because it puts 9 power on the board for 5 mana in the mirror, can race dredge if you have at least one hate piece to back it up, and of course, interacts favorably with dack.
This was a great tournament, and I hope people can look past the miscommunication and see that this tournament went off even though the TO was in the hospital, and that it was another opportunity to play the game we love with the people we like to see time and again. There was a slight organizational change? Guess how many people don't get to play vintage 25% as often as we do based on our geographic location.
See you guys again soon, and if you try hard enough, you can flex WHILE playing
--The Mustard
