Tourney Report – Vintage

Wild, whacky, crazy fun. You might find one of these in the following tournament report.


Onulet-is-better-than-Uba Stax
Mana
1x Strip Mine
1x Tollarian Academy
2x Great Furnace
4x Bazaar of Baghdad
4x Mishra’s Workshop
9x Mountains

1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Ruby
1x Sol Ring
1x Black Lotus
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault

Total Mana: 30

Dudes
1x Darksteel Colossus
1x Platinum Angel
1x Karn, Silver Golem
1x Sundering Titan
2x Onulet
4x Goblin Welder
4x Squee, Goblin Nabob

Total Dudes: 14

Utility
1x Mindslaver
2x Candelabra of Tawnos
2x Zuran Orb
3x Crucible of Worlds
4x Smokestack
4x Tangle Wire

Total Utility: 16

Sideboard
1x Crucible of Worlds
2x Onulet
3x Mindslaver
1x Darksteel Colossus
2x Zuran Orb
1x Trinisphere
3x Shattering Spree
2x Rack and Ruin

Total Sideboard: 15


So recently at our local game store, Valhalla, we have started doing “Eternal Saturdays” where we alternate playing Vintage and Legacy tournaments for fun. This week was Vintage week. For Vintage week, we allow you to play with 15 proxies so that players aren’t at a disadvantage if they don’t own the high value cards. My original goal for this week was to play a deck that contained one of each card on the restricted list (51 cards) plus nine more (8 land, 1 tendrils). I had the deck built and everything, but then when I got to Valhalla, I realized I hadn’t brought it with me. Lucky for me, I still had 5 hours before the tournament started (I like to look for games before hand and build decks), so I still had time to make a deck.

I had the leftover cards from my deck that I had originally made. The left over cards included a playset of Goblin Welders, Smokestacks, and Tangle Wires. It looked like I had only one real option, Stax. So I got right to deck making. I had to cut corners in a few places because I didn’t have all the cards, but in the end I had a deck that looked like it might do well, and it had a few tricks up its sleeve (such as using Onulet to gain life via Welding it again and again and again).

As with all tournaments, the majority of the players arrived 15 minutes before the tournament began. The tournament got rolling around 7:15PM.

Round 1 vs. James and his Stasis deck

James (not me) was playing an interesting Stasis deck that abused Isochron Scepter and Boomerang with Counterspell backup.
Game 1: We both got good hands, but I got a turn one Welder followed by a turn two Smokestack. There wasn’t much he could do. Once he got the Isochron Scepter with a Counterspell and Stasis in play it was too late. I had the lock and he soon had no permanents.

I side in my artifact removal in hopes of hitting his Scepter.

Game 2: He made a big play mistake and forgot to boomerang his Stasis at the end of my turns. It did him in, but we played another game after the match to see what would have happened. The other game went much better, but I was eventually able to kill his Scepter, and then get out my lock. I ended up winning fair and square in the end.

Matches: 1 – 0 – 0 Games: 2 – 0 – 0

Round 2 vs. Tim and his Slaver Control deck

Tim was playing a pretty decent build of Slaver Control, and he is one of the bigger type 1 players in the area, so I did not expect to win this match.

Game 1: This was a long game, but it involved him having a Goblin Welder and me not having a Goblin Welder. I scooped when he played Yawg’s Will.

I side in my artifact control, because I know it will make the difference if I win or lose.

Game 2: I get out a turn one Welder followed by a Smokestack. He doesn’t find an answer and quickly loses all of his permanents. He scoops 3 minutes into the game (he timed it).

I am feeling more confident at this point that I might have a chance, but it is still somewhat of a coin toss.

Game 3: I get out a turn one Welder yet again. Things look grim for Tim, but he is quickly draw into a Vamp Tutor which he uses to get Darkblast. Darkblast now means that he can easily kill any Welder I put out. So now all of my Welders a virtually dead. I draw into very little, and he draws into a Goblin Welder. Now it is looking quite desperate for me. I have out an Onulet and Zuran Orb with a Mountain, Mishra’s Workshop, and two Bazaar of Baghdads. I eventually am able to get out a Sundering Titan setting him back a few land. He gets a Platninum Angel though, so I can no longer kill him with life. We swings at me turn after turn, and so do I. I get him down to negative one and stop attacking. Sometime around now time is called. He has turn 0. I am at 6. He swings, I go to 2. I draw Rack and Ruin. I think “this is it, I have won” and play it. He Mana Leaks it. I am one mana to short to pay it. Damn. On turn 2 he tries to weld my Zuran Orb into a Great Furnace. I respond by milling myself 4 cards with Bazaars in hope to either get closer to a shatter type spell, or find something else. I hit no such cards. So still in response to the weld, I sac all of my lands to the Orb, bringing me to 10 assuring that the game will at least end in a draw. He swings and brings me to 6. I draw and play Shattering Spree, again thinking that the game is now mine. He Mana Drains it. Sadly I did not have the extra red to make copies. On his next turn, he thinks hard and long on what he can possibly do to get the extra two points of life across. He finds it isn’t possible and drops me to 2. My turn I don’t draw the artifact removal to win me the game and it ends in a draw.

I check the next card, and it was another Rack and Ruin. I am saddened internally forever.

Matches: 1 – 0 – 1 Games: 3 – 1 – 1

Round 3 vs. Someone (sorry forgot your name) with his Goblin deck

This was a pretty solid build of goblins. I was afraid that he would outrace me and kill me before I got anything substantial out.

Game 1: He gets out some fast goblins, but I also get out a fast Welder. I also get an Onulet which saves me. I soon also get a Sundering Titan to stand in the way of the rest of the goblins.

I side the rest of my Onulets, Orbs, and Trinisphere. Life gain will be key here.

Game 2: Another fast Welder. He counters with Pithing Needle, so I use the Welder to kill another one of his goblin brothers. I then draw Onulet after Onulet which protect me from more goblins. I also get the Crucible/Strip Mine combo. He doesn’t get out enough quick goblins to prevent me from stabilizing. I then also get a Sundering Titan, then start attacking with that. Then to add insult to injury, I draw the Trinisphere ensuring he is never going to play spells again. I win due to him being locked out of spells.

I did much better in this match than I thought I would. He tells me that if it weren’t for the Onulet life gain I got in game one, he would have had me that game. So Onulet is growing to be quite the MVP of the deck.

Matches: 2 – 0 – 1 Games: 5 – 1 – 1

Match 4 vs. Chris, my dad, with a modified version of my MBA deck

I figure this will be similar to the goblin match up, but his deck should be slower than the goblins, thus I shouldn’t have a problem.

Game 1: He gets turn one hippy after going first. I get turn one Smokestack. He plays a land and hits one of my Mountains with the hippy. I drop a Strip Mine and put a counter on the Smokestack. I also drop an Onulet. He loses a land and a hippy on his turn. He plays a hymn and takes a mana burn off a lotus. I put another counter on Smokestack and drop a Welder. He scoopes.

I side in the same stuff I sided in vs. goblins except for the Trinisphere.

Game 2: I get another early lock on him. He doesn’t give up hope even as I am beating him with my Onulet and Squee. He gets what he was looking for, a Planar Void, but by the time he plays it, it is too little too late. I draw into a Welder and weld into play an old Smokestack. He double checks the rules situation, and finds that it works. He then Scoops.

This lock is quite powerful.

Matches: 3 – 0 – 1 Games: 7 – 1 – 1

Tim also won his last matches, so we are tied for first. I end up getting second on tie breaks. I win two packs of Dissention, but I don’t get any good rares.

I really liked the Onulet in the deck. I think I may suggest it to Vroman and see what he thinks. Perhaps I can revolutionize type 1 with made life gain tech. Or maybe not.

The mix of decks I saw was what I expected. The n00b, average, and competitive decks showed up in about equal portions. I think everyone enjoyed it, I know I did.

Next week everyone will be out of town for the prerelease, but the week after that will be legacy.