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Wed, 04/04/2007 - 10:39 — Anonymous
$100 NG Vintage Tournament *Co-Champ* By Edward Paltzik PART I: The Basics Event: $100 Neutral Ground Vintage (Type I) Championship Date: December 30, 2001 Time: 4:00 PM Format: 4 Rounds, Cut to Top 4 Players: 13 Prize: Winner Take All PART II: The Deck “Legend Blue 2002” 4 Dwarven Miner 4 Morphling 4 Force of Will 4 Mana Drain 4 Counterspell 4 Mana Leak 4 Fire/Ice 4 Fact or Fiction 1 Time Walk 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Sol Ring 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Ruby 1 Mox Sapphire 2 City of Brass 4 Shivan Reef 4 Volcanic Island 9 Island SB: 4 Flametongue Kavu 4 Red Elemental Blast 4 Hibernation 3 Powder Keg The purpose of this deck is to horribly frustrate opponents. This can be done either by countering all of their important spells with the seemingly endless flow of countermagic spells or by destroying all of their land with the insidious Dwarven Miner, which proved to be the MVP of this tournament, munching some 40+ lands in only 5 rounds. Dwarven Miner, if not dealt with immediately, will literally digest the opponent---a truly frightful way to go. Watch as this little bugger greedily devours ALL of an opponent’s lands. The one other card that deserves a brief explanation is Flametongue Kavu. I imported him from Type II when I realized how much he could hose some of the dangerous creature decks that exist in Type I. I don’t know why this hasn’t been tried before in Type I, but this card is brutally effective against beatdown decks. Picture Flametongue Kavu aimed at a Phyrexian Negator and you will understand the value of this card. So the team is Morphling, Dwarven Miner and Flametongue Kavu. Some days all of them will be useful, other days one or two of them will carry most of the weight. On Sunday, Dwarven Miner and Morphling were the main players, but on another day Flametongue Kavu could certainly be as important. PART III: The Tournament Prelude: “Garbed in my traditional victory uniform of all black with purple tie, I begin my quest to capture the title and the money. Long live Legend, long live the black and purple.” ROUND 1: Raymond Lambert---DCI Vintage Rating: 1671---Playing Keeper Game 1: Going first, I drop Mox Emerald, Shivan Reef, Dwarven Miner. Being that all of his lands are non-basic, he tries to Force of Will. I Force of Will back. 2 turns later, he tries to Diabolic Edict the Miner. I Force of Will again, and from that point on, the game is a living hell for Ray, as he is methodically digested by the insatiable Miner, which hungrily devours 8 lands in this game before being joined by a Morphling. Game 2: My sideboarding was -4 Fire/Ice, +4 Red Elemental Blast. I Mana Drain an Ancestral Recall and go for a 4th turn Morphling with no blue mana open. Next turn he surprises me by trying to Plow it. I Force of Will with Fact or Fiction, but now I have no cards in my hand. The situation is momentarily favorable, as it is my Morphling versus his two Mishra’s Factories. However, he finds his Balance, which leaves us both with no cards in hand and four lands each. Unfortunately for me, two of his four lands are those Mishras. The game is rapidly deteriorating for me, and when he draws his Yawgmoth’s Will, it’s really over. Game 3: My first turn play is Mox Jet, Volcanic Island, Black Lotus, Dwarven Miner with the Jet and Volcanic. No response from Ray except a look of subtle frustration. His turn consists of Underground Sea, Sol Ring. But I sacrifice the Lotus and Mana Drain the Sol Ring. Then his next 7 lands are all eaten by the Miner. At one point, the situation is 3 Dwarven Miners and a Morphling backed up by my hand of 7 counters versus only a Mox Ruby for him. Despite these staggering odds, Ray does not concede. At 2 life, we wait in suspense for his draw. Actually, to be honest with you there really was no suspense at all. Neither of us are surprised when he does not in fact improve his situation with that final draw. A handshake follows soon thereafter. 1-0. 2-1 ROUND 2: Jason Deitsch---DCI Vintage Rating: 1687---Playing Survival of The Fittest Game 1: He gets the Survival engine going, but a Miner holds his mana down a bit, and I gain control of the board with a Morphling that reduces him to 4. However, a Spike Weaver is keeping him alive, and I am beginning to think that I am going to need to Fire him twice for the win. But with only 1 counter left on the Weaver, another Morphling joins in, and he soon concedes in the face of the 2 Shapeshifters and the munching Miner. Game 2: Sideboarding: -4 Fire/Ice, -4 Dwarven Miner, since he has some basic lands and some anti-Miner measures. +4 Hibernation, +4 Flametongue Kavu. My opening hand is all counters, with 2 lands. None of the counters are Force of Will, and when Jason’s opening is Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Bayou, and Survival of the Fittest, I know I’m in trouble unless I find a Hibernation quickly, which I fail to do, and I am soon overhwhelmed by the Survival engine and a Reya. Game 3: I take out the Flametongues and put the Miners back in. My hand is decent and I counter some threats. This is followed by a Hibernation of a City of Solitude before countering it again. I then Fact or Fiction, and take a pile of 3 counters and a land, sending Morphling to the graveyard. Meanwhile, a Krovikan Horror has beaten me down to 10, and I still can’t find a second Morphling. Finally, after another Fact or Fiction, I find that second Morphling. Then I deal with him in the way I know best. 2-0, 4-2 ROUND 3: Michael Pustilnik---DCI Vintage Rating: 1916---Playing Keeper Game 1: We play land for about 10 turns, doing nothing and discarding some cards, each not wanting to be the first to cast a main phase spell. I finally go for an end of turn Fact or Fiction and it resolves. At the end of his next turn, I win a rather large counterwar over my Ancestral Recall. With 7 Mana Drain mana in my pool (from his Mana Drain and his Misdirection) I cast a Morphling and a Dwarven Miner. I smash with Morphling and munch with Miner for the win. Mike remarks that I always “seem to have more counters than anyone else,” which we both laugh about. Game 2: Sideboarding: -4 Fire/Ice, +4 Red Elemental Blast. His first turn play is a Library of Alexandria. This is bad, because I don’t have a Miner in hand and if I don’t deal with the Library, Mike will overwhelm me. So I do the only thing I can do, dropping Black Lotus and going for the second turn Morphling. Mike has a Balance to deal with the Morphling. He also has an Edict to deal with my first Miner. Then we go into a period in which I respond to his next 2 uses of the Library with Fact or Fictions. I am also able to counter his Ancestral Recall. Amazingly, I am able to keep up with his Library, and when I find my second Dwarven Miner, I win the counterwar. The Miner destroys 2 Tundras, 3 Underground Seas, 2 Cities of Brass, and a Mishra’s Factory before teaming up with a Morphling, which allows me to deal with Mike in the way I know best. Despite the loss, Mike still has a strong chance to make Top 4 with a final round victory. 3-0, 6-2 ROUND 4: Yan Margolin---DCI Vintage Rating 1655---Playing Suicide Black Game 1: Yan checks in at 2-0-1 after an intentional draw with Eric Wilkinson in the previous round. But 2-0-2 will not make Top 4, so he has to play. I am already assured of Top 4, so there is little pressure on me in this match. In this game, he opens with Duress, seeing Force of Will and 2 Fire/Ices. he pulls the Force of Will. I open with Island. He then Strips the Island, and Rituals out a Phyrexian Negator. I know that the 2 Fire/Ices in my hand will never be used because the 2 Shivan Reefs in my hand will almost certainly be Wastelanded. My only hope is to topdeck a Mox, which, to Yan’s chagrin, I do, allowing me to Fire the Negator, causing him to lose the Negator and his Swamp. The game falls apart from there, and Yan concedes upon the Morphling arrival. Game 2: I’ve boarded in the 4 Flametongue Kavus for the 4 Dwarven Miners. This is the moment that I had in mind for the Flametongues. I’m definitely going to win this match. Except Yan has other ideas. An early Hypnotic Specter is working me over, and is quickly joined by a Phyrexian Negator. My only hope is to topdeck a Flametongue Kavu. I do. It is aimed at the Negator, causing Yan to sacrifice all 4 of his swamps, leaving my Flametongue versus his Negator and Specter. But I continue to draw land as the Specter attacks again and again. I have to leave the Flametongue untapped to block the Negator. Yan finds another swamp, and Rituals out another Specter, which I Fire off a topdeck. But I draw nothing else of consequence, and, unbelievably, I lose the game. Game 3: A Flesh Reaver knocks me down to 7 and him to 8 (1 City of Brass damage). It is joined by a Phyrexian War Beast which I can’t counter because all of my counters have either been used or cherry-picked by Yan’s handkill. I topdeck a Morphling, but I have to tap out for it. Yan attacks with both creatures. I block the Reaver to stay alive, losing Morphling. Yan plays a Hypnotic Specter. I’m at 4 life, and when I draw a Volcanic Island next turn, it is over and Yan has pulled off the shocker by making it through my minefield of Flametongue Kavus. This puts him in the Top 4 as the #1 seed at 3-0-1. 3-1, 7-4 Meanwhile, Eric Wilkinson wins his 4th round match over Jason Deitsch, putting Eric in the Top 4 at 3-0-1. JP Meyer has also won his last round match, giving him a 3-1 record. Mike Pustilnik does the same, also giving him a 3-1 record. Unfortunately for Mike, this is how things work out. Player Record Points Op-Match Win % 1. Yan Margolin 3-0-1 10 70.8333 2. Eric Wilkinson 3-0-1 10 61.1111 3. Edward Paltzik 3-1-0 9 64.5833 4. John Paul Meyer 3-1-0 9 50.0000 ------------------------------------------------------- 5. Mike Pustilnik 3-1-0 9 47.9167 So the top 4 features Yan versus JP and myself versus Eric. JP is playing a deck of his own design, called “The Patriot”. It is a U/W/R anti-control deck. The creatures include Meddling Mages, Mother of Runes, Lightning Angels and Goblin Legionnaires. The anti-control measures include Null Rod, Red Elemental Blasts, and Force of Wills of his own. Yan is playing a Suicide Black deck that he designed. The name he decided on was “ Red Red Pajamas” to mock some of the stupid deck names that appear on the Internet. He wanted a nonsense name that had nothing to do with what the deck actually does. Yan built an outstanding deck here and his performance shows that Type I is not all about blue control decks, and you do not have to own the Power 9 to do well at tournaments. This idea that Type I success is dependent on owning every two-hundred dollar cards is a myth. Completely bogus. I will say that the Power 9 are needed in order to play control decks, though. The only Power 9 in his deck was a Black Lotus and a Mox Jet. As for their match, the result was the same as when JP and Yan played in the second round. The match lasted about 10 minutes, with Yan scoring a KO. The disruption of Sinkholes, Hymns, Duresses and Wastelands combined with dangerous creatures was too much for The Patriot, and when Yan put his ENTIRE sideboard in against JP, it was hopeless. This match was basically over while myself and Eric were still shuffling in preparation for our first game. TOP 4: Eric Wilkinson---DCI Vintage Rating: 1850---Playing Keeper Game 1: Most of the people who played in the tournament are gathered around to watch our match, as is Brian David-Marshall, who amuses the crowd greatly by observing how remarkable it is that we are only one step away from a Legend vs. Negator final. I laugh at this briefly but quickly return to my usual manner of grim concentration, which is especially important considering the quality of my opponent, who has defeated me the last two times we have met. My nemesis draws his opening 7, pauses to think for a moment, and mulligans. He draws his 6, then mulligans again. He keeps the 5 card hand and plays a Tundra and a Zuran Orb. Not surprisingly, though, his hand is awful, and a quick Miner leaves him with nothing except a Zuran Orb. A few turns later, enter Morphling. Game 2: Same sideboarding as before (-4 Fire/Ice, +4 Red Elemental Blast). My deck is now nothing but 20 counters, Morphlings, Miners, and card-drawing. I keep a hand of Mox Sapphire, 4 lands, a Morphling, and an Ancestral Recall. However, Eric opens with a Duress, robbing me of my Ancestral Recall. I draw for my turn, and it is a Counterspell. Island, Mox Sapphire is my play. Eric’s second turn consists of his attempt to bring out a Morphling with a Black Lotus. This was the correct choice on Eric’s part, it was just unfortunate for him that I drew the Counterspell after he had seen my hand with Duress. I Counter the Morphling, and then my next draw confirms that this is just my day. It is a Dwarven Miner, which I cast with no counter backup. The facial expression that I have begun to associate with Dwarven Miner appeared on Eric’s face at that moment, just as it had appeared on Ray’s face in the first round. It is not a demonstrative look. Rather, “Miner Face” is a subtle expression of brooding frustration. I don’t blame them either, it is an extremely frustrating card, especially at such an unfortunate moment as this one. The game comes to a predictable end from there, with the insidious munching of the Miner grinding away at all of Eric’s lands until he is incapacitated. Soon enough we are shaking hands. 4-1, 9-4 FINALS: Yan Margolin---DCI Vintage Rating 1655---Playing Suicide Black With him at 4-0-1, and myself at 4-1, we are certainly not going to play this one out. Why should we, when the triumph of the black and purple is complete, with Legend and Negator in the finals? Yan beat me earlier in the tournament, and the matchup is 50/50 anyway, so neither of us are eager to put our rating point gains on the line. Myself especially, since I had cracked the 1800 barrier during the tournament, and I wanted to keep the points I had gotten against such fine opponents as Mike and Eric. Instead, by mutual agreement, Yan drops out of the tournament, and I have no problem giving him a favorable split of the $100, since I care much more about the winning than the money. In case you are wondering, here is Yan’s decklist. “Red Red Pajamas” 4 Phyrexian Negator 4 Hypnotic Specter 4 Flesh Reaver 3 Phyrexian War Beast 4 Sinkhole 4 Hymn to Tourach 4 Duress 4 Null Rod 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Demonic Consultation 4 Dark Ritual 4 Wasteland 1 Strip Mine 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Jet 16 Swamp SB: 4 Masticore 4 Contagion 4 Spinning Darkness 3 Dystopia CONCLUSION: I’ve played in Type I tournaments with more participants than the 13 of Sunday’s event, but this was definitely the best field I’ve ever played against. This tournament boasted a collection of elite, highly accomplished players. Every participant had access to the Power 9, and I would consider the decks that were played to be highly representative of top-level Type I play. Here’s the breakdown of what was played. Keeper (7): Eric Wilkinson (Top 4, 3-1-1), Michael Pustilnik (5th Place, 3-1), Steven Sadin (6th Place, 2-2), Raymond Lambert (9th Place, 2-2), Matt D’Avanzo (11th Place, 1-3) Adam Wasserman (10th Place, 1-3), Andrew Zorowitz (12th Place, 0-2) Legend Blue (1): Myself (Tied 1st, 4-1) Suicide Black (1): Yan Margolin (Tied 1st, 4-0-1) Survival of The Fittest (1): Jason Deitsch ( 8th Place, 2-2) Enchantress(1): Daniel Rosenheck (13th Place, 0-4) The Patriot (1): John Paul Meyer (Top 4, 3-2) Turboland (1): William Murray (7th Place, 2-2) THE END