monovfox
10-28-2013, 12:46 AM
So, I just came home from my first vintage tournament. I had fun for the most part (except losing my win-and-in to Oath, and then promptly losing to MUD to leave with a negative record). Anyhow, I figure I should report here, as I would want some thoughts on deck construction, and because I feel like clearing up misconceptions I had about the format going into this event.
Here is the 75 I ran today
4 Wasteland
3 Plains
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
3 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Savannah
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dismember
2 Windswept Heath
1 Mental Misstep
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stony Silence
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Leonin Arbiter
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Mox Emerald
1 Forest
2 Chalice of the Void
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 2 Choke
SB: 3 Mirran Crusader
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
In retrospect, there are a lot of changes I would have made, leaving me with something more like this:
4 Wasteland
3 Plains
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Qasali Pridemage
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dismember
2 Mental Misstep
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stony Silence
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Leonin Arbiter
1 Mox Emerald
1 Forest
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Path to Exile
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Windswept Heath
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 1 Path to Exile
SB: 2 Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 Spellskite
Over the day I noticed a few things:
Lack of revoker targets
Swords to plowshares was a bad card
you really do want 4 qasali pridemage.
My manabase was really off. Plus, I don't want fetches at all. I felt like I wanted both more white and green, so will probably try to fit another elvish spirit guide in there
you want the 2nd mental misstep, because your opponent will tutor up ancestral recall.
Mirran crusader is unplayable. I wanted it for goyf decks. Then I realized: "do I actually care about goyf decks?"
Anyways, let's start.
Round 1: Oath v PLAIN ANNOYING
I started off game 1 on the draw (nervous, as I had not played vintage before. Without FoW I was expecting a t1 loss). My opponent goes forbidden orchard> mox jet > oath of druids (giving me a spirit)
my turn 1 was equally silly. Mox pearl> Cavern of souls naming cat> leonin relic warder. I was then able to follow this up next turn with a thalia, and then a qasali pridemage for the ultimate beatdown plan
game 2:
I am on the draw... again. Opponent goes turn 1 land>go.
my hand looked something like this:
Elvish spirit guide
Leonin Relic-Warder
Thalia Guardian of Thraben
Black Lotus
Ethersworn Canonist
Noble Hierarch
I had two lines of play that came to mind.
Either turn 1 thalia and my ethersworn canonist. Or play my noble hierarch and black lotus passing the turn back in order to keep leonin relic-warder up for the eventual Oath of Druids. I went for the 2nd option. What I did not realize is that my opponent had sided in Nature's Claims (I played the black lotus in anticipation of duress). He claims my black lotus, and I don't topdeck lands for the next X turns, where X = the rest of the game
At this point I start to realize how slow the format actually is
Game 3:
He keeps his 7, I have to mull to 4 due to manabase problems. I lose.
(1-2)
1-0
Round 2: BYE (-.-)
(2-2)
1-1
Round 3: BURG JACE SHENNANIGANS
I didn't get to see much of his deck, but that's because I won this with the two silliest things I have ever done in magic. I had scouted my opponent out earlier, as I knew him from legacy and wanted to see what he was playing.
Game 1:
I win the die roll
my turn 1: Black lotus, plains, Phyrexian Revoker naming Jace, Stony Silence
His turn 1: Black lotus, tolarian academy, pass.
my turn 2,3,4,5: Strip mine, wasteland, thalia, wasteland.
Game 2: He is on the play, he mulls to 6. I also mull to 6, and the promptly to 5 (after manabase problems)
He opens turn 1 with mox, time vault, land.
my hand consists of:
2x Leonin Relic Warder
1x Cavern of Souls
2 Plains
On turn 2 he goes for a blightsteel kill, realizing that his time vault kill is futile due to Phyrexian Revoker
On my turn I drop Cavern of souls naming cat, and promptly eat his blightsteel. I then eat his time vault with my other cat. then I drop a thalia.
GG
(4-2)
2-1
Round 4: Emrakul Oath (not storm oath)
Game 1: I had a ton of hate. It was very one sided. I am tempted to say that hatebears is the fastest combo deck in the format.
Game 2: He wins after getting a rune-skarred demon with fire-breathing out. I really could have used a 2nd qasali pridemage here, rather than bad cards (Gaddock Teeg and Ethersworn Canonist. Yet again. I thought he was on the storm variant).
game 3: He gets an emrakul after nature's claiming my graffdigger's cage. I should have STP'd my thalia in-response (In this matchup I learned how terrible Swords to Plowshares is in vintage), so that way his Oath wouldn't have triggered, because the card on the top of my library (I checked after conceding) was Qasali Pridemage. God Dammit.
(5-4)
2-2
Round 5:
MUD
Game 1: Stony Silence, Leonin Relic Warder, Chalice of the Void, Black Lotus, Noble Hierarch, Elvish Spirit Guide, Savannah. :D . Was totally worth it.
Game 2: He kills me with triskelion while I look for land.
game 3: We play draw go for 7 turns while I have a stony silence and no lands. He topdecks 2 mishra's workshops. he wins. God dammit. So dumb. This deck is supposed to be my best matchup too (I brought my deck specifically to troll workshop players).
Overall:
The format is actually fairly slow
mana-bases need to be tight
TIL PTE > STP in Vintage. Mind was blown.
Props:
I WON A MATCH OF VINTAGE
Not getting turn 1'd ever
Laughing my ass off at stupid turn 1 wins that I pulled off
A friend for lending me a gorgeous mox pearl and mox emerald, as well as beautiful foil russian and russian stony silences (thanks danny, if you actually visit a legacy site. Which I am sure you don't.)
Found a new love for the format, and mental misstep
Slops:
Fucking. Emrakul.
Misplays.
Anyhow, I would like to hear your thoughts on the deck I played, and perhaps some improvements I could make. Thanks for reading! This probably was a really bad tournament report. Oh well.
Here is the 75 I ran today
4 Wasteland
3 Plains
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
3 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Savannah
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dismember
2 Windswept Heath
1 Mental Misstep
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stony Silence
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Leonin Arbiter
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Mox Emerald
1 Forest
2 Chalice of the Void
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 2 Choke
SB: 3 Mirran Crusader
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
In retrospect, there are a lot of changes I would have made, leaving me with something more like this:
4 Wasteland
3 Plains
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Qasali Pridemage
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dismember
2 Mental Misstep
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stony Silence
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Leonin Arbiter
1 Mox Emerald
1 Forest
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Path to Exile
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Windswept Heath
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Kataki, War's Wage
SB: 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 1 Path to Exile
SB: 2 Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 Spellskite
Over the day I noticed a few things:
Lack of revoker targets
Swords to plowshares was a bad card
you really do want 4 qasali pridemage.
My manabase was really off. Plus, I don't want fetches at all. I felt like I wanted both more white and green, so will probably try to fit another elvish spirit guide in there
you want the 2nd mental misstep, because your opponent will tutor up ancestral recall.
Mirran crusader is unplayable. I wanted it for goyf decks. Then I realized: "do I actually care about goyf decks?"
Anyways, let's start.
Round 1: Oath v PLAIN ANNOYING
I started off game 1 on the draw (nervous, as I had not played vintage before. Without FoW I was expecting a t1 loss). My opponent goes forbidden orchard> mox jet > oath of druids (giving me a spirit)
my turn 1 was equally silly. Mox pearl> Cavern of souls naming cat> leonin relic warder. I was then able to follow this up next turn with a thalia, and then a qasali pridemage for the ultimate beatdown plan
game 2:
I am on the draw... again. Opponent goes turn 1 land>go.
my hand looked something like this:
Elvish spirit guide
Leonin Relic-Warder
Thalia Guardian of Thraben
Black Lotus
Ethersworn Canonist
Noble Hierarch
I had two lines of play that came to mind.
Either turn 1 thalia and my ethersworn canonist. Or play my noble hierarch and black lotus passing the turn back in order to keep leonin relic-warder up for the eventual Oath of Druids. I went for the 2nd option. What I did not realize is that my opponent had sided in Nature's Claims (I played the black lotus in anticipation of duress). He claims my black lotus, and I don't topdeck lands for the next X turns, where X = the rest of the game
At this point I start to realize how slow the format actually is
Game 3:
He keeps his 7, I have to mull to 4 due to manabase problems. I lose.
(1-2)
1-0
Round 2: BYE (-.-)
(2-2)
1-1
Round 3: BURG JACE SHENNANIGANS
I didn't get to see much of his deck, but that's because I won this with the two silliest things I have ever done in magic. I had scouted my opponent out earlier, as I knew him from legacy and wanted to see what he was playing.
Game 1:
I win the die roll
my turn 1: Black lotus, plains, Phyrexian Revoker naming Jace, Stony Silence
His turn 1: Black lotus, tolarian academy, pass.
my turn 2,3,4,5: Strip mine, wasteland, thalia, wasteland.
Game 2: He is on the play, he mulls to 6. I also mull to 6, and the promptly to 5 (after manabase problems)
He opens turn 1 with mox, time vault, land.
my hand consists of:
2x Leonin Relic Warder
1x Cavern of Souls
2 Plains
On turn 2 he goes for a blightsteel kill, realizing that his time vault kill is futile due to Phyrexian Revoker
On my turn I drop Cavern of souls naming cat, and promptly eat his blightsteel. I then eat his time vault with my other cat. then I drop a thalia.
GG
(4-2)
2-1
Round 4: Emrakul Oath (not storm oath)
Game 1: I had a ton of hate. It was very one sided. I am tempted to say that hatebears is the fastest combo deck in the format.
Game 2: He wins after getting a rune-skarred demon with fire-breathing out. I really could have used a 2nd qasali pridemage here, rather than bad cards (Gaddock Teeg and Ethersworn Canonist. Yet again. I thought he was on the storm variant).
game 3: He gets an emrakul after nature's claiming my graffdigger's cage. I should have STP'd my thalia in-response (In this matchup I learned how terrible Swords to Plowshares is in vintage), so that way his Oath wouldn't have triggered, because the card on the top of my library (I checked after conceding) was Qasali Pridemage. God Dammit.
(5-4)
2-2
Round 5:
MUD
Game 1: Stony Silence, Leonin Relic Warder, Chalice of the Void, Black Lotus, Noble Hierarch, Elvish Spirit Guide, Savannah. :D . Was totally worth it.
Game 2: He kills me with triskelion while I look for land.
game 3: We play draw go for 7 turns while I have a stony silence and no lands. He topdecks 2 mishra's workshops. he wins. God dammit. So dumb. This deck is supposed to be my best matchup too (I brought my deck specifically to troll workshop players).
Overall:
The format is actually fairly slow
mana-bases need to be tight
TIL PTE > STP in Vintage. Mind was blown.
Props:
I WON A MATCH OF VINTAGE
Not getting turn 1'd ever
Laughing my ass off at stupid turn 1 wins that I pulled off
A friend for lending me a gorgeous mox pearl and mox emerald, as well as beautiful foil russian and russian stony silences (thanks danny, if you actually visit a legacy site. Which I am sure you don't.)
Found a new love for the format, and mental misstep
Slops:
Fucking. Emrakul.
Misplays.
Anyhow, I would like to hear your thoughts on the deck I played, and perhaps some improvements I could make. Thanks for reading! This probably was a really bad tournament report. Oh well.