Pooping Out in Pittsburgh

Playing in the Philadelphia tournament at the beginning of the month got me really excited about playing Vintage again semi-regularly, and since the price of gas is dropping like Jose Canseco in right field, I made the decision to take a little drive to the other end of Pennsylvania to check out the Pittsburgh tourney scene.

There was much hype about this tournament on the Neohgamers boards. At one point, there were 18 Ohioans planning on showing up, and even though that number was down to 11 by gameday I was still looking forward to hanging out with the old crew.

I toyed around with the idea of taking Workshops to the tournament. The MUD list I built for my fiancée had been serving up some pretty disgusting opening hands lately, and it seemed like it could be an interesting choice. There was also some talk of trying to get as many Ohioans as possible to take Ichorid, but one-by-one people pooped out on that idea.

Anyway, when it came down to it, I of course sleeved up Belcher again.

At heart, I just really enjoy incinerating people and running them down with hordes of goblins. More importantly, I feel like Belcher and I are on the cusp of greatness. The list runs really smooth, and my sideboard felt perfect. Here they are:

4x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Empty the Warrens
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Memory Jar
1x Tinker
1x Timetwister

4x Goblin Welder
4x Guttural Response
4x Street Wraith
4x Manamorphose

4x Simian Spirit Guide
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Rite of Flame
4x Tinder Wall
3x Chrome Mox
1x Channel
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Black Lotus
1x Lotus Petal
1x Lion’s Eye Diamond
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Grim Monolith

Sideboard
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Tormod’s Crypt
4x Storm Entity
2x Pyroblast
1x Gaea’s Blessing

The maindeck is self explanatory: play Belcher or some goblins and win the game as fast as possible. The sideboard is a little different from last time, but worked great in Pittsburgh. Desperate Rituals and Storm Entities came in against Stax and Ad Nauseam; Pyroblast helped against Tezzeret and Trinket Mage; and Gaea’s Blessing came in against the inevitable Painter combo. The only cards I didn’t use were the Crypts since I never played Ichorid.

I woke up early on Saturday morning and made myself some breakfast and some sandwiches for the road. It’s a four hour drive to Pittsburgh. I knew I’d have a long day ahead of me and wanted to be prepared.

Most of the drive I spent searching for NPR. There’s a lot of static across the Appalachians.

The store, Mr. Nice Guy Games, was well managed by owners Ron and Holly Kotwica. It was clean and mostly well-lit, which are surprisingly often problems with game stores for some reason. My only complaint was that it was almost too small for the 41 people who showed up to play, and this was exacerbated by it being on two levels. The stairs were especially crowded at the beginnings of matches until people started dropping and going home.

Still any problem that appears only because there are too many people in your tournament doesn’t really seem like that much of a problem. Mr. Nice Guy was a great place to game.

Plus, Christopher Moeller, artist for such hits as Meddling Mage, Umezawa’s Jitte, and Isamaru was there! I got him to make a Mox Ruby proxy for me and sign my Triskelions!

Anyway, I’m about to hit page three here, so we’d best get this tournament started.

Round 1 – Tom – Sensei-Sensei

Tom was pretty quiet during our first few turns, but he loosened up as we played, probably because he was winning. I’m not sure if his deck was necessarily Sensei-Sensei, but he did have Magus of the Future, Tringet Magi, and Sensei’s Divining Tops. In the end, all that mattered was that he had a Drain deck with a combo finish. I should have had the advantage.

In game one, I mulled to four on the play and kept a hand with a couple of mana and a Belcher. It wasn’t pretty. Tom took the opportunity to launch a turn two Tinker for Platinum Angel, so I was on a clock in a hurry. I got Belcher into play on turn three, but my opponent had Hurkyl’s Recall for that and my Chrome Mox. Ugh. He played a Trinket Mage for Top on his next turn and maintained control as the Angel went the distance.

I boarded out a Guttural Response and a Manamorphose for the pair of Pyroblasts. Trinket Mage is a nightmare for Belcher, and Guttural Response doesn’t cut it.

I allowed my opponent to play first and he took the opportunity to get Top into play. I hoped to sneak a Tinker through, but Tom had the Force left in hand and pitched Echoing Truth to play it. Pretty good—I guess he was set for whatever I led with. The Welder in my hand hit play; it couldn’t Weld Tinker back in, but it did answer a Tinkered-for Platinum Angel. And though I Pyroblasted a Magus of the Future, I couldn’t stop Counterbalance. Counterbalance and Top are pretty good against combo, I guess, and Tom took his time setting up an infinite combo with Etherium Sculptor, Top, and another Magus played off Yawgmoth’s Will.

Matches 0-1 / Games – 0-2

Oh well. It happens. I’m not sure I can pinpoint anything I did overtly wrong. My hands in game one weren’t keepable, and I don’t think giving him the play in game two torpedoed my chances as much as that first turn Force of Will, Echoing Truth hand did.

Round 2 – Vince – RB Stax

Vince was an easy-going local player. I didn’t get to see much of his deck, but when I asked he said it was an RB Stax list with just Welders and Tutors. He won the die roll.

In game one, Vince led with an Emerald and a Badlands. A reprieve for me, I guess. I played Belcher with mana available to Belch next turn, and that’s what happened. “I kept a baaad hand,” said Vince.

Having seen an Emerald and a Badlands, I didn’t really know what to expect, but I didn’t expect blue. I was thinking maybe a TMWA build, and took out Guttural Responses for Desperate Rituals.

Vince opened game two with a Lotus, Urborg, and Chalice for zero. Chalice was ineffective, though, as I played a Wheel of Fortune with plenty of mana and dropped a Welder and Emptied the Warrens for 20 dudes. Vince played a Mox Monkey, ate his Chalice, dropped a couple of Moxes, and played a Juggernaut and a second Chalice. I Welded out the Juggs for a discarded Sphere of Resistance, and swung. Monkey blocked of course, but the extra turn wasn’t enough to get Vince back in the game. It was over on turn three.

Matches – 1-1 / Games 2-2

That’s better. Who wanted to actually play Magic anyway?

Round 3 – Dave Daugherty – Ad Nauseam

Matt Hazard also brought Belcher, and he and I joked about getting paired up since the Belcher mirror is just so much fun. Instead, I got paired with Matt’s passenger, Dave, playing the second fastest combo deck in the format, Ad Nauseam. Poor Dave. He never knew what was coming.

Dave was on the play in game one (not by my choice), and I mulliganed. Dave played an Underground Sea and Ancestral’d during my upkeep. We got back to even, though, as I played Wheel of Fortune and then Timetwistered into an insanely large Empty the Warrens. We hadn’t been keeping track of storm, so we agreed that it would be 22 tokens. Dave took his turn, stormed up a little, and played Tendrils for 10 life. Now at 30, Dave survived the first goblin attack but not the second.

Ad Nauseam doesn’t have counterspells and is weak to damage, so I sided out Guttural Responses and Goblin Welders for Desperate Rituals and Storm Entities.

Dave played first but mulliganed four times to open and passed on turn one, doing nothing. I mulliganed once and Emptied the Warrens for 12. That was pretty much game. I think he Thoughtseized me once and got one of two Desperate Rituals.

Matches – 2-1 / Games 4-2

Dave’s mistake was that he continued playing combo when he should have been playing control. After game one he said his choice was either to Duress me or play Ancestral. He played Ancestral and lost. Game two he showed me four of the cards in his first mulligan: Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize, Duress, Black Lotus. That would definitely have nuked my hand. Next time, he’ll know.

Round 4 – Nam Q. Tran – Transtax II: The Return

Sweet, I get the chance to knock another friend out of the tournament. Nam was doing okay with his classic five-color Stax build, but didn’t seem thrilled about it. He definitely wasn’t thrilled to lose the die roll against me.

On the play in game one, I played Tinker for Belcher but didn’t have activation mana on hand, just a Mox on board and an ESG in hand. So Nam got a turn and played Mana Vault and a Sphere of Resistance. Then I drew Lion’s Eye Diamond and won. Sorry Nam!

Guttural Response is out for sure, and Manamorphose is awful against a Sphere of Resistance, so they got dropped for Desperate Rituals and Storm Entities. Storm Entity can go the distance against Stax, and Desperate Rituals are an extra mana source for the possible first turn win.

In game two, Nam mulliganed but opened with a Sphere of Resistance. I played a Welder off a Mox Ruby and a couple of Spirit Guides. Welder got in for a damage but died to a Smokestack. A second Sphere of Resistance and a Triskelion sealed my fate and I scooped.

Good thing I won that die roll! I’m on the play in game three and mulligan into an ugly six-card hand of ESG, Vault, Belcher and three Street Wraiths. Ugh. Too good to pitch, but it’s super shaky. Nam mulliganed twice as well.

I drew another ESG, Mox Jet, and Welder off my Street Wraiths and gratefully dropped Jar. I considered waiting until next turn to crack it, but realized Nam could do any number of things to stop me on his turn and busted it ASAP. Good thing too—Rite, Rite, Lotus, SSG, Welder, Sapphire, Belcher. That’s Belcher, Welder, and activation in one hand. Sorry Nam!

Matches – 3-1 / Games 6-3

The Stax matchup is generally pretty good for Belcher as long as you win the die roll. Your turn one percentage is sufficiently good, and they don’t run counterspells. My recommendation: win the die roll.

Also, Nam hates Belcher.

Round 5 – Angel Rivera – Uba Stax

What?! Another Ohio gamer? There were 41 people here. Can’t I play people from Pittsburgh or something?

Angel and I were both possibilities for top eight but weren’t in a position to draw. He was playing an old-school Uba Stax list but passed up Sphere of Resistance and Null Rod in favor of Chalice of the Void and Kaaaaarn! I didn’t know this at the offset, but that really cuts down the cards that hurt me.

Angel won the die roll and led with an Uba Mask. The Lotus Petal I found in the Mask went directly into play and allowed me to Tinker for Belcher on turn one and activate: Lotus Petal, LED, Lotus, SSG, Rite of Flame, Tinker LED for Tinker, activate with Lotus. A play I would have almost certainly missed had Angel not asked if I would win that turn. My original plan was just to Empty the Warrens for 10 guys.

I sided as I did against Nam: Guttural and Morphose out for Desperate Ritual and Storm Entity.

Angel opened the play in game two with a more aggressive Workshop, Sol Ring, Powder Keg and Chalice for one. I still managed to play a Storm Entity for four, which got in for damage, but a Tangle Wire slowed it down and it died from smoke inhalation. Angel’s clock was still limited to a single Goblin Welder, though, so I kept drawing cards hoping to luck into Channel or Tinker or something good. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Angel found Karn fourteen turns later and finished me off.

On the play again in game three I mulliganed into a hand that made a Welder and a Storm Entity for five off a Lotus and some other mana. My hope was to keep some control with the Welder long enough to get Welder in for damage. Angel played a Powder Keg but used it to prevent an attempted Weld of a Mox for Lotus. That was good since he wouldn’t be Kegging my Welder or Storm Entity. All I wanted to do was play a Spirit Guide. Angel dug frantically for a Karn or a Tangle Wire, anything to slow me down, but couldn’t quite get there. I finally got a Spirit Guide into play and Angel conceded to seven damage on the table.

Matches – 4-1 / Games 8-4

That last game was intense. I was glad Angel busted that Keg early. Otherwise I was likely sunk. If he’d knocked out my Storm Entity and followed up with any kind of pressure, there was no way I was coming back.

Round 6 – Chris – Blue-Red Tezzeret with Painter and Time Vault

Chris was a good local opponent. Unfortunately, at 3-1-1 he wouldn’t be able to draw into the finals with me. Crud.

I won the roll and played in game one but mulled to five and kept a slow hand, hoping to draw mana to complement my Mox and Sol Ring and play Belcher. Unfortunately, Chris had some good draws and was able to play Trinket Mage for Grindstone and complete the Painter combo on turn three. I conceded, hoping he might not know what I was playing.

I didn’t know exactly what he was playing, having seen a Workshop and a Volcanic Island, but I sided in two Pyroblasts and Gaea’s Blessing for a Guttural Response, a Chrome Mox, and Grim Monolith. I wasn’t sure what to take out here, but those seemed good. In retrospect, I should have left the Chrome Mox in.

Game two was quick but merciless. I opened with an unhindered Twister but drew utter garbage, no starter mana, and Gaea’s Blessing. It was a kick in the junk to be sure. Chris Twistered into Lotus and Tinker and topdecked the Mana Crypt that allowed him to get the Big Guy and take it home.

Matches – 4-2 / Games 8-6

Nothing quite like opening a Twister hand and feeling like crying. I could have done nothing to prevent these losses. Game one was a necessary mull to oblivion, and game two was a fizzle off a Twister that resolved. What's a Care Bear to do?

I stuck around, hoping that I might be the one 4-2 that would get into the finals, but it was not to be. My tiebreakers just weren’t good enough. There was a chance I might get a free cookie cake for coming in ninth too, but no there too. I might also have won the door prize foreign black-bordered Demonic Tutor, but, well, no.

Sigh.

It was a good run that ended for naught. I knocked three friends out of competition and walked away with nothing to show for it. At least I got to have a fun day of gaming with my friends! I guess that’s worth it.

Yeah!

Ooh, plus, I got to eat at Primanti Brothers with Matt Hazard and Dave. I had the Pitt’s Burger, which was lovely. My one complaint with that place is that the fries they put on every sandwich make it dry. I always have to put hot sauce or ketchup on every bite, just to, you know, lubricate things. Still, super good sandwiches.

The tournament ended up being dominated by Meandeckers and Pittsburghers, except for the one shining beacon of hope for Ohio: Twaun P. Pownerton. After all the talk of all the Ohioans taking Ichorid, he was the only one who did, and he ended up going home in third place with a minty Grim Tutor in tow. Not bad!

Anyway, we’ll be gaming over Thanksgiving weekend for sure. There’s a tournament for cash at the Hero Zone on Saturday and a Mox tournament at the Warzone on Sunday!

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=36643.0
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=36644.0

So much Zonage! There’s rumor of turkey dinner on Saturday and there will definitely be much hanging out and hot card-slinging action between the two tournaments. Come out and do it up right! See you there.