Blowing up the Vault

I made it up to The Vault in Greensburg, PA, this Saturday for the first of a personal two-in-a-row Vintage event. Suffice to say that everything was excellent, made only better by my top-8’ing and taking home a foil Tinker for the trip.

The Vault Comics and Games
5274 Route 30
Westmoreland Crossing
Suite 16
Greensburg, PA 15601

I headed out after work on Friday and spent a good four hours and $12 in tolls over four states and several wrong turns before arriving at the humble abode of Brian and Abby NecroWin. There I rendezvoused with Twaun and Isaac (a relative newcomer to the Vintage scene who made the trip all the way from Illinois), Vintage Champ “Mr. Type 4” Mastriano, Herr NecroWin, and Mike, a Pittsburgh player once mentioned in a Star City article as having showing up to a tournament not to play, but carrying a backpack full of beer).

Within five minutes we were drafting for Type 4 on teams—Brian, Isaac, and myself versus Twaun, Mastriano, and Mike. I picked up every blue card that came my way and soon had a 45 card deck with 25 cards that countered spells or changed targets. My other cards were all amazing because, let’s face it, we were playing Type 4. Type 4 doesn’t have unamazing cards.

We played two games before our RFG piles got shuffled together. The play was good and the games were fun except for one grievous mistake by Isaac to not counter Twaun’s first-play of Gleemax with Induce Paranoia, which would have turned game one to our favor immediately. Oh well. From beyond the grave I got Twaun to activate Double Deal by reminiscing about Bogardan Hellkite and its role in the Belcher sideboard. That guy didn’t even see it coming.

After our team had been soundly defeated in two games, the Type 4 broke up and the players headed their separate ways. Twaun and I stayed up another couple of hours testing Vintage, his BR Stax deck against TPS. However, either his opening hands or his deck were awful, so we quit without much having been learned.

This segues nicely into my deck choice for the next day’s tournament, of course, because as usual, having learned nothing, I would be playing Belcher.

The maindeck is the same as it has been for recent past tournaments, but I included some sideboard tricks to shore up the Tezzeret matchup a little.

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

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

4x Guttural Response
4x Manamorphose
4x Street Wraith

Sideboard
4x Jester’s Cap
4x Storm Entity
4x Desperate Ritual
2x Pyroblast
1x Gaea’s Blessing

I thought Jester’s Caps would be good against Tezzeret. Empty the Warrens has some drawbacks against Tezzeret because the deck is relatively fast; they can goldfish a bunch of goblin tokens. Caps on the other hand, immediately make my opponent unable to win. They’re cheaper to activate than Charbelcher but have its same synergies with Goblin Welder. Nabbing Tezzeret, Colossus, and Voltaic Key from my opponent should shut that deck down nicely.

The problem is the possibility of losing game one, in which case Jester’s Cap seems like a ticket to Drawsville, first class, or to the dreaded 0-1 match loss. I can’t make my opponent concede, they may still have a win condition in hand, and it could still take a while to win around my opponent’s disruption. I boarded them in once against Oath after having won game one, but the rest of the time they stayed on the bench. I don’t think I’ll be running them again.

Anyway, after getting impeccable directions from Mrs. NecroWin and spending another $1 in tolls, we found the venue and registered for the tournament.

Then, and this is why I’ll dedicate this weekend’s performance to my mom, on the way to lunch at a nearby mall food court, I saw the most beaten up penny I’ve ever seen nestled in some parking lot rocks. I picked it up immediately because “Penny, penny, bring me luck, ‘cause I’m the one that picked you up.” My mom always says that when she sees a penny, and I figured any Magic tournament is worthy of a little extra luck. It must have worked because my opening hands up until round four were disgustingly good. Thanks, penny! Thanks, Mom!

Round 1 – “Angry Ginger” – Angel Oath

My opponent was certainly ginger (in the red-haired, freckled sense) but he was a nice guy, despite his name. He didn’t have much experience with Vintage, but that’s no reason for me to go easy on him.

He led off game one with a turn one Oath off a Mox Emerald. Not a bad opening. I played Belcher (which got Forced) but still had enough mana to Tinker for a second one because my hand was amazing. If he hadn’t Forced, I would have won on my first turn. As it was, he passed his second turn and I drew Mox Pearl to activate and win on turn two.

I brought in four Jester’s Caps in place of four Empty the Warrens.

Game two was a little more balanced. He led off with two Moxen and a ponder, while I opened with a first turn Belcher. It got countered again, but I had mana left over to play Timetwister. My Twister hand was weak, and my opponent found Oath. We played a few turns as he looked for a Forbidden Orchard and I looked for another win condition. Finally he found Demonic Tutor and got his Orchard. He made the mistake of playing a land, though, giving me another precious turn, which I used to play Goblin Welder. He Oathed up Akroma and smacked me, then played Thoughtseize to get the Tinder Wall I needed to activate the Belcher I had in my graveyard. He Negated my Manamorphose and I was left a mana short of winning. Another Angel and I was dead.

On the play in game three I opened with Wheel of Fortune, which went through. I was only able to play a Goblin Welder off the Wheel, but that worked nicely with the Belcher I had dumped to the yard. His opening hand was wrecked of course, and he scooped to my being able to weld in Belcher and win.

Games – 2-1-0; Matches – 1-0-0

That was it; games one and three were quick and easy and I was close to winning game two. My opening hands in games one and two were amazing—Belcher with a second win-condition backup? Okay! And I probably would have been able to take game two as well if I hadn’t been so worried about him Oathing something more threatening than a 6/6 beater or Oathing and Time Walking. He mentioned afterward that he must have kept bad hands, but I told him his hands were pretty good against me (Force of Will can seal the deal most of the time). He just needed to go for control rather than focusing on his own win condition.

Round 2 – Ellis – Tezzeret

I knew what my opponent was playing because he had sat next to me in the previous round. I also remembered that Ellis did well at the Mr. Nice Guy tournament I attended back in November and was looking forward to a good match.

I won the roll and played in game one. My notes for this game say, “T1 Belch, No Counter,” and I think that pretty much says it all. Kaboom!

I boarded in Jester’s Caps and Pyroblasts for Empty the Warrens, a Guttural Response, and a Chrome Mox. Pyroblasts are better than Guttural against a blue planeswalker before and after it’s cast. For the last card, the choice is between Chrome Mox, which is card disadvantage, and Manamorphose, which doesn’t do anything on its own. I’m not sure which is better to cut.

Anyway, in game two, we both mulled to five, but Ellis negated his with a turn one Ancestral Recall. I got Goblin Welder into play but lacked a game winning artifact in my graveyard or a way to get one there. As such I was digging. Ellis countered a few feeble attempts at business and drew cards with Ponder and Brainstorm, finally playing Yawgmoth’s Will to set up a Demonic Tutor for Vault and Key. I scooped.

I mulled to five to start game three and opened with a Mox Ruby to hold up the Pyroblast I had in hand along with a Mox Emerald, Lotus Petal and Belcher. I remember thinking that what I really needed was Channel to go with my two green mana and Pyroblast backup. Ellis mulled to six and played Thorn of Amethyst. Thorn slowed me down, but I played Mox Emerald, Mox Sapphire, and Lotus Petal. Soon, I had drawn Tinker but knew that I’d have to get through a counter. Then Ellis tapped out to play Trinisphere. Then I drew Channel! Thanks to Trinisphere my path to victory was clear; I Channeled out Belcher and its activation.

Games – 4-2-0; Matches – 2-0-0

After game three, my opponent said Trinisphere was a mistake and that he’d forgotten about Channel. It’s true. He had lots of time already thanks to Thorn and the fact that I hadn’t done anything to make him waste a counter. I really did have to draw Channel right there to win, though; so maybe it was just bad luck!

Round 3 – Zohar – Ichorid

Zohar also did well at the last Pittsburgh tournament I attended. Talking before the match I found out that he’s actually from Fairfax, VA, and used to play regularly at the weekly Legacy tournament in Gainesville, that I’ve been thinking about attending. Small world.

He won the die roll in game one and mulliganed, then he Serum Powdered, and I said, “I know what you’re playing!” In the end he had Serum Powdered twice and Paris’d four times down to three cards before keeping. All of that took around 10 minutes. I kept my opener and killed him turn one with Belcher activation off an LED.

I sided out Guttural Responses for Desperate Rituals.

Game two was a grave disappointment for me. Zohar kept a defensive hand and opened with Chalice for zero that shut me down pretty well. I played Goblin Welder off a Spirit Guide hoping to either weld in Belcher at some point or to weld out my opponent’s Chalice. Zohar played Chalice for one on his next turn and started digging with Bazaar on turn three. Finally he put a Serum Powder in the grave and I lost focus. I correctly welded out Chalice for zero on his endstep, then welded out the other Chalice on my turn rather than simply playing my artifacts and welding in the Belcher! Instead of winning the game on the spot, I gave my opponent another turn, which he used to kill me.

Also, he played Cabal Therapy through his own Chalice. It didn’t end up mattering, but it’s definitely something one of us should have noticed, especially me.

It was very frustrating.

I kept my opener for game three and made 12 goblins with Empty the Warrens. My opponent also kept, opened with Bazaar, and was soon making zombies. Neither of us was quite sure how to handle that many creatures. I wanted to force him to block so that his Bridges would go away, but my goblins were the only things saving me from zombie tokens. I swung through his open board, sending him to eight, then forced him to block my second attack removing three Bridges and sending him to two. Unfortunately, too many of my Goblins had died to defend me, and he was able to Darkblast and Chain enough more to get lethal damage through.

Games – 5-4-0; Matches – 2-1-0

Fortunately, game three’s epic feel made up a little for my blunder in game two, and in the end I felt good about the match. Granted, I would have felt a lot better if I had won game two and ended it there rather than losing game three and the match. Oh well. The match did a lot to help my confidence against Ichorid, and I’m no longer sure that I need Tormod’s Crypt in the board. They may be like Xantid Swarms are against drains: a distraction and unnecessary.

Round 4 – Shockey – Tezzeret

Shockey was a fun opponent as well as one of the employees of the store. We had a great time bantering back and forth.

I won the roll and kept a six card hand that made a Belcher on turn one. Unfortunately, Shockey had the Force and followed on his turn with Thirst for Knowledge and Divining Top. I drew and cast Simian Spirit Guide, deciding that I had mana enough in play to cast an actual threat when I drew it. I got the beats in for a few turns, eventually getting him down to nine life. He hardcast Tezzeret but couldn’t get Time Vault because I would attack and kill the planeswalker, so he used it to untap his mana and hardcast Darksteel Colossus. Awesome. In another turn I was dead, having taken damage from two Street Wraiths and Mana Vault since turn one.

I sided out a Guttural Response and a Chrome Mox for two Pyroblasts.

I kept my opener in game two and Emptied the Warrens for eight tokens, knocking him to three over two attacks before he found Echoing Truth. My goblins disappeared, except for one loyal Welder that I had cast the previous turn. He went the distance over the next three turns.

Shockey mulled once in game three and went first with a Thirst for Knowledge, I think. I had a hand that could Wheel of Fortune with Guttural Response backup or Empty the Warrens for four. Obviously, I was going toWheel, but when my opponent went to counter Manamorphose, I Guttural Responsed and drew into Mana Crypt. I was suddenly able to Empty the Warrens for 10 instead! I did that and won in another two turns.

Games – 7-5-0; Matches – 3-1-0

Anyone who says Goblin Welder is slow or unnecessary in Belcher is crazy. That guy is amazing. I won two of seven games with Welder, and would have won an additional one if I hadn’t been struck with the galloping dumbs. Even when Welder has to put down his torch and pick up a beatin’ stick, he just gets the job done. He’s just too good not to run.

Anyway, that was it. I drew in round five against another Angel Oath player and was locked in for the top eight at 3-1-1.

Top 8 – Paul Mastriano – Tezzeret

My luck had been good for the previous rounds, but I still wasn’t much looking forward to meeting Paul in the top eight. Paul is an excellent player, is hard to read, and always seems to have the most broken of his cards in his opening hand, earning him the nickname “Sculptini.” He’s a great guy and one of my favorite players to watch play, but his win record (cf. Vintage World Champion) makes him one I didn’t want to face in the first round of a top eight.

I won the die roll for game one and opened with a first turn Memory Jar, passing the turn. Paul opened with Ancestral. I cracked Jar on my upkeep but found only an Empty the Warrens for six goblins, all of whom I would have traded for one Goblin Welder at that point. Paul was unfazed. “I have you,” he said, and cast Tezzeret off a Dark Ritual, tutored for Time Vault, and Time Walked to set up the combo before I even got an attack phase.

Hmph. I boarded as before for Tezzeret, bringing in Pyroblasts for a Guttural Response and a Chrome Mox.

I kept an opening hand for game two that had the option of either playing Wheel of Fortune or Tinker on turn one. I opted for Tinker. If successful, Tinker leads directly to a win, whereas Wheel leads to seven random cards; plus Wheel is easier to cast later, even if I do have to sacrifice an artifact. Tinker got countered, and Paul Thoughtseized Wheel on his turn and Time Walked on the next. I countered his Gifts Ungiven with Guttural Response, but couldn’t stop Fact or Fiction. The facts were good enough to win the game for him and my day was over.

Still, I took home a foil Tinker for my troubles. Neat!

Actually, it was great to get something for making top eight. For other tournament organizers out there, it doesn’t have to be much, but having prizes extend to the top eight is a great policy. Making top eight is a nice accomplishment, and it’s great to get something to commemorate it with. In my opinion, at least.

After the tournament (Paul made second, losing to GAT) we headed to Primanti Brothers for some awesome sandwiches. They were excellent as usual and make me that much more likely to show up to Pittsburgh tournaments in the future.

Anyway, thanks to The Vault for having the tournament, Mr. and Mrs. NecroWin for opening their house to a trio of nerdy gamers, and to all of my opponents for the great games of Magic. Thanks also to my mom and that penny for being there and bringing me luck.

I’m headed to Baltimore next weekend for another Vintage extravaganza, and will likely report from there as well. Until then, counter Gleemax!