Tourney Tips

I’ll start advertising now because I’m going to be busy over the next few weeks and I don’t want to forget. Plus, I think you need a decent amount of time to prepare for these things.

The Soldiery in Columbus is holding a cheap, full-proxy tournament that if you’re at all interested in playing Vintage Magic, you should seriously consider entering. For the relatively low price of $15, you can proxy up thousands of dollars of cards and throw them down with the best Vintage has to offer on Sunday, May 21 at 11:30 a.m. Stephen Menendian will be there, as will Roland Chang (the reigning Vintage Champion) and a slew of other Meandeckers and regional pros. And beginners really can’t beat full-proxy.

The prize will be a Mox Pearl, and it sounds like there will be a Timetwister given away to second place as well. There will be door-prizes and other goodies available all day as well.

Allowing 75 proxies means that you can literally build any deck you want. If you want to throw Moxes, Workshops, Drains, Bazaars, and a Lotus into one deck and figure that the best deck plays all the best cards whether they have any synergy or not, you can. You’ll probably save around $4,000 right off the bat. Really, though, any version of Gifts, Stax, Slaver, Tendrils, Oath, Fish, Dragon, random janky combo, whatever—it’s in your grasp. Just pick a list that strikes you.

Or, just go by the name; try CEREBRAL ASSASSIN!

Plus, full proxies almost guarantees there will be a good turnout. So games will be played all day rather than for just a few hours. It’s more Magic bang for your buck!

Trust me when I say that a fun time will be had by all.

And if you’re interested, my friends and I will be going to Thurman’s afterwards for celebratory or conciliatory ginormous cheeseburgers.

Sunday, May 21, 2006
Registration starts at 11:30 a.m., first land drops at 12:30.
The Soldiery
4256 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43214
(614) 267-1957

If anything changes, I’ll try to keep you posted.

Here are my recommendations and suggestions from one Vintage neophyte to another:

1. Don’t be afraid of Vintage. Seriously.

Okay, turn one wins do happen, but they’re fairly rare and you have an entire deck that you can tune in game two and try to prevent that. The best combo decks like GrimLong are affected by lots of things: graveyard hate to prevent an effective Yawgmoth’s Will; chalice at 0, 1, or 3; a well-placed Duress, Stifle, even Daze; Jester’s Cap, Extract, and Mindslaver; and of course everybody’s favorite format janitor, Force of Will.

Basically, you’re working with the best of the best of the biggest cardpool in Magic, so you should be able to find a life-saving answer.

If you don’t, wait until they kill you, then sideboard and shuffle up for game two.

Games are determined less by the coinflip and more by the matchup and the skill-levels of the two pilots.

Besides, when you lose on turns one and two in a single match, you suddenly have lots of time to, say, get a sandwich and heckle other players by repeatedly slapping them in the face with it.

2. Unless you have some combo or new tech that you feel is really new and good, proxy someone else’s successful list and start learning how to play that as soon as possible.

Proven lists are usually proven for a reason—they’re pretty good, built by better players and builders (at least in Vintage) than you are. I think right now the only new tech I would even consider trying to bring into this environment would be something from Guildpact or Dissension, like Infernal Tutor. Even then you’ll probably want to start with a list from The Mana Drain.

Learning the deck is even more important. Even a substandard deck will be able to steal some wins if the pilot is both competent and comfortable with it. If you want to play Gifts, for example, go through some situations where you use Gifts Ungiven to find different cards. Maybe you don’t want to search right away for Will, Tinker, Walk and Recoup. You might want to start off with something like Force, Drain, Scroll, and Demonic Tutor to protect yourself for a better Gifts later.

Even with a simple deck like Fish, you learn to deal with their threats rather than protecting yours necessarily. I think the only threat of mine that I would go out of my way to protect, for example is either a game winning Withered Wretch against a graveyard strategy, or a Dark Confidant. More experience almost universally brings better results.

3. If you’re not winning—even if you’re not going to win—play the game out and be a good sport about it.

Of course, this is contingent on you being also not interested in or eligible for a game three and therefore being worried about time. And it should also be based somewhat on your opponent’s feelings on this subject; Magic players get cranky when they’re hungry, so if your opponent looks emaciated you may want to concede so they can get some food.

However, wherever you have time and inclination, you want to see your opponent’s deck and how he plays it. This can be very valuable going into game two for knowing what to sideboard against and also any holes that you might see to exploit next game.

Plus, it’s just a good learning experience. You can see the visible strategies that go into building and playing a deck, and afterwards you can ask about any hidden strategies (Brainstorms, Tutors, etc.) and how those played out. When I played against combo genius Justin Droba (a.k.a. JDizzle; may his recent retirement bring him peace and happiness) in Dayton, I lost on turn two twice in a row, but I got to see how he played GrimLong, and afterward we talked a little about his build and some general Tendrils strategy. It was interesting and informative, and I think I’m a better player for it.

I think those are all of my helpful tips. The first one should get you there, the second should help you succeed, and the third will hopefully encourage you to show up at subsequent showings of my favorite format.

The last thing I’ll leave you with is perhaps the most important: Be Prepared. And I don’t mean just bring a deck, I mean Be Prepared mentally and physically. Get a good night’s sleep and show up with a cheerful countenance that you’re prepared to keep whether you win or lose. You’re playing a game in a more casual format, so have fun with it.

Except against Stax. That’s just no fun to lose to because only your opponent plays the game. Slaver too, if they get a recursion engine set up. And you might not see any turns against a lucky combo player.

Seriously, though, Vintage is fun and generally a friendlier sort of competition. It’s not called the Gentlemen’s Format for nothing.

Also, please, please, please take a shower before this tournament and any others you might show up to. It’s the polite thing to do.

I’ll see you in two weeks in Columbus.