For starters, I’d like to issue a hearty thanks to all the players who made the trip out to Selden to play Vintage yesterday.  We had 48 players come for the Vintage main event and fight it out for a Lotus. At the end of the day a horde of zombies stood tall over the rest of the field.
   
The Complete Metagame Breakdown

Dredge: 5
Tezz: 10
Noble Fish: 2
Mono Red Stax: 2
5Cstax: 3
Shop Aggro: 2
Elves: 1
Keeper: 2
Dragon Oath: 1
Iona Oath: 2
Standstill Control: 1
Tidespout Oath: 1
Metalworker Combo: 1
TPS: 2
R/G Beats: 1
G/W Beats: 1
BUG Fish: 1
Dark Times: 2
U/R Fish: 1
Merfolk: 1
Jund Beats: 1
Coatl Control: 1
Rector Combo: 1

     The field was dominated by two decks – Dredge and Tezzeret.  Dredge came in at over 10% of the field and 25% of the top 8.  And while Tezzeret did come out in force, comprising more than 20% of the field, there was a solitary Tezzeret deck in the top 8.  Oath decks showed up, though were not nearly as prevalent as I had imagined they would be.  The Shop builds were disparate, with the nearly mono brown Confidant/Metalworker build being represented as well as the more traditional 5C, Mono Red and Shop Aggro builds all taking their place in the metagame.  Once again, there were many rogue strategies, but the top 8 consisted of almost all the usual suspects, with only Jason Imperiale’s Elves deck raising some eyes.  While the deck  has at times been a refuge for players without the collections necessary to play some of the pricier decks, Jason showed that with his Pro Tour experience the deck is a player in the format if you’re sufficiently skilled.

Top 8 Pairings and Results

Jim Davis vs. Jason Imperiale – Davis wins
Matt Elias vs. Brad Granberry – Elias wins
Jake Gans vs. Ici Li – Gans wins
Mike Lapine vs. Tom Dixon – Lapine wins

Top 4 Pairings and Results

Jim Davis vs. Matt Elias – Davis wins
Jake Gans vs. Mike Lapine – Gans wins

Finals

Jake Gans vs. Jim Davis – Gans wins

   Congratulations to Jake Gans, Jim Davis and all of our top 8 competitors.  

Top 8 Decklists

1st – Jake Gans
Dredge

4 Narcomoeba
4 Bloodghast
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Fatestitcher
1 Flame Kin Zealot
1 Golgari Thug
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Darkblast
1 Life from the Loam
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dread Return
4 Breakthrough
4 Bridge from Below
2 Chalice of the Void
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
3 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
3 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Dakmor Salvage

Sideboard:
2 Wispmare
3 Emerald Charm
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Nix
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ingot Chewer

2nd – Jim Davis
Tezzeret

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Rebuild
3 Dark Confidant
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Fire/Ice
4 Force of Will
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
1 Island
2 Snow Covered Island
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Volcanic Island
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Repeal
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Duress
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
2 Thoughtseize
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

Sideboard
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Sower of Temptation
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Pithing Needle
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Pyroblast
1 Pyroclasm
1 Rack and Ruin
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Annul
1 Echoing Truth

3rd – Mike Lapine
Dredge

1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
3 Golgari Thug
4 Narcomoeba
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Dread Return
4 Unmask
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bridge from Below
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ichorid
3 Dryad Arbor
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Serum Powder
2 Flame Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Street Wraith

Sideboard
3 Reverent Silence
2 Contagion
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Slaughter Pact
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Bayou
1 Windfall Primus

4th – Matt Elias
Noble Fish

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Meddling Mage
3 Trygon Predator
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Null Rod
3 Stifle
3 Daze
2 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Savannah
3 Tropical Island
2 Tundra

Sideboard
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Serum Powder
2 Energy Flux
1 Krosan Grip
1 Oxidize
1 Trygon Predator
1 Kataki, War’s Wage
 
5th – Ici Li
Mono Red Workshops

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Wasteland
3 Mountain
4 Barbarian Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Trinisphere
1 Memory Jar
4 Goblin Welder
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Null Rod

Sideboard
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Greater Gargadon
4 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

6th – Jason Imperiale
Elves

1 Tropical Island
4 Forest
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Quirion Ranger
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Regal Force
1 Viridian Shaman
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Glimpse of Nature
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Heritage Druid
1 Time Walk
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Birchlore Ranger
3 Wirewood Symbiote
4 Skullclamp
1 Grapeshot
4 Fyndhorn Elves

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Viridian Shaman
2 Seeds of Innocence
3 Gleeful Sabotage
3 Xantid Swarm

7th – Tom Dixon
Keeper

1 Island
4 City of Brass
1 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Sundering Titan
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind Twist
1 Ponder
1 Regrowth
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Brainstorm
1 Cunning Wish
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Fire/Ice
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will

Sideboard
1 Helm of Obedience
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Extirpate
1 Krosan Grip
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast

8th – Brad Granberry
Oath Control

4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Oath of Druids
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Timetwister
3 Night’s Whisper
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Repeal
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
3 Spell Pierce
3 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will

Sideboard
1 Tundra
1 Tinker
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Progenitus
1 Balance
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Duress
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Ravenous Trap

     The no proxy prize of a wolf shirt went to Matt Elias, who looked exceptionally good all day while rocking a 2009 Yankees World Series Championship hat and his Mariano Rivera jersey.  While he’ll wear the wolf shirt well, nothing is going to ever look quite so good as those pinstripes…

     The 9th place prize was altered at the last moment to a stunning 39 Goblin Game’s, two of which were foil, eight of which were autographed by the top 8 for the event.  Pat Albergo can certainly go home happy knowing that no one else can claim a prize quite so unique.

     The Sportsmanship prize of a Misty Rainforest was won by David Earley.  David exhibited the sportsmanship that we come to expect of Vintage players and was certainly a worthy selection.

     The random door prize of a wolf shirt was won by Mike Egan, who will now certainly fare better in all future endeavors so long as he's wearing what must be the greatest shirt ever.

     A sincere thanks to our judge, Brian Paskoff, the Brothers Grim staff of Dave, Frank and Gil, and to Nick Coss for helping to provide the prize support.  It was a wonderful day of Vintage and I look forward to seeing everyone for N.Y.S.E. VI, which will be coming sooner than you know (more news on this later…)  Finally, I'd like to thank Mikey Noble and Nick Coss (one more time) for their help with the photos for the event, which will be up shortly.  I know that I couldn't have put them up without you.  Lastly, for all those concerned, the points standings will be announced later this week, on the N.Y.S.E. Tournament page on Facebook, so keep your eyes peeled to see where you stand.

Congrats on the fantastic turnout.  Glad to see our events did not conflict with each other.

As mentioned in my thread, I will run my dates by with you from here on out and will avoid scheduling vintage tourneys the same day as you when possible.

Seems like you run a great show.  Keep it up.

- Dave

Nick, it was a fun day of hanging out, vintaging, and that afterparty invasion of TGI Fridays will be remembered for a long time to come.  Keep 'em up my friend, you're doing great.  To anyone who decided not to go, you're missing out!

-Nick

At the very least, Fridays was memorable.  The post tournament dinner is almost always the best part of the day. 

And thank God Jimmy didn't:

A.  Stab himself while playing catch with steak knives
B.  Intimidate the waiter any further
C.  Find himself enjoying horsemen 9-12

Overall, a great day...

Someone PLEASE get Pat Albergo my contact info or if you see this Pat Albergo, please PM me....
I am VERY interested in trading for those Games; especially the ones signed by the top 8, to add to my over 3,000 copy collection....



Nick, Congrats on another event! You and Coss are the best things to happen to vintage since moxen!

I had a great time despite going 2-4 with my mangled BUG Fish build, which has now been scrapped.  Learned a lot from a few mistakes, met a bunch of great people as always.

Thanks Nick!

I had a great time as well. Thanks for hosting another great tournament, Nick!

I went 3-2-1 playing my usual RBG Jund Beats (the same build I ran at the last Blue Bell). I will honor my post-tourney Facebook pledge to play something else at the next Vintage event however...

I took very few notes so I'll just post my round-by-round results:

Round 1: Drew 1-1 vs The Deck
Round 2: Lost 0-2 vs Elves
Round 3: Won 2-1 vs Tezz
Round 4: Won 2-0 vs TPS
Round 5: Lost 0-2 vs Iona Oath
Round 6: Won 2-0 vs Empty Chair.dec

Failing to make top 8 I really wanted to play Tichu but couldn't find three other players. Despite that I still managed to dog Brian Carey about 30 times though! So instead I played a little EDH. First up Simon and I housed a 2HG EDH game, then we were just about to wrap up a regular 6-player one when it was time to leave. Six hours later I pulled into my driveway, stumbled upstairs into my bed, and fell asleep. Apparently some other stuff happened in between.


What trip to TGI Friday's? Was I there? I don't remember a thing!

Sorry i couldn't make this one Nick. Au was running a YGO regional and I was needed to cover the fort at bluebell. Sounds like everyone had fun and i swear I'm going to make one of these tournaments. Someday...

Nick, Thanks again for holding another great event. I always have a great time at these, can't wait till the next one. Dinner at Friday's will forever be engraved in my mind. @ kingsquee: All i'm gonna say is "Oops, I did it again!"

Nick, I think I left my Wolf Shirt in the front right corner of the store where Nick's dealer stuff was, under a table.  If anyone finds it, can you hold onto it for me?

I am still waiting for my other 3 shots of jagger. Also i am pretty sure those horseman were getting ready to take me away!! Great event nick now if i can just get back into form ill be fine

Of course... I'll be there Saturday, I'll see if they have it then.

I'm not sure why you would expect it to still be at the store. Wolf shirts automatically seek out their owners when they become lost. Matt's shirt is likely halfway to Philadelphia by now, so it should show up in a few days.

Note: I don't actually know anything about the shirt's location.

@ matt:
will your article be about this tournament? If not, I have roughly seven questions about your final list

Oh and by the way...

Who runs Chain of Vapor main deck?

 

I was as shocked as Mike Lapine.

For those who weren't there - it was Dredge vs. Dredge in the semifinals, Gans vs. Lapine.  Both knew the other was on Dredge.  Mike dropped a turn 0 Leyline of the Void.  Jake dropped a game one, turn one Chain of Vapor.  

We were all blown away.

Awesome tournament. 

I left my house at 6 AM Saturday and arrived home at 6 AM Sunday.  That is the sign of a good Vintage adventure.  Even though I was deathly tired at TGI Fridays before even starting the trek home, it was pretty entertaining and I'd do it again.

GGs to everyone I played, and grats to Jake Gans for rocking it home with the Lotus. 

I think the most shocking play was Lapine mulling to 1...and mising the Bazaar anyway.

Yeah, that was awesome and I'm definitely not still bitter about it.


It probably will be, but I'm always open to questions.  Keep in mind I am by no means an expert on Noble Fish and make no claims as to the quality / correctness of my specific deck, although it more or less worked well on the day I suppose.

Congrats to Jake for a well deserved win, he consistently produces the results across a range of formats.  Apologies again for our lateness, and for totally squandering the round 1 bye I had.  All went wrong game 3 of the first round I played, he dropped a bunch of mana and a key, I Thoughtseized to see Vamp and Demonic...


That was a great game.  All looked like it was going to go very wrong as everyone else had flying things, then we just churned out a bunch orf creatures and set them up with some real beef, and punishment was despatched.

Hi,
Does anyone know if Ici Li has an account on TheManaDrain?
I really need to speak with him.

Thanks

Ici was banned from TMD a while ago for god knows what.  I can get a message to him for you if you'd like.

Nick Coss delivered my Wolf Shirt to me, it was in his van. 

What isn't clear is whether it was in his van the whole time, or it traveled home from the store and snuck into Nick's van, where it knew it would be returned to me.

In any case, crisis averted.

Nick Coss's house ate my Gremlins pillow.  All of his stuff is haunted.

Nick, my list has two extra Moxen (Jet & Ruby) - did I list it that way?  It should only be 60 cards.

I don't have the lists anymore, so I couldn't tell you.  I usually keep the Lotus/Moxen cut so that when I'm typing out lists, I can just paste that part on to speed up the process.  It's almost assuredly my fault, so I wouldn't worry about it.