Hello fellow eternal MTG players! My name is James Easteppe.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t heard of me it\u2019s probably because I don\u2019t get to play competitively much and have rarely played in larger events. I\u2019ve had some success in smaller events of 20-40 players but at heart I\u2019m a dirty casual player who enjoys constructed eternal formats played on kitchen tables — like I did when I was a kid (albeit now I enjoy a good IPA while playing at the kitchen table).<\/p>\n
Most of the magic I play now is via skype, casually. I only play three formats primarily and that\u2019s mostly because I\u2019m a curmudgeon old man who doesn\u2019t really like the look, feel, or game design of newer cards (despite my ever-growing foiled deck projects). The format I play the most is probably 93\/94 although I do play legacy frequently and I occasionally play vintage when I have the opportunity.<\/p>\n
I recently had the pleasure of playing in a vintage tournament at MTG First<\/a> in Glen Burnie Maryland for their first Vintage Magic Tournament<\/a>. Living in the triangle area in North Carolina I would normally never drive 5-6 hours to play in a Sunday tournament. One thing that made this tournament stand out was the excellent prize support provided (A Mishra\u2019s Workshop<\/a> for 1st place and a Library of Alexandria<\/a> for 2nd place). This enticed me to make the trek and turn it into a weekend trip.<\/p>\n I follow many of the articles and Podcasts on vintage and consider myself fairly well versed on the formats card pool. Vintage is only known to some players for turn one kills and that currently only has two tier one decks (shops and mentor). For anyone who plays the format frequently you know that this is simply not true and that it is a highly interactive format with a very diverse range of strategies. So I did what anyone would do who was expecting a two deck format, I played neither.<\/p>\n I chose to play Standstill at the tournament and man did it pay off! Decklist can be found here courtesy of TopDecked<\/a> (check it out if you haven\u2019t already, it\u2019s a sweet app and website for deck-building, collection management, it sends you your pairings at big GPs and premier events, and more):<\/p>\n This is the list I played: https:\/\/www.topdecked.me\/decks\/2264c545-aea2-4c91-b66c-3ed4a4f14ac9<\/a><\/p>\n My opponent I ended up playing was actually from Durham, North Carolina ironically enough. Game one I ended up taking it with the Mishra\u2019s Factory<\/a> Beat down pretty quick by countering almost everything he played.<\/p>\n Game two, was fairly interactive and I ended up boarding in some of my shops hate (2x Energy Flux<\/a>, Stony Silence<\/a>, Disenchant<\/a>, Ethersworn Canonist<\/a>, and Hurkyl\u2019s Recall). I land a Jace and get it to 13 loyalty and my opponent plays demonic consultation for pyroblast and turns over 35 cards in his deck. He casts pyroblast and we exchange some counter magic. He concedes with all his win conditions in the graveyard.<\/p>\n This was a horrible matchup for me. He was running 4 main deck Spell Queller<\/a>\u00a0and just beat me on the stack constantly. He was running the stoneblade package and beat me down game one with a batterskull. Game two he tore me up on the stack and beat me down with Spell Queller and Snapcaster Mage. It was a rough matchup to say the least. He ended up making Top 8.<\/p>\n Game one my opponent gets his engine online while I\u2019m sitting with no counter magic and no swords to plowshares in hand. He steamrolls me after churning through almost his entire deck and blows me out with like 22 monk tokens.<\/p>\n Game 2 I was able to slam Stony Silence, Moat<\/a>, and eventually ride Jace to victory and my opponent conceded after getting Jace to 13 and he had a dead draw.<\/p>\n Game three he started to get going and I had Supreme Verdict<\/a> and then played Jace and again road Jace to victory.<\/p>\n My opponent was another one of the guys who drove up from the triangle area to play. Game one he has time vault turn one and a Tezzeret the second turn after a bunch of fast mana and takes all the turns. I would have made him play it out if he had his Mana Crypt in play.<\/p>\n Game two he tinkers into Blightsteel Colossus<\/a> and I Hurkyl\u2019s it back into his hand. I eventually got there with factories and card advantage.<\/p>\n Game three my opponent had to mull to 4. I had turn one land, Black Lotus<\/a>, ethersworn canonist, into standstill. He eventually breaks my Standstill<\/a> a couple turns later and I have answers for his spells.<\/p>\n My opponent had a great draw game one and slams a Show and Tell<\/a> into Omniscience<\/a> and I die shortly after.<\/p>\n Game two we exchange cards back and forth but he show and tells an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn<\/a> into play and I have swords as my only interaction. I die\u2026Oath of Druids<\/a> is a really really bad matchup for Standstill, especially with the Omniscience mainboard.<\/p>\n Game one I play turn one Black Lotus, land, Vendilion Clique<\/a> and take his only threat. He plays a Sphere of Resistance<\/a> and I eventually Wasteland<\/a> lock my opponent and grind him out of the match after I swords his threats.<\/p>\n Game two my hand is pure gas with Crucible of Worlds<\/a>, Energy Flux, Force of Will<\/a> and Jace but is really weak to wasteland. He goes to play chalice I force pitching Jace. First turn I play a fetchland and pass. He wastelands my next land and I\u2019m starting to sweat but eventually land the crucible and start wasteland him forcing him to sack all his permanents and when I land Jace he concedes.<\/p>\n I was the only player that didn\u2019t want to split the Top 8 because I was the 8 seed and had nothing to lose by playing out the games.<\/p>\n This was the same opponent from round 5, and he was the number one seed (congrats by the way). Game one exchange a few spells early but he eventually burning wishes plays Omniscience and you know what happens after that\u2026I\u2019m dead<\/p>\n Game two I have turn one Grafdigger\u2019s Cage<\/a> and he plays oath turn one and gives me a token. I let it resolve with Containment Priest<\/a> in hand. Turn 2 I play a land and pass. On his upkeep he oaths and it goes to the graveyard. Next turn I play a land and pass. He oaths again and conceded.<\/p>\n Game three again I have a great opening hand with 2 containment priest. He plays a turn one show and tell and I have force. Turn three he plays oath goes to activate and I flash in containment priest. I eventually play a Jace and he concedes. Michael and I had a blast and really enjoyed our matches.<\/p>\n Game one my opponent gets me down to 1 life after exchanging lots of counter magic fight over pyromancer, dack, and mentor. I eventually land moat with a follow up clique the next turn thinking I have it locked up. He swords’d it and I counter thinking I\u2019m home free. I\u2019m still worried because I\u2019m in bolt range. He snaps swords and kills the clique and I have counter magic but let it resolve (I had Jace in hand and needed the counter magic backup). I play Jace and ride Jace all the way up to 13 and he concedes.<\/p>\n Game 2 was much of the same. He starts pinging away at me I swords an early mentor and eventually land Moat. He swords my clique and my Faerie Conclave<\/a>. I played Jace with a hand full of counter magic and get Jace up to 13 and my opponent concedes. These were great games that were highly interactive and Matt was a long-time player who was super friendly.<\/p>\n Game one I play turn one Clique and take my opponents only threat. I play a mishra’s factory turn two and my opponent plays mana crypt and some Moxen and a ballista on 1. I stupidly played standstill thinking factory is bigger than that tiny robot\u2026well his robot gets bigger than my factory. I swing twice with factory and my opponent had horrible luck on die rolls and I win the game with my opponent losing a roll at 1 life and I\u2019m at 5 with ballista able to tick up to 5. I got really lucky this game.<\/p>\n Game two my hand is pure gas with stony silence, energy flux, wasteland, two fetch lands and some counter magic. My opponent has a heavy moxen hand and plays an early sphere. I play stony silence turn 3 or 4 after an end step Hurkyl\u2019s recall shutting off his moxen leaving him with ancient tomb. He plays a factory and phyrexian revoker naming Jace. My next turn I play my fourth land and slam energy flux on the table. My opponent lets his moxen go but pays for the revoker. I eventually land Jace and get Jace to 13 and my opponent concedes. Ryan was a great player and I learned a lot from our games.<\/p>\n Overall the experience was great and I had an amazing time and would definitely travel again to play at an MTG First<\/a> vintage event. Many thanks to the TO Jason Choe and everyone I played against for making my first larger (over 12 people) Vintage event such a great experience!<\/p>\nRound 1: Two Card Monty (2-0)<\/h3>\n
Round 2: UW Control (0-2)<\/h3>\n
Round 3: Paradoxical Mentor (2-1)<\/h3>\n
Round 4: UB Tinker (2-1)<\/h3>\n
Round 5: Show and Tell Oath (0-2)<\/h3>\n
Round 6: Thought-Knot Seer Shops (2-0)<\/h3>\n
Top 8:<\/h2>\n
Semi Finals: Show and Tell Oath (2-1) Michael Woodward<\/h3>\n
Quarter Finals: Jeskai Mentor (2-0) Matt Mercer<\/h3>\n
Finals-Shops (2-0) Ryan Eberhart<\/h3>\n