The list I was playing was:
Lands:
Lands:
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
Creatures:
4 Lotus Cobra
Artifacts:
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
5 Moxen
Spells:
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Force of Will
4 Gush
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind's Desire
1 Ponder
3 Preordain
1 Regrowth
1 Tendrils of Agony
3 Thoughtseize
1 Timetwister
1 Time walk
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Enchantments:
1 Fastbond
1 Necropotence
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the void
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Blightsteel Colossus
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Natures Claim
2 Mental Misstep
1 Hurkyl's Recall
It is a bit more of a Highlander list than I am used to. The last time I played in a proper tournament I was running Dark Times so it is a big jump from a deck of 4 ofs to a storm list. As far as I am aware, no one has ever run this exact 60 before so I am officially the creator of a new Vintage deck, as far as you can create a "new" deck in Vintage. That is not to say there are never new decks, but I can't say I invented Gush-Fastbond as a draw engine. I have used material from other places to create my own deck.
I can say that I have done well without a BSC in my main 60 in a tournament. I did side him in quite often (against dredge/Snapcaster blue and shops). Unfortunately for the first time in a while I did not take notes on my matches during the tournament about the games or sideboarding so unfortunately I am doing a tournament report from memory. I had surgery earlier in the week so my memory is not that crash hot right now from the painkillers but I will try my best.
(P= on the play)
R1 vs Dredge (Transformational Sideboard)
G1 (P)=- He is running a standard dredge deck I drop 3 moxen, Cobra and a fetch, play Tinker for Memory Jar. He plays bazaar. On my upkeep I crack my Memory Jar and go off that turn after my draw for a lethal Tendrils. It was a pretty insane draw and my deck just worked for me.
- 3 thoughtseize
-1 Preordain
-Memory Jar
-??
+4 Leyline
+BSC
+2 Nihil Spellbomb
+1 Pithing Needle
G2- I open with Leyline. He cabal therapies me off an Undiscovered Paradise fishing for a force and lays down an emerald. I play Cobra. He hardcasts a Narcomoeba and passes back. Over his next couple of turns he plays a Hermit Druid and a Laboratory Maniac but does not have the 1 mana to activate Hermit druid when Blightsteel crashes the party.
1-0
R2 v Oath
G1- G1 was so close, I have two cobras on the field when he plays Oath. I think that I have to go for broke this turn because if he dragons an Emrakul or a BSC I am toast. My deck does what it does best and spits spell after stall until I Empty the warrens for 14 or 17. He is at 14 and Oath triggers, he gets an Emrakul with a dragons breath on it but does the math and I still have lethal after Emrakul swings as he has 14 Health and he can bounce a Cobra with Jace and the Anhialator trigger will leave exactly 14 damage. He goes to the tank before his draw step about whether to draw or tutor (turns out he had MT in hand). He gambles on his draw step and gets the black source for the Yawgmoth's Will in hand and gets back his Time Walk for the win.
-????
+2 Edict
+2 Claim
+1 Nihil Spellbomb
G2 (P)- G2 is what gives Vintage a bad name. I am on the play and open to: Fastbond, Gush, Force of Will, Preordain, Underground Sea, Tropical Island and Mind's Desire. I resolve Fastbond off the Tropical and gush hitting Tinker and Ancestral Recall. From there I storm out with a Desire for 7 which hits a lethal Tendrils before he even has a land in play. His hand was pretty nuts (like t1 active oath, Lotus etc) but no other blue card for the Force of will in hand. Such is Vintage, sometimes they just have the nuts.
G3- Game 3 we duress each others hands apart and I beat down for like 8 turns with a single 1/1 spirit. I hardcast Force on his Oath as he keep drawing lands. He only Burns twice off his Mana Crypt after like 7 rolls but it was enough for the spirit to beat down after he was joined by a Cobra.
2-0
R3 vs Snapcaster Control
G1- It figures I have the worst memory about the round I lost, I may be confusing Game 1/2.
I resolve my T1 Cobra and sit for a couple of turns, I then tinker for Memory Jar and Thoughtseize him. I see Fetch, Snapcaster x 2, Time Walk, Yawgmoth's Will, I take the will but then I am posed with the question of whether I want to break my Jar in his turn just to stop him walking for 3 or so turns. I let him take his extra turn and break Jar in my upkeep. I storm out through the Jar and a twister with my lovable Cobra giving me all the mana I want after I hit a Fastbond in the Jar hand.
-???
+2 Mental Misstep
+2 Natures Claim
+1 Nihil Spellbomb
G2 (P)- Game 2 he eventually won with Time Vault/Voltaic Key. We traded spells, I was Misstepping his Ancestrals forcing him to Snapcaster them back buying me turns but I never drew much gas.
G3 (P)- Game 3 is where I misplay for the loss. We spend the game countering each others things but he grinds me down throughout the game. Both of us drew poorly and neither was advancing their game plan in any major way. When he VT's for the Time vault I have 1 turn and try to play What I have, however I dont put the extra lands in my hand down on the table, being greedy for trying to hit a cobra and am unable to pay for the Spell Pierce which I knew was in his hand from an earlier Thoughtseize. This missplay I am pretty sure lost me the game. It might not have but I would certainly been in a stronger position if my Timetwister (on top of library resolved.
His Snapcaster Mages were the king for him in all three games, if his snapcasters had been anything else this would have been an easy match, but recurring Time Walks and Ancestrals as well as permission was just catastrophic and I just didn't draw the cards I needed. I believe the match-up is certainly winnable, but with all the permission it is harder to just "go for it".
R4 vs Panther MUD
G1- I am just not in it this game (mentally) and scoop shortly after I allow a Lodestone to resolve with double Force of Will and a plethora of Blue cards and then not Hurky's Recalling when he plays a Chalice of the Void for two.
-3 Thoughtseize
-Desire
-Memory Jar
-?????
+Hurkyl's Recall
+2 Natures Claim
+BSC
+2 Edict
G2- Game Two is he tries to waste and strip my lands but is met my a Gush which saves them. A couple of turns later I tinker for BSC. He puts up resistance in the form of Steel Hellkite but colossus takes him down after the second hit.
G3- Game three is framed in my mind about the best preordain ever. He mulligans a hand of mana but no threats. His opening is scary with Lotus, City of Traitors, Lodestone, Pithing Needle (Jace hahaha). I Risk getting wasted but I fetch the Underground sea and play the Jet and preordain into Ancestral and Tinker. Jeffery is a good guy so I show him this and he just shakes his head. He responds with a Chalice for one. I play my land and on his next attack step I Hurkyl's Recall. He chooses to replay the Chalice for 1 (only 1 land) but the point is moot as I play Tinker for BSC and he closes the game in 1 swing.
3-1
Overall I went well enough to get 2nd place (to the Blue player I lost to in round 3). I was very happy with how the deck played out. I don't know whether I need all three storm cards in the deck but it is certainly nice they they are there. I really should put BSC in there but I certainly was very happy with memory jar so it may stay out. I just feel that it is a very cheep win with BSC but especially in shops is is very effective. The only problems with BSC is that:
A) I just don't like it and what it did to the format, when I was starting to play vintage (Nov 2010) there was a lot of variation in tinker targets. Some people were running Sphinx of the Steel Wind, some running Myr Battlesphere,some running Inkwell and some running Darksteel Colossus.
B) When I am going off (or anytime really) I REALLY just don't want to draw it, I have only 1 brainstorm effect (Brainstorm) so getting it out of my hand is a problem and it just clogs up a spot which may be the difference between storming out and not. Memory Jar I can actually cast and activate to continue storming so is better suited to the deck. BSC is just an escape clause.
B) When I am going off (or anytime really) I REALLY just don't want to draw it, I have only 1 brainstorm effect (Brainstorm) so getting it out of my hand is a problem and it just clogs up a spot which may be the difference between storming out and not. Memory Jar I can actually cast and activate to continue storming so is better suited to the deck. BSC is just an escape clause.
I may want Xantid swarms as a sideboard option against blue decks but I will have to test that as I don't think that they are really necessary. I should be able to storm out safely enough with my duress effects. Xantid swarms may be more necessary if people start playing more Landstill/Remora type control. Other than that I cant see any major deck changes though I did have the thought of trying to put a Wheel of Fortune in there. I may test that.
The deck seemed strong and held its own very well. I will continue to test it and evolve it over time.
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