Australian Vintage Review January-June

Edit: Damn Brian De Mars stealing my fire (even if he did the same thing last year). This was mostly written before his worldwide article came out today.

Well another year has come and gone. 2013 was a great year for Australian Vintage. We had a record number of events, both large events and monthly events. We also had record numbers of people at many of the events and we saw the introduction of an even bigger Vintage Series for 2014. This post will be a reflective piece, taking the reader through the 2013, the big events, the winning decks and the evolution of the Australian Metagame. To do this I will be going through all of the results available on The Mana Drain and will attempt to identify trends as they appear. I hope that in future this task becomes even more difficult as the number of events increases. Obviously this review will have a strong Victorian presence as Melbourne held the biggest number of events recorded so some statistics may not reflect the Australian average but the concentration of Victorian events also allows us to see an ever changing metagame.

The results I will use for this will be:
A person/deck who makes top 4 in any event with fewer than 20 players but greater than 8.
A person/deck which makes top 8 in any event with 20+ players.
That generally falls into the smaller monthly events’ top 4 players/decklists and the GP’s/Masters having a top 8.

I understand that this may be very dense with a heap of lists but 2013 is really the first year that we have 12 good months of data with something all year round.

Where better to start such as review than the first tournament of the year with Next Level Vintage: January Edition. January saw 10 players making their way out to Next Level Games, Dandenong with Burning Tendrils defeating Cobra Gush in the finals. Burning Wish was unrestricted the preceding September but took a full 5 months before it actually won an event in Australia.  This seemed like a bit of a changing of the guard as Cobra Gush had been popular throughout 2011 and into 2012 but was eventually usurped as the combo deck of choice.  Both lists were fairly standard affairs with little/no breakout technology giving them the edge. Cobra Gush was just outmoded by the sheer brutality of Griselbrand.

1) Joshua Butler - Burning Tendrils

Lands
4 City of Brass
4 Forbidden Orchard
2 Gemstone Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
2 Chrome Mox
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
2 Mox Opal
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Creatures
2 Griselbrand

Enchantments
1 Necropotence
4 Oath of Druids
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Sorceries
4 Burning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
1 Mind's Desire
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
2 Hurklyl's Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Balance
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Laboratory Maniac
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

2) Tim Dolphin - Cobra Gush
Lands
1 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Flooded Strand
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Memory Jar
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Creatures
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Lotus Cobra

Enchantments
1 Fastbond
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Planeswalkers
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mind's Desire
4 Preordain
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sideboard
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Leyline of the Void
2 Flusterstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Nature's Claim
1 Rebuild

Rounding out the top 4 of this event was Merfolk and Mono R Shops

Late January saw Top Deck Events running the first GP of the year which was held in Sydney. GP Sydney saw a whopping 26 players make their way to the side event to get come card slinging action happening. That’s 26 players out for Sanctioned Vintage while there was still a GP going on. That’s just awesome. In the end, the grand final was not played out due to time constraints, only partly due to a marathon Semi-final between RUG Delver and Burning Tendrils. Regardless of the split, the finals was awarded to Lachlan Saunders on his classic 5C Control list he had been working on and tuning since early-mid 2012. His opponent was newcomer James ‘Jimbo” Dowling who had only had his first taste of Vintage the month before.

Were the finals to be played out the decklists would have been:
1) Lachlan Saunders – 5c Control

Lands (18)
2 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Tundra
1 City of Brass
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (11)
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Sensei’s Divining Top

Creatures (6)
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Trygon Predator
1 Snapcaster Mage

Planeswalkers (2)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sorceries (6)
1 Time Walk
1 Balance
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Merchant Scroll

Instants (17)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Fire//Ice
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Mana Drain
2 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pernicious Deed
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Grafdiggers Cage
1 Tormod’s Crypt

2) James (Jimbo) Dowling – RUG Delver

Lands (14)
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Snow-covered Island
1 Forest

 Artifacts(4)
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus

Creatures(11)
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Vendillion Clique
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tarmogoyf

Sorceries(5)
3 Preordain
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder

Instants(26)
3 Flusterstorm
4 Gush
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Snare
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Stifle
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ancestral Recall

Sideboard (15)
1 Stifle
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Ingot Chewer
3 Grafdiggers Cage
1 Mountain
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pithing Needle

Rounding out the top 8 of this event were:
Ritual Oath
Martello Shops
Grixis Control
Aggro Shops
4c Control
Grixis Control

This tournament was a complete blast. Not only was it a large sanctioned event for Vintage but it also was the first instance of a recurring theme with large Vintage events in Australia. Large Australian Vintage events throughout 2013 all had a very heavy Blue Based Control emphasis with Shops and Dredge lacking in numbers and support. We all understand that this is Vintage and Blue decks are everywhere but the amount of blue decks seen in many of our larger tournaments is bigger than what would be suggested as the worldwide standard.

February saw our first Vintage Masters Qualifier come and go and to everybody’s surprise it was the Fish who came out on top. The mixture of clock, resilient dudes and impact upon the opponent caught a super sweet spot where we had an all Fish final. In the end it was Andy Horne’s Walking (Junk) Fish who emerged victorious defeating Bill’s Noble Fish list. Both lists had disposed of their much more broken brethren in the semis in the form of Turbo Tezzeret and Grixis Control respectively.

Andy Horne (Walking Fish)

Lands
1 Tropical Island
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou
2 Savannah
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Karakas

Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal

Creatures
2 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Dark Confidant
1 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Noble Hierarch

Sorceries
1 Time Walk

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Mental Misstep

Sideboard
2 Path to Exile
2 Wall of Denial
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kataki War's Wage
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Yixlid Jailer
2 Mayor Avabruck

P.S. Check out Wall of Denial in the board !!!

2) Bill Murphy (Noble Fish)

Lands
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Tundra

Artifacts
3 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus

Creatures
4 Dryad Militant
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Quasali Pridemage
4 Trygon Predator
3 Ethersworn Cannonist
3 Meddling Mage

Enchantments
3 Stony Silence

Sorceries
1 Time Walk

Instants
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm

Sideboard
2 Dismember
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Tropical Island
2 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Stony Silence
1 Tropical Island
1 Wasteland
2 Path the Exile

Fish decks and the null rod pillar had an awesome start in 2013 with high placing’s in all the events thus far. Nobody was expecting an all Fish final and it was really great as it provided a great capstone to the first quadrant of 2013.

March saw only 8 players make their way out to NLG (The smallest event that fired) for their Vintage fix. This time the broken decks fought back with Burning Long once again taking down the tournament, this time defeating the all new Tezzeret’s Picnic in the finals. This pairing was the start of a couple of things for the NLG community. Ben Kearney would go on to become NLG’s resident Combo pilot for his tenure there, frequently making appearances with his combo deck. Tezzerets Picnic would also pick up some steam in the coming months and would eventually be picked up by a couple of players overseas and see some success in both America and Europe. This was the first time a “new” deck attributable to an Australian has had success overseas to my knowledge.

1) Ben Kearney - Burning Long

Lands (11)
2 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (15)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Opal
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
2 Chrome Mox
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Sol Ring
1 Memory Jar

Creatures (2)
2 Griselbrand

Enchantments (6)
4 Oath of Druids
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain

Instants (9)
4 Dark Ritual
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall

Sorceries (17)
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind's Desire
4 Burning Wish
4 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
1 Tinker
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister

Sideboard
1 Gleeful Sabotage
1 Thoughtseize
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Pyroclasm
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Show and Tell
3 Ancient Tomb
1 Empty the Warrens

2) James 'Jimbo' Dowling - Tezzeret's Picnic

Lands (14)
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
2 Underground Sea
5 Island
1 Swamp

Artifacts (18)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
3 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Vault
3 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Nihil Spellbomb

Creatures (1)
1 Myr Battlesphere

Planeswalkers (7)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Karn Liberated

Enchantments (2)
2 Back to Basics

Instants (14)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Darkblast
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries (4)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard (15)
3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Trinisphere
2 Mental Misstep
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Dismember

The semi-final opponents of these decks were Strixis Control and Espresso respectively.

April saw the number of players at NLG spike back up to 12 for their Vintage monthly. At the end of the day it was old stalwart Weng Cheong who took down the event with Forgemaster Shops, marking the first win for a Shop deck in 2013. This pre-New Phyrexia deck went undefeated on the day defeating the new and improved Tezzeret’s Picnic in the finals to take home all the marbles.

1) Weng Cheong - Forgemaster Shops

Lands (17)
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (25)
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
3 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void

Creatures (18)
4 Metalworker
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Sundering Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Duplicant

Sideboard (15)
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Duplicant
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Steel Hellkite

2) James 'Jimbo' Dowling

Lands (15)
5 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tolarian Academy

Artifacts (17)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
3 Grim Monolith
3 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
2 Sensei's Divining Top

Creatures (1)
1 Inkwell Leviathan

Enchantments (2)
2 Back to Basics

Planeswalkers (6)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Tezzeret the Seeker

Sorceries (5)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Instants (14)
1 Ancestral recall
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sideboard (15)
2 Dismember
2 Flusterstorm
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Mental Misstep
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Trinisphere
2 Yixlid Jailer

Rounding out the rest of the top 4 were:
Burning Long
Grixis Control


By this point of the year, the creature renaissance that had been so apparent in the early months seemed well and truly over with the first Fish deck barely making the top 50% in 6^th place.

At the end of April, the unrestriction of Regrowth was announced and on the very first day of its unrestriction it made its presence known 4-0ing NLV: May Edition. The winning list was a Gush list toting 4 Regrowth along with the full cantrip package. Forgemasters once again reared their head as the strongest shop deck in the environment, however this time it was the more mana punishing Martello variety. Of note is that this is the last instance of Martello as it gives way to other shop strategies in the coming months.

1) Joshua Butler (Gush Tinker)

Lands (14)
2 Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria

Artifacts (6)
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire

Creatures (1)
1 Blightsteel Colossus

Enchantments (1)
1 Fastbond

Planeswalkers (2)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sorceries (15)
4 Duress
4 Regrowth
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Empty the Warrens

Instants (21)
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
3 Mental Misstep
2 Mana Drain
2 Far//Away
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Brainstorm
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Sideboard (15)
3 Trygon Predator
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Yixlid Jailer
3 Ravenous Trap
2 Fire//Ice
2 Mindbreak Trap

2) Gavin Kroeger (Martello Shops)

Lands (19)
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 City of Traitors

Creatures (17)
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Kuldotha Forgemaster
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sundering Titan
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Duplicant

Artifacts (24)
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Crypt
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere

Sideboard  (15)
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Duplicant
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ratchet Bombs
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Wurmcoil Engine

Filling out the top 4 of this event was:
Burning Long
Dark Times

Unfortunately we only had 9 players for the June NLG event, though it was the week before a larger event and was at the very beginning of the largest month of the year and was not expected to fire. Given that, having the 9 players make it out was awesome as we had two different Vintage events on the same weekend. For this event it was Espresso Shops which actually taking out the smaller of the two events on the weekend defeating the first instance of a dredge deck in a top 4/8 of the year, nearly a full 6 months into the year.

1) Joshua Butler – Espresso Shops

Lands (18)
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Wasteland
3 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

Mana Rocks (7)
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Peal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

Artefacts (25)
4 Smokestack
4 Tangle Wire
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Serum Powder
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Crucible of Worlds
2 Thorn of Amethyst

Creatures (10)
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Karn, Silver Golem
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Duplicant

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tabernacle at Pendral Vale
1 Maze of Ith
1 Wurmcoil Engine

2) Ben McCoy – Dredge

Lands (14)
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 City of Brass
2 Dakmoor Salvage

Artefacts (4)
4 Serum Powder

Creatures (27)
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Golgari Thug
3 Ichorid
3 Fatestitcher
1 Flamekin Zealot
1 Woodfall Primus

Enchantments (4)
4 Bridge from Below

 Sorceries (7)
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Dread Return

Instants (5)
4 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Petrified Field
4 Nature’s Claim
1 Darkblast

This event was also the first appearance of Armadeus Kurz’s BUG Fish List which would ultimately be the very influential and popular in the months to come. In fact both BUG Fish and Espresso decks represented here would become staples of Australian tournaments in the months ahead.

Only 7 days later, 23 players were battling it out for a Mox when Good Games Melbourne held the first Moxalicious tournament of the year. This was Melbourne’s first large event and we had a bunch of players down from NSW and Canberra which made the atmosphere great. At the end of the day, it was Grixis Control in the hands of Isaac Egan who reigned supreme overcoming Martim Fernandes on Terra Nova in three long games.
1) Isaac Egan – Grixis Control

Lands (16)
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Island
1 Swamp

Artifacts (10)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key

Creatures (7)
4 Dark Confidant
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Myr Battlesphere

Planeswalkers (3)
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sorcery (5)
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Tinker

Instants (19)
4 Force of Will
2 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Pierce
2 Mana Drain
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Gift’s Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Sideboard (15)
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Yixlid Jailer
1 Mountain
1 Strip Mine
1 Mental Misstep
1 Lightning Bolt

2) Martim Fernandes – Terra Nova

Lands (20)
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra’s Factory
2 Mutavault
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine

Artifacts (25)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere

Creatures (15)
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Porcelain Leigionaire
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Karn, Silver Golem

Sideboard (15)
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Sculpting Steel
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Tormod’s Crpyt
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Porcelain Legionnaire

At this point of the year, Grixis was pushing its way back to the top of the control heap in the hands of a few key Melbourne based players. Isaac Egan and Daniel Unwin, who also made top 8, (among others) have become poster children for the archetype and regularly place highly with it.

BUG Fish and Dredge also made their way into the top 8 but ultimately did not make the finals, Glenn Shanley’s staple “The Wheel”, Mono Red Shops, and Metalworker also made top 8. Lee Greaves, you did it!!!

But June is not yet over.

The Queen’s Vault in Sydney also drew in 11 players that month competing for a Time Vault. This time it was the BoM Fish list which had been seeing increasing amounts of play since it won the BoM which took down the event cementing its place as a tough contender, edging our Sydney stalwart Robert Bartlett on his wacky Grixis brew. Also of note is the TPS deck piloted by Dion Wong in third place. The final member of the top 4 was Francis Lam on U/W Bomberman.

1) Justin - BUG Fish

17 LANDS
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
3 Wasteland
1 Bayou
1 Strip Mine
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest

16 CREATURES
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Trygon Predator
2 Scavenging Ooze

22 INSTANTS and SORCERIES
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
2 Spell Pierce
2 Flusterstorm
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Time Walk
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor

5 OTHER SPELLS
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Null Rod
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet

SIDEBOARD
1 Wasteland
1 Trygon Predator
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Null Rod
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Swamp
4 Snuff Out

2) Robert Bartlett – Grixis

1 Badlands
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Brainstorm
4 Dark Confidant
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Goblin Welder
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Imperial Seal
1 Island
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mana Crypt
2 Mana Drain
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Polluted Delta
1 Ponder
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Vault
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Volcanic Island
1 Voltaic Key
2 Wasteland
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Sideboard
1 Flusterstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Pithing Needle
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Rebuild

We finally closed out the first half of 2013 with the Brisbane based Librarypalooza tournament which drew a further 10 players for some Vintage action. U/R landstill was apparently the place to be for this tournament for it was David Brotchie who defeated Martello shops. While that may seem a repeat of 2012 Vintage Champs, the rest certainly were not. The remaining top 4 slots were double BoM Bug Fish lists.
1st Place - Landstill - David Brotchie

4 Standstill
4 Jace, the Mindsculptor
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
2 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Red Elemental Blast
4 Mana Drain
1 Echoing Truth
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Crucible of Worlds
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mountain
3 Island
1 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Flooded Strand

1 SB:
4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Bojuka Bog
2 Yixlid Jailer
4 Ingot Chewer
3 Smash to Smithereens

2nd Place - MUD - Nicholas Chmielewski

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring

4 Lodestone Golem
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Tangle Wire
3 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Duplicant
1 Staff of Nin
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sundering Titan
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Trinisphere

4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy

1 SB:
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Grafdigger's Cage

Six months into the year and we had seen some definite changes in the Australian metagame. The early months saw eclectic swings between Combo and and the rest of the metagame but as we approached the middle of the year the combo-control decks such as Grixis had started to really pull ahead of the pack.  Workshops had also started appearing with more consistency though there had not been any one archetype predominant. After Bazaar of Moxen, Armadeus Kurz’s BUG Fish list really put a name for itself as over 4 tournaments it placed in top 4/8’s 5 times.

2013 has been a big year for Eternal Magic in Australia. We saw our first year in a long time with multiple non-GP Sanctioned events for Vintage. We saw MASTERS attendance increase to over 120 people over the weekend and attendance has been up all over the board. We have had events in QLD, NSW, ACT and Victoria and multiple Leagues have sprung up. More people are buying Power and people are getting excited…and they should be.

Because 2014 is going to be EVEN BIGGER.

With so many players, store owners and TO’s working together; 2014’s schedule is bursting at the seams and ready to rock. Starting in December 2013, and rocking around the year, we will have non-stop Eternal action until December 2014. All of these events will have awesome prize support, not everything has been worked out in this area but it’s looking good.

First up on the list:

Next Level games will be hosting an awesome Eternal Weekend on the 28th/29th of December (It’s close enough to 2014). We will be holding Highlander on the Saturday and Vintage on the Sunday. We will have some awesome prizes up for grabs. Mark the date on your calendars and prepare your travel arrangements because you will want to be there. 

This event will act as the entry event to 2014. 10 Proxies will be allowed in the Vintage event and I am sure it will be a huge success. 

Late January will find us in Canberra at Can Con. This will be the standard Can Con affair. I am sure the organisers will make this the Can Con you know and love. Keep your eyes peeled for the guys organising that.

Early March is none other than GP Melbourne. The Team at Top Deck Events are working on making their events bigger with every GP and Melbourne is going to be no exception. Dates/Prizes/Structure will be announced on their page so keep a look out for that.

In May, Good Games Town Hall (Sydney) will be stepping onto the scene with their first event and this event is going to be HUGE. This event will be taking place on May 2nd/3rd. This event will be a Sanctioned No-Proxy affair with humongous prize support. Allen is holding nothing back and running this back to back with a Legacy event. Be sure to be there to welcome Good Games Town Hall into the National Vintage Scene. 

August follows shortly afterwards with GP Brisbane. Keep an eye on the lookout for information from the team at Top Deck Events regarding this event.

October will see us return to Melbourne. It’s the event you know and love. MASTERS is returning to its original time slot and this year will be bigger and better than ever. Each year Masters has increased in size and 2014 will be no different. There will be multiple pieces of power, events for all of the major eternal formats: Vintage, Legacy, and Highlander. This will be one of the marquee events for 2014 and you will definitely not want to miss this one. As per tradition, this will also be a sanctioned affair (for Vintage). The power will be out in force and this will be the biggest weekend of 2014 for your calendars.

Which brings us around to December. On December 6/7, Good Games Town Hall will be hosting their marquee event, “The Grudge Match”. Ever wanted to know which state really has the heart of Vintage? Is it the old school Victorian crew? Is it the up and comers from Queensland or the steady New South Welshman? 

Teams of three from each state (along with any other competitors *cough* New Zealand *Cough*) will compete in an open event and the team with the lowest aggregate placing will be crowned Australia’s Vintage Champions. The hope is for this event to become annual, giving states the chance to claim and defend the title. Allen will be making this event an awesome time so be sure to be there and support your fellow statesmen. Note that this is still an open tournament so everyone is invited to attend and compete for the prizes on offer. This tournament will be back to back with another Highlander event.

2014 will be a fantastic year. The biggest year for Eternal Magic in Australia’s history and we need every one of you to be a part of it. Get talking to your friends; invite them to play some games and invite them along to these events. Each event will have its own page set up as we approach it and prizes etc will be announced there but be prepared to be blown away.

2014 looks like it will be a great ride and I hope to see you all along the way.
All the best

Australian Vintage Team

Well I am back...again. It has been far too long. Life has been busy. Lots of magic, especially Vintage but unfortunately this has fallen by the wayside. But no Longer.

There has been so much happening over the past eight months. MASTERS has come and gone, so has our first Vintage League. Australia has been noted as an "up and coming" Vintage community by Brian De Mars and we have had a bunch of Australian Lists posted on sites like www.starcitygames.com. The names of Dion Wong, Robert Bartlett and me have all appeared in Vintage articles over the past 6 months.

Format changing tournaments and events have occurred. Regrowth was unrestricted earlier in the year, with which I took down the very first tournament post unrestriction. #notsohumblebrag Just last weekend we had both BOM Paris and the world Championship on the same weekend revealing two very different top 8's. Not to mention the influences of all the new sets. Cards like Young Pyromancer and Swan Song have gone on to make huge splashes in the format worldwide.

Looking more toward Australia, MASTERS in July garnered 35 players for Sanctioned Vintage and GP Sydney also received 25 players. That is just huge. It may not sound like much but we are not seeing the fruits of our labour. Pushing Vintage over the past two years has been my goal (and the goal of many others), and this year has been fantastic for that. NLG has fired all but 2 of our Vintage monthlies, with the only two we fizzled on were the week after MASTERS and the week of GP Sydney. We even got 14 players at our most recent event which set a new benchmark for highest attendance at one of our monthlies.

This is going to be a short one but I have some big announcements on the way. Stay tuned in the next week or so for those!!!

Vintage Masters Qualifier 1: Results and Report

Back again guys.

Yesterday (2nd February), we held our first qualifier for Vintage Masters 2013. Overall it was quite a success and we had 4 great rounds with a cut to top four and an all fish final. We had a bigger  prize than normal with a Underground Sea for first and a Force of Will for second as well as the top two players receiving free entry to Vintage Masters 2013. We had ten players show up which was great because I had many people message me back indicating that they were not coming in the couple of days previous to the event which had me worrying. About this time last year we were getting about 4 people for vintage at Next Level Games.

This event makes 4 in a row with 10+ players.  With all the people who said they could not make it (at least 6 players) I think I can classify yesterday as a "bad" turnout. Last year that would have been inconceivable. Vintage has really grown at it really is thanks to Next Level Games, sticking with holding these events in our down time and all the players who are working tirelessly at selling the format to other players and now we are seeing the results of this hard work.

But onto the Results

After 4 rounds and a cut to top 4 playoff our standings looked like this:

1) Andy Horne - Walking Fish
2) Bill Murphey - Noble Fish
3) Joshua Butler - Turbo Tezzeret *
4) Brett Hughes - Grixis Control *
5) Michael Lau - Mangara.dec
6) Luke McCandless - Espresso Shops
7) Zac Crowley - Dredge
8) Jimbo Dowling - RUG Delver
9) Lee Greaves - Cerebral Assassin
10) Graham King - Terra Nova Shops

* Undefeated in Swiss

For Decklists of the top 4 you can go to http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=44988.0

While it is still early, I believe that a "Next Level Meta" is forming which is dominated by dudes. Not that the dudes are winning (though they did in this particular event) but they have a much heavier presence than elsewhere.  Out of a possible 20 Decks, (from previous 2 events) 8 are running more than ten creatures (with the deck designed to cast them e.g. no Dredge or Cerebral) and very few with under 4. Graham King's performance in this  tournament really brings to light this upscaling of creatures. He brought a deck which is designed to beat up on the big mana Blue decks and the combo decks and ran into a wall of creatures he was not properly equipped to deal with and subsequently lost pretty hard.

We have many different flavours of dudes in the meta, from mono-coloured (Dark Times, Merfolk, Magara.dec), multi coloured (Walking Fish/Noble Fish) and even non-coloured (Martello Shops) which is good because it means one cannot just put 4 x card N in your board and have the problem dealt with.

This upscale in creatures is coming at the cost of our traditional U control deck with only 3 decks in the past 2 events (Grixis x 3). To that we can add the Delver, Tezzeret and Merfolk decks (though they are hardly traditional control decks) and we still dont achieve parity with the number of Creature decks.

Maybe it is time to start running Pyroclasm as a catch all vs general creature decks or maybe something a little more dedicated like bounce vs Dark Times, Pyro vs Fish  or a variety of Paths and Swords. I am thinking that as we go forward, Bomberman may be a good deck choice as you have creatures to trade with theirs including a 2/4 wall, main deck removal and a combo finish to which they are generally weak to.

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My path up until the tournament was a winding road of different decks. I had built in the week previous to the event no less than 3 different decks and was considering asking Andy for a different deck. At first I thought I would be playing the Burning Long deck which I took to 1st place in the January event but my crushing defeat in the early rounds of GP sydney (0-2 in two rounds, 2-2-1 final standings) had put me off the deck and was looking at playing something different. My first thought was Dragon (which I wrote about in the last post) as it would be unexpected and if I bought a few cards I would be able to play it at 10 proxies. I was testing it out and while I was getting decent results, they were not fantastic by any stretch. I did my duty, bought the few cards I needed to make it under 10 proxy and kept on testing until a few days before the tournament when I found out that in addition to shops decks, there would be a Noble Fish player, a Mangara.dec player and this coupled with the universal Dredge hate made for a Meta I did not want to be playing a deck that needed to fight GY hate as well as creature hate and was not the most consistant to boot.

I felt that I did not have the time to design a new deck but knew I wanted basics and did not want to rely on creatures too heavily myself. With all the wastes/strips/ghost quarters I would be facing having a high basic land count would be awesome. However, Landstill was out as the deck loses pretty hard to creatures. I then thought of the 2011 Bazaar of Moxen finalists  (Turbo Tezzeret)  and after goldfishing a few hands I knew that was the deck I wanted to play. I had good game against the mana denial decks and a fast enough clock to beat the onslaught of creatures that would be coming my way.

I bought the Tezzerets I was missing and sleeved up:

Land (15)
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Library of Alexandria
5 Island
2 Underground Sea

Artifacts (20)
3 Grim Monolith
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault

Creatures (1)
1 Blightsteel Colossus

Planeswalkers (5)
4 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Sorceries (8)
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
3 Thoughtseize

Instants (7)
4 Force of Will
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sideboard
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Steel Sabotage
3 Dismember
2 Mental Misstep
1 Echoing Truth.

This deck, while not perfect suited me very well for the tournament and had what I wanted for the tournament. I had mana stability and a fast clock. The 5 Islands were fantastic all day as I never had to fear a wasteland.

R1-  Lee Greaves-  Cerebral Assassin

I dont really remember much about this round. My only notes are life totals so I will do my best

G1- I win the die roll and thoughtseize him revealing:
Ancestral Recall
Bitter Ordeal
Crop Rotation
City of Brass
Mox Emerald
Mana Vault
Myr Retreiver

Definitely Cerebral Assassin...

I take the Ancestral and he Crop Rotationed to try and find something when I casually cast Tezzeret T2 and take all the turns.

G2- He lands an early Revoker (naming Key) and I catch the early Blightsteel and have the force for his Hurkyl's. I was also holding Hurkyl's  and Tezzeret so I was not worried if he forced back.

1-0 (2-0)


R2 vs Bill Murphey (eventual 2nd place)
This is Bills first Vintage tournament and I know he is on Noble Fish.

G1- I lose the die roll and keep a turn 2 Tezzeret, AoB with a mana vault and key (T1 Land Mox, Vault, Key, SDT, untap vault). He lays a Stony Silence on his third turn and my Tezzeret jumps onto 5/5 Duty while I am on a clock due to my tapped mana vault. We both play dudes (his are creatures and mine are moxen) and I get down to 3 due to beats and Mana Vault but ultimate Tezzeret sending him to 2 life and he scoops.

G2- I do not remember the particulars of this game but I know he choses elects not to attack Tezzeret on his final turn putting me to 1 stopping any Force or Fetch Shenanigans when I rip the key off the top and use Tezzeret to find the Vault.

2-0 (4-0)

R3- Zac Crowley - Dredge

I had scouted the Dredge player earlier and know him quite well (through Dark Times talk) so knew what I was up against.

G1- I mulligan a hand of Force, Tezzeret, some draw and mana into
Mox Ruby
Island
Tezzeret the Seeker
Underground Sea
Demonic Tutor
Thoughtseize

I see the possibility and keep. I won the die roll so I DT for the Lotus and play without playing the mana source. He plays Bazaar and passes. I cast Tezzeret and Thoughtseize (taking Ingot Chewer) and go for the Vault. He Dredges madly for one of his 2 Ancient Grudges, can't find them and I take all the turns.

G2- He cuts me to a hand of 6 restricted cards and I take the turn 1 Key-Vault

3-0 (6-0)

R4- ID with Brett Hughes - Grixis Control

We are not using the play/draw rule so there was little to be gained from playing out the game. I know what he is on and he may at this point be unsure about my deck so we both ask for and receive the ID.

I made it to top 4 without dropping a single game (that mattered) and was feeling really good about my chances. The other pairings are not sure whether they can ID or not and the second table ID while the third table plays it out for the 3/4th spot. In the end the two players who ID'd make it in with the 4th placed player (Bill Murphey) making it in by 0.0001% on breakers.

Top 4 vs Andy Horne - Walking Fish

I know Andy is on Walking fish and while I have not tested the matchup I am still feeling good.

G1- He Mulls to 6... to 5 and keeps a no lander. I won the die roll and start by running out Land,  Ancestral... Misstep...pass turn. He draws and says go. I play Land, Sol Ring... Misstep... pass turn. Andy Draws and plays Scrubland for turn and I cast the Tezzeret the Seeker and find the vault and then the key.

Unlucky on his part, It was a good 5 vs my hand and the double misstep set me back alot.

G2-  I dont do much this game and he smacks me with dudes until I am dead.

G3- I needed to win this game to stay in and I manage a turn 2 Key and vault in play with no mana. He draws the black source he needs for his abrupt decay and my face is smashed in by a mixture of Thalia and Quasali Pridemages.

And so my tournament ended after I had resolved both Key and Vault and lost. I did conceede at two life and peeked at my next card which was Yawgmoth's will. By then I had packed away my hand and couldn't remember the contents and that may have saved me. I don't know if it would have but I know I conceeded too early.


Overall it was a good day and while I ended up in 3rd place, I was happy with my performance and would happily play Turbo Tezzeret again. I think upping the Agent of Bolas would help vs creatures and possibly adding bobs into it as I felt that if my opening hands play was countered I was up shit creek as I draw so many dead cards when I want action.

Keep Eternal Strong