Round 1: Lin Hua Cheng (Oath) v. Jeff Huang (Oath)
Game 1: Both players keep 7, Lin Hua leads with a sensei's top. Jeff has a turn 1 Mana Crypt, Mox Emerald, Forbidden Orchard, Oath of Duids. He passes back, and Lin Hua plays an orchard of his own. The players exchange tokens. Lin Hua has a Time Walk to give Jeff a second counter, and Jeff Mana Drains it. Lin Hua has a Spell Pierce, but does not realize that Jeff's Mana Crypt is still untapped. Lin Hua backs that up with a Force of Will, and the sorcery resolves. Lin Hua uses his top a little, Brainstorms, and replays top. Jeff is down to 13 from his crypt, and plays Thirst for Knowledge, discarding two lands.
Lin Hua doesn't have anything, and Jeff goes to 10. Jeff has Regrowth for his thirst. Lin Hua has an end of turn Ancestral, which meets with Force of Will from Jeff (9). Jeff plays Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and uses it to disappear one of his tokens. Lin Hua attacks with his tokens, and after a brief discussion of whether he may attack Jace, head judge Ryan Reynolds rules that Lin Hua did not specify Jace, and has therefore attacked Jeff (8).
Jeff plays Gifts Ungiven for Yawgmoth's Will, Vampiric Tutor, Forbidden Orchard, and Time Walk. Lin Hua sends Yawg Will and Orchard packing, and Jeff plays Time Walk, Lin Hua spellpierces, and Jeff backs it up with Force of Will (7). He follows that up with Jacestorm and Vampiric Tutor (5). Jeff Oaths the top card, Terastodon, and destroys his oath, his Mana Crypt (2), and Lin Hua's orchard. Lin Hua attempts a Mystical Tutor, and Jeff Spell Pierces it for the game.
Game Score: Lin Hua 0, Jeff 1
Game 2:
Lin Hua starts with Sensei's top, and both players have nothing but lands for a few turns. Jeff has Thoughtsieze on turn 4, but Lin Hua has force. Jeff has a Voltaic Key, and Lin Hua plays Demonic Tutor. Jeff uses Mana Drain, but Lin Hua has red blast. Jeff follows that up with force, and the tutor is countered. Jeff plays vampiric tutor on upkeep, Time Vault, and Lin Hua stops it with Force of Will. Jeff uses Regrowth to get the vault back.
Lin Hua, knowing that he faces annihilation at any moment, Thoughtsiezes the vault to save the day (for now). Jeff finds a sensei of his own. Time is called. Lin Hua plays Time Walk. Jeff draws a card with top and mana drains the walk. Lin Hua plays Ancient Grudge on voltaic key, and Jeff cannot do anything useful with the last turn.
Game Score: Lin Hua 0, Jeff 2
Round 2: Dylan Jolliffe (Serum Powder Mud) v. Elliot Davidoff (Mud)
Elliot starts with Chalice of the Void (0), Wasteland. Dylan has turn 1 Ancient Tomb, go. Elliot plays Crucible of Worlds, Dylan has nothing, and Elliot wastes Dylan's land. Elliot follows that up with a Thorn of Amethyst and a Sphere of Resistance when Dylan has no permanents. Dylan concedes to the soft-lock after discarding three moxes.
Game Score: Dylan 0, Elliot 1
Game 2:
Dylan has Ancient Tomb, go again. Elliot has another broken hand with workshop, lotus, mox, Juggernaut, Sphere of Resistance. Dylan plays Powder Keg, and Elliot has Thorn. Dylan adds a Nullstone Golem on his side, which quickly jumps in front of Juggernaut, but Dylan drops to 7 from Mishra's Factory.
Dylan draws a Mishra's Workshop finally, and Powder Keg destroys Elliot's spheres. Dylan plays a Serum Powder, and Elliot plays another thorn. Dylan drops to 5 to play Smokestack. Elliot attacks with his factory, and Dylan activates his with Serum Powder and wins the battle. Elliot remarks that he did not see Serum Powder, and had hoped that Dylan would use Ancient Tomb and take 2 anyway. Elliot follows that up with Ensnaring Bridge. Dylan adds a counter to Smokestack, attacks with factory, and Elliot sacrifices his bridge and plays Mana Vault.
Dylan puts a second counter on smokestack and sacrifices Ancient Tomb, and attacks with factory. He follows that up with Sculpting Steel to duplicate Smokestack. Elliot plays a 2/4 Duplicant. Dylan loses his second Ancient Tomb and a thorn, and ramps his second smokestack. Dylan plays his Duplicant to destroy Elliot's. Elliot sacrifices everything but workshop and plays Sculpting Steel to take out Dylan's duplicant.
Dylan plays a Crucible of Worlds, remarking “Now we're getting somewhere!” Elliot has nothing, and Dylan gets 5 attacks in with Factory. Elliot makes it interesting for a few turns with a Crucible of his own, before he has to sacrifice it to Smokestack, but he follows that up with a Juggernaut, threatening lethal. Dylan ramps smokestack to 2, leaving Elliot with nothing but his juggernaut, and kills the juggernaut when it attacks with a factory team-up.
Game Score: Dylan 1, Elliot 1
Game 3:
Both players mulligan. Elliot goes to 5, and starts with tolarian academy, mox. Dylan has turn 1 wasteland, mox. Elliot plays Sphere of Resistance, and wastes Dylan's factory. Dylan seems to be out of lands, and Elliot plays a Sculpting Steel as another sphere. Dylan draws a factory, which meets with yet another wasteland. Elliot plays a Sword of Fire and Ice with no creatures, and Dylan starts discarding. Elliot draws Nullstone Golem and starts swinging. Three turns later, with Dylan unable to do anything, the match is over.
Game Score: Dylan 1, Elliot 2
Round 3: Richard Von Hoogenstyn (Belcher) v. Eric Campusano (Green/Blue/White weenies)
Game 1:
Eric has land, go, and Richard plays mox pearl, Lotus Petal, Land Grant for Bayou, Manamorphose, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Goblin Charbelcher with two mana floating and Lotus Petal untapped. Eric plays Spell Pierce, and Richard pays with his floating mana. Eric follows that up with Null Rod. Richard has a Voltaic Key, and Eric uses Wasteland on Richard's bayou, leaving Richard with 4 artifacts with no abilities in play.
The players play draw/go for four turns, and eventually Eric draws Qasali Pridemage, followed by Tarmogoyf, and Richard concedes.
Game Score: Richard 0, Eric 1
Game 2:
Richard has turn 1 Mox Ruby, Mox Jet. Eric has turn 2 Null Rod. Richard removes demonic consult for Unmask on Eric's second Null Rod. Eric plays Meddling Mage and names Empty the Warrens. A Qasali Pridemage joins the fight, and a Noble Heirarch. After four draw/go turns, Richard concedes.
Game Score: Richard 0, Eric 2
Round 4: Blaine Christansen (Red Stax) v. Mark Arce (Noble Fish)
Game 1:
Blaine starts with barbarian ring, mox, sol ring, Chalice for 0, Crucible. Mark has a Noble Heirarch. Blaine follows that start up with Bazaar of Baghdad, discard mox, null rod, null rod. Mark wastes the bazaar, and Blaine is on topdeck mode, but pulls Nullstone Golem. Mark, however, has a Daze and a Mystical Tutor for Swords to Plowshares. Blaine replays bazaar out of the graveyard, and dumps sphere of resistance and mishra's workshop.
When Mark plays Swords to Plowshares on welder, Blaine responds by welding his mox out for Nullstone. Mark has nothing further, and Blaine bazaars his way into a Strip Mine. With no lands, Mark is left grasping for straws, and the Nullstone Golem continues to apply pressure. The strip lock continues to keep Mark out of the game, and when Blaine adds a Smokestack, Mark concedes.
Game Score: Blaine 1, Mark 0
Game 2:
Mark plays a land and a lotus, and Blaine has a wasteland. Mark plays land go again, and Blaine has a second waste. Eventually, Mark appears to have drawn gas, as he cracks a fetchland, but just passes back. Blaine starts a Bazaar engine, but doesn't have gas, and Mark just sits on his land. Blaine uses bazaar again, discarding three mana artifacts, and chases that with a workshop and a sphere. Mark has the Spell Pierce.
On turn 5, Mark finally cracks his lotus and plays Meddling Mage naming Tangle Wire, but just passes back. Blaine plays and uses Barbarian Ring to kill the mage, and then plays Sol Ring, Ensnaring Bridge. Mark forces the bridge. The next action is Mark's Strip Mine taking out the workshop, and Blaine has a strip mine for Mark's only land. Mark has a mox pearl, and Blaine replays workshop with the help of a new Crucible of Worlds.
Next turn, Blaine plays Chalice of the Void with 2 counters, and Mark responds with Hurkyll's Recall. Blaine just replays his mox, Sol Ring, crucible, and gets his strip mine out of the yard. On turn 10, Blaine starts recurring Barbarian Ring, and plays a Goblin Welder and a Nullstone Golem. Mark responds to the golem with Swords to Plowshares, and has a second swords for the golem. Once again, when Blaine gets a smokestack, Mark concedes.
Game Score: Blaine 2, Mark 0
Round 5: Patrick Greenfield (Tezz) v. Eric Campusano (Noble Fish)
Game 1:
Both players keep. Patrick starts with academy, mana crypt, Voltaic Key, Tinker the crypt. Eric allows the tinker to resolve, and Patrick tanks while thinking about what to get. He goes for the Time Vault, but doesn't have mana to get started yet. Eric has land, mox, Time Walk, draw, pass. Patrick untaps time vault and uses it, and Eric stifles the activation. Eric, however, doesn't have a lasting solution. He plays goyf and passes, and Patrick goes for another lethal activation, which resolves. Patrick plays solitaire for a few minutes, steals goyf with a sower, and then attacks Eric down.
Game Score: Patrick 1, Eric 0
Game 2:
Eric has a turn 1 Heirarch. Patrick has turn 1 mana crypt, Demonic Tutor. Eric follows his heirarch up with a Trygon Predator. Patrick has turn 2 Tinker, and gets Darksteel Colossus. Eric tanks, remarking “aww you play the good one?” and plays another Heirarch and a Tarmogoyf. Patrick swings for 11. Eric attacks for 5 with goyf and predator, and plays another goyf and a Null Rod. Eric has an end of turn Mystical Tutor for Time Walk and Patrick concedes.
Game Score: Patrick 2, Eric 0
Top 8 Bracket:
Dylan Jolliffe v. Patrick Greenfield
Brett Allen v. Blaine Christansen
Elliott Davidoff v. Eric Campusano
Top 8: Jeff Huang (Oath) v. John Anzaldo (Tezz)
Game 1:
Jeff mulligans, but keeps 6. John starts with a Brainstorm, Black Lotus, go. Jeff has library of alexandria, go. John has a turn 2 Dark Confidant. Jeff activates his card drawing engine and plays a Mox Jet. John draws a free mox sapphire, and plays land, mox, Tinker for Inkwell Leviathan. Jeff plays a mox sapphire, uses Library, and plays Time Walk. In response to Time Walk, John plays Gifts Ungiven. He gets Ancestral, Force, Time Walk, and Echoing Truth. Jeff gives him ancestral and truth, and force and walk go to the yard. Time Walk resolves though, and Jeff untaps, plays Vampiric Tutor, uses library, and plays Black Lotus, Sensei's Divining Top.
John draws Yawgmoth's Will with confidant and attacks for 9 with his team. He examines his graveyard and plays Ancestral. Jeff draws an extra card with top and plays Demonic Tutor. John tries force and Jeff plays Mana Drain with his lotus. With his extra mana, Jeff plays Voltaic Key. In the second main Jeff plays Time Vault and untaps it.
Game Score: Jeff 1, John 0
Game 2:
John mulligans but keeps 6. He starts with land, mox, Black Lotus. Jeff plays land, mox, Demonic Tutor. John has nothing, and Jeff plays orchard, oath. John Mana Drains it. On John's turn, he puts his drain mana into Tinker. Jeff has a Spell Pierce, and John sacrifices his lotus to pay. John gets an inkwell and passes.
Jeff plays another oath and a voltaic key. John attacks with inkwell and token, and on Jeff's upkeep, plays Ice on key. Jeff fires up oath and gets Darksteel Colossus, following that with Time Vault. Fortunately for John, he cannot untap it just yet thanks to Ice, and John untaps, plays ancestral, mox, attacks for 7, Demonic Tutor, Time Walk, and Jeff concedes.
Game Score: Jeff 1, John 1
Game 3:
John mulligans to 6 again, then to 5. Jeff has the first action in turn 2 Demonic Tutor. John cantrips a Time Walk and passes. Jeff has turn 3 orchard, Thoughtsieze, which John drains out, and Jeff follows that up with an Oath. John has Demonic Tutor of his own, a Voltaic Key, and a Time Vault, but no extra mana.
Jeff oaths into Terastodon, which summarily destroys Time Vault, Voltaic Key, and John's Tropical Island. Jeff turns over the top card of his library, which happens to be Iona, shutting John out of blue cards. John plays Vampiric Tutor. Jeff attacks for 9 with his dinosaur elephant, and John attacks back taking Jeff to 8. Diabolic Edict gets Mana Drained, and John concedes.
Game Score: Jeff 2, John 1
The top 4 now meet to discuss prize splitting, since it is extremely top-heavy currently at $500 for first, $75 for second. The pool is renegotiated to be distributed $315 for first, $130 for second, and $65 for third and fourth.
Top 4: Jeff Huang (Oath/Tezz) v. Blaine Christansen (Red Stax)
Game 1:
Blaine, on the play, has mountain, Chalice for 0, welder. Jeff has library, go. Blaine follows his start up with workshop, Nullstone Golem. Jeff draws a card and plays Force of Will. Blaine attacks and passes. Jeff plays an Oath. Blaine untaps and plays Sphere of Resistance, and wastes Jeff's tropical island. Jeff oaths out a Terastodon. He kills his own library and Blaine's workshop and chalice. Blaine welds the chalice out for his nullstone and jeff plays land, lotus. Blaine plays bazaar and uses it, discarding Null Rod, Sphere of Resistance, and Barbarian Ring.
Jeff oaths again, hitting Darksteel Colossus, attacks for 3, and sacrifices his lotus to play Time Walk. His next attack deals 3 again, as Blaine welds colossus out for mana crypt. Blaine untaps, uses bazaar discarding nullstone, nullstone, and ring, and passes back. Jeff's turn brings him an attack for another 9 as Blaine welds in a nullstone to do battle with an elephant, and drops to 5. Blaine's second welder gets forced, and Blaine adds a chalice to the board. Jeff gives him a spirit token, and oaths out colossus again.
Blaine welds a nullstone in at end of turn and Jeff attacks with two monsters. Blaine welds the colossus out again, for a Mox Pearl, and blocks terastodon with his golem. Jeff has a Tezzeret to untap his time vault that has been around for a while, and Blaine concedes.
Game Score: Jeff 1, Blaine 0
Game 2:
Blaine has a turn 1 welder. Jeff plays forest, mox, oath. Blaine plays a workshop and a Tangle Wire. Blaine follows that with a Mana Crypt, and Jeff oaths out a colossus, tapping everything else. Blaine plays bazaar, and discards tangle wire, chalice, and ring. Jeff oaths again, hitting Terastodon, which targets workshop, bazaar, and Jeff's own forest, Jeff then plays a second oath. Blaine welds in a second Tangle Wire and plays a second welder.
Jeff, faced with the prospect of having to tap 7 permanents and having only 6 in play, plays Gifts Ungiven during his upkeep. Nature's Claim and Ancestral Recall go to the graveyard, and Time Walk and Black Lotus to his hand. Jeff oaths again, and finds a second Terastodon, which destroys both of Blaine's tangle wires and one of Jeff's oaths. Jeff's second oath trigger finds him a colossus, but leaves only four cards left in his library. Jeff follows that up with a black lotus and a land to play Time Walk. Jeff untaps, free from the influence of tangle wires, and attacks with two elephants, two terastodons, and colossus, dealing 8 damage and taking Blaine to 5.
Blaine has mox emerald and jet, and passes. Jeff draws the last card in his library and goes all-in. The terastodons get blocked by a welder and an elephant, and the welder welds the colossus away for now, saving blaine from any damage. Blaine oaths on his upkeep, finding Duplicant, which removes a terastodon from the game. Blaine then welds a mox out for a newly-available Jester's Cap, and removes Jeff's colossus from his library.
Game Score: Jeff 1, Blaine 1
Game 3:
Jeff has land go, and Blaine has land, lotus, sol ring, Chalice of the Void set to 2. Jeff has a force of will for that though. When Blaine casts Tangle Wire next turn, Jeff has Mana Drain. Jeff uses his mana on a Merchant Scroll, Ancestral Recall, and Sensei's top.
Blaine gets a Wasteland and Crucible, but Jeff forces the crucible. Jeff continues to top, but Blaine finds a second wasteland and takes Jeff down to just a basic island. Jeff gets a Sol Ring to keep topping, pops his top to find a second island, and Blaine has nothing on his turn. Jeff keeps the top train chugging, and Blaine takes 3 turns to find another Crucible, which resolves and allows him to get a workshop. Next turn, Blaine attempts a Chalice of the Void set to 2, which resolves. Jeff pops his top once again to find an orchard and cast Oath into chalice.
Blaine wastes the orchard, and appears to be in control of the game. He resolves Ensnaring Bridge and gets a few hits in with his spirit token. Jeff finds a basic forest, and destroys chalice, allowing him to play another oath.
Blaine barbarian rings his spirit token. Jeff regrows ancestral. Barbarian Ring goes on the offensive and Blaine gets his Null Rod countered. Nature claims Blaine's crucible, and Jeff plays orchard. Blaine destroys his first token with ring. Next turn, Jeff successfully oaths out Terastodon and destroys both of Blaine's ensnaring bridges and workshop.
Blaine plays a workshop and a Duplicant and removes Jeff's terastodon. His attack with three elephants is lethal.
Game Score: Jeff 1, Blaine 2
Dylan and Blaine are in the finals, and agree to a split. Blaine takes the free entry and one bye in the Black Lotus tournament.
