The third annual Old School Player’s Ball is in the books, and it was an incredible celebration of friendship and community. After selling out our capped amount of 100 event tickets in under 4 hours a few months ago, dedicated players from dozens of different states flooded Chicago with the latest Old School 94 technology and chicanery.
This year’s Player’s Ball was once again held at Revolution Brewery, and was once again organized by Bob Agra, Jaco, and Chicago’s native crew, the Lords of the Pit. Eternal Central helped promote and support these efforts, and between the event tickets, the charity raffle, and the exclusive Player’s Ball “Chicago in a Bottle” playmat sales, the event was able to raise around $5000 for charity (going to PAWS Chicago, in this case), exceeding all of our expectations.
Building on previous years, the Player’s Ball has become a marquee event on the gaming calendar, and the plan is to continue this tradition going forward as a summer event. This event was run as Swiss+1, with eight 50 minute rounds, using Eternal Central’s recommended Old School 93-94 rules, with no draws allowed (and Sudden Death Chaos Orb flipping if any matches went to time). As we continue to emphasize, the point of Old School is to play Old School, meet new friends, and catch up with old ones.
In the 103 decks shown below, you will find plenty of Aggro, Aggro Control, Combo, some Prison, a few copies of The Deck, and zero UR Control. Amazing. It appears no one wanted to do something that effective but boring, round after round. The brewers were out in full force, and there were tons of fun candidates for the Most Creative prizes (which you can sort in the table below, so scroll down and check them out in the deck photos below!). The top placing Most Creative deck this year belongs to Dane Malone, who designed a Dante’s Inferno-themed deck, in which Rasputin will attempt to help guide you through the nine circles of hell. What an absolute legend.
Final Standings After Swiss+1
After 8 rounds of Swiss+1, there were no undefeated players. There were 5 players at 7-1, and then 9 players at 6-2. It went down to the wire, and once again like last year, we were left with West as the champion, piloting Storytime (UWR Shahrazad). A back to back champion is crowned! Here are the final standings.
Winner of the Swiss West, with Winner of Most Creative Dane Malone
Metagame Breakdown
Here is a sortable table that shows all players and associated decks played (you can sort by name, deck type, or prize awarded).
| First Name | Last Name | Deck | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob | Agra | Eureka | |
| Andy | Baquero | Sphinx's Library (GW Sphinx Control) | Most Creative 07 Place |
| Tim | Baran | Dakkon Blackblade Control | |
| Harrison | Baxter | 4C Aggro Control | 03 Place Swiss |
| Chris | Bergeson | Goblins RUG | |
| Ian | Blank | Arboria Dreams Turbo Fog Combo | Most Creative 08 Place |
| Matthew | Braun | White Weenie | |
| Daniel | Brauner | Goblins Mono Red | |
| Dustin | Brossard | White Weenie | |
| Mark | Brothers | Red Green Ballz of Fire | |
| Brandon | Burgoa | White Weenie | 14 Place Swiss |
| Josh | Burgoa | RUG Berserk | |
| Mike | Butzen | Green Blue Aggro | |
| Grant | Castleton | Naya Zoo | |
| Curt | Christian | Sindbad's Adventures (Blue Green Sindbad Combo) | Most Creative 04 Place |
| James | Cooney | Dwarves and Derelors (D&D) | 07 Place Swiss |
| Graham | Dickson | Mono Black | |
| Dominic | Dotterrer | Stasis Vise | |
| Danny | Dunaway | Mono Black | |
| James | Easteppe | High Tide Candelabra Combo | Most Creative Special Mention |
| Lorien | Elleman | Pink Weenie | |
| Kevin | Elliott | Wendy and Derelor's Party (4 Color Red) | |
| Dan | Ersch | Black Red White Troll's Assassin | |
| Paul | Fiero | Living Plane Control (aka Walk the Plank) | 12 Place Swiss |
| Alan | Finney | 4C Troll Hate | |
| Enrique | Flores | Troll Disco URB | |
| Joseph | Freshwater | Valley of Nightmares (Mono Black Living Wall Diamond Valley Control) | Most Creative 05 Place |
| Danny | Friedman | The Deck | |
| Jose | Gonzalez | Black Red Green Land Destruction | |
| Joy | Gonzalez | Gauntlets of Chaos + Sorrows Path + Candelabra Combo | Most Creative 02 Place |
| Cayce | Grissom | ErhnamGeddon GWU | 05 Place Swiss |
| Jason | Gunder | Ivory Sanctuary Control | |
| Tom | Hagen | Black Red Blue Aggro | |
| David | Holler | 4C Aggro | |
| Christopher | Hukill | Mono Black | |
| Christine | Isbell-Peine | Mono Black | |
| Jason | Jaco | Naya Bazaar Zoo | |
| Krishna | James | Gauntlet Flare Big Red | |
| Rajah | James | Eureka Mirror Lich | Most Creative 10 Place |
| Ryan | Jean | Ball Lightning Abyss Atog | Most Creative 09 Place |
| Aaron | Jessee | UWB Assassin's Control | |
| Daniel | Kelly | 4C Aggro | |
| Jack | Kitchen | Incepticauns (Shahrazad Leprechauns) | Most Creative 03 Place |
| John | Knerr | BUG Aggro | |
| Greg | Kotscharjan | Blood Preacher WR Control | |
| Greg | Kraigher | Ali from the Multiverse (Mono Red) | |
| Jay | Krusac | Mono Blue Artifact Aggro | |
| David | Lance | DJ Khabal | Most Creative 06 Place |
| Andrea | Longhi | RG Aggro | |
| Ron | Longhi | Eureka | |
| Pete | Lupo | 5C Storm Seeker Burn | |
| Andy | MacDougall | UW Skies Aggro Control | |
| Will | Magrann | The Deck | |
| Stephen | Maldonado | 5C Fatties | |
| Dane | Malone | Dane's Inferno (Ascending the 9 Circles of Hell) | Most Creative 01 Place |
| Robert | Matthews | Pink Weenie | |
| Ray | Mattson | Troll Disco RB | |
| Mith | Maya | UWR Zoo | |
| Jimmy | McCarthy | Naya Bazaar Zoo | |
| Steve | McGrew | Power Monolith 5C | |
| Andrew | McLennan | UG Berserk Skies | 04 Place Swiss |
| Michael | McMurtrey | Mono Green | |
| Adam | Merkado | BGW Aggro | |
| Matt | Moss | 4C Arabian Aggro | |
| George | Murphy | Altar of the Kobolds RG | |
| William | Palmer | Eureka | |
| Jason | Paul | Goblins RWU | |
| John | Peine | White Weenie | |
| Chris | Pepin | Juxtapose Primordial Ooze Combo | 11 Place Swiss |
| Benjermin | Perry | Eureka | |
| Carter | Petray | Slot Machine (Power Artifact MirrorBall Combo) | |
| Taylor | Quail | ErhnamGeddon GW | |
| Nick | Rohr | Pink Burn | |
| Andy | Roman | Atog UR | |
| Seth | Roncoroni | 4C Zoo | |
| Michael | Russo | Beauty and the Beast (Guardian Beast Workshops UWB) | |
| Bill | S | Hurkyl's Recall Combo | |
| Matt | S | The Deck | 06 Place Swiss |
| Brandon | Sanders | Black White Rack Skies | |
| Michael | Scheffenacker | 4C Zoo | 02 Place Swiss |
| Justin | Schrank | UW Sleight of Hand Aggro | |
| Jason | Schwartz | All-In Reanimator | |
| Shane | Semmens | Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite (Power Artifact Alabaster's Potion) | |
| Stevi | Shively | RUG Zoo | |
| Jeramy | Snyder | RG Berserk Aggro | |
| Joseph | Stacko | Dreams Combo 5C | |
| Christopher | Taylor | Atog Mono Red | 08 Place Swiss |
| Sonny | Tennille | Mono Red | |
| Brendan | The Lion | Titania's Prison UWG | |
| Matt | Thompson | 4C Aggro Control | 10 Place Swiss |
| Jon | Tschida | 4C Aggro Control | 13 Place Swiss |
| Pez | Unholy | Workshop Aggro UWB | 09 Place Swiss |
| Brian | Urbano | Workshop Aggro UWB | |
| David | Velasco | GB Derelor Aggro | |
| Nick | Viau | Atog Mono Red | |
| Robert | Vincent | Red Will Provide (aka 350 card Mono Red Singleton) | Most Creative Special Mention |
| Ivan | Volsko | White Singleton Randomness | |
| Derek | Walker | Mono Green | |
| Michael | Walker | Mono Blue Aggro Control | |
| Chris | Ward | Black Green White Nether Void Land Destruction | |
| Aaron | West | Storytime (Shahrazad UWR) | 01 Place Swiss |
| Robert | Westergaard | Black Blue Aggro | |
| Chris | Wynes | BUG Aggro |
ALL Decks, Alphabetically, by Last Name
Bob Agra – Eureka
Andy Baquero – Sphinx’s Library (GW Sphinx Control) Most Creative 07 Place
Tim Baran – Dakkon Blackblade Control
Harrison Baxter – 4C Aggro Control 03 Place Swiss
Chris Bergeson – Goblins RUG
Ian Blank – Arboria Dreams Turbo Fog Combo Most Creative 08 Place
Matthew Braun – White Weenie
Daniel Brauner – Goblins Mono Red
Dustin Brossard – White Weenie
Mark Brothers – Red Green Ballz of Fire
Brandon Burgoa – White Weenie 14 Place Swiss
Josh Burgoa – RUG Berserk
Mike Butzen – Green Blue Aggro
Grant Castleton – Naya Zoo
Curt Christian – Sindbad’s Adventures (Blue Green Sindbad Combo) Most Creative 04 Place
James Cooney – Dwarves and Derelors (D&D) 07 Place Swiss
Graham Dickson – Mono Black
Dominic Dotterrer – Stasis Vise
Danny Dunaway – Mono Black
James Easteppe – High Tide Candelabra Combo Most Creative Special Mention
Lorien Elleman – Pink Weenie
Kevin Elliott – Wendy and Derelor’s Party (4 Color Red)
Dan Ersch – Black Red White Troll’s Assassin
Paul Fiero – Living Plane Control (aka Walk the Plank) 12 Place Swiss
Alan Finney – 4C Troll Hate
Enrique Flores – Troll Disco URB
Joseph Freshwater – Valley of Nightmares (Mono Black Living Wall Diamond Valley Control) Most Creative 05 Place
Danny Friedman – The Deck
Jose Gonzalez – Black Red Green Land Destruction
Joy Gonzalez – Gauntlets of Chaos + Sorrows Path + Candelabra Combo Most Creative 02 Place
Cayce Grissom – ErhnamGeddon GWU 05 Place Swiss
Jason Gunder – Ivory Sanctuary Control
Tom Hagen – Black Red Blue Aggro
David Holler – 4C Aggro
Christopher Hukill – Mono Black
Christine Isbell-Peine – Mono Black
Jaco – Naya Bazaar Zoo
Krishna James – Gauntlet Flare Big Red
Rajah James – Eureka Mirror Lich Most Creative 10 Place
Ryan Jean – Ball Lightning Abyss Atog Most Creative 09 Place
Aaron Jessee – UWB Assassin’s Control
Daniel Kelly – 4C Aggro
Jack Kitchen – Incepticauns (Shahrazad Leprechauns) Most Creative 03 Place
John Knerr – BUG Aggro
Greg Kotscharjan – Blood Preacher WR Control
Greg Kraigher – Ali from the Multiverse (Mono Red)
Jay Krusac – Mono Blue Artifact Aggro
David Lance – DJ Khabal Most Creative 06 Place
Andrea Longhi – RG Aggro
Ron Longhi – Eureka
Pete Lupo – 5C Storm Seeker Burn
Andy MacDougall – UW Skies Aggro Control
Will Magrann – The Deck
Stephen Maldonado – 5C Fatties
Dane Malone – Dane’s Inferno (Ascending the 9 Circles of Hell) Most Creative 01 Place
Robert Matthews – Pink Weenie
Ray Mattson – Troll Disco RB
Mith Maya – UWR Zoo
Jimmy McCarthy – Naya Bazaar Zoo
Steve McGrew – Power Monolith 5C
Andrew McLennan – UG Berserk Skies 04 Place Swiss
Michael McMurtrey – Mono Green
Adam Merkado – BGW Aggro
Matt Moss – 4C Arabian Aggro
George Murphy – Altar of the Kobolds RG
William Palmer – Eureka
Jason Paul – Goblins RWU
John Peine – White Weenie
Chris Pepin – Juxtapose Primordial Ooze Combo 11 Place Swiss, Most Creative Special Mention
Benjermin Perry – Eureka
Carter Petray – Slot Machine (Power Artifact MirrorBall Combo)
Taylor Quail – ErhnamGeddon GW
Nick Rohr – Big Pink
Andy Roman – Atog UR
Seth Roncoroni – 4C Zoo
Michael Russo – Beauty and the Beast (Guardian Beast Workshops UWB)
Bill S – Hurkyl’s Recall Combo
Matt S – The Deck 06 Place Swiss
Brandon Sanders – Black White Rack Skies
Michael Scheffenacker – 4C Zoo 02 Place Swiss
Justin Schrank – UW Sleight of Hand Aggro
Jason Schwartz – All-In Reanimator
Shane Semmens – Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite (Power Artifact Alabaster’s Potion)
Stevi Shively – RUG Zoo
Jeramy Snyder – RG Berserk Aggro
Joseph Stacko – Dreams Combo 5C
Christopher Taylor – Atog Mono Red 08 Place Swiss
Sonny Tennille – Mono Red
Brendan The Lion – Titania’s Prison UWG
Matt Thompson – 4C Aggro Control 10 Place Swiss
Jon Tschida – 4C Aggro Control 13 Place Swiss
Pez Unholy – Workshop Aggro UWB 09 Place Swiss
Brian Urbano – Workshop Aggro UWB
David Velasco – GB Derelor Aggro
Nick Viau – Atog Mono Red
Robert Vincent – Red Will Provide (aka 350 card Mono Red Singleton) Most Creative Special Mention
Ivan Volsko – White Singleton Randomness
Derek Walker – Mono Green
Michael Walker – Mono Blue Aggro Control
Chris Ward – Black Green White Nether Void Land Destruction
West – Storytime (Shahrazad UWR) 01 Place Swiss
Robert Westergaard – Black Blue Aggro
Chris Wynes – BUG Aggro
Tournament Action and Wrapup
The hashtag for social media for the event was #OldSchoolPlayersBall, which you can use to find more on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Thank you to everybody who came out to play, and we hope to see you again soon. As we move forward experimenting with more changes we hope to make each event more unique and fun.
Friday Night Contracts @ DMen Tap
Flipping for prizes at the annual pre-ball contracts event with the @LordsOfThePitOG #oldschoolmtg pic.twitter.com/vwEyA3cW2J
— Mith (@mithmtg) August 31, 2019
Big ups to all the #oldschoolmtg ballers that rolled with the #lordsofthepit tonite. We killed it!#chicagooldschool #oldschoolplayersball #btfooc pic.twitter.com/F36EgBpuxP
— Pitcast (@PitcastPod) August 31, 2019
Revolution
The Calm Before the Storm
Signing Prizes
Christian (Sindbad’s Adventures) vs. Baquero (Sphinx’s Library)
Russo (Beauty and the Beast) vs. Stacko (Underworld Dreams Combo 5C)
Elliott (YdwenAndDerelor.dec) vs. McLennan (UG Berserk Skies)
Pepin (Primordial Juxtapose) vs. Tennille (Atog Mono Red)
Paul (Goblins RWU) vs. Kraigher (Ali from the Multiverse)
Baquero (Sphinx’s Library) vs. Easteppe (High Tide Candelabra Combo)
Kelly (4C Aggro) vs. Knerr (BUG Aggro)
Bergeson (Goblins RUG) vs. Hagen (Black Red Blue Aggro)
Braun (White Weenie) vs. Velasco (GB Derelor Aggro)
Walker (Mono Blue Aggro Control) vs. Maldonado (5C Fatties)
Pez (Workshop Aggro UWB) vs. Friedman (The Deck)
West (Storytime) vs. Cooney (Dwarves and Derelors)
Wynes (BUG Aggro) vs. Butzen (Green Blue Aggro)
Jaco (Naya Bazaar Zoo) vs. Dotterrer (Stasis Vise)
Magrann (The Deck) vs. Malone (Dane’s Inferno)
Bill S (Hurkyl’s Recall Combo) vs. Fiero (Living Plane Control)
Wynes (BUG Aggro) vs. Butzen (Blue Green Aggro)
Hukill (Mono Black) vs. Schwartz (All-In Reanimator)
Matt S (The Deck) vs. Friedman (The Deck)
Easteppe (High Tide Candelabra) vs. Krishna (Gauntlet Flare Big Red)
Freshwater (Valley of Nightmares) vs. Lance (DJ Khabal)
Scheffenacker (4C Zoo) vs. West (Storytime)
Semmens Powering Infinite Life
Matthews and Fiero
Lord Elleman and Lord Dotterrer in Action
Northern Paladins Representing
Knights Taplar Representing
Balling Too Hard
A frenzied fraction of the charity raffle, which included community donated altered cards, nearly a dozen custom t-shirts, and a CE Chaos Orb!
CE Chaos Orb donor Lord Agra with raffle winner Rajah, of the Cleveland Rocs Crew
Not only was his entire outfit and deck pirate-themed, but Paul Fiero hand made this plank, that served not only as his playmat, but also his deck box. Absolutely magnificent!
Some of the prize pool, early in the inking process (over 100 people would go on to sign each card)
Old School Community
Sunday @ The Map Room
“A tradition unlike any other,” the Sunday Map Room Meetup feat. some of our renegade #oldschoolplayersball guests.#oldschoolmtg #chicagooldschool #lordsofthepit #btfooc pic.twitter.com/6l0bzOGS2D
— Pitcast (@PitcastPod) September 1, 2019
Lords of the Pit Representing
Thank you again to all of the community for your support and charitable donations, and thank you again to the illest crew on the streets.
