Soly at GenCon: Bolt to the Cranium!

Welcome to my first article for Eternal Central! I’ll share with you my experiences playing a deck I’ve developed and tuned in Vintage called RUG Delver, and also the awesome times I had at GenCon 2012 this past weekend.

My notes and reports won’t be as detailed as some, as this is just from memory and I will mainly just highlight the key plays that won or lost a particular game. So let’s do it!

GenCon 2012

Overall, GenCon was blast this year. I don’t feel I had nearly enough time to hang out with the people I wanted to see, but I got to play a ton of Vintage, explore the gaming halls, and meet a TON of people that I’ve talked to for awhile but never had a chance to meet in person. I also got to hang out with some old friends that I see only once a year.

I’ve been testing and tuning RUG Delver for the last 6 months in Vintage, and it has paid off as I’ve made the finals of every tournament I’ve entered with it but one (where I 0-2ed to Oath after cutting Grafdigger’s Cage from my Sideboard to try a different strategy against Dredge).

10am Vintage Prelim for Byes (and a Kindle Fire)

I signed up for the first preliminary, not sure exactly what to expect, and 62 other people did as well (63 total peeps for this one). I felt that if I did poorly, I could audible decks for the 4pm preliminary and try my luck with my alternate deck (Dark Confidants and Snapcaster Mages…a deck every blue mage was playing). Fortunately I didn’t get to play the 4pm event.

Here is what I played in the Prelim:

Vintage RUG Delver, by Mike Solymossy

Round 1 vs. Planeswalker Control
Game 1:
I open with Mox Sapphire, Island, and Delver, keeping up Flusterstorm. He opens a little stronger with Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Island, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I’m actually fine with this, because either he uses the +2 and gets nowhere, or -1’s to keep Delver from flipping, or he 0’s and chances that Delver blind flips (and then kills Jace), and he just paid way too much mana for a Brainstorm. He chooses +2 to fateseal me and lets me keep the card. I peek, and it’s not an instant or sorcery. I play a Tarmogoyf after hitting his Jace for 1 with Delver. He uses the +0 and Jace-storms and plays a Time Vault, but doesn’t get anywhere as I attack his Jace and kill it on my next turn, and then chip his life total away 8 at a time thanks to a 5/6 Goyf and a 3/2 Insectile Abomination.

Game 2:
I can’t really remember what happens here, except I ran him over with powerful dudes.

Games 2-0, Matches 1-0

Round 2 vs. Pat Fehling with Griselbrand Oath
He looked really familiar, and after our shuffle I remember he’s an old 5-color player from Madison, Wisconsin. He’s really quiet, but quite a nice guy.

Game 1:
I ran him over with powerful cards, countering a couple of his relevant spells, and I put him on a blue Jace deck and side appropriately.

Game 2:
I boarded in Red Elemental Blasts, and then quickly find out he’s on Oath of Druids. Unfortunately, without a board for it, I get run over by a 7/7 flying Yawgmoth’s Bargain that goes by the name of Griselbrand. I let him kill me, just to make sure he’s a control build, and not like Rich Shay’s Tendrils build.

Game 3:
No amount of writing can really do justice to this game. It was easily my most impressive win and definitely the most thought-provoking game I had all weekend. At one point, we’re both playing draw-go for turns on end. My hand is literally 7 cards that either say “counter” or “destroy enchantment.” I throw two Lightning Bolts at his face on subsequent turns while he’s at relatively high life totals, just so I could get down to seven cards. At one point I resolve a Cage and we fight over my Vendilion Clique. The game ends when I start casting Snapcaster Mage knowing they’re just a 2/1, but he counters them forgetting Cage affects both players. I chip at his life total after protecting a second Cage, and eventually get there with dudes.

Games 4-1, Matches 2-0

Round 4 vs. John Beste with Painter
John is one of my Beste friends (see what I did there?!), and is an Xtreme Games regular who also lives in Wisconsin. He usually plays one of two decks: Painter or Oath. Thankfully, I know he’s playing Painter, which I actively have to try to lose to.

Game 1:
I mulligan to 5, and he has a lot of available early mana sources. I am keeping up, and even Vendilion Clique his game-winning Yawgmoth’s Will in his draw step, just in time. I’m feeling good as his Will is at the bottom, but two turns and one fetchland later, he draws and casts Yawgmoth’s Will, and the game is over. How lucky!

Game 2:
This game isn’t close, as I can destroy or Lightning Bolt every win condition he has. The RUG Delver deck is always one step ahead in this matchup, and he never can get away from the amount of removal I have.

Game 3:
See game 2. This game is similar, except I also resolve an Ancestral and end the game with Ancient Grudge and 2 Steel Sabotage still in hand! BAOM!

Games 6-2, Matches 3-0

Round 4 vs. Nick Detwiler with Red Shops
I had been jokingly saying “I’m coming for you!” all day, and I finally got to play Nick in round 3. I was very happy about this because I only get one chance to play against East Coasters, and in my opinion, Blaine, Nick, and the Forino Brothers are currently the best Workshop pilots in the United States. My matchup against Shops is very good, but I wanted to play against one of the Masters to see how I faired.

Game 1:
Nick and I are going back and forth, my spells and his Lodestone Golems. I Lightning Bolt his Golem, and eventually we get into a game where he has a Thorn of Amethyst and I have 4 mana, but we’re not really doing much. Unfortunately, he draws and plays another Lodestone Golem, and then follows it up with a Phyrexian Metamorph, copying Lodestone. He had Strip Mined one of my lands (courtesy of an Expedition Map), and I attempted to late-game Ancestral (at 4 mana) to get an answer. I find a Bolt to deal with one 5/3 but die to the other one.

Game 2:
I board out Mental Missteps, Flusterstorms, Scavenging Ooze, a Gush, and a Preordain for 1 Steel Sabotage, 3 Nature’s Claim, 2 Ingot Chewer, 1 Ancient Grudge, and 1 Mountain. If I remember correctly, I either fetch or play a basic Island, and he plays a bunch of mana followed by an Expedition Map and a Goblin Welder. I draw three with Ancestral on his end step, and then during my upkeep I Mystical for a Lightning Bolt. I immediately Bolt his Welder, assuming his Map would fetch a Bazaar and bury me in artifact advantage. On his turn he Maps up a Strip Mine, and I assume he’s not too happy about this. I end up beating him down as he never gets to stick a relevant threat.

Game 3:
I have a sick opening that allows me to Ancestral and Delver. I Bolt his first Lodestone and keep threats off the table with my removal to win the game.

Games 8-3, Matches 4-0

Round 5 & Round 6: ID into Top 8

Games 8-3, Matches 4-0-2

Top 8 Quarterfinals vs. Blaine Christenson playing BC Shops
Blaine and I go back a ways, and he is always an upstanding guy. For those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him, he is one of those guys who always have a smile on his face. At one point, I was actually more upset than he was at the fact the judge wouldn’t reverse the decision during the Vintage Champs round where his opponent filled the match slip incorrectly and he was 3-1 instead of 4-0. If you have the pleasure of meeting him you will not be disappointed. Blaine and I discussed a little earlier how my Workshop matchup is insanely in my favor, but his particular list seems a little better against RUG. You can check out his GenCon report here. Here is what he wrote about our match:

Game 1: I mulligan to 5. His hand is considerably better. He has one of his maindeck Steel Sabotages for one of my threats, and he has his maindeck Ancient Grudge for a couple more. I eventually land a Triskelion, which does some work, but eventually I run out of gas and a Tarmogoyf goes the distance.

Game 2: I have the stone cold nuts. I don’t remember exactly what I played on my first turn, but it was something ridiculous like Trinisphere and Lodestone Golem. It’s over fast.

Game 3: This game went a lot more like RUG Delver hopes to run against Workshops. He has infinity Steel Sabotage, Ingot Chewer, and Ancient Grudge for anything I play. A single Insectile Abomination goes the distance over 7 turns.

Here is what I recall about the match.

Game 1:
At one point he plays a Triskelion to shoot down a Vendilion Clique, and then another Triskelion. The 5 counters aren’t enough to shoot and kill my 5/6 Tarmogoyf, and the Ancient Grudge in my hand guarantees that the Tarmogoyf goes the distance unharmed.

Game 2:
I don’t think this was Trinisphere plus Golem as Blaine described, but was actually turn 1 Golem + Tangle Wire. I conceded at 10 life when I realize I cannot resolve a spell before dying to the Golem on board.

Game 3:
This game was insane. I Steel Sabotage two of his early threats, and an evoked monster Chews one. Lightning Bolt gets another one and Ancient Grudge another. I hit him with an Insect several times, but the Insect doesn’t go the distance. It was his Mana Crypt that finished the job after he missed 6 times in a row. At one point he resolved a Karn, Silver Golem, and I end step blast it into the graveyard. He eats my Sapphire in response, but misses eating his Crypt. He then resolves a Wurmcoil Engine while at 3 life with Mana Crypt on board, hoping to miss again, and attack me. Had he missed, I could have Ancient Grudged his Wurmcoil to gain another turn with the crypt, while also buying myself turns to draw another removal spell or a Bolt, or find a Gush/Preordain/etc. into a Bolt/removal spell. Fortunately we don’t get that far and Mana Crypt finally kills him.

Games 10-4, Matches 5-0-2

Top 8 Semifinals vs. Richard Johnson playing Bomberman
Everyone says this matchup is rough, but I don’t find it to be too bad as long as you’re patient. It’s definitely not easy though.

Game 1:
Knowing what deck Richard is on I keep an opening hand that is Black Lotus, 3 lands, 2 Tarmogoyfs, and a Scavenging Ooze. I overload him with threats and run him over.

Game 2:
I keep a mulligan to 6 that is Ruby, Emerald, Tarmogoyf, Lightning Bolt, and Ponder. I resolve a turn 1 Tarmogoyf and pass back to him, and he can’t recover once I hit a land. At one point I draw Lotus, and Vendilion Clique myself to try and get a second Tarmogoyf in, which was awful because he did end up having the only spell in his deck that mattered (Engineered Explosives). He never got to resolve it though. He countered the second Tarmogoyf but I attacked for a bunch anyway with Goyf + Clique which led to his timely death.

Games 12-4, Matches 6-0-2

Finals vs. Nate Ponce with Planeswalker Control
Game 1:
Nate resolves a Time Vault, and I’m very afraid that he will draw Tezzeret or Voltaic Key, but he doesn’t, and a combination of Delvers backed with a little control and Lightning Bolts go the distance.

Game 2:
I chip away at his life total, and eventually he’s at 5 with me having 2 Bolts in hand. I Bolt him on his end step as he is tapped out, and pays 2 life to Mental Misstep it (dropping him to 3). I think for about 3 seconds, and realize if I Bolt him again and he has a Mindbreak Trap, I give him an extra turn, so I Misstep back. Realizing that he’s at 3 thanks to his own Misstep, with Bolt is on the stack, he extends for the handshake.

Games 14-4, Matches 7-0-2

I win 2 byes to the Vintage Champs main event, as well as a Kindle Fire. Unfortunately, they don’t have the Fire on site, so they say I can get $100 cash, have them ship the Fire, or give me an Amazon gift card of the same value. I talk them into $125 cash, and away we go!

On a related note, in Round 4 or 5 of Vintage Champs, Jimmy McCarthy calls the judge to report he is missing a Force of Will from his deck, and believes it may have been shuffled into his opponent’s deck erroneously. His previous opponent had dropped, and thanks to James King, Jimmy was able to continue with a borrowed Force of Will. During the Top 8, I ran into Nate, who asks me if I had a friend playing my exact deck. I say I do, and start to describe him. Nate said he felt awful about accidentally scooping his deck up after getting his last spell countered, and wanted to make sure Jimmy got his Force back. He was incredibly worried but felt relieved when I said Jimmy was able to continue with his tournament without receiving a game loss. I texted Jimmy after Nate gave me the Force to deliver. Nate is a stand up guy with integrity and class, and made sure Jimmy got his card back.

Vintage Championship

I made a couple of minor changes to the list for the main event:
-1 Echoing Truth
-1 Scavenging Ooze
-1 Steel Sabotage (Sideboard)
+2 Spell Snare
+1 Threads of Disloyalty (Sideboard)

This was my updated list for Champs:

Vintage RUG Delver, by Mike Solymossy

Rounds 1 & 2 vs. Bye

Games 0-0, Matches 2-0

Round 3 vs. Stephane (from Canada) with UWB Control
Game 1:
This whole match was frustrating. Stephane is a really nice, but I was already on serious tilt after the ridiculous draws he had. Hopefully he reads this and takes my apology for the Tilt.

He opens with turn 1 Ancestral, which I Flusterstorm. On his turn 2 he draws Black Lotus and plays a Snapcaster, which resolves his next Ancestral. Jace then hits the board, again off the top, while I am struggling to stay afloat. Somehow, I’m able to stay in this game even though he has a Jace on board, and he’s at 6 with me having a Delver on board. Unfortunately, he Jace-storms for broke while at 3 life, and finds and casts a Vendilion Clique. I am holding a Lightning Bolt, but I know he has a Misstep in hand because he revealed it earlier to Confidant, and has about 8 mana on board and wins game 1.

Game 2:
Eventually we get to a point where he has no cards in hand, and I have Flusterstorm and Gush in hand. I draw a second Flusterstorm, so I cast Gush. I draw into land and Brainstorm, and then Brainstorm into two more lands and a Mox. I put two lands back, and play a fetchland. I feel my double Flusterstorm can deal with any spells he has, but unfortunately, sometimes people just draw Jace, the Mind Sculptor naturally off the top of their deck in the turn you give them. His Jace finds a Stoneforge Mystic, which finds Batterskull. I think Batterskull is utter garbage in Vintage, but it’s pretty good against me when I board out my Ancient Grudge and Steel Sabotage. I bolt his Mystic, but he hard casts Batterskull anyway. I’m never in it after this, as I block his 4/4 with my 4/5 Goyf, and then after equipping, his 6/5 Snapcaster Mage trumps my 4/5 Tarmogoyf (which his Jace can deal with anyway).

Games 0-2, Matches 2-1

Round 4 vs. Dredge
Well, this is going to be a quick match. Or so I think.

Game 1:
I manage to stay in it thanks to poor dredges on his part plus a quick hand on my part. Unfortunately, he finally gets me on about turn 5.

Game 2:
This game is super awkward. I have a Tormod’s Crypt in hand, and decide to sandbag it so he activates a Bazaar. He opens with a Chalice of the Void, which I have to counterspell because I held onto the Crypt. He plays a Bazaar, and I play my Crypt. The Crypt plus an eventual Grafdigger’s Cage and a Misstep on his Nature’s Claim keeps him at bay while I smash in for lethal.

Game 3:
I have 2 Grafdigger’s Cage and at one point play a Crypt and hit him with it. He attempts to bring an Ichorid in at one point while a Cage is on board, and I let him pay the cost by removing another Ichorid, but then promptly flag a judge to inform my opponent that while he can pay the cost for the Ichorid, the Cage just forces it to stay in the graveyard. He loses.

Games 2-3, Matches 3-1

Round 5 vs. Duane (Cutlex) playing Workshops
Game 1:
He attempts to play a Voltaic Key and the Time Vault, but thankfully I have Steel Sabotage for the Vault. He draws few relevant spells from then on, and I overwhelm him with spells and dudes.

Game 2:
My opening hand was Sapphire, Island, Ancestral, Delver, Steel Sabotage, Ancient Grudge, Lightning Bolt. He doesn’t have Sphere effects, so I overrun him with 3 power flyers as almost every action spell in my deck now has the words “destroy” and “artifact” on it.

Games 4-3, Matches 4-1

Round 6 vs. James King playing Dredge
James is my buddy from Wisconsin and I know he is on Dredge.

Game 1:
I am expecting a really crappy game, but the best thing ever happens: James mulligans to 1 card searching for Bazaar, and his turn 1 play is to say “go.” He is behind the 8-ball from this point and I manage to quickly chip away at his life total and finish him a turn or two before he can really get the engine going, having found a Bazaar on turn 5.

Game 2:
I mulligan to 4, and keep a hand of 3 fetchlands and a Tormod’s Crypt. He Unmasks me and takes the Crypt, but like a champion I rip a Grafdigger’s Cage off the top and play it. Two turns and a Preordain later, another one joins the party. He blows up one with an Ingot Chewer, but thankfully I am able to keep control of the game and get him with a pair of flipped Delvers, backed by Mental Misstep and Flusterstorm to protect Cage.

Games 6-3, Matches 5-1

Round 7 vs. Griselbrand Oath
Game 1:
I am beating him down, but stupidly let a Vampiric Tutor resolve. He resolves the most skill intensive enchantment in the game, and I lose to Griselbrand.

Game 2:
I Vendilion Clique his Oath, but naturally between the Clique replacement draw and his draw step, he finds another one. I play a Cage even though I know he has a Nature’s Claim. He Claims it, and I Flusterstorm it for a storm of 2. He has 3 mana and lets it resolve. I think to myself “man, I’m glad he doesn’t have a brain stem; maybe I’m in this.” He has the Ancient Grudge too, and blows up Cage and then Oaths out Griselbrand. Can you say skill?

After the match, I ask him if he was just stone dead to a Nature’s Claim. He agrees he would have been. But sometimes it doesn’t snow in the Magic Christmasland, and Santa gives you coal instead.

Games 6-5, Matches 5-2

Round 8 vs. Josh Potucek playing Josh Potucek’s deck (aka UR Landstill)
Game 1:
I don’t remember much here, except I am able to get us both into a topdeck war with me drawing Tarmogoyf and Delvers while he draws lands, and I beat him down.

Game 2:
This game is really slow. He hits a Standstill, but is stuck on 3 lands. I am attacking with Vendilion Clique which eats a Red Blast. We’re going back and forth, while I am bolting Factories and keeping him low on mana. I sneak this game out and end the game at 2 life when I eventually draw cards that have a Power / Toughness and he can’t deal with them.

Games 8-5, Matches 6-2

I end up getting 13th place, while Jimmy McCarthy and Paul Mastriano who were both playing my deck, landed at 14th and 15th, respectively. All three of us were very close to making top 8 against 6 very favorable matchups and 2 Dredge decks that are tough, but not unbeatable. It was disappointing that no RUG deck made the Top 8, but I think the deck is the real deal, and it’s only a matter of time before the deck takes off. It has no real *bad* matchups outside of Oath, and you still have tools at your disposal to deal with Oath itself. With RUG you’re never extremely far ahead, but you’re never going to be very far behind either.

Other Notes About GenCon (Security, etc.)

Leading up to GenCon this year a big deal was made about security of people’s belongings, and rightfully so. There were numerous decks and backpacks ripped off last year to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, and no one wanted to see a repeat of that this year. Thankfully Pastimes stepped up as a tournament organizer and the security measures were superb! You couldn’t even enter the roped-off area without either a Press Badge or a player’s wristband (given only to paid entrants for that event), and judges were adamant about making sure spectators were outside the area. There was security outside, and on several occasions I overheard them talking about even the slightest suspicious activity. While slightly annoying in the fact that it was more difficult to scout matches, the additional security was welcomed by everyone.

Special Shout Outs

I have to give a bunch of shout-outs to the people who make GenCon worth it!

The whole Team Serious Roster: I didn’t get to hang out with you at all, and for that I’m sorry.

The Xtreme Games Crew: Thanks for the room, and thanks for being awesome to the WI/IL Vintage Community!

Travis Heipp: You’re always fun, even if you get really drunk and faceplant on a bar wall. 🙂

Matt Hoey: You’re tearing it up in Legacy, I’m glad I could convince you to play some vintage. I hope you caught the bug!

Stephen Menendian, Paul Mastriano, Kevin Cron, and Brian Demars: It’s always fun to talk to you, even if I’m a little too wild for you all sometimes!

David Williams: You’re a real cool cat. Sorry I missed your call before the 4pm event. Hopefully we’ll get more time to chill next year!

Joe Brown, Vito Picozzo, Bernie Pernesi, Josh Patucek, Tom Dixon, Nick Coss, Nick Detwiler, Mark Hornung, Ryan Glackin, Raph and Vincent Forino, Blaine Christenson, Nate Ponce, the Exe brothers, Scott Hughes, Justin Kohler, Hiromichi Itou, And anyone else I rarely see or had the pleasure of meeting during GenCon. You’re all awesome people. I’m glad so many people are so passionate about Vintage.

Until next time!

– Mike Solymossy