@emopizza I also did some testing with song of the dryads and imprisoned in the moon. They seem corny but both offer good options to threats that the deck has issues dealing with like active planeswalkers. I cut them in the end because they didn’t have any interaction once they hit the graveyard and were too much of an investment to have countered. I think they could easily see some play though as an answer to certain blue decks in the right build.

It's finding the 5-6 hours to both play in the event to recoup EV and gather data during/after that is the problem!

@The-Atog-Lord Thirteen--I imagine there were others who felt similarly to you. It was my first time making it out to Gamingetc, so I don't know what's typical for their monthly tournaments. The drive back was more arduous than the tournament itself! @jsakpc Thanks! As for Snapcaster vs Recoup, I would say that the former is certainly a better card than the latter in a vacuum. Snapcaster is certainly more flexible. However, I am running Recoup because it is a single card accomplishing what would take 2-4 Snapcasters. I want Gifts to be able to win on its own given sufficient mana without any help. A lone Gifts can find Lotus, Will, Recoup, Demonic and win with whatever they give you (provided you have the mana). If you substitute that Recoup with Snapcaster, they can bin the Will and Snapcaster and cut you off Will. I think a Gifts deck with Snapcaster can work--flashing back draw spells and counters is very strong. I personally wanted to spend those slots on other cards and play a single card (Recoup) that makes Gifts a one-card combo. You could certainly try this list and sub in 4 Snapcasters in for the Barals and Recoup--and maybe finding another cut to fit in a Merchant Scroll, which would enable casting Ancestral twice a game more often. Such a move could solidify the mana base to UB, if you drop the red splash. That's what's so great about Gifts, you can tailor your list to your preferences and style!

The only changes I'd make is to cut the 3rd Flusterstorm for either the 3rd Duress or the 4th Thoughtseize.

@bobbyvictory I only played against sean o'brien in the main event, but I did enough testing to feel comfortable in that matchup

@themonadnomad Equal parts stupidity and apathy. Ruby’s definitely correct. *Edit: well, it's definitely correct in the abstract. Considering I lost my deck between rounds 3 and 4, there's an argument for not playing your power during an event that encourages drinking.

Congrats! If Hi-Score runs Vintage again I'll try to make it up next time from Iowa.

One of my pals was trying out a BUG Leovold build that used JVP, Squee, and Survival. It was very grindy and did a lot of work once survival hit. You can tutor up Squee, then get as many other creatures as you want until grave hate hits. Getting out Leovold shut down a lot of options in my experience. Squee with JVP was also a nice touch.

@mediumsteve I added it last minute for disruption. I found during testing that more disruption over controll helps the combo element of the deck. I never regretted it and it won me 2 games.

@walking-dude There are stores on Long Island and New Jersey that are not too far away (decent access by car) that hot regular Vintage tournaments. Unfortunately, none within NYC (the five boroughs) that organize it at least once a month, although I've spoken to a few store owners willing to try it. The big issue is parking, as NYC doesn't have stores with access to free parking for large groups of players, and worrying about feeding the meter is a pain when you are in the middle of a round playing. With NYC being so packed and continuously building upward, it pushes parking availability out, which discourages players from out of the area (1+ hours away) from wanting to travel to play. That means lower tournament turnout, which leads to Lower prize Support (the main draw for players) Fewer rounds played (which lowers the justification for paying for parking) Fewer skilled players (the main draw for competitors, and a big way to grow a scene aside from loading upo on prize support) The last tournament I organized was at Kings Games back in 2005 or 6 for a Mox Emerald, and at the time, it only drew 22 players. The main issue was having to pay 8-10 bucks for parking or risk a 3+ hour communte from outside NYC via public transportation to an area not in Manhattan. And Manhattan commercial rents at that time were skyrocketting to the point where if I had to host a monthly, stores wanted me to rent the space for the day to do it. It was unsustainable. Kudos to Nick Detwiler in helping grow a scene in NY. I couldn't.

@khahan said in Deal Me In Games 8/12/17 Vintage series #4 Results: I also want to add a personal plug for Jason at Deal Me In Games here. The prize support we post is based on attendance of 30 people. I just want to note that Jason has NEVER once scaled prize support down. Even when we had 12, he offered full prize support (the top 8 basically begged and insisted on lesser support). When he offered the Bazaar of Baghdad at 30 and we hit 24 - he still gave out the bazaar. I suggested he up the entry fee to $35 to use the extra $5 to offset the prize for the top 8 at the end of the year and he refused. So while I'm the visible face who does all the advertising, Jason is the one who takes all the financial risk and puts himself on the line. He never fails to be a stand-up TO and shopkeeper when it comes to prizes. So a big thanks to Jason for all his support for the T1 community this year!! This in itself makes me want to drive the extra 1.5 hours for the next tournament to show this shop some love and support. I'm quite a distance away, but I'll make sure I can schedule to make one of these tournaments. People say they love Vintage, but the way to do it is to put your money where your mouth is. As soon as I can get another manager for my facility, I will be scheduling time to come down.

Thanks for the report Steve. Love the theory section.

@Topical_Island Thanks! :) I'll PM you.

Permanent sources of disruption are so much better, I agree. Arcane Lab and such are back-breakers.

Nice work Jeff! Glad to see you back in action!

@Chiaroscuro No, per Ray's writeup: "I got coverage streaming, but not recording and still no commentary."

Top 8 decklists: 1st Joe Brennan with Monkee Bizniss (planeswalker control) 1 black lotus 1 mox jet 1 mox ruby 1mox emerald 1 mox pearl 1 mox sapphire 1 time walk 1 ancestral recall 1 pyroblast 1 island 1 jace the mind sculptor 1 brainstorm 1 stripmine 1 treasure cruise 1 ponder 1 balance 1 mystical tutor 1 dig through time 1 library of alexandria 1 vendilion clique 1 karakas 1 chandra, torch of defiance 1 misty rainforest 1 polluted delta 2 scalding tarn 3 volcanic island 2 flooded strand 3 tundra 3 swords to plowshares 3 mental misstep 2 gitaxian probe 4 force of will 2 dack fayden 2 preordain 3 gush 3 jace vryn's prodigy 3 monastery mentor 1 engineered explosives sb: 2 containment priest, 1 fragmentize, 2 rest in peace, 1 supreme verdict, 1 swords to plowshares, 2 pithing needle, 2 engineered explosives, 2 wear/tera, 2 pyroblast 2nd Stephen Nowakowski Gush Mentor 4 flooded strand 3 polluted delta 3 tundra 2 volcanic island 2 island 1 library of alexandria 1 strip mine 1 black lotus 1 mox sapphire 1 mox pearl 1 mox ruby 4 force of will 4 mental misstep 2 pyroblast 4 gitaxian probe 1 brainstorm 1 ponder 3 preordain 1 treasure cruise 1 dig through time 1 ancestral recall 1 time walk 1 snapcaster mage 1 jace the mindsculptor 2 jace vryn's prodigy 2 dack fayden 3 monastery mentor 1 stony silence 1 sudden shock 3 swords to plowshares 3 gush sb: 1 pyroblast, 2 disenchant, 2 fragmentize, 1 balance, 1 plains, 1 wasteland, 1 stony silence, 1 rest in peace, 3 grafdiggers cage, 2 tormod's crypt 3rd Keith Seals Car shops 1 strip mine 1 tolarian academy 4 mishra's factory 4 wasteland 4 ancient tomb 4 mishra's workshop 1 mox jet 1 mox pearl 1 mox ruby 1 mox sapphire 1 mox emerald 1 black lotus 1 sol ring 1 mana crypt 4 tangle wire 4 sphere of resistance 4 thorn of amethyst 1 trinisphere 1 chalice of the void 4 fleetwheel cruiser 1 lodestone golem 1 karn, silver golem 2 hangarback walker 4 walking ballista 4 phyrexian revoker 4 arcbound ravager sb: 3 crucible of worlds, 2 tormod's crypt, 2 wurmcoil engine, 1 pithing needle, 2 relic of progenitus, 4 grafdiggers cage, 1 dismember 4th Dan Barkon Car shops 1 strip mine 1 tolarian academy 4 mishra's factory 4 wasteland 4 ancient tomb 4 mishra's workshop 1 ghost quarter 1 mox jet 1 mox pearl 1 mox ruby 1 mox sapphire 1 mox emerald 1 black lotus 1 sol ring 1 mana crypt 4 tangle wire 4 sphere of resistance 4 thorn of amethyst 1 trinisphere 1 chalice of the void 4 fleetwheel cruiser 1 lodestone golem 2 hangarback walker 4 walking ballista 4 phyrexian revoker 4 arcbound ravager sb: 4 grafdiggers cage, 2 relic of progenitus, 2 crucible of worlds, 2 dismember, 2 steel hellkite, 1 wurmcoil engine, 1 jester's cap, 1 ratchet bomb 5-8th Greg Hoover on Paradoxical Gush 1 mox emerald 1 mox jet 1 mox opal 1 mox pearl 1 mox ruby 1 mox sapphire 1 black lotus 1 sol ring 1 mana crypt 1 mana vault 1 sensei's divining top 1 time vault 1 voltaic key 3 monastery mentor 1 blighsteel colossus 3 gush 3 paradoxical outcome 1 brainstorm 1 ancestral recall 1 dig through time 4 force of will 2 mental misstep 2 flusterstorm 1 mindbreak trap 1 ancient grudge 1 swords to plowshares 3 tundra 2 volcanic island 3 polluted delta 2 flooded strand 1 library of alexandria 1 jace the mindsculptor 1 dack fayden 1 nahiri the harbinger 1 treasure cruise 2 gitaxian probe 1 tinker 1 time walk 1 fragmentize sb: 3x pithing needle, 2x swords to plowshares, 1x engineered explosives, 3x fragmentize, 1x tormod's crypt, 2x ancient grudge, 1 grafdiggers cage, 1 containment priest Josh Barkon 1 strip mine 1 tolarian academy 4 mishra's factory 4 wasteland 4 ancient tomb 4 mishra's workshop 1 mox jet 1 mox pearl 1 mox ruby 1 mox sapphire 1 mox emerald 1 black lotus 1 sol ring 1 mana crypt 4 tangle wire 4 sphere of resistance 4 thorn of amethyst 1 trinisphere 1 chalice of the void 4 fleetwheel cruiser 1 lodestone golem 1 phyrexian metamorph 2 hangarback walker 4 walking ballista 4 phyrexian revoker 4 arcbound ravager sb: 1 tormod's crypt, 4 grafdiggers cage, 2 relic of progenitus, 2 dismember, 3 crucible of worlds, 1 ratchet bomb, 1 steel hellkite, 1 wurmcoil engine William Dayton Ravager shops 4 ancient tomb 2 inventor's fair 2 mishra's factor 4 mishra's workshop 1 strip mine 1 tolarian academy 4 wasteland 4 arcbound ravager 4 foundry inspector 1 lodestone golem 4 phyrexian revoker 1 steel hellkite 4 walking ballista 1 black lotus 1 chalice of the void 1 crucible of worlds 1 mana crypt 1 mox emerald 1 mox jet 1 mox ruby 1 mox sapphire 1 sol ring 4 sphere of resistance 1 spine of ish sah 4 tangle wire 4 thorn of amethyst 1 trinisphere sb: 2 crucible of worlds, 4 grafdiggers cage, 2 hangarback walker, 1 phyrexian metamorph, 2 ratchet bomb, 3 tormod's crypt, 1 wurmcoil engine Jeremy Beaver The hydra of trest (bug hydra) 3 tropical island 3 underground sea 1 forest 1 island 3 misty rainforest 2 verdant catacombs 2 polluted delta 1 library of alexandria 1 black lotus 1 mox emerald 1 mox jet 1 mox sapphire 3 deathrite shaman 2 jace vryn's prodigy 3 leovold, emissary of trest 3 managorger hydra 1 ancestral recall 1 brainstorm 1 demonic tutor 1 dig through time 1 flusterstorm 1 mindbreak trap 1 misdirection 1 time walk 1 treasure cruise 1 force of will 3 gush 3 mental misstep 3 preordain 2 abrupt decay 2 fatal push 1 jace the mind sculptor 2 null rod sb: 1 abrupt decay, 1 murderous cut, 1 snuffout, 1 mindbreak trap, 1 virulent plague, 1 ravenous trap, 1 tormod's crypt, 2 yixlid jailer, 3 grafdiggers cage, 3 nature's claim