Team Vintage Super League - Double Episode Week 4-5!

Joseph Dyer II • May 15, 2018

Howdy folks! It's Joe again and we're here with another sweet recap of Team Vintage Super League! Our good friend Randy Buehler threw a curveball at us this past week with not one, but two episodes of TVSL with the end of Round 1 (Scottsdale Foundation (Paul Rietzl, David Williams, Matt Sperling, Alternate Bob Maher) vs Blue Crab Club (Seth Manfield, Jarvis Yu, Ari Lax)) and the beginning of Round 2 (So Many Insane Plays vs Snapcardster). So of course this week we've got a DOUBLE DOSE of TVSL recap!

As always you can check out the decklists for each week on the Wizards website.

Round 1 - Match 4 Recap - Scottsdale Foundation vs Blue Crab Club

 

You can check out the VOD for this match here:

The two decks banned on each side of the fence were Dredge and Oath.

Our first round begins with Paul Rietzl (on Esper Paradoxical) vs Jarvis Yu (4C Paradoxical)! Both players start off with a Paradoxical Outcome

in hand with Force of Will
backup and mana rocks to bounce. Paul pulls the trigger first, activating a Sensei's Divining Top
and casting Paradoxical. The two players play the counter war, with Paul winning the war with his own Force. Paul casts Tinker
, dumping a Blightsteel Colossus
into play. Jarvis casts Demonic Tutor
to go all in on Paradoxical Outcome
but gets it Forced by Paul. Paul takes Game 1 with Blightsteel.

Jarvis starts off things with an Ancestral Recall

, and dumps a Turn 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
. Paul struggles with a Library of Alexandria
and then tries to play his own Kambal, getting it countered by Jarvis. Jarvis goes into a Paradoxical, bringing his Kambal back to hand with a backup one in hand. Jarvis casts it again, and Paul promptly Forces it. The counter war continues with Jarvis pushing out Paul's Treasure Cruise
. Jarvis gets a massive Paradoxical which then leads into a lethal Tendrils of Agony
, taking Game 2.

Game 3 Jarvis goes heavy into an Ancestral Recall line into a Timetwister

, but it's countered. Paul casts Fragmentize
and hits Jarvis' Sol Ring
, denying him access to his Mox Opal
mana. Jarvis goes into a Monastery Mentor
, with Paul dumping his own Paradoxical Outcome
to a Force of Will. Paul saves a Flusterstorm
for Jarvis' own Paradoxical, countering it. Paul hits Merchant Scroll
into Gush
, drawing over Jarvis. Paul tries for his own Paradoxical, but Jarvis hits his board with Hurkyl's Recall
, denying him the card draw off Paradoxical. Jarvis manages to push through a Paradoxical the following turn through Flusterstorm
mana and sticks a Kambal. Kambal gets bumped back to hand with Karakas
and Paul goes into Paradoxical with Flusterstorm
backup. Paul sticks his own Kambal, and Jarvis Abrade
's it, following up with yet another Paradoxical. Jarvis jumps into an extra turn off Time Walk
. Jarvis finally manages to hit a Tendrils of Agony
in the following extra turn, taking Round 1!

The Blue Crab Club is up 1-0!

Matt Sperling takes the stage with Workshops Stax! Matt mulligans down to 4 cards into a Serum Powder

hand with Wasteland
, Null Rod
, and Thorn of Amethyst
. Jarvis also mulligans deeply to 6, starting things off on a Ponder
off the draw. Sperling manages to establish a Null Rod
, which is a card that can be very strong against Paradoxical decks. Matt also gets into play a Thorn of Amethyst
and deals with Jarvis' Tundra
with Wasteland
. Jarvis hits Matt with a Hurkyl's Recall
so that he can go deep into Paradoxical. Matt manages to re-establish his board state of Null Rod and Thorn, forcing Jarvis back into trying to dig for an answer. Jarvis manages to get the Null Rod of the board and gets a Monastery Mentor
into play. Jarvis casts Wheel of Fortune
and Flusterstorms
his own Wheel to get more Prowess triggers on his team, taking the game through Sperling's Mishra's Factory
.

Sperling goes into Chalice of the Void

for 0 and into a Sphere of Resistance
. Jarvis tries to get into the game, but Matt manages to get a second Sphere into play, in addition to a Crucible of Worlds
with a Strip Mine
in play. Jarvis concedes to Game 3.

On the play, Jarvis' sideboarding puts him on the most aggressive form of his deck, and Sperling uses Serum Powder

into another 7. Jarvis establishes a turn 1 Windfall
. Matt makes a Turn 1 Lodestone Golem
and Phyrexian Revoker
naming Mana Crypt
. Matt follows up with a Wasteland
, killing Jarvis' Volcanic Island
. Jarvis concedes shortly thereafter, bringing Scottsdale to 1-1!

Seth Manfield jumps in for Blue Crab Club under Jeskai! He starts off with a turn 1 Time Walk

but doesn't draw much in the extra turn. Matt starts off with a Null Rod
, shutting off Seth's Mox Ruby
. Matt also uses Strip Mine
on Seth's Island. Double Crucible of Worlds
shuts Seth out entirely into a concession.

Game 2, Seth mulls to 4 with some draw and a single land, but Matt makes a Turn 1 Trinisphere

, cutting Seth off of any of his early spells. A Wasteland
on Seth's Volcanic earns Matt Sperling the win and an easy 2-0.

Scottsdale Foundation rises to 2-1!

Ari Lax steps into the ring with Dark Petition

Storm, a fast combo deck vs Matt Sperling on Stax. Sperling establishes a Turn 1 Ensnaring Bridge
and Thorn of Amethyst
. Sperling's Turn 2 gives him a Null Rod
as he continues to drop artifact after artifact. Ari gets stuck on mana with only a Library of Alexandria
in play that can actually tap for mana. Matt and Ari both brick on plenty of draws going deeper into the game. Matt manages to make a Smokestack
, opting to put a counter on it before sacrificing to get rid of his useless Mana Crypt
before it killed him. A resolved Smokestack gives Sperling the win!

Game 2 Ari mulligans to 4 and get punished on two lands, and no blue mana, and Matt makes two Sphere of Resistance

off a Sculpting Steel
, and then a third one makes an appearance. A Phyrexian Revoker
and two Mishra's Factory
earns Matt the win to bring Scottsdale Foundation to 3-1!

Ari Lax switches decks into Aggro Shops mirroring Matt Sperling's Stax Shops. Ari starts things off with a T1 Steel Overseer

, with Matt making a T1 Lodestone Golem
. A Strip Mine
takes off an Ancient Tomb
, and Matt makes a Smokestack
in reply. A Crucible of Worlds
enters play, but Ari continues to put on pressure with his Walking Ballista
and Overseer. Both players play the Wasteland
game, putting pressure on Matt with Smokestack
. Smokestack wipes Ari's board, but his hand is stacked with mana and other threats, with Matt at 6 life. Matt manages to establish his own Phyrexian Revoker
with a Sculpting Steel
. However, Ari makes an Arcbound Ravager
that pushes through, leading Ari to a win!

Game 2, Matt keeps a no-land hand with tons of fast mana. Ari starts with a Turn 1 Sphere of Resistance

. Matt Sculpting Steel
's into a second Sol Ring
while Ari dumps a Hangarback Walker
and an Arcbound Ravager
, but gets the Ravager Dismember
'ed with the Hangarback on the stack. Ari makes a Precursor Golem
but Matt manages to make an Ensnaring Bridge
with no cards in hand. Matt makes a Metalwork Colossus
and dumps his hand, into a Null Rod
the following turn. The players continue back and forth through the E-Bridge lock, with Matt establishing more lock pieces and both players stuck at 7 life doing a whole lot of nothing. Meanwhile, Randy Buehler's smoke-stack alarm goes off several times. Both players make Foundry Inspector
, and things continue business as usual. Matt manages to win through the most bizarre game ever.

Game 3, Ari turns into a Turn 1 Sorcerous Spyglass

naming Ghost Quarter
. Matt skips a land drop, baiting Ari's Strip Mine
into him casting a Phyrexian Revoker
naming Mana Crypt
. Matt plays a Null Rod
, shutting Ari out of mana. Ari makes a Chief of the Foundry
but gets stuck on no lands, but neither player draws lands either until Matt plays NOT ONE BUT TWO Metalwork Colossus
!!!! Ari concedes, paving the way for Scottsdale Foundation to take the series 4-1!!

Notable Decklists - Scottsdale Foundation

 

Scottsdale Foundation certainly brought the Shops to this week's match, boasting FOUR Workshops lists in their 6 decks. Scottsdale amusingly admitted that they believed that unified construction rules for TVSL applied to sideboards as well, leading to some amusing decisions, as well as over-utilizing Serum Powder

as a mana rock.

Matt Sperling's STAX | Team Vintage Super League

 

1 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Lodestone Golem
2 Metalwork Colossus
1 Trinisphere
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Chalice of the Void
4 Serum Powder
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Mana Crypt
4 Smokestack
3 Null Rod
3 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Sculpting Steel
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Ghost Quarter

1 Null Rod
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Sculpting Steel
4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Witchbane Orb
4 Dismember

METALWORK COLOSSUS! THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO BE SAID HERE.

Let's also take a look at one of this team's other Shops variations, since we could look at Paradoxical Mentor all day, but this list has Dominaria cards in it.

Scottsdale's "Doesn't Untap" Shops | Team Vintage Super League

 

1 Lodestone Golem
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Foundry Inspector
2 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
1 Trinisphere
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Chalice of the Void
2 Serum Powder
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
2 Voltaic Key
4 Mirage Mirror
1 Time Vault
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Inventors' Fair
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Tomb

1 Inventors' Fair
1 Karn, Silver Golem
4 Ravenous Trap
4 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Pithing Needle
2 Crook of Condemnation

4 copies of Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

makes for a very interesting aggressive build, with all the historic capacity a deck like Workshops has. This looked like a super fun deck.

Notable Decklists - Blue Crab Club

 

On the other side, Blue Crab Club certainly brought some very interesting decks to the table, including a fun Paradoxical Outcome deck and a very aggressive Aggro-Shops list.

Jarvis Yu's 4-Color Paradoxical | Team Vintage Super League

 

1 Monastery Mentor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Paradoxical Outcome
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Black Lotus
1 Defense Grid
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
3 Mox Opal
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Ancient Tomb
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island

3 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Defense Grid
2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Abrade
1 Balance
1 Echoing Truth
2 Disenchant
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Karakas

A very sweet looking Paradoxical list, Jarvis definitely pushed through some of the most interesting games of Vintage I've seen in a long time. Super cool stuff right here.

Ari Lax's Aggro-Shops | Team Vintage Super League

 

4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Chief of the Foundry
4 Foundry Inspector
1 Lodestone Golem
2 Hangarback Walker
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Steel Overseer
1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
4 Walking Ballista
1 Black Lotus
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland

3 Precursor Golem
2 Dismember
4 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Null Rod
2 Sorcerous Spyglass

Ari's list certainly focused hard on being heavily aggressive, and for a spot it almost got him there through Matt Sperling's stax variant, but got caught in a bad spot in Game 3 with no mana and a Null Rod

in play.

Round 2 - Match 1 Recap - So Many Insane Plays vs Snapcardster!

 

You can check out the VOD for this Round here:

This week also saw the start of Round 2 of TVSL with So Many Insane Plays (Stephen Menendian, Kevin Cron, Jason Jaco, (alternate: Andy Probasco)) vs Snapcardster (Andreas Petersen, Michael Bonde, Thomas Enevoldsen, (alternate: Julian Knab))! This special episode was due to scheduling to help wrap things up a little quicker than before GP Las Vegas this year.

Both of these teams are 1-0, so this is huge for both teams to need to push through a win to be automatically qualified for the semifinals! One of the important things to note about Round 2 is that the rules tweaking is so that teams submit five decklists, with no bans at all to decks.

Match 1 starts off with Jason Jaco on Two-Card Monte vs Thomas Enevoldsen on Paradoxical Outcome! Jaco starts off with a T1 Painter's Servant

naming Blue. Thomas casts Ancestral Recall
and dumps a Mox Opal
into play. Jaco tries to stick a Dack Fayden
that gets countered by Force of Will
. However Thomas draws into and plays Tinker
for Blightsteel Colossus
followed by a Treasure Cruise
, using a Hurkyl's Recall
to clear out Jaco's Painter's Servant
for the win.

Game 2 Jaco plays a Turn 1 Time Walk

to establish an early play of Demonic Tutor
, going for a Grindstone
to try and get the Painter's Servant
combo in play as quickly as possible. A drawn Pyroblast
allows Jaco to protect his Painter's Servant
against Thomas's Force of Will
. He manages to make the combo happen, even though he stuffed a Blightsteel Colossus
back into Thomas's library manages to take the game.

Game 3 sees Jaco with a Turn 0 Leyline of the Void

vs on Enevoldsen a Turn 1 Sensei's Divining Top
and Mana Crypt
. Jaco manages to get a Painter's Servant
naming Black in play. Thomas goes into a Vampiric Tutor
getting a Tinker
to grab Blightsteel Colossus
, fighting through a Pyroblast
on Jaco's side. Thomas again repeats the action of Game 1, playing Hurkyl's Recall
to take Jaco out of the match, bringing Snapcardster up to 1-0!

Match 2 sees Stephen Menendian taking on the mantle of Jeskai! Stephen makes a Turn 1 Balance

, doming Thomas's hand for 3 cards and losing his Tundra
in the process. Thomas however still manages to apply a Turn 1 Tinker
into Blightsteel Colossus
. Stephen digs hard with a Time Walk
, trying to find a real answer to the infecter, playing out a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
to soak up 2 of the infect damage. Stephen tries to make a Merchant Scroll
stick to hit Dig Through Time
but gets Dig countered by Force of Will
to conclude Game 1.

Game 2 Stephen starts things off with a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

that gets Force of Will
'ed by Thomas. Thomas leads on Library of Alexandria
, while Stephen digs his library to try to find a way to get more advantage over the game. Thomas continues to ride the Library train, drawing much greater card quality over Stephen. Stephen attempts a Stony Silence
that manages to resolve while drawing a Blightsteel Colossus
off of Sensei's Divining Top
. Stephen goes onto a Dig Through Time
, which also resolves getting Dack Fayden
and Pyroblast
. Stephen follows up with a Monastery Mentor
that Thomas attempts to counter, getting blown out by Pyroblast
. Thomas goes on Library draw into Ancestral Recall
, getting Forced by Stephen, pitching a Preordain
. Thomas begins digging hard on Gitaxian Probe
, but goes to end step discarding the Blightsteel. Stephen flips a Jace, buying back Gush
and floating some mana and casting Fragmentize
on his opponent's Mox Sapphire
. Thomas attempts an end of turn Dig Through Time
that promptly gets hit by Pyroblast
. A countered Time Walk
ends the game in Stephen's favor.

Game 3 Thomas makes a Turn 1 Monastery Mentor

that gets Force of Will
'ed. Stephen gets a Turn 1 Dack Fayden
, stealing Thomas's Mox Sapphire
, putting Thomas into a digging situation with no cards in hand and a Sensei's Divining Top
. Stephen steps ahead of the game, using Dack to filter through his library quickly. Stephen very quickly grinds enough card advantage that puts him way ahead of the game, finding a Monastery Mentor
. Thomas attempts for a Dig Through Time
, but doesn't overly get much in card quality. Both players continue to do their thing, with Stephen continuing to to sculpt his hand, until Thomas realizes he can never come back from it.

So Many Insane Plays goes to 1-1!

Andreas Petersen hops into the fray, piloting Oath, and starting things off with a Turn 1 Oath of Druids

with Force of Will
backup. Stephen tries to hit an Ancestral Recall
which gets killed by Andreas' Force. Andreas tries for a Preordain
that gets Misstepped, to resolve Ancestral Recall
and manages to get a Forbidden Orchard
in play to trigger Oath. Stephen makes a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
and a Time Walk
, flipping Jace to flashback Ancestral Recall
. Stephen casts Swords to Plowshares
on the Spirit token, taking Andreas off of an Oath trigger for a turn. Andreas manages to stick an Oath trigger, forcing Stephen to try to STP the Spirit in response, but Andreas is able to give him another Spirit, hitting Inferno Titan
, killing the Jace. A Dig Through Time
into a Mana Drain
wraps things up in Andreas' favor.

Game 2 opens up with Stephen's 7-hand being very strong on the play, starting with two Moxen and a Volcanic Island

. Andreas tries to get a Merchant Scroll
but it gets promptly Pyroblast
'ed by Stephen. Stephen Strip Mine
's Andreas' Volcanic, but Andreas manages to get a Tropical Island
into play and double Oath of Druids
. An end step Gush
from Stephen draws him into Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
but with Oath of Druids
in play, makes it pretty much unplayable. Both players do a whole lot of nothing, until Andreas manages to draw a Forbidden Orchard
. Stephen beautifully draws into a Containment Priest
, running it out into Andreas' end step activation to give Stephen a Spirit token. Andreas tries to get a Pyroclasm
to wipe up the Priest, but it gets Force of Will
'ed. Andreas rocks a Jace, the Mind Sculptor
, but it gets countered as well. Andreas continues the good fight, dumping a hard cast Inferno Titan
into play that ends up getting Swords to Plowshare
'ed. Stephen draws a Fragmentize
and uses it to hit Andreas' Sol Ring
to continue pushing through damage. Stephen attempts to cast Treasure Cruise
but it gets countered as well. Both players continue to blank hard on cards while Stephen plinks away at Andreas' life total with a slow 3 damager per turn clock. Andreas finds no action and draws a late game Griselbrand
to concede to Stephen.

Game 3 shows Andreas starting off with a Turn 1 Black Lotus

and Mox Emerald
to go deep on a Merchant Scroll
for Ancestral Recall
. Both players trade Mental Misstep
with Andreas winning the counter war. He continues deeper, going into a Turn 1 Dig Through Time
, finding a Treasure Cruise
and an Oath of Druids
. Stephen draws a Library of Alexandria
, but opts to not cast it for a more aggressive control plan. Andreas makes dumps the Oath of Druids
and Stephen replies at end step with Containment Priest
. Both players get in a counter war over a Fragmentize
but Stephen wins the war, getting rid of the enchantment. Andreas gets on board with a Treasure Cruise
, and Stephen makes a Monastery Mentor
. Andreas casts Jace, the Mind Sculptor
and Brainstorm
's with it, finding no land to develop his board. Jace perishes, but Andreas is able to follow up with Oath of Druids
. Stephen attempts to resolve his own Treasure Cruise
but get it promptly Forced. Andreas' Oath gets him an Inferno Titan
shooting the Mentor and Stephen. Inferno Titan
gets in for the beats, taking Stephen down to 4. Stephen uses the Oath trigger getting a Containment Priest
, but a drawn Dack Fayden
is not good enough to stop Andreas' victory, bringing Snapcardster up to 2-1!

Kevin Cron steps up for So Many Insane Plays, with Paradoxical Mentor! Andreas kicks things off with a Turn 1 Preordain

with a double Oath/Misstep hand. Kevin tries to get a Turn 1 Sol Ring
but eats one of the Missteps. One Black Lotus
into a Ponder
gets another Misstep eating it, but he manages to force through a Time Walk
. Andreas draws Forbidden Orchard
and casts Oath of Druids
, giving his opponent a creature to trigger it. Kevin draws a Mana Vault
which allows him to Yawgmoth's Will
. This lets him rebuy plenty of action, drawing into a Force of Will
and Mystical Tutor
. Kevin opts to Tinker
for Blightsteel Colossus
, but Andreas Oaths into Griselbrand
, drawing into Dack Fayden
with Force of Will
backup. Andreas sticks Dack, stealing his opponent's Blightsteel Colossus
while casting Ancient Grudge
on his opponent's Sol Ring
to cut him off of having an Oath trigger. A Time Walk
off a Dack activation closes the game out in Andreas' favor.

Game 2 sees Kevin with a possible Turn 1 Monastery Mentor

with Gitaxian Probe
. He goes for it, getting the Probe taken by a Mental Misstep
. Kevin also proceeds to draw a Tinker
, going for Sensei's Divining Top
over the typical Blightsteel Colossus
line. Andres is unable to find an answer for the Mentor team, conceding to Game 3.

Game 3 shows Kevin mulligan to five with a decent setup, but Andreas' hand has a lot of action in it. Kevin forces through an Ancestral Recall

but doesn't draw well off of it. Andreas pushes through his own Ancestral, winning the counter war off Flusterstorm
, hitting an Oath of Druids
off of it. Andreas resolves the Oath, giving Kevin a mere turn before potentially losing the game. Kevin tries to get back into the game with a Yawgmoth's Will
, winning a counter-war with a drawn Flusterstorm
off Sensei's Divining Top
. Andreas Oaths into Inferno Titan
, sending all of the damage at his opponent's face. Kevin pushes through, trying to establish something. Andreas Oaths into a Griselbrand
, which draws him into plenty of gas pieces. Kevin tries to follow up, but finds nothing allowing Andreas to squeak through a win to get Snapcardster on a 3-1 lead!

Match 4 brings Stephen Menendian back into the fold with Workshop Aggro, on the play vs Andreas Petersen on Oath! A Turn 1 Black Lotus

gets him a Turn 1 Steel Overseer
into Sphere of Resistance
. Stephen gets aggressive, pushing through damage while establishing a second Sphere which gives him the win.

Game 2 sees Stephen Menendian establishing a Turn 1 Sol Ring

into double Grafdigger's Cage
, but Andreas has a Turn 2 Dack Fayden
into stealing the Sol Ring
. Andreas Ancestral Recall
's into double Ancient Grudge
, casting three of them in upkeep to put Stephen all the way down to just a Wasteland
. Jace, the Mind Sculptor
makes an appearance, pushing Andreas' plan way over Stephen's. Andreas casts Dig Through Time
and gets double Inferno Titan
, pushing through a win to Game 3.

Game 3 shows Stephen dumping a Turn 1 Chalice of the Void

on zero with an Arcbound Ravager
into a Turn 2 Grafdigger's Cage
and a second Ravager which gets countered. Andreas sets up a Pyroclasm
, killing the lone Ravager. Stephen establishes some solid lock pieces vs Oath of Druids
but it doesn't matter against Andreas' artifact disruption. A Jace, the Mind Sculptor
draws Andreas into plenty of gas while Stephen continues to brick on draws, drawing nothing but artifact mana over the course of several turns. A hard cast Inferno Titan
puts Stephen out of creatures entirely while Stephen continues to draw nothing but more artifact mana, giving Andreas the win at 4-1 to take the team series!

Notable Decklists - So Many Insane Plays

 

For this time, So Many Insane Plays brought some really solid and fun decklists, including one along from their first round in Two-Card Monte. Let's take a look at one deck we saw and one we didn't see.

Stephen Menendian's Jeskai Mentor | Team Vintage Super League

 

3 Dack Fayden
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Young Pyromancer
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Balance
1 Fragmentize
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Preordain
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Pyroblast
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Gush
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Dig Through Time
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Stony Silence
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Flooded Strand
1 Arid Mesa
2 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain

2 Pyroblast
2 Fragmentize
1 Stony Silence
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Containment Priest
4 By Force

It's not secret that Stephen Menendian decided to play a deck with Gush

in it, and the deck did do quite a bit of work, and is playing some sweet options like Balance
in the main.

SMIP's Dredge | Team Vintage Super League

 

4 Narcomoeba
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Golgari Thug
3 Ichorid
3 Bloodghast
2 Prized Amalgam
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Dragonlord Kolaghan
2 Dread Return
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
4 Mindbreak Trap
4 Serum Powder
4 Bridge from Below
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Undiscovered Paradise

4 Leyline of the Void
3 Mana Confluence
4 Nature's Claim
4 Ingot Chewer

A highly aggressive Dredge list, this one opted to not even bother with the newer sideboard game plan the deck has of abusing Hollow One

and Gurmag Angler
with Bazaar of Baghdad
for a more straightforward approach in the sideboard. However, check that main for the sheer spice of main deck Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
and Dragonlord Kolaghan
!

Notable Decklists - Snapcardster

 

Snapcardster brought a wide array of lists to the table this week, including their famous Esper Paradoxical Outcome deck that many of the team's members played at the EU Eternal Weekend recently. However it was Andreas Petersen's Oath of Druids

deck that really mopped things up.

Andreas Petersen's "Remember the Titans" | Team Vintage Super League

 

2 Dack Fayden
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Inferno Titan
1 Griselbrand
4 Preordain
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
4 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will
2 Pyroblast
1 Mana Drain
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Dig Through Time
1 Brainstorm
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
4 Oath of Druids
4 Forbidden Orchard
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Island
3 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
1 Strip Mine

1 Ancient Grudge
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Flusterstorm
3 Pyroclasm
4 Nature's Claim
1 Forest

Andreas' list is pretty standard for Inferno Oath decks with the Oath combo and two Inferno Titan

's as Oath targets in addition to Griselbrand
. It certainly served him well, taking him to the top of the matches.

Snapcardster's SBUG-Still | Team Vintage Super League

 

4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Flusterstorm
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Consultation
2 Null Rod
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
4 Standstill
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou

3 Energy Flux
3 Nature's Claim
2 Dismember
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Grafdigger's Cage

This deck is incredible fun, I can't even believe. This is one I would have liked to have seen because I really enjoy seeing the card Standstill

a ton, and this one also comes with a Ramunap Excavator
/ Strip Mine
+Wasteland
combo? Gross stuff all around here.

I think I'm in love.

Wrapping Up

 
team-vsl

That's all the time we have this week folks! I know this was a big one with the double week and all, but the Vintage was hot! Congrats again to Snapcardster on their 2-0 into the Top 4! Super cool team, and it's awesome to see you guys kicking butt and doing well.

The rest of the Round 2 Schedule is as follows:

  • May 17 - Scottsdale Foundation vs The Academy
  • May 24 - Blue Crab Club vs ChannelFireball
  • June 7 - Cardsphere.com vs Hornet Queens

Until next time, may all your Magic be Eternal!