all your report are belong to us

Here is my "long" report (with Tog-Remora):

LSV called me around 9:30pm Sunday night asking me how things went.

LSV: Hey, how did it go?
Fob: Sucks, I 0-2'ed and Web top 8'ed.  But lost to Galen in the quarters.
LSV: ** Something 'unintelligent' **
Fob: H.I.D.
LSV: So who won?
Fob: So yeah, only 17 ppl showed up, kind of small and Sam D. Sherman was in the
finals with Sligh against some guy playing Remora.
LSV: Oh, wow.
Fob: That Remora dude won after dropping first game.  And I got like 175 bucks
cash.
LSV: ...
Fob: Yeah that Remora dude is me.  I went 0-2 and then racked up 6 wins in a
row, justice to make up for Saturday. 

The weekend started pretty rough for me.  SuperStars had a standard 1k tourney
the day before and I decided to play in it since the future PTQs and GP: Seattle
will be standard.  The best part is, I didn't do much preparation for the deck,
thanks to some duder, which is very rare considering it is always the other way
around. 

Long story short, 6 rounds I was 3-2 after losing round 1 and 5.  But my
tie-breaker is surprisingly high, played against the guy who is 8th, and I was
7th I think.  My B/W Tokens brutalized his Dark Bant and I was pretty anxious. 
Well, it turns out Orie, who had lower TB than me squeaked me out in the 8th
place after round 6.  Pretty fucking owned. 

Going home that day feeling rough beat I had no idea what to play.  Was thinking
audible to Oath the other day because Web and I suspected a lot of Fish and
there will be at least 2 Workshop decks there [and there actually 3 Workshop
decks].  But ultimately decided to run Remora.dec because I have it sleeved up
and I swore to myself never playing Oath, twice.  Was thinking about Mono Red
Workshop, but Web ended up playing it ^^

So, after "coincidentally" met Web at Starbucks we went to SuperStars.  Some old
faces didn't show, Mike Klemic was sick, Charles was busy, and LSV also couldn't
make it.  However, some of the Berkeley crew showed up and Vacaville also showed
up to makeup the numbers.  Well, the number was still kind of weak... only 17
total.

That 17 total made Eric, the head judge announce 5 rounds cut to top 8. 

Round 1 - Dan Messineo with RWB Fish.

Game 1 My hand was pretty okay.  Had Key, Mox, Ancestral, Commandeer, and X. 
Unfortunately I lost the die roll and Dan started off with Lotus, Mox, Jotun
Grunts, Bob, and Bloodstained Mire.  When I went for the turn 1 Ancestral he
REB'ed it.  Nice 6 cards.  Then he Duress me the turn after and it was a brutal
beating. 

Game 2 he mulled ^_^ But also started with Lotus, land, Duress, Welder x2, and
Top.  With the 2x Welders he had he was able to gain a card per turn slowly.  My
hand had 2x Force, DT, Echoing Truth, and that was pretty much it at that
moment.  He was able to Duress my DT out and two turns later he got a Tidehollow
Sculler in play.  With Welders he about about to go work on my hands.  I had the
FoW, but I decide to Echoing Truth the Welders since I ripped a smother and can
potentially counter/Smother the Welders.  Well, he weld in Lotus and REB'ed my
Echoing Truth.  So I tried to FoW the Sculler and he obviously REB it too.  And
his Sculler resolves with ability on the stack and just worked me over.  Some
decent draws for Dan, even he admitted it afterwards.  Oh well.

Round 2 - Alex Bloch with Affinity.

Game 1 on the draw >_< he led off with Blinkmoth Skullclamp which I FoW.  He
then played a turn 2 Craniel Plating and I FoW the Cap.  Pretty nice with the 2x
FoW start, but yeah... doesn't look good there.  My next draw was Inkwell
Levithan and I proceed to hardcast him 3 turns later.  Must, not, be nice.  It
wasn't.  And he ran me over as my deck served me 3 mana sources after Inkwell.

Game 2 turned out lot better as I resolved a quick Tinker and was able to set up
a Yawg. Will for Time Walk. 

Game 3 he ran out Frogmite and Myr Enforcer quickly and I wasn't able to answer
it along with a Thorn in play.  I eventually got off a Hurykl's Recall but was
down pretty low at 5 with Vampiric in hand.  And I went for Ancestral off the
Vamp. and it didn't really got me anything and I just died to affinity. 

My thoughts at that moment: H.I.D. x100.  Well, Web is doing well and I might as
well as stay and play.  Considering that last weekend and the next weekend I
probably won't be playing Vintage, might as well get my games in.

Round 3 - Zach with BUG Fish.

Must be nice, hitting 3 out of 3; played against 3 creature decks in a row:
H.I.D.  Good news in Game 1 was that I finally won the die roll.  But the bad
news is that I mulled to 5 on the play.  Another good news is that my opponent
probably kept a greedy hand and he his deck didn't cough him any black source as
I eventually out drew him.  Very lucky indeed.

Game 2 was very back and forth.  He mulled but resolved a Null Rod through FoW. 
But he was unable to get anything.   I resolved a FoF and Meditate but didn't
get anything... and he eventually landed a Bob.  I cast Sower to try to steal
it, but he had the Stifle.  He had 4 Bob activations but turns out he kept on
hitting mana sources and a Trygon Predator.  My last ditch Meditate was pretty
godly.  Got both Yawgwill + Echoing Truth.  Cast Truth for Rod and went nuts
with Yawg. Will.  Got Vault and Key and cast the Time Walk in my yard to negate
the Meditate ^^ Yee-Haw.

Round 4 - Andrew (HuntedWumpus) with Oath.

Unfortunately I don't really remember the details of this 2-0 match.  All I know
is that I resolved Remora and was being able to sit on it for a long time with
Meditate and I drew a lot of cards.  The game got dragged out bit long game 2,
but yeah, I was up on so many cards that I don't think it was really losable. 
Perhaps if Andrew remembered the details he can fill us in. 

Round 5 - Dylan with Mono R Aggro Workshop.

My TB was abysmal, but whatever, no reason not to play.  Game 1 I won the die
roll! Ya--y.  Don't remember I got off a Remora this game but I was able to hit
land drops and counter lock pieces.  He got a Solemn Simulacrum beating me, but
with no Sofi, Jens was unable to give me too much pressure.  Eventually he
topdecked a Razormane Masticore and I was happily Sowering it.  And I made sure
I paid the upkeep cost of the Masticore and I 7'ed him for 3 turns. 

Game 2 my invisible ally aka: Workshop's manabase decide not to give him a
playable 7 or 6 cards hand.  He went to 5 and led off with Needle.  I could had
FoW it, but I let it resolve.. thinking he would name Time Vault but he named
Delta.  Okay, good play.  I didn't had any, but my hand was land light, Mox,
FoW, blue, and Brainstorm.  He then turn 2 played another Needle and I was SO
SURE he would name Vault.  Nope, he named Flooded Strand.  Wow, this might turn
things around.  The funny thing is, Dylan was like, "Maybe I should had named
Vault on this one..." Man, wish he did lol.  But honestly, he definitely made
the right play trying to hit my lands considering he mulled to 5.  My Brainstorm
next turn showed: Energy Flux x2 and Flooded Strand.  Wow, H.I.D.  But I still
have FoW in my hand and it was still okay.  During this time he got a Crucible
and I landed a Tog (Thank you Thorn).  He kept on bashing Mishra's Factory into
my Tog eating cards, but that was okay with me since I ain't casting much. 
Eventually I drew out of it and landed a Energy Flux on him, then another one
next turn.  ^_^ But he topdecked a Welder the turn I played the 2nd Flux and
game got bit tricky.  I Sowered his Morph (Gaithan Raider) but his Factory
prevented the Gaithan Raider to bash.  I chipped away at his life with Sower as
Tog and Raider faced his Solemn, Welder, and Factory.  Then I drew Hurkyl's
Recall and attacked with everyone.  He animate his Factory and after that
resolves I Hurkyl'ed him and that was it. 

So Eric decide to read the whole T8 from top to bottom and I was very surprised
that I got in the 8th place.  I was pretty psyched and happy, very glad that I
just made it to the top 8 especially when I felt like I got bit robbed
yesterday.

Quarterfinals was John with Oath. 

Pretty sure he is playing the Blue Bell Oath list and my opener was sick.  FoW
x2, blue, Remora, Ancestral, and 2 lands.  He won the die row and went Lotus,
Mox, land, DT, and Tinker.  I FoW'ed and that was... pretty much it.  I resolved
a Remora, sat on it for 6 turns, and drew another Remora the 7th turn after.  I
was able to hit my land drops while he didn't and I got pretty far ahead.  I
landed a Tog and Tog beats him down slowly while I had like infinite cards to
his 2 cards in hand.  Oh, he Wipe Away my lethal Tog after he Echoing Truth my
Togs...

Game 2 he mulled, got turn 1 Oath out with no Ochard.  That kind of sucked for
me.  But even sucked more for him because he wasn't able to find an Orchard to
go with it.  And honestly, that was it.  Throughout this time I was building up
my hand and I Commandeered his LimDul's Vault to prevent him getting Ochard and
I found a pretty favorable 5 cards with Brainstorm + Fetchland being part of
them.  He then proceed topdeck a Ochard eventually but I then went for it and
got Vault/Key going. 

Semifinals against Galen with TPS.

I declined a top 4 split at this point.  Hoping karma wouldn't hit me and it
didn't.  His turn 1 wasn't impressive as my turn 1 Remora.  And we sat on on it
for couple turns and I eventually drew another one, and another one.  He then
decide he got to play something and I drew cards off from sweet sweet Remora. 
He tried to resolve a Necro and I FoW'ed it, he FoW back, and I decide to
Commandeer the Necro at 17 life.  I just wasn't sure if I wanted to Commandeer
the Necro because I never did it before and don't really know what will happen. 
But I figured with 17 life my odds were goods.  That 12 life I paid for Necro
got me there.  I also Commandeered a Vampiric Tutor and that found a kill
condition to go along with my cheap combo. 

Game 2 I mulled to 6 and it was pretty bad, but I had turn 1 Thoughtseize and
that is pretty much it.  Web said I should had mull afterwards and I definitely
should had.  But... yeah... I was just thinking I don't know if I can get
anything going if I went to 5.  Turns out he was really afraid of Remora and
went for turn 1 Desire for 4.  And... he missed.  But his Duress next turn kind
of ripped the only action I have, Fact or Fiction while I suck on 2 mana out. 
He then commented, "this may not be a blow out, we might got a game going."
Indeed we did.  My next couple draw steps were nice, I drew 2x FoW in 4 turns
and I cast a Sower I had in opener deciding that I had enough cards and time to
pressure him.  He then cast Dimir Cutpurse and I cast the 2nd Sower I drew (in
that 4 draw sequence where I drew 2 FoW) and I finally was able to "cut" someone
first time ever! And best part was, I wasn't playing Fish.

Finals against Sam D. Sherman WITH SLIGH

Galen told him to dream crush and not split.  And Sam came out saying he wanted
to play it out before I had anything to say.  Okay, time to dual it out. 
Despite the deck being a joke, this is definitely not a good match up for me. 
Between his Null Rod, Chalices, Gorllia Shaman, and post board REB/Smash to
Smithereens I can't really combo off too well.  I have to land dorks and all of
them get raped by REB.  Commandeer is sexy, but so is REB against it.  Yes, the
deck is still a joke [sorry, no offense] but I guess the power of mountains can
just get you there sometime.  And to be honest, Sam is a good player and we had
some nice "trash talking" between us. 

Game 1 he landed a Gorilla Shaman and Chalice turn 1.  I FoW'ed his turn 2
Jackal Pup.  I got beat by that Shaman for a while and eventually out of gas and
fired out a Meditate.  He Lightning Bolted me twice and I drew 4.  He resolved
Grim Lavamancer which he drew on the Meditate turn.  Before it became active I
was able to Sower it.  Then Commandeered his Lightning Bolt to his Shaman and
started beating him.  We were both out of gas at that time but he outdrew me and
able to REB my Sower.  And I didn't draw anything miracle and died.  Ouch.

Game 2 was all about resolving Tinker.  And yeah, despite having Leviathan out
my life was pretty low.  Good thing he didn't have much and my Tog held the
ground.  Some interesting points of the game, I Commandeered his Smash to
Smithereens to his Null Rod that 3 damage was very sweet.  I also started off
the game with a Smother on his Goblin Cadet which saved me a lot of damages.   

The rubber game, I mulled to 6.  It was weak 6, had a Smother but no black
source.  Have Mox, so hopefully won't get screwed by Chalice or Rod.  And had
Yawg. Will in hand but isn't a card I really want to see at that point.  He went
right out of the gates and played two 2/1 guys turn 1.  I drew Delta and got me
a Swamp, played Mox, and Smothered one of them.  Good thing he didn't have
Chalice or Null Rod ^_^ and he passed turn 2.  I put him on Reb + Bolts/PoP, and
I drew a Merchant Scroll.  Pretty nice, I went for the Ancestral and it
obviously got REB'ed.  That is expected, and he played a Smash to Smithereens on
my Sapphire.  I drew another land and decided to cast Yawgwill just to refuel my
hand instead.  Luckily, I hit a Lotus and was able to play BOTH Merchant Scroll
and Smother.  Is.  Simply no other word can describe that moment than, "Is."  On
the retrospect, I should had waited for a turn to play both Smother and
Ancestral off from Yawgwill, but whatever, my deck delivered and I sacked out. 
Oh, that Ancestral hit me 2 creatures, and be assured they are different
creatures and no 7/11 Trampler was involved.  That Merchant Scroll gave me a FoW
obviously and my Sower and Tog got me there.  Sam offered his congrats to me and
7 hours had passed for a 17 man tourney.

Obviously I was happy winning, especially after mising that 8th place.  But wow,
I would never play Remora again.  I think the 2 month I played it was its life
span, Top 4 split in March and 1st place in April, but April was a tough fought
battle.  I lost to "multiple" types of aggro strategies.  Lost to a "homebrewed"
Dan Messineo Fish (btw, nice deck, it is really synergistic and awesome ^_^) and
lost to Affinity.  I played BUG Fish twice with this deck and some luck was
definitely involved.  But it is also because BUG Fish played the LEAST amount of
creatures.  Like, wow, against RGW Zoo, Goblins, Elves, and etc. probably will
just beat the deck fucking raw.  I made a joke with LSV and Web a while ago
outlining my Vintage evolution as the following: "Savannah Lions (okay, more
like Null Rods) to Mana Drains, and finally to Dark Rituals.  And right now I am
at that Mana Drain stage." It may be soon I will shift to Dark Rituals.  But
man, when I Comanndeered that Necro in Semifinals it gave me DI headache.  Who
knows... Vault/Key is so good sweet not to play ^^

Many props to Eric, the head judge.  SuperStar's AC is not installed, staying in
there for like 8 hours.  To Web whom treated me dinner ^_^ and that 17th guy who
signed up for the tourney. 

Thanks for reading.