Hello and Welcome! Click the links above to read about VSL, the schedule, and the standings. Click here if you want decklists. If you want to watch the video archives you can click here. Meanwhile, if you just want to hear about this week’s matches then read on.

*SPOILER WARNING*

Some people have asked for a way to follow the Vintage Super League without watching all the matches every week. These match recaps are for them.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

LSV vs Kai

Kai had a turn 1 of Young Pyromancer (thanks to Black Lotus), Gitaxian Probe, and Strip Mine on what he saw was Luis’s only land. However, Luis Pondered off a Mox Sapphire into a land and immediately top-decked another land. Kai was able to counter a Time Walk and a Merchant Scroll, but Luis resolved a Doomsday with Gush in hand and that was game.

Luis’s deck continued to love him in game 2, delivering up a Xantid Swarm that turned off all the counter-magic in Kai’s hand, and a crucial land on his second draw phase. He had a potential turn 2 kill (enabled by Demonic Tutoring for Black Lotus so he could cast Doomsday), but with no creatures in play on Kai’s side and a second Xantid Swarm on his own, Luis contented himself with using his draw phase to access the first Doomsday stack (an Ancestral Recall, as usual) and a win on turn 3.

Luis wins 2-0

Rich vs Kai

The Delver mirror isn’t normally about the initial coin flip, but Rich got to go first and had a spectacular turn 1: Black Lotus, Young Pyromancer, Gitaxian Probe, Time Walk, attack for 4, Ancestral Recall, Ponder, “you can have a turn now, all I have is Force of Will, a blue card, and a Treasure Cruise.”

Game 2 was grindier, as the match normally is, but Rich eventually found a window where Kai was tapped out and he used it to  stick a Young Pyromancer, Time Walk, and then Snapcaster back the Time Walk. Volanic Fallout and Fire/Ice dealt the final damage as Rich exploded seemingly out of nowhere.

Rich Wins 0-2

Tom vs Bob

Dredge did what Dredge does in game 1. With no main deck way to interact, it would take a spectacular draw from Bob to be able to race and he didn’t have one.

In game 2 Bob drew his Strip Mine and used it to destroy the Bazaar of Bagdad that Tom had mulliganned down to 4 in order to find. Tom couldn’t find another and Bob it only took Bob a couple of turns to generate crazy value from a big Yawgmoth’s Will and finally stitch his combo together. With Zuran Orb and Fastbond already in play Tom conceded as soon as Bob found the Crucible of Worlds that could give him infinite life.

Game 3 was pretty interesting as both players drew a bunch of sideboard cards (in other words Bob drew hate cards and Tom was able to keep finding answers to them). First Bob played a turn 1 Grafdigger’s Cage. Tom dredged to fill his graveyard and then pointed a Nature’s Claim at the Cage, which resolved (his sequencing choice did not work out, though, as his Narcomeba was kept at bay by the Cage while no Bloodghasts showed up to come in off his post-dredge land drop). Bob used a Yawgmoth’s Will to replay the Cage on his next turn, and Tom was able to find another Nature’s Claim, but this time Bob had a Force of Will. Tom used Mental Misstep to counter Bob’s 2nd Cage and he found yet another answer on his next turn (a Chain of Vapor), but he chose to give Bob one draw step instead of playing a land and using his Chain as a response to the Bloodghast trigger so he could get a Bloodghast to sacrifice to Cabal Therapy to then strip the Cage from Bob’s hand. That one draw phase was a great one (pun intended) – it gave Bob a Ravenous Trap and suddenly Tom was in big trouble. He did manage to bounce the Cage and do a reasonable job of refilling his graveyard, but the final insult came in the form of Snapcaster Mage to flash back the Ravenous Trap.

Bob wins 2-1

Eric v Steve

Eric got ahead early with a turn 1 Delver, and with Steve forced into action to try to defend himself Eric was able to win the permission war over Young Pyromancers and Lightning Bolts. When all the dust settled on around turn 4, Eric had an army of elemental tokens that Steve couldn’t answer. Game 2 was decided primarily by Steve’s Strip Mine, which left Eric without any blue mana for most of the game.

Game 3 was once again all about Young Pyromancer advantage. Eric, whow as on the play, played them on both turn 2 and turn 3. By teh time Steve cycled through his various cantrips and had his mana set up, he was too far behind on board to ever really recover. Eric used 2 Force of Wills to stop Steve’s Pyromancer and with 6 tokens on the other side of the table all the card drawing in the world could not save Steve.

Eric wins 2-1