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*

Kai v Chris

Kai won the die roll and had his Black Lotus so he was able to both Demonic Tutor for a Force of Will and also resolve an Oath of Druids off a Forbidden Orchard. Turn 1 Null Rod could have made a game of things if Chris had been on the play, but he wasn’t and thus it wasn’t much of a game.

Kai had Lotus again in game 2 but with Chris on the play Kai had to pay 1 for it on turn 1 and by turn 2 there was a Null Rod in play. A second Thorn ensured Kai could never gett anything going and Chris mopped up with Mishra’s Factory.

Kai kept a hand in game 3 which had a lot of mana (including Forbidden Orchard) and the ability to blow up 3 artifacts, but no actual action. He promptly drew Oath of Druids off the top on turn 2. If Chris had played around Abrupt Decay by destroying all of Kai’s black mana, he might have been able to stick a Grafdigger’s Cage and turn the game into a top-deck battle, but with Cage blown up by Decay and flashback on Ancient Grudge live again, it quickly became a blow-out.

Kai wins 2-1

Randy v Bob

Randy had Mox Sapphire in game 1, which allowed him to play turn 1 Lord of Atlantis and start the beats, but he ran his Ancestral into a Flusterstorm and Bob resolved an Ancestral Recall of his own. Bob also resolved a Treasure Cruise a few turns later, but Randy was able to Force of Will and Monastery Mentor and so few cards of the other cards in Bob’s deck actually matter in this match-up that the early Lord of Atlantis (with a little bit of help from a Cursecatcher) pretty much went all the way.

In game 2 Randy used Strip Mine, Wasteland, and Null Rod to deny Bob the ability to cast many spells. Bob did manage to sneak a Monastery Mentor into play the one turn his Sol Ring was in play and working, but Randy quickly sent him back to zero mana and Bob never found the Tundra or Plains he needed to turn on the two copies of Swords to Plowshares he was holding. Mentor can’t out-race True-Name Nemesis when there aren’t any monk tokens to help him.

Randy wins 2-0

Rich v Eric

Two quick Thorns of Amethyst and a Chalice that he set to 2 allowed Eric to disrupt Rich’s draw (which included 2 Young Pyromancers). Duplicant exiled a Delver and it took Eric a few turns of attacking to actually win the game, but he was never in any real trouble.

In game 2 Rich showed off a never-ending supply of card drawing and removal spells. Once Dack Fayden stole his Kuldotha Forgemaster, Eric had seen enough and they were on to game 3.

Eric gambled on a turn 1 Chalice for zero (after playing a Sphere of Resistance) because he figured fast mana was the only way Rich could keep up with the rest of his draw. The gambled paid off as he stranded a Black Lotus in Rich’s 1-land hand and Rich was never able to overcome all of EFro’s mana denial.

Eric wins 2-1 – Now 6-0, Eric has already clinched at least a tie for a playoff spot even though there are still 3 weeks to go.

Luis v David

David went for a turn 1 Ancestral Recall and used his entire hand (two Force of Wills and two blue cards) in an attempt to resolve it, but Luis had 2 of his 3 copies of Mental Misstep plus a Force of Will of his own. Luis’s last 3 cards? 2 lands and an Ancestral of his own … turn 2 Oath (off an Orchard) ended things pretty quickly from there.

Luis kept a mana-light draw in game 2, and David figured that out and used Wear/Tear on a Mox Jet after Luis used Demonic Tutor and then said go, but once Luis finally did find a 3rd land it was the perfect one: Boseiju Who Shelters All. This made the Show and Tell he had tutored for uncounterable and suddenly David was being attacked by Emrakul.

Luis wins 2-0

Steve v Tom

Game 1 was a drawn-out control fight. Steve found himself once again discarding to hand size before he found enough land to operate, but then he was able to stick a Dack Fayden, which found him a Monastery Mentor. Tom was able to Demonic Tutor for Yawgmoth’s Will but he had to say go, planning to win the game on the following turn. Steve’s Dack found him a Dig Through Time, which found him a Mox and  Time Walk, which meant he suddenly had 3 monks to fight alongside his Mentor. He was empty handed as his Time Walk turn began and needed to resolve two spells to get enough prowess triggers to win the game. Preordain into Gush got the job done without even needing to go fishing with Dack!

Game 2 was another long one. Steve stuck an early Stony Silence, which turned off Tom’s Vault-Key combo permanently. Tom was able to draw lots of extra cards via Ancestral and Treasure Cruise, but most of them were mana, many of which were shut off by Stony Silence. Academy actually allowed Tom to build up to 12+ mana in play (to Steve’s 2) and eventually he forced a Dack into play, which found him a Jace, and Steve knew he wasn’t winning from there and conceded to the two planeswalkers.

Game 3 saw Tom put on a clinic in properly sequencing spells. He built up a hand until Steve played  Mentor and then he baited out most of Steve’s permission with a Treasure Cruise that Tom didn’t actually care about. Once the dust settled Treasure Cruise did get countered but Steve was down to a Misdirection that couldn’t do anything to stop Tom from Demonic Tutoring for Time Vault, playing Voltaic Key, and playing Time Vault.

Tom wins 2-1