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*

Chris v Bob

Chris ran a build of Merfolk with maindeck Chalice of the Void and he completely blindsided Bob with Chalice on 1 in game 1. (Bob has seen Chris’s hand with Duress and then left two 1-mana spells on top with a Brainstorm). In game 2 Chris’s mana denial plan worked perfectly and Bob never got to even get started.

Chris wins 2-0

Randy v David

Randy won the roll and used Black Lotus to play both a True-Name Nemesis and a Cursecatcher on turn 1. David had no real answer so he chose to play only a single Wasteland before conceding.  Randy put half of his anti-Workshops package into his deck for game 2 but David turned out to be playing Landstill. David also found not one but two copies of Engineered Plague, which he used to kill all Randy’s Merfolk (and all that he might ever play int he future too). Things might have been different if Randy had understood David’s deck and chosen a different line of play (and/or sideboarded differently) but the misinformation really helped David here.

In game 3 David only drew one land that tapped for colored mana, and Randy Wastelanded it. David did get a Deathrite Shaman onto the table first and that let him get down another Engineered Plague, but Master of the Pearl Trident allowed Randy’s Merfolk to live through it and David never found the colored mana he needed to play the Abrupt Decay he was holding (and which would have caused Randy’s entire army to crumble).

Randy wins 2-1

Rich v Steve

Steve got down a reasonably quick Monastery Mentor in game 1, but Rich stuck an Oath of Druids and used it to find Griselbrand. The big flying demon got the job done. In game 2 Steve got control of the game via card drawing, played two copies of Grafdiggers Cage so he wouldn’t have to worry about Oath, and then mopped up pretty quickly with a pair of Mentors.

Game 3 turned on a Thoughtseize. Steve chose not to use a Mental Misstep on it and Rich was really eager to resolve a Brainstorm so he took the Misstep even though he had 2 Missteps of his own. He could have taken Wear/Tear, which wound up blowing up a Mox Sapphire and denying Steve the 3 mana he needed to cast Show and Tell. In addition, Steve quickly found a blue card to go with the Force of Will, which is the other card Rich could have taken, and that let Steve get a Mentor onto the table through Rich’s own Force of Will.

Steve wins 2-1

Tom v Kai

This one was a combo fight, but Kai’s Belcher deck only delivered up a reasonable draw in one of the 3 games. Tom had little trouble defeating Kai’s mulligan to 3 in game 1. In game 2 Kai used a turn 1 Timetwister to set up a turn 2 kill. Tom actually resolved Fastbond, two Gushes, and a Doomsday on his own first turn but had no way to draw teh top of the Doomsday pile so he had to say go. Kai was able to play a Belcher on turn 2 with Pact of Negation back-up. In game 3, Kai kept a mediocre 5-card hand and Tom ripped it apart with both Duress and Thoughtseize on the first turn, followed quickly by a value Yawgmoth’s Will that cast them both again.

Tom wins 2-1

Eric v Luis

The main event for this week featured first place versus second place and when Luis learned that Eric was on Dredge, he announced that his odds of winning the match with his Punishing Pyromancer deck were 0%. Luis may have had a bad matchup, and a sideboard that assumed no one would play Dredge, but none of that mattered when Eric had to mulligan all the way down to 1 card before finding a Bazaar of Bagdad in game 2 and never did find one despite another mulligan down to 1 in game 3.

Luis wins 2-1

The playoff scenarios are relatively straight-forward with two weeks to go. Luis and Eric have clinched playoff berths. Rich and Steve can make the playoffs if they go 2-0 and Chris or Randy go 0-2 (which would then force tiebreaker matches for the actual playoff spots). 4 players have been eliminated from the playoffs (David, Tom, Bob, and Kai) while 4 players have clinched “not last” (Randy, Chris, Eric, and Luis).

The one thing that is not straight-forward is the seedings for the playoffs, which are quite a big deal since 1st place gets a bye into the final and 2nd place gets a bye into the semi. Right now things are wide open with Luis and Eric tied for first one game ahead of Randy and Chris.