At the end of November, I embarked with Joe (Brennan) and Justin (Gennari) to play Vintage at a series of back-to-back events: Eternal Weekend North America, 4 Seasons, and Eternal Weekend Europe. I brought the same Esper Lurrus Control, currently the deck to beat, although the UB version is superior if one respects Oath of Druids and Jewel Shops creatures. My list was flawed; to make room for cards I didn't want to give up, I was missing at least 1-2 effects like Lorien Revealed or Ponder. However, I resigned myself to adjusting my plays accordingly, and I'll make changes for the Damnation in Pisa.
Since it's quite a few days of travel, I'll spare you the non-Magic anecdotes. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes and only remember a few episodes, especially from the older matches. Given the number of tournaments, I don't think I have the luxury of dwelling too much on explanations either.
EWNA is a wonderful event; its organizer invented the formula, then they forced us to have the other two which were quite disappointing. Everything was super organized: security at the entrance, 12 artists, side events, high roller, team trios, 1200 players in Legacy, 400+ in Vintage. In four days, I must have played about 30 (thirty) Vintage matches all told.
In the Main Event, I started strong at 3-0, winning: a mirror, classic Doomsday (not with Consider), and Breach, which I was not at all happy to face. Then I lost to Initiative where in G3 my opponent played Chancellor of the Annex on turn one, and I might have even recovered if they hadn't followed up with an Initiative creature. After that, I beat Oath of Druids, Dredge, and in the mirror against Lee, where I was never in the game, I lost my chance to make it in. I finished by not playing my best against another Initiative, convinced it was all over, and then winning against Countervine. I ended up just outside of any prizes, but it went worse for others; only three 6-2 players missed out on a promo, which went to the top 32: Justin, Brian (Coval), and Spencer.
If you've never been to 4 Seasons, come, you'll want to return every time. There's a reason it has become THE European tournament series: the staff is now seasoned, instead of convention food there are old ladies making tagliatelle for pennies, etc.
At Friday's Team Trios, I finally had both my official Legacy and Modern teammates. The last time we were at full strength, we won, and this time we didn't disappoint either, placing in the top 8, with my G3 mirror match in the last turn being decisive.
In the Main Event, I lost the first match to Oath of Druids; in G3, they resolved a creature by paying mana while I had Force and 6 non-Blue cards in hand. I won the next three, then I met two league mates. With the first, I attacked for exact lethal in the last additional turn of the mirror, and with the other, we drew to make it in. In the top 8, I was immediately knocked out in the mirror against Joe; in G2 I mulled to five and didn't play well, but G1 was epic, worth three games.
EWEU is terrible, I'll spare you the details, but the event was a rip-off in every way: entry fees raised twice, side event prices likewise, no playmats, etc. The most serious incident, however, happened to a German guy who, in the eleventh round of Legacy on the same day, didn't feel up to playing the decisive match under the cameras. The organizer pressured him so much, far beyond reasonable limits, that the poor guy couldn't handle it and conceded.
In the Main Event, I won the mirror, lost to Initiative where in G2 my opponent named Orcish Bowmasters with Anointed Peacekeeper to make me draw all four, and in G3 I mulled to 5. Steel Sabotage for their first accelerator and Psychic Frog the next turn. Chrome Mox, it's White mana, I have to counter it. Land, Black Lotus, Seasoned Dungeoneer. Still tilted, I managed to lose with Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Nihil Spellbomb on the field against Francis with Lurrus Breach, and here too it would have been over. I found Eldrazi, convinced I had landed in non-tier hell, but I managed to win by knowing it from the side events the day before. Then I don't remember what I won against, and Melee doesn't help me, and after that I found a mirror against a Frenchman who didn't remember we had received additional time, and we ended up drawing, condemning us both. I played the last mirror against one of the English guys, unaware that most of the others had drawn to secure a spot in the top 32, the result was a clean cut, which rewarded me with a promo.
This is long enough already, so I'll close with the best anecdote: Peppe bought a piece of the Power Nine at the 4S, then decided at the last minute to come to Prague. Everyone then got busy finding him the cards for Jewel. We managed it, and he made top 32, and with the promo, he bought another piece.
Until next time, Raffaele.
