So here's to my second Top 8 finish at SCG Chicago P9!

First off, since the restriction of Trinisphere, many have believed that the Stax archetype is dead. Like many people, I rejoiced at the fact that the degenerate card finally hit the singleton list. You're probably wondering why a Stax player like me looked forward to that restriction. Simply put, I felt that the restriction of Trinisphere would only significantly hurt a deck archetype I considered my worst matchup at that time: Workshop Aggro. I look back today and see that the ever-changing metagame has left that deck behind in the dust. Not only were all three Top 8 Workshop decks Stax variants, not one played a Juggernaut!

With that said, this tournament was my best showing ever at a 100+ person event to date. I started out the day with an intentional draw with my teammate Kevin Cron and then proceeded to go undefeated and win the next 7 played matches, not losing one single game. On top of that, I did not mulligan once until I met up with Rob Vroman in the semifinals.

To be honest, I did not keep track of much of what happened because I lost my notepad early in the day and did not feel like carrying around a pile of disorganized scrap paper. I can't remember much from each match so this will be short. At the very least, I can remember the decklist I played.

Stax A Vintage deck, by roland chang 3rd place at a StarCityGames Power 9 Tournament tournament in Chicago, Illinois, United States on 2005-07-31 Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Black Lotus 3 Crucible Of Worlds 1 Mana Crypt 1 Mana Vault 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Ruby 1 Mox Sapphire 4 Smokestack 1 Sol Ring 3 Sphere of Resistance 4 Tangle Wire 1 Trinisphere Artifact Creatures 1 Sundering Titan 1 Triskelion Creatures 4 Goblin Welder 1 Gorilla Shaman Instants 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Crop Rotation 1 Swords to Plowshares 3 Thirst For Knowledge 1 Vampiric Tutor	Legendary Artifact Creatures 1 Karn, Silver Golem Sorceries 1 Balance 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Tinker Lands 1 Barbarian Ring 4 City of Brass 3 Gemstone Mine 4 Mishra's Workshop 1 Strip Mine 4 Wasteland Legendary Lands 1 Tolarian Academy	Sideboard: 3 Chalice of the Void 1 Jester's Cap 2 Tormod's Crypt 2 Viashino Heretic 2 Choke 2 Seal of Cleansing 3 Red Elemental Blast
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Swiss Rounds
Round 1 vs. Kevin Cron w/ Cronstax
I started the day off on the wrong foot. Out of the 140 other participants I could have played against in the first round, I get paired up with my own teammate! We decided the match would be a coin-flip, so for the betterment of each player, we intentionally drew after about 5 minutes of discussion. I wasn't exactly thrilled to start off with a draw, but it's much better than a loss after the first round.

0-0-1

Round 2 vs. John Donovan w/ Control Slaver
John was already sitting at the table when I got to the table to take my seat. I took out my 20-sided die to roll and decide who would play first. He then immediately stopped me from rolling the die and said, "That's not randomized." I stared at him in disbelief as he brought out one of his six-sided die. I thought to myself, "...and that's randomized?" According to John, some guy at his local shop knows how to consistently roll high numbers on 20- sided dice. After that confusing spiel, I just wanted to get to my first game of the day! We rolled his die to get the game started and I selected to play after rolling a "5."

Games 1 and 2, I just locked him up with the classic Crucible and Smokestack (set at 1).

From game 1 to 2, here's how I sideboarded:

-3 Sphere of Resistance
-3 Thirst for Knowledge
-2 Crucible of Worlds
-1 Karn, Silver Golem
-1 Tangle Wire
+2 Choke
+1 Jester's Cap
+3 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Viashino Heretic

1-0-1

Rounds 3 through 5
Sometime during this the next three rounds, I played against a U/W Fish running Ninjas of the Deep Hour, an Oath deck, and another Control Slaver deck. In each match, I played first and established a quick Crucible-Smokestack lock. In the Oath and Slaver matchups, I established such board domination that I never saw more than Force of Wills, dual lands, and the discarded junk on the other side of the table. In ways, it's fun to be able to play someone and never know exactly what they were playing, but at the same time it can come back to haunt you in game two. The opponent knows your strategy while you're scrambling to figure out what threats he may have up his sleeves. I tried to use my best judgment and experience to sideboard cards in and out correctly from game one to the next.

In one of these matches, I remember that my opponent had a string of four turns in which his Mana Crypt shot himself in the foot for 12 damage. How unlucky?

As for the Control Slaver deck, I specifically remember one insane play. At the start of that match, I kept a hand of Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Sol Ring, Thirst for Knowledge, Goblin Welder, and Mishra's Workshop. I was on the play, so I did not have to fear a Chalice set for zero. During this first turn, I played my entire hand and then some. With the Thirst, I drew into Balance, Sphere of Resistance, and an artifact that I gladly pitched. The next turn I followed it up with a topdecked Triskelion and played the Balance even though I knew my welder would die. Trike went all the way.

Pizzownt!

4-0-1

Round 6 vs. Robert Vroman w/ Mono Red UbaStax
Even though I would never play Uba Mask in my own build of Stax, I have a lot of respect for the bizarre deck and its creator. I have only played against an UbaStax deck once before and that was on Magic Workstation.

In game 1, I played first and dropped a good portion of my hand, cast an Ancestral Recall and drew into the Sphere of Resistance. The Sphere was all I needed to keep Vroman locked down since his mana sources in hand were Sol Ring and Mana Vault. During the following turns, I Tinkered in a Sundering Titan, destroyed his Mountain, and put more pressure with an additional Sphere in play.

Sideboard Action:
-1 Trinisphere
-3 Sphere of Resistance
-1 Thirst for Knowledge
-1 Tangle Wire
+2 Seal of Cleansing
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Viashino Heretic

Game 2 went my way after he started out with Mountain, Welder, go. I played Workshop, Tangle Wire, go. On my next turn, I played my second Workshop, the Mana Crypt I kept in my hand, and a Smokestack. I kept the game under control after plopping down a Crucible to lock the game up. The key play in this matchup was the first turn Tangle Wire when going second. See, it's still a playable card!

5-0-1

Round 7 vs. Charlie Krug w/ TNT
StarCityGames featured this match for Round 7. In short, I won the die roll for first turn. I kicked off the match with a first turn Smokestack after playing Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and Wasteland. He played a first turn Solemn Simulacrum with Lotus and Sapphire and I thought something was up. He also used a Strip Mine to destroy my Wasteland. The next turn, I brought Karn into play, destroyed Charlie's Sapphire, and Karn eventually led the way to victory.

Sideboard Action:
-3 Sphere of Resistance
-1 Trinisphere
-1 Tangle Wire
-1 Thirst for Knowledge
+2 Seal of Cleansing
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Viashino Heretic

Game two dragged along, but I created a Crucible, Smokestack lock. I attacked for too many turns with the 1/3 Heretic, but that combined with the Barbarian Ring at threshold eventually went all the way.

6-0-1

Round 8 vs. Matt Morrison w/ Cronstax
Even before getting to our respective tables, I introduced myself to Matt and we decided on the spot to draw into the Top 8 after the Round 7 standings were posted up. I guess I'll never get to play against him, but this would have easily been a coin-flip of a match.

Top 8
Quarterfinals vs. Brad Granberry w/ Control Slaver
Going into this match, I felt very confident after my incredible string of wins through the Swiss Rounds which included 2 wins against Control Slaver already. I played first in this match, playing very risky. I went Gemstone Mine, Crop Rotation. If Brad countered that Crop Rotation, I would have been a dead man, but it resolved and I brought out a Mishra's Workshop to play the almighty Trinisphere. Silly as it may seem, but this was the first time all day long I had actually played this card. On his first turn, he dropped a Library of Alexandria and passed the turn. On my turn, I drew into a Crucible of Worlds to pair up nicely with the Smokestack that was already in my starting hand. I played a Tolarian Academy, and then played the Smokestack. On my next turn, I played the Crucible and Brad immediately scooped.

Sideboard Action:
-3 Sphere of Resistance
-3 Thirst for Knowledge
-2 Crucible of Worlds
-1 Karn, Silver Golem
-1 Tangle Wire
+2 Choke
+1 Jester's Cap
+3 Red Elemental Blast
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Viashino Heretic

Game 2, I played Workshop, Tangle Wire in response to his first turn Volcanic Island, Welder. The game went my way after I found a Crucible and Trinisphere within the next few turns. I found it amusing that during those two game, I pulled out the Trinisphere when I really needed to in order to seal the deal.

Semifinals vs. Robert Vroman Again
This matchup was in fact another coin-flip in my opinion. He rolled a 12 and I rolled a one, which almost rolled into 13, but the raise in my play mat did not let it. I knew from then on out that my match would become rather difficult being on the draw.

I mulliganed down to 6 after my original hand had no land and only a Mox and a Lotus. If Robert simply played a Chalice for zero, or Sphere of Resistance, that hand would have been instantly horrendous. I kept a suitable on-the-draw hand, but Vroman made it worse by playing a Chalice for zero and a Trinisphere. I had no chance of winning that game.

Sideboard Action:
-1 Trinisphere
-3 Sphere of Resistance
-1 Sundering Titan
-1 Crop Rotation
-1 Thirst for Knowledge
-1 Tangle Wire
-1 Crucible of Worlds
+3 Chalice of the Void
+2 Seal of Cleansing
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Viashino Heretic

I kept a very risky hand, and led with Tormod's Crypt, Mox Emerald, Chalice for zero, and Wasteland. With that kind of play, I thought I was set for the win. Now all I had to do was topdeck a colored source. Vroman showed no signs of being affected by my Chalice for zero and eventually brought out his Welder, followed by a Smokestack. As I struggled to find colored mana with 2 Welders and Ancestral in hand, he played Null Rod on his turn. The opposing Smokestack killed off my permanents one by one and I eventually crumbled against a total of 3 Smokestacks. Vroman killed me by swinging away with his Welder, Heretic, and 2 Duplicants. Talk about overkill!

Overall, I thought I played quite well for the day. Although I didn't win it all, I've never won 14 games in a row at any tournament. Maybe I'll get lucky again and win the whole thing next time. For now, I'll settle for 3^rd and my new Mox Sapphire.

• Star City Games and Pastimes for hosting and running this amazing tournament for us all to have fun at.
• Team Meandeck and my Colorado homeboyz for all of their support.
• Josh Rayden for being our homestay for the weekend.
• Vroman and Morrison for representing well with 2 other variants of Stax.
• The guy who traded me 3 Japanese Smokestacks. I just need one more now!
• Anyone else who helped me pimp my deck out even more.

Slops:
Taco Bell for almost making me late for my 3^rd Round match