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Jackson Hann is a 25-year-old T-Mobile worker from Allentown, Pennsylvania who says he got his deck from an old Sideboard Magazine. That's where all the classic tech comes from, right? It does when you are playing a current version of the classic Trix deck.

His opponent is mad Vintage genius and Mean Deck member Stephen Menendian. Steve has piloted his Stax deck to a 4-1-1 record on the day, and needs one more win (and perhaps a little help from tiebreakers) to earn a spot in the Top 8 at his last big Vintage tournament before he takes a break from the game to study for the bar exam.

While Hann was shuffling up for the match, he discussed his good fortune at winning his last match and making it this far, his opponent gifting him in the match for round 6. These would turn out to be fortuitous words in the next fifty minutes - but for which player?

"There's 61 cards there," Hann noted as Menendian pile-shuffled his deck.

"Really?" Steve asked. "Why?"

"I couldn't take out a Dark Ritual, so I left it at 61."

Game 1:
Menendian won the die roll and chose to play. A first-turn Trinisphere from Menendian met a Force of Will and they were off. Hann's Cabal Therapy whiffed on Goblin Welder, but Hann's next turn was for the game as he cast Academy Rector, sacrificed it to flash back the Therapy (and nailing Menendian's Tinker in the process). Rector's death brought Yawgmoth's Bargain into play, drew a ton of cards (including Force of Will and Ancestral Recall), countered something saucy on Menendian's turn and then Donated his Illusions of Grandeur on his own turn for the win.

It's combo, the old fashioned way!

Hann 1 - Menendian 0

"Turn 1 Trinisphere does not suck, but your hand - it was ridiculous. You didn't even need a Brainstorm, you pitched it to the Force."

Game 2:
Game 2 started out just like game 1 for Menendian, with a lot of moaning and rolling of eyes, as Hann's hand came barreling out of the gates like a thoroughbred on crystal meth. (Beware horses with heavy drug habits.) (Especially when they're hooked on Horse - T.F.)

First-turn Sphere of Resistance on the play met Force of Will - and then Hann cast Academy Rector on his own turn, locking Menendian out of his own locks unless he was willing to let a broken enchantment come into play for Hann. That's exactly what Menendian proposed to do by casting Smokestack, but only after having Trinisphere on the board first. He then chose not to add any counters to the 'Stack, while playing out more and more mana and leaving Hann desperate for a land, unable to do much of anything.

A third mana source finally gave Hann a chance to cast Cabal Therapy, and the flashback on the next turn let him remove the Yawgmoth's Will in Menendian's hand and bring Bargain into play. His draw engine finally online, Hann began to pluck some hotness - but he still had to find a way to either remove Menendian's lock elements or at least bounce them for a turn or two to try and get out of his deteriorating board position.

Demonic Tutor fetched Hurkyl's Recall, but then Hann forgot to discard down to seven and received a warning for Procedural Error - Major. Then, after saying he was done discarding, he was found to still have eight cards in his hand and received a second warning, earning a Game Loss for the infraction and evening the match.

Hann 1 - Menendian 1

Game 3:
Both players kept their hands for game 3, and it was Menendian's turn to drop broken stuff, playing Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Wasteland, Meddling Mage, Seal of Cleansing, and Chalice of the Void for zero.

Not wishing to be outdone, Hann's turn saw him cast Ancestral Recall followed by Brainstorm, showing him six cards from the top of his deck. Dark Ritual gave him Necropotence and suddenly Menendian's awesome start looked a bit diminished, in spite of Meddling Mage beating down. At the end of Menendian's turn, Hann cast Rebuild to get rid of a fresh Trinisphere and then Vampiric Tutored for Rushing River.

Turns pass and suddenly Hann is at two, unable to draw any more cards because he is now Necro locked. He cast Rebuild, then Mox, Mox, Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Academy Rector before passing the turn - normally a scary prospect but less so with the Seal of Cleansing still hanging around, waiting at Menendian's beck and call.

This time it was Menendian's turn to pause and ask, "Now how do I win this game?" Apparently, his method was again through some mistakes on Hann's part, as he actually forgot there was a token on the board and attacked with his Academy Rector, dropping to one when Steve attacked back with the token. Extra turns were called, but Menendian plucked a Swords to Plowshares to send the Rector farming, giving him an opening to win the game on turn 3 of time.

Sadly for Star City's Mad Vintage Genius, final standings put him in 9^th on tiebreakers, keeping him out of the Top 8, but giving him a nice complement of Italian Legends packs for his work on the afternoon.

Menendian 2 - Hann 1