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The first thing Andy said when he sat down was that he scooped last round. When asked why, his response was "If I kept on winning, I knew I'd never get a chance to play a pro". Harsh words from one of Vintage's premier trash talkers. Speaking of trash talking, Ted Knutson came over and warned Steve to not fall into Probasco's trap and to not let Andy's trash talking affect his game. It was all in good fun, and the players, in a very professional manner, shuffled each other's deck and wished each other luck.
Game 1: Steve won the roll and opted to play first. He kept his hand and led with a Polluted Delta before passing the turn. Andy's first land drop was an Island, and at the end of the turn, Steve broke his Delta for an Underground Sea which he used to cast Vampiric Tutor. Steve took a moment to ponder his options, something most Vintage players tend not to do. He eventually settled upon Ancestral Recall which met no opposition, refilling Steve's hand. Andy's turn was merely and land drop and passing the turn.
On his next turn, Steve cast a Brainstorm and used a freshly played Flooded Strand to shuffle away the cards he put on top of his library. The Strand grabbed an Underground Sea which was followed by a Duress. Andy responded by breaking his Polluted Delta to get an Underground Sea and then attempted a Mana Drain. Again, Steve pondered his options and eventually settled on pitching a Brainstorm for Force of Will. Andy revealed Mox Pearl, Brainstorm, Force of Will, Mind Twist, and Goblin Charbelcher.
"I know you have Misdirection in your hand and you're just baiting me," said Andy. Steve remained as stoic as ever and decided to take Andy's Mind Twist. Steve finished his turn by fetching out an Underground Sea and playing a Sol Ring. Andy dropped a Mox Pearl and played a Tolarian Academy before passing his turn. Steve untapped and, again, pondered his options. After about a minute Andy asked Steve to speed up a bit, and Steve complied by casting Mana Vault and then playing Chain of Vapor targeting the Vault, then chained it to bounce his Sol Ring as well. After replaying the mana sources Andy correctly called out Steve's Mind's Desire which flopped a Frantic Search, Black Lotus, Tendrils of Agony, Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor. Steve started off by playing the Lotus and Andy responded with Brainstorm and then Force of Willed the Lotus. Responding with Brainstorm, Steve allowed it to resolve. Steve then cast Demonic Tutor to up his Storm and then finally finished Andy off with the Tendrils.
"That was pretty lucky of me," said Wolfman.
"That's why you build the deck that way..."
Andy finished his sideboarding fairly quickly; not surprising as he has won a lot of Power events over the past year. Andy talked over the game for a little bit, commenting that he had made a large mistake by not Force of Willing the Chain of Vapor and tried to assure Steve that he hadn't really gotten lucky and that his mistake was the deciding factor.
Wolfman 1 - Probasco 0
Game 2: Neither player took a mulligan, and Andy led off with Mox Ruby, Island, Sol Ring, and cast Thirst for Knowledge, discarding Mox Pearl. Steve started out just as strong with Mox Sapphire and Flooded Strand, and cast Brainstorm off the Sapphire. Steve decided to cast Duress after sacrificing the Strand. Andy showed Library of Alexandria, Fact or Fiction, Duress, Thirst for Knowledge, and Demonic Tutor. Steve took the Fact or Fiction and passed the turn. Andy began his turn by casting Thirst for Knowledge, discarding two non-artifacts and then dropped a Volcanic Island before passing the turn.
Steve started off his turn with another Duress. Andy showed a Red Elemental Blast, Mana Drain, Force of Will and Demonic Tutor. Steve took Andy's Demonic Tutor then sacrificed a Polluted Delta to get an Underground Sea, then cast his own Demonic Tutor. Steve repeated Andy's hand a few times before getting his card with the Tutor then passed the turn. Both players spent a few turns doing nothing, and Steve broke the silence with Mana Crypt which he used to cast Sol Ring and Mana Vault and then followed it up with Timetwister, which Andy countered with Red Elemental Blast.
Then Steve cast Mind's Desire. His first few cards were an Academy, land and Chain of Vapor, but then he flipped Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Bargain, and then Yawgmoth's Will. Steve cast the Chain of Vapor and copied it three times to bounce all of his artifact mana back to his hand, then dropped it all back again before testing the waters with Yawgmoth's Bargain. Andy decided he didn't care and let it resolve. Steve started drawing lots and lots of cards, dropping himself to nine before Andy decided he'd had enough and conceded.
Wolfman 2 - Probasco 0
