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Josh has already had a feature match today and, while undefeated, he has two draws on his record and has to win out for the rest of the event to make Top 8. Rich is sitting at 5-1 and also needs a win to Top 8. Josh really wants to get rid of his shirts, though he'd prefer to burn them in a fireplace than give them away. Rich apparently believes that with one of Josh's shirts he will be granted the ability to "get all da' ladies".
The players decided to roll a D20 because Rich has a burning hatred for six-sided dice. They briefly discussed the possibility of a split, but agreed that it was not a good idea and left it be.
Josh found a thread on his neck and pulled it off.
Rich: "Your shirt is falling apart already"
Josh: "Good."
Game 1: Rich decided to play first, though he was temporarily blinded by the flash on the digital camera. Rich led with an Island and Mox Jet and passed with nothing. Josh played a Tundra and then on Rich's upkeep he tried to cast Ancestral Recall. Rich had a Force of Will, but Josh had a Misdirection to stop that and drew his three cards. Rich checked how many cards Josh had after dropping a Flooded Strand and decided to pass the turn. Josh cast a Quirion Dryad on his turn, and Rich responded with sacrificing his Strand to fetch out a Volcanic Island. Rich was able to successfully Mana Drain the Dyrad and then cast an Ancestral Recall of his own on his next turn.
Rich uses a six-sided die to keep track of his Mana Drain mana, something more players ought to do.
With the aforementioned Drain mana, Rich attempted to cast a Gifts Ungiven which, to Josh's disappointment, resolved. The four cards Rich presented to Josh were: Time Walk, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, and Strip Mine. Josh decided to put Strip Mine and Time Walk into Rich's graveyard.
Ted: "Why are you glaring at me? I'm not playing..."
Josh: "This is going on the Internet... and you gave me this t-shirt."
Rich dropped an Underground Sea after his Gifts and passed the turn. Josh led off with a Brainstorm to fix up his hand.
Josh: "I don't know what your deck does."
Rich: "I don't know either."
Josh followed up his Brainstorm with a Polluted Delta that grabbed an Underground Sea. After a Time Walk, Josh played a Duress and Rich showed Demonic Tutor, Mana Severance, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, and Crucible of Worlds. Josh faced a tough choice and settled on taking the Yawgmoth's Will. Josh cast another Duress and got rid of the Tinker that Rich had tutored out with Gifts Ungiven. Josh cast a Meddling Mage naming Demonic Tutor and then passed the turn.
Rich began his turn by casting Crucible of Worlds and attempted to Strip Mine Josh's Tropical Island. Josh cast a Brainstorm and then cast yet another Duress which took out Rich's Mana Severance, all the while swinging for two with his Meddling Mage. Rich took the opportunity to cast Thirst for Knowledge while Josh was tapped out and discarded the dead Demonic Tutor and a Volcanic Island. In response to Rich declaring his attack phase, Josh Mystical Tutored for a Force of Will.
Josh swung in with the Mage once again and then played a Psychatog to put further pressure on Rich who could only muster recurring Strip Mine after laying a Black Lotus on his turn. Josh kept the pressure on by swinging with the Meddling Mage and Psychatog and began to pump the Psychatog, though he became a bit confused in the middle when his Tog was up to around a 12/13. Josh's graveyard was big enough to make his Psychatog lethal to end the game.
Rider 1- Shay 0
Both players solemnly sideboard, shuffling cards in and out for a very long time considering how pressed they are to finish the match in time.
Game 2: Rich decided to play and kept his opening hand. Josh also kept. Rich's first play was a Boseiju, Who Shelters All, which Josh had to read to see what it did. As with game one, Josh cast an Ancestral Recall. Rich had the Force of Will again, but Josh was able to protect it with a Force of Will of his own. Unfazed, Rich dropped a Volcanic Island and passed the turn.
On his turn, Josh used a second fetchland and grabbed an Underground Sea to fuel up a Duress. Rich was forced to discard Yawgmoth's Will, leaving him with only a hand full of mana sources. As expected, Rich's next turn consisted of him dropping mana sources and passing the turn. Josh played a Meddling Mage naming Mana Severance. Rich tried to cast an Ancestral Recall on his turn, but Josh had the Misdirection to take the Ancestral for himself. Josh followed that up with another Meddling Mage which was set to Tinker.
Rich was able to resolve a Thirst for Knowledge care of Boseiju, discarding a Mana Vault before passing it over. On Josh's turn he Duressed away a Fact or Fiction then cast a Brainstorm to fix up his hand which was full enough thanks to having two Ancestral Recalls cast on him. He attacked with his Mage army and said go. As per the turn before, Rich cast a Thirst for Knowledge with Boseiju, discarding Tormod's Crypt. He dropped a Mox Ruby before sending it over.
Josh attacked with his Mages again, dropping Rich to one, shutting off Boseiju, and then cast a Psychatog. Rich's turn yielded no outs, but he made Josh play it out. Josh came in with his men and ended the game.
Rider 2 - Shay 0
After the match Rich was questioned on his choice of running Crucible of Worlds, and he sadly said that it was terrible all day. He had wished it was his The Abyss instead multiple times during the day. He also said that it had been some time since he had had the tar kicked out of him quite so thoroughly in a Vintage match.
