Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

It’s summer in Chicago. With temps finding the mid-80s, the Lords of the Pit assembled on a sunny afternoon on the first of June to celebrate Old School MTG jank in this, the first iteration of Solocon, a Singleton-themed event. I hopped off the 77 bus and walked down Rockwell past a complex of semi-ruinous warehouses nestled alongside the Chicago River. Our battleground was Metropolitan Brewing’s taproom, a lovely, hidden gem of a riverside space in this up-and-coming part of Avondale. Several kayakers paddled past and I hoped for their sake that their shots were current as Chicago’s arterial waterway is famously toxic. We Gathered our full complement of ballers, 21 on this day, and fired at half past noon.

For Solocon, we adopted the Ride Janie Ride Foundation, an organization that for 12 years has paid it forward to families shouldering the financial burden of cancer treatment. The foundation organizes a yearly motorcycle ride that, to date, has benefitted over 55 recipients and the Lords proudly raised $375 to contribute to Ride Janie Ride.

Hear me baby, hold together.

The idea to bring Old School Singleton to Chicago was born this past winter in Northern California, where several Lords attended a retreat-style weekend in the wilds outside Pescadero. One of the events that weekend was a Singleton tournament played under a ruleset devised by our West Coast brethren and hosts, the Beasts of the Bay. While I missed the first part of that Singleton tourney whilst hiking with Lords Semmens and Doetterer, the card-slinging slung deep into the evening and I became a keen observer. I liked what I saw: Aladdin’s Ring was an “it” card to-wit a mid-game breaking mana sink; creatures like Flying Scimitar or Ironroot Treefolk did work on the battlefield, infinite mana & turn combos were aplenty, if fragile. This Gathering whispered to my love of Old School EDH, itself a “deep dive” format, and Singleton seemed the perfect way to port a miniaturized version of EDH and make it “playable” for the dudesweats. Indeed, I’d even clowned around with a proterozoic version of this format when I first came back to MTG via Old School circa 2015-16, so Singleton (or just “Highlander” as we also called it then) was never too far from my mind’s heart.

The Beasts crafted Singleton as a Powerless (Timetwister excluded) format that swam further into the deep end of the card pool. Staples that provide unearned advantage were banned along with Power. Mind Twist, Braingeyser and Library of Alexandria went bye-bye and mages would have to win the old fashioned way... off the top of their libraries. I had a couple takeaways from observing the Beasts’ event: (a) Sol Ring was busted (and would later be banned by the Beasts) as it conferred too much “free” mana acceleration, especially early on; and (b) we had to organize a Singleton event for the Lords sometime soon. Lords Agra, Jaco and Petray all played in the Beasts’ event, with our ever-lovin’ Meatball T8’ing a Monored build on-loan from Dom, and we had a critical mass of interest. Thus, Solocon was soon thereafter booked. Lords Agra, Piquard and Semmens helped arrange the day’s particulars and Lord Slack assisted from the swamps of Florida by coordinating our siq top-prize, the siqqest Maze of Ith in the galaxy!

Winter released its iron grip on Chicago, grey slush turned to rain, potholes widened and the ivy turned green as Singleton testing crept into various spring meetups. Interest gained steam as Lords Piquard, Elleman, Semmens, Mattson and Sanders all brought various builds to tinker with. We adopted the well-tested Beasts ruleset. I had a few notes of my own after testing: Demonic Tutor was a catch-all, auto-include card. Maze of Ith and Icy Manipulator were all-stars. Armageddon was a game buster. Recall was perhaps too powerful and worth of watch-listing. Small creatures and mid-game X-spells were potent strategies. And, just as in Old School EDH, Enchantments remained robust with so few answers.

Never tell me the odds!

Singleton is a format that harkens back to the kitchen table, to the big, mid-game busted plays or improbable, show-stopping combos. Shivan Dragon rules the skies… but Royal Assassin remains the great equalizer. A Clockwork Beast is an indomitable threat… unless he’s lost in the Flood. Those precious playsets be damned! The Lords would be armed with 60-card decks of one-offs (basic lands notwithstanding) to duel in 40-minute, one game rounds. Ballers-take-all: no sideboarding, no optimization, no regrets. Oft-overlooked cards would run alongside the old warhorses. Playing White Weenie? Here’s Mesa Pegasus, Pikemen or Benalish Hero. Diving into Blue? Gaze ye mighty upon Leviathan. Would mages go wide on the attack or build fortresses from which to drop massive X-bombs? How many Channel Fireballs would be unleashed? I was excited to see what strategies would unfold at Solocon. With limited mana fixing, would the greedy, multi-color builds prevail or would one/two color decks prove more reliable?

You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.

Solocon sped past us like the Falcon in Hyperspace. Since each round was one game, we were able to complete six rounds plus dole out prizes in just under four hours. Mr. Evan Smith, a newcomer from neighboring Indiana, barnstormed the event at 5-1 on a Blue Black Control pile. Evan won on breakers; hot on his heels at 5-1 were Andy MacDougal on Red Green Beats and Lord Elleman on Pink Aggro. Below the top tier was a three-way tie between Lords Piquard, Semmens and Moss at 4-2. The rounds were as high-variance as they were an exploration of Old School’s dusty, forgotten corners. Lord Rohr’s secret tech was The Fallen to bleed opponents in the long game. Cyclopean Tomb did work for Lord Piquard, bogging down enemy lands. Banding creatures were featured in a couple builds (s/o to Mesa Pegasus) and one salty wizard even packed an entirely International Edition, clear-sleeved deck! We had numerous combos including Power Monolith, Animated Time Vault, Beast-Orb and Archaeologist-Orb. Lord Sanders, meanwhile, hacked the Secret of the Ooze, powered by Mana Flare, while Mossman made use of an indestructibly Consecrated Maze of Ith. And then there was this...

The unearthed technology of the day was the suite of “Sac Lands” from Fallen Empires (Ruins of Trokair, Havenwood Battleground, Ebon Stronghold, Svyelunite Temple and Dwarven Ruins) which acted as backdoor mana acceleration against slow-moving opponents. Unfortunately, a byproduct of the overall lack of mana fixing and one game rounds was that some mages were subjected to bad luck and being quickly mauled, but our ethos on the day was to not take the event too seriously and I think everyone was able to laugh at their own misfortune. It was refreshing to have an event that was anti-competitive in this regard and reverted us to the old days at the cafeteria table or living room floor.

We boogied out of Metropolitan for an early dinner at our new mainstay, Traspassada. Over a bevy of chips & black salsa, burrito dinners and margaritas, we toasted another successful Gathering of the Lords. To keep pressing forward with this backward-looking game, it’s important to remember what brought us here in the first place: the spark that fires our collective imagination.

Hyper(drive) Links:

• Charity information: https://www.ridejanieride.org/
• Old School Singleton rules: https://beastsofthebay.com/old-school-singleton
• MTG alters extraordinaire: https://www.instagram.com/jts_mtg_alters/

Decks:

Candids:

Starring:

Special thanks to Lord Semmens for sharing photos.

Albert Einstein stared up at the Gathered magi, bottling whatever diabolical Enchantments they had in-mind for this game of OS-EDH. Lord Marty Silenus passed the turn...

...and such was the tenor of gaming this evening as The Council of Elders met, five-strong, to unfurl the wings of Legendary Dragons. Janky creatures, jankier enchantments and dazzling combos rained down amidst a feast of frozen Tombstones and a soundtrack of Ozzy & Dio. The Lords unshackled the Banned List for one night and only Armageddon and Shahrazad were excised for time-consideration. Could we be trusted with such unbridled Power?

Game 1: Rasshole Rising

We began innocently, a few baller Artifacts and Enchantments but nothing too threatening. Moss put a Relic Bind on Carter’s Icy Manipulator, then used his own Relic Barrier to tap said Icy and distribute life & damage on a willy-nilly basis. Tyler unleashed a Fissure onto Marty’s Karakas (now unbanned) then he Forked it onto Shane’s Karakas! Could the great wurms be unleashed? Tyler tested the skies, sending Durnehviir the Dracolich toward Moss, but he’d misread the board and the Mardu Dragon was zeroed out by Island of Wak Wak.

Eventually, the board stalled out as it’s want to do. A Nev’s Disk resolved, popped and we started afresh about 30 minutes in. The key to these OS-EDH games is to periodically till the field. Moss was sad to see his beloved Alpha Sea Serpent swept to sea forever, but the clean slate offered new opportunities for… stalling. First it was Land Equilibrium, then Stasis hit the board with enough blue mana to keep it online for a considerable length. Turns passed, untap steps were skipped, cards began to be discarded.

Unbeknownst to the group, Carter used the Stasis delay to sculpt a near-perfect nut-hi combo hand. After ten or so minutes of dicking around with Stasis, he unleashed fire & fury. Power Artifact onto Basalt Monolith? Resolved. Stream of Life? Resolved. Uh-oh, Book of Rass? Resolved. Carter then threw the Book at us: he’d gone infinite on life, could draw his entire deck, then loop the deck via Timetwisters. The madcap generated infinite Hive Tokens and swarmed the field, capturing his first OS-EDH victory. This was our fastest OS-EDH game ever at just under 70 minutes!

Game 2: Blowin’ in the Wind

Following the startling finish to Game 1, we decided we had time to shuffle up for a bonus feature. Tyler led off with a T1 Library, which Moss immediately slapped with Psychic Venom. Red Blast! Tyler drew freely from the Library until Moss’ next turn, when the LoA was again targeted and turned into a basic Island by way of Phantasmal Terrain.

We durdled our way toward the mid-game, Carter slowing things down with his own Stasis. Marty unleashed the Junk-colored Mirmulnir, who took a bite out of Carter for the only Commander damage scored on the evening. Shane slapped down a Land’s Edge, which unleashed a fusillade of chucked lands for damage. Moss weathered the shootout thanks to durdly lifegain cards such as Crystal Rod, Lifetap and that extra-sneaky-underplayed technology, Urza’s Chalice. Carter, meanwhile, was on the ropes. A series of haymakers, including Shane’s backhand with Aladdin’s Ring, left the G1 winner at a single life point. The coup de grace fell to Moss’ mighty Pirate Ship! We were reduced from five to four combatants.

Time rolled on and Marty got a Chaos Orb / Agrivian Archaeologist loop online, wisely avoiding Moss’ fortress and the Pirate Ship’s wrath. After another Land’s Edge firefight, Tyler checked out to catch the Metra UP-NW line home. Since Tyler scooped, Moss wisely held back on the nine counters sitting on his Triskelion (via Tawnos' Coffin).

Three wizards remained. Moss had his entire infinite turn combo in-hand (Time Vault, Animate Artifact and Jandor’s Saddlebag) but forgot Shane had a Chaos Orb in-play and the combo was scuttled. Marty dropped the dreaded Mirror Universe and Moss responded by Sonny Corleone’ing himself for nine with Triskelion… all that lifegain durdling was about to backfire. Another round passed, the Mirror was broken, and the life totals stood:

• Marty: 24
• Shane: 23
• Moss: 13

Marty wanted to Hurricane Moss out, but he’d have to tap enough Forests that Lifetap would keep the erstwhile Blue Wizard in the hunt. Marty unleashed it, for eight, then Shane chipped in with Fork! Moss was vanquished, but not before he used Saddlebags to untap Pirate Ship and ping Shane…

• Marty: 8
• Shane: 6

...Shane pimp-smacked Marty on his end-step, again with Ring. Then, he untapped and did it again. G2 was finished and Shane collected his second OS-EDH victory.

Takeaways

Of all the cards we “unbanned” for this meetup, only Karakas truly felt stifling. Our Elder Dragons are already so fragile that an answer as robust as Karakas is simply too overpowered. We may consider errata so that Karakas cannot target enemy Commanders, but can target all other legends, including its controller’s own Commander. Why do this? It would encourage more Commander use generally and more siqnasty, creature-based combos, for example Hazezon Tamar. It cannot be understated how poor creature & Commander-based strategies are in OS-EDH and any tool to help prop them up must be considered.

Meanwhile, the Blue Power cards and Library of Alexandria improved gameplay by accelerating the match with card draw and setup. These battles can take so long that any way to shave off ten minutes here and there is welcome. Plus, who doesn’t love drawing cards? Finally, as demonstrated above, a T1 LoA doesn’t take over because it just draws aggro. And with City in a Bottle unbanned, LoA is sure to be kept in check. Bottle has the added benefit of checking Island of Wak Wak, which has been an underrated durdle card punishing our Elder Dragons.

Final Roll Call

Thanks in part to the fresh blood offered by Lords Silenus & Petray, here’s a role call of some of the siqqest creatures that saw the battlefield on this evening:

• Agrivian Archaeologist
• Clone
• Roc of Kher Ridges
• Sea Serpent
• Gaea's Liege
• Hell’s Caretaker
• Kabal Ghoul
• Pirate Ship
• Sage of Lat Nam

The Knights TAPlar of Jackson, MI recently held Kumite! II, their second annual Old School MTG event, on April 13, 2019. One of the event organizers, Paul Fiero, provided a report as well as retrospective on fostering MTG community. Many Lords of the Pit traveled to battle at Kumite! II and we are happy to share his thoughts with you via this guest post. Thanks, Paul, and thanks as well to all the Knights TAPlar for hosting a terrific Gathering!

Hello, I’d like to thank the Lords for giving me a place to share my unsolicited thoughts on what I find great about Old School MTG and Kumite! II.  I’d also like to give a big shout out to Lord Mullen for all his help with keeping the day running smoothly and helping herd the cats that Magic players happen to be.

My MTG compulsion started in 1996 when I fell in love with the game and immediately started teaching every person that I could to spread the infection and hook more people to play with.  I was fortunate to be able to find a group of people (some I taught, others I just ran into) that I could start playing with on the regular.  There is something about having a community to share this game with that is special.  It was good to have a reason to spend hours on end with these friends, staring at cards, building the next killer deck, or just looking at the new cards that anyone was able to get.

Years later and it is still somehow just as fun to spend time with like-minded people looking through new cards that someone acquired and building the next killer deck.  I have found that this game is great as a sort of social background noise to bring people together and have something to do in companionable silence should conversation lag for a period.  Without the pressure to keep a conversation going, it allows me to have more freedom and I find that the discussion, roasts and inside jokes flow more easily. The game also allows for people to have a good connection point to start talking about, and to be naturally curious about what cards a new person has, how they got into this game or Old School in particular, or any of another interesting avenues of getting to know somebody.

For me, going to events is the best opportunity to meet new people that I can connect with and find new stories, share my own, and just generally spend time with a fun activity.  I enjoy trying to show how smart I am and winning is fun, but meeting people leads to more joy in the long run than a random W at some event.  Another nice feature about events is that if you happen to run into someone that you don’t enjoy as much then you have a great excuse to get out of the interaction once the round is done.  In college I got back into the game and I was active in the FNM and PTQ scene at that time.  I was a slightly above average player in a small pond but was never overly successful.  I was okay with that performance as generally I was able to meet new people who were interesting and win enough to feel like going back for more.  However, after college there were no events to pull various play groups together back home in Jackson, MI.

Coming back and not knowing how to connect was frustrating, so I decided to be the change I wanted and started to coordinate events locally on my own as the shop in town had no interest in doing that.  Fortunately, we were able to get people who can sometimes be reclusive to come out to take a chance and build up a decent community of 15-20 people who would play somewhat regularly.  The chance to start this community and get to know everyone was nice, and I was heavily involved with the community even after a store decided that it would be good for business for them to run these events themselves.  My involvement in that community dropped off very quickly once my son was born and I made the conscious decision to focus on other hobbies over Magic and cut back to basically pre-releases and Cube.

For a year or two that was okay, but I had the good fortune to meet up with most of the core of the Knights TAPlar early on when I was starting events in Jackson and had stayed in touch with Rob, Pete and Mike through the years.  I heard about Old School from them and suddenly things like pre-releases weren’t a priority and instead I was soon picking up cards like Beta Prodigal Sorcerers and Unlimited Pirate Ships.  I was pulled in by the mystery and allure of the old cards, but that soon just became a conduit for how to spend time with people I enjoy and find new people that I would enjoy spending time with.  After the first Old School event that I went to I was hooked with the community.  The excitement that people have about their pet cards, decks, or collections in general is fun to witness.  Giving people a chance to share what they are passionate about is a great way to get to know them better and by default people start branching out into other areas like music, philosophy, beer drinking, and eventually friendships.

These types of connections aren’t on the same level as what I was finding playing other formats like Standard, Modern, or going to any of the PTQ and GP level events that I had been to.  It’s not that the people at those events are bad or not capable of those connections, but our goals were different.  If I’m looking for connections in a larger MTG community and my opponent for any given round is just looking for victory in a tournament the area of common ground that we have to connect just isn’t as big.  With Old School there is a much higher alignment of goals and expectations leading to much better connection with those that you’re able to interact with.

I’m about 1,000 words in to explain why I was so inspired to organize the Kumite! event in Jackson.  I really enjoyed our community here and the opportunities that the Librarians and Lords provided for me to get out and meet new people and play.  It seemed like an easy thing for me to say that with our location we should do something for them so that they can all come out to our neck of the woods and have a good meet up without needing to worry about the logistics.  Getting the other Knights on board was easy and we were off and running.  Huge props to Mike, Pete and Rob for their help with all the prizes that really make this event unique.  If you haven’t seen some of the work that has been posted by these guys in various hype posts for the Kumite! then take a look below to see the alters that we were able to hand out.

This year we had 36 people attend and raised just over $600 for a Jackson charity that supports the cost of therapy for people with eating disorders and their families.  The event was everything that I could have hoped for with people from all over having a chance to meet up and make connections.  Everywhere that I looked throughout the event there were new groups of people chatting, sharing stories or some spicy new tech for a deck that they were working on.  There were also plenty of other formats from Alpha 40, to Revised 40 and Middle School all going on throughout the day.  As for the spiciness level of the event, it was fantastic.  People were really taking to heart the idea of tuning up their favorite little combination to be the best that it could be.  One of my favorite stories on the day is that the only game loss that the Moss “End Boss” Monster picked up on the day was to a Kobolds deck.  There was a fantastic Eureka Lich deck that was a beauty both from the alters as well as the overall design of the deck piloted by Rajah James that wrecked me in Game 1 with a strong Fastbond start.

There was some sick sideboard tech by Rob Matthews for his White Weenie deck to deal with Gloom and he was able to put it to full effect against Ryan Jean as shown below.

Greg Kotscharjan also had a super spicy list with Rukh Eggs and Diamond Valleys. Then there was the dynamic duo of mono green decks (Carter Petray and Lorian Elleman) that ended up taking third and fourth place which is a sure sign that the event was a success.  Big thanks to Shaman Ben for bringing the most appropriate prize to award to some of the spicy decks which Russ Strawsine (on Kobolds) won.

Finally, we also had a Chaos Orb Flipping contest for all of the participants at Kumite! It was a sudden death contest to see who could get the most hits in a row, with a small twist.  After every five successful flips, the height over the target increased by six inches.  This year’s winner was Matt “I guess I’ll just sweep the event” Moss with 16 flips.  That’s not just 16 flips in a row, but one of those flips was from 30” above the target. The next best was Andrew McLennan with 13 flips, showing that there are still strong Librarian/Lord rivalries to be celebrated.

Before signing off, I’d like to lay out a situation that I ran into at the Kumite! and ask for feedback as to what you would have done.  In the best tradition of European event organizers, I started the event 4-0 and was hoping to take down my own event as there was a sick Berserk Pete had done that I had my eye on.  However, part of getting to that point was a situation I’m not sure I handled well in the third round.  My opponent just stomped me in Game 1 and frankly it was super cool to see their deck work so well and just give me no chance to be in the game.  The first game went by so fast that they didn’t really know what I was on (the Pirate hat might have been a clue for those in the know) and so they didn’t board much.  In the second game there was a little bit more play to our game, but they were still able to get their combo run out and were in the process of comboing off, but I had managed to get a Living Plane on the field which really put a damper on their plans as it made all of their lands they were putting into play sick and unable to tap for mana.  They shared that they had the Demonic Tutor in-hand with a Lotus and had dug into a Mox Sapphire, but wasn’t sure how to finish it out as all the plays they had in-mind took too much mana of different colors.  They passed the turn and I killed them on my next turn to go to force a Game 3.  However, as we were sideboarding for Game 3 my opponent was visibly frustrated by being so close and not able to finish the match, and we discussed that turn a bit more and I asked why he didn’t just Tutor for a Time Walk.  At that point his jaw just about dropped and he saw his mistake and took it a little hard.  Game 3 was a non-game as there were some mulligans by my opponent and I was able to lock him out.  Now the question I have wrestled with from the start of that Game 3 until now is, should I have conceded the match to that opponent?  I didn’t care if I won, I was just there to bring people together and sling some cards.  He had me dead to rights in that Game 2 and just didn’t see that path until it was too late.  I would very much like to hear any thoughts on this and any discussion this might spark.

Remember, keep your Islands nice so your Pirate feels good going home.

Dread Pirate Tim

The Lords return from the future with Grays Sports Almanac and reveal the next great archetype.

...and so Gathered four mages, four April Fools, seeking to plumb new levels of despair during a stalemated battle of OS95-EDH. Our wedge Elder Dragon Legends were well-represented (BUG, RUG, Jeskai & Mardu) but relegated entirely to the Command Zone. Not one of the great wurms successfully summoned. Powerful enchantments ruled the evening, burying the assembled wizards in triggers and decision trees.

The battle started out with Moss (Jeskai) racing ahead on a T1 Ivory Tower, followed soon thereafter by Karma, Basalt Monolith and Vexing Arcanix, an Ice Age nugget that is essentially Millstone + colorless Shock. Moss drew aggro and was soon deluged by removal (two Desert Twisters, Disenchant, Jester’s Cap, Crumble, one and half Dust to Dust, Detonate, Tranquility, Gauntlet of Chaos, Tormod’s Crypt and, less we forget, Strip Mine). He ceased to be a factor in the mid-game and Arcanix became his rallying cry as each effect rained down on him, his own personal "Rosebud." Order of the Sacred Torch* kept Schriver’s (Mardu) black magick at-bay while that early Tower plus a Zuran Orb + Balance combo kept him from being knocked out entirely.

(*upon reviewing this card in Gatherer, we discovered it is even better than could be hoped for: Tap, pay one life, counter target black spell!)

The mid-game soaked up most of the match’s three hours and featured a permanents-based arms race between Semmens (BUG) and Piquard (RUG). Both wizards’ board states showed an impressive array of enchantments and artifacts with nary a board-sweeper to threaten them, as Piquard’s Nevinyrral’s Disk had been Arcanix’d away and Semmen’s fell to Zur’s Weirding (more on that below). Both men relied on impressive card advantage thanks to a wealth Sylvans, Tomes, and Howling Mine. Piquard amassed nearly 80 lives thanks to Thoughtleech and Lifetap before Shane deployed Mirror Universe, soon touching off an epic stack of Shatter, Blasts, Flash Counter, Power Sink and, finally, Boomerang.

After the smoke cleared over the battle for Mirror Universe, we entered a mercifully short late-game. Schriver managed to keep Ashnod’s Altar and Nacre Talisman on his side, undetected. After a timely draw of Time Vault, Bill used the Talisman to stack up enough turns to deploy Enduring Renewal + Kobolds of Kher Keep, generate infinite mana via Altar and Fireball everyone out. But wait! Moss deployed a Hydroblast as last-ditch effort. Undaunted, Bill had a backup combo in-hand: Blinking Spirit + the aforementioned Talisman, and, thanks to Time Vault, the game was nevertheless ended and Bill impressively captured his second consecutive EDH victory and third overall.

Among the numerous 1995-era cards to see the battlefield (Vexing Arcanix, Jester's Cap, Nacre Talisman, Ice Flow, Reality Twist, Pentagram of the Ages, and so on), perhaps the most disruptive was Zur’s Weirding. That Enchantment, plus Field of Dreams, allowed players perfect information, including revealed hands and upcoming draws, and the game quickly devolved to a standstill. Moss’ copy of Zurs Weirding was disposed of early in the match, but Shane’s stuck around, causing havoc for seemingly half the evening. Only after it was disposed of was Bill able to piece together his victory. Every single draw became a decision point and staring contest; who would take a Shock to prevent it? Lifegain + Zur’s Weirding would make a truly oppressive strategy in future matches.

Meanwhile, Moss set up a mini-game for whomever deployed the “siqqest brue,” to wit, the most cards originally printed in 1995, excluding reprints (Shatter, Swords, Counterspell), functional reprints (Hydro/Pyroblast) or Snow-Covered Lands. Moss and Piquard tied at 15 such cards each and decided that Piqaurd would win on a tiebreaker of two Homelands cards (Primal Order + Serrated Arrows) to one (Mystic Decree).

Closing observations: Time Vault plus the suite of Ice Age Talismans was an ingenious use by Schriver of 1995 tech. Moss, fearing Jester’s Cap, cut Vault from his 100 (and correctly so as he would be the sole player to be Capped). Shane played Time Vault, and later Recalled and Copied it. Vault, just as Power Monolith, has joined the ranks of most-feared cards in our OS-EDH games. Meanwhile, we tested Zuran Orb, which proved innocuous on its own but terrifying in the mid-game when combined with Balance. Moss assembled this two-card threat but exercised restraint in only taking players down to five lands when zeroing everyone out would've likely ended the game in miserable draw. We banned the use of Jokulhaups going into this game, and though we could've used it's board-sweeping prowess at numerous points, its Armageddon-like effect would've been too much to overcome and the ban shall remain in-effect.

What then of our woebegone Elder Dragons? There was simply no way to effectively deploy them in this game. The Abyss, Icy Manipulators, Order of the Sacred Torch, Mazes of Ith, Tawnos’ Coffin, Time Elemental, etc. meant that even if they could survive, the Elder Dragons would be rendered helpless. As fewer and fewer creatures see the battlefield in these OS-EDH games, we’ve become more and more reliant on stalemates and big combos. It’s akin to the Western Front of WWI. We remain in development of a means to make creature-based strategies relevant once again and hope to make use of it at a future Gathering.

Lords Mossman, Meatball, Etters, and Lorien offer timely, professional, precise, and (most importantly) legally viable analysis of Relic War III, Middle School, and the lost shard OS EDH dragons.

The time had finally come to battle test our new Elder Dragons, and five willing wizards gathered at Mossman's Keep in Logan Square to match wits and stamina. The magi rolled in around 6 p.m., braving the unseasonably frigid Chicago wind chill, as Tombstone pizzas, Funyuns and craft beers provided the nourishment required to last this Gathering. Our game this eve would be five men strong, one to test each of the wedge commanders: Sahrotaar the Traitor (RUG), Vulthuryol the Hidden (BUG), Odahviing the Soaring (Jeskai), Mirmulnir the Aged (Junk) and Durnehviir the Dracolich (Mardu). Commander assignments were doled out a week prior and the magi relished the opportunity to brew outside the bun. We settled in with snacks and conversation, then battle commenced a little past 6:30 p.m. with Lord Etters having the headsman's seat and taking the first turn...

...two hours passed by. There were thrusts and parries but no major plays. Etters foiled an attempt by Lord Semmens to bring Power Monolith online, countering a Power Artifact. A timely Dust to Dust by Mossman saved the party from a Nevinyrral's Disk, as well as Lord Schriver's Beast-protected Chaos Orb. Schriver, in turn, nuked Semmens' graveyard with a Tormod's Crypt as Semmens' Feldon's Cane was on the stack. Numerous creatures did bits in a pair of Tawnos' Coffins. Etters' Witch Hunter and Piquard's Preacher harassed various creatures. Moss created a clutch of Hive drones only to see them torn asunder by Semmens' Ifh-Biff Efreet.

The Elder Dragons appeared to be late to the party. Other than Lord Piquard summoning Durnehviir and making use of his innate Millstone ability, the skies were not made clear for dragonkind, at least in the early goings.

The hours whiled by and our life totals diminished. Elder Dragons began to emerge from their lairs to patrol the skies. Mossman was thankful for his Island of Wak Wak + Maze of Ith. Suddenly, in a stunning turnabout, Etters was felled at 8:28 p.m. by a pair of Elder Dragons under Lord Semmens' command! Semmens, on Sahrotaar (who has innate Concordant Crossroads), used a Control Magic to steal Etters' Odahviing (who gives all fellow attackers Flying). Then, the hasted pair swung in for the deathstoke! Etters had tried to liven the party earlier with a Mana Flare and he was thanked by being the first wizard sent to the showers.

In time, Lord Semmens fell prey to Piquards’ corrupted Northern Paladin, who channeled the dark side using Howl From Beyond and dealt a crippling 21-point blow. Piquardo polished off Semmens the next turn (8:50 p.m.) via Drain Life, but not before a furious counter barrage from Schriver!

And then there were three. Piquard was wounded, but alive. Meanwhile, Schriver and Moss had played the long game to survive. Moss' particularly pitiful boardstate had been obfuscated for most of the evening by a sack of Funyuns, but he attracted some unwanted attention when his trick six-sided die (two threes... care to do odds or evens?) was discovered. A pair of Howling Mines plus Mossman's Underworld Dreams, and Piquardo was dispatched. The doctor called the time of death at 9:28 p.m.

Schriver finally summoned Vulthuryol but promptly sacrificed him to Diamond Valley, a maneuver that would attract Moss' Strip Mine because of its duplicative effect. Schriver used Gauntlets of Chaos to “donate" Lord of the Pit to Moss, a typically joyous occasion but here a precarious one. With the Pitlord's damage on the stack in the ensuing upkeep, Moss deployed Reverse Damage for a 14-point swing! Underworld Dreams + Schriver's own Greed placed him in danger, however, a previous tactical error by Mossman bore fruit. Previously, after three or so hours of trench warfare, Mossman had Disenchanted his own L'Abissio to finally summon Mirmulnir the Aged, a mighty regenerating Elder Dragon. Taking down the protection of The Abyss had the unintended consequence of enabling Schriver to summon both Time Elemental and Vesuvan Doppelganger! That tandem kept Mirmulnir and Underworld Dreams at-bay. Mossman answered the bell with Tsunami, a powerful late-game haymaker. Schriver, however, had cast Transmute Artifact to convert a spare Moxen into Time Vault... now with the help of Demonic Tutor he assembled an Animate Artifact > Instill Energy > Time Vault combo for infinite turns! Mossman capitulated at 9:44 p.m. and Schriver collected the hard-fought OS-EDH victory, putting him atop the Lords' Leaderboard with two such tallies. Not for the faint-of-heart, this marathon Gathering clocked in at a burly 3:14.

Smoke cleared, garbage went out, and dishes were put away... so what was our lesson? The Elder Dragons in this context were reasonably effective as-designed. No singular Elder Dragon was overpowered (or even close to as powerful as Nicol Bolas). Unfortunately, combat matters little in OS-EDH as efficient creature removal remains legion. The true value in these new Elder Dragons lies within the brewing opportunities of the wedges. As we continue to tinker with this format, we will look for alternatives to push combat relevancy, but we will also welcome our five new Elder Dragons as permanent commander options.

On our OS-EDH page you can find downloadable versions of our wedge Elder Dragon Legends to try with your own playgroup.

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Lords Mullen, Agra, Mossman, and "I-lost-to-a-dude-playing-four-Recalls-and-need-an-adult" Meatball talk Madison Offensive III, Urza's Chalice, Kumite 2, Middle School Marauders, Winter Derby… so many news.

The Lords' final event of 2018, the Ice Storm Social, was my first attempt at organizing a charity MTG tournament. Since I missed Eternal Weekend this year but still needed to scratch that Old School itch, I decided to use my beer industry connections to line up Lagunitas. We rented a killer lounge space at their brewery, located in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, and everyone seemed to love Willy Wonka-inspired decor. Thirty three gnarly mages from around the Midwest and from as far away as Nashville participated. Beer sales from our event benefited the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund and our thirsty crew raised over $1,000! Again, thank you to everyone who came out to raise their glasses and raise some money for a great cause.

It seems I’m always finishing my deck at the eleventh hour before tournaments. While sipping Weller Antique 107 Barrel Pick and contemplating Erhnamgeddon for the fifth consecutive event, I decided to take a different path and play some Naya Zoo at the Social. Regardless of the deck I choose, it seems I have a knack for finishing 3-3, which happened again on this day.

Round 1 vs. Shane (1-0)

Shane and I took the L to the event together and discussed our lists on the ride, so of course we were matched in Round 1. He was on a prison deck. In Game 1, I drew three Strip Mine and Shane couldn't keep up with my swarm of creatures. Game 2 had much more interaction: my multiple creatures versus Shane’s multiple lock pieces (Abyss, Icy, etc.); I didn’t get Disenchants or Dust to Dust and he got there. Game 3 was fast and I won with creatures and burn. Earthquake would’ve blown me out if he had it but it was still fun to play some games with a fellow Lord.

Round 2 vs. Luke (1-1)

Luke was on Tax Edge combo. I needed Disenchants and burn to beat him but only saw them in G2 while losing G1 and G3 to the combo. Mana was my biggest issue this match as I was off-color and didn’t draw the right spells. I recently sold my Plateaus and didn’t feel like borrowing so I just played Plains in their place. There were a couple games where I wished for that extra red for a Chain or Bolt. So it goes.

Round 3 vs. Andy (1-2)

This was my most memorable match of the day only because of how G3 ended. Games 1 and 2 were mid-range beatdown games where whomever played the most creatures was victorious. Then in G3, I lost to an end-of-turn Bolt followed up with Channel + Disintegrate. I melted into a pile.

Round 4 vs. Nick (2-2)

Nick was on some brew featuring Dingus Egg shenanigans. He was the only person I encountered actually playing Ice Storm! Luckily my deck can run on few lands so, despite Nick’s valiant effort, I was able to get there. Game 2 saw me deal six damage with Strip Mines thanks to an Egg.

Round 5 vs. Tim (3-2)

Tim was on a control deck that was heavy Black with Blue for Power, Counterspell and Control Magic. I took G1 with quickly cast creatures, then in G2 he took complete board control and beat me down via Factory supremacy. We went to time in G3 and I won the match with Chaos Orb flips, which was nice after having lost my previous two flip-offs.

Round 6 vs. Joe (3-3)

We played Round 6 at a coffee table like when I was young and hanging out in my best friend’s basement. Fast-forward and now I’m older and can’t sit cross-legged as long. Joe was on a Trolls list and G1 went back-and forth until I was Fireballed for eight to the dome. In Game 2, I mulled to six cards, took zero damage and got there with my critters, then Game 3 came down to the wire. I got Joe down to three lives but couldn’t draw a winning threat for four turns and he eventually got there.

I finished 3-3 just as I anticipated. The games were fun, the beer was refreshing and the company was great as always. At every Old School tournament I attend, I’m always surprised by the new faces and enthusiasm the format brings.

The Ice Storm Social was another Old School success for the Lords of the Pit and friends. Our very own Ron Longhi (Mono Black) and Carter Petray (Slot Machine) met in the finals with Ron finishing atop the standings. I had a great time setting everything up and I want to give Nathan Mullen a huge shout out for administering the tournament. I couldn’t have done it without him.

Until next time.

~ Grant

The Lords are back to run a train on your brain with a candy cane.