The Fifth One is in the books. Once more, 32 mages gathered from all across the south and midwest for the annual Bootleggers Ball Christmas event. As is tradition, we started the weekend with an intimate (read:crowded) night of Classic, our favorite version of 2003 Vintage. The main event Saturday was our own special blend of herbs and spices in Alpha to Alliances. To fill out the festivities, tons of drink flowed courtesy of Bearded Iris and Yazoo, Josh passed out gifts from the Santa Sack, and piles upon piles of raffle prizes crowded the main table.
After all was said and done, a special holiday themed Brossard alter, dozens of community altered cards, Magic paraphernalia, mix tapes, t-shirts, records, and jars of honey all combined to raise $3700 for the Manna Food Bank in Asheville, NC. After the hurricane blew through Appalachia, we felt that this was an appropriate place for our efforts this year.
On Friday we began with Classic. This is pure uncut nostalgia for everyone involved. Friday saw old "Emerald Alice" and "Legend Black" lists sleeved up for the first time in 20 years. A Battle of Wits deck made an appearance. Illusionary Mask hid Phyrexian Dreadnoughts and Slivers. Premodern decks stuffed power into their 75. Both burn and mono black were slung unsleeved.
Several people asked what the Classic meta is like so they know what sort of thing to bring. The truth is it's very much like I remember Type 1 back in 2003: completely wide open. Anything can show up and anything can do well. New local Dan cut through the field with a strong Legend Black deck, winning a Titania's Patch.
Here's a link to our photo album containing Classic Deck Lists and Results:
BLB5 - Classic Decklists and Results
I won't recount everything from a first person perspective, but it warrants mentioning that even when I don't give myself the round 1 bye, I can make it to the final round X-0. This time, newcomer Will Kirkwood took me down by souping up Eureka with some great A2A additions. That deck was a turn faster than my Necro sledgehammer and was powerful enough to emerge victorious. For his efforts Will walked away with a Titania patch. Congrats Will!
Overall, the meta this year was very different from last year. BLB2023 saw a Top 8 with a lot of very punishing aggro decks heavy on resource denial peppered with a few combo builds. This year... it was a rerun of Combo Winter. In the top 8, I count 6 flavors of combo from aggro combo to prison combo to straight up 2 card win combos.
Several spicy brews warrant mention.
First up is John Knerr's predecessor to Vintage's Vault-Key deck. This was enough to win the room's approval for Spiciest Deck. Suiting up a white creature (with protection from the format's most popular removal) with Nature's Chosen and it turns the Blacksmith or Wall into a Voltaic Key to untap your one (1) restricted Time Vault. Infinity turns later, it was good enough for 8th overall. What a showing.
Next up is Sonny's "Hash Browns" build. Landing just outside the Top 8 he missed spiciest deck by an inch to John. But this build isn't just a simply Shops deck. Typical for Nashville, the full Prison lock is up front and includes Homelands all star Serrated Arrows. But true to the Combo Winter theme, this prison deck has a combo finish. Phyrexian Devourer can be fed to the Sword of the Ages for an instant win. And it's mono-brown with the full suite of Tron lands. Simply inspired.
Mad Scientist Alan Finney deserves special mention here too. His Field of Dreams/Thought Lash deck is unique to A2A. The pair of blue enchantments turns the library into your life total and each of your draw steps into whatever card you want. A full complement of Brainstorm/Force of Will blue stew gives this a true Vintage feel. Finish out with Power Monolith for the win.
And Chris Martin lived the dream by suiting up Varchild's War Riders... and getting trampled all the way to the bottom! Still a great card when it works.
Here's a full-ish assortment of the deck lists, tournament results, and some candids from the two days. Click the links for the photo albums:
Alpha to Alliance Deck Lists and Results
It was another one for the record books. I wish we could do it all again. See you in 2025!
Props:
Everyone donating to raise $3,700 for the MANNA Food Bank in Asheville NC for hurricane relief.
To the people with Iris and Yazoo for putting up with us.
Shaman Ben for bringing records for the charity raffle.
Beekeeper Brian for bringing some amazing honey for charity donations.
Josh B for organizing the raffle prizes overall.
Brossard for the raffle prize Sol Ring.
JJ for the Spiciest Deck Sylvan Library.
Evil Mailman for the foil giveaways.
Slops:
Tom for mailing me his giveaways week-of. His package arrived at my house during Round 3. Swoops!
