Ham on Wry IV ~ The Erik Friborg Celebration Classic
Five years ago, we lost one of the pillars of the MTGO community, Erik Friborg, or Hamtastic, as he was known. A lot of you are 'too young' (in playing terms) to remember Hammy, but way back when we were a distinct community, totally separate from the paper world, and not this weird amalgam of all things online and off, Erik was one of the cornerstones of said community.
But this is not the time, nor place, for eulogies. No! The days are lengthening, and life blossoms anew across all the lands. The time has come once more; another year has come and gone.
It's time to pull this strange rocket out of the storage shed and take it for a ride once again. What started as a kneejerk response to morbid trolling has turned into an annual celebration of the life and contributions of Erik Friborg, and a celebration of the MTGO community as a whole.
Join me for the fourth running of Ham on Wry!
Time: Sunday, May 3th 2015 Noon EST/1600 UTC
(May 4th is a Monday)
| PST |
EST |
CET |
MSK |
| 0800 |
1200 |
1700 |
2000 |
Format: Constructed Vintage, X Rounds Swiss, T8
| Players |
8-16 |
17-32 |
33-64 |
65-128 |
129-226 |
227+ |
| Rounds |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Announcements and game chat: channel #HAM
Registration is open on Gatherling. Decklists are required.
Intentional Draws are allowed.
Players, pairings, and standings for this Event, along with the current Prize Pool, can be seen here.
Note the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet for easy navigation. You can review past events, as well.
Tempest Remastered
You know that I always try to get you guys wazoo prizes. This year is no exception.
From the Tempest Remastered announcement:
"When Vintage Masters released, there was a huge outpouring of enthusiasm from the Magic Online community. People could finally obtain hard-to-find Vintage cards—including the Power Nine—for the first time online. Not only that, but we heard time and again that the set was a ton of fun for Limited play. Our goal with Tempest Remastered is to recreate those great play experiences and get sought-after cards into the hands of players—this time, making Legacy play more accessible to folks who are new to the format."
Since the Tempest Remastered events start the Wednesday following (May 6) this event, I thought that TPR would be a good fit. The good folks at Wizards of the Coast agreed, and have generously kicked in 75 (75!) Tempest Remastered boosters! (30-15-9-9-3-3-3-3)
Any boosters won will be awarded to accounts during the May 6th downtime, so you'll be able to use them in the release events! Woo hoo!
The Slug's looking out for y'all.
The Riot Act...
Bullying, mobbing, foul language, & general rudeness will not be tolerated. This includes "snide remarks" about decks/playing ability, personal attacks, racial slurs, etc. A player will get 1 warning. Repeat violations will result in disqualification from the Event. This will be enforced. Flagrant violations may be screenshot and reported to WotC for harassment.
Please refrain from talking in other players games, or PMing players in a game. This will allow players to concentrate fully without interruption. We cannot prevent players from talking within their own game. If both players in a game agree to allow "peanut gallery" chat, this rule may be waived. Violations by players will get 1 warning. Repeat violations may result in disqualification from the Event. Flagrant violations may be screenshot and reported to WotC for harassment.
As people playing in my events over the years can attest, I will get medieval if the situation so demands. Don't make me get naked.
Hammybot
One of the many wonderful things that came out the first Ham on Wry was Hammybot. Hammybot was set up four years ago by Heath Newton (and crew) over at MTGO Traders to sell off Erik Friborg's MTGO collection. All of the proceeds from Hammybot are slated to go to Erik's widow and boy-child.
This is the last year Hammybot will be around. After this year's event, Hammybot is scheduled to be paid out and the proceeds sent to Tammy and son.
Prices are discounted to 10% below MTGO Traders list. Hammybot has raised over $8,000, but still has many, many cards left. Be sure to check out Hammybot first for all your card needs, and help out a good cause! At the first Ham on Wry event, several players put up cards, boosters, and tickets as personal pledges and bounties. You can use Hammybot to purchase cards for use as pledges or bounties in this year's Ham on Wry for a double dose of good karma!
Projected Payout:
T48/$5 Bot Credit
10 x $5 Bot Credit Door Prizes
With this much chum in the waters, I expect a large turnout, with a great many sharks. Erik was no carebear when it came to gameplay. In fact, I'd call him downright cut-throat. I expect a significant percentage of players showing up to not be carebears, either.
Once again, to be clear: There will be sharks.
Oh yes, there will be sharks.
Thank You to our Sponsors!
I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our sponsors for the generous support they've shown for this event! I wouldn't be able to do this without them. I'm still pounding on doors and harassing people, so there may be more in the pipeline.
Face to Face Games has generously kicked in $100 store credit!
CardBot has generously kicked in $100 Bot credits!
MTGO ClanTeam has generously kicked in $50 Bot credits!
MTGO Traders has generously kicked in $100 gift certificates!
Wizards of the Coast has generously kicked in 75 Tempest Remastered boosters!
Alphabot has generously kicked in $100 Bot credits!
Cardhoarder has generously kicked in $100 Bot credits!
Fine Print
- Players receive 3 points for a match win, 1 point for a match draw.
- All pairings and standings will be generated via Gatherling, in accordance with DCI protocols.
- Deck changes between games are not allowed.
- Games will be played in Constructed Open Play > Getting Serious. Games must be set as Constructed Vintage, watchable, timed at 25 minutes, best 2 of 3, and be marked "Ham Round x".
- First person listed makes table. Players have 10 minutes to make and join tables from time of pairings announcement.
- Bullying, mobbing, foul language, & general rudeness will not be tolerated. This includes "snide remarks" about decks/playing ability, personal attacks, racial slurs, etc. A player will get 1 warning, then be ejected from event.
- Talking during other players games is discouraged. You may chat - within the guidelines above - within your own game. Violations by non event participants may be screenshot and reported to WotC for harassment.
- Results must be posted via Gatherling Player CP before intermission. Results posted in the Ham on Wry chat room, or via PM, will be ignored. Results not posted before intermission will be declared a 0-0 draw.
- WotC employees are welcome to play, but are ineligible for any prizes, other than bragging rights.
- "Double Queueing" is not allowed. If you are found playing in another event, including WotC events, during Ham on Wry, you may be dropped from the event.
- Valid email addresses are required for some prizes. You will be notified via private chat if needed.
BlippyTheSlug on MTGO
Blog: Read At Your Peril (NSFW!)
33 Comments
I'm hoping to play in the tournament. As long as I can get someone to watch my son, i'm going to play.
It's really amazing to see how all of you guys have honored Erik and his memory. I wasn't active in any form of magic from 2009-2013, so I am one of the youngin's you mentioned.
Anyway, thanks for the hard work you do for all of us Magic Online players.
I, unfortunately, cannot. May 3rd is my mom's birthday so I'll be at my parents' place all afternoon. So good luck, Joe, and anyone else who gets to participate.
I still miss hamtastic.
What Algona said. However it is unlikely I will attend. I have a good collection by many standards but it isn't up to the task of putting together a competitive vintage deck. At best I can put a bad one together and I can tell you from experience that this won't cut it. Go big or go home, as they say. Glad you are still carrying on the tradition Blippy. At least it is something to keep alive some of the enthusiasm and joy Erik found for MTGO.
But... but... we're paying all the way to 48th! (so far)
I foresee very few people (if any) walking away empty handed...
48th thats like 1/3 of the usual attendance right?
:) Over half of last years (65)
You also have nothing to lose by participating, am I correct? That should be a major selling point.
The ONLY thing that will stop me from playing, is if I can't get someone to watch my boy. If my wife is at work, and I can't get a sitter, I just can't do it. I want this thing to do well so bad, I'd let people borrow some cards. I have a timetwister that's covered in dust.
Except the time and effort in putting together, and testing a deck worth playing with.
What I mean is that these player-run events are often free. It's not like you'd be burning tickets.
Unless I take the few tix I have to bolster my collection in order to have more options. lol. That seems to happen a lot when I sign up for a big PRE tourney. And then I later regret it because I fail to resell at the right time to recoup the losses.
What is the cheapest vintage deck? the chances of me winning in the format is none (unless my opponent gets mana scewed all the time) and it is such a shame. Still will play of course in support. still wish it was modern at the least.
RDW, Goblins, & Elves are (reasonably) viable and (reasonably) cheap, and ya prolly have most of the pieces already.
The cheapest "real" deck is probably Dredge. If you skip out on Unmasks and Undiscovered Paradise/Bloodghast, it can be built completely from scratch for around 200 tix. You're bound to mize a few free wins with it, and I honestly can't remember the past time I saw Burn (assuming that's what you meant Blippy, since RDW as I remember it runs 4 Wastes and 4 Ports) Goblins or Elves played in Vintage. While there's always some benefits to giong rogue, I'm not convinced outweigh the disadvantages in this case.
Yeah, there ARE some interesting things to be done that aren't being done in the Vintage meta but mostly because they are high risk low reward by comparison to what is tried and true. That's why I rarely play vintage.
I wouldn't call it "low reward", but rather "extremely low chance of success". Brewers in Vintage have a much tougher task throwing their creations into the likes of Oath, Delver, and Shops than those in, say, the current Standard who merely have to find some hole in the current decks to exploit or predict next week's metagame shift. The payoff, however, is greater in Vintage where the format evolves and reacts slowly than it is in Standard where today's predator is tomorrow's prey.
You may have a small point there. I do find my Standard brews tend to be good at puncturing the decks du jour because of those holes you mentioned... But then again Vintage has a number of cards that are either must play or must play against. Force of Will was in 3 digits for a long time for a good reason. And the advent of power did not make this easier/better.
I mean I have 4 missteps and the time vault/key combo so I guess with a really lucky first turn (assuming I wanted to play that kind of deck) I could lock down a win maybe against some decks but the likelihood as you say is very low. My op has to not have a FoW and I have to have a Misstep for every Misstep they have. And I need to somehow get past a turn two Mana Drain or Flutterstorm too. Even if I tinker for one of the parts the problems are only multiplied by having to wait.
I have one Mox (jet) and that's it. The odds of me pulling off a turn 1 win are almost 0. They might as well be 0. Whereas there are enough people with fully powered decks that the dailys run pretty much every day. That's enough to keep me from wanting to even bother.
And lets not talk about "RDW" and Elf Combo. Both decks of which fold to a good hand by any of the major decks.
I would love to be able to bring something like Rec Sur to the party but that's just pie in the sky dreaming there. And despite power being really low right now ($20-30 lower than when VMA went off sale) I have not yet bought in which means I probably never will. Unless some fluke of nature happens.
I was happy to celebrate HOW I & II and I salute Blippy for continuing the tradition but it seems a quixotic quest at best.
Every year at the Vintage championships, there is a prize for highest placing non-powered deck.
Maybe that might help some people.
It's nothing short of a miracle that I have a set of power. I stood on the other side looking in for quite some time, so I know how it feels to want to play, but not have all the restricted cards.
I think that dredge is probably the best bet for non-power using decks, but I do remember that there is a category of deck that uses Null Rods and the like to lock down the popular decks, while having an aggro element to win the game.
Here is a deck designed by Stephen Menendian. Replace the Wastelands with Ghost Quarter, and you should be in business. Then obviously tarmogoyf isn't cheap, but you can maybe try hooting mandrils or splashing black for tasigur, IDK. Stephen knows a thing or two about Vintage too.
Creatures (24)
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Stingscourger
4 Tarmogoyf
Lands (19)
3 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Strip Mine
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
Spells (17)
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Lotus Petal
4 Null Rod
4 Seal of Primordium
4 Pyroblast
Sideboard
2 Pithing Needle
1 Trinisphere
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Pyrokinesis
3 Red Elemental Blast
I play Pyroblast main deck in a bunch of decks, it might be smart to do so here.
If someone wants to play, and there someone I know enough to trust, I can let them borrow any unused cards. I'd like to see as many people attend as I can (even if I'm not one of them. Sadly, i have a hard time getting free time during waking hours)
Thank you, Dojo Trade, for your generous contribution towards this event!
Prize pool $900+ and growing!
Blippy: My respect & tx for continuing - this time no personal pledges?
Normally, I am Not able to find time for this kind tournaments but i will do anything i can to participate. This is the kind of spirit i miss Most these days and need all support;
In a way it is discoraging that an 'involved' person like Paul is kept from playing due to card issues (though i highly agree that Vintage is The format to go in respect of The heritage) - so, if you like pls pm (unfortunately no longer Bartimäus but Kveite -,another tx to the new Client) and I ll lend you the vintage stuff you need and switch to nasty dredge brew :-)
Perhaps I didn't make that part clear enough. :) Personal pledges are more than welcome. Just lemme know.
Fine- I'll have a fifth Bob who needs a new home...
Fine- I'll have a fifth Bob who needs a new home...
:) Oh? Can I assume this to mean you're putting up an online copy of (Dark Confidant)?
As a pledge? Or bounty? If bounty, what conditions? (default is to winner) (assuming I'm reading this correctly)
How about highest placed NON-POWERED deck at end of Swiss rounds?
That sounds good. Although you may want to add Bazaar of Bagdad to that too, as an optimal Dredge deck doesn't want to play power anyway.
When WOTC had a similar prize for some Vintage event, at the last minute they changed their alternate prize to "Non-powered, without Bazaar of Bagdad"
Sy for the sloppy wording and late response - fall asleep yesterday. I was referring to a mm Dark confidant and really like the idea to Award it to The best performing unpowered deck excluding dredge as Joe suggested. I see to find you online and pass the card...
Done, and done! Thank you, kind sir! Adding to prize pool as:
"Highest placed (at end of Swiss Rounds) Non-powered, without Bazaar of Bagdad"
Great, now I've got a reason to play other than seeing how fast I can lose each match without power. :)
Thank you, MTGO Empire, for your generous contribution to this event!
Closing in on $1K!
If anyone wants to test out their vintage deck, please pm Islandswamp on mtgo and we'll give it a go.
I haven't registered yet because I don't know yet if my nephew will be around that Sunday. But I do plan on playing the tourney so far. I would love to practice against you and pick your brain about vintage since I haven't played the format in a while. My deck is RUG Delver so it's tier 1, but I don't want to go in rusty with it. I'll definitely take you up on the offer, Joe!
Send me a FB MSG or look for me online tonight. I tend to be on after my son is asleep, and before he wakes up. Coincidentally, that is also why I'm a nodding-off zombie every day around noon.