The second annual Old School Player’s Ball tournament has finished, and was an incredible day for the community. After drops and no shows, 84 Magicians from 20 states showed up to battle, and we were filled to our capped registration limit within the first day.
The Player’s Ball was held at Revolution Brewery Taproom, in Chicago (Illinois, USA), and was once again organized by Bob Agra and Chicago’s native crew, the Lords of the Pit. Eternal Central helped promote and support these efforts, and the tournament was able to raise over $1500 for charity (going to After School Matters, in this case). Repeating last year’s success, the Player’s Ball has become a marquee event on the gaming calendar, and the plan is to continue this tradition going forward as a summer event, part way between NoobCon and Eternal Weekend’s Old School events. Special thanks must also go fellow Lords Nathan Mullen, for running various tasks and taking photos throughout the event, as well as to Stephen Maldonado, who commissioned and donated the amazing custom playmats that the Top 8 players (and a handful of others) were lucky enough to take home.
The tournament was run as SWISS+1, with eight 50 minute Swiss rounds, using Eternal Central’s recommended Old School 93-94 rules, with no draws allowed (and Sudden Death Chaos Orb flipping if any matches went to time). As we continue to emphasize, the point of Old School is to play Old School, meet new friends, and catch up with old ones.
While last year’s field saw no copies of The Deck, and just a handful of UR Control variants, those decks were aplenty this year. Playing the best and most efficient cards in the format in one big pile can definitely be fun from time to time, even if not very innovative, per se. Alongside a decent control portion, there were plenty of aggro deck, aggro control, combo decks, and unique brews utilizing everything from Ashnod’s Transmogrant to Ring of Ma’Ruf to Living Plane.
Metagame Breakdown
Here is a sortable table that shows all players and associated decks played (you can sort by name, deck type, or prize awarded)
| First Name | Last Name | Decklist Photo | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob | Agra | BW Prison | |
| Nicholas | Batista | UWR Zoo | |
| Chris | Bergeson | Goblins RUG | |
| Ian | Blank | Black White Aggro | |
| Brendon | Bowersox | ErhnamGeddon UWG | |
| Zach | Bowersox | Pink Weenie | |
| Matthew | Braun | Tax Edge 5C | |
| Dustin | Brossard | RG Aggro | |
| Mark | Brothers | ErhnamGeddon UWG | |
| Josh | Burgoa | RUG Berserk Aggro | 03 Place After Swiss |
| Mike | Butzen | URB Control (fewer creatures) | |
| Grant | Castleton | Spider Geddon GW | |
| Curt | Christian | Power Monolith Combo | |
| James | Cooney | Fungal Enchantress | |
| Eliot | Davidoff | Living Plane Control | 07 Place After Swiss, Most Creative 8th Place |
| Nicholas | Dickerson | Kobolds! | |
| Dominic | Dotterrer | Fallen Angel BWG | |
| Jared | Doucette | Goblins RG | |
| Danny | Dunaway | Disco Eggs | |
| Lorien | Elleman | UWR Prison | |
| Dan | Ersch | Reanimator | |
| Tyler | Etters | ErhnamGeddon RWG | |
| Paul | Fiero | Living Plane Control | Most Creative 7th Place |
| Dave | Firth Bard | Dingus Egg Combo Control | Most Creative 3rd Place |
| Enrique | Flores | Black Blue Aggro | |
| Daniel | Friedman | Mono White Control | |
| Cayce | Grissom | RUG Zoo | |
| Tom | Hagen | ErhnamGeddon UWG | |
| Charlie | Hahn | UWB Aggro Control | |
| Matt | Hahn | URB Troll Disco | 04 Place After Swiss |
| Jon | Hammack | The Deck | |
| Jason | Paul | URB Control (fewer creatures) | |
| Adem | Hotza | Black Blue Aggro | 08 Place After Swiss |
| Kyle | Houtman | UWG Zoo | |
| Jason | Jaco | Naya Bazaar Zoo | |
| Krishna | James | Pink Weenie | |
| Rajah | James | Ring of Ma'Urza Tron | Most Creative 6th Place |
| Brian | Jones | Mono Black Aggro | |
| Greg | Kotscharjan | UW Aggro Control | |
| Sam | Krohlow | Power Monolith Combo | |
| Andrea | Longhi | RG Ramp | |
| Ron | Longhi | Black Green Aggro | |
| Will | Magrann | Atog 5C | 02 Place After Swiss |
| Stephen | Maldonado | Naya Bazaar Zoo | |
| Bryan | Manolakos | 5C Stasis | |
| Christopher | Mason | A full 4th Edition Starter deck | |
| Robert | Matthews | White Weenie | |
| Ray | Mattson | Turbo Fog | |
| Steve | McGrew | UWG Zoo | |
| Andrew | McLennan | URW Control | |
| Adam | Merkado-Weiss | Dreams Combo 5C | |
| Mith | Mith | Power Monolith Combo | |
| Marland | Moore | Workshop Aggro Mono Blue | 05 Place After Swiss |
| Matt | Moss | Atog URW | |
| Shane | Mott | RG Aggro | |
| Frank | Pedota | UWR Zoo | |
| Benjermin | Perry | Mono Black 333 | Most Creative 1st Place |
| Carter | Petray | Transmogrant.dec | Most Creative 4th Place |
| Daniel | Piquard | Black White Aggro | |
| Stephen | Preston | Black Green Nether Aggro | |
| Marcos | Quilantan Luna | Red White Burn | |
| Joe | Reuschel | 4C Aggro Control | |
| Nick | Rohr | Dega Disco | |
| Michael | Russo | RUG Zoo | |
| Matt | S | The Deck | 06 Place After Swiss |
| Brandon | Sanders | Mono Black Rack | |
| Steve | Sasala | UR AC (8+ creatures) | |
| Bill | Schriver | Tax Edge 5C | |
| Shane | Semmens | MirrorBall 5C | |
| Matt | Sharp | White Weenie | |
| Stephanie | Shively | UWR Aggro Control | |
| Erik | Swanson | Tax Edge 5C | |
| Matt | Thompson | 4C Aggro Control | |
| Mike | VanDyke | Workshop Aggro URB | |
| David | Velasco | Mono Green Berserk | |
| Robert | Vincent | Black White Aggro | |
| Ben | Wagnon | RUG Zoo | |
| Derek | Walker | Mono Green Stompy | |
| Cam | Wall | GW Spirit Force | Most Creative 5th Place |
| Aaron | West | Storytime (aka UWR Shahrazad) | 01 Place After Swiss |
| Robert | Westergaard | White Weenie | |
| Jake | Wise | RUG Berserk Aggro | |
| Winston | Wood | Power Mono-Lich | Most Creative 2nd Place |
| Chris | Wynes | UWR Zoo |
Final Standings
Here are the final standings after the 8 SWISS+1 rounds.
OSPB18FinalStandings
ALL Decks, Alphabetically, by Last Name
Bob Agra – BW Prison
Nicholas Batista – UWR Zoo
Chris Bergeson – Goblins RUG
Ian Blank – Black White Aggro
Brendon Bowersox – ErhnamGeddon UWG
Zach Bowersox – Pink Weenie
Matthew Braun – Tax Edge 5C
Dustin Brossard – RG Aggro
Mark Brothers – ErhnamGeddon UWG
Josh Burgoa – RUG Berserk Aggro
Mike Butzen – URB Control (fewer creatures)
Grant Castleton – Spider Geddon GW
Curt Christian – Power Monolith Combo
James Cooney – Fungal Enchantress
Eliot Davidoff – Living Plane Control
Nicholas Dickerson – Kobolds!
Dominic Dotterrer – Fallen Angel BWG
Jared Doucette – Goblins RG
Danny Dunaway – Disco Eggs
Lorien Elleman – UWR Prison
Dan Ersch – Reanimator
Tyler Etters – ErhnamGeddon RWG
Paul Fiero – Living Plane Control
Dave Firth Bard – Dingus Egg Combo Control
Enrique Flores – Black Blue Aggro
Daniel Friedman – Mono White Control
Cayce Grissom – RUG Zoo
Tom Hagen – ErhnamGeddon UWG
Charlie Hahn – UWB Aggro Control
Matt Hahn – URB Troll Disco
Jon Hammack – The Deck
Adem Hotza – Black Blue Aggro
Kyle Houtman – UWG Zoo
Jaco – Naya Bazaar Zoo
Krishna James – Pink Weenie
Rajah James – Ring of Ma’Urza Tron
Brian Jones – Mono Black Aggro
Greg Kotscharjan – UW Aggro Control
Sam Krohlow – Power Monolith Combo
Andrea Longhi – RG Ramp
Ron Longhi – Black Green Aggro
Will Magrann – Atog 5C
Stephen Maldonado – Naya Bazaar Zoo
Bryan Manolakos – 5C Stasis
Christopher Mason – A full 4th Edition Starter deck
Robert Matthews – White Weenie
Ray Mattson – Turbo Fog
Steve McGrew – UWG Zoo
Andrew McLennan – UWR Control
Adam Merkado-Weiss – Dreams Combo 5C
Mith – Power Monolith Combo
Marland Moore – Workshop Aggro Mono Blue
Matt Moss – Atog URW
Shane Mott – RG Aggro
Jason Paul – URB Control (fewer creatures)
Frank Pedota – UWR Zoo
Benjermin Perry – Mono Black 333
Carter Petray – Transmogrant.dec
Daniel Piquard – Black White Aggro
Stephen Preston – Black Green Nether Aggro
Marcos Quilantan Luna – Red White Burn
Joe Reuschel – 4C Aggro Control
Nick Rohr – Dega Disco
Michael Russo – RUG Zoo
Matt S – The Deck
Brandon Sanders – Mono Black Rack
Steve Sasala – UR AC (8+ creatures)
Bill Schriver – Tax Edge 5C
Shane Semmens – MirrorBall 5C
Matt Sharp – White Weenie
Stephanie Shively – UWR Aggro Control
Erik Swanson – Tax Edge 5C
Mike VanDyke – Workshop Aggro URB
David Velasco – Mono Green Berserk
Robert Vincent – Black White Aggro
Ben Wagnon – RUG Zoo
Derek Walker – Mono Green Stompy
Cam Wall – GW Spirit Force
Aaron West – Storytime (aka UWR Shahrazad)
Robert Westergaard – White Weenie
Jake Wise – RUG Berserk Aggro
Winston Wood – Power Mono-Lich
Chris Wynes – UWR Zoo
Tournament Action and Wrapup
The hashtag for social media for the event was #OldSchoolPlayersBall, which you can use to find more on Twitter, Instagram, etc. Thank you to everybody who came out to play, and we hope to see you again soon. As we move forward experimenting with more changes we hope to make each event more unique and fun. For any corrections, comments, or follow up, please email eternalcentral@gmail.com. Below are just some of the sweet action and community pics from the day.
Friday Night Contracts @ DMen Tap (check out report from that event on LordsofthePit.com this week)
Pretournament
Card Signing Begins
Round 3 Action
Mattson vs. Castleton
Friedman vs. Agra
Hahn vs. Cooney
Firth Bard and Moss
Castleton and Mattson
Some Prizes
Prizing
Most Creative prize trophy, handmade by Dan Piquard’s wife!
Most Creative Winner Shaman Ben, with trophy
Tournament Winner Aaron West (playing Storytime aka Shahrazad)
