This past weekend featured the first public Old School 93-94 event held in St. Louis’ local community, hosted by the Diamond Valley Deals duo of Ben Triola and Andrew Hrdlicka. 26 players from across the country braved the elements to show up in America’s heartland, and were rewarded with an amazing day of gaming. The event was held at a cool venue called Pieces, which featured a great food and drink menu, excellent service, and ample space for gaming.
Every participant was awarded group signed cards, as well as a sweet playmat featuring a recently commissioned reimagining of Diamond Valley by Brian Snoddy, in honor of the hosts of the event. Old School is cooking in Missouri, and the spice levels are high.
There were a number of cool decks in attendance in this event, which players nominated throughout the day for Most Creative Deck. The winner was chosen at random from the nominees, and it ended up being Bryce Wickline’s Jund (BRG) Ponza deck, featuring Ankh of Mishra and efficient creatures, backed up by all of the sweet sweet land destruction sorceries. Not to be outdone, John Knerr also piloted his own version of Jund Ponza, featuring more Ankh of Mishras, Black Vises, and zero creatures! Other notable highlights seen throughout the day were Josh Burgoa’s Rukh Disco, Kevin Patterson’s Reanimator, Alan Finney’s 4C Xira Arien, Chris Wynes’ 4C Fallen Angels, Max Boyd’s Cyclopean Nether Void, Ryan Sala’s 5C Mirror Ball Beast Combo Control, Ben Triola’s Arabian Tribal, and Andrew Hrdlicka’s Restricted Singleton Goodstuff deck.
Amid all of the awesome door prizes and giveaways throughout the day by the community, one of the highlights of the day was a Chaos Orb flipping contest that raised additional funds for charity. Ryan Gresco bested Josh Burgoa in the finals of the flipping contest, at around 30 inches.
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 | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy | Aaronson | UW Aggro Control | |
| James | Bishop | UR Aggro Control | |
| Jeff | Blyden | Workshop Aggro UWB | 01 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Max | Boyd | Cyclopean Nether Void | |
| Josh | Burgoa | Rukh Disco | 02 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Curt | Christian | UG Skies Berserk | |
| Ryan | Crouch | BUG | |
| Jake | Dowell | Mono Black | |
| Alan | Finney | 4C Xira Aggro Control | 06 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Ryan | Gresco | RUG Zoo | 03 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Cayce | Grissom | RUG Zoo | |
| Andrew | Hrdlicka | Restricted Singleton Goodstuff | |
| Jason | Jaco | Naya Bazaar Zoo | 08 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| John | Knerr | Jund Ankh Ponza | |
| Stephen | Maldonado | 5C Fatties | |
| Joey | Paniello | Goblins Mono Red | |
| Kevin | Patterson | Reanimator 5C | 05 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Jeremy | Pratt | Tax Edge Combo WRG (Unpowered) | |
| Andrew | Purciful | DECKLIST MISSING | |
| Ryan | Sala | 5C Mirror Ball Beast Combo Control | |
| Adam | Shaw | Mono Black | |
| Jeramy | Snyder | Erhnam Geddon UWG (Unpowered) | 07 Place After Swiss Rounds |
| Michael | Thorington | Mono Black | |
| Ben | Triola | Arabian Tribal | |
| Bryce | Wickline | Jund Ankh Ponza | Most Creative 1st Place |
| Chris | Wynes | 4C Fallen Angel | 04 Place After Swiss Rounds |
All Decklists, Alphabetically, by Last Name
Jeremy Aaronson – DECKLIST MISSING
James Bishop – UR Aggro Control
Jeff Blyden – Workshop Aggro UWB (01 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Max Boyd – Cyclopean Nether Void
Josh Burgoa – Rukh Disco (02 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Curt Christian – UG Skies Berserk
Ryan Crouch – BUG
Jake Dowell – Mono Black
Alan Finney – 4C Xira Aggro Control (06 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Ryan Gresco – RUG Zoo (03 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Cayce Grissom – RUG Zoo
Andrew Hrdlicka – Restricted Singleton Goodstuff
Jaco – Naya Bazaar Zoo (08 Place After Swiss Rounds)
John Knerr – Jund Ankh Ponza
Stephen Maldonado – 5C Fatties
Joey Paniello – Goblins Mono Red
Kevin Patterson – Reanimator 5C (05 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Jeremy Pratt – Tax Edge Combo WRG (Unpowered)
Andrew Purciful – DECKLIST MISSING
Ryan Sala – 5C Mirror Ball Beast Combo Control
Adam Shaw – Mono Black
Jeramy Snyder – Erhnam Geddon UWG (Unpowered) (07 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Michael Thorington – Mono Black
Ben Triola – Arabian Tribal
Bryce Wickline – Jund Ankh Ponza (Most Creative 1st Place)
Chris Wynes – 4C Fallen Angel (04 Place After Swiss Rounds)
Tournament Action and Wrapup
Pretournament Action
Card signing, of course
Burgoa (Rukh Disco) vs. Gresco (RUG Zoo)
No draws allowed. Chaos Orb flipoff in overtime FTW!
The newly errata’d Falling Star in action
Wynes (4C Fallen Angel) vs. Grissom (RUG)
Bishop (UR Aggro Control) vs. Hrdlicka (Restricted Singleton Goodstuff)
Finney (4C Xira Aggro Control) vs. Wickline (Jund Ankh Ponza)
Jaco (Naya Bazaar Zoo) vs. Burgoa (Rukh Disco)
Chaos Orb Flipping Contest
Chaos Orb Flipping Finalists (Burgoa and Gresco)
The highly coveted 1st Place prize
Your 2019 Rukh Cup Champion Jeff Blyden!
Thank you to everybody who came out to play, and we hope to see you again soon. It was great seeing so many different communities represented down in St. Louis, and we look forward to more events there in the future. For any corrections, comments, follow up, or to send us any action shots to add to this report, please email eternalcentral@gmail.com.