The Second Season of the NEOS Monthly Online Tournament series has come to a close. It has been another wildly successful season with 95 different players participating in at least one month, and an average over 50 players per month.
This season we had the same high-level competition we have come to expect. We saw many of the familiar established archetypes but also had a few awesome brews that made strong runs every month. This season we have a couple of special prizes. The first is the champion’s trophy, which is a beautifully altered Old Man of the Sea by Lord Sister Beast Dominic Dotterrer:
Next, I have some commemorative stamped Fellwar Stones for the other members of the Top 8:
Just a couple of small tokens that represent the consistent performance and good play of these players and all the people who joined.
I, and many others, have built this community not just out of love for this game but also through trust, communication, and good sportsmanship. We don’t need judges or the DCI. We trust each other to be good upstanding people who admit when they are wrong and call themselves out when they make a mistake. We don’t play for the glory or the prizes. We play for the camaraderie, nostalgia, and the FUN. I have a blast running these events for you all and I hope you all continue to uphold the core values of the community.
With that said, on to the Top 8!
8. Jared Doucette: 28 pts (19-10) August Top 4, December Top 4
Age: 35
Hometown: Boston, MA
Occupation: Police Dispatcher
Favorite Card: Armageddon for Old School. Arcbound Ravager is also my Homeboy.
Favorite Art: Shivan Dragon makes me Happy
Favorite Deck: Zoo style with creatures and burn.
Spike? Johnny? Timmy?: Spike with a slight Johnny. I love to tinker with archetypes and synergies.
Why Old School Magic?: All about the people. Plus the cards are just so Iconic.
Any Fun Magic Story: Never traveled for Magic until I started playing Old School. Now I love every chance I get to explore a new city or a new country with each event.
Anything else you would like to share: Play your matches and meet new friends!
Well, this is awkward. Have to toot my own horn right off the bat. I guess I just tried to play strong decks that did well? I don’t like talking about myself but I am happy to run these every month, and I’m glad the community has responded so well to them.
7. Luke Zinnen: 28 pts (21-8) August Top 8, November Top 8
Age: 30
Hometown: I grew up in Chicago, now live in Boston
Occupation: Grad student
Favorite Card: Moat
Favorite Art: Super hard, let’s go with Wall of Wonder
Favorite Deck: My token enchantment EDH deck
Spike? Johnny? Timmy?: Spike-Johnny
Why Old School Magic?: I’ve long loved old tournament reports and footage, especially Zak Dolan’s report for the 1994 World Championships. This is a chance to try that all out.
Any Fun Magic Story: My favorite judge call was in a Legacy game years and years ago. I was playing Aluren, my opponent storm combo. Our problem? We’d both gone off in someone’s end step, neither winning the game, but after all that forgot whose turn it was.
Anything else you would like to share: I also love mixing cocktails.
Luke is a NEOS Boston local who had a very strong season. Luke is known for taking slightly fresh takes on well established archetypes. Luke loves decks that win by putting together a puzzle.
6. Brett Attmore: 29 pts (21-8) October Top 4, December Top 8
Age: 41
Hometown: Simsbury, CT
Occupation: State Trooper
Favorite Card: Icy Manipulator
Favorite Art: Guardian Beast
Favorite Deck: Atlantic – Candle Beast Control. Eternal Central – The Deck
Type: The space between Spike and Johnny, probably more Spike.
Why Old School? Getting to play with the Power Nine, flipping Chaos Orbs. Certainly the nostalgia and aesthetics. I enjoy not keeping up with the new sets, chase rares, foils and rapidly changing meta-games of the newer formats. I love finding old cards at stores and GP’s it’s like treasure hunting. There really isn’t anything I dislike about our format, it’s pressure-less, whether I’m winning or losing, I’m having fun. Lastly, and most importantly, the people especially my playgroup (Jay, Justin, Jesse, Travis and Doug).
Fun Magic Story: In 1995, I gave away a Beta Black Lotus. In 2011 that same Beta Black Lotus was returned to me. Pretty lucky
Brett “The Machine” Attmore has been a strong NEOS member for a few years now. Our NEOS officer of the law is known for keeping people in line on the streets and on the battlefield. Brett frequently packs up his favorite robots and machines and controls the pace of the game all the way to victory.
5. Bryan Manolakos: 29 pts (22-7) December Finalist
Age: 40
Hometown: West Windsor, NJ (but Syracuse, NY in my heart)
Occupation: House Husband
Favorite Card in OS: Living Plane
Favorite Art: Gwenny (or maybe Norritt?)
Favorite Deck: Living Plane/Falling Star
Type: 85% Johnny, 15% Spike
Why Old School: 50% Nostalgia, 35% Community, 15% the fact that the cards don’t change (much)
Fun Story: I once shattered a Lotus instead of a book to lose an unlosable game on the biggest stage possible.
Anything Else: Thanks so much Jared for running these, they are just perfect. I know it’s a lot of work, and it does not go unnoticed.
Everyone’s old school “Dad” snuck into the top 8 this month with a strong December. Only 1 top 8 but consistency every other month kept him in the hunt until he made his move. You’ll recognize his barotone every week on the All Tings Considered Podcast that dives deep into this Old School Community.
4. Paul DeSilva: 30 pts (21-6) August Top 8, September Top 8, November Top 8
Age: 32
Hometown: Portland, OR
Occupation: Animator
Favorite Card: Birds of Paradise
Favorite Art: Underground Sea
Favorite Deck: Five Color Goodstuff
Spike? Timmy? Johnny?: Timmy all the way
Why Old School: Community of course!
Favorite Magic Story: Sister Danny has a beautiful Derelor altered with a glorious schlong with the name changed to Dickelor. He played it against an opponent at EW this year and his opponent said “what does that do?”, picked it up and looked at it for 10 straight seconds, didn’t make any noticeable indication that he was looking at a monster wang, and just put it down and said “Swords.” We all lost our shit.
Paul is a fantastic ambassador of the format and the community and also is pretty good at slinging the spells! Paul sleeves up his patented 5c goodstuff to top finishes every month. Every match with Paul is a fantastic experience and one that leaves you feeling great, win or lose.
3. Will Magrann: 34 pts (21-6) August Finalist, October Finalist
Age: 27
Hometown: Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Manager of Pricing Administration
Favorite Card: Wheel of Fortune
Favorite Art: Lightning Bolt
Favorite Deck: Something with Atog in it
Spike? Johnny? Timmy?: Spike
Why Old School Magic?: Mano gave me a free hit at EW 2017 and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Any Fun Magic Story: I defeated Joe Wang in a game of Magic by casting Demonic Tutor for Ancestral Recall into Lotus, Bolt, Bolt when tapped out and facing down lethal.
Anything else you would like to share: The Azure Drake would be more powerful were it not so easily distracted.
“Wheel” Magrann has been a force on the Old School for the better part of two years now. Never a stranger to the top tables or the top 8. Known for his love of Atog, he hasn’t been afraid to switch things up and play a little differently with these monthly events. A strong consistent player with deadly soul reads.
2. Michael Scheffenacker: 37 pts (24-4) November Champion, December Top 4
Age: 38
Hometown: Baltimore
Occupation: Real Estate Developer
Favorite Card: Psionic Blast
Favorite Art: Rishadan Port
Favorite Deck: Atog
Personality: Spike
Why Old School Magic: It has actual dynamic gameplay when compared to Vintage or even Legacy. The community is amazing. The venues we play at are also better than your normal magic event. Webcam games are super convenient.
Any Fun Magic Story: In 2017, my first Eternal Weekend old school event, I was on Dibatog, in round 1 I casted Backfire on a Savannah Lion. It was super fun to win with such a scrubby card, I got 7th in that event losing the last round to the eventual winner who made his deck from cards he found in a binder that morning. Old School has evolved a lot since then.
The Chef was the season 1 champion and followed that up with a runner up perfomance this season. Known for his love of Psionic Blast and Atog, Chef burned his way to another great finish.
1. Jon Tschida: 43 Pts (23-5) August Champion, September Champion, November Top 4, December Top 8
Age: 41
Hometown: Woodbury, MN
Occupation: Business & Marketing Teacher
Favorite Card: Serra Angel
Favorite Art: Angry Mob. I love Drew Tucker’s art.
Favorite Deck: White/Blue Control has been my go-to deck since 1994. I’ve played variants of that deck across multiple formats and in countless configurations.
Spike? Johnny? Timmy?: Spike with a little bit of Timmy.
Why Old School Magic: The cards are evocative of a special time in my life. Old School allows me a chance to revisit those memories.
Any Fun Magic Story: In July of 1994 my friends David and Andy asked me if I wanted to play a game with them. We sat down on David’s bedroom floor and he took out a large box with five smaller boxes inside. I was given the “blue deck” because it was the easiest to play. After explaining the rules to me, we started our game. I thought I understood the rules and when my turn came, I laid out an island, tapped it, and summoned a Sea Serpent. I was quickly corrected… and hooked on this game!
Anything else you would like to share: I’d like to give a shout out to my local group in the Twin Cities, the Northern Paladins. I’d also like to thank all the members of the New England Old School community for welcoming this Midwesterner to your on-line tournaments.
Jon stormed onto the scene this season with his trusty UWr Tempo deck. The power of Lion/Dib/Bolt could not be denied. This friendly midwestern took home the gold star in the first two month and then kept the pressure on with two more top 8’s! Well done Jon on a fantastic run this season and we’re all coming for you next season!
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That’s all for this season! We will start season 3 in February after the Winter Derby has concluded. I plan on “spicing” things up a little bit with different tweaks every month. Until then, keep brewing and stewing and have fun. Thank you all for your continued friendship and sportsmanship. Cheers.
The Sentinel 