EDH Tournament for a Commander's Arsenal

On Saturday 11/17/12, I went to an EDH tournament to attempt to get my hands on a Commander's Arsenal.  The tournament was held at J&M Comics in Sykesville, MD.  The cost to enter was $20 and the event attracted the following six players and their decks.

Mike Somerville (Me): Grimgrin, Corpse-Born aggro-control.
Andrew: Oona, Queen of the Fae aggro-control.
Tien: Kemba, Kha Regent voltron-aggro.
Rich: Kaervek the Merciless control.
DJ: Arcum Dagsson combo.
Jeremy: Merieke Ri Berit combo-control.

With only 6 people, we do 3 person pods for two rounds followed by a final pod of any/all winners of the previous two rounds of pods.

Round 1:
Pod 1
-Me
-Tien
-Andrew

(I will get to pod 2 in a moment)  We being rather slowly on turn 3, I Spell Crumple Tiens commander.  Andrew gets a creature into play with Sword of Feast and Famine and starts bringing the beats to me.  I retaliate with Grimgrin and hit him for 6.  I have a good amount of acceleration at this point with a few mana-producing artifacts.  I top deck Army of the Damned and swing to kill him with Grimgrin via sacrificing Zombie Tokens.  Tien hits Grimgrin with Oblivion Ring, but I top-deck Grave Titan and beat him for lethal over the course of two turns.

Pod 2
-DJ
-Jeremy
-Rich

3 control decks, two of which are combo are wiping the board every other turn.  I stood there and literally watched a guy use Nevinyrral's Disk three times.  Rich finally cast Decree of Annihilation stalling the game to a draw (they would not send a winner to the finals)

Round 2:
Pod 1
-Me
-DJ
-Jeremy

So, I get matched up with the two combo decks.  The TO told us that if our match had another draw, or that I won and the other pod drew, that we would have to have another round to get enough people into the finals.  I told both of opponents at the start of the match "The first of you to attack me is going to lose this game, as I will kill you.  If one of you combos out and kills me and the other combo player, THAT IS FINE".  I did NOT want to face two combo decks in the finals.  As odds are I could not deal with both.  DJ decided to be cheeky and hit me with a Blinkmoth nexus.  I then allowed Jeremy to combo-off and hit us both for an infinite-mana exsanguinate.  DJ proceeded to complain endlessly about being picked on.  Bro, you are playing a mono-blue combo deck that bragged about killing us on turn one.  Maybe that is why people balls-out attack you.  Just saying.

Pod 2:
-Rich
-Tien
-Andrew

Andrew's deck is just so much better than the other two.  They eliminate Rich quickly because he plays a lot of board wipers (like Decree of Annihilation).  Andrew is then able to overpower Tien.

FINALS:
-Me (Grimgrin, Tribal Zombies Aggro-Control)
-Jeremy (Merieke Ri Berit combo-control) [IMO, the best deck there]
-Andrew (Oona Aggro-Control)

Before the game we decide to split the Arsenal, rochester-draft style.  First place gets the Loyal Retainers.

The game ambiance is quite light, since we know we are all getting something good. 
Andrew and I begin by fucking whaling on Jeremy  since he is the combo deck.  He conceded at 1 life before my combat phase.  After that I made some errors and lost to a Vendilion Clique with Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of War and Peace equipped.  I do not mind as I don't actually want Loyal Retainers.  (In fact, Andrew had borrowed the TO's deck in exchange to give the TO a card of his choice if he won.  The TO got Loyal Retainers.

1st: Andrew
2nd: Me
3rd: Jeremy

Of the three decks in the finals, there were only 3 colors; Blue, Black, and White (and only Jeremy played White)  this should tell you something about EDH.  Blue is definitely king.

I picked up the following out of the Arsenal:
-Sylvan Library ($50)

-Mirari's Wake ($15)
-Mind's Eye ($8)
-Duplicant ($12)
-Decree of Pain ($12)
-Kaalia of the Vast ($18)

I also got the oversized Grimgrin, Karn, Sliver Queen, and Godo.
I also picked up the Foil sleeves. BALLER.

So, $20 got me $115 dollars in playable cards plus some extras.  Not bad for 3 hours of my time.  Jimmy, Eric, and Nick are still in playing Standard.

Until next time.