Hi everyone, 

On 17 January I played in the Edgeman Championship and won. This is the story how that came to be:

Two week prior to Edgeman I had a call with Alex (Rutten), one of my best friends. We really wanted to see each other again. It was going to be his birthday in a couple of weeks, but I could not attend his birthday due to other appointments. But he mentioned that he was attending Edgeman and asked if I could make that tournament. My agenda is normally pretty full, but I was lucky. I had a spot. After some checks I could compete, awesome!

I didn’t really had time to prepare, mostly because I got addicted to tennis and play it way too much. My Old School card pool is pretty limited, so I can build Atog ,Tripple S and the deck nowadays. I actually played Atog in the UTC for the first time as a try-out. Used basically Olle’s deck as I just wanted to try it out. That list turned out to be extremely strong and I just wanted to run it back, only adding the Terror instead of the Braingeyser I had in my sideboard, which did not perform at all. 

I don’t like playing the deck, but I do love playing against it. So that was not really a consideration.

As some of you might know I live in Middelburg, which is normally pretty far from most tournament locations. I added a map for the people from Amsterdam that have a hard time knowing any location outside of the Randstad, the circled place is Middelburg. This makes Edgeman one of the closest tournaments to play in, about an hour of driving. Luckily, my wife needed to go to Arnhem that day, so I got dropped off. 

Round 1: Ruben de Wilde with 4 Color Robot Control

The first match of the day. As I understood later, Ruben won Edgeman 2025. Congrats on that one 😊. 

We both kept our 7 and I saw a great hand! LOA, Dibs, Mox, City of Brass, Bolt, Atog and volcanic. Nice! And I won the die roll? Hell yeah. T1 LOA, go. Not sure what could go wrong. 

Narrator: It would, in fact, go wrong.

Ruben: T1 land, sol ring, City in a Bottle. Ah! Yeah, that could go wrong. I draw a copy artifact and start thinking: what if I play the copy, that would probably destroy his City in a Bottle, but I still need to get rid of mine. Interesting, but if I play atog first then I can get rid of the City in a bottle with the Atog. That seems like a smart play. Let’s go with it. 

Later I learned that as you probably already know the Cities blow each other up and I don’t need to find a way to get of the city under my control. You live and learn. And in reality it didn’t really matter that much as Ruben cruises through the game without a lot of worries and dispatched me without a lot of effort with a couple of Trikes. Let’s try it again in g2.

G2 I have a fast Relic Barrier, but Ruben stays on 1 land for 2 turns. My Atog gets plowed. And the moment he draws out of his light screw not 1, not 2 or 3 BUT 4 fellwar stones appear out of thin air. I get rid of a trike and an Armegeddon from Ruben resolves. Hmm, 4 fellwar stones, that gives me some out of the box lines. What if I just don’t play a land. I have a mox and sol ring as well. I still have that Relic Barrier, so then he has 1 land instead of 5. I just don’t play any lands for 6-7 turns, Ruben also doesn’t draw a lot of lands and I manage to burn him out from there without him being able to cast the expensive spells in his hand. 

G3 we kind of do the same thing. We both play a couple of lands. Ruben lands 2 felwar stones and this time I Armageddon with a couple of moxen in play. And decline to play lands after the Geddon except for my LOA as this doesn’t grand the Stone a mana ability as it is not colored. Ruben did draw quiet a few lands after this and managed to get himself out of the situation, but my LoA got active and started to win the game for me. I could just grind him out from here.  

Got a little lucky there, learned some things, but also had some great games with very interesting decisions. 

2-1; 1-0

Round 2: Thijs with GB Aggro with Djinns

Fun fact: when I was an annoying teenager I already played Magic with Alex. We met when we were around 13 years old and still magic today. But there are more people from Arnhem that were already playing. One of them was Thijs, and he was already collecting beautiful cards back then. It was fun to be paired against him. Like time traveling. From Thijs I know he loves his green cards, so beforehand I thought he would be playing mono green. I was half correct, there was an additional color. 

G1 was an interesting one Thijs came out of the gates blazing and I could answer most things. There was however one issue. My 2 lands were 2 City of Brasses. I was at a very low life total within a heartbeat. And stabilized at one, when I drew a couple of mana sources that would not kill me on the spot. However, my hand was utter garbage: 2 psi blasts and 2 dibs. And I thought this game was over. However, I was not counting on Thijs’ ability to not draw a single relevant card for 7 turns straight giving me ample time to not only get back in the game, but win the game as well.

I board in some Earthquakes, the Terror and we start G2. Which was the complete opposite of G1. My lands are being destroyed by an Ice Storm, my Mox crumbles to dust, some low to the ground creatures join the party and to top it all off Winter is declared via an Orb. With me almost unable to use my mana sources the only thing I can do is wish for a better G3.

G3 is exciting. Thijs and I trade resources, some pixies die by the hand of lightning, one of my factories doesn’t survive a storm and in the end I decide that fate shall decide the match by casting Wheel of Fortune. I see a pretty bad hand with 5 lands incl a LOA. A terror and a bolt. I decide to pass the turn. Thijs decides to blow up two of my lands with Ice Storm and casts a Ernham Djinn, his second. I can terror one. He Terrors my Atog, swings in with Ernie and a Factory. I am at 4 so I need to trade my Bolt + Factory for Ernie. I still have an active. I drop a blocker to not be killed by the Mishra’s Factory. Thijs doesn’t have an answer for the LoA or the blocker and although my first 7 was a bit below average the Library drives home the victory. 

Close match

2-1; 2-0

Round 3: Lorenzo van Galen with The Deck

Although I am not playing tons of Old School Lorenzo and I seem to be paired in every tournament I play in. The last two times he was playing the Deck, so there was a change he was playing it today as well. I was correct, he was playing the deck.

G1 I was on the play and had a quick draw. Tons of burn followed by a draw 7, into more burn. I feel The Deck has a hard time keeping up with Atog G1 due to the speed of the deck.

G2 was a bit different, but this time Lorenzo had 2 cities and that is so rough in this match up. He got rid of my Atogs and he did stick a CoP: Red, but he was already at 2. I had 2 Mishra’s Factories and I kept tapping his Book in upkeep. Then came the moment he resolved a Sol Ring. With us both having two factories I thought this allowed him to only use 1 factory and I could attack for the win, but what I might not have realized is that Sol Ring has an ability that gives you two mana. Given that a factory only costs 1 generic mana to activate Lorenzo could active both factories and blow me out with a forced block. So, that was an early Bad Play of the Year award contender™ for me in 2026. 

Next turn draw Psionic Blast, win the game. 

Better be lucky than good. 

2-0, 3-0

Round 4: Koen Tabak with Bwu Lesser Werewolves

As the rounds continue the Leffe’s really tasted well. And we got to sit down for round 4.

The games start to become a little blurry for me. But I still remember Koen’s deck well.

G1 I had an insane start. T1 resolved a land, a mox, a sol ring and an Atog, next turn Ankh of Mishra and Time walk. Next turn drew a draw 7 and the game was done. 

G2 we had a way more interesting battle. We traded resources: my bolts and blasts for his creatures. After that he got to resolve 2 Bad Moons. I had an Orb and he he resolved a Hippie. My hand was Bolt and Chain so I decided to Orb a Bad Moon in order to Bolt or Chain the hippie. 

I missed the flip.

So I needed to play an embarrassing second removal spell on the Hippie. But the game was not done. Koen drew 2 Will ‘o the Wisp, which were 2/3s and quickly devoured my life total 4 points at a time. No chance.

That was a great game, loved it. Let’s see if we can repeat it (but with a different outcome G3). It was, in fact, a great game, we traded some resources, he landed a CoP Red to which I burned him to 6. After that he went for Ritual Ritual Drain Life for X = 7 on my Atog, I Psionic Blasted my Atog in response to not give him the life. It made him tap out so I can Chain him to 4. And 2 draws later I luckily drew another Psionic Blast to win the game. 

2-1, 4-0

Round 5: Michiel Steegh with UBR Robots

Michiel just won against Alex. I ran into Michiel also at the UTC in both Old School as well as in Premodern. We seem to be battling a lot. 

The match was on stream and you can watch it here:

 G1 Michiel had my number. I threw some burn in his face early and followed it up with a draw 7, but Michiel drew a lot better from the draw 7. Mind Twisted my hand away and closed it down fast with Suchi, Trike and Copy Artifact.

G2 started with a LoA from Michiel’s side. I got a fast Mind Twist for X=4. But couldn’t really put any pressure on. So he could get back to 7 cards and started drawing cards again. Still managed to chip in some damage with factories. A strip-mine was drawn for the LoA and we could play honest magic again. We both didn’t really draw a ton of action. But got Michiel to 8 and when he played a Trike I topdecked an Earthquake for X=8 to finish him off. I was still at 16 myself, so a bolt and the trike only could get me to 2 so no draw.

G3 there was an unfortunate mistake, probably because of the alcohol consumed. Turn 1 I went for a black vise and got bolted by Michiel. I accidentally removed 3 life points from his life total. We had two more moments where life total changed after that and we both didn’t notice the mistake until I take a line where I play a Hurkylls Recall to bounce his board in order to do more damage with the Black Vise. Because I have a bolt in hand and figured I can go almost for lethal here. Super feel bad and I need to pay more attention next time (or drink less beer). We do, however, drink a beer together after the match.

2-1; 5-0 

Round 6: Martijn van der End with UWB Robots

Both Martijn and I now made it to top 16, but we still need to decide who makes it in in first seed. I thought Martijn is just like on UTC playing the deck, but he is more on some sort of robots control hybrid. You can watch back the game on stream here.

Martijn just crushes me swiftly in 2 games.

G1 I start strong with double factory and vise, but Martijn discards my hand. Unfortunately, I never draw a colored source anymore and a Serra Angel makes swift work of my life total. Not a very close game at all.

G2 I start with some burn and factory attacks, but Martijn has a CoP: Red. I wheel in order to see if I can get rid of the Circle. I immediately get Mind Twisted. I got to keep my Ancestral Recall but my Balance is unfortunately gone. I tutor for a mind twist. My hand also has double Geddon and I think Martijn has Counterspell, so I try to force a Counterspell out of his hand. In response he kills my mox and the Geddon resolves. That was not suppose to happen. My Twist does nothing anymore and we are back to square one. A removal on my Chaos Orb and Mox into a Trike makes short work of me while I am struggling on one land. I show him my hand and we have a good laugh about it. Martijn read my soul. GGs.

Afterwards I learn that he was not playing any Counterspells, just one Mana Drain. I mean, I might be able to deduce that. Looking back at the game I am still not sure if I could have known that based on the earlier cards played. No Robots were made until then.

0-2, 5-1

Top 16: Koen with Bwu Lesser Werewolves

REMATCH! Last time I got lucky. Let’s see if Koen can take his revenge for round 4. It was on stream, so you can also watch it here.

G1 was a slow paced game. I got an Atog and Koen a Will ‘o the Wisp, which I can immediately remove. And follow up with a Wheel of Fortune. My 7 is great. Still have to pass the turn. Koen makes a bad moon and another Will’o. I ancestral end of the turn into Mind twist. Koen has his own Recall so gets to keep two cards. But he doesn’t have a lot of follow-up while my hand is stacked. I can Shatter his Factory. Increase my board with a Dibs with 2 factories against his Will ‘o. A Lesser Werewolf joins the party, the outbreak card of the tournament, but I can remove it with two removal spells and within 2 turns the game is done after drawing a Time walk.

G2 I bolt the t1 will ‘o, we trade some more resources. StP for Dibs, Psi Blast face in response to a Mind Twist on me. He does discard a Disenchant and an Armageddon. I draw a Balance immediately but it feels like I don’t really need to play it there. But then Koen plays a lesser werewolf and it feels like a fine trade. I could have waited a little longer, but if I draw a creature there it feels like a bad play. And it is still a 3-1 for one. From here on out I can attack with 2 factories, while Koen has a Maze of Ith, meaning I connect for 3 each turn. We trade some resource here and there, but the Mishra’s get there backed up by a Bolt. 

2-0; 6-1

Top 8: Wouter Slob with Tripple S

It is getting late and to be honest I am not entirely sure anymore what happened in all the games. I do know that this was a match of thrash talking. I love thrash talking. 

I do know that G1 was extremely close. Wouter was at a certain point at 3 and I was at 5 with my Atog staring down his Suchi and 2 factories. Wouter took the more controlling line playing around a removal spell to blow him out, which got tremendously punished by me drawing a Psi Blast. Better be lucky than good.

G2 was quiet a long one as well. Wouter boarded in The Abyss and City in a Bottle, becoming basically a Robot deck. Love the transitional sideboard plan. He did get an Abyss in play. And I got an early Dibs. I could kill the Abyss with my second Chaos Orb flip and keep attacking with a Dibs. The moment the dibs got removed it already did a crazy amount of damage so a couple of burn spells finished him off.  

2-0, 7-1

Top 4: Michiel Steegh with UBR Robots

Another REMATCH!!!!! Michiel just kicked Alex out of top 8 and this match up feels rough. 

I am so sorry, but I can’t remember a single thing from this match. I remember that he casted a Suchi in G1, I had a Copy Artifact followed up by a removal spell for his Suchi. That Suchi did quiet some damage. 

I boarded out the dibs and added the full robot package for the match up. 

Did I win on an Earthquake? Did I go for the Armageddon plan? Who knows? I certainly don’t. I think the match-up is probably a little in favor of Michiel, but my board plan with Relic, Copy, H Recalls is pretty good and my draw 7s are also very good in combination with H Recall. My burn spells have some trouble with his 4/4s

On the draw I usually go: -3 dibs (bc of City), -3 Chain Lightning, 1 Vise, -1 Armageddon. +1 Relic Barrier, +2 H Recall, +1 Copy Artifact, +1 Shatter, +2 Earthquake, +1 Psi Blast

Did you already forget that I was distracting you from the match with giving you a random sideboard plan?

2-1; 8-1

Finals: Plapz (Pedro) with The Deck

Wow Finals time!!!! Insane. I have never won an Old School tournament. Got very close in UTC with Swaffel, but lost against Antti in the finals there. But usually my attempts strand earlier than that. Pedro and I fight who gets to buy the beer for the other, but he insists. So already down on the karma game. G1 and some part of game 2 can be viewed here.

Luckily there was a video

G1 started with me playing an Atog on t1, plapz went for t1 Mox, Sea, Fellwar stone, Ivory. We both had quiet a few drinks already, but going for just the Tower looks a lot scarier. I don’t have a second land, but follow it up with a Relic Barrier. Pedro doesn’t do a lot and I draw my land have a Dibs, which never sees the battlefield as it got countered immediately. A second dibs the next turn gets to stick.  He tries to go back to more than 4 cards in hand. However, I put much pressure on him. EOT Psi Blast, into my turn Chain him, sac 2 artifacts to the Atog for lethal with still 2 bolts in hand. Quick one. 

Board out the dibs and some chains for a more land destruction orientated plan. 

G2 Plapz starts with a t1 LOA, only fair that I start with a LoA as well. T2 Pedro goes for Ivory Tower and I am making an Atog. Pedro accumulated tons of life over the next couple of turns and he is the first one that managed to find a removal spell for the LoA making it feel that I am way behind both on cards and on life. I get a dib and he has a StP for my Atog, meaning a kill condition has been unlocked for Pedro in my own dib. I get an additional Atog. When Pedro has 6 cards in hand I try a Mind Twist, which resolves. He discards a Serra Angel, The Abyss and a Balance. Wow, not sure if I could hit any better. He still has an additional The Abyss. I can tutor for an Ancestral and draw lotus, mox, black vise. Which nullified the Tower across the table. After that the video is over, so back to doing this from memory. I manage to resolve an Armageddon, but because of his 2 stones I do not play the lands in hand. In the next couple of turns we trade resources and I manage to draw a couple of additional moxen. I can balance away his lands again as I still did not play any. At a certain point I can land a creature and remove his abyss. Another Armageddon get rid of 2 more lands. More Vises join the table which start chipping his life total away. At this point I have all 5 moxen in play and opt to go for a twister. He has a Power Sink that I am not paying for. But he cannot make any white mana and my creatures plus a factory get the better part of him. And I am the next Edgeman Champion!!!!!

2-0; 9-1

As you can read I got quiet lucky at a lot of points in games, which you need to win a tournament and watching the games back I see a lot of decisions that might be done a bit better in future tournaments. Nonetheless, extremely happy winning my first Old School tournament.

Big thanks to:

Emiel for organizing this amazing tournament. This was my second time joining and love the location and atmosphere.

Alex for being my best bud. Happy birthday again.

Olle for the amazing deck. 

See you all next year, my wife even allowed the Edgeman to stay in living room.