Showdown at High Noon | Vintage Tournament Report w/WelderCam

“Let’s run a proxy Vintage Event…”
—Musings among dedicated Magic players in the heart of Dallas, TX.

Why not? We all love Magic: The Gathering (MTG); we have a great community of about 25 dedicated players who attend weekly to play Legacy, and we all adore casting iconic spells such as The One Ring, Force of Will, Swords to Plowshares, among others.

I'm a “dirty combo player” who prefers spells that end the game, like Tendrils of Agony and Show and Tell. But how did we get here? Dedication and showing up every week.

I remember on Aug. 22, 2024, Legacy was in a bad place. Rescaminator haunted metas, and our proud group of about 10 legacy players dwindled. Thursday Night Legacy had only five players.

Grief by Nicholas Gregory

On Aug. 26, 2025, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) banned Grief. That next Thursday, our five became 12. A new life was breathed into the format, and even though we would go through many iterations of “Players like and want to cast their spells,” we kept showing up.

Fast forward to today. We routinely take up 11-plus tables for Eternal Magic. Inspired by our brothers (every close friend in Texas is considered Family) down in Houston with the Buffalo Chicken Dip series and Romancing the Stones in Austin, we decided we wanted more —we wanted a Western-themed showdown—why not? We Texans are proud.

North Texas Eternal Magic: High Noon Vintage Tournament Series

We created a sweet logo, had T-shirts made with sheriff and deputy badges for our volunteer staff, and, because Texas, we smoked some pulled pork, and had peach AND cherry cobblers for the event.

We knew we were onto something when someone came up with the start time of High Noon, and thus, the North Texas Eternal Magic: High Noon Vintage tournament series was born.

With an incredibly affordable $10 cash entry with full payout to the Top 8, and some foil-stamped promo cards for each player, the Top 8, and the champion, we were ready to duel. We even set up a recording for feature matches, which will be uploaded to our YouTube channel at a later date.

Twenty-Six players saddled up their horses and made their way to a small store in Farmers Branch, TX, named Milton’s Collectibles. Milton rented a play space next door to his TCG business, which was perfect for us to sling cardboard.

Players moseyed on down from Oklahoma City (194 miles), Waco (109 miles), and even Austin (210 Miles) to cast some even more iconic spells.

Black Lotus by Christopher Rush

Pause between each for Dramatic Effect

Black Lotus, The Moxen, Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, Sewer-veillance Cam..?

Yep, I decided to play TMNT slop. Also fueled by getting insane luck in getting the first-ever signed Sewer-veillance Cams.

Welder Cam

Creatures (13)

4 Goblin Welder
4 Goblin Engineer
4 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
1 Chaos Defiler

Sorceries (9)

3 Stock Up
2 Lórien Revealed
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker

Instants (7)

4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mental Misstep
1 Intuition

Artifacts (19)

3 Sewer-veillance Cam
2 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Black Lotus
1 Bolas's Citadel
1 Legion Extruder
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Vexing Bauble
1 Manifold Key
1 Time Vault

Lands (12)

4 Scalding Tarn
3 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Underground Sea
1 Urza's Saga
1 Volcanic Island

Sideboard

2 Abrade
2 Consign to Memory
1 Echoing Truth
1 Flusterstorm
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Null Rod
1 Pithing Needle
1 Portal to Phyrexia
2 Pyroblast
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Tormod's Crypt

Opens TCGPlayer Mass Entry with the full decklist pre-loaded — select Magic: The Gathering as the Product Line, then click Add to Cart

I did not create this list. All credit to Justin Gennari, also known as IamActuallyLvL1 on Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO).

Lately, I have been a “pig who eats slop” and haven't played a single game of Vintage. I watched Justin’s 5-0 league on MTGO, and I was SOLD.

I've been enjoying WelderCam Combo in Legacy. While there’s still debate about whether it’s competitive or how to build the list, one thing is for sure: it’s crazy fun. The lines to win games feel like your mind is unlocking new power.

Touch of Brilliance by Kaja Foglio

With Vintage powered cards, it feels like when Chancellor Palpatine zaps Mace Windu with 1,000,000 gigawatts of electricity in Revenge of the Sith (UNLIMITED POWER).

What's the Combo?

If you’re unaware of how the combo works, Goblin Welder activates to weld Sewer-weillance Cam for an artifact card in your graveyard. Sewer-veillance Cam untaps Goblin Welder when it leaves the battlefield, allowing you to activate Goblin Welder again.

You can create infinite mana by swapping the Sewer-veillance Cam with any Moxen, Sol Ring, or any mana rock, tapping for mana, and then swapping back to the Sewer-veillance Cam.
You can draw your entire deck with Arcum’s Astrolabe.
Legion Extruder is the combo kill, as it creates infinite counts of two damage to any target.

This combo is quite resilient. Drawing your deck and infinite damage gets around opposing Null Rods and sphere effects. The Vintage version sees an upgrade in Bolas's Citadel, which is tutorable via Goblin Engineer, then weld it into play or cast it with Emry, Lurker of the Loch.

Sewer-veillance Cam by Nicholas Gregory

Black Lotus is super powerful, and I found that in most of my games, I tutored it out with Urza’s Saga. Tutoring, sacrificing, and recasting Black Lotus with Emry, Lurker of the Loch, is an easy way to power huge spells like Portal to Phyrexia, Lorien Revealed, or Bolas's Citadel.

I had a turn where I used Emry, Lurker of the Loch, multiple times to recast Black Lotus make , sacrificing my Sewer-veillance Cam to draw two, untapping Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and recasting Black Lotus, cast Sewer-veillance Cam, and repeat.

Despite some pretty good plays during the event, however, I, as a self-proclaimed juggernaut of mediocrity, decided to fail myself in deckbuilding by making a few changes to the list.

Brainstorm by DiTerlizzi

In Justin’s original video, he mentioned wanting Brainstorm or Gitaxian Probe, and that maybe the correct number of Sewer-veillance Cams was less than four. I cut one Sewer-veillance Cam and one Stock Up, for a Gitaxian Probe (which won me a game) and an Intuition, which is super fun in Legacy when you tutor three Sewer-veillance Cams, but it felt so clunky in Vintage.

Missing that fourth Sewer-veillance Cam absolutely lost me one, possibly two games. If I play the list again, I would absolutely play the fourth Sewer-veillance Cam and find a different cut.

Anyway, you’re probably ready to sit around a campfire and hear some tales, so let’s get to the tournament.

Golos, Tireless Pilgrim by Joseph Meehan

Round One vs Golos Shops | LWW

Game One

Opponent opened with a typical aggro-Shops hand featuring Patchwork Automaton and two Stonecoil Serpents. I landed an early Emry, Lurker of the Loch to hold off one Stonecoil Serpent, but a Sphere of Resistance slowed me down, and shops finished me off.

Game Two

Opponent opened on Black Lotus into Null Rod. I landed Goblin Welder and built up free mana that I couldn’t tap while they lacked pressure.

End step, I welded away Null Rod for their Black Lotus, untapped, used my mana rocks, welded Null Rod back in for a Sphere of Resistance to reduce costs, then cast Chaos Defiler to kill Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, and win.

Game Three

Opponent had a turn one Sphere of Resistance into turn two Wurmcoil Engine, but I answered with turn two Tinker for Sphinx of the Steel Wind and closed it out.

Opposition Agent by Scott Murphy

Round Two vs Rakdos Opposition Agent Combo | WW

Game One

I made two constructs with a turn one Urza's Saga. My opponent cast Opposition Agent in response to my Urza Saga's search, then untapped and locked out my draws with Mornsong Aria.

Fortunately, my constructs were already 5/5s, and Legion Extruder let me swap them for 3/3s in response to the Rakdos Charms my opponent kept searching, so they still went the distance.

Game Two

I Mental Misstepped their turn one Dark Ritual, then played Goblin Welder, Black Lotus, Legion Extruder, and Sol Ring. They cast a turn two Opposition Agent, but I untapped, swapped Legion Extruder for Black Lotus, cast Sewer-veillance Cam, and combo’d off.

Dark Ritual by Sandra Everingham

Round Three vs Matt Batista (Top 8 EW 2025) on Mono Scam | LWL

Game One

After Mental Misstepping Matt’s turn one Dark Ritual, I built a board with Arcum's Astrolabe, mana rocks, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and Goblin Engineer. Matt cast Sedgemoor Witch.

I had a big combo turn with Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Black Lotus, and Sewer-veillance Cam's second ability to draw two cards. That eventually led me to cast Bolas's Citadel, where I continued to combo. Down the fourth Sewer-Veillance Cam, however, left me short of the kill, and I fizzled with 10 cards left in my library.

There were two times in this game where I was one mana short of casting Time Vault off of Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Goblin Engineering a Manifold Key to the graveyard, and winning the game.

Game Two

I started with mana rocks into Goblin Welder and Emry, Lurker of the Loch, which milled Time Vault. Matt opened on Barrowgoyf and Fatal Push for Goblin Welder.

I assembled Vault-Key combo with a top deck Goblin Engineer, but felt dead to my Mana Crypt and an onboard Mai, Scornful Striker from Matt; I had no onboard pressure. I proceeded to win five straight Mana Crypt flips, finally topdecking a Chaos Defiler to deal with Mai, Scornful Striker, and then Tinkered my Mana Crypt.

Game Three

Matt opened with Thoughtseize into Mai, Scornful Striker, and cleared my constructs with Fatal Pushes. Between Mai, Scornful Striker, and Bolas's Citadel, every spell cost a ton of life; I couldn’t get there. Mai, Scornful Striker, dealt all 20 damage to me and 14 to Matt.

Paradoxical Outcome by Nils Hamm

Round Four vs Grixis PO Lurrus | WLW

Game One

My opponent and I started slowly. They found multiple Paradoxical Outcomes (draw two; draw five, respectively) but seemed to only draw mana. I Tinkered for Bolas's Citadel that went Into the Flood Maw. I resolved it again, a few turns later, with a Black Lotus and found the Time Vault combo.

Game Two

My opponent quickly assembled Hexing Squelcher plus Time Vault, and I was stuck with two Force of Wills and two Pyroblasts stranded in my hand.

Game Three

Opponent and I traded resources back and forth, including me forcing a turn-one, kicked Thundertrap Trainer. I Force of Willed Karn, The Great Creator, and eventually hit Tinker into Sphinx of the Steel Wind.

Clarion Conqueror by Nathaniel Himawan

Round Five vs Mono Initiative | LL

Game One

Opponent led with Cavern of Souls, naming human into Chrome Mox, which I Force of Willed. They cast Mana Crypt into Void Mirror. I untapped and cast Goblin Welder, and passed.

Opponent played Karakas and cast Clarion Conqueror. The following turn, they cast Anointed Peacekeeper. I died pretty quickly after.

Game Two

I kept a hand of Volcanic Island, Goblin Welder, Sensei's Divining Top, Sewer-veillance Cam, Abrade, and Mental Misstep. My opponent revealed a Chancellor of the Annex.

I played Volcanic Island (doh!), planning to hold up pay life plus mana for Mental Misstep. Opponent Wastelanded my Volcanic Island.

I played Island, cast Sensei's Divining Top, which was countered by Chancellor of the Annex, and passed. Opponent played Cavern of Souls, naming dragon, cast Black Lotus into Clarion Conqueror. I cry. I never recover or draw another land as OP has tombs to power out more three- and four-drop creatures.

Mai, Scornful Striker by Hori Airi

Top 8 vs Mono Scam | LWL

I was pretty satisfied with a 3-2, especially because one of my losses was a really close match against Matt, and it was my first foray into Vintage. The pulled pork hit the spot, and someone brought some peach habanero jam for it.

Top 8 was announced, and I was surprised to see that breakers went my way and I made it in, but I would have to rematch with Matt, who was the two seed.

Game One

I Mental Misstepped Matt’s turn one Dark Ritual, then developed with Arcum's Astrolabe, Mana Crypt, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and Goblin Engineer for Black Lotus.

Matt built pressure with Barrowgoyf, Grief, and Sedgemoor Witch over a few turns. I wound up at four life. I used Goblin Engineer to weld back Black Lotus and cast Chaos Defiler to kill Barrowgoyf, but Chain of Smog made infinite tokens with Sedgemoor Witch, and I conceded.

Game Two

I opened on Urza's Saga, two Moxen into Emry, Lurker of the Loch, milling Chaos Defiler. Matt cast Dark Ritual into Thoughtseize, which I Force of Willed. He Reanimated my Chaos Defiler to kill Emry, Lurker of the Loch. I ate damage a few turns.

My Urza's Saga found Black Lotus, and with a Sol Ring and more land drops, I hardcast Portal to Phyrexia, but Chaos Defiler’s death trigger destroyed it. I then topdecked Gitaxan Probe into Tinker for Sphinx of the Steel Wind, which carried the game.

Game Three

Matt opened on Black Lotus, Vexing Bauble, and Barrowgoyf. I opened with Sol Ring into Sensei's Divining Top. His Thoughtseize took my Stock Up.

My turn two Emry, Lurker of the Loch died to Fatal Push. I cast Time Walk into Goblin Engineer for Black Lotus, but wasn't left with much else. I answered a Vexing Bauble with Abrade. I was one mana short of casting the Bolas's Citadel in my hand.

After he attacked with a Barrowgoyf and whiffed, I cast Goblin Welder. Matt cast Sheoldred, The Apocalypse, and Demonic Tutor to Fatal Push my blocker, and finish me off.

Fresh Meat by Dave Allsop

That's Some Good Gaming

At the end of the day. I played Magic for seven hours on my $10 entry, scored two promo cards, a few bucks, an unhealthy amount of BBQ and Desserts, but most importantly, the reaffirmation of the amazing community we have for Eternal Magic in the North Texas area. Oh yeah, and my new unceasing desire to play more Vintage now.

For information about North Texas Eternal Magic, check out our website!

NTXMTG.com