Ohio Heroes Ornithoptoberfest

Rocs Recap – Ornithoptoberfest Xpt ‘26

The fall leaves have begun to change, it’s getting cooler, and yet again, the ornithopters are flitting about! It must be that time of year again- ORNITHOPTOBERFEST!

I had the pleasure of attending the Ohio Heros Ornithoptoberfest celebration again this year (2026) in quaint Brookfield Ohio. Mages from various Appalachian states all came together at this gorgeous location tucked in the woods to play 93/94 X-pt with a slight twist: Ornithopter had swamp mosquito text! Poison counters resulted in raffle tickets for some awesome side prizes (including some sealed 94/95 packs, Amy Weber alters, and… a Chaos Orb!) Many players chose to indulge the ‘thopter at various levels in their deckbuilding, and most lists at least heavily considered the card.

20 players made for 5 rounds of swiss. Prizes were an outstanding draft of donations that included some massive cards, such as a beta Swords to Plowshares, OG Mana drain, fbb sol ring, and many thoughtful and clever donations, custom cards/alters, and general OS memorabilia. Food was outstanding and the cooler was stocked.

Congrats to Hero Collin for taking the crown – he was due for the W! Jared, Adam and Bert rounded out the top 4 with 4-1 records.

X-pt uses the 93/94 card pool with a point assignment and limit to deckbuilding. It leads to some very adventurous decks, and “points” for cards are subject to change. Rules here for those unfamiliar - it’s a fun format.

Thankfully I had minimal changes to my list with the 2026 update, and I was able to brew in my cozy place in OS: around Berserk and Fallen Angel. (surprise)

A quick recap

This deck was cruising. In a Maze of Ith format, I missed access to multiple strip mines, and had some very long games. I think after 10+ years of OS I’m ok just saying I suck at orb flips. Deep breaths. Relax the shoulder. Slight bounce of the wrist. Control. Ok.

Aside from failing some dex checks, I’d change very little about this list (although Sengir vampire could probably be a better card). Love it tho.

A quick rundown of my experience and some of the meta:

Round 1 2-0 Green stompy

This matchup looked like a mirror right out of the gate. My opponent led with equally decorated green dudes (awesome alters!). Opposing mana screw got me there game one. Game two, thanks to an opposing sylvan library, I got there with the classic ol’ “Fallen angel eats a hippy-elf-factory sandwich + berserk” one shot. Ggs.

Round 2 1-2 Tron (lost orb flip)

My round two opponent was a buddy I last saw in the finals at the FE40 ’25 93/94 event! I lost to orb flips, and I was determined not to have that happen again (Spoiler: it happened again). We deadlocked at 1-1 at time, and despite my opponent’s recent shoulder reconstruction, he prevailed after just a couple rounds of flips. GGs. The tron matchup is always a jousting match on really any variation of this deck. Trike is bad news for me. I miss strip mine again. (Congrats Adam also on winning the raffle orb!).

Round 3 2-0 Mono black

Round 3 was a familiar matchup, unlike seeing my green half in the mirror round 1, I was looking at the black half of my deck. And a lot of ornithopters. I think I took 16 poison counters this match, but prevailed with the reliable late game big angel swing. This was the only match I actually put in ornithopter off my board (after going to 9 poison game 1). I drew exactly 0 of them. GGs.

Round 4 1-2 Reanimator (turns)

This might have been my most interesting matchup of the day. I have to take the same approach to reanimator that I do to Tron because of the creature suite, and with more caution, as Angel becomes a dangerous target in my own graveyard. Again, this makes for some long games with the Xpt rules (not a complaint). All three games were very close, I biffed another orb flip (I think I might have ran a cool 50% in games overall) and my opponent would be a clear winner at turns game 3. GGs!

Round 5 2-0 black poison

It took me this long to feel like luck was really on my side. I think my opponent managed to land all 10 of his points, and I was able to squirrel away with a top-deck fueled win game 1. With a barrier-howling mine package in game 2 I felt behind again, but was able to dodge removal, pay for paralyze (!) and close the door. GGs!

After round 5 we did an epic prize draft that resulted in everyone getting to take home something awesome, and those of us who came from afar were able to get home before it got (too) dark. The best kind of lazy Sunday. Kudos again to the TOs/Ohio Heros! Hopefully see everyone soon! (And Kudos to Jim for an absurdly committed and most successful themed deck)

Cheers! – Hopefully see you at Eternal Weekend!