Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Article=15876
Here is the question I posed to my teammates: What are the top 10 best
unrestricted spells in Vintage?
Taking a page from the Patrick Chapin playbook of top 10 lists (i.e. highly
subjective and based on experience), here’s what I came up with:
1) Brainstorm
2) Force of Will
3) Merchant Scroll
4) Thoughtseize
5) Duress
6) Gush
7) Leyline of the Void
8) Dark Ritual
9) Ponder
10) Tormod’s Crypt
Before explaining this list, let me say a few words about lists like this. My list
is a mixture of factors, including usage, power, and importance. Lists like
this are not and cannot claim to be "objective" in any scientific sense. Even
if you could find some criterion for measuring which cards are best, there is
no objective way to select among those criteria or to weigh them against
each other. That doesn’t mean that these lists are meaningless. Just
because they can’t be scientifically grounded doesn’t mean they don’t tell
us something valuable. If most people find substantial agreement on these
lists even if they can’t exactly explain their view, then that would suggest
that the shared and common Vintage experience is telling us something
similar that is worth talking about.
I also don’t want to get into too much detail about how I put this list
1 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
together. One of the reasons for that is that is that a lot of the know-how
and experience that went into it is probably impossible to articulate or
hopelessly obvious, so much so that an attempt to comprehensively explain
the order of my list would be a waste of time or maybe even something that
would take a great deal of time and thought to properly unpack. It’s sort of
like gravity. You can see and feel the effects of gravity. Apples fall, skin
sags, and we aren’t floating into outer space. But explaining gravity is a
much more complicated thing. Some physicists might talk about graviton
particles or some other theory. I happen to have a simpler theory for
explaining gravity (basically, I suspect that our universe is rotating at a
higher dimension, and the translation of that movement is that things on the
surface of the hypersphere are squished together).
The incredible speeding up of the format since 2004, aided in part by the
acceleration of the Mana Drain archetype and the printing of Fetchlands
which made multi-color manabases far more consistent, has made
Brainstorm a huge bomb and strategic lubricant. Turn 1 Brainstorm can very
often just lead a turn 2 win, or the setting up of a game plan that can be
consistently executed. There are so many plays for which this is true, past
and present. Turn 1 Brainstorm into turn 2 Dark Ritual, Grim Tutor, etc.
Alternatively, turn 1 Brainstorm into turn 2 Merchant Scroll or, god forbid,
land, Mox, Mox, Gifts Ungiven, is another way that a game might play out.
With decks like Flash and Oath about, Brainstorm is simply indispensable
for consistency in an already hyperactive format.
Because of the way that Vintage decks are now constructed, Brainstorm is
just as often Ancestral Recall, allowing decks to return completely unusable
cards in to their library, cards like as Reveillark, Virulent Sliver, Tidespout
Tyrant, or even a Tendrils of Agony, which won’t be needed until the very
end of the game. More than that, the omnipresence of Duress and
Thoughtseize means that Brainstorm’s importance for hiding cards is now
hugely important as well. In the finals of the Vintage Championship last
year, I played turn 1 Brainstorm instead of Duress in order to hide my
Ancestral Recall on top of my library. Predictably, Rich Shay Duressed me.
2 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
The only other card in my top 10 list that I’ll talk about is Tormod’s Crypt.
Putting the first nine cards in there was relatively simple, although my
teammates included a raft of strategic cards like Flash and Oath, and one
teammate even included Bridge From Below, I deliberated over my tenth
spot.
Let me explain a few cards that did not make my list. Here are some of the
big losers in the last year and a half:
* Chalice of the Void - This card used to be very good, especially two years
ago. This card lost a lot with both the decline of Chalice in Stax, and the
restriction of both Gifts and destruction of Long. Ponder replacing Moxen
makes this card even worse. It used to probably be a top 10 spell, at least
two years ago. It might not even crack the top 20 anymore.
* Mana Drain - This card was already on decline when Gifts was restricted
from its decade plus dominance, but Drain is almost entirely absent from
current metagame, at least compared to its previous roles as a central
metagame player. In any case, I would rank Misdirection over Mana Drain
both in the current metagame and in previous metagames.
* Tormod’s Crypt - I know it’s in my top 10 still, but it probably would have
been higher if this was still the Long/Gifts metagame and especially before
3 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
* Goblin Welder - Not even necessarily the best creature in the format
anymore. Decline of Stax and Control Slaver since 2004/5 have led to big
decline in this card. It’s still amazing, just not in top 10 cards anymore. The
top creature is probably Dark Confidant now anyway, even though I’ll likely
never play him in Vintage.
With this list in mind, I wanted to evaluate my deck choices to see how well
they were utilizing what I determined to be the best cards in the format.
Maindeck: Sideboard:
Sorceries
2 Engineered Explosives
Artifacts 1 Demonic Tutor
4 Dark Confidant
2 Doomsday
1 Black Lotus 4 Duress
4 Leyline Of The Void
1 Lotus Petal 2 Extirpate
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mox Jet 3 Ponder
1 Thoughtseize
1 Tendrils Of Agony
1 Mox Sapphire 1 Thoughtseize
1 Swamp
1 Time Walk
Stats:
Enchantments 1 Yawgmoth's Will
Average mana: 1.57
1 Fastbond Basic Lands
Average creature mana
1 Necropotence cost: 0.00
3 Island
Average creature power:
0.00
Lands
Instants 2 Flooded Strand
Average creature
toughness: 0.00
1 Ancestral Recall 4 Polluted Delta
4 Brainstorm 1 Tropical Island
Deck Composition:
4 Underground Sea
1 Chain Of Vapor Artifacts: 7.14%
Basic Lands: 5.36%
4 Dark Ritual Enchantments: 3.57%
4 Force Of Will Instants: 39.29%
4 Gush Lands: 19.64%
Sorceries: 25.00%
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Research /
Development
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
You might expect me to say that it’s too fragile. That is not the reason why I
won’t play it, nor do I think that that is necessarily true. If anything, that is a
subsidiary part of a larger problem.
Simply put, the fundamental problem with Doomsday is that you will very
often have a decision to make where it is too unclear what to do. Let me
break that down further. The vast majority of decisions in Vintage, while not
necessarily simple or even rudimentary, can be pretty much and safely
determined after some practice and testing. Although proper
decision-making can be defeated by luck on the other side, a little bit of
experience and some thought goes a long way to helping you choose one
decision over another.
5 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
Sometimes, however, there are basically 50-50 choices in Vintage, but most
often those choices don’t matter. For example, one of the key questions
that Vintage players often face is whether to play Brainstorm or Duress on
turn 1. I don’t think there is necessarily a "right" answer to that question a lot
of the time. My instinct, especially if I am on the play, however, is to play
Duress. On the draw, it’s a much more difficult choice. You could imagine
even closer decisions.
Playing with Doomsday, however, will constantly put you in the position of
having to make those sorts of decisions. Since Doomsday is disrupted by
so many cards, from Leyline, to Stifle, to Force of Will, to Chalice of the
Void, to Extirpate, and so on and so on, there will be real risks every time
that you cast Doomsday. Granted, you have plenty of cards to help protect
your combo, and Gush makes it much more likely that you will just be able
to win on the spot. Nonetheless, you will often be facing a decision where,
given the imperfect information in the game, you will have to decide based
on your intuition what to do.
Doomsday today should be even more difficult to play, despite having more
Gush. First of all, there are cards in the format now that didn’t exist then
that disrupt you, such as Extirpate (in which shuffling the library alone can
be game-ending). But more importantly, Vintage decks are now better than
ever at topdecking. It’s not even just Ponder and the popularity of Merchant
Scroll, it’s also cards like Sensei’s Divining Top and even printings such as
Thorn of Amethyst which make it much more likely that your opponent will
topdeck something harmful.
GroAtog 2K8
Suggested by Stephen Menendian on 2008-05-18 as a
6 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
Maindeck: Sideboard:
Instants
2 Yixlid Jailer
Artifacts 1 Ancestral Recall
4 Leyline Of The Void
1 Berserk
1 Black Lotus 4 Brainstorm
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mox Emerald 2 Naturalize
1 Echoing Truth
2 Rebuild
1 Mox Jet 4 Force Of Will
3 Island
4 Gush
1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mystical Tutor
Stats:
1 Vampiric Tutor
Average mana: 1.45
Creatures Average creature mana
Sorceries
1 Psychatog 1 Demonic Tutor
cost: 2.20
4 Quirion Dryad Average creature power:
4 Duress
1.00
4 Merchant Scroll
Average creature
4 Ponder
Enchantments 4 Thoughtseize
toughness: 1.20
1 Fastbond 1 Time Walk
Deck Composition:
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Artifacts: 7.14%
Basic Lands Basic Lands: 3.57%
2 Island Creatures: 8.93%
Enchantments: 1.79%
Lands Instants: 30.36%
Lands: 21.43%
3 Flooded Strand
Sorceries: 26.79%
3 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
7 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
1. Force of Will 40
2. Brainstorm 36
3. Merchant Scroll 32
4. Thoughtseize 28
5. Duress 24
6. Gush 20
7. Leyline of the Void 16
8. Dark Ritual 0
9. Ponder 8
10. Tormod's Crypt 0
Dday:
1. Force of Will 40
2. Brainstorm 36
3. Merchant Scroll 32
4. Thoughtseize 14
5. Duress 24
6. Gush 20
7. Leyline of the Void 16
8. Dark Ritual 12
9. Ponder 6
10. Tormod's Crypt 0
Granted, these metrics don’t count for much – they are just interesting
exercises which I did mostly for fun.
Now let me explain the basic premises behind my revised GAT list.
First of all, the number one threat to GAT is Workshop based decks.
Duress and Thoughtseize are only marginally effective against these decks.
Your best bet, most of the time, is to try and win on turn 1 or 2, which isn’t a
very likely scenario.
Instead, I’ve just decided that I want to position myself in the metagame to
beat everything else and sideboard the hell out of the Workshop match. To
do that, I decided to run 3 basic Islands and 4 bounce spells, including
Rebuilds and Hurkyl’s Recall. Last week I talked about how Ponder
changed the Storm function of decks like this. I believe that far more than 6
8 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
First of all, even if my opponent has hidden an Oath on top of their deck
with Brainstorm, my Duress or Thougthseize should be able to clear out
additional resistance, so that even if they are able to resolve Oath, I should
just as likely be able to Scroll up an Echoing Truth or cast a post-board
Naturalize on their Oath. That’s really the most important answer to the
question: Duress and Thoughtseize don’t stop people from hiding spells on
top of their deck. While that is true, they do help you combat the spells that
they’ve hidden, by taking their Duresses, their Forces, etc, so that your
Forces and removal can function without resistance.
This leads me to my third point. I’ve cut Red from the deck entirely. There
are a number of reasons for this. The most important reason is that there is
nothing I want to sideboard out for the Red options offered. I could see
maybe sideboarding out a Tog or a Berserk, but that’s really inefficient.
Also, my sideboard is already packed to the brim and additional Red Blasts
don’t make much sense. They have pretty high opportunity costs here. That
means that my manabase is even lighter, with only 18 mana sources.
Although I like the fourth Mox for my ability to quickly Scroll or Time Walk or
Demonic Tutor, it’s not totally necessary. Without Red Elemental Blast,
there is a greatly diminished need for Red in the sideboard. The three other
major areas that Red is used for are: 1) Empty the Warrens, 2) Pryoclasm,
and 3) Artifact destruction. The third reason is really not important here
since my game plan against Shops has nothing to do with attrition. I bring in
a ton of mana and just bounce their stuff. The second reason is still
compelling, but I lack the sideboard space to use it. The first reason
remains the most compelling, but that (ETW) was a card that I felt was most
effective in the GAT mirror. Since the GAT mirror is basically non-existent at
the moment, I don’t think this one matters all that much. Even if I were to
cut the Tog for ETW, I wouldn’t know what to cut for the Mox Ruby.
9 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
The rest of my sideboard is used essentially for the Flash matchup and the
Ichorid matchup. I am running Leylines for both, and Jailers for Ichorid.
I may make a few small tweaks to the mana base and sideboard before
SCG, but I plan on taking this into battle.
The way I see it, this deck could be perfectly poised for this metagame. First
of all, Oath is clearly the key metagame threat. While that matchup won’t be
spectacular, I have as many tools as a deck can reasonably run, and I don’t
it at a very low cost. Duress and Thoughtseize are naturally amazing in this
deck. In testing, it’s amazing to discover that I would probably run 10-12
Duress effects if I could. Unless they get the nuts, I should have plenty of
advantages. First of all, I have less dead cards. Second of all, I have more
spells and less mana, which gives me another natural advantage. I see
myself winning this matchup.
The other key metagame threat will be Flash. There is no better tool against
Flash than discard effects. While this matchup won’t be a walk in the park
either, I should have little trouble dispatching my Flash opponents in a full
match, particularly with Leylines post-board.
I think this GroAtog list packs so much power, that basically no Storm deck
should really be much of a competitor here.
Workshop are at their lowest ebb with Oath and Flash quite prevalent. My
suspicion is that most keen metagame competitors will be targeting Oath
decks. GroAtog should actually give me a little bit of a metagame surprise.
People ready with hate for Oath will find my deck quite unforgiving.
As for Doomsday, I think a lot of what I said about Oath applies here, but
more so. I have less mana and more interactive spells. I don’t see
Doomsday winning this match. However, I could pack a few Extirpates into
my sideboard, just in case.
Finally, the Painter’s Servant deck that won in Wisconsin last week is not a
deck I’m particularly concerned with. Thoughtseize can break up the
Servant combo by taking Painters Servant, and my full complement of
Duress effects will mitigate the damage done by 8 Red Blast maindecks.
If my plan doesn’t work out as I expected, I will probably audible into Oath
for Day 2, or play something else that strikes me as potentially a good
choice, such as whatever wins the tournament on day one.
10 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM
So Many Insane Plays – The Best Unrestricted Spells in Vintage, ... http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15876
In any case, I’ll tell you all about it next week. Until then!
Stephen Menendian
11 of 11 5/19/2008 12:19 AM