Last year I published an article called “The State of Vintage.” In it, I gave my opinion of where Vintage stood at the time based on my own playtesting, talking with my teammates, and talking to my friends. With Eternal Weekend coming up in both North American and Europe, now seemed like a perfect time to write an updated version of my opinion for 2016 based on the same criteria. Just like last year, this is just a smidgeon of the potential decks you could face. Heck, some archetypes are so broad I probably won’t be able to cover all the variants in it. The difference compared to 2015 is instead of a tier breakdown, I’m going to be structuring it into categories. That’s because even though there are a wide variety of decks being played, I believe Vintage is currently defined by two cards: Gush and Thorn of Amethyst. Any deck you are going to play needs to have a plan against both of these strategies. Because of the litany of both Gush and Thorn decks running around, we need to examine them both more closely. With all that set up out of the way, let’s start by looking what is likely going to be the most played archetype in the room:
The Gush
The reason Gush decks have thrust themselves to the forefront of the metagame is the perception that they are favored against any blue deck not playing Gush. My own personal playtesting leads me to believe this is true, but I know some people have found otherwise. There could be an entire article devoted to talking the nuances of the theory behind this belief, but in a nutshell you’re drawing more cards and get to play fewer mana sources (which leads to better draws on average) than decks without Gush. On top of that you get to play arguably the two best finishers in the format in Monastery Mentor and/or Young Pyromancer. Even if a deck could somehow keep up with the number of cards drawn, the real nail in the coffin is that Gush is free while every other every other unrestricted card advantage spell costs at least one mana, allowing Gush decks to “go off” with card drawing in almost a Storm-like fashion. Taking all of this into account combined the fact that any given tournament will likely have more blue decks than anything else, and you have tournaments like The Mana Drain Open 17 where 28.6% of the field was some sort Gush variant. So how does one gain the edge in the Gush mirror match? You play this:
Grixis Pyromancer – Ryan Eberhart – 7/30/16
1 Baleful Strix
2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dig Through Time
4 Force of Will
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Gush
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ponder
3 Preordain
1 Pyroblast
2 Snuff Out
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Dack Fayden
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
-Side-
1 Baleful Strix
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Murderous Cut
1 Shattering Spree
1 Thoughtseize
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Null Rod
Although the deck may no longer be able to exist exactly like this (we’ll get to that later), the reason this is arguably the best deck in the format is simply because of the discard spells. Cabal Therapy is absolutely busted in both the mirror and against Oath/Storm/degenerate nonsense due to being able to interact proactively with the cards you care about. To really leverage this advantage, the deck turns too Young Pyromancer instead of Monastery Mentor as its finisher because of how much better it plays with Therapy. Despite being a worse overall card, having Pyromancer be the finisher also provides an additional advantage in the Gush mirror match because it plays fewer mana sources, aka the same point I made when talking about why Gush is favored vs non-Gush. The one thing you don’t get with this build is the blinding closing speed. If you want that, play this instead:
Jeskai Mentor – Micah Greenbaum – 8/13/16
1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Monastery Mentor
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Young Pyromancer
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Dig Through Time
1 Fire//Ice
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Gush
2 Gitaxian Probe
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
2 Pyroblast
1 Repeal
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
3 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
-Side-
4 Containment Priest
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Disenchant
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Plains
1 Wasteland
Honestly there has never really been a real consensus way to build Monastery Mentor decks. There have been two color, three color, and four color builds. Some are aggressively slanted; some are hard control. A few have even been combo variants! Even within the same color combination/style, there are several variations in any given 75. The reason I’m posting this particular list is because I prefer the aggressively slanted Mentor lists vs Grixis Pyromancer. Regardless of the build though, the consistent fact that ties them all together is how broken Monastery Mentor is. The missing piece for these in my mind compared to last year (where I slammed it) is the inclusion of Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy. With Jace in the deck, you actually have something to do between the “cast your cantrips” part of the game and the “kill your opponents with monks” part of the game. Other cards like Sylvan Library serve this roll in specific builds, but ultimately the fact that the deck can now bridge the gap is the reason I ultimately changed my opinion.
The important thing to remember when playing both with and against Mentor is that at heart it’s a control deck. That means while piloting it you’re never forced into making a move. If your opponent isn’t applying any real pressure, just sit back and sculpt your hand. When paired against it, know that attacking the deck by trying to focus on their Monastery Mentor won’t work. Half measure cards like Sulfur Elemental or Illness in the Ranks aren’t actual answers because you still have the Mentor beating down. Even cards like Moat don’t really deal with the problem, because Moat doesn’t stop your opponent from drawing more cards than you and finding an answer/alternate win condition. The proper way to attack Mentor, and any Gush deck really, is to shut down their ability to cast cheap draw spells. In other words, the best way to beat Gush is Thorn of Amethyst.
The Thorn
Last year this section would have been focusing on the different kinds of Mishra’s Workshop decks and what kind of artifact hate is best for each build. However, this past year has brought about two major changes to what prison decks in Magic’s oldest format. The first is a combination of Chalice of the Void/Lodestone Golem being restricted and Gush’s large metagame presence. Losing a good chunk of generic lock pieces meant that many of the traditional prison builds like Martello Shops or literal Smokestack builds can’t really exist. Couple that with the fact that Ravager Shops was designed to beat Gush, and most common Shops build today looks like this:
Ravager Shops – Will Magrann – 8/13/16
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Hangarback Walker
1 Lodestone Golem
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Triskelion
1 Black Lotus
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Wasteland
-Side-
3 Dismember
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Gradigger’s Cage
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Karakas
This list has taken the reduction in prison elements and turned it into as much of a positive as possible by having a much more aggressive stance. Thought-Knot Seer (which I’ll focus on later) has essentially taken the place of Lodestone Golem as a disruptive beater with a body, and the trio of Arcbound Ravager, Hangarback Walker, and Triskelion are a synergistic creature package that also allows for pressure or interaction. As for hate, bounce effects like Hurkyl’s Recall and Null Rod are much more potent vs this build than they have been against Shops decks in the recent past. You also can get some extra millage from spot removal like Swords to Plowshares to stop the aggro plan, especially considering that Thought-Knot Seer isn’t vulnerable to artifact removal.
Speaking of Thought-Knot Seer, I mention earlier that there were two changes to prison decks in Vintage. Just like in Modern, the combination of the more efficient Eldrazi printed in Oath of the Gatewatch combined with Eldrazi Temple has given us a powerful core as late game. While one could technically play this core alongside any color, white’s disruptive elements have proven to be the best match for a more prison-y deck. Somewhat like Mentor there are a lot of different beliefs on how to build the deck, but this has been the most successful in my testing thus far:
White Eldrazi – Danny Batterman – 8/21/16
2 Containment Priest
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Black Lotus
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Trinisphere
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Battlefield Forge
3 Eldrazi Temple
1 Karakas
5 Plains
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
-Side-
1 Containment Priest
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
3 Disenchant
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Rest in Peace
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 City of Traitors
The perks to playing White Eldrazi over any sort of Mishra’s Workshop based deck is that it isn’t as prone to artifact removal. Sure they can take out a Thorn of Amethyst with their Ingot Chewer, but that doesn’t solve either Thalia from disrupting your tempo until the 4/4s and 5/5s come crashing down your door. Eldrazi Displacer also basically wins any sort of creature mirror on its own. Playing white also gives you access to some of the absolute best sideboard cards in the format in addition to premium removal. While it may seem like all upside, these spells come with a price; your mana. The mana of White Eldrazi isn’t nearly as consistent as Ravager Shops, and constructing it to be able to actually cast all of your spells is one of the hardest things I’ve done in Magic. Playing Battlefield Forge over Cavern of Souls was my attempt at doing that, and I still want another white source. The other downside compared to Shops is the fact that it’s much harder to make a turn one play, which is why I personally maxed out on mana rocks compared to some of the other builds.
Speaking of Eldrazi, there is another variant that I want to touch on quickly before I leave this section. It’s not actually a prison build so it technically doesn’t belong here. Still, as a writer I am going to take advantage of the natural transition point offered to me. Here’s the deck in question:
Colorless Eldrazi -Jason Jaco – 6/4/2016
4 Eldrazi Mimic
3 Endbringer
4 Endless One
2 Matter Reshaper
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Null Rod
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Eye of Ugin
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Strip Mine
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
-Side-
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Spatial Contortion
1 Warping Wail
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Grafdigger’s Cage
On the surface, this is just Channel Fireballs’ Modern deck from Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch with better lands and Null Rod to adjust to Vintage. In practice, this is deck is the spiritual successor of Joel Lim’s 2013 Vintage Championship winning Merfolk deck. It takes advantage of the lack of inherent spot removal in the format by playing large threats and backing them up with Null Rod to stop the broken mana from other decks. It’s not without its flaws: it has struggled against Mentor in my testing, and since its debut at the NYSE 4 removal has shifted to line up with it better. Ignore it at your peril though, because the lack of power means that this very well may show up in force due to the NA and EU Vintage Championships being sanctioned events.
The Other
Despite the fact that I just wrote around 2000 words about Gush and Thorn of Amethyst, there are other viable options out there. If you’re not planning on playing these yourself, make sure you have them in your gauntlet.
Kelly Oath – Greg Fenton – 9/18/16
1 Auriok Salvagers
1 Griselbrand
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Brainstorm
1 Dig Through Time
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
1 Pyroblast
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Black Lotus
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Sol Ring
2 Dack Fayden
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Flooded Strand
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
-Side-
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Balance
2 Nature’s Claim
1 Pyroblast
2 Sudden Shock
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Pithing Needle
4 Tormod’s Crypt
Oath of Druid’s place in Vintage has changed drastically over the past few years. Traditionally an Oath deck’s main plan revolved around getting a giant monster into play with Oath of Druids (or Show and Tell after things like Grafdigger’s Cage got printed), and it had things like Jace the Mind Sculptor as a backup. The printing of great hate cards like Containment Priest alongside Monastery Mentor being able to win both halves of the battle means that Oath needs to become the deck’s secondary plan. That’s exactly what Brian Kelly did when he won Vintage Champs last year. By putting Oath second, the deck is well equipped to play the long game and slog through multiple pieces of hate. It also means that things that normally are great against Oath clock in at “just okay” on the scale of effective sideboard cards. Null Rod/Stony Silence is a boon here where it normally wouldn’t be against Oath. It’s also weak against combo, but I’ve found that to be true in general so no surprise there. Really the most important thing to do against Kelly Oath is actually test against it so you know what tricks the deck is capable of. I personally believe this makes up the third point of the decks-to-beat triangle, so make sure to be prepared.
Dredge – Eduardo Medrano – 10/01/16
4 Bloodghast
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
3 Golgari Thug
4 Ichorid
4 Narcomoeba
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Dread Return
4 Unmask
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Dakmor Salvage
4 Mana Confluence
4 Petrified Field
4 Undiscovered Paradise
-Side-
4 Ingot Chewer
3 Whispmare
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Serenity
4 Barbarian Ring
To quote Ari Lax:
Dredge is Dredge because Dredge Dredge Dredge Dredge.
Of course this is a tongue-in-cheek oversimplification of how good Dredge is, but nothing really has changed in terms of how to fight against it. The printing of Prized Amalgam is a change compared to last year because of the new grindier version that has emerged because of it. That doesn’t change the fact that if you pay your taxes and play 6-8 pieces of hate in your 75 you’ll be fine. If you can help it try not to go all in on Grafdigger’s Cage since it doesn’t actually remove their graveyard. Also be aware of any transformational sideboard plans the opponent may have (Dark Depths +Thespian Stage is a common one). If you play Dredge, make sure you know what the most common pieces of hate are and really practice the sideboard games. One final note is that you should replace Flame-Kin Zealot with Dragonlord Kolaghan in this build. The fact that it’s a black creature to pitch to Unmask/Ichorid and can fly over Moat comes up more often than the one instance where Flame-Kin Zealot gives you lethal over Kolaghan.
Storm – Hrishikesh Sidhartha – 8/21/16
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Ritual
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Dark Petition
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Mind’s Desire
1 Ponder
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
2 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
-Side-
2 Yixlid Jailer
1 Balance
1 Chain of Vapor
3 Ravenous Trap
2 Serenity
3 Defense Grid
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Tundra
I could write an entire article about my thoughts on Storm’s place in Vintage right now. The super short version is that it’s in a very interesting place. In my heart of hearts, I honestly do believe that it’s favored against non-Grixis Pyro Gush decks. The Thorn decks however are a very different story. It’s arguably harder than ever for Storm to combat Thorn decks simply because the existence of White Eldrazi means you can’t just jam a bunch of ways to interact with only artifacts and be okay. There are also a good number of newer cards that put a damper into Storm’s plan, none of which are artifacts. So what to do if you’re a Storm player? Like always just stay one step ahead of the hate. That means doing things like having a main deck disruption package of Defense Grid and Thoughtseize over the usual plan of Cabal Therapy and Duress. It also means playing things like Engineered Explosives in the side since it can be used to remove multiple kinds of threats instead of just bouncing them. Beating Storm is also something I could probably write an article about, but once again in the interest of time I’ll keep it short. The trick is to try and attack them on an axis you’re not already attacking them on. That means if you’re relying on counterspells to interact don’t bring in things like Flusterstorm and think you’re okay. Play things like Ethersworn Canonist or Aegis of the Gods instead. The other thing to remember is to counter-board for whatever the Storm deck is bringing in. For example, there’s a very good chance Storm will have Defense Grid in their 75 so you need to have some sort of artifact hate going into games two and three.
UW Landstill – Javier Rodriguez – 10/01/16
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Dig Through Time
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
4 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Moat
4 Standstill
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
4 Flooded Strand
4 Island
3 Mishra’s Factory
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
3 Tundra
3 Wasteland
-Side-
2 Containment Priest
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Disenchant
2 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Moat
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafidgger’s Cage
1 Plains
U/x Landstill is the only Mana Drain in Vintage that I would be comfortable registering for a tournament. The incredibly high amount of counter magic gives you a lot of nonsense protection, and the high land count gives you a reasonable chance against the Thorn decks. This holds true across all of the variations of Landstill, but the creature removal in white has made it the most popular variant lately. This particular build has even mitigated the risk of clock with the inclusion of Cthulhu Emrakul, the Promised End. The one thing all of the known Landstill builds struggle with in my testing is beating Gush. Landstill isn’t the best at actually pressuring people, and the amount of time it gives allows the Gush to sculpt a perfect hand to win the eventual counter war over a threat. If the Gush deck somehow loses the war, it is much better at refueling due to Gush being a proactive card and Standstill being a reactive one.
The Unknown
This final category is where things get interesting. Both Conspiracy 2 and Kaladesh have the potential to drastically alter the landscape of the format, and the two Eternal Weekends will be the biggest spotlight for them to shine on. Unlike the previous sections of this article where I’ve had actual playtesting under my belt, I haven’t had time to test most of the following cards. I still believe they all will have some sort of impact, and it would be a mistake not to test them.
Daretti, Ingenious Ironclast
While Daretti is a very powerful card, its natural home of a Grixis artifact deck isn’t where I want to be in Vintage right now. I expect this to be a fringe player unless there’s some sort of drastic shift.
Leovold, Emissary of Trest
I believe Leovold will singlehandedly redefine how decks are built in Vintage. As a one-sided Spirit of the Labryth it completely shuts down Gush’s ability to churn through its deck, and its targeting clause has applications in multiple different matchups ranging from Storm to Shops. The only thing that might keep it from taking over the format entirely is its mana cost, but Deathrite Shaman helps lighten the load there considerably. Gush also can help you fix when push comes to shove. I’ve actually got some experience on this one, taking a four color Leovold deck to the finals of a local event. It performed really well for a first draft, and if I was going to Champs this year I’d probably be playing a variant of it. Here’s it is:
4C Leo Gush – Danny Batterman – 9/18/16
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
3 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Young Pyromancer
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Cabal Therapy
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dig Through Time
2 Dismember
2 Flusterstorm
3 Force of Will
3 Gitaxian Probe
3 Gush
3 Mental Misstep
1 Ponder
3 Preordain
1 Time Walk
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Dack Fayden
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
-Side-
1 Sulfur Elemental
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pyroblast
1 Snuff Out
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Null Rod
1 Tormod’s Crypt
Ultimately I fell in the finals to Mentor, but that was mostly due to my own misplays. Out of respect for my team I don’t want to reveal exactly what changes I would make, but it’s real close to being where I want it. Before I move on, here are some tips about Leovold to remember while playing with and/or against it:
– It triggers on spells AND abilities, so you get to draw a card off if they try and Wasteland you. You also get to draw if any of your creatures are targeted by a planeswalker’s ability
– Leovold is black, so it’s immune to Snuff Out. That means Snuff Out’s playability goes down.
– If your opponent has a Leovold in play and you target them with Tendrils of Agony, they get to draw cards equal to the Storm count. The draws happen before any of the copies of Tendrils resolve meaning the player with Leovold can find a Mindbreak Trap and ruin your day.
– If you have a removal spell and want to fire it off, do it on your main phase. The single cantrip can cascade into a chain of draw spells, so you want to minimize the ability to go off with things like Gush.
If you only have time to test with or against one card in this entire part of the article, make sure it’s Leovold. I cannot stress how good this card is.
Sanctum Prelate
I’m actually lower on this card than most people I know. Costing 1WW makes it a much more ineffective lock piece than it seems at first glance. Not only that, but outside of white based Hatebear decks it makes it extraordinarily difficult to cast. For example, White Eldrazi has to completely warp its mana base in order to play it. What it excels at is protecting your creatures from removal spells. That makes it an excellent choice into various white hatebear builds besides White Eldrazi. If you’re scared of those kind of decks just make sure your removal spells have different converted mana costs.
Aetherflux Reservoir
This could be the win-con in some sort of Storm variant. It does play around Leovold which is a plus, but it takes a lot more work to actually win with it compared to Tendrils of Agony. Personally not a fan.
Animation Module
It’s a cute little addition to the synergy package of Arcbound Ravager/Hangarback Walke/Triskelion in Ravager Shops. Downside is unlike everything else in that package it doesn’t do anything on its own. The Shops gurus of the northeast may determine its worth the inclusion, and who am I to argue with them if that’s the case.
Ceremonious Rejection
Super solid sideboard card that can counter both artifacts and Eldrazi. The only bad thing I can say is that it’s not amazing on the draw simply because you can get locked out before you’re able to cast it. It’s still good, and expect this one to see a lot of play.
Fleetwheel Cruiser/Smuggler’s Copter/Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Although these are all very different cards, I’m grouping them together because the most likely place they’ll see play is a deck with Mishra’s Workshop. Fleetwheel Cruise is Slash Panther 2.0 and is an effective tool at fighting planeswalkers. Smuggler’s Copter allows the deck to actually be able to filter its draws while also applying pressure. Lastly, Skysovereign is repeated interaction with both planeswalkers and creatures. I have read on Twitter some European Vintage mages call Skysovereign “broken” in their testing, so if I had to pick one my guess would be that.
Fragmentize
Sorcery speed hurts this, but a one drop that blows up artifacts and enchantments screams “sideboard card”.
Ghirapur Orrey
Friends of mine who are Shops players are really excited about this card. I don’t believe it naturally fits into Ravager Shops, but there is a very real chance a more prison style variant with Crucible of Worlds in the main may pop up around it. I will be honest when I say I don’t see it, but it’s got enough buzz that you shouldn’t ignore it.
Inventor’s Fair
Super super SUPER niche role of being a tutor you can grab with Expedition Map. If the “metalcraft” clause wasn’t there this card may have had more of a shot.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
The latest in a long line of creature-based hate, Kambal is really good at discouraging your opponent from casting multiple spells in one turn. It’s pretty much always great against Storm, and pretty solid if you land it early against Mentor. It definitely sees sideboard play, and will probably be in the maindeck of various hatebear decks despite the very strong competition in the three drop slot. Honestly it wouldn’t shock me if Kambal showed up as a singleton in the main of Esper Mentor as a tutor target in the mirror.
Paradoxical Outcome
Here it is, my pick for the single most impactful card in Kaladesh. This card singlehandedly creates a new kind of combo deck as an enabler that can generate mana, cards, and storm all at once. It also encourages playing a low land count which is something you want to do in a combo deck anyway. While that might seem like a deal breaker against decks with Thorn of Amethyst, the pressure is relieved by the massive amount of artifact mana you get to play. Also unlike Storm you’re not forced into playing a win condition that play requires playing multiple spells per turn. Tinker for a robot or Time Vault + Voltaic Key are both solid inclusions in a deck like this. That isn’t to say that the matchup vs Thorn is favored, but it’s not completely abysmal. The cards this kind of deck IS abysmal against are Leovold and Null Rod. I tested against a few Outcome decks with the 4C Leo Gush deck I posted above and completely crushed them baring turn one Tinker for Blightsteel. I didn’t have Null Rod in play for any of those games, but having made a career in Vintage building decks that lose to Null Rod I know a deck that’s bad against Null Rod when I see it. I’ll be completely honest when I say I personally haven’t brewed up a version yet, but my plan is to play a Paradoxical Outcome deck in an event on Sunday the 16th. I’m legitimately uncertain what the outcome of my tournament will be on that day, but I haven’t been this excited about a card for Vintage in a long time.
Saheeli Rai
She’s a three drop blue Planeswalker that cares about artifacts, so she’s got a shot. Her biggest problem is she has the exact same mana cost as Dack Fayden, and I don’t believe she’s better than him in most cases. Chalk up another one to fringe at best.
That about wraps up everything up. I know there’s some stuff I didn’t cover, but it’s a hope it’s pretty good starting point for you all. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me either in the comments or on Twitter. While I sadly won’t be able to go to Eternal Weekend this year, I’ll be watching with bated breath to see what happens on Twitch. Maybe I’ll even run in to some of you in there. Until next time!
