Thanks for sharing your experience!
In my case, I wanted to get P9 in the best possible condition, so if I had followed the top down advice, I guess I would still be looking to complete it. Getting all the pieces took me 2 years, and mox pearl was, unexpectedly, the hardest card to find (in near mint-mint condition).

So if I undestood it well, there is a difference between "When x enters the battlefield..." vs "As x enters the battlefield..." when it comes to blood moon, humility, and similar effects).

Yeah! blinded by the casting cost I never took into account the activation cost...

I'm Glad to hear Steve quite well in this podcast!
Although I know this is a review from a Vintage viewpoint, I'd like to point that barrage of expendables is an immediate improvement over goblin bombardment. Even the cost reduction, that may not be enough to pass the Legacy barrier.

Many people from other forums complain about the legends change as a way to simplify this mechanic (and by the way the game), but I think the new ruling helps balancing (slightly) the start vs draw advantage.
Do you think that if DCI had decided that only the most recent legend prevails it would have balanced even more the start/draw dilemma?

I have always wondered why Type 1 tournament organizers in conjunction with players don't propose and test slight variations of the banning/restricted lists for specific tournaments. In fact, given the poor support that WOTC has traditionally provided (at least in Europe) I can't see no reason to go ahead; if vintage is still alive it's thanks to the people that has maintained it and played it along the years.

In this way, t1 players would have a more dynamic format that:
-checks periodically which cards could be safe to be played with (more than one copy).
-provide us with real results that, of course,  won't be quite accurate to predict the future dominance of a "old/new archetype", but the alternative is to theorize about what would happen if...
-it's more resistant versus speculation (who wants to invest in cards that can't be used week after week).

Many players love casual non-sanctioned formats and variants (highlander, only commons,...). Why shouldn't we
use this kind of experiences to help improve T1?

I enjoyed reading your article. Currently I'm not playing T1, but I try to stay connected to the format as much as possible. The discussion about what defines or should be a healthy format can be endless providing how subjective this term may be. Some people even think that vintage shouldn't be expeted to be healthy because this is somehow inherent to the format.

Unfortunatedly it is very difficult, not to say impossible, to attract new players to Vintage just based on restricting/unrestricting/banning decisions.

Hope to read from you soon.

Thanks for all the wisdom shared with us.

If reprints were announced tomorrow, what woudl you do?

I should be in need in order to to sell the cards. My intention is not to sell them to make profit, well perhaps if I decided in the future to go for P9 from Beta it could help. Of course it is always good to know that if some day I decided to sell the power for critical causes then the effort done to buy them wouldn't be lost at all.

About the retention issue:

It's true that the fact of reprinting perhaps is not related with retention of players, but other decissions taken by WOTC (not that critical at first glance) such restricting, unrestricting, rule changing may lead to an unhealthy evironment where some people is not having fun and decide to try Legacy.

I would like to offer some thoughts on the subject (will post it on the other thread too):

First and foremost, I don't own P9 but "P8" (unlimited version). Just need a mox pearl to complete the power. I acquired most of the pieces last year, so I didn't have them ten years ago. Let's say that I purchased P8 once I could afford it.

It is true that years ago (1997) I bought a mox ruby, but had to sell it some months later because it seemed that T1 was going to disappear. Like me other players sold their staples too.

If Vintage still exists is obviously thanks to the players and tournament organizers, cause during a long time no one else cared about it. Of course someone could argue that WOTC always have in mind T1 players when designing a new set, but for sure that vintage players never got the support they really deserved.

Players advocating for reprinting have to understand that not everyone like this idea. What I try to say is that WOTC should try to minimize insatisfaction when dealing with this matter.

The proposal suggested by TheWhiteDragon, for example, could be a good starting point.

As a classical rule for enterprises, keeping a client is normally cheaper than getting a new one.

I would like to offer some thoughts on the subject (will post it on the other thread too):

First and foremost, I don't own P9 but "P8" (unlimited version). Just need a mox pearl to complete the power. I acquired most of the pieces last year, so I didn't have them ten years ago. Let's say that I purchased P8 once I could afford it.

It is true that years ago (1997) I bought a mox ruby, but had to sell it some months later because it seemed that T1 was going to disappear. Like me other players sold their staples too.

If Vintage still exists is obviously thanks to the players and tournament organizers, cause during a long time no one else cared about it. Of course someone could argue that WOTC always have in mind T1 players when designing a new set, but for sure that vintage players never got the support they really deserved.

Players advocating for reprinting have to understand that not everyone like this idea. What I try to say is that WOTC should try to minimize insatisfaction when dealing with this matter.

The proposal suggested by TheWhiteDragon, for example, could be a good starting point.

As a classical rule for enterprises, keeping a client is normally cheaper than getting a new one.

Thanks for dedicating such a big effort on TPS.
I believe those are 'dark times' for TPS, mainly due to remora decks.
I hope your articles can make people think that it is still a viable choice.

Of course Frantic Search helps Yawgmoth and cabal ritual indeed, but I think that the most important effect is to recycle your hand.
If you tell me that the cost is too high for what it does or the probability to cast it soon (on turn one) is too low then I admit that there are better options.

Should cards like Impulse become the new brainstorm for TPS?

If Bob were in, then Sensei Divining Top would be a must for the deck?

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

Don't you think that Frantic Search is better than Read the Runes for TPS in almost all senses?

I want to know your opinion and experience about why is normally included gifts ungiven versus intuition.
Is the extra card that critical?
Could it change on a meta with growing "mana denial"?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Has anyone splashed white to try Balance?
Do you consider it a "too much" defensive spell (for this deck) versus wheel of fortune or other typical inclusions?

(I have to say: I love Balance and I would include it in nearly every T1 deck)

Reducing the prize to the players that use proxies was just an idea.
Obviously it cannot be done when the reward is a card.
I don't know a tournament that applies it and it probably will never exist.

But think about this situation.
If you eventually could invest a lot of money and build a no proxy deck then: would you find normal
that people with a fewer investment (who uses proxies) had "the same chances"?
You could answer: yes, the main reason of allowing the use of proxies is bla bla bla ... bla.
But there is a group of players that don't like the inclusion of proxies.
This is about having everyone happy (which is very difficult).

Really I don't know if this kind of reward adaptation would make proxy players more or less interested on
getting the power cards.

First of all I've been a player of T1 since 4 edition. I stop playing several times and got back again.
The only P9 card that I purchased was Mox Ruby (on 1997). And sold it several months later
due to the impression that the Vintage format was disappearing. In fact, a lot of people here in
Spain get rid off p9 cards with the same felling. 
I think that the problems that Vintage had in 2004 (for example) are more or less the same than
2008 problems and it should be the same in the future if things doesn't change:
High entry barriers (high cost of the cards).
Little attention to the format from WOTC.

I agree with an article that Juan Trimiño published in Serra (spanish magazine about magic) on 2004 about T1:
(here you are the translation of some highlights). If only I could post the entire article.

It is obvious that T1 is a format supported thanks to vintage players and tournament organizers
...
T1 is a format where nearly no one can compete
...
As long as the number of T1 players is reduced WOTC will keep it out of the circuit
...
And the way to do it? The solution are limited proxies
...

The article does not mention a determined number of proxies but it remarks that the number should
be limited enought to keep the 'collectible status' of a card.

Just to point that even this article is from 2004 it can be applied nowadays.

Alternative approach to the use of proxies in a tournament (just an opinion):

Imagine a tournament that rewarded 200$ 100$ and 50$ for first second and third winner.
Let's allow 10 proxies.
If the winner used proxies he shouldn't be able to get the total amount. Let's say -5$ by proxy.
Second and third reward could be cutted by -3$ and -2$ by proxy (for example).
All the money "cutted" finally must be rewarded to 4th, 5th ... player applying the same logic.
So if you play with proxies you won't get the total prize. It's a reasonable approach.

I know that this can seem useless or a bit silly but I will try:
+ 1  Frantic Search
- 1 Thirst for knowledge
just to check how the deck behaves.

Very good job.
I found interesting that you did not annalyze just the US competitions but the European too.
Any ideas about T1 influence from other zones?( Japan / SouthAmerica ... )

Regards from Valencia - Spain.

Has anyone tested impulse?
My first thought was to replace Thirst for knowledge.
The pros:
+ allows to search deeper in your library
+ just 2 mana to cast it
The cons:
- draw only 1 card
- doesn't allow you to discard (darksteel collosus)
- affected by Chalice of the void @ 2